It's Monday! What Are You Reading? | Mentoring in the Middle

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I'm linking up with two blogs: Jen at Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee at Unleashing Readers to share books that I've finished this past week.  


For the past few weeks, while I've been working with some students around comprehension issues during out WIN time, the rest of the students on our team have been reading about water.  They've read expository text about the water cycle, unequal access to water around the globe, and the cleanliness of water.  They've analyzed water around the United States, watched a short video about accessing water in third world countries, determined what they would do for their town if their water source was compromised, and even done math computations around, you guessed it, water.

So when, quite by accident, I saw that Linda Sue Park had written this book, I knew I needed to buy it.  Park has outdone herself again.  She takes two children living in South Sudan about twenty years apart, and weaves their stories back and forth in a way that makes this book hard to put down.  Nya, the girl who walks four hours twice a day to bring water for her family (does it make sense why she can't go to school?!) is made up from stories Park heard.  Salva, the boy who runs away when his village is attacked and becomes one of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" is real.  I won't tell you how his story intertwines with Nya's because that would give too much away, but let me tell you that I was tearing up at the end of the book.

I understand why Rick Riordan has such a strong fan base in the preteen crowd, and I'm very impressed with how excited students are about Greek mythology because of reading his books.  When I sat down to read Magnus Chase, what struck me the most was the humor.  The chapter titles alone will make you chuckle!  Now mind you, I only got to chapter 9 before the book got taken from me by a very eager student, but I hope to finish it some time soon.

What have you been reading?  If you haven't had much time to read, stop over at these two blogs to read reviews from other teachers and librarians.






3 comments

  1. I loved A Long Walk to Water! I haven't yet, but will purchase this new rick Riordan title. I am not a fan, but the readers sure are.

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  2. Hi Marion, Rick Riordan is so hit or miss for me really. I did enjoy The 39 clues but there were a few other authors contributing per book instalment. I will have to look for this new title of his, though. You're right in noting how popular is with the teens.

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