When I first heard of this series I was watching a late night talk show where Chris Colfer from the TV series Glee was being interviewed. The host made mention of the fact that he was an author of some amazing story books.
The Land of Stories is a series of 5 novels - so far. Where a brother and sister fall into a book and travel the land of fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Anyone that loves a fairy tale will love this story. There is villains, magic, potions, talking toads and more! Coming in at just over 400 pages this is a novel for a child that loves a story. One of my favourite books growing up was Alice in Wonderland and this series reminded me of that story telling.
Chris Colfer is 26 years old and his accomplishments are incredible. I look forward to following his writing career. He is a talented story teller.
Jodi Picoult has long been one of my favourite authors. I've read quite a few of her books. However, in recent years I haven't been keeping up with her newest titles. When I read the description for Small Great Things I knew it would be a shocking read.
What I love most about Jodi Picoult's novels is that she takes issues and presents them so that readers walk away with an understanding of how both sides feel. I knew Small Great Things would be that same writing style I love. Each chapter is writing in a different characters point of view.
In Small Great Things Ruth has enjoyed a 20 year career as a nurse delivering babies. She is excellent at what she does; showing great compassion and understanding of her patients needs. But one day that career comes tumbling down when she encounters Turk and Brit Bauer and their new baby Davis. Ruth has just come on shift and is doing an examination of baby Davis when she is told that no African American's may touch baby Davis. Ruth struggles with her emotions but continues on with her work. A short time later after a series of emergencies, Ruth finds herself alone with Davis in distress. Should she touch the baby even though she's been told by her superiors and the baby's parents she is not to touch that baby.
Small Great Things is shocking and uncomfortable. I couldn't resist talking about this book with people throughout my day. Their response was that situations like this don't happen anymore. Then you watch the news and think it sure does happen still.
This is a fantastic page turner with a shocking ending. Perfect for book club as well.
Maribeth Klein has it all. Her dream job. Her dream husband. Twins, a boy and a girl - of course. But she's also killing herself doing it all. Literally. Maribeth suffers a heart attack at 44 years of age. It's really not a surprise she's unwell, as she's nearly run a marathon before she even gets home for dinner. Anyone relate to that? As she sits at home trying to heal life just seems to get more hectic and stressful until Maribeth cracks. She packs her bags, scribbles a quick note to her husband and she's gone.
Leave Me is a story about a busy mom who takes a time out from life to heal. Maribeth also uncovers more about who she is and her relationships as friend, mother and wife. Leave Me is a great read that is at times funny and emotional.
I was very surprised to find out that Gayle Forman is also the author of If I Stay and Where She Went. If I Stay was made into a movie in 2014. Both books are on my to read pile and have been quite popular at my school with the Grade 7 and 8's.
The One and Only Ivan is one of my favourite reads of all time. It is so beautifully written and has a great lesson too. Fits perfectly with the grade four curriculum. The new cover of Crenshaw captured my attention right away and the Applegate name drew me in.
This is not a book to judge by it's cover. The cover suggests a light read about a boy and an imaginary cat. Which is what the book is about but there is so much more. Jackson is a young boy with a lot to deal with. Jackson's dad has MS. When things get too bad he's forced to leave his job and try and make ends meet but unfortunately the ends don't meet and the family ends up homeless. Much more serious topics then the cover makes you imagine. To deal with these issues Jackson creates Crenshaw. A large and mischievous cat. This was ok when he was little but now Jackson is years old and once again facing homelessness. Crenshaw is back but isn't Jackson too old for an imaginary friend?
Crenshaw is a beautiful story with some fun, but a very sensitive and serious story as well. Not quite what you would expect from the cover. Strange that I read two books with children affected by MS in a row. That was totally random. This was a book that I was recommending to some of my stronger grade 3 readers but now that I know the mature theme I would place it more with grade 5.
Maggie is a very self absorbed 11 year old girl. She loves school. She plans to be president - she's already campaigning. Maggie loves food, especially candy. She also loves her super cool dad and her stay at home mom. She tolerates her two older sisters.
When Maggie's stay at home mom suddenly goes back to work and her super cool dad quits his job to stay home, Maggie is determined to figure out what's going on. She knows Dad's legs have been falling asleep a lot but what does that mean? Is it a big deal? Why is the letter M always missing from the encyclopedia set at home?
Maggie sets out to do her science fair project on curing her dad. She's won the science fair the last few years. She's confident this year will be a winner too - at home and school. But she has to figure out what everyone in her family knows and is protecting her from.
I loved the way Maggie grew in this story. I also loved the way her family tried to protect her and then realized she wasn't a baby anymore and needed the truth.
The Seven Series is where my blog began. It was also my first published book review in my local newspaper. I LOVE this series! I have driven dark snowy roads to see the seven authors on stage-if the seven appear near you - definitely go and bring the kids. I've tracked them down at book festivals for autographs - they are all friendly! I also sport a Seven shirt down the school halls. I keep the series front and centre at my library for everyone to gravitate too and easy to point and recommend. I've also convinced a few non-reading adult men to give the series a try. For the back story of this series check out my first blog post here.
In the first series Richard Scrimger introduced us to Bunny through Ink Me. Bunny's beloved grandfather has just passed away and left a series of tasks for all his grandsons. Bunny is going to get the tattoo that his grandfather never did.
In the second book the seven cousins have met at their grandfather's cottage to discuss all their adventures while completing the tasks. While they are there though they discover some secrets about their grandfather that lead the cousins off on another set of adventures. Read more about this book on my The Wolf and Me blog post here.
In the Weerdest Day Ever, Bunny is older and for a school assignment he writes the story of a weekend camping trip with his grandfather. Bunny's grandfather has promised a big surprise for the weekend. It doesn't take Bunny long to find out that there is a war planned between Canada and the United States and it's taking place at the campsite this weekend! Everyone seems so excited about it but Bunny finds it scary. Bunny makes some new friends and enemies while they wait for the big battle to begin.
While maintaining the innocence of Bunny, I am happy to say that his spelling has improved with age. I look forward to reading the other cousins stories of experiences they had with their grandfather.
The most series are prequels and will be published by Orca Book Publishers in September 2016.
In 2014 I discovered David Carroll while doing the Forest of Reading program at my school. His first novel, Ultra, was a Silver Birch nominee and I read it aloud with my grade 5 class. I also reviewed it here on my blog. The students loved the book and it was one of those stories that got requests for me to come and read to them at lunch hour. You know you've grabbed their attention when instead of socializing they want to hear more!
I was very excited to see David Carroll has published a second book, Sight Unseen. This is the story of a boy named Finn that is slowly losing his eye sight. Slowly he is being forced to give up doing the things he loves. Biking being his most missed activity. He's also losing his friends and independence. While camping with his family and new friend Cheese, Finn discovers there may be a way to keep his eyesight but at the expense of other sacrifices. Tough decision!
Hopefully this fall David Carroll will be back on the Silver Birch nominee list with Sight Unseen. I think it will make another great read aloud for one of my classes.