It's Monday! What are you reading? From Picture Books to Young Adult - 9/23/13

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

Lately, getting a lot of reading in hasn't been easy.  And then there is the award reading that I can't talk about and the list of books to share looks sparse.

Here's what I read this week that I can share:

Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman (Random House, September 24, 2013) - Check out the review and Giveaway here.

Watch the Official Book Trailer here:

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina (Candlewick, March 2013) - I read this for a book club that I attend and it was a timely read for both Banned Books Week and for National Bullying Month (October).  A powerful story that looks at the effects of bullying on one girl's life. I would love to be able to afford a stack of these and just pass them out to students.

Watch the official Book Trailer here:



So, what are you reading? 

Banned Books Week Hop September 22nd - 28th

This year's Banned Books Week Hop is hosted by Mary of BookHounds and Kathy of I am a Reader, Not a Writer. 

One aspect of a free society is the right to read what you want.  Though I don't believe that all books are right for everyone, I do believe that people have the right to decide what is best for them.  Are you looking for ways to celebrate Banned Books Week or to provide information to other teachers and parents about Freedom to Read?  Here are some resources/links that you will want to check out in order to celebrate Banned Books Week 2013.

Banned Books Week Website

     * Banned Books Week YouTube Channel
     * Banned Books Pinterest Page

 

ALA's Banned Books Week Resource Page

     * Frequently Challenged Books List

National Council of Teachers of English Celebrate Banned Books Week
     • NCTE celebrates with a Twitter Chat #nctechat on 9/22 at 8 p.m. ET -
         Join Teri Lesesne @professornana and Laurie Halse Anderson @halseanderson

To Celebrate Banned Books Week 2013 I am giving away one book of your choice (must be on a banned books list) worth $15 or less. 

To enter the giveaway, please complete the Rafflecopter form below.  You must be 13 or older and have a U.S. mailing address.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to check out the other blogs participating in the Giveaway Hop

2013 CYBILS Panelists Announced

This week, the CYBILS 2013 Panelists were announced. I love the CYBILS.  They are like the PEOPLE'S CHOICE AWARDS of Children's and Teens Literature. For the past two years, I was honored to serve as a Book Apps Judge.

Here are the links to each of the announcements for the Panelist for each category:   

2013 Fiction Picture Book Judges

2013 Middle Grade Fiction Judges

2013 Young Adult Fiction Judges

2013 Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction Judges

2013 Young Adult Speculative Fiction Judges

2013 Book Apps Judges

2013 Graphic Judges

2013 Poetry Judges

2013 Nonfiction Elementary/Middle Grade Judges

2013 Nonfiction Young Adult Judges

And the big announcement...
2013 Early Readers/Early Chapters

Now presenting the Round 1 and 2 panelists for Easy Readers/Early  Chapter Books:

Round 1

Jennifer Wharton, Jean Little Library
http://jeanlittlelibrary.blogspot.com/

Lauura P. Salas, Lara Salas: Writing the World for Kids
http://www.laurasalas.com/blog/
@larapsalas

Jodie Rodgriguez, Growing Book by Book
http://growingbookbybook.com
@growingbbb

Diana Pettis, Finding the Right Book
http://www.findabookguidedreading.blogspot.com
@xavxandiana

Deb Nance, Readerbuzz
http://www.readerbuzz.blogspot.com
@DebNance

Danyelle Leach, Bookshelves in the Cul-de-Sac
http://www.bookshelvesintheculdesac.blogspot.com/

Janssen Bradshaw, Everyday Reading
http://everyday-reading.com
@EverydayReading

Round 2
Travis Jonker, 100 Scope Notes
http://100scopenotes.com
@100scopenotes

Freya Hooper, One Great Book
http://onegreatbook.blogspot.com
@onegreatbook

Sara Brown, Mrs. Brown Loves Bookworms
http://mrsbrownthebookworm.blogspot.com/
@EastTnbookworm

Alyson Beecher, Kid Lit Frenzy
www.kidlitfrenzy.com
@alybee930

Nicole Barnes, Daydream Reader
http://daydreamreader.com/
@DaydreamReader

I am honored to be serving this year as a Round 2 Judge for Easy Readers/Early Chapter Books.  What a great team of panelists and I know I will have fun working with everyone. 

Congratulations to all of the bloggers, teachers, librarians who will be serving this year as a 2013 CYBILS Panelist. 

Sky Jumpers Blog Tour - Review and Giveaway

SKY JUMPERS

by Peggy Eddleman

Random House Publishers

September 24, 2013

Audience: 4th to 8th Grade

Fiction * Dystopian/Postapocalyptic * Adventure

Description of the book from the publisher's page:
What happens when you can't do the one thing that matters most? Twelve-year-old Hope Toriella lives in White Rock, a town of inventors struggling to recover from the green bombs of World War III. But Hope is terrible at inventing and would much rather sneak off to cliff dive into the Bomb's Breath—the deadly band of compressed air that covers the crater left by the bombs—than fail at yet another invention. When bandits discover that White Rock has priceless antibiotics, they invade. With a two-day deadline to finish making this year's batch and no ingredients to make more, the town is left to choose whether to hand over the medicine and die from the disease that's run rampant since the bombs, or die fighting the bandits now. Help lies in a neighboring town, but the bandits count everyone fourteen and older each hour. Hope and her friends—Aaron and Brock—might be the only ones who can escape to make the dangerous trek through the Bomb's Breath and over the snow-covered mountain. Inventing won't help her make it through alive, but with Aaron and Brock's help, the daring and recklessness that usually gets her into trouble might just save them all.  

My thoughts on the book:
Recently, I asked a group of 9 to 11 year olds what they liked to read.  Nearly everyone in the group indicated books with action, and adventure.  Another thing that I have noticed is that Middle Grade readers are just as interested as teens in reading Dystopian or Post-apocalyptic novels, yet there are very few of these for this age group.

Debut author, Peggy Eddleman has created a post-apocalyptic novel about a community of people living in a world with the after effects of World War III and the "green bomb".  One of the results of the "green bomb" is something called "Bomb's Breath".  I am not certain that I can describe Bomb's Breath but the air quality of Bomb's Breath results in immediate death if someone were to breath it in. 

Eddleman concentrates on building her world and developing her characters in the initial part of the book.  One of the things that is a very high value to this community is the ability to invent or create.  Since WWIII happened, all the inventions especially technology and those items that required electricity have been lost.  In an effort to regain items, there are contests recognizing the best inventors.  Holly, the main character, does not have skills in inventing, but her friend Aaren is actually quite talented in this area.  What Holly is able to do is revealed throughout the story, as it is her skills that turn out to be quite important in saving the community.

It is always difficult to know how much to share and how much to allow readers to discover.  Eddleman has created a story and characters that will appeal especially to readers in the 4th and 5th grades.  I can see children wanting to be like Hope and wanting to save the day.  However, maybe a more important message is learning to appreciate what skills and talents you do have.  Additionally, I appreciated not only the main characters but the supporting community of characters.  There are few books that show a community of adults being caring and supportive.  Readers will enjoy when Holly, Aaren, and Brock set out on an adventure to help save their community.  And, though the book is the first in a series, it can also be read as a stand alone.

To share SKY JUMPERS with your own children or students start looking for it at your local public library or at you closest independent bookstore on September 24, 2013. 

For more information about author, Peggy Eddleman:

website | blog | facebook | twitter

SKY JUMPERS Blog Tour Stops

September 11^th: Taffy’s Candy
September 12^th: Smack Dab in the Middle
September 13^th: Once Upon a Story
September 14^th: Inky Elbows
September 15^th: Society of Young Inklings
September 16^th: Me, My Shelf & I
September 17^th: Kayla’s Reads and Reviews
September 18^th: The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia
September 19^th: Kid Lit Frenzy
September 19^th: Word Spelunking
September 21^st: The Mod Podge Bookshelf
September 22^nd: The Write Soil
September 23^rd: The Hiding Spot
September 23^rd: Literary Rambles
September 23^rd: Nerdy Book Club
September 24^th: OneFourKidLit

Thanks to Random House, readers will have a chance to win a copy of SKY JUMPERS by Peggy Eddleman. Please complete the Rafflecopter form below. The winner must have a U.S. mailing address and be 13 or older. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday - Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library

Author: Barb Rosenstock
Illustrator: John O'Brien
Publisher: Calkins Creek Books (September 1, 2013)
Source: Purchased
Audience: 2nd to 4th grade
Keywords: American History, Biographical, American Presidents, Libraries

Description from Publisher:
Thomas Jefferson loved books, reading, and libraries, and he started accumulating books as a young man. This original and lyrical picture-book biography tells the story of how Jefferson's vast book collections helped to create the world's largest library, the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. Filled with excerpts from primary documents, including Jefferson’s thoughts on books, reading, and learning, this title also features John O’Brien’s whimsical and detailed illustrations. Rosenstock and O’Brien worked closely with experts to ensure the text and images are accurate. The book concludes with an author’s note, bibliography, and source notes.

My thoughts on this book:
Last year I read, Barb Rosenstock's The Camping Trip that Changed America.  This was my first introduction to Rosenstock's work, and I really enjoyed the book.  I was excited to see that she had a new one out, and pulled if off of the new release wall at Vroman's.  I don't think I had read more than a couple of pages when I knew that this was one that I had to have.   A few days later, I attended a book group of about 20+ teachers and librarians who book talk their latest book finds.  Guess which book I brought with me? If you said Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library, you would be 100% correct.

What made me like this book as much as I did?   Page 6.  Well, yes, I did love page six and it is in the book trailer. Hint: What word did Jefferson spell out?  But, let me be serious for a minute.  Rosenstock fully captures Thomas Jefferson's love for books.  Jefferson loved to read nearly above all else.  Jefferson loved books so much that he began collecting them.  On his first trip to Europe, Jefferson shopped for books.  "Tom bought two thousand books in five years, more than a book a day."  That is some serious book shopping.

Still, there is more to love about this book.  Did you know that Jefferson had his own system for organizing books?  Did you know that while president, Jefferson tripled the number of books in the Library of Congress?  And after the Library of Congress experienced a fire that burned through 3,000 books, Jefferson donated his personal collection to the Library of Congress.

Though this book is focused on specific events in Jefferson's life as they related to books, the foucs is a good one that works.  The book does include an author's note and other tidbits of information and various resources at the end.  I encourage you to read through them.  Also, Rosenstock's text provides readers with information for further research on Jefferson and the Library of Congress.  Readers are invited to read through the book using the main text to inform and inspire them.  However, readers can read the book for a second or third time, as they look through the illustrations and read all of the small text boxes.  

Rosenstock's Thomas Jefferson Builds a Library would make a nice addition to any  classroom or school library.  Look for this book at your public library or pick up a copy at your local independent bookstore.

Official Book Trailer:




Educator's Guide, click here.

Don't forget to link up your nonfiction reviews: