This week’s booktalks 10/1-5

Monday

Zero Tolerance  by Claudia Mills

 

Tuesday

Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer

 

Wednesday

The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor  by Sonia Sotomayor

Friday

Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Readers)  by Bryan Stevenson

 

This week’s booktalks 10/2-6

It was series week in my classroom. All my booktalks were about the first book in a series I thought my students might enjoy.

MONDAY I talked about Spy School by Stuart Gibbs. In addition to talking about that series, I also shared some of his other series.

TUESDAY, I went a little more serious with Silverwing  by Kenneth Oppel.

WEDNESDAY, I went for spooky with Jonathan Stroud’s first Lockwood & Co. book – The Screaming Staircase.

THURSDAY,  I veered into the history of World War I and talked about Steampunk by talking about Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld.

And, finally, on FRIDAY, I booktalked L. A. Meyer’s Bloody Jack,  the first book in a series I hold very dear.

 

 

 

This week’s book talks 11/29-12/2

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.

Twelve

Rather than doing a countdown until Monday, the day the ALA Youth Media Awards are announced, perhaps you’ve noticed, I’ve been counting up.

Wild Rover No More is the twelfth and final novel in the Jacky Faber series by L. A. Meyer.

It is full of the same Jacky Faber wit and adventure. I am only half way through the audiobook, but I am enjoying it as I have enjoyed all the others. This is bittersweet though, because this will truly be the last book. L.A. Meyer passed away just before the book came out, from complications from Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Publisher’s Weekly wrote a wonderful obituary, that you can read here.

What I have to mention is the fabulous job Katherine Kellgren has done narrating the series. She has won awards for a few of the Jacky books and I have sought out other audiobooks by her. She opens this audiobook with a tribute to L. A. Meyer.

So, in a fighting tribute to Jacky Faber, who loved Boston, here are the Dropkick Murphys. I think Jacky would like their attitude.

Progress on my summer reading goal

One of my summer reading goals was to work my way through the “Jacky Faber” audiobooks. I’m not as far along as I’d like to be. There are 11 books so far.

• Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary Jacky Faber, Ship’s Boy (2002)
• The Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady (2004)
• Under the Jolly Roger: Being an Account of the Further Nautical Adventures of Jacky Faber (2005)
• In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber (2006)
• Mississippi Jack: Being an Account of the Further Waterborne Adventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman, Fine Lady, and the Lily of the West (2007)
• My Bonny Light Horseman: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, in Love and War (2008)
• Rapture of the Deep: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Soldier, Sailor, Mermaid, Spy (2009)
• The Wake of the Lorelei Lee: Being an Account of the Adventures of Jacky Faber, on her Way to Botany Bay (2010)
• The Mark of the Golden Dragon: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Jewel of the East, Vexation of the West, and Pearl of the South China Sea (2011)
• Viva Jacquelina! Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber Over the Hills and Far Away (2012)
• Boston Jacky: Being an Account of the Further Adventures of Jacky Faber, Taking Care of Business (2013)

 

 

“Wild Rover No More: Being the Last Recorded Account of the Life & Times of Jacky Faber”  will be release in November 2014. I already have it on hold at the library and it is a bittersweet prospect because the author vows this will be the last Jacky Faber book. . I have some work to do because yesterday, I finished #3. I read # 10 for the HUB reading Challenge, which is the event that precipitated my summer reading goal. I like Viva Jacquelina so much, I needed to know the back story. Today, I will start #4, which I have downloaded to my computer.

One reason I am a little behind is that I’ve been listening to them in the car and I don’t drive as much in summer. In fact, I impose “no driving days” on myself. These are days when I can leave the house to walk the dogs or do errands on foot, but I only go as far as I can by foot. It certainly changes the pace of a day.

Why I like this series: It is fun, historical fiction. Jacky Faber is the Forrest Gump of the Napoleonic Wars. Jacky is charming and funny, musically talented and adventurous. She does have a naughty and risqué side, but she is just naughty and risqué enough to make me smile.

Why I like this audiobooks: Two words: Katherine Kellgren. WOW! She totally captures Jacky’s spirit and has a beautiful singing voice. She has won several awards for her reading of the Jacky books and she is the reason why I choose to listen to the books rather than read them on the more traditional manner.

If you live locally, the Multnomah County Library has all the audiobooks, so you can get started on this wonderful series.

Summer Reading Goal #1

Only 3 more days of school. I can hardly wait. It has been a really good year bit I am ready for a little down time and Lots of reading & knitting. I have stacks of books and piles of yarn just waiting for summer holidays to begin. This week, my goal is to share some of my summer reading plans. Here is my first goal: The Jacky Faber series by L. A. Meyer.

I read my first Jacky Faber book, Viva Jacquelina! as part of this year’s HUB Reading challenge. It was book 10 in the series and I listened to the audio version, read by Katherine Kellgren, who is fantastic. This Spring I listened to the first two books and I am about to listen to the third.

Jacky is a 12-year-old girl when she joins the Dolphin as a ship’s boy. The adventures roll in, one after another,  like the waves on the seashore. She is a sort of 19th century Forest Gump, meeting famous people and getting into situations most people couldn’t even imagine. As the second book ended, Jacky had signed on to the Pequod,  and you know what that means. She is as impulsive as a puppy and as good a friend as anyone has ever written. The books are light and funny and just a rollicking good time.

I highly recommend this series, either in print or audio. I think you will enjoy them as much as I do.