It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey as a way to share what you have read and/or reviewed in the past week. It's also a terrific way to find out what other people are reading.

Jen Vincent, of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye of Unleashing Readers have given this meme a children's literature focus: picture books, middle grade novels, etc. They "encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting the other bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

With the warm weather and plenty of rain, the grass and the trees are becoming green, green, GREEN! I'm so happy to be back outside on my deck. One of my favorite places to sit with a glass of iced tea and my books! Hopefully you've been able to get outside and enjoy the weather and some awesome reading time. Here's what I've been reading this past week:

Picture Books

Who Says Women Can't Be Computer Programmers?: The Story of Ada Lovelace by Tanya Lee Stone, Marjorie Priceman (Illustrations)

This fascinating picture book biography focuses on Ada Lovelace's contributions to the future development of computer technology. With beautifully rendered illustrations that incorporate mathematical equations into the artwork, this book shares with young readers the early life of Ada Lovelace, who was the daughter of Lord Byron, and her education. At a time when women weren't considered for careers in science or mathematics, Ada became a pioneer. She became friends with Charles Babbage and worked with him on developing his ideas for inventions that could process numbers. This is a terrific book to encourage young girls, and all children, to work hard and learn as much as they can in school. It's a great book to have in a classroom library.

Born to Swing: Lil Hardin Armstrong's Life in Jazz by Mara Rockliff, Michele Wood (Illustrator)

Those that enjoy jazz music and are familiar with Louis Armstrong will enjoy this picture book biography about his wife, Lil Hardin Armstrong. In the early twentieth century, women weren't encouraged to play jazz music. Lil was trained to play classical music on the piano, but she really enjoyed playing swing music. After she grew up, she moved from Memphis to Chicago and became a well-known jazz musician before she met Louis Armstrong. It was Lil that helped Louis become a famous trumpet player. There are lots of interesting facts and gorgeous illustrations to help tell Lil's story. While this book is a biography, it was written in first person point of view. This might be confusing to some young readers, who might be tempted to think this is an autobiography. According to the Author's Note at the end of the book, "Lil Hardin Armstrong didn't write this book, of course. But in a way, she did." Rockliff adds that Armstrong was working on a book about her life when she passed away that was never published. "Since Lil never got to tell her own story, I tried to tell it as she might have chosen to. I used many of her own words from the interviews she gave over the years." The author also includes a list of some Lil Hardin Armstrong's songs that can be found online. It might be fun to share some of this music with young readers as part of Lil's story.

Middle Grade Fiction

Lowriders in Space (Lowriders in Space #1) by Cathy Camper, Raúl Gonzalez III (Illustrations)

This fun graphic novel is one that was very popular in my fifth grade classroom. Lots of kids love graphic novels and those that are car enthusiasts constantly had this book checked out (which is why I'm finally getting around to reading it myself). Three friends are working together to build the best lowrider in order to win a carload of cash. The book uses Spanish words and phrases throughout the text with footnoted definitions. The artwork was created with red, blue, and black ball point pens, which at first made me think that someone had defaced the book.

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

This middle grade novel tugged at my heartstrings as the story about a twelve-year-old quirky genius who must come to terms with the sudden death of her adoptive parents developed. Willow Chance’s parents die suddenly in a car crash, leaving her all alone in the world. She must quickly develop relationships and figure out a new definition of family.

I connected very quickly with the main character, Willow. A gifted student who struggles to relate to peers and the adults around her, she finds herself compelled to spend time with a school district counselor. This is where she befriends two other marginalized individuals – Mai and Quang-ha. Learning to speak Vietnamese, she quickly develops a friendship with Mai, a high school student a few years older. When tragedy strikes, these characters along with Mai’s mother form a unique bond which had me really thinking about just what it means to be a family. Many young people today have all sorts of families – some stable, and some not. But this book has a lot to say about the people who choose to be together and help each other.

This book also provides a lot of great lessons for young people. The imagery of plants is strong throughout the story, as Willow’s backyard garden is no longer available to her for comfort. In her new circumstances, she finds new ways to connect to the natural world around herself and to establish roots and grow anew.

Buddy by M.H. Herlong

Stories about animals, especially dogs, have always been popular with the middle grade students I’ve taught. This novel, while being a terrific tale of a boy separated from his dog during Hurricane Katrina, packs a lot more between its covers. This story has a lot for young readers to take away: the touching bond between a twelve-year-old boy and an injured dog, the responsibility the young man takes on as he works hard to earn money to take care of his new pet, and the coming-of-age moments when he realizes that life is not fair and that sometimes growing up means making difficult choices.

The story starts on the day Tyrone “Li’l T” Roberts and his family are riding in a cramped car to church on a Sunday morning. When the car hits a dog, Li’l T’s life changes. He falls in love with this underfed, scruffy, three-legged dog and spends his entire summer working to buy food for him. But when the family must evacuate their New Orleans home ahead of Hurricane Katrina, they are forced to leave the dog behind. When the storm is over, the devastation makes it impossible for the family to return right away. When they do come back, the dog is missing.

As I was reading this, it occurred to me that it’s been nearly thirteen years since Hurricane Katrina destroyed so many homes and lives. Middle grade students might need some background information on this storm to fully appreciate what this family and others like them were facing. But there is a lot in the plot events that kids will recognize and be able to relate to. Li’l T feels helpless because he’s a kid and doesn’t have the money or the independence to be able to search for the dog like he would like to. This has ripple effects throughout the whole family’s efforts to rebuild their lives in Mississippi after the storm. Li’l T has a strong, supportive family and my favorite quote comes from his grandfather when he tells him, “Men take things on their shoulders and carry them…” Li’l T argues, “I ain’t a man, Granpa T.” And his grandfather responds, “You’re close. You’re getting awful close.”