Taking Stock - February

Total Posts: 20
Total Books Read this Month: 39
Total Books Read this Year: 74

Challenges: 
Audio Books: 5/ 9 ytd
Debut Author: 0/2 ytd
Mount TBR Challenge: 5/5 ytd
Picture Books: 6/15 ytd

The Good: According to Goodreads, I am right on track for my 2013 Reading Challenge.

The Bad:  I did not read a debut this month. My posts fell way off (9) from last month and the number of books I got around to reviewing also fell. I read 39 but reviewed only 8. Yikes! There was a time when I reviewed every book I read and I'm still making my peace with not being able to do so.

The list:
36. Nic Bishop Snakes by Nic Bishop (2/1)
37. Harlem's Little Blackbird by Renée Watson (2/1)
38. The Skull in the Rock: how a scientist, a boy and Google Earth opened a new window on human origins by Marc Aronson and Lee Berger (2/1)
39. Awesome Dawson by Chris Gall (2/3)
40. Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld (2/3)
41. Pathways to the Common Core by Lucy Calkins (2/4)
42. The Runaway King by Jennifer A. Neilsen (2/5)
43. Like Bug Juice on a Burger by Julie Sternberg (2/6)
44. Choosing to Read by Joan S. Kindig (2/6)
45. The Midnight Charter by David Whitley (2/6)
46. Electric Ben: the amazing life and times of Benjamin Franklin by Robert Byrd (2/7)
47. Iva Honeysuckle Meets Her Match by Candice Ransom (2/9)
48. Zom-B by Darren Shan (2/10)
49. Desmond and the Very Mean Word by Archbishop Desmond Tutu (2/11)
50. Skit-Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald by Roxanne Orgill (2/11)
51. Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner (2/11)
52. Eternal: Zachary's Story by Cynthia Leitich Smith (2/11)
53. Middle School: My Brother is a Big, Fat Liar by James Patterson (2/15)
54. In the Line of Fire: presidential lives at stake by Judith St. George (2/15)
55. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (2/16)
56. A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff (2/16)
57. Loki's Wolves by K.L. Armstrong and M. A. Marr (2/19)
58.  Ungifted by Gordon Korman (2/19)
59. Ask My Mood Ring How I Feel by Diana Lopez (2/19)
60. How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor (2/20)
61. The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O'Connor (2/20)
62. Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson (2/22)
63. Polar Bear Morning by Lauren Thompson (2/22)
64. Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore (2/22)
65. Aces Wild by Erica Perl (2/23)
66. True...Sort of by Katherine Hannigan (2/23)
67. After: nineteen stories of apocalypse and dystopia edited by Ellen Datlow (2/24)
68. Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the dawn of liberty by Tonya Bolden (2/25)
69. America the Beautiful: together we stand by Katharine Lee Bates (2/25)
70. The Granddaughter Necklace by Sharon Dennis Wyeth (2/25)
71. Dogs on Duty: soldier's best friends on the battlefield and beyond by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent (2/27)
72. The Reluctant Journal of Henry K. Larsen by Susin Nielsen (2/27)
73. The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech (2/28)
74. Free-Fire Zone (Vietnam #3) by Chris Lynch (2/28)

Waiting on Wednesday

WoW is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine in which we share the titles whose release we are most anticipating.

Middle School: How I Survived Bullies, Broccoli, and Snake Hill (Middle School series #4) by James Patterson/ Chris Tebbits. Illustrated by Laura Park. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, June 24, 2013.  9780316231756.

Publisher synopsis: Rafe Khatchadorian, the hero of the bestselling Middle School series, is ready for a fun summer at camp—until he finds out it's a summer school camp! Luckily, Rafe easily makes friends with his troublemaking cabin mates and bunkmate, a boy nicknamed Booger-Eater, who puts up with endless teasing from the other kids. Rafe soon realizes there's more to a person than a nickname, though, and Booger-Eater might be the kind of friend you want on your side when the boys from the Cool Cabin attack.

This fourth book in the massively popular Middle School series is an unforgettable summer of hi-jinks, new friends, and surprises, all told with the hilarity and honesty readers have come to expect from blockbuster author James Patterson.

I first learned of this series two Septembers ago when most of the kids in Ms. Frazer's class listed Middle School Worst Years of My Life as one of their favorite books. Apparently, it was Ms. Frazer's first read aloud of the year. I had never heard of it; went out and bought it post-haste and, was highly entertained.

Imagine my surprise when, upon reorganizing TOM, my tbr "pile," I discovered an arc that I picked up at ALA Annual the previous June. Sigh. In my defense, there was no cover art, but still! Geesh!

I didn't enjoy the second book, Middle School Get Me Out of Here, as much. Not so, my fifth graders as neither book sits on the shelf much. I read a spin-off, I Funny, in December of 2012, but didn't get around to reviewing it. Huh. My bad. It was fun.

I recently read the third installment of the Middle School series, My Brother is a Big, Fat Liar (due out March 18), and am reviewing it for School Library Journal.

Okay. I admit it. I'm hooked. Can't wait to read more about Rafe and summer camp. I just hope there are no more manufactured "secrets." The stories are good enough without them, though I must admit that Georgia's surprised me.

What's on Hold at Your Library?

I am very happy to put items on hold for my students. I don't have an actual "Hold Shelf," because I deliver the books as the hold notification pops up since I have a flexible schedule and don't see students with predictable regularity. Thus, I have been unable to participate in the "What's on Your Hold Shelf" meme hosted by Travis Jonker, of 100 Scope Notes and John Schumacher of Watch. Connect. Read., aka, Mr.SchuReads.

Today, possibly due to the full moon or a strange alignment of the stars, I had a stack of three holds to deliver and two unique situations. So I put them on the shelf behind my desk where I usually keep the books I'm cataloging, and snapped this:

Hooray! My "Hold Shelf." The three books on the right, The Last Olympian; Gregor and the Prophecy of Bane; and 11 Birthdays, were traditional holds in that a student requested the title while it was checked out to another. The Ask and the Answer is my own personal copy. An eighth grader checked out The Knife of Never Letting Go recently, loved it and asked for the sequel when he returned Knife yesterday. I hadn't bought the sequel for my library even though I loved them and had the trilogy in my personal library. It just didn't go out that much despite book talk love. And finally, The Name of This Book is Secret got a Post-It Note slapped on it before it was even cataloged when a sixth grader spied it on my desk and begged for it.

Top Ten Tuesday

This week's TTT theme is "Auto-buy," authors whose books you buy automatically. As names began to pour into my head, I started to think I would have to make two lists, a middle grade and young adult list. As I clicked around the linky thing on Broke and Bookish, I realized that many of the listed authors were authors of series and so were many of mine so I decided to limit my list to authors who write mostly stand-alone novels...

I know!

There are A LOT of series out there!

Okay, here goes:

Jerry Spinelli
Sharon Creech
Avi
Gary Paulsen
Walter Dean Myers
Patricia MacLachlan
Nancy Farmer

What's that you say? D'uh? Yes, these are tried and true authors and all have been around for awhile and won multiple awards. Okay, I'll make a new list.

In (mostly) alphabetical order:
Laurie Halse Anderson: searing contemporary fiction (Speak; Wintergirls; Twisted) and superb historical fiction (Fever, 1793; Chains; Forge), not to mention picture books and series. Seriously. What can't this woman write?

Libba Bray: this is more an automatic purchase for me rather than my library, since most of her stuff is a bit sophisticated for middle school. This woman is brilliant with a dash of insane. I do occasionally have that sophisticated eighth grade reader ready for Bray's mind-bending.

Carl Deuker: when students want an intelligent sports novel, I hand them Deuker.

Frances O'Roark Dowell: Chicken Boy; Dovey Coe; The Secret Language of Girls; The Kind of Friends We Used to Be; Shooting the Moon, Falling In; Phineas L. MacGuire to name a few. Great fiction for middle grade.

Shannon Hale: Goose Girl remains one of my all time faves. My go-to gal for my girls who love intelligent fairy tale type stories.

Carl Hiaasen: I adore his stuff for grown-ups as well as his books for kids. His books are hardly ever on the shelf.

Wendy Mass: her books are wildly popular in my library. I haven't read everything she has written, but have loved everything I've read by her. Another middle grade dream author.

Matt de la Peña: another author that pushes the readiness of my particular audience, but man, this kid can write.

Jordan Sonnenblick: no one gets into the head of a middle school character the way Jordan does.


Sherman Alexie: Yeah, I know Alexie belongs at the top, alphabetically, but the guy has written only one YA book! I believe I heard rumors of a sequel to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian a few years back. He WOULD be an automatic purchase if he wrote some more YA. I did read some of his "grown-up" stuff after reading Absolutely True Diary, but it's really grown-up!

Honorable mentions: No less worthy, but had to choose 10.
Gordon Korman
Chris Crutcher
Terry Pratchett
Nora Raleigh Baskin
Suzanne LaFleur
Michelle Kwasney

Non-Fiction auto-purchases: can't leave informational literature out!
Nic Bishop
Tonya Bolden
The Fradens
Russell Freedman
Kathleen Krull
Steve Jenkins
Sy Montgomery
Jim Murphy
Steve Sheinkin
Tanya Lee Stone

Honorable mention: The Scientist in the Field series by various authors, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

So, okay, a top 25 plus one series. 

Non-Fiction Monday

Yikes! I'm reading like crazy but not blogging like crazy! Here are two quick reviews of some non-fiction that I've read recently.

In the Line of Fire: presidents' lives at stake by Judith St. George. 144 p. Holiday House, 1999. 9780823414284. (Part of school library collection)

I came across this while I was reading my shelves at school and pulled it out to read. Four U.S. Presidents were assassinated and seven survived assassination attempts. This oversized, well-designed volume features compelling narratives detailing the assassinations and attempted assassinations along with information about the assassins and the vice-presidents who were suddenly thrust into the role of president. Over-sized, with lots of white space and plenty of photos, this is sure to please that history buff student.

Emancipation Proclamation: Lincoln and the dawn of liberty by Tonya Bolden. 120 p. Harry Abrams, January, 2013. 9781419703904. (Purchased.)

Beautifully designed, brimming with photographs of paintings, lithographs, political cartoons, tracts, as well as photographs of actual documents. The narrative is written from a collective "we" in two of parts. Personally, I didn't care for it and would've preferred a more objective third person; but I don't think that will pose a problem for young teen readers. This book is challenging but fits perfectly into the eighth grade social studies curriculum, making it a must-purchase addition to middle and even high school libraries.

What's New? Stacking the Shelves

Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Pop on over there to share your new books and ogle what other bloggers got.

For review:

Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan. 354 p. G.P. Putnam's Sons/ Penguin Young Reader's Group, June 27, 2013. 9780399161124.

Publisher synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Habo has always been different—light eyes, yellow hair and white skin. Not the good brown skin his family has and not the white skin of tourists. Habo is strange and alone. His father, unable to accept Habo, abandons the family; his mother can scarcely look at him. His brothers are cruel and the other children never invite him to play. Only his sister Asu loves him well. But even Asu can't take the sting away when the family is forced from their small Tanzanian village, and Habo knows he is to blame. 

Seeking refuge in Mwanza, Habo and his family journey across the Serengeti. His aunt is glad to open her home until she sees Habo for the first time, and then she is only afraid. Suddenly, Habo has a new word for himself: Albino. But they hunt Albinos in Mwanza because Albino body parts are thought to bring good luck. And soon Habo is being hunted by a fearsome man with a machete. To survive, Habo must not only run, but find a way to love and accept himself.

This is the author's debut.

I had almost forgotten that I had missed out on a goodie bag from Scholastic back during Midwinter. I wrote about it here. Scholastic didn't! Thank you, thank you! A box was waiting for me outside the main office at school on Friday. Not only was if filled with the books from the preview, but posters, and Scholastic's signature red bag was wrapped around this: 

How adorable is this? I drink hot water all day and have several mugs to choose from at work, a red ALA READ mug, a blue, "Don't judge a book by it's movie" mug and a green, "Read a latté books" mug. I think this will be my new favorite.

And of course, my new favorite picture book will be displayed prominently in my picture book nook:

! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Tom Lichtenheld. 56 p. Scholastic Inc., March 13, 2013. 9780545436793. 

Polar Bear Night by Lauren Thompson. Illustrated by Stephen Savage. 32 p. Scholastic Inc, January, 2004. 9780439495240.

Polar Bear Morning by Lauren Thompson. Illustrated by Stephen Savage. 32 p. Scholastic Inc., January, 2013.  9780439698856.

Lucky Ducklings by Eva Moore. Illustrated by Nancy Carpenter. Scholastic Inc., February, 2013. 9780439448611.

America the Beautiful: together we stand. Katherine Lee Bates. With illustrations by Bryan Collier, Raul Colon, Diane Goode, Mary Grandpré, John Hendrix, Yuyi Morales, Jon J. Muth, LeUyen Pham, sonia Lynn Sadler, Chris Soentpiet. 

The Granddaughter Necklace by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline. 32 p. Scholastic Inc., January, 2013. 

That's what's new with me. What's new with you?

Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner

279 p. Candlewick Press, February 12, 2013. 9780763665531. (Borrowed)

In an alternate London of 1956, where the outcome of an un-named war was different, Standish Treadwell lives with his grandfather in an awful neighborhood called Zone 7, misses his parents and is barely surviving at school. He is not just dealing with bullying classmates, but brutish teachers who not only routinely cane their students, but one beats Standish's classmate to death in a harrowing scene. Thankfully, the repressive government does not stand for it. Unfortunately, the punishment is meted out in front of the class. (Shudders.)

When Standish's best friend and protector, Hector, goes missing and he is done with his grandfather's peculiar ways, Standish starts to seek his own answers. He may be labeled a dummy due to his dyslexia and a freak due to his heterochromia (two different eye colors), and, as such, at risk for removal due to the government's standards, but he is an astute observer and possesses a strong moral compass as well as great courage.

I read this disturbing, utterly brilliant novel in one sitting and it absolutely shredded me. The suspense is nearly unbearable, the world-building is vivid and if you don't read the final chapter through tears, you have no heart. I highly recommend this alternate history/ dystopia. I won't soon forget this one.