Best Reads of T1 18-19

Back to school is always busy and chaotic, but I have still managed to read some great books. Here are my favorites from the past three months. Click on the titles to read plot summaries. If you'd like to see all of my books, you can follow me on Goodreads.

Picture Books

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gorgeous. Make sure to look at all of the book spines in the illustrations.




The Bad Seed by Jory John
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I need a copy of this for my guidance counselors to use.




Giraffe Problems by Jory John
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Love!





The Rough Patch by Brian Lies
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lovely illustrations, although I thought it was kind of odd for a fox to own a dog. Why not make it a person? That said, even though I usually go for hilarious books for Mock Caldecott, this one definitely has a place on my 2019 list.


Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse by Marcy Campbell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lovely. Just recommended to my principal who has school-wide reads each month.




The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sob!




A Dog with Nice Ears: Featuring Charlie and Lola by Lauren Child
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A better-than-average I-want-a-pet book. Because Charlie and Lola.




Allie All Along by Sarah Lynne Reul
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Will definitely recommend to my RSPs.



Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Non-schmaltzy book about kindness.

Early Readers

I Lost My Tooth! by Mo Willems
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Makes kids in grades K-2 laugh out loud.

Melonhead by Katy Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Delightful. I may submit a DonorsChoose project to get the entire series for my schools.





Fly Guy and the Alienzz by Tedd Arnold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Imagination!

Middle Grade Novels 

Cosmic by Frank Cottrell Boyce
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Extra star for the narration. I looked forward to driving places so I could listen to this in the car. Great main character and original plot.

Nonfiction

Nothing Stopped Sophie: The Story of Unshakable Mathematician Sophie Germain by Cheryl Bardoe
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Talk about grit and perseverance! Will request when I post my next DonorsChoose biography project.

For Grownups

Murder on the Flying Scotsman by Carola Dunn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finally, a solution that made sense and was hinted at with normal clues! It took me a while to figure out the family relationships, but overall this was the most logical of the series so far.





Broken Harbor by Tana French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A tad overlong with very strange behavior revealed ... maybe the house needed a CO monitor? Can't you go cuckoo from it? And I didn't buy the way the culprit shared their story with so many details and poetic language. Not as good as #3 but better than #2. On to #5.

Best Reads of August 2018

Summer vacation means way more reading time! Here are my favorites from August. Click on the titles to read plot summaries. If you'd like to see all of my books, you can follow me on Goodreads.

Picture Books

Bigger! Bigger! by Leslie Patricelli
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Imagination! Cooperation! Although if I were the main character I might have beaned my sibling with a block.


We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ahhh! I need to add this into my K "how to behave at school" repertoire.


I say OOH You say AAH by John Kane
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Will the kids like it? I think so. Adding to Mock Caldecott and will also use with K.


Geraldine by Elizabeth Lilly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A super cute allegory about being the new kid and finding your way to fit in. Although Geraldine's neck is a bit insane.




What Happens Next by Susan Hughes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting structure and important theme, but would the solution presented here really work? Will recommend to Guidance and social worker/school psychologist anyways.

Middle Grade Novels

Walking with Miss Millie by Tamara Bundy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Solid coming-of-age novel with some good advice from Miss Millie that I plan to use this school year:

p 124: "You're never too old to be hurt just a little. But if you're lucky, one day you be smart enough to quit putting yourself in the situations that hurt ya."

p. 192: "I learned it's okay to get mad. It's okay to get sad, but after all that gettin' mad and sad, ya gotta get smart. Ya gotta take a step back, away from all your hurtin', and figure out what ya can change and what ya can't."


Secret Sisters of the Salty Sea by Lynne Rae Perkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this so much more than I thought I would. Nothing much really happens, and spending a week at the beach (what state? I couldn't figure it out. It drove me crazy. Maine?) in a rented house is a foreign concept to some of my students. And they may see it as "girly." But I loved Perkins' style ... it was almost dreamlike.

p. 222: "You never knew what amazing thing would happen next, that was for sure. Alix wondered if that might be true in Shembleton, too. If it could be true in everyday life, when you weren't on vacation. She felt that it could."

I'm going to try and hold on to that when the school year starts ...


Road Trip with Max and His Mom by Linda Urban
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked it better than the first one ... I feel like we got a little more insight into Max's personality. Lots of amusing lines. For example:

p. 57: "There were a lot of minutes between now and after school tomorrow. How as he supposed to know if he needed any last-minute things when it wasn't the last minute yet?"

His desire to experience "hardships and deprivations."

p. 103: "he did not look tall or brave or awesome. He looked like a guy whose family motto might be 'Let's Go Home and Eat Soup.'"

Nonfiction

Do Not Open This Math Book: Addition + Subtraction by Danica McKellar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, now I finally know what it means to add 3-digit numbers in expanded form. McKellar does an excellent job of explaining things like 10 frames and number bonds, which I still find annoying but oh, well. Would recommend to any parent to work through with their early elementary students.

For Grownups

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This may be my favorite book of the summer because it was so fun. I mean, yes, there were some terrible actions / beliefs revealed by the end, but it kept me reading after my bedtime because I was enjoying it so much. One of my favorite scenes was the widows declaring that Preetam had "done plagiarism" by describing a TV movie as her story. Excellent summer read ... actually, it would be an excellent read during any season. Loved it.

RI Mock Newbery - October Reading List

It's that time again! I decided to start posting after our meetings so I can mark which ones are kept and which are dropped. 


Sunny by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 5 of 5 stars (committee agrees - KEEP)

A self-contained gem. My favorite of the series so far, I think.

p. 99: "Diary, I watned to tell her that was impossible, but she was so nice and she already had a broken arm, and I'd already almost died, so I felt like maybe we should let some of the small things slide."


The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (committee agrees - KEEP)

My first Mock Newbery-worthy read of the year. Great main character and storytelling.

p. 25: "Looks like someone made him out of paper clips and Scotch tape."

p. 58: "I couldn't read it. But I could hear and see that her parents are very fond of letters. And if she ever wrote one of those acrostic poems from her name, well, that would be very long."

p. 242: "This crazy, awful experience is probably preparing you for a really great decision somewhere down the line. Something no one can even guess about yet. ... How cool is that?"


A House That Once Was by Julie Fogliano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (dropped)

Oh Ms. Fogliano has such a command of language.





Bob by Wendy Mass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (committee agrees - KEEP)

I want a Bob in my closet! His voice cracked me up.






Front Desk by Kelly Yang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (dropped, but considering for RICBA)

Powerful depiction of an immigrant family trying to make it. Or at least keep a roof over their heads. It gets a little "It's A Wonderful Life" at the end, but we could all use a happy ending. Mia pretty much is the embodiment of grit.

p. 82: "I used to think being successful meant having enough to eat, but now that I was getting free lunch at school, I wondered if I should set my standards higher."


Just Like Jackie by Lindsey Stoddard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (did not discuss yet)

Beautifully written, although the entire situation nervoused me. And the grandfather refusing to tell Robinson about any of her family members - even back when he was fully there - was infuriating. But still a moving read.

p. 117: "I'm so sad at Grandpa's brain because I don't know how to diagnose his malfunction, and I don't even know if he knows that his check engine's light's on."

p. 126: "I do want to cut away at Grandpa's hard, thick bark because it feels really scratchy and crappy to keep rubbing up against it."

p. 166: "And I wish there were some wire brush to clean out Grandpa's corroded cables and reconnect them to his starter so he could ride out good as new too."


You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (dropped)

So glad I'm not a middle schooler any more.

Slow slips.
"You are a finch."
"There's this saying by Robert Frost. It goes, 'In three words I can sum up everything I know about life: it goes on."


Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (dropped)

Wow. Rhodes delivers some gut punches. Like on p. 134 when Jerome realizes he had never really left his neighborhood. I was going to give an extra point for originality, but the tone shifts towards didacticism near the end, so point back off for that. Still, an important book that I will add to our collections.



Rebound by Kwame Alexander
My rating: 3 of 5 stars (dropped)

3.5. Started out strong, then faltered a bit. I didn't think the poems were as "poetic" as those in The Crossover and Booked. But still a solid addition to any middle school library.

p. 377: "You gonna miss some. / Heck, you gonna miss a lot.
That's the way the real world works. / But you gotta grab the ball and
keep shooting. You understand?"


The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
My rating: 3 of 5 star (dropped)

Extra star because I'm partial to immigration stories these days.

p. 130: "Amil is only being all he knows how to be. But I guess Papa is, too. I guess we all are. It's just that some people are better at being than others."




The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars (dropped)

Extra star for the tear in my eye when the king participates in the fashion show.





Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
My rating: 3 of 5 stars (dropped)

Why did they put her in a tent with 14-year-olds?

And will parents complain about the term "tit head"?




The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
My rating: 2 of 5 stars (committee disagrees - KEEP)

Oof. I started out really enjoying this one ... plague backgrounds always get me excited. And the writing elicited the period, and there was a mysterious quest ... and then we found out Secundus' back story. And that his key was magic. And then it started to be a chore to read. I thought relics were all pretend ... how could he really make his way to heaven by stealing them? (Nevermind that stealing is a crime.)

This is why I usually only buy books that I've read or that my kids have specifically requested. Winning awards (this is on a lot of Newbery contender lists, including RI) does not mean that a book will get checked out.


Breakout by Kate Messner
My rating: 2 of 5 stars (dropped)

I thought it would never end. The race stuff was buried in among way too many other things, and wow those inmates were good at hiding!

Liked the reference to the Al Capone books, and I've read the majority of the books Messner mentioned at the end. Poor Mr. Russell wanting his library books back ... I feel his pain! I enjoyed Elidee's first few poems - I had never heard of a Golden Shovel / "striking line" poem before - but then it started to seem like Messner was just showing off. Finally, I did appreciate Nora's "leadership moments." And learning about cow shoes.

But overall, not a huge fan.


The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
My rating: 2 of 5 stars (dropped)

I enjoyed the first half, although I wanted more of Althea's stories. But from the time Alice and Finch got off the bus, it was a struggle to finish. Albert is a good writer with imagination, but the plot went off the rails and then became just boring. And I don't really understand how the Hinterland works.

RICBA Nominees 2019

I finally finished all 20! Summer project completed. Here's what I thought of them ... favorites at the top. Which will be the ones I try hardest to get the kids to read. Hey, it worked with "The Wild Robot" last year!


Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Delightful. I want Eggers to write more nonfiction for kids.


The Real McCoys by Matthew Swanson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Silly mystery, riotously illustrated. I am in awe of how much work went into the design of each page.





Walking with Miss Millie by Tamara Bundy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Solid coming-of-age novel with some good advice from Miss Millie that I plan to use this school year:

p 124: "You're never too old to be hurt just a little. But if you're lucky, one day you be smart enough to quit putting yourself in the situations that hurt ya."

p. 192: "I learned it's okay to get mad. It's okay to get sad, but after all that gettin' mad and sad, ya gotta get smart. Ya gotta take a step back, away from all your hurtin', and figure out what ya can change and what ya can't."


Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero by Patricia McCormick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

She ate poker chips and a ceremonial blanket? Ugh. My stomach hurts.

Lively writing and a truly interesting topic.


Keith Haring: The Boy Who Just Kept Drawing by Kay Haring
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked this better the second time I read it, because I was no longer expecting the text to tell me a ton of biographical information. Instead, it's a celebration of art and generosity.



The Rooster Who Would Not Be Quiet! by Carmen Agra Deedy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can just HEAR Carmen Agra Deedy telling the story. #RESIST!





The Youngest Marcher: The Story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, a Young Civil Rights Activist by Cynthia Levinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Why did I never learn about the kids getting themselves thrown in jail???? Timely in the wake of the Parkland kids' activism.


Sidetracked by Diana Harmon Asher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Joseph is an appealing character.

p. 6: "People think having ADD means I can't focus, but that's not really true. I focus very well -- just on the wrong things."

p. 30: "I try to figure out what number I'd have -- if I'd be in the 900s for being from New York, the 400s for speaking English, the 500s for being a primate, or back in the 100s for going to the school psychologist. I wonder who decide which part of you is the most important, and if they're always right."

p. 98: His worry list ... I agree that "it's never too early to start worrying," and that "nothing is too little or unimportant!"

p. 164: When he things he sees "an ab" in the mirror.

p. 191: "'My mom says it's sunny practically every day there. You can surf all year and there are palm trees and coconuts.' I want to say that coconuts fall on your head and sunburn gives you cancer and sharks eat surfers for breakfast."


I'm Just No Good at Rhyming: And Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups by Chris Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Much better than a lot of children's "poetry" out there these days.




Nightmare Escape by Greg Grunberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Good setup for a series. Heavy on graphics, which is the point of graphic novels. My kids are going to eat this up and beg for #2. I have to say, I'm a little suspicious of Jake's business plan ... is he involved in this somehow? Like a certain character in The Riverman?



Stef Soto, Taco Queen by Jennifer Torres
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Pleasant, quick read that I think my kids will stick with.

Middle school drama: "Maddie has nothing to live down and nothing to live up to. I'm more than a little jealous."

Writing prompts from Mrs. Barlow: "Why me?"; "If you had to spend a week living inside any book, which would you choose and why?"; "Write a thank-you note to an uncle who sent you a can of chicken soup for your birthday".


The Marvelwood Magicians by Diane Zahler
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oops, I never added this to Goodreads when I read it months ago. I remember liking the way the reader slowly figures out what Master Morogh is up to. But I also remember not loving the plotting of the big showdown.




A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sweet.






Curse of the Boggin by D.J. MacHale
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Horror for the middle-grade set. My students are going to love it. I just wish we didn't have to wait for more books to figure out why Michael Swenor did what he did.


The Time Museum by Matthew Loux
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I think I would have liked it better as all words v. GN. I was confused several times, but intrigued enough about the Gray Earl that I'll probably skim the next one.



The Losers Club by Andrew Clements
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Too didactic for me. Maybe would have added another star if "The Westing Game" or "Mixed-Up Files" had been included.

I also had a problem with the way the after-school program was set up. Why on earth wouldn't the kids all be rotating through different activities?


Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted more information. Like Foldies and Crunchies ... I read an article a couple of years about the recipe development. I felt like some details were missing and others were superfluous ... like telling us that the first Locol was across the street from Florence Griffith Joyner Elementary School.

I try to read the RICBA picture books to my kids, but I don't know that I will bother with this one.


The Trail by Meika Hashimoto
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was a slog to finish. Wake up. Hike. Think. Make camp. Repeat. Sometimes meet some other people. Did not like Lucas' voice. Did not need to know about every single Snickers bar Toby ate.

I did appreciate the tip about putting metal spoons into a pot of soup to keep it from burning. And to remove skunk smells with hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and dish detergent.

p. 126: "Maybe life isn't about luck, good or bad. Maybe it's a lot about leaning on others when things get rough. And being leaned on in return."


Mustaches for Maddie by Chad Morris
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I'm sure Maddie is a lovely child in real life, and I appreciate that her parents wanted to celebrate her, and I'm sorry they all went through a medical crisis. But. I could not stand this book. The tone was irritating, and I wanted to incinerate all of the mustaches by the end.



The Wizard's Dog by Eric Kahn Gale
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Could not bring myself to finish. Disappointed - I usually love anything to do with Arthurian legend.