It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4-15-13
Hosted by Jen & Kelle at Teach Mentor Texts.
You know those special books you come across that are so good you almost want to stop reading them, to prolong your time together? That is how I feel about the first book I am reviewing. I read this book before bed each night, and instead of zipping through it, I would read a chapter or two, put my bookmark in, and think.
Books I Read this Week:
The Water Castle by Megan Frazer Blakemore
Walker Books for Young Readers, 2013
Mystery/Science Fiction
344 pages
Recommended for grades 4-7
A lovely review in The New York Times: Sunday Book Review gives a thorough summary of the story, capturing well the mysterious tone of this novel.
After reading the above review it would be redundant to delve into my own similar thoughts. Instead, a sprinkling of what stands out to me:
Open the book, the first illustration you see is an antique wooden door with cast iron embellishments that is surrounded by vines of ivy. It beckons your onward.
Main characters, Ephraim, Mallory and Will all want different things, things that the water might bring to fruition for them, if they can in fact find the Fountain of Youth water. Will wants to accomplish scientific feats, to do good with his knowledge. Mallory wants to leave behind small town Crystal Springs, and Ephraim is determined to make his father well again. As we read about Ephraim's self-doubt through the story his quest for "fixing" his father is better understood when Ephraim reveals that his father was the one person that really gets him. Ephraim is in the shadow of a strong and athletic older brother, and an intelligent younger sister.
Read the book, enjoy the mystery and the journey of looking for the magic water. Then reach the end and decide for yourself what fills the holes.
"There's no such thing as a silly story. Every story serves its purpose." pg. 73
Contest Closed
Contest will run through Wednesday, April 17th at midnight!
My Life as a Cartoonist by Janet Tashjian, illustrated by Jake Tashjian
Christy Octaviano Books, 2013
Realistic Fiction
259 pages
Recommended for grades 4-7
Want to hear my thoughts on My Life as a Cartoonist? Are you sure? Well then, stop back on April 30th when Bluestocking Thinking will be serving as the final stop on the Book Blog Tour for My Life as a Cartoonist! And to help lure you back, there will be not one, not two, but THREE books in the My Life as a series up for grabs! (Courtesy of the publisher.)
Books I'm Currently Reading:
I'm Currently Listening To:
On Deck:
(I am so so so so so excited to start this book. I loved The Fairy Ring! After thinking another fairy book might make me gag, I was sure in for a surprise with that one! And to add to Wild Boy's awesomeness, Timothy Basil Ering is the illustrator!)
Thanks for stopping by! As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments!
I am Hoping to finish The Water Castle during vacation! It was so cool to meet Megan at RRU this week. I will be checking back to read about My Life as a Cartoonist. I really liked the other two.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Hi Gigi, I agree, Megan is such an awesome person, and it was very exciting to meet her. I may have held on to her hand a bit longer than I should have when we initially were shaking hands. But, it happens ;)
DeleteI'm excited about the My Life as a Cartoonist blog tour starting soon, I think there will be lots of copies of the books up for grabs! I just love the character Derek, he is so genuine! Thanks for stopping by!
I keep seeing The Water Castle everywhere nowadays. Colby Sharp was reading it recently and I have read several reviews. It looks like a lot of fun. Happy reading this week. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those special ones that all kinds of people are enjoying getting lost in! Thanks for stopping by, and for entering!
DeleteThank you for recommending this book for the Global Read Aloud, I am excited to read it
ReplyDeleteOh, I'm not the mind behind that one!! I can't take credit for it! I can take credit for just plain loving it though, and supporting it being used for Global Read Aloud!
DeleteLooks like you had an amazing week of reading! I saw a lot of talk about The Water Castle on Twitter this weekend!
ReplyDeleteHappy reading!
The Water Castle is gaining some serious momentum, that's for sure! Thanks for stopping by!
DeleteSo want to read The Water Castle- everyone loves it :)
ReplyDeleteEverything else you listed looks/sounds great as well!!! And I haven't read any!
Happy reading this week :)
Yeah, come on, get going, it's such a fun book! Thanks for stopping by, and good luck!!
DeleteWater Castle is getting amazing reviews. I'm reading it as my next novel. Hopefully to start later this week! Can't wait to dive in!
ReplyDeleteHi Carrie,
DeleteI think it will make a great read aloud. I'm going to read it to my class next year, when they are fourth graders. Have fun with it! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi there Nicole, this must be the third or fourth time this week that I'm seeing Water Castle, I'm definitely intrigued. I have also seen Destiny Rewritten in a few other blogs and it looks like a promising read as well. However, what really caught my eye (and I am pinning them in my Pinterest boards) is the misadventures of edgar and allan poe and Wild Boy! Those are my kind of books. I shall be on the look out for them. Wild Boy also reminded me a little bit of Woolvs in the Sitee by Anne Spudvilas and Margaret Wild - have you read that one yet?
ReplyDeleteHi Myra,
DeleteI have not read Woolvs in the Sitee, and I must admit, I wasn't sure if your vision had gone blurry when you tried to write that title! Ha, I looked it up and it looks creeeepy! My kind of book :) I am so excited to read Wild Boy, but I am forcing myself to finish what I had already started. I was fascinated when I heard about the boy growing up with wolves, way back, and now to have Losure and Ering team up, well it's a book nerd's dream! Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for the scary book recommendation!
Thanks for all the book suggestions. I haven't heard of many of them and look forward to checking them out.
DeleteThanks for stopping by! My reading list always grows when I read the Monday posts!
DeleteNicole, it was so wonderful to meet you at Reading Round Up. That was a great day -- I think that's why I looked a little dazed in that picture. It's like I'm looking off into the distance thinking of all the wonderful things Kate Messner said. Actually, I think I was trying to sneak a peek at the MSBA books. I have my picks . . .
ReplyDeleteHello non-robot Megan ;) Kate was an inspiration! what a wonderfully genuine lady, would love to have her in my neck of the woods! Ok, so which MSBA titles are you loving, and which were you like: Wait, THAT made the list?!
DeleteI was at a lovely small bookshop in Farmington today and started talking middle grade books with the man that was working there (owner?) and I ran over with your book and said: Have you read THIS one yet?
Long story short I told him you are awesome and your book is awesome, and if he thinks Brian Lies does a good author visit he should look into you! But that's a separate story.