Which books would you choose?
ISBN: 9781338809275
Publisher's Synopsis:
Penned by the very first Crayon Activist, Bellen Woodard, this picture book will tug at readers' heartstrings and inspire them to make a difference!When Bellen Woodard’s classmates referred to "the skin-color” crayon, in a school and classroom she had always loved, she knew just how important it was that everyone understood that “skin can be any number of beautiful colors.” This stunning picture book spreads Bellen’s message of inclusivity, empowerment, and the importance of inspiring the next generation of leaders. Bellen created the More Than Peach Project and crayons with every single kid in mind to transform the crayon industry and grow the way we see our world. And Bellen has done just that!
MrsK's Review: Read Aloud K-5
Wow... how often have you been frustrated trying to use the white or peach color when creating your images of children or family members? This is such a sweet book about a young girl who decided to do something about crayons that didn't fit the assigned self-image assignment.
This book will create "thought-provoking" discussions about taking an idea, checking resources, and designing an innovative answer for the good of everyone.
MrsK
Meet the Author:
Bellen Woodard, 9, is a “crayon activist.” She saw there were no crayons to match some of the skin tones in her classroom. So she began to “change the language” about skin-colored crayons. She used her own money to make packets of crayons ifordiverse skin tones. She gave them to other kids. Bellen now has her own brand of multicultural crayons. It’s called Bellen’s More than Peach.
Patricia MacLachlan
ISBN: 9780060279714
Publisher's Synopsis:
From beloved author Patricia MacLachlan comes an honest, inspiring story about what is real and what is unreal, and about the ways that writing can change our lives and connect us to our own stories—word after word after word.
"I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking,
what I'm looking at,
what I see and what it means.
What I want and what I fear.
Joan Didion
MrsK's Review: Family Read-Aloud"On the fourth day, of the fourth month, of fourth grade..." Mrs. Mirabel comes to the class to teach them how writers write. They will learn that once an outline is written... there's no reason to write the story! Writers write to find out what is going to happen. Of course, this is not what the students have learned during creative writing. What does this writer mean?
Did you know that some writers write to make their life turn out as they want? Many write to make money. Others will write to understand what they think. Some write to find answers, seek understanding, and work through their fears.
For the soon-to-be writers in the classroom (Lucy, Henry, Evie, Russel, and May), inspiration will begin to flow from within and onto their pages of thought. They will discover the power of words. They will recognize and/or learn about new stories that they want to read for themselves. They will learn about a moment, a time, a place, a character, an emotion, as well as the power of special memories.
Any reader who has experienced Patricia MacLachlan's crafting of words into stories will recognize the power of this book. This is a well-crafted story, and it is an empowering tool for providing "writeable" thoughts for all learners. Age is never a reason to keep a story unread. Use this book as a "saged" book of writer wisdom... grab a journal... read this to your family/classroom... stop... and jot down your experienced thoughts... share... then continue the next phase... soon you will have pages unfolding in a collection of the stories in their minds, hearts, and spirits.
MrsK
"You have a story... a character,
a place, a poem, a moment in time.
When you find it, you will write it.
Word after word after word after word!
Meet the Author:
Jahnna N Malcolm
Jahnna N. Malcolm is the pen name for husband-and-wife team Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner. Together they've written four musicals, two movies, three CD-ROM games, and nearly one hundred books, including the popular series The Jewel Kingdom. They met in the theater and were married on the stage using Marlowe's famous love letter from "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" as their wedding vows.
The wild and wonderful island home of Flynn and Paddy holds an incredible secret - dragons live there!MrsK's Review: Gr. 1-2
The Midnight Ride (Book 1): Jake and Mandy Strange live with their parents in an old mansion that is now open for public tours. The Strange Museum houses unique antiquities. The bottom two floors are filled with lost and found objects from around the world. They live on the top floor. Would you enjoy living above an odd collection of objects? Would you dare to go into the museum after hours? Would it make a difference if your parents remind you to never go into the museum after hours, and never touch any of the objects? Would your insides do "flip-flops?"
Even though Jake and Mandy had their favorite rooms, there was this one item that "called" to them. They knew that they were not allowed to touch the 1775 map. They just wanted a closer look at the corner of the map, or where the corner of the map should be. Once they opened the lid of the case where the map is housed... Jake notices a handprint at the corner, a handprint that was made over 200 years ago. All of a sudden..." the room began to spin... lights flashed..."
"Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere..."
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Pirate's Revenge (Book 2): Mandy has always had a fear of being in the darkness, it's been a secret all of her life. On the night of a storm without power, Jake and Mandy find that they need to go down into the basement, into her father's office to locate Mandy's history book and a lantern so she could finish her homework. Down into the museum... in the dark..!
Carefully they made their way to the basement. Odd how there is a light coming out of their dad's office. Once inside, Mandy discovers that her history book has been moved beside the oil lantern. Wow, dad would never leave an old oil light unattended. What if it was knocked over and started a fire? Deciding that the lantern would help them find their way back to their rooms, as she reaches for the lantern... the room began to spin!
"If I didn't shoot one or two now and then, they'd forget who I was."
Edward Teach 1680-1718
These stories of historical objects, fascinating names from long ago, and sci-fi travels will ignite a desire "to know more." To read more... be aware... that's where reading leads!
MrsK
Meet the Authors:
Jahnna N. Malcolm is the pen name for husband-and-wife team Jahnna Beecham and Malcolm Hillgartner. Together they've written four musicals, two movies, three CD-ROM games, and nearly one hundred books, including the popular series The Jewel Kingdom. They met in the theater and were married on the stage using Marlowe's famous love letter from "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" as their wedding vows.
ISBN:9780473376215
Publisher's Synopsis:
But when the evil boss The Pitbull finds out, he sends his men to kill one, and bring back a dragon's egg, so that he can hatch it in his private zoo. Flynn and Paddy's job is to stop them and protect the island's dragons.
The Dragon Defenders is the first in a middle-grade novel series (7-12-year-old readers), which follows on from the Dragon Brothers Trilogy of picture books, also by author James Russell.
This book comes alive! The Dragon Defenders features extra digital content, accessed by using a device or smartphone.
MrsK's Review: Gr.3-5
I am the author of the best-selling Dragon Brothers Trilogy of children's books (The Dragon Hunters, The Dragon Tamers, and The Dragon Riders) and the best-selling, middle-grade novel series The Dragon Defenders (The Dragon Defenders, The Dragon Defenders – Book Two: The Pitbull Returns, The Dragon Defenders - Book Three: An Unfamiliar Place, The Dragon Defenders - Book Four: All Is Lost and The Dragon Defenders - Book Five: The Grand Opening.
I launch my first book for adults, entitled 'Mine - A Surfing Odyssey on North Sentinel Island' on June 1, 2021. I live in Auckland with my wife and two young sons.
Sarah Weeks has been writing children’s books and songs for the past twenty years. She is a graduate of Hampshire College and NYU and recently became an adjunct faculty member in the prestigious Writing Program at the New School University, in New York City.
Her first YA novel, So B. It, which appeared on the LA Times bestseller list was chosen as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and received the 2004 Parent’s Choice Gold Award. In addition to being an author, Sarah is an accomplished singer/songwriter. She has written for television, stage and screen and a number of her picture books include songs which she both writes and sings for the accompanying CD’s. Sarah's titles have sold well over a million copies, including several foreign editions.
This book comes alive! The Dragon Defenders features extra digital content, accessed by using a device or smartphone.
MrsK's Review: Gr.3-5
Are you a fantasy "dragon" reader? How much do you know about dragons? Have you considered that real... honest... to goodness... dragons might exist on islands somewhere in our world? Flynn and Paddy know that dragons are real, in fact, they have been warned never to explore close to Mt. Monstrous.
Flynn is an outstanding marksman with a slingshot. Paddy is an outstanding marksman with a bow and arrow. Together they will be defending their island home, dragon eggs, and many huntsman skills that they never had to put into practice before the thieves came to their island.
Be forewarned, hearing the magnificent "whoosh" of a dragon overhead is not for the faint of heart. These mighty and powerful creatures have personalities that can befriend or strike you with talons so sharp... well you get the picture!
Most of us have some information or experience with thieves. Usually, thieves are cunning and dangerous. The thieves that Pitbull sends to the island, appear to be seriously dangerous, that is until they get discovered by the brothers. Will they get the dragon egg for their boss? Will they get close enough to kill a dragon for the Pitbull's infamous museum?
That's up to you... you have to open the covers of this book to discover the test of the quest!
MrsK
Meet the Author:
I launch my first book for adults, entitled 'Mine - A Surfing Odyssey on North Sentinel Island' on June 1, 2021. I live in Auckland with my wife and two young sons.
ISBN: 9780439793346
Publisher's Synopsis:
She doesn't know when her birthday is or who her father is. In fact, everything about Heidi and her mentally disabled mother's past is a mystery. When a strange word in her mother's vocabulary begins to haunt her, Heidi sets out on a cross-country journey in search of the secrets of her past.
Far away from home, pieces of her puzzling history come together. But it isn't until she learns to accept not knowing that Heidi truly arrives.
Far away from home, pieces of her puzzling history come together. But it isn't until she learns to accept not knowing that Heidi truly arrives.
"If the truth was a crayon and it was up to me to put
a wrapper around it and name its color..."
MrsK's Review: Gr. 5-8
Heidi has a life behind closed doors. She rarely leaves the apartment or her mother. The summer before she turns thirteen, she finds out that "not knowing something doesn't mean you're stupid." All Heidi knows is the life she has with her Mama and the neighbor Bernadette (Bernie/Dette). Her Mama has areas that aren't right, areas inside that are mysterious and not working. So Heidi and Bernie take care of Mama and each other. What Heidi does have is the ability to know things, she doesn't know how she knows... she just does. Memory games, guessing how many candies are in a jar, knowing the numbers for the slots... Heide calls her gift "Luck" because she guesses and then it is true.
Before Heidi turned thirteen, she earned money babysitting the twins upstairs. She had only left the apartment a few times. She had one friend, . If she left the apartment, Bernie always reminded her to "Listen to the eyes." Her safety relied on this truth since she didn't know life beyond the apartment. She had to know how to trust strangers.
As most teens know, there comes a time when you desperately need to understand where you came from, who your parent/parents were, what's your connection to the world. Well that day came for Heidi. There was only a few clearly spoken words that her mother could say, so when Heidi asks her mother what her name is... it sounded like she said So B. It.
When an old camera falls to the ground, Heidi discovers a roll of film. From that moment on, she begins a plan of action. She needed to find out who is in the picture with her Mama at the Hilltop Home, in Liberty, NY.
Learning how to live beyond the apartment is a major turning point. She must get to the Hilltop Home, she doesn't know why, she only knows she must go! So many new experiences... so many challenges un-learned... many strangers... it doesn't matter... she must go!
This is a story that shouldn't be missed... give Heidi a chance... walk with her as she ventures beyond the safety of her apartment building,
MrsK
"Believe me, Heidi, there are some things in life a person just can't know."
Meet the Author:
Sarah Weeks has been writing children’s books and songs for the past twenty years. She is a graduate of Hampshire College and NYU and recently became an adjunct faculty member in the prestigious Writing Program at the New School University, in New York City.
Her first YA novel, So B. It, which appeared on the LA Times bestseller list was chosen as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and received the 2004 Parent’s Choice Gold Award. In addition to being an author, Sarah is an accomplished singer/songwriter. She has written for television, stage and screen and a number of her picture books include songs which she both writes and sings for the accompanying CD’s. Sarah's titles have sold well over a million copies, including several foreign editions.
Jennifer Lynn Barnes
ISBN: 9781423168317
Publisher's Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Cassie is a natural at reading people. Piecing together the tiniest details, she can tell you who you are and what you want. But it’s not a skill that she’s ever taken seriously. That is, until the FBI come knocking: they’ve begun a classified program that uses exceptional teenagers to crack infamous cold cases, and they need Cassie.What Cassie doesn’t realize is that there’s more at risk than a few unsolved homicides—especially when she’s sent to live with a group of teens whose gifts are as unusual as her own. Sarcastic, privileged Michael has a knack for reading emotions, which he uses to get inside Cassie’s head—and under her skin. Brooding Dean shares Cassie’s gift for profiling, but keeps her at arm’s length.
Soon, it becomes clear that no one in the Naturals program is what they seem. And when a new killer strikes, danger looms closer than Cassie could ever have imagined. Caught in a lethal game of cat and mouse with a killer, the Naturals are going to have to use all of their gifts just to survive.
"Teenager, presumed troubled..."
MrsK's Review: YA
Cassie might be a troubled teen, with a father living halfway around the world and a mother missing she is content with her part-time job. Until she has an unusual young man seated at one of her tables. Cassie has always known that she had exceptional skills for "profiling" her customers. Her mother taught her the BPE's in discerning people (behaviors, personality, environment). The ability to "know" what people were thinking was natural, the ability to control it was still a work in progress.
As soon as Michael had seated himself at one of her tables, Cassie knew he would not be a regular customer. Why was he watching her? Why would he tell her to guess his lunch request? How would he know her ability to "profile and analyze" people? Why has he left her a calling card for Special Agent Tanner Briggs at the FBI?
You... is an unknown character. Who is waiting for the right girl at the right time. Meanwhile, this sleeping girl will do even though she is not the one you are waiting for. She will awaken... she will scream... she will beg... she has yet to discover that she will be more beautiful when you are done.
Once Cassie decides to contact the FBI's special agent, she will be given a once-in-a-lifetime choice. Nonna will not be supportive, and neither will the rest of her family. Yet, Cassie knows that being with others who have natural skills like herself... the opportunity to work cold cases... and the drive to discover the truth about her mother... is what she must do!
With frightening details... extraordinary plot twists... this is an "all-consuming," page-turning novel,
MrsK
Meet the Author:
Happy Feb-beary Reading!
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