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.
Harrison is a 15 year old boy diagnosed with high functioning autism. He can travel through his high school days with few incidents but he has his triggers and if those triggers start piling up they can lead to a melt down. Harrison uses many coping tactics to avoid melt downs especially now that he's in high school but sometimes life just overwhelms him. Other times bullies bring him down.
This year Harrison has joined the 'Best Buddies' club and he's got a new friend named Anna. Through this new friendship Harrison pushes himself to try new things and he's thrilled to have a new friend. Anna learns how to be a good friend to someone living with autism.
Fragile Bones is the first book of a series called One 2 One that explores students at Sir Winston Churchill Secondary school.
It's the summer of 1962 and the threat of war is looming. Scott is in grade 6. Old enough to know that things are serious but young enough that his parents don't share the extent of it with him. Fallout is told by Scott's point of view with the time frame flipping from before the bomb and after the bomb.
Scott's dad has built a bomb shelter for their home. His mother and all the neighbours think he's crazy. There won't be a bomb. Readers quickly discover that there has been a bomb though. Scott's dad isn't so crazy anymore! All the neighbours rush to fit into a shelter that has been built for a family of four. Soon the shelter door is shut and now ten neighbours must survive two weeks with only enough supplies for four people.
Before the bomb is built Scott has normal young boy worries such as getting in trouble for dumb ideas that his best friend Ronnie ropes him into. Ronnie's next big plan is that before Scott is killed by a bomb he needs to see a woman's breasts.
I really enjoyed Fallout. Perfect for grade 6-8. However, not a great read allowed due to Ronnie's obsession with breasts. There is also some under age drinking. No bad language though.
How happy are you with your life? Do you think you are more or less happy then your friends and neighbours? What makes one person happier than another? Is it money? Family? Travel? Love?
The main character (no name given) has received an invoice for an obscene amount of money. He's been told it is time to pay up for all the wonderful experiences he's had in life so far. But how has this company come up with this number? How have they rated his level of happiness? Is he happy? What's the worst things that have happened to him?
This was a quick read. Interesting how he reflects and evaluates his life. This would make a good book club discussion. The Invoice will be published in Canada on July 12th, 2016.