Showing posts with label Mighty Girls. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mighty Girls. Show all posts

#IMWAYR April 11, 2022

 Welcome readers! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next. 


Just a reminder to everyone participating in #MustReadIn2022,  I will host an (entirely optional) update at the end of the month. How are you doing? My goal is to have a post ready April 25th for you to connect to.

How have you all been? I've been fighting a sinus infection for the past week or so. My head feels like it's full of cotton and it's been hard to focus on my reading. Luckily I had a stack of graphic novels and picture books to while away the time. 

In spite of the foggy head I have managed to do some poetry writing every day so far this month. I shared a poem about my mother with my family, but other than that, I'm just enjoying the writing. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

PICTURE BOOKS 

4 stars

Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter, Oge Mora (Illustrator) October 12, 2021

Loved this cumulative story that begins with a baby waking in the middle of the night. The baby wakes up others and the sounds build up until everyone goes back to sleep to the cumulative quiet noises of night.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Stacey's Extraordinary Words by Stacey Abrams & Kitt Thomas (Illustrator) December 28, 2021

As a person who is not a brilliant speller, I am not a huge fan of spelling bees. That said, I am a huge fan of Stacey Abrams and was delighted to read this picture book memoir about her early life as a spelling bee contestant.
I suspect that if I had grown up thinking about words the way Stacey did, my spelling might have been at least slightly better. I hope this book inspires readers to be as persistent as Stacey about all of their goals. I also hope it encourages teachers to teach language with this kind of joy and creativity.


At first I thought this was going to be a take on the ant and grasshopper story. Initially it seems like this, but then ends up in an exciting adventure.
Two mice, Cornbread and Poppy, might be best friends, but they are as different as chalk and cheese. As winter approaches Poppy is not ready, but Cornbread is prepared to go with her into danger to help her find enough food to get her through the winter. They are forced to journey up the high mountain where danger and delightful surprises await them.
I'm getting this one for my grandkids for their fifth birthdays.
This book reminded me of Avi's Poppy series. I'll be suggesting my sons do it as a read aloud.

YA GRAPHIC


This book is about growing up and coming into your own power. The tension between Mandy and her superhero mom, StarFire, represents the separation of all children from their parents. It’s more challenging for Mandy because her mother seems to be the exact opposite of her. It’s only by distancing herself, and facing true danger, that she discovers how much they have in common.


Keum Suk Gendry-Kim calls this autobiographical fiction. It's loaded with truth about her mother's life growing up and fleeing North Korea when the communists took control. It introduces readers to the lotteries where a few hundred separated families are able to see one another for a short time. The tale is harrowing and heartbreaking.
This week I'll be picking up Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, a story about the Korean Comfort Women.

5 stars

Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto  🍁 & Ann Xu (Illustrations) March 30, 2021

Death might be stalking Kumiko, but she is not ready for it just yet.
This book is profound. It reminded me of my mother and mother in law who were not ready to give up their independence when circumstances forced them to. I'm no spring chicken myself and see hints of those dark shadows that follow Kumiko around.
I love that while this book centres on Kumiko now, we are also introduced to the strong young woman she once was.


Things heave been pretty much the same at Fawn Creek school until the exotic new girl, Orchid Mason arrives. She's got her own secrets, but that doesn't stop her from changing her classmates lives. She introduces them to a new way of looking at themselves and accepting who they are. Before she leaves she also shows them how brave and genuinely good they can be to one another.

ADULT NOVELS 

5 stars

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman & Martin Jarvis (Narrator)

I just refinished listening to this in preparation for season 2 on Amazon Prime. 
This book is so much fun to read (or listen to.) It's easy to imagine how much fun Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman had writing it.
Two children are born. Another, the antichrist, arrives at the hospital and his planned substitution goes awry.
Consequently his strategic upbringing is meted out to the wrong child. This really screws things up, as nothing takes. Meanwhile, the real antichrist grows up in a small village with loving parents and a cohort of close friends.
Considerable celestial and satanic energy have been put into preparing for Armageddon. As the time draws near, the armies of good and evil are ready and waiting for the antichrist to take over the world and destroy it.
But what if the main actor decides to change plans?
This novel is peopled by a delightful cast of characters, including The Gang of Them, a 'fussy angel and a fast living demon', witches and witch finders, and the four Horsemen of the apocalypse.
It's also full of rich ruminations on religion, life, and what it means to be human.

CURRENTLY

Audiobook - Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

All the Quiet Places by Brian Thomas Isaac 🍁

UP NEXT 

Stuntboy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds & Raúl the Third (Illustrations)

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow

Golden Gate (City Spies 2) by James Ponti

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 8/24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 5/18

Canadian Authors 24/100

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 9/25 one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 89/250
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#IMWAYR March 14, 2022

 Welcome readers! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next. 


I'm here today with a couple of weeks of reading. It's a schedule I might adhere to since I seem to have a lot happening in my life these days. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty & David Roberts (Illustrations) November 2, 2021

Just Wow! I think this is my favourite title from this series. This story, told in verse, is based on Aaron Douglas, an American painter, illustrator, visual arts educator and a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. 
Aaron Slater is a young boy with dyslexia. Learning to read is hard for him, but he is a gifted story teller and artist. He is lucky to be surrounded by supportive family and teachers who love and appreciate him as he is while they help him learn to read. Every school library should have at least one copy of this book. Classroom libraries should have copies of it. I wish it had been around when I was still teaching to share with students who struggled with learning to read. 


As someone who sews, I was predisposed to love this book. I did. I read it twice. I especially love that the collage illustrations show Elizabeth's designs in real fabric. I liked that the book didn't gloss over the horrible things that happened to her while she was a slave.
I'm left wondering what she wrote in her book that made Mary Lincoln so mad at her.

These biographies in verse are a delightful introduction to these three young women. Maria Merian and Maria Mitchell are new to me. I have been reading about Mary Anning, so I knew a fair bit about her. I like how Jeannine Atkins' poetry brings an emotional poignancy to these biographies.

NOVELS


This is a fictionalized account of Mary Anning, known as the Mother of Palaeontology. Some of the events in her life are mixed up (like the opening of her shop), but this is an interesting look into her life.

4 stars

Pax, Journey Home by Sara Pennypacker, Jon Klassen 🍁 (Illustrator) & Michael Curran-Dorsano ( Narrator)

The war is over. In this book we see how Pax has moved on with his life and new family. In the mean time, Peter is still coming to grips with almost overwhelming loss. He joins the Water Warriors to help cleaning up the land and water destroyed by war. He doesn't want to connect with others because he doesn't want to experience that kind of loss ever again. In the end, when Pax needs him, his healing begins in earnest. 
I started reading this about the same time Russia invaded Ukraine. It left me wondering how people recover from these kinds of atrocities. 

The more I read of Nnedi Okorafor, the more I want to read.
It's almost impossible for me to put one of her books down once I've started. AO and DNA just might be the sweetest couple I've read in a long time. It helps that their romance is really incidental to the brilliant science fiction. I hope this is the first in a series. 

4 stars

Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor & Ben Onwukwe (Narrator) August 18, 2020

It says a lot about Okorafor's writing that I was totally engaged in this super hero novel. It's a genre that I generally avoid. After Nnamdi's father, the police chief, was murdered, he and his mother end up living in near poverty. Then the ghost of his father gives him an ikenga, a small artifact that confers magical powers. Nnamdi uses these powers to fight crime and search for his father's murderer. He agonizes over his use of violence. When his friend Chioma learns what is going on, she ends up helping him. The numerous confrontations with the father's possible murderers and the almost completely corrupt police system make this a fascinating read. 


I am not well acquainted with the bible, but I enjoyed this fictional history that deals with the lives of women. It has been on my want to read list for a decade or so. I'm glad I finally got around to reading it. 

CURRENTLY
  • Powwow, A Celebration Through Song and Dance by  Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane 🍁
  • Scarborough by Catherine Hernandez 🍁
  • The Prairie Chicken Dance Tour by Dawn Dumont 🍁
  • The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the Wonder of Consciousness by Sy Montgomery
UP NEXT 
  • Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
  • Reaching for the Moon: The Autobiography of Katherine Johnson by Katherine Johnson
READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 5/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 1/18 - 2 in progress

Canadian Authors 15/100

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 rereading one

Indigenous Authors 5/25 - 2 in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 56/250
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