Reading Log

Fiction

All Rise For the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor

Perry Cook is in an unique situation. He lives at the town prison, where his mom is an inmate. He was adopted by the Warden so that he and his mom can stay together. There is a new Attorney General in town who is not pleased with the situation and Perry is removed from the prison and stay with the Attorney General. This caused Perry to find out the truth about what cause his mom to be in prison and he works to figure how he can get her out and they can live together.
With the help of his best friend and the school librarian Perry works the justice system. Students will be fascinated by the dynamics of this story and brought into a world that is either unknown or some readers may resonate with the novel.

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan

This page turning novel exposes the reader to multiple cultures, customs and religions all while introducing characters that are relatable and current to events happening in today's world. Amina is a seventh grader who is also Muslim and her family is from Pakistan. Her best friend is Soojin and her family is Chines-American. Amina struggles navigating the changing friendship dynamic, between her best friend wants to change her name once she becomes an american citizen and Emily. Meanwhile Amina's uncle visits from Pakistan and his customs and beliefs have Amina questioning pursuing her passion and love for singing. As if things could not get any worse Mosque, where their community worships is vandalized and destroyed. It in this tragedy where friends, cultures and religions come together and heal.
Hena Khan does an amazing job bringing this story to life. Readers are taken inside the world of may cultures and how they must adapt to life in America, while trying to hold on to their own customs and beliefs. She also highlight the growing pains that come with middle school, as the reader will join Amina on her journey of holding on to old friendships all while creating new ones.


   

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
I must start this entry by admitting my bias to the author. I loved One Crazy Summer. Clayton Byrd is young boy who is captivated by the blues, thanks to his grandfather Cool Papa and his band The Bluesmen. Clayton hangs with his Cool Papa all the time playing the blues. One night Cool Papa puts Clayton to bed, reads him a story and Clayton drifts asleep. When Clayton wakes up he discovers a deceased Cool Papa. His mother's disapproval and pass issues with her own father (Cool Papa) makes his it hard for Clayton to say goodbye and to carry on with the blues on his blues harp, Clayton comes up with a plan. Clayton is determined to play one more time with Bluesmen at their usual spot in Washington square.
This book had so many complex issues and themes. Thought the main character Clayton is not quite a teenager I have seen the booked cataloged as YA and I would attribute to that the mature themes Rita Garcia covers in this book. The beginning of the book deals with loss and mourning with the passing of Clayton's grandfather. There is also some resentment between Cool Papa and Clayton's mother. Cool Papa wasn't the best parent. Clayton deals with teasing from classmates, because he cannot stay awake during reading time. The ultimate theme is the need for closure and acceptance, hence the reason Clayton goes "underground"
I lastly want to speak of the lovely writing of Rita Williams-Garcia. She is a descriptive and detail writer, that pulls the reader right into setting, emotions and relation.

First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez

Malu is a twelve year old, who life is uprooted as she leaves her dad to join her mom in Chicago for two years. Malu is not the beaitful senorita her mom hopes she will. Instead she wears ripped jeans, old converses and loves punk music. It is because this she feels a huge disconnect from her culture, but it is the temporary move to Chicago that allows Malu to find who she is and connect with her culture.
This is a coming of age story. Malu must navigate being the new kid on the block, finding good friends, ( Benny, Ellie and Joe), avoiding the mean girls ( Selena) and finding who she is with help from Ms. Hidalgo. Malu finds the thing she thought was the worse thing in the world turns out to be the best thing that could have happened to her.

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

The timing could not have been more perfect for Angie Thomas' debut novel the Hate You Give. Starr Carter is caught between two worlds. She attends a private suburban high school and has friends and friendships there. She also has friends and friendships in her own neighborhood. In the past she tried to mix the two, but discovered the two world don't mix. One night Starr decide to attend a high party with her best friend, and that night will change her life forever. Starr becomes a witness to the brutal killing of her best friend Khalil, who is shot dead by a police officer. From that moment on Starr's world is turned upside down and navigating her two worlds become impossibel.
This novel sheds light on the strain relationship between Black people and the police. Angie Thomas does an amazing job telling the everyday story for many families and communities.




Non Fiction

Girling Up: How to be Strong, Smart and Spectacular by Mayim Bailik

Boy do I wish this book was around when I was in high school. Mayim Bialik celebrates girls and provides scientific insight on the hows and why of our complicated bodies and emotions. Reading this book as an adult woman I laughed consistently because reflected on moments in my life that were confusing and awkward for me as a teen because I did not understand myself. I immediately order two copies for my nieces and told my sister to thank me later. 
Readers will identify with Mayim as she is also a star on the popular hit show the Big Bang Theory. Her advice is timeless and who would know better as she juggled it all while being a child star on the hit show blossom. One may have to provide students with historical content, but trust me teens won't be able to put this one down!

 

The Playbook: 52 rules to aim, shoot and score in this game called life  by Kwame Alexander
Kwame Alexander chronicles his young adult life and trickles in some famous and inspirational athletes to give great advice about one trying their best and not giving up. Through these stories he creates a list of rules and tells stories of inspiring athletes in some of the chapters or he simply shares inspiration quotes. He shares stories and quotes from Michael Jordan, Jackie Joyner Kersee, Lebron James and Stephen Curry; just to name a few. My favorite part of the book is the personal story Kwame Alexander shares about himself. In high school he was prepared to be a star basketball player. However, life did not allow that because he simply did not have the passion. He did find his passion; tennis. He was good at tennis, defeat made him work harder and he had huge motivation to persist.
This Young Adult book was a fast read and I would deem it a book that my students can always returns to. i find my students are pulled in by the bright orange on the pages and then they read it and they are truly inspired.

Vincent and Theo; The Van Gogh Brothers by Deborah Heiligman

In this non fiction novel Deborah Heiligman highlights the relationship between the brothers Vincent and Theo. She provides deep insight into their friendship, their love and support for each other. Their lovely relationship was full of support and sharing. We are brought into Vincent's struggle to find his own life path, but through it all Theo was there.
This a great biography that is told gently and does not solely focus on accolades, but really speaks of the kind of people they were and the love they had for each other.







Free Verse

Booked by Kwame Alexander
Booked is the follow up free verse novel to Kwame Alexander's Newbery Award Winning novel  "Crossover". Nick is a middle school kid who loves soccer. His life is turned upside down when his parents inform him that they are getting a divorce. Nick stays with his dad while his mom moves away to work with horses. Nick's dad makes him read and learn the dictionary and threatens to take away the one thing he loves; the game of soccer. Nick must learn words, deal with bullies and figure out how to deal with his attraction to Ana.
Although this free verse novel does not measure up to Crossover, I can guarantee kids won't want to put this book down, especially kids who love soccer. Kwame Alexander's play on words come across as perfection. He uses Nick's knowledge of words to introduce readers to words and expressions they may not have ever used or known existed. The footnotes define the words at the bottom of the page, which is helpful for kids and a great curriculum addition for teachers.



Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Award winning writer Jacqueline Woodson tells her childhood story in free verse. The descriptive writing style bring us down south where we can visualize and feel the story she tells of being a child in the 60s and 70s era where racism, segregation and Jim Crow laws gave white free reign and limited blacks.
Free verse was the perfect style for telling such an important story. Readers will be captivated, intrigued and will ultimately learn so much about a time of struggle and yet strength and triumphant as African Americans fought for justice and equality. Even though the novel is in a historical settings I am sure readers will make connections to today's society.








Book That Address Diversity

March Book One & Book Two by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
March Book One and Two captivate the journey of John Lewis' life. He cam from the south; poverty, lack of education, racism and segregation. He knew that he wanted a different life. In the first book we learn about Lewis' early life as a child. He preached to the chickens, had to sneak out of his house to attend school, and went on a trip with his uncle that would change his life. March Book Tw really highlights his role in the civil rights movement. The work he did with the Freedom Riders and how he too gave a speech on the day they marched to Washington with Dr. King.
This graphic novel trilogy does a great job of highlighting the fight African American faced as they worked to desegregate, counter restaurants, movie theaters and buses. Additionally Lewis highlights heroes of the movement that are not as well known in present day like Martin Luther King Jr. The timing of this book could not have been any better, because here in America African Americas, Hispanics, Women and the gay communities are still fighting for Civil Rights. This book serves as a true testament and an inspiration.

Cinder by Marissa Meyers

Cinder is the first book in a six book series. Marissa Meyer creates a dystopian approach on the classic fairy tale Cinderella. The main character Cinder is the solution to the problem that is about to destroy all worlds, but no one realizes it because she is a cyborg; the lowest in the class system. Her life is change when she encounters the prince and she becomes torn between the two social worlds.
This book addresses an area of diversity the is least likely to be discussed and that is the diversity of socioeconomic statuses. Readers will sympathize with Cinder and the choices she is forced make. The author reignites the love we all have the classic story of Cinderella and what the story looks like in the far future.







Banned Books

The Absolutely True Diary of  a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Part Tim Indian shares the diary of Arnold Spirit, who lives on a reservation with his parents, sister
and grandmother. Arnold is a true teenage boy in all it's essence. He is starting high school, is dealing with sexual hormones and navigating his place on the social totem pole, which is very low on the "rez" Things change for Arnold when he makes the decision to attend the predominantly all white high school Rearden, which is 20 miles away from his home. This decision upsets his best friend Rowdy and all the other members of the tribe living on the reservation.
Arnold realized rather quickly that life and the rules were different at the high school he attended then then on the reservation. Arnold brings us into his freshman year high school that was filled with loss, death, love, conflict, tragedies and learning.
  





Go Ask Alice by Anonymous 

This is a roller coaster novel that teens won't want to put down. However, the reality and the possibility of it happening to anyone will leave teens aware. From the moment "Alice" is offered a drink that contains LSD at a party her life spirals out of control rapidly. She ends up out on the streets addicted and exposed to sex, drugs and violence. She does live to triumphant over it all, but readers are left with this sad story. I remember reading the book in one sitting as a girl too young to understand it all, but it the compelling story scared me enough to never leave a drink unattended or accept a drink from a stranger.










Game

Minecraft
The cool thing about Minecraft is that it appears to be a game for all ages. My eight year old son loves it as much as my fifteen year old nephew. I recently saw a flyer for Minecraft in the library and the program was targeting kids ages 11-16 years old. Mincraft is a virtual place where players can build and create buildings, lands and cities. Each level opens another opportunity for users to create. Minecraft falls under the idea of Augmented Reality where teens are using their imagination even though it may not be considered actual play.


Educational/ Interactive Websites

https://animoto.com/
Animoto is a cool website for students to create fun videos. Students in the Middle and Upper School often use the website to create final products and projects. It allows students to be creative and add originality to otherwise bland or boring presentations. With an east three step process students can work independently and collaborative.

https://www.teenreads.com/
TeensRead is a great website to encourage teens to read. Teens can contribute with their own reviews, which is a great to allow teen voices. Teens can look at recommendations and reviews from their peers, which had a greater influence on teens reading when they hear about a great book from a friend or peer. Teen Reads also has tons of book lists and can keep teens up to date with new releases YA. Ultimately teens can track trending titles and new releases from their favorite authors.


App

Recommended by commonsensemedia.org for kids ages 18-17, Evernote is an app that allows students to take notes and organize their thoughts. Notes can include, images, sounds and links. Students can organize by subject matter and add to their notes on any device; phones, ipads, ipods and laptops.




Audio Book

Wishtree by Katherine Applegate 

It is no surprise to find the main character in this tween novel is Red an actual tree. Red has become the neighborhood wish tree. Kids in the neighborhood write their wishes on it. The tree is also home to some animals. Red is happy in the environment, until a new family moves into the neighborhood and might uproot everything that is important to the neighborhood.
Katherine Applegate is an award winning writer. Her descriptive and fast paste storytelling style will keep readers turning the pages, dying to know the fate of Red.










Ebook

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
A disease that forces a teen girl to stay in her house, with very little contact. Until one day a new family moves in and the boy next door ignites the curiosity of the sick teen. She instantly falls in love Olly, but how far will show go and how much of her health is she willing to risk.
The award winning Nicola Yoon takes her readers on a journey and teens won't be able to put this novel down. A great suggestions for YA readers and a little incentive would be to have teens or students compare the novel to the movie.