It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
Sharing Picture Books, Early Readers, Middle Grade Books, and Young Adult Books for All Ages!
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop co-hosted by Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts which focuses on sharing books marketed for children and young adults. It offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other.
The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.
We encourage you to write your own post sharing what you’re reading, link up below, leave a comment, and support other IMWAYR bloggers by visiting and commenting on at least three of the other linked blogs.
Happy reading!
Tuesday: A Seat at the Table: The Nancy Pelosi Story by Elisa Boxer, Illustrated by Laura Freeman
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
- Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko: I am so glad that I finally listened to this sequel to Raybearer! First, I highly recommend the audiobooks if you are going to read these books–they truly bring it to life! Also, although I was satisfied when Raybearer ended, Redemptor takes Tarisai on her true journey to figure out how she fits. Beautifully crafted in both voice and plot.
- Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions by Navdeep Singh Dhillon: I was so excited to write a teaching guide for this one, and I cannot wait to share it! I adored the nerdiness of this book–it has cosplay, fandom, and fanfiction references throughout that so many are going to love. Sunny is also such a wonderful character–both caring, funny, but also dealing with some real stuff. I also loved the allusions to rom-coms; it added an extra fun element to it. And on top of the story, I loved the representation in the book and was so happy to read reviews from readers who found themselves reflected in this novel. For me it was a window that I loved looking into, but for those who it is a mirror, it seems to mean a lot.
- It Will End Like This by Kyra Leigh: What a messed up book!!!! Like, I don’t even know how to review it other than sharing that if you like psychological thrillers, this book is for you. And when you finish, talk to me because I still have so many questions!
- Concealed by Christina Diaz Gonzalez: This book was such a fun book to read with my lunch book club. There were so many twists and turns that it gave us a lot to discuss and predict. The revelations were quite mind-blowing, too; many we did not see coming! This is a book so many middle grade readers are not going to be able to put down!
- Treasury of Magical Tales from Around the World by Donna Jo Napoli, Illustrated by Christina Balit: I love the Treasury series from National Geographic because it gives such a beautiful glimpse into whatever the topic of the book is. This one focused on tales from around the world and included stories from 29 places, “from the Arctic to Africa to Asia to Australia to Europe to the Americas.” This book is THE book of magical tales you want on your book shelf for your kids/students as it removes the Eurocentrism of fairy tales and takes readers on a journey through stories all over the world. And it is written by Donna Jo Napoli, so you know it is beautifully crafted! (And there was a review that said the audiobook was good; I now want to go listen to it!)
- Waffles and Pancakes: Planetary-Yum by Drew Brockington: Loved this young reader graphic novel that is a prequel to the Catstronaut series. It is going to be a favorite of so many early readers!
- Love is Everything by Charles Ghigna, Illustrated by Jacqueline East: Ghigna’s focus on hope and love was so clear from the beginning of this book. Though the text was sparse, it was lyrical which makes from a wonderful read aloud. This new picture book will be a wonderful gift for young ones in our life to show that we love them and believe in them and that there is hope and love in the world. (Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/So0rP_GSESw)
- Clean Getaway by Nic Stone: This was a reread for me, but my teacher book club was reading it, so I wanted to be fresh on the details. Although I love the road trip aspect and learning about G’ma’s history in an interracial relationship, I found the closure on it to be unsatisfying (and I cannot tell you why because it is from the end of the book), but I still found the book enjoyable, know students love it, and am glad we read it for book club so I could revisit it.
To learn more about any of these books, check out my 2021 Goodreads Challenge page or my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Ricki
It’s finals week, and I am completely swamped, so I have to bow out this week! I will be reviewing on Thursday!
This is our last IMWAYR post for a couple of weeks as we are going to take a Winter Break!
We wish you all happy holidays (if you celebrate), happy winter break (if you get one), and happy new year!
Thursday: Waffles and Pancake: Planetary-Yum by Drew Brockington
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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It is time for a break, I agree! Wishing you both a special holiday with family and friends!
Kellee, all of the books you’ve been reading sound great! Sunny G’s Series of Rash Decisions sounds like a great read, and how cool that you got to write a teaching guide for it. (Also, I read the linked article on “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors”—I’ve heard of that article before, but I’ve never read it, and it was excellent, so thanks for sharing it!) Also, I’ve heard really good things about Clean Getaway, but I’m sorry the ending didn’t really work for you.
Ricki, good luck with finals week—I hope things calm down soon!
Thank you both so much for the great post and link round-up—enjoy your break!
I noticed on the Goodreads book blurb it compared It Will End Like This to Sadie. But due to the title, I also wondered if it was anything like They Both Die in the End. I shy away from thrillers, but I always fly through them once I start one. LOL And I feel awful about the fact that I can hardly remember the ending of Clean Getaway to discuss closure, but it’s so frustrating when I come across a book that fell flat for me, due primarily to closure. Boo! Have a wonderful holiday break, Ricki and Kellee!