Welcome to 4th Grade!

Hard to believe that September is right around the corner!  I spent the first four weeks of summer taking classes and what I've learned has inspired me to implement some new ideas this year in reading and writing.  I have read some amazing professional books and young adult books.  I also spent a great deal of time over the summer writing so I'm looking forward to sharing some of that with you this year.  But this is the 40 Book Challenge blog, so let's talk about books.  I've read quite a few good ones so far that I'd like to share with you.
The first book that I'm going to tell you about is Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson.  Here's a summary of the book:
 “Hope is the thing with feathers” starts the poem Frannie is reading in school. Frannie hasn’t thought much about hope. There are so many other things to think about. Each day, her friend Samantha seems a bit more “holy.” There is a new boy in class everyone is calling the Jesus Boy. And although the new boy looks like a white kid, he says he’s not white. Who is he?
During a winter full of surprises, good and bad, Frannie starts seeing a lot of things in a new light—her brother Sean’s deafness, her mother’s fear, the class bully’s anger, her best friend’s faith and her own desire for “the thing with feathers.”
Jacqueline Woodson once again takes readers on a journey into a young girl’s heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.

Another book that I've read in the last few weeks is Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin.  Here's a summary:

Rose Howard is obsessed with homonyms. She's thrilled that her own name is a homonym, and she purposely gave her dog Rain a name with two homonyms (Reign, Rein), which, according to Rose's rules of homonyms, is very special. Not everyone understands Rose's obsessions, her rules, and the other things that make her different - not her teachers, not other kids, and not her single father.
When a storm hits their rural town, rivers overflow, the roads are flooded, and Rain goes missing. Rose's father shouldn't have let Rain out. Now Rose has to find her dog, even if it means leaving her routines and safe places to search.
Hearts will break and spirits will soar for this powerful story, brilliantly told from Rose's point of view.  Keep checking here for updates and Happy reading!