Bookworm Buzz

Dear Reader,

I have so many exciting books to tell you about. I have been reading some historical fiction, one of my favorite genres! Gisela, Daughter of Charlemagne and Mary, Daughter of Henry the VII are part of the Medieval Maidens series. They are fictionalized stories about young girls from the middle ages and are just right for fourth graders. Also, I just finished Moon Over Manifest, by Clare VanderPool. This book won the Newberry Award this year. I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! It had some mystery, history and a great plot. The main Character, Abilene, is still with me. You can always tell a great story by whether or not the characters stay with you over time, and I KNOW that Abilene will be with me for a while. Mrs. Merten is also reading this book and LOVING it too! It may be a little challenging for fall fourth graders, but will be just right in the spring. Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life (clicking th link will enable you to read the first 20 chapters for free!)by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, took a while for me to appreciate. James Patterson is one of my favorite authors so I decided to stick with the story instead of just abandoning it. I kept asking myself questions about the main character's behavior. In fact, I didn't like the book very much at all, but then there was a HUGE twist at the end and I was reminded why I love James Patterson so much. I would definitely recommend this book to boys, especially boys who are reluctant readers (clicking this link will take you to an article about reluctant readers. Please feel free to email me with any questions you have about motivating your child to read.) Just remember to hang in there and DON'T abandon this book, you will be very happy with the ending. As far as picture books go, have you read the new Skippyjon Jones? Skippyjon Jones Class Action, by Judy Schachner is an instant classic in the Skippyjon series. All of the favorite characters are in this story, including the Chimichango Gang, and I laughed and laughed. Make sure you get your hands on this new book. It even comes with a bonus CD, read by the author herself.

This past weekend I was on the Jersey Shore and read Live Wire by Harlan Coben. This is a book for parents. Harlan Coben is from New Jersey, so I thought it would be fun to read a book by a local author. It was wonderful. Also, I saw PaulyD, JWoww and The Situation, when I was on the boardwalk at Seaside Heights. Liv was pretty excited!

My next book for young readers is True ...Sort of, by Katherine Hannigan. She is the author of Ida B. I can't wait! This will be my book for my trip to Accadia National Park this weekend. What have you been reading? Let me know.

Read on Readers,Love, Mrs. W