It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

This is one VERY strange book. It skirts the line between ridiculous and scary. It is in the same vein as A Series of Unfortunate Events, but there are scary moments. I guess the ridiculousness is to off-set the scariness. I added it to our Newbery list but now that I’ve read it I’m frantically trying to remember where I saw it. It’s on the list because some blogger that I trusted said it was a contender. Who? I can’t for the life of me find it...

Genre: Fantasy

AR level: 5.4

Grade appropriate: 4th and 5th grade

RATING BREAKDOWN: 

Overall: 2/5-- so odd. You spend the entire book wondering if it is fantasy or realistic. Sometimes that adds to the plot, but in this book it detracts from it. 

Creativity: 3/5-- This is the story of an average girl who is snatched from her parents and held captive by two seemingly sweet great-aunties. They are actually murderers and planning to kill her. 

Characters: 2/5-- I didn’t feel a particular attachment to any of the characters. Anastasia isn’t particularly lovable and everyone else is so far fetched that they are un-relatable. 

Engrossing: 2/5-- Not one I was anxious to get back to...

Writing: 1/5-- The over-writing was intended to be funny in the vein of “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” but it misses the mark in my book. Much discussion of “tragic flatulence” and the like. 

One reviewer said, “attempts to mimic ‘Series of Unfortunate Events,’ but lacks the satire which makes the other book so fun to read.” I agree 100%. 

Appeal to kids: 2/5-- Fans of A Series of Unfortunate Events will give it a go. Time will tell if they will stick it out. 

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT: 

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

This book is getting a lot of attention and it is part of our Newbery Book Club this year. I am in the minority of people who didn't LOVE this book.

Genre: Historical

AR level: 4.1

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 3/5-- My biggest problem with this book was the severe abuse of Ada. That doesn’t detract from the quality of the book, but it did detract from my enjoyment of it. I do have a bit of a sensitivity to that kind of thing though.

Creativity: 4/5-- This is a story about a brother and sister in London during World War II. The girl, Ada, has a clubfoot and their mother is extremely abusive to her and very vocal about preferring her son. They escape to the country to avoid the bombs that are feared in London and find a loving foster home.

Characters: 4/5-- The characters do grow very naturally through the story, but having experience with abused children, Ada seems to recover awfully quickly. Again, this may seem so to me because of my own experiences.

Engrossing: 3/5-- It was not a story I wanted to escape into.

Writing: 5/5-- There wasn’t the edge-of-your-seat, what’s-going-to-happen-next appeal of many World War II stories.

Appeal to kids: 3/5-- I will recommend this one to the kiddos who loved Number the Stars and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas though it doesn’t have the same excitement they do.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- the abuse of Ada bothered me a lot.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

Genre: Fantasy

AR level: 5.4

Grade appropriate: 3rd and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 3/5-- I feel like maybe I’m being overly critical. There was nothing inherently wrong with this book, it just wasn’t that great.

Creativity: 5/5-- Time/creation runs like a river and sometimes a stream shoots off from the main flow. This is called a pirate stream. Two characters meet because of this pirate stream of time and end up working together to save it.

Characters: 3/5-- Both Fin and Marrill are likable but there’s nothing about them that really makes you feel like you are in their shoes.

Engrossing: 3/5-- It doesn’t suck you in or make you want to stay up nights reading it.

Writing: 2/5-- This is such a hard thing to pinpoint, but I think this is where this story falls short. The plot is fine in and of itself, but the unfolding of it seems scattered or lacking something. Quirky spellings like Khaznot Quay also really detract from the story line.

Appeal to kids: 3/5-- The cover is the big draw. That’s what made me pick it up.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none--There is some fighting against the bad guys, but nothing graphic or disturbing.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

~~~

This book, I loved. A historical story set in San Francisco at the turn of the 20th century, it’s one to add to our Newbery list.  There is a plague scare in Chinatown and the area is quarantined, but only if you are Chinese… Lizzie and her friends try to get their beloved cook out of the quarantine. This books discusses racism from that time that is often forgotten and gives a fascinating look at medical practices at the time.  A fantastic book.

Genre: historical

AR level: none yet

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5

Creativity: 5/5-- different take on racism from other things being published right now. Who knew there was a plague outbreak in San Francisco in the early 1900s? A glimpse of a time and place I didn’t know much about.

Characters: 5/5-- definitely felt a kinship to Lizzie and felt you were fighting right alongside her.

Engrossing: 5/5

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 4/5-- It’ll be one you have to sell them on. Once they get into it, they will like it.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Lizzie’s older brother is earning money as a fighter. There are some drunk men who try to burn down Chinatown. Lizzie also gets attacked by some drunk men when she is out late at night. None of these scenes are graphic.

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Lizzie crashes her uncle's work luncheon where they are drinking whiskey. She encounters some drunk men late at night who act violently.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

It was like magic opening the box when this came in the mail. I just caught my breath at how beautiful it is!

And there it is… the reason we can’t keep it in the library or in the Newbery Book Club… Some of the characters are gay. Openly. The elementary library at a Christian school can’t be where our kids learn about this.

I am heartbroken.

Genre: Historical   

AR level: none yet

Grade appropriate: 5th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- amazing, truly.

Creativity: 5/5-- Brian Selznick, The man practically invented his own genre...

Characters: 5/5-- Joseph is every man. His curiosity and need for a friend is very easy to identify with. Frankie drove me CRAZY in the beginning! But she grows on you (and grows up.)

Engrossing: 5/5-- It’s a 24 hour read. This is one of those books where you are reading along and all of a sudden you look up and remember where you are.

Writing: 5/5-- There are no words.

Appeal to kids: 5/5

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: mild-- my god (1)

Sexuality: none-- Nothing graphic but some of the characters are openly gay.

Violence: none

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Joseph accidentally drinks wine and “something that is not water.” Adults drink wine at a dinner party.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts

Genre: Realistic

AR level: 4.1

Grade appropriate: middle or high school

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- I really did like this story, but I definitely feel like it’s more appropriate for middle or high school. The bullying is very intense and there is a very scary scene at the end. See my comments below on violence.

Creativity: 5/5-- I love the idea that Raine can collect memories and watch them. That specific part reminds me of Snicker of Magic. One of my favs from last year.

Characters: 5/5-- Loved Raine. Wanted to go running with her. She would have trounced me.

Engrossing: 5/5-- It was absolutely engrossing. I couldn’t put it down.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- It needs to be YA, but the cover is too young looking. Will have to do some reconciling on that.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence:medium-- the bullying in the books is seriously disturbing. In the end the main character is tied up and put in a burning building. Sometimes in adventure stories the violence is much less disturbing because it's so far fetched. This feels all too real.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

~~~

On our Mock Newbery list.

I decided to move to Moonpenny Island in the first chapter. It’s a sweet little island that seems perfect. And then reality sets in.

This book is all about how hard life can be. It’s a good book, but not one that you want to rush back into.

Genre: Realistic

AR level: 4.2

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 2/5

Creativity: 2/5-- Life on the island made this story different from others like it. But it’s very much like other stories about tough life events.

Characters: 4/5-- very real, not always perfect, not always likeable, but very real.

Engrossing: 2/5-- This was not an easy book for me to finish. I loved it at first, but after a while there are just too many things going wrong. It was not a place I wanted to go if I had the choice of what to read.

Writing: 4/5

Appeal to kids: 2/5-- I think it’ll be a hard sell…

Appropriate length to tell the story: 4/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Sylvie accidentally gets pushed down the stairs when her dad and brother are fighting.

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Sylvie’s mother has a drinking problem. 

3rd Annual Newbery Book Club

Tuesday was our first meeting of the Newbery Book Club for this year. One of our amazing parents designed a logo for us and I am so excited about it!

Tada! 

Here's the list thus far for this year. This list does change. As we find new books, we add and as we read things that really aren't appropriate for our kids, we take away. Feel free to print. Just click the pic to get a copy

As you can see, the adults in the group TRY to preview the books and make sure there's not TOO much objectionable content. The "Approved" stamp indicates that an adult as read the book and approved it. 

Stay tuned for more Newbery news! 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? visit Mentor Texts 

This is one of our Quest for the Crown books as well as a Bluebonnet Nominee for 2015-2016. 

I’m not big on animal stories. I was as a kid, but not so much anymore. Can I tell you how much I loved this book? The main character Tony is living with his great uncle because his mom’s in prison. Understandably he is lonely and sad. He friends his uncle’s dog. Well, this picture just says it all.

Beautiful.

Genre: Animal Fiction   

AR level: 5.9

Grade appropriate: 4th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 4/5-- A wonderful book.

Creativity: 5/5

Characters: 5/5-- Loved Gabe and Tio. Tony grows and matures so much through the story. I feel in love with him too.

Engrossing: 2/5-- This is the one real drawback. I kept finding other things to do instead of reading this book. It wasn’t one I was craving. I am trying to be critical enough to only give 5 stars to the ones I can’t keep my nose out of.

Writing: 5/5-- free verse, well done.

Appeal to kids: 4/5-- It will be a shoe-in for the animal fiction lovers and maybe the boys who love adventure books. Others will have to be coaxed.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: mild-- Tony’s mom is in prison for training dogs for dog fights. She also fights in prison. The dog fighting and his mom being in prison are definitely the hardest things about this book, but it’s such an uplifting, healing book. It doesn’t leave you there.

Drugs/Alcohol: none

This one is on our Newbery list even though it's basically a picture book. Here's last year's list. I think it'll get some Caldecott attention too. 

Genre: Biography

AR level: 7.0

Grade appropriate: 5th and up

RATING BREAKDOWN:

Overall: 5/5-- Fascinating story about a con artist known as Tricky Vic (obviously.)

Creativity: 5/5-- Absolutely creative. The illustrations are so unique. Because Tricky Vic was so elusive for so long, he’s face is left out of the illustrations and replaced by a finger print. I know, right?!? So fun. So different.

Characters: 5/5-- You really get a feel for Tricky Vic even though the story is so short.

Engrossing: 5/5-- quick read. No time to get distracted.

Writing: 5/5

Appeal to kids: 5/5-- It’s basically a picture book. Will circulate fast and often.

Appropriate length to tell the story: 5/5

CONTENT:

Language: none

Sexuality: none

Violence: none-- Tricky Vic cons Al Capone. The book discusses how Capone who was a criminal was also a bit of a hero during prohibition.

Drugs/Alcohol: mild-- Prohibition is discussed and defined. Often in the cons the “mark” would be drunk after Tricky Vic buys them many drinks.

Frequents bars and gambling houses early in life because he was a professional gambler.