It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers cohost It's Monday!  What Are You Reading?  Be sure and stop by to participate and see what others are reading and recommending.

It has been a long time since I have participated in IMWAYR!, but I was encouraged by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Mindi at Next Best Book to give it another try this week.

 I Survived the Nazi Invasion, 1944 by Lauren Tarshis

This is book nine in the "I Survived" series and is perfect for those reluctant readers, especially boys.  The fast-paced, exciting plot keeps them reading while learning about historical events.  In this book, Max and Zena try to escape from Nazi soldiers after their father has been taken away.  Tarshis questions writing this book with the seriousness of the time period, but I think she did a wonderful job.  There is one part where the reader sees the other side and perhaps questions whether every Nazi solider agreed with Hitler.  Max is in the woods and faces a young soldier his own age.

Max and the young soldier stared at each other, their eyes locked.

There was no hatred in the other boys's eyes.  He looked just as terrified and confused as Max was.

Were they really enemies?

Or were they just two boys caught in this net of evil?

 Snicker of Magic by Natalie LLoyd

I loved this book!  If you could open my heart, you would see lines etched from this book.  It is not a fast-paced, plot driven book, but a book that subtly nudges your heart page after page.  I am not a big fan of fantasy, but this book is so realistically written, I sometimes forgot what genre it really was!

Felicity is a word collector.  When she returns to her mother's hometown, she uses the magic of words to try and piece together a puzzle to restore the magic in Midnight Gulch.

There were so many lines that tugged at me.

"Lonely," I said.  I see it all the time, mostly in school and in church and in malls and driving down the road.  Always the places where the most people are.  Isn't that weird?"

Your words matter more than you know.

I never wanted to forget all the ways we were connected that day:  By our shadows and sunlight.  By pounding hearts and a starry maybe.

"Forgetting people you love is impossible.  It'd be like forgetting how to breathe."

I strongly encourage you to purchase this book and if you already have it, move it to the top of your TBR pile.  I don't think you will be disappointed!

I am currently reading The Year of Billy Miller and Seven Stories Up is on deck.

Happy Reading!