While I was a Stay at Home Mom to my two little boys, I got a Master of Library Science during naptime. Now they're both in school, and I'm a school librarian. Life is good.
I haven't posted because.....I got a full-time librarian job at a K-2 school , and WHEW!, life has been wonderful and BUSY. I'll be honest - there wasn't much reading going on for the first 2 weeks except what I was reading aloud to the kids! I'm still running about 15 miles a week, and we've had a home cooked dinner just about every night - thank you, crockpot....and there are just only so many hours in a day!
Also, I changed the name of this little blog. I never really liked the other one - it was just way too generic for me.
Without further ado, here is what I read this weekend:
My library doesn't have the complete set of these, but they are flying off the shelves. I read the first one this weekend. It's a fun graphic novel for the younger grades. The pictures are bright and lively, and the dialogue is snappy. I have the full set on order for the library. I know it will never be checked in.
I also have this set on order for the library. I read the first one quite awhile ago, so this weekend I read the second one. There are b&w pictures on every page, and lots of white space in the text. They are perfect for the very early transitional reader crowd. My own first grader, Henry, loves them. I've ordered him all of them, and he is plowing through them.
This YA novel is definitely not for my little readers. I'm reading this at night before I go to bed. I'm enjoying it, but I'm not completely hooked at this point.
One day this week, I substituted in a 6th Grade social studies classroom, and they were covering The Baby Boom after WWII, the Civil Rights era, The Cold War, and the creation of NASA. As I was going over the material with them, I thought of several narrative NF titles that would go well with this unit.
I think a selection of these titles would be fabulous to use in Nonfiction Book Circles. Here are some general resources for book circles with specific info for NF Book Circles: http://www.lauracandler.com/strategies/litcirclemodels.php
If I were doing this in my classroom or library, I would do the following (with adjustments made as necessary, of course! That's always my outlook - monitor and adjust!)
-I would start by presenting video book trailers when available. For example:
-I would have them read these books aloud in their groups for at least the first couple of weeks to get into the stories, help each other with vocabulary, etc.
-I would grade based on their preparedness and participation in the literature circles.
-We would divide the book pages equally so that they are all reading to a certain page in their book each week. For example, one group might need to 92 this week while another group might be reading to 99.
-I would have short nonfiction narrative picture books and poetry written about this era to share throughout the unit.
-I would use the Reader's Guides when available to generate discussion questions, and create discussion questions myself when necessary. There is only one book listed here that doesn't have a Reader's Guide!
-I would have the kids contact the authors and see if we could get a response and possibly a Skype session! It's always ok to ask!
We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March by Cynthia Levinson
Many great resources available for teachers and students at the author's website!
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (Book One of The Grisha Trilogy)
The Lone Star Reading List 2013
Which readers? 12 and up
Goodreads rating - 5 stars
Author's website: Leigh Bardugo
This book starts with a beautiful map (drawn by Keith Thompson) that sets the tone for this Russian-esque story. It is not only a lovely drawing, but it is quite helpful in understanding the adventure.
Leigh Bardugo creates a lavish world full of magic, monsters, and good vs. evil in this fantastical tale. Alina is an orphan who has never quite felt like she belonged anywhere. She grew up with another orphan, Mal, and their bond is tested as they both try to make their way in the world. When it is discovered quite by accident during a terrifying attack that Alina has magical powers, she is whisked away to the palace by mysterious and handsome Darkling for her safety and for training....but is The Darkling really her savior? And Alina has not seen Mal since the attack. What has become of him?
I must admit that I am not a huge fantasy reader. Sometimes I can get bogged down in all the strange names and unexpected parameters of these worlds, but I really enjoyed this book. It is not High Fantasy, and Bardugo does an excellent job of making it accessible to a new or reluctant fantasy reader.
This book has richly imagined characters and setting, and there are many fansites and artwork devoted to readers' visions of Ravka and its inhabitants. The triangle created by the relationship between Alina, Mal, and The Darkling provides and abundance of material and possibilities! The next book in this trilogy comes out in June 2013.
Fan Sites/Blog Posts: This blog has fantastic photos/artwork for what the characters might look like.
The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen 2013 Lone Star Reading List
Which readers? 4th grade and up
My Goodreads rating - 5 Stars
Young Sage is an orphan with a history of thievery and deception who is used to living by his wits when necessary. When he is suddenly forced into a game with three other orphans where he must choose to lie and impersonate a prince or he will die, he has to learn to play the game to his advantage at every possible turn. Not everyone is as they seem, and even the game is not exactly as he has been told.
From the first page, this book grabbed my attention as the plot raced ahead. This book has it all - a tight storyline, friendship, secrets, villains, camaraderie, and even a tiny bit of romance. The ending is absolutely astounding....and that is all I can say without giving a spoiler. I highly recommended this to my fourth grader, and I think kids all the way through middle school will enjoy it.
-------------------------------------------
I've now read 6 out of the twenty books on the Lone Star list. (Wonder, Cinder, Steve Jobs bio, The Lions of Little Rock, Almost Home, and The False Prince) I'm currently listening to Curveball when I run, and finishing up Shadow and Bone. Reviews to come!
My good friend asked me for a bedtime readaloud recommendation for her 3rd grade daughter, P. I recommended Wonder by Palacio, and of course it was a huge hit. P's school recently had a book parade, and she made herself a paper mache astronaut helmet for her Auggie costume. So cute! Great job!
It has been a busy week around here with a sick child and crazy work schedules. I have not read as much as I would like! So it goes.
My kindergartener has discovered Bad Kitty books, and so I got as many as I could from the library. These are so funny and make us both laugh out loud. These look like BIG chapter books, but each page is pretty light on text and heavy on pictures. He gets great satisfaction out of being able to read such a thick book.
For our bedtime read-aloud, we've been reading a chapter of Daisy Dawsonand The Secret Pond every night. In the first chapter, there is a wasp that brought my 4th grader, Leo, out of his bedroom to listen, too. The wasp says things like "BUZZY-WHAT? BUZZY-WHAT? LIAR-BUZZ! LIAR-BUZZ! LIE!", and I read his parts in a fun little sing-song that had both little boys laughing.
The big hit for Leo this week has been Ender's Game. Todd (dad) recommended this to him, and they have just had great discussions about it. Todd is a huge sci-fi fan, and so he always has great recommendations.
I read Locomotion on the recommendation of a colleague after a discussion of middle grade novels written in free verse. I enjoyed this book and thought Lonnie was a compelling protagonist. I like that Woodson left some ambiguity in his feelings and made him so 3-dimensional.
I started The False Prince yesterday. Since I've finished the Bluebonnet List for this year, I thought I would focus on the Lone Star list a little bit. When I finish this one, I'll have read 5 of the 20 books on that list. So far, this is a great book! I think my Leo will like it.
This is a free app that I downloaded to my iphone. It was not available for ipad. Vine allows the user to create 6 second looping videos that are then shared on the Vine app, Facebook, or Twitter. You can also email them to yourself to get a link to embed them on your blog, etc. This app was very fun and easy to use. You can see examples of very creative little videos via the app and at this blog post. This app feels very much like the video head cousin of Instagram.
Here is my simple video tour of our backyard. It is such a beautiful day - I just wanted to go outside! How would this app be used in the classroom or library? Making a short how-to video to go with a how-to paper. Give a tour. Make a stop motion animated book trailer. The possibilities are, of course, endless.
(Click in the box to turn on the movie. You need to click on the little speaker at the top left to hear my amazing commentary, I think.)
I downloaded iMovie to my iPad mini and experimented with making a video of our family, just for practice. The app cost $4.99. I made the videos with my iPhone because I just wasn't thinking, and then I needed to get them to my iPad. So, a quick Google search led me to a free app, Simple Transfer, that would let me send my videos between devices via our wireless network. Very simple to use. I added all my videos to iMovie, edited out the little parts that I didn't want, added captions, etc. iMovie was very user friendly and never made me want to pull my hair out. That is a very important rating system. :) Leo (fourth grade) loves to use iMovie.
Next, I uploaded it to YouTube so that I would be able to share it here. The first time I uploaded to YouTube, you could barely hear any of the audio. I went back into the editing screen of iMovie and turned the volume up as high as it would go, and then I uploaded it again. Strangely, Henry's talking at the end was very understandable, but the rest of us were still too quiet. When I checked back on the editing screen, his was the only volume that had stayed at max. So I moved them all to max AGAIN and made sure that they stayed that way. The third time was the charm, and here is my little video.
And, finally, MS Movie Maker.
I took a little class on how to use this software during the TLA convention. When I got home, I discovered that we had an older version of movie maker. I wanted to use the same little clips that I used in the iMovie video above to basically make the same movie and compare the two tools. You will notice that there is no movie shared below. The short story is that I made the video, but I can't get it to share to YouTube without a bunch of hoops, so I have given up for a little while. I will come back to it. Here is the LONG version.
*The video clips were made on IPhones. I had to download a converter to change them from .MOV to .MPEG. I found a free one to use. It installed a bunch of junk on my computer, too! Yay!
*In my little TLA class, I learned to make an animated slide on PowerPoint and then save it as a .wmv. This can be used as the intro/title slide on the movie, and it will have great little animations. Well, I have Power Point 07, and it does not have the capability to save a file as a .wmv. I tried using Google Presentations, but that couldn't do it either. So I decided - ok, no animation. I'll just import the plain ppt title slide. I did, and it worked fine.
*I spent about two hours making the movie, adding captions, a closing credits slide, getting everything edited just right. The editing was not as easy as it is on iMovie.
*When I went to upload it to YouTube, it would not accept it as a .whatever (haha) that came from Movie Maker. It turns out that the newer version of Movie Maker can export it straight to YouTube, but our old version does not. I need to download yet ANOTHER converter to do this, and so I decided I was done with this for awhile.
It was definitely easier on the newer version of Movie Maker that we used in the class, so I will try again when I have access to that. It's a free download, but I think I've had all the technology fun I can stand for today. I like the flexibility that MSMM offers over iMovie, but iMovie definitely does not have quite so steep a learning curve. And, of course, the old software was a big frustration. I should have just uploaded it from the beginning, but I did not realize it was free. I thought it was part of the whole Office suite pkg.
What other movie sharing apps/software/etc. should I experiment with?
After attending the nonfiction narrative picture books authors' discussion panel with Shana Corey, Tanya Lee Stone, Doreen Rappaport, Melissa Sweet, and Candace Fleming. I was inspired to read some of their books that I haven't read and reread one or two of my favorites.
The panel talked about how they approach subjects that have already been the subject of many books, and Doreen Rappaport said that her research into a biography for The Statue of Liberty led her to write from the perspective of the many people who played roles in bringing Lady Liberty to the US. She includes the many players such as sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, poet Emma Lazarus, newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer, and many more. Each page has large, sweeping illustrations by Matt Tavares and short free verse poems by Rappaport. This approach definitely brings a fresh and unique perspective to an American icon.
Next up, Shana Corey...
\\
When I attended the panel discussion, I had already read Here Come the Girl Scouts and knew it was amazing. Then I listened to Shana Corey talk about how she is drawn to strong women who made history but whose paths were not always straight to their goals. They made mistakes. They had setbacks. These women stood on the shoulders of other women, and then other women eventually advanced their causes further. Corey writes about the women who made huge changes that might now seem small (bathing suits? bloomers? girls forming an outdoor club?), but now we see how these seemingly tiny causes are the stuff from which equal rights are born.
All the illustrators here are phenomenal artists. I can't really do these three illustrators justice in a paragraph. They deserve a post of their own. I am always instantly drawn to any illustrations by Fotheringham.
And then Corey said during the discussion that she is in the midst of raising two boys and trying to find great literature to which they can connect. She had a fan for life at that point. :)
And, finally, a narrative NF picture book by Tanya Lee Stone.
When I was in high school, I took a great art history class. I can still remember the day that the teacher showed the slide (yes, from a slide reel) of a mobile by Alexander Calder. I was inspired and awed by the majesty of this simple sculpture suspended in midair. Before this panel, I am ashamed to say that I had not read the any of Stone's nonfiction! I also did not know about this book on Calder! It is a beautiful book that conveys the depth of Calder's devotion to his craft and the dichotomy of this large man creating this delicate circus made from wire that attracted the attention of millions. Kulikov's colorful and detailed illustrations pull the reader into Calder's creative process as he works to make his vision a reality.
What am I reading now?
I was just so impressed with the discussions of the depth of research that goes into these books. It made me want to read the books because I know that every fact has been triple checked...and then checked one more time. It made me realize, once again, how important it is to connect kids with authors because hearing about their process is important for becoming both a writer and a reader.
I am listening to Almost Astronauts when I run and also when I do the household drudgery.
My week of practicing what I learned at TLA continues!
One site that I heard about in many sessions was Padlet. (Padlet used to be called Wallwisher.) I tried it out today by creating a bulletin board about three of my favorite narrative nonfiction picture books about strong women. This site is so user friendly and visually appealing. Elements are easy to add, easy to move, and offer several interactive options. The wall/bulletin board can also be shared so that group members can add their own posts, votes, thoughts, etc. Users are also given a QR code for their wall that can be shared. Padlet would be great for showing what they know, voting, discussing, and it's just a fun way to share learning.
Padlet reminds me a lot of Lino. I created a Lino board last year about Wonder by Palacio. Again, this has the option for sharing with a group so that others can contribute, but it does not want to work well with Blogger, so I've had trouble sharing it here. Lino is very user friendly, and could be used for the same types of activities as Padlet. And it's just plain fun to use colored "sticky notes" on the computer screen!
There are other web based wall/BB tools available. I found this list that seems to have several options (and several things in the list that don't really apply, of course. An example of why we have to think critically when we Google and find info on the Internet! Great teaching opportunity.).
This is a screenshot of the App that Henry and I created today! Here is THE LINK to our app where the buttons actually work!
I learned so many wonderful things at the TLA convention last week, and I am spending some time practicing them so that I will really know how to use them! One of the web based tools that I heard about was iBuildApp.com. This is a site that lets a user create their very own tablet or phone app for free! Henry, my kindergartener, is home sick from school today, so we gave it a try. He chose to make an app about one of his favorite presidents, George Washington, that lists facts, fun facts, and his favorite books about GW. Yes, I realize that "facts" and "fun facts" are very similar, but he insisted that these be the buttons. I think he really means "facts" and "fun trivia," but we will definitely go with his word choice. We worked together on this, and I don't think most kindergarteners could do it completely alone. Older elementary students could do this with minimal help. There are a few problems in the WYSIWYG editor. I could not get the background color to change, although I found the button for this. When I changed the text size, it did not show in the editor, but it did show on the preview screen. I think this tool still has a few glitches, but I'm sure these will be worked out. Some of our issues could have been user error. That is always a possibility! I think that the ability to create their own apps will be very appealing to students as a way to show what they've learned.
Students could use this to create ebooks of their own writing, for any school project, to classify books that they've read and show them to friends....the possibilities are endless. These apps can also be changed and updated when necessary. GREAT tool!
Today is the last day of Poetry Month, so I thought I'd create a couple of booktalks for poetry books using avatars I made at Voki, a website that I heard about at one of the sessions I attended last week at the TLA convention. First up, Step Gently Out written by Helen Frost & pictures by Rick Lieder. For this one, I called in and recorded my own voice for the avatar's words.
Next up is Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems by Kate Coombs and illustrated by Meilo So. I chose to type in my text and use a fish with an animated ocean background (fun!) and an Australian accent (even more fun!) for this one.
My review of Voki: This website is easy to use for creating avatars, and I think children will enjoy the multitude of options available. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to change the basic characters because the different categories are on a very small sliding bar under the "Head" option. Once I understood how to get to all the choices, the rest of it was very simple. My audio is not perfect on the avatar where I called in, but I think that is probably more a function of my phone than the website, and also it could possibly be affected by my LouisiTexas accent! When I entered my text for Water Sings Blue, I hit a character limit that would not let me include everything I wanted to say. Final thoughts: I think kids will jump at the chance to use these, and it's also a great way to let them include themselves in a project without using their actual picture when there are privacy concerns. These could be used in conjunction with many other applications to add interest and variation, and I know students will come up with so many more ideas than I ever could!
I've read a few books this week! One because I worked hard to get it read during TLA, and the others occurred during bedtime routines and a date night to Barnes and Noble with my handsome/amazing husband.
The Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron by Mary Losure. Ill. by Timothy Basil Ering
Which readers? 3rd and up
This little book reads like a novel, but the research and careful attention to detail tell the reader the real-life story of the Savage of Aveyron from France in the late 1700s/early 1800s. Losure's obviously meticulous research shows through in the many varied sources that she uses to anchor this story as much as possible. There are many times when she has to make suppositions as the story of this boy's life moves forward, but these are clearly noted. Losure's story follows "Victor" from the forests of France to unhappy institutions and eventually to people who genuinely love him and become family. Losure's afterword also show how the efforts to help this boy affect modern educational pedagogy (i.e., Maria Montessori's methods).
Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee. Ill. by Tony Fucile
Which readers? K and up
Henry (our kindergartener, age 6) and I have a special place in our heart for the Bink & Gollie series. It's smart, precocious, and just so witty. I'll come straight to the point. This one just really didn't get the same amazed reaction from either of us. I had to explain a lot of things to him. He didn't understand Gollie's brush with royalty in the first chapter at all. The book didn't hold his attention, and he thought it was really very strange that Bink smeared peanut butter on her sculpture made from her recycled Stretch-O-Matic machine. As we progressed through the book, the word that kept flitting through my head was "disjointed." We are still hardcore B&G fans. We will be the first in line for the next installment. But this third in the series is just no Two for One.
October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
Which readers? Older Middle school +
One of my favorite literature professors from TWU, Dr. Sylvia Vardell, writes a wonderful poetry blog. Every January, she publishes her "Best Of" poetry list for the previous year. I try to read as many of these as I can. This week, I readthis beautiful book of poetry telling the story of the death of Matthew Shepard from many different viewpoints, such as the bartender who was the last friendly person he talked to, the police officers, his family, the killers, and even the fence post to which he was tied. Newman's poetry is sparse, haunting, and most definitely thought provoking.
National Geographic Book of Animal Poetry ed. by J. Patrick Lewis
Which readers? Preschool and up
This is another great selection highlighted on Dr. Vardell's list. This delightful collection is wonderful because of both the poems and the pictures. For some reason, I put off picking up this book for the longest time because it had that National Geographic logo on it. I guess that is because that logo makes it seem a bit like a manufactured series to me, but this is definitely a gem of a poetry collection.
A Long Way Away: A Two Way Story by Frank Viva
Which readers? Preschool and up
I picked up this little picture book last night, and I was immediately grabbed by the unique illustrations that have a nostalgic, retro feel. I gave it four stars on GoodReads....probably influenced by the fact that it has an average of 3.64 stars. (hanging head in shame. Must not let my personal opinion be swayed by GoodReads averages!!!). I have thought of this lovely little book several times today. The colors are so striking, and the unique nature of the book (you can read it forwards...or backwards for a different story!). Then I noticed a 7-Imp blog post via The Niblings on FB about this author and his upcoming book about Frank Lloyd Wright! If you write about FLW, you have my full attention. Frank Viva is now officially on my watch list! High honors. haha.
What am I reading next? Oh, I just don't know! Too tired after TLA and a family visit this weekend! Will decide tomorrow (writing this on Sunday night). I have The Whizz Pop Chocolate Shop and The Quilt Walk among about 10 others in my book bag.
I was ecstatic to get to go to the Texas Library Association Annual Convention this year! It was held in Fort Worth, and of course that was very convenient for me. I drove down to the airport every day and parked at the TRE Station, and then I rode the train into downtown Fort Worth and walked the couple of blocks to the convention.
It has been a few years since I've been able to attend a convention. Actually, the last time I went, I kept feeling strange waves of nausea during the sessions. It turned out those waves of nausea were the beginnings of Leo. It was basically impossible to attend with a child in preschool (9am-2pm), a child in elementary school, a full-time working/commuting husband, and the travel that would have been involved because the convention was not local. So when I say that I was ecstatic in my first sentence, you can picture me beaming on the train to Fort Worth and then floating down the sidewalk to the convention center. It was a very big deal to me. It was something I was doing just for my career, and a symbol that we have entered a new stage in our family's development. Same as when I went back to work in the fall.
Oh, and I saw lots of great authors! I ran into Blue Balliett in the bathroom, and I exclaimed "Oh! I've read your books!" before I could stifle myself. I could possibly be on her stalker list now. Hopefully not. :)
OK, enough introspection! Listed below are the sessions I attended. It's fun just to look back at what I learned, and I also want to have the list to refer to in the future.
WEDNESDAY
12pm - 50 Years of Librarianship: Trends from the Texas Library Journal.During this session, I realized that I was sitting in front of my supervisor from my school librarian practicum (think student teaching for librarians), and we had a lovely chat after the session.
1pm - Bytes of Technology: Fill Your Plate with 21st Century Learning tools in the School Library.I picked up so many great new apps, websites, etc. during this! Now I need to go and try each one so that I really understand them.
2pm - Connecting the Caldecott Award Books to the Science TEKS.An Irving ISD school librarian gave examples of how he uses Caldecott Books to teach the science TEKS. Great ideas and lots of inspiration here.
4pm - Guys Listen with Jon Scieszka.Jon Scieszka presented his new endeavor to get boys reading through audiobooks they will love. We are all avid audiobookers at my house, so all the research about how beneficial audiobooks are was not news to me. I'm so glad someone is focusing on the unique needs of boys. I have listened to SweetFarts twice in my car now. It's definitely NOT my favorite, but the boys love it. THURSDAY
10:15 am - You're Not Bilingual - So What?Three practicing librarians gave tips, ideas, and many online resources for planning storytimes, ordering materials, etc. when you are a non-bilingual librarian working in a bilingual or multilingual school. Fabulous!
1pm - Free Technology for Teachers: Discovery, Discussion, and Demonstration.The famous (in teacher circles, anyway!) Richard Byrne who writes Free Technology for Teachers presented many many MANY fabulous ideas for using technology. Mind. Blown.
2pm - Best of Both: Nonfiction Picture Book Author Discussion Panel. Wow, I was so excited about this one, and it more than lived up to my expectations. I have a special interest in NF lit for kids, and this was a panel discussion among some of my favorite authors and the great author/illustrator Melissa Sweet. I have discussed several of them on my blog - Sweet, Shana Corey from Here Come the Girl Scouts and Candace Fleming who wrote The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary. The incomparable Doreen Rappaport and Tanya Lee Stonewere also on the panel.
3pm - Tell It! A Storytelling Crash Course. I got to hear some great storytelling, and I heard some great tips for becoming a better storyteller.
FRIDAY
10:15am - School Library 101 or 911. This was an information session for new librarians or librarians who walk into a new job where the library needs a lot of work. There were so many GREAT and PRACTICAL tips here, and lots of real world stories. The librarians were great presenters, and they had my rapt attention. I thought maybe this would be a good session, and I spent most of the weekend telling my husband interesting things that I learned in this one.
11:30am - Lights, Camera, Libraries! Act 1: Using Windows Live Movie Maker (Hands On) - This was a ticketed event that I purchased when I registered. It was just a quick class, but it whet my appetite enough that I am going to give Movie Maker a try soon. And, I actually thought I was going to an iMovie class. I was in a conference daze by this point.
1pm - Copyright - Don't Panic!!! - Two attorneys/librarians presented on copyright. This is always a hot topic for librarians. It was a big room that was full, and most of the attendees were school librarians.
2pm - I started a session, but I found that my brain was just on OVERLOAD! I went to look at the vendors. I got Henry an Elephant and Piggie shirt. No big kid character shirts for Leo, though. I got a coffee and took a break!!!
4pm - Lights, Cameras, Libraries! Act 2: Video Strategies that Work - I attended the second half of the Movie Maker class. Got some Do's and Don't's for making good videos.
And then I caught the train home! Happy Librarian! Great conference.
Joining in for the first time on the "It's Monday! What Are You Reading?" fun at Teach Mentor Texts.
I am "not working" today, so here is how I spent my morning!
Gingersnap by Patricia Reilly Giff
Which readers? 8 and up
Two-time Newbery Honor winner Giff gives us this lovely novel about home, family, and finding a place to belong. Since the death of her parents when she was a baby, Jayna has been bounced around from foster home to foster home. After a brief and happy stay with her brother, she is forced to live with their landlady when her brother must ship out to serve in the Pacific Theater in WWII. Jayna remembers that her brother mentioned that there was a box on a high shelf that might hold some secrets about their family When news comes that her brother might not return, she decides to take her destiny in her own hands and find out if there is a place where she might really belong.
This is a fast read, and it involves a little bit of a ghost story. The ghost is friendly, and there is nothing here that will scare young readers. There are several little mysteries wrapped up in this story, and readers will enjoy unwrapping all the little puzzle pieces to find the whole picture. I think third grade and up, especially girls, will enjoy this heartwarming tale.
Unwholly by Neal Shusterman
Which readers? middle school and up
Eek, this awful picture after that sweet little title above! With only one John Green title left that I haven't read, I am waiting to read An Abundance of Katherines. I listened to Unwind by Shusterman last week, so this week I am reading Unwholly on the Ipad. I am enjoying it, so far, but I'm not devouring it as quickly as I did the first in the series. Perhaps the difference is because I am not listening to it. I also listened to Bruiser by Shusterman in the last couple of weeks. Although I had mixed feelings about the ending and some aspects of the story troubled me, I fell in love with Bruiser in spite of myself.
What's on deck? This is what's in my cart on Amazon and on hold at the library: (And I can't WAIT to read the next Bink and Gollie with my very favorite kindergartener!)
\
\\
