#IMWAYR JULY 25, 2016

Welcome readers to #IMWAYR! Thank you to Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers who host this weekly event. 

I think I am really and truly finished with work. I was in a couple of days last week to finish up. I shelf read the nonfiction collection, weeded our aboriginal resources, watered plants, and packed up the last of my stuff. I realize I left a couple of things behind and forgot to leave my keys. I suspect I am having a bit of trouble letting go of that part of my life. 

Otherwise, I've had a fabulous reading life this week.

Flying Frogs and Walking Fish: Leaping Lemurs, Tumbling Toads, Jet-Propelled Jellyfish, and More Surprising Ways That Animals Move by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

Any book by Steve Jenkins is worth the investment in time and money. In this one, not only are the illustrations gorgeous, the snippets of information about how these different kinds of animals move are fascinating. This is the kind of book that will leave readers wanting to say, Did you know..? The back matter includes a bit more information about each of creatures mentioned in the book. 

Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles by Philippe Cousteau, Deborah Hopkinson & Meilo So (Illustrator)

This is a book that positions students as activists engaging in deep level democracy. I appreciate how their teacher organized the students to find their own problem and come up with a solution for dealing with it. In this case students realize that newly hatched turtles are getting confused by the bright lights of the ocean cottages and heading towards them instead of the sea. I wish I had this book while I was still teaching. It will be a fabulous book for teachers to use as they engage their own students in realizing their own power and influence. 

Ideas Are All Around by Philip C. Stead

This is a beautifully illustrated book wherein the author, unable to come up with an idea for a story, takes us on a walk with him and his dog. While there is much going on, it is a gentle thoughtful book. It highlights the contradiction between all those ideas they meet on their way, and the capacity to transform them into a story. Stead's integration of photographs into this picture book are just brilliant. 

The After-Room (The Apothecary #3) by Maile Meloy

I'm happy to be finished with this series at the same time as I enjoyed listening to them. It's filled with lots of adventure, special potions that give our characters magical powers, secondary characters who redeem themselves, and even romance. I especially enjoyed reading these because they are set in the time period I remember. 

As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds

I enjoyed this book, but not as much as some of Reynolds other work. It is a slower title that took a bit more to get into. Once I was engaged, I fully appreciated it. I just wish I had a book club group to talk to this one about, because I feel that there is much going on that I don't fully appreciate. As usual, with Reynolds' characters, I couldn't help but loving all of them. Genie and his older brother, Ernie, are staying with their grandparents in the country while their parents take a vacation to Jamaica to work on their marriage. There are intergenerational issues that play out through the boys. I appreciate the strong adults (even if they are flawed) who support and love these characters.

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

I've been reading a lot of books dealing with mental health issues lately. Gayle Forman's story of a young woman investigating her best friend's suicide is a sad but enlightening tale that is based true events. In spite of the suicide, this is a book about friendship and acceptance. Our older readers would love this even if there is minimal sexual content. 

Currently

I'm reading Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King and listening to The Map to Everywhere by Carrie Ryan

Up Next

I've got a pile of books - whatever strikes my fancy is what I'll attack. I'm heading off to spend a few days with my sisters. I'm not sure I will have time for much reading!