Scowler

I randomly chose this book off of the Reading Hub book challenge list.  Though I read later that this book has earned several accolades, I had never heard of the book Scowler or author Daniel Kraus before.  I listened to this audiobook on my way to school.

And thank goodness it was an audiobook in my vehicle, in the daylight, on my way to church/school!  Creepy, creepy, creepy!  This book would have terrified me reading at home at night--and it was soooo awesome!  The older I get, I have a hard time with scary books, but I really LOVED this one.  It was scary physically and psychologically.  Listening to the reading of the text made it super creepy.  Some of the noises made on the audio really left a mark in my brain--very effective.

Kraus burrows into your brain in that Stephen King sort of way.  Click HERE to visit his website.

The Book Thief

I had purchased The Book Thief two summers ago and started reading it in the car while waiting for my girls to get done with cross country practice.  Then school happened.  Reading too sporatic and disjointed.  So I picked the book up again--but I had to reread the first 150 pages.

Wow!  Why did I ever stop reading this book?!?!?  It is such an awesome story, but the way it is told lifts it to another level.  The narrator, Death, tells the story of a young German girl during WWII.  Given the timeframe of the setting, the narrator Death, and the sheer length--this novel will not be that uplifting, mindless read I sometimes crave.   Students have a renewed interest in the novel since the movie just came out.  I am hesitant to recommend this book to my students because I think most will get frustrated.  A few of my higher-level, avid readers completed it and loved it.

I am reading another Markus Zusak (brief author info) novel--The Messenger--that absolutely would not be appropriate for junior high students (sexual content and foul language).  If I have a student that wants to read this novel, I secure their parents' permission because of the language used (though most of the swearing is uttered in German).

Thirteen Reasons Why

One of the last books I read in 2013 was Jay Asher's first novel Thirteen Reasons Why.  I had viewed some buzz about this book the past year, but never really got around to checking it out.  It was one of the books I could get from the library on playaway AND check out the book (both are required for vacation travel for me), so I decided to read (and listen) to it.

I loved both how this book was told and the premise for the book.  The book was told through a series of tapes a high school girl made and mailed the day she took her own life.  The premise, though disturbing, was how one person's actions can have lasting consequences.  What I didn't like was that I thought her act was vengeful--or maybe that uncomfortable feeling I had is myself wondering what impact I have on people.  Hum?!?!?

When writing this for my own memory, I stumbled upon his website.  On it, are all thirteen tapes read by the main character "Hannah."  Ooooh.  This adds another level to the reading experience.  Check it out by clicking HERE.  I will recommend this book to my high school daughters.  I do feel it is a little too mature for the junior high group.

The Eleventh Plague

I am not sure why I chose this book to read--perhaps it was one a student donated to our classroom.  Scholastic was highlighting it in one of its fliers, and I had a super quiet, avid-reader student order it.  Anything to connect to students . . .

This book is appropriate for junior high students and older.  Given the violence and destruction (both present and implied), I would not recommend it for most readers younger than 7th grade.

I thought this novel was decent.  I've nearly had my fill of the post-apocalyptic novels.  This one followed in that traditional format.  Interesting main character.  Nothing too exceptional about the book that makes is stand apart from other books in this genre.  I probably would have "ranked" it higher on my Goodreads list if this had been one of the first books in this genre I have read.  There were some interesting, familiar details (decrepit old Starbucks, etc.) and a not-too-sappy romance to draw readers into the text.  I would not hesitate to read other books by this author--click HERE for more information about Jeff Hirsch and his books.  His book is way better than his website.

Shelter

I was given a copy of Harlan Coben's Shelter from a student who was graduating.  I have wanted to read this author--who writes both adult and teen books.  Click HERE to visit the author website.  Again, it was the cover that drew me to this book.

There were the mysterious peering out of a butterfly keyhole.  But the butterfly is formed by the silhouette of two people and the shadow of a third.  After reading the book, the cover has even more significance.  This book fixed my craving for mystery and action.  As I neared the end of the novel, there was one unrealistic, "fake" scene; I was prepared to be disappointed in the whole novel because of these cheesy ending; however, the author pulled it back together for me, and left me craving the sequel Seconds Away.

Code Name Verity

Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity is a book I saw popping up all over the place with very high praise.  I started this book first by listening to it as I was driving.  I finished the book when I got home, but I think I lost some of the "clues" in the book by not reading the entire thing.  This is the type of book you want to know early on to pay attention closely.  I was confused early on (and I suspect even READING vs. listening would not change this too much), but the second half of the book circles around and fills in the missing and unpredictable pieces.

This novel is one of very few novels I would consider rereading.  I think the re-read would be much more fulfilling.  I will probably allow my higher level, more socially mature students (7th/8th grade) read this as one of the optional books.

I had not read anything by Elizabeth Wein before.  I doubt this book could be topped; however, she has a book entitled Rose Under Fire coming out in a couple of months.  The review indicates it runs along a similar time frame as Code Name Verity, so I will add it to my "To Read" list.  Wein's website may be found by clicking HERE.  I don't really love her website, but she does have a "Vintage Verity" section with some period-related items.

Farewell to Manzanar

I was given a generous gift of maybe two dozen sets of novels (numbering about a half dozen each) from a school that was just throwing them away.  One set I acquired was a non-fiction book by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston entitled Farwell to Manzanar.  I was giving my students the choice between two novels, but two of my stronger readers had read both of them.  I added this non-fiction work as a third choice--seven students took me up on this one.  

What I liked:  I was pretty ignorant about America's Japanese internment camps during WWII.  I did an extremely small amount of research after I finished the book.  See the following links for a couple of the many, MANY resources about this topic:  Farewell to Manzanar  or  Smithsonian Letters  or  Digital History.  I should have given my students a class period (or at least a partial class period) to do some background research.

What I did not like:  I could not make connections with the people in the novel.  It just felt flat.  My students who read it did not find interest in this novel, either.  Most ranked it their least favorite read of the year.

In defense of the book--this was a more independent novel study in small groups.  I did not do the novel preview any justice.  I did not lead discussions on this novel (the students read and discussed in small groups).  I found a "reading packet" on an on-line databank that I use.  (Given the last minute nature of adding this book, I finished it only one day before the students began.  Bad teacher!)

What good DID come out of this "experiment"?  I gave this group of students an option of taking a traditional test (short-answer, multiple choice, etc.) or writing a two page paper on the internment camps.  Two of the seven students chose the latter.  The one student used his research to springboard him into volunteering with his father for The Honor Flight--a non-profit group who flies WWII and Korean War veterans for free out to Washington, D.C. to view the monuments.

The Fault in Our Stars

I had never read a John Green novel before, but he is now one of my favorites.  I purchased this book with Christmas gift cards, but it wasn't until school was out that I started this book . . . and finished it within a day or two.  This is unprecedented given how slooooooooowly I read and how needy my family can be during my reading time.

The biting humor evident in the first chapter permeated throughout the book.  I enjoyed the sarcastic, borderline irreverent perspective of the main character and the camaraderie she shared with other teens struggling with cancer-related issues.  I cried throughout the last sixty pages of the book, though I wouldn't say this novel is a sad tale.

This book was so well written, and I loved many of the mentions of other texts such as Shakespeare (the title is a from a quote from Julius Caesar) or T.S. Eliot's Prufrock (author read).

I need to check out the author's website:  John Green.  I gave this book to my non-reader daughter.  She is currently devouring it.  In fact, she has downloaded two other John Green books to her Kindle.  Yeah!

Middle School: Get Me Out of Here!

I had read and heard some buzz from blogs and from students about James Patterson's adolescent books.  Many of my students from last year went on and on about his Maximum Ride series.  Now he has a new Middle School series.  I read the second book in the series--Middle School: Get Me Out of Here! 

First, you do not have to read the first book to understand this book.  I did not feel like there were any gaps in the story that I was missing because I inadvertantly started with book two.  Second, if you like The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, I suspect you will like this junior high equivalent.  The text is written in the journal-like style.  It even contains sketches much like the  The book covers contemporary issues facing junior high students including cyber bullying.

This is a fairly quick and easy read; may be appropriate for low or reluctant junior high school readers.  This series also has a website called "Rafe's Rants" (click HERE) that I checked out briefly.  The video was pretty funny.  You can also get an idea more about these books.

I still have the Maximum Ride series on my "To Read" list--but who knows when/if I will get to them.

The Raven

I needed a day or two lesson before I begin a new novel with my eighth grade students.  I turned to the old anthologies collecting dust on the shelves and found the perfect work for this Halloween week (though we are not allowed to use "Halloween" at our school).  I knew the social studies teacher reads "The Tell-Tale Heart" to the students, but I could read "The Raven" with them.  (click HERE for copy of poem). 

When doing a little background reading, I noticed many high profile actors have YouTube videos reading the poem.  My favorite would be Vincent Price, but I think this would not have went over well with my students.  Only one had ever heard of him--Yikes!  So I found a James Earl Jones reading:  The Raven.  All the students appear engaged.  I was impressed.  One student told me she didn't like the background music in this selection, but I loved it.  Worth the listen during this ominous time of year.

The Slave Dancer

Paula Fox's The Slave Dancer, set in the late 1830's, was recommended to me by a teacher who used to teach U.S. History.  Our school used to teach this text, but it has been sitting on a shelf for a couple (?few? ?several? ?many?) years.  Because of its short length combined with my students' begging to do some independent reading, I decided to add this to the eighth grade reading curriculum.

Students could work at their own pace or in small groups.  They had a packet, quizzes, and short essays to do along the way.  I gave them two weeks to complete the work.  I'm noticing that the more we get into the novel, the more these small groups are gaining in popularity.  It reinforces that books are meant to be shared sometimes.  Love this unexpected aspect!

Specifically, this novel (1974 Newbery winner) is about a boy who is kidnapped one night while out running an errand for his mother.  He is brought aboard a ship where is primary purpose is to play his fife for the slaves--as a means to keep up their morale and their physical strength.  It is interesting to watch the range of emotions Jesse feels toward the idea of slavery and to the slaves individually.  I have not read a book told from the perspective of someone forced to participate in the kidnapping and sale of slaves. 

I have not explored GoogleLitTrips yet; however, there is one specifically designed for The Slave Dancer (click HERE).  I am definately going to use this next year if I teach this novel again.

Hope's Crossing

I picked up this book after pulling about twenty books with the setting as the American Revolutionary War.  A couple students took a book to read; I read Joan Elizabeth Goodman's Hope's Crossing.

Hope is kidnapped by a man who fights opposite of Hope's father in the war.  She escapes her kidnapper with an elderly lady from the kidnapper's home.  They encounter lots of twists in this novel--emotional ups and downs.  It shows how the war effects EVERYONE, not just soldiers.  More geared toward the female population.  Great historical fiction read!

Charlotte Doyle

The second Newbery Award honoree (1991) novel that the eighth grade class at our school reads is Avi's The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.  The teacher with whom I share a portion of the eighth grade class has set out five or six novels in chronological order according to setting time.  This novel is set around the 1830's.

My students really enjoyed this novel.  It was full of action and suspense.  They loved trying to figure out who Charlotte, the 13-year-old main character, could trust and who she could not trust.  In fact, we had a post-it note chart with each character's name.  Every few chapters we would reevaluate where to post a name: under "Trust" or "Don't Trust" columns.  We also made paper representations of the crew and gave them new titles and/or moved them off the ship to coincide with the novel.

Author information may be found HERE.

Carl Hiaasen's Hoot

I faciliated the first book club meeting of the year with seventh and eighth graders.  We discussed Carl Hiaasen's book entitled Hoot.  This was Hiaasen's first book for younger readers, and it won a Newbery Honor in 2003.

I have read a Hiaasen novel (or two?) before, and really enjoyed this book.  I was worried that it would be too young for my junior high students; however, it was the perfect age to read this novel.  It deals with being an outsider, bullying, social justice, and other issues.  The book discussion with the junior high students was great!  They loved the book!

For more information on the Carl Hiaasen, click HERE. 

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

We had just finished reading a Revolutionary War novel in my eighth grade reading class, and I wanted to do a project with the students to extend the learning in this timeframe.  I thought about memorizing the Preamble of the Constitution (I can still . . . mostly . . . recite it from my junior high assignment), but I decided I needed to add a poetry element. 

 

 

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" came to mind.  I found several books that illustrated the poem.  I read the poem to the class, showing the book illustrations.  I then divided the class in pairs and assigned stanzas to each group.  The class as a whole created "Sparks Notes" complete with illustrations to coincide with the poem.  The project turned out well, and I will probably repeat it (with minor modifications) next year.

My Brother Sam

I have acquired a prescribed book list from an outgoing teacher who teaches two of the three sections of eighth grade reading; I have the third group (my first year with 8th grade).  The novels are taught in order based on their setting date--the first being an American Revolution book My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier.

For me, this book gets off to a slow start, but halfway into it, I was hooked.  The overused comment about this book (which has been said for years at this school and probably all that teach it)--"Why do we have to read this?  Sam dies."  My reply, "Well, the Titanic sunk and how many of you watched the movie?"  Several giggles.

Teaching this book in the context of our faith-based school adds so much to the book's discussion.  Like many novels, I feel so blessed that I can incorporate this into our discussions.  

I found a really great website ( click HERE ) that centers on the town of Redding.  It has a Google map showing where all of the places in the novel are located.  I cannot wait to share this with the students--many of whom are history buffs.

Anne Frank

This summer I read (technically "re-read") Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl.  I know I read or skimmed parts, but I really gained an appreciation for this book this summer.  Perhaps it is the addition of age.  Perhaps it was knowing I am going to add this text to the curriculum.  No need for a summary of this book.

This book makes me want to read the books that have strong ties with Anne Frank--including stories by  Miep Gies (BOOK) who helped the Franks hide.  I cannot wait to see where the class reading of this novel leads.

Link to Anne Frank Exhibit:  Anne Frank

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

I was headed on a trip to Illinois (six hours).  When we do, I try to get a novel with the same audio book so I can alternate between the two.  I saw that the library had the 2010 Newbery honoree The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly available in both book and audio, so I got it.

This book reminded me of Dead End in Norvelt.  Dead End in Norvelt is to history what The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is to the field of science.  The story was great, and readers get to watch the "evolution" of Calpurnia and of her grandfather during the summer of 1899.  The book's real strength lies in the wonderful nuggets of science interwoven in the text.  Future entomologist or biologist will love this book.

Kelly (click HERE for author website) has a new book coming out in November.  I intend to read this one with my son.  Hum . . . maybe a Christmas present from mom and dad.

Inkheart

I picked up this novel at the end of last school year.  (I tried reading it a couple of years ago, but never got but fifty pages into it).  I read the book while simultaneously doing the audio book when in the car.  Though the audio book was well done, the novel itself is much better--and some of it is lost in the audio book.

I suspect Cornelia Funke's Inkheart is loved at a different level for bibliophiles than for casual readers.  First, it is a book about the love of books (well . . . partially).  It discusses the excitement of seeing, feeling, and smelling books (makes me wonder how this translates to the e-reader generation).  Second, each chapter starts with a quote from a familiar book.  I loved trying to guess from where the quote came and how the quote would tie into the chapter.  The casual reader will love the mystery and adventure this rather lengthy book contains.

Personally, I thought the book went on a little too long.  The sheer length may be a turn-off for some adolescent readers.  For me, I don't think I will invest the time to read the other two book in this trilogy; however, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book to a compatible reader.

Dead End in Norvelt

I just finished Dead End in Novelt, and I loved it!  This book received the 2012 Newbery.  It also won the Scott O'Dell award for historical fiction.  This novel is a fast-paced story full of interesting tidbits of history.  The setting was small-town America (which reminded me of where I grew up).  The characters were a bit quirky (eg:  The main character's nose bleeds every time he is stressed--which is constant for a 12-year-old boy.).

I would highly recommend this book for students between fifth and eight grade.  Both males and females would enjoy this book.

Jack Gantos, the author, has a great website--particularly for teachers.  His site contains a teaching guide for this novel.  Great springboard for activities and lessons.  I would like to add this to our current curriculum.  Locate site by clicking HERE.