It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
For readers of all ages
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop we host which focuses on sharing what we’re reading. This Kid Lit version of IMWAYR focuses primarily on books marketed for kids and teens, but books for readers of all ages are shared. We love this community and how 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. The Kid Lit IMWAYR was co-created by Kellee & Jen at Teach Mentor Texts.
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: Bear’s Big Idea by Sandra Nickel, Illustrated by Il Sung Na
Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Living the Questions” by Abdi Nazemian, Author of Desert Echoes
**Click on any picture/link to view the post**
Kellee
Picture Books
- Bookie & Cookie by Blanca Gómez: What a creative idea for a story! I loved that there are two friends who live on different pages of the book and travel between the two sides. I don’t know if there are any other picture books like this, but I think it is so clever. And the message of the book is so important. It is going to be the perfect read aloud.
- Cookie Time by Jessie Sima: Jessie Sima does it again! Her books are always so much fun and more than meets the eye. This one is the same–it is a mix of sentimental family moments and time travel! It is sweet and silly. Another unexpected picture book that leads to a wonderful reading experience.
- Clack, Clack! SMACK!: A Cherokee Stickball Story by Traci Sorell, Illustrated by Joseph Erb: The onomatopoeias and action within this book keep the reader wanting to continue to see how everything pans out, and Vann is a character who you can’t help but root for. I also loved the information about stickball and the Tsalagi language that is found in the back matter.
- The Goblin Twins and The Goblin Twins: Too Hard to Scare by Frances Cha, Illustrated by Jaime Kim: These are perfect addition to Halloween read aloud time! The books aren’t too scary, but have a spooky feel, and they both have a great message that make them more than the normal Halloween book. And that they are based in Korean myths that is new to me was so fascinating, so is an opportunity to share about Dokkaebi. (Also, like often with duo characters, there is the opportunity for compare & contrast!)
Middle Grade
- Whatever After: Liar Liar by Sarah Mylnowski: This is the 16th book in this series, and I have loved them all. It is always fun to see how the author is going to twist a classic tale, this time Pinocchio.
Young Adult
- This Ravenous Fate by Hayley Dennings: If you like vampire, time period, romance novels with a touch of old timer gangster feels, you are going to love this book!
- How to Lose a Best Friend by Jordan K. Casomar: This book made me feel SO MANY EMOTIONS. I got SO mad, you should have heard me venting to my library clerk. You know a book is good when you are gossiping about it like it is real life. It truly kept me reading–I had to know what was going to happen (and if it was going to make me more angry!).
- Unbecoming by Seema Yasmin: This was a dystopian book about the lack of access to abortion that switched to a contemporary book when Roe vs. Wade is overturned. The story is so real and scary with characters who readers will adore.
And you can always learn more about any of the books I’ve been reading by checking out my read bookshelf on Goodreads.
Ricki
This is my week off–I’ll see you in two weeks!
Kellee
- Dance of the Starlit Sea by Kiana Krystle
- Celestial Monsters by Aiden Thomas
Tuesday: My Towering Tree by Janna Matthies, Illustrated by Ashley Wolff
Thursday: Sofia’s YA Book Nook: Into Thin Air by Kellie M. Parker
Sunday: Author Guest Post: “Challenging the Myths and Misrepresentations of ADHD in Children’s Books” by Ashley Hards, Authors of Hannah Edwards: Secrets of Riverway
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
Cookie Time is one I really want to read–I love Jessica Sima’s books. I can’t believe I’ve never read a single title from Sarah Mlynowski’s series, but they look super fun. Unbecoming sounds terrifying but also an important read, so I’ll look for that one too.
Another Whatever After. Sigh. I may draw the line at 15 of the books. That’s just a lot of books in a series. I like them, too, but they aren’t hugely popular in my middle school.
I love that there are two different cookie-related picture books that both sound wonderful, Kellee!! And about Bookie and Cookie, I have to share this—there is a TV show I love called Steven Universe, and the creator did a picture book adaptation called The Answer, and while the main story happens in the center of the pages, the two characters also live on the top and bottom of the pages, and watch the story, and climb up and down the page to see from different vantage points! So I guess that’s at least two books that have fun with the physical space of the page in that way.
Also, I think I would explode reading How to Lose a Best Friend—I do love that you were gossiping about the plot events as if they happened to someone you know!
Thank you so much for all the amazing picks, as always, and I hope you have a wonderful week!