YMA 2021 version

Mrs. Warland was featured prominently in my dream last night. I'm sure it was because I was missing her being by my side this week. Monday wasn't the same without her keeping me sane cutting cake, leaping, screaming, crying and just sharing in the pure joy and excitement of Youth Media Awards.

But alas this was, and continues to be, a different year. There was a little applause, some shrieks but nothing like the past and no cake. The only Newbery book Mrs. Warland read was Rita Williams-Garcia's One Crazy Summer and that was this summer when she had to call me to tell me that it is SO good and deserves the Newbery. "Ummm...Doe? Do you see the stickers on the cover?" It did win! IN 2011! But honestly if it wasn’t for her reminding me how great that book was I wouldn’t have reached out to Rita to appear on Author Fan Face-off, so really nothing is lost. (Her filming is in a couple of weeks. I should probably reach out to Doe for some questions...)

I’m exhausted from my week long YMA parties and celebrations. I watched the Caldecott awards 10x; Sibert 14x (we had Honeybee on our Caldecott list), CSK 10x (hooray for Magnificent Homespun Brown).  And unbelievably Newbery only twice: once live in the 5th grade class I had while it was going on and then later that afternoon with the Newbery Navigators. Coincidentally, though, a 5th grader in that class was reading The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez and pulled it out of his backpack just after the Pura Belpre announcement. Woohoo!

I also read the Geisel winner (thank you JLG) multiple times to K and 1, when I had time. It is perfect and well deserving of the award says kinder Lilly. 

These kids didn’t miss the cake they never knew existed but I did. Instead they enjoyed a little treat of a gold medal (aka gelt in my world) or a gold kiss (yes, they actually make them gold without almonds). Cupcake love in the form of cupcake holder medals (which surprisingly went over very well!) and a gold photo booth! One group of second graders loved the photo booth so much they came back again and again for silly shots.

 

So happy for all the winners but especially two time Newbery and Sibert honor Christina Soontornvat, (ICYMI we posted a special AFF on Tuesday in her honor), HONEYBEE, Mr. Cc’s We Dream of Space, my second graders Outside In (which we celebrated a book birthday for) and the gorgeous We are Water Protectors (which we also celebrated a book birthday). Oh and Sunday night I downloaded Welcome to the Pity Party after attending a Jewish Libraries midwinter event (I kind of want to join as a librarian who is Jewish but doesn't work in a Jewish library. Is that kosher?) and was literally late for work this week because I had to finish it. Speaking of Sydney Taylor, A Place at the Table got a notable. Woohoo! Check out their AFF, too.

Yay, Christina!

Yay, Saadia!  Yay, Laura!

All in all a good week. The kids seemed genuinely sad when I said it was the last meeting of our Caldecott Committee. Hmmm...maybe it doesn’t have to be? We’re already a month into book releases eligible for 2022...

A slide from our Sibert voting day last week. Both of these won stickers!

Definitely going to be a future blog post if I can get my act together! 💓

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 Boy in the Black Suit

Ok...by now you must realize that I have a teeny tiny obsession with Jason Reynolds.  I just think his voice is so real and important.  I have one more book to read and then I will patiently wait for the next one.

In the meantime, I just baked a batch of pretty darn good homemade chocolate chip cookies (everyone likes chocolate chip cookies, right?) and can't stop thinking about this book.  After Matt's mother passes away, he begins working for Mr. Ray in the funeral home.  This turns out to be more therapeutic for Matt than anything else.  At each funeral he attends, he looks on in the back to seek out the most hurting person in attendance.  Watching them helps him deal with his own hurt of losing his mother. Almost like relief, like he isn't the only one out there hurting.  

Through no fault of his own, Matt is living alone for awhile.  Well, Mr. Ray is looking out for him and then there's Lovey. She was the one most hurting at her grandmother's funeral.  And leave it to Lovey to help Matt grieve, give him some hope about life and maybe even get him to smile.  

Lace up your dress shoes, put on your suit jacket, grab some Cluck Bucket chicken, throw Bob Marley on the stereo and get ready for another can't-put-it-down ride by Jason Reynolds.

I had to take this picture--This Ray's Funeral Home is right up my street.
Every time I pass it now I will think of the Mr. Ray from this book.

All American Boys

My new thing now is to allow myself to listen to YA books while I am alone and running.  It's like a little treat.  I almost feel a little naughty because I am always telling people that I don't read above a fifth grade reading level.

With each book I read (or listen) to by Jason Reynolds, I become a bigger fan.  That's why it has been SO hard for me to follow the tweets and Facebook posts from this past week at ALA Annual in Orlando.  I wish I was there.  I wish I heard Jason and Brendan speak and accept their CSK awards at the breakfast yesterday morning.  I'm just thankful for Twitter though, because at least I can have a slight feeling of being there and can commiserate with those who are also posting with the hashtag #alaleftbehind.

I cannot express enough times how important All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely is for every teenager and adult to read.  It is real.  It hits home.  It makes you think and discuss. It sticks with you long after you finish it.  You want to talk about it with friends and family as if Rashad and Quinn are really people.  How can we stop this?  What can we do?  #NoMoreRashads It makes me want to go out and just buy a bunch, pay it forward and hand them out randomly to any black, white, gay, Latino, Jewish, straight, Asian, Native American, trans, mixed, just plain ole American teenager I see.  It is that an important book. I have this sense, perhaps a false one, but a sense nonetheless, that if everyone read it, maybe we can actually make a difference.

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
Innocently, ROTC Rashad goes into Jerry's to buy a bag of chips.  That bag and that afternoon will change his life (and yours) forever.  A woman trips, the bag falls into his bag, a cop accuses him of stealing and beats him till it hurts us all.

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
Quinn and his buddies, Guzzo and Dwyer, were outside of Jerry's when they witnessed what happened to Rashad...

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
...by Guzzo's brother, Officer Paul.

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
And then begins the struggle of Quinn.  Can he really support Paul Galluzzo's story? Paul, who is almost like family? Paul, who, when Quinn lost his father years ago stepped in to play a "big brother-father figure" role?  Paul, who thinks he was "just doing his job"?

#RashadIsAbsentAgainToday
Many questions are left unanswered.  What will happen to Rashad? Quinn? Paul? What about all the other Rashads out there who are absent today? What can we do to stop this? Jason and Brendan did their part to write this incredibly powerful, important book.  What we can do is read it, talk about it, stand up and pass it on.  #PleaseNoMoreRashads

Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics comes to Castleton!

The Olympics came to Castleton on Thursday and it was SPLENDIFEROUS!

Chris Grabenstein, author of the 2013 book, Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and now the sequel (which just came out on Tuesday), Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics came to my school and was a rockstar.  One student even told a teacher that he was "Katy Perry of books" or something to that effect. I'll take that as a compliment.

Chris actually arrived on Wednesday night and signed 400 books!  We were able to raise enough money so that EVERY student was going to be surprised at the end of the day with a signed copy of the new book! Here's a fun time lapse video of Chris signing the books:

Chris Signing 400 books

For months we had no idea what our Library Olympics was going to be or look like.  When we finally decided on having every grade focus on an ALA Youth Media Award, it started to come together.  I cannot thank my classroom teachers enough for all that they did to prepare.  Here is a small snapshot of our day:

Chris announced that the Olympics were beginning over our PA system.  He told them to watch the opening video.

Everyone watched the video at the same time.

First stop: First Grade Geisel.  

They shared a song, read and acted out What this Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig by Emma Virjan and educated Chris all about the Geisel Award. They even tried to convince him to write a Geisel level book.  

Chris with all the first graders.

 NEXT UP: Second Grade Caldecott.  

All of second grade focused on Float by Daniel Miyares. We really hope Float gets a sticker on Monday.

Mrs. Donato's class was working on adding text to the Daniel's illustrations.

Chris with Mrs. Roe and Mrs. Segarra's class.

Mrs. Puccio and Mrs. Seres's class tested our knowledge on whether objects would sink or float.  Mrs. Puccio tricked us when she showed us a rock that was really pumice!

 KINDERGARTEN: The Carnegie Award for best video made from a children's book.  

The kindergarteners shared graphs on which videos they liked best and then Chris read Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs by Mo Willems, not the most favorite video, but certainly one they liked very much. The video that they liked the best and what they hope will win the Carnegie Award is I'm Brave! Here's the trailer for it:

Chris with Mr. Horan, our superintendent.

 NEXT UP: Third Grade-Coretta Scott King award for illustrations.  

Mrs. Yager's class focused on Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena and illustrated by Christian Robinson.

They wrote a book called, Last Stop at CES.

Mr. Morse and Mrs. Hanna's class shared Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews's book illustrated by Bryan Collier with Chris.

Mrs. Charsky's class with Ms. Atkins shared where they would go with their pens based on My Pen by Christopher Myers.

 NEXT UP: Fourth Grade--Sibert Smackdown (Best Nonfiction for Children)

4th graders shared their best Sibert Smackdown projects with Chris.  He learned a lot about flies!

 LAST STOP: Fifth Graders NEWBERY!

Fifth graders shared animotos, a Reader's Theatre and a debate. It was intense!

LUNCH FINALLY! 

With cake, of course!

After lunch we had our Olympic Closing ceremonies beginning with a parade, a Reader's Theatre of Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics, a presentation of awards from the day and then our big surprise!

Second graders marching in with their Float inspired hats.

The incredibly generous donors (Kasia Mello and Morgan Stanley, Audiologic Solutions, Nassau American Legion, Castleton Kiwanis, Brad Rose Leonard Landscaping, Inc, Schodack PBA, Friends of the Library and Bud's Florist) gave us the opportunity to do THIS:

 Give EVERY student a SIGNED copy of the book!

Woo-Hoo! Thank you donors!

What a day! All day the talk on Friday was "What chapter are you on?"  "I'm on chapter ___!"  "I finished the book!"

Thank you, Chris and EVERYONE, for a great Olympic day!  Now we are just waiting for Monday and the big ALA announcement to see if our favorites match those of the Committees in Boston.

Don't believe my heart will be left there but I'm going to SF!

It's been a wild week!  Started off with my mission to figure out how to make it to San Francisco for the  ALA Annual Conference and with some emails and phone calls, it happened!  The lead to me leaping and jumping the rest of the week!  I purchased my tickets Thursday morning and didn't touch the ground all day.  I will be at THE NEWBERY BANQUET, cheering and crying and laughing and who knows what, right there for KWAME!  We only had 400 11 and unders shouting "Kwame! Kwame! Kwame!"  I can't imagine what 1,000 will sound like?  (Or would they be a bit more reserved???  I know I will be shouting it regardless!) AND I will be at the CSK AWARDS!  I'll tell you what, I love Jackie Woodson--and really, that's another committee I'd like to be on some day as well.  So yeah, it was tough to be grounded this week.

The Greater Capital Region Teacher Center is funding part of my trip as professional development to help me teach a class on the Newbery in the fall!  I'm so excited for this opportunity!  It will be an insane Fall (daughter's Bat Mitzvah, NYLA in Lake Placid, AASL in Columbus, OH) but those will all enhance the teaching of the class!  I just wish ALA Midwinter (in Boston in 2016!) wasn't so early (January 8-12)! That's insane!  We're going to have to start our Newbery project in October!

I had some time to really dig into my Junior Library Guild box of books later in the week and I LOVE them all!  The highlights are:

Matthew Burgess's book on ee cummings illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo.  Yeah, ee cummings used to be my favorite poet of all time  (like we read one of his poems at our wedding even) until I met this guy with the initials, KA.

Then there was this one, Roger is Reading a Book.  It's new to us in the US this year and is funny! The illustrations actually remind me of Christoph Neimann.  The ending made me laugh out loud, for real!

Another great book was a beautiful biography, Talkin' Guitar by Robbin Gurley, on Doc Watson. I used to listen to a bluegrass show on WRPI every  Sunday morning called "Sunday Morning Coming Down" and they played Doc Watson all the time. The illustrations in this book are gorgeous and a great introduction to a musician I am sure not many of my students have heard of.

There was yet another beauty of a biography in my box this week about a patriot who baked gingerbread for Revolutionary War soldiers. A fun and fascinating read that made me want to eat some gingerbread, of course! 

There were other gems in the box, including Completely Clementine, a new graphic novel with a rutabaga as the central character and more! This really was a great month for Junior Library Guild! I hope I get to see them at ALA to tell them so in person. 

It was field day on Wednesday and Mrs. Donato jumped with me after school because we were twinning orange bandanas.

Mrs. Ciampoli and Mrs. Nolan's first graders are almost done with poetry. The zoo projects are coming along and Mrs. Segarra's class started animal research. 

Beginning Monday I will start chaperoning some classes down to the public library. A nice little walking field trip, although the uphill on the way back could be a good workout for some! 

2 1/2 more weeks of school and then ALA!!! San Francisco or BUST!