Most checked out 2018-19

As always, graphic novels were the most checked out books form my classroom library this year. Here are the top three stats on what kids checked out most in graphic novels, fiction, and nonfiction.

Graphic Novels

# 1 – This One Summer by  Jillian Tamaki & Mariko Tamaki

# 2 – Hey Kiddo by  Jarrett J. Krosoczka

#3 – Brave  by Svetlana Chmakova

Fiction

#1 –The Valiant  by Lesley Livingston

#2 – The Fourteenth Goldfish

#3 – Fallout by Todd Strasser

Non-fiction

#1 – The Faithful Spy  by John Hendrix

#2 – Spooked  by Gail Jarrow

#3 – Poison  by Sara Albee

 

 

 

This week’s booktalks 9/24-28

Banned Books week booktalks are always fun. This year, the  kids in both of my classes asked more questions about how books get banned or challenged, than all other years combined.  Here are the books that got them fired up.

Monday

The Seventh Wish  by Kate Messner

Tuesday

The Golden Compass  by Philip Pullman

Wednesday

This One Summer by

Thursday

Harry potter and The Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany, Jack Thorne

I am out for a meeting today, tp there is no Friday booktalk.

Happy Canada Day 2018!

My mother’s passing has left me reeling. I suppose that is because it was so unexpected. Grief is such a strange emotion and there is no one way to mourn. Two Canadian picture books do an amazing job helping young readers navigate grief and emotions.

The first is The Funeral by Matt James.

Publisher’s Summary: Norma and her parents are going to her great-uncle Frank’s funeral, and Norma is more excited than sad. She is looking forward to playing with her favorite cousin, Ray, but when she arrives at the church, she is confronted with rituals and ideas that have never occurred to her before. While not all questions can be answered, when the day is over Norma is certain of one thing — Uncle Frank would have enjoyed his funeral.

This sensitive and life-affirming story will lead young readers to ask their own questions about life, death and how we remember those who have gone before us.

They Say Blue by Jillian Tamaki is more stream of consciousness.

Publisher’s Summary: In captivating paintings full of movement and transformation, Tamaki follows a young girl through a year or a day as she examines the colors in the world around her. Egg yolks are sunny orange as expected, yet water cupped in her hands isn’t blue like they say. But maybe a blue whale is blue. She doesn’t know, she hasn’t seen one. Playful and philosophical, They Say Blue is a book about color as well as perspective, about the things we can see and the things we can only wonder at.

This week’s booktalks 9/25-9/28

It is banned Books Week, so I booktalked some books in my library that have been challenged over the years, in various places.

MONDAY,  I presented This One Summer.

It was a popular check out last year and has already been checked out a couple of times. I was worried it wouldn’t be on the shelf for me this week.

TUESDAY, I shared The Seventh Wish.

WEDNESDAY, I talked about The Golden Compass.  There is a new book in the series, La Belle Sauvage, coming October 19th. It seems an opportune time to introduce students to the series.

I am at a conference Friday & Saturday, so my last booktalk was THURSDAY. I saved Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for the end of the week.

It is the only book in the HP series in my classroom library. I haven’t read it and don’t plan on reading this book. I like to leave Harry at the end of the Deathly Hallows. I live the life of a middle-aged person. I don;t need to see him as one.

My Classroom Library’s Top 10 Graphic Novels

The highest checkout numbers in my classroom library went to graphic novels.  This is certainly due to their popularity. I think it might also be due to the fact that they can be read quickly. That said, I know students who would check one out and read it multiple times.

Here, in ascending order are the most popular graphic novels in my classroom library.

#10 – El Deafo by Cece Bell

 

#9 – Brain Camp  by Susan Kim, Laurence Klavan, and Faith Erin Hicks

 

#8 – Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks

 

#7 – This One Summer  by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

 

#6 –  Boxers by Gene Luen Yang

 

#5 –  Level Up by Gene Luen Yang

 

#4 – Primates by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks

 

#3- Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier

 

#2 – The Dumbest Idea Ever by Jimmy Gownley

 

#1 – Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Waiting for the Great Leap Forward

Author’s Summary: Gertie Reece Foy is 100% Not-from-Concentrate Awesome.

Which is why she’s dumbfounded by her mother’s plan to move away from their coastal Alabama town, leaving Gertie with her father and Great-Aunt Rae. Most kids would be upset about this. But Gertie is absolutely not upset, because she has a plan. She’s going to become the greatest fifth grader in the universe!

All she needs to do is: write the best summer speech (after she finds Zombie Frog), become the smartest student in her class (if her best friend, Jean the Jean-ius, doesn’t mind), and win the lead part in the play (so long as a Swiss-Chocolate meltdown doesn’t mess things up).

There’s just one problem: Seat-stealing new girl, Mary Sue, wants to be the best fifth grader, too. And there’s simply not enough room at the top for the two of them.

Gertie, like Ramona (with whom she has been compared)  and Clementine, tries to do good but her plans always seem to have unanticipated consequences. All of her problems aren’t solved, but she comes to enough of understanding about them to leave the reader satisfied. This would be a great book for fans of Clementine who are ready for a slightly thicker, more challenging read.

The illustrations in the book are by the fabulous Jillian Tamaki.

2016 Hub Challenge Check-In #7

I’ve read a total of 23 titles for the 2016 Hub Challenge. To finish, I only have to read 2 more. Some years, I read more than 25, but I might just stop at 25 this year because I have this giant pile of TBR books at home: arcs and library books.

This week saw me finish two graphic novels and a regular novel.

The first graphic novel was Super Mutant Magic Academy by  Jillian Tamako.

Summary:SuperMutant Magic Academy, paints a teenaged world filled with just as much ennui and uncertainty, but also with a sharp dose of humor and irreverence. Tamaki deftly plays superhero and high-school Hollywood tropes against what adolescence is really like: The SuperMutant Magic Academy is a prep school for mutants and witches, but their paranormal abilities take a backseat to everyday teen concerns.
Science experiments go awry, bake sales are upstaged, and the new kid at school is a cat who will determine the course of human destiny.  Whether the magic is mundane or miraculous, Tamaki’s jokes are precise and devastating.

The second GN was Sacred Heart by Liz Suburbia.

Summary: The children of U.S. small-town Alexandria are just trying to live like normal teens until their parents’ promised return from a mysterious, four-year religious pilgrimage, and Ben Schiller is no exception. She’s just trying to take care of her sister, keep faith that her parents will come back, and get through her teen years as painlessly as possible. But her relationship with her best friend is changing, her younger sister is hiding a dark secret, and a terrible tragedy is coming for them all. Filled with teenage loves and fights and parties, Sacred Heart is a wonderful coming-of-age graphic novel set against the threat of a big reckoning that everyone fears is coming but has no proof.

I didn’t love either of these. I’m not a huge reader of graphic novels and these two just weren;t my thing.

On the other hand, I loved Dumplin’  by Julie Murphy.

Summary:Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.

Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.

#alaac15 – Day 4 – quiet, but amazing

Yesterday started off with the YALSA Coffee Klatch with YA Authors. I met up with some Beaverton colleagues and we sat at table 10 of about 50. This was another speed dating event, with authors rotating about every 10 minutes. We only got about 10 authors, but WOW, we got some good ones:

Mariko & Jillian Tamaki of This One Summer

Andrew Smith who was promoting The Alex Crow

Leigh Bardugo talking about  Six of Crows

Marissa Meyer talking about Winter

When it was over, I dashed out to get to Andrew Smith’s book signing & got a copy of his sequel to Winger,  entitled  Stand-off. The I went to watch the parade. I didn’t stay for the whole thing because I was too short to see much and then the crowd was starting to get to me. I don’t really enjoy crowds.

The real highlight of the day were the speeches at the Newbery Caldecott banquet. TEARS!!!!

Dan Santat, who won the Caldecott for The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimagnary Friend.

That man moved the crowd with his soul-baring honesty. If you have a chance to read or listen to his speech, please do so. I am teary-eyed now. I bet you will see yourself in what he has to say.

He was followed by Kwame Alexander,who won the Newbery for The Crossover.

He essentially gave a spoken word performance that was breathtakingly beautiful.

Today will be mundane after all that. My first stop is the on site post office where I will ship books home. I hope the line isn’t too long.

2015 Hub Reading Challenge Check-In #6

This week, I finished two books for the HUB reading Challenge. Quite frankly, with report cards to finish, I am amazed that I read any!

First, I read, the graphic novel  This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki.

This was FANTASTIC! Here is the publisher’s summary:

Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It’s their getaway, their refuge. Rosie’s friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose’s mom and dad won’t stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. It’s a summer of secrets and sorrow and growing up, and it’s a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.

This book felt so real. I could have been either of those girls, doing what they did, thinking like they thought. I think the Tamaki cousins really captured the essence of girls on the edge of adolescence.

Then, I read the book I’ve picked up & put down a lot this year.

The earlier picking up & putting down did not involve any reading of this book. It involved me, picking up the book and thinking “UGH, a basketball book.” And putting it down. So, I finally opened it and read it. So not what I was expecting. I will be honest, I skimmed some of the basketball parts, but the story of the family really got me. As a twin, I loved the twin angle and I think Alexander really gets the complicated relationship twins can have. It isn’t always Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap. Written in verse, the book moves quickly. At first, I had a little trouble distinguishing which of the two boys was talking, but eventually, I got it.

I highly recommend both of these books.