It's Monday! What are you reading? 11/19

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.

This was a pretty good reading week for me.  I went to the library on Saturday and got a book stack of picture books that I have been meaning to read and I stuck to some shorter books this week since I have been reading longer ones lately.

Books I Finished This Week:

I finally finished the audiobook of Blood Red Road by Moira Young.  I loved this one!  I like how Saba really grows up and learns to accept help and be more patient with her sister.  I loved the love story in this book too, although I was quite frustrated by how idiotic Saba acted toward Jack throughout the book.  I am really excited for the sequel.  The narration on this audiobook was really good.  I loved the voice of the narrator.

I acquired Shelter by Harlan Coben at a library sale earlier this fall.  I love his adult books and was sure I would love this one.  I did really like the book.  It was a good mystery and I think that the author did a good job of getting in the head of his teenage protagonist.  The story behind the mystery was an interesting one as well.  I would recommend this one to high school students.

Zitface by Emily Howse was a quick read.  It is one I would recommend for younger middle school readers, but I didn't really enjoy it all that much.  The protagonist is a girl who does commercials and enjoys it, but one day she starts to develop acne and it really gets in her way.  The story is well done, because I could really feel the pain of this young girl as she tries to go about her normal life, but she is young and naive and that annoyed me a little.

I LOVED Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi.  The whole premise of the book is amazing.  A girl who can kill people by touching them?  Wow!  I think the author did an excellent job of really delving into what kind of psychological scars a person would have if they were unable to touch anyone their whole life.  The guilt that Juliette feels over this power is awful.  I absolutely fell in love with Adam in this book.  I love that they both silently admired each other from afar and that he sought her and found her.  This was an adventure from the first page to the last.  The dystopian world they live in is a disaster and there is not much hope for their future under this regime.  I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.  I would highly recommend this one for grades 8 and up.

Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes by Chris Crutcher was another book I loved.  There are so many twists and turns and he deals with so many hot button issues in this book.  I love the character of Ms. Lemry.  There are great teachers out there who care about their students the way she does and it was good to see one in this book.   I can see why this book was controversial, but I loved it and I think my students will too.

Picture books I read this week:

All of the picture books I read were very good.  I love Island because of the nonfiction information that it gave in such a beautiful package.


I can see why so many people are raving about this one.  It is really funny and would be a good book to use for inferences.


The Obstinate Pen was really fun to read.  I can see younger students really laughing about the funny insults the pen writes to the people that try to write with it.

 

This one was very cute and I can see how younger students would enjoy it.  

I am slowly but surely making my way through the Amulet series.  This was another great installment.  

What I am Currently Reading:

Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan and How They Croaked 

On The Horizon:

I will start to listen to The Infinity Ring this week.  I will also read Skinny for sure because a student wants me to read it.  I got Where She Went and The Sky is Everywhere at the library so I think I will delve into those over next weekend.  Otherwise, I will see where my mood takes me this week.