Road Trip Reading Challenge: Wisconsin, A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard

I finished my first book of the year this morning. I am going to check it off my Road Trip Reading Challenge list for Wisconsin.

A Theory of Relativity by Jacquelyn Mitchard

A friend hd given me the book and I didn't realize until I picked it up to start reading last night that it is by the same author that wrote Deep End of The Ocean, one of the few books I re-read when the mood strikes.

This book is deep... like Jodi Picoult deep. The root of the story is adoption and what that truly means. ***SPOLIER ALERT***
When Gordon's sister and her husband die leaving behind their infant daughter, it is automatically assumed that, as the will suggests, Gordon will adopt and raise sweet Keefer. At the funeral Gordon is informed by an acquaintance that the will is being being challenged by Keefer's paternal grandparents. Unknown to Gordon and his side of the family, Georgia and Ray, Keefer's parents, had an appointment with a lawyer to draw up a new will. The battle begins over young Keefer. This battle isn't just over a little girl.. it is a look into the laws which seem to state that blood relatives have a greater legal right than adopted relatives. I haven't done a great job explaining this book but it is a good read which makes the reader examine his/her underlying thoughts on "relativity".

My rating: 3 stars

2015 -- the year of the book

It has once again been 2 years since I have visited this blog. I'm not really sure why I tend to crave writing and then detest writing.  One constant in my life has been books.. well written books, poorly written books, life changing books, time wasted books.. I have decided to participate in 3 reading challenges this year to broaden my reading. I decided I wanted to record those challenges here. Feel free to tag along in my exploration of books...

The Main Challenge: Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

This is the first challenge that I decided I would complete in 2015. I have been searching for just the right book for each task. The tasks are as follows: 

A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25

A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65

A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)

A book published by an indie press

A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ

A book by a person whose gender is different from your own

A book that takes place in Asia

A book by an author from Africa

A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans,Aboriginals, etc.)

A microhistory

A YA novel

A sci-fi novel

A romance novel

A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade

A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)

An audiobook

A collection of poetry

A book that someone else has recommended to you

A book that was originally published in another language

A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind (Hi, have you metPanels?)

A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)

A book published before 1850

A book published this year

A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)

Definitely a challenge, eh?

The second challenge I found was The Road Trip Reading Challenge by She's Got Books on Her Mind.

 

For some reason I have always loved all things "road trip" and this challenge allows me to read books set in all 50 states.  EXCITED! 

The third challenge is the easiest I think. PopSugar's Ultimate Reading Challenge. 

Let the reading begin! 

Cupcake Diaries Series

          

While shopping with another third grade student (Hi CG!) and his mom at Books-a-Million, I found these books (buy 2 get the 3rd 50% off). I have purchased a lot of "boy" oriented books recently because I am  trying to force encourage those male reluctant readers to fall in love with reading but I haven't purchased any new "girl" oriented books lately. Cupcakes are such a trendy item and the cover was cute.. so I bought them. Two students have read them so far (Hi HH and PW!). Both gave them rave reviews so I brought the first one home.  

Katie and the Cupcake Cure is about transitioning to middle school. Katie's best friend makes new friends. While Katie is sad about all the changes she, too, makes new friends and comes out smiling. A fast, friendly realistic fiction read that I think most 3rd grade girls will love. 

Side note: I do have a boy who asked if he could read these books when I finished (Hi NB!).  I'll let you know his take on it after he reads the first one. NB has read all of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, all of the Captain Underpants books, The Amulet series, and the Bone series... we'll see what he thinks about girls, middle school, and cupcakes! :-) 

My rating: 5 stars

AR ATOS book level: 3.8
AR points: 3

The rating system:

• grab it as soon as possible --- 5 stars
• grab it today --- 4 stars
• grab it tomorrow --- 3 stars
• grab it this weekend --- 2 stars
• pick it up next time you're out --- 1 stars

I won't even blog about books I don't like at least a little!

Stolen into Slavery, The True Story of Solomon Northup, Free Black Man

Wow! That is the first thing I have to say about this book. This is a book that one of my third graders (Hi IGK!) chose from a Scholastic book order when she redeemed her prize for AR points. I was a little worried when she chose it that it might not interest her but she has a love for history and she read it immediately. One day in class I eavesdropped (teachers have to do that sometimes because when kiddos realize we are listening their conversations change! :-) ) on a conversation between IGK and her friend HH. IGK was telling HH all about the book and both girls were intensely involved in the conversation (THERE IS NOTHING BETTER FOR A TEACHER TO HEAR!!!!).  I knew that eventually I needed to read this book. Soon after IGK told me that I needed to read the book and offered to let me borrow it (after her Dad read it). IGK brought me the book yesterday. I started reading it while the kiddos were doing an independent writing assignment. (I think it is important for kids to see their teachers and parents read!). I read about 10 pages and was hooked. Thanks IGK for the recommendation!

This is the true story of Solomon Northup, a free black man, who lived in New York.  Solomon was befriended by two white men who offered him work and then kidnapped him and sold him into slavery. (Am I the only person who didn't know this happened?!) This book tells Solomon's story and truly allows the reader to have a better understanding of America in the mid-1800s.

There is one slight problem with this book for third graders. It mentions the word sex, just that.. no details.. it just states that a slave owner wanted to have sex with one of his slaves. UGH!!! A great book possibly ruined for third grade usage! Now, I have a problem (IGK's mom sent me a message warning me of the word.).  HH has searched high and low for a copy of this book to read! IGK made a sign up sheet yesterday for people to borrow her book! What to do, what to do?!  My solution: I am going to read this book aloud for a social studies unit and leave out the 2 or 3 sentences that are inappropriate for a third grade.

Great book, great authors!
My rating: 5 stars


AR ATOS book level: 7.1
AR points: 4

The rating system:

• grab it as soon as possible --- 5 stars
• grab it today --- 4 stars
• grab it tomorrow --- 3 stars
• grab it this weekend --- 2 stars
• pick it up next time you're out --- 1 stars

I won't even blog about books I don't like at least a little!

Revisiting the Past

I cannot believe it has been over three years since I have posted to this blog.  I cannot even begin to imagine how many books I have read in the last three years that you, faithful reader, have missed out on hearing about :-)

Life, as it does, has changed quite a bit in the past three years. I am now a third grade teacher. I am also a Math Core Coach for the State of Tennessee. Even though reading is my first love, math is quickly becoming my second.

Next week my third grade class will be celebrating Read Across America week. We have set a goal with our partnering 3rd grade class to pass over 480 AR tests during the week. (Thirty four students in 2 classes -- whew, nice goal!)  In turn we challenged our 1st/2nd Multiage friends to pass 275 AR tests. (Thirty-two students, including 2 non-readers -- yikes!) The students are super excited and ready to read! The library was overrun Friday afternoon as everyone rushed to check out 2 AR books to read this weekend so they would be ready to test first thing Monday morning!

This weekend I am reading some new to me books in order to make recommendations to them. Reading the books made me think about this blog and tada! Here I am. I hope you enjoy!

The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives (book one)

As a 1st/2nd grade teacher I frequently read children's books to see if I can recommend them to my class. The Sisters Grimm: The Fairy-Tale Detectives by Michael Buckley is definitely a winner!

This year my class has been doing a fairy tale unit -- reliving the old tales: Pinocchio, Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, etc. (You wouldn't believe the number of children who have never been exposed to classic fairy tales... ahh but that is a rant for another day!) This chapter book seems like the perfect follow up.

Daphene and Sabrina Grimm have been abandoned by their parents. They have floated from foster home to orphanage back to foster home until finally their evil case manager takes them to Ferryport Landing so they can live with their grandmother. The only problem is... their parents told them there grandmother was dead. Granny Grimm is a strange but jolly lady. She explains to the girls that their great-great-great-great-(can't remember how many greats)grandfather was one of the original Brothers Grimm. The girls excitedly exclaim that they have read their "stories". Granny Grimm tells the girls that they aren't make-believe stories but history, preserved forever, by the Brothers Grimm.

The reader meets many famous(and a few obscure) fairy tale friends (and foes) in this delightful book.
My recommendation: grab it as soon as possible if you have kids 7 years old - 11 years old (perfect read-aloud material or independent material for a reader on 5th grade level+)

revolve 2010: the complete new testament

What an awesome magazine-ish book for me to review from the publishers of Thomas-Nelson. Revolve comes in a magazine format but has the content of a book. I have purchased Revolve in the past for my 13 year old daughter. It is difficult to find appropriate "magazines" for teenagers that don't involve gossip, virtually impossible to look like models, and stories involving sex and/or drugs. Revolve is the anti-thesis of the current teen mags available on the stands today and THIS Revolve is even cooler than the last I bought. The New Testament located in the magazine is in the New Century Version. This magazine uses this translation to make the Bible more readable to teens (and adults) so that they are more likely to read it AND apply it to everyday life.

Features of the magazine that I especially liked:
**The overall look -- similar in layout and design to a secular teen mag (obviously this is a positive since teens buy secular magazines frequently)

**The blurbs included on the pages with scripture -- for example on page 99 and 100 there is the NCV Bible story of Jesus and a Samaritan Woman at the well. Also on page 100 is a "blurb" called Samaritan Suburbia which tells the "story" of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well instead of just sticking to the NCV's verse by verse translation.

** Christian artists and authors are included in the magazine showing our teens that Christianity isn't something you need to hide or be ashamed of.

** Text versions of scripture -- LOL if my teen is going to continue to text 24/7 then I would love to see her texting her friends with Bible verses like this one found in revolve2010:
I l%K ^ 2 d hills, bt whr dz my hlp cum frm? My hlp cums frm d Lord, hu md heaven & erth//ps.121:1



**I received this magazine free from Thomas Nelson in exchange for my blogger review. I am under no obligation to provide a positive review.