Books to Read

Hey yall! I'm looking forward to being back at the library this evening to talk about books and hang out. Earlier this summer I found this website that had an incredible list of books to read. I'm posting it on here because I have read a lot of the books and think it is a great resource for picking out books to read.

Check it out!

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2012/03/67-books-for-kids/?pid=1185&viewall=true

Hope to see you all tonight!

No Library Time Tomorrow

Hey Guys, I have to work at the baseball diamond tomorrow! I won't be able to come hang out at the library, I'm so sorry! I hope you guys are having great summers and I will see you all next week!

"I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005"

Colee and I found this book in the library on Tuesday when we were looking for a book about the Titanic. The author Lauren Tarshis has written several books in this series about other major events (including the Titanic) but the only book our library had was about Hurricane Katrina.

I vividly remember Hurricane Katrina, it wasn't too long ago and it was one of the worst natural disasters to happen to the United States. Because I had read all the news articles about the hurricane when it first happened, and I had family members in the Gulf Shore area I was really interested to read the story.

This book is written from the view point of a kid who lives in a poor area of New Orleans. His family tries to leave the city before the Hurricane comes, but because his sister gets sick they have to go back home. The try to make it through the storm but the flood waters force them to the roof. Trying to keep his sister safe Barry falls off the roof and is swept away in the flood.

The book is suspenseful, sad and keeps in hooked until the very last page. The book is well written, gives you a great (and startling) inside perspective of what it was like to live out Hurricane Katrina.

I just started the Titanic book (Colee you can borrow it!) and I can't wait to see what happens to the characters in that story.

"Something Upstairs"

When I found this book at the library I shrieked. I vividly remember reading and re-reading this book as an elementary school student. I can even remember where in the library the book was located. If you were a fan of Ghost Cadet, this is a book you will love!

Something Upstairs by Avi

In this story a boy named Kenny moves into a really old house in Providence Rhode Island. His new room in the attic has a smaller room attached with a mysterious stain in the middle of the floor. When Kenny is sleeping he wakes up because of a strange noise, only to find a ghost coming out of the stain in the floor! What follows is a creepy, suspenseful tale about a boy going back in time to help a ghost find out who murdered him so he can be set free to no longer haunt the attic. 

I read this book in one day because I couldn't put it down. If you get a chance to read this book let me know what you think. 

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

"If That Breathes Fire, We're Toast!"

"Some kids need fairy godmothers. Others need dragons." Or so says Madame Yang when she arrives on the doorstep of Rick's new house in the middle of Arizona. When Rick and his Mother order a new "Dragon" furnace they had no clue a real dragon would show up but it's a great thing for Rick! With his new friend Natalie by his side Rick does his best to keep the dragon a secret from his mother and learns how to "see" things most people can't see. With the help of the dragon Rick gets to time travel, meets another dragon, and shrinks down to fit inside a lego castle. This is a fun story about a boy in a new town who needs a friend and finds one in an unlikely place.

If That Breathes Fire, We're Toast! by Jennifer J. Stewart

This book was chosen by a few of my students at the library last week and I'm so glad I took their advice. I really enjoyed reading it, and I think everyone would love it. It is only 119 pages long, but is full of fun adventures and has a really surprising ending!

I'm excited to see what book we pick out this week at the library. See you guys soon!

Tuesday Library Day!

Hey you guys! I hope you are getting lots of reading done this summer! I will be back out at the Mechanicsville Library this Tuesday (6/26) from 5-7 hanging out and would love to have you join. Last week I had a lot of fun friends show up it was a "class reunion!"

So come cool off at the library Tuesday night! See you all then!


P.S. I will post more books soon!

The Magician's Elephant and The Tale of Despereaux

Hey Friends! Happy Summer!

This past weekend to kick off summer I went to the beach with a few friends. It was a great trip and I did a lot of reading. I picked out two books on my iKndle and didn't even realize they were by the same author Kate DiCamillo.

I read The Magician's Elephant first, it was a beautiful story about an orphan boy who pays a fortune teller to learn whatever happened to his little sister. He finds out that an Elephant will lead him to his sister, which is a crazy idea since he lives in the middle of a city with no elephants anywhere. The story of how Peter  the finds his sister with an Elephant is really fun to read, and the book is filled with lots of interesting characters. This book isn't about the ending, it's about the journey to the end.

I also read The Tale of Despereaux, I've never seen the movie so I was looking forward to reading the story.  If you have seen the movie then you should still read the book, books are always better than the movies and we learned from reading Percy Jackson that movies are often a lot different!

This story is about a mouse who is different from everyone else in his mouse family. He has big ears, he is always sick, and instead of eating books he likes to read them. He is enthralled with music and falls in love with a princess. After he befriends a human he is banished to the dungeon only to learn that an evil rat has a plan to hurt the princess. Kate DiCamillo does a great job pulling the reader into the story and making you feel connected to all of the characters. 

I can't wait to watch the movie to see how it compares to the book!

I will write again soon after I read some of the books you all helped me pick out at the library last night.

Happy reading!