Monday, July 3, 2017

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 07/03/17


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 Week's Posts


Middle School



The Only Road (2016) by Alexandra Diaz, p. 300 [a Pura Belpre Honor Book]. 12-year old Jaime and his 15-year old cousin, Angela, are forced to flee north after the gang in their Guatemalan village kills their cousin/brother, Miguel. A scary but middle grade-appropriate version of the trip to illegally immigrate to the US. Definitely one I will be adding to my Latin American immigration book list.

Young Adult



When the Moon was Ours (2016) by Anna-Marie McLemore, p. 290 [a Stonewall Honor Book]. This is a lyrical magical realism story about a girl, Miel, who appeared from inside a water tower (and grows roses from her wrists), and her friend, Sam (a transgender boy born Samira). I had ordered this book from the library for an LGBTQIA display, and one of my students insisted it was a must-read. And I agree. This is much more than a coming of age story. It is lovely, mysterious, and truly magical.


Scythe (2016) by Neal Shusterman [a Printz Honor Book]. The school library's copy of Scythe bounced around from student-to-student, so I finally had to order it from the public library to get my turn! In this near-future dystopian story, an artificial super intelligence has led humanity to a place of peace and prosperity where death by natural causes has been eliminated. Thus the position of Scythe has been born - Scythes are responsible for "gleaning" specific quotas of humanity, and the story kicks into gear quickly when high schoolers Citra and Rowan suddenly find themselves apprenticed to a Scythe. This is a fascinating thought-experiment as well as an engaging book, and I know my students will be delighted to hear that there is already a sequel in the works (Thuderhead, Feb 2018).

Happy Reading!

PS Anyone else heading over to Nerd Camp MI next week? Would love to meet up!

8 comments:

  1. I really loved reading The Only Road (especially given the political climate in this country today) and Scythe really appealed to me, I'm not familiar with When the Moon Was Ours but will definitely look for it.

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    1. I'll be very curious to hear what you think of When the Moon was Ours!

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  2. Thanks for the heads up about these titles. I've just added The Only Road and When the Moon was Ours to my reading list.

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  3. I am not familiar with The Only Road. It sounds like a book with an important theme.

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    1. Definitely! It puts such a human face on this current tragedy.

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  4. I own Scythe - I am hoping to get to it before November's NCTE!
    I've seen The Only Road in a few places, all great reviews!

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  5. A good friend, Nancy Johnson from Western Washington University sold me on Scythe the last time she passed by Singapore and we had coffee - sounds like a book I have to get my hands on! :)

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