Every Monday bloggers all over the web participate in an effort to share books we have read and what we are excited about digging into. Thanks to Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee & Ricki at Unleashing Readers for hosting us all!
What I Read this Week:
(Algonguin Young Readers, March 25, 2014)
Francesca (Frankie) Snell has a big heart that is troubled by grief left when her little brother, Simon, accidentally drowned at the beach. Grief has thwarted her home life, as she and her mom and her dad are all handling the loss of Simon in their own ways. Additionally, Frankie's best friend Lisette has jumped ahead in the teenage race for romance, and something about Lisette's boyfriend Bradley makes Frankie curious about love. When Frankie Sky (short for Schyler) clambers into Frankie's life, she is faced with more reminders of her brother than she is ready for, but something about this four-year old boy coaxes her around to a summer of growth and letting go.
Frankie (and Frankie) will climb into your heart and you will find yourself wishing for their well-being more and more with each turn of the page. In Frankie, Gae Polisner creates a character on the page that realistically muddles in a tangle of 15-year old emotions. Polisner's book will leave you wondering about the possible and the impossible around death and loss and have you hoping for healing for the Frankies and their families.
(Clarion Books, September 2, 2014, ARC courtesy of NetGalley)
Brendan is troubled by the threat of failing sixth grade, a rigid foster mother who doesn't embrace him, and a pack of bullies who taunt and beat him for wearing a long hair style and his lazy attitude towards school. Brendan's love for the natural world draws him to the woods in pursuit of the Green Man. He builds a tree house there and prepares the dwelling so he could retreat to life alone in the woods (like the Green Man) if he wanted. One day the Green Man turns up, in the likeness of a homeless man, and Brendan's tree house and relationship with the Green Man cause him to befriend Shea, a girl with troubles of her own. On the other side of a lot of struggle and violence, Brendan begins to find acceptance.
I wanted to like this book. At the start, Brendan's character had my attention, and I anticipated more hope within it's pages. However, the weight of Brendan's troubles and the grave bullying scenes of gang-jumping style (including alcohol, knives, and leading to a man's death) left me questioning what reading audience I would promote this book with.
(Heinemann, 2012)
Projecting Possibilities is a support tool for educators who are organizing writing instruction. Glover and Berry advocate a preparation style of "projecting" rather than "planning," which allows for increased preparedness and responsiveness to students' needs. This text guides readers through steps of projecting, including analysis of mentor texts for immersion and instruction, goal setting, generating minilesson ideas, and accounting for celebration of writing. Moreover, the duo also recommends projecting genre-specific and non-genre-specific units of instruction, lending writing units to student choice for practice.
This recommended text was the right book at the right time for me, affirming a lot of my practice, and challenging me to broaden my scope. It aligns so well with the work I remember from NBPTS! This could be a great title to anchor planning (er, projecting) work for teachers at a common grade-level or even across grade-levels. It would open conversations about scope and sequence, which are frequently concerns in my school district. I'm looking forward to tinkering with my writing instruction with some nudges from Glover and Berry.
What I am Currently Reading:
Nest, by Esther Ehrlich
(Wendy Lamb Books, September 9, 2014)
What I am Reading Next:
Leroy Nicker Saddles Up, by Kate DiCamillo
Greenglass House, by Kate Milford
Sway, by Amber McRee Turner
I loved Summer of Letting Go! Just the right mix of melancholy and hope, right?
ReplyDeleteYes! A good balance. Emotionally real, and yet there was always enough reason to suspect the situation would improve.
DeleteI absolutely loved The Summer of Letting Go. And even better to read it during the summer :)
ReplyDeleteJust finished Nest this weekend - working on my review, eager to hear what you think!
ReplyDeleteI just finished Nest this evening! I liked it...more to come next Monday.
DeleteSo many good books on your list! I have a copy of Nest, but not sure I'll get to it before the book's release date. I just got Greenglass House. Looks so intriguing! Loved the hope in TSoLG!
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa, all the books are new to me. They look great!
ReplyDeleteGigi, glad you found new titles! I won't be putting any in my classroom library--they are above 4th graders--but I'm all over the place with my own reading! :)
DeleteI really want to explore planning with the Glover text. Need to find some buds.
The Summer of Letting Go is going to be the first title on my #MustReadin2015 list--if I don't get to it before.
ReplyDeleteOh, you must must must get to it. Even if it IS next year. :)
Delete*sigh* I need to read Summer of Letting Go. I may have to do what Elisabeth is doing and put it on my MustReadin2015 list if I don't get to it by then.
ReplyDeleteHappy reading this week! :)
My summer list is building, too: all the YA titles that I already know are beyond my 4th grade readers! Not that it should be that way, but I know that's my reading reality--I don't get to many books that are not immediately useful during the year.
DeleteOh, I loved Summer of Letting Go, and so did my 18-year-old daughter!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Mary Downing Hahn has a new novel - I am more familiar with her horror books targeted to middle grade readers, which I do enjoy a bit. Nest looks very interesting, looking forward to knowing more about it. Hope you're having a great reading week.
ReplyDelete