Monday Reading - Lots To Share!

  Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! 

          The books below in the collage are all picture books, some new, some older. If you're interested in my review, you can find it on Goodreads. I had lots of cleanup from our snowstorm this past weekend and have read these through the week. I've been trying to read (or re-read) books by Jerry Pinckney since he passed last October. John Henry is another gorgeous book and fun story. Enjoy what you can! Each one is terrific in its own unique way. 

      

            

       

       I remember this time, the youth-led rebellion that toppled Romania's Ceaușescu because my own children were teens and amazed at the courage now shown in this new fiction story about one teen, 17-year-old Cristian, who keeps a secret notebook of his life, his family's life, his locked-down, and beleaguered country. Ruth Sepetys has crafted a poignant and poetic story laced with violence, heartbreak, and sorrowful betrayal. Teens are able to do so much more than the credit given to them. The poetry from Cristian, through Sepetys' apt words as Cristian observes bus passengers: "Wrinkled faces. Wrinkled clothing. Wrinkled spirits." It's a terrific new book from the world's history, made more relevant today because of our witnessing of Russia's war on Ukraine. There is a lot of added information at the back. 

      Fantasy? Yes. Underlying truth? Yes. Learn and discover how very young Alex Green lives all her life of sadness and fierce love without failing to follow the rules, not follow the rules, all in a new kind of world after the dragoning of 1955 happened. Kelly Barnhill has written a story for girls, for women, to celebrate the inclusion all wish for, yet seems at times far away. 

         Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin aren't the answer to all challenges in life, but this book may be one answer to some of them. Chronicling that year of 2020 in one family brings it back to reality, the worries and gripes, the wishes to breathe. How did some families do it? You'll love how this one lived, cried, and made it! Teen challenges in their emotional wellness have lately been in the news. It might be helpful for many to read this book, alone, with a group, to consider the gift these Jasons have given in their beautiful book.

       Many poetry books by David Elliott illuminate some particular part of our natural world and this one is no different. Poems that tell about the fliers and swimmers and the plants which live with them are there, At The Pond. Where else could you read about a pollywog that David celebrates with "Golly! Frog!" or "a loving appellation: Old Harry./the Catfish That Won't Be Caught."? Amy Schimler-Safford's collaged illustrations add to a delightful visit for readers of the poems.  And added information about each pond native can be found at the back. It's another beautiful book.

           Thanks to Candlewick Press for this copy!

What's Next: Finishing Falling Short by Ernest Cisneros and The Last Mapmaker by Christine Soontornvat.