Monday, September 16, 2013

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


These are memes started by Teach Mentor Texts and Book Journey, and I'm excited to participate, along with many other bloggers, in reviewing books I read the previous week. I'll be reviewing picture books through adult books.

 


 
Here are the books I read this week:
 
MIDDLE GRADE
 
The Boy On The Porch 
 
 
 
 
This is the book I chose to read for the September Sharon Creech-a-Thon, and I'm so glad I did!  Oh my goodness, what a story. This sparse little novel packs a punch. It reminded me of Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, Baby by Patricia MacLachlan, True (Sort Of...) by Katherine Hannigan, and The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. Creech's language is so carefully chosen and so beautiful, and I saw connections to things we're talking about right now in my 5th grade classes: identity and journeys (our read aloud is RUMP: THE TRUE STORY OF RUMPELSTILTSKIN by Liesl Shurtliff). "Then he thought about names. Your name is important. Your name makes a statement about you. It describes not only who you are but who you might be." I also love the images of shoes in this story, reminding me of the pile of shoes I saw at The Holocaust Museum in Washington, which brought me to tears. There's also a concept of story and how important that our story comes before us and after us.  I loved the parallel of the silent beagle and his devotion to the boy.  I have to say, I was slightly frustrated at the end because I wanted MORE, but I can't wait to give it to some students to see what they think!
 
YOUNG ADULT
 
The Moon and More
 
 
 
 
I can see why teenage girls love Sarah Dessen so much. This is one of her lighter ones; a perfect beach read. It's the summer after Emaline's senior year, and she's had a perfect high school boyfriend in the small beach town of Colby, but trouble in paradise begins. Theo, a big city outsider, comes in helping out on a documentary about one of Colby's mysterious residents, an artist who apparently has an interesting background. When Emaline finds out things aren't so perfect with Luke, she falls for Theo. She also struggles with her absentee father, but she learns to love her endearing half-brother. Teens will love Emaline's imperfections as well as her strengths, and I'm sure this one will be as popular as her others.

 
MIDDLE THROUGH ADULT
 
Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back
 
 
 


"I tell you the truth," Jesus said, "unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." A student insisted I read this, so I finally did, after a long time of hearing about it. I'm so glad I did, and I look forward to talking it over with her. There were several things that especially struck me: the miscarried child, the younger version of the grandfather, pets in heaven, a spiritual war, and the painted image of Jesus captured by a young girl who had a similar experience as Colton.


CURRENTLY READING
 
Counting by 7s
 
CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:
 
The Raven Boys (The Raven Cycle, #1)
 
I'm also reading multiple nonfiction books a little bit at a time!
 
I also feature what my family is reading.  This week I only have a report from my mom and dad.
 
My mom is reading:
 
Sweet Tooth
 
My dad is reading:
 
Stand Proud
 
What are YOU reading this week?




15 comments:

  1. I love that you are featuring what your family is reading too. I recently checked out Heaven is For Real for my mom and she loved it and shared it with so many people. Her taste usually run to your dad's as she likes a good Louie Lamour western. I recently finished the sequel to The Raven Boys but would have liked to have had the audio version to get a better sense of characters and emotion. I am a fan of audio books or this reason.

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    1. The narrator for The Raven Boys is fantastic - captures the mood! I'll look forward to continuing with Dream Thieves! Glad your mom liked Heaven is For Real, too. It was an uplifting read!

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  2. I am a big fan of Stiefvater's Raven Boys books. Enjoy! I really want to read The Boy on the Porch. Thanks for this review.

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    1. I just the first student feedback today on The Boy on the Porch - read it in one school day! She gave it back to me at the end of the day and said, "I LOVED IT!" Yay!

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  3. Love your choices :)))) But seriously: love that you post what you're reading. I'm reading back issues of The New Yorker. . .

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    1. I'm so honored you stopped by! See my reply to Carrie above - the first student review of The Boy on the Porch! SUCCESS!

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  4. I always look forward to your post to see what you are reading. I am a Sharon Creech fan but have not read The Boy on the Porch so looking forward to that one. I just finished Rump - and can't wait to read it to my class. I'm thinking my boys, in particular, will really enjoy the humor. Just started reading Counting By 7's and enjoying it very much. A bit old for my grade 4's but would be a great book for 6/7/8th grades. Thanks, Holly! Have a great week!

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    1. The kids are loving RUMP as a read aloud! They beg for me to keep going after I finish a chapter. I'm looking forward to Counting by 7s!

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  5. I just finished The Boy on the Porch, too. Ooo la la! Loved. So perfect in so many ways.

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    1. So sparse and yet so meaningful! Looking forward to your next one! When is it coming??!!

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  6. Hi Holly, I just requested Boy on the porch from my library. Curious to hear if you think Counting by 7's is good for 4th graders. Enjoy your week!

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  7. Any book by Sharon Creech is a book I need to have. Thanks for sharing today.

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  8. I finished The Boy on the Porch yesterday, too!! I'm getting ready to review it on Goodreads and I was going to start with "Oh my goodness!" Great minds think alike, huh? How cool that Sharon Creech stopped by to comment on your blog, too!! I'm getting ready to start Me Before You by JoJo Moyes (for book club). I'm trying to finish up Endangered (so we can talk about it), and I'm ready to start the new Kathi Appelt book. YAY! I skipped my Monday blog today. I'll have to catch up next week.

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  9. I loved Sarah Dessen's new book. She is such a delight and never disappoints. I just finished Dream Thieves! I am curious to hear your thoughts about it! I hope you have a great reading week. :) :)

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  10. I have a collection of Sharon Creech's novels that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. this one sounds like a new title. I've heard many good things about Counting by 7s. The Raven Boys is also next on my list as I feel that it's perfect for our current bimonthly theme. :)

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