Taking Stock - September

Total posts: 14

Total books this month: 25

Total books this year: 257

Challenges:

Audio: 4/51

Debut: 1/7

Picture books: 3/59

The Good:  Considering how busy I was with school starting up again, I'm pleased with 25 as a total.

The Bad:  Need to get a few more debuts read before year's end.

The Books:

233. (64) What's New? The Zoo! by Kathleen Krull (9/1)

234. (65) Discover More: Reptiles by Penelope Arlon (9/1)

End of summer (65 books read over summer vacation)

235. Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan (9/2)*

236. Maria Had a Little Llama by Angela Dominguez (9/5)

237. Discover More: Human Body by Steve Setford (9/5)

238. Odd Weird & Little by Patrick Jennings (9/5)

239. Jessica Rules the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey (9/6)

240. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (9/7)*

241. The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: a scientific mystery by Sandra Markle (9/8)

242. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (9/11)*

243. Positive: a memoir by Paige Rawl (9/12)

244. The Program by Suzanne Young (9/13)

245. Last-But-Not-Least Lola and the Wild Chicken (9/15)

246. Mix it up! by Hervé Tullet (9/17)

247. She's So Dead to Us by Kieran Scott (9/19)

248. He's So Not Worth It by Kieran Scott (9/20)

249. This is So Not Happening by Kieran Scott (9/21)

250. The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton (9/22)

251. Face to Face with Polar Bears by Norbert Rosing with Elizabeth Carney (9/23)

252. Face to Face with Manatees by Brian Skerry (9/23)

253. Chasing Cheetahs: the race to save Africa's fastest cat by Sy Montgomery (9/24)*

254. One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington (9/26) (Reviewing for ALAN Picks)

255. The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett (9/28)

256. Jenna and Jonah's Fauxmance by Emily Franklin and Brendan Halpin (9/28)

257. Sisters by Reina Telgemeier (9/30)

What's on hold?

Travis Jonker and Mr. Schu have a monthly blog post called, "What's on Your Hold Shelf?"

I don't really have a hold shelf as I hand-deliver each hold as it comes in because I have a flexible schedule and don't see students weekly. The best way to generate a hold list is through booktalking. I am lucky in that the language arts teachers like to get their classes in early (and frequently) for booktalks. Of course, I also love it when holds lists start as a result of student to student word-of-mouth. Here's a list of books (in rather random order since the list is ordered by patron name) currently in the hold queue:

Bomb: the race to build and steal the world's most dangerous weapon by Steve Sheinkin.

Loot: how to steal a fortune by Jude Watson.

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan.

The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer Smith.

The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.

A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan.

Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg.

The Port Chicago 50: disaster, mutiny and the fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin.

The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

Divergent by Veronica Roth.

The Graveyard Book: graphic novel by Neil Gaimen. 

Revenge of the Flower Girls by Jennifer Ziegler. (I just noticed that the actual cover is different that the one published online Apparently, the backs of a bride and groom under the arch were photoshopped in.)

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to (Not) Reading by Tommy Greenwald.

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Extra Credit by Tommy Greenwald.

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Summer Vacation by Tommy Greenwald.

Each title has more than one student eagerly awaiting it. The hold list usually grows as students begin recommending them to each other.

Non-fiction Monday: Positive: a memoir by Paige Rawl with Ali Benjamin

Positive: a memoir by Paige Rawl with Ali Benjamin and forward by Jay Asher. 288 p. HarperCollins Publishers, August, 2014. 9780062342515. (Purchased.)

How does a pretty, popular, bright cheerleader end up on the receiving end of relentless bullying? By confiding in her best friend the fact that she's HIV-positive at an evening school event. Within minutes, sixth grader Paige Rawl sensed a change in vibe from her classmates and within days, she's dubbed PAIDS, finds her name scrawled on bathroom walls and is viciously cyberbullied. When someone forges a threatening note to Paige's now ex-best friend, school administrator's don't believe Paige. When she finally confides in the school counselor, the counselor accuses Paige of being dramatic and infers that she's the cause of the problem. Phone calls and letters from Paige's mother to administration go unanswered and Paige's grades plummet and she hates to go to school. The cumulative effects of the stress led to a type of seizure disorder and eventually Paige left school to be homeschooled.

Once she hit high school, she was ready to try mainstream schooling again and applied to a charter high school where she and her mother were assured that bullying would not be tolerated and Paige would be accepted. Unfortunately, the years of abuse affected Paige deeply and, despite the positive new environment, she attempted suicide. Time spent in an inpatient psychiatric ward and later, at a sleep away camp for HIV positive kids helped heal.

This engaging and intelligent memoir by an articulate and brave young woman has an informal, almost conversational tone and should resonate with teen readers. As someone with a nursing background, who worked in an ER during the early 80s, I recall the panic over this mystery illness and witnessed some less than exemplary behavior by a few colleagues. It outraged me then and it saddens me now that people still react so ignorantly and cruelly. Particularly cringeworthy were the reactions of school personnel. I cannot imagine either of the schools I've worked in ever treating a student in such a manner.

This book belongs in every middle and high school library. Our eighth grade students study HIV/ AIDS in health. Paige's perspective would add depth and meaning in the health class. The eighth graders also do a memoir unit near the end of the year and this will be a welcome addition to that collection. 

What's New? Stacking the Shelves

StS is a weekly meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews. Hop on over there to ogle what other bloggers got.

An intriguing box that was rather light for its size:

What in the world could be perishable?

A peek:

Good one Amulet!

 

The Terrible Two by Mac Barnett and Jory John. Illustrated by Kevin Cornell. Terrible Two series #1. Amulet Books/ Abrams, January 13, 2015.  9781419714917.

Publisher synopsis: Miles Murphy had it made. He lived in a great town near the ocean, he had two best friends, and, most importantly, he had a reputation for being his town’s best prankster. All of which explains why he’s not happy to be moving to Yawnee Valley, a sleepy town that’s famous for one thing and one thing only: cows. Worse than that, Miles quickly discovers that Yawnee Valley already has a prankster, and a great one. If Miles is going to take the title from this mystery kid, he is going to have to raise his game.

It’s prankster against prankster in an epic war of trickery, until the two finally decide to join forces in order to pull off the biggest prank ever seen: a prank so huge it would make the members of the International Order of Disorder (a loose confederacy of pranksters that flourished a couple of centuries ago) proud.

In THE TERRIBLE TWO, bestselling authors and friends Jory John and Mac Barnett have walked an impressive tightrope: They’ve created a series that has its roots in classic middle-grade literature yet feels fresh and daring at the same time.

Plus, the book boasts some impressive blurbs from some of my faves. But really folks, does Mac Barnett need blurbs to sell books? He's pretty much an automatic purchase in my book.

 "This book is terrible! Terribly funny, terribly full of pranks (and cows), and terribly wonderful."

–Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheeseman and the Frank Einstein series

"Miles and Niles are both hilarious and real-feeling friends I’ve never seen before. The pranks, the brotherhood, the art, the heart! What’s not to love about The Terrible Two?"

–Sara Pennypacker, author of the Clementine series

"The Terrible Two are my kind of kids, and what’s more, they’re kids’ kind of kids."

–Annie Barrows, author of the Ivy & Bean series

I booktalked it to two fifth grade classes on Friday and everyone wants it.

Cover Coincidence

Cover coincidence is the occasional post inspired by the question, "Where have I seen this before?" Oddly, this is the second time this month.

It happened this morning when I read Paperback Treasures' Bookish Anticipation post. I had to wait till I got to school and pulled out the handout I downloaded from SLJ's webinar, Teen Book Buzz.

 

All Those Broken Angels by Peter Adam Salomon. Llewelyn Worldwide, Ltd., September, 2014.

Liars, Inc. by Paula Stokes. 368 p. HarperCollins Publishers, March 24, 2015.

Freaky, no? 

Waiting on Wednesday - Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia

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

I'm Facebook friends with a fair number of authors for this reason - to keep up with new releases. Rita Williams-Garcia posted this to her FB page the other night. So glad because I did not know a third book about the Gaither girls was in the works. BN online doesn't have a picture of the cover online yet and there isn't even a synopsis. I don't care because I adored One Crazy Summer and P.S. Be Eleven.

Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia.n304 p. HarperCollins Publishers, April 21, 2015. 9780062215871. 

Non-Fiction Monday: Discover More: Human Body by Steve Setford

Discover More: Human Body by Steve Setford. 112 p. Scholastic Inc., June, 2014. 9780545667760. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

The challenge of overview books on any subject is what to include. Too little detail might not pique interest or be useful and too much detail might overwhelm. This volume is so crammed with photos and facts, it does overwhelm. In the best possible way. It's so dang gorgeous that one does not mind revisiting it again and again. 

The subject of the human body is endlessly fascinating and so complex that students need to revisit the topic a number of times in their journey from kindergarten to senior year of high school. Hopefully, they delve a bit deeper each time. Indeed, entire tomes are written about each organ let alone body system. 

The system approach is usually the way units and overview books are organized. This one takes a slightly different approach. Chapters are entitled, "Your amazing body," "On the move," "Skin you're in," "Body Engines," "Fuel for the body," and "In Control." The familiar body systems are laid out on pages 18 and 19 with arrows pointing to the pages containing information at each illustration. 

Oh, the illustrations! Each one is a feast for the eyes. There are historical drawings, photographs, artists' renderings, MRI and other computerized images and charts. Lots of "Wow!" factor here. Especially compelling is the close-up photo of the iris and pupil…or the nerve bundle…or the cells dividing. Can't choose. Of course, a few elicit, "Ew!" If the standard, 3mm head louse enlarged to fill a page doesn't make you start scratching, the ultra-enlarged photo of eyelash mites might send you over the edge. I would've appreciated knowing how many times photos such as these were enlarged but I don't think it will occur to most kids. 

The accompanying downloadable ebook, Be a Brainiac, is filled with fun brain teasers. A three-page glossary, index and photo credits conclude this volume. Make room on the 612 shelf for this one. It won't sit.   

What's New? Stacking the Shelves

StS is a weekly meme at Tynga's Reviews. Hop on over there to ogle what other bloggers got this week.

For review:

One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington. 343 p. Bloomsbury, July, 2014. 9780802737021. 

Publisher synopsis: Sabine isn’t like anyone else. For as long as she can remember, she’s had two lives. Every twenty-four hours she ‘Shifts’, living each day twice. In one life, Sabine has everything: popular friends, expensive clothes, perfect grades, and the guy everyone wants. In the other, Sabine’s family struggles with finances, and she and her friends are considered rebels. But then she meets Ethan. He’s gorgeous, challenging, and he makes her feel like no one ever has before.

All Sabine really wants is the chance to live one life. When it seems like this might finally be possible, Sabine begins a series of dangerous experiments to achieve her goal. But is she willing to risk everything—including the one person who might actually believe her?

Purchased: (God help me.)

Mix It Up by Hervé Tullet. Unpgd. Chronicle Books, September, 2014. 9781452137353.

Publisher synopsis: Accept Hervé Tullet's irresistible invitation to mix it up in a dazzling adventure of whimsy and wonder. Follow the artist's simple instructions, and suddenly colors appear, mix, splatter, and vanish in a world powered only by the reader's imagination. Tullet—who joins such greats as Eric Carle and Leo Lionni as a master of his craft—sets readers on an extraordinary interactive journey all within the printed page. Tullet prompts plenty of giggles in addition to a profound understanding of colors, and once again displays his unique genius and vision in a work that is a glorious and richly satisfying companion to Press Here.

I absolutely adored Press Here and even bought it in Spanish for my middle school library collection. I have a feeling the art teacher is going to love this one. She does a unit on color. 

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan. Unabridge audiobook on 7 compact discs, 9 hours, 22 minutes. Performed by Gerard Doyle. Candlewick on Brilliance Audio, August, 2014. 9781491502198.

Publisher synopsis: In a heart-pounding, atmospheric ghost story, a teenage boy must find the resources within himself to save his haunted twin brother.

After their nan accidentally burns their home down, twin brothers Pat and Dom must move with their parents and baby sister to the seaside cottage they’ve summered in, now made desolate by the winter wind. It’s there that the ghost appears — a strange boy who cries black tears and fears a bad man, a soldier, who is chasing him. Soon Dom has become not-Dom, and Pat can sense that his brother is going to die — while their overwhelmed parents can’t even see what’s happening. Isolated and terrified, Pat needs to keep his brother’s cover while figuring out how to save him, drawing clues from his own dreams and Nan’s long-ago memories, confronting a mystery that lies between this world and the next — within the Grey. With white-knuckle pacing and a deft portrayal of family relationships, Celine Kiernan offers a taut psychological thriller that is sure to haunt readers long after the last page is turned.

I recently read this one with my eyes. When I learned that there was an audio, decided to buy it to reread with my ears.

What's new with you? Happy Reading!

Friday Memes: One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington. 343 p. Bloomsbury, July, 2014. 9780802737021. 

Publisher synopsis: Sabine isn’t like anyone else. For as long as she can remember, she’s had two lives. Every twenty-four hours she ‘Shifts’, living each day twice. In one life, Sabine has everything: popular friends, expensive clothes, perfect grades, and the guy everyone wants. In the other, Sabine’s family struggles with finances, and she and her friends are considered rebels. But then she meets Ethan. He’s gorgeous, challenging, and he makes her feel like no one ever has before.

All Sabine really wants is the chance to live one life. When it seems like this might finally be possible, Sabine begins a series of dangerous experiments to achieve her goal. But is she willing to risk everything—including the one person who might actually believe her?

First Line(s): I am a liar.
         Not compulsive.
         Simply required.
         I am two people.

Page 56: He shrugged and half-smiled, enjoying my discomfort. "I've got nothing better to do."
     Oh, the flattery.

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan

Into the Grey by Celine Kiernan. 290 p. Candlewick Press, August, 2014. 9780763670610. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

This atmospheric ghost story is set in Ireland in the 1970s and is narrated by fifteen-year-old Patrick Finnerty. He and his twin brother, Dominick and baby sister Dee live with their parents and their Nan, who has some sort of dementia. After Nan burns their house to the ground, the family moves to a rental on the sea shore. It is cold and blustery and the house is musty. Patrick is awakened the first night by a voice he thinks might be Dom's. It's not Dom, it's a "goblin boy" with eyes as black as coal. The two basically terrify each other but Patrick is convinced that goblin boy has it in for Dom. And he does.

The writing is not Americanized but easily figured out. It is also just lovely conveying not only a strong sense of setting but fleshed out characters. Patrick is terrified for Dom but also wants to protect his over-stressed parents. It doesn't help that both his baby sister and his Nan sense that Dom isn't Dom. The suspense ratchets up unbearably as the plot takes a few twists and turns. The pieces all fall into place in a satisfactory conclusion. 

This is a 2014 favorite.

Two Heist Novels from Scholastic

It's tough to pull off a great heist, be it in real life, in the movies or in a book. Careful plotting and unbearable suspense are required in all three, which is why I usually read heist books in one sitting and can't watch heist movies in theaters because I get jittery and have to move around. This past summer, Scholastic released two from authors whose work I have enjoyed.

Loot by Jude Watson. 266 p. Scholastic Press, June, 2014. 9780545468022. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Even though the book opens with the main character's father plunging to his death and real menace threatens him, his sister and two cohorts at every turn, the tone is almost flippant or jaunty. I was tempted to tag the book humorous. I guess that's due to March and his gang's bravado. They truly responded poorly to adult authority. The dialogue was often laugh-out-loud funny but the suspense and the mystery kept a certain level of tension that slowly ratcheted up. That, and the non-stop action keeps the reader riveted and turning the pages as fast as possible. There's a curse, nefarious adults, nightmares involving falling from a cliff, and a cliff. Irresistible.

March's dad's dying words were, "Find jewels." Leading March to believe that he needed to find, you know, jewels. After all, Alfie was a jewel thief of international stature. March rarely attended school what with all the need to leave a variety of countries quickly. He's shocked to learn that it isn't jewels he needs to find, but Jewels, the twin sister he never knew he had. And she's none to pleased to learn about him. Nor does she mince words about her feelings for their dad. It seems that when they were small, Alfie, his wife and another partner in crime stole some cursed moonstones. Alfie's wife drowned, the partner was nabbed and imprisoned and Alfie got away, only something terrible would happen to the twins before their thirteenth birthday.

The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson. 240 p. Scholastic Inc. May, 2014. 9780545525527. (Finished copy courtesy of publisher for review.)

Jackson Greene is the king of the con at his school. Only, this year, he's gone straight after executing a legendary con the previous spring. His principal knows he's the culprit but has no proof and it's just killing him. To say he's gunning for Jackson is an understatement.

Jackson may have to come out of retirement though. He gets wind that his arch-nemisis, Keith Sinclair, Mr. Sinclair and Principal Kelsey are conspiring to rig the student council election. Since his former, almost girlfriend, Gaby is running and has some great ideas, Jackson can't just stand by and do nothing. 

It's all a bit over-the-top but it's pure fun with memorable characters, whip-fast dialogue and plenty of hilarity. Sure to please most middle grade readers but definitely seek out those dreaded reluctant readers and offer this one.

I book talked both these titles on Friday and have a waiting list as long as my arm so I'll be purchasing more copies.

Friday Memes - Ghoulish Song by William Alexander

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader and Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice.

Ghoulish Song by William Alexander. 166 p. Margaret K. McElderry Books/ Simon & Schuster, April, 2014. 9781442427303.

Publisher synopsis: A brave girl flees a ghoul while trying to save her town in this lively, fast-paced companion to National Book Award winner Goblin Secrets.

Kaile lives in Zombay, an astonishing city where goblins walk the streets and witches work their charms and curses. Kaile wants to be a musician and is delighted when a goblin gives her a flute carved out of bone. But the flute’s single, mournful song has a dangerous consequence: It separates Kaile and her shadow. Anyone without a shadow is considered dead, and despite Kaile’s protests that she’s alive and breathing, her family forces her to leave so she can’t haunt their home.

Kaile and her shadow soon learn that the troublesome flute is tied to a terrifying ghoul made from the bones of those who drowned in the Zombay River. With the ghoul chasing her and the river threatening to flood, Kaile has an important role to play in keeping Zombay safe. Will Kaile and her shadow be able to learn the right tune in time?

Set in the delightful and dangerous world of Goblin Secrets, Ghoulish Song is a gripping adventure laced with humor and mystery from National Book Award–winning author William Alexander.

I was cataloging books yesterday. I can usually catalog a book pretty quickly if I have to but I had time, so I took some to read the first lines of each book that I cataloged. Ghoulish Song came in my Junior Library Guild subscription.This one definitely grabbed me. I didn't love Goblin Secrets. I liked it well enough but it didn't grab me as it apparently grabbed the National Book Award judges.

First Line: The last day of Kaile's life did not start well.

Page 56: She looked for her father in the market crowd. She didn't know what she would do if she saw him, or how she would feel. But she didn't have to find out, because she didn't notice anyone she knew-or at least no one she knew by name. A few familiar-looking faces passed through the crowd, but nobody here had attended her funeral.