Monday, March 11, 2013


It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 03/11/13

Visit Kellee and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts
for more about the It's Monday! What Are You
Reading? Meme





Moment of silence to remember Great East Japan EarthquakeToday is the 2 year anniversary of The Great East Japan Earthquake.   It seemed like a normal, beautiful Friday on March 11, 2011.  At 2:46 pm that all changed. It was an unbelievably tragic and devastating day for the people of Japan.  I hope you will take a moment to think of these wonderful people today - all they have lost, and all they continue to work to restore and rebuild. 




Well, I didn't blog last week and I don't have much for this week.  Here's what I finished:


Title: The Girl of Fire and
I really enjoyed this one.  As usual, I wasn't totally excited about it because it's fantasy, but I had no trouble getting through it.  Most of it really seemed like historical fiction.  The fantasy was not too fantastical through most of the book.  The main character, a strong young female, is quite likeable and heroic.  She is forced to marry a Prince from another town, and although it is an arranged marriage, she still holds out hope for a storybook romance.  Once in her new home, she gets caught up in the politics of war and sets out to save lives.  There's a lot of action and a little romance, and I found myself wanting to finish in one sitting.  (Ok, I always want to finish books in one sitting, but I had the time and engagement to do so with this book.)







 

I recommend Notice & Note if you're working with your students on close reading (and who isn't?).  Beers and Probst present 7 "Signposts" for students to look for as they're reading.  This really takes the read aloud the extra step so that students can understand, not only what they might be thinking as they read one particular text, but what they could think about when they're reading any piece of literature.  As I was reading, I could imagine how these strategies might work well in elementary, middle or high school.  In fact, I starting using the strategies in the next book I picked up.






I have continued reading a picture book a day, and again this week, I read some I really loved.  I would say my favorites were The Incredible Book Eating Boy, Mrs. Harkness and the Panda, and These Hands.  In The Incredible Book Eating Boy, as the title suggests, Henry literally devours books.  But, as you might expect, eating books makes him sick.  Don't worry...there is a happy ending.  Henry learns to love reading the books.  (Should I have done a spoiler alert?)  Anyway, it's a cute story, but also I just really love the illustrations done on old book pages as the background.  I just like to revisit the beautiful artwork.    Since I don't have kids and have never taught elementary, I am grateful to all of the IMWAYR blogs that recommend these fantastic picture books each week.



Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
  I almost forgot about this one, which would have been a shame because I laughed out loud through much of it, and we know how important laughter is to our health.  The narrator promises from the beginning that, although one of the main characters in the book does have cancer, this is not going to be one of those books that requires a box of tissue.  He keeps that promise.  Through the narrator, Greg, we learn not only about his life, but also that of his only friend Earl and his ex-girlfriend Rachel.  All three deal with serious problems, but Greg's narration of the events of his senior year in high school is hilarious.  





This week is off to a great start.   I almost decided not to blog another week so that I could finish this book instead.  I look forward to telling you about it next week. 
The Book of Blood and Shadow


Thanks for reading!  Have a great week!
Lee


13 comments:

  1. The Incredible Book Eating Boy sounds like a really cute read. My boys would probably love that one.

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    1. I hope they do. It has a really cute ending.

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  2. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is one of the best books I read last year and I predict it being an all-time favorite. Something about Greg really clicked with me and I found it both an entertaining and deeply cathartic read.

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    1. I hadn't really heard much about the book so it's good to hear comments from someone else. Greg did seem like a very likeable and real character (although obviously not a perfect guy).

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  3. I have been meaning to read Girl of Fire and Thorns and Me and Earl for ages now. I am happy to hear it is a cancer book that doesn't require tissues. I can't handle those kinds of cancer books. I am the only person around who does not think The Fault in Our Stars is the best, most amazing book ever to be written. But, I digress. Thank you for reminding me to get that one. http://wp.me/pzUn5-1rH

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    1. I think you'll really enjoy it (although, I admit to being one who absolutely loved The Fault in Our Stars).

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  4. Need to open Notice and Note over vacay. Missed your words last week.

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    1. Thanks, Beth. I'll be interested to see what you think and if anyone tries some of this, how it goes. It sucks not having my own guinea pigs, I mean students.

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  5. The Girl of Fire and Thorns is one of my favorite series!! The 3rd book comes out in the fall, and I cannot wait.
    You have some great books here! Me and Earl and the Dying girl was just hilarious. I've seen Jesse Andrews twice at book festivals, and he is NUTSO in person.
    I have Notice and Note on my educational-book-ordering-list. I've seen lots of tweets about it, and it seems like a very applicable read.
    Happy reading this week!

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    1. I'm not surprised to hear Andrews is Nuts. That character really has amazing voice, so that's gotta come from somewhere. :)

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  6. Hi there Lee. So happy to see Oliver Jeffers' Incredible Book Eating Boy here - I have done a review of this one when we had our books about books theme - I found it simply hilarious - I love everything that Jeffers writes. I've heard a lot about the girl of fire and thorns but haven't had a chance to read through any books from the series yet. I know that Me and Earl and the Dying Girl has been nominated for Cybils - so I know about this one, but I'm not sure if we have this in our libraries yet. I love books that make me laugh out loud - will check this one out. :) Have a great reading week ahead of you, Lee! :)

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    1. Thank you, Myra! It took me a while to come to Jeffers, but I read two this week and liked both. I read about his books two weeks ago on someone's IMWAYR blog. That's why I love my Monday evenings - getting all of these recommendations. (Wish I had time to get them all read!) And I am going to join your challenge in the very near future! Just have to find a winner to start with. :)

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