It's Monday! What are you reading? 10/29

Every week I participate in this meme hosted by the lovely ladies over at Teach Mentor Texts.  Jen and Kellee had the brilliant idea to adapt this meme to talk about the great young adult and children's literature that we are reading.  Head over to their blog for more great reads and a plethora of recommendations of great kidlit.

I had an excellent reading week filled with some amazing books and authors!!!!

Books I Finished this week:

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin is a FABULOUS book.  I was haunted by Mara's story and cannot wait to read the sequel.  Luckily, I won't have to wait long for this one.  Michelle Hodkin is coming to the West Allis Public Library tomorrow night and I will be purchasing these two books to be signed.  I am soooo excited for this!

I seem to have impeccable timing reading this book.  I got it at the Scholastic book fair last week and was super excited to read it.  The Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner is a book that explores a future in which huge storms have made vast areas of the United States zones in which nobody can live.  The main character is going to visit her dad who is a scientist studying these massive storms and trying to find a way to manipulate weather.  He has figured out a way to create "Stormsafe" zones and she is living in one for the summer.  The "Frankenstorm" out East is eerily similar to the massive storms described in this book...

If I Stay by Gayle Forman was a tough book to read, but was a beautiful story.  Mia has a perfect life with great prospects on the horizon.  She loves her family, has a great boyfriend, and is fairly certain she will be accepted into Julliard in the fall.  In one split second everything changes for her and it is up to her to decide if she will hang on and survive or if she will give up and die.  The book explores the idea of what might happen for people who are in comas or barely holding on to life.  It is chilling and uplifting and heartbreaking all at once.  I highly recommend this book to teens and adults.

The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things by Carolyn Mackler is a printz award finalist book and part of my reading for the nerdprintz challenge.  As you might imagine from the title, it is about a girl who is overweight and very self-conscious about it.  Her problems are further compounded by the fact that her entire family is skinny and gorgeous and that her mother pressures her to lose weight.  I really could identify with the young woman in this novel, as I am sure many other women coud also.  I enjoyed the story and felt uplifted by the way the protagonist really learns to be a strong person by the end of the book.

I have read and enjoyed Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko multiple times.  Last year it was one of my students' favorite read alouds.  This is the sequel to that book and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  I love the characters and I enjoyed finding out about how Moose and the others on Alcatraz continue on with their lives after Natalie goes to the Esther P. Marinoff school.

What My Mother Doesn't Know By Sonya Sones is a novel in verse.  I was really happy when I saw this one at the public library sale because I had seen other teachers write about how this is one of their students' favorites.  I really enjoyed reading it and I know that my girls will love the story and enjoy the novel in verse format.

Books I am Currently Reading:

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan is the most current installment of the Heroes of Olympus series.  I am interested to see how the books come together in this one.  I also am listening to the audiobook of Blood Red Road.  I am really enjoying this audiobook.  I love the narrator's voice!  It is a great motivation trick to get me working out.

Up Next:

I will probably read The Evolution of Mara Dyer right after I buy it tomorrow.  I also will finally get to The Diviners this week hopefully.