I Love New York

🎵I love New York in ______. How about you?🎵

Yeah, I pretty much love the city pretty much any time and day of the year.

Born and raised in Queens (yes, Lucky Broken Girl's Ruth Behar and I both are graduates of PS 117 in Briarwood), I have lived outside of 11432 way longer than I lived there. Yet my love for the city constantly flows through my arteries like my past 50 years have all been spent just up from the Parsons Blvd station.

So could that be why I love Manhattan by Jennifer Thermes so much? Maybe. But by the looks of my Twitter feed, my fondness for this book is not unique.  And I follow librarians and educators from all over the country. Let's just say this book that has it all wrapped under one case, is appealing to anyone:

Obviously, the cartographer--Thermes is a map illustrator and it is evident in the perfect map on each page of this ever evolving island.

Historians--The book takes you on the historical journey of Manhattan from millions of years ago to today. You could do a scavenger hunt searching for facts on Hamilton, Edgar Allan Poe, geology...it's extensive.

Urban planners--Details about Wall Street, the grid, Central Park and so much more will delight these folks for sure.

Tourists--This is the ultimate guide to Manhattan. How fun would it be to have this book by your side while you are planning your trip.  Maybe pack the eBook version as it is oversized.  Not a complaint--Manhattan is a long skinny island and deserves this sized book--just not ideal for travel.

And of course, the artists and lovers of kidlit.  I fell for Jennifer Thermes with her Grandma Gatewood Hikes the Appalachian Trail and am glad she moved off the mountain to my happy place.

Last minute gift idea-- give a pair of New York books, wrap Manhattan up with Elisha Cooper's RIVER which flow up to where I reside now.
*********************************************************************************
Speaking of Elisha, he and I met for coffee overlooking the river (sort of) last Friday afternoon.  I was heading to the city the next day and he drew his own map for us.

Library? His idea. Walking through SoHo to West Village? Elisha. Murray's Cheese? Uh-huh. (Yes and the Roomano was quite yummy!) Bar Pisellino? Yep. (Best. Hot Chocolate. Ever.) So it was a great day.

     

The obligatory leap.

Had a couple of 13 year olds who wanted to walk up Fifth. Did that, too.

Got 6 minutes? Check out their video of our day (and maybe consider subscribing to their channel 😉)

Get ready to LOL!

Stand Up, Yumi Chung!
By Jessica Kim

An aspiring comedian myself (no joke, a secret of apsiration of mine for sure!), I definitely want to read this one. Fifth grade Reading Ambassador, Jess, grabbed it when it came in a box of arcs and here's what she had to say about it:

Have you ever dreamed of being a stand up comedian? Have you ever done something your parents wouldn't allow you to do? Well, then you can relate to Yumi Chung. 

Yumi loves comedy and wants to figure out a way to do it without her parents figuring out. Her parents always brag about her sister's accomplishments because she goes to medical school but Yumi doesn't really have any accomplishments so her mom sometimes makes them up. Yumi also feels overruled by her parents like they tell her how she should wear her hair and that she can't do comedy.

Every morning in the summer, Yumi's parents pay for her to go to Hagwan, an educational program.  It ends at noon and Yumi is expected to go to the library afterward to study.  Instead, she sneaks into the HaHa Club, conveniently located across the street from the library. Yumi's favorite YouTuber also happens to be the counselor of the camp there so Yumi goes there every day instead of the library.

On top on everything else, a new steakhouse opens down the street from Chung's Steakhouse, the restaurant owned by Yumi's parents. Workers from Chung's quit because they would get paid more at the new restaurant.  Money starts getting tight for the Chung family and they can't pay the rent. Yumi has an idea to to save the day! How does she do it? Will Yumi's parents find out she's not going to the library? Will Yumi finally make her parents proud of her? You'll have to read this book to find out!

This book was really good! Yumi's jokes made me laugh and sometimes even giggle out loud. It even inspired me to learn some jokes and write my own. Put it on your TBR list for March 2020!

Hidden Figures

Now retired Mr. Reischer would offer an optional project to his fifth graders. "Immersions" were opportunities for kids to show off talents, traditions, hobbies and interests.  Dancers performed.  New foods tasted. Facts about sports shared. Shy kids donned their tap shoes.  Extroverts taught me more than I ever wanted to know about Star Trek.  Irish dancers impressed. And boy was that flan delicious.

Who really are our learners? Aspiring poets? The next Michael Phelps? An angel in the Nutcracker? Budding tennis star? We spend a lot of time getting to know our students while at school but what happens to them after 2:30 PM?

This year our building has implemented a new caring school community mental health curriculum.  Every morning, classrooms circle up and share. Word in the hallways is that this is helping all classes  connect with one another. It's like a mini-immersion every day and we all like that.

My 13 year old son, Zack, is one of these hidden figures.  Over a year ago, he and his best friend, John, started a YouTube channel, "Random Things with John and Zack." They vlog together and on their own.  Zack has written and performed a couple of original songs, both boys wrote and performed a skit called, "Homework is Meant for Home" and most recently, they recorded or received 200 "woahs" (watch the video to see what I'm talking about). Zack spent hours editing them into one video. I was impressed (how does he throw that woah to himself?) and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom. But it got me thinking, how many of his teachers know what this studious student does in his spare time?

Can you identify the hidden figures in your school? What makes them tick? What gives them pleasure?  How do they fill the second half of their day? The next Spielberg could be in your midst; he may even be living in my house. 😎 Whoever and wherever they may be, let's all make sure to have fun seeking, showing and telling.

☆☆☆

This post would not be complete without a link to "Random Things with John and Zack"  and a plea for you to subscribe. Maybe the 300 subscriber special is just around the corner!

Two Thumbs Up for The Promise of Change

The Promise of Change: One Girl's Story in the Fight for School Equality
By Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy

Fifth grader Olivia whizzed through her first book for our Mock Newbery project.  She came in first thing Tuesday morning to tell me all about it and we made a date for lunch this afternoon to blog about it. If you ask Olivia, it's a winner.  Multiple stickers perhaps? Newbery? Sibert? CSK? Here are her thoughts:

This was a perfect book for me. It's a nonfiction story, mostly made of poems.  Since I like history (so much that when I'm older I want to be an archaeologist), I loved this book. 

The year is 1956 in Clinton, Tennessee.  High school student Jo Ann and her fellow African American family and friends were separated from the whites.  The whites had better schools, better homes, better places to drink water and relax. It seemed they had a better life in their hands. Jo Ann had a dream to go to the whites-only Clinton High School. But it was all white.  Since she lived in the south, obviously she couldn't go. Then one day, Jo Ann, her best friend, Gail-Ann and ten other African Americans had a chance to go to Clinton High School.  But it didn't go well.  People had signs at the entrance and threatened them.

This might have scared or stopped some people from going to the school, but not Jo Ann. She wouldn't let this stuff get under her skin. Each day she came back to the school and the crowd of people with the signs got bigger and bigger.  Some of the African Americans left to go some place else, but not Jo Ann. Some of them just couldn't take the violence. At this point, I got emotional. I felt bad for all the kids who dreamed of getting a good education but couldn't. I also felt guilty. Even though I didn't do it, I still feel horrible that it happened. 

I recommend this book because I couldn't put it down for so many reasons! It was interesting to me and lots of books just aren't.  All the books I enjoy bring feelings to my head or mind and this one did. The lessons are so important in this book, too.  Just because someone is different from you doesn't mean that you can hurt their feelings.  Because we are all human and we're not all perfect.

***FIVE STARS!*** 

 

The Big Break

Time for another book review!
This one by fifth grade Reading Ambassador, Will.

The Big Break by Mark Tatulli
Due out March 2020

Last year my cousins and I went camping. We left the adults at the campsite by the fire and went exploring. First we crossed a tilted bridge. Then we took a grown in path into the woods. We saw some geckos and salamanders.  After we finished the path, we popped out into the other end of our campground. It was an adventure.

Russ and Andrew, the two main characters of The Big Break, also like adventures. In this graphic novel, they like to go monster hunting after school. They are searching for the Jersey Devil. But as the hunt goes on and they can't find it, Russ gets angry at Andrew. Russ starts to think monsters aren't real and this whole thing is stupid. Will the boys find the monster and become friends again?

I thought this was a great book because in real life it's normal to get angry at your friends. It's worth it to work through the aggravation of disagreements.  I read this book in two days and it was hard to put down. I would read it every morning and night. I would rate this book five stars!  

A review of NORMAL:

One Kids's Extraordinary Journey

By Magdalena & Nathaniel Newman

Review by Emma

Fifth grade Reading Ambassador, Emma, came in this morning to give me this review of NORMAL.  It comes out in January. Thanks to Houghton Mifflin Kids, we received an advanced copy and Emma was the first one to read it.  Here are her thoughts in her words.  Looks like we should all purchase it for our libraries.

This is a true story.

Nathaniel wasn't what you called "normal." He was born with Treacher Collins, a deformity where bones aren't where they should be and where they should be but aren't there. The surgeries he had to have were so expensive that his family almost had no money for groceries. Before the age of 16, he had 67 surgeries.

Nathaniel had a passion for swimming but he couldn't swim because he had a tracheostomy, a whole in his throat, so if he got water in him, he would choke. He couldn't breathe through his mouth because he a bone behind his nose and his jaw was too small. He tongue would take up his whole entire mouth. 

Technically, Nathaniel was deaf. He had no ear on the outside of his face. This hurt his mom, Magdalena because she was a pianist. 

In kindergarten, Nathaniel's dad wrote a note to his class and the community saying that Nathaniel was different but the same.  His dad wrote that Nathaniel is still a kindergartener and has dreams to go after just like everyone else. Even though his dad did this ahead of time, Nathaniel still got bullied and asked why he looked so scary.  

Fast forward to when Nathaniel was 12. He had to have screws in his head to help get his skull form the proper way. This took four months. His mouth and eyes were sewn shut during this time. 

Now Nathaniel is 16 and during the filming of the movie, Wonder, the crew of 20/20 followed him around. Word got out to Christina Aguilera. Nathaniel visited her at her mansion and she sang, "Beautiful" to him.  The message they hoped others would receive is "No one is facially alike, but they are all beautiful."

Nathaniel and his mom were inspired to share their story--anything is possible even if you have a disorder.

I like how Nathaniel kept persevering.  He taught me to persevere because even though he was always sick he fought through the pain. He taught me to be thankful for the small things because not everyone is gifted with things like hearing and breathing. He also taught me that things don't always work out the way you want but keep pushing to achieve your goals and follow your dreams. 

I give this book 4 and half stars. I really couldn't put it down. I stayed up for like 2-3 hours reading the last hundred pages. I just wanted to know how Nathaniel dealt with the pain, the bullying and life. I would love to meet Nathaniel now. He seems like a really cool guy and he's a role model to me.

For Your Listening Pleasure...

Do you have a half hour where you will be driving, folding laundry, cooking dinner, running?  Then, I've got something to fill your ears:



A few Sundays ago I ran a couple of miles (and, yes, I was listening to a book at the time) to be interviewed by Katie for her new podcast called, "Career Roulette." Cool.  How hard could it be?! Just talk about what I do, right?

Well! I was nervous!  I hope I sound coherent.  I hope I make you proud NYLA, AASL, ALA.  It's the least I can do for all you do for me. I hope you get what I do.

Lots of shout outs to folks I love and adore: my kids (of course!), Val who gave me the idea to become a librarian, Alicia my forever book recommender, my mom who taught me to love reading and who prefers eBooks over print any day, my teacher collaborators who I do everything with side by side, and a few of just some of the many authors and illustrators who have visited our school.

Maybe this podcast will convince someone to go back to grad school. Maybe? It's pretty awesome...

I love my job and am very thankful that my Career Roulette spinner landed on "school librarian."

Thanks, Katie for this fun opportunity to talk about all I do at CES!

BLOOD MOUNTAIN by James Preller

5th grade, Reading Ambassador, Tyler,just finished reading Blood Mountain by James Preller. The book came out a few weeks ago.  After reading Tyler's review, you're going to want to add it to your TBR and to order pile.

Have you ever been lost?  Blood Mountain is about two kids, Grace and Carter, who go on a day hike with their dad. You know how that can be...slow, steady, boring.  So, the kids run ahead. They follow a deer trail for too long and too far out to find their way back. Now, they're lost.

For many days they are out on their own, surviving only on five energy bars and their dog as their companion. The first night they spend under a log. They seek out other creative places to sleep.

While out in the wild, Grace falls, cracks her ribs and ankle. Carter sets out to find help. He meets a man named, John, who lives in the woods.  John experienced war and Carter reminds him of a kid who he witnessed being killed. John doesn't speak much.  Carter gives him new hope.

How can Grace have enough food if she can't go hunting with Carter? Will Carter and Grace ever be found by the rangers who are looking for them? 

I liked how this book was like Hatchet. I liked how the characters work to survive, written in their different points of view. There are even two chapters from the dog's point of view=cool.

I wanted to keep reading it because I wanted to know if Carter and Grace would get saved.  I wanted to know more about John.  He was such a mysterious figure. 

Four and a half stars for this book! I will recommend it to anyone that does not get grossed out by stuff and wants to read a great adventure story that you won't be able to put down. I finished it in two days! 

Bonus--This book made me want to go hiking.  I may run ahead, but not too far!

Thanks for the review, Tyler!

On the RIVER with Elisha Cooper

photo credit: Jason McCord

The first time I remember suffering from post-party sadness was pickup day (and the days that followed) at sleep away camp.  The ups and downs of eight weeks at Camp Ramah had ended and adjusting to being home was not easy.

That was when I was 13.  I continued to leave home every summer after that. As hard as it was to come home, it was always worth it.

At 24 I threw myself a huge multi-day party. The last person who left was my best friend from camp. We recapped it all and I cried. How could it already be over?

My wedding. Daughter's Bat Mitzvah.
Son's Bar Mitzvah was this Labor Day weekend. My severe case of post-Bar Mitzvah blues began the first day of school.  Not easy.

I don't do well with endings and goodbyes.  

June 2018: I meet an illustrator at an event in NOLA. He tells me he is working on a book about a woman who canoes down the Hudson River.  I tell him I live and work in Castleton-on-Hudson.  Then and there I decide that he will celebrate that book with us ON the Hudson.  Sixteen months later, Elisha Cooper is reading RIVER aloud with the banks of the Hudson behind him.

That was Thursday.
You can only imagine the fog I was in yesterday walking the halls now with only the memories of his visit alive.

Elisha sat in a canoe in the middle of the gymnasium while first graders sang and fifth graders book talked all of his books. Reading teacher, Mrs. Reed hired a banjo player and our tuba-playing-band-teacher to accompany our fifth graders while they sang a Pete Seeger song about the river. Elisha rowed his boat ashore. The rain poured down outside.

We pulled out the red carpet for him when he spoke at a special K-2 assembly.

Then we donned our raincoats, boarded the buses and headed to the river. Elisha insisted we squeeze into the smaller pavilion on the river and I am glad we did. The kids complained. They were cranky. It was cold. Some were not dressed properly. The rain was steady. A boat sailed by. It was amazing. We will always remember.

 

The day was half way over and I was already beginning to feel sad. I don't do well with even thinking about endings and goodbyes.

We returned to our warm school and sketched with Elisha in the art room and wrote poems in the library.

The finale was sitting in the common area observing Elisha paint.  Mrs. Reed returned with her guitar and we sang. For some that was their favorite part of the day.  For others it was the park.  And some loved being taught tips from an award winning illustrator. For me? The whole package.

How did the woman canoeist feel when she began her journey? During? When her adventure was over? Sixteen months ago our journey was imagined. Thursday it happened. Now it is an incredible, unforgettable memory.  "Don't be sad." Elisha comforted me as I walked him to his car. I'm trying not to but I just don't do well with endings and goodbyes.

BORN TO FLY

We don't wait very long to celebrate here at Castleton Elementary School.
14 days into the new school year and we had our first author visit on his book birthday.
Welcome back to CES, Steve Sheinkin!



Since the first day of school, we have been preparing for Steve's visit.  Between our "Born to Fly" Selfie Scavenger Hunt with Grades 4-6 to sharing and reading books from the Time Twisters series to "building" paper airplanes to writing and illustrating a Steve Sheinkin A-Z book to daily announcements, we were ready to take off when he arrived!





The visit flew by (yes, all puns intended). Steve signed books, entered the gym on our red carpet, shared stories and then enjoyed some pie and ice cream with my 6th grade Dewey Duty kids. And even though the visit is behind us now that doesn't mean we are going to stop reading Born to Fly. I'll see you at 2, Mr. Morse's class.

The rock star enters our Old Gym

We heard that Steve loves pie and cherry vanilla ice cream so that's what we had at our party.  Then the kids (thank you, Mrs. Warland for the awesome idea) wrote down ideas for names of pie that ties in airplanes, flying or pilots. Some of our favorites:

Pilot's Pie

Airpple Pie

Women's Air Derby Pumpkin Pie

Flypple Pie

Amelia's Apple Pie

Propeller Pie

 Airplane Pielots

 

Thanks Mrs. Fowler (7th Grade English) and Mrs. Squier (JR/SR HS Librarian) for stopping by!

You can't leave Castleton before you leap

PS: Want to know more about Steve's life? Check out this book we made in third grade:

 

At the Mountain's Base

The beauty of a completely flexible schedule is that you can be, well, flexible.

This morning I received an urgent email from a first great teacher with the subject line, "HELP!"
She thought today was the day we were celebrating a big book birthday. Parents sent in homemade cookies, grapes and other snacks for the party.  But, our planned party is actually next week.  What to do?  "Can you come down at any time today to celebrate something?" 12:45 it was.

Fortunately, it didn't take me long to look through my F&Gs to find a book that celebrated its birthday yesterday. The gorgeous, poetic and thought-provoking-for-any-grade, At the Mountain's Base it was. And celebrate we did. Happy belated, Traci Sorell and Weshoyot Alvitre.  And check out the book's well deserved STARRED REVIEW from SLJ.

We read the book and talked about peace, family and Native Americans.  We sang "This Land is Your Land" (they knew the lyrics way better than I did!).  I brought down some yarn since it is "weaved" throughout the story and we glued a piece onto card stock in the shape of a square or circle.  Tomorrow they will draw their families inside the yarn frame.

"Don't forget we have to sing 'Happy Birthday!'" many of them reminded me.  Of course!

I love my job. And I especially love that my schedule allows me to squeeze in a book birthday at the last minute in between meeting first graders to critique Geisel contenders, helping 6th graders navigate through the overdrive app, Sora, read aloud to 5th graders daily at 2pm, introduce kinders to book exchange, plan book birthdays, author visits and... yeah, that was just today. Makes me so happy that I'm leaping...

   

Yes, I Still Do Dewey

I had a great lesson on Dewey with the fourth graders on Thursday.
"Are we having fun?"
"Yes!"
10 minutes later: "Are we having FUN?"
"YES!"

It WAS fun and it was a great way to get to know the Dewey Section.
I asked them when we started to assess how well they knew Dewey.
Not so much.
At the conclusion of our lesson? Experts. lol.

NYC School Library System has a wonderful, comprehensive curriculum called the Empire State Information Fluency Continuum (ESIFC), created by the incomparable Barbara Stripling and her team in 2009.  Reimagined this spring, I highly recommend you take a look at it, if you haven't already.  Many of us in New York State turn to it frequently. I took one of the documents, spruced it up a bit, crossed my fingers (as I usually do almost every lesson) and hoped it would be a success.

Students had to log into their Google Classroom accounts (I am trying to go  paper free as much as possible this year), copy my document into their own drive and then they begin the scavenger hunt.

There is a Dewey Decimal "worksheet" in the Grade 3 IFC assessment.  I changed it up slightly and asked students to find books in a category and then take a selfie with that book.  It was an engaging, collaborative, lively lesson that incorporated not only Dewey skills but digital literacy as well. I knew it was a good lesson when kids asked if they can do it again tomorrow.

Alexis searching in the 600s.  Boys in the back in the 700s.

Jacob excited to find one of our favorite books translated in Spanish in the 400s.

There's more to the 300's than the 398s!

Ethan plowed through this activity. Future librarian for sure!

Nice job, Alexis! 

Is Dewey a thing of the past? Maybe?  But the thought of actually genrefying the library is overwhelming.  I have some bins for popular subjects: horses, sharks, dinosaurs, football, baseball, jokes, dogs, cats...It helps with shelving (I have an assistant in the library about 3 hours a day) and it makes my students feel successful in locating those highly sought after books. But going all the way? We are nowhere near that.  And so until then, we will continue to have FUN finding our way in the Dewey Section.

And finally, a tweet from the 4th grade ELA teacher.  Another compliment is when the classroom teacher thinks it's great lesson! Happy to get your students back in the Dewey Section (and beyond!), Mrs. Roe! You just say when!

Learning about the Dewey Decimal System in the library with Mrs. Rattner. @SchodackCSD @CastletonES @staceybethr pic.twitter.com/zeN0hHjYOI

— Amy McGarvey-Roe (@AMcGarveyRoe) September 12, 2019

Strange Birds

It's been a very hot and humid day.  Our A/C is on and so is my oven. Please don't tell National Grid (shouldn't I be conserving?).  The oven's purpose? To bake Aster's Chips+Chips cookies.

So many good books are coming out this fall and Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia C. Perez is one of them.  Four different girls with four different backgrounds in a tree house in Florida ruffling feathers literally and figuratively.


There's Ofelia Castillo, the journalist, who just wants support and permission to apply to the four week Qwerty Sholes contest that would land her a 4-week internship in New York City.

There's Cat Garcia, a bird watcher who just quit the Floras, unbeknownst to her mother.  Being a Flora has been in Cat's family history for forever and her mother has dreams of Cat becoming Miss Floras.  As Miss Floras, Cat would don a hat made "a hundred years ago when...people thought it was okay to kill birds and wear them." Cat is not okay with that.

There's Aster Douglas, a foodie, who lives with her grandfather and is on a mission to uncover the mystery of the Winter Sun orange (and the namesake of our cookies).

And finally Lane DiSanti who is staying in Sabal Palms with her grandmother while her parents figure out the future of their relationship. "All relationships require some kind of agreement." Lane comes from old Florida money and is the one behind bringing the girls together with an intriguing invitation.

This is a story about activism, friendship, standing up for what you believe in and using your voice.  Watch out, though, after learning that actions can make a difference, who knows what your middle grade readers will be inspired to do. Strange Birds teaches them that "most things that matter carry some risk" but will be worth it in the end. (and cause for celebration with Aster's cookies, of course--thankfully the recipe is included!)

Celia with her editor at a Penguin luncheon during ALA. The flamingo and sticky notes are key.

Before

After-YUM!

 

 

 

 

PS-The cookies are DELICIOUS! I love how they are one bowl, too! 🍪♡

All the Impossible Things

 

 

It always seems impossible until it's done-Nelson Mandela

We were driving to New Jersey this morning and I was in the back reading.
The good news is that my Mom had a box of tissues on the seat where I was sitting.
The bad news is that I used so many, the box now needs to be replaced.

All the Impossible Things by Lindsay Lackey
This book.
These characters.
That giant old tortoise.
All blow together in one nearly perfect book.

I was hooked by the first chapter.  If I was in my mom's car then, there would have been a shortage of Kleenex by the end of the book.

11 year old Ruby "Red" is no stranger to foster homes.  Her mom is incarcerated and her Gamma, who had been taking care of her, died of cancer. Ruby's latest placement  is with Celine and Jackson at their "Groovy Petting Zoo."  It is there she befriends next door neighbor, young videographer Marvin, Tuck the Tortoise, many other animals and her new foster parents.

Red counts the days patiently until the day her mom is released from jail and they will be reunited. But when the letters she writes to her all get returned, Red takes a difficult journey to find out the difference between hard and impossible and realizes that maybe,

"living without something-even something you really need-isn't the end.  Maybe it's the beginning of something better."

This book tugged at my heart. It made my stomach turn. There were times I wanted to just shake Red up. I knew what I wanted for her and just hoped she would discover it, too, in spite of the pain.  "Pain is funny...Sometimes it tricks us into thinking one thing is wrong, when really it is something else."

"Every good story starts in one place and ends somewhere else."  Find yourself a good solid block of time (with a cup of hot cocoa on the side) to be there where it starts and to see how it ends. 

I love having debut authors on my Newbery contender list.  Lindsay Lackey is one of them, for sure.

September 3 find your fans of Barbara O'Connor, Nikki Loftin and Natalie Lloyd and twirl over to them with this book. Oh, and don't say I didn't warn you about the sniffles...♡

 

I met Lindsay at ALA and am sad we didn't take a leap together.  It is very POSSIBLE that I will be soliciting her for a Skype visit in early winter.  When that happens, a leap will happen.

P.S.

If you were at NerdCampMI, you might have remembered Laura Shovan's response when asked "What are you sick and tired of?" She is sick and tired of "boy vs. girl books" and "periods." This is a book for all readers, girls or boys, who love realistic fiction with a sprinkle of magic. Additionally, Red gets her period during a very intense part of the book. It happens, she deals with it and we move on.  Please don't shy away from it now. For Red, getting her period not only symbolizes coming of age but so much more. Family, independence, maturity, motherhood, and, the simple impossibility of birth.

Quotable NErDCampMI 2019

Here's a VERY brief collection of quotes from Day 1.

Pen and trusty yellow legal pad in hand, I tried to get some good quotes.  Although, I have to admit, there were times when I inhaled for five, exhaled for ten and just listened deeply.

"No one else wants another silent female.  We have enough of those."-Pernille Ripp (and in my notes I put my daughter's initials with a ♡.  She is far from a silent female and makes me proud every day. Later Pernille said, "Nothing wrong with being angry if you do something about it...Embrace anger as a tool."

"What happens to one of us, happens to all of us."-Alicia Williams.  I was thrilled to listen to her and meet her later that day.  At least two people have recommended her book as a strong Newbery contender.

Ahhh...Cece Bell.  I love how she thought she visited my school.  I had to remind her that I was just an annoying, pushy librarian pre-Newbery 2015 and then we finally did get to Skype post-Newbery.

"We need to keep reading books so we can laugh together, discover ourselves and discover each other."

Cece has a new book out about underwear and feet. How could that NOT be funny?

Laurie.Halse.Anderson.  

I could listen to her SPEAK forever. A couple of times, I caught glimpses of her wandering but was too timid to say hello.  Here's my takeaway--I need to talk to my secondary librarian and MS ELA teachers. Chains has been part of the 7th grade curriculum forever.  Now let's make Speak part of 8th grade and Shout a HS and all district faculty book club.  Laurie referenced her January Time magazine essay.  Read it here.  My son will be 13 next month. He doesn't know it yet, but we have some uncomfortable, yet crucial, conversations ahead of us. And discussing Speak is at the top of that list.

Donalyn Miller.

Another idol of probably every camper and beyond.

"No matter who you signed a contract with, you made a contract to society and all its children."  Donalyn charged us all to "make good trouble" as we hold up our end of the contract.

Jason Reynolds.

"Jason Reynolds sits in your classroom every day unrecognized."

"Don't feel sad; feel angry."

"When that bell rings, everyone takes a different journey home." 

(about his forthcoming book, Look Both Ways, a collection of stories of ten kids during the 10 unsupervised minutes walking home.)

Want more? I'm sure when I was breathing, others were jotting. Check out the #NErDCampMI tweets for more inspiration...

CHOBANI and Almonds Grabenstein Style

The bookstore asked if I could sell 100 books. Could I?
I told my students there was a "contest".
IF we sold 100 books, our friend Chris Grabenstein would visit.



We sold 108 books.
Splendiferous! As our reward, Chris Grabenstein returned to CES last week. WOOHOO!

We love having lunch with our visitors.  This time it was going to be a bit challenging.  Got this message from the bookstore coordinating his visit:

Apparently he likes:   Chobani blueberry no-fat yogurt and a bag of almonds  

That was a stumper.  Were the kids going to be into that? For lunch???

So...I knocked this around with one of my teachers who said,

Chobani... suggestion: have a selection of five or more different almonds... sliced, blanched, roasted, tamari, raw... and some fresh blueberries...

Within the parameters, you can still be you (AKA going over the top)

I took that and leapt. What about a Chobani and Almond blind taste test with some fourth graders?

A trip to the grocery store and twelve different tubs of Chobani, five cans of almonds later I was ready for "Chobani and Almonds Grabenstein Style."  I made up a review sheet, got some pencils and spoons and we put our taste buds to test.  It was a wonderful interaction between reader and author that I highly recommend.  Giggles, "ews" "yums" and guesses all lead to a different kind of bonding that we don't usually experience when we have lunch together.

In hindsight, I believe Chris wishes he requested ice cream, but a healthy dose of yogurt was certainly a close second.  (and I was thrilled that so many of the kids enjoyed the Chobani.) Maybe for the launch of SHINE (Chris's new middle grade he wrote with his wife.  It's due out in the fall--Stay tuned!) we'll have ice cream.  I had to ask Chris, "Why Chobani?"  He told me it was a good company with a good mission (see below).  Also, yogurt is easy to polish off while chatting with kids.  And as far as Chobani goes, he is right--Check out the [anti] CEO's recent TedTalk. If it's up to me, we'll be having more Chobani tests in the future.

As per his request, the BLUEBERRY NONFAT CHOBANI

Prologue:

Check out this recent TED Talk by the anti-CEO of Chobani.