This week, I knew I’d have a hard time committing to reading during the transition back to school. Plus, I had a National Board meeting on Saturday, which rendered me so exhausted I basically spent the entire weekend sleeping.
So I agreed to join the Marvelous Middle Grade Read-A-Thon. Although the challenge ends at midnight, I’m just going to post now, as I imagine I will fall asleep as I attempt to read this evening. Here’s what I accomplished:
I.M. Pei: Architect of Time, Place, and Purpose, by Jill Rubalcaba. This book has been sitting on my kitchen floor for weeks. I avoided it because I thought it’d be overly specific and boring. Nope. I may have a biased opinion, though, because I’ve had a chance to see almost every building featured in this book.
The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle, by Hugh Lofting. As of this writing, I’m not quite done with Dr. DoLittle, but unless the book ends on a huge letdown, I doubt my views of it will change. The pacing of the book is swift, and I’m loving it. I’ve been thinking A LOT about the fact that the library copy I digitally checked out is the “censored” version. I’m perplexed by how much I like an edited edition… the out-of-date language wouldn’t make me NOT want to read the book, but I have found that I’m not as distracted by cringe-worthy language, and I stay more in the story. WAT DO?
The Luck of the Buttons, by Anne Ylvisaker. Betsy Bird said fans of historical fiction would like this book, but at first I violently disagreed with her. What the heck, I groused, all these characters are dopey and have no clue what’s going on around them. Then I settled down and things picked back up. Final thoughts: It’s a good read, but when you ask me about it in five years, I probably won’t be head over heels in love with it.
11 Birthdays, by Wendy Mass. Our class voted for this book as our next read-aloud. It’s PERFECT for our new unit focusing on how characters change throughout a book. I’d read it last year when it was announced as a Battle of the Books title, but it seems a ton funnier this time around.
Huzzah! What fun! Now, I must head offline to finish answering Letters to Ms. Houghton!
Hi there! Wanted to stop and say…CONGRATS! You won:
The Unwanted by Lisa McMann, Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, ARC of Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver
As part of the MG Readathon.
If you email me at justdeb AT debamarshall dot com and give me your snail mail addy I will sent them to you.