It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!
Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.
We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.
Last Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Top Ten Graphic Novels We Can’t Believe We Haven’t Read
Wednesday: More Great Nonfiction from 2014
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Last Week’s Journeys
Kellee: First, I want to mention the book awards from last Monday and say how excited I was to see so many wonderful titles that I love win or be honored! I am especially happy for El Deafo by Cece Bell, Andrew Smith, Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin, Dan Santat, Kwame Alexander, brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock and Mary Grandpre, Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Jon Klassen and Mac Barnett, Gabi, A Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, and so many other books I’ve blogged about or shouted out over the last year. I LOVED them all, and I am so happy they were recognized. Congratulations to all of the winners/honorees (and I hope I didn’t miss anyone)!!
This week, I also had a very good reading week! First, I read Baseballogy by Kevin Sylvester which was a nonfiction informational book about baseball that threw in a bit of humor and some wonderful graphics. As a baseball fan, I really enjoyed it. Then, I finished listening to Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick (one of my #mustreadin2015), and it, like her other book Sold, will never leave my heart. It is so powerful! On Friday, in one sitting, I read the Schneider winner Girls Like Us by Gail Giles which has voices that are hard to get out of your head, and it truly makes you think and look at the world around you. Finally, on Saturday night, also in one sitting, I read the heart-wrenching The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer (also one of my #mustreadin2015) which is about grief and the strength to overcome it.
With Trent, we did a lot of rereads this week (our current favorites are Fifteen Animals by Sandra Boynton and Book of Sleep by Sung Il Na), but we also read two new books. Last Sunday we read Freight Train by Donald Crews (recommended by Linda B!) which is a fantastic book about colors and trains and movement. Coincidentally, Donald Crews just won the Wilder Award, and I can see why. I think we will need to read more of his in the future. Then, we read Peanuts: A Scanimation Book by Rufus Butler Seder. Trent really likes the moving aspects of the book, but he also just really wants to rip the page open and see what the “secret” is.
Ricki: I completely agree with Kellee about the ALA Youth Media Awards! We have blogged about some of the books together that she posted above, but I want to add how thrilled I was about A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd (which I have mentioned in about fifteen posts, but apparently I never gave it a full review–shame on me!), brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (for its multiple awards), The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley (for its two awards), You Are (Not) Small by Anna Kang, and How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon. I am excited that many of the books are on my #mustreadin2015 list!
This week, I read two great books that will be published later this year. Look! by Jeff Mack has only two words, but the story is very meaningful. It is a story about friendship, technology, and the power of reading! I also adored the whimsical nature of By Mouse and Frog by Deborah Freedman. This is going to be a favorite this year. It is also a great book about friendship, but it is very different for Look! it teaches about both listening and creativity. Lastly, I loved Brad Meltzer’s I am Jackie Robinson. I can see why everyone has been raving about it. The format was lovely!
This Week’s Expeditions
Kellee: I am going to start listening The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine this week, but it will probably take 2 or 3 to finish. As for reading, I am going to have to see what fancies me. My friend, Vivi Barnes, just had her second book Paper or Plastic come out, and I may pick that one up or I could go with a #mustreading2015 or another book from my numerous piles–we’ll see!
Ricki: A group of friends wanted to do a book club, and I told them I would only join if they made it YAL only. They agreed—yes! Our first book is The Secret Hum of Daisy by Tracy Holczer which I am really looking forward to!
Upcoming Week’s Posts
Tuesday: Top Ten Things We Like/Dislike When It Comes To Romances In Books
Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “Three Bowls of Porridge” by Lisa Heathfield, Author of Seed
So, what are you reading?
Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!
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So glad both of you are experiencing Secret Hum – loved this title a lot. I just picked up Girls Like Us Kellee – it is my next read. Lots to be thrilled about in the ALA announcements. So lovely to celebrate with the #IMWAYR community! So many of our favourites were honoured.
I can see why you loved it Carrie. It is a special book! I do have a question about it (I tweeted you :D).
I’m so excited so many of us are reading Girls Like Us. After reading it, I know how important it is.
I keep hearing so many wonderful things about Girls Like Us. I can’t wait to read it soon. The ALA YMA were incredible this year. I was very impressed with the selected titles.
A must read is Girls Like Us, and also How It Went Down-wow, many on my list. I just finished Fish In A Tree-so good. Happy you enjoyed Freight Train, Kellee-simple and perfect for the young ones! Enjoy the book group, and Secret Hum…, Ricki!
I NEED to get to How It Went Down as well. It is pretty close to home since Trayvon was right down the road.
I am so glad you recommended Freight Train. It is one I am going to get for Trent for the next year 🙂
I have wanted to read Fish in a Tree for quite some time. Everyone is raving about it. Am I the last person to get to this one? Ah! Have a wonderful week, Linda.
I loved Lions of Little Rock and Never Fall Down. Both of them are such powerful stories. Enjoy your books this week!
One I can completely agree with you about, and the other I am sure I will when I finish. Can’t wait to get to the meat of it.
Never Fall Down is one of my absolute favorites. I held Kellee against her will, and she submitted and got a copy to read. This is what blog partners do, right? She has influenced me to read so many great books, so it is only fair.
ooo you mention so many of my favorites! I, too, was pleased as punch with the YMA announcements. So many great books were recognized! I’m definitely going to look up baseballology. Lots of big baseball fans at my library (including me!)
The announcements were super exciting, weren’t they?!?!?
The Baseballogy book is going to be loved by baseball fans–I hope many patrons enjoy it 🙂
I am going to have to get Baseballology, too! I am afraid to ask you which team you root for. :o)
Wow, you two mentioned so many great books I haven’t read yet! I better get busy. I was also excited for Brown Girl dreaming – it actually won 3 different ALA awards plus the National Book Award – it deserves all of them! I was also glad to see that This One Summer won an ALA award – that was a favorite of mine last year.
Ricki, I love the idea of an all-YA book group – sounds like fun!
Enjoy your books this week – sounds like you both have some good ones lined up –
Sue
Book By Book
This One Summer won a Caldecott!! I was so excited about that! It was one that I am going to reread and hope to love more the second time. The first the artwork grabbed me, but not the story. I’m going to try again 🙂
I never got to This One Summer, but with all of the awards it has received, it sounds like a must read! I will keep you posted about how the YAL book club goes!
Ricki, so excited to hear about your new YAL book group! I have a YA lit only book club on campus that I really enjoy though I’ve got to drum up more interest and recruit some new members. And a new Deborah Freedman is a huge reason to celebrate! Can’t wait to see that book! Kellee, I just bought Girls Like Us last week and hope to read it soon so I can booktalk and pass around to Children’s Lit students.
Girls Like Us is one you will definitely want to share 🙂
It is too bad that we can’t just teleport ourselves and have a blogger book club, right? I suppose blogging is sort of like a book club in its own way…minus the wine!
I was really excited about this year’s awards. Keller, Sandra Boynton books were favorites of my kids. I read Barnyard Dance a million times.
I’ll need to pull out Barnyard Dance and read it some more. Fifteen Animals and Personal Penguin are our two favorites!
I am a big Sandra Boynton fan, too. Now that I have a son, she has become even more of a favorite for me.
Ricki, you were thrilled for A Snicker of Magic, but I was bummed. I’m glad it was honored by the Odyssey committee but I really was hoping the Newbery committee would give it some love. As I told Natalie on Twitter, it’s still a Newbery winner in my heart. 🙂 And I don’t want to take away from the amazing books that did win because I am SO HAPPY for Kwame, Cece, and Jackie. But. I was still hoping for some Snicker too.
I was a bit surprised it wasn’t honored as well though Kwame, Cece, and Jackie definitely deserved it so much!
I guess I am happy (overall) to see it win praise, but you are right, it sure deserved some more love. I try to remember that the committees have some tough decisions, but gosh, I love that book.
Never Fall Down is on my Kindle and I keep scrolling past it when choosing a new book. Maybe it is time to pick that one. I loved Sold because of the powerful story it told and I am sure I will feel the same about this one. There are so many great books on that awards list. I have so many of them on my TBR. I hope I can get to them soon. Have a great week!
Andrea, I listened to Never Fall Down, and I think I may have liked it more that way than if I had read it, but we’ll never know. Listening to it helped me hear Arn’s voice since his writing is phonetic and choppy. This one is very similar to Sold in that it sticks with you!
Never Fall Down takes a few pages to get into, but after that, wow. I was blown away by that book and highly recommend it!
Donald Crews created so many wonderful books for the very young. My children both read many of his books repeatedly. I loved that he was honored. Secret Hum of a Daisy was one that I really enjoyed last year. Have a great week!
I really need to read more of his!
Daisy was great! I can see why so many of my IMWAYR friends gave it love.
Thanks, Crystal. We are excited to read Secret Hum. It is on both of our #mustreadin2015 lists, so it will certainly be receiving some love from us. We can’t wait!
Hooray for the award announcement! I was cheering loudly over so many books… just FINALLY got to celebrate reading El Deafo- wow, what a book treasure that one is… Happy reading to you both!
This is the first year that I felt like I was excited for every award! And that El Deafo, a GN, was honored by Newbery committee is groundbreaking! So exciting!
Ahh!!! I really need to read El Deafo! My friend is loaning me a copy, and I can’t wait. 🙂
Hi Ladies,
Just getting around to this today. It’s parent/teacher conference week, which means busy busy busy!
I’m jealous of your reading weeks. It seems that lately it’s taking me a week to finish anything. Slow going.
Ricki, I put a couple of the picture books you mentioned in my to be ordered pile!
Kellee, as soon as I wrap up my blog comments I’m going to read more of Girls Like Us 🙂
I have Secret/Daisy in my #mustreadin2015 pile. I’ll get to it this year and then we can chat 🙂
Have a great week!