This week’s book talks 4/8-12

Monday

Be Prepared  by Vera Brosgol

Tuesday

Wire and Nerves by Marissa Meyer

Thursday

Legend: The Graphic Novel by Marie Lu

Friday

Birdie  by Eileen Spinelli

This week’s book talks 4/2-6

Back to book talks with a full five-day week. Here are the five books I recommended to my students.

MONDAY

Arlo Finch in the Valley of Fire  by John August
TUESDAY

The Journey of Little Charlie  by Christopher Paul Curtis

WEDNESDAY

Stars Above by Marissa Meyer

THURSDAY

Ice Wolves  by Amie Kaufman

 

FRIDAY

How Dare the Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana

This week’s book talks January 8 – 12

I still feel energetic after my first five-day week since Winter Break ended. Go me!

As a result, I got in a full five books!

Monday: A Night Divided  by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Tuesday: Real Friends by Shannon Hale, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Wednesday: All the Light We Cannot See  by Anthony Doerr

Thursday: The Strange Case of Origami Yoda  by Tom Angleberger

Friday: Fairest by Marissa Meyer

 

 

 

This week’s booktalks 9/18-9/22

Monday, I actually encouraged students to listen to The Inquisitor’s Tale  because the audiobook is rather excellent.

Tired Tuesday, feeling groggy after BTSN, I chose a book I could get super excited about sharing.

Wednesday, I went for inspirational.

Thursday, because we were talking about maps as inspiration for writing personal narratives, I chose The Map Trap, with its obvious connection.

And, finally, Friday, I recommended All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook,  just because I like it. It is the perfect book to curl up with this week.

Revisiting old friends

Although I got the book over a year ago, I finally read Stars Above by Marissa Meyer.

This was a great way to revisit my old friends from the Lunar Chronicles series, without rereading the whole series. A collection of nine short stories, we learn a little more about the characters and their backgrounds.

CONTENTS

The Keeper: A prequel to the Lunar Chronicles, showing a young Scarlet and how Princess Selene came into the care of Michelle Benoit.

Glitches: In this prequel to Cinder, we see the results of the plague play out, and the emotional toll it takes on Cinder. Something that may, or may not, be a glitch….

The Queen’s Army: In this prequel to Scarlet, we’re introduced to the army Queen Levana is building, and one soldier in particular who will do anything to keep from becoming the monster they want him to be.

Carswell’s Guide to Being Lucky: Thirteen-year-old Carswell Thorne has big plans involving a Rampion spaceship and a no-return trip out of Los Angeles.

After Sunshine Passes By: In this prequel to Cress, we see how a nine-year-old Cress ended up alone on a satellite, spying on Earth for Luna.

The Princess and the Guard: In this prequel to Winter, we see a young Winter and Jacin playing a game called the Princess and the Guard…

The Little Android: A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid,” set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles.

The Mechanic: In this prequel to Cinder, we see Kai and Cinder’s first meeting from Kai’s perspective.

Something Old, Something New: In this epilogue to Winter, friends gather for the wedding of the century.

 

 

The Top 10 Novels in my Library

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

 

 

 

 

 

Iko’s story

As I was checking out at the library Wednesday afternoon, my eye scanned the nearby shelf of new YA books. I saw this,

dashed over and grabbed it and added it to my checkout pile. I left the library VERY happy because this is a graphic novel that tells Iko’s story.

Publisher’s Summary: In her first graphic novel, bestselling author Marissa Meyer extends the world of the Lunar Chronicles with a brand-new,action-packed story about Iko, the android with a heart of (mechanized) gold.When rogue packs of wolf-hybrid soldiers threaten the tenuous peace alliance between Earth and Luna, Iko takes it upon herself to hunt down the soldiers’ leader. She is soon working with a handsome royal guard who forces her to question everything she knows about love, loyalty, and her own humanity. With appearances by Cinder, Cress, Scarlet, Winter, and the rest of the Rampion crew, this is a must-have for fans of the bestselling series.

I book talked it yesterday and the excitement was audible among fans of the Lunar Chronicles. I think the others now want to read the Lunar Chronicles.

The graphic novel is a quick read and is the first in a series. I must say that, though I have a poor sense of smell, the ink smell of this blue-toned book was strong. I was stronger and read despite the inky scent. Now I have to wait a year to see what happens to Iko.

 

Ninth Annual Children’s Choice Book Awards Finalists Announced

FEBRUARY 16, 2016

 

KIDS & TEENS TO DETERMINE THE WINNERS BY VOTING AT CCBOOKAWARDS.COM FROM MARCH 8- APRIL 25, 2016
New York, NY — February 16, 2016 – Every Child a Reader (ECAR) and the Children’s Book Council (CBC) have announced the finalists in the ninth annual Children’s Choice Book Awards (CCBA), the only national book awards program where the winning titles are selected by kids and teens. Young readers across the country will determine the winners in all 7 categories of the Children’s Choice Book Awards by voting online at ccbookawards.com from Tuesday, March 8 through Monday, April 25, 2016. In 2015, over 1.3 million votes were cast online by young readers. Winners will be announced during the 97th annual Children’s Book Week (May 2-8, 2016).

The finalists for the K-2, 3-4, and 5-6 Book of the Year categories were selected by kids through the Children’s Choices Program, a joint project of the International Literacy Association (ILA) and the CBC, in which children from different regions of the United States read newly-published children’s and young adult trade books and voted for the ones they liked best. This year, 117,975 votes were cast. 2,000+ votes were cast on Teenreads.com to determine the Teen Book of the Year finalists.

The five finalists in this year’s Children’s Choice Debut Author, Teen Choice Debut Author and Children’s Choice Illustrator categories were determined by two selection committees comprised of librarians, educators, booksellers, and children’s literature experts appointed by Every Child a Reader:

Children’s & Teen Choice Debut Author Committee:

• Jonathan Hunt, Coordinator of Library Media Services, San Diego County Office of Education
• Amanda Hurley, Manager, Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL
• Max Rodriguez, Founder, Harlem Book Fair & Westchester Children’s Book Festival; Publisher, QBR The Black Book Review
• John Schumacher, Ambassador of School Libraries, Scholastic Book Fairs; Founder, Watch, Connect, Read
• Seira Wilson, Senior Books Editor, Amazon.com

Children’s Choice Illustrator Committee:

• Betsy Bird, Collection Development Manager, Evanston Public Library; A Fuse #8 Production (SLJ)
• Julie Danielson, MLS, Founder, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
• Colby Sharp, Teacher, Parma Elementary, MI; Co-Founder, Nerd Camp
• Tegan Tigani, PNBA President; Bookseller and Children’s Book Buyer for Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA; Editor for nwbooklovers.org
• Kimberly L. Jones, Store Manager, Little Shop of Stories, Decatur, GA

The 2016 Children’s Choice Book Awards finalists are:

KINDERGARTEN TO SECOND GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR

• Clark the Shark: Afraid of the Dark by Bruce Hale, illustrated by Guy Francis (HarperCollins Children’s)
• The Little Shop of Monsters by R.L. Stine, illustrated by Marc Brown (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Hachette Book Group)
• Sick Simon by Dan Krall (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Stick and Stone by Beth Ferry, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (HMH Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• To the Sea by Cale Atkinson (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)

THIRD TO FOURTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR

• Escape from the Lizzarks (Nnewts: Book 1) by Doug TenNapel (GRAPHIX, an imprint of Scholastic)
• Fort by Cynthia DeFelice (Farrar Straus Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
• Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
• I’m Trying To Love Spiders by Bethany Barton (Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Monkey and Elephant and a Secret Birthday Surprise by Carole Lexa Schaefer, illustrated by Galia Bernstein (Candlewick Press)

FIFTH TO SIXTH GRADE BOOK OF THE YEAR

• Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman (Scholastic Press)
• Hilo Book 1: The Boy Who Crashed to Earth by Judd Winick (Random House Books for Young Readers)
• Saved By the Bell by Joelle Sellner, illustrated by Chynna Clugston-Flores and Tim Fish (Roar Comics)
• The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John, illustrated by Kevin Cornell (Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books)
• Tom Gates: Everything’s Amazing (Sort Of) by Liz Pichon (Candlewick Press)

TEEN BOOK OF THE YEAR

• A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)
• P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Harper Teen, an imprint of HarperCollins)
• Winter (The Lunar Chronicles) by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR

• Elana K. Arnold for The Question of Miracles (HMH Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Ali Benjamin for The Thing About Jellyfish (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Hachette Book Group)
• Alex Gino for George (Scholastic Press)
• Victoria Jamieson for Roller Girl (Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Kelly Jones for Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books)

TEEN CHOICE DEBUT AUTHOR

• Becky Albertalli for Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda (Balzer + Bray, an imprint of HarperCollins Children’s)
• Kelly Loy Gilbert for Conviction (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
• Adam Silvera for More Happy Than Not (Soho Teen)
• Sabaa Tahir for An Ember in the Ashes (Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Tommy Wallach for We All Looked Up (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)

CHILDREN’S CHOICE ILLUSTRATOR

• Kate Beaton for The Princess and the Pony (Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic)
• Mike Curato for Little Elliot, Big Family (Henry Holt & Co., an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group)
• Greg Pizzoli for Tricky Vic: The Impossibly True Story of the Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower (Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group)
• Antoinette Portis for The Red Hat by David Teague (Disney-Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group)
• Taeeun Yoo for Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev (Paula Wiseman Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster)

A heavenly evening

Marissa Meyer came to Powells yesterday to promote  Stars Above, a Lunar Chronicles story collection.

My teaching partner, Nina, and I had told the kids about the event and announced that we’d be there. Knowing the event would be busy, we arrived about 45 minutes early and it was already packed. One of our students had beat us there. She and her dad were sitting in the second row. The Powells personnel were busily handing out tickets for a drawing and setting up more chairs.Three more of our students arrived. Then a fifth. We caught sight of a sixth in the stacks. By the time Ms. Meyers arrived, all seats were filled and the stacks along the sides of the seating area were packed with fans and their parents. There was an excited buzz in the air.

She began by talking about The Lunar Chronicles and her love for fairy tales. She told the audience about her love for the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. This made Nina and I laugh. We might not have been the oldest people there, but we are a lot older that Meyers, who will turn 32  later this month.

Because of her love for fairy tales, her grandmother gave  her a collection and she had us laughing at how horrified she was when she read Hans Christian Andersen’s original version of her Disney favorite. Then she told us his version, with some funny commentary.

I had my question ready when she opened the floor for questions. I don;t often ask questions in large gatherings like this, but I had a good one and I was thrilled when she called on me. I told her that I thought she’d created a fantastic villain in Levana and how much I disliked that character. So, I told her that because I disliked Levana so much, I didn’t want to read Fairest  and feel sympathy for such an evil queen. So, I asked  her to tell me why I should read it.

She queried the audience to see how many people had read it. Then she asked them how many felt sympathetic for Levana after reading it. Not many hands stayed up. She went on to explain that her intention had not to make readers feel sympathy for Levana, but to explain what happened to her and the bad choices she made, that turned her into the evil queen I hate so much.

The other answer she gave that I really liked was to the young person who asked how to become a writer like her. Yes, she encouraged  them to read and write. What I found most significant was that she also encourage them to let themselves daydream, let their minds wander. She told them to take a walk and not think about what they are writing. She encouraged the to keep with a hobby or activity they enjoy so that, while they are engaged in it, their brain can rest from working on the story,letting the story swirl about in their subconscious so they come back to it with fresh eyes. Amazing!

Finally, it was autograph time. I can hardly wait to read my new book. And yes, I put Fairest on hold at the library. 

Just in time!

I’m about 2 discs from finishing Winter, the audiobook I’m listening to on my daily commute.

And a good thing, too, because guess who will be at Powells in Beaverton on Thursday. MARISSA MEYER! My teaching partner and I are both planning on being there, as are a large number of the girls we teach. We’ve been talking about it and I have it on my homework board.

She’ll be there promoting Stars Above,  a collection of stories about characters from The Lunar Chronicles  series.

And now I have a confession to make. Unless things change radically in these last two discs. I will not read Fairest,  which tells Levana’s story. I dislike her so much, I don’t want to know what happened to turn her into the manipulative evil queen I’ve come to hate. My teaching partner says she will read it because she would like to know. Maybe I’ll ask for a summary.

It is a little bittersweet, coming to the end of a series, but I have really enjoyed the journey with Cinder, Scarlet, Cress and Winter.