TakeDown by Laura Shovan

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How I Heard About It:  I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this novel from my #bookexpedition group on Twitter.  What makes this an even better ARC is that the author is a member of this incredible group of readers.  Thank you Laura for writing this story and sharing with us before it comes out in June.  

What It Is About:  Meet Mikayla.  She is the only daughter of three children. Her parents are divorced and one of the brothers lives with her dad while she and her other brother live with their mother.  The two boys are wrestlers and the whole family focuses on the love and passion of wrestling.  Mikayla is also a wrestler and has been lucky enough to have her best friend Kenna always be at her side on the wrestling mat.  When the girls hit middle-school Mikayla can't wait to hit the big-time wrestling world.  Kenna has other ideas and wants  venture toward a more female friendly world.  Meet Lev.  He is also heading to middle-school.  He has been involved with wrestling and can't wait to make it to "state" and make in mark in the sport.  Lev has always wrestled with two of his buddies and can't wait to continue this tradition.  He is quite surprised when he meets Mikayla and ends up being her wrestling partner.  Lev isn't thrilled about this pair-up, but keeps his sights on his goal of going to state.  Both young children must deal with a lot both on and off the wrestling mat.  They learn about themselves, each other, and the real world.  

What I Thought Of It:  I was thrilled to get the advanced copy of the book in the mail from #bookexpedition.  The members of the group had been raving about it.  At first I was a bit skeptical because I'm not really a wrestling guy.  I could put this skepticism aside because as soon as I began the book I fell in love with the story.  Mikayla and Lev were two of the most unique and special characters.  I loved how they each stood their own ground, compromised, and came out better people in the end.  The story isn't just about the sport.  The plot also includes friendship, family, relationships, and finding your "spot" in this great big crazy world.  I know young readers are going to so enjoy this book.  Too bad they have to wait until summer of 2018.  

Who Should Read It:   Takedown is the perfect novel for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade readers.  I love that there is a lead female and male in the story because I think that will appeal to both girls and boys.  The story would make for a great read aloud especially because several of the chapters end with great cliff-hangars.  Of course the book would also be wonderful to put in the hands of individual readers in grades four through six and middle-school readers.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  4 STARS out of 5 Stars

Far From The Tree by Robin Benway

How I Heard About It:  I remember being at NCTE this past fall and the National Book Awards had just been announced.  This title won for young-adult.  During my "walks" through the exhibit hall, I saw the book several times.  I put the title on my Christmas list and was happy to say I received it as a gift.  It was the first young-adult novel I read in 2018.  

What It Is About:  Grace, Maya, and Joaquin are three high school kids living their lives the best they can.  Grace was adopted as a baby and has two extremely supportive parents.  They stand by her when she becomes pregnant in high school and decides to give up her child.  Maya was also adopted at a young age and has grown up with her adoptive parents and their biological daughter.  The two girls are very close in age, but Maya has always felt like the "outsider".  The two girls do share their concern for their parents who fight a lot and for a mother who drinks too much.  Joaquin was given up by his mother and was never able to find a "forever" home.  He bounced from foster home to foster home.  There were a few times when he was almost adopted, but it never worked out.  Joaquin is now with two people that truly want him to be their son, but he isn't sure he can truly let them in.  When these three young adults find out they have something great in common, each of their lives will be forever changed.  

What I Thought Of It:  Wow!  I was in complete tears as I finished this story.  I can see why the story won the National Book Award.  Everything about this novel was incredible.  The three characters were strong, real, and made an impact on my own life.  There interactions with each other were some of the best literary scenes I've ever read.  The writing was beautiful, flowed from page to page, and never left me bored and/or wandering.  This will definitely be a title that I will be recommending to all of my reading friends.  

Who Should Read It:   In my opinion this could be read by both the young-adult and the adult reader.  It doesn't read like a "typical" young-adult novel, if there is such a thing.  It also doesn't read like an adult novel.  The content is the perfect combination of both types of novels.  Be sure to put this title on your TBR list because I know you won't be disappointed.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  5 STARS out of 5 Stars

The Lost Prayers of Ricky Graves by James Han Mattson

How I Heard About It:  I was growing Audible looking for something to listen to when I came across this novel published for adults.  The title and cover caught my attention.  After a bit of online research and seeing many rave reviews, I decided to buy it and give it a "listen".  

What It Is About:  Told from multiple perspectives, this is the story of Ricky Graves.  Ricky is a loner in high school that can't quite find his place in the world.  He lives with his mother.  He also has an older sister that left home at an early age.  Ricky begins an online "conversation" with a man across the country named Jeremy.  Jeremy is a gay man living his life with a partner.  Ricky is trying to figure out who and what he is.  He does this by venturing into the world of cyber "talk".  At first he lies to Jeremy about his age, education, and living situation.  The more these two men communicate online, the more Ricky opens up about his life.  Jeremy encourages Ricky to be himself and find a group of kids that are similar to himself.  Ricky begins to have feelings for another boy at his high school.  He finds the strength to be honest and truthful with this young man.  This decision comes with dire consequences.  The reader learns of Ricky's story via his sister, his mother, Jeremy, and a classmate.  

What I Thought Of It:  The Lost Prayers of Ricky Graves is one of the best novels published for adults I've read/listened to in a long time.  I've been reading excellent middle-grade and young-adult books, but have had a hard time finding that "perfect" adult novel.  Well folks, this story was really good.  The audio was wonderful.  There were several mornings when I arrived at school and didn't get out of the car because I wanted to continue listening to the story.  I love that the story was told from multiple perspectives because it made for a full-fledged reading experience.  As a reader I got a 360 degree view of Ricky and what he endured in his lifetime.  The plot is timely, relevant, and necessary.  One of my most favorite things is when I stumble upon a book that I know nothing of and it turns out to be a strong, enjoyable, and memorable experience.  That is exactly what happened with this title   

Who Should Read It:   This is a must-read for all adult readers that enjoy strong fictional literature.  The characters are strong.  The plot is real.  The emotions are high.  This book really has everything that a reader would want.  I highly recommend it.  I don't think you will be disappointed.  

Rating:  5 STARS out of 5 Stars

Life Lesson #14 (Be a TEAM)

"Be a Team"

*This is the FOURTEENTH Thursday of our school year together and that means it is "Life Lesson" Thursday.

*One of the biggest messages I try to share with my students is to make a positive impact on the world.

*This isn't always easy, but I work very hard to spread this theme/lesson/idea each and every day.  

*We are always working on being a team and how things work, and or don't work, when we use teamwork.  This is a quick, funny, and to the point video to illustrate this idea.  I can't tell how you many times my writers will watch this over and over.  

*I set aside time during each day for us to work in our writer's notebooks. 

*We talk about what types of writing we can do in the notebook.  Here are some of the possibilities...

-What we notice in the video

-What we wonder about

-Connections we have to the video

-Thoughts, feeling, emotions about the video clip

-Reminders we have from the lesson/message

-Create a fiction story about the video

*Once the video is shared with the writers, we spend a few minutes "talking" about what we observed.

*My writers set up their HEADING in the notebook and we get busy writing.

*During the start-up of the year, I have my students write for about five minutes.  We slowly build our stamina for writing and slowly add time to the writing block. 

*At the end of the individual writing time, we call on a few volunteers to share their actual writing and/or further thoughts about the video we watched and wrote about.

*If there is time, I sometimes share the video clip with my class at the end of the writer's notebook time.  

2017/2018 Life Lessons...
Week #1:  Be a Reader                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #2:  Be Kind to Others                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #3:  Be Safe                                                                             This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #4:  Be Responsible                                                                 This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #5:  Be Brains                                                                           This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #6:  Be a Friend                                                                        This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #7:  Be Life-Changing                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson          
Week #8:  Be Spooky (Halloween Fun Edition)
Week #9:  Be a Bully - NOT!                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #10:  Be Courageous (to continue on)                                     This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #11:  Be Motivated                                                                   This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #12:  Be Inspired                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #13:  Be Merry                                                                          This Week's Life-Lesson

Wonder Wednesday #206 (The Creativity Project #ONE)

Wonder Wednesday - "I Remember"...

*I was so thrilled to be able to view an ARC of Colby Sharp's The Creativity Project via my #bookexpedition group on Twitter.  It was an amazing read and I was so excited to try out some of the ideas with my fourth graders.

*It was even more thrilling to receive a signed copy of the book by the author himself during #NCTE in St. Louis.  Now I could really dig in and see which writing prompts I wanted to use right away.



*Before writer break we spent time with the prompt of "I Remember."  This was the process that I choose to use...


1.  We gathered as writers in a circle and verbally shared between five and ten "I Remember"    statements.  Such great discussion and fun came from this sharing.

2.  I then shared the prompt from the book written by Victoria Jamieson (page 57) and the response from Mr. Schu (page 58).  The listeners LOVED John's remembering about 5th grade.  

2.  The writers then spent between 5-10 minutes making an "I Remember" list in their writing notebook.

3.  A few of the writers shared from their lists.

4.  The following day each student choose one of their ideas to create a piece of writing.  

5.  Everyone was so engaged, writing a lot, and enjoying the project that I decided to wander the room and capture the moment via some pictures.


*Here are my fourth grade writers busy at work being "CREATIVE"...

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (1/1/18)

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to the site...

                

 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/


*I absolutely love holiday breaks because it allows me so much more time to read.  This last week and a half felt like summer again.  It was wonderful to be able to dig in and spend time with these incredible stories...

Books I Read this Past Week...

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

*Novel Published for Adults (4 STARS out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

*Novel Published for Adults (5 STARS out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

*Middle-Grade Novel (5 STARS out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

Kat Greene Comes Clean by Melissa Roske

*Middle-Grade Novel (5 STARS out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

*Young-Adult Novel (4 STARS out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

Everything Else in the Universe by Tracy Holczer

*Middle-Grade Novel (5+ STARS out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

*Young-Adult Novel (4 STARS out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week…

Enticing Hard-to-Reach Writers by Ruth Ayres

*My Professional Reading

TakeDown by Laura Shovan

*My Middle-Grade Novel

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

*My Young-Adult Novel

The Lost Prayers of Ricky Graves by James Han Mattson

*My Novel Published for Adults (Audio)

The Absolutist by John Boyne

*My Novel Published for Adults

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

How I Heard About It:  I bought this book quite some time ago.  It seemed to be on many "must-read" lists.  It sat by my bedside until a member of my BBC (Boy's Book Club) chose it as our December/January selection.  I was thrilled I already had it in my pile.  

What It Is About:  Jojo is thirteen years old.  He is the main care taker for his younger sister Kayla.  This is because his mother, Leonie, is more concerned about her drug use and their father is in prison.  Luckily Jojo and Kayla are able to live with their grandparents.  Leonie's parents are the one solid in these two young people's lives.  When Jojo's father is released from prison, Leonie, Jojo, Kayla, and a friend take a road trip to pick him up.  Jojo's grandfather isn't sure this is a good idea, but they head out anyway.  While on the way to the prison, Jojo recalls many stories his grandfather told him about his early life and a young boy named Richie.  Once his father is picked up, "life" in the car on the return trip only gets worse.  Jojo wants to prove he can be the man his grandfather has taught him to be.  

What I Thought Of It:  This is one of those novels that has received so much praise, that I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype.  I was a bit confused at the start-up of the story, but once I got in a few pages, the story began to flow and I found rhythm.  The more I read, the more I found myself becoming completely absorbed in the journey of Jojo, his sister, and the other family members.  The writing was exquisite and so many lines that I found myself rereading.  At first I wasn't sure of the "magical" and/or "ghost" moments, but they worked so well in this overall plot.  I can see why this title has earned many awards and so glad I ended 2017 with it.  

Who Should Read It:   This is definitely a read for adult readers who enjoy "real" literature with descriptive and emotional writing.  I learned today that the book made a list the former President Obama posted.  I'm in good company.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  5 STARS out of 5 Stars