It's Monday, What Are You Reading? - Aug. 27

I'm so pleased I was able to find time to read this week, even though I had teacher workdays four of the days, because I managed to read several things I really enjoyed.

Chaos Walking Series by Patrick Ness -- How am I just getting around to reading this series now?!!  The first one was The Knife of Never Letting Go.  I don't normally read science fiction, but I couldn't put this one down. And for those of you who know this book, I found myself very upset with the ending. I absolutely needed to read the next book asap because I was dying to know what happened next. Wonderful, suspenseful book.  And then, I did read the next book, The Ask and The Answer.  It was just as riveting as the first book. What I can't believe is I have to wait until next weekend to finish this trilogy -- with students coming tomorrow for the first day, I won't have time to read something as big as Monsters of Men (the last book) until then.

Justin Case: Shells, Smells, and the Horrible Flip-Flops of Doom by Rachel Vail -- My blog partner, Bill, said he thought this Justin Case book was better than the first and I have to agree with him. While Justin is still frightened of many things, it's nice to see him getting a little stronger as well. I'm glad Rachel Vail is letting his character grow and develop. Matthew Cordell's illustrations are perfect.

Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman -- Love the simple, but important, message in this book about how we need to take care of one another.  This might be one of the books I read aloud for our first day.

May B.  by Caroline Starr Rose -- May B is such a great female character. I'm always looking for wonderful novels in verse to add to our classroom library and this one fits the bill. Due to hard times, May B is sent to live with a family 15 miles away to help out the wife who is suffering from depression and can't seem to do anything around the house. When the wife runs away and the husband follows her, May B is left alone in the middle of nowhere to fend for herself. Powerful reading!

Oh, and just for fun, I read a Sandra Brown novel, Lethal. :)

Please join Kellee and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, who are the cohosts of this wonderful Monday event!  I love finding out what others are reading, and start planning my next week's reading using some of the participants ideas.