IMM (13)

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren.

I love my library.  Not only is it the largest single-branch library in the state of Michigan, but it also has a really awesome used book store. I go there a couple times a month to stock up on books for my classroom. I had a major book windfall this week.  I bought over 30 books for less than $10!

I'm not even going to list all of them because there are so many, but I was especially excited about this particular stack that I got:

These classics  haven't even been opened.  They are brand new.  And I got them at the used book store. Plus, with the fact that I was able to acquire a new copy of Huck Finn, I decided now was a good time to have that censorship discussion with the kids about how I trust them to read the book critically and realize that just because Mark Twain used those offensive words in the story, doesn't mean it's OK to use those words today.  One particular boy in my class raised his hand and asked quite a pointed question.  He wanted to know if Mark Twain was a racist or if he was just using the word to expose the racism.  What a profound question for a 6th grader to ask.  It shows that we do not put enough confidence in children to learn the right lessons from literature. 

Anyway, this is what I got in my mailbox this week with my Borders gift cards I got from students for Christmas:

A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
The Scorch Trials by James Dashner


Does My Head Look Big in This? by Randa Abdel-Fattah
The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Mercury by Hope Larson


I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to Be Your Class President by Josh Lieb


What did you get in your mailbox?