Something Sure Smells...

I love limericks and this is a great collection.  I can definitely see myself ordering this for the library and sharing them with my students.  Hoo-Rah!!

DC Super Heroes Origami

 

This book was so cool!!!!  My students would love it.  Unfortunately because the paper is so specialized to make the characters and designs it isn't practical for a school library.

I received this as an eBook from NetGalley and there was a chapter missing and the Batman section was on there twice.

For tyhe Right to Learn

Loved this story of Malala for the younger readers.  Very well done.  We just put I am Malala (young reader's edition) on the MSBA list for next year.  I could definitely see purchasing this book to supplement and expose our younger students to this inspirational girl. 

The eBook had an issue with the text looking duplicated making it hard to read.  I received the eBook from Capstone via NetGalley.  I was able to read most of the book but there were some issues.

Jars of Hope

 

This was a nice book about Irena Sendler and how she rescued Jewish children during the Holocaust.  I already have a similar book about Irena Sendler and the jars in which she recorded the names of the children she rescued and hid.  I was a bit disappointed in the eBook I received from Capstone via NetGalley in that at many points the text was unreadable...it looked like the test was duplicated on top of itself.  I was able to read most of the text but not all due to this glitch...the same happened with other books from Capstone that I received from NetGalley.

Little Red Chooses...

   

So reading an interactive, you choose adventure is quite difficult on an iPad.  It loses some of it's power but this one was quite intriguing.  I really liked the concept of tying in Little Red Riding Hood with WWI and loved the options.  This was pretty cool.

Dear Hank Williams

 

Tate is given the assignment early in the school year to write to a pen pal.  While the teacher wants students to write to students from Japan, Tate chooses to write to Hank Williams who she has been hearing on the radio.  The whole book is told through Tate's letters to Hank Williams.  At first Tate glamorizes her life and talks about her photographer father and actress mother but as the book goes on we find out more of the truth - including a reveal that I didn't see coming.  This is a quiet book - not much "happens" - it is more a book about Tate coming to terms with her family situation and life in general.  While I liked it by the end and it was a relatively quick read I am not sure there is enough substance and action to hook my readers.  I wish Hank Williams had actually had some kind of real presence instead of just being the recipient of Tate's letters - I get it but it made everything very one sided and sad.

The Friendship Riddle

 

This is a hard blog to write because I wanted to like this so much more than I did.  Local author, local connection, library love, book love but it fell flat for me..

Some of my issues...

The relationship between Ruth and Charlotte...not enough background maybe...

The moms and dads - not fully realized at all, especially as "mum" didn't even show up until the end of the book.  

The group of kids didn't really get together until the last 1/4 of the book - very loose until then and Ruth was mainly working out the clues on her own.  I get that she needed to learn about friendship and rely on others but I didn't really feel the bond grow or really get to know the characters.

The riddles were interesting but I felt some were more developed than others and I was able to follow the hunt better in some instances and totally missed the flow in others.

I did like the connection to Ruth favorite author and the riddles but again didn't feel as connected or satisfied with it.

I did like the ending and I thought the idea was good - I am just not sure my students will stick with it...