PARCC standardized testing at school means less lesson planning, etc. for me to do at home and more time for reading! (There's got to be some benefit to testing, right?) I read a several great books in the last week.
Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt was a sad yet beautiful read that deals with death and grief. 11-year-old Jules is dealing with too much of both after her sister drowns when she was in an area of the woods she was not supposed to be in. Jules is left asking what happens after you die? "Maybe you turn into wind. Maybe you turn into stars. Maybe a fox."People are calling this one a Newbery possibility and saying it is accessible for middle grade readers. This may be unpopular but I am afraid it is going to be a tough sell for some of my students. I had a fifth grade who read it say it got too weird, with its ideas of reincarnation and spirit animals. However, I also know of plenty of readers who ask for a sad, touching story and this could be a touching choice for them.
Another book I read this week also dealt with loss, in a very different way: Summerlost by Ally Condie. It's been a year since 12-year-old Cedar lost her her father and brother in a car crash. In order to get away from the sadness surrounding their deaths, Cedar, along with her mom and little brother Miles, are spending the summer in their mother's hometown of Iron Creek. Cedar meets a boy named Leo and they both work at a Shakespeare festival for the summer. They connect and by the end of the summer feel they are each other's "person" (in a non-romantic way). There was a lot to the story besides dealing with loss, including a bit of mystery, bullying, kids getting into trouble, yearning to reach goals, and a possible ghost. I loved it!
I also read The Goblin's Puzzle: Being the Adventures of a Boy with No Name and Two Girls Called Alice by Andrew S. Chilton. I will admit this one took me a little bit to get into, for some reason, but once I was hooked, I found this clever, whimsical fantasy story engrossing. Readers looking for an adventure/quest story will find familiar tropes including lowly heroes rising to greatness, tricksy creatures who take delight in confusion and mayhem, and a smart girl who is overlooked. However, it is all done with great voice and freshness and lightness that I greatly enjoyed.
Last week I had a 5th grader tell me that the Thirteen Treasures series by Michelle Harrison were the best books ever, so I borrowed 13 Treasures and read it over the weekend. I found it to be an enjoyable read, indeed. For as long as she can remember, Tanya has been able to see fairies. The fairies she sees aren't sweet and beautiful but mean, blackmailing creatures. Tanya's mother is tired of Tanya's strange behavior and sends her to her grandmother's strange old mansion for a few weeks in the summer. There, Tanya begins to uncover several mysteries and learns that she isn't the only one who can see fairies. It was a quick read for me, even with over 400 pages. I'm glad I read it!
Finally, I enjoyed How to Catch a Bogle so much that I gobbled up A Plague of Bogles and just started reading (listening to) The Last Bogler. I don't have these in my physical library collection, just as ebooks/audio books, so I may need to add these next year! I'll miss these characters when I finish the trilogy.
What have you been reading?
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