The One and Only Ivan

I don’t know how to write a review for The One and Only Ivan. Trying to come up with the right words for a book that I love so much is hard. The bottom line is that I want every middle grade reader to have access to this book.

A library without Ivan is a library with a hole. The One and Only Ivan is a book that is accessable to most fourth grade readers, at the same time, I feel like sixth and seventh graders will be able to take so much away from Katherine Applegate’s story.

As of today I believe that 7 of my students have read Ivan. The cool thing is that all of them seem to be getting emotional at different parts. Each reader is connecting with the story in their own way. I love this book.

I understand that this isn’t much of a reivew. I’m sorry. Earlier I said that a library without Ivan has a hole. I felt a little like my blog without Ivan also contained a hole. I’m hoping that I’m able to work up the courage to maybe write a more complete review of Ivan in the future (maybe on Nerdy Book Club), but in the meantime, please read The One and Only Ivan. I believe that it is Applegate’s masterpiece.

Right now I’m reading Applegate’s Home of the Brave.

 

Shen of the Sea by Arthur Bowie Chrisman

I had a blast on Saturday attending Anderson’s Children’s Literature Breakfast. The breakfast allowed me to catch up with Nerdy Book Club members, and it gave Mr. Schu and I an opportunity to film a #nerdbery video together for the first time.

Best part of Shen of the Sea was being able to record the #nerdbery video with “EXTREME LIBRARIAN” Mr. Schu. Be sure to check out Mr. Schu’s blog: Watch.Connect.Read.

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I forgot to take a picture of the book before I returned it to the library, so I had to just take a picture with cover from the Internet.

 

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? 2/20/2012

Be sure to visit Teach.Mentor.Texts, Jen and Kellee are the host of this wonderful meme.

Three Books I Loved Last Week

Green Eyes by Abe Birnbaum

Here Come the Girl Scouts by Shana Corey

One Cool Friend by Tony Buzzeo

My Favorite Book of the Week

Listen to my Trumpet! by Mo Willems

Reading This Week

Crow by Barbara Wright

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

 

Reading Along I-94: The Pull of Gravity, Part 3

JEN: Colby and I are so excited that we get to talk to each other again about The Pull of Gravity but even moooore excited this week because Gae Polisner herself is joining us!

COLBY: OMG! I can’t believe Nerdy Winning author, Gae Polisner, is joining us. This is crazy awesome.

JEN: Hi, Gae!

GAE: Ta da!!!! (Too much?)

I’m really excited to be here. I’ve been reading your posts like a fan, then realizing you’re talking about my book… quick funny story. Any time I have to try to do anything to promote my book lately, my mother says, “Did you tell them you won a Nerdy?!” True story.

JEN: That is so cool! Moms are awesome. And Nerdies are awesome. I think it is definitely something you should be proud of. The Pull of Gravity is a great book.

COLBY: I think Gae gave the Nerdies some clout. I love that you bought a shirt.

GAE: And a movin’ mug. (I think the Nerdies gave ME some clout! Power to the Nerdies.)
And moms are awesome, Jen.

JEN: I have a Nerdy Book Club sticker that I put on my water bottle. I love it! So far, Colby and I have talked about the relationship Nick has with Scooter and then the relationship he has with Jaycee. I think it’s time we talk about the relationship that Nick has with his dad. I’m actually kind of confused by the dad so I’m excited we get to talk to Gae about this…maybe she can answer some of my questions or wonderings.

GAE: Jen, I hate to say it, but I’m kinda happy you were confused about the dad. In some regard, that’s his purpose in the book. At least in my mind. I’m kind of fascinated as a parent myself about how our kids only see us one way and as one thing. They don’t see us as individuals with our own longings, disappointments and problems. But we are. Hopefully, our parenting rises above… but not always. And I kind of wanted to explore that. And what the impact is. Does that make any sense? The dad is my most complicated character.

JEN: It totally makes sense…but I’m glad you clarified for me. Sometimes I wonder if authors are trying to mess with my head. When I read Laurel Snyder’s Bigger Than a Breadbox I was so appalled by the mother in that book. She is so selfish and she really has enough troubles that she just can’t be there for her kids, especially her daughter. After I had my own kids, my perspective on books totally changed. There are two other books that I think of right away: A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban and The First Part Last by Angela Johnson. Both of those really struck me because the parents are so important in those books, and in The First Part Last, especially, the parent is a young man raising a daughter all on his own. It made me realize how important I am as a parent. I totally love that through books I can experience how a kid feels when their own parent isn’t being the best parent because it helps me grow as a parent.

COLBY: If I lost my job as a teacher, I could totally see myself ending up like Nick’s dad. It would be so hard to lose your identity like he did. I’m not sure if I would gain 100 pounds or lose 100 pounds, but it would not be pretty.

I often have to force myself when I’m reading to think about the intended audience. So often as I read MG and YA I think about the book from the perspective of a 30 year old dude (me), instead of the kid the book was written for. While I was reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio I kept wanting her to tell a section of the book from one of the boy’s parents perspective, but she didn’t. I was sad, but looking back, I don’t think kids needed to see that perspective.

GAE: I love when I’m Skyping with or visiting classes and we talk about the Dad. Inevitably, someone will bring up how mad they are at the dad and then another kid will chime in that he or she was mad, but kind of understood. It’s actually that thought process that I’m hoping to bring to the read… that adults can make bad choices but that doesn’t necessarily make them bad people, and it especially doesn’t affect or change the fact that they’re still trying to do their best as parents. And to some extent, I want that teen reader to consider also taking some responsibility to be mature and listen and understand. Which Nick doesn’t do. And he pays the price by having things unfold in a more difficult way. Yes?

JEN: WAIT! I have to clarify something before we go on…so at the beginning of the book I totally get that his dad is upset and I can forgive him for leaving, especially because he does try to write and communicate with Nick. BUT am I wrong to infer that he’s totally sneaking off to be with Scooter’s mom? Because after that I can only think of him as a really big (use your imagnation). I know people make mistakes but some things are just wrong. I don’t see that as being Nick’s fault…

GAE: First of all, nothing is NIck’s fault, but there is some element of him putting his head in the sand. Second of all, the only thing we completely know is that MaeLynn is alone, dealing with the death of her son, and Nick’s father goes to help her. Whatever else may be going on, one can’t fault the Father for helping her. As for sneaking, we don’t know WHAT Nick’s mom knows, do we? I can tell you this. As a person married for 18 (!!) years, there are lots of things that happen between my husband and I that I would go out of my way not to make my kids privy to. Having said all that, I am not defending the dad for anything with MaeLynn, I am just suggesting that it’s possible you have made some assumptions. And I love that! I love that each reader will make their own assumptions and bring their own ideas and perspectives to their read. But we all have varying views on such things. I know the kids from divorced parents, seem to give Nick’s dad a little more leeway. Coincidence?

COLBY: When I first read the part with Nick’s dad, I totally made all those assumptions. I have to ask: Gae, do you know what really happened with Nick’s dad?

GAE: I love when people ask me that question as if they are real people. (yes, I know what I think happened with MaeLynn and Nick’s dad. And, let’s just say, it wouldn’t make Jen happy. And we’d have to keep going back to clean up her language )

JEN: I have to remind myself that authors know everything that happened but only want us to know so much. It would have been hard for me as an author to be purposefully vague about the dad’s story. I think that I noticed most about Nick’s relationship with his dad is that it made his good relationships with Scooter and Jaycee and even with his brother stronger. I think he realized that he could trust Jaycee and that his brother would be there even more for him and that he would have them even while dealing with his dad.

GAE: First, I just want to say that it’s so cool to even hear you (and others) angry about the Dad because it means I wrote it well enough to elicit real emotion and that’s ,first and foremost,,what one hopes to be able to do. Secondly, I don’t think that I was trying to be purposefully vague, so much as I didn’t think it much mattered whether the Dad was just emotionally attached (more? in love) with MaeLynn versus having an affair with her or whatever. The issue for me was that, whatever was going on, Nick’s parents marriage was in trouble. That was the only point truly relevant to Nick. Once our parents’ marriages are in trouble, it doesn’t really matter why or how much.

JEN: I guess I thought you were being purposeful in not telling his whole side of the story because as readers we really have to get what Nick sees of the story.

We’ve only just gotten started in discussing Nick’s parents in The Pull of Gravity and we have much more to share on the topic, but we’ll take a break here to let you share your thoughts on the character of Nick’s dad (or you can vent or rant, too). Thanks for joining us, Gae! We look forward to continuing this conversation next week!

 

A 4th Grad Reflects on Reading Schu/Jonker Top 20

Hi! I am Emily from Minges Brook Elementary, in Battle Creek, MI. I am here to tell you that I finished the top 20 list on Mr. Schu and Mr. Jonker’s blogs, and I’m very excited that I did.

It was an amazing experience, although I had a few minor challenges along the way. I had to stop books and start others, or read things that really didn’t appeal to me. For example, I don’t really like Informational, and I had to read Amelia Lost. It was very hard for me, you might think differently and that’s fine, but I thought that it was very hard for me, so I don’t recommend it to kid’s in K-5 grades. I don’t think it will interest them earthier.

There weren’t challenges around every corner though. There were books I loved too. One of my favorite books on the top 20 list is…………… WONDERSTRUCK!!!!!! I loved Wonderstruck so much and I think that it’s one of the greatest books I have read. Another book I loved was Bigger Than a Bread Box!! This book was such an amazing book for kids to read because it’s about real life problems. Divorce. It seems like almost every kid in this country has divorced Parents. It hurts so many people, and is one of the cruelest things I can think of. “That bad” you could be thinking right now? After Reading this book and talking to others, I have learned YES it’s very bad. A lot of kids could really relate to that.  That’s why this is such a good book for children. Bigger Than a Bread Box can change your life, and it has definitely changed my life and some of my classmates lives. Thank you, Laurel Snyder, for writing this lovely book.

 OK. Now I have to tell you why I did this challenge. A–I wanted more of a variety of books to read because I read too many of the same books. B–I really wanted the prize. The prize was a book from Mr. Sharp of our pick but, it has to be on the list. I choose Bigger Than a Bread Box!!!!!! I choose it because it was an amazing book that I can let my friends read and they can know how hard life can be with divorced parents. My friend Katie is going to read it and she doesn’t divorced parents and she can now know what it is like. Wait!!!!!!! I never got the chance to tell you that instead of one book I got two books form Laurel Snyder!!!!  (I got Bigger than a Breadbox and Penny Dreadful!!!!) And then to make things get even better, I got them both signed AND SENT FROM LAUREL SNYDER TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so exited the day they came in to Mr. Sharp. I got up at 5:00 AM the day I knew the package had arrived.  I couldn’t wait to get to school!

Although the prize was AMAZING, there was so much more I got from this experience. I learned about things like Amelia Earhart, or about people having divorced parents, so now I know how hard it is to have divorced parents. I learned so much that I wouldn’t know before. I’m so excited that I did that challenge because now I know so much more, even if books were very hard to read at times. I learned that sometimes there are books you think you don’t like, but it’s still worth it to give them a shot.  I learned as a reader, that you should read more of a variety of books, instead of just one genre.  I was able to try out books I would not have known about otherwise. It was awesome.

Last of all, I want to encourage all of you to read these books. So, what are you doing looking at this, go get the books from the library already!!!!!! ( Or purchase them. They’re THAT good.)

 

 

 

Why We Love Babymouse

A couple of days ago I got a tweet from Mr. Spraul that broke my heart. He bought 3 copies of the popular graphic novel series, and he can’t get his 4th graders to buy in to the wonder that is Babymouse. Today I shared the situation with my fourth graders, and they were very concerned for Mr. Spraul’s students. We set up a Google form on our class Wiki and students answered the question: Why do you like Babymouse?

Below you will find their responses. I hope Mr. Spraul’s students find Babymouse to be as enchanting as my students do. 

Babymouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did someone say Babymouse? I love Babymouse I am like the stalker of BABYMOUSE. I love love love love Babymouse. Please tell me you all like Babymouse. If you don’t you just made me shiver. Well please enjoy BABYMOUSE, FOR ME!

I love Babymouse because of all the adventures she has: Queen of the World, Beach Babe, Burns Rubber, I love how Jennifer L. Holm made Babymouse and I hope you will like her too!!!!!!

I love it because it is an adventure book that has all this crazy stuff and Babymouse is funny with her life.  I think you guys would love Babymouse.

I love babymouse because it can teach people to read and it is really good. Plus, I love Jennifer Holm. I love Jennifer Holm because she is really pretty and she inspires me. And also because I love all the wonderful books she has created.

Babymouse is awesome and funny. All Kids should read a Babymouse.

Babymouse is funny and I love it so much. If I didn’t know about Babymouse I would die.

I like how she gets woke up late and the narrator says, “Babymouse I think the bus is here.” She always has to. walk to school. I like Babmouse Skater Girl because she gets relly tired and she goes crazzzzzzzzzzzzyyyyyy.

What I love about Babymouse is that she is funny, and she imagines stuff that I like to do like surfing. That is in Babymouse Beach Babe. Another reason is because it has a song in one of the books and it that is really funny too

I love Babymouse because she has a great imagination and I how her locker brings her on adventures.

Babymouse is funny. I like how her locker has every in it. Do you like cupcakes ? Babymouse loves cupcakes !

I like Babymouse because there is epic awesomeness in the beginning and middle and even the end. I want to be able to read the book Babymouse For President.

I like Babymouse because it is funny and you will make you jump off your feet and laugh. And it is made by Jennifer L. Holm one of the best novelist EVER.

Everything!!!!!!! Well because it is funny, entertaining, AWESOME, EPIC and creative.

Hi! I love Babymouse because she has so many adventures. It doesn’t just make you love reading, but it also has life lessons, like with you and your friends.

What I like about Babymouse is that it has lots of imagination. It required a lot of skill to write Babymouse. You should at least try it.

I love Babymouse because………It is funny, it is a graphic novel. and I love it.

What I love about Babymouse is how it’s a very good adventures and because it’s pink and well, I like the color pink. Also the writing in Babymouse is awesome!!!!

 

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

I feel that Wonder by R. J. Palacio is a book that should be required reading for all humans. Yup, everyone needs to read this book. Teacher, parents, students, and everyone that works with kids should of course read this book, but I can’t think of anyone that would not benefit from Auggie’s story.

August Pullman was born with a severe facial deformity. Wonder is the story of Auggie joining school for the first time in fifth grade. Wonder will rock your world. It will cause you to think about every movement, facial expression, conversation, and ineratction that you have had with kids that are not like “everyone else”. Wonder will change your life.

You must read this book.

You must.

While reading Wonder I kept thinking what people on Heavy Medal (a blog that discusses the Newbery Award)would say about the book. It felt like I was looking for the book’s weakness. Probably has something to do with the fact that I read it Newbery weekend. Thankfully, I was able to remind myself that Newbery really doesn’t mean as much as some(me) make it out to be.

My job isn’t to look for faults in a book. My job is to enjoy the story, savor the message, and fall in love with the characters.

My calling in life is to put books like Wonder in the hands of children. Being a kid is hard, and books like Wonder will help kids, learn how to be better people. I’m 30 and I’m a better person because I read Wonder.
I had to stop reading Wonder with 3 pages left because I was sobbing. The thought of the book ending broke my heart. I didn’t want Auggie’s story to end. Three days later I was able to finish this 5 star read.

I’ve realized Auggie’s story will never end. I’ll carry his story, and what I learned from this beautiful fifth grade boy, into my classroom every day for the rest of my career.

You need to read this book. Now.

 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 2/13/2012

Be sure to visit Teach.Mentor.Texts, Jen and Kellee are the host of this wonderful meme.

Three Books I Loved Last Week: 

Rosie Sprout’s Time to Shine by Allison Wortche

A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry

Otto the Book Bear by Katie Cleminson

My Favorite Book of the Week:

Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper

This Weeks Book Adventures:

Gay Neck The Story of a Pigeon by Dhan Gopal Mukerji

Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood

 

Reading Along on I-94 – The Pull of Gravity – Part 2

PART TWO! – The Relationship with Jaycee

JEN: I mentioned last week that I really enjoyed how Nick’s relationship developed with Jaycee. Jaycee is friends with Scooter and then ends up hanging out more and more with Nick as they try to spend more time with Scooter and then as they head out on an adventure to find Scooter’s dad after he dies. Gae does an amazing job of making their relationship seem totally real and important and yet not the driving force of the book. The book is about helping Scooter but while Nick and Jaycee are busy doing that, they become friends and then gradually more than that.

I’m a huge sucker for romance. I love it. When I was in high school and read Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, I cried and cried and cried. There is something so heartwrenchingly amazing about star-crossed lovers. Romeo and Juliet seems to have paved the way for countless books that rely on two people meeting, falling completely in love, and then dealing with issues. Readers have to give themselves over to the fact that two people can fall so completely and hopelessly in love with each other in an instant like that. I have so many theories when it comes to love and relationships that I should even get started but, mainly, I think Romeo-and-Juliet-love can happen and I love to read about it, but I also tend to think that it’s more likely that people have an instant spark of being attracted to each other and then develop their relationship from there (not to mention that we’re always working and strengthening relationships…).

Nick is instantly intrigued by Jaycee when she first shows up at his house with her reporter-step-dad to interview Nick and his family. I love how they more they hang out, the closer they get and how Gae subtly builds their relationship. In the midst of conversations about Scooter or how they’ll find Scooter’s dad, they end up holding hands or Nick puts his arm around Jaycee and I could so feel the excitement of a new relationship. It was just as fun to read about their relationship developing as when I read Romeo and Juliet, maybe even moreso because a Nick-and-Jaycee kind of relationship is so much more real, relate-able, and exciting in it’s own way. Most importantly, real. I wonder how many people have really experienced Romeo-and-Juliet type love compared to Nick-and-Jaycee type love.

COLBY: I think at Nick and Jaycee’s relationship was my favorite part of the book. Nick reminded me a lot of myself in high school. Believe it or not, I was not exactly a ladies’ man in high school. I totally related to Nick’s awkwardness around Jaycee. I have a little bit of Nick in me.

I’m not really a Romeo and Juliet fan, but I would have to say that the romance that I’m getting as I begin to read more YA has been fun. Were there books like TPoG back in the late 90’s? It sure would have been nice to have books like this when I was in school. I had no game, and I thought that that meant that I had zero chance with the ladies. If  I could have read TPoG I may have tried to make some moves before the 12th grade.

JEN: Can I just take a second to point out that you keep referring to girls as “the ladies” and it’s making me giggle.

I really don’t think there were books like this in the late 90’s when we were in high school – and that’s not even that long ago. Maybe there were but I sure didn’t know about them. I craved books like this but never really found what I was looking for in my school library. I was lucky enough to go to an awesome high school that was already teaching – and teaching well – with reading and writing workshop so I got to do lots of reading but I don’t remember reading any books like this. I was kind of caught up with reading classics so maybe my head was stuck on those.

From a girl’s perspective…or, I guess, a lady’s perspective…I really think reading this book would have been enlightening for me when I was in high school. It’s so funny to think about teenage guys and girls knowing what I know now. In high school, I always felt like guys should have been able to make moves and I think I put way too much faith in the belief that they weren’t nervous themselves to be able to do that. Obviously, guys get nervous around girls just like we get nervous around guys but I don’t think that was quite apparent in books or movies back then. Now, there are movies with not-so-smooth main characters who are still endearing but I do think that’s a new trend in movies and books.

COLBY: Things worked out great I married my Jaycee (she is so much cooler than me) and I couldn’t be happier. I like to think that Nick and Jayee get married later in life.

JEN: I married my Nick, now that I think about it. I will never forget when I caught my first glimpse of my husband. He moved in across the hall from me in our dorm in college. I was talking to my friend who lived next door when I saw my now-husband go into his room. I barely saw him out of the corner or my eye but I swear I felt a surge of energy. After that, we met and then kept finding reasons to hang out. He would come back to the dorm late because he worked for the football team and had practice. I would be in my room hanging out and he would walk down my side of the hallway to get to his room which didn’t really make sense because it was shorter to go down his side of the hall. Somehow, we would end up talking about what I was watching on TV or he would try to beat my Tetris score if I was playing. We spent about a month and a half hanging out before we started dating and now we’ve been together for over 12 years. We are so more a Nick-and-Jaycee kind of couple than a Romeo-and-Juliet kind of couple. Which is a good thing because things didn’t turn out so well for Romeo and Juliet. If Nick and Jaycee end up like you and me, then they have a good chance of getting married and making cute, little, squishy-faced babies and living happily ever after.

COLBY: You know a book is good when you think about a high school couple staying together and making squishy-faced babies. I’m very curious about what high school boys think of the romance in TPoG. It would be interesting to hear what they have to say about it. I always wonder what the intended audience of a book thinks about the book. Sometimes, I love a middle-grade book, but I know that middle-grade readers will not feel the same way about the book.  I bet YA readers totally dig TPoG. For as crazy as their journey was, it seemed so real.

 

Tales From Silver Lands by Charles Finger

Please check out Mr. Schu’s Tales from Silver Lands video on Watch.Connect.Read.