My first chapter book read-aloud of the year....and book debt

I've already mentioned my afternoon man-cave:  my all-boy class that keeps me searching for just the right book to share.  I think I've found one, courtesy of one of my students, who checked it out from our library and asked me to read it aloud.  I knew it would be a hit from the first chapter, since it opens with a boy's first night at his aunt's house, in which she shoots a bat in the kitchen with a shotgun.  Young male main character, wild animals, guns, and blood; what more do you need to hook pre-adolescent boys?   Once my schedule settles down, we will be settling into this book!

We had the good fortune to spend two hours in a Barnes & Noble this weekend, with nothing else to do but browse...yeah, right.  Like I can ever just browse at a book store.  First,I had to go buy a paperback copy of The Ghost's Grave for the classroom. Then I bought two required books for my YA Lit class:  It's Perfectly Normal, by Robie H. Harris, and Percy Jackson & the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief graphic novel by Rick Riordan.  I bought both, rather than borrowing them, for their personal usefulness.  With teens in the house, health education is paramount, so the former will stay at home.  The latter will be a welcome addition to my classroom library, especially with my male caseload.  I also had to get the 'baby version' of Lane Smith's It's a Book, one of my all-time favorite picture books (though I hesitate to bring it to school, due to the use of the word "jackass"!).  The board book is called It's a Little Book, and it's worth checking out the links on both just for the book trailers alone.  I also got Carl Hiaasen's Hoot, which my son insisted on my reading and had to be added to my owl book collection.  And finally, because I can never say no to book requests from my children, my son added to the basket Pokemon Adventures:  Volume 3, Disney:  Epic Mickey, and Brain Jack, which he's reading for an independent book choice, and I'm waiting to read it when he's done!  My daughter declined any additions; her AP English Lit and birthday book are enough reading fodder for her right now.  Needless to say, Barnes & Noble got a chunk of my paycheck this weekend--but it was money well spent.