Marvelous Middle Grade Monday - Zora and Me

Authors: Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
Publisher: Candlewick Press (October 12, 2010)
Grade Level: Grades 4th to 7th
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source:  Personal Copy
Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

Description from GoodReads:
When a young man’s body is found by the railroad tracks, the murder and its mysterious circumstances threaten the peace and security of a small Florida town. Zora believes she knows who killed Ivory, and she isn’t afraid to tell anyone who’ll listen.
Whether Zora is telling the truth or stretching it, she’s a riveting storyteller. Her latest tale is especially mesmerizing because it is so chillingly believable: a murderous shape-shifting gator-man — half man, half gator — prowls the marshes nearby, aching to satisfy his hunger for souls and beautiful voices. And Ivory’s voice? When Ivory sang, his voice was as warm as honey and twice as sweet.

Zora enlists her best friends, Carrie and Teddy, to help prove her theory. In their search for the truth, they stumble unwittingly into an ugly web of envy and lies, deceit and betrayal. Just as unexpectedly, the three friends become the key that unlocks the mystery and the unlikely saviors of Eatonville itself.

Best friend Carrie narrates this coming-of-age story set in the hometown of American author Zora Neale Hurston (1891 1960). Drawing on Hurston’s stories, novels, and life, debut novelists Victoria Bond and T.  R.  Simon create an utterly convincing echo of a literary giant in this, the only project ever to be endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust that was not written by Hurston herself.

In this debut novel, Bond and Simon work to capture the vibrant personality, colorful storytelling, and wandering spirit of a young Zora Neale Hurston.  The story takes place at the turn of the last century in the all black community of Eatonville, Florida where Hurston grew up.  Though many of the details of the story are based on actual details and facts taken from the time period as well as from Hurston's life, it should be noted that it is still a fictionalized account of the author's childhood.

At the beginning of the story, and through the eyes of Zora's best friend Carrie, we discover that a young man in the community was attacked by an alligator.  Zora uses this and other information to create a tale of a creature that is half man and half gator to explain some of what is happening in her town during this time.  As the reader is learning about Zora's natural penchant for elaborating on all that she sees and hears, the authors are also weaving a mystery about a Gator Man which Zora and her friends seek to solve.  

Bond & Simon doing an excellent job in bringing alive both the town and characters.  There is a strong sense of place and setting which provides the necessary background and understanding for some of Zora's desires.  Additionally, readers are given a solid portrayal of the issues of race and class during that time period as well.  

The story is interesting and would be an excellent read aloud for children in the grades 4 to 7. In addition to being an excellent introduction to Zora Neale Hurston, the writing provides opportunities for numerous questions and discussions.  

* Marvelous Middle Grade Mondays were started by Shannon over at Ramblings of a Wannabe Scribe.  You can check out her Marvelous Middle Grade Monday choice and Giveaway Post here. 

Books I Should Have Read In School But Didn't Challenge

With the arrival of the New Year comes new resolutions.  As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I intend to read more books that I somehow missed when I was a child or just overlooked for whatever reason or I read but don't remember anything about them.  Then of course today, a few of us started talking about Dana's Books I Should Have Read In School But...Didn't Challenge (you can read her post here).  Dana is an English Teacher and a blogger over at Much Madness is Divinest Sense.  She is challenging people to read anywhere from 2 to 12 or more of books that they never read in school and should have.

I am a little embarrassed to actually list these books and admit that I have never read them.  I hate admitting that I ignored some great books when I was a child.  However, as a child I read what I liked and ignored everything else which meant I read a ton of mysteries, fantasy fiction, and historical fiction, but not necessarily anything else.  And when I first started teaching, I focused primarily on picture books due to the grade levels that I was working with, which meant that there were even more wonderful books that I failed to read.  Glad I now have a way of encouraging myself to get back to these titles.

Here are the books that I hope to read as part of this challenge (listed in no particular order):

FROM THE MIXED UP FILES OF MRS. BASIL E. FRANKWEILER

by E.L. Koningsburg

THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH

by Norton Juster

SHILOH

by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

HARRIET THE SPY

by Louise Fitzhugh

WHERE THE RED FERN GROWS

by Wilson Rawls

STUART LITTLE

by E. B. White

OLD YELLER

by Frank Gipson

ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS

by Scott O'Dell

JULIE OF THE WOLVES

by Jean Craighead George

THE WHIPPING BOY

by Sid Fleischman

CRISPIN: THE CROSS OF LEAD

by Avi

M.C. HIGGINS, THE GREAT

by Virginia Hamilton

Is there a book in elementary or secondary or even college that you now wish you read?  Why don't you consider joining in on the challenge? - Aly

Happy New Year!

As an educator, I always feel like I get 2 starts to the year.  One at the start of the school year and then at the traditional time of January 1st.  At the beginning of a school year, I set goals for what I hope I will be able to do as a school administrator as well as what I would like to see for my teachers and students.  My school goal this year was to create a reading community where every child would love books and reading.  After four years of watching children struggle with reading and state testing, I knew that if I could get them reading more and exposed to a greater variety of books that they would have more to draw from and be better overall students.

I am excited to say that as a school community, we are well on our way to becoming more of a reading community and I am very excited about all of the things we accomplished so far.  I will be writing some blog posts talking about what we are doing and how it is going over the next few months.

But January is the time that I think about personal resolutions.  And since this is a blog about books and reading, I want to share some goals related to reading.

Thanks to #book-a-day on Twitter, I managed to read around 380 books in 2010.  True many of them were picture books but there were also over 140 novels (MG/YA) on that list.  But I am going to stretch myself this year.  If I read a majority of the 380 books from June to December, then surely by starting in January I can reach a much higher number.  Here is what I am thinking:

Goal:  I have set a goal to at least double that number for 2011 or to read nearly 800 books (about 15 books a week).

Goal:  To read more non-fiction picture books particularly geared for grades 3 to 8.

Goal:  To read at least 12 non-fiction books related to professional growth and development.

Goal:  To read more early reader/chapter books.  I know that there must be more out there than Junie B. Jones or the Magic Tree House Series (no offense to either of those book series).  Yet, I don't feel like I have a good grasp of what is out there.

Goal:  To go back and either read or re-read older books that I have either never read or forgot about.  I love staying current but the nice thing about children's books is that there is a new group of children who haven't read one of those books that were published 5, 10, or more years ago.  Many are timeless and wonderful and should be pulled out and read.

In April, I branched out and started my blog.  It is still a work in progress but I want to see it take more shape.  How will I do this?

Goal:  To post more reviews of books that I am reading and how they are or could be used in the classroom.  

Goal:  Aim to blog/post at least 5 times per week.

Goal:  To develop some weekly or monthly features for the blog that will focus on books and the classroom.

I have truly enjoyed my on-line Professional Learning Community/Network (PLC/N) and don't plan to stop the interactions.  However, I would like to develop or participate in something more local or face to face. I am already on the Children's Literature Council of Southern California's Award Committee, but I think I need to branch out a little.  What will I do?

Goal: To research and identify local chapters of national organizations related to children and reading and determine the possibility of regular participation in one of these groups. 

I know that these goals are fluid and may change some over the year, and I can live with things shifting around.  However, I know that if I hadn't sat down two years ago and started to think about some changes I wanted for both the school and my life and then started to pursue those changes/goals I would never have discovered so many wonderful people and activities.

Here is to a Happy New Year to all and may this be the year that we conquer some of our fears or obstacles and see new growth and life in our lives. - Aly

Thoughts on The 2010 Debut Author Challenge & other Reading Challenges of the Year

The concept of a Reading Challenge is a wonderful one.  It hopefully motivates us to reach beyond what we would normally read and stretch ourselves.  However, most of the time, I find that life gets in the way and I am unable to actually complete a challenge. 

Here are some of my thoughts on the Challenges that I did participate in:

A to Z Challenge:
With the A to Z Challenge (on GoodReads as part of the Wild Things: YA Grown Up Group) this summer, I read 26 books but didn't really get to every letter in the alphabet (thanks @angelasunshine on Twitter).  It was a fun reading challenge, and I enjoyed the on-line interactions with the other participants.  Can't wait for the A to Z Author Challenge which starts on January 1, 2011. 

Twitter's Book-a-Day Challenge (#bookaday):
With the Book-a-Day challenge started by Donalyn Miller, The Book Whisperer (@donalynbooks on Twitter) this summer, I actually found myself reading more than the equivalent of a book per day.  I also expanded my reading greatly by the interactions I found with the other participants.  I explored Graphic Novels and Manga for the first time.  Discovered that my love for picture books could be considered "real reading", and explored books in all genres that were truly wonderful.  The on-line Professional Learning Network that was developed through this challenge is still going strong and one that I deeply value.

The 2010 Debut Author Challenge:
One of my favorite challenges was the 2010 Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren (Kristi).  The goal was to read at least 12 Debut Author books.  I managed to read 21 Debut author books (including 3 debut picture books and there are probably more that fit the picture book categories), currently in the middle of 3 more 2010 debuts, and have a full stack of a lot more 2010 debuts that I wanted to read but just ran out of time.  In addition to reading these books, I loved interacting with the Debut Authors on-line, supporting their book signings when possible, and creating a buzz for their books even if I didn't get a chance to read them, yet. 

The ones I managed to read on time:
Joelle Anthony - RESTORING HARMONY
Josh Berk - THE DARK DAYS OF HAMBURGER HALPIN
Bob Boyle - HUGO & THE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LONG STRING(*)
James Burks- GABBY & GATOR
Kay Cassidy - THE CINDERELLA SOCIETY
Jennifer Cervantes - TORTILLA SUN
Shannon Delany - 13 TO LIFE
Lindsay Eland-SCONES & SENSIBILITY
Adam Gidwidtz - A TALE DARK & GRIMM
Christina Diaz Gonzalez - THE RED UMBRELLA
Judith Graves - UNDER MY SKIN
Teri Hall - THE LINE
Rhonda Hayter - THE WITCHY WORRIES OF ABBIE ADAMS
Anastasia Hopcus - SHADOW HILLS
Jacqueline Houtman - THE REINVENTION OF EDISON THOMAS
Jennifer Hubbard - THE SECRET YEAR
Heidi R. Kling- SEA
Lauren Oliver - BEFORE I FALL
Candace Ryan - ANIMAL HOUSE (*)
Kristin Walker - A MATCH MADE IN HIGH SCHOOL
Jacqueline West - THE SHADOWS
(*) picture books

Currently debut novels in progress:
Tara Kelly - HARMONIC FEEDBACK
Lish McBride - HOLD ME CLOSER, NECROMANCER
Kiersten White - PARANORMALCY

Wished I had gotten to sooner - but they are coming:
Alexandra Bracken - BRIGHTLY WOVEN
Kimberly Derting - THE BODY FINDER
Rachel Hawkins - HEX HALL
Karen Healey  - GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD
Karen Kincy - OTHER
Daisy Whitney - THE MOCKINGBIRDS

So what challenges did you participate in and how did you do?

End of the Year: YA picks of 2010

It was harder to chose 2010 release books to focus on for this year's End of the Year YA post.  In my attempt to read with more diversity, I didn't read as many 2010 releases as I had hoped to read.  However, there were some incredible reads and I decided to go with my 5 top picks from 2010 and several sequels that I really enjoyed.  I am also going to reflect on my favorite debut author books in a separate post.

Top 5 picks (in no particular order):

FIVE FLAVORS OF DUMB by Anthony John - I tend to prefer fantasy or sci-fi fiction.  So when I come across a contemporary fiction book that I loved, it means I really loved it.  I can't rave enough about this book.  Great concept (a deaf teen who becomes the manager of a rock band), an ensemble cast of characters that are all well developed, and a great sense of place & people (Seattle, references to Kurt Cobain, and Jimi Hendrix).  This was my absolute favorite YA read of 2010.

WHITE CAT by Holly Black - This is the first book in The Curse Workers Series and Black has done an outstanding job in mixing fantasy with present day.  In some ways, this book is the Sopranos meets Magic but way better.  In this world, everyone is required to wear gloves because you never know who might be a Curse Worker and by wearing gloves it prevents people from using touch to unleash their powers.  Cassel comes from a family of Curse Workers and yet doesn't seem to have a gift/ability.  However, he does have a secret and can run a con as well as the rest of them.  One of the many things I loved about this book is that there are consequences to the use of these powers.  I so can't wait for Red Glove (Book 2) to come out this spring of 2011.

CHASING BROOKLYN by Lisa Schroeder - I had been under some erroneous impression that I didn't like novels in verse.  This probably came from the belief that I am not really a big fan of poetry so I wouldn't like novels in verse.  However, in about a span of a couple of days (really more like a couple of hours), I read through all three of Schroeder's novels in verse.  I loved the books, and I loved her writing.  Chasing Brooklyn is a companion novel to I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME and though it can be read separately, I was glad that I had read them in order.  This book was particular strong in that it is told from both Brooklyn's and Nico's perspectives in alternating chapters.  Chasing Brooklyn is filled with grief, loss, healing, love, and hope.  And Nico is one of my top fictional crushes.  *heart beats a little faster*

THE RED UMBRELLA by Christina Diaz Gonzalez - I was trying to reserve all of the debut books for a separate post but I just had to add this one to the list.  The Red Umbrella is a historical novel that takes a look at a lesser known part of history - the children who fled Cuba in 1961-1962 during Operation Pedro Pan.  I had an unique opportunity to hear Diaz Gonzalez speak to an audience of predominately Cuban American who had experienced this reality first-hand.  To feel their appreciation for having their story told was amazing.  And Diaz Gonzalez was so wonderful with them as well.  This may be an underdog but I do hope it garners some kind of award recognition.

CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare - I might be cheating here but this is the first book in a new series even if it is a prequel to her previous series.  And since this is my blog and my picks, I'll allow it. Set in Victorian England in the late 1800's, Clockwork Angel mixes in steampunk features with the world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders that we have come to love in Clare's Mortal Instruments Series.  Though this book seems to bring up more questions than it answers, I am certainly hooked and ready to find out more about Tessa, Will, Jem and the others. 


Just a quick nod to the following 2010 sequels:

MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins - How can a look at 2010 books not include Mockingjay?!  Three years ago I discovered The Hunger Games.  It was literally one of the best books I had ever read.  The conclusion to this series by Collins came in August with the release of Mockingjay.  Though probably the most hotly debated book this year, I appreciated that Collins choose to end her book in a way that was faithful to her vision even if that was different from how I might have wanted the book to end. 

BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl - I love the world that was created by Garcia & Stohl in Beautiful Creatures.  I wasn't disappointed with this second book in the world of Caster Magic.  Old friends, and new characters, and new challenges move the series to the next level.  The third book in the series will be on my books I pine for in 2011. 

And technically this is a 2011 release, but I read the ARC in 2010 so I will add it here.....

FURY OF THE PHOENIX by Cindy Pon - I had the great privilege of reading this in 2010 despite the release not being until March/April 2011.  This is Pon's sequel to her 2009 Debut SILVER PHOENIX.  I will be reviewing this soon, but let me say that Pon took her sequel in a new direction that shows her growth as a writer.  Fury is a beautiful story of decisions & choice, and love & forgiveness in the beautiful world of Xia that she created in book one.  If it isn't on your list of books to read, it definitely should be.

So what were your favorite YA reads in 2010?