Yay for summer reading! I'm already jumping into my summer reading pile, which includes a dozen Bluebonnet Award Nominees (all the ones we've received so far), a reread with a new-to-me sequel, some professional reading, and, of course, continuing with the Harry Potter series.
Bluebonnets: I started off with The One Thing You'd Save by Linda Sue Park. It is a fast, powerful read. A teacher gives her students homework to think about the one thing they would save if their home caught fire--family and pets are considered safe already, and size is not an issue. Park writes in the fashion of Korean poetry known as sijo, and shows us that a lot can learned about people's lives in just a few lines. This would be an excellent book to share with a class for community-building or lessons on inference.
Another short-but-good Bluebonnet Award Nominee is J.D. and the Great Barber Battle by J. Dillard. Everyone I know has had a bad haircut at least once--but not everyone I know could fix it themselves like J.D., and then turn around a begin a haircutting business! This is a fun story with an ending that leads to a sequel--and it's J.D. and the Family Business. A third installment is also available.
The re-read: Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh. I LOVED this book the first time I read it four years ago. I wanted to read the sequel, but felt like I needed to start at the beginning again. It was just as good--and scary--as the first time! Adult readers will definitely connect images with scenes from horror movies like The Exorcist; kids who read it told me they weren't as scared by it as I was (probably because they haven't seen the same movies!). I'm ready to read the sequel now...but only in the light of day.
The first professional book I'm reading for the summer is Just Look Up by Joe Beckman. We'll be discussing it via Google Meet in July with educators from across the district.
I'll be starting The Joy of Reading this week, too. It's written by Donalyn Miller and my late YA Lit professor, Dr Teri Lesesne. We will be focusing on the joy of reading in the Anderson Mill Library this year! One of my colleagues and I will be processing what we learn from this book together.
And it's on to Book Three--Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban!
It's my first Monday of summer break, and I already have lots of reading done, and lots more planned! What are you reading this summer?
