Throne of Glass (404 Pages)

Sarah Maas has won an award for this book, although I can't remember the name of the award! However, it is well deserved. Throne of Glass is a fantasy read, but is written with such precision to detail, that this reader forgot it was a fantasy! The Throne of Glass tells the story of an unforgettable heroine, Celaene. She is known to be the most famous and most successful assassin on the island. The vicious king of the glass throne kingdom, catches her and puts her in the prison salt mines for life. She is not expected to live for a long time as the guards there are ferocious! However, the king feels he needs a champion (a person who will do as told, obviously to include killing for the king) The Captain of the Guards and the Crown Prince are given the job of finding 23 possible contenders for the job. One of these turns out to be Celaena. The contenders are forced into a competition of elimination, and the winner will be the king's champion. What happens throughout the book is spellbinding, and deserves the quote from USA Today saying that this book is "a must-read."

The 5th Wave ( 457 Pages)

Rick Yancey is the author of this new view of America/Earth in the future. This is a book that I would place in the "What If?" genre. If you aren't familiar with that genre of literature, I think I may have made it up. Anyway, there are many books that fall into this category, and this one is a goody! What if earth was being monitored by beings on a different planet in a different solar system for thousands of years. These beings are much more advanced than our species, and at some point they decide that the "need earth." So they appear in the 1st wave. But they don't look any different than we do. They come in human form and many are able to enter bodies of humans without their even realizing this has happened. They book centers around a family called the Sullivans. They consist of a mother, father, daughter (Cassie) and son (Sammy).  The kids become the main characters, and it is their attempt to survive  and understand all of the very strange events that carries the book from beginning to end. Boy, I didn't want this book to end.

Period. 8 (276 Pages)

I will always buy anything written by Chris Crutcher. I have never read anything he has written that I didn't love. Huythanh, if you are reading this blog, this is a book you and Robert would adore! Chris Crutcher is a a family therapist and a child protection specialist as is stated in the back jacket of this book. He knows kids. He know adolescents, and his writing rings true. All of his novels involve some sort of sport- sometimes more than one sport at  time! In this story Paulie Baum is a high school senior and a swimmer.  He is one of group of 8-10 kids who participate in Period 8, with science and government teacher Bruce Logsdon. During period 8 (which is when kids eat their lunch) the kids are there voluntarily and they are allowed to discuss anything they want to discuss. The only rule is that nothing is allowed to leave the room. It is a "safe place." Only it isn't, and it's not because  of Paulie or "Logs" or Paulie's girl friend, Hannah! I could not put this book down. It's a fast read, it's terribly exciting, and boys will love it (girls too ;-) )

Three Times Lucky (312 Pages)

This is the first book I've read by author Sheila Turnage. It is probably best as a read aloud for 5/6/7 grades. I'm not sure if they will get all of the humor, and it is one of the funniest books I've read in a long time! Mo (short for Moses) is a little girl whose mother gave birth to her during a hurricane and as the water was rising attempted to save her life by wrapping her in a blanket at putting her on a billboard that was floating downstream. She was found by a man known only as Colonel who with Miss Lana took her in as their own. Tupelo Landing in North Carolina is the setting for this book and the accents of the various characters is as thick as Southern grits! Mo spends much of the book writing a journal to her "Upstream Mother." She sends notes in bottles to her and members of the community help by taking the bottles with them when they are leaving the Landing for other parts. Mo's best friend, Dale is also a great character. He's the smallest boy in the 6th grade, hates math, and will do almost anything for Mo. Between Mo, Dale, the Colonel and Miss Lana, activities in this book are non-stop. It's a great story of what the word "family" really means, and what it means to be a friend.

Two or Three Things I Forgot to Tell You (276 Pages)

Here is another Joyce Carol Oates YA novel. For those who haven't read any of her other books, you may want to add some of them to your classroom libraries. Big Mouth and Ugly Girl was one of my favorites. In this book, Oates focuses on a high school senior, a girl who seems to have everything going for her : top student, early admission to Brown, part of "the in crowd," etc.  Then one of her best friends commits suicide, and everything begins to unravel. Marissa begins cutting. The thing I like about this book is that the reader begins to see the psychological twisting that seems to go along with cutting. Her behavior is a red flag, one that should be noticed and dealt with by her friends, family and teachers! Maybe some of our current students might learn from reading this and act to help a friend. The impact of their friend's suicide impacts all of the girls in the group. And as often happens in schools, rumors fly, then the rumors turn into cyber bullying, and everything is magnified. Some of the themes include friendship and standing up for what is right. I'm sure there are more because Oates is such a great story teller.

Strange Bedfellows (222Pages)

Yet another professional book, and this one makes me wish I was still in a classroom. Carol Rawlings Miller has put together literary pairs that would never jump into the readers mind as a pair to be read and discussed/ written.  I attended a workshop given by one of Robert Marzanos associates.  In it we were told that comparing(showing likenesses) and /or contrasting (showing differences) makes the biggest difference in student comprehension. Rawlings has done the work for you!  This allows teachers to offer reading/ writing/ and discussion across the genres. So, if I ruled the world and could do my own thing in my classroom, I'd do one or more of these lessons with my students, and then I'd Xerox a lesson and keep it in a folder for a sub to use should I be absent. It's all there, folks: reading/ questions/ discussion/ writing. Order this book from Heinemann, give it a try, and let me know how it goes!

Essential Questions (110Pages)

This professional book by Mctighe & Wiggins (of Understanding by Design fame) I'm entering this book for two main reason: 1) It is filled with GREAT ideas for all curriculum departments, and 2) I believe the weakest area for most teachers is their inability to ask quality questions. As a matter of fact, many of the questions asked are low level thinking questions. This book is designed to be used by math, science, history, music, art teachers. Think seriously about getting this book for yourself, or at the very least ask your librarian to get one for faculty use. Not only do these authors point out what an essential question it, they also point out what one is not! Here is an example they give of an essential question: How do the arts shape, as well as reflect, a culture? Here is a question that is not essential: What common artistic symbols were used by the Incas and the Mayans? They go into detail explaining the difference between overarching vs topical essential questions. Believe me, whatever you teach, at whatever level, this book will be an asset to you.