If you are interested, I'm writing a poem a day for poetry month, posting a second post on the days that I share reviews.
Jama Rattigan at Jama's Alphabet Soup shares a roundup of all the Kidlitosphere's goals for poetry month, several that share wonderful ideas for the classroom!
It's easy to read the summary of this book, about new freshman Aubrey, still grieving the terrible death of her sister who died in a car wreck while Aubrey was the passenger and the death of her beloved grandmother, her main support. But until you read the book, you won't understand the tension Kate offers on page after page. Her mother is distant (facing her own struggles) and her father is away a lot on business. But when Aubrey falls over a dead body of a boy about her age and there is so, so much blood, and then she wakes with the same tattoo of a red flower on her arm that was on that boy's arm, I wanted to write Kate Coombs that the book was getting much, much scarier, that it was very hard to stop reading because I had no idea what might happen next, but then it became more tense and I had to stop, at least for a while. It's a great but a frightening, story based loosely on an old fairy tale that Kate shares at the end - for older middle readers and younger ya. You'll cheer for this 'young woman' and 'little brother' heroes.
Thanks to Candlewick Press for the following three books!
Young boy Noah "spied it coming from afar. It started with a cloud peeping over the hill like a curious ghost." "It's going to be a beauty," said Noah's father. Mother and little sister stack groceries and fill water jugs in the kitchen while Father got out his tools, ready to board up the windows. With John Rocco's beautifully-colored paintings, the story follows a calm family readying for a big storm. After noticing the small living creatures in his back yard and with a bit of magical realism, Noah himself takes apart his wagon, builds a roof and adds some tiny furniture and a muffin tin of food. He then whispers "Come" to the creatures. And they do! Noah must leave them to run inside as "the sun snapped off its light". The storm has arrived. Preparing ahead shows that it helps the frightening aspect of any storm. The family eats and plays by candlelight; the storm rages, but they are prepared and are safe. You'll need to read the rest to see what happens with Noah's ark!
