What a Nice Story!

My good friend, Luke Abate, shared an awesome book with me.  The book is The Year of the Dog and it was written by Grace Lin.  In the story the main character, Pacy, is celebrating the Chinese New Year.  This year is the "Year of the Dog" and Pacy's mom tells her that means it is a good year for family, friends, and "finding yourself".  Read the book to see how Pacy discovers who she is and why she is so lucky!  This realistic fiction book was so much fun for me to read because it reminded me of one of my "Old Favorites" from my reading life, B is for Betsy by Carolyn Haywood.  If you like stories about friendship and family, then you would enjoy The Year of the Dog.

You've Got to Read This Book!!!!!!

Today I'm going to tell you about the book Small As an Elephant by Jennifer Richard Jacobson.  This book is amazing!  I'm not sure if I loved it more because the main character's name is Jack, or because the setting of the story is Maine, one of my all time favorite places!  In the book Jack, and his sometimes unpredictable mom, finally take a vacation to Acadia National Park.  Things are going well until Jack wakes up one morning and finds that his mom has left him!  Jack doesn't want his mom to get in trouble, so he tries to find his own way back to his home in Boston.  This book is full of adventure and if you read it you will be awed and inspired by Jack's courage and resilience.  Read Small as an Elephant, you won't be disappointed!

I Like Science Fiction? Who Knew It????

Over the weekend I finished reading Catching Fire the second book in the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins.  One thing that I have to say about this series is that you should read them in order, so that the plot makes sense to you.  I read the first book over a year ago, and while I didn't love it, I didn't hate it either. When I reflect on my reading life, I am not sure why I never moved on to book two.  To be completely honest, it was the 40 Book Challenge that was my incentive for revisiting this series and I am sooooooooo glad that I did. 
In this book, the characters remain the same, but what happens to them this time around is almost unbelievable.  If you have read The Hunger Games, and like science fiction, this would be a great book for you.  One caution, this book does have violence in it.  If you are someone who scares easily you may want to read this book with an adult, or just skip it until you get a little older.  Happy reading :-)

Pushing Yourself is an Important Part of the Process!

Over the weekend I finished the book My Side of the Mountain by by Jean Craighead George.  Although this book is in my preferred genre, realistic fiction, the subject matter is not one that I would typically choose.  The picture on the cover was interesting to me and it is a Newberry Honor book, so I knew I had to try it.  The story is about a young boy named Sam who runs away from his family home in New York City to live, on his own, in the Catskill Mountains.  Sam learns to live off the land and has many adventures.  I can't imagine being able to survive on my own in the woods (especially in the winter).

  Many times throughout my reading of this book I wanted to abandon it, but I pushed myself to read strong, and I am glad I did! If you like reading about adventures, survival, and nature, then this might be a book for you.

     Another book I recently read is Spilling Ink by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter.  This is a nonfiction book for young writers.  These authors give you lots of tips to help you through the writing process.  If you like to write, and you like reading about writing, then you would enjoy this book.  Give it a try!

Historical Fiction - My New Favorite Genre?

Last night I finished reading a wonderful book called Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood.  The genre is historical fiction and the setting is the early 1960's in Mississippi.  In this book the main character is a twelve year old girl named Glory who struggles to understand the concepts of prejudice and discrimination.  The story follows Glory through one summer of making choices that aren't always easy.  If you like books with strong, determined main characters, that are both informative and inspirational, then you should definitely read Glory Be. 

4th Graders,

     You are about to embark on something that will be new, challenging, exciting, and extremely rewarding.  You must try your best to stick it out and, I promise, you will be so happy that you did.

Happy Reading!

Mrs.Herr

September 19, 2014

Now I am going to tell you about One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.  This in an award-winning historical fiction book about three sisters named Vonetta, Fern, and Delphine.  The book takes place in the late 1960's and the three sisters are traveling to California to spend the summer with their mother who they really don't know.  If you like stories with a little history and strong characters who can handle adversity, then you should try this book.

September 22, 2014

Today I gave all of you your 40 Book Challenge log sheets.  I hope you are as excited as I am about taking on this challenge.  This weekend I finished a really great realistic fiction chapter book called Becoming Naomi Leon.  I loved this book because the characters are everyday people who have life challenges.  I like reading about people who can take the lemons that life has handed them, and turn them into lemonade.  I also liked this book because it touches your heart and helps to give you perspective.  What I mean by this is that by reading about how the main character faces adversity and hard times helps me to better see how lucky I am.

Here I Go!

September 8, 2014

I have started my 40 book challenge and I am so excited about all of the "new to me" books that I am going to read this year.  I am also nervous about reading out of my comfort zone, but I know that in order to grow as a reader, that is what I NEED to do!  Here is just a little bit of information about the first book that I have finished.

Vanished True Stories of The Missing-  by Marc Tyler Nobleman
This is a non-fiction book with short stories of people who have disappeared.  If you like real life mysteries, and don't scare easily, I think that you would enjoy this book.