Each week I try to 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.
I am currently a first round Cybil judge for the middle grade fiction, and I’m almost out of time. Fortunately there are so many great books it's time well spent!
Here's what I read this week:
Middle Grade
As I said last week, it's refreshing to see middle grade taking on big issues.
As I said last week, it's refreshing to see middle grade taking on big issues.
Roll With It is about a girl with CP, a grandfather with Alzheimer's disease, and finding independence even when you are dependent. Plus, there's lots of baking!
Summer of a Thousand Pies is also about baking, so I was very hungry reading these books back to back. It's about a girl with an alcoholic father who is sent to jail for negligence and how she finally finds a secure home and family with her aunt and her partner.
Genesis Begins Again is about a girl who feels her dark black skin makes her ugly and worthless. She wants so much to have lighter skin that she will do anything to change her color. She learns to recognize her strengths and to stop seeing skin as a weakness.
Lety Out Loud is about a girl who volunteers at an Animal Shelter camp. But it's really about the challenge of coming to a new country and not speaking the language. I love that the book was published in two languages which is why even though I can't read the Spanish version, I posted the cover.
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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 looks like you had a wonderful reading week. I was already looking forward to reading Roll With It, but am now really keen to read these others too.
ReplyDeleteI've only read Roll With It (which I loved), but the others sound great.
ReplyDeleteI know about Roll With It, but not the others, Stacy, and each one sounds so good! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMmm, so many books about baking! I have a number of tweens at the library who are very keen bakers (The Great British Bake-Off was quite the conversation starter for a while!), so they'll be keen on Roll With It, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about middle grade taking on big issues, Stacy. I've read some pretty hefty topics, lately, and it's refreshing when it's done well. Kids this age deal with important things and it's nice that they're seeing that reflected in their reading! I really enjoyed Roll With It and I have Summer of a Thousand Pies on my list, so I hope to get to it in 2020.
ReplyDeleteInteresting tthoughts
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