It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1-23-17

Thanks to our dynamic hosts: Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kelle at Unleashing Readers. Head to either blog to find reviews as well as dozens of links to other blogs filled with reviews and recommendations!

Have fun watching the awards this morning! I have an inservice day, so I won't be celebrating with my students until the day after. 

Books I've Recently Read:

To Stay Alive by Skila Brown

Candlewick Press, 2016

Poetic Narrative/Historical Fiction

304 pages

Recommended for grades 5+

I know the story of the Donner Party, after-all, I am a big Nathan Hale fan, but don't think you will find any hangmen here to break the tension. (I'll let some of you scratch your head at that one.)

The stark style to this novel in verse gives you the feeling that words, like supplies and rations, must be used sparingly. Each step of this journey was arduous, and to imagine children journeying, and a baby being born into this trek, were almost too much at times. And then it gets worse, so much worse. This book hurt me. The words pulled me in, and though the words were not overbearing, the emotion of it was, at times. 

A Boy Called BAT by Elana K. Arnold

Illustrations by Charles Santoso

Walden Pond Press, 2017

Realistic Fiction

208 pages

Recommended for grades 2-5

An enjoyable story about a boy nicknamed Bat, who happens to be on the autism spectrum. This is the first in a series, and will be a most welcome addition to my classroom library.

Bat doesn't relate well to the emotions of the people closest to him, and often misreads situations. When his veterinarian mother brings home a rescued skunk kit, Bat does all he can to convince his mother to allow him to raise the kit until it is old enough to be released. Don't expect Bat to simply beg and plead though, that's simply not his style!

Some Writer! The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016

Biography

162 pages

Recommended for grades 4+ (as an independent read)

If you don't find sparks of inspiration,  lines you want to lift, or quotes to fill your walls and notebooks with, then you have no business reading any more books. Ever. 

As with many biographies I love, I find myself faced with wondering if children will take to the book with the same interest and dedication. Melissa Sweet is known for her whimsical and vibrant art, which will certainly attract young readers, but even so, the text may plod at times for children in fourth grade or below. I say this mostly because I don't think kids give a hoot about where details such as where E.B. White worked. Don't get me wrong, I found this book to be most interesting.

I'm Currently Reading:

Thanks for stopping by!