It was a hot day, but that didn't stop the Mock Newbery 2013 Club from meeting and talking about books! We again met at our local library's beautiful gazebo. Members of our club brought books they had read or were in their TBR pile. We also invited the kids to bring a sack lunch. Last time one of the girls brought brownies. Reading and chocolate - now that's what I call heaven! I made up a flier of what each of the teachers in the club had read since our last meeting and how many stars they rated each on Goodreads. The kids also talked about their recommendations and thoughts about whether what they had read were Newbery-worthy. Conversations also wove around vacations, plans for the school year, the Oympics (one student was decorating for a party her family was throwing for the opening ceremonies!), other books that weren't read for the Newbery Club, etc. We also planned for the Newbery Club to continue meeting this school year, but since the kids would be in sixth grade this year and wouldn't have a common time during school to meet, we decided to meet after school. I'm happy about that because I won't be with this district anymore and will be moving to a new school district close by, so I still may be able to meet after school with this group. My former school is also lucky enough to have Barbara O'Connor as a visiting author this year, so I'm going to have to figure out how to visit for that!! Her books were discussed during the meeting since everyone is preparing to see her. My favorite book by her is Greetings From Nowhere, so I put in a plug about that! Then we all had fun going into the air-conditioned library to check out more books! Here is a list of what we talked about this time:
I liked this one a lot! I can't wait to share this with kids during the school year to see what they think!
The kids in the club really enjoyed Three Times Lucky!
I listened to this on audio and LOVED it!
The cat fans in our group highly recommend this one! However, it's not just about a cat. The characters are reconciling their father's death.
I'm currently reading this and enjoying it.
We discussed this important book at our last meeting, but it came up again. This is a favorite of several of our members who are rooting for it to win the Newbery.
More of our members are reading this book, too, and we all love it. Both Glory Be and The Lions of Little Rock have sparked conversations about empathy and disbelief that this kind of segregation and discrimination happened in our country.
Our librarian and co-leader read this one and really enjoyed it. It's in my TBR pile.
We admired the illustrations in this little book, and the members who read it said their only complaint was that they wished it was longer!
I've put this amazing book in my blog before, but our librarian just read it, so I get to brag about it some more. LOVE it! None of the kids have read it yet, so I'm really looking forward to hearing what they think. We gave it a good plug and one of the kids took it home.
Our other co-leader enjoyed this book and called it quirky and fun. It's now in my TBR pile.
This was in one of the kids' piles. I'm looking forward to reading it!
Several of us have read this one, and we like it a lot. Clever premise!
I've blogged about this title before, too, but each time someone in our club reads it, it gets brought up again because everyone loves it. Our librarian told a story about how she connected to it.
A couple kids read this book and enjoyed it.
I'm so excited that children's authors have given us such a wide array of great books to read and discuss. There are so many more we need to read and lots more coming out before the end of the year. Here are some titles I'm looking forward to reading:
So little time, so many books!
I love that your readers read & talk & eat brownies right through the summer. Hope you enjoy CAPTURE THE FLAG!
ReplyDeleteI've read and loved many of these and am looking forward to reading the ones I haven't!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, so little time, so many books.
Sounds like fun! I hope y'all get a chance to read On the Road to Mr. Mineo's. Looking forward to my visit.
ReplyDeleteAND I hope I get to see you. Thanks for plugging Greetings from Nowhere.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Holly. We can share it with everyone at Mock Newbery Club during our first after school meeting in August. I'm feeling so good about this group and the deep connections we are making with our some of our favorite students AND some of our favorite authors. This is why I love social media. :)
ReplyDeleteThese kids aren't going to forget this time with their teachers (and chocolate with books!). I'm delighted to know GLORY BE shares such good company. Thank you for this post.
ReplyDeleteThanks for including THE FALSE PRINCE, Holly. I hope your kids enjoy it as much as you did!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting my blog, Jen! I'm excited to share The False Prince with my students this year!
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