Hope to “see” you tonight at the #SharpSchu book club.
Tweetchat hasn’t been cooperating of late. Mr. Schu recommends having a couple of backup options like: oneQube and HootSuite.
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/17/2013
Miles Last Week: 25
Total Miles: 471
Books Last Week: 34
Total Books: 456
Be sure to visit Mentor Texts to learn more about It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
The Day The Crayons Quit
By: Drew Daywalt
Illustrated By: Oliver Jeffers
The Center of Everything
By Linda Urban
(reread)
Kira-Kira
By: Cynthia Kadohata
Beholding Bee
By: Kimberly Fusco
10 Minute Review: The Awesome Almost 100% True Adventures of Matt & Craz by Alan Silberberg
Since I only have 10 minutes to tell you why I really enjoyed Alan Silberberg’s latest middle grade novel I’m going to keep it simple. The three things that stand out to me are: Matt & Craz’s friendship, the fact that I would have loved this book as a middle grade reader, and the craziness that ensues when Matt & Craz try to make their lives better by taking the easy way out.
I’m all about reading books that have cool friendships, and I think Matt and Craz are a great team. These guys are totally different in so many ways, but they also have a lot in common and they totally get each other. Every day in my classroom I watch my students try to figure the whole friendship thing out. Books like The Awesome Almost 100% True Adventures of Matt & Craz can be added to my toolbox of great friendship duos.
Sixth grade Colby would have preferred to be reading this book over the assigned books that he was reading with his class. The Awesome Almost 100% True Adventures of Matt & Craz would have helped me break out of my prolonged reading slump that could also be called middle school.
I’ve always been fascinated to think about how making one small change in the past can really change a whole bunch of things and make the world go all crazy. Reading The Awesome Almost 100% True Adventures of Matt & Craz made me think of the movie Back to the Future and the book Bigger Than a Bread Box. Matt & Craz learn very quickly that subtle changes can have crazy results. I look forward to talking about this issue with my students that read this book in the fall.
If your looking for a super fun read this summer that your readers are sure to enjoy next fall I recommend that you give The Awesome Almost 100% True Adventures of Matt & Craz a read.
Happy reading!
Newbery Challenge: Bud, Not Buddy
Hello, friends! I am super excited to be chatting about 2000 Newbery Medal winning book Bud, Not Buddy. A book that was published the year Sharp-Schu-Jonker graduated from high school. Crazy!
We (#sharpschu) started this challenge by reading a book that was published before my grandma was born, and now we are talking about a book published we were were leaving high school.
I’m looking forward to a Saturday morning cup of joe and a Mr. Schu Newbery video.
Things to look for in my video:
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My 14 year old brother is in the background (gold baseball jersey)
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My dad is giving other dads hitting lessons (dude with a sleeveless gray shirt
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Sharp kids running around (I think two of them can be seen in the background
Crankee Doodle By Cece Bell and Tom Angleberger
I have sort of been having this dream about Crankee Doodle. It is not a sleeping and then wake up type of dream. It is more of a wide awake thinking sort of dream. I don’t think it is a nightmare, but it gets a little more nerve wracking and scary each time.
You see, I am really excited about my read aloud voice for Crankee. Last week I read Crankee Doodle aloud to my students and I totally knocked the Crankee Doodle voice out of the park. I might even say that it ended up being my students favorite read aloud of the entire year. THE ENTIRE YEAR! I read them a picture book almost every single day, so “Read Aloud of the Year” is a pretty bold statement, but folks, Crankee Doodle was written to be read aloud. If you are planning on making Crankee Doodle part of your book-a-day reading this summer, make sure that you find a kid or two and read it to them. The book is great when you read it to yourself, but reading it aloud to kids will make you appreciate it on a whole new level. Try it. Please?
Okay, back to my dream. The dream takes place at the ALA conference in the exhibit hall. Tom and Cece are signing copies of Crankee Doodle. The line is super long, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt can’t seem to find their boxes of Crankee Doodle. The librarians in line are getting antsy, and I decide that I need to try and save the day. (I can’t believe that I’m sharing this. It is sort of embarrassing) I grab the display copy, hop up on the signing table (I have a thing for jumping on tables) and I start reading Crankee Doodle aloud to ALA.
Sometimes the read aloud goes great and all the librarians clap. Sometimes it goes terribly wrong, and Tom has to hop up on the table and save the day. Every time it ends with HMH finding the boxes of books and the signing continues.
Why I am telling you all this? I have no idea. What I do know is that Tom and Cece are a dynamite team and that everyone should read Crankee Doodle aloud to kids at least one in their life.
Review copy was sent by the publisher (sorry for the weird review, HMH).
Every Day After By Laura Golden
I was very lucky to receive an advanced copy of Laura Golden’s Every Day After in January. I was immediately drawn in by the cover. The name in the middle of the cover was a mystery to me, so I of course went to Google and typed in: L-a-u-r-a G-o-l-d-a-n (Is that yo you show typing?). Google very kindly let me know that I did not spell Laura’s last name correctly. Thanks, Google…
After learning what I could about Laura I sat down and burned through her novel.
It did not take me long to realize that Every Day After was a special book. I love historical fiction. Jennifer Holm and Kirby Larson are idols of mine, and I’m always looking for the next great middle grade historical fiction writer. Well, we may have found her in Laura Golden. Her debut novel Every Day After captured my heart in the first pages, and Lizzie Hawkins story will always have a place in heart.
Trying to put my finger on what I like so much about Every Day After is hard, but here goes. Often my fourth graders try to tell me that they don’t like historical fiction. I ask them why. They respond: it is boring, it’s slow, I don’t get it, and so on. I let them know that I don’t like boring, slow books that I don’t get, but I do love historical fiction. Every Day After is a historical fiction book that I can sell to a student that might not realize that historical fiction can be pretty awesome.
Crud. I totally did not answer my question about why I love the book in the last paragraph.
Let’s try that again. I LOVE Every Day After because of Lizzie Hawkins. I love that she is a character that I am thinking about 4 months after finish the book. I love that she is far from perfect, but I love her like she is perfect.
The other thing that I love about this book is the ending. A few books that were getting a lot of Newbery buzz at the start of the year had endings that didn’t sit right with me. The end of Every Day After was the perfect and only way to end this book.
There.
I did it.
I somehow managed to write my review of Every Day After. The review is a little odd, but I hope that it is able give you a glimpse of how happy this book makes my heart.
I’m now off to once again Google Laura Golden: L-a-u-r-a G-o-l-d-E-n.
(A review copy was provided by the publisher. I bet they didn’t expect me to write such an odd review about one of their books.)
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/10/2013
Miles Last Week: 18
Total Miles: 446
Books Last Week: 7
Total Books: 422
Be sure to visit Mentor Texts to learn more about It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?
The Real Boy
By: Anne Ursu
Have You Seen My New Blue Socks?
By: Eve Bunting
Illustrated by: Sergio Ruzzier
Tangle of Knots
By: Lisa Graff
Notice and Note
By: Kylene Beers and Robert Probst
