It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!
It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 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!
Kellee and Jen, of Teach Mentor Texts, 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.
Thursday: The Last Last-Day of Summer by Lamar Giles
Friday: Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway!: Yogi: The Life, Loves, and Language of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra by Barb Rosenstock
Giveaway open until Thursday!!
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
CONGRATULATIONS
Rica K.
for winning The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly giveaway!
Kellee
I had a great visit with my sister and her new baby! One of the biggest highlights? Watching Trent read to Gunnar!
I also had no obligations, which was so nice and meant a lot of time to read! Here’s what I’ve read since I last shared on the 11th that I haven’t already blogged about:
- My book club has a virtual visit with Todd Mitchell today, and I am happy to say that I read three of his books–all of them were so different, too! Backwards is a combination of Every Day and Before I Fall.
- Check Please was a 2019 Morris Finalist, and when I saw that a graphic novel about a baking hockey player was receiving accolades, I knew I had to read it, and boy do I love that book! Unique format along with its unique premise, too! Can’t wait for the next anthology.
- Gareth Hinds’s work is beautiful. Period. So I had no doubt The Iliad would be as well, and I was right. Just as he did with The Odyssey, he takes the original and transforms it by illustrating the story. They are so well done and really do help with comprehension of the story.
- milk and honey by Rupi Kaur is a title I had heard here and there and have had a couple of students talk about how much they love it, but when I had a new student say it was her favorite book, I asked her if she owned it so I could borrow it. I can definitely see why my teenage students love the angst and love in this poetry anthology.
- #murderfunding by Gretchen McNeil is the sequel to #murdertrending and WHOA! This series is so messed up and crazy (in a I CAN’T PUT DOWN THIS BOOK sort of way). Pretty gruesome and suspenseful, but is also just so much fun to read!
- Anyone who truly knows me knows that The Giver is my heart book, so adapting it had a high bar to meet for me, and P. Craig Russell met all the expectations. Beautiful and heart wrenching just like the original. All the feels were there all over again!
- So glad a student recommended and lent this Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps by Andrea Warren, a Sibert Honor, to me! Another POV of the pure travesty that was the Holocaust. Great pairing with Prisoner B3087 or even Hitler Youth. Such an important read as we face hatred around us.
- I just love Phoebe and Marigold Heavenly Nostrils! And their adventures and narrative are so endearing and evolving—I can’t wait to see what they do next! I’ll definitely be getting this newest one when it comes out next month.
- What kept me from reading this series for so long?! So many kids are afraid of long books, and I’m always searching for a solid middle school book with a great plot and well written but not too long to help get them going—well, I found it! Kidnapped: The Abduction is a continuation of the On the Run series, but it is not required that you read it.
- Oh, Dog Man. You have my son’s heart, and I cannot thank you enough for that. You are the reason, right now, that he wants to go to bed: so he can read.
- In Syracuse, Trent and I vowed to finish The House at Pooh Corner, and Milne’s stories are so nostalgic and fun to read.
- I love myself an interactive narrator and the panda has some real fun with his narrator in this one. Does the panda have a problem or is he the problem?!?! Read this fun book (so fun my son had us read it over and over) to find out: The Panda Problem by Deborah Underwood.
Ricki
I love every book in this series, and We Are (Not) Friends is no exception. I am excited to review this one in full in a few weeks. It addresses issues surrounding friendship (including/excluding others and claiming people as our friends). Both of my sons really enjoyed this, and it is very accessible to different age levels. It’s resting beside me on our coffee table because my kids have asked to read it several times since we got it a few days ago. Lovers of this series will appreciate this new installment. If you haven’t checked out the series, I highly recommend it!
I finished listening to I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez. Ahhh, it is so beautifully written. I found the last third of the book to be very unpredictable, which I really enjoyed. This book tackles so many critical issues and would make for a great classroom text. I plan to use it in my college YAL course the next time I teach it.
Kellee
- Reading: As She Fades by Abbi Glines
- Listening: Kidnapped: The Search by Gordon Korman
- Reading with Trent: Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild by Dav Pilkey
- Listening with Trent: Frog and Toad Audio Collection by Arnold Lobel
Ricki
I am slowly savoring On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. I’m about 3/4 of the way through, and I have loved every minute of it. Bri’s voice is very strong.
Next, I plan to read a bunch of #metoo-related books. I am preparing for a literature circles unit on the books, and I am trying to decide which books to choose. I have some definite favorites, and then I have a long list of books I have not read. I’ve gotten some amazing feedback from some blogger friends (Kellee, Crystal B., Sarah A.), and they’ve really helped me narrow the other lists. They’ve also helped with the #metoo list, but I haven’t read enough to be decisive. Which are your absolute favorite #metoo books?
Tuesday: Student-Created Interactive Timeline on the Struggle for Equal Rights in America
Wednesday: A Brief History of Life on Earth by Clémence Dupont
Friday: Blog Tour with Review and Educators’ Guide!: Bat and the End of Everything by Elana K. Arnold
Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “Fostering Kindness and Empathy Through Literature” by Amalie Jahn, Author of The Next To Last Mistake
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!
and
I should check Gareth Hinds books. Have a great week you two!
Kellee~ I need to pick up Gareth Hinds’ Odyssey and Iliad. I’m excited to learn of these! I’ve also been curious about #murdertrending and #murderfunding — so you’ve helped answer my questions, there. I’ll be adding these to my list. I also have my eye on the Korman Kidnapped series, now.
Ricki~ I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. I just remember being surprised at how much I enjoyed it. And I’m next in line at our library for On the Come Up. So hopefully verrrrry soon… 🙂
Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, Kellee – and so many good books! I didn’t realize you were going to Syracuse! I am from Rochester (just down the road 😉 ) and went to college 3 hours NORTH of Syracuse! So, I know the area well & have lots of friends there.
Ricki, I am listening to On the Come Up now, too! It’s so good already – reminding me very much of The Hate U Give, though a different story, of course. But the same emotional depth & power.
Hope you both enjoy your books this week –
Sue
Book By Book
I loved The Panda Problem. Such a funny, innovative book.
Trent reading is adorable! Love this. Hurray also for Frog and Toad.Can’t wait to read On the Come Up!
I’m glad you had a fabulous time Kellee. I enjoyed all your pictures on Facebook. I’m also glad that you are back! Although I enjoyed Check Please, I don’t think I appreciated it as much as you did.
Ricki I am almost embarrassed to admit that I abandoned On the Come Up. I had it checked out as an ebook, and I really don’t like them much. I have decided to wait for a print copy.
Kellee – After months of listening to Beverly Cleary audiobooks on repeat, my five-year-old asked for Winnie the Pooh today. Milne really is such a great writer. The Frog and Toad audio collection is also fabulous. We were into those for a while last year.
Ricki – We love A Brief History of Life on Earth. My kids have loved folding out the timeline all across our house, and “walking” through natural history. Such a fun format for kids of all ages!
I am thrilled to hear about Gareth Hinds’ adaptation of The Iliad. We have The Odyssey available in our library so am grabbing that off the shelves. I have just been reading Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls and currently reading Madeline Miller’s Song of Achilles – and am desperately craving for more literature about the Trojan war – so I can share it with my teenage daughter.