Saturday, December 26, 2020

Vanderbeekers Book Recommendation #iLoveMG

Welcome to #iLoveMG where I share middle grade books that my fifth graders recommend. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) Or check out #3rdfor3rd for recommendations from when I taught third grade.

The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street

Recommended by Yasmin



The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street is a fiction book written by Karina Yan Glaser. This book was about a family of 5 Vanderbeeker kids, Isa and Jessie (they are twins,12), Laney (4), Hyacinth(6), and Oliver (the only boy, 9). They also had a dog named Franz, a cat named George Washington, and a house rabbit named Paganini. The book takes place 5 days before Christmas which was a big deal for this family but this year it wasn't how they expected. The Vanderbeeker family lives in a brownstone in Harlem, New York City. The Vanderbeekers lived on the 1st floor, Mrs. Josie and Mr. Jeet live on the 2nd floor, and Mr. Beiderman (their landlord) lived on the 3rd floor. 5 days before Christmas day Mr. Beiderman refuses to renew their lease making them move right after Christmas. The Vanderbeeker kids come up with different ways to convince Mr. Beiderman.

I would rate this book an 8.7 out of 10 because I like the way it is written.

Click here for all of our #iLoveMG posts. What are your favorite middle grade books?

Saturday, December 19, 2020

Book Recommendation: The Red Pyramid #iLoveMG

Welcome to #iLoveMG where I share middle grade books that my fifth graders recommend. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) Or check out #3rdfor3rd for recommendations from when I taught third grade.

The Red Pyramid

Recommended by HK




The Red Pyramid is a fantastic book by Rick Riordan about two siblings, Carter and Sadie, who need to save their father from the evil ancient Egyptian god, Set. They have to go all over the place, explore with other gods of ancient Egypt, but will they save the father? It’s a great book because of all the different characters like a baboon that likes to eat things ending in o, an alligator that can talk, and the main characters, Carter and Sadie. I recommend the book The Red Pyramid if you like adventure stories. I think it’s a fantastic book and I would give it maybe 4-4.5 star rating (out of 5 stars).

This is the first book in the Kane Chronicles series.

Click here for all of our #iLoveMG posts. What are your favorite middle grade books?

Monday, December 14, 2020

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 12/14/20



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.



Recent Posts


      Middle Grade


      It's been months and months since my last #IMWAYR, but I wanted to get back into the swing of posting, although I'm only the monthly-goal track rather than weekly.

      My school has been virtual since early March, and this year's students are writing their first book reviews to share with each other and wider book-loving audiences. You can read the first two linked above in Recent Posts.



      The Canyon's Edge by Dusti Bowling is a quick-read seat-of-the-pants style adventure and survival novel. Nora is still processing the traumatic events of her birthday a year ago, but she and her father are determined to make a new start ... they just weren't quite anticipating how quickly things would escalate.

      My students are huge fans of Dusti's cactus series (Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus and Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus), and while this is a very different style of book, I know many, many students will love it. 



      Twins by Varian Johnson and illustrated by Shannon Wright is an awesome addition to the graphic novel canon. If we were in-person right now, I know that I would never see this book on my shelves again. 

      Twins Maureen and Francine are entering middle school and trying to balance their separate desires to be seen as their own person and to still be best friends. When they both decide to run for Class President, it brings their personal conflicts out into the open. 

      This is a super-engaging and charming story about the realistic struggles of sisterhood and friendship. Author Varian Johnson is himself a twin, and brings that firsthand knowledge of how deep and how fragile twin-relationships can be, especially at this age. My student beta-reader declared this book "Great!"

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      Saturday, December 12, 2020

      Book Recommendation: NERDS #iLoveMG

      Welcome to #iLoveMG where I share middle grade books that my fifth graders recommend. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) Or check out #3rdfor3rd for recommendations from when I taught third grade.

      N.E.R.D.S.

      Recommended by Aayush



      I read N.E.R.D.S. by Michael Buckley. It is a fiction book. The story is about a ten-year-old boy Jackson, who is a popular bully at school and somehow ends up as a member of N.E.R.D.S (National, Espionage, Rescue, and Defence Society). This is the first book of the series. 

      I enjoyed the book very much, and I have finished the whole series. If you like humor and action, this is the book for you. I would give this book 5/5 stars.

      Click here for all of our #iLoveMG posts. What are your favorite middle grade books?

      Wednesday, December 9, 2020

      Book Recommendation: Chirp by Kate Messner

      Welcome to #iLoveMG where I share middle grade books that my fifth graders recommend. (Please note that my fifth graders read a wide variety of books across a wide variety of genres, levels, and topics. Do not think that these books are "only" for fifth graders.) Or check out #3rdfor3rd for recommendations from when I taught third grade.

      Chirp

      Recommended by Coco



      I read a realistic fiction book called Chirp, and it was by Kate Messner. Chirp was about a girl named Mia who lives near a cricket farm that her grandmother owns, and she joins a club where you can make businesses. She wants to create something to help the failing cricket farm with the help of her new friends, but she also shares a secret that she’d rather forget. Meanwhile, something mysterious is happening at the farm, and Mia and her friend want to figure it out. 

      I think this is a great book because there are three main parts: first, the three friends working together to save the farm. The second part is, there’s a mystery to solve and they think someone is sabotaging the farm. And lastly, there’s an important lesson in the book. If you like realistic fiction, with some mystery in it, then you would love this book. I think Chirp is a fantastic book and I would give it five stars out of five. 

      Here is my cover design for Chirp:



      Click here for all of our #iLoveMG posts. What are your favorite middle grade books?