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.

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

 

 

 

 

 

Random book thoughts

I’ve been reading a lot for the Morris award lately and haven’t read as much else outside of school. At school, however, a lot is happening, so, I thought I’d share some of what I’m up to and thinking about.

Last week, a Scholastic order came in which included a paperback copy of Kate DiCamillo’s Flora and Ulysses.  It perplexed me at first. Something was not right. Then I realized they had changed to color of the cover. When I first  read the book, and when I read a student’s copy tot he class, it was fairly pink. The new cover on the paperback is more blue. It got me wondering if they’s changed it to encourage more boys to read it.

Before:                                                      After:

                   

 

In Reading, we are looking at nonfiction text right now and talking about a whole host of things. I’m using  Mosquito Bite by Alexandra Siy and Dennis Kunkel, as my intentional read aloud,

My kids are so excited about this book. I’ve only read the first third but they are begging me to not do other work so they can hear the rest. Yup, I hooked them!

Finally, I just started R. J. Palacio’s Wonder, for my after lunch read aloud.

This is not really on anybody’s radar. A few kids said they seen the book, but hadn’t read it and didn’t really know anything about it. PERFECT!! They loved Auggie’s voice from the start and I can see them wondering about what he looks like. We are looking for clues that the author is leaving for us.

The Scar Boys: What I wanted Wonder to be

Let me start by saying I liked Auggie Pullman, protagonist of Wonder  by R. J. Palacio. It was a touching book and Auggie is sweet and likable. I didn’t love the book like so many people did. I felt it was a little too idealistic. You should still read it, if you haven’t already

The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos, has the edge I wanted  Wonder to have. Harry Jones is likable, though a little less so than Auggie. He’s older than Auggie, but has a facial deformity due to a traumatic event in his childhood. Like Auggie, Harry also has one friend, Johnny, that helps him navigate the world of friendships. But unlike Auggie, Harry knows there will be no easy path or happy ending; he will always be an outsider.

Harry and Johnny form a bad, The Scar Boys, and it takes them through middle and high school. They are actually good and, in the summer after their senior year in high school, The Scar Boys go on a road trip. It ends badly, as you might expect, so I’m not really giving a lot away by telling you that it does. What The Scar Boys  does, that Wonder  didn’t for me, was really show the hurt and damage Harry’s disfigurement has on his psyche. Harry is a flawed hero. It is an emotionally raw book, without being heavy and dark.

If you liked  Wonder,  I highly recommend you give The Scar Boys  a read.