First Reading of the New Year

           Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they've been reading, along with everyone else who post their favorites. 

            Happy New Year! Whatever you did, wherever you are, I hope you had the happiest of holidays. It feels as if I haven't read as much as I thought I would this week, but I am reading several long books and beginning to read (& re-read) some of the Cybils Poetry Finalists. You can find all the finalist lists here!

         A broad range of feelings seem to be what Katherine Applegate excels in when writing her stories and Endling: The Last is no different. You'll feel joy and sorrow, anxiety and relief poured into this book. This time she has crafted a whole new world for us filled with fascinating new creatures, complex human interactions, and more than one hero. Shadows of Tolkien tales are here with the Endling making a decision that pushes her life into one she never imagined, a tragedy that sparks a needed quest, and a band of unlikely characters to love as they battle other beings one learns to hate. There are environmental considerations along with an underlying thread of the corruptive search for power. The next in the series, Endling #2: The First, arrives in May, can't wait!

        Finding friends who love the same thing you do can be challenging and when it's something strange, like collecting words, it's harder. This time, Ebenezer sticks to his love and it becomes even more fun when new classmate shows up who writes stories and often needs a "best" word for them. Perfect match, something everything wishes for, right? 

         This was a lovely find at my bookstore, first published last year in Canada, translated from German. The illustrations are simple and wonderfully detailed, showing this sad rhino, "beautiful as a mountain". Other animals greet him happily, but he is sad. His horn is crooked (the story shares it was an accident) and he wishes to be free like a snowflake. (Here is a 'grass is greener' tale.) What the other animals do to help is supportive and sweet. For example: "We need you." chirps a tiny little bird, "to land on, to rest on." I loved the story. It will make a great conversation to discuss how to help a friend who's feeling a bit sad.