Catching Fire

I have read a couple of different posts recently where bloggers have said Catching Fire, the sequel to The Hunger Games, is better than the first book. I would be hard-pressed to disagree. My exact words when I just finished reading Catching Fire -- OH! MY! GOSH! (and I was talking to myself, since the rest of my family is in bed, fast asleep).

Suzanne Collins delivers in spades with this sequel. Katniss continues to be a character to reckon with. But, what is also nice in this book, is how lesser characters from the first book are more developed this time around. Like the first book, the suspense and action will have you riveted the entire time.

You won't find any spoilers here. Just a strong recommendation that you make sure you have The Hunger Games read by September when Catching Fire will be released. Just make sure you have some uninterrupted time to read, because you will not want to put this book down once you start. Then you can be like me, counting down the days until the next book in this series will be available.

48 Hour Challenge Wrap-Up (K)

Well, in 48 hours, I was pleased with what I got accomplished. I finished 6 books, and managed to avoid any type of cooking or cleaning all weekend. In addition, I had a blast with other Central Ohio bloggers Saturday morning. And last, but not least, I owe Mary Lee (A Year of Reading) $2 for every book I took out of Cover to Cover bookstore that morning -- total of 21 books. That money will go to a cause very special to Mary Lee.

I had lots of fun again this year.

I didn't get to blog about the last book I read, but look for that tomorrow ( rumor has it that this book made Fuse #8's list of mid-year Newbery predictions).

48 Hour Wrap Up (Bill)

So we drove for about 9 hours today giving me plenty of time to read, but making blogging nearly impossible. We have arrived safely in a hotel in Florence, SC, just a little over an hour from the beach and I finally have time to wrap up my 48 hours. Although I didn't get the chance to read nearly as much as I would have liked, I did complete 4 books, one of them 500 pages so for Mary Lee's sake, I'm counting that as three books, bringing my total monetary donation to $20 which doesn't sound like much, but when combined with all of the other Central Ohio Bloggers donations it should look pretty good.

My final read was AWESOME! I'm a big fan of the book Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, in fact, we used it in one of our first Grand Discussions. Just to catch you up, Moose Flannery lives on Alcatraz during the 1930s because his father works as a guard on the island. Strange but true, the guard's families actually lived on the island with the prisoners and everything. Moose's sister Natalie is autistic even though that wasn't a diagnosis in the 1930s and the family struggles with her outbursts especially Moose's mom.. To make a great book shorter, Natalie gets into school for special kids and the reader and Moose are left to wonder if Alcatraz's most famous resident, Al Capone, had something to do with it. In the very end, Moose finds a note in his shirt pocket with the simple word "Done." He suspects Capone put it there and that it must mean that he had something to do with Natalie's entry into the school. Great book! It really left me wanting more.

Imagine my surprise on Saturday when Sally, the owner of Cover to Cover, handed me an ARC of Al Capone Shines My Shoes! I had no idea there would be follow up book but I was thrilled to get my hands on a copy of it, so thank you Sally!

This book picks just shortly after Natalie enters school and things in the Flannery household are much calmer. Moose's mom is much more relaxed and his father seems to have a little extra spring in his step. They all miss Natalie, but in the 1930s when autism wasn't understood and even thought to be contagious by some, it must have been a bit of relief to the family.

Moose receives another mysterious note asking him to get yellow roses for Al Capone's wife Mae who will visit the island. He breaks into hives from the worry of how he will pull this off without getting caught and putting his father's job in jeopardy.

All of the characters are back and Gennifer Choldenko spends a little more time developing the relationships between the kids including Piper, Jimmy, Scout, Annie and Moose. When Natalie comes back for a visit she is carrying a bar spreader in her suitcase which the kids find and suspect all sorts of plots. Of course Natalie has no idea what it is or what it's for but it comes out that she has had contact with convict 105 from the first book and he placed it in her suitcase.

Choldenko does a fantastic job of portraying Natalie and the improvement she has made since she has been away. Most likely because of how close she is to the issue since she grew up with an autistic sister. I love the way she portrays the kids realistically. Moose continues to try to please everyone and ends up angering some. Annie is the tomboy baseball player who has a crush on Moose but is too proud to show it. Jimmy continues to try to learn baseball so Moose will like him better, but still loves science and more thoughtful things. And then there's Piper, the Warden's daughter who uses her position to her advantage and doesn't care what damage it does to others. Piper is a classic beautiful mean girl who Moose can't stay away from. I love that in the end, even though the whole cast has to work together to thwart an escape, Piper never changes. Gennifer's realistic characters are so well done and believable that I don't get tired of reading about them.

The book is scheduled for release in September of 2009. I may recommend it to those that have already read the first Al Capone book, but it is for a more mature audience then most 5th graders. As Karen said in her earlier post, sometimes the second books disappoint, but not in this case, I liked it just as much as the first.

48 Hour challenge - 5th book done (K)

I just finished Gary Paulsen's newest, Mudshark. Lots of fun! This is a book full of interesting characters within a school setting -- a very observant student (his name is Mudshark), a student who loves creating things in science, a student/magician, a custodian who is a Renaissance man, a librarian who loves children coming to her library, a principal who makes the funniest morning announcements, a know-it-all parrot who lives in the library. There are many layers of mini-mysteries within the story, but it is a quick read, and everything is settled quite satisfactorily.

It is a smaller book, only 82 pages. I can think of several students this past year who struggled a little with longer texts that might enjoy reading this book. The size is very similar to Paulsen's LawnBoy.

Best yet, with all the conversations going on about 21st Century Literacy, electronic blackboards play a significant role in the story.

For more of a review, see what Bill had to say.

48 Hour challenge - 4th book done (K)

A year ago, during the 48 Hour Book Challenge, I got to meet Sarah Prineas, the author of The Magic Thief series, at Cover to Cover. I bought the first book, read it, and loved it -- very unusual for someone who isn't a fan of fantasy. It seems only appropriate that one of the books I purchased today was the second book in the Magic Thief series, Lost.

Like the first book, the adventures and magic in this book center around a very unlikely hero, named Connwaer. One of his most notable talents is his ability to pick pockets; another is his ability to pick locks. Conn is an apprentice to a magician by the name of Nevery.

When I reviewed the first book, I said that I thought this would be a series accessible to a wider number of readers. Both books have many supports for readers. They both have maps in the beginning to help the reader understand where events take place in the story. At the back of each book, are sketches of the main characters followed by descriptions. There are also more detailed sketches of the different settings in the story with accompanying descriptions. The Magic Thief series also has a slightly larger size font with space between lines -- easier to read. It's one of those books that looks thick, but doesn't take long at all to read.

Within the story, there are many letters and journal pages written by Conn's master, Nevery. When Conn gets exiled, he writes letters to Nevery as well. Within all this writing is a secret code. The reader can find the translation guide in the back of the book.

One final bonus in the back, that I really enjoy is the list of recipes for some of the food cooked in the book. I don't think this is a part that will appeal to kids, but I like it! :)

Sometimes, you can be disappointed by a second book in a series, but I didn't feel that way at all about Lost. I even realized I was much more comfortable reading a fantasy book the second time because I knew the characters and the setting from the first book. That comfort level allowed me to enjoy the fast pace of the magic this time.

Now that I have 2 books in this series, I look forward to recommending the Magic Thief series to students in the fall. If they like one, they'll have another to read. Though, I must say there is a little bit of a cliffhanger at the end of Lost. Readers will want to know what happens to our hero, Conn, next.

48 Hour Challenge-Book 2-Bill

Between garage sales, graduation parties and vacation prep, I managed to squeeze in a book! Mudshark by Gary Paulsen features Lyle Williams whose quickness in a game called Death Ball earns him his nickname as a 12 year old detective. Mudshark hones his skills of observation by watching his toddler triplet sisters and keeping them out of trouble. Mudshark is cool at school, because he is smooth and smart and knows the answer to almost anything due to his powers of observation and the amount of reading that he does. Mysterious things happen at his school and the principal depends on Mudshark to figure out why. In this book all of the erasers begin to disappear and Mudshark finds them.

Paulsen is funny and entertaining in this very short quick read. The principal's announcements at the beginning of each chapter are hilarious and me and my high school freshman son laughing out loud. Did I say "high school freshman son?" WOW! when did that happen, I'm getting old. I'm off to do more packing and hopefully get in some more reading before bed.

48 Hour challenge - 3rd book done (K)

My third book read was Kate DiCamillo's latest, The Magician's Elephant, due out in September '09. This is actually on loan from Katie (Creative Literacy) who picked this ARC up a few weeks ago.

I heard Katie say at breakfast this morning that she thought that Kate DiCamillo writes in such a poetic way. That really describes this book well. The Magician's Elephant has a rhythm and a repetitiveness that just stays with you. I am so admiring of her word choices as well -- it appears to be written simply, yet the language is so beautiful!

In addition, for a happily ever after person like me, this book is full of hope, even in seemingly impossible situations. The story lifts you up, and makes you want to be a better person.

It appears that there will be many pictures throughout the text, but they weren't all finished for the ARC. I will look forward to the final version of The Magician's Elephant to see how the pictures move the story along. In that way, it reminds me a lot of The Miraculous Journeys of Edward Tulane.

This would be such a wonderful book to share with students!