#IMWAYR November 12, 2017

Each week I join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee from Unleashing Readers to share all of the reading I've done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. 

This week I continued to read middle grade novels for the Cybils, and to share with my class. I also had a chance to squeeze in another Young Adult fantasy.

Here's what I read this week:

Middle Grade

David Da-Wei Horowitz prepares for his Bar Mitzvah in 1983, during the end of the Cold War. After watching a movie called The Day After, his friend asks him to help him build a nuclear fall out shelter. David faces the dilemma of deciding who he would want to survive with, while navigating the challenge of girls, invitations, a Russian refusenik, and two hilarious grandmothers who each believe that their heritage is best. As a Jewish child who grew up in the 80s, so much of this book brought me back to my childhood and to the Bat Mitzvah I shared with a Russian "twin."

Annabelle has a five mile rule. That's the closest her friends are allowed to come near her home because if they come any closer they might realize that Annabelle's mom is a hoarder and that the piles have become so large her younger sister is worried she might die under a pile. But as Annabelle's parent's relationship starts to crumble faster than the piles, she needs to decide whether she stays and fights for cleanliness or leaves for cleaner places. A heartfelt story about family relationships and facing family problems.

Maria Luisa (Malu) is not happy about moving from Florida to Chicago with her "SuperMexican" mother. She misses her punk rock father and her friends. On the first day of school she is called into a special assembly for kids breaking the dress code and is called a Coconut (someone who is brown on the outside but white on the inside) by a mean girl named Selena. But Malu isn't going to let those things stop her. She forms a band with other kids who want to be punk and together they take on the school. While I like this cover, I don't thinks it captures the depth of this book which does a great job capturing the challenges of middle school.

Young Adult

In a future world run by superheros called Renegades, the supervillains are stuck living in hiding. For Nova, the supervillians are family. She has been living with them since her Uncle, the head of the villains, rescued her when her parents and sister were killed by a gang, before he was also destroyed. In order to help equalize the balance between good and evil, Nova has become a Renegade, hoping to destroy the superheros from within. This book is considered YA, but I think it could be enjoyed by an upper middle grader.

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Stacy Barnett Mozer is a teacher and a middle grade author. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below. 

It's Monday, what are you reading?