It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 7.23.18

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts

 and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  

It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

Last Week's Adventures

I missed posting last week.  Not enough books and reading time and definitely not enough time to pull a post together!  Binge reading this weekend, so lots to share this week!

I love my biography section in my library - I added quite a few STEM biographies this week.

If you teach K-4th gr, you'll want to check out these chapter books for your readers.

A new kind of hybrid? Check out this roundup of picture books/graphic novels/chapter books.


Picture Books


This is a ball
by Beck and Matt Stanton
I had not read this before but I can see this being a huge hit with young readers.  They will love how silly it is and how the words and pictures don't match.


Astronaut Annie
written by Suzanne Slade
illustrated by Nicole Tadgell
I love how this picture book uses the backmatter to give factual information about women astronauts and info about the moon!
Annie surprises her family on Career Day with her choice - it combines all the characteristics her parents and grandparents have for their passions - of becoming an astronaut!


Nimoshom and His Bus
written by Penny M. Thomas
illustrated by Karen Hibbard
I found this book from Jillian Heise's beginning of the year community building list.
A book that pays homage to the kindness of school bus drivers while also sharing vocabulary from the Cree language.


My Family Four Floors Up
written by Caroline Sutson
illustrated by Celia Krampien
I came across this book through the Guessing Geisel blog.  A color concept book - color words are printed in that particular color - told in simple prose will delight very young readers.  I'll add this to my list of possible Mock Geisel titles.


The Honeybee
written by Kirsten Hall
illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Written in rhymes, this book gives information about a bee's hunt for pollen and what they do with it.  There are pieces of information that I recognize from other readings - like the bee's dance to tell other bees how to find the flowers - but I'm not sure young readers will pick up on the information.  It would be a good book to use in addition to other nonfiction books.

Nonfiction Picture Books


Long-Armed Ludy and the First Women's Olympics
written by Jean L. S. Patrick
illustrated by Adam Gustavson
I found this book through Melissa Stewart.  I feel like I have quite a few strong women athletes books now!  This book gives us the story of Ludy Godbold who won the 8 pound shot put for the United States at the first Women's Olympics in Paris, France in 1922.

Poetry


With My Hands: Poems About Making Things
written by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater
illustrated by Lou Fancher and Steve Johnson
I feel like in this age of technology, so much is created on the computer, that we're losing some of the hand-created art.  This book celebrates so many different things we do with our hands and in doing so, reminds young readers what being creative looks like.  

Middle Grade


The DarkDeep
written by Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs
As soon as I saw this book, I knew it was one I would want to read during the daylight!  
Really, it's a perfect combo of scary, suspenseful and humorous.
Taking place in a town that has cliffs that lead to a mysterious cove, it takes just a quick accident to lead four kids into the cove.  The kids find a mysterious houseboat with lots of odd trinkets inside, but nothing could prepare them for the swirling pool located on the bottom level of the boat.
Definitely fun.  Absolutely funny in places.  Add this to your October releases!


The Mad Wolf's Daughter
by Diane Magras
This is a book I finished and immediately thought about how this was such a good book and I wanted to reread and think about it some more.
This is a book that puts you into the action in chapter one and then really doesn't slow down until you read the last page.  In this book we meet Drest, the youngest in her family and the only girl.  People often confuse her for a boy and I love that she is a young, strong female character.
Drest ends up on a journey with two companions - who don't start out as friendly at first - and she learns a lot about herself and how she fits into her family.
This book was definitely one of my favorites from this summer.

Young Adult


Odd One Out
by Nic Stone
I will say, Nic Stone knows not only how to write for teens, but also what to write.  Dear Martin was extremely relevant for today's times... this one is too, just a different subject.  Each of the three main characters is dealing with their sexuality, including wondering who is it ok to love/be attracted to.  I loved that the reader gets a chance to hear each character voice's as the story is moved forward. 

Young Adult/Adult


The Sixth World: Trail of Lightning
by Rebecca Roanhorse
I didn't know how to categorize this book - in my library it's in the adult science fiction section.  I've seen it on a lot of young adult lists.  No matter what list it ends up on, you want it on your TBR list!
A new world has formed as a result of a climate apocalypse, the Navajo reservation has reformed as Dinétah.  But it has come with a price, as monsters lurk around corners and are doing horrible things to the humans.  
Our main character, Maggie, has the gift of being a monster hunter.  She is good at what she does but it also leaves her living a more solitary life.  Until Kai enters her life - now they are on a mission and it leaves her not only relying on her powers but others' and their friendship.
I really enjoyed how Roanhorse weaves Navajo lore and legend into the story.  A goal of mine is to read more widely and also seek out books that are written in #ownvoices and share them.  This is one I'm happy to share - if you're a reader who enjoys adventure and stories that are fantasy/based on legends/mythology, this is a story you'll want to pick up!

Currently Reading


Louisiana's Way Home
written by Kate DiCamillo

And at the gym I'm reading:
on my kindle - Naomis Too by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Audrey Vernick
book - Counting Zero by Christina Collins

Anyone else starting to get a little bit antsy that summer reading is rapidly drawing to a close?  I'm feeling the need to read even faster in the next few weeks!