It's Getting Heavier

I finished two more titles over the weekend that might see awards in January. Neither made the Heavy Medial shortlist, but one of them came up over and over in the comments and the other was mentioned on the blow and I wanted to have a look at it due to its representation of diverse characters. I will say that both made me cry a few tears and gave me some things to think about.

Apple, an American middle schooler who was born in the Philippines, wants a guitar more than anything else. Her mom says no way and is not willing to budge. The chapter titles all refer to songs which creates a playlist for the book. Apple also tracks "IFs" (interesting facts) about the people around her--she believes each person has three IFs. I love the idea of having students come up with their IFs while reading the book. The trials Apple faces in middle school make Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly a story we can all relate to.

Ada was born with a club foot and has spent her entire life looking out the window of her London flat. When the war threatens, she and her brother Jamie are evacuated to the English countryside where they learn about all the things they have been missing. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War that Saved My Life was a different perspective on World War II than I had read before--and one that made me cry both sad and happy tears.










I have a few more titles from the shortlist to read--most of which I am waiting for from a recent order. Over the long weekend, I'm planning to squeeze in a few of the titles mentioned on the Printz spectulative blog, Someday My Printz Will Come as well, including:

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (recent winner of the National Book Award)
Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
Lumberjanes Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson
Zeros by Scott Westerfeld
Untwine by Edwidge Danticat

Just when I think I've read quite a bit for the year, shortlists are presented . . . and I realize how little of the surface I have scratched! What books do you think might end up with medals in January?

More Medal

As I mentioned before, I have been following Heavy Medal's Newbery shortlist and trying to read the titles they selected before the award announcement. The comments on their post have also provided some great suggestions for books that might nab an award come January. I finished two titles this week. I enjoyed both in different ways and would love to see either one honored by the committee.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan is five gorgeous stories woven into one: the mythical tale of three orphaned sisters, stories of three children as various points through World War II, and the story of a harmonica that connects them all. At nearly 600 pages, this story drew me and I marked several places where I wanted to read the beautiful words over and over again.

I'm an avid fan of roller derby and anticipated this book from the first review I read. Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson is the story of Astrid as she joins a junior roller derby team. The storyline includes the tough parts of a transition from elementary school to junior high, as well as lessons about friendships. It's cool that Jamieson herself is a roller girl which makes this story more authentic.











Next up are Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly and The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Both of these escaped the official shortlist, but have been mentioned in the comments or earlier in the blog year. I'm also looking forward to My Seneca Village by Marilyn Nelson which just arrived at our main office after being ordered through on-demand printing. I shared this Curriculum Connection from School Library Journal with the assistants at our other middle schools and I'm hoping teachers will be as excited about this title as we are.

Heavy Medal

Award season is coming and, with it, a host of mock award blogs are guessing what books might earn medals for the 2015 year. I tend to follow both Heavy Medal and Someday My Printz Will Come because books discussed on both blogs are likely to be popular with my students. Heavy Medal recently posted a shortlist of guesses as to which books might be in the running for the Newbery this year. I'm trying to read all of them before the awards are announced. I finished two this weekend (both by authors who have been touched by Newbery magic in the past):

Written in diary format, The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz follows Joan as she runs away from her father's farm in order to better herself in the city. I giggled and cringed at the same time as a young Catholic girl works to fit into--and learn from--her Jewish employer's family. Joan is optimistic and funny--I loved her voice throughout the story.

Told in second person, Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead is the story of Bridge, Em, and Tab, three longtime friends going through the trials of middle school. My eighth grade daughter picked this up when I brought it home and finished in less than 24 hours. When I asked her what she thought, she just sighed and said, "So great." We all have a little bit of each of these girls in us and this book reminded me of what it is like to be in seventh grade.

I started Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan this morning and am hoping to also read Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson this week. What books have you read in 2015 that might be in the running for an award?

Focus on Bulletin Boards

The bulletin boards in our main hallway represent a lot of real estate. One of my small goals this year is to keep them updated. I spent some time on Pinterest in order to get some ideas (I barely made it out alive from that rabbit hole!) In the end, I decided to start the year with a few things that I have seen posted around the Internet.

Our teachers do some work on Mindset with our students, so I thought a bulletin board in the main hallway highlighting what this concept looks like would be a good way to start the year. I found several versions on Pinterest and, ultimately, settled on this one because I could print PDF files from this blog which made the creation of it so much easier. There are a lot of great ideas on teacher blogs and Pinterest pages--I'm grateful that others are willing to share their work.

I am also concerned about how our students are using technology. I want them to take advantage of their devices for good instead of evil, so I created a version of the popular "Before You . . . Think" bulletin board using social media icons. However, I also added several options of great ways to utilize devices as well. My suggestions include signing up for their teachers' Remind notices, following our PTSO on Facebook, and using the online resources (e books and audiobooks) from the school library. I added QR codes to the posters to make it simple to find the resources. The icons, images, and fonts for this one came straight from the sites themselves and it was pretty simple to create. 

My other displays are located right outside the library doors. I use one to keep students and staff updated about community activities that might be of interest (it was author visits earlier in the year and will be updated to reflect the Social Justice Book Bowl this month). The other display is currently a "Read Box," the librarian's take on Red Box. I was able to use a font and poster created by another librarian/blogger. I then added several book jackets. I will continue to rotate and update the book covers throughout the year. 

I will be changing the larger bulletin boards soon and am always looking for new ideas. What sorts of displays and/or bulletin boards have you created to focus on learning and keep your school attractive?