Book Recommendation: A Series of Unfortunate Events #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.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Recommended by Petra

I'm sorry to say that the book you a holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they were charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at a beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune. In this series a greedy and repulsive villain is always waiting for them.

- Author: Lemony Snicket

- Genre: Fiction (fantasy)

- This book is murder, mystery, and tragedy.

- A Series of Unfortunate Events: 1-13 books

-The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, The Miserable Mill, Austere Academy, Ersatz Elevator, Vile Village, Hostile Hospital, Carnivorous Carnival, Slippery Slope, The Grim Grotto, The Penultimate Peril, The End.

- You can read them in any order you want and it will make some sense but it would probably make a little more since if you read them in order.

This book series is GREAT and do not worry when you are done with the first book there are twelve more. This amazing book series is also a T.V series on Netflix (which is also SO GOOD).

- Petra

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 11/25/19

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

• Book Recommendation: Aru Shah #iLoveMG. Fifth-grader Varnika shares what she loves about this new series!

Picture Books

Freedom Soup (Dec. 2019) by Tami Charles and illustrated by Jacqueline Alcantara. Freedom Soup tells the background of this Haitian recipe and its connection to the liberation of Haiti and their celebration of independence day, dating back to New Years Day of 1804. In the story, Ti Gran and the narrator work through the recipe and the history together. A copy of the recipe and author's note complete the book. This is a charming addition to any food or recipe-based book lists! (An advanced copy of this book was provided by Candlewick. All thoughts are my own.)

Middle Grade

The #IMWAYR board in my fifth grade classroom is continuing to be a big hit! I have a student who has self-appointed herself the board keeper. She updates the day each morning and cleans the whole board each Friday. The kids love seeing what others are reading and posting updates.

The Toll (2019) by Neal Shusterman, book #3 in the Arc of a Scythe trilogy. It's finally here! I cannot count the number of months since I preordered this book or the number of times former students of mine have asked when it was coming out. And despite all the hype, the conclusion to this trilogy did not disappoint. Shusterman is a *masterful* storyteller and weaves together so many different plot lines (and timelines early on), it's incredible. Read the series. That is all.

Happy Reading!

Book Recommendation: Aru Shah #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 Aru Shah Series

Recommended by Varnika

Do you like learning things about cultures other than your own? Do you like books full (no, literally) of adventure?

Then you should read Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi. It's a book full of Hindu mythology, adventure, and humor.

The book is about a girl named Aru who accidentally freezes all time in the world and releases a powerful demon spirit (hence the name) when she lights a lamp to show off for her friends. She then learns that she has the reincarnated soul of one of the famous Pandava brothers. She teams up with Mini, another girl with a Pandava soul. They go on an epic quest through the Otherworld, making friends and fighting demons along the way.


If you liked that book and you want to find out what happens to Aru next, read Aru Shah and the Song of Death.

In this book, the god of love's bow and arrow are stolen and Aru is blamed. She and Mini team up with Brynne, another reincarnated Pandava and Aiden, the son of a famous celestial dancer. They go on a long adventure, fighting nagas (top half human, bottom half snake), a legendary demoness, and others. Aru Shah is a brave, Swedish Fish eating girl and she will prove her strength to you through this book.

Note: These two books are part of a quartet. The third book is called Aru Shah and the Tree of Wishes, and it is coming out in spring 2020.

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

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 09/16/17

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.

Recent Posts

• #PB10for10: Inclusive picture books for the first weeks of school. A round up of my all-time favorites (and many of which I've already shared with this year's fifth graders).

• Fifth grader book recommendation: Number the Stars

• Best Book List: fantasy by fifth grader Ezra

• Probably every book I read in fifth grade that you should read too

Middle Grade

I decided to dedicate a white board in my room to our own #IMWAYR, and I love it! The kids enjoy seeing what others are reading, and it's been an easy way to initiate book conversations. My plan was for it to be a once-a-week thing, but they kept wanting to keep it current and changed Monday to whatever day of the week it was.

I've read several new books over the past month, most of which are now available. Click over to the full posts to read more!

Friend or Fiction is the third novel from Abby Cooper, and it debuts on October 8th, 2019. Click here to read my full review post.

Hena Khan's newest middle grade novel More to the Story debuted earlier this month. Click here for my full review post.

The Okay Witch is a new graphic novel by Emma Steinkellner debuting on September 3rd, 2019. Click here to read my full review post.

Happy Reading!

New Book Alert: Friend or Fiction

Friend or Fiction is the third novel from Abby Cooper, and it debuts on October 8th, 2019. Like her previous books, Sticks & Stones and Bubbles, Friend or Fiction is set in our modern world with one very specific element of magical realism thrown in. (I received a digital ARC of the book through Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.)

Jade has always felt adrift in her small town, and her dad's cancer diagnosis has only made things work. She (and her dad) takes solace in her creative writing about her imagined best friend, Zoe. So when a classmate's experiment brings real life Zoe out of the notebook and into her classroom, Jade couldn't be more thrilled. But is writing your own best friend the same as actually having one ... ?

I thorough enjoyed this amusing novel, and it has a lot to say about the realities of true friendship. I also particularly loved all the winks and nods about the writing process, especially some of the things Zoe doesn't know/have because Jade hadn't thought to include them in the writing. But you'll have to read it for yourself to find out more!

I think readers will really be drawn to the premise of this book ... and they might be surprised at how much it makes them think too!

New Book Alert: More to the Story

Happy book birthday to Hena Khan's newest middle grade novel: More to the Story! Inspired by Little Women, this modern-day story is narrated by seventh grader Jameela (Jam), the second oldest in a family of Muslim-American four sisters. She'd much rather be thinking about her next story for the middle school newspaper than dealing with the news of her dad's new job overseas. But the new school year brings even more challenges for Jameela and her whole family.

Readers already familiar with Little Women will enjoy recognizing the connections (big and small) to the original story - the sisters share names with matching first letters (Jameela / Jo for example). But I think even readers without any knowledge of Little Women will find a lot to connect to in this novel: from long-distance parents to navigating new friendships to learning to speak up for what you care about. This is a book I look forward to adding to my classroom library!

(I received a digital ARC of More to the Story via Net Galley. All thoughts are my own.)

Book Recommendation: Number the Stars #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.

Number the Stars

Recommended by AH

Hi, my name is Anna, and I recommend the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry because it is full of adventures, and takes you back in time to imagine what it was like for Jewish people during the Danish Civil War.

The book is about a girl named Annemarie, and her best friend Ellen, who live in Denmark. At that time, many Nazis roamed Denmark looking for Jewish people to arrest, and because of that, Ellen and her family are in great danger, and it is up to Annemarie to save their lives.

My favorite quote from the book is from Annemarie’s mother: “ The God of Thunder [a kitten] made a very small rain shower in the corner of the kitchen floor, keep an eye on him."

If you like adventures, mystery, and history I think you would like this book. It was a lot of fun to read this book and learn a little about the history of Europe, and if any of you read it, I hope you like it too.

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