It's Monday! What are you reading? 10-26-2020

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? Is a wonderful community of readers, teachers, and librarians. Hosted by Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers, participants share their reading adventures from the past week along with their reading plans for the week ahead.

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 read and loved:

What Grew in Larry's Garden by Laura Alary, illustrated by Kass Reich

This book had my heart. A little girl named Grace likes to help her neighbor Larry with his beautiful backyard garden and throughout their friendship, they find ways to problem-solve not only in the garden, but in the community as well.

This Old Dog by Martha Brockenbrough, illustrated by Gabriel Alborozo

A succinct, yet stunningly written and heartfelt book that reminds us all what a privilege it is to love an old dog.

Saturdays are for Stella by Candy Wellins, illustrated by Charlie Eve Ryan

George loves that he gets to spend every Saturday with his Grandma Stella. They do all sorts of fun (and sometimes not-so-fun) things together. Until one day Stella is no longer there to spend every Saturday with. And now George has decided to cross out all the Saturdays on his calendar. That is, until a new Stella enters his life. A story that is a testament to the beauty and heartbreak of the cyclical nature of life. The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballesteros It's really difficult to explain the emotional impact of this story without reading it for yourself. It manages to be lighthearted while also possessing a gravitas that is not overly didactic when it comes to how we should treat refugees and asylum seekers. This story is going to linger in my mind for a long time. Peanut Goes for the Gold by Jonathan Van Ness, illustrated by Gillian Reid Jonathan Van Ness, of Queer Eye fame, has created a lovely story about a guinea pig who identifies as nonbinary and marches to the beat of their own drum. This isn’t so much a teaching book as it is a book that seamlessly utilizes the singular they pronoun as a way to normalize it in speech and writing for kids and adults alike. There is no direct instruction here about what it means to use the singular they. it is just used in the story and is therefore normalized. I Talk Like a River by Jordan Scott, illustrated by Sydney Smith A moving poem about a boy with a stutter. The writing uses accessible figurative language to give the reader an opportunity to better understand what it means to live with a stutter. Currently (Still) Reading: I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph\ Currently (Still) Reading with My Ears: Parkland by Dave Cullen

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 10-19-20

 

It's Monday! What are you reading? Is a wonderful community of readers, teachers, and librarians. Hosted by Jen over at Teach Mentor Texts along with Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers, participants share their reading adventures from the past week along with their reading plans for the week ahead.

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.

I recently read and loved:

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

A moving account of one man's quest to right the wrongs of the unjustly imprisoned and sentenced to death. We Are Called to Be a Movement by William J. Barber II This book is a sermon given by Reverend William Barber at the National Cathedral in Washington DC. Reverend Barber is one of the foremost civil rights leaders of our country right now and deserves to be placed in the pantheon of other great civil rights leaders of past and present. His connection to social justice with scripture is masterful and his words give me hope. This sermon connects two verses of scripture one from the book of psalms and one from the gospel of Luke to show that the people that society shuns and rejects are the ones Jesus calls on to be a movement for change. So in rejecting the rejected, we are going against the teachings of Jesus and scripture. Resistance: A Songwriter's Story of Hope, Change, and Courage by Tori Amos Tori Amos became the defining musical artist of my adolescence and young adulthood. Reading this beautiful memoir took me back to many memories from that time. While I can’t say I generally understand all the words of her songs, the music still speaks more than the words. And while Tori’s artistic process is clearly not typical, bordering on avant-garde, her ability to articulate how art is political by its very existence is on full display in Resistance. The Lost Girl by Anne Ursu This beautiful story about how two twin sisters navigate the world in very different ways moved me so deeply. I’ve never read a middle grade novel where a main character was clearly an empath and for Anne Ursu to pair that with magical realism and feminist/girl power themes makes this one of my favorite middle grade novel I’ve read in a really long time. Lift by Minh Le, illustrated by Dan Santat Lovers of Journey by Aaron Becker will see many comparisons to Lift by Minh Le, a story about a little girl who recovers an old elevator button in the trash that whisks her away to new and wondrous places. Gnome by Fred Blunt A funny story that explains the “origin” of the garden gnome: rude gnomes get turned to stone by witches who then put the gnomes in their garden collection. Kevin the Unicorn: Why Can't We Be Bestie-corns? by Jessika von Innerebner A great book that illustrates to kids that you don’t have to be friends with everyone if you’re not compatible — it’s perfectly OK to just be friendly. Felix and the Monsters by Monica and Josh Holtsclaw I love how everything in this book is done subtly, whether it’s the political message that walls designed to keep people away are for tearing down or the humorous use of music, with the main character earnestly playing the keytar, Felix and the Monsters just begs to be read aloud to groups of kids of all ages. Girl on a Motorcycle by Amy Novesky, illustrated by Julie Morstad A beautiful book with stylish, moody illustrations that celebrates the beauty of travel and the reminder that the quote by Tolkien is true: not all who wander are lost. Southwest Sunrise by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Wendell Minor Jayden moves from New York City to New Mexico and is sure he’s going to hate it, especially all the beiges and lack of color in the desert. But slowly he comes to appreciate all colors he does find and eventually discovers the wonder of his new home.

Currently reading:

I Have Something to Tell You by Chasten Buttigieg

The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person by Frederick Joseph\

Currently Reading with My Ears:

Parkland by Dave Cullen