It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 04/10/2017

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA! 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and I decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

Last Week's Book Adventures:

I devoured Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and The Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin this week. I mean, devoured it. I also told basically everyone I saw about it. Being married to a super sports fan, I was fascinated to read this story and learn more about the beginning of football. If you haven't read this book yet or don't have it on your TBR yet, please add it! It's well written and such a powerful story. 

We also went to meet Kwame Alexander yesterday so we were reading Playbook and Surf's Up together as a family all week. It was super fun for all of us to read his books and look forward to meeting to him but even better that he did not disappoint. He talked about his books and sang and answered questions. It was super fun. 

I also read The Flight Issue of Kazoo magazine and it was so great. I'm going to do some of the activities with my kids and share the stories of inspiring women. It was my first time reading Kazoo and I was super impressed by the design work but also the content. Bravo!

Reviewed Last Week:

Click the picture above to go read my review/post.

Upcoming Book Adventures: 

I'm rereading Book Love by Penny Kittle for a book study at school so I need to reread the next few chapters this week. I'm so glad we're discussing it! I also have the book Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam M. Grant that I would love to start reading.

This Week's Reviews:

Check back throughout the week to read these reviews/posts. 

So, what are you reading this week? 

Link up below and don't forget to check out other blogs to see what they are reading!

To help build our community and support other bloggers, 

we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. 

Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!

Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass

Title: Yaqui Delgado Wants To Kick Your Ass
Author: Meg Medina 
Publisher: Candlewick Press 
Publication Date: March 26th, 2013 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel 
GoodReads Summary:  In Meg Medina’s compelling new novel, a Latina teen is targeted by a bully at her new school — and must discover resources she never knew she had.

One morning before school, some girl tells Piddy Sanchez that Yaqui Delgado hates her and wants to kick her ass. Piddy doesn’t even know who Yaqui is, never mind what she’s done to piss her off. Word is that Yaqui thinks Piddy is stuck-up, shakes her stuff when she walks, and isn’t Latin enough with her white skin, good grades, and no accent. And Yaqui isn’t kidding around, so Piddy better watch her back. At first Piddy is more concerned with trying to find out more about the father she’s never met and how to balance honors courses with her weekend job at the neighborhood hair salon. But as the harassment escalates, avoiding Yaqui and her gang starts to take over Piddy’s life. Is there any way for Piddy to survive without closing herself off or running away? In an all-too-realistic novel, Meg Medina portrays a sympathetic heroine who is forced to decide who she really is. 
What I Think: Oh my gosh, this book! I should have read it when it came out in 2013. I read it now as a mentor text for the young adult novel I'm revising. I love how Piddy loves and respects her mother but at the same time how she feels isolated from her. It's hard to imagine what I would have done if I was ever in Piddy's situation. I definitely know what it feels like to have someone dislike you and have no idea why...but I'm lucky that it didn't go further than feeling as though this person was absolutely disgusted by me. Meg Medina does a wonderful job of bringing all the characters to life and of weaving their storylines together. Piddy isn't the only character with a story arc.
     What I really love about the snatch of text that stood out to me, is that Meg Medina slips in this description of Piddy but at the same time she shows us what Piddy thinks of herself in comparison to her friend Mitzi and she gives us how Piddy feels based on Joey Halper treats her. It speaks to the bigger idea of wanting to fit in. I think all teens grapple with fitting in and finding oneself in comparison to others but also in finding oneself amidst how it feels others are perceiving us. I'm can't entirely speak for every other person of color but I know for me, I thought about this a lot growing up and think about even more lately. Part of me wants to be what society deems as beautiful. But part of me wants to be me...and for that to be seen as beautiful. Meg Medina shows us here how Piddy doesn't see herself as pretty but at the same time it's all relative.
     I book talked Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick My Ass to 7th and 8th graders and I wish I had a picture of their eyes widening when I read the title and how they giggled. Sometimes a title makes all the difference. They were definitely curious about the book after I read the title and I'm so glad it is a title that captivates because, like the summary says, this is an all-too-realistic novel and I'm sure many students will relate to this story and be sucked into Piddy's story like I was.
Snatch of Text:  
     "I looked around at all the packed boxes and felt my throat go dry. I already hated the new apartment and Daniel Jones High School. I hadn't felt this bad since Mitzi's moving van pulled away from our street.
     But I held my tongue. Getting my own room was the only shining piece of good news in this whole thing. It meant I wouldn't have to share a sofa bed with Ma, who snores and takes my covers. Still, the 'pretty' part was ridiculous. I've never been one of the pretty girls. Mitzi's the good-looking one, all curvy like a guitar. I'm tall and skinny. My eyes are wide set and the color of mud. Joey Halper says I look like a toad, presumably now one with a booty. Sometimes he croaks ribbit from his window when he sees me outside and wants to say hello." (p. 19)
Writing Prompt:

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 04/03/2017

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA! 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and I decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

Last Week's Book Adventures:

This last week my whole family was on spring break! It was nice that this year our spring break coincided with my husband's. We were busy but at the same time we were home and we got stuff done. Sometimes you just need time to get things done. I crossed almost everything off of my spring break to-do list. On the list was finishing Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass and Piecing Me Together...and I did! I also started Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and The Carlisle Indian School Football Team by Steve Sheinkin. I'm totally hooked! I'm also rereading Book Love by Penny Kittle for a book study at school and I'm remembering how much I loved it the first time around.

Reviewed Last Week:

 My Thoughts on How Education Can Change the World:
(I made a video!)

Teachers have the power 

to change the world
because we are charged 

with changing the lives of children.

I celebrated spring break and time at Story Exploratory.

Click on any picture above to go read my review/post.

Upcoming Book Adventures: 

This week I'll continue reading Undefeated and Book Love. I picked up Originals: How Non-Conformists Move The World by Adam M. Grant and am hoping to maybe get to it...but I still have homework to do for my class (only three more weeks!) and we're back to school so we'll see how I do!

This Week's Reviews:

Check back throughout the week to read these reviews/posts. 

So, what are you reading this week? 

Link up below and don't forget to check out other blogs to see what they are reading!

To help build our community and support other bloggers, 

we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. 

Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!

JOIN: Celebrating Spring Break and Time

Every Saturday, join me as I CELEBRATE This Week 

with Ruth Ayres from Discover. Play. Build.

I'm celebrating the fact that I had time to relax this week. I didn't realize how much I needed spring break. 

I had time

to sleep in

to play with my kids

to meet up with friends

to wander a flea market

to cook healthy meals

to read

to write

to catch up on homework

to make a video

to organize the house

to build two dressers from Ikea

to do research

to play with Perdi

to visit the library

to recharge.

It was much needed! 

And now it's the weekend. Whether you have a spring break or not, I hope you enjoy the weekend!

Love Is

Title: Love Is 
Author: Diane Adams  
Illustrator: Claire Keane 
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: January 24th, 2017 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Perfect for Valentine's Day—or any tender moment—this story of a girl and a duckling who share a touching year together will melt hearts old and young. In this tenderly funny book, girl and duckling grow in their understanding of what it is to care for each other, discovering that love is as much about letting go as it is about holding tight. Children and parents together will adore this fond exploration of growing up while learning about the joys of love offered and love returned. 
What I Think: I'm in love with Love Is! This is such a super sweet book. It's a book that captures the tender love between a child and her pet. This book is a perfect mentor text for looking at how words and illustrations work together.  But it's also a great mentor text for practicing visualizing and looking at how an author shows instead of tells. I love making the connection between reading and writing for students. When we write, we use good reading strategies like visualizing to help us understand what we are reading but at the same time, we can examine what craft moves the author made in order to help us visualize. Adding this level of thinking helps students more deeply understand how the act of writing impacts our readers. Even young writers can start to realize the author makes specific choices when he or she writes and this text is a great way to bring about this discussion.
     The specific snatch of text I chose would be one page I might even read before showing students. I would ask them to visualize and imagine and I might even think aloud my connection to the main character. As a mom, I remember having to wake up to feed my babies in the middle of the night and more recently, I had to wake up to feed our puppy in the middle of the night. The illustration captures the feeling perfectly so building up the suspense would get kids thinking and visualizing and then they could compare what they were thinking to what the illustrator drew.
Snatch of Text:  

"Love is noisy midnight feedings,

shoe box right beside the bed."

Writing Prompt: What impact do the illustrations have on the story? How do the illustrations and the text work together? Can you write about a time in your life when you loved something and had to let it go?

WATCH: Thoughts on How Education Can Change the World By Jen Vincent

I am and always will be an educator at heart. 

Sometimes being an educator keeps me up at night.

And that leads to me creating a middle-of-the-night video that shares my thoughts on education because I'm so fired up I can't sleep. 

Teachers have the power 

to change the world
because we are charged 

with changing the lives of children.

I believe every teacher has to show kids they see them and they have to inspire them. And the easiest way to do that is to get them fired up to be consumers and creators. That's why I blog at Teach Mentor Texts and Story Exploratory to share ideas for how we can all be consumer and creators. With everything I share, I hope someone is inspired in some way.

I'm over doing things how they have always been done when we know better. 

I'm sharing this education-focused video here because I'd love to generate more discussion about how education can change the world. Whether you are an educator yourself or not, I appreciate your thoughts on education! 

Here are some things you can do to join in or share:

• Visit and share my post at Teach Mentor Texts. You can comment here but I'd really love to keep the conversation there if possible.
• Watch this amazingly powerful speech from Chris Emdin. It helped me solidify some of my own thoughts. (Thanks to Kathy Burnette for sharing it with me.)
• Create your response to the question: How can education change the world? Link or share it in the comments here.
• Share the post and my video. We need more people in this conversation! Please invite others to think about this and join in. 

Thanks for listening! I see you. You inspire me. 

My Thoughts on How Education Can Change the World

Sometimes being an educator keeps me up at night.

And that leads to me creating a middle-of-the-night video that shares my thoughts on education because I'm so fired up I can't sleep. 

Teachers have the power 

to change the world
because we are charged 

with changing the lives of children.

I believe every teacher has to show kids they see them and they have to inspire them. And the easiest way to do that is to get them fired up to be consumers and creators. That's why I blog at Teach Mentor Texts and Story Exploratory to share ideas for how we can all be consumer and creators. With everything I share, I hope someone is inspired in some way.

I'm over doing things how they have always been done when we know better. 

I'd love to generate more discussion about how education can change the world. 

Here are some things you can do to join in:

• Watch this amazingly powerful speech from Chris Emdin. It helped me solidify some of my own thoughts. (Thanks to Kathy Burnette for sharing it with me.)
• Create your response to the question: How can education change the world? Link or share it in the comments below.
• Share this post and my video. We need more people in this conversation! Please invite others to think about this and join in. 

Thanks for listening! I see you. You inspire me. 

READ: Rising Strong by Brené Brown

I find power in others telling their stories and I hope you do too!

Check out It's Monday! What Are You Reading? at Book Date

For the kidlit version, visit Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers.

A couple of weeks ago, it was a super windy day. I mean gusts of winds stormed through our culdesac and I braced myself as my hair blew all around my face as I walked Perdi. It was a Wednesday. I know because it was also garbage day. 

It was garbage day and the garbage cans and recycling bins lined the end of all the driveways. Perdi and I made it to the end of the street, we did our usual loop and then headed back towards home. Up ahead, across the street from my house, our neighbor's garbage can had blown over. Contents of their garbage can now were strewn all around their part of the circle. A Pringles can was slowly clattering it's way towards us.

Ugh. I was annoyed. A voice in my head complained about people and how they can't keep things nice and can you believe they would let their garbage just take over the street and were they going to clean it up and ohmigosh, the nerve. I walked the whole way down the street so cranky and mad at them. 

And then I realized, they probably took their garbage out, went to work and had absolutely no idea the wind had taken their garbage and spread it all over the street for everyone to see and be annoyed with. And here I was judging them for something they had no control over. In Rising Strong, Brené talks about seeing people through a lens of "they're doing the best they can".

So what did I do? I pulled out a poop bag from Perdi's stash and put my hand in it like a glove and I walked on over there, took a deep breathe, and picked up the garbage. 

Yup. I did. 

And I'm damn proud that I did. 

Did I want to?

Nope. Not at all. Not one bit. I don't even want to repeat some of the things I picked up that day. 

But I did it anyway. 

Because for all I know, they were doing the best they could that morning. 

It wasn't their fault the wind was being a jerk that day.

I have so many other great takeaways from this book but this one stood out the most. It's the most useful in life. Try it for a day. Try approaching people and situations with the perspective that everyone is doing the best they can and see how it changes your mentality. It lifted a burden off of my shoulders. It's easy to tell a story, whether I'm telling a story about myself, how others see me, or how I see others. My brain likes to fill in the gaps when it doesn't know the whole story. I bet yours does too. That's kind of how brains work. That's why I love this new way of looking at things. It's much easier to be compassionate if you start with the fact that everyone is doing the best they can offer at that very moment. 

I owe a huge big thanks to Patience Bertana for sharing her love of books and knowing I would like this one enough to buy me my very own copy. She was right. It's a gem of a book. I love Brené Brown's work. I've blogged about her Ted Talk on Listening to Shame before and if you aren't familiar with her, I definitely suggest checking out her Ted Talks or her books or her website or her Instagram. Really, she's amazing anywhere you can find her!

Have you read one of Brené Brown's books?
Is there a book that has shaped the way you look at life?
I'd love to hear about it!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 03/27/2017

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA! 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and I decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

Announcements: 

Winner of A Boy Called Bat 

by Elana K. Arnold

courtesy of Walden Pond Press:

Leanne - @SiCoMom!

Last Week's Book Adventures:

Last week I read a lot more of Yaqui Delgado but I'm not quite done yet. I'll keep working on that this week. I did get to book talk it to 7th and 8th graders and they liked the title alone...of course. We were hit with some sickness in our house last week plus it was the week before break so that's about all of the reading I got in last week!

Upcoming Book Adventures: 

This week it's finally spring break! I'm planning on finishing Yaqui Delgado and Here We Are. I also have Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson to read and I'd love to read it over break. I also have some reading to do for class and I really hope I make time to get that done this week otherwise I'll be mad at myself!

This Week's Reviews:

Check back throughout the week to read these reviews/posts. 

So, what are you reading this week? 

Link up below and don't forget to check out other blogs to see what they are reading!

To help build our community and support other bloggers, 

we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. 

Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 03/20/2017

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA! 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading right now...you just might discover your next “must-read” book!

Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, and I decided to give It's Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children's literature - picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit - join us! We love this meme and think you will, too. We encourage everyone who participates to visit at least three of the other kidlit book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them. 

Last Week's Book Adventures:

I don't know what was up with last week but I felt like I slogged through it and was barely keeping up with everything I had to do. I discovered the book Present Over Perfect and it's waiting for me at the library so maybe it was a good thing I felt like I was doing too much because the title of the book really jumped out at me and I felt like I really needed it. I can tell you for sure that ever since yoga came into my life I'm much more present and aware of all the wonderful things I get to experience in my life and I try and revel in them as much as I can. But I'm still not so great at saying no, especially when I want to do and be part of everything.

This week I spent time reading Here We Are and thinking about what it means to be a feminist and I also have been reading Meg Medina's Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. With the kids, I read Charlie and Mouse and Barkus. Can I just say that my kids enjoyed both of them. Peanut especially giggled and giggled giggled with Charlie and Mouse and then really wanted and so needed a bedtime banana! Love it! Laurel Snyder is brilliant.

Reviewed Last Week:

**Don't miss the giveaway!**

I shared our Family Reading Night celebration here at Teach Mentor Texts.

I celebrated Wilson Phillips and Mold-A-Ramas at Story Exploratory. 

Click on any picture above to go read my review/post.

Upcoming Book Adventures: 

I'm sure we'll be rereading Charlie and Mouse this week and eating more bananas and I'm also planning to keep reading Yaqui Delgado and Here We Are. 

This Week's Reviews:

Check back throughout the week to read these reviews/posts. 

So, what are you reading this week? 

Link up below and don't forget to check out other blogs to see what they are reading!

To help build our community and support other bloggers, 

we ask that you comment on at least three other blogs before you. 

Also, if you tweet about your Monday post, don't forget to use #IMWAYR!