Another Amazing Title!

I am a huge fan of Wendy Mass and this time she has taken space, matter and the creation of the universe, totally deep subjects and molded a warm, sincere, fantastic tale of friendship and pie.  I loved Joss and Annika and the friendship they develop. 

The Realms sound like an awesome place to visit.  I hope that we have someone like Kal's parents watching out for Earth.  And even though the story seems hard to fathom, it becomes real with the friendship that develops between Joss and Annika.  If you like science fiction, adventure, and stories of true friendship this is the book for you!  Thanks for the e-galley!  Look forward to Pi in the Sky in a book store near you this summer!

Getting Back to Reading

It's been a crazy school year and I haven't read or blogged nearly as much as I would like.  I did read one amazing book last month!

The problem with series books is that when they hook you in, you have MONTHS or a YEAR to impatiently wait for the next book.  This is one of those series.  I LOVED the False Prince!  Then, I read The Runaway King on netgalley before it was published, and LOVED it!  Now I will spend months waiting to see what will happen in this amazing series!  If you love adventure, characters who think on their feet, friendship with a hint of romance this is the series for you!  Pick it up and READ!

Summer Reading Update

Hopefully all of you are well underway with some amazing books for summer reading!  I am going to share a book I read in the spring, because I LOVED it and let you know what is currently on my TBR pile or To Be Read pile.

First... one of my favorite books I have read so far this year is The False Prince.  This is the tale of Sage, an orphan who has been bought by Connor, a ruthless nobleman of the court determined to find a boy to become the false prince.  Connor attempts to train Sage and two other orphans in the ways of the court so that he can rule through this boy.  There is action, suspense, twists and turns in this amazing book!  Check it out at your local library!  Or better yet... add it to your own personal library!

Other books on my TBR include:  Mousenet, A Hero for Wondla, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again, Wonder, Storybound, A Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, the Castle of Shadows and MORE!  I LOVE Summer Reading!

Kicking Off Summer Reading AND a Great Book!

It's hard to believe the school year is winding down!  The idea of how to motivate 400 students to read over the summer is always daunting.  Here is what I have done so far:  1.  Talked highly of the reading, giving the various ways students can win prizes for reading over the summer  2.  Kicked off our Second Annual Book Exchange to take place the last Friday of the year  3.  Tried to entice them with amazing stories to end the year.  What are some things you all are doing? 

Here is one book I will highly recommend!  I LOVED the Adventures of Beanboy!  Most of my students love graphic novels and this story shows how one boy created his own sidekick for a contest.  It's so cool to see the creative process being worked out in someone else, even in a book.  The story is also well written, funny and engaging.  Tucker MacBean must find a superhero's heart to complete his work, and I love how he finds his.  It's great to see that although life becomes better for his arch nemesis, Sam Zawicki, it isn't suddenly perfect.    Three Cheers for The Adventures of Beanboy!   I'm looking up Lisa Harkrader's first book now.... always in quest of another GREAT book!

Reading with Our Children

Last night my daughter and I finished reading Lisa Yee's Warp Speed.  This
was a fantastic story to read together.  The story is wonderful for learning to be
who you want to be.  The Star Wars and Star Trek references were awesome
as I have to admit to being something of a Trekkie myself growing up.  (My
brother made sure of that!)  So my daughter and I began to watch some of
those early Star Trek episodes and the Star Wars I grew up on to give her
some reference of what Marley was talking about.  We watched Casablanca
 so my daughter understand the reference to Victor Lazlo. We loved reading this book
and could not wait for the next evening to find out what the Captain's Log would
offer.  GREAT book!  And I can't say enough about reading together.  These are moments
we both will remember and cherish!

A New Year a New Start!

This past year has been filled with amazing stories!  Among my favorites:  The Emerald Atlas, Dead End in Norvelt, Bigger Than a Breadbox, Inside Out and Back Again.  I am anxiously looking forward to the results of the Newbery Awards.  And to more incredible books.  I hope to use this blog more seriously in the coming year to chat about books I have loved and to share my joy in reading!  Here's to a fantastic 2012!

Just Finished The 6th Annual 48 hour Reading Challenge!

Well it's 48 hours later, and I haven't gotten any time to check in with any other reading challengers, I haven't had access to the internet all weekend!  But it was good for my reading time.  For a first timer, I am satisfied.  I know I could have stayed up later, and read just a bit more, but considering it was dance recital weekend, a softball game and 5 hours of work.... I did ok.
Here are my statistics:
I began the challenge at 7 PM Friday night.  I had one hour of audio listening (while driving kids here and there and then home) Friday night.  I was already into the book Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix, so that is the audio book I used for the challenge.  I also had 3 hours of actual reading.  I started the book Juniper Berry by MP Kozlowsky. 
Saturday I woke up and started reading at 7:30, the best I could do after a crazy week.  I read a while, drove a while, read a while, drove a while (softball game, dance recital) for a total of 1 hrs 15 minutes of audio "reading" and 7 hours and 45 minutes of "reading" reading.
Sunday I had to work from 8 to 1 so I started with audio on the way to and from work, then read the rest of the afternoon at the pool!  Audio:  1 hr 15 min  "Reading"  4 hrs 30 min.
Grand totals:  3 1/2 hours audio 15 hours 15 minutes "reading" for a total of 18 hours and 45 minutes!
Here is what I read:
1.  Juniper Berry by MP Kozlowsky... interesting concept, loved the writing and the delicious vocabulary, more on the book next blog
2.  Small Acts of Amazing Courage by Gloria Whelan:  LOVED the book, see more next blog...
3.  IQ Book Two:  The White House by Roland Smith  Loaned to me by one of my favorite students, needing to get it read this week and glad I chose it.  Excellent adventure!  Loved the quick pace and usage of various fonts to show different characters.  Good read!
3.  Sabotaged!  (audio book) by Margaret Peterson Haddix.  Good adventure story, love the cliffhanger in the end of the book making me want to read more... (and hopefully any students I recommend the book to.)
Finished the book as I came up my driveway tonight!  Timed that well.
And started The Emerald Atlas by John Stephens.  LOVING the first part of the book!  It hooks you from the start!  Even after all of this reading, I have to say, I'm signing off to pick back up The Emerald Atlas!
Thanks for the Challenge Mother Reader!  Looking forward to doing it all over again next time!