And the winner is…

The first ever Stoller Middle School Mock Newbery Club concluded Tuesday. Students voted, feasted and got to choose some books to take home with them. Here is what they chose.

The Mock Newbery Winner: Forget me Not by Ellie Terry

They chose two Mock Newbery Honor books

Real Friends  by Shannon Hale and Refugee by Alan Gratz

  

They are excited to see what the official Newbery Award committee selects on February 12th. You can watch the announcements live here. I’ll be in the audience, sitting with my Sibert colleagues.

 

Timely & powerful

Thanks to everyone who helped me complete the second grant for books for my Mock Newbery Club. This second grant will help me get titles that were published recently. One of those is Alan Gratz’s Refugee.

It intertwines the stories of three refugees children.

From the author’s website:

Josef is a Jewish boy in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world…

Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety and freedom in America…

Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe…

All three young people will go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers–from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But for each of them, there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, surprising connections will tie their stories together in the end.

This one will give middle grade readers insight into the refugee crisis they see in the news today, and how that connects to refugee crises of the past. We talk a lot about how reading creates empathy. This novel will soften the hearts of anyone interested in reading about global issues.

Chapters alternate between the three stories, and Gratz is a master of knowing just where to stop to keep you reading.

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone who has donated to my project to get books for a Mock Newbery Club. The Donors Choose fundraiser finished and most of the books arrived this week.

I couldn’t order everything I wanted through their program which utilizes Amazon Business. I have a second fundraiser going through a local  school district-based organization, the Beaverton Education Foundation.  I will use that fundraiser to order the rest of the books through Powells Books, who have been great supporters of Beaverton schools.

I am only $250 away from fulfilling that fundraiser. Your tax-deductible donation to the Stoller Middle School Mock Newbery Club,  no matter how small, can help me provide students with the books that will make our Club a wonderful experience. Just click on the link above. 

A shameless plea for your help

Dear Readers,

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I want to run a Mock Newbery Club at my school this year. I have a great list of books for the students to read and discuss.

 

I want to make sure my students have the materials they need to succeed, so I just created a DonorsChoose.org classroom request:

A Middle School Mock Newbery Club

  

Give to my classroom by August 16, 2017 and your donation will be doubled thanks to DonorsChoose.org. Just enter the code LIFTOFF during checkout and you’ll be matched dollar for dollar (up to $50).

 

I m also running a fundraiser through a district based organization, the Beaverton Education Foundation. These donations are tax-deductible. You can donate to my project at this link: Stoller Middle School Mock Newbery Club 2017

  

In return, you’ll get awesome photos of your gift in action and our heartfelt thanks.

Thank you so much,
Adrienne

P.S. If you know anyone who may want to help my students, please pass this along!