The Story of My Life: An Afghan Girl on the Other Side of the Sky by Farah Ahmedi My rating: 4 of 5 stars For middle and high school readers. A memoir of one girl’s story from Kabul to Wheaton with the help of World …
Review: Wolf Hollow
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk My rating: 4 of 5 stars A familiar read. I felt like I was hearing a hint of Scout’s voice in the narration and that Toby, a WWI vet, was a cross between Boo Radley and Tom. Annabelle ‘ s …
Readers Choose: The Classroom Library
As readers discovered favorite authors—Woodson, Sones, Myers, Halse-Anderson, Lupica—and favorite genres—memoir, historical fiction, sports fiction—and talked more about books with their friends, I would find notes on my desk on Fridays, “Mrs. R, If you are going to the bookstore this weekend, we would like ….” The classroom library truly became the students’ library filled with books they cared about and valued—and read.
Review: The Wild Robot
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown My rating: 3 of 5 stars The audience for this book is upper elementary, but I can see middle schoolers enjoying this book. It is very much a storytelling experience; the narrator speaks directly to the reader, asking patience …
Review: Unidentified Suburban Object
Unidentified Suburban Object by Mike Jung My rating: 3 of 5 stars So this one is mostly a realistic ya novel of a girl trying to connect with her Korean heritage while her parents resist saying it’s “too hard” or “too painful” to think about …
War Fiction: Writing the stories that haven’t been told
Because most of my 20 published books show war or genocide through the eyes of a young person, some of my author colleagues affectionately call me the Genocide Queen. I didn’t consciously choose to write about genocide, but I have a compulsion to give a voice to people whose stories are not told.
Summer Book Club 2016: Let’s discover books together for the first time
I’ve read over one hundred books in search of that just-right book for each student, but I just cannot keep up with all the recommendations I’ve been getting from We Need Diverse Books, Nerdy Book Club, Goodreads, and Facebook friends. So this summer’s reading list is 25 books that I have NOT read but have been recommended, and I am inviting my junior high readers to vet these books with me.
Review: Apple and Rain
Apple and Rain by Sarah Crossan My rating: 4 of 5 stars For middle and upper middle school students without hesitation. This is a story about family, parenting, sisters, friendship, loyalty, and crushes, but it is really a story about understanding the complexities of family. Apple’s …
Coteachers Share Graphic and Verse Novels for 8th Grade Readers
People talk about middle schoolers being reluctant readers, but we do not see that in our students. They gobble up good books. Here are their favorite verse and graphic novels.
Top Ten Books to Start a Classroom Library (Plus Ten More)
As junior high English teachers, we see how the push to standardize curriculum and prepare for tests has us spending more time in meetings and reviewing data than reading the latest young adult novels. We ask students to be “readers,” but are we even keeping up with the latest titles or up-and-coming authors? This school year, we wanted to do something for our students and ourselves to make reading class, well, about the power and joy of reading again. We wanted students to find their way back to books this year. We wanted to find our way back to books this year — to be readers again.