Monday, February 1, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 2/1/16


It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.



Last Weeks' Posts

  • January Kid Lit Blog Hop. There's still time to link up with this month's #KidLitBlogHop - a great resource for all thing kid lit.

Middle Grade


Pax by Sara Pennypacker with illustrations by Jon Klassen, p.304. Available Feb. 2, 2016 (ARC picked up at NCTE). This week I shared my review of Sara Pennypacker's new novel, Pax, which comes out on Tuesday! This charming story is told in alternating chapters by Pax, a young fox, and his former owner, a boy named Peter. Having raised Pax from a kit, Peter is forced by his father to abandon Pax and send him back in the wild. I predict this will become an instant classic in many classrooms. (You can read my longer review here.)


George (2015) by Alex Gino [Stonewall Book Award Winner]. I had George on my TBR list even before the latest awards were announced but that helped bump it to the top of the pile. George is the story of a fourth grade child, born a boy named George, who is certain that she is a girl and would prefer to be called Melissa. The story follows both her inner and outer journey to see what it means to "Be who you are" in today's world. I think this is an important book in many respects and one that teachers, especially, should consider reading for a perspective/introduction to transgender issues.


The Mystery of the Griefer's Mark: an unofficial gamer's adventure (2014) by Winter Morgan. As a third grade teacher, I have many students who are obsessed with Minecraft and who enjoy reading Minecraft books. I spent some time playing around with Minecraft this past summer, and finally got around to finding a Minecraft book too - it was terrible.

The writing is not good, it's nearly all dialogue, and the actions and motivations of the characters are barely there. There is very little description, and the plot was hard to follow. Honestly, I had a student who wrote a multi-chapter epic Minecraft-inspired story for our latest fiction unit, and his story was incredibly more interesting, nuanced, and well-written than this one. (Final verdict: if I find these at a used book sale, I will pick them up for my classroom, but I am not investing full price in them, for sure.)

Happy Reading!

12 comments:

  1. Many of my students are obsessed with Minecraft too. Thanks for the "heads up" on the books. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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    1. Thanks, Kathy. I'll be curious to see if there are other writers out there for Minecraft novels, as the demand is clearly there ...

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  2. I will read Pax someday, know it will be good, Katie. I also need to find Fuzzy Mud, sounds interesting.

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  3. I will have to read that book about Malala! I read I am Malala this summer and she is my hero!

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  4. I am waiting for Pax from my local library. I read and enjoyed George, and Gracefully Grayson last year. I think they are both timely books. Readers at the school have enjoyed both of them. I can't help but wonder why it is that these transgender girls are portrayed as wanting to be so frilly. Maybe I'm overreacting, but girls are so much more than this.

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    1. That was my exact complaint about "I am Jazz," the picture book. It is definitely food for thought about how gender stereotypes are reinforced in such ways.

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  5. I've been reading so many great things about George - a book that would most likely not be available in our public libraries here in Singapore. I didn't realize that Pax was middle grade - all the while I thought it was a picturebook. Good to know that tidbit.

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    1. Yep, Pax is a full-on novel, and a lovely one at that!

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  6. A new Sara Pennypacker novel! Hooray! I adore Clementine so much. Pax sounds quite different, and I can't wait to read it. I am struggling my way through George. Important book, but I don't think the writing is that good. Will try to push through, though, as I do have several students who would really like it, I think.

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    1. Pax definitely has a different feel than Clementine but still very good. I can see where you are coming from with George - for me, the book was too simplistic and her "problems" were all resolved quite easily, but if you're targeting elementary students, I guess it makes sense.

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