Cover Reveal: Wig in the Window

I am so excited to have been selected to reveal the cover for Kristen Kittscher's debut middle grade novel The Wig in the Window (Harper Collins, 2013).   I have known Kristen for over a year now and she is not only a fabulous writer but also a wonderful friend and teacher.

Synopsis from the back of the ARC for The Wig in the Window:
"Sophie Young and Grace Yang have made a game of spying on their neighbors, but when they stake out the home of notoriously phony middle school counselor Dr. Charlotte Agford (aka Dr. Awkward) they stumble across a terrifying scene.

Or do they? No matter what, the girls are convinced that Dr. Agford’s sugary sweet façade hides a dark secret. But as they get closer to the truth about Agford, the strain of the investigation pushes Sophie and Grace farther apart. Even if they crack their case, will their friendship survive?

Perfect for fans of The Mysterious Benedict Society, The Wig in the Window is a smart, funny mystery with a Rear Window twist."

And now the cover reveal...

I love the cover and I can't wait for everyone to meet Young & Yang.  One lucky reader will get to read The Wig in the Window now.  Kristen is giving away an advanced readers copy of The Wig in the Window.  You can enter by using the Rafflecopter form at the bottom.

Here is a teaser quote from the back cover: 
"I looked back across the dark stretch of Agford’s lawn to the house. Every light was ablaze and her blinds were pulled low, creating a milky-white screen. And projected onto that screen was the most terrifying image I had ever encountered. Agford’s silhouetted figure loomed before me, twenty feet high and ten feet wide. She raised one arm and paused—the black outline of a cleaver hovering overhead—before swinging violently downward."

For more information about Kristen Kittscher: twitter | facebook | website

Kristen Kittscher is a writing tutor in Southern California, where she lives with her husband, Kai. A graduate of Brown University and former seventh grade English teacher, she loves writing funny mysteries for the precocious middle schoolers she once enjoyed teaching so much. She’s now at work on Young & Yang’s next adventure, THE TIARA ON THE TERRACE.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

The Nonfiction Detectives and I are hosting a Non-Fiction Picture Book Challenge.  In looking back on my October Nonfiction Picture Book releases, I have missed a few titles.  Here is an update in the style of my "It's Monday! What are you reading post!"

Here are two that I overlooked but read and loved:

Harlem's Little Blackbird by Renée Watson; Illustrated by Christian Robinson - Really enjoyed this biographical story of Florence Mills.  Will add this to my Harlem Renaissance picture books.

Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane's Musical Journey by Gary Golio; Illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez - Amazing illustrations and Golio does a great job telling John Coltrane's story.  Enjoyed this one like I enjoyed his Jimi Hendrix picture book.

And here are two that were on my list that I enjoyed:

Noah Webster and His Words by Jeri Chase Ferris; Illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch - great way of telling Webster's story and includes definitions throughout the story. 

Becoming a Ballerina: A Nutcracker Story by Lise Friedman; Photography Mary Dowdle- Definitely a book for 4th grade and up - perfect for those girls who dream of becoming a ballerina. 

Spooktacular Giveaway Hop

Recently, I had some time to hang out with a couple of friends and author, Adam Gidwitz.  Adam's book A Tale Dark & Grimm is one of my favorites and his new book In a Glass Grimmly has just recently been released.  As we talked, the topic of scary stories came up.  One of my friends started talking about how scary Rick Yancey's The Monstrumologist is.   Each of us in this group had various levels of tolerance for creepy stories.  After a run in during 9th grade with books by Stephen King and John Saul, I have decided that I like my scary stories with a sufficient dose of snark and lite on the super creepy scary parts. 

All of this discussion and with Halloween right around the corner, I started to think more about whether there is a benefit for children in reading scary stories.  Some might ask if children should ever read scary stories.  As I thought about it and read some blog posts by others, my answer is a definite yes, but with some guidelines. First, especially as teachers and educators, it is important to know your students.  Everyone has a different threshold for what is scary and what isn’t.  Additionally, teachers need to be respectful of parents’ wishes. What I might be comfortable with a parent isn't.  With that said, here are some benefits to children to reading those creepy books.

Many experts divide scary stories into three categories:  Fairy Tales, Campfire Type Stories, and Real Life Scary Situations.  

Fairy Tales: Grimm not Disney – Most of us have become accustomed to the adaptations Disney has made with the original Grimm Fairy Tales, but pull out the original stories and what you have are tales that were quite dark.  What do children gain from these tales?  The stories allow children to grapple with lessons related to concepts such as greed, envy, vanity, abandonment, and more.  Also, children get to work through issues of good versus evil.  One of the regular patterns in these stories involve the evil witch dying in the end and the children triumphing over adversity.  As Adam Gidwitz mentioned in our informal chat, the happy ending balances out the gruesomeness of the story.

Spine-tinglers & Campfire Stories – How many of us recall times when we were children sitting around a camp fire or curled up on the floor in a darkened living room listening to a friend or an adult tell a ghost story or urban legend or other tale designed to scare us?  What was the common reactions to these stories, usually lots of screams, grabbing one another, running around, and inevitably laughter followed by the words "tell another one".  It is why books such as RL Stine's Goosebumps series is so popular.  It hits us with the right balance of scary and glad that it is happening to someone else.  

Real Issues that are Frightening – Children of all ages have to go through life challenges that can be difficult and truly scary.  Issues such as divorce, death of a close family member or a friend, fears of dogs or flying or what's under the bed, and even family abuse may be difficult to talk about.  Reading stories about these circumstances can help children develop ways of dealing or coping with the situations in their own live and provide them with words in which to discuss what may be bothering them.  One of my favorites from 2011 is Patrick Ness’ AMonster Calls, which uses a fantastical element of a monster who arrives at the same time each night as a means for a young teen boy to come to grips with his mother’s pending death. 

Some additional resources:

Check out the blog post for just right scary book reads for preschooler to teens – GettingReady for a Shivery Good Read on rocketcitymom.com.  For a professional look at the benefits of reading scary stories, look into Sheldon Cashdan’s TheWitch Must Die: The Hidden Meaning of Fairy Tales.   

This Halloween join author Neil Gaiman (Coraline, The Graveyard Book, and more) is celebrating by recommending that people give away a scary book(s) this year.  Check out his site All Hallows Read for book suggestions, and additional resources. 

To celebrate the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop hosted by I am a Reader, Not a Writer and The Diary of a Bookworm, I am celebrating by giving away a scary book of your choice (under $15 on Amazon) to one lucky winner.  And this is a big giveaway hop - 500 bloggers participating.  Blogs will start posting sometime today though the giveaway technically begins tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern - feel free to start entering. 

Rules for the Giveaway:
1. Though comments are very much appreciated, please do not enter any personal information in the comments section (including your email, website, etc.). If you do enter personal information, your comment will not be posted.
2. You must complete the entry form to official enter the giveaway.
3. The Contest runs from 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time on October 24th to 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 31st.
4. You must be 13 years or older to participate.
5. If you are selected as the winner, you will be notified by email. If you do not respond within 48 hours, I will select a new winner.
6. US participants only.

It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to YA (43)

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey. Jen & Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts have adapted this to focus on Picture Books to Young Adult Books.

You may have noticed that the blog was quiet last week.  I needed sometime to just step back and breathe.  As I was speaking with Donalyn Miller (@donalynbooks on twitter) this weekend, I realized that I am sort of feeling like I am in that first year or teaching or first year of being a principal again.  In August, I transitioned out of my position as an Elementary Principal and into a position doing Program Support for Instructional Services.  Basically what it means is that I wear a lot of hats.  Some of those hats are very comfortable and I feel confident in what I am doing.  Other hats are requiring that I learn some new skills.  Mix all of that together and I am finding that I am still learning the rhythm for my new position.  Additionally, my reading life is somewhat topsy turvy.

But here are a few title from my recent reading endeavors:

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin; Illustrated by James Dean - Who doesn't love Pete the Cat?

The Official Book Trailer for Pete the Cat Saves Christmas:

Batman Classic: Batman versus Man-Bat (I Can Read! 2 book) by J.E. Bright: Illustrated by Steven E. Gordon, Eric A. Gordon - I was just curious to see what an I Can Read version of Batman would be like. I kept thinking that with different formatting this would work well for older kids who were struggling to read.

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World by Temple Grandin, Sy Montgomery - As part of my goal to read more nonfiction, I picked up Temple Grandin's book.  This biography has lots on Grandin, her work, and about living with autism.

A Thunderous Whisper by Christina Diaz Gonzalez - If you haven't read anything by Christina Diaz Gonzalez, then you should.  I am now looking forward to whatever book she writes next.

What I am currently reading:

After seeing the movie version of Perks of Being a Wallflower, I started to read the book written by Stephen Chbosky.

Official Movie Trailer:


So what are you reading this week?

International Ivy & Bean Day - Review of Ivy & Bean Make the Rules

Author: Annie Barrows
Illustrator: Sophie Blackall
Publisher: Chronicle Books (October 2012)
Independent Reading: Grades 2nd to 4th
Read Aloud: Grades 1st to 3rd
Fiction * Friendship * Camp

Description from GoodReads:
Bean's older sister, Nancy, is going to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp, where she will do Crafts and Music and First Aid and other secret things that Bean will never know about because girls have to be eleven to go to Girl Power 4-Ever Camp. Bean doesn't care. She doesn't want to go to camp. She wouldn't go even if they begged her. So ha. So ha ha. So-wait a second Bean and Ivy can make their own camp, their own better camp: Camp Flaming Arrow, where counselors Ivy and Bean will give a whole new meaning to Crafts, Music, First Aid, and hands-on learning

My thoughts on the book:
I can honestly say that with each installment of Ivy & Bean I have come to adore these two friends more.  In Ivy & Bean Make the Rules, our two friends have decided to hold their own day camp since they aren't old enough to attend Girl Power 4-Ever Camp with Bean's older sister Nancy. 

As I was reading the book, it made me realize that today it is so much harder for children just to gather together in a park and play.  In many areas, children aren't allowed to leave their homes or yards and if at a park there would be so much adult supervision it would limit some of the freedom and the creativity that Ivy & Bean created in their make-believe camp.  But I digress...

Bean develops an idea of starting their own camp which despite an attempt to model things after Nancy's Girl Power 4-Ever Camp seems to be uniquely Ivy & Bean.  The two girls connect up with the visiting Franny and Harlan (siblings) and develop their own version of crafts, and nature study and even Women's History.  Over the week, more and more children join in on the fun...or maybe I should say chaos.  In the end, the reader can decide who had more fun - Nancy at real camp or Ivy & Bean at their made-up camp, Camp Flaming Arrow.

Yay to Annie Barrows for another great Ivy & Bean book.  I look forward to more adventures from our creative friends.   

Today is the first International Ivy and Bean Day! and the end of the nine week long Ivy and Bean Blog-A-Bration that also included huge giveaways and features of each of the other eight books in the series. Congratulations to The Grand Prize winner - Becky Wilson of Flint Hill Elementary School who entered at Sharpread blog!

Thank you Chronicle Books for organizing the blog-a-bration, and all the other pieces to this celebration.

Happy International Ivy & Bean Day - Thank you Chronicle for this video: