Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by Kathryn Harkup
The Screaming Staircase (Lockwood & Co. #1) by Jonathan Stroud
Thornhill by Pam Smy
A Land of Permanent Goodbyes by Atia Abawi
Steal This Country: A Handbook for Resistance, Persistence, and Fixing Almost Everything by Alexandra Styron
The Third Mushroom by Jennifer L. Holm
Ebb & Flow by Heather Smith
Estranged by Ethan M. Aldridge
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
Spooked! How a Radio Broadcast and The War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow
The Last Boy At St. Edith’s by Lee Gjertsen Malone
Train I Ride by Paul Mosier
The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi
The Whydah by Martin W. Sandler
School’s back on and so are the book talks. Here are the books I talked about this week.
She Loves You (Yeah, Yeah, Yeah) by Ann Hood
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier
Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
My Deal With the Universe by Deborah Kerbel
This is my last 5 day week until June. And then, I only have one more 5 day week until school lets out. How crazy is that!!!
I continued working my way through my pile or ARCs.
MONDAY
Goodreads Summary: Soldier Boy begins with the story of Ricky Richard Anywar, abducted at age fourteen in 1989 to fight with Joseph Kony’s rebel army in Uganda’s decades-long civil war. Ricky is trained, armed, and forced to fight government soldiers alongside his brutal kidnappers, but never stops dreaming of escape.
The story continues twenty years later, with a fictionalized character named Samuel, representative of the thousands of child soldiers Ricky eventually helped rehabilitate as founder of the internationally acclaimed charity Friends of Orphans.
Working closely with Ricky himself, debut author Keely Hutton has written an eye-opening book about a boy’s unbreakable spirit and indomitable courage in the face of unimaginable horror.
TUESDAY
Goodreads Summary: Aspiring inventor and magician’s apprentice Felix Carmer III would rather be tinkering with his latest experiments than sawing girls in half on stage, but with Antoine the Amazifier’s show a tomato’s throw away from going under, Carmer is determined to win the cash prize in the biggest magic competition in Skemantis. When fate throws Carmer across the path of fiery, flightless faerie princess Grit (do not call her Grettifrida), they strike a deal. If Carmer will help Grit investigate a string of faerie disappearances, she’ll use her very real magic to give his mechanical illusions a much-needed boost against the competition. But Carmer and Grit soon discover they’re not the only duo trying to pair magic with machine – and the combination can be deadly.
In this story perfect for readers of the Lockwood & Co and Wildwood series, Sarah Jean Horwitz takes readers on a thrilling journey through a magical wooded fairyland and steampunk streets where terrifying automata cats lurk in the shadows and a mad scientist’s newest mechanical invention might be more menace than miracle.
WEDNESDAY
Goodreads Summary: In the seaside town of Melcombe Regis, England, 1724, Oliver Cromwell Pitts wakes to find his father missing and his house flooded by a recent storm. He’s alone in his ruined home with no money and no food. Oliver’s father has left behind a barely legible waterlogged note: he’s gone to London, where Oliver’s sister, Charity, is in trouble. Exploring damage to the town in the storm’s aftermath, Oliver discovers a shipwreck on the beach. Removing anything from a wrecked ship is a hanging offense, but Oliver finds money that could save him, and he can’t resist the temptation to take it. When his crime is discovered, Oliver flees, following the trail of his father and sister. The journey is full of thieves, adventurers, and treachery–and London might be the most dangerous place of all.
In the tradition of his Newbery Honor book The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Avi mixes high adventure and short, page-turning chapters with a vivid historical setting featuring a cast of highwaymen, pickpockets, and villainous criminal masterminds.
THURSDAY
Goodreads Summary:Thirteen-year-old Lucia Frank discovers that she can become the girl she’s always wanted to be with the help of a little “moon magic” in this charming novel about the value of friendship, family, and finding yourself.
Lucia Frank has never had time for her mom’s “new age” nonsense. She doesn’t believe in any of that stuff. All she wants is to figure out how to get her best friend, Will, back and cope with her parents looming divorce. But then something strange happens on the night of her thirteenth birthday.
When the eclipsed moon slips into the shadow of the earth, Lucia’s Shadow slips out. Now hidden in a moonstone, the Shadow waits for Lucia to sleep so it can come out to play.
Lucia’s Shadow seems unlike her in almost every way: daring, outspoken, and unwilling to let anyone push her around. But it actually isn’t the anti-Lucia…in fact, her Shadow is very much like the person Lucia wishes she could be. At first, Lucia is eager to undo whatever magic happened on her birthday so life can get back to normal. But when she realizes her Shadow is doing and saying things she has only dreamed about, she wonders if maybe things aren’t all bad.
With a little help from her Shadow, she’s turning into the kind of girl she’s always wanted to be.
FRIDAY
Goodreads Summary:When fourteen-year-old Rose Solomon’s brother, Abe, left El Paso, he told the family he was heading to Brooklyn. But Rose discovers the truth the day she picks up the newspaper at Pickens General Store and spies a group photograph captioned The Southwestern Scourge of 1915! There stands Abe alongside none other than Pancho Villa and his army!
Rose is furious about Abe’s lie; fearful for his safety; and worried about her traditional parents who, despite their strict and observant ways, do not deserve to have an outlaw for a son. Rose knows the only way to set things right is to get Abe home, but her clandestine plan to contact him goes awry when she is kidnapped by Villa’s revolutionaries and taken to his hideaway.
Deep in the desert, amidst a richly rendered assortment of freedom-seekers that includes an impassioned young reporter, two sharp-shooting sisters with a secret past, and Dorotea, Villa’s tyrannical young charge, Rose sees no sign of Abe and has no hope of release. But as she learns to lie, hide, and ride like a bandit, Rose discovers the real meaning of freedom and what she’s willing to risk to get hers back.
I started Monday with the book I missed last week:
This week, I worked my first five-day week since the middle of November! Here are the other books I talked about:
Monday, I did a two-fer:
Wednesday was rough, so I went for some humor:
Thursday, I finished Me & Marvin Gardens and was excited to share it.
Nonfiction Friday rounded out the week and we talked a little bit about introverts and extroverts.
A four-day week, so four book talks…and I can only remember three titles. I should write the titles down before I leave each Friday. Sigh. There was no theme, but I notice now that every book title begins with a “B”. Maybe that’s why I can’t remember the fourth book. It doesn;t follow the pattern.
First up was Bloody Jack, the first book in L. A. Meyer’s excellent series.
I’ve written about this series before. In my book talk, I told my students that I listened to the whole series n audiobook and highly recommend the narrator, Katherine Kellgren.
Wednesday seems to be a blur because I can’t remember what book I talked about.
Thursday was Beetle Boy by M. G. Leonard.
In talking about this book, I let the kids know that I shelved it in the Magical Animals tub, but it could just as easily have gone into the Humor or Mystery and Adventure tubs. That seemed to appeal to several boys, who I say writing down the title on their “Read Next”page.
A lot of kids added Friday’s title, Brambleheart by Henry Cole, to their “Read Next”page.
There was an audible response when I told them that this was by the author of A Nest for Celeste. Most of them were familiar with that book because it was an elementary OBOB book several years ago. I told them that, although it was written for an audience younger than they were, it is sometimes once to curl up with a book that feels familiar on a cold rainy day.
I hope you were able to curl up with something good this weekend.
This week’s books started of sort of randomly, then ended with a theme.
Monday, I shared the book I wrote about on Sunday.
We started our information writing unit this week and I shared this book because of its unique narrator: The Groove.
Publisher’s Summary: Berry Gordy began Motown in 1959 with an $800 loan from his family. He converted the garage of a residential house into a studio and recruited teenagers from the neighborhood-like Smokey Robinson, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Diana Ross-to sing for his new label. Meanwhile, the country was on the brink of a cultural revolution, and one of the most powerful agents of change in the following decade would be this group of young black performers from urban Detroit. From Berry Gordy and his remarkable vision to the Civil Rights movement, from the behind-the-scenes musicians, choreographers, and song writers to the most famous recording artists of the century, Andrea Davis Pinkney takes readers on a Rhythm Ride through the story of Motown.
Wednesday, for no reason in particular, I chose three books to get me through the rest of the week. They all had a connection to games: chess, bridge, basketball
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