I'm thrilled to link up with Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers each Monday and share our reading lives. Check out their sites for more information.
The stomach flu and a typical December schedule conspired to ensure I didn't get a ton read last week. However, everything I did read, I loved.
The Only Child is breathtakingly beautiful. If the author/ illustrator lived in America, I'd have to run back to my Mock Caldecott group and tell them we have a new front runner. The way I described the format of this book to my students was that it was like a picture book and a graphic novel had a baby, this is it. Gorgeous.
The Book of Joe is not a book for my students, but my book club's selection for this month. Typically we read YA, but after one of the members described this book last month, we all wanted to read it. I was fascinated by the fact that my friend was nervous for us to read it, didn't want us to read it in fact. She loves this book so much, she is almost protective over it and wonders if she would think differently about us if we didn't feel the same. (Fortunately, I loved it. Phew!) How I wish all of my students could have that type of connection with a book.
Finally, The Last Kids on Earth is a book that after reading, I realized I should have bought more copies. Jack is a thirteen year old kid living in his treehouse. He lived with his foster parents before, now he is just trying to survive. A monster/zombie apocalypse has hit their town. At first, he is fighting off the creatures alone. Eventually he forms a group to fight with. Jack's voice is sarcastic and relatable. Kids will love this novel, with illustrations thrown in throughout. This is the first in, what I am assuming, is a series. It will be huge in my classroom.
Also a great book for your classroom - The Dead Boy. I included it in my "It's Monday" post last week, but I now have the review up. You can check it out HERE.
Here's what I'm reading now:
Have a great week!
