Black History Month titles

One of my sixth grade reading teachers will be asking her students to choose from several young adult historical fiction novels which embrace the struggles African Americans have had in our country's history.  One of my personal favorites is Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper, and so I placed that at the top of the list!  Here are the titles I've provided her students with.  If you're looking for a Black History Month read, any of these would be fantastic.  I'm sure there are other awesome titles, but this list comprises multiple copies that we have in our school library.

Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
The Watson's Go to Birmingham by C. P. Curtis
Elijah of Buxton by C.P. Curtis
Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake
Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen
To Be a Slave by Julius Lester
Numbering All the Bones by Ann Rinaldi
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Forge by L.H. Anderson

I encourage you to read something new during the month of February as we celebrate Black History Month.  You'll always learn something new by reading a good piece of historical fiction. 

Happy Reading!
RC

Wise Acres

Every avid reader (or wild reader as I have begun calling them since I read Doralyn Miller's newest book, Reading in the Wild) knows what they'd like to read next.  They either have a list or a stack or at least an author in mind.  We encourage our students to do the same.  The anticipation of reading the next book is sometimes the only motivation we have to finish the book we're currently reading!  I had to do that with The Yearling by Rawlings.  Although I agree that it's a classic story, I did not enjoy it as much as I do other young adult fiction.  Had I not had Operation Oleander by Valerie O. Patterson on the bedside table, I may not have finished The Yearling as fast.  However, as I've explained to the students before, what we plan to read next may not be what we actually read next.  Case in point...Insurgent.  I had not planned to read it but I found a copy!  Then I HAD to read the next book, so I pushed Oleander to the side again.  And then to my surprise, the seventh book in the Heck series arrived and I absolutely HAVE to read that too!  I haven't abandoned the idea of reading Operation Oleander;  I intend to read it because I feel it will have value in our middle school library.  But it will have to wait!  :)  

Now, let me say something about Wise Acres.  The series is not for the faint-hearted.  It's full of pun and sarcasm and the humor truly is lost on the young.  I cackle.  I cry.  I lose my breath.  I love trying to catch every cultural reference I can.  And to be honest, I miss many because I don't have the 60s or early 70s to reference.  It's not something I would recommend to any middle school or high school reader.  With that being said, if you know someone who has read Dante's Inferno and has a firm grasp on 80s, 90s and current 21st century culture, then this is the book for them!  I don't consider myself to be world by any means, but for the past 18 years I have been conscious of what young adults are reading, watching, and listening to.  I have to keep up so I can talk to these kids!  Anyhow, it's kept me up to date on cultural icons and trends, most of which make it into Basye's books.  I love how he makes fun of everybody!  Especially those who act bad!  

Here's how Amazon.com advertises this latest book... 

"In the seventh installment of Heck, Dale E. Basye sends Milton and Marlo Fauster to Wise Acres, the circle reserved for kids who sass back. In Wise Acres, the cleverest, snarkiest, put-downiest kids debate and trade insults in Spite Club. But the new vice principal, Lewis Carroll, has some curious plans to raise the profile—and the stakes—of the competition. Now a full-fledged War of the Words will be broadcast through the afterlife. The winner will get the heck out of Heck and go straight to heaven. And the loser? Well, the loser goes down . . . all the way down to the real h-e-double-hockey-sticks. And Milton and Marlo are on opposite teams. Can they find a way out of Lewis Carroll’s mad-as-a-hatter scheme? Or is one Fauster about to pay a permanent visit to the Big Guy Downstairs?"

Happy Reading!
RC 

Insurgent and Allegiant

After dropping my son off at a local restaurant to have his first official dinner date with his girlfriend before their school's annual Winter Formal, I decided to work in the school library to organize some fiction and get things caught up.  To my surprise, a book I have been wanting to read but that has been as elusive as BigFoot, was waiting for me in the book drop!  Insurgent, the second in the Divergent trilogy, is constantly checked out.  Very popular among my middle school readers right now.  I loved the first book and was so tickled to read the second that I practically read half of it that night!  I was intrigued at how continuous the story was...it was as if I had simply turned a page and started the next chapter in Tris and Tobias' adventures.  Fascinating character development and plot twists and turns kept my attention so that I finished the book in two days.  I have to admit that my head spun around several times...there are many sly characters who spy and switch sides frequently.  Who do we trust?!  But that made for an even better read, in my opinion.  Some readers may find that distracting, though.  Especially if they had to wait several months before reading the second book.  To my dismay, our county was covered in snow and I found myself dying to read the third and final book in the trilogy, Allegiant.  So, I did what I rarely do...I downloaded it digitally and am currently reading it on my phone.  I despise digital reading for two reasons.  First, my eyes aren't what they used to be and despite finagling with the dimmer and background, I have to stop frequently to give my eyes a break from the screen.  Secondly, the iBooks app depletes my battery so much that I have to sit plugged in to the wall just to read.  Yuck.  I have a Sony eReader, but it's such a hassle.  I am halfway through, or at least that's what the little bar says, I can't tell, and am loving it.  I cannot believe there's more action to come...how did the author manage to find this many plot twists?  Wow!  I'm going out on a limb and announcing that I prefer this series to The Hunger Games.  I've already seen a preview of the film, which is due out in March, and I'm thinking I may even prefer those movies as well.  Cannot wait to take my Wall of Fame readers to see the movie after Spring Break!  One of my favorite things to do in life is to read a book and watch the movie.  

If you have a chance, read this series.  You won't be sorry.  Especially if you like dystopian fiction.  And yes, I feel really ANCIENT now that my son is old enough to be attending high school dances.  :)

Happy Reading!
RC

Winter Book Frenzy Titles so far...

It's time to plan Winter Book Frenzy 2014!!!

So far, here are the titles I have selected for the February 26th event.  Students will begin signing up on Tuesday, January 21st.


1.  Confessions of a Murder Suspect #2 by James Patterson
2.  The Darkest Path by Jeff Hirsh
3. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
4.  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
5.  Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
6.  Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings 
7. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
8.  Seconds Away by Harlan Coben
9. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
10. Divergent by Veronica Roth
11. The Seventeen Second Miracle by Jason Wright
12. Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins
13. Night by Elie Weisel
14. Semiprecious by d. Anne Love


Additional titles added to the Winter Book Frenzy:
15. The Boy on the Wooden Box
16. The Giver
17. Legend
18. WoodsRunner
19. The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg
 

Happy Reading!
RC

The Yearling

I have until Valentine's Day to finish this book.  That's the morning of our February Book Breakfast and it's going to be a hard deadline to make.  Not only has this Pulitzer Prize winning novel been hiding in the book storage closet for 8 years, it's been checked out time and again by "boys who hunt" and then returned quickly because it was "too hard".  I'm on chapter 7 after one week of dedicated reading and I understand completely!  

Here are the reasons why this novel makes for a slow read for even a fast reader:
1.  The setting is 1938, shrub of Florida.  The flora and fauna are quite different than what we have in Kentucky.  Terms like "ti ti", "sand bugger" and "cooter" cause for much confusion.  Especially when two of those items will be served for supper in chapter 2!  
2. The regional dialect is typical for 1930s Florida.  Words like "git" and "fer" are easy enough to translate, but words like "draw up" and "quare" cause even me to stumble and muddle through.  
3.  The father's nickname is "Penny" and used throughout the book instead of his given name, "Ezra".  This can be confusing to students.  Penny is typically a female character's name in today's literature.
4.  The plot is slow...many details of the landscape drag the plot down and bore middle school readers.  Although the author is praised for her descriptions of the Florida shrub country, she was writing for a very different reader in 1938.  As you know, the attention span of our students is short.  They can handle lots of action in just a few paragraphs or chapters.  I'm on chapter 7 and the most action I've seen so far is a bear fight and a visit to the neighbors.  :-/

But I'm hanging in there and pushing through because I know the value in finishing a book.  Plus, I have 6 students who have finished it already and have promised me that it gets better.  I owe it to them to give this book 100%.  

Happy Reading!
RC