It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

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

 

These are the titles I read this week:

 

 

allusion, books-about-books, character-traits, graphic-novel, humor, imagination, reading-gap-challenge-2013, visual-literacy

4 of 5 stars

	So funny! Babymouse wants the grand prize in the libary fund-raiser and tries everything just to realize the prize wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Typical. I love Babymouse's imagination and spunky spirit!

allusion, books-about-books, character-traits, graphic-novel, imagination, math-connections, reading-gap-challenge-2013, visual-literacy, vocabulary 5 of 5 stars I loved this Babymouse story! Poor Babymouse is recruited onto the math quiz team after receiving an F- on a test. She is a self-proclaimed failure at math (and the narrator agrees). How will she ever survive? This one is full of fantasy story allusions - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Hobbit, Harry Potter, etc. Such funny lines, too, from the geometry whiz, Lucy, the bat (I love the upside down speech bubbles from her) and the narrator. I love the evil Owlgorithms!   allusion, books-about-books, character-traits, dogs, graphic-novel, humor, idioms, reading-gap-challenge-2013 4 of 5 stars This time Babymouse is convinced she wants a pet, but she's not very good at taking care of them. In fact, a lot of them just up and disappeared!! I love the "missing" pictures on the milk cartons at the end. Glad this one referred to Charlotte's Web, my favorite children's book!     allusion, character-traits, friendship, graphic-novel, humor, imagination, individuality, reading-gap-challenge-2013, theme 5 of 5 stars Awww! I LOVE Babymouse! I got around to reading the first one after reading several others first. Babymouse teaches kids to be themselves (curly whiskers and all - love that!), be happy about who they are and what they have, and be good to true friends!     I love the Jennifer Holm and Matthew Holm brother/sister team who create Babymouse and Squish graphic novels!  Graphic novels was a book gap of mine, so I'm working hard to read more of them because my students LOVE them!     Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz 4.5 of 5 stars audio-book, award-winner, fantasy-science-fiction, historical-fiction, intermediate-kids-book, mood-tone, setting   Wow. The audio is incredible. I loved the narrator's voices for each character. This book truly absorbs you back in time in a Dickensian story of magic, marionettes, and macabre undertones. It's Clara's birthday, and all she really wants is for the puppeteer, Grisini, to perform with his assistants at her party. It isn't quite proper since Clara is a lady, and all her siblings recently died of cholera. Nevertheless, her parents indulge her, and she meets the children assisting Grisini, Lizzie Ro...moreWow. The audio is incredible. I loved the narrator's voices for each character. This book truly absorbs you back in time in a Dickensian story of magic, marionettes, and macabre undertones. It's Clara's birthday, and all she really wants is for the puppeteer, Grisini, to perform with his assistants at her party. It isn't quite proper since Clara is a lady, and all her siblings recently died of cholera. Nevertheless, her parents indulge her, and she meets the children assisting Grisini, Lizzie Rose and Parsefall. Clara becomes captivated by them, and thus begins this spellbinding story. The writing is exquisite; the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is that I can't imagine it would have wide appeal to kids. I may be wrong, though. I'd certainly like to hear what they have to say. I can definitely understand why it won a Newbery Honor.     Out of the Easy by Ruth Septys 4.5 of 5 stars 2013-book, books-about-books, character-traits, historical-fiction, sensory-details, setting, young-adult-book If you want to escape into another place and time, this is the book for you! I read this as a Net Galley e-book and didn't want to put it down. Josie is a seventeen-year-old who is trying to escape the dysfuntional grip her mother has on her. It's 1950, and her mother is a prostitute in a seedy brothel in the Big Easy. Josie longs to escape the life of lies, illicitness, and deceit and attend Smith College in Massachusettes. However, finding a grand total of $8,000 won't be easy, and is she real...moreIf you want to escape into another place and time, this is the book for you! I read this as a Net Galley e-book and didn't want to put it down. Josie is a seventeen-year-old who is trying to escape the dysfuntional grip her mother has on her. It's 1950, and her mother is a prostitute in a seedy brothel in the Big Easy. Josie longs to escape the life of lies, illicitness, and deceit and attend Smith College in Massachusettes. However, finding a grand total of $8,000 won't be easy, and is she really destined for the life of an intellectual or will she always be part of the underbelly of New Orleans? Willie, the brothel madame, believes in her and tells her she's "...got a bigger story than that." Josie wants to believe it's possible, "that my wings, no matter how thin and torn, could still somehow carry me away..." Unfortunately, she becomes embroiled in her mother's craziness once more when there is a murder in town. Josie starts seeing her dreams become nightmares as she is investigated and eventually threatened. "Call this place 'The Big Easy," shoot, ain't nothin' easy about it." Josie also seeks clarity about a couple romantic prospects. Will Josie find her destiny? I thought the last half of the book was its strongest. It took me a bit to get into it, but once I did, I was hooked! The subject matter may not make this novel for everyone, and you'll need to think about what teens to recommend it to, but the theme of staying true to yourself and making your dreams come true no matter what circumstances you're in, makes it accessible to everyone. CURRENTLY READING:   CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:     ON DECK:   Come back on Wednesday to read reviews of the nonfiction titles I read this week.  What are YOU reading??