One week down, one week to go

One week of vacation is over. I have one week to go. The first was full of Christmas and ice that saw me stuck at home for a few days.

I am doing a massive reread and note-taking of the Sibert award nominees that we will discuss in Denver in February, when we will make our final decision. You can watch that live HERE, on February 12, 2018 – 8:00 AM MT.

Although I have been busy with Sibert reading, I have become obsessed with the Great British Baking Show and  managed a few other books. I was iced in for a few days, after all.

I finished Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Publisher’s Summary: August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.

But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…

Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?

Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…

I had a good laugh at It’s Shoe Time by Bryan Collier.

Publisher’s Summary: 

Today is the day.
It’s time choose.
Which shoes will be right?
Which shoes will be left?!
It’s Shoe Time!

This hilarious beginning-reader by multi award-winning artist Bryan Collier turns the closet on its heel and redefines what it means to be a pair.

 

 

 

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut is written by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C. James.

Publisher’s Summary: The barbershop is where the magic happens. Boys go in as lumps of clay and, with princely robes draped around their shoulders, a dab of cool shaving cream on their foreheads, and a slow, steady cut, they become royalty. That crisp yet subtle line makes boys sharper, more visible, more aware of every great thing that could happen to them when they look good: lesser grades turn into As; girls take notice; even a mother’s hug gets a little tighter. Everyone notices.

A fresh cut

makes boys fly.

And, for young adults, I highly recommend A Short History of the Girl Next Door  by Jared Reck.

Publisher’s Summary: Matt Wainwright is constantly sabotaged by the overdramatic movie director in his head. He can’t tell his best friend, Tabby, how he really feels about her, he implodes on the JV basketball team, and the only place he feels normal is in Mr. Ellis’s English class, discussing the greatest fart scenes in literature and writing poems about pissed-off candy-cane lumberjacks.

If this were a movie, everything would work out perfectly. Tabby would discover that Matt’s madly in love with her, be overcome with emotion, and would fall into his arms. Maybe in the rain.

But that’s not how it works. Matt watches Tabby get swept away by senior basketball star and all-around great guy Liam Branson. Losing Tabby to Branson is bad enough, but screwing up and losing her as a friend is even worse.

After a tragic accident, Matt finds himself left on the sidelines, on the verge of spiraling out of control and losing everything that matters to him. From debut author Jared Reck comes a fiercely funny and heart-wrenching novel about love, longing, and what happens when life as you know it changes in an instant.

What have you been reading that you’d recommend?

 

 

 

 

 

Trombone Shorty

One of  my favorite weekend activities is to listen to NPR’s Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me. This week’s show was a compilation of guest spots by musicians. One of the musician’s featured was Trombone Shorty. You can listen to him play Not My Job here.

With a name like Trombone Shorty, you might be picturing a wizened old jazz man. You’d be wrong because Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews was born in 1989.

Here he is playing at age 13.

You can learn more cool information about Trombone Shorty in the eponymous picture book Trombone Shorty  written by Andrews and beautifully illustrated by Bryan Collier.

We see him as a small boy who loved the trombone and got to play with Bo Didley.

We learn about how his love was encouraged and nurtured and how little Tony managed to turn his love into a career.

An excellent book for kids of all ages.

Publisher’s  summary: Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews got his nickname by wielding a trombone twice as long as he was high. A prodigy, he was leading his own band by age six, and today this Grammy-nominated artist headlines the legendary New Orleans Jazz Fest.
Along with esteemed illustrator Bryan Collier, Andrews has created a lively picture book autobiography about how he followed his dream of becoming a musician, despite the odds, until he reached international stardom. Trombone Shorty is a celebration of the rich cultural history of New Orleans and the power of music.