What Ms. Moore is Reading: Vacation Weeks 7 & 8

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and recommend for my students. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

It's the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can't wait to meet her classmates. But it's hard to make human friends when they're so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all. . . .

“There’s something very important that I need you to remember. When I say Ooh, you say Aah. Let’s try it.”

In this interactive picture book, young readers help to tell the story by responding to simple verbal or visual cues. This hilarious book is perfect for reading aloud and is fun for the whole family.

An unnamed protagonist who feels different from everybody else, and like she doesn’t quite fit in is bullied by a girl at school.

A box of blocks. A budding builder. Should she build a doghouse? A bridge? A skyscraper? Yes, all of these and more! Bigger, bigger! BIGGEST! But then . . . Boom! Boom! What's that? Uh-oh . . . After one little girl's architectural masterpieces grow exponentially, the arrival of an assistant presents a bit of a challenge in this ode to creativity masterfully constructed by Leslie Patricelli.

Middle Grade Novels

Third-grader Max is heading off on a road trip with Mom. With miles to travel, cousins to meet, and a tall roller coaster to ride (maybe), it will be an adventure! But Max always spends weekends with Dad; will Dad be okay if he’s left behind? 

Alice is angry at having to move to Rainbow, Georgia--a too small, too hot, dried-up place she's sure will never feel like home. Then she gets put in charge of walking her elderly neighbor's dog. But Clarence won't budge without Miss Millie, so Alice and Miss Millie walk him together.

Strolling with Clarence and Miss Millie quickly becomes the highlight of Alice's day and opens her eyes to all sorts of new things to marvel over. During their walks, they meet a mix of people, and Alice sees that although there are some bullies and phonies, there are plenty of kind folks, too. Miss Millie shares her family's story with Alice, showing her the painful impact segregation has had on their town. And with Miss Millie, Alice is finally able to express her own heartache over why her family had to move there in the first place.

What Ms. Moore is Reading - Vacation Weeks 5 & 6

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and recommend for my students. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

A story about how hard it is being the new kid. How really hard it is being different. And how especially hard it is being a giraffe in a school of human children.

Nowadays it's no big deal for a girl to travel seventy-five miles. But when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma in 1914, it was a very big deal indeed. There was no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket would have cost her parents a full day's pay.

Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her own spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail. 

Middle Grade Novels

Alix and her sister, Jools, have never seen the ocean. When their parents pack them up for a week at the shore, Alix is nervous about leaving home, but excited, too. At the beach, the girls make friends, go exploring, and have adventures both big and small. They pick periwinkles, spot crabs, and discover that the beach is full of endless possibilities. As the week comes to an end, Alix is surprised to find she doesn’t want to leave!

It is the autumn of 1846 in Ireland. Lorraine and her brother are waiting for the time to pick the potato crop on their family farm leased from an English landowner. But this year is different—the spuds are mushy and ruined... just like last year. What will Lorraine and her family do?

Then Lorraine meets Miss Susanna, the daughter of the wealthy English landowner who owns Lorraine’s family’s farm, and the girls form an unlikely friendship that they must keep a secret from everyone. Two different cultures come together in a deserted Irish meadow. And Lorraine has one question: how can she help her family survive?

Lucy Callahan was struck by lightning. The zap gave her genius-level math skills, and ever since, Lucy has been homeschooled. Now, at 12 years old, she's technically ready for college. She just has to pass 1 more test — middle school!

Lucy's grandma insists: Go to middle school for 1 year. Make 1 friend. Join 1 activity. And read 1 book (that's not a math textbook!). Lucy's not sure what a girl who does calculus homework for fun can possibly learn in 7th grade. She has everything she needs at home, where nobody can make fun of her rigid routines or her superpowered brain. The equation of Lucy's life has already been solved. Unless there's been a miscalculation?

Nonfiction

Finally, a FUN book to read with kids that helps bridge the gap between what's being taught in school and how today's parents learned math back in the day. Giggle your way through entertaining lessons on addition and subtraction involving muffins, turkey sandwiches, kittens, googly eyes, and more!

Actress, math whiz, and New York Times bestselling author Danica McKellar uses her proven math techniques to give children the solid grasp of addition and subtraction that will be key to their success and unlock their potential in the classroom and beyond!

New eBooks available!

I finally went through the last several months' additions to BookLynx, the eBook consortium we have access to via our RICAT membership. You can now access the following titles through Destiny Discover:


RICBA Nominees

• The Loser's Club
• Surrender the Key
• Sidetracked
• A Boy Called Bat
• Walking with Miss Millie
• The Trail
• I'm Just No Good at Rhyming
• Her Right Foot
• The Youngest Marcher
• The Wizard's Dog

RIMSBA Nominees

• Fuzzy
• The Evil Wizard Smallbone
• Scar Island
• Restart
• Refugee

Series Starters

• Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case
• Artemis Fowl
• The Tail of Emily Windsnap
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Greenglass House (as well as Ghosts of Greenglass)

Books Students Love

• 11 Birthdays
• Magic Tree House - 14 titles! search under Osborne ... as well as nonfiction: Magic Tricks from the Tree House
• Mary Downing Hahn: All the Lovely Bad Ones; The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall; Deep and Dark and Dangerous
• Cloudy with a Chance of Boys
• I Survived: The American Revolution
• Hatchet
• The Wild Robot
• Absolutely Almost
• Crenshaw
• The Gathering

Books Ms. Moore Recommends

• Liar & Spy
• The War I Finally Won
• Mockingbird
• Al Capone Does My Shirts
• Hound Dog True
• Elijah of Buxton
• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
• Refugee
• Me & Marvin Gardens
• See You in the Cosmos
• Greetings from Witness Protection
• When You Reach Me
• Amina's Voice
• Bob

Books Getting Newbery Buzz / Awards

• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
• The Parker Inheritance
• Bob
• The Night Diary
• Wolf Hollow
• Bud, Not Buddy
• Beyond the Bright Sea

Geisel Winners

• King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats
• Snail & Worm Again
• Charlie & Mouse

KRARI

• The First Rule of Punk

Etc.

• Peace, Locomotion
• Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics
• Our Food
• Bobby the Brave (Sometimes)
• This is How We Do It