Sooooooo, what have I read lately?
Mountain Dog, by Margarita Engle. YES, it has a dog on the cover, but here's a spoiler: the dog is ALIVE at the end of the book! (Think Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, etc where this is not often the case). Free verse, told in two voices--a young boy rescued from an untenable living situation by a loving uncle, and a dog rescued from a shelter, now trained in search-and-rescue. The ugliness of the boy's former life and his coming to terms with it is gently handled, and the details of how search-and-rescue workers are trained and perform their life-saving work is fascinating.
Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage was just as much fun for me as her first book, Three Times Lucky. Fun, quirky characters, vernacular dialogue, and light handling of serious topics makes for great read-aloud material. I'm thinking this would be perfect for October, with ghosts in the story but without a Halloween slant.
Always, Abigail by Nancy Cavanaugh is a great book to parallel with this summer's release of the movie "Inside Out". The reader is privy to the thoughts and actions of brand-new sixth grader Abigail as she navigates the social wranglings of middle school. Good fodder for discussion on making the right choices (it's not always easy!), and the meaning of conscience.
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Currently reading:
I'm about halfway through my reading pile for the summer, and I only have two-and-a-half weeks to go until I'm back to work, so I'm reading three books at a time right now:
Digital Leadership by Eric Sheninger
Quinny & Hopper by Adriana Brad Schanen
Epiphany: True Stories of Sudden Insight to Inspire, Encourage and Tranform (Expanded Edition) by Elise Ballard
What are you reading this Monday?
I loved Three Times Lucky but haven't yet read Ghosts of Tupelo Landing. I'm glad to hear it lives up to the first one. I'll be looking for it now.
ReplyDeleteI was mildly surprised by the addition of ghosts, since her first book didn't seem to have any "paranormal activity". A nice twist to keep the series interesting.
DeleteAlways Abigail has done well in my library. Girl drama always has some readership. Dog books come and go, but it is nice when the dog does survive!
ReplyDelete"Girl books" are not usually my preferred genre, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. I think the conscience-wrangling part made it more than just another "mean girls" story.
DeleteTurnage has a sequel coming out! Isn't that so exciting? I loved Nancy Cavanaugh's, This Journal Belongs to Ratchet, so I am very excited about reading Always Abigail.
ReplyDeleteI can see many more adventures for Mo, so that is exciting, Cheriee! I hadn't read Ratchet, so Cavanaugh's work was brand new to me. I got to meet her at our librarians' convention this past April!
DeleteI love everything that Margarita Engle writes! I will have to find Mountain Dog very soon. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's a great read, and flowed for me; I finished it in one afternoon! She is a generous author--responded to an email within two days, very gracious.
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