I forget who (or what site) recommended this book, but I remember it promised a dark tale (fun for horror lovers) that was appropriate for a middle grade reader who liked creepy things. The book fits that promise. I’m reading more middle grade now in anticipation of my own kids wanting to read independently. When […]
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Unbound is a coming of age tale written in verse from the point of view of Grace, an enslaved girl who at the start of the novel is summoned to work inside the master’s house. She is mistreated and subjected to jealousy (it is hinted that the master is her father), and when she learns […]
Years ago, I heard there was a book written from the point of view of Grendel, the monster in the epic tale Beowulf. I put it on my “to be read” list and eventually remembered it when another Beowulf spin-off was published (it is now on my summer to-read list). I figured, I could do […]
Nellie Bly was a groundbreaking journalist whose personality led her to become world-famous at a time when women in journalism were usually assigned mediocre topics. When I first watched a documentary about her in teaching journalism, I knew I wanted to read the primary source referenced in the documentary, hence this book. She helped to […]
With the crazy school year—teaching virtually at the same time as in the classroom—I did not have time to write book reviews as often as I would have liked, but I was still reading! So this summer, I am writing and publishing book reviews for a sizeable stack of work I’ve read. You can expect […]
Note: It’s been SO LONG since I have posted a book review. This does not mean I have not been reading! This year has been a challenge and a struggle on many front. For me as a teacher, teaching concurrently (teaching students in person at the same time as online) has been the biggest challenge–that, […]
This is not my first review of an Anderson book—I am obviously a fan. I’d say this is a good early YA/advanced middle grade reader. I had purchased it back when I read Chains, also about the early American time period, then shelved it for other things. I saw it while cleaning off a shelf […]
I heard about this short novel as it was mentioned briefly in something I was reading about Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, a novel I greatly adore and teach almost every year. When I read the synopsis—a young man who grew up in Nazi Berlin under the gaze of a stuffed Bengal tiger, then finds […]
I can’t remember how old I was when I first read “The Lottery,” but I have been a Shirley Jackson fan since then. I was excited to learn about this short novel, apparently her last published novel, so I snagged a copy. I had no idea what the novel was about; I simply bought it […]
I meant to read this book long ago. I bought a copy, then misplaced it. During some spring cleaning, it emerged, and I read it over the course of three days or so. It’s a story of bullying and perseverance, and it reinforces a thought I’ve been having over the past several weeks: the world […]
