Chapter Book of the Day – Page 10

Hope Is a Ferris Wheel

Lost Girl Found
by Robin Herrera (Author)

Booktalk: Ten-year-old Star Mackie lives in a trailer park with her flaky mom and her melancholy older sister, Winter, whom Star idolizes. Moving to a new town has made it difficult for Star to make friends, when her classmates tease her because of where she lives and because of her layered blue hair. But when Star starts a poetry club, she develops a love of Emily Dickinson and, through Dickinson’s poetry, learns some important lessons about herself and comes to terms with her hopes for the future.

Snippet: Everyone at Pepperwood Elementary knows that I live in Treasure Trailers, in the pink-tinted trailer with the flamingo hot-glued to the roof. The problem is, I only told four girls, the ones who were standing by me the first time we lined up for recess.

“Isn’t that next to the dump?” one of them asked.

Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan

Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan
by David Aretha (Author)

Booktalk: In 2012, a Taliban gunman shot a bullet into the head of Malala Yousafzai. The fifteen-year-old Pakistani girl needed to die, Taliban leaders reasoned, because she spoke out against the group’s policies, which included the suppression of girl’a education in Malal’s home region of Swat Valley.

Snippet: Finally, the shooter belived, the outspoken Pakistani teen had been silenced. The girl had delivered a speech entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education.” Now, she was surely dead.

The gunman was wrong. Malala survived.

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Lost Girl Found

Lost Girl Found
by Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca (Authors)

Booktalk: Poni’s life in her small village in southern Sudan is simple and complicated at the same time. But then the war comes and there is only one thing for Poni to do. Run. Run for her life. Driven by the sheer will to survive and the hope that she can somehow make it to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, Poni sets out on a long, dusty trek across the east African countryside with thousands of refugees.

Snippet: I have accepted the fact the no one is coming to save me or offer me a ride. I keep walking on my tattered feet toward Kakuma. This place is no longer real. Only a word, a hope.

Rivers

Rivers
by Claire Llewellyn (Author)

Booktalk: Beginning readers can learn all about rivers in this level 4 reader.

Snippet:
The flowing river
The place where a river starts is called the source. From the source, a river flows downhill on its journey to the sea. The path the river takes is called its course.

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

Computer Games Designer

Computer Games Designer
by Mark Featherstone (Author)

Booktalk: People young and old love playing computer games, but what goes into making them? From simple games created by one person, to big blockbusters made by a huge team, there is an amazing range of games. Find out whats involved in developing computer games, the tools and skills you need, and the difficulties of managing a complex process.

Snippet:
What does a games programmer do?
Programming is all about breaking everything down into smaller and more easily understandable parts. A program is like a machine: it is built out of many interlocking pieces. When you look at the whole problem, you cannot even begin to understand how you might tackle it, but if you look at just one small piece, it becomes easier.

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

Pinkalicious Cupcake Cookbook

Pinkalicious Cupcake Cookbook
by Victoria Kann (Author, Illustrator)

Booktalk: Cupcakes galore!
Now you can make all your cupcakes Pinkalicious cupcakes. The Pinkalicious Cupcake Cookbook features more than twenty cupcakes straight from the pinkatastic world of Pinkalicious.

Snippet:
All of the cupcakes in this book need a flat top to facilitate the frosting and decorating and sometimes for balancing one cupcake on top of another. When using a cupcakes baked from a cake mix, slice off the rounded top of the cupcake with a paring knife.

See how to follow these directions in this 40 second Pinkalicious book trailer

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

Billie B. Brown, The Bad Butterfly

Billie B. Brown, The Bad Butterfly
by Sally Rippin (Author)

Booktalk: Brave, brilliant and bold Billie B. Brown has started ballet classes. She wants to be a famous ballerina, but can she?

Snippet: Billie races around the room, flapping her arms. She is a very fast butterfly. Sometimes she accidentally bumps into other butterflies that get in her way.

Dessert Designer: Creations You Can Make and Eat!

Dessert Designer: Creations You Can Make and Eat!
by Dana Meachen Rau (Author)

Booktalk: Turn your kitchen into an art studio! Try some of these 51 fun creations–and eat the tasty results!

Snippet: Your kitchen is more than a place to make supper. It’s an art studio. When you combine dessert and your imagination, you can create amazing works of art that taste as good as they look! Turn cakes into roller coasters. Top cupcakes with crazy creatures. Make cookies hoot with awesomeness and candy flutter your taste buds. There’s no end to what you can do with desserts!

Nonfiction Monday

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

A Girl Called Problem

A Girl Called Problem
by Katie Quirk (Author)

Booktalk: Thirteen-year-old Shida, whose name means “problem” in Swahili, certainly has a lot of problems in her life — her father is dead, her depressed mother is rumored to be a witch, her family bears the weight of a curse, and everyone in her rural Tanzanian village expects her to marry rather than pursue her dream of becoming a healer.

Snippet: Shida hiccupped, as she often did when she was excited, and covered her mouth.

Several heads down below turned to look up at her. One of them was the scowling face of her mother, Mama Shida. Mama Shida was slumped against their mud hut, her matted hair sticking out in wild tufts and her skin a sooty gray from months of being unoiled. Her two rectangles of faded kitenge cloth, which she wrapped around her waist and torso, were tattered and dirty. Like all Sukuma mothers, Mama was named after her first child, and right now she looked just like her name: Mama Shida, Mother of Problems.

Maker Faire

Maker Faire
by Samantha Roslund (Author) and Kristin Fontichiaro (Author)

Booktalk: Around the world, makers come together to share their ideas and inventions at Maker Faires.

Snippet: Maker Faires aren’t just for seeing what people have already made. There are many free or inexpensive hands-on activities that you can do. Some of these activities may involve working with power tools, making a craft, turning a power crank, or participating in a demonstration.

STEM Friday

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