Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Books Read in May

May was a strange reading month for me. Most of it was devoted to reading middle-grade readers in preparation for a literature circle class I'm going to be teaching at our co-op this fall. Also, I have been so swamped with AHG camp preparation that I haven't gotten around to reviewing most of the books. So check back on my SmallWorld Reads blog next week for more reviews!

Books Reviewed:
Epileptic by David B.: a pretty weird graphic novel. This turned out to be only the first volume.
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I absolutely loved this. And the author sent me an email thanking me for the review! I swooned.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli. Middle-grade reader. Everyone seems to love this; I wasn't crazy about it.
Ties That Bind, Ties That Break. Middle-grade reader. I really liked this one.

Books Read but Not Yet Reviewed:
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Amazing, of course. But I don't think I'll use this one for class for various reasons.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. Fantastic. This will likely be one of the books we'll read.
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. It's been a good 25 years since I last read this one. It's still fantastic, but I don't think this will be one of my choices.
Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George. Again, I haven't read this one since I was a teenager. Not going to make the cut.
Sounder by William Armstrong. Loved it, and I don't think I've ever read this one before.

I'm currently reading Farewell to Manzanar. I have decided, in the course of all these reading, to do a themed literature circle—World War 2 Perspectives. As of right now, I'm thinking our three books (it's a 10-week session) will be The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Farewell to Manzanar, and Number the Stars. Each presents a different perspective of the WW2 experience.

If all goes well, I may do another one with a canine theme with Where the Red Fern Grows, Julie of the Wolves, and Sounder as possibilities. We'll see.

I'd love to start tackling my own TBR list, but next I'm going to make the final decisions on the books we'll be reading for my World Lit class for high schoolers next year.

Read any good books lately?

3 comments:

  1. the outlander, by diana gibaldan.
    blech.
    recommended to me by all the librarians in town.
    should have known by the cheesy cover.
    what a waste of time.
    kind of like the movie the waterhorse.
    would rather have been sleeping

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  2. Huh, I didn't realize that the Striped Pajamas was also a book. Have you seen the movie?

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  3. I'm particularly interested in middle school readers right now for my boys. In my house, this is a challenging age. We need readers that will strengthen our skill level, but that we are emotionally mature enough to handle with respect. I enjoy these middle years very much, and find literature to be a wonderful tool for communication about anything and everything. I'll be interested to hear how your class pans out, and to read more about your opinions of the books. Sounds like a really fun class to teach!

    My daughter watched the Striped Pajamas movie this past week and it made quite an impression. Wow. I wasn't aware that it was a book, and I'm curious about the similarities.

    I love that you have a "reason" to devour some of these awesome books lately. I'm not ashamed to say that many of my favorite books are indeed "kid" books. I could never give up homeschooling and lose the privilege of daily read alouds! :)

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