Saturday, October 13, 2012

October 2012 Meeting

Thursday was our first kid Mock Newbery meeting where we discussed three books:

Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

(The order of discussion is determined by vote)
The conversation was lively and fast moving! I tweeted some of the student's comments:

"author showed emotions well"
"setting helped you see the insane reality of what was happening during those times"
"JT had different levels...and maybe he was just caught up in the situation"


"the book is short because it reflects Ivan and feels like he was really talking"
"alternates between funny and interesting"
"this book was surreal because the people and the animals were both sentient and real but not in a fantasy way"

The Mighty Miss Malone
"liked how Jimmy was helping the family"
"liked how it was about her feelings and her life"
"Didn't like Desa at first but liked her better as the story progressed"

Overall, all three books were well-received. Katherine Applegate's abitlity to make the story seem "real" was a huge part of our discussion on Ivan. They felt that she truly knew what Ivan was thinking and feeling.

We also had a big discussion about endings. Some thought the Lions of Little Rock ended too neatly while others thought no, because the friends still couldn't be together. They also disagreed on the appropriate ending for Miss Malone.  Some thought it left too much up in the air. One student wondered what others felt made a "good ending" since they had such opposite reactions to Levine's and Curtis' endings.

Great discussion!

Monday, October 8, 2012

Great Unexpected, The by Sharon Creech

The Great Unexpected
Sharon Creech
Joanna Cotler Books
226p.


"In the little town of Blackbird Tree live two orphan girls: one Naomi Deane, brimming with curiosity, and her best friend, Lizzie Scatterding, who could talk the ears off a cornfield. Naomi has a knack for being around when trouble happens. For she knows all the peculiar people in town--like Crazy Cora and Witch Wiggins and Mr. Farley. But then, one day, a boy drops out of a tree. The strangely charming Finn boy. Then the Dingle Dangle man appears, asking all kinds of questions. Curious surprises are revealed--three locked trunks, a pair of rooks, a crooked bridge, and that boy. Soon Naomi and Lizzie find themselves zooming toward a future neither could ever have imagined. Meanwhile, on a grand estate across the ocean, an old lady whose heart has been deceived concocts a plan. . . "--Publisher.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Youth Mock Newbery Bonus List 1

Have you finished all the required reading for Mock Newbery club? Maybe you are on hold for a book and need some suggestions for what else you can read? Well, here's the first bonus list!

October Bonus List UPDATED 10/8/12
Moonbird by Phillip Hoose
The Brixen Witch by Stacy DeKeyser
The Unfortunate Son by Constance Leeds
Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin replaced due to lack of availability
The Great Unexpected by Sharon Creech - replaces Starry River of the Sky
Miles to Go for Freedom by Linda Barrett Osborne

 Here's a copy of the original list (click links on the left sidebar to comment on books):

 October Meeting, 10/11/12, 4pm 
The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine
The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

 November Meeting, 11/8/12, 4pm 
Temple Grandin by Sy Montgomery
Wonder by RJ Palacio
Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker
Crow by Barbara Wright

December Meeting, 12/13/12, 4pm 
Chickadee by Louise Erdrich
Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl
Splendors and Glooms by Laura Amy Schlitz
Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead

Starry River of the Sky River by Grace Lin

Starry River of the Sky
Grace Lin
Little, Brown
288p.

Companion: Where The Mountain Meets the Moon


An innkeeper's chore boy discovers that a visitor's stories hold the key to returning the moon to the Starry River of the Sky.

Unfortunate Son, The by Constance Leeds

The Unfortunate Son
Constance Leeds
Viking Children's Books
302p.

Luc, a youth born with one ear and raised by a drunken father in fifteenth-century France, finds a better home with fisherman Pons, his sister Mattie, and their ward Beatrice, the daughter of a disgraced knight, and even after being kidnapped and sold into slavery in Africa, he remains remarkably fortunate.

Brixen Witch, The by Stacy DeKeyser

The Brixen Witch
Stacy DeKeyser
Margaret K. McElderry
196p.


Twelve-year-old Rudi stumbles upon a witch's lair while out hunting, takes a gold coin he finds there but loses it again, then must deal with the witch's servant who promises to end the town's rat infestation only if he receives that gold coin, in a story reminiscent of The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Moonbird by Phillip Hoose

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
Phillip Hoose
Farrar, Straus Giroux
148p.