Top Ten Tuesday – Page 25 – Unleashing Readers

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books We’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Historical Fiction

July 27, 2015August 5, 2014 by Ricki

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Books I’d Give To Readers Who Have Never Read Historical Fiction

Ricki

1. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

There is a reason this book is in both Kellee’s and my top five. It is absolutely brilliant. Lina is a 15-year-old girl living in Lithuania during WWII. Unlike the majority of the books about WWII, this one is not about the Holocaust. The Soviets, under the leadership of Stalin, barge into her house and drag her family onto a truck. They are headed for Siberia. I knew a bit about Stalin’s dictatorship, but this book added much more knowledge to my understanding. I am surprised that I have not read more books about this tragedy of history. This book will surely engage readers.

2. Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

This is an incredible novel that can be appreciated by people of all ages. What I like most about the novel is that it is centered around the characters and relationships. Doug’s brother is fighting in Vietnam, and his family moves into a small house in a small town. Doug isn’t the most well-behaved boy, so he has no problem talking back to the people in the town who bother him. While I want to summarize all of the interesting literary elements of the book, I think it would be better to just tell you to experience it for yourself. Truly, you won’t be disappointed in this one. It is worthy of the praise it has received.

3. The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow

Although Karl Stern’s family is not religious, they are considered Jewish based on the fact that three out of four grandparents were Jewish. Karl develops his skills as a boxer and struggles to maneuver through a world that is becoming increasingly anti-semitic. I liked this book because it taught me a lot about the build-up of the Holocaust, so it was different from many other books from that time period. Sharenow does an excellent job weaving history and comics into the story, and it was very engaging. Whenever I put the book down, I couldn’t stop thinking about Karl and his family.

4. Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelsen

This was my favorite book to read aloud when I was teaching high school. Based on a true story, it details the journey of Gabriella, a 15-year-old, carefree girl in Guatemala. When her home is attacked, she climbs a tree and witnesses the horrible massacre of the people in her village. The violence in this book is unsettling, but my students felt very connected to Gabriella’s story. It teaches phenomenal lessons of courage.

5. A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Mattie Gokey is a 16-year-old girl who works at a hotel. A guest, Grace, asks her to burn a bundle of letters, and then Grace’s body is discovered in the lake. This mystery, set in 1906, is beautifully written and will teach readers many lessons. I used A Northern Light in literature circles, and it always got positive reviews.

Kellee

I totally agree about the books, Okay for Now and Berlin Boxing Club, that Ricki shared. Both are amazing books and ones that “trick” readers who may not like historical fiction. Here are the books I think could turn these readers:

1. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

This is just a brilliant book who will suck in any reading. I almost included Ruta Sepetys’s newest, Out of the Easy, as well because Ruta is so good at taking her readers and transporting us into the setting of her book.

2. The Watch That Ends the Night by Allan Wolf

This is one of my favorite historical fiction books, and I think it’d be a good book for a first-time historical fiction reader because the Titanic is a setting/topic that many people know about.

3. I Survived… (series) by Lauren Tarshis

4. Resistance (series) by Carla Jablonski

5. Wonderstruck and Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

With these three (#3, #4, and #5), I am thinking of my struggling readers (and many other middle school students) who are intimidated by historical fiction. All three of these can help students see the joy of historical fiction.

Which historical fiction books would you use to introduce someone to the genre?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Authors Who Are Highly Represented in Our Libraries

July 29, 2014July 29, 2014 by Ricki

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Authors Who Are Highly Represented in Our Libraries (In other words, we have a LOT of their books!)

Ricki

1. John Green

I own everything he has written. In fact, I have multiple copies of most of his books.

2. Kristin Cashore

I love this woman, and I could never give up the several copies I have of each of her books.

3. Jodi Picoult

I’ve only read three of her books, but I must own ten of them.

4. Matt de la Peña

I also own every book by this awesome guy. He is an incredible author.

5. Chris Crutcher

Who doesn’t love Chris Crutcher? I have quite the Crutcher collection.

Honorable Mention: John Steinbeck. But I thought it was boring to put him on my list.

Kellee

#1-2 are from my home library, #3-5 are from my classroom library. This, like most of the TTT lists, was really hard for me because there are many other authors I could have included.. And I have to preface with the fact that these are the authors who I own the most books by, not the authors I’ve read the most.

1. Ernest Hemingway

During my literature degree, I was introduced first to Hemingway’s short stories then Sun Also Rises, and I fell in love with how he wrote. Since then I have only read Old Man and the Sea and A Farewell to Arms, but I own most of his books so I can, in my lifetime, read them all.

2. Carl Hiaasen

Carl Hiaasen is one of my dad’s favorite authors, and he introduced him to me while I was in college with Stormy Weather. Since then Hiaasen has also started writing MG and YA books, so I am happy to be able to promote him at school as well. And even though I haven’t read as many as I want to, I own MANY of Hiaasen’s books, and plan on reading all of them.

3. Anthony Horowitz

I LOVE his Alex Rider series as well as his Gatekeeper series (though I haven’t read it yet!), and my students love his books as well. I own all but 2 of his books, and even multiple copies of many of his books.

4. Roald Dahl

Dahl and Horowitz are the ones on the list who I have read the most of. Dahl was one of my favorite childhood authors, so I made sure to have his books in my classroom library for my students.

5. Margaret Paterson Haddix

Kids love Haddix! I own everything she has written, because I know it will get reader. Also, I really adored her Shadow Children series (I’ve read all but the last one. What is wrong with me?!), so I love sharing it with my kids.

Which authors make statements in your library?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Characters We Would Want with us on a Deserted Island

July 27, 2014July 22, 2014 by Ricki

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Characters We Would Want with us on a Deserted Island

Ricki

1. Katniss from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I know she is an obvious choice, but I really need her survival skills. I am a weakling.

2. Hannah and Becky from Into that Forest by Louis Nowra

Katniss will do all of the killing, but Hannah and Becky will help me become one with the animals. I would love to join a tiger clan.

3. Any main character from a John Green novel

I would like some intellectual, witty conversation on my island.

4. The Snatchabook from The Snatchabook by Helen Docherty

I would like this little creature to snatch a few books for me, thank you very much.

5. Lucy Knisley from Relish by Lucy Knisley

And Lucy will cook for me.

Kellee

1. Sam and Camille from Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil

Like Ricki, I just want some awesome people to chat and hang out with. These are my people.

2. Kitten from Kitten’s First Moon by Kevin Henkes

I have to have a pet kitty! (Though I’d prefer one of my kitties, Kitten is quite adorable.)

3. Katsa and Po from Graceling by Kristin Cashore

They will take care of hunting and protecting us.

4. Luc from Threatened by Eliot Schrefer

Luc knows how to survive in the wilderness. I do not. I’ll need him.

5. Hermione from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

With her wand. Tada! A/C, books, food, etc. Anything we need! And she’d be fun to hang out with too.

Which characters would you want with you? Did we miss any great ones?

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Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Movies (For Their Great Stories)

July 15, 2014 by Ricki

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Favorite Movies (For their Great Stories)

Ricki

Confession: I hate movies. I never start a movie with my husband without a book by my side (in case I get bored). I rarely go to the movie theater because I feel trapped.

1. The Thing Called Love

This is the one movie I could watch over and over again. The story is beautiful. It stars River Phoenix and Sandra Bullock, to name a few greats. 🙂

2. Crazy Stupid Love

With a great cast, this movie really shines. I couldn’t stop talking about it after I saw it!

3. 50 First Dates

There is something beautiful about the combination of Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler.

4. In Love and War

I loved seeing this movie, which was based on Hemingway’s time during the war. I am not certain how accurate it is, but either way, I really enjoyed it.

5. Three Great Book-to-Movie Adaptions (But Read the Book Instead)
The Help
The Fault in our Stars
I am Legend

Of course, while the books were better, I was please with these three movie adaptions.

Kellee

I had a tough time with this list as there are as many wonderfully written movies out there as books, but I did the best I could!

1. Pixar Movies

I am cheating with this one, but all of their movies are brilliant. From the original, Toy Story, to their shorts that are shown at the beginning of each Pixar movie, they are all so well done.

2. Memento

This is a story about a man that has anterograde amnesia which means he cannot make any new memories after the event that caused his amnesia. He is trying to avenge for a tragedy in his past. It is so amazing how the story is told in flashbacks and snippets.

3. Usual Suspects

Um, Kevin Spacey is awesome, right?! And the end?! Wow. Still amazes me. If you haven’t seen this, do it now.

4. American History X

This movie has a story that I wish was a book so I could read it. It is about prejudice and regret and pain and family. It is a tough, tough movie.

5. Four Book-to-Movie Adaptations
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Shawshank Redemption
Clueless
10 Things I Hate About You

My favorite book-to-movie adaptation is probably Bridget Jones’s Diary. I adore this movie (and the book. Read the book.) I also loved The Shawshank Redemption based off of Stephen King’s short story Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption from his short story collection Different Seasons (a superb short story collection. Includes the short stories that were adapted into the movies Apt Pupil and Stand By Me.)
But for my other two best book-to-movie adaptations I went a different route. My two favorite adaptations are modernized adaptations of classics which I admit I have not read: Clueless (Emma) and 10 Things I Hat About You (Taming of the Shrew), but these two movies are two of my favorites ever.
(By the way: I agree with Ricki about The Fault in our Stars. It was a phenomenal adaptation, and I adored that book and read it 6 times.)

What other movies have great stories? Please share!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Blogging Confessions

July 8, 2014 by Ricki

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Blogging Confessions

Ricki

1. On our #IMWAYR posts, I have said I’ve finished a book when I have a good chunk left to read. I race to finish it that night to avoid being a liar when the post goes live the next day.

2. I binge blog…writing five or six weeks at a time. When I get on a roll, I just can’t stop!

3. I spend hours trying to fix the spacing of blog posts because I am so obsessive. When I can’t get it right, I lose sleep over it.

4. I reread my blog posts five to ten times to make sure I avoided grammar mistakes. I am meticulous to a fault.

5. Our Monday blog posts go live at midnight, and more than once, I have leaped out of bed at 11:45pm to race to beat the clock because I forgot.

Kellee

1. I always put a positive spin on my Monday posts no matter how bad a week I had. It is hard for me to admit when reading just wasn’t a priority during my week.

2. I have written postive-ish reviews on books that I really didn’t like because I liked the author that asked me to review it for him/her.

3. I am not a grammarian. I do my best, but Ricki is just better at grammar than me. (And I type pretty quickly and have been known to make typos and not see them.)

4. I have to put reminders in my phone to blog each weekend because when I didn’t in the past, I’d forget to do the Monday post or some other post for the week.

5. I’ve had trouble writing teacher posts this year as I was not in the classroom and struggled in my new position, and I feel really guilty about it.

It’s your turn! Time to confess!

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Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Classics AND Top Ten Classics We Want To Read

July 2, 2014July 1, 2014 by Kellee

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Favorite Classics AND Top Ten Classics We Want To Read

Ricki

Favorites

1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is my all-time favorite book. I read it as a freshman in high school and thought it was okay. When I reread it as an adult, I fell in love with it. I made my dad read it, and he was just as enamored with the book.

2. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

I love all things John Steinbeck. This is my favorite classic to teach. My students and I read it like a play, and they love it.

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

This book takes me to a different land. It is beautiful. I own an old copy with illustrations. As I write about the book right now, I am compelled to reread it.

4. 1984 by George Orwell

1984 is an incredible book to teach. It took awhile for my students to get into it, but they really enjoyed it once they got over the initial hump. This book is a winner (and there are so many modern-day connections for students to appreciate).

5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

I read this book the summer before college. I was blown away by how good it was. This is a classic worth reading.

Want to Read

1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

I am embarrassed that I haven’t read this book yet! I love all of the movies. I know that doesn’t count!

2. East of Eden by John Steinbeck

This book has been on my to-read list for a very long time. I think I own three copies of it.

3. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

I’d love to read this text. I opened the first few pages during a break in my teaching schedule, but somehow, I lost the copy.

4. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

This is a book that I probably won’t enjoy, but I would love to try it out.

5. Beloved by Toni Morrison

I read The Bluest Eye as a freshman in high school (and was very confused), and then when I had the option to see the play, I ordered copies of it. I enjoyed it so much that I ended up teaching it the following year.

Kellee

Favorites

1. Hemingway’s Sun Also Rises, Old Man and the Sea, and A Farewell to Arms

I love how Hemingway writes! And although I haven’t read everything by him yet, everything I have read I thoroughly enjoy.

2. Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

This is a book that truly makes you look at the world differently.

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Perfection. The courtroom scene will never leave me. And if you haven’t listened to the audio book, it is a must. Sissy Spacek is amazing.

4. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

This is such a powerful novel. And the ending! Wow. It is also an amazing audio book read by Gary Sinise.

5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

One of the first dystopians and a frightening and scary world it is.

Want to Read

1. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

I want to see where the phrase came from. Also, I have heard it is quite enjoyable.

2. 1984 by George Orwell

I have started this book a handful of times, and I. Am. Going. To. Finish. It!

3. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Too often this is brought up, and I haven’t read it.

4. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Everyone’s favorite, and I am enthralled with the Dust Bowl.

5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

The premise just seems like it is going to be fun to read.

What classics are your favorite?
What classics do you still want to read?

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One Year Anniversary Celebration Week: Top Ten Favorite Posts in the First Year of Unleashing Readers

June 29, 2014June 24, 2014 by Ricki

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Favorite Posts in the First Year of Unleashing Readers

For our one year anniversary, we want to share with you our favorite posts during our first year.

1. Launch Week: Our Favorites and the Blog Hop of Other Bloggers’ Favorites

In these posts, we shared our favorite books to use for: Read-Alouds, Literature Circles/Book Clubs, and Close Readings. We also included our favorite classroom library texts and all-time favorite titles.

2. Top Books for Struggling/Reluctant Middle School Readers

When Kellee switched to teaching all struggling readers, she saw a definite trend in what they read and found success sharing these books with her students. She wanted to share them with other teachers to hope they find success as well.

3. Walden Award Finalists and Walden Award Winner

As members of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Committee, we were proud to share reviews of the 2013 Finalists and Winners.

4. What Being Married to a Non-Reader has Taught Me

Too often “non-readers” are put to shame and frowned upon, but many of these people read more than we do, just differently. We can learn from these “non-readers” rather than judging them.

5. Helping Our Students Achieve the Reading and Writing Flow

After reading Murray’s Write to Learn, Ricki was compelled to reflect about how this might look in the classroom.

6. Genre/Format Introductions

One of the ways Kellee makes sure her students can find the books they need is by introducing them to the array of genres and format they can find within the world of books. This is the lesson she uses to teach these.

7. Balance, Where Are You?

As teachers, balance often feels elusive. Ricki reflects on this struggle.

8. Academic Games

When teaching any child, if you make it fun, they are more likely to retain the information. Here are some academic games Kellee has found to be successful in her classroom.

9. 20 Moments I Will Miss With My Readers

When she decided to pursue a doctoral degree, Ricki began to reflect on the moments she would miss most.

10. Novels with Science Content and Novels with Math Content

As a person with a huge classroom library and extensive reading knowledge, Kellee is often the go-to person at her school for book advice. When a science and math teacher asked her for cross-curricular books, she decided to make it a blog post to share the list.

11. As we blow out the candles of this blog anniversary, we can’t help but add one more post beyond the top ten. After all, we need one candle for good luck and to grow on!

Our Babies’ Favorite Picture Books: Kellee and Trent (first three months) and Ricki and Henry (first six months)

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