Saturday, February 28, 2015

This is Sadie by Sara O'Leary

Sadie is a lovely little girl with a wonderful imagination and she loves to have fun.  Sometimes her friends are characters from the books she reads and imagines herself within the story.  Sometimes her friends are people who live on her street.  Where some people might just see a box; Sadie sees a boat.  Sadie can't see wings on her back but she knows they are there.  Do you have wings?

This is Sadie is a new book that will be published in May by Tundra books.  I was fortunate to receive an e-book copy from NetGalley.  I loved the character of Sadie.  She has such a wonderful imagination.  Her creativity seems to be fuelled by reading books.  My favourite page in the book is when Sadie is looking at her wings and the author asks the reader if we have wings too.  Love it!  The illustrations by Julie Morstad were perfect.  A lovely picture book that I will be certain to add to my library shelves this spring.  Sara O'Leary is a Canadian author and I believe this book could be showing up on next year's Blue Spruce list.

Monday, February 23, 2015

The Glittering World by Robert Levy

22609606I received an e-copy of The Glittering World  by Robert Levy from NetGalley.  Michael "Blue" Whitley's grandmother has just passed away and left him her home.  Blue and three friends make the trek from New York to Nova Scotia to visit Blue's birthplace.  He doesn't remember much about living in Nova Scotia.  He was 6 when he left.  On their first night in town they are greeted by some locals and join in on a party with them.  Blue has a history of drug use, but even he seems surprised when he appears to lose hours of time at the party.

That's about as far as I got.  The story started to take some weird twists and turns and it turned out to be not really my type of story.  I think the book is very well written.  I debated whether to write a review or not.  I felt it deserved a mention on the blog even though it wasn't my style.  To begin with, the cover is stunning.  I loved it.  The problem for me was that I didn't realize it was going to go down the fantasy path.  The first few chapters drew me in and then I found myself scanning Goodreads to find out where this was going.  I picked up a different book and sadly there's just no going back to this one for me.  But that's just me.  I hope it lands in the right reader's hands.  It deserves to be read and loved.

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting

18243675 Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting is the ultimate coming-of-age story.  Lulu and her best friend, Annabelle, are joined at the hip growing up.  The friends share everything including a language of their own.  But their friendship is tested again and again when they let a boy come between them.  Walking on Trampolines is the story of Lulu growing up and accepting herself for who she is.  She isn't perfect and she`s made some mistakes but she`s a good person deep down and she needs to learn to love herself and forgive in order for her to move on and love again.

I really enjoyed Walking on Trampolines.  Lulu was a character easy to love despite her one night of horrible judgement.  I enjoyed reading about the relationships she had with her family and friends.


I received an eGalley of Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting from NetGalley.

Friday, February 20, 2015

Young Frank Architect by Frank Viva

17733897This week I was very excited to kick off our Blue Spruce 2015 reading with the primary classes.  I was happy to see how excited the kids were too.  First up I chose to read Young Frank Architect by Frank Viva.  This is the story of young Frank and his grandfather old Frank who are both architects.  The story is about young Frank who is an architect but wants to build chairs and cities that his grandfather thinks aren't quite right.  After a visit to the Museum of Modern Art old Frank realizes that he was wrong and that things are changing in the architect world.  The two then spend the day building all kinds of different things.

The kids thought this book was mostly good.  I suspect it won't get too many votes after all 10 books are read but it was an enjoyable read.  I think in grade 3 or 4 it is in the curriculum to teach about structures and this book would be a good introduction.

Today we're stuck inside because of cold weather.  If I had the book at home I would read it with my boys and hope to inspire a day of imagination and building.

Saturday, February 7, 2015

We Are All Made of Molecules by Susin Nielsen

19405297Last week I had the great pleasure of attending my first OLA (Ontario Library Association) Super Conference.  It took me about two hours to get the lay of the land and figure out what all those line ups lead to.  Free books!!  Author signings!  When I was talking with the students about my plans for the PA Day there request was that I try to meet Susin Nielsen.  Well mission complete!!

Although my moment with Susin was brief given the long line of others waiting to also meet her it was awesome!  First, I was given a copy of her yet to be released We Are All Made of Molecules and second she gave me a shirt advertising the same book.  Awesome!!

We Are All Made of Molecules is scheduled to be published May 2015 but I had the great pleasure of already finishing reading it.  This is the story of Stewart and Ashley.  Stewart is in grade 9 although he's younger and smaller than his classmates because he's gifted and skipped a grade.  Ashley is also in grade 9 and not near as bright as Stewart, but she's quite a few rungs higher on the popularity ladder; actually she's at the top.

When Stewart's dad and Ashley's mom decide to take their dating to the next level and move in together both kids have a hard time adjusting.  The story is quite funny overall but does a great job of dealing with quite a few teenage issues such as bullying, social media use, alcohol, puberty and more.  I was quite impressed how Nielsen covers so many issues and still manages to make this book appeal to both boys and girls.

Susin Nielsen is a Canadian author that is a favourite in my YA library section.  Her previous novels Dear George Clooney, Please Marry my Mom, The Reluctant Journal of Henry P. Larsen and Word Nerd were previously nominated for the Red Maple award as part of the Forest of Reading.  I suspect We Are All Made of Molecules will be on the 2016 nomination list.  When it's released I will proudly wear my We Are All Made of Molecules shirt.  I think they will be in great demand.  I love the connection to the story.

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett

20708761This week with my younger classes we read Sam and Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett.  The story is about two boys who decide to dig a hole and they won't stop digging until they find something spectacular.  They dig up and down and side to side but never seem to find anything spectacular.  They boys take a short nap in their hole but the dog keeps on digging while they rest.  What happens next is truly spectacular.

The first class I read this with was a kindergarten class and I thought that I might have to explain it a bit to them.  Wrong.  They explained it to me.  I didn't notice that the first page has an apple tree and the last page has a pear tree.  When they wake from their nap they aren't in the same spot.  There's actually quite a few differences between the first and last pages.  

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole is a book of few words and really quite simple but the illustrations by Jon Klassen certainly make the story as good as it is.