Maria's Mélange

Wow - October already, huh? I guess that's why I'm starting to need sweatshirts in the morning. I've started tweaking my shelves on Goodreads to better organize the information, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with that as well. This week I split my "Science fiction - Fantasy" group into two separate groups. I still have a few double labeled, but most of them are now in one category or the other. Come friend me at GR if you haven't already! As always, big thanks to Jen and Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week. Visit them today! Newbery / Nerdbery Challenge Congrats are in order - as I've hit the 50 book mark! I decided to choose a book I know I love to mark the occasion. Mixed Up Files has always been a book that makes my heart smile. I identify with both Claudia and Jamie. Though I doubt I would have ever had the guts to take this kind of adventure, it's exactly the kind I would have considered as a child. I mean...

Welcome back to Batty About Books! Today is the first of three parts where Kathy (aka @thebrainlair ) and I discuss Seraphina. As always, there are some mild spoilers. My thoughts with Kathy's responses are here, and Kathy's thoughts with my responses are on her blog - The Brain Lair .  Wow. This first section really is everything I love about books. I fear that I may spend more time gushing praise than taking a critical look, but I do feel like this book deserves some serious praise.  Check out the GoodReads Summary . Please - please - do yourself a favor and read this book! . (It’s a fast read, because you’ll get totally hooked). Then come back and chat with us about it! I’ll try to keep the spoilers as mild as possible as I discuss this book with my buddy, in case you want to read our thoughts before checking out the book. First - the premise. Honestly, there have been very few books that include dragons that haven’t won my heart. (Yes, there have been some that I...

Welcome back to Sci Friday! This week's focus is a middle grade appropriate science fiction tale with a "Matrix" feel, where everything goes dreadfully wrong. Human.4 by Mike Lancaster   (click to visit the book's site at Goodreads)                                                  Goodreads Summary:   Kyle Straker volunteered to be hypnotized at the annual community talent show, expecting the same old lame amateur acts. But when he wakes up, his world will never be the same. Televisions and computers no longer work, but a strange language streams across their screens. Everyone’s behaving oddly. It’s as if Kyle doesn’t exit. Is this nightmare a result of the hypnosis? Will Kyle wake up with a snap of fingers to roars of laughter? Or is this something much more sinister? Narrated on a set of found cassette tapes at an unspecified point in the ...

Welcome to my mostly weekly peek into my life - the Slice of Life. Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for hosting this each week, and helping me to pay more attention to the world around me. Into each parenting life come a few perfect moments. The moment when you wake from a deep sleep, with the morning sun streaming into your bedroom, to realize that your infant slept through the night without you having a panic attack and rushing in to be sure they were still breathing. The moment when your eyes fill with tears as that same child dons their first tiny backpack and waves jauntily to you as they board the bus for kindergarten. The moment when that thing you've been so excited to share with the younglings turns out to make them shriek with glee. Okay, that last one may be just slightly exaggerated. But only slightly. You see, The Hobbit movie is coming out in December. Maybe some of you recall the incredibly campy 70s animated adaptation? Yes, that one is a lot of fun, a...

It's Monday - which means it's time to reflect on my reading for the week. I love this chance to share what I've read with my friends who link up at Teach Mentor Texts (so stop over there to read other posts) as well as my many other friends who just stop by to check out the bookstacks. Whew - I guess THIS is why I don't get other things done, right? Ah well, at least I always have good books to recommend to my students (and the adults in my life) First, let me celebrate finally finishing the 40s for the Nerdbery challenge! I thought I was done before, but I missed Adam of the Road along the way. So that's another decade down. I have 49 done so far - and I'm aiming to find a short one to read this week so I can round it out to 50! Adam of the Road was a medieval historical fiction book. I preferred Door in the Wall, personally. Adam was nice, but slow in places. I can see using some of the chapters in conjunction with a unit on the middle ages! Ar...

Batty About Books is a place for my book buddy Kathy (aka @thebrainlair) and I to share our thoughts about a book we read together. Last week we tackled the first half of What Came From the Stars by Gary Schmidt, and today we wrap up our discussion. My thoughts are here in purple, with Kathy's responses in blue. Kathy's blog - The Brain Lair - hosts her thoughts with my responses. Be sure to stop over there as well! There are mild spoilers, though we tried to keep from ruining the story for anyone who hasn't read it. Okay, overall I really did enjoy this book. The pace sped up a lot toward the end, and I had trouble a few times putting the book down so that I could jot down some notes for our chat! While it wasn’t a “perfect” read (mostly because I felt that the Valorim sections were a bit overloaded on the strange vocabulary which made it hard to read), I know I’ll have students who will enjoy this book. My students are accustomed to fantasy reads, and they general...

Welcome back to SciFriday! This week I’m focusing on two amazing graphic novel titles that were released this year – Earthling ! by Mark Fearing and Legends of Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke. Both books would tie in well with any study of space, though they also include strong positive messages about friendship and heroism. Earthling! – Written and Illustrated by Mark Fearing Published June 20th 2012 by Chronicle Books Goodreads Summary – Every kid worries about making friends at a new school, but when nine-year-old Bud accidentally catches the wrong bus and finds himselflaunched into deep space, new friends are the least of his problems! At Cosmos Academy, Bud learns that Earthlings are the most feared creatures in the galaxy, and even Earth's location has been hidden! With the help of his newfriend, Gort, Bud goes undercover as a Tenarian exchange student. Unfortunately that means everyone thinks he's a pro at anti-gravity Zero-Ball (even though he's really onl...

Big thanks to anyone who read my Ann Aguirre Q&A and spread the word about the post. It ended up being one of my top blog posts ever! Check over at Teach Mentor Texts to find out what everyone else is reading this week. I had an excellent reading week. I think I've found a niche in my science fact and fiction. Be sure to come back on Fridays (as much as I can manage) for my Sci Friday posts. Science Fact: Two amazing nonfiction books this week. I featured them this past week on my SciFriday post this past week . If you have students who want to know about black holes, these are the resources you are looking for. Science Fiction I'm focusing on graphic novels for this week's SciFriday. Check back Friday for short reviews of these two gems. Comics:     Catching up on the new Spike miniseries (#2 is about to come out) by reading the first issue. I wrote a review for Fandom Post which should go up this week. If you like Spike (from Buffy), y...

We're baaaack!  Batty About Books returns from a summer hiatus with a discussion of the first half of What Came From the Stars by Gary Schmidt.  (Check out the Goodreads page for a summary) As before, my thoughts are in purple with Kathy (aka @thebrainlair) responding in blue. Her thoughts with my responses are hosted on The Brain Lair . Don't miss the discussion there either! Fair warning - here be spoilers! Feel free to jump in with your thoughts in the comments. That's what a community of readers does, right? My Batty About Books partner - Kathy (aka The Brain Lair) has happily jumped into a ton of science fiction to keep me happy over the past few months. When Kathy mentioned that she had a book she was dying to read, I was more than happy to come along for the ride. I have to admit that I haven’t read anything else by Schmidt, even though there is a lot of love for Okay For Now online. Imagine my delight when I went to buy the book and realized that the ...