Favorite Books and Authors

"Mrs. Eck, do you have a favorite book?"

I have been asked this question so many times during my teaching career, and I usually answer it in two different ways. "That would be like asking me if I have a favorite child," or "There are too many good books to have a favorite."

Groans usually follow that answer as most students don't like either of those answers, and I understand it. I think they are looking for validation of a choice they made, or the fact that having a favorite is acceptable by someone who (typically) reads a lot.

Because of this, I back up my answer with a comment such as this is my favorite for this week, or this month, or this school year.

I'm also asked about favorite authors, and I can honestly say I don't have one of those either. This made me think about a recent Goodreads post when I used the phrase, "one of my favorite authors." 

I finished reading Old School by Gordon Korman, and I thought about what makes him one of my favorites. 

1. He writes books that almost all middle school readers can relate to.
2. His books are funny and many take place in school, giving school a positive image.
3. His books have a deeper message that kids can understand.

But maybe the real reason why he is one of my favorites is because he has written 105 books! When someone writes that many books and when you read many of them, I believe that automatically launches him into "my favorites" category.

I saw him speak at a conference, and he is hilarious. I could easily see his personality reflected in his books.

 

Old School is about a boy who has been raised and homeschooled by his grandmother with the help of others in a retirement community. Dexter is twelve...going on 60!

I can't wait to get to school, and book talk this one to my students and say, "This is my favorite from spring break!"

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

Books, Books, and More Books SOL #12

Can a person, especially a teacher, ever have too many books? 

Absolutely, positively NO!

I thought you'd say that! I totally agree although my husband may not.

Where did you get all of those books?

We have a foundation in our district that awards grant money to teachers to spend in their classrooms each year. As long as we are a member, we can apply to get up to $500.

You can get anything you want for your classroom?

For the most part, yes, But I always get books, books, and more books.

These are some great titles! 

I took titles from the lists of teachers I follow on social media. Many of these titles came from Colby Sharp. I get a lot of recommendations from him. 

OH! The Night War. I love that series by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.

Me too! I was on a panel with her at NCTE. She was a delight!

And Gordon Korman is one of my favorites!

My students love him!

The Probability of Everything was an amazing book!

Her second book is this stack too! I have heard a lot of good things about that one.

Which one are you going to read first?

Now, that is a very good question! Which one do YOU think I should read first?

Thank you to Two Writing Teachers for creating 
a space for me and other teacher-writers to share our stories.

My 2024 Reading Wrap-Up

The year is days from ending, and people are beginning to talk, write, and post about reading challenges from the past year and the upcoming year. Reading these usually motivates me, but this time it has been hard. This was not a banner reading year for me although it wasn't my worst year, according to my Goodreads account. Reflecting back on the year, I have learned a few things about my reading life.

1. Distractions are real. We hear so much about our student's being distracted by their phones. I know this is true, but I also know my phone is my biggest distraction. I often reach for my phone instead of a book, and it is something I am not real proud of. I know I need to fix this problem if I want to reignite my reading life.
2. My reading life affects my students' reading lives. I know the connection between books, teachers, and students. I have written about it; I have presented it; I have preached it. I used to live by the quote by Steven Layne, "Never underestimate the power of a great book in the hands of a teacher who knows how to use it." That was me. I need to find that "me" again.
3. Bad habits form quickly, and good habits quickly die. Stacking habits is something I believe in. Finding a habit I already do and add a new one to it. For example, when I eat breakfast every morning, read a few pages. This is something simple I can do to help my reading (and avoid #1!)

But I am not going to beat myself up over this dismal reading year. Donalyn Miller once wrote in a Nerdy Book Club post:  "Most readers experience this ebb and flow--alternating between reding binges and dry spells." I will continue to hold tight to these words while looking at ways to end this dry spell.

However dismal this year was, I still read some amazing books that have become my favorites of 2024!

For someone who has never played basketball, I have a long history with it. My sister both played and coached for years, and my daughter has followed in those footsteps. When I see books about girls who play basketball, I have to read it. If you have any girl basketball players, I highly recommend this one! Basketball, friendships, rivalries, and March Madness! What’s not to like?!?! Being from Indiana, I would have loved the girls to have chosen the movie "Hoosiers" to watch!

I was afraid to read this sequel to Frindle for fear of being disappointed. I don't know if it was the backstory about finding the manuscript years later or having read to my students in my first year of teaching, but it was everything I wanted it to be!

Playing sports in the late 70s and early 80s, the struggle for girl athletes portrayed in this book is real. Living in Indiana, the basketball history and culture is accurate. Being a graduate of Butler University, the pictures of Hinkle Fieldhouse are nostalgic. I absolutely adored this book. I even got a little teary-eyed at the end! The back pages with the story of the three athletes on which this story was based, made me appreciate Matt Tavares' research and accuracy. I can't wait to get this in my classroom this fall.

What a book! Two of my high school friends grew up struggling with eating disorders, ten years before Jake's story began. We, their friends, didn't know about it, and then when we did, we really didn't understand. As I was reading this, I wondered if this was the type of pain they went through. Did they feel this alone? Should we have seen something sooner? I wish they could have read a book like this all those years ago, and I wish we, as their friends, could have read it too.

With 2025 around the corner, I am looking forward to getting my reading life flowing again, and I am always looking for recommendations!

I Missed It Reading Challenge

A few years ago, I participated in a #MustRead book challenge. We created a list of books that we missed reading the previous year and wanted to read in the new year. I loved this challenge because it was fun to read and see everyone's list plus it inspired me to pull those books from my endless TBR pile.

I recently stumbled upon a similar reading challenge from The Book Girls" Guide. It is called the In Case You Missed It:  Backlist Reading Challenge. Each month the reader chooses a book that they missed reading the year it was published starting with 2013. I thought about this challenge because I hardly read adult books, but then I realized I have many middle grade books that I have also missed reading.

I decided to create my own middle grade #IMissedIt reading list challenge. My only requirement was that I have to currently own the book (not difficult to do!). I began making list by looking at my "Want to Read" list on Goodreads and the past Nerdy Book Club's Middle Grade Fiction Nerdies Award. (All of the books starting in 2018 came from that list.)

January

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz (2013)

February

Dash by Kirby Larson (2014)

March

The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier (2015)

April

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook by Leslie Connor (2016)

May

Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling (2017)

June

You Go First by Erin Entrada Kelly (2018)

July

Shouting at the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt (2019)

August

Echo Mountain by Lauren Wolk (2020)

September

Pony by R.J. Palacio (2021)

October

Two Degrees by Alan Gratz (2022)

November

The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass (2023)

December

To be determined!

I have no idea how successful I will be, but it is always fun to create reading lists! I invite you to create your own backlist reading challenge and share with me here in the comments or on social media. If you are like me, I am sure you have books you have missed too!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1/15/24

 

Thank you to Unleashing Readers for continuing to promote reading and great book titles and especially for letting us wayward readers find our way back here.

What I Read Last Week

Coyote Lost and Found by Dan Gemeinhart is the sequel to The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise. I don't often say this, but as much I loved the first book, I liked the second one much better.

I know my love for this book is based on my current life experiences. In the first book Coyote and her father take a cross-country road trip to run away from accepting the death of Coyote's mother and sisters. In this second book, Coyote is finally ready to say goodbye after finding her mother's ashes in a hidden box. Another road trip to scatter her ashes leads Coyote, and me, to discover some hidden truths about the way we let go of those we love and an appreciation for the life we have.

This book is due out in Early March, and I highly recommend it...along with a box of tissues!

I am slow reading All It Takes Is a Goal for a Teach Write book club. We have read and discussed the first section, which is about making a Best Moments List. Acuff states that instead of looking forward to plotting our future such as vision boards, we need to look back at the best moments of our life. A best moment is when our vision and our reality overlap; it's "when you hoped life could be actually matches how life is" (p. 54).

This list becomes a snapshot of who we really are, and four categories emerge from studying the list:  experiences, accomplishments, relationships, and objects. He states that when we understand these categories, "your list transforms from a task about the past into a tool for the future. It's like finally seeing the individual ingredients for your favorite meal and realizing you can cook it again and again" (p. 48). 

I am not sure where he is going with the list as we move into the next part, but I did learn a lot about myself from doing this activity. It brought gratitude to the forefront and made me look at what is really important to me. I find myself keeping a running list of my best moments in my notebook. Even if you don't read this book, creating your own list just might surprise you about what you find in your own categories.

Currently Reading

I am vicariously participating in the "In Case You Missed It Book Challenge." In this challenge, I choose a book that I missed reading the year it was published, starting with 2012 and ending with 2023. I chose A Man Called Ove, which I know was a favorite among many of reading friends, BUT I missed reading it.

After being named Indiana Rural Teacher of the Year for 2023, I am trying to be more cognizant of rurality in my reading life and in my classroom, so I hope to finish this collection of voices from rural America.

Reading more in '24!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1/8/24

 

Thank you to Unleashing Readers for continuing to promote reading and great book titles and especially for letting us wayward readers find our way back here.

One of my goals this year is to "read more in "24." I know technically, this is not a goal because it is not measurable, but I like the way it sounds!

This week I completed one book and started several others.

Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Running Out of Time was first published 30 years ago but now has a new cover! I grabbed it because of its cover appeal and because it takes place in Indiana, my home state. It is a dystopian story about a group of people who have chosen to live in a history museum. The children think it is 1840, but it is really 1996. When diphtheria makes its way into the compound, Jessie is sent out to the future to bring back a modern vaccine, but she is running out of time. It is what we would expect from Margaret Peterson Haddix. If your students read and enjoyed Among the Hidden by her or Masterminds by Gordon Korman, then they would love this one!

Currently Reading

I am reading All It Takes Is a Goal for a Teach Write book club.

I can't wait to continue Coyote's adventure.

Reading more in '24!

When a line from a book grabs your heart. #SOL21

 

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we share a slice of life every single day in the month of March.

I'm reading Wild Bird by Wendelin Van Draanen. It is one of those books where I wonder if it is too old for my 6th graders. Can they handle it? Will they understand it? Am I giving them ideas they don't need to think about yet? 

Wren is a girl who began experimenting with drugs and alcohol when she was a middle-schooler. She began running with the wrong crowd because they gave her some much-needed attention. Her parents know that she is heading down the wrong path and don't know what to do or how to help her. So they send her to a wilderness camp. 

Tonight as I was reading, a line grabbed my heart. 

"Sometimes it doesn't take much for what's dormant to bloom."

This line is filled with so much hope. I know it is a metaphor for Wren's life. She has been dormant for so long and needs someone to show her that her life can be beautiful.

I think about my former students who took the same path as Wren, who are living life a dormant stage. 

I think about the students sitting in my classroom today. Do I have a Wren looking back at me? Or maybe avoiding looking at me? 

If I place this book on my shelf, will it help someone to bloom? 

I am not finished with the book yet, so I still have many questions. 

But it doesn't take much for what's dormant to bloom.

...Maybe I will.

The Perfect Match #SOL21

 

Join Two Writing Teachers and other teacher-writers as we share a slice of life every single day in the month of March. 

Sometimes when I read a book, I think about a certain student and how I know it is the perfect book for him or her. When I finish, I can't wait to run and tell them about it.

A few weeks ago I was reading Hunter's Choice by Trent Reedy. I have become a fan of his writing because he writes stories that I know kids are going to want to read. Hunter's Choice is about hunting; it's an outdoor person kind of book. This is a type of book that fills a much-needed void in my classroom library. 

As I was reading, I kept thinking about Carson, one of my students. Earlier in the year, he wrote a narrative about a fishing trip, so I knew he liked being outdoors. He has also been a difficult student to match with books.

A few weeks ago, his mother, who is a staff member, asked me what she could do to get him reading. I immediately told her about this book and how I had thought about Carson the whole time I was reading it.

Today while we had our reading time, I noticed Carson was reading it! 

Matching kids with books is the most important part of my job and the one that brings me the most joy! I can't wait to see what he thinks because I think it is the perfect match!

#IMWAYR ~ 2/1

In 2021 I'm trying to return to communities that support me as a reader, a writer, and a teacher. Not sure how regular I will be, but I am here today. 

Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts and Kelle and Ricki at Unleashing Readers co-host It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Stop by and see what others are reading this week.

I have been taking a break from social media, and I am loving the reading time it is affording me. I've reacquainted myself with Netgalley again, and our library just made Hoopla available, so I am loving my reading life right now.

Here's what I read last week:

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner (ARC by Netgalley)

I loved The Serpent King and Goodbye Days from Zentner, and this one is just as amazing. I loved how Cash uses poetry to help him get through his grief and learn about what is important in life. The writing is absolutely beautiful. You will want to put this on your list for August.

Hooper by Geoff Herbach

Adam needed basketball. It saved him, and he knew it. Each year, I have students who need basketball maybe more than basketball needs them. It's books like this that teach kids being part of a team is more than just playing the game. Although this is written for young adults, I would have no problem handing it to my middle school students.

Hunter's Choice by Trent Reedy (ARC by Netgalley)

Hunter's Choice by Trent Reedy is a much-needed book in my classroom library. I have many boys who are outdoorsmen, and I do not have books to fill this need. Plus the female characters add even more appeal. The exploration of human life and our role in wildlife is appropriately done for this age group. It has just enough suspense to keep the reader's attention and keep them turning the page. I can't wait to purchase this one for my classroom library.

On my reading radar for this week:

I am struggling with Everything Sad is Untrue. I want to abandon it but giving it a little more time. If you have read it, please let me know if it's worth plugging away.

Thank you for always welcoming back the prodigal reader!

A Book You Haven't Read Yet #MGBOOKMARCH

I am joining folks at MG Book Village on Twitter to share some middle-grade book love this month. Each day has a different prompt, and people share their favorite book that fits that prompt. What a great way to learn about new titles and add to my TBR list. Here is day three!

Book you want to read but still haven't.

Oh my, I have boxes and boxes of books I want to read but haven't yet. But if I have to pick one, it would be this one.

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

I sat at a round table with this author at NCTE, and she was simply delightful! I finally ordered the book recently - but haven't gotten to it yet.

From Goodreads: This novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who is filled with self-loathing and must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself.

Maybe now that I have publicly said this, I will get the job done!

A Book that Deals with Mental Illness #MGBOOKMARCH

I am joining folks at MG Book Village on Twitter to share some middle-grade book love this month. Each day has a different prompt, and people share their favorite book that fits that prompt. What a great way to learn about new titles and add to my TBR list. Here is day Two!

A book on mental illness:

So B. It by Sarah Weeks

Again, there are many I could have chosen about characters with mental illness. So B. It. Although this is an older title, it is the most recent one that I have read.

A lot of dots go unconnected in this book for me, but it is still a beautiful story of a girl trying to find her roots. Heidi lives with her mother who is mentally disabled, and both are cared for by an agoraphobic neighbor. Her mother keeps repeating a word that makes no sense to Heidi, so she sets off across the county to find out who she is, where she comes from, and maybe what the word means. Sometimes the answers we so desperately want or need, aren't what we thought they would be. So B. It is a perfect middle-grade book.

A Book that Features a Journey #MGBOOKMARCH

Not that I need another challenge in my life right now, but I am joining folks at MG Book Village on Twitter to share some middle-grade book love this month. Each day has a different prompt, and people share their favorite book that fits that prompt. Sounds easy enough! And what a great way to learn about new titles and add to my TBR list. Here is day one!

A book that features travel or a journey:

Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga

In this novel in verse, Jude and her mother leave their brother and father and their home in Syria to journey across the ocean to the United States. As Jude begins to adjust to the fast-paced life in America, she finds herself with a new identity - "Middle Eastern." She makes new friends, meets new family members, tries out for a part in the school musical, and finds out how lovely it is to be part of something bigger than herself.

"Hoping,

I'm starting 

to think,

might be the

bravest thing

a person can do."

Other Words for Home is a beautiful journey about hope and love and courage.

What are your favorites books that have taken you on a journey? 

#Mustreadin2019 Wrap-Up

With 2019 wrapping up, it is time to reflect on my #MustReadin2019 challenge. Carrie Gelson at There's A Book for That started this challenge back in 2014. I have "participated" (and I use that word loosely!) every year. I enjoy creating a reading list, as I think it is important for readers to have a plan.

Carrying out that plan is where I typically run into problems. I did not write any update posts throughout the year, so here are my final results!

This year I had fifteen books on my challenge list, and I completed seven, the last one being read at the end of May. 

I will have to say that I enjoyed all of them, and with the exception of the two Shusterman books, they were all different. If I had to pick a favorite from this list, it would have to be Dry by Shusterman. 

I hope 2020 brings much joy in reading for all of you!