I wasn't able to read a Book-a-day, but I did have a great time reading as many wonderful novels and picture books over the summer as I could!
Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff: I think this is my
favorite book I read this summer. Albie, the main character, has a big heart, a
heart that is often broken when he isn’t able to achieve as others think he
should. He is generous and kind yet sometimes it’s easy to miss all the
wonderful qualities he has when it’s only his deficits that are noticed.
Asking kids
to “live in someone else’s shoes” is a hard task especially if they have never
experienced the hardships that the others have faced. This book opens the
possibility for kids to experience life through Albie’s eyes and heart, to see
that a person’s strengths are much more important than perceived weaknesses. Great
for intermediate and middle school.
Circa Now by Amber McRee Turner: Circa Monroe
has a gift. Like her father, she is wonderful at cleaning up (photo shopting)
photographs. Her mother is a talented photographer too, but battles depression,
so Circa and her father keep the family functioning. When her father is tragically
killed in an accident, Circa begins to believe that things her father had shopt
to entertain her as a child (adding a bit of fantasy to otherwise boring old
photos) are actually coming to life. A young boy shows up at her doorstep that
seems to have materialized from nowhere. Is he the baby in an old shopt photo
her dad had recently included in a family reunion photo? Is this boy the answer
to all of her problems?
Kids that
like reality with a hint of fantasy will enjoy this read. It leaves you
guessing right up to the end. Good read for intermediate and middle school.
I Kill the Mockingbird by Paul Acampora: Having lived with
teenagers the past six or seven years, I am totally aware that often the
“assigned” novels that middle school and high school kids are expected to read
and revere- are never touched. I just heard it again on a long ride home from a
youth conference. “I read the spark notes to answer the questions. I never read
the book.”
So the fun
in this novel is that three middle schoolers decide to create a frenzy for To Kill a Mockingbird using the law of
supply and demand. If a book is suddenly gone from all the shelves, everyone
will want to read it because it is so hard to get so it must be amazing! The
narrator, Lucy loves To Kill a
Mockingbird and thinks everyone should read it. It is an assigned book for
the summer, so why not hide all the books in all the area bookstores and create
a webpage to create a buzz about the disappearance of the books? Lots of fun
for teens to read!!!
Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson: A mix of voodoo and
football. Our young protagonist Charlie Reynolds moves to the southern swamps
of Florida and all the magic and mystery of the sugar cane fields. Will Charlie
and his family be able to survive the evil that hides in the fields?
This book
took a few chapters to pull me in, but it was worth sticking with. A great book
for boys but girls will enjoy too intermediate and up.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead: Miranda, a sixth
grader lives in the heart of New York with her mom. She is used to coming home
to an empty house since her mom has to work so they can live. But, her life
gets crazy when she begins to receive strange notes from an anonymous person, a
homeless man suddenly begins to hang out on her street corner, and strange
things keep happening to her and her friends.
Kids that
read this book will need to pay attention and not get too caught up in the
confusion they may feel as they progress through the story. If they stick with it, they will be rewarded
at the end! There is mystery and time travel. Themes of friendship and small
acts of kindness making a difference make this a great book for kids
intermediate and up.
Upside Down in the
Middle of Nowhere
by Juliet T. Lamana is a gripping story about Hurricane Katrina from the eyes
of one family. Armani is about to have a birthday party and doesn’t want an old
storm to ruin it. Soon everything she has known is taken away and birthdays
seem pointless. Her family becomes split during the worst of the storm and she
must become a mother to her younger siblings. I recommend this book to fifth grade and up.
There are raw moments which may not be a good fit for younger children, but
readers will be swept into the storm holding on for dear life to the last page
of the book.
Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher: Wow – I was blown
away by this gut wrenching story. Definitely a read for older middle school/
high school students, but the cast of characters in this novel become so real
they are like family. TJ is a high school senior – a natural athlete that hates
conformity. In fact, there is a lot in his life he hates, but somehow survives
with the help of great adopted parents and a teacher that convinces him to
become a part of the inaugural swim team for the high school. TJ agrees if he can
bring alongside him a group of misfits to swim with him. Themes of racism, loss,
friendship and sacrifice. Great read for guys but I think girls will be moved
by it too.
The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm- growing old can
be painful and lonely, but becoming a teenager can be just as terrifying. Ellie
is eleven years old and life is about to change as she transitions to middle
school- sixth grade. Her best friend seems to be finding a new group to hang
out with, and a long lost family member about thirteen years of age suddenly
comes to live with her family. He looks just like her grandfather, her
grandfather the scientist… Could it be he has found the fountain of youth? Fun
and fast, The Fourteenth Goldfish will entertain and also possibly ignite an
interest in science and discovery. Great for third grade and up.
Almost Home by Joan Bauer- Sugar Mae has two
parents that love her fiercely, but addiction and depression create family
disfunction. So Sugar and her dog Shush must find help through new friends and
the foster system. This is a story of inner strength that hopefully will
resonate with children in similar situations to Sugar and they too can find
courage to survive, love, and thrive in spite of life’s challenges. Great for
intermediate grades and up.
Rules by Cynthia Lord –We don’t realize
the importance of each word we say until we know someone that can only
communicate by using index cards to talk- one word at a time. Twelve year old Catherine
meets a new friend when sitting in a waiting room where her autistic brother
receives therapy. Her new friend Jason can’t talk, he can’t walk, but he is
funny and smart and desperate to get beyond his disabilities and fly. Will
Catherine be the one to help him or will her own prejudices and challenges keep
her from finding the courage to fly too? Another great read for intermediate
and up!
Escape From Mr.
Lemoncello’s Library by Chris Grabstein- What a fun book. This is a mix of
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Jumanji all taking place at the local
library in Austin TX! The library should be an exciting place and Mr.
Lemoncello creates a fascinating competition for a select group of students(winners
of an essay contest) that includes animatronics, holograms, and other three-dimensional
things all coming from characters and artifacts from beloved books. Readers
starting in second grade through middle school will enjoy this one!
Picture books!
Found by Salina Yoon- Bear finds a lost
toy, a stuffed bunny that must belong to someone else. Bear wants to find the
owner, but finds himself falling in love with the bunny. Will he be able to
give bunny back to the real owner when it’s time? Wonderful simple story of
considering others before yourself. This would be a nice mentor text for
elaboration and edge of your seat of story.
The Snatchabook Who’s
Stealing the Stories? By Helen and Thomas Docherty-a delightful tale of Eliza Brown, a little
rabbit, that must solve the mystery of who is stealing all the towns’ story
books? Written in verse with interesting use of punctuation to create voice.
This could be used to teach young writers how to make time move quickly, how to
create tension through simple words and phrases, and how to write a “learned a
lesson” ending.
The Cat, The Dog, The
Exploding Eggs, The Wolf, and Grandma by Diane and Christyan Fox- With today’s world of
video games and super power heroes, a child may have trouble anticipating the
plot of an old-fashioned fairy tale like Little Red Riding Hood. So when cat
tries to read this fairy tale to dog, dog tries to bring his background
knowledge to predict what will happen next, like Red Riding Hood will hypnotize
the bad guys, or blow them up with exploding eggs! Will dog’s interruptions
make cat quit reading? This is a great way to fracture a fairy tale and might
be a nice mentor text for students in that use!
Winter is Coming by Tony Johnston illustrated by Jim
LaMarche- Jim LaMarch’s eye-catching
illustrations of the changing season and Tony Johnston’s sensory filled text
will delight readers of all ages! This definitely should be used for sensory
details, specific word choice, purposeful sentence fragments, and use of
repetition.