It looks like lately the 6th graders have been edging out the 7th graders...stay tuned for the next team standings update on Thursday! Don't forget, select the grade you are *GOING INTO* in the fall, not the one you've completed. 8th graders, where are you?!?! I know you're reading this summer too!!!
Check out this week's challenge (it changes every week!): Read a book that takes place (or is about) where you're vacationing this summer. Should make for some interesting reads!
Summer is a good time to catch up on to-read lists and re-read old favorites, but also a time when lots of great new books come out! Here are some of my most-anticipated books this summer (all descriptions come from the publisher- with commentary from me!)
Flying by Carrie Jones (July 2016)
"People have always treated seventeen-year-old Mana as someone in need of protection. She's used to being coddled, being an only child, but it's hard to imagine anything could ever happen in her small-town, normal life. As her mother's babying gets more stifling than ever, she's looking forward to cheering at the big game and getting out of the house for a while. But that night, Mana's life goes haywire. It turns out, Mana's frumpy, timid mom is actually an alien hunter, and now she's missing. Now, on her own for the first time, Mana will have to find a way to save her mother--and maybe the world--and hope she's up to the challenge."Cheerleaders vs. aliens? Count me in!!!
Towers Falling by Jewel Parker Rhodes (July 2016)"When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?"
I loved Ninth Ward by Jewel Parker Rhodes, and I can't wait to read this one! She writes so well about tragedy and family.
Dara Palmer's Major Drama by Emma Shevah (July 2016)"Dara is a born actress, or so she thinks - but when she doesn't get any part in the school play, she begins to think it's because she doesn't look like the other girls in her class. She was adopted as a baby from Cambodia. So irrepressible Dara comes up with a plan, and is determined to change not just the school, but the whole world too."
Realistic fiction is one of my favorite genres- this sounds like it will have an interesting and original plot, and I can't wait to see what happens in the end!
Not as We Know It by Tom Avery (August 2016)"Twins Jamie and Ned do everything together, from watching their favorite show, "Star Trek," to riding their bikes, to beachcombing after a storm. But Ned is sick with cystic fibrosis, and he may someday leave Jamie behind. One day the boys find a strange animal on the beach: smooth flesh on one end, scales at the other, and short arms and legs with long webbed fingers and toes. Could it be a merman, like in the old stories Granddad tells?"
This book sounds very sad and very creepy...two excellent qualities in a summer read!
Full of Beans by Jennifer Holm (August 2016)"Ten-year-old Beans Curry, a member of the Keepsies, the best marble playing gang in Depression-era Key West, Florida, engages in various schemes to earn money while "New Dealers" from Washington, D.C., arrive to turn run down Key West into a tourist resort."
Jennifer Holms is super-author of graphic novels such as the Babymouse series and Sunny Side Up, plus current MCBA nominee The Fourteenth Goldfish, and many many more!!!
Ghost by Jason Reynolds (August 2016)"Ghost. Lu. Patina. Sunny. Four kids from wildly different backgrounds with personalities that are explosive when they clash. But they are also four kids chosen for an elite middle school track team a team that could qualify them for the Junior Olympics if they can get their acts together. They all have a lot to lose, but they also have a lot to prove, not only to each other, but to themselves."
Sports stories are usually fast-paced and action packed, and Jason Reynolds is a fantastic author! This will be a win all around.What books are you looking forward to reading when they come out?
-Clara
O'Neill Branch
