#IMWAYR FEBRUARY 8, 2016


This week Ayla, one of my grade five library assistants, guest hosted my blog with her review of Lumberjanes. I've been lucky to have worked with Alya a number of times over the years. Like those Lumberjanes, Alya is the kind of person who can get along with just about anyone. 


It's Monday and that means time for #IMWAYR. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host this weekly event where bloggers connect and talk about the middle grade and YA literature they have been reading.


PICTURE BOOKS


4 stars
Nerdy Birdy
by by Aaron Reynolds & Matt Davies (illustrator)

Nerdy Birdy likes reading and playing video games, but he is lonely. He doesn't fit in with other birds, not even at the bird feeder because he is allergic to bird seed! He would like to be like the cool birds, Eagles, Cardinals, and Robins, but they want nothing to do with him. Eventually he finds a group of other nerdy birds to belong to. They all like to read, play World of Wormcraft and many have the same food allergies. Then a new bird, Vulture, enters the community. He isn't like the cool birds, but neither is he like the nerdy birds. When his new friends rejected Vulture, Nerdy Birdy knew something was wrong and decided to make friends with him anyway. I love the ending message in this book, that you can be friends with people who are not the same as you. Students are sure to love these illustrations as much as I did.


NOVELS


5 stars
Jellicoe Road
by Melina Marchetta

I am so glad this book was on my #mustreadin2015 list and that I transferred it to my #mustreadin2016 list. Wow! It took me a while to figure out what was going on, and who all these characters were. By the time I started to understand, I was hooked. This is a powerful story about love and loss and forgiveness.

It is a book that made me cry, not just at the heartbreaking moments of sadness, but sometimes just because of the heartbreaking sweetness.

Taylor is caught up in game of war between different groups of teens on the Jellicoe Road. There are the townies, the cadets, and Taylor's faction, the boarders. It's a strange conflict with roots that, unbeknownst to Taylor, tangle up with her own.

Since her mother abandoned her at a 7/11 when she was eleven, Hannah has been the one dependable adult in her life. There is a parallel story, written by Hannah, of the young people who once upon a time inhabited this space, and out of boredom, created the war. 
When Taylor discovers that Hannah has disappeared, she starts to read the novel in an attempt to figure out what is going on. Eventually she heads off in search of her. 

There is a reason books win the Printz award. The writing in this book is just gorgeous. The story is mythical and magical. I love the honesty and love between the characters: not just the romantic love, but the deep caring that Taylor's housemates and the other characters have for each other. 


4 stars
Red Wolf
by Jennifer Dance

This is a powerful story about a five year old Anishnaabe boy who is taken from his loving parents and forced to attend residential school until he is 15. There he is stripped of his name, his language, and his self-respect. He is taught that all indigenous peoples are "dirty savages" who must be saved and assimilated. Equality was never part of the equation, as the children, once they left, were expected to do nothing more than work as menials for white people.

This is a very dark and troubling story, made worse by the fact that while Red Wolf may be a fictional character, what happened to him and his peers was reality for many children here in North America. This story is set in the late 1800's, but the last residential school in Canada closed in 1996.

I'm hoping to get a full blog post up about this book sometime later this week.

4 stars
Gregor the Overlander
by Suzanne Collins

I'm not sure I really want to give this book four stars, but it is definitely more than three. My students have been encouraging me to read it and since I was between audiobooks and this one was available, I decided to listen to it. I was reticent because Collins also wrote The Hunger Games series. I finished the first in it, but couldn't read more because they were too violent for me. Gregor was a pleasant surprise. Boots is a delightful character and Gregor is such a loving brother. It is a really great middle grade adventure. I might even listen to more of the series.


NONFICTION



5 stars
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation by Duncan Tonatiuh
This is a fabulous book that tells how a family worked hard to ensure that their children and other Latin American children would have the same quality of education as the rest of their peers. I loved the illustrations as much as the story. The notes at the end of the book provide additional detail about how this story eventually leads up to the better known Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case that ended segregation of students across the United States.



5 stars


Redwoods by Jason Chin

What a great read! A young boy picks up a book about redwoods, and as he reads from the book we see him transported into the Redwood forest. I love how Jason Chin's illustrations make the text come alive. I learned much as I read this deceptively simple picture book. The ending is a delightful surprise.




5 stars
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

I've finished this book for now, but I'm not sure it is the kind of book that will ever let go of me. Coates words pierced my consciousness and from hereon in, will haunt how I interpret the world around me, especially when it has to do with my personal and societal interconnectedness with black people. These days I'm worried how our lessons on black history in Canada might be perceived by the black children in our school.

Ta-Nehisi Coates can really write. Words and phrases carve themselves like tattoos onto my consciousness. Lines like this, "Some of us make it out but the game is played with loaded dice." leave me stunned as I take in the hard, simple truth of them.

Here is a man brilliantly passing on his knowledge and wisdom to his teenage son. But it's also a lesson on history, civics and morality for the rest of us as he reveals the inherent danger of occupying a black body in America and how it signifies everything that is wrong with the dream of America. I am left mindful that the dream of Canada is carved into the skin of our indigenous population and other immigrants not deemed white enough. 


CURRENTLY


I'm listening to Flunked by Jen Calonita, another book we have in our library that I need to read. I'm still waiting for All American Boys so instead I started reading The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds. 



UP NEXT


I've got The Outside Circle by Patti LaBoucane-Benson waiting for me. I'm also hoping to get to Zomboy by Richard Scrimger, one of our book club books. I also have to read Lumberjanes!


29 comments:

  1. Gregor was a decent fantasy series, but it gathers dust on my shelves now. Too bad. I'll have to see if I can get a 6th grader to check it out today.

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    1. One of our teachers did it as a read aloud and that is what got students here into it.

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  2. I agree that Between The World and Me will stay with us, and perhaps needs a re-read once in a while. Thanks for sharing also about Red Wolf. I know I will enjoy reading more about that time, although tragic that it happened. Loved Nerdy Birdy, definitely lots of fun and one that's useful for talking about making new friends. Thanks for all these, Cheriee.

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    1. Yes Linda, definitely needs a reread. I plan on purchasing my own copy of the book, and will give it away as gifts.

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  3. Nerdy Birdy looks like a fun book to show students to power of playful language - Can't wait to read it. We didn't know about Jellicoe Road but now we will definitely pick that one up. Thank you Cheriee

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    1. Jellicoe Road is a stunning read and Nerdy Birdy will also be great for talking about friendship.

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  4. Melina Marchetta is one of my favorite YA authors. I've read just about everything she's written and haven never been disappointed. I liked Gregor just fine, but it's one of the series I recommend to readers the most often. tweens are fascinated by both the premise and the fact that it's a Suzanne Collins novel they've never heard of!

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    1. I am definitely going to read more of her words! Yes, the author will be a selling point for Gregor, but it is a solid fantasy for tweens.

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  5. Everything Jason Reynolds writes is well worth reading. I loved The Boy in the Black Suit. I have All American Boys on hold at the library and just got a notice that it is in. I will read it quickly to get it back in circulation! Between the World and Me is on my list - this is a title I need to breathe deeply into. I have read some incredible responses to it.

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    1. Yes to Jason Reynolds! I too am waiting for All American Boys from the library! Between the world and Me is one of the best books I've read in ages.

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  6. Yay, glad to see Nerdy Birdy getting more love, it's such a fun book with a great friendship message. Plus I think most of us have a little Nerdy Birdy inside us. :)

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    1. I agree Jane. We have nerdy birdy inside us in many different ways

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  7. Thanks - some new books that are not on my list and a push to read Jellicoe Road. It was on my list last year but did not get moved forward. It sounds like I need to add it.

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    1. Definitely move it forward. I plan to eat more of her work.

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  8. Everyone has raved about Between the World and Me, but I'm having trouble. I'm still at the beginning, so I haven't gotten far.
    Gregor is a book I really need to try. For some reason, I keep putting it off.

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    1. I listened to between the world and me. His voice is amazing to listen to, There's so much power in it, it feels like listening to poetry.

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  9. Nerdy Birdy looks like so much fun! I just started listening to Between the World and Me. I am enjoying listening to it, but there is so much to absorb. I know I am missing much and want to also read a print copy. I suspect it is one of those books I could read many times and still learn more each time.

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    1. Nerdy Birdy is a lot of fun. That is exactly how I feel about Between the World and Me.

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  10. You've got a lot of good looking books! I've not read any of them, but they're going on my list! I just got The Boy in the Black Suit for my Kindle. Hope you have a terrific week!

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    1. I just finished the boy in the black suit. It's fabulous and so sweet. It will be interesting to compare notes next week.

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  11. Two favorite picture books here!
    I liked Gregor also, but I didn't read any more of the series either. Though I've never had students read much of the series...

    Happy reading this week! :)

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    1. Thanks Kellee! After a teacher read the first of the series to his class, the students clamored for the rest of them! Since only this one is available as an audiobook from our local library this may be the only one I get to also.

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  12. I've been meaning to read my copy of Between the World and Me for the longest time but haven't gotten around to doing it yet - perhaps I should put in the top of my stack to read. I have the entire Gregor the Overlander series and really looking forward to sinking my teeth into it. :)

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    1. Yes Do! Between the World and Me is just so gobsmackingly powerful!

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  13. I really enjoyed Jellicoe Road, but it is definitely one you have to be determined to read to withstand the confusion of the beginning. I need to recommend Gregor more often. It mostly sits on my shelf too. I thought it was okay, but there are probably students who would enjoy it that are missing out.

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    1. Yes indeed. Thankfully the writing is so amazing that it is easy to have faith that wherever she takes you it will be all right. I agree with you about Gregor. It is not spectacular, but definitely accessible for tween readers.

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  14. I have tried to read Gregor a couple of times and ended up setting it down in favor of other things. I have had a couple of students read the whole series and absolutely adore it. Not sure what my block is! I agree with you about Between the World and Me. It's Black History Month here, which I find incredibly problematic. My son is currently being inundated with stories about slavery and Civil Rights. I wish there was more balance in the curriculum, an emphasis on the contributions of people of color throughout the year, and a commitment to telling diverse stories that focus on a broader range of history.

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    1. It is black history month here as well. I agree that we should be celebrating diversity throughout the year. We are studying Canadian history with one group and in the process of teaching note taking skills, students had to share their notes taken from sections of The Kids Book of Black Canadian History. After reading Coates book I was worried about the one black girl in our class. Luckily I have enough of a relationship with her to check in on her afterwards. Also thankfully, that book isn't all about the tribulations of slavery.

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  15. I agree with all the comments about Jellicoe Road and the confusion of the beginning. I should really reread it, though. I like Marchetta's work in general (she has written one of my favorite books), and I think I'll appreciate it more on reread.

    I wasn't planning to read Between the World and Me, but my church has picked it for the all-church read, so I put it on hold at the library. That way I can participate in any conversations people in my church have about it.

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