Month: March 2014

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:

This is the fourth book I have read by Lisa Unger.  The last two books were much better than the first two in my opinion.  This one was a really gripping thriller.  I was riveted the whole time and really wanted to know what actually happened.  If you like mysteries, this is a great one to read.

I just finished listening to Sapphire Blue.  I love how these books have a mix of science fiction and humor.  I found myself laughing out loud multiple times while listening to this book.  I am really interested in reading the last book in the trilogy as soon as I can get my hands on it.  I highly recommend this one.

More Than This is a very complex and thought-provoking book.  As I expect of Patrick Ness, he really made me think about many aspects of life.  I don’t think I liked this one as much as I loved all of his other books, but I still liked it a lot.  I think I will be thinking about this one for a while.

What I am Currently Reading:

What’s Next?

This is a fabulous idea from Ruth Ayres in which we write about something to celebrate each Saturday. I love participating in this link up each week and hearing about the awesome things happening in everyone’s classrooms and lives.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:

I absolutely LOVED Cress by Melissa Mayer.  This book really added complications into the plot of the series.  I can’t wait to read the other books and to find out what will happen for Earth in their battle with Lunar and Levana.  I highly recommend this series!

I met Shannon Hale this week.  My school hosted her for a school visit in her tour for Dangerous.  I was so excited to meet this author!  I watched Austenland last week and then read the book this week.  What a fun book!  I am a big Jane Austen fan and could absolutely relate with the protagonist.  So fun!

I love Matthew Quick’s books.  The characters are so real.  This one was a quick read and I was so wrapped up in the story right from the beginning.  I would absolutely recommend this one for adults.

The Shadow Throne was a great ending to the trilogy.  I enjoyed The False Prince and The Runaway King immensely and the story was wrapped up so well in this book.  I highly recommend this series for middle grade readers.

Books I Am Currently Reading:

What’s Next?

Celebrations! 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

This week was another kind of slow reading week.  I had parent conferences on Wednesday and Thursday nights so those were super long days without much reading.  I also was not feeling so great early in the week.  Luckily, I did have Friday off so I was able to have a few uninterrupted reading hours.

Books I Finished This Week:

A Red Herring Without Mustard is the third book in the Flavia de Luce series.  The protagonist of this series is so full of personality.  I love how she bumbles along and gets in trouble for investigating.  All of the characters are quite lovable.  I enjoy this book and recommend it to all.

I enjoyed Threatened as much as I enjoyed Endangered.  I learned a lot about Africa and chimpanzees in this book.  I loved the way the story was different, but the reader still comes away from this book with a deep appreciation for these amazing creatures. See my longer review here.  I highly recommend this one for grades 8 and up.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I just started Cress today and can tell that it will be one that will be hard to put down in the next few days.  I also started listening to Sapphire Blue.  I enjoyed Ruby Red and I am sure I will enjoy this one too.

What’s Next?

I am not sure what I will pick up next.  I have shelves full of books to read and just got another box from Scholastic full of goodies.  I will have to see how I feel this week.

What are you reading this week?  Have any great recommendations for me? I would love to hear from you in the comments! Have a great reading week!

Title: Threatened

Author: Eliot Schrefer

Publication Date: February 25, 2014

Source: Netgalley (I also purchased a copy from Scholastic reading clubs)

Goodreads Summary:
When he was a boy, Luc’s mother would warn him about the “mock men” living in the trees by their home — chimpanzees whose cries would fill the night.
Luc is older now, his mother gone. He lives in a house of mistreated orphans, barely getting by. Then a man calling himself Prof comes to town with a mysterious mission. When Luc tries to rob him, the man isn’t mad. Instead, he offers Luc a job.

Together, Luc and Prof head into the rough, dangerous jungle in order to study the elusive chimpanzees. There, Luc finally finds a new family — and must act when that family comes under attack.

As he did in his acclaimed novel Endangered, a finalist for the National Book Award, Eliot Schrefer takes us somewhere fiction rarely goes, introducing us to characters we rarely get to meet. The unforgettable result is the story of a boy fleeing his present, a man fleeing his past, and a trio of chimpanzees who are struggling not to flee at all.

My Thoughts:
Threatened shows the plight of the chimpanzees as well as the struggles of people in poor countries like Gabon.  As in Endangered, the setting of this book acts almost as another character, driving the actions of the protagonist.  Luc is in a very precarious situation from the very beginning of the book.  Going into the jungle with a foreigner who is less aware of the dangers of the jungle is a difficult venture.  Luc is not sure about trusting Prof but has no choice once he realizes that he owes this man his hands and his life.  Chimpanzees are quite aggressive and Luc and Prof find themselves in a dangerous situation from the beginning of their adventures. As the story unfolds, the author manages to give the reader a much broader picture of the chimps and their habits.  I was enthralled with the story from the very beginning and I know my students will love it too.  Mr. Schrefer is planning to write a series of four books, each starring a different great ape in its natural habitat.  I love this idea.  I have learned so much about bonobos and chimpanzees from reading these two books.  Likewise, I have learned about living conditions in both Congo and Gabon.  Young adults should know about the way people live in many areas of the globe.  Threatened explores the story of a young AIDS orphan.  This is a situation that so many young people find themselves in, and I am glad that Eliot Schrefer is shedding light on this issue.  You will fall in love with Luc and his friends Omar, Mango, and Drummer.  I highly recommend this book to grades 8 and up.

5 out of 5 stars

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

It is rather awkward on days when I double up on challenges, because this blog was created for my writing exercises.  Slice of Life happens here, and the writing I do for Teachers Write in the summer happens here.  However, I have a different blog that is my reading blog.  On Mondays, some Tuesdays, and Saturdays I participate in link-ups on that blog.  Today I have a post to share as part of the Celebrate link-up on Ruth Ayres’ blog.  I would love it if you would come over to see my post here.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

I am celebrating the fact that we were able to get some pain relief medicine for my dog.  She was walking on three legs earlier this week and crying every time she moved.  We were able to get in to the vet for an emergency visit.  The vet thinks that her knee is giving out and we will probably have to do a knee replacement surgery soon.  I am glad for the medicine, which makes it easier for her to move.

Parent-teacher conferences were this week. I am celebrating the relationships that I have been able to build with families over the years that I have taught at this school.  I was able to have some good conversations with parents who are concerned about the progress of their 8th grade children. I am confident that more of my students will be practicing skills at home in order to be closer to proficient by the end of this year.  I want them to be able to be successful in high school, so I am glad they will be putting in this extra effort.

I had my students do two things in order to update our displays in the hallway for conferences.  I was so excited at how creative my students were with these displays.  For one, I asked them to reflect back over the books they have read this year and to make some sort of visual display to put up on a board of our favorite books.  I was astonished at their creativity.  I LOVE it!  The other display was a reflection about their progress toward the 40-book challenge.  I understand that not all students will get to 40 books by the end of the year, but I do expect them to read multiple books.  I was proud of the fact that so many of them are in double digits at this point of the year.

What do you have to celebrate this week?  I would love to hear from you in the comments! 

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

Today I had the day off after working Wednesday and Thursday nights for conferences.  I was able to just sit and read for hours this morning.  I also took a nap.  Since I have been feeling a little under the weather lately, it was really good to have this time to relax and rest up.  

I love also that I get to cuddle up and watch a movie with my husband tonight.  We chose Austenland, which is completely my choice.  I love Jane Austen and I love the premise of this story.  So far, I am loving this movie. It is definitely making me very interested in buying the book!

Have a great weekend everyone!

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

I am participating again this year in the Slice of Life challenge in which we write a slice every day in March.  If you are interested in joining in, visit the Two Writing Teachers blog for more information.

As I write this, my husband is in the kitchen making dinner.  I had a splitting headache today and am just able to write this because the Tylenol kicked in enough for me to sit up.  I love that my husband will step up and take care of me when I need it.  It made me think of the false apology poems we just worked on in my writing classes.  Here is my attempt at another poem tonight:

This is Just To Say

I have been
sitting here
not moving
a muscle

While you
clean the kitchen
and make dinner.

Forgive me
the couch
is wonderful
so comfortable
and warm.