COSMIC by Frank Cottrell Boyce, and WALLACE'S LISTS by Barbara Bottner

We read COSMIC by Frank Cottrell Boyce and WALLACE'S LISTS by Barbara Bottner. 

WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt and TAR BEACH by Faith Ringgold

As usual we had great discussions at our last meeting. We all mostly loved Wednesday Wars for various reasons, and had mixed feelings about Tar Beach, many of us mentioning how we reacted to it when it first came out as compared to our reactions now. We also talked about the difference between the way a writer reads a book as opposed to a non-writer, but agreed that if something is wonderful, it's just -- wonderful....no matter your point of view.

CHARLES AND EMMA by Deborah Heiligman and THE DAY-GLO BROTHERS by Chris Barton

We had great discussions on our two books for January. Everyone agreed that Charles and Emma was terrific, and it was interesting how different people found different things in the book that impressed them. We also loved the picture book about The Day-Glo Brothers. All agreed that it was neat to learn about something that none of us had known before, and we loved the way the story developed. Most of us weren't crazy about the illustrations, but agreed that they were perfect for this particular book.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Joyce Sidman and Red Sings from Treetops by Jacqueline Kelly

Novel -- The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Joyce Sidman
Picture Book -- Red Sings from Treetops by Jacqueline Kelly

We had great discussions about our two books last nite.....differences of opinions on some things, and complete agreement on others. Most of us loved the novel, and our reactions to the picture book were divided.

Fever by Laurie Halse Anderson and We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Novel -- Fever 1793 by Laure Halse Anderson

Picture Book -- We Are the Ship: Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson

Note:

Fearless: An Interview with Laurie Halse Anderson

Read the full article at:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6660876.html

I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier and a favorite picture book by Kevin Henkes

Novel: I am the Cheese by Robert Cormier

Picture book: Your favorite one by Kevin Henkes

 

We had a great discussion about I Am the Cheese at our last meeting, and all agreed that it is the best book we have read so far (after The Book Thief!!)...and that even though it was published in 1977 it has withstood the test of time and is a true classic. We had fun sharing Kevin Henkes picture books, and agreed that some were better than others, and that we each had our absolute favorites.

 

We decided to take a bit of a summer break, since many people had conflicts due to conferences, trips. etc.

 

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and Twenty-one Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Twenty-one Elephants and Still Standing by April Jones Prince

We had interesting discussions of our two books on Thursday, and delicious food provided by everyone!!

We pretty much all agreed that the picture book, although very beautiful left a bit to be desired in the language area -- it tried to be poetic -- but wasn't....and some questioned that it would be well-received by elementary-aged kids. We thought the art was beautiful, but not really kid-like, and that there was too much kids needed to know before they could truly enjoy it.

As for Twilight -- One of our members, Michelle, who often says, "Gee - I wish I'd written that line," said of Twilight, "There wasn't a single line in the book that I wish I'd written!" We agreed that it was relatively formulaic, very pure and 'clean' at the beginning, and then as it progressed it seemed to be less and less about a high school kid. We understood why 11-year-old girls would go ga-ga over this series.....not so sure about adults.......oh, well.