It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9.21.2020

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

Don't miss the Teacher's March blog tour!

Some new September releases for early readers!

Picture Books


In My Garden
written by Charlotte Zolotow
illustrated by Philip Stead
This book is gorgeous.  It's a mentor text for writing.  The back and forth poem by Zolotow captures likes and loves of every season.  It's a beautiful book about the seasons.  And with the whimsical illustrations by Philip Stead, it has a timeless feel that makes it a book to share from generation to generation.


The Power of One: Every Act of Kindness Counts
written by Trudy Ludwig
illustrated by Mike Curato
Ludwig's books are in an arsenal of Social Emotional titles that you want to always have ready to go.  This one is how one small act of kindness can not only make a difference but also grow into more and more acts.  I also appreciate the apology effort in the story.


If You Come to Earth
by Sophie Blackall
This book took my breath away when I read it.  It's simply gorgeous and I love the story behind the book.  In a detailed author's note, Blackall explains how after visiting with children around the globe she saw that it was the power of story and pictures that brought the world's children together.  It became her goal to create a book that was about their home and her home.  Their world and her world.  The details in the illustrations are exquisite and I poured over each layout.
However, this book isn't without some controversy.  There is one layout that has brought discussion over cultural bias in illustrations.  I'm sitting back and listening to the voices in the discussion and will be interested in hearing additional perspectives.


The Belonging Tree
written by Maryann Cocca-Leffler
illustrated by Kristine A. Lombardi
I understand the lesson the author was going for in this book, but with the use of a racist phrase and an ending that didn't sit right with me, this is a book I will pass on.  In a big oak tree, many squirrels peacefully coexist.  But when other animals move in and around the tree, the father squirrel gets upset and says, "there goes the neighborhood" each time.  The young squirrel is the only one who sees the other animals as themselves and not as something negative.  The squirrel family ultimately moves away to get away from the "other" animals, but the young squirrel runs away to see the old home.  However, a big storm comes and the squirrel finds himself in some danger, but luckily the other animals all work together to save him.  The squirrel family moves back to their old home now that they see the other animals as good.
The racist nuances were a bit much for me in this one.


Girl on a Motorcycle
written by Amy Novesky
illustrated by Julie Morstad
The best of this book?  The illustrations!  I love Morstad's work and her style fits the story of this book perfectly.
A narrative story about Anne-France Dautheville's motorcycle trip across the world beginning in 1973.  It's a quirky story, not really a biography but more of a world adventure.  Will be interesting to see how readers take to this one.


Bling Blaine: Throw Glitter, Not Shade
written by Rob Sanders
illustrated by Letizia Rizzo
There were some parts of the story that I really liked.  Blaine is a character who is known throughout his school for adding bling to everything - clothing, accessories, food.  Life seems to be a bit sparklier when Blaine is around.  I really liked that there were many characters who likened Blaine's blinginess to something they also liked doing.  The pure acceptance by classmates was very refreshing.  But of course there are some haters and here's where the story gets more cliched.  Blaine is upset by the comments and stops being who he is, as a result of the "shade" that is thrown his way.  Nothing wrong, it just was a storyline that we see in many other books.  But the classmates step up and have some one on one conversations with the people who don't accept Blaine and they all come around, which makes Blaine feel better.
Readers will absolutely get the message of the story, it's a bit didactic.  But the message does come with a positive ending and acceptance for all.  There is also discussion of being an ally included in the end notes.
I was disappointed to see in the illustrations the slitted, closed eyes for the Asian character when all of the other characters had U shaped, closed eyes.

Middle Grade


The Summer We Found the Baby
by Amy Hest
I will be very interested in seeing how kids respond to this text.
It's about two sisters who find a baby in a basket on the steps of the small town's library.  A (former) friend spots them taking off with the baby and follows.  The rest of the story we travel back to earlier in the summer and then events that happened around then.  The reader slowly understands what has happened to lead up to the current events and allows the reader to make some predictions as to how the story will end.
This historical fiction story takes place during World War II, however, there are not tons of references to the time (Eleanor Roosevelt is mentioned and invited to the library's reopening, a brother is fighting in WWII) so I can see a young reader not being able to really connect with the timeline.  
The book comes in at under 200 pages and the small, neat trim size of the book and the large font is a quick read that will appeal to young readers who are building stamina.  I wish there were more books this length and size.


The Kudo Kids: The Mystery of the Masked Medalist
by Maia and Alex Shibutani
Written by a brother/sister Olympic ice dancing team (bronze medalists), this very fun debut will appeal to sports enthusiasts and puzzle/coding gamers.
Mika and Andy Kudo are off to the Tokyo Olympics with their parents.  While their parents work the siblings compete in a game called OlympiFan.  This online game allows teams to compete in AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) mode.  While collecting points all around Tokyo (or virtual Tokyo), gamers learn fun facts about the Olympic setting town, collect points, and compete to find the hidden bronze, silver, and gold medals.  When a team wins a medal, they receive extra points and clues to the Masked Medalist, creator of the game.  The winner gets to beta test the next game created by the Masked Medalist.  However, not everyone seems to be playing the game fair and Alex and Mika are in this race to win, but someone might not let them.

Graphic Novel


Flamer
by Mike Curato
Loosely based on events in his own life, Curato has crafted a graphic novel that will be so important for kids to read.  Our main character, Aidan, is headed to Scout camp, and he's excited but equally nervous about what may happen in camp.  He's often picked on - for being chubby, for not reacting to things in a "normal" fashion - and is often accused of being gay.  Aidan is figuring out his own identity, and fights with his own subconscious in admitting his own truth.
Curato has crafted a character that exposes his soul to the reader and you would have to be heartless to not feel so many emotions while reading this book.
This is that book that you hope a reader picks up and gives perspective and understanding that may change the world.

Currently Reading


Punching the Air
by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam


We've had our first real taste of some cooler, fall weather.  I'm really not so sure I'm ready for that just yet!  But I guess this is truly happy fall reading to you!