because of mr. terupt

This one is for the junior/preteen readers...though I definitely loved this one and read in within two hours.  It is called Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea.  It is a book ALL kids should read.  A group of fifth graders are starting school with a new teacher, you guessed it...Mr. Terupt.  He is unlike any teacher they have ever had and he makes school fun, but that is not all.  The story focuses on 7 students (which I thought would be too many characters to keep track of.....it is NOT).  Each chapter is written in a different student's voice and version of the school year.  The students are as varied as they could possibly be....a new girl, a mean girl, class clown, the smart one, shy girl, an outcast, and a loner.  Sounds kind of like The Breakfast Club?  Mr. Terupt teaches them more than just math & reading....and he understands them all.  As the story progresses, you are aware that something horrible is about to happen and you are hoping that it is not too horrible....so you keep reading.  And then the horribleness comes, and you keep reading....you have to find out the conclusion.  And you won't be disappointed.  I told my 11 year-old that he would love this book, and he plans to read it...as soon as he finishes the Harry Potter Series.  He is on book 5 and can't put them down!  Not a bad thing at all!

Intense, but not scary

 This book that was recommended is called Escape Under the Forever Sky by Eve Yohalem.  My friend, Ann, told me that her 5th grade daughter, Paige, loves this book.  They are reading it for their school's book club, and it is one of the first book's that Paige has really been drawn into....so of course, I had to read it to see what was making Paige read so feverishly.  It is a fantastic story!  It is about a girl named Lucy who is 13 years old.  She is an only child to two extremely career-oriented parents.  Her mother is the American Ambassador to Ethiopia, and she has been relocated to Ethiopia to work and reside.  Lucy spends her days in a gated community with protection and many rules and not a lot of freedom.  As a teenager, she resents this and sneaks out and gets grounded.  This only fuels her desire for more freedom and adventure in a country she feels misplaced.  She is a minority in Ethiopia on many levels:  1.  She is a white American  2.  She is rich and 3. Her mother is a very important political figure.  She wishes she could explore the wildlife around here and hang out with her friends, but she is not permitted such freedoms.  She spends her days at home while her parents are at work where she builds card houses and dreams of a "normal" life.
She has one close friend, and together the two of them sneak out to the local market for some fun.  This is where the action starts, Lucy is kidnapped by drug dealers and taken to a secluded locale.  She is able to escape, but only to discover she is miles away from civilization in the wilderness of Ethiopia that she dreamed of....except it is not quite dreamlike...no shoes, no water, no food....but a constant beating sun, lions, monkeys and drug dealers on her tail.  A great action packed story that is full of intense adventure, but not too scary for the younger reader.

Newspaper Boy

                Earlier this week, I finished Sue Corbett's The Last Newspaper Boy in America.  This is one that I am going to recommend to my 5th & 6th graders including my own son.  I read somewhere that what truly makes a great book is not the plot, but the characters in the story.  If the characters are endearing....if the characters really make you  care about them...then you have a good story.  The characters in this book were incredibly endearing to me.  It takes place in a rural small town in Pennsylvania where hard times have hit.  The local hairpin factory has been bought out and left empty for years leaving the townspeople unemployed and money hungry.  The story focuses on the David family.  The mother Magnolia, is a avid book reader-walker who writes book reviews and can always been found with a book in her hand.  She is a woman after my own heart.  Junior AKA dad is unemployed, but he still takes care of the hairpin factory in hopes of a potential buyer.   He is a forever optimist who looks at his unemployment as a blessing, for he now has time to cook and bake which is his true passion.  They have 3 boys:  Trace, the eldest and the artist, Sonny, the middle child who is a charmer yet a bit naive and then the youngest Wil.  The story focuses on Wil who turns 12 during this story and is about to take over the family newspaper route from Sonny.  Bad news descends when they learn the newspaper is going to cancel delivery to their small town. Wil is devastated.  He has been looking forward to carrying on the newspaper tradition as well as earning some extra money.  This triggers the action of the story into fast moving adventure about a family learning about each other, the people of their town and themselves.  I believe readers of all ages will find something to love about this story.

6th Grade Reads

      Being an elementary school librarian is filled with an awful lot of good stuff and an awful lot of not-so-good stuff.  I get asked questions like:  "Do you work here or do you just volunteer?'  or "Did you have to go to school to become a librarian?"  and my favorite:  "It must be nice to sit around and read all day and tell kids to be quiet."  Don't I wish?

A lot of the good stuff comes from the kids themselves  (OK...actually most of the good stuff).  Each week I meet with a group of 5th graders and a group of 6th graders (on separate occasions) for a lunch time reading group.  It is crazy, chaotic, and wonderful!  A group of kids eating bland looking school lunches excitedly talking about BOOKS!  Huh?  Who would have thought it.

The 6th graders are currently reading A Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban.  I normally do not assign a book without reading it, but I did this time.  (Hey, it came recommended by many pre-teen girls and who I am to doubt their authority?)  So I decided to pick it up this morning and see what it was all about.

Well....let me tell you....I fell in love with Zoe Elias, the main character, who turns 11 during this brief glimpse into her life.  The book was written in short chapters with wonderfully clever titles, and the pace of the book was perfect.  It read smoothly and quickly....I had it done in under 2 hours.  The book is not filled with many characters, but the ones you meet are richly drawn.  Her father is my favorite by far.  He suffers from high-levels of anxiety and hates to leave the house because he worries about what might happen.  So he rarely does.  Her mother makes up for it by being away from home -- working...always working.  Both are loving and caring parents if not a bit odd.   There is a rhythm about them that works.

Zoe does not blend real well in school.  Her best friend has replaced her with another, and she does not wear the coolest name brands.  She also plays the organ.  Who plays the organ outside of church?  Zoe does not want to play the organ.  What Zoe wants is to play the piano, but her dad's anxiety got the best of him, and she ended up with an organ.

This organ AKA Perfectone D-60 takes her on a journey of discovery for her and the people around her. I recommend reading this sweet, honest book about a one-of-a-kind character.