Monday, January 8, 2018

It's Monday What Are You Reading #IMWAYR 1/8/2018

All of my books today are not on my Must Read in 2018 list! I keep telling myself I have a full year to get to the list so I'm starting with some I've been meaning to read for a while.



                                                              

Nerdy Birdy Tweets in a newer book by one of my favorite authors Aaron Reynolds. I read this book to my 5th grade students and it was a hit!! Birdy and Vulture discover a new social media app called "Tweetster" and Birdy can't stop posting. He posts pics of Vulture without her permission and  spends his days staring at a screen obsessed with "likes" and comments instead of playing with his friend. Vulture finally has enough and confronts Birdy about his new social media habits.

This is a very funny and timely book about the effects of too much screen time and the absurdity of ignoring live people in favor of a device. I often feel like my students and my own children are slightly sick of hearing lectures from me about screen time and digital citizenship. This book is a great way to open the conversation and let them draw their own conclusions about Birdy's actions. I highly recommend this for ALL ages!!



                                                            

Lisa Graff is one of those authors that I find very confusing. There are some books she has written that are my favorites (Umbrella Summer) and some books that I didn't like at all (Tangle of Knots). For me, when she delves into magic she loses me. Her realistic fiction books appeal to me much more. Thankfully, The Great Treehouse War has no fantasy elements whatsoever and I really liked it!

Fifth grader Winnie's parents get divorced at the beginning of the story. What makes this situation so unique is the way her parents decide to split their time with her. Winnie's parents are sticklers for everything being exactly even, but seven days in a week will never divide evenly. That's when they come up with a unique plan for custody. Winnie will spend three day with her mom, three days with her dad and the last day alone in her treehouse which sits directly in the middle of her parents homes. Her Wednesday treehouse day quickly becomes her favorite as her parents begin to compete with one another for her affection. In a fun twist, her treehouse becomes a place that her parents can't legally access, and she decides to stay there full time until her parents stop their bickering. Winnie has a close group of friends that decide they too need some time away from their parents, so they join her in the treehouse until their lists of demands are met by the grownups (more screen time, more game time, etc). Soon, news of the kids living alone in a treehouse makes national headlines and the kids get much more attention than they bargained for.

This is a very fun book and I know my students really enjoy it, but her parents drive me crazy. I found their constant fighting over Winnie to be very frustrating. It was all extremely exaggerated such as fights over who she calls first, waves to first, leaves a note for first and so on. They constantly try to outdo each other and absolutely refuse to be in the same room together. Winnie is failing her classes and her parents are too concerned with which one of them the principal e-mailed first to actually care about her grades.  Winnie tries over and over to talk to them, but their arguing never lets up- thus the treehouse war begins.  The idea of an epic slumber party that never ends seems like a great idea in theory but in reality, the kids eventually learn that they miss and need their parents. Winnie is desperate to find a way for her parents to realize THEY need HER and to put their differences aside. Overall it is cute and clever and living in the treehouse seems like great fun. Once I accepted that her parents were the WORST, I enjoyed it much more. I think 3rd grade and up will like this book.


                                                                     

As a huge fan of Chris Grabenstein (Mr. Lemoncello's Library), I was excited to read the first in his new series Welcome to Wonderland: Home Sweet Motel. It's always a bonus when the main character is a boy because I know my male students will like it. Girls will read stories with male and female lead characters, but boys seem to like boy books the best. I know they will like this because this story is quite fun!

Eleven year old P.T. takes after his namesake P.T. Barnum. He is a great showman who tells outlandish yarns and entertains his class with all of his hijinxs. P.T. lives with his mother and grandfather in The Wonderland Motel. It's a fantastic place with quite a few attractions, but unfortunately, it has to complete with Disney World! The Wonderland would do well anywhere other than Orlando. Because business is so bad, the bank has given them 30 days to raise $100,000 or they will lose the property.  P.T. and his new friend Gloria have to THINK BIG! He's a born entertainer so he is hopeful his fun new plans along with Gloria's keen business skill will save the day, but it's not easy. When they come across an old mystery about a missing treasure, they are certain that following the clues will lead them to the money they need.

This is a very entertaining book! P.T. is a bit of a con man, but it's all in good fun. He is clever and sharp and Gloria is a great straight man for his routine, Their ideas to save the motel such as frog karaoke and beachfront scavenger hunts are very creative. I love the way P.T. respects and loves his grandfather as well. The only part I could have done without is the bumbling grumpy teacher Mr. Frumpkes who tries to foil P.T.'s grand plans. The scenes with him are just slightly disrespectful on both the part of the students and teacher. Other than that, it was an amusing adventure, and I'm looking forward to visiting the gang again in the next book. A great read for grades 3 and up!

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

#mustreadin2018


                                           


Happy 2018! Last year I had 40 books on my list and I completed 26 of them. I’m not counting the books I started and didn’t finish because there were a few I couldn’t force myself to keep reading! While I didn’t finish the list, I’m certain I read well over 50 titles. I am always coming across new books and authors I hadn’t planned on reading (Barnes and Noble shelf browsing is awesome). Besides the titles below, I have a few overall goals for reading this year. I want to read more early chapter books. My youngest students love to read, and I want to have a healthy selection for them. Also, my weakness is boy fantasy books. Outside of The Lightning Thief, I just DON’T LIKE THEM! My male students love The Warrior series and I have tried to like it, I promise I have! I can’t get through it. Regardless of my personal preference, I need to know what’s popular so I can keep that section of the library growing for fantasy genre lovers. My last goal is to try and stay away from sad books. No more death, illness, divorce, severe bullying, depression or tragic accidents. No more books about losing parents, siblings and best friends. I know these are all important topics, but I feel like I was inundated with them last year. I am convinced that I can find great stories that are positive. I know every tale needs a conflict but maybe the problems can be more minor.  I would rather my students get lost in a world of magic, mystery or silly fun instead of adding to their worries. Hopefully my 27 choices for this year will keep all of us smiling!

Supergifted by [Korman, Gordon]The Game Masters of Garden Place by [Markell, Denis]The Last Grand Adventure by [Behrens, Rebecca]Winterhouse by [Guterson, Ben]Granted by [Anderson, John David]The Wild Robot Escapes by [Brown, Peter]The Creature of the Pines (The Unicorn Rescue Society) by [Gidwitz, Adam]Snow Lane by [Angelini, Josie]Lucy Castor Finds Her Sparkle by [Lowe, Natasha]Fenway and Hattie by [Coe, Victoria J.]You Throw Like a Girl (mix)Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi QueenIvyThe Ember Stone: A Branches Book (The Last Firehawk #1)The House That Lou BuiltFront DeskLions & LiarsBobMaggie & Abby's Neverending Pillow FortSamantha Spinner and the Super-Secret PlansSparrow RoadI Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two LivesEllie, EngineerGreetings from Witness Protection!