The Book Search

I got two boxes of books this week from our book fair and it's safe to say, the kids were as excited about the books as I was.  They practically snatched the books out of my hands on Thursday and Friday, so I can't wait to see if they live up to the hype.  The big winners were "The Zodiac Legacy-Convergence" by Stan Lee (so how could that one miss?  Published by Disney, written by Stan Lee (of Spiderman fame) and it's about a group of kids who have super powers based on the Chinese Zodiac).  Awesome.  The other big winner was "Loot" by Jude Watson.  How can you lose with a plot that includes a world renowned thief, orphans, terrible foster care, evil and unreliable adults, long lost relatives and hunt for treasure?  Ummm, you can't and the kids were super excited. I read a couple of new ones this week and they were wide ranging.  The first one is an adorable picture book called "Voices are not for yelling" by Elizabeth Verdick.  As a teac

After a bunch of dogs, I hit a winning streak this week.  I read three completely awesome books that you SHOULD NOT MISS.  They are all advanced readers copies that I read from Netgalley, so look for them in book stores SOON. The first one is called "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead.  I have been mystified by why people love Rebecca Stead's writing.  Ok, well, I get why they like her writing, she writes about quirky, interesting characters, but I've really hated some of the plot twists she puts in. "When you reach me" and "Liar and Spy" I found annoying BUT "Goodbye Stranger" is so great!  She has these completely amazing characters-Bridge (short for Bridget) who was in a life threatening accident as a third grader and told that she must have some big purpose in life to have survived such a terrible accident so now as a seventh grader, she's still wondering what that purpose might be.  She has two best friends, Tab (short for Tabi

I've had a stupid cold this week and I spent a lot of time watching TV and re-reading Harry Potter.  But I'm feeling better now and I was digging around in Netgalley and there's some really great stuff there! I just read a picture called "The Queen's Shadow" by Cybele Young.  It's a funny story about a queen who has lost her shadow and she accuses the animals she is dining with of stealing it.  One by one they explain they couldn't have possibly have done it because of the way that they see.  There is some great scientific information in the book about the way different animals see and it has a funny ending.   The pictures are scientifically Victorian so you get both the queenly theme and the scientific accuracy of the animals.  I liked this one a lot.  This would be a great one to go along with some of Steve Jenkins books like "What do you do with a Tail like this?". The second one I read was a middle grade fiction chapter book call

I got some new books today, YAY!  I suppose it's a sign of my madness that when I get a box of new books, it always feels like Christmas.  So of course,  I hauled several of them home to read.  There were three gorgeous picture book biographies that I had been reading about on other blogs that I FINALLY got for our library. The first one is called "The Right Word" by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet.  These two have teamed up before to write some awesome biographies about people you might never have heard of (like Tony Sarg, who invented the Macy's parade balloons-"Balloons Over Broadway").  This one is about Peter Mark Roget, of the thesaurus.  It gives nice background information about the life of Dr. Roget, including the amazing number of things he invented, besides the thesaurus, but in my opinion, what really brings this one to life is the art work of Melissa Sweet.  There is so much energy in these pictures, they practically leap off the page.  As part o

There were a lot of picture books I hadn't read at the book fair but there were even more chapter books that I hadn't read.  I read pretty fast, but I'm still having trouble finishing all the books I wanted to read before the end of the book fair.  I wonder if my principal would mind if I took the day off tomorrow so I could finish reading.... There were some completely stellar ones on the list.  Two by Lynda Mullaly Hunt... I hadn't read "One for the Murphys" which got a lot of buzz last year.  It's about a girl named Carley who is put in a foster home (with the Murphys) because of a terrible incident with her stepfather and mom.  Her mom was badly injured and couldn't take care of her so Carley is sent to foster care.  The Murphys are a solid family with three young boys and Carley finds it difficult that people can be so kind to each other.  She makes friends and learns to trust the Murphys.  I was a little surprised by the ending. This would be a