I’ve Returned

Sorry for my long hiatus.  Once I started teaching full time I seemed to lose any extra time to just read for pleasure.  And with it, the time to post about anything I’ve read.  But, I need to find more time for myself, and I am going to make a more concentrated effort to begin [...]

The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins

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The Hunger Games had been on my reserve list at the library for several weeks before it finally came.  It was worth the wait.  I would not classify myself as being a lover of sci-fi or fantasy, but I really liked this book.  In this book 24 teens are forced to compete to the [...]

Tears of A Tiger- Sharon Draper

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Written in 1994 Tears of A Tiger will still resonate with students now, 15 years later.  This story deals with the aftermath of a drunk driving accident that kills a high school student.  The relationships between friends, children and parents, teachers, and counselors are all discussed through transcripts of discussions, newspaper articles, diary entries, [...]

Jellicoe Road- Melina Marchetta

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This Printz winner took me a while to get into. I’d say I was a third, to half of the way into it before I really became intrigued, but then I didn’t put it down.  There are numerous interesting characters whom I loved, but at the same time had some difficulty keeping everything [...]

Updated Posts

I had completely forgotten that Sharon Draper is very good about having discussion guides and other resources available for teachers and librarians on her website for her books.  So I updated my three reviews of Draper books to include links to their respective resources.  Click on Draper under the categories on the left hand side [...]

Kit’s Wilderness- David Almond

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Kit’s Wilderness is a novel that is very realistic but includes fantastical elements.  Kit is a 13 year old boy whose family has recently moved back to the town in which is grandfather grew up.  Part of the story revolves around Kit’s grandfather’s declining health and mental state.  I identified with this aspect [...]

A Step From Heaven- An Na

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This book reminded me of Kira Kira, as they both tell stories of Asian immigrants in America.  I found this book a little hard to get into, perhaps because it doesn’t focus on one time in her life but rather goes from Kindergarten through beginning college.  The story follows a Korean girl from [...]

The Battle of Jericho- Sharon M. Draper

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I am a fan of Sharon Draper.  I love that her books are urban, but have subtle and not so subtle morals.  When I’ve used some of her other novels in class the students really identify with the characters.  She does it again with this book.  The characters are all easy to identify [...]

Room in the Heart- Sonia Levitin

Sonia Levitin creates a very realistic account of German occupied Denmark during World War II perhaps drawing on the fact that as a child she escaped Nazi Germany.  The story follows several characters, some Jewish, some not, and some Nazi sympathizers or soldiers themselves.  While a piece of historical fiction this book is also multi-genre- [...]

Tangerine- Edward Bloor

  Tangerine kept me interested for the entire novel.  Paul, the seventh grade protagonist, is an engaging character with whom I was able to empathize.  One of the story lines that kept me the most intrigued throughout the book was the mystery of how Paul’s eye sight was harmed.  There is just enough mystery and intrigue in [...]