Char Siddell: Char Shares

Char did a really lovely job recommending new books (as in published in the past year) for kindergarten through fifth grade. I'm linking the list and I'm just going to highlight a few that I really liked.

Picture Books

• Neville by Norton Juster - Really cute story about being the new kid in town. I generally enjoy Norton Juster's books. He has a nice sense of humor.
• This Plus That: Life's Little Equations by Amy Krouse Rosenthal - A book about "math." Except it's more about connecting actions and realizing how they result. Clever.
• The Day Tiger Rose Said Goodbye by Jane Yolen - I hadn't known that Jane Yolen's husband died this past year. This book is about death and dealing with saying goodbye. Very sweet and soft.

Fiction

•  Bless this Mouse by Lois Lowry - As the church mice prepare for the Blessing of the Animals, they must deal with being driven out of their home and the oncoming cats that are also going to be blessed in their church home.
• Dumpling Days by Grace Lin - I did a review of this and really enjoyed it. It's sweet and thought-provoking. 
• Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos - A quirky semi-autobiographical story about a boy with a nose-bleed problem that must work for a woman that writes obituaries. Newbery winner.

Non-Fiction/Biography

• World Without Fish by Mark Kurlansky -  Kurlansky wrote the adult books Cod and Salt, and how these two things had a HUGE impact on our history. He now does a look at what the impact of fish is on our present ecosystem and how we need to have greater concern for fishes' depletion.
• The Many Faces of George Washington: Remaking a Presidential Icon by Carla Killlough McClafferly - This book brings together science, technology, detective work, art history, and American history; and makes a Founding Father approachable. Ms. McClafferly follows the work of the historians at Mount Vernon's Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center and relates the project of creating three life-size models of Washington to actual events in Washington's life. This book goes beyond the standard biography.
• Me... Jane by Patrick McDonnell - A biography of Jane Goodall, with special attention to her childhood and how her love of observation and chimpanzees developed. 

Char did a lovely job, but she ran over so didn't get a chance to book-talk all of the books on her list.

Book talk for Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles.

A year ago, Caleb Becker hit Maggie Armstrong with his car while drunk. Caleb has spent the last year in juvenile detention. Maggie has spent the last year in the hospital and physical therapy.

Now they’re both back for their senior year of high school. Maggie wasn’t expecting Caleb to be back so soon. She thought she’d be safely off in Spain for second semester by the time he returned. Maggie hasn’t forgiven Caleb for what happened, and for causing her to walk with a limp for the rest of her life.

But Maggie and Caleb both find going back to school hard. Everyone seems to have changed. And no one understands what they’ve been through, except each other.

Maggie goes to work for an elderly woman to earn money for Spain, and Caleb is sent to the same house as part of his community service, and they begin to grow closer. But their relationship causes problems all around them, and their lives at school and home begin to fall apart.

Maggie is afraid she’s going to lose Caleb, the only person who understands her pain and who’s truly honest with her. But there’s something about the accident that Caleb isn’t telling her.

Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles.

Book Talk for John Green's An Abundance of Katherines

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Colin is a washed-up child prodigy who has just been dumped for the 19^th time by a girl named Katherine. Colin was so sure that this time, this Katherine was the one. But now he’s heartbroken, graduated from high school and is convinced he’ll never amount to anything. Ever. Not only is he sure he’s going to die alone, but he’s also sure he’ll never be able to cross from child prodigy to genius. What does it matter if he can anagram any word or phrase in the English language? He’ll never amount to anything. Never, ever, ever.

Of course, there’s only one cure for heart break and despair. A road trip. Colin’s friend Hassan, who is awesome, shows up to drag Colin off the floor of his bedroom for an epic road trip. They road trip along until Colin notices a sign, in Tennessee, claiming that the town on Gutshot contains the grave of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. A girl named Lindsey Lee Wells escorts them to the grave, and it’s on the way there that Colin trips on a molehill, smacks himself in the head and has his eureka moment. He knows what he’ll do that will take him from prodigy to genius. He knows how he’ll leave his mark on the world. Love is graphable. Colin will create a mathematical equation that will show who will break up with whom and approximately how long the relationship will last.

Hassan and Colin work out a deal with Lindsey’s mother, Hollis. In exchange for staying at her place, Hassan and Colin will take oral histories of the workers of the Gutshot textile mill, which Hollis owns. This still leaves Colin plenty of time to work on his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. And hijinks ensue.

I love everything John Green has ever written, but this one is absolutely my favorite. It’s so funny, and don’t worry if math isn’t your favorite, it isn’t actually math heavy. If you are into math, there’s an appendix that goes into detail about the equation. It’s a really great book; I would recommend it to anyone.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green.