Fantastic Beasts - Student

Unwanteds - Student

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Student

Flunked

Kids, students, and life-long readers,


This book talk reveals another play off of familiar fairy tales and Disney movies that we have come to love.  You find classic characters like the Big Bad Wolf, the Evil Queen, and Cinderella's Wicked Stepmother, but these villains are now teachers at FTRS - Fairy Tale Reform School.  They have turned from their evil ways and now look to help the rebellious youth find the straight and narrow.

And that is where we meet our main character, Gilly.  Gilly lives a life of pickpocketing from the Royals after her father's show business begins to falter.  She is eventually caught and sent to FTRS.  It doesn't take long for her to realize that something at this school is amiss.  She builds relationships with some other characters - her roommate that never seems to be around, Jax, who is always trying to escape and cares for no one but himself, and Jocelyn, who is out to make everyone's life miserable.
Gilly learns that not everyone is who they appear, and there is an evil growing but are the students involved, are the teachers plotting, will the Royals be able to help, or are they too late.

"There's a battle brewing, and Gilly has to wonder just how good these bad guys are."

Nathan Hales - Hazardous Tales

Kids, Students, and Life-Long Readers,

I have found my new favorite series for learning about history - Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales.  My new task is to collect every copy for my personal library - here I come Amazon.

As I am sure you all know, Nathan Hale was an American spy during the Revolutionary War.  He is known for giving his life for our country and spoke the famous words, "I only regret that I have one life to give for my country."  The premise of each book is Hale is about to be executed by a British soldier and the hangman, but first, they want to hear a story.  This is where Nathan will tell them about a section of history.  I have read the Underground Railroad and World War 1.  Both have been outstanding!

The first reason I love this series is that fact that it is a graphic novel. Loving and understanding history starts with making it visual.  Kids will be drawn to the cartoon, and the comic book feels.  It won't seem like they are reading a history book.  The layout continues to change throughout the book, so it doesn't feel static or lack-luster.  The second reason is the attention to interesting details.  This will not give you a brief overview of the historical context.  Hazardous Tales will answer those questions that you were wondering, and provide the juicy or gross details that we all love.  The final reason is the humor aspect.  The back and forth between are three characters provide a bit of humor to break up the influx of historical context.  I often find myself laughing out loud as I am reading - which may seem odd to be laughing when I am reading about World War 1.

I encourage all readers to give one of these a try - you will not be disappointed, and you can learn a bit of history.

AUTHOR: ???

GENRE:  Nonfiction - Graphic Novel

GRADE LEVEL: 5-8

Teens at War (Student Book Talk)

Kids, students, and lifelong readers,

Sometimes we have sacrifices that we have to make for our country, friends, and family. This book explains about ten true stories about teenagers that sacrificed many things. 15-year-old Julian saves hundreds of people at Lee’s Mill while, 12-year-old Calvin lies about his age so he can get into war during World War ll. I would say that this book can get very sad but then there are those moments that you feel happy because you think about all the people that fought for our country. In this book, you really get that feeling. This book makes you want to read more nonfiction books. All the stories make your heart pound and pound and if you like this feeling this is the right book for you.

Lawn Boy (Student Book Talk)

What do you think is the highest paying job in the world? Perhaps, Professional NFL players, or the President. Maybe you will grow up one day making a lot of money for your job.

The main character (we couldn’t find his name) suddenly gets a chance at making money one morning. In only one day, he had made sixty dollars. It was only a matter of time before he had his own stockbroker, Arnold, who invests in money, and hired employees. And was even sponsoring a prizefighter…

But the main character doesn’t always constantly have good days. There are opponents that try to take over his business…

I really liked this book. I would usually not read these kinds of books, but this one really piqued my interest. The story wasn’t always happy, and there were challenges along the way. I can’t wait to read the sequel to the book, The Lawn Boy Returns!

Author: Gary Paulsen

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade Level: 5-6