What I'm Reading: Our Only May Amelia & Hour of the Bees

I've been reading some great books lately! Here are two that I think everyone should read.

I regret that I missed out on reading Our Only May Amelia by Jennifer L. Holm for so many years. I think I have a prejudice against what looks like historical fiction. I have no idea why because I have enjoyed many (Fever 1793, and The Mighty Miss Malone come to mind). But, for some reason I haven't read many of Jennifer Holm's fiction books, just all her graphic novels. I only began reading (listening) to Our Only May Amelia because it was an audiobook that was available on my school digital library system, Axis 360. I am so glad I did. Wha
t a treat! I laughed, I cried...and cried some more.
The story tells of May Amelia Jackson, a tomboyish Finnish-American girl who lives on an island in the Nasel River in Washington state. She is outnumbered by a bunch of brothers, and in fact is the only child who is a girl on the island.  May is always getting into trouble and doesn't want to be the 'proper young lady' that folks seem to think she should. I loved May Amelia's voice and her brightness. Although the story included hard times (I warned you, I cried), the story is full of the determination and hope of a young girl growing up in a difficult
time in history.

Then, I read Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar. I shared this with the other librarians in my district as a possible Battle of the Books title for next school year.  I'd heard good things about it (including from The Yarn podcast with Colby Sharp and Travis Jonker) and was not at all disappointed! It is realistic with a touch of magic; it reminded me of Tuck Everlasting and a bit of Echo, by Pam Munoz Ryan. 12-year old Carol forced to spend the summer with a fading grandfather she's never known while her family prepares for his move to a retirement home. Said grandfather Serge is a mystery from the first moment we meet him - confusing past and present, fantasy and reality. He shares with Carol stories about his past and the miraculous life-giving tree on the ranch, which Carol assumes are just stories. As the stories get stranger, Carol finds her loyalty shifting more towards Serge and the ranch, rather than her father, who wants to sell the farm. Soon, Carol finds that the wall between reality and story is thinner than she thought.

Middle Grade Mania Author Visits

Today I got to meet three authors at my school: Elana Arnold, Beth Fantesky, and Greg Neri. They came to talk to my third and fourth graders about their newest middle grade novels as part of Middle Grade Mania with HMH Kids Publishing Company. They came on tour through Anderson's Bookshop, a local bookstore and bookfair company. If we host bookfairs with Anderson's, they share their authors with schools, which is a win-win situation!

We learned that Elana Arnold's latest book, Far From Fair, was inspired by her own life. When her husband got laid off, they sold their house and car and took their two kids into an RV and went traveling up the East Coast with their pet ferret, just like Odette's family in the novel. Elana shared that she always wanted to be a writer but in her early twenties, she found herself ready to write but with no ideas. Instead she taught, raised her children, lived her life, and said she nearly forgot she was a writer. When her family started traveling in the RV, she started blogging, and people read her blog and connected with her. She commented that "road trips and life are winding weird things" - eventually, 15 years after she thought she would start writing, she got her first book published. She encouraged the students by saying that writers don't always write: they read, daydream, have adventures, get bored, and they write too. Her comments fit in perfectly with some words from Mr. Schu that impacted me last week about connecting hearts through stories. Elana explained that the love of story is human, and being able to tell stories to people is fabulous!

Greg Neri shared that as a writer you never know where or when the next story idea will come along. Getting a story idea is like finding a piece of gold on the ground that no one else seems to notice. You start digging at it and realize it is bigger than you thought and you need to dig around to get it free...but when you do, it is priceless. Writers have their eyes and ears open all the time looking for those nuggets of gold! His book, Tru & Nelle, tells the story of Harper Lee and Truman Capote's childhood friendship. Greg described how he and his brother were interested in solving mysteries when he was a child, and when he learned that Lee and Capote liked to play Sherlock and Watson-style detectives, he felt like he struck gold with a story idea.

Beth Fantesky shared that she has lucky writing socks! She explained that her book Isabel Feeney, Star Reporter came about after she wrote her PhD thesis on 1920s Chicago news, and someone told her that topic would make a great children's book. She described getting so attached to her characters that when it is time to start writing a new book, it is like starting a new school and she always thinks she won't like it as much as her old familiar characters.  She loves creating characters and spending time with them, just like good friends.

The two copies of each of these books we purchased were immediately checked out by my students and hold lists have started. I'm glad they got the chance to see a glimpse into the lives of these three authors!

Mr. Schu @ Scholastic Event in Wheaton

This week I saw John Schumacher speak at an event put on by Scholastic. I'm sure if you have found your way to my blog that you've heard of John Schumacher, aka "Mr Schu," who was a K-5 school librarian and now is the Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic, but if you haven't, make sure to check out his blog and his Twitter feed: @MrSchuReads. He's always interviewing authors, previewing new books and book trailers, and generally promoting and doing awesome things.


This event was no exception! He shared a bunch of great books. Many of them I have already read but I'm very excited to read Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo when it comes out on April 12.  However, at this event, more imporant that specific titles that I learned about was the excitement for reading and libraries in general, and a feeling of excitement for this amazing job I have, being a school librarian. My task is to get kids excited about reading. He mentioned that the goal of a school library is not to bring back books, but to bring back readers. What an awesome responsibility to be able to advocate for children and their reading, from sharing special stories that speak to the heart, to modeling the joy of books, to making sure each reader finds a book that they connect with. Even little things like pointing out what may be under a book jacket to reveling in the way a new book smells can help children see what amazing treasures books are.

We have a lot on our plates as school librarians. My job includes coaching teachers in technology (as well as a lot of technology troubleshooting and problem-solving), cataloging books, coordinating and proctoring computer-based tests, creating opportunities for making/makerspaces, teaching research skills and digital citizenship, etc. However, I do not want to forget that the reason that I became a school librarian was to share the love of reading with students and to show them that books can be magical. That is my number one goal and I do not want to lose that! Hearing Mr. Schu speak reminded me of that mission.

Whatcha Readin' Wednesday? Pax

I am extremely embarrassed to admit that I got an advanced readers copy of Pax at AASL last November and I didn't read it until just recently. What is WRONG with me? Hearing Sarah Pennypacker speak at the Anderson's Children's Lit breakfast a few weeks ago made me scramble to find it and begin reading. Deep down, I may have been a teeny bit worried that it wouldn't connect with me the way it has connected with others (this may have happened to me with Hachiko Waits).
But I did not need to worry. This is a book that touches the heart and won't let go.

Pax is a fox rescued by his boy, Peter. War causes his father to force Peter to abandon Pax when Peter needs to go live with his grandfather. However, Pax and Peter are "two but not two" and they will not stay separated.  Chapters alternate between Peter's perspective and Pax's. In Pax’s chapters, the animals are not humanized, but remain realistic as the narrative describes the animals and their responses to their surroundings. Sara Pennypacker worked with a red fox expert and she commented that there isn't anything that isn't documented fox behavior and within their capabilities.

Pennypacker commented that she purposely put some of the harsher realities of war in the sections we read from Pax's point of view, to separate them a bit from us as humans.  However, she found that children are just as touched and concerned, if not more, by the implications of war on the foxes. This is a book I think everyone would benefit from reading. Pennypacker did an amazing job creating this book, and Jon Klassen's illustrations are perfect. When I heard her speak, she said that this was really a special book to create, even though all of her books are different from each other.  I'm suggesting it to be on my district list for Battle of the Books for fourth and fifth graders. I hope YOU read it and would love to hear what you think.

Whatcha Readin' Wednesday

I had to take a few sick days due to strep throat this week, but luckily I had plenty of books to read.
I finished listening to See You at Harry's by Jo Knowles. I really enjoyed it. This book is a "heart book" that stays with you after you've finished. The plot took an unexpected (to me) turn and it ended up not being (only) about what I was predicting, which is about a family dealing with a high school son coming out, as told from his younger sister's point of view. I enjoyed hearing about Fern's devotion and support for her older brother Holden, and thought this would be a great book to give to any child, but especially those who may have a sibling who is LGBTQ. It isn't often we find books that think about what the sibling is thinking. Then I read further and was quite surprised at what happened next. I definitely connected emotionally to Fern and her siblings. The book also raises questions of blame. How do we handle feeling blamed, including if we blame ourselves? This is a tricky book to talk about without giving too much away, so I will stop here, but I highly recommend this book to grades five and up. The audio was also excellent. (I still have little Charlie's voice in my head saying "See you at Harry's!).

The other books I've been reading are very new releases because I'm having three authors visit my school on a "Middle Grade Mania" with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. These are their new books:


Tru and Nelle by Greg Neri is a fictional account of the real childhood friendship between Truman Capote and Harper Lee. When they first meet, Tru is a tidy, proper little boy, and Nelle is clad in dirty overalls. These two children don’t seem like they have much in common, but they bond over their love of books and their family problems - both have absent parents. They consider themselves like Sherlock and Holmes and can't wait for the day a real mystery will come across their paths. I really enjoyed it but am having a hard time selling this one to my 3rd and 4th grade students, who know very little if anything at all about To Kill a Mockingbird. I hope more become interested after Greg Neri visits.



Far from Fair by Elana Arnold is a bit of a tear-jerker (not quite as much as See You at Harry's). Just like in Arnold's The Age of Miracles, the author does not shy away from sadness and hard topics, in a way that is both honest and for the most part appropriate for middle grade readers. In Far from Fair, 12-year old Odette journeys with her family in their new home, an RV, as they travel to be with her sick grandmother. Odette is not prepared for how sick her grandmother is or for dealing with the concept of the right to die.



 
Isabel Feeney, Star Reporter by Beth Fantaskey is an entertaining and action-packed who-done-it mystery. For a kid who is stuck selling newspapers in 1920s Chicago just to make ends meet, Isabel has big dreams of one day being a reporter. She gets her chance after inadvertently getting caught up in the murder of a small-time gangster. Short chapters and a fast pace make this a quick and fun read!

My students are pretty excited to meet all of these authors very soon!