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.

 

 

PICTURE BOOKS

 

 

Wait by Antoinette Portis

 

2015-book, curiosity, journey, mock-caldecott-2016, mothers, mostlywordless, picture-book,  theme

           

 

How does Portis say so much with just two words (and one extra thrown in at the end) and some delightful illustrations? This book reminds me so much of my daughter, Libby, when she was a toddler. When she was that little, we lived behind my mom and dad's house. When we wanted to visit them, we had to walk up a long gravel drive. I used to say she had no sense of destination, just journey. She would stop and pick dandelions, squat down and look at a bug, pause to put a rock in her pocket, chase a How does Portis say so much with just two words (and one extra thrown in at the end) and some delightful illustrations? This book reminds me so much of my daughter, Libby, when she was a toddler. When she was that little, we lived behind my mom and dad's house. When we wanted to visit them, we had to walk up a long gravel drive. I used to say she had no sense of destination, just journey. She would stop and pick dandelions, squat down and look at a bug, pause to put a rock in her pocket, chase a butterfly. It was a full-on adventure every time. Adults tend to just get from point A to point B, and we don't stop to enjoy the in between. We could sure learn a thing or two from children! Perfect ending to story full of life lessons - the mom got it!! Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson, illustrated by Sydney Smith 2015-book, fathers, journey, kindness, mock-caldecott-2016, picture-book,  theme, wordless

 

 

 

This story reminds me a lot of Wait!  Like the boy in that story with his mother, the girl in this one with her distracted father stops to notice things along a hurried walk. She notices little flowers growing among the cement of the city, so she picks them, and then notices who needs them. Touching and important. We all need to slow down and pay attention. I love the bursts of color in the black and white illustrations.   MIDDLE GRADE     The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin     2015-book, bullying, character-development, death, friendship, gifted-girls, hope, intermediate-kids-book, journey, lgbt, mock-newbery-2016, point-of-view,  realistic-fiction, science, teachers-who-inspire, young-adult-book



 

I couldn't help but think of Jennifer Holm's The Fourteenth Goldfish and the connections the two books have with jellyfish. Suzy (Zu) broke my heart. Her sadness and desperation seemed too much to bear. Zu has such a hard time accepting her friend, Franny's, death, that she stops talking and starts to investigate her theory that a rare and highly poisonous jellyfish was to blame. The narrative goes from present tense to flashbacks in second person (great for classroom discussion on choices in point of view), Zu agonizing over how their friendship deteriorated before Franny's death. Zu is a gifted character, for sure, and the story explores many themes: fitting in, accepting death, moving on, spirituality, the intellectualism of girls, friendship, family, scientific theories, and more. I was so grateful for Justin and Sarah at the end, and new beginnings for Zu.  I love the way Ali Benjamin describes her book: "But at its heart, it's about the moment when these two things, despair and wonder, come together."

 

YOUNG ADULT

 

 

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

 

2015-book, audio-book, civil-rights, fears, mock-printz-2016, multicultural, multiple-first-person-points-of-view, racism, social-injustice, violence, weneeddiversebooks, young-adult-book Wow. I've heard so much about this book, and now I know why. For all of you who have read the print version, don't miss the audio. The narrators are powerful. I appreciate a lot about this book, but what I appreciate most is that so many facets of this issue (an unarmed black teen being the victim of police brutality) were discussed in this novel. Most of the arguments I've heard, the feelings I've had, the confusion, outrage, and fear of both races were addressed. The only criticism I have is that I wish Rashad would have had more empathy for his father's story. It explained so much about him and the way he treated Rashad, but I never felt like Rashad fully got that. Maybe that's the point, I don't know. I loved Rashad and Quinn by the end, though, and I loved how real they both were. Beautiful ending and so well crafted. The most important thing about this novel is that the voices were loud. Silence was broken.         Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt   2015-book, abuse, adopted-foster-child, animals, audio-book, character-development, death, emotions, family, friendship, grace, leaving-a-legacy, loss, love, mock-newbery-2016, mock-printz-2016, realistic-fiction, redemption, spiritual, teen-parenthood

 

 

I'm a huge fan of Gary Schmidt, and books like this are the reason why.  Throughout this captivating story,  I kept thinking of William Carlos William's "The Red Wheelbarrow":

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

This may not make sense to you completely, and I honestly don't know for sure why this poem kept popping up in my mind, but it was the cows that made me think of it. And the farm - the simplicity of work, family, grace, and love and the transformations that can take place when those things are present. Attempting to follow Williams's example, I wrote my own to capture Orbiting Jupiter:

The Dairy Cow

so much depends
upon

a dairy cow
who leans in and loves you

a little brother
who always has your back

a few teachers
who believe in you

a gentle family
who lets you talk

a frozen river
with deep, black ice

and a planet
that shines brightly

hung in
the night sky

waiting for you
to find it.


This is one of those books with a perfect ending, so be ready. You will have a hard time moving on to another book. It's a beauty.

 

 CURRENTLY LISTENING TO

 

 

CURRENTLY READING