I chose to do my last book blog on Invincible. I was responsible for reading this book and watching the movie  for one of my English classes and I think that it is pretty inspirational to all! It is not a hard  read, but I would recommend it for upper elementary and middle school. It keeps you on your feet!
This book battles masculinity and gender roles in our society. Vince in the main character in the story. He did not have much of a relationship with his father because he was working in a factory to take care of the family for most of Vince's childhood. His mother got very sick and passed away when Vince was very young. He was kind of in this world alone.  At the very beginning, his wife leaves him because he was not making enough money being a substitute teacher and bartending to support both of them. Vince always loved playing football as a young boy and when he saw that the Philadelphia Eagles (NFL) were struggling and were going to have tryouts he jumped right on it. He thought that there was a slim chance that he would make the team so he never got his hopes up. This would take care of his money problems with high hopes that his wife would come running back to him. Little did he know, the opportunity to be a part of the NFL team came true and many people entered into his life that he never thought existed.
You will have to read to found out the rest and trust me you will want to know! I'm not much of a football fan, but I enjoyed this book.

Hello All!

This week I finished Shiloh, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. I read this book for the first time when I was in third grade and can remember crying through it. Since I am a HUGE dog person, it was too hard to hold back all the tears. I was that girl sobbing her eyes out in the middle of class because of this book! Now, I will worn you that there are many parts in the book that make you just want to jump in and hurt Shiloh's original owner yourself! 

Marty and Shiloh are the two main characters in the book. Marty is a young boy and just happened to go for a walk through the woods one day and came across Shiloh. He so badly wanted to keep Shiloh, but his father would not let him because he knew that he belonged to their distant neighbor, Judd Travers. Judd was a nasty man. No one in the community cared for him because he was malicious and a drunk. Shiloh was Judd's hunting dog. When Marty's father forced him to take the dog back to Judd, Marty quickly found out that Shiloh did not have a good life with Judd. That is about the nicest way I can put it. Judd abused Shiloh and Marty experienced that first hand when he returned him back to Judd the first time. Judd kicked Shiloh over and over again even when Marty begged for him to stop.

Marty and Shiloh go through a lot with each other and that is what makes their bond so strong. They create a wonderful bond and always find a way back to each other. The ending will shock you and I highly recommend reading it! 

I also remember watching the movie after I read the book, but I do not remember if everything was the same or not. 

The past two weeks, I have been reading Fudge books by Judy Bloom. In today's post, I will tell you a little about Double Fudge, but it doesn't stop there! If you enjoy Double Fudge, I highly recommend reading Super Fudge because it is just as fun! 

I really enjoyed these books because it is easy for children to read and the author organizes the characters in a way that is not hard for young children to keep straight. Someday, I want to implement some different ideas that Fudge talks about in the book. In Double Fudge, Fudge is the five year old middle child who is obsessed with money. In fact, Fudge is so obsessed with money that he makes his own "Fudge Bucks" so that he can have millions of trillions of dollars! Peter, who shares the main character role with his younger brother, Fudge, is in seventh grade and has a hard time putting up with Fudge because he is your typical annoying five year old brother. Of course when you're in the seventh grade, your five year old brother is the most embarrassing creature on the planet! Next, the youngest child in the family is Tootsie. Tootsie is the baby who copies everything that comes out of anyone's mouth. She can be quite the handful if you ask her mother. Jimmy is an important character throughout the book and is Peter's best friend who moves into the city early in the book. This was heart breaking for Peter because he feels as if he is losing his best friend. 

As if Fudge wasn't bad enough. The family gets an unexpected visit from relatives and one of the children happen to share the same name as Fudge and he doesn't know how to take that. In fact, he doesn't take it very well at all. He doesn't understand much of anything, but one thing he did know is that no one is allowed to have the same name as him because there is only one Fudge! Now, it is important that you know that Fudge's real name is Farley Drexel Hatcher, but he will not let anyone call him by his real name so Fudge it is! 

I am a huge fan of FUN children's books and I believe that children will think this book is so funny! 

Hello Everyone! 

This week I read 42 by Aaron Rosenburg. If you have ever watched the movie, it is based off of the same thing. This is a wonderful historical nonfiction book that would be great for all young readers to read in a history lesson. I have thought about reading this book in my classroom for Black History Month in February. It would be a great novel for students to understand that race and discrimination were huge issues in Jackie Robinson's perspective. 

There are so many great quotes from the novel and movie and I wish that I could say them all. Even though the novel is based on a true story, the author does a really great job about adding emphasis to different scenarios throughout the book. The emphasis that is put on African American people in the story is extremely powerful. I think the author made it this way so that he could really get his point across about the hard lives that these people lived many years ago. The author uses many words that are not socially acceptable to use today, but that is how he got his point across so well. I know it stuck out to me, so a lot of those words would really stick out to kids. I would target this book upper elementary and secondary classrooms. I would be sure that the kids were mature enough to understand the seriousness in the text. 

The novel is geared towards Jackie Robinson being the first African American baseball player to join the major leagues. From the minute he signed to play for the Dodgers, his journey had just begun. The story goes through the many heart wrenching events and scenarios that Robinson and his family had to go through just so that he could play on the major league team. People were not happy that a black man was playing the major leagues and they did not hide their anger either. Jackie Robinson was forced to not say a word or he would immediately be kicked off of the baseball team.

Hello all! 

I am currently half way through my all time favorite adult book on this Earth. I LOVE Dear John, by Nicholas Sparks. This is probably the only book that I have read at least five times. Everyone always says that the book is much better than the movie, but it is close. When I first read this book in sixth grade, it was probably the first book I had picked up to just casually read. I got about five chapters in and I was hooked.

So, a few of the main charters in the book are John and Savanna. John worked for the military before and during his time with Savana. It was an accident that they even met. It just so happened that John was home for a visit from the military when he met Savana on a beach in North Carolina. The story only gets better from here. Another main character is John's father, Bill. Later in the story there is some drama between John and Savana because of Bill's health issues and mental state. This is actually where I am at right now in the story. The next main charters are Tim and Adam. Tim is Savana's best friend who has a son (Adam) with autism. Savana studies behavioral issues and mental illness in college so she is very connected with Adam and John's father since they are suffering from a mental illness. This causes some conflict between Savana and John throughout their journey together. 

During the two weeks John was home visiting, he fell in love with Savana and spent the entire time with her. Savana loved John just as much and they were  both dreading the day he had to go back to where he was stationed in the military. It is an emotional roller coaster from the second he left Savana at the airport to go back to work. You will laugh and you will cry for sure. However, my heart has never hurt so bad after reading... well you will see! It is such a great book and I recommend it to anyone no matter who you are! I think that it is appropriate for fifth grade students because it is not a hard book to read.

Hey everyone! 

Today I finished Junie b. Jones Cheater Pants by Barbara Park. This is my first Junie b. Jones book of my 20 book challenge! Reading Cheater Pants was a fun book to ease the stress of this week. I love these books because they are easy reads and cute for young girls.

Cheater Pants gets its name because Junie forgets to complete her homework assignment over the weekend and decides to copy off of her friends homework that sits beside her while she was away from her desk. Julie did not both reading the directions on her homework and all she was suppose to do was write about what she did over the weekend. When she was asked to read her homework in front of the class, her teacher noticed that her response was the same response as her friend, May. Julie knew right away that she was in big trouble. Her teacher called her out to the hallway to discuss the issue and Junie was quick to blame it on May for leaving her homework laying out on her desk in the first place. Her teacher became very upset with her and proceeded to take away her recess privileges. During her recess, she had to talk to her teacher for the second time to make sure she learned her lesson. She clearly did not learn her lesson because she was snippy with her teacher, so he decided to send a note home for her parents to see what she did. This did not make her very happy and she was so scared to go home and show her parents the note from her teacher.

Her parents had a conversation with her about cheating. All and all, there are some really great lessons for kids to learn throughout this book and I think that is the main idea. The teacher did a good job with the disciple and treated Junie as if she was an adult. I like how the teacher handled the situation minus taking away recess time because I am totally against that! ;) However, I still think that this is a wonderful read for young students because it is clear and fun. I think this book will scare kids right out of cheating! 

This week, I have decided to re-read a book that I read when I was in fifth grade. I am trying my best to read the entire thing, but I don't know if my emotions will allow me to do that! I am reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. I love this book/movie so much, but it literally drains me.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas takes place in a Germany during the Holocaust. Bruno is eight years old and along with many other young children, has seen way too much in his lifetime. In fact, he has seen things that not even grown adults could handle. Throughout the book, the author puts things into perspective from Bruno's perspective. While it is such an amazing story and you can't wait to read more, part of you will just want to close to book and cry because it was reality. Bruno experienced many family members and friends die during the Holocaust, but is too young to really understand the full meaning behind all of it. I am at the part in the story where Bruno and his family move from their home to somewhere else that was safer at that time. Bruno didn't exactly like his new living situation, but did end up finding a friend to interact between a fence for awhile, Schmuel.  Schmuel is in a concentration camp and Bruno does not realize and hat is why there is a fence in between the two boys.

I am not all of the way finished and I don't really remember exact details in between, but I know that the ending is gut wrenching. It hurts my heart to even think about. I guess I decided to read this book again because I am really interested in learning about the Holocaust because it is so bizarre to me. If you are interested in the Holocaust as well, it really is a great book. I will not spoil the end for you, but just get ready.