Review: Mac Undercover

Mac Undercover by Mac Barnett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I will start by saying I am a huge Mac Barnett fan! I received this ARC at Txla this spring and placed it in my Summer TBR pile and today was the day I read it. I was not disappointed. It has all the hallmarks of a great Mac B read. It is quirky and filled with sly and offbeat humor (my favorite kind)

The premise of the book is that Mac B the author was, as a child Mac B the kid spy. He spied for Queen Elizabeth... I could stop there and i am sure you would want to read this! I swear that Barnett writes his books to be performed and this is no exception. I can hardly wait to read this book aloud to my fifth graders, even though it would probably be more appropriate to read to 4th and below. There is a great amount of history involved and some great vocabulary. My favorite is the redacted instructions for breaking into the Louvre....so funny! He is sly about inserting factual tidbits among the humor and I can see many discussions while reading.

This is destined to be a series and I am most excited about that. The book will be released in September and I urge you to preorder your copy now.


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Review: Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World

Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Pénélope Bagieu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I got this book at TLA this past year and read the first couple of comics and then once I returned home it languished in my TBR pile.
Today I picked it up and started reading it again. This book is a grapic novel comprised of 29 individual comics about rebel ladies who rocked the world. It shouldn't have taken me, the more than 5 hours it took to me to read it. However, the pace of reading slows down considerably when one must Google each person after reading their short story.
This book is so fascinating and so amazing. I had not heard of the majority of these women, but I am so glad I have read about them now. Some of them I might share with my fifth graders in the fall, although some might get me nasty emails from parents, so I won't make it available to read on their own.
I would encourage you to read it though. There are woman in here who many of us know of, such as Temple Grandin, Mae Jemison, and Nellie Bly. So many of these were women who I had never heard of, each of them doing extraordinary things. There is Sonita Alizadeh, I young rapper from Afghanistan who rapped about children being sold in marriage, She was 15 at the time and her family had already tried to sell her. She is just one of the many that I googled..
I feel empowered and inadequate all at the same time.


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Review: Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading

Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading by Kylene Beers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

For any ELA teachers out there, I highly encourage you to read this book. It was recommended to me, by a good friend, and when I left the library to return to teaching reading, I knew I had to read it.

The book is setup around 6 signposts that we can teach children so that they can learn to notice things in what they are reading. The authors read and reread the most common books taught in classrooms and discovered that these 6 signposts almost always occurred, and some always occurred. By teaching children what to look for, they can notice changes that occur in characters. They can identify theme and conflict.

My book is all marked up and I have spent much time looking for more. I am excited to use these signposts as I teach the curriculum this next year. The book contains model lessons to introduce the signposts as well as many other forms and charts to help you be successful.



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Review: Home Sweet Motel

Home Sweet Motel by Chris Grabenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Chris Grabenstein has become one of my favorite authors and this first book in his wonderland series is no exception.
This book had me laughing with the corny jokes that were part of his character's personality. I love how he develops characters. They are always so believable and you can easily imagine what they look and act like. All of the main and minor characters are so well-fleshed out, from the crabby history teacher to the protagonists. If you met a character more than once you got a real sense of who they were. That is a real accomplishment as far as I am concerned.

Home sweet motel, tells the story of a family owned beachfront hotel, that the bank is trying to take over. The family needs to come up with $100,000 in 30 days in order to keep the hotel and hungry investors are eyeing the prime spot of real estate. Young P T and his business minded friend Gloria are successfully trying to raise money , but are met with obstacles that force them to stop their business ventures. When they learn that there is a way to earn $150,000 they go for it, even when faced with career criminals and very annoying adults. Will they save the day and the motel they both call home? It is a wonderful ride!

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Review: Because of Mr. Terupt

Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My best friend has been after me for years to read this book. In fact last summer, we made a deal I would read Mr. Terupt and she would read The Phantom Tollbooth, one of MY favorites she has never read. Neither one of us read our books. Fast forward to now and I am making a change from the library back to teaching Fifth grade Reading, which is one of my great loves and favorite things. I was discussing books I might want to do next year and the BFF brought up this book again. My sister was on the feed and asked about it, I told her the story and the pact...etc. Well my sister very quickly read both books, showing us who was truly boss and now I had two people bugging me to read this book.

So read it I did.... this morning..... in one sitting...... I am emotional wreck! The book is amazing, it is great for teaching character change and characterization in general. It is fabulous for teaching voice and POV, and it is emotionally wrenching. I knew going in it would be, but I had been assured that it ended well, or I would have NEVER read it.

Once again both my sister and my friend have proven that they know more than I do, because I love this book and it WILL be in my classroom curriculum next year.

I don't want to give away too much of the book, but it is told from the POV of seven students in the fifth grade class. Each of these students have a stereotypical character. Think Breakfast Club for the Elementary set. What it teaches though, is the power of relationships; at its heart that is what I take from it. The power of us all in it together. I can only hope it touches my students the way it touches me. It has all the feels...

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Review: Who Was Frida Kahlo?

Who Was Frida Kahlo? by Sarah Fabiny
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read this book because I will be using it to in the classroom next year. I didn't know much about Kahlo before I started reading it and found it interesting. I think a great test of a nonfiction book is when you finish and immediately start researching more on the subject. That happened here as well. It should probably get 3.5 stars, but since that isn't an option I will leave it at three.
This is an easy to read book in a fabulous series. I recommend it especially for anyone who is interested in Mexican Folk Art or Frida Kahlo in general. She was a woman of great personal strength and fortitude.

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Review: Hello, Universe

Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wonderful book! I love the idea and the message of the book. It is about friendship and it is about fate and it is about the universe listening to us. All of it is beautiful! I love the way it all weaves together and I LOVE the ending!


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