Maria's Mélange

It's a glorious day for a party! Well, actually, it's a bit yucky and muggy at my house this morning. Still, that makes it the PERFECT day to celebrate a book birthday. Bookstores are generally air conditioned, you know? John David Anderson is the kind of author I love, my students love, and my sons love. He writes about superheroes - Sidekicked. He writes about villains (or are they?) - Minion. His latest outing will appeal to the dungeon crawlers among us. Are your students are interested in tabletop or video games where you can "pick a class"? Do you sometimes hear them chatting about "whacking" things or "picking locks"? Harness that energy and hand them this book. To celebrate this book birthday, I bring you this cute little Q&A that Anderson did for my fifth grade son. Check out his official Blog Tour stop at the Melange as well, if you are interested in hearing what rogues need and getting a little glimpse at the plot o

Have you ever wanted to run away from it all? Do you long for more adventure in your life? Have you ever dreamed of hopping on board a ship that is seeking buried treasure? Well, maybe you've never wanted to eat hard tack or climb a mast in a storm.. but you can experience the thrill of life on the high seas by reading the first book in this new series!  I adored Neversink, which came out in 2012, so I knew I wanted in on this new series by Wolverton. It did NOT disappoint. Action! Adventure! Gross vomiting scenes.... Okay, so that part made me feel more than a bit nauseated, but kids are going to eat it up. Yuck, poor choice of phrase there, right? Classroom Ideas: --Be sure to have lots of books of old maps on hand, or maybe some paper for kids to make their own.  --Partner this with other titles         - The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi (most editions have great information on ship terminology in the back)         - The Glass Sentence by S. E. G

Welcome to my little corner of book heaven. Here's what I read the last two weeks. Don't forget to visit the lovely hosts of this meme -  Teach Mentor Texts  and  Unleashing Readers . There are links to a LOT of posts there! Just a few titles from the last *coughs* way too long since I posted. Here are some of my favorite reads! Excellent "starter" science fiction for middle grades. I found the idea of Gabby sitting for alien children quite appealing, and the situations will make kids laugh! (I won a copy of this book in a contest)    Listened to this one, as it was a free YA Sync book. I read this in high school (and college). What a different experience as an adult! I still adore this book, but I kept feeling like reaching through and shaking the main character. "Oh, you poor immature child". I am pretty sure I didn't have this reaction when I read it as a teen.   Come back on the 18th for my stop on this blog to

Welcome to the blog tour for John David Anderson's newest novel.... The Dungeoneers ! I'm thrilled to share this title with the world; and I love the piece he wrote for my blog on "The Rogue Essentials"  (Don't forget to get all the way to the end of the post and leave a comment for your chance to win a copy of the book. I'll choose one commenter at random on June 14th at the end of the blog tour.)  I make no secret of my love for all things geeky. Fantasy, science fiction, superheroes.... you name it, and I am there. Anderson had the scifi supheroes covered in his last two books (Sidekicked and Minion - which I also loved).  For this one, he tackles dungeon crawlers. I can't wait to share this title with my students. There's a character in it for everyone. Rogues and wizards. Warriors and druids. What class would you pick?  Dungeoneers summary  ( Publishing  June 23, 2015 ): The Dungeoneers is an action-packed, funny, an