What Ms. Moore is Reading: Vacation Weeks 7 & 8

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and recommend for my students. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

It's the first day of school for Penelope Rex, and she can't wait to meet her classmates. But it's hard to make human friends when they're so darn delicious! That is, until Penelope gets a taste of her own medicine and finds she may not be at the top of the food chain after all. . . .

“There’s something very important that I need you to remember. When I say Ooh, you say Aah. Let’s try it.”

In this interactive picture book, young readers help to tell the story by responding to simple verbal or visual cues. This hilarious book is perfect for reading aloud and is fun for the whole family.

An unnamed protagonist who feels different from everybody else, and like she doesn’t quite fit in is bullied by a girl at school.

A box of blocks. A budding builder. Should she build a doghouse? A bridge? A skyscraper? Yes, all of these and more! Bigger, bigger! BIGGEST! But then . . . Boom! Boom! What's that? Uh-oh . . . After one little girl's architectural masterpieces grow exponentially, the arrival of an assistant presents a bit of a challenge in this ode to creativity masterfully constructed by Leslie Patricelli.

Middle Grade Novels

Third-grader Max is heading off on a road trip with Mom. With miles to travel, cousins to meet, and a tall roller coaster to ride (maybe), it will be an adventure! But Max always spends weekends with Dad; will Dad be okay if he’s left behind? 

Alice is angry at having to move to Rainbow, Georgia--a too small, too hot, dried-up place she's sure will never feel like home. Then she gets put in charge of walking her elderly neighbor's dog. But Clarence won't budge without Miss Millie, so Alice and Miss Millie walk him together.

Strolling with Clarence and Miss Millie quickly becomes the highlight of Alice's day and opens her eyes to all sorts of new things to marvel over. During their walks, they meet a mix of people, and Alice sees that although there are some bullies and phonies, there are plenty of kind folks, too. Miss Millie shares her family's story with Alice, showing her the painful impact segregation has had on their town. And with Miss Millie, Alice is finally able to express her own heartache over why her family had to move there in the first place.

What Ms. Moore is Reading - Vacation Weeks 5 & 6

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and recommend for my students. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

A story about how hard it is being the new kid. How really hard it is being different. And how especially hard it is being a giraffe in a school of human children.

Nowadays it's no big deal for a girl to travel seventy-five miles. But when Charlotte May Pierstorff wanted to cross seventy-five miles of Idaho mountains to see her grandma in 1914, it was a very big deal indeed. There was no highway except the railroad, and a train ticket would have cost her parents a full day's pay.

Here is the true story of how May got to visit her grandma, thanks to her own spunk, her father's ingenuity, and the U.S. mail. 

Middle Grade Novels

Alix and her sister, Jools, have never seen the ocean. When their parents pack them up for a week at the shore, Alix is nervous about leaving home, but excited, too. At the beach, the girls make friends, go exploring, and have adventures both big and small. They pick periwinkles, spot crabs, and discover that the beach is full of endless possibilities. As the week comes to an end, Alix is surprised to find she doesn’t want to leave!

It is the autumn of 1846 in Ireland. Lorraine and her brother are waiting for the time to pick the potato crop on their family farm leased from an English landowner. But this year is different—the spuds are mushy and ruined... just like last year. What will Lorraine and her family do?

Then Lorraine meets Miss Susanna, the daughter of the wealthy English landowner who owns Lorraine’s family’s farm, and the girls form an unlikely friendship that they must keep a secret from everyone. Two different cultures come together in a deserted Irish meadow. And Lorraine has one question: how can she help her family survive?

Lucy Callahan was struck by lightning. The zap gave her genius-level math skills, and ever since, Lucy has been homeschooled. Now, at 12 years old, she's technically ready for college. She just has to pass 1 more test — middle school!

Lucy's grandma insists: Go to middle school for 1 year. Make 1 friend. Join 1 activity. And read 1 book (that's not a math textbook!). Lucy's not sure what a girl who does calculus homework for fun can possibly learn in 7th grade. She has everything she needs at home, where nobody can make fun of her rigid routines or her superpowered brain. The equation of Lucy's life has already been solved. Unless there's been a miscalculation?

Nonfiction

Finally, a FUN book to read with kids that helps bridge the gap between what's being taught in school and how today's parents learned math back in the day. Giggle your way through entertaining lessons on addition and subtraction involving muffins, turkey sandwiches, kittens, googly eyes, and more!

Actress, math whiz, and New York Times bestselling author Danica McKellar uses her proven math techniques to give children the solid grasp of addition and subtraction that will be key to their success and unlock their potential in the classroom and beyond!

New eBooks Available!

I finally went through the last several months' additions to BookLynx, the eBook consortium we have access to via our RICAT membership. You can now access the following titles through Destiny Discover:


RICBA Nominees

• The Loser's Club
• Surrender the Key
• Sidetracked
• A Boy Called Bat
• Walking with Miss Millie
• The Trail
• I'm Just No Good at Rhyming
• Her Right Foot
• The Youngest Marcher
• The Wizard's Dog

RIMSBA Nominees

• Fuzzy
• The Evil Wizard Smallbone
• Scar Island
• Restart
• Refugee

Series Starters

• Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case
• Artemis Fowl
• The Tail of Emily Windsnap
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
• Greenglass House (as well as Ghosts of Greenglass)

Books Students Love

• 11 Birthdays
• Magic Tree House - 14 titles! search under Osborne ... as well as nonfiction: Magic Tricks from the Tree House
• Mary Downing Hahn: All the Lovely Bad Ones; The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall; Deep and Dark and Dangerous
• Cloudy with a Chance of Boys
• I Survived: The American Revolution
• Hatchet
• The Wild Robot
• Absolutely Almost
• Crenshaw
• The Gathering

Books Ms. Moore Recommends

• Liar & Spy
• The War I Finally Won
• Mockingbird
• Al Capone Does My Shirts
• Hound Dog True
• Elijah of Buxton
• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
• Refugee
• Me & Marvin Gardens
• See You in the Cosmos
• Greetings from Witness Protection
• When You Reach Me
• Amina's Voice
• Bob

Books Getting Newbery Buzz / Awards

• The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle
• The Parker Inheritance
• Bob
• The Night Diary
• Wolf Hollow
• Bud, Not Buddy
• Beyond the Bright Sea

Geisel Winners

• King & Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats
• Snail & Worm Again
• Charlie & Mouse

KRARI

• The First Rule of Punk

Etc.

• Peace, Locomotion
• Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics
• Our Food
• Bobby the Brave (Sometimes)
• This is How We Do It

Free eBooks via Destiny Discover

Kids in grades 3 and up are very familiar with RICAT, our online catalog. The platform that supports it is called Destiny, and you can access eBooks in the catalog by downloading the Destiny Discover app.

I need to go through the last couple months' new offerings and add them to the Garden City catalog, but go ahead and see what's there now by following these instructions:

Username: CGN12345 (12345 = lunch number)

Password: MMDDYY (DOB, like 082974)

Two books I added in the spring and highly recommend are:

What Ms Moore is Reading: Vacation Weeks 3 & 4

Here are some of the most recent books I've read and recommend for my students. They're all available from the public library, but any donations towards getting them into our collection are most welcome! Cover images and descriptions are from Goodreads. 

Picture Books

While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he’s seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a periwinkle curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes — and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself?

“It is a very nice day,” said Vernon.
Porcupine agreed. “I do not remember a day as nice as this.”
“Except for maybe yesterday,” offered Skunk.

Vernon, Skunk, and Porcupine are back! 

If you ask her, Alma Sofia Esperanza José Pura Candela has way too many names: six! How did such a small person wind up with such a large name? Alma turns to Daddy for an answer and learns of Sofia, the grandmother who loved books and flowers; Esperanza, the great-grandmother who longed to travel; José, the grandfather who was an artist; and other namesakes, too. As she hears the story of her name, Alma starts to think it might be a perfect fit after all — and realizes 

"Hey, you! Sky's blue!" a girl shouts as she runs by the window of a boy bent over his digital device. Intrigued, the boy runs out after her, leaving his shoes (and phone) behind, and into a world of sunshine, dewey grass, and warm sand. Filled with the pleasures of being alive in the natural world, Run Wild is an exquisite and kid-friendly reminder of how wonderful life can be beyond doors and screens. 

“Vini! Come! The field calls!” cries a girl as she and her younger brother rouse their community—family, friends, and the local fruit vendor—for a pickup soccer (futbol) game. Boys and girls, young and old, players and spectators come running—bearing balls, shoes, goals, and a love of the sport.
 
“Friends versus friends” teams are formed, the field is cleared of cows, and the game begins! But will a tropical rainstorm threaten their plans?

Middle Grade Novels

Front Desk tells the story of 10-year-old Mia Tang. Every day, Mia manages the front desk of the Calivista Motel while her parents clean the rooms. She’s proud of her job. She loves the guests and treats them like family. When one of the guests gets into trouble with the police, it shakes Mia to her core. Her parents, meanwhile, hide immigrants in the empty rooms at night. If the mean motel owner Mr. Yao finds out, they’ll be doomed!

Nonfiction

On June 6, 1930, engineer Otis Barton and explorer Will Beebe dove into the ocean inside a hollow metal ball of their own invention called the Bathysphere. They knew dozens of things might go wrong. A tiny leak could shoot pressurized water straight through the men like bullets! A single spark could cause their oxygen tanks to explode! No one had ever dived lower than a few hundred feet...and come back. But Otis and Will were determined to become the first people to see what the deep ocean looks like.

Through illustrations, infographics, facts, and figures, readers will see how big each animal is compared to humans, where it lives on the globe, and just how quickly it can move!