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.  

Second Justin Case Story Just as Fun as the First

As I mentioned in my last post from a couple of weeks ago, I was in Dallas for the Junior National Volleyball Tournament.  The boys did well, 19th over all and it gave me lots of time to read.  One of the titles was Justin Case: Shells, Smells and the Horrible Flip-Flops of Doom by Rachel Vail.  I was a big fan of the first Justin Case book, School, Drool and Other Daily Disasters which Karen reviewed here and was excited to find volume 2 on my library's shelf of new stuff.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Justin, he's a worry wart of a kid, always nervous and trying to figure out the social scene of elementary school.  In Shells, Smells, and the Horrible Flip-Flops of Doom, Justin goes against his better judgement and decides to attend Camp Goldenbrook.  It's camp where Justin thinks he will learn to be more of a "rough and tumble kid" instead of such a worrier.  Instead of doing experiments and scientific investigations every day, Justin will be playing dodge ball and learning to swim, two things that are definitely out of his comfort zone.

In order to get ready for camp, Justin must come to grips with changing clothes in a locker room in front of other people.  Other campers teach him the trick of holding his towel in his teeth so nobody can see anything.  He must learn to deal with having no real friends at camp.  He knows several sporty kids who attend Camp Goldenbrook but they're not kids he would normally spend time with.  Along with many other hurdles, including a bully of a counselor, a mean kid who takes advantage of the less athletic and eating in a place the call The Mess where they serve hockey pucks and bug juice, Justin has to get used to the "flip-flops of doom."  Actually he just needs to get used to that little thing that goes between your toes and rubs your skin raw. I feel his pain, I never liked that little thing!

In the end, Justin discovers a lot about how strong he is and stands up for himself.  At some point in the story, I thought I had it all figured out, but Justin not only surprised me, he surprised himself and really expands his horizons.  I know kids like Justin who want to try new things and move beyond where they are, I think this book might help them figure a few things out.  I'll definitely be recommending this book to my 3rd graders in the fall.  Fans of Alvin Ho will enjoy Justin Case.

Two More Fun Books

I recently wrote about 2 fun series books for girls. Today, I'll be talking about two more fun books, both of which are a hoot.

Big Nate, In a Class All By Himself, is very reminiscent of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. There are many laugh-out-loud moments when Nate does free association thinking. Lincoln Peirce, the author of this series, has created a very amusing character that I can't wait to get to know more. I love how much energy Nate puts into avoiding a class assignment. Nate is really quite bright; just not motivated to do schoolwork. The illustrations, the comic boxes, the dialogue that really is an aside to the reader, Nate's sidekicks -- all come together to provide the reader with much hilarity. I also enjoyed the sequence of the story as Nate goes through an entire school day, bouncing from one period and teacher to the next, always getting into a different kind of trouble, each problem worse than the one before. I was happy to see on the back of my Big Nate book that Book 2 is "just around the corner." Can't wait to see what Big Nate is up to next!

The other book is Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters. From the front cover on, this book reminded me of the Alvin Ho series. Like Alvin, Justin Case has many insecurities that can overwhelm him at times. However, the author, Rachel Vail, makes Justin very likable. The story is done in journal format with Justin as the narrator. At times, the dialogue is abrupt and to the point; other times, Justin tends to elaborate more. I really enjoyed how "real" Justin was. He is going into 3rd grade, but he still loves to play imaginary games with his stuffed animals (though he doesn't want anyone to know he does that). Justin also hates PE class, except when there is running involved; he really hates the idea of having to climb the rope and touch the tape at the top of the rope. Justin doesn't see himself as well liked, but he is voted the class's student council representative. Though he is excited about that, he bums out when he realizes he has to give up some of his lunch/recess time for student council activities. The reader will also enjoy some of the "girl problems" Justin has as a 3rd grader.

I read an ARC of Justin Case: School, Drool, and Other Daily Disasters, but the other day when I was at Cover to Cover, I saw that this book is already on the bookshelves. Good to know, because Justin is a character readers will want to meet soon.