Blog Tour/Giveaway: COUNTDOWN ZERO by Chris Rylander

Walden Pond Press is offering one signed copy of Chris Rylander's new book, Countdown Zero, the second book in he Codename Conspiracy trilogy, to readers of this blog.

Publisher Summary:

There are people in this world who live secret lives. There are people who fight the evil that lurks in the shadows so that the rest of us can live free from tyranny and fear. There are people—perhaps the person who is sitting across from you on the bus or waiting tables at your favorite restaurant—who put it all on the line for us, every day, whose names we’ll never know.

None of these people is Carson Fender.

At least, not since he was let go by the secret agency that enlisted his services to help foil a nefarious plot perpetrated by one of their former agents. Carson is back to hanging out with his friends, pulling pranks, and not having to lie to everyone about how he’s spending his days. And that’s for the best. Isn’t it?

Of course, this was all before a note showed up in his school lunch, informing him that Agent Nineteen has three days left to live, and that there might still be someone inside the Agency working against them. Carson has always been able to rely on his friends—but what happens when there’s no one left to trust?

About the Author:

 

Chris Rylander is the author of the Fourth Stall Saga and the Codename Conspiracy series.  A fan of brown shipping boxes turned on their sides, dance-offs to win a girl's heart, and rice, he lives in Chicago.  Find Chris on Twitter and his website. 

Terms of Giveaway:
Must be 13 or older to enter and have a U.S. mailing address
One winner will be selected
Use the Rafflecopter widget to enter
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to visit the other blogs in the blog tour:

Date		Blog Name	Blog URL
2/16/2015		The Book Monsters	http://thebookmonsters.com/
2/18/2015		Novel Novice	http://novelnovice.com/
2/20/2015		Mundie Kids	http://mundiekids.blogspot.com/
2/23/2015		The Flashlight Reader	http://www.theflashlightreader.com/
2/24/2015		A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust	http://www.foodiebibliophile.com/
2/25/2015		The Hiding Spot	http://thehidingspot.blogspot.com/
2/26/2015		Small Review	http://smallreview.blogspot.com/
2/27/2015		Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	http://insatiablereaders.blogspot.com/
3/2/2015		Buried in Books	http://wwwburiedinbooks.blogspot.com/
3/3/2015		KidLit Frenzy	http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/
3/4/2015		Paige in Training	https://pageintraining.wordpress.com/
3/5/2015		The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia	http://hauntedorchid.blogspot.com/
3/6/2015		Word Spelunker	http://wordspelunking.blogspot.com/
3/6/2015		This Kid Reviews Books	http://thiskidreviewsbooks.com/

It's Monday! What are you reading? 2-23-15

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.


Last week I reviewed:

I Was Here by Gayle Forman


I finished reading with my ears:

All Fall Down by Ally Carter
A pretty solid start to a fun new YA spy series. I'm looking forward to the next book.


Favorite picture books from last week:


The Case for Loving: The Fight for Interracial Marriage by  Selina Alko and Sean Qualls
A book many people will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the present day. An incredibly timely story. Which makes you wonder: how will history judge us based on the current fight for marriage equality? 

The House in the Night by  Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes
As I was reading I couldn't help but think how much the illustrations reminded me of Van Gogh's Starry Night, and wouldn't you know it... There was a place in the story where the bedroom in the house had Starry Night hanging on one of its walls.


Currently reading:

Read Between the Lines by Jo Knowles
I love how you have to "read between the lines" to understand the cover of this book. :) 


Currently reading with my ears:

The Swap by  Megan Shull


Other posts from last week:
A Ten Year Anniversary 
Last week marked the ten year anniversary of when my husband and I moved back home from Germany

From my teaching blog:
Write Beside Them
Students and social media: let's get our heads out of the sand
Finding inspiration in the classroom: Matching your passion to resources

I Was Here by Gayle Forman

It takes about three hours to pack the rest of her stuff. I pull out holey T-shirts and underwear because why do they need that? I throw away her stacks of music magazines, piled in a corner. I'm not sure what to do about her bedsheets because they still smell like her, and I have no idea if her sent will do to Sue what it's doing to me, which is making me remember Meg in such a real visceral way – Sleepovers and dance parties and those talks we would have until three in the morning that would make us feel lousy the next day because we'd slept like hell but also feel good because the talks were like blood transfusions, moments of realness and hope that were pinpricks of light in the dark fabric of small-town life.

I am tempted to inhale those sheets. If I do, maybe it will be enough to a race everything but you can only hold your breath for so long eventually, I'll have to exhale her and then it'll be like those mornings, when I wake up, forgetting before remembering.

Left to pick up the pieces of her best friend's suicide, Cody goes to pack up Meg's belongings that were away at college. While there, Cody discovers a side of Meg that she never really knew: one that she is now trying to uncover as she attempts to make sense of her death. As she gets to know Meg's roommates as well as the mysterious Ben McCallister who was Meg's former love interest, Cody is left to wonder how such a bright, vibrant young woman like Meg could possibly want to kill herself. But when Cody discovers an encrypted computer file on Meg's computer that she can't open, as well as months of deleted email correspondence that she can't recover, Cody now wonders if someone else had a hand in Meg's death.

I Was Here brings a new element into the writing of Gayle Forman: that of a mystery for the protagonist to solve. I will say though that I was not as emotionally invested in the characters in I Was Here as I was in If I Stay and Where She Went, which were Gayle Forman at her absolute best. If I started with I Was Here as my first foray into the work of Gayle Forman, I'm not sure I would be ask excited to pick up her other books. It's a solid story, don't get me wrong. It just didn't leave me feeling ALL THE THINGS the way IIS and WSW did.


I Was Here by Gayle Forman
Published: January 27, 2015
Publisher: Viking
Pages: 288 
Genre: Mystery
Audience: Young Adult
Disclosure: Finished review copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.  

A Ten Year Anniversary

Ten years ago on this very day, my husband and I got on a plane and moved back home. We had just spent the past three years living in Germany and traveling through Europe and now it was time to say goodbye.

At the time I was elated. I went through somewhat of a depression during this time. I was severely homesick and found it difficult to fully embrace the experience of living abroad.

I loved the travel though. Visiting so many different countries over the course of three years helped to open my eyes to the fact that I had been closed off to so many different ideas and learning experiences from living in my American bubble. It is why Wanderlust is a part of the theme of this blog. Because even though I wish I hadn't gone through that difficulty of being depressed and homesick, I also know that I would be a completely different person if I hadn't been granted the amazing opportunity of living and traveling in Europe. 

The world is such a beautiful and complex place. I seek the wisdom and opportunity to be able to see new places and learn from new people in order to understand it better. 

Ten years seems like such a long time ago. And also like no time at all.

It's Monday! What are you reading? 2-16-15

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

Last week I reviewed:
 
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley


Currently reading:

I Was Here by Gayle Forman
As much as I am enjoying this book, I will be glad when I'm done with it because every time I pick it up I get this song stuck in my head. 


Currently reading with my ears:

All Fall Down by Ally Carter
I'm really enjoying this book. It has a very Covert Affairs/Burn Notice/Bourne Identity/any-other-spy trope-you-can-think-of-but-with-YA-characters vibe to it. I've never really been a fan of Ally Carter's before but when she talked about the premise for this book at the Scholastic event at ALA Midwinter, I was incredibly intrigued. Given that Wanderlust is part of my blog title, I love that this book's setting is in a (made-up) country's embassy row. Very cool! 


Also last week on my teaching blog:
How should literacy learning be assessed? Have your voice heard in the conversation. 

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

In the early days of World War II, Ada and her younger brother Jamie live in London with their abusive mother. Ada receives particularly more brutal abuse than her brother because Mam is ashamed of her club foot and won't ever let Ada go outside. Mam makes Ada crawl around on the ground and punishes her by forcing her to sleep in a dank, dark cupboard filled with roaches and other filth.

When worries over London bombings by the Nazis start circulating, parents send their children away to safer areas of the country. Jamie of course is sent away, but once again their mother refuses to allow Ada to go. Ada, however, finds a way to sneak off and join Jamie while their mother is away at work.

Susan, the woman who is forced to take Ada and Jamie, lives in a beautiful house in the country and initially says she doesn't want the two neglected siblings. But even with her resistance, Susan shows them more kindness than their mother ever did. Slowly, as Ada begins to venture outside, ride horses, make friends, and even help watch out for German spies, she discovers the humanity that her mother denied to her as a result of her cruelty and shame.

Often when students are asked to read a historical fiction, they immediately recoil and shrink back in terror. If they don't say it outright, the looks on their faces are enough to hear their thoughts: "Please don't make me read this boring book!" The War That Saved My Life is a different breed of historical fiction, though. It's a page-turner. It's both a challenging and accessible read. But more importantly, it is a satisfying read. The abuse that Ada and her brother experience only happens in real-time for a very short part of the story. The remainder of the narrative involves Susan's attempts to repair these broken children. And so, readers feel the satisfaction of knowing that Ada and Jamie's lives are being vindicated.

I did have a couple issues with the novel, but they were petty in the overall scheme of how the novel made me feel as I was reading it. Still, I couldn't shake these two issues and so I will bring them up here:

1) Mam's treatment of her children was so cruel that it bordered on unbelievable. Her behavior felt more like that of a cartoon villain than a character in a serious historical fiction. Perhaps that was by design in order to make Ada and Jamie's experience living with Susan more satisfying, but it did feel a bit off-putting.

2) Ada begins the story completely illiterate and only later in the story does Susan begin teaching her to read. Her learning to read is not elaborated on much in the narrative -- it's really only on the periphery -- so the fact that this story is told by Ada in first person POV, who uses very sophisticated language, is a tad unbelievable. Perhaps if her literacy journey had been more on the forefront of the narrative, this might have made more sense, but as it was, by the end of the story, Ada still didn't know how to read and write that well.

Those are my nitpicky criticisms of the story because overall, I really enjoyed it and found myself staying up late to read it. Like Laurie Halse Anderson's Fever 1793 and Ruta Sepetys' Between Shades of Gray, I think this will be one of my go-to historical fiction novels I hand to students who don't like historical fiction.


The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Published: January 8, 2015
Publisher: Dial
Pages: 316
Genre: Historical Fiction
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Review copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.  

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole - what the heck is up with that ending?

Since Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen is a book that totally perplexed me, and given that it just won a Caldecott honor, I decided to read it to my 8th graders this week. This is a book that spurred much discussion and perplexity in my classroom. I was delighted at the thinking and questioning it sparked.

In addition to reading the story as a class, my students read about some of Travis Jonker's theories (they particularly liked the Jesus theory) and came up with some of their own, my favorite being that the book starts at Dave's house and ends at Sam's house. When I told Travis about this theory on Facebook, it led to quite a spirited discussion by teachers, librarians authors, and the like, particularly the idea of whether or not Sam and Dave were brothers or cousins (there's a line in the story that mentions their grandfather, meaning they shared a grandparent). If they were cousins, then beginning at one house and ending at another would be plausible, but not so much if they were brothers.

My students asked if I would tweet Jon and Mac to ask them what they think happens at the end of the story. I doubt very much that they would reveal that information, and even if they would, I don't know if I want the answer. The whole reason people love this book is because it spurs so much discussion. So as tempting as it is to tweet Jon and Mac and ask, "So what is your take on what happened at the end of your crazy book?" I think I will pass. Then again, they do give a little clue as to what they think happens at the end in this interview:

Still, I think I'm just going to embrace the uncertainty and let this story spontaneously insert itself into class discussions for the rest of the year. For instance, "Well, what about Sam and Dave Dig a Hole? That book doesn't have a denouement." (Denouement is their new favorite word to use in class discussions).

For those people who don't think picture books should be read to students past 3rd grade, I have just added another book to the pile that cements my argument as to why they are for ALL AGES, not just primary grades. This book is full of complexity and makes a case for the importance of visual literacy (Explain the reasoning behind wanting to show a full spread of the house, the pets, and the tree without Sam and Dave at the end of the book. What is this trying to tell us here?). I have to admit, I missed a lot of the visual cues I was supposed to notice my first (and second!) read-throughs. It was only until students began to point them out that I started to make those connections. So again, please, I beg of you, do not assume that because a book is only 32 pages and has pictures that it is overly simplistic. I can assure you, there are many picture books that can teach literary elements just as well, if not better, than novels.




Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
Published: October 14, 2014
Publisher: Candlewick
Pages: 40
Genre: Picture Book
Audience: EVERYONE! :D
Disclosure: Library Copy

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound.  

It's Monday! What are you reading? 2-9-15

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.


Last week was an amazing week. I returned home from the ALA Youth Media Awards, which was one of the most memorable book events I ever attended, probably only second to the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet in 2012. For a breakdown of my favorite award winners, check out this blog post, and for my Slice(s) of Life post from ALA Midwinter, check out my teaching blog.


Also on my teaching blog lost week:
Celebrate Book Love


Last week I finished reading:

Lowriders in Space by Cathy Camper, illustrated by Raul the Third
A strange but intriguing middle grade graphic novel


Speaking of intriguing, these were the most intriguing picture books I read last week:


Ella by Mallory Kasdan, illustrated by Marcos Chin
This book is a parody of the Eloise trope -- bringing her into the 2010s, if you will. Ella has a manny and spends a lot of time observing the hipsters at the Local Hotel where she lives. Not really a picture book for kids, but could be a good text to study when discussing/writing parody. 

Snoozefest by Samantha Berger, illustrated by  Kristyna Litten
Sloths know how to par-tay! It's like the Coachella for nappers. 


Still Reading:

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 
I'm really enjoying this book, but there is one thing about it that's kind of bothering me that I hope will resolve itself by the end. I'll just leave it at that for now. 


Still reading with my ears:

Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth 
I've been enjoying the narrator, but the longer this book goes on, the more I think his expression is a bit over the top. Dynamic expression is one thing, but too much and you're just overacting. He's kind of straddling that line right now. 

ALA Youth Media Awards 2015: My Heart is So Full

Last night I returned home from the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting. The past few years I have watched the live webcast of the Youth Media Awards, but when I found out that this year's Midwinter would be in Chicago, a mere 4 hour drive from my house, I knew that I had to attend. Even watching the webcast the past two years, I could feel the energy and excitement in the room when the awards were announced, and wanted to feel that for myself.

This year I felt it in spades. Screams, shrieks, tears, and standing ovations were the order of the day. The outcry for more diversity in children's publishing earlier this year with #WeNeedDiverseBooks felt like a call to action, and I'm happy to see that the award committees this year responded.

I was elated that I had read so many of this year's award-winners and so I wanted to share a few of my reactions and thoughts, starting with the Coretta Scott King Award.


Jason Reynolds' debut novel, When I Was the Greatest, won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent and it most certainly felt like a coronation. With the passing of Walter Dean Myers last summer, one gets the sense that Reynolds just became Myers' heir apparent. I have talked, written, and fangirled over this book many times in the past few weeks. I am happy to see that publishers are finally recognizing the need to publish books like this one that show positive, counter-narrative portrayals of contemporary African American teens. I would have loved to see When I Was the Greatest also win a Schneider Family Book Award due to the fact that one of the major characters, Needles, has Tourette Syndrome and is not treated any differently (other than by his brother) because of it, but I'm elated that it was recognized by the CSK committee.

Christopher Myers won the CSK illustrator award for Firebird, written my Misty Copeland. I agree whole-heartedly with this selection. Books often make me emotional, but very rarely do I begin to tear up on page one of a picture book. That is, until I read Firebird. It wasn't just the words that moved me, but seeing them paired with Christopher Myers' emotional, sweeping illustrations that made it a perfect storm of "ways to make Beth cry." 

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon won a CSK author honor and it is one of the most timely books to hit store shelves in 2014. When a black teen gets shot by a white man, accounts of "how it went down" are so disparate and divisive that it's no wonder the "real" truth is never revealed by the end of the novel. This is a book that will elicit much-needed dialogue and will challenge our own prejudices. 


Some thoughts on the Printz Award/Honors
 
I didn't actually read the winner of the Printz Award, I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson, but with all the buzz I've been hearing about it leading up to it being announced as the winner, I'm definitely looking forward to reading it now. 

I was elated that Andrew Smith's Grasshopper Jungle won a Printz Honor. This is one of the most innovative, groundbreaking, totally WTF book I have ever read. So much so that I didn't even bother to review it because I didn't think I could fully summarize the book's premise and my feelings about it. So I've spent a great deal of time since I read it in March quoting what other people have said about it. So to quote what Paula Willey wrote yesterday from her blog, Unadulterated:  

I am glad that this Printz Committee understood that you can be Serious Enough and also Funny As Balls. On Facebook, Andrew Smith posted the news about receiving a Printz Honor for Grasshopper Jungle by saying, "finally I get a sticker that isn't a warning." 

As far as This One Summer goes, I didn't actually care for it as a story, but I loved the artwork in this graphic novel. Even though I didn't love the book, I can see why the Printz committee gave it an honor. It's a book that leaves readers scratching their heads as to what it's really about and has kind of been on people's radars, but not so much that everyone has been buzzing about it. I think the Printz committee likes picking those kinds of books.

Which leads me to the Caldecott...

 

OK, so the Caldecott committee picked SIX honor books this year, which is almost unheard of -- and I am proud to say I read each and every one of the books that were honored and awarded. But notice the first book listed here is also a PRINTZ honor. Again I say, I did not love this story, but what I DO love is that it won a flipping Printz and Caldecott honor. What does that say about what we are considering distinguished illustration for CHILDREN? I have a feeling we're going to start seeing this book on some school and library banned book lists because parents are going to assume that since it's a Caldecott honor that it's OK for young children to read. This coming-of-age story is definitely intended for more mature readers. 

Viva Frida was on my list of hopes and wishes for the Caldecott. It won a Pura Belpre illustrator award, which I was fairly certain it would, but I was REALLY hoping the Caldecott committee would add some diversity to their roster and let Yuyi Morales walk away with the medal. An honor, however, ain't too shabby. 

When The Adventures of Beekle was announced as the winner of the Caldecott medal, I shrieked joyously and then began to cry. Dan Santat's beautiful story of an imaginary friend waiting to find his person captures the vivid imagination and innocence of childhood. Beekle, along with Viva Frida were two picks from my recent hopes and wishes post for the ALA Youth Media Awards. Oh, and if The Adventures of Beekle winning a Caldecott weren't already emotional enough, I dare you not to cry when you see this video of Dan Santat's son and the first time he heard him say Beekle. 


And finally the Newbery...

It had already been an emotionally stirring, diversity-filled morning of award announcements. The Newbery committee now had a lot of pressure to get it right. Would they heed the call of more diversity in children's literature, or would it be business as usual? 

Then it was announced that there were only TWO Newbery honors this year. A murmur of disappointment pervaded the vast ballroom. And then the first honor book that was announced was El Deafo. A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor.

A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor. 

Let that sink in for a minute. 

A graphic novel just won a Newbery honor. 

I can't stop thinking about what a BIG DEAL this is. All those parents and teachers who have told their children and students that comics are bad and they aren't real reading, they can't say that anymore. This is a historic moment for the Newbery Award and for children's literature. You knew it by the fact that this book got the loudest, most raucous reaction from the crowd. People were shocked and overjoyed.

The next book to be announced as a Newbery honor was Brown Girl Dreaming. This was the book that was expected to win. And it didn't. And now the Newbery committee was probably going to pick some boring historical fiction with zero kid-appeal written by a white person. It was going to be business as usual. 

And then...

those glorious words...

"And now the winner of the John Newbery medal for this year's most distinguished contribution to American literature for children is..."

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

More screams
More tears
More hugs
Diversity wins

Even though there were only two honor books this year, the Newbery committee absolutely go it right. In recent years many had feared that the Newbery had lost its way. But the shirts the committee wore into the ceremony yesterday said "trust the process." It had been difficult for readers to do that for quite a few years. But now readers can begin to gain their confidence back. 

Kudos to you ALA award committees. You absolutely got it right. My heart is so full. 

You might have noticed that the book I had been hoping and praying would win the Newbery in fact did not win so much as an honor (it did, however, win an Odyssey honor). While my heart is a bit sad by this because I think had A Snicker of Magic been published in any other year prior to 2014, it would have likely won, it was time to answer the call for more diversity -- and not just for diversity's sake, but also because these three books as well as the diverse books selected by the other award committees ARE worthy of being called distinguished. They are loved and will be loved by children for decades to come. And now we can start to make sure that children of many different backgrounds begin to see themselves reflected in these awards. So award committees of 2016, you are on notice. Let's make sure that diversity CONTINUES to be represented in these awards every year and not just because #WeNeedDiverseBooks brought it to fever pitch in 2014. Let's make sure the 2015 award season doesn't go down in history of the one and only year of diversity in children's literature awards.

It's Monday! What are you reading? 2-2-15

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

My Monday posts are generally just a highlight of what I've been reading during the week so if you'd like to see all that I've been reading, follow my Goodreads page.

Happy ALA Youth Media Awards Day! I am so excited because on this very day, I will be in Chicago in the very room where the Youth Media Awards will be announced. I can't wait! On Friday I posted my hopes and wishes for the awards this year so we'll see if any of them come true.

Last week I finished reading with my ears:
 
Positive: A Memoir by Paige Rawl    
A page-turning book that I couldn't put down (or couldn't stop listening to as it were). Paige Rawl's experience with bullying in middle school because of her HIV Positive status is heart-wrenching. I couldn't help agonize over how the adults in her life wronged her so so profoundly.  


Favorite picture book from last week:
 
 Zombie in Love 2+1 by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Scott Campbell
Strange but also funny and endearing. Not something I'd usually think to describe a book about zombies.


Still Reading:

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley 


Currently reading with my ears:

Kinda Like Brothers by Coe Booth