It is parent teacher conference time. Only three days of school means only three booktalks. They all cam from the “Mystery and Adventure” section of my classroom library.
Monday…..I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest.
Tuesday… Mission Mumbai by Mahtab Narsimhan
Wednesday…Raising Rufus by David Fulk
The classroom library inventory is complete. Books are still missing, but they continue to trickle in. With no more checking out going on, I’ve taken some time to look over what was checked out. Graphic novels led the way, and my next post will be about the top 10 graphic novels. Today I will announce the top 10 novels in ascending order.
#10 Nine, Ten by Nora Raleigh Baskin
#9 Some Kind of Courage by Dan Gemeinhart
#8 Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
#7 The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan
#6 Wonder by R. J. Palacio
#5 Restart by Gordon Korman
#4 I Am Princess X by Cherie Priest
#3 The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
#2 Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills
#1 Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Cinderella never asked for a prince. She asked for a night off and a dress. – Kiera Cass
One of my favorite library stories to tell is about the day I read The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch aloud to a group of first graders. There was one particular girl in the class whose reaction I wanted to see. Mina LOVED Disney princess books and was excited to see a princess on the cover of this book, even the eponymous princess was wearing a paper bag. Her reaction at the end was priceless. She was speechless, and possibly horrified at the unexpected ending. I don’t think it ever became her favorite book, but I hope it planted a seed.
As I aired out the house very early yesterday morning, I picked up my library copy of I am Princess X by Cherie Priest and started to read.
Publisher’s Summary: Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure.
Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.
Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window.
Princess X?
When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There’s an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby’s story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon — her best friend, Libby, who lives.
This was a great summer read. It has strong female characters, mystery adventure, clue following and a story within a story. It was a quick read and, although it is marketed as YA, I’d say it was on the younger end of the YA spectrum, so middle grade readers looking for something a little more should give it a try.
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