May 2013 – Booktalking #kidlit

10 Plants That Shook The World

10 Plants That Shook The World
by Gillian Richardson (Author) and Kim Rosen (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Plants might start out as leafy things growing in the earth, but they can come into our lives in unexpected ways. And believe it or not, some have even played an exciting role in our world’s history.

Snippet: The latex that tappers collect from rubber trees does not look or feel rubbery. Latex is a liquid that flows from shallow cuts in the bark of mature trees. It becomes rubber after it is pressed, to remove water, and then heated and molded into various shapes.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

A Pet for Miss Wright

Odette’s Secrets
by Judy Young (Author) and Andrea Wesson (Illustrator)

Booktalk: Miss Wright is a writer. She enjoys her work. Each day she sits at her desk and writes stories with marvelous characters who live exciting lives. But, except for the click-click-click of the keyboard, it is quiet in Miss Wright’s office. Too quiet. And too lonely. So Miss Wright decides she needs a pet to keep her company.

Snippet: The monkey certainly kept Miss Wright entertained, but now her stories made no sense. When Miss Wright typed, the monkey put his hands on the keyboard, too. A scramble of mixed-up letters filled the computer screen.

Batman versus Man-Bat

Batman versus Man-Bat (Batman Classic)
by J. E. Bright (Author), Steven E. Gordon (Illustrator) and Eric A. Gordon (Illustrator)

Booktalk: When a half-man, half-bat creature attacks Gotham City, the police think Batman has gone mad. To clear his name, Batman has to defeat the fiendish foe. (Level 2 beginning reader)

Snippet:
It was a moonless night.
Two Gotham City police officers
shouted in shock as a giant bat
landed on their patrol car.
The olice officers ran for safety.
One radioed Commissioner Gordon.
“Batman just smashed our car!”
he yelled into his walkie talkie.

Today’s Air Force Heroes

Today’s Air Force Heroes
by Miriam Aronin (Author)

Booktalk: Meet real-life airmen and women who have displayed incredible courage in the face of danger as they served their country in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Snippet: At sunrise on a bitterly cold day in March 2002, a helicopter carried Airman Cunningham and a team of Army Rangers toward a tall mountain in Patkia province, Afghanistan. There were on a mission to rescue a Navy SEAL who had fallen out of a helicopter when it was hit by rockets and gunfire from Al Qaeda forces.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Odette’s Secrets

Odette’s Secrets
by Maryann Macdonald (Author)

Booktalk: In this free-verse poetry novel, Odette is a young Jewish girl living in Paris during a dangerous time. The Nazis have invaded the city, and every day brings new threats. After Odette’s father enlists in the French army and her mother joins the Resistance, Odette is sent to the countryside until it is safe to return.

On the surface, she leads the life of a regular girl—going to school, doing chores, and even attending Catholic Mass with other children. But inside, she is burning with secrets about the life she left behind and her true identity.

Snippet:
Open books cover our stars like shields.
Henriette forgets she is thirsty.
The librarian, our gatekeeper,
pretends we are children like any others.
All afternoon, we read fairy tales.
In our cave of bookshelves,
we feel safe from the evil giants
marching down the street.

May 10, 2013 Poetry Friday is here!

Singing Contest

sing it
sing it
sing it out

sing it
sing it
no, don’t shout

sing it
sing it
line by line

sing it
sing it
one more time

Original poem by Anastasia Suen

The May 10, 2013 Poetry Friday Roundup is complete!

Contributor	Title/Link	Summary	Category	Mood
Jeff	Ode to My Mom	A poem dedicated to all moms.	Original Poem	Grateful
Jone aka MsMac	Poetry Friday: Haiku by Robyn Hood Black	Follow up on Wednesday’s interview with Robyn Hood Black.	Another Poet	Thrilled
Linda Baie	A Sestina for Spring	An idea inspired by Doraine Bennett from Dori Reads.	Original Poem	Questioning
Mary Lee Hahn	Vacation	The title is The Vacation, but that’s not really what this poem is about.	Another Poet	Contemplative
Renee LaTulippe – No Water River	The Power of Encouragement + “The Hairy Bear”	For National Teacher Appreciation Week: praise and a poem I wrote when I was ten.	Original Poem	Thankful
Michelle Heidenrich Barnes	Today’s Little Ditty	For all the mothers out there.	Original Poem	Nostalgic
Laura Shovan	A Spiralling Storm of Fib Poems	I’m in residence with third graders this month working on scientific Fibonacci poems.	Original Poem	Enthused
Ruth	“One Art” by Elizabeth Bishop	Thinking about loss with Bishop’s villanelle.	Another Poet	Melancholy
Jama’s Alphabet Soup	“Cheese Please”	Charles Ghigna rhapsodizes about cheese!	Another Poet	Alone with provolone
Donna	Harbor Spring	The harbors come alive in spring with lobster boats.	Original Poem	Spring
Laura Purdie Salas	Hand Shadows	A beautiful poem by Mary Cornish.	Another Poet	Introspective
Catherine Flynn	“Think Like A Tree”	Karen I. Shragg’s “Think Like a Tree”	Another Poet	Thoughtful
Carol	The Peace of Wild Things”	A poem to quiet the soul	Another Poet	Quiet
Diane Mayr	Poetry Retreat Inspired	Short poems inspired by a recent retreat of the Monadnock Pastoral Poets.	Original Poem	Curious
Kurious Kitty	Poem Runs	Baseball poems by Douglas Florian.	Another Poet	Tired
KK’s Kwotes	Poetry Friday Kwote	A small poem by Eve Merriam.	Another Poet	Puzzled
Irene Latham	Poems to Learn by Hear	Caroline Kennedy’s latest book and thoughts/tips on memorizing poems	Other	Thoughtful
Margaret Simon	Who is your Persona?	Student’s persona poems about favorite book characters.	Original Poem	Connection
Buffy Silverman	Yin and Yang	A poetry postcard from one of Jone’s students and my response.	Original Poem	Admiring
The Poem Farm	Moon Mama and a Poem about Writing	A poem, audio, kitten pictures, and a visit with kindergarten poets!	Original Poem	Motherly
Donna L Sadd	Hospital	A yucky kind of boy’s rhyming poem	Original Poem	Gross
Tara @A Teaching Life	Billy Collins: The Chairs That No One Sits In	Thinking about empty chairs.	Another Poet	Reflective
Ben Curran	The Kick of Creation	A brilliant poem from Chris Martin.	Another Poet	Optimistic
Steven Withrow	“Cedar Waxwing” and “pring Cardinal”	Different approaches to birds.	Original Poem	Multitudinous
Heidi @ my juicy little universe	“Strive to Be Me”	A slam-style poem by a high school senior.	Another Poet	Surprised
Matt Forrest Esenwine	What kept me busy during National Poetry Month	Three poems I wrote in April.	Original Poem	Happy
Karen Edmisten	Luci Shaw – Wrong Turn	Short and perfect.	Another Poet	Very Shaw
Jeannine Atkins	Views from a Window Seat	Ways to Write a Poem about Science	Other	Processing
M. M. Socks	Sweet Juanito	Why did Juanito grow up so sweet?	Original Poem	Invisible
Tabatha	Hafiz and the Summer Swap	Hafiz and the Summer Swap	Another Poet	Yes
Little Willow	Bildungsroman	A piece of Dia Calhoun’s After the River the Sun	Another Poet	Lyrical
Charles Ghigna (Father Goose)	Giraffe Party	Come join the Giraffe Party at FATHER GOOSE Blog	Original Poem	No elephants or donkeys allowed
Keri Collins Lewis	Pirate Story	A tribute to imagination by Sir Robert Louis Stevenson	Another Poet	Contemplative
Doraine Bennett	DoriReads	Poems about Time	Another Poet	Intrigue
Becky Shillington	Tapestry of Words	The Poetry Friday Anthology!	News	Exciting
Sylvia & Janet @ PFA	Our last poem of the (school) year	“The Secret Seed” by Allan Wolf.	Another Poet	Celebrating!
Joy Acey	Rainy Day	Finding the silver lining even when it’s raining.	Original Poem	Gray
Cathy Mere	June Bugs	Those pesky May visitors.	Original Poem	Content
Julie Larios	The Map by Eliz. Bishop	Maps, maps, maps.	Another Poet	Questioning

Tempest: A Novel

Tempest: A Novel
by Julie Cross (Author)
352 pages

Booktalk: The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, has a girlfriend… and he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps– it’s just harmless fun.

That is… until the day strangers burst in on Jackson and his girlfriend, Holly, and during a struggle with Jackson, Holly is fatally shot. In his panic, Jackson jumps back two years to 2007, but this is not like his previous time jumps. Now he’s stuck in 2007 and can’t get back to the future. Desperate to somehow return to 2009 to save Holly but unable to return to his rightful year, Jackson settles into 2007 and learns what he can about his abilities.

But it’s not long before the people who shot Holly in 2009 come looking for Jackson in the past, and these “Enemies of Time” will stop at nothing to recruit this powerful young time-traveler. Recruit… or kill him.

Snippet:
The first time I jumped was about eight months ago, during my first semester of college. I was sitting in the middle of a French poetry class. I nodded off for a few minutes and woke up to a cold breeze and a door slamming me in the face. I was standing in front of my dorm. Before I even had a chance to panic, I was right back in class again.