New Chapter Books

Greetings!
Let’s take a look at some new chapter books.

Andrea Cheng has written three wonderful books about Anna Wang who is Chinese and has struggles and adventures just like everyone else. Topics include adoption, school, friendship, and just life in middle school. Her books are a bit smaller size, slightly larger than 5 x 7 and have just under 150 pages. These are great chapter books for students in the middle grades, not too long, but not too childish either. I like the multicultural aspect. Each book contains a Chinese pronunciation guide for the words used in the book. The three books can be read independently of each other – they aren’t sequels, really. If you want to read them in order, then start with The Year of the Book, then go to The Year of the Baby, and end with The Year of the Fortune Cookie. Then you wait until April 7, 2015 when The Year of the Three Sisters will be released. I’ve read them all and am looking forward to that one.

I’m not sure if this book goes in the biography section or the story section. Taking Flight by Michaela DePrince with Elaine DePrince is the true story of a very young girl born in Sierra Leone and orphaned at a very young age. She decided after seeing a page from a ballet magazine that she wanted to be a ballerina. When she was adopted by the DePrince family along with another little orphan girl, both were given ballet lessons, but Michaela had the talent and the gift and the drive to go far. She starred in the documentary “First Position” about a ballet competition for young people. Now she is a member of the Dutch national Ballet in Amsterdam. I’ve decided. I’m putting it in the biography section and promoting it in class.

All Four Stars by Tara Dairman grabbed my attention when I read that an eleven-year-old girl cooks gourmet food and hates the fast food her parents bring home every day. When Gladys uses her father’s blowtorch in an attempt to delicately brown the top of a crème brulee, she sets the kitchen curtains on fire and is banned from the kitchen and anything food related. Through a series of events, Gladys receives an email asking her to be a food critic for the newspaper. The book is funny, clever, and at times I had to suspend my disbelief, but kids will enjoy it. It is also brand new and I didn’t notice any language issues in it. Win, win.

Another new book is by Ann M. Martin of the Babysitter Club fame. This one is titled Rain, Reign. What I found interesting was the fact that the main (mane) character, Rose (rows) is obsessed with homonyms and also has a diagnosis of high-functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome. The story is told from Rose’s perspective and helps children better understand this condition. Rose doesn’t have many friends except her dog Rain (reign). Throughout the book nearly every homonym listed has the others in parentheses like I have done (dun) here (hear). IMPORTANT NOTE: I must tell you that Rose’s father isn’t very supportive and yells at her for acting the way she does. He goes to the nearby bar most evenings after work, and this behavior is continued through the book. In one place he tries to beat the dog, but is unsuccessful. There is one or two instances of language when Rose’s father uses the word “Frickin’. However, Rose’s uncle is very kind to her and runs interference between her and her dad. I enjoyed the book, but I realize that many of you may not choose to get this one.

Take a time in history and put a young person in there trying to survive the situation and you have a story. Or rather, Lauren Tarshis has a story. Lauren Tarshis write the series that begins ‘I Survived. . .’ This series put out by Scholastic is very popular at our school. Each book contains about 100 pages and is written on a 4th grade reading level. The books so far include the Titanic, Shark attacks of 1916, Hurricane Katrina, Pearl Harbor, San Francisco earthquake, 1906, September 11 attacks, Gettysburg, Japanese Tsunami 2011, Nazi invasion, and Pompeii. Lauren also has written another disaster book titled “I Survived True Stories-Five Epic Disasters which include The Children’s Blizzard in 1888, Great Boston Molasses Flood in 1919, and the Henryville tornado in 2012 plus the Titanic, and the Japanese tsunami in 2011. Readers can also take a quiz on the scholastic website to test their own survival skills.

I hope you enjoy some of these books. If you find some titles that you want to share, please let me know and I will compile them in one email.

Have a great week.

Audrey