I AM A GENIUS...by Josh Lieb, and THE LION AND THE MOUSE by Jerry Pinkney, and OLIVIA by Ian Falconer

We had great discussions at our last meeting. On the very-long-titled novel ( I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President), we all agreed that it would probably make a better cartoon or sitcom than a book for kids. Some of us felt it was an insult to excellence in children's literature to even publish this type of 12-year-old gross (and sometimes mean) stuff, while others of us thought it would definitely get some non-reading middle school boys into reading. As for the picture books, we all agreed that Olivia's strength was not in the writing/story, but in the illustrations, and we also agreed that Jerry Pinkney's Lion and the Mouse was brilliant.

DREAMLAND by Sarah Dessen, and STRANGE MR. SATIE by M.T. Anderson

We had great discussions (in between bites of delicious food!) at our book group meeting last week. We pretty much all agreed that both books were terrific; that the novel, even tho' there were some small inconsistencies and things that annoyed us, still had an important story to tell. Several people said they wished there had been such a book when they were teenagers. Everyone loved the 'Satie' picture book.

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