Refugee by Alan Gratz

There are so many reasons why this book was one of the books selected for the Global Read Aloud. Refugee is so hard to read at times but it is full of hope. This book is absolutely relevant in this day and age with all of the conflict surrounding immigration and refugees fleeing home without any other chance of survival. Speaking of survival--this book is all about survival! I finished this book several days ago and it still haunts me. While reading this book and even now, I feel like I was right there with the characters. The images stay with me and I was reminded that while this book is fiction--these kinds of things have happened and continue to happen all over the world. It is unsettling.

This book follows three young people in three different places and times. Josef is fleeing Nazi Germany  for Cuba with his family and touches on a piece of World War II history I didn't know before reading this book. Isabel is fleeing Fidel Castro's Cuba for Miami with her family in 1994. They are on a tiny boat; storms and sharks are only two of the many obstacles they face. Mahmoud's family is fleeing Syria to Europe in 2015 after a bomb explodes into their apartment building.

This book would be an amazing read aloud in middle school classrooms. The conversations that could be had surrounding this book could be eye-opening and changing to kids and adults alike. I can't wait to talk to everyone I know about this book.

Breakout by Kate Messner

This book is one of my favorites this summer!! Nora Tucker lives in Wolf Creek, New York which has a population of 3,261...but 2,249 are prison inmates at Wolf Creek Correctional Facility. Nora's dad is the superintendent of the prison (that means he is in charge). She is excited about the upcoming Field Day, where she is pretty sure she will win the Mad Mile race...until the new girl, Elidee, runs faster. Elidee has just moved to town at the end of the school year with her mother because her brother, Troy is an inmate at the prison. Elidee isn't too happy about moving. Nora is also looking forward to the end of the school year and having a fun summer with her best friend, Lizzie--until there is a prison break. Two inmates break out of the prison and all of the summer, everything is different. Nora's dad is always at work, her mom will barely let Nora out of her sight, there are road blocks, no recess and the town is full of the media and police. All of a sudden, everything that made sense and people she has known her whole life seem different to Nora.

This book is written in many different formats--letters, text messages, newspaper articles, poems and comics and different perspectives. We hear from Nora, Nora's brother, Lizzie, and Elidee. This book is exciting and it's about WAY MORE than only a prison break.

If you like this book, check out Capture the Flag, also written by Kate Messner. It's a mystery in an airport that three kids (who are strangers) come together to solve.

Graphic Novels

Recently, I sat in on a panel of graphic novel creators. They were enthusiastic about their work and the work of others in their field. I loved that one of the panelists said, "It's okay to call them comics." They talked a lot about how graphic novels are legitimate books and we, as teachers and parents, have to stop saying that graphic novels aren't real books. I totally agree. If you are reading graphic novels, KEEP READING THEM! It's okay for you to read them. And parents and teachers--it is okay for your child to read graphic novels. There is a lot of inferencing and deep thinking that takes place when reading graphic novels. There may not be as many words to read, but there is a lot going on in the illustrations that needs to be read. Here are a few I have been reading.

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library

This month, our book club read Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein. We met shortly after starting the book to discuss the beginning AND to take part in our own library challenge/scavenger hunt. It was awesome!!! Later this month, we will meet to discuss the rest of the book.

In Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, a new and amazing library has just been built in an old bank building in Kyle Keeley's town, Alexandriaville. Picture this: holograms of famous writers, a rotunda dome lined with high-definition screens, robots, interactive displays--this sounds like an amazing place!!! There has not been a library in Alexandriaville in 12 years--the library in town was torn down for a parking lot. Mr. Lemoncello, a very famous game maker has decided to open a new library and has created an essay contest for all 12 year-olds. Twelve 12 year-olds will be chosen to be the first to visit the new library for an all-night lock-in event. Kyle, motivated by the opportunity to play with the state-of-the-art video game equipment, decides he must be one of the kids chosen. However, getting in the library is the easy part. Getting out will be more difficult. Mr. Lemoncello has actually created a game...the kids in the library have to figure out how to get OUT of the library using clues and working together.

I enjoyed trying to figure out the clues along with the kids in the library. This book reminded me of those reality-TV shows where the participants have to meet challenges and work together. The kids have to work together and use each other's strengths to figure out the challenges. This book was satisfying from beginning to end...and it made me wish there really was a Mr. Lemoncello's Library.

P.S. There is a sequel, too--Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics.

Heart of a Dolphin

Dear Student,

Thank you for recommending that I read Heart of a Dolphin by Catherine Hapka. I enjoyed this story of a young girl and her friendship with a bottle-nose dolphin. This story reminds me a story I wrote when I was about your age about two young kids and an orca they befriended. I remember being really upset when the movie Free Willy came out because it was so similar and I would never get it published now! :-) 

Annie is the main character in this book, and she is feeling a little left behind. Her parents are always busy with work and her best friend has recently started making new friends and is more interested in boys and fashion magazines all of a sudden. One day, she and her brother find a dolphin tangled in fishing line and Annie is able to save him. The dolphin, who she names Squeak, seems to trust her and begins to visit her in the cove near where she lives. Squeak is a blessing to Annie during this unsure summer as she deals with friendship and family situations. 

I am so glad you recommended this book to me. I really liked it! Since you loved this book so much, I have a recommendation for YOU. Be sure to check out Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee. 

Sincerely, 

Mrs. Marquardt