It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book! 

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Two Weeks in Books:  

I've been reading some of the award books and this week that meant grabbing Kapaemahu and Love, Violet. They both won a Stonewall and were lovely. In the first, we see Indigenous people who are healers with dual male and female spirit. There is a movie that you can watch that tells this story here. Love, Violet is a sweet Valentine's Day book. Another award book was Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams's Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American Incarceration which got the Sibert Award. It includes photos and commentary about the pictures. It was interesting to see how the perspective of the photographers and their purposes shaped the images and determined what would be captured and what would be omitted. Related to this was the picture book Love in the Library about two people who fell in love while living in a Japanese incarceration camp. The author talks a little bit about her grandparents that the story is based on in this video. 

A new book I listened to via Libro.fm is Finally Seen by Kelly Yang. Her books are always so completely relatable. I'm excited to get this one in the hands of students. It also has a brief storyline related to censorship and I really wish so many US students didn't have to relate to that so much right now. 

I am partial to romance books and since it was Valentine's Day (month) I checked out a few adult romances to zip through. They were all pleasant and entertaining and made me smile for the most part. I read The Singles Table, Good Morning Love, and one very quick one Wrapped Up in You. 

Somebody's Daughter was one I took on my quick trip to TX to see my mother for her birthday last weekend. I was glad I had it since I got delayed at the airport. It's the story of a young Korean American adoptee who travels to Korea to look for her birth mother. It's intense and shows both the perspective of the adoptee and the birth mother. There's a lot to think about especially about international and interracial adoptions and how they can affect the young people.

The Coming Week: I'm listening to the YA romcom Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute again in preparation for our Rich in Color group discussion coming up in March. I started reading Tokyo Dreaming which is a sequel to Tokyo Ever After. I have also started reading the ARC of a new young adult novel by Maurene Goo. Have a great reading week. 

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book! 

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Three Weeks in Books:  

I've been reading a lot of picture books for our Mock Award units. For our Coretta Scott King unit, the students chose Bessie the Motorcycle Queen by Charlot Kristensen illustrated by Charles R. Smith Jr.  We were all enthralled with her story of cycling across the nation. Another one I enjoyed was Music is a Rainbow by Bryan Collier. It's full of emotion and the healing power of music. 

For our Sibert Award, the students chose Blips on a Screen: How Ralph Baer Invented TV Video Gaming and Launched a Worldwide Obsession by Kate Hannigan illustrated by Zachariah OHora. His story is fascinating and also, video games are just a wildly popular topic. 

For our Pura Belpré, the students chose My Town, Mi pueblo by Nicholas Solis illustrated by Luisa Uribe. We also really enjoyed How to Hear the Universe: Gaby González and the Search for Einstein's Ripples in Space-Time by Patricia Valdez illustrated by Sara Palacios. We really had fun learning about sounds in space. I didn't have time to read it with the students, but I also really loved Tía Fortuna's New Home: A Jewish Cuban Journey by Ruth Behar illustrated by Devon Holzwarth. 

A student had asked me for a book about early kings in Korea so I had ordered a book called Letters from Korean History 1: From Prehistory to Unified Silla and Balhae. It was quite interesting and I think I'll have to get the next one in the series too. What was really cool was that the author included basic history of early humans and not just those in Korea so it helps the reader relate the history in this very specific place in relation to the history of the rest of the world. It would be useful with any class that is learning about early humans.

I also read a few random books like The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill. This is a lovely, lovely middle grade book that asks a lot of questions about love, community, and where to put trust. I also picked up the picture book Brown is Beautiful by Supriya Kelkar illustrated by Noor Sofi. It's beautiful both in the writing and the illustrations. Knight Owl is another book that's a delight for the eyes. It is also just a sweet little bit of fantasy. I got the audio version of Talia Hibbert's young adult book Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute. It's a delightful rom-com and since I already adored Hibbert's adult romances, I was not surprised. 

One adult book landed in my lap - The Love Con by Seressia Glass. It's a fun rom-com that involves fake dating and best friends. That's one of my favorite storylines and this one was a winner for me. 

The Coming Week: 

I am listening to Jennifer Chan is Not Alone. Other than that, I am not sure what I'll be picking up next. Have a great reading week. 

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book! 

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Week in Books:  

When I read Year of the Tiger by Alice Wong in December (I highly recommend it - really you should read it), one of the chapters involved Riva Lehrer and they mentioned her book Golem Girl. I looked for it, but our local library didn't have it. Luckily, CA has a program called Zip Books and until the funding is exhausted, they will order one book at a time for you if you want a book that your library doesn't have. So, I requested Golem Girl and it arrived last week. It's also a memoir and was incredibly interesting. Riva Lehrer is an artist and tells the story of her life journey. She was born with spina bifida and the timing of her birth and the advocacy of her mother greatly affected how her medical care proceeded. There is much more to her story than the physical aspects of her life and I appreciate that she has shared so much of herself with readers.

I listened to a fun young adult romance over the weekend while doing my physical therapy and cooking and various other activities. I was excited to see that Talia Hibbert had ventured into YA since I've enjoyed her adult romances. It was charming and I hope she continues with both YA and adult books. 

I've read quite a few picture books this week for our Mock units at school. I especially liked Christina Soontornvat's biography of Tammy Duckworth, A Life of Service and Adra Theodore's A History of Me. 

The Coming Week: 

I will continue to read books for the Mock activities I am having at my school this week and I am in the middle of another adult rom-com. Happy reading!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. 

The Past Week in Books: 

Our power was knocked out for 12 hours this weekend, so I read a romance called A Taste of Sage by Yaffa S. Santos while I waited for power to return. It was an easy and pretty predictable story, but I do usually like books with recipes so it was okay.

I also finished reading The Ch'i-lin Purse: A Collection of Ancient Chinese Stories retold by Linda Fang. I feel like I must have read some of the stories in the past or even the whole book because at least some of them seemed very familiar. They were quite nice. 

Because I am doing my mock award units at school, so I read several picture books like Daddy Speaks Love, A Perfect Fit, and R-E-S-P-E-C-T. I really enjoyed all of them. 

I did my first Korean storytime this week too. I paired 괜찮아 (It's Okay) by 최숙희 (Choi Sook-hee) and Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean. In this Korean book the child meets animals like a snake and basically says hey you don't have legs or to the porcupine that it has so many spines and they all say that it's okay. I had the students help me say 괜찮아 on every page. It was fun since there was at least one student in each of my classes that speaks or at least hears Korean fairly regularly. It made me think of Pete the Cat. Pete basically says it's okay when he steps into things and messes up his shoes. He doesn't get upset and is just calm about it. Sometimes things may seem to be a big deal to someone else, but might be just fine for you. The lesson was a reminder that we have books in languages other than English in our library. 

The Coming Week: 

I will be reading lots of picture books for our Mock Sibert, Mock Coretta Scott King, and Mock Pura Belpré Award units with fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students. I'm not sure what I will be reading at home. I really haven't been reading as much since the school year started. I work at two different schools (20 hours each) and also work a few hours each week at the public library. I am also studying Korean and have various other family activities along with blogging at Rich in Color and am still doing physical therapy. Life is fairly busy. 

It's Monday! What are you reading?

 It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book! 

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Week in Books: 

The Flat Share was a romantic comedy that I read celebrating three days off in a row. With my teaching jobs and the fill-in job at the county library, I've had six day work weeks for the past few weeks and so this time was an extra special treat. 

Notable Native People is a great middle grade collection of brief biographies. It also has several essays mixed in. I appreciate that the essays add context like with the first one "Settler Colonialism 101." 

The She Persisted series is a very nice early chapter book set and Kekla Magoon did a great job with the one about Ruby Bridges. I was able to hear her speak once and will likely never forget being able to speak with Ruby Bridges. 

I'm still having fun with easy readers and board books in Korean. In case anyone else is trying to read picture books, the Papago app is excellent for Korean in particular, but has other languages too. It's from a South Korean company. It has a camera feature so you can take a photo of the words on the page and have them translated over the image. I read the book as well as I can and then go back through and see if I was anywhere close and learn a few new words. 

I had thought I'd read A Boy Called Bat before, but it was just that I had read many reviews and heard so much about it. I finally read it because amazingly enough, the public school mentioned in the book is where my husband went to school and the private school in the book is modeled after the one I now teach at. It's a lovely book and was delightful to read as I was noticing things from my everyday life since we now live in the midst of the setting. ;) I followed up with the sequel Bat and the Waiting Game. They are both lovely middle grade stories of friendship and family. 

The Genius Under the Table: Growing up Behind the Iron Curtain is another gem from Eugene Yelchin and would fit in nicely with Banned Books Week. I have a post from a few years ago that features picture books that touch on censorship in one way or another in case you'd like to read other books like this. There are even more books for a variety of ages here on my Goodreaeds censorship shelf. 

To Change a Planet is a beautiful picture book about how our planet is changing and how we can be a force for positive change. 

Swim Team is an awesome middle grade graphic novel about a girl who goes to a new school and reluctantly joins the swim team and learns a lot about history and herself. Aven Green is an early chapter book series that is fun and features the character from Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus. 

Bubbles is an adorable board book and May We Leave Enough to Share, by Richard Van Camp is another beautiful board book with photos of Indigenous babies and their care givers.

There are others I read, but I am getting sleepy. I have been working beyond 40 hours a week and was also prepping for the online class I will teach in Oct. I decided on my reading list and may share portions of it over time. Two of the videos that I chose for professional development purposes are the Spring 2022 Baker Diversity Lecture - Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (Amy Breslin, Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen & Becky Leathersich) and Native Voices in Children’s Literature with Debbie Reese. Both are so helpful when people are choosing and evaluating literature to use with young people. 

The Coming Week: 

I'm not sure what I will read this week, but I did just pick up a lot of Korean picture books so likely that's what I'll focus on. I'm also reading the new book As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. I think it releases later this month. Have a great week!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book! 

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Two Weeks in Books:  

John's Turn by Mac Barnett

Learning My Rights with Mousewoman by Morgan Asoyuf

When We Say Black Lives Matter by Maxine Beneba Clark

Baby, Sleepy Baby by Atinuke

Herizon by Daniel W. Vandever

Flip the Script by Lyla Lee (YA and fun)

Triceratopposite by Bridget Heos

Vanmpires Don't Wear Polkadots Graphic Novel by Pearl Low

American Desi by Jyoti Rajan Gopal

Miss Quinces by Kat Fajardo

The Very True Legend of the Mongolian Death Worms by Sandra Fay

Flubby Will Not Go to Sleep & Flubby Will Not Take a Bath by Jennifer E. Morris

The Bad Seed Goes to the Library by Jory John 

Fancy Pants by Dawn Quigley

I Love You More Than Ice Cream by Becky Davies

A Cool Day at the Pool by Lola M. Schaefer

There were many really excellent books in my past few weeks, but I am just not able to comment on them right now. I am almost falling asleep sitting up. The first week of school is always draining and the second week is just about to start so I need to get to bed. 

The Coming Week: 

I am still working on finalizing my reading list for the What's New in Children's Lit class I will be teaching through UW-Madison in October so I will try to get to a few more picture books and early chapter books. Have a great week. 

It's Monday! What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It's a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book! 

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

If you want to see more of my reading, visit my Goodreads shelves here. The lists of the books in the images below may be found at Goodreads. 

The Past Two Weeks in Books:  

I have a bunch of work to do tonight and professional development days begin tomorrow at both of my schools so I am going to keep this brief. 

I have been reading as much as I can fit in around my training at the public library (to be a substitute/extra help librarian) and preparing at the private school where I will co-teach humanities with 3rd-6th graders half-time and at the public school where I will be the half-time teacher librarian. It's going to be fine once it all gets rolling, but right now I am pulled a few directions with odd scheduling. 

Some of the books I really enjoyed were:

Picture books

• Eyes that Speak to the Stars - gorgeous
• This Book is Not For You - will be great for class discussion
• The Life of Pura - a board book biography that has a surprising amount of information
• Climb On - a story of a parent and child and their hike through a distinctive setting

Graphic Novels

• Heartstopper (YA) - the whole series was relaxing & often made me smile - then I had to watch the series of course 
• Rabbit Chase is a fun middle grade Indigenous retelling of Alice in Wonderland
• Silk (YA) is a super hero I hadn't met before, but I enjoyed getting to know her

Middle Grade Novels

• Operation Sisterhood was a delightful story of family and friendship and dealing with change
• New From Here is a story from COVID times that closely mirrors that of Kelly Yang and her children and I couldn't put it down

Nonfiction

• Reawakening Our Ancestors' Line: Revitalizing Inuit Traditional Tatooing is an oversize book that could work as a coffee table book. It is filled with amazing pictures documenting an inspiring project that brought tattoos back to Inuit women. 

As always, I am also grabbing many short Korean board books and picture books (not all are on Goodreads so I don't record them all there) and am finding better luck understanding what I'm reading--yay!

The Coming Week: 

I will be preparing for the school year, but I also need to finalize my reading list for the What's New in Children's Lit class I will be teaching through UW-Madison in October. That means I may be re-reading or grabbing some new titles to round out the list. I wish you a great week of reading!