It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR and Read or Write Anywhere Campaign 5/25/15

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.

CONGRATULATIONS

ERIC WANDZEL 

for winning a copy of Daredevil Duck!

Last Week’s Posts

   

Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Blog Posts Written By Each Other

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

 Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee: First, thank you so much for all of the kind words about my sister’s wedding last week! It was such a wonderful celebration of love, and I was so glad that we were able to be with her.

  

As for my reading, I have to be honest: traveling, seeing family, and a wedding really hurts your reading! Since I last updated, I have read three novels and a picture book. First, I finished The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates: Magic Marks the Spot by Caroline Carlson. This book was so charming and funny and GIRL POWER and one of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. I then finished Atlantia by Ally Condie which was a fascinating fantasy dystopian novel. I loved the setting and the mythology within the story. Then yesterday I finished I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. It was such a beautiful, heart-wrenching puzzle of a novel filled with love and loss of all kinds.

With Trent, we brought all of our favorites on our trip, but when we returned we grabbed Farmer Dale’s Red Pickup Truck by Lisa Wheeler after a recommendation form a friend, and I can see why they like it–it was such a fun animal story with a great rhythm.

Ricki: How am I supposed to compete with pictures of a wedding? 🙂 This week, I was most grateful to have read Wish by Matthew Cordell. My baby boy begin with a wish. Reading this story was a gift to me, and I am grateful to the bloggers who introduced me to it. It made me cry.

Nonfiction picture books!: I also was delighted with the nonfiction Flight of the Honey Bee by Ramond Huber. I don’t like bees very much, and this book helped me realize I should be a bit more grateful for them. The narrative quality of the book drew me in. If you like photography or bugs, you will enjoy The Alphabet of Bugs: An ABC Book by Valerie Gates. The closeups of the insects made my stomach churn, but I enjoyed the alliteration and use of color. Lastly, I learned about rivers in River Story by Meredith Hooper. While rivers aren’t a particularly strong interest for me, this nonfiction is certain to have its place in elementary school classrooms. It would align well with many units on science or geography. Flight of the Honey Bee by Ramond Huber

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee: I have already started listening to the second book in The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates series, and I was so happy to see that the audiobook is narrated by the same narrator. I also started reading Falling into Place by Amy Zhang, and it has already grabbed me within the first 10%.

Ricki: I am still reading X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon. I’m almost finished, and usually I am not this slow, but really, I just love it and am savoring it. I’ve been planning a new college class I am teaching, so that is keeping me up late. I started the audiobook Dodger by Terry Pratchett. I’d be curious to hear what you all thought about that one. I may be the last to read it, so I am wondering if it is good.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

 

Tuesday: Ten Books That Remind Us of Summer

Friday: Author Guest Post and Giveaway!: “Doing it Over…and Over…and Over Again” by Pete Hautman, Author of Eden West

Summer is about to begin! 

But just because it’s summer doesn’t mean we should stop reading and writing. The YA Chicks—Vivi Barnes, Christina Farley, and Amy Christine Parker—along with guest co-creators Lucienne Diver, Peggy Jackson, and Tara Gallina, are excited to share with you a global campaign that we are launching on May 22, 2015, to encourage readers, writers, students, and teachers to share pictures all of the places—both ordinary and extraordinary—where they are reading and writing. This is open to all readers/writers of both middle grade and young adult books!

You can also take part in…
A MONSTER GIVEAWAY! 

We have THREE separate prize packs in the works:

• The Reader’s Pack: Includes one book from every participating author (just wait until you hear who we’ve got lined up!) (US and Canada only)

• The Writer’s Pack: Includes query critiques, writing swag from authors, and more! (International)

• The Classroom Pack: Includes free Skype visits w/YA Chicks and other participating authors, a signed YA Chicks poster, and other swag! (International)

Check out the YA Chicks site to see what authors and books are available in the giveaways!!! 

So, how can you participate? It’s easy! Simply choose which prize pack you’d like to win and find the directions for it below under the headings: READERS, WRITERS, or STUDENTS & TEACHERS (you can participate in multiple giveaways). Then visit the YA Chicks site from May 22nd to May 31st and enter your chosen giveaway(s).

We can’t wait to see where you’re reading and writing!

READERS:

At 9 a.m. EST on May 22, 2015, we will be posting pictures of middle grade and young adult authors writing or reading in mysterious locations. It will be your job to figure out exactly where they are. We will link each picture to that author’s website where you will find 5 clues to help you figure it out. Once you’ve got all the authors locations, come back to the YA Chicks site and:

• Officially enter the giveaway by telling us the authors’ names and your guesses about their locations. Every author location you guess correctly increases your chances to win.
• For even more chances, post a picture of yourself reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).

WRITERS:

Starting at 9 a.m. EST on May 22, 2015, we’d like you to:

• Post pictures of yourself writing in a fun location on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere. Then let us know you did it when you enter the giveaway.
• For even more chances, gather your writer friends together and post a group shot with the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag). And hey, since you’re already together, why not host a write-a-thon?
• Choose one author from each group and enter their location
• OR for the grand prize, name all the authors in Group A

TEACHERS & STUDENTS:

Starting at 9 a.m. EST on May 22, 2015, we’d like you to:

• Post pictures of your class reading or writing on Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #ReadOrWriteAnywhere (must have the hashtag).
• Then let us know you did it when you enter the giveaway. If you don’t have a Twitter or Instagram, you can email your picture directly to us with the picture pasted directly into the email (no attachments–we won’t open them) AND the subject, “Read or Write Anywhere.”
• Choose one author from each group and enter their location
• You can also check out our YA Chicks Read or Write Anywhere lesson plan, available on our site.

That’s it! We hope you’re as excited as we are about this campaign and trio of giveaways. Now, what are you waiting for? Get out there and READ OR WRITE ANYWHERE! #ReadOrWriteAnywhere

We cannot wait to see all of the entries! Good luck!

 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!

  and