I Dare You Not to Yawn by Helene Boudreau

This week I read I Dare You Not to Yawn by Canadian Author Helene Boudreau.  This is an instruction manual for all kids on how to handle a yawn in front of their parents because we all know what happens if you yawn in front of your parents right?  There were quite a few yawns as I read this book.  Many were from me (I'm sick! It wasn't the book!).  Some were genuine and some were my dramatic readers flair.  I had a good time reading this with all classes.  This book received a unanimous happy face this week from all the students.  I don't know how these kids are possibly going to pick a favourite!

In the Tree House by Andrew Larsen

In the Tree House is written by Canadian author Andrew Larsen.  This book is one of the nominees for this year's Blue Spruce award in the Forest of Reading.  This is the story of a young boy with a new house.  He dreams of making a tree house and his dad and brother help make it happen.  The spend a long hot summer having fun in the tree house.  I'm pretty sure every kid in school this week wishes they had a tree house.  I know it left me dreaming of a hot summer night.  In the Tree House is very well written.  Beautiful pictures.  This book got a unanimous happy face rating.  I really don't know how the kids are going to vote with all these great choices!

Eddie and Dog by Alison Brown

Eddie and Dog by Alison Brown is a funny story of a boy and his dog.  Mom says the dog can't stay with them because they don't have room.  But the dog keeps coming back to Eddie.  My son and I really enjoyed the pictures in this book.  They really make the story funny.  I think it would be a good book to read with a young reader.  There are a few pages that would be perfect for them to try reading.

The Secret of the Village Fool by Rebecca Upjohn

  The Secret of the Village Fool is written by Canadian author Rebecca Upjohn.  It is a nominee for this year's Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express category.  I read The Secret of the Village Fool yesterday to a grade 4/5 class.  They were all quite captivated by the story.  The story is about a 'village fool', Anton, who takes care of all the living things around him.  When war breaks out Anton hides a Jewish family because a life is a life and they are all worth saving.  When the story was over the kids were fascinated by the final few pages that revealed this was in fact a true story.  I was very happy to see that a few kids asked to borrow it and read again on their own.  This is quite possibly a winner in the Silver Birch Express category.

And Then it Happened by M & L Wade

And Then it Happened is a series of books with the target audience of young boys.  Canadian authors Michael and Laura Wade sure know their audience!  These books offer short chapters that are each a shorty story of their own.  Each story features the narrator who is friends with Pablo and Gordon.  Together they have some fun times and sometimes get up to a bit of mischief but nothing harmful. There are 11 books in the series with hopefully more to come.  

In my library these books are checked out by girls almost as much as they are checked out by boys.  They seem most popular with the grade 5 kids but I've seen kids grade 4 to 8 check them out.  The books aren't in a section for the grade 3's or they would probably take them out as well.  These days there are none on the shelves and I've got a waiting list on the newest books.  The kids are very excited and getting ready for a visit from Michael Wade this month.  I've heard he is an excellent presenter so I look forward to meeting him.  Scholastic had a deal in this month's book club orders for the first five books for $19.99 I believe.  I ordered the set for my youngest.  Also, when I ordered the most recent book from Chapters for my school library I found that it came autographed.  The kids were pretty excited about that.

The Rule of Three by Eric Walters

I'm fairly new to Eric Walters.  He was scheduled to speak at my school last year so I thought I better read a book before he came.  Well now that I've started I just can't stop!  I can see why the kids at school are constantly taking his books.  And if you ever get a chance to hear him speak - go!  He was so engaging with the kids - and teachers.

So I was going to lay off and not read another Eric Walters for a bit but The Rule of Three came out and I heard it was his best yet.  How could I not read and decide if that was true.  It is true!  It was fantastic!  

The story appears to be set in a Toronto suburb.  The story begins with some high school kids working on an assignment in the computer lab at school when suddenly the power goes out.  Strangely though the laptops aren't working even though they had a charged battery.  Then quickly they discover their cell phones aren't working and when they get to the parking lot most people's cars aren't working either, with the exception of some old clunkers.  Nothing with any sort of computer is functioning.  How long will the outage last?  How many people are affected by the outage?  The Rule of Three is a real page turner.  Kept me flipping.  Tons of action.  A twist of a love story.  I loved it.

I'm now doing this as a read aloud with the grade 8's at school and they love it.  They're begging for extra library periods!!  I can't wait for the Fight for Power to be released in January 2015.

The Bear by Claire Cameron

The Bear by Canadian author Claire Cameron has been eagerly anticipated by many readers.  The Bear has already been selected as a book club favourite.  The story unfolds through the eyes of five year old Anna.  Anna is camping in Algonquin Park with her parents and younger brother, nicknamed Stick.  The story begins with the siblings going to sleep for the night in their tent, only to be jolted awake by their father screaming and shoving them roughly into a cooler.  Poor Anna and her brother come out of the cooler to a changed world.  They are left to navigate the wilderness alone with only a canoe and a tin of cookies.  The Bear is a gut wrenching story that will keep you reading to find out what happens to the children.  The story is also quite touching to see how the siblings take care of each other when things get tough despite their disagreements. The writing style is reminiscent of the 2010 novel Room written by Emma Donoghue, a Canadian author as well.  Room is a tragic story also told through the point of view of a young boy.  Readers will want to finish The Bear well before camping season begins, unless you enjoy reading a spooky tale around the fire.