Catching Fire

Catching Fire
By Suzanne Collins

Second Book of The Hunger Games

If you haven't started this triology now is the time, because the final book, Mockingjay, comes out Aug. 24.

The adventure continues for Katniss as she makes her Victory Tour and gets back into the arena for the 75 Annual Games.

Personal Thoughts: On the way to being my favorite trilogy. Again, the whole romance thing is not my favorite, but I can handle it.

Star Rating:


Keep Reading,
Dr. Quinn

Drums, Girls, & Dangerous Pie

My niece (an 8th grade teacher) recently recommended that I read the YA book titled Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. Although the novel was first printed in 2004, this was the first time I had heard of the book. Sadly, I wish I would have read this years ago, because I could have shared it with many of my students.

Super quick summary: The plot is about Steven (age 14) and how his world gets rocked when he discovers that his brother, Jeffrey (age 5) is diagnosed with Leukemia.

As I read the book I had a mix of emotions...from sadness to outward laughter. Sonnenblick did a great job making this book real for the readers. He took us through the day to day struggles that a middle school boy might go through while dealing with this difficult situation and other typical middle school trials.

Rating:

Keep Reading,
Dr. Quinn

Mock Caldecott: Allotment #4

Old Bear
By Kevin Henkes

Rating:

· Old Bear dreams of the seasons during his winter hibernation
· This book could easily be a wordless picture book
· Fantastic colorful water color and ink paintings
· The color vividly sets the mode for each season in Old Bear's dream
· Loved this book



The Pigeon Wants a Puppy
By Mo Willems

Rating:

· As always Willems sets up extends the book with its endpapers
· Traditional Willems Pigeon book, but just as good as ever
· A slight twist to the climax and ending of this story






Too Many Toys
By David Shannon

Rating:

· Spencer has too many toys and his mother is making him get rid of some.
· Another great book by David Shannon
· Shannon’s paintings are consistent with many of his latest books, such as Alice the Fairy & Good Boy Fergus
· A variety of perspectives and layouts are used throughout the book
· Readers will find classic toys as well as toys of the day
· Classic ending!



Not a Stick
By Anoinette Portis

Rating:

· A follow up book to Not a Box
· Creative uses for a stick
· Every child can relate to this one
· Very simplistic in text and illustrations






The Little Yellow Leaf
By Carin Berger

Rating:

· A leaf is not ready to leave his tree until he finds support in another leaf
· A story of apprehension and friendship
· Illustrations are done in collages
· Several collages use notebook, graph, chart paper
· Love the colors




Bees, Snails, & Peacock Tales
by Betsy Franco & Ill. by Steve Jenkins

Rating:

· A creative informational book about animals and insects
· Franco uses a rhythmic meter to share the information
· Jenkins created the collages that absolutely extend the text
· The text is creatively oriented several different ways throughout the book





Boycott Blues: How Rosa Parks Inspired a Nation
By Andrea Davis Pinkney & Ill by Brian Pinkney

Rating:

· “Blues infused tribute to the men and women of the Montgomery bus boycott”
· Great illustrations
· Colored inks on clay board
· Mode and tone are a strong point of this book




A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever
By Marla Frazee

Rating:

· Two boys spend a week at nature camp by day and at grandparents house by night
· Typical boys having fun together
· Illustrations were done in black prismacolor and gouache
· Illustrations definitely extend the text




Drive
By Nathan Clement

Rating:

· A young boy tells about his father’s day as a truck driver
· Simple text; usually one sentence per page
· Colorful pictures probably created with photoshop
· Unique perspective in the illustrations





The Dog Who Belonged to No One
By Amy Hest and Ill. byAmy Bates

Rating:

· A stray dog and a young girl find companionship together
· Two stories combine into one: story of the dog, story of the girl
· The text seemed a bit trite to me
· Warm watercolor pictures support the text.
· Nice detail in the paintings

Rules

I just returned from Santa Barbara, CA, where my wife and I spent our 20th anniversary. While on the trip I read two books: Love, Stargirl and Rules. I was planning to do two posts this afternoon (Saturday), however, my body seems to still be on Pacific time so I thought I would go ahead and post Rules tonight or this morning or whatever you want to call it (1:30 AM). BTW, the time stamp seems to be off by three hours.

First off let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed Rules by Cynthia Lord. I loved the honesty of the protagonist, Catherine. Catherine is a twelve year old girl with an eight year old brother, David, who is autistic. Although she loves her brother he often embarrasses her by doing things such as: pulling down his pants, dropping toys in the fish tank, opening cupboard doors at other people’s homes, etc.

Each chapter is titled with some sort of rule. Usually these rules are meant for David, but they often mean just as much to Catherine as they do for David. Sometimes to smooth out awkward situations or just their way of showing their love for each other, Catherine and David will recite lines from Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad Together. These little snippets along with the ongoing list of rules that Catherine creates throughout the book are a favorite of mine.

Another storyline is the relationship that Catherine generates with a Jason, a boy in a wheelchair. Jason has difficulty communicating verbally so he uses a book full of words and words with pictures to communicate. As the story develops Catherine adds words for David’s communication book. Words such as: awesome!, whatever!, That stinks the big one!!!, and more.

Sorry if this review is a little random, just too much travel today.

Rating:

Happy Reading, Dr. Quinn