It's Monday! What are you reading? :: October 27, 2014

It's Monday! What are you reading? is hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers have adapted it to focus on Picture Books to Young Adult Books.

Just finished: 

I finished this over the weekend. The good thing about borrowing books from the library is that it forces me to finish a book by a deadline. I have to admit that I'm also a little bit obsessed with the beautiful cover design of this book... well, I'm kind of obsessed with all of the covers over at Chronicle Books. ;)

The Meaning of Maggie

I've been on a graphic novel kick lately too. I think, similar to the kid lit, it's short, quick, and easy to read. Plus, it's always nice to get lost in a book full of colorful, pretty pictures... even as an adult. 

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas

This week, I'm currently reading:

I finally also started this book that I received from Litfuse. I will have my review up before the end of the week. This should definitely be filed under, "girls in pretty dresses," which should be it's own genre at this point, because seriously, don't you just LOVE the cover?!

The Daughter of Highland Hall

Didn't get to read this at all last week, but I'm hoping to at least read one chapter this week. 

The Art of Teaching Writing

What are you reading this week? 

MMGM: Babymouse #1 Queen of the World by Jennifer Holm

Title: Babymouse Queen of the World! (Babymouse #1)
Authors: Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm
Publisher: Random House Children's Books (Dec. 2005)

Source: Bought from Scholastic Book Clubs

Summary from Goodreads:
It’s the same thing every day for Babymouse. Where is the glamour? The excitement? The adventure? Nothing ever changes, until . . . Babymouse hears about Felicia Furrypaws’s exclusive slumber party. Will Babymouse get invited? Will her best friend, Wilson, forgive her if she misses their monster movie marathon? Find out in Babymouse: Queen of the World, a graphic novel with attitude!

Review:
Like I mentioned in a previous post, I'm adding more graphic novels to my classroom library so I thought I'd do some reading to check out what all the fuss is about regarding Babymouse. After reading it, it looks like I've been missing out!

What a cute graphic novel! I love all the pink and it really fits Babymouse because she's a girly girl all the way through. The graphics are eye-catching and easy to read, even though it doesn't have a lot of words on each page. Babymouse is a fun character because of her wild imagination. This first book follows Babymouse on the quest to get invited to a popular girl's sleepover. She will do ANYTHING to go!

My only complaint is that it might be confusing for some readers to keep up with what's reality in the story and what's going on in her head as a daydream or what she's imagining. She goes in and out of her imagination so frequently that I could see a reader losing track of what's going on in the story. Also, it's target audience is definitely young, preteen girls. I'm not sure I know many boys who'd pick up a pink book about a mouse and read it in front of his friends. More power to the ones who would though!

Looking forward to adding this series to my library!

Rating:

4 out of 5 stars

About the Author: Jennifer L. Holm

Jennifer L. Holm is a NEW YORK TIMES bestselling children's author and the recipient of three Newbery Honors for her novels OUR ONLY MAY AMELIA, PENNY FROM HEAVEN, and TURTLE IN PARADISE. Jennifer collaborates with her brother, Matthew Holm, on two graphic novel series -- the popular Babymouse series and the bestselling Squish series. She is also the author of several other highly praised books, including the Boston Jane trilogy and MIDDLE SCHOOL IS WORSE THAN MEATLOAF. She lives in California with her husband and two children.

Author's website: http://www.jenniferholm.com/

If you would like to find out more about Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday, you can check out Shannon Messenger's blog here.

MMGM: Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J Krosoczka

Title: Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute (Lunch Lady #1)
Author/Illustrator: Jarrett J. Krosoczka
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (July 2009)

Source: Bought from bookstore

Summary from Goodreads:
Serving justice . . . and lunch!

Hector, Terrence, and Dee have always wondered about their school lunch lady. What does she do when she isn’t dishing out the daily special? Where does she live? Does she have a lot of cats at home? Little do they know, Lunch Lady doesn’t just serve sloppy joes—she serves justice! Whatever danger lies ahead, it’s no match for LUNCH LADY!

Review:
I've been wanting to read the Lunch Lady series for awhile now. Just love the idea of a lunch lady with superhero-like powers. Unfortunately, lunch ladies are positioned so low on the totem pole of a school family in a child's eyes because they are usually the person they blame for the "awful" cafeteria meals. The great thing about this series is that the lunch lady is far from a normal, boring person... she's a bad ass!

I love the graphics in this book. It uses minimal colors, but that doesn't mean it's not full of details. It's drawn very well and is easy to read. Some graphic novels are hard to follow and are not as intuitive as others. Lunch Lady is a quick and fun read.

The best thing about the lunch lady character, in my opinion, are her gadgets. Every super hero needs a sidekick who invents super cool gadgets, right? My favorite is her spatula which turns into a mini-helicopter. So cool! Her milk-cam, spork phone and fish stick nunchucks are just a few of her other tools. A lunch lady who fights bad guys?! What more do you need?

I highly recommend Lunch Lady to anyone looking for a good graphic novel for MG readers. Highly entertaining and full of action, even for adults! 

Rating:

5 out of 5 stars

About the Author: Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Jarrett J. Krosoczka has been passionate about storytelling through words and pictures since he was a kid.  He began his professional career by illustrating educational readers for a national publisher while still an undergraduate at Rhode Island School of Design. Then, just six months after graduation, Jarrett received his first contract for a trade book that he authored. Knopf Books for Young Readers published Good Night, Monkey Boy on June 12, 2001 and Jarrett hasn’t stopped or slowed down since. He currently has  authored and illustrated eighteen published books—ten picture books and eight graphic novels. His Lunch Lady series has twice won a Children's Choice Book Award, in the Third to Fourth Grade Book of the Year category, and was nominated for a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award. In the summer of 2013, Jarrett will have his chapter book debut with the publication of Platypus Police Squad: The Frog Who Croaked. His Punk Farm and Lunch Lady series are both currently in development as feature films. While Jarrett awaits seeing his work adapted for the silver screen, he can be heard on The Book Report with JJK, his new radio segment on Sirius XM's Kids Place Live. Jarrett is happily living out his childhood dream in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he resides with his wife and daughters and their pug, Ralph Macchio.

Author's website: http://www.studiojjk.com/index.html

If you would like to find out more about Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday, you can check out Shannon Messenger's blog here.

MMGM: Drama by Raina Telgemeier

Title: Drama
Author: Raina Telgemeier
Publisher: Scholastic GRAPHIX (September 1, 2012)

Source: Received from publisher via NetGalley

Summary from Goodreads:
Raina Telgemeier, the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of the Eisner Award winner, SMILE, brings us her next full-color graphic novel . . . DRAMA!

Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon Over Mississippi, she's a terrible singer. Instead she's the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen, and when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier! Following the success of SMILE, Raina Telgemeier brings us another graphic novel featuring a diverse set of characters that humorously explores friendship, crushes, and all-around drama!

Review:
I simply adore Raina Telgemeier's work. It's one-of-a-kind and just draws you in even before the first page, the cover is gorgeous! I was first introduced to Telgemeier's work with the graphic novels she did for The Babysitters Club. I LOVED them. (Read my review: here) I didn't think anyone could do BSC justice as a graphic novel without making the characters too modern-looking (aka "hoochified" like how many of my other childhood characters have suffered from in their remakes - ex: Strawberry Shortcake). However, Telgemeier stayed true to the essence of each character and I just devoured all four books, as if I were 10 years old again. Therefore, I was SUPER excited to read Drama!

The artwork is beautiful and I was found myself savoring each page in order to absorb all the little details in each of the boxes. I even loved the colors! The characters are fun and loveable. I enjoyed that the main character, Callie, is not necessarily the lead of the play (like Rachel on GLEE), but a part of the stage crew. She's a creative young lady who uses her set designing talents to help out behind the scenes.

It definitely fits a middle grade/young-adult reader with all the DRAMA that goes on throughout the plot, including a love triangle (kind of a square, actually) and boy-girl relationships/friendships. I was surprised to see such a prominent theme of exploring sexuality. I tend to run on the conservative side and wasn't expecting that in a book for middle-graders, so in that sense it's a little more YA than MG. For the younger MG readers, I think I'd recommend parents to read it first before putting in the hands of 3rd or 4th graders in order to be prepared for possible discussions or questions about sexual orientation.

This book is perfect for the fans of GLEE since it both centers around performing arts.

Overall, I think it's a great piece of work from Telgemeier and will be a great graphic novel addition to a library!

Rating:

4 out of 5 stars

And now, the book trailer!


About the Author: Raina Telgemeier

Raina Telgemeier grew up in San Francisco, but made her way to New York City when she was 22 to attend the School of Visual Arts as an Illustration and Cartooning student. She received her BFA in 2002, and has worked as a freelance artist ever since. She is the adapter and illustrator of four Baby-sitters Club graphic novels, the co-author of X-Men: Misfits, and the author-illustrator of the bestselling dental memoir graphic novel Smile, which recently won the Eisner Award for Best Publication for a Teen Audience. Smile was also an ALA Notable Book, a Kirkus Best Book of 2010, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards Honor title.
Raina lives in Queens, NY, with her cartoonist husband, Dave Roman.

Author's website: http://www.goraina.com

If you would like to find out more about Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday, you can check out Shannon Messenger's blog here.