Monday, April 28, 2014

It's Monday! What are you reading? #8


It's Monday! What are you reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleasing Readers have adapted it to focus on Picture Books to Young Adult Books.

Last week, I read and reviewed:

On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
- the story of a young boy during WWII whose heroes are his father, who fought and was injured in WWI and his brother joins the Army Air Corps in WWII.  A nice coming of age story with wonderful period details.

The Giver by Lois Lowry - what can I say about this classic utopian/dystopian novel except to say it's a book book to revisit every few years.



Hidden: a child's story of the Holocaust by Loïc Dauvillier - a graphic novel about a young Jewish girl who was hidden by people willing to risk everything to save her in WWII France.

Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson: Taking the Stage as the First Black and White Jazz Band in History by Lesa Cline-Ransome - Two great Jazz musicians who dared to appear on stage together at a time when this was simply not done.

This week I have a bunch of books, but probably won't get through them all:

The True Tale of the Monster Billy Dean told by hisself by David Almond - this novel about a boy hidden away for 13 years is written phonetically and is really for mature YA readers.  


 The Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron
A Time to Dance by Padma Venkatraman

Why We Took the Car by Wolfgang Herrndorf
Under the Egg by Laura Mars Fitzgerald
The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond by Brenda Woods


What are you reading this week?

6 comments:

  1. Wow. This David Almond title looks intense. What a cover. Hidden looks like a title I need to get for my own children asking lots of questions about this time in history. My son just read A Bag of Marbles - the graphic novel by Joseph Joffo.

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    1. The David Almond book is rather intense, yet holds me spellbound in a weird kind of way. Hidden is a very nice way to introduce the Holocaust to a young readers who may or may not know anything yet. I also read A Bag of Marbles. I loved the graphics in it, though I felt something was lost in the translation.

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  2. I just heard about the David Almond book last week. Love all his books, often use Skellig as a good 'hook' of a book for kids who say they don't like to read. I like the premise of Hidden, but it's interesting it's for younger kids. We just got the Benny Goodman book in our library at school. Lots of jazz coming out! Thanks for all!

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    1. A lot of people have said they love his book, though I haven't read a lot of his books. This one is intense and is definitely a crossover novel, but I think mature teen readers will really like it.
      I loved the Benny Goodman Teddy Wilson book, and really like the idea of so many Jazz greats being introduced to young readers who might just find the they like Jazz.

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  3. I'm a big Richard Peck fan, but haven't read On the Wings of Heroes. I recently reread The Giver, and it gave me chills! I, too, have Under the Egg on my TBR pile. You've got great books listed here!

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  4. Hi there Alex, I am a huge David Almond fan, I think I must have seen this title a few times at the library, hopefully I get to it soon. Thanks for sharing it. :)

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