Reading Abounds

Title:  Focused Author:  Alyson Gerber Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 181907 Description:    T welve-year-old Clea wants to do her homework, follow instructions, pay attention in school, and play chess on the school team, but it's difficult. When she is diagnosed with ADHD, she becomes determined to learn how to focus. Rubric Rating:  Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It:  Having a daughter with ADHD I thought this would be a title that she would identify with. Notes:   I really wanted to give this title a better grade but unfortunately it fell quite short of the mark in my opinion.  I read this title aloud with my daughter, even without ADHD I found the chapters way too long, and if the appeal of this book is to target readers with ADHD I'm not sure they would have the sustained attention needed.  Clea is struggling in school, she can't seem to focus in class she's distracted by the things around her, her mind flying off in all...

Title:   Every Day Series:  Book 1 of The 'A' Series (Every Day, Another Day, Someday) Author:  David Levithan Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 71586 Description:    Every morning A wakes in a different person's body, in a different person's life, learning over the years to never get too attached, until he wakes up in the body of Justin and falls in love with Justin's girlfriend, Rhiannon. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Definitely the write up was what interested me with this book, the cover not at all. Notes:    Everyday A wakes up in a different body.  Sometimes, he’s male, sometimes she’s female.  A might be gay, straight, or transgendered, diabetic, blind, or a drug addict.  Everyday is new. A doesn’t mind waking up in a different body everyday until he wakes up in Justin’s body and falls in love with Justin’s girlfriend Rhiannon.  Rhiannon is the only person who seems to see A ...

Title:  Liesl & Po Author:  Lauren Oliver Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 71661 Description:    A mix-up involving the greatest magic in the world has tremendous consequences for Liesl, an orphan who has been locked in an attic, Will, an alchemist's runaway apprentice, and Po, a ghost, as they are pursued by friend and foe while making an important journey. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Read the Delirium Series by this author and thought I would try this stand alone title. Notes:   An intricately connected novel, with a wide cast of interesting characters.  Liesl, after the death of her father, has been relegated by her horrible step-mother to a room in the attic (very reminiscent of many fairytales).  There she meets the ghosts of Po and Bundle. They are drawn to Liesl literally by her drawings. Po becomes the go between for Liesl and the otherside.  Meanwhile, Will, the magicians apprentice ...

Title:  Beholding Bee Author:  Kimberly Newton Fusco Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 107760 Description:    In 1942, when life turns sour at the carnival that has always been her home, eleven-year-old Bee takes her dog, Peabody, and piglet, Cordelia, and sets out to find a real home, aided by two women only Bee and her pets can see. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Interesting title and write up Notes:   This book was a very slow start for me.  Bee, short for Beatrice, has been an orphan since the age of four.  Since the death of her parents in a car accident she has been living and working with Pauline in Ellis’ traveling circus.  Bee is now eleven years old and while she only works in the hotdog stand Ellis wants to put her in the show because of her “diamond”.  The port wine stain birthmark that is on her face. Her diamond draws the attention of everyone who see her so Bee uses her hair as a sh...

Title:  Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Author:  Matt Phelan Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 138305 Description:    Henry bonds with a young Buster Keaton over games of baseball while the latter summers locally with a troupe of vaudeville performers. Rubric Rating:   Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:  A growing interest in Graphic novels and a fascination with silent films. Notes:   I really liked this graphic novel.  The images are soft – softly coloured and softly focused.  This is the story of Henry Harrison and the summers that Buster Keaton and the Vaudeville troop come and stay at Bluffton.  While Henry is a fictional character Buster Keaton is not and the novel is based on his autobiography. The arrival of Buster brings excitement to Henry’s life.  They fill their summer days with baseball, pratfalls, and pranks. When Buster leaves for the show, Henry’s life returns to normal, helping his father at the har...

Title:  Ripper Author:   Stephan Petrucha Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 69858 Description:   Adopted by Pinkerton Agency Detective Hawking in 1895 New York, fourteen-year-old Carver hopes to find his birth father, but he becomes involved in the pursuit of Jack the ripper, and discovers finding the truth may be worse than ignorance. Rubric Rating:   Level 2 - Like It.  Why I Read It:   A morbid fascination with Jack the Ripper and related crime writing.  Notes:    I wanted to give this book a better rating.  I really liked the writing and found that the plot moved very quickly, probably because of the short chapters.  But there were aspects of the characters that I found too unbelievable or convenient. The main character Carver Young, is an orphan in New York’s Ellis orphanage.  Desperate to discover who he is, he breaks into the file room and steals a letter apparently written by his father. His counte...

Title: How to Read Literature Like a Professor for Kids Author: Thomas C. Foster Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 70445 Description:   Demonstrates how to make everyday reading more rewarding by helping readers understand the symbols, themes, narrative devices and forms, and contexts of literary works, in an edition geared toward young readers. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:   I quite like literary analysis and looking for deeper  meaning while reading. Notes:   Wow, I really liked this  book. As someone who already has an English degree I  kept thinking how much this book would have helped me  if I’d read it before starting University. The book looks at  various themes that are used in literature from weather,  myth, fairy tales, food, seasons, symbolism, illness and  many others. The chapters each focus on their own  theme and use various examples from different books  and poetry. I found the writing b...

Title:  I'm Not Dying with You Tonight Co-Authora:  Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 200829 Description:    Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot. Rubric Rating:  Level 1 - Leave it Why I Read It:  Listened to the Audiobook as it was recommended by my local library Notes:  Lena and Campbell are different, very different but for now they're stuck together.  Lena is a popular girl in school with amazing fashion sense and what you would think is a very good head on her shoulders... except when it comes to her boyfriend Black in whom she can see no wrong.  Campbell is the new girl in school.  Her mother has moved away and she's been forced to move in with her father, who other than dropping her off at school doesn't make much of appearance.  Campbell ha...

Title:  The Santa Trap Authors and illustrators:  Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 66521 Description:  Bradley Bartleby has been very bad since the day he was born and finally gets what he deserves after turning his family's home into a fearsome trap for Santa, who has always given him nothing but socks. Curriculum Links: Social Studies: Holidays and Celebrations Self-Regulation Character Education: Kindness, Empathy Reading: Narrative Writing: Narrative Notes:  Design:  This is a very interesting holiday/Christmas Title.  The typeset of the author's names gives it the feel of the "Nightmare before Christmas."   Similarly, the sharp lines in the title make the letters look like the teeth on a bear trap.  And they point to directly to Bradley!  The end pages of the book are a bright Christmas red and the writing is long enough to make this a good read aloud. Content and Illustratio...

Title:  Big Snowman, Little Snowman Author:  Tish Rabe Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 71485 Description:  When a prophecy traps a kingdom in eternal winter, Princess Anna teams up with Kristoff and his reindeer to embark on a journey to find Anna's sister, Elsa, to put an end to her icy spell. Curriculum Links:  Art: Movie Illustration and Design Language: Antonyms Reading: Poetry and Transforming Character Education: Integrity Social Studies: Friendship and Families Writing: Word Choice Notes:  Design:  This is a cute little book based on Disney's movie Frozen.   The images and characters are easily recognizable from the film.   Content:  As an early reader, this book works well in it's use of antonyms to tell the story of Frozen.  The antonyms are used in context and in conjunction with one another - Happy/Sad, On/Off, In/Out, First/Last - and are capitalized within the text which draws the readers atte...