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Student Book Review: Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber

26 May

I assigned the second set of book reviews in my Y.A. Lit class, which means it’s time to feature a new student book review.  My student, Zach, was telling me about books he’s read and enjoyed when we were discussing his trimester project and thinking about potential books to read.  Once he mentioned enjoying The Picture of Dorian Gray, I immediately handed him Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber.  I wasn’t sure if it would be for him, but based on his book review and his book talk, I know he enjoyed it.

Title: Darker Still

Author: Leanna Renee Hieber

Student Reviewer: Zach H.

Summary (From Goodreads):

I was obsessed.

It was as if he called to me, demanding I reach out and touch the brushstrokes of color swirled onto the canvas. It was the most exquisite portrait I’d ever seen–everything about Lord Denbury was unbelievable…utterly breathtaking and eerily lifelike.

There was a reason for that. Because despite what everyone said, Denbury never had committed suicide. He was alive. Trapped within his golden frame.

I’ve crossed over into his world within the painting, and I’ve seen what dreams haunt him. They haunt me too. He and I are inextricably linked–bound together to watch the darkness seeping through the gas-lit cobblestone streets of Manhattan. Unless I can free him soon, things will only get Darker Still.

Student Review:

Everyone has believed in the concept of spirituality at least once in their lives. Well, even if one is not a believer currently, they will become one after reading Darker Still. I was drawn to this book originally because I had heard that it was inspired by Oscar Wilde’s groundbreaking novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Having enjoyed Wilde’s novel not even a month before, I was eager for a new twist on the story. By the time I finished this book, I determined that it wasn’t only a unique twist on Wilde’s story, but surpassed it in terms of an engaging story as well.

Darker Still follows Natalie Stewart, an eighteen-year old girl who has been mute ever since her mother died years earlier. Over time, she feels extremely drawn to a painting of the handsome Lord Denbury, who supposedly committed suicide. However, Natalie comes to find out that Denbury is still alive and trapped in the painting, having fallen backwards into a plot that is so much bigger than simple magickry. At the core of this captivating tale is a very engaging plot which I would love to elaborate upon, but sadly can’t.

Besides the plot, the characters were what really sold the story in Darker Still, especially Natalie, Denbury, and Mrs. Northe. For instance, seeing the whole events of the story from Natalie’s point of view was quite fascinating, mainly due to the fact that, being mute, she sees the world and handles interactions differently from the average Jane. Denbury, on the other hand, provides a tender and loving air that exudes strength even when things seem most dark. Additionally, Mrs. Northe serves as an excellent supporting protagonist as her knowledge of most things supernatural makes her the perfect helper to both Natalie and Denbury despite the increasingly dark situation.

Despite how good the plot and characters are, like all great novels, Darker Still does have its occasional drawbacks. For example, some of the characters, such as Maggie, are so wooden and unimportant that I feel the novel could have gotten along perfectly well without them. I was also disappointed that Natalie’s father wasn’t fleshed out too much considering the fact that her mother is dead. If the novel could have focused just a little bit more on Natalie’s relationship with her father, I would’ve felt just a bit more emotionally attached. Additionally, I didn’t like how the whole novel is basically a diary kept by Natalie recounting the events because it sometimes it showed a feeling of emotional detachment from Natalie. Not always, but just enough.

Despite these significant shortcomings, Darker Still is a very good book. The often disturbingly detailed imagery and prose leaps off of almost every single page. I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes a good, mystery, or even supernatural fiction. Darker Still is a novel for everyone.

Book Covers: What My Freshmen Think

21 May

A week ago I posted about what my Y.A. Lit students think of book covers.  The day it posted I received tons of feedback and also passed out a book covers survey to my freshmen to get a broader view.  This time I added two parts to the survey: providing their gender and providing examples of book covers they like.  I polled 43 boys and 34 girls for a total of 77 freshmen.  My post also includes images of some of the covers mentioned in the surveys.

1. What about a book draws your attention the most?

  • Cover design–58%
  • Author/reviewer blurb–3%
  • Summary–39%

2. What kind of cover design do you prefer the most?

  • Models on the cover–25%
  • Objects/scenes related to the story–75%

**Note–This was the same in my Y.A. Lit class**

3. What kind of color combination draws you the most?

“There isn’t really a color combination that draws me in more than others.”

“Red and black”

“Bright colors”

“Red mixed with black and white”

“Bright and dark in one”

“Pink, purple, blue–cute colors”

“Green and yellow”

“Orange and blue”

“Neon or 1 or 2 solid colors and an all caps, stencil, huge title.”

“I really don’t care, but if it has fun colors it will catch my attention.”

“It doesn’t matter, I pretty much read what you say is good.”

4. Is font style & placement important to you? Explain.

  • Yes–40%
  • No–60%

“Bold and artistic to draw me in to see what the title is.”

“Not really. It’s more about what it says than the font or placement.”

“I like it when the font is popped out and in your face.”

“Not really, it really depends on what’s between the covers.”

“The author’s name should be at the bottom.”

“Not really because I’m going to read the title no matter what.”

“I Hunt Killers is a good example when font matters.”

5. Would you feel comfortable reading a book w/a gender-specific feel to it? (Guys reading a book w/a “girly” cover.)

  • Yes–65%
  • No–35%

“Not really, unless somebody points it out (multiple times).” –Male

“I don’t care as long as it’s a good book.” –Male

“Yeah, as long as it’s not hardcore manly.” –Female

6. Do you prefer to see the character’s “face” or would you rather imagine the character on your own?

  • See the character’s face–34%
  • Use your imagination–66%

“Seeing the face ruins the book for me.”

“Seeing their face is easier, but imagining them is more fun so either one.”

“I do sometimes. I really like the models on the covers of Wither and Fever.”

7. If possible, please provide some examples of covers that you like and why.

“Divergent–The symbol looks to be on fire, and it is connected to the story.”

“Bad Girls Don’t Die, Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment, If I Stay, Where She Went, Night World.  All of these books have interesting covers.”

“I like the cover for Stupid Fast because it looks like he’s alone; it makes you wonder.”

“Payback Time because it’s about sports.”

“Epic Fail–It’s cute and fun.  Catching Jordan–It kind of explains the book.”

“The Hunger Games–Looks tough and serious.  Shiver–Draws my attention.”

“Anything by Simone Elkeles. Hers have models and they really interest me.  I like covers that look romantic.”

“Fracture, The Hunger Games, and Living Dead Girl because they leave you with questions.”

“Other Words for Love because it’s cute.”

“Split and Crescendo“

“Catching Jordan–Cute and pops”

“The Pull of Gravity because I like the colors and how you can see the characters, but everything’s sort of muted.”

“I like the cover for I Hunt Killers because it catches my attention.  I also like the cover for Trapped because it helps me visualize the school they were trapped in.”

“Forever by Judy Blume and Boy Meets Boy because Forever is girly and I like the colors in Boy Meets Boy.”

“House of  Night, The Mortal Instruments, Hush, Hush, stuff like that.  I like that the models aren’t too detailed but enough to get an image of the character.”

“I like the cover for Across the Universe because there are people but not faces; it’s mysterious.”

“Boy 21, Paranoid Park, and I Hunt Killers because they just stick out or have the character on it.  They let you picture something while staying mysterious.”

“The House of Night series: This is because they show the main character’s unique tattoos.”

“Divergent–very bold”

“Insurgent because it makes me wonder why there is a tree with a circle around it.”

“The cover for Hold Still is good because even though it shows the girl, it also briefly tells the story just by looking at it.”

Students’ Spine Poems

20 May

Last month was National Poetry Month so quite a few people I follow on Twitter were posting links to everything poetry.  Donalyn Miller tweeted a picture of a spine poem she created while her students created them as well.  Paul Hankins also posted some pictures of spine poems, but his were linked on Facebook.  I instantly knew this was an activity I wanted to try in my classroom, so I did not too long ago with my Young Adult Lit students.

I took pictures of all of their poems and had them write a short piece explaining their poem so I could post these on my blog.  Some wrote more than others explaining their poems, and some also gave their poems titles.  My room was a disaster with books everywhere, but my students had fun and asked to do it again :)   I can’t complain about that!  I’m featuring a sampling of the poems created.

Poem #1 created by Wesley and Ethan:

Lost voices (souls) that linger because they’ve fallen away from God.  The white darkness symbolizes the purity and corruption of humans but fade without God, thus fading to wickedness.

Poem #2 created by Alexis K. and Jazzmyn titled “Wonderous Love”:

A guy who is waiting for the girl that is right for him.

Poem #3 created by Brittany and Allison:

You discover that you were cheated on, figured out the lies and the reasons why, left and hoped for something better.

Poem #4 created by Shannon and Torey:

He was in love, but too in love to the point that he was trapped.  It felt like he was trapped forever and there was nothing he could do.  None of this might have happened if he wouldn’t have written his feelings down in the notebook. Perfect (sarcasm).

Poem #5 created by Jessica, Sam, and Morgan:

A girl falling for anything, becoming lovesick, and tricked into leaving with him.  She is sold into prostitution and learning to survive.

Poem #6 created by Ashley and Chris titled “The Cycle of Death”:

We ordered the books in an order that represented the cycle of death.  It starts “Fallen” and “Beautiful Darkness” which symbolize dying and ends with “City of Ashes” which symbolizes the end.  The middle books symbolize what happens after death and how things work out.

Poem #7 created by Merissa:

A romantic comedy about a couple falling in love, the hesitance of trusting someone, and trying to make it work for the long term.

Poem #8 created by Zach:

It’s about a guy in a race who is fast, but he only gets fourth so he failed.

Flash Reviews (13)–Audiobooks Edition

18 May

As always, thank you for the Flash Reviews idea, GreenBeanTeenQueen!

Since January my reading as been in a general slump because I’ve been overwhelmed with work, my Masters, and health stuff.  In April I decided to give audiobooks a try and can’t believe I didn’t start listening to them sooner!  I’ve created an Audible account and now listen to audiobooks while I’m getting ready for work, driving to and from work, sometimes during my lunch at work, while I’m cooking, etc.  It makes me feel SO PRODUCTIVE to be “reading” while I’m doing all of these things because those are all of the things that distract me from reading.  I’ve even wanted to start walking more so I can listen to my audiobook of the moment since I have the Audible app on my phone.  Anyway, since I’ve listened to a few already I decided to try some flash reviews since I’ve never tried writing a full review of an audiobook before.

Title: Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie

Author: Jordan Sonnenblick

Narrator: Joel Johnstone

Summary (From Goodreads): Thirteen-year-old Steven has a totally normal life: he plays drums in the All-Star Jazz band, has a crush on the hottest girl in the school, and is constantly annoyed by his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey.  But when Jeffrey is diagnosed with leukemia, Steven’s world is turned upside down. He is forced to deal with his brother’s illness and his parents’ attempts to keep the family in one piece.

Salted with humor and peppered with devastating realities, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie is a heartwarming journey through a year in the life of a family in crisis.

Flash Review: I listened to this during my spring break in April because my whole reading plan went down the drain when my grandpa decided to go off the vent he’d been on for a month.  I posted about this during that week after he died, but the reason I decided to listen to an audiobook during this time was that I still wanted to accomplish something even though I was spending four hours in the car driving back and fourth across the state to see him and be with family and go to the funeral.  It’s not exactly the happiest memory attached to this book, but regardless of all that Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie is a fantastic book to listen to in audio.  Again, it probably wasn’t the best choice to start with because it’s sad considering Steven’s little brother Jeffrey gets cancer, so I spent a lot of those four hours driving and crying and being all weepy (not so great to do while driving), but I also laughed and was able to take my mind off what was going on.  Joel Johnstone is a really talented narrator.  He does a great job switching voices, adding emotion to what he’s reading, etc.  He’s just about everything you could look for in an audiobook narrator.

The story itself is wonderful.  Steven is going through a tough time trying to understand the severity of his brother’s condition, and it’s not helping that his mom is almost always gone with Jeffrey and his dad isn’t talking to him about much of anything.  Steven’s grades start to suffer, and he begins to feel angry and depressed and confused.  I was able to relate to Steven because I often felt the same way when my dad was in the hospital with Leukemia, but I was in college at the time and understood how serious it was (thankfully my dad’s now cancer free!).  Jordan Sonnenblick has a firm grip on how teens think and act which shows in his writing.  I not only recommend listening to the audio, but adding the book to your library or class library as well if that applies to you.

5/5 stars for this audiobook!

Title: Beautiful Chaos

Author: Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Narrator: Kevin T. Collins

Summary (From Goodreads): Ethan Wate thought he was getting used to the strange, impossible events happening in Gatlin, his small Southern town. But now that Ethan and Lena have returned home, strange and impossible have taken on new meanings. Swarms of locusts, record-breaking heat, and devastating storms ravage Gatlin as Ethan and Lena struggle to understand the impact of Lena’s Claiming. Even Lena’s family of powerful Supernaturals is affected – and their abilities begin to dangerously misfire. As time passes, one question becomes clear: What – or who – will need to be sacrificed to save Gatlin?

For Ethan, the chaos is a frightening but welcome distraction. He’s being haunted in his dreams again, but this time it isn’t by Lena – and whatever is haunting him is following him out of his dreams and into his everyday life. Even worse, Ethan is gradually losing pieces of himself – forgetting names, phone numbers, even memories. He doesn’t know why, and most days he’s too afraid to ask.

Sometimes there isn’t just one answer or one choice. Sometimes there’s no going back. And this time there won’t be a happy ending.

Flash Review: This series never lets me down and Beautiful Chaos is no different.  In the fall I bought my copy as soon as it released, but while I was reading it I got distracted and set it down.  The problem though is that I never picked it back up.  Once I started listening to audiobooks I remembered that I wanted to finish reading Beautiful Chaos and sampled the audio.  I liked it right away, but I had no idea what I was in for just by listening to the sample!  Basically, after listening to this in audio I will only listen to the audio when book four releases.  It is awesome!  First of all, Kevin T. Collins is the perfect narrator for Ethan.  He uses his southern drawl and switches between all of the characters flawlessly.  The only voice that didn’t work for me was when he was reading Liv’s parts.  His British girl voice just didn’t cut it, but it did make me giggle.  Other than that he’s really impressive.  Plus, the audio plays background music during Ethan and Lena’s flashbacks, and we get to hear the Sixteen Moons (which has since changed for this book to Eighteen Moons) song.  I can’t sing the praises enough for Beautiful Chaos in audio.

The Beautiful Creatures series continues to be fantastic.  I love Link now as Linkubus and getting to know other characters more like Ridley and Amma.  So many secrets are uncovered about Lena’s family that my head was spinning.  Plus the ending completely blew my mind.  I had to rewind the audio and listen again because I couldn’t believe what happened.

4/5 stars for this audiobook

Title: Marcelo in the Real World

Author: Francisco X. Stork

Narrator: Lincoln Hoppe

Summary (From Goodreads): Marcelo Sandoval hears music that nobody else can hear–part of an autism-like condition that no doctor has been able to identify. But his father has never fully believed in the music or Marcelo’s differences, and he challenges Marcelo to work in the mailroom of his law firm for the summer. . . to join “the real world.”

There Marcelo meets Jasmine, his beautiful and surprising coworker, and Wendell, the son of another partner in the firm. He learns about competition and jealousy, anger and desire. But it’s a picture he finds in a file–a picture of a girl with half a face–that truly connects him with the real world: its suffering, its injustice, and what he can do to fight.

Reminiscent of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in the intensity and purity of its voice, this extraordinary audiobook is a love story, a legal drama, and a celebration of the music each of us hears inside.

Flash Review: I’m a little torn over this audiobook.  The story itself is beautiful, but the narrator isn’t all that impressive.  His voice is kind of monotonous and he doesn’t do a very good job changing his voice for different characters.  I also had a difficult time distinguishing when Marcelo is thinking something and saying something because there isn’t enough inflection in Lincoln Hoppe’s voice in some of those parts.  Despite those flaws, I was still able to continue listening to the audio because the story is so strong.

I listened to Marcelo in the Real World because we’re using it this year with our To Kill a Mockingbird YA connection unit.  I’m extremely happy we decided on this book because it will tie in nicely.  Just like many characters in To Kill a Mockingbird are misunderstood and judged, Marcelo and other characters are judged and misunderstood also.  Marcelo is very endearing and seeing him lose his innocence about the world was heartbreaking at times.  The characterization is strong in Marcelo in the Real World as well as the writing; it’s an excellent example of literary contemporary fiction.

4/5 stars for this audiobook

Book Covers: What My Students Think

14 May

We’re not supposed to judge a book by it’s cover (or so the saying goes), but when we’re honest with ourselves many of us admit to it.  I’ll admit that I’ve avoided books because of covers and I’ve pined over books because of covers.  My students do exactly the same.  I also know that my students are sensitive to gender specific covers and will turn books away because of them.

Covers are discussed often in my classes, especially my Y.A. Lit class.  I often pull up the cover features from Stacked during these discussions so we can have a broader or more specific conversation.  Because of this I decided to create a short cover survey for my Y.A. Lit students.  Only 24 students participated, the majority of which are girls.  I know this isn’t a very large poll, so I plan on using this survey again with more students.

1. What about a book draws your attention the most?

  • Cover design–58%
  • Author/reviewer blurb–0%
  • Summary–42%

2. What kind of cover design do you prefer the most?

  • Models on the cover–25%
  • Objects/scenes related to the story–75%

3. What kind of color combination draws you the most?

“Dark and an object that’s bright and vice-versa.”
“Reds, pinks”
“Pink, red, purple, girly covers”
“Bright warm colors”
“Bright colors against soft colors”
“Dark colors”
“It depends on the book, but I’d say dark and mysterious.”
“Smoky colors–blues and grays”
“Dark with colors that pop out and grab your attention.”

4. Is font style & placement important to you? Explain.

  • Yes–58%
  • No–42%

“If I like the font, I’ll probably be more likely to read it.”
“Not really, as long as the plot is good then I don’t care.”
“Yes, it should match the book in my mind.  A scary book should have a darker style for it.  A girly book should have a girly font.”
“Yes, it gives you hints to the feel or even formatting of the book.”
“The placement is important. Like on Looking for Alaska, I didn’t like how the title was at the bottom in small letters, and the author’s name was in big letters at the top.” (Note–Our books have this cover.)

5. Would you feel comfortable reading a book w/a gender-specific feel to it? (Guys reading a book w/a “girly” cover.)

  • Yes–67%
  • No–33%

“Yes, I would actually enjoy it since I prefer hanging out with guys anyway.”
“I probably wouldn’t pick it out by myself, but if it’s a good story I wouldn’t mind.”

6. Do you prefer to see the character’s “face” or would you rather imagine the character on your own?

  • See the character’s face–25%
  • Use your imagination–75%

“Even if I see their ‘face’ on the cover I imagine them my own way when I read and sometimes will compare the two.”
“I’d rather imagine the character, but parts of their body or their back is interesting too.”
“I don’t want to see the face because I want to picture the character on how I want him/her to look.  Usually if I see the character’s face I’ll be disappointed because that would not look how I would picture him/her.”

Student Book Review: I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga

9 May

Since reading I Hunt Killers and telling my students about it and showing them the trailer, it’s become quite popular among my students.  Today’s student reviewer, Bobby, bought his own copy to read and is now focusing his Y.A. Lit project on Barry Lyga and his books.  I’ve already reviewed I Hunt Killers, but I love getting the opportunity to feature what my students think about books I’ve read as well since so many of my reviews focus on what I think my students will want to read.  I hope you enjoy Bobby’s 5 star review!

Title: I Hunt Killers

Author: Barry Lyga

Student Reviewer: Bobby

Summary (From Goodreads):

What if the world’s worst serial killer…was your dad?

Jasper (Jazz) Dent is a likable teenager. A charmer, one might say.

But he’s also the son of the world’s most infamous serial killer, and for Dear Old Dad, Take Your Son to Work Day was year-round. Jazz has witnessed crime scenes the way cops wish they could–from the criminal’s point of view.

And now bodies are piling up in Lobo’s Nod.

In an effort to clear his name, Jazz joins the police in a hunt for a new serial killer. But Jazz has a secret–could he be more like his father than anyone knows?

Student Review:

Jasper Dent is son of one of the most infamous serial killers of all time and was taught as a kid how to be a killer. So when a serial killer comes to his small town he tries to help the cops find out who it is by looking through the killers’ perspective.

I Hunt Killers is a great book. It is very interesting to read and I could not put it down until I had finished it, and unlike most other books I could not figure out who the killer was until I had finished. It is fast paced and doesn’t have a boring part in it. It is full of suspense and mystery; also it had a little bit of a romance in it.

One of my favorite things about it is how Jasper somewhat explains what the killer is thinking and explains why the killer does what he does. And that he explains what his dad did and how he did it, along with what happened to him as a child growing up with his dad.

In this book the characters were very developed, each with their own very distinct personality. It really felt like I knew them. It wasn’t just the major characters that were developed either, unlike many other books, even many of the minor characters were developed well.  This really allowed me to connect with them and have feelings for each one.

Student Book Review: Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay

25 Apr

I always love my Young Adult Lit students and my current group fits right in.  They’re excited about reading, discussing, and participating in general.  I also have a talented group of review writers!  I’ve been sitting here going through their Goodreads reviews trying to decide which student review to feature today because I’m so impressed by them.  I’ve decided to create a list so I can feature as many of my students as possible.

Today I’m featuring Brittany’s review of Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay.  It’s the first book she read for this class and it’s what she based her project choice on (love and long-distant relationships in YA).  Brittany also wrote an excellent review of Anna and the French Kiss, but since I’ve already posted a student review of that one, I decided on this review by Brittany.  Enjoy! :)

**I only altered her text to make some words bold**

Title: Love & Leftovers

Author: Sarah Tregay

Student Reviewer: Brittany

Summary (From HarperTeen):

My wish is to fall cranium over Converse in dizzy daydream-worthy love.

(If only it were that easy.)

Marcie has been dragged away from home for the summer—from Idaho to a family summerhouse in New Hampshire. She’s left behind her friends, a group of freaks and geeks called the Leftovers, including her emo-rocker boyfriend, and her father.

By the time Labor Day rolls around, Marcie suspects this “summer vacation” has become permanent. She has to start at a new school, and there she leaves behind her Leftover status when a cute boy brings her breakfast and a new romance heats up. But understanding love, especially when you’ve watched your parents’ affections end, is elusive. What does it feel like, really? Can you even know it until you’ve lost it?

Love & Leftovers is a beautifully written story of one girl’s journey navigating family, friends, and love, and a compelling and sexy read that teens will gobble up whole.

Student Review:

Love and Leftovers is a very cute book. It is about a girl named Marcie who is sixteen years old. She is swept away from her house in Idaho when her parents split up. Her mom takes her away from her group of friends called the Leftovers and her boyfriend that is also in that group, to a summer home in New Hampshire. Her mom is suffering from depression and this summer home becomes their real home. This book is about Marcie starting school in New Hampshire without any friends and how she handles the attention she is getting from a guy at the school. She is weighing the choices between this new guy or her old boyfriend back in Idaho.

I absolutely loved this book! I didn’t know anything about this book when I first wanted to read it. I saw the cover and thought it looked cute so I figured I would give it a try. I had never read a book that was written in verse and at first I didn’t think that I would much care for it, but I ended up loving it. It makes the book so easy to read and I never wanted to put it down. I have always felt that I am a slow reader, but not with this book. I ended up finishing it in two days. I am a sucker for cute love stories and that is exactly what this book is. Tregay did a very good job at developing characters. They all seem very realistic and are easy to relate to.

This is a book that many people would love, especially teenage girls. Anyone who likes a love story would be interested in this book. It doesn’t even have to be girls; some guys are suckers for cute books. Also, this would be a good book for people who like to read in verse.

Audiobook Grant–In Need of Advice/Expertise!

20 Apr

We started the school year with a new superintendent.  During our annual beginning of the year PD day, he introduced a new spin on the CAEF’s grant possibilities.  This year his focus is on “Finding a Way” so he decided to find a way to match our grant opportunities by up to $1500.  These opportunities are available every month and go through the school year.  I’ve been slacking in a major way, but I also wanted to apply for something especially important for my classroom.  I’ve recently discovered the joy of audiobooks, which has prompted my wheels to start spinning.

I’ve noticed this year more than any other year that I have a number of students who really aren’t interested in reading, but they love listening to me read from my read aloud book (I’m currently reading Boy21 by Matthew Quick).  These students are retaining the story more than I would have expected and are excited every day for me to continue Finley and Russ’s story.  These are the students that I think would benefit from audiobooks because I don’t think that it’s a matter of not enjoying reading, but more of an issue of being able to read (well or at all).  If I can give these kids another opportunity to enjoy a great book then I need to do so.

This is where I need some guidance.  I’m currently using Audible for my audiobooks and have been downloading the books straight to my app on my phone as opposed to iTunes because that was confusing me.  Is there a way to have one account to download books and make those books available on more than one device?  Should I have iPods or iPads for my kids to download the books to and use?  I worry about accessibility, finding devices that are safe/easy to lend to students which hopefully won’t be stolen, and the cost of doing this.

I’m really struggling with this one since it’s such a new area of literacy for me.  I think I have until June to write this grant and submit it, so any advice would be really helpful.  I think this can work, but if I’m heading in the wrong direction I’d like to know so I can focus my time elsewhere.  I’ve thought about buying the audiobook CDs, but I don’t know if my students would be as willing to use those because they’d need a CD player and they’re bulky compared to their iPods and MP3 players.  Thank you in advance for any suggestions! :D

Spring Break #BookaDay Goals

1 Apr

I didn’t know if spring break would ever arrive, but it’s finally here!  Keith and I talked about going to Chicago for a few days, but because of the weather being a tad sketchy lately we decided to stay home.  I love taking trips with my husband, but I also love being at home with him while relaxing and reading.  Spring break officially starts tomorrow, but I’ve been organizing and starting my #bookaday goals this weekend.  I will admit, however, that I was pretty darn lazy yesterday (I slept for most of the day) and didn’t get much reading done.  The laziness has continued today, but I’m determined to finish a book!  I think I have my list pretty much narrowed down, even if it’s a lofty list.

A majority of the reading I’m doing this week is work-related.  When I say work-related, though, I’m referring to Y.A. titles I need to read for work, which is quite happy-making!  My freshmen are in the middle of reading Romeo & Juliet, but this year we’re including a group of Y.A. titles to read with To Kill a Mockingbird that fit with some of the themes and issues (prejudice, maturity, loss of innocence, etc.).  Most of them I’ve already read, but there are some titles that others in my department have read and I have not, or titles my friends on Twitter recommended when we were deciding on this list that I still need to read.

I’m also working on narrowing down ideas and titles for my Y.A. Lit II class that I’m teaching next year.  My goal for the class is that we’ll still read three novels as a class, but this time the novels will be genre-focused and the students will read an additional title that fits that genre.  I’ll be pretty flexible when it comes to which title they pick as their additional title, but I’d also like to have some new titles that the school can purchase extra copies of for my students.  I know for sure that we’re reading dystopian and fantasy, but I haven’t decided which genre to read for the third genre.  Historical fiction really isn’t very popular, but paranormal fantasy is, so I was thinking about  a title that mixes both of them.  Then I could allow students to choose either another like that or either a paranormal fantasy or a historical fiction title as their additional choice.  I was also thinking about verse novels even though I don’t consider those a genre.  I know sci-fi is a good choice, but I already have a hard enough time reading those that I don’t know if I really want to teach one.  I feel like a bad teacher saying that. :/

Anyway, the real reason behind this post, the books!

Timeless by Alexandra Monir (Goodreads)–The publicist sent this to me, so I’m reading it now and enjoying it so far.  I think there might be a giveaway in the near future as well!

Cover BittersweetBittersweet by Sarah Ockler (Goodreads)–My girls in book club chose this as our next title, and we’re meeting to discuss this after school on the Tuesday we get back from break.  I need to read it ASAP!  I started it a while ago and it’s pretty good, as I expected, so I’m looking forward to finishing it.

Book Cover Out of the PocketOut of the Pocket by Bill Konigsberg (Goodreads)–Homosexuality isn’t an issue in To Kill a Mockingbird, but the prejudice involved compares with the prejudice in TKAM.  We also wanted to include some LGBT novels because it relates to some of our students and it’s often ignored or misunderstood.  There’s a good chance there will be upset parents, but we’re preparing ourselves for that.

Book Cover Marcelo in the Real WorldMarcelo in the Real World by Franciso X. Stork (Goodreads)–This is another title we’re using with our TKAM unit.  I think the students should read this book because we have some many autistic students in our building, and the summary makes me think of Boo.  I could be wrong, and that might be a stretch, but it still has many of the issues that TKAM does.

Book Cover StartersStarters by Lissa Price (Goodreads)–I’m thinking about this for my dystopian unit in Y.A. II.  I’ve heard great things about it, so I’m excited to try it.  I hope it’s as good as everyone says it is!

Book Cover The Girl of Fire and ThornsThe Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson (Goodreads)–I have this at school right now, so I bought a copy for my Kindle.  Ever since I challenged myself to read more fantasy, I’ve found that I really enjoy it.  I’ve read mostly good reviews for this debut.  One of my freshmen read it and asked about the second book as soon as she returned it because she enjoyed it so much.  I hope it’s a winner because I’m considering this for the Y.A. II class.  I’m trying to choose a novel that’s newer for this genre study because I have so many avid fantasy readers, and it’s difficult to find a book that none of them have read.  Or at least most of them haven’t read.

This is a pretty ambitious list considering I still have a number of plans this week which involve travel, so I don’t know if I’ll actually read all of these in a day each, but I’m going to try!  I challenged my students to try #bookaday, even if it meant reading 20 pages, one book, or five books.  I hope they update me in the comments of this post, or at least have some exciting stories to tell me when we return from break.  Are any of you on spring break and setting up a reading challenge?  Have you already had spring break?  I know not all of my readers get a spring break, so maybe you’ve read some of these books.  I’d love to hear from you! :)

My Favorite Read Alouds

20 Mar

Did you have any teachers in high school that read a book to your class simply for the enjoyment of listening to a good book?  I didn’t.  I really don’t remember any of my middle school teachers doing this either.  A few of my elementary school teachers read to us, but it was less frequent after 3rd grade.  I’m thankful my parents read to my brother and me on a regular basis since this didn’t happen all that much at school.  When I was working towards my bachelor’s degree the idea of reading aloud to my future high school classes never occurred to me.

The summer I took Dr. Steffel’s YA Lit class at CMU my plans changed.  I’ve mentioned Dr. Steffel many times before, and it’s because she’s been such a positive influence on my teaching career.  On the first day of our class, we sat in a circle and she read Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos.  She used different voices and everything.  I was astounded!  I couldn’t believe we were being read to in a college course, but I loved it.  Even though Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key is young for a high school classroom, I really enjoyed the story.  Everything we did in class and everything Dr. Steffel did in class served a purpose; she wanted us to follow her lead and bring these lessons, strategies, ideas, etc. into our classrooms.

I tried my first read aloud while student teaching.  I had a few sophomore English classes, so I decided on Shattering Glass by Gail Giles.  It’s an edgy book, and there’s some bad language and mature situations, but it’s an excellent pick for reluctant readers.  I was  nervous about reading this during student teaching, but I went ahead and did it anyway.  I had a rationale prepared and everything.  My students loved it and often asked me to read “just one more chapter.”  Since then I’m much more comfortable reading books where characters swear, but I make sure to choose books that aren’t over the top in that category.  It sometimes shocks my students to hear me read those parts, but we have a conversation about why that language is in the book and how we won’t be using that language in class.

So let’s get to my favorites already! :)   I like these books for a number of reasons, but one of the most important qualities I look for in a potential read aloud is the amount of dialogue.  Too much dialogue can get confusing when reading it aloud, especially since the kids don’t have the book in front of them to follow along.  I also try to pick books that I know will be entertaining and have a nice moral. Shorter chapters are always a plus too.  And I need to really like the book too, because otherwise I’m not going to enjoy reading it out loud over and over again.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson (Goodreads)–I’ve read Speak out loud so many times!  It’s such a powerful story and so easy for my students to relate to.  Plus, since Melinda isn’t speaking to anyone all that much, most of the book is made up of her thoughts and opinions which is easy for the kids to follow.  The characters are well developed, and well, it’s Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.  Do I need more reasons? ;)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Goodreads)–Last trimester is the first time I’ve read this out loud.  My freshmen were really interested in it because of the upcoming movie (Ahh!! This Friday!!), so I decided to give it a shot as a read aloud.  Some of my students weren’t sure at first because the beginning of the book is a big slow as the world develops and we get to the training center and the actual games.  Once we reached that point, they were begging for more chapters.  It helps that many of the chapters end with cliffhangers.  My only complaint is that the chapters are so long.

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins (Goodreads) (My Review)–I don’t remember what prompted me to choose Hex Hall as a read aloud, but I did for the first time last year.  I read it to my freshmen and the majority of them LOVED it.  In one class, we even went on to read the sequel Demonglass.  Oh my gosh did we race through that book!  It ran right into the very end of the school year, but we finished it.  Sophie is very clumsy, sarcastic, and easy to like.  She reminds me of  a female Ron Weasley.  There’s some foul language in Hex Hall, but nothing that was overly shocking or made me pause.  I should note that in general, I’m on the liberal side of things when it comes to YA and what I put in my classroom.  Many of my students prefer realistic fiction, but besides one or two in each class, even my die-hard contemps fans liked Hex Hall.  The guys even laughed and wanted me to read more :)   I read it again this year to a new group of freshmen and had the same enthusiastic response.

Boy21 by Matthew Quick (Goodreads) (My Review)–I’m actually in the middle of reading Boy21 aloud for the first time.  I’m reading it to my freshmen classes, but I wasn’t sure what they would think.  After reading Hex Hall and The Hunger Games this year, I didn’t know how my kids would react to a sudden switch to something realistic.  We voted on Friday, and the majority of all my classes chose to keep reading it.  Boy21 is a powerful read with a fantastic message without being preachy.  It’s diverse, has guy appeal without alienating the girls, and it’s humorous.  The chapters are short so I have more flexibility in how much I choose to read each day.  Finley doesn’t like to talk that much, so the dialogue is balanced with Finley’s thoughts and observations.  Right now my kids are really curious about Russ, aka Boy21, and what’s going to happen between him and Finley as the story progresses.

Here are a few more titles I’ve had success with reading aloud:

  • My Brother’s Keeper by Patricia McCormick (Goodreads)
  • Harris and Me by Gary Paulsen (Goodreads)
  • Catalyst by Laurie Halse Anderson (Goodreads)

Here are some titles that I’ve recently read and plan to read aloud in the future:

  • Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick (Goodreads) (My Review)–I just finished reading this book, and I just know my students would love it as a read aloud.  It has a wonderful balance of narration and dialogue.  It’s really funny and full of heart.  It’s a clean book in regards to sex and language, but there is a minor scene that involves drinking.  I think it’d work for middle school classrooms as well as high school classrooms.
  • Freshman Year & Other Unnatural Disasters by Meredith Zeitlin (Goodreads) (My Review)–We read so many serious stories in high school that I like to mix it up and read something funny out loud when I get the chance.  Kelsey is hilarious and just a fun character to read.  This is a pretty clean book as well which I always appreciate.  There are a couple scenes with drinking, but I they’re definitely not glorifying it!  I think we’re going to finish Boy21 with enough time to read another book, and if that happens I’ll be reading this one to my freshmen next :)   I love this book and would read it to more than just my freshmen.
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