Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

Posted on July 17, 2012 by jmaschari

Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson

I was a huge fan of Morgan Matson’s Amy and Roger’s Epic Detour (check out my review here) so I was super excited for the release of her next book, Second Chance Summer. This book doesn’t disappoint and Matson has become one of my favorite contemporary YA authors, joining the ranks with Sarah Dessen and Jenny Han.

I recommend this books for grades 7 and up.

The Story: Taylor Edwards is used to running away from her problems. Five summers ago, she left her family’s summer home in the Poconos after a misunderstanding with her friends. She didn’t return – that is, until now. Taylor has met a problem that she can’t outrun – her dad has stage four pancreatic cancer and he wants the family to have one last summer together at their lake house. Taylor’s uncomfortable talking with her family about her dad’s illness and prognosis – she’s never really had practice with facing hard stuff.

The hard stuff faces her head-on, though. She continually runs into her ex-boyfriend Henry (who is a lot cuter than she remembers), works with her ex-best friend Lucy at the beach snack shop and watches her father progressively get sicker and sicker, becoming a shadow of the person she knew before. Taylor needs to learn how to communicate, let others in and deal with life’s difficulties to have a second chance with the friends she left behind, with her family and with her father.

Wonderful character development for both major and minor characters, great emotional arcs and excellent writing make this a must-read. The characters really stood out to me. Each one was so dimensional and real and played into the family dynamic. Gansley and Warren, Taylor’s sister and brother, each had their own growing to do. I especially loved Warren’s relationship with the red-headed vet. It was so sweet and fun to read!

When it comes down to it, this book is about relationships – cultivating them, growing them, and cherishing them. I loved how Second Chance Summer explored all kinds of relationships - familial, romantic and friendships. It explored the beginnings of relationships and the sad endings of others. This was a beautiful book about love and loss and everything in between. I highly recommend Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson!

Mystery Monday – Mystery Books for MG and YA

Posted on July 9, 2012 by jmaschari

In my current manuscript, one of the characters, Grace Wu, LOVES mysteries. Sherlock Holmes. Nancy Drew. Agatha Christie. She would pretty much read any mystery she could get her hands on. She even named her English bulldog sidekick Dr. Watson and fancies herself a modern-day Nancy Drew. Here’s an excerpt from THE WITCHING HOUR:

She lifted up her wrist and pointed to a flexible plastic green bracelet. “WWND.”

“WWND?” Chester said. “What does that stand for?”

“What would Nancy do?” Grace replied. “Nancy Drew. World’s best detective. Even better than Sherlock, mainly because she’s a girl and kicks so much bad-guy butt. I look to her in times of trouble.”

“Isn’t she for 10-year-olds?”

“If by 10-year-olds you mean people with good taste, then yes.”

As Grace is always up for a new mystery book (or adventure she can solve herself), I put together a few mysteries she would love.

Capture the Flag by Kate Messner

Kate Messner is a one of my students’ favorite authors. I was so excited to learn that her newest book was going to be a mystery. This novel follows a band of four very different kids who need to recover the flag from the Smithsonian that inspired The Star Spangled Banner. Stuck in an airport in a snowstorm, the kids race to find the flag in a fast-paced, high-action style. I am looking forward to introducing this book to my students in the fall and reading more books in the Silver Jaguar Society series. This would be a great book for students in grades 4 – 6 who are interested in history.

The Book of Blood and Shadow by Robin Wasserman

This book has been described as The Da Vinci Code for the YA set and I think that is a fitting description. Full of thrills, adventure, history and suspense, this book kept me guessing to the last few explosive pages. Nora, a high-school senior who is a brilliant Latin student, is asked to help translate documents with a local professor. Her best friend Chris and new-comer Max are given the important items to translate while she is given letters from the daughter of an alchemist named Elizabeth Weston. Her letters may be the key to finding the Lumen Dei, a device that would give humans God-like power. When Chris is killed, she heads to Prague to find the Lumen Dei, face a secret society that will do anything to get what they want and discover who killed Chris. This was a well-researched religious/historical thriller and I loved all the fun European details. It definitely made me want to book a trip to Prague (minus the secret society stuff!) I would recommend this for ages 13 and up.

Anything by Joan Lowery Nixon

Growing up, I could not get enough of the Joan Lowery Nixon mysteries. Winner of multiple Edgar Awards, she certainly knew how to scare and thrill. Every time I would go to the bookstore, I would go straight for the mystery section to find another one of her books. Of course, I could only read them when someone else was home with all of the lights on. They will freak you out that much (and make you check all of the closets and under the bed before you go to sleep!) Some of my personal favorites were Spirit Seeker, The Kidnapping of Christina Lattimore, Deadly Game of Magic and The Name of the Game Was Murder. I don’t know if too many teens know about these great books but I highly recommend them. These are perfect for junior high students and up.

What are you favorite middle grade or young adult books? Did you love Joan Lowery Nixon as much as I did?

Are There Boy Books?

Posted on July 5, 2012 by jmaschari

Consider the following scenarios:

I had a student several years ago read all of Grace Lin’s books – Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat. The student even created a book trailer, along with several classmates, for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon as they loved it so much.
Several former students have devoured The Maze Runner in their quest to read all of the dystopian fiction that they can.
Kate Messner’s Eye of the Storm has been most popular with the boys in my class even though the protagonist, Jaden, is a girl.

Now consider that the student in the first scenario is a boy and in the second scenario, a group of girls. Imagine how different these scenarios would have been had I pegged these “boy” or “girl” books in class discussion or in book-talking.

I recently perused the Goodreads shelves, and out of curiosity and spurred by some Twitter discussion, I searched for “boy books.” The results came back with 3,687 books. This is not isolated to a book-related social site, however. I have heard this come up in conversations on-line, on blogs and in articles.

I propose that pigeon-holing books as “boy books” or “girl books” is both alarming and harmful to children and their reading development. However, I think it is especially harmful to boys because it makes a statement to them that there are only certain books that they should read. Instead of narrowing the scope, we should be widening it, encouraging students to read out of their comfort zone and to challenge themselves with different types of literature.

Instead of using sweeping generalizations, I think it is critical that we work to match the book to the student, challenging us to really know both the child and middle-grade and young adult books. Instead of placing gender specifications on books, why don’t we say, “Johnny, I know that you really like adventure. This book has a ton of action and is fast-paced. I think you’re going to like the characters; they’re funny and get into a lot of trouble.” OR “Johnny, I see that you recently read Freak, the Mighty. I’m going to suggest Year of the Dog because it also features a special friendship.”

I am not venturing to say that there are not some differences between boy and girl readers, their interests and their reading styles. I am saying, though, that we need to look at the individual child and what the individual child needs as a reader. We need to keep as many pathways open for our readers as possible. Gender specifications close doors to these pathways. Using language that speaks to the books themselves versus generalized classifications and truly knowing our readers, their tastes and what will challenge them will open doors to literacy, enjoyment, and engagement in reading.

Hot Books in the 5th Grade – March Edition

Posted on March 24, 2012 by jmaschari

One of the things that I love most about teaching is the opportunity to put good books in the hands of kids. There is something so awesome about finding the right book for the right student. I have worked to build a pretty extensive classroom library filled with quality, engaging books. Here are some books that my students have been loving lately:

Holes by Louis Sachar is one of my absolute favorite books, and it has quickly become the favorite of my students as well. Many of them have seen the movie but I am always quick to let them know that the book is way, way better! The writing in this book is absolutely superb and engaging. The first line draws you in – There is no lake at Camp Green Lake. I also think that the rag-tag band of campers and Stanley’s own journey draw the students in. When students are finished with this book, I often recommend Small Steps (a companion novel to Holes), Freak, the Mighty (a book focusing on another boy friendship) or the Gregor the Overlander series (for the adventure factor). I have found that Holes really does appeal to all readers!

Another book that I can’t keep on my library shelves is Wonder. I had heard about this book on Twitter (a great way for teachers to network) and on several blogs that I follow. Seeing that it had multiple starred reviews, I knew that I had to read it immediately. I was blown away by Auggie’s story. Inspired, in part, by Natalie Merchant’s song Wonder, as well as a personal experience of author R.J. Palacio, this book shares the story of August Pullman. This soon-to-be fifth grader is pretty typical – loves to hang out with friends, fan of Star Wars – except for one thing: he has a severe facial deformity. Told from multiple POVs, this book is amazing and speaks to the power of courage and kindness. When I get new books in the classroom, I often book talk them and then read an excerpt to whet their appetites. After I did that for Wonder, every students’ hands shot up to read this book. I highly recommend this for your students.

If you are familiar with Dan Gutman’s books, you know that they have great kid appeal, are hilarious and are full of adventure. His latest book, The Genius Files: Never Say Genius is no exception. The first Genius Files book, Mission Unstoppable, has been an extremely popular book in my classroom – so much so that I had to purchase additional copies AND reserve it at the public library to get it into as many hands as possible. Needless to say, many of my students had a countdown for Never Say Genius (and many had pre-ordered it themselves). This book continues the story of Coke and Pepsi McDonald, twins who may be joining a secret group of child geniuses. Not before they escape danger first, though! Coke, Pepsi and their parents continue their long distance road trip with the twins working to thwart the evil Archie Clone. My students love following the journey on Google Maps and the pictures of the different attractions. This book is a fun, fast-paced and accessible read.

When I think about purchasing non-fiction books for my classroom, I keep two goals in mind. First, I want to expose my students to new ideas, concepts, and topics. I want them to learn about outer space, weird animals, important moments in history, etc. Secondly, though, I want some books to meet them where their interests lie. I have a lot of students who play and watch football so this next book was a perfect choice for them. Through My Eyes: A Quarterback’s Journey is the young readers version of Tim Tebow’s adult bestseller. The students love reading about his early life and college years. This book also has a poster as well.

I am really excited about some books that I just ordered for my classroom. One of my favorite books growing up was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I was thrilled to find out that Ellen Potter had written a new book called The Humming Room inspired by this classic story. While it has some modern updates (the main character, Roo, has drug dealers for parents, and she is orphaned when they are murdered), I have read that it shares the same heart with the classic. I love modernizing of classic stories (Briar Rose by Jane Yolen is one of my all-time favorites), and I cannot wait to get my hands on this one and share it with my students.

My students are also huge fans of author Kate Messner. We were so excited to find out that she had written a sciency dystopian called Eye of the Storm. When we Skyped with her last year, she shared with us the cover (amazing, dark and twisty) and an excerpt from the book. As we loved books like The Line by Teri Hall, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau and The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann, I thought that this would be a perfect fit for our library. There is even a discussion and teaching guide if you want to use it as a small group or class read.

I would love to know what classic, new or up-coming books you are excited about for your classroom. I always am looking for different books to add to our classroom library!

Happy reading!

City of Ember Mural

Posted on February 10, 2012 by jmaschari

Welcome to the City of Ember!

Our fifth grade Ember citizens have been very busy recreating the city of Ember. The mural is split into three sections – the bottom third is the Pipeworks, the middle section is the actual city and the top is what the students thought outside of Ember would look like. We did this activity in conjunction with our novel study of The City of Ember.

We posted large post-its around the room with each section as the header. Students got to choose which section they wanted to work on and the places they wanted to create from the book. The conversations that came from this activity were excellent – the students critically thought about aspects of the setting, plot and characters. As the students were working, they had their picture taken. Some of them brought costumes like a red messenger jacket or a slicker for the Pipeworks and others designed themselves with tools. This was truly a student-led and generated project.

Fantastic Speculative Fiction for the Middle Grades

Posted on February 1, 2012 by jmaschari

I think students are so drawn to speculative fiction because they are at a point in their lives where they are asking, “What if?” They are taking in new knowledge like sponges and questioning the things around them. They like picturing themselves in stories and thinking about what they would do if posed with different conflicts or situations. Here are some of my favorite middle grade speculative fiction, both old and new! (and there is a GIVEAWAY at the end)

The Giver by Lois Lowry — This is perhaps the first novel I read in the genre of speculative fiction way back when I was in grade school. Now, the genre is one of my favorites, paving the way for my love of books like The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner. This book follows the story of Jonas, a young man who lives in a society in which they can’t see colors, don’t feel true feelings or emotions, everything is controlled but everything is perfect. When a child turns 12, he or she receives a job at the annual ceremony. Jonas’ job is different; he is to be the new receiver. This job assignment sets in motion events in which Jonas must examine his reality and decide if a perfect life, devoid of pain and suffering is worth the cost. I always love the discussion that the themes and ideas in this book initiate. Suggested Grade Levels: 6 and Up

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann - Every year when children turn thirteen in Quill, they are sorted into three categories: the Wanteds who go onto receive further schooling, the Necessaries, and the artistic Unwanteds who are sentenced to a certain death. Art, music, theater and dance are all deemed unnecessary and as a threat to Quill’s well-being. At the most recent sorting, twins Alex and Aaron are torn apart with Alex being deemed an Unwanted. Instead of facing an almost certain death, he learns that there is a refuge for artistic children like himself. It is here where he learns to hone his art and also, to use it as a weapon. This is a very hot book in my classroom right now! Suggested Grade Levels: 5 and Up

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow live in a city in trouble. Their city, Ember, is prone to debilitating blackouts. The supplies are running out, the light bulbs are in short supply and the person in charge is the corrupt Mayor, who is hoarding all of the remaining supplies for himself. In a harrowing adventure, Doon and Lina have to take it upon themselves to find a way out and save the people of Ember. One thing that I love about this book is how nuanced and flawed the characters are. I also love the theme – that children are smart, cunning, brave and can be great leaders. This is our current class novel, and the students love living Lina and Doon’s adventure along with them. Suggested Grade Levels: 4 and Up

The Limit by Kristen Landon

Imagine a world in which your debt has serious repercussions for the ones you love. This is the world that Matt lives in. When your family exceeds the monthly debt limit imposed by the government, you are sent to a workhouse to help pay off the debt. Matt never thinks that he will be sent to such a place. However, when they exceed the limit, he is sent away. Things are amiss, though, and Matt, along with his new friends, need to figure out what is going on with the government before it is too late. This is another book that many of my students have read and have not wanted to put down! Very fast-paced and enjoyable. Suggested Grade Levels: 5 and Up

Eye of the Storm by Kate Messner

This book isn’t out yet but from the blurb, it looks absolutely fantastic (and having read all of Kate Messner’s other MG books, I am sure it will be). Here is the synopsis from Kate Messner’s website:

In the not-too-distant future, huge tornadoes and monster storms are a part of everyday life. Sent to spend the summer in the heart of storm country with her father in the special StormSafe community his company has developed, Jaden Meggs is excited to reconnect with her dad after he spent years researching storm technology in Russia. She’ll also be attending the exclusive summer science camp, Eye On Tomorrow, that her dad founded. There, Jaden meets Alex, a boy whose passion for science matches hers, and together they discover a horrible truth about her dad’s research that is putting countless lives at risk. As a massive tornado approaches, threatening to destroy everything in its path, Jaden is torn between loyalty to her dad and revealing his secret. Can she find the courage to confront her dad and save everyone from the biggest storm yet?

I. CANNOT. WAIT. Isn’t the cover fantastic, too?? I will be picking up a copy for my classroom library as soon as it is out. I love the combination of science and adventure.

There are so many other great books, too. I loved The Maze Runner by James Dashner and The Line by Teri Hall as well. I would love to know what you recommend!

Finally, the giveaway! I am giving away a brand new copy of The Unwanteds to one lucky commenter! Fine print: You must be 13 years or older, and the winner will be chosen by a random number generator. You must be a resident of the United States for this particular giveaway. It’s easy to enter! Just comment on this post by February 6th – be sure to include your e-mail address so I can contact you if your win.

Skype Author Visit Tips

Posted on November 29, 2011 by jmaschari

So you’re interested in bringing authors into your classroom via Skype? Fantastic! Author Skype visits are incredible experiences for our students and encourage authentic connections with writers. Here are some tips to ensure a smooth and meaningful Skype visit:

Research authors who Skype and their books on the websites provided in this post. Is there a book that will fit into your classroom (as a whole-class, small group or read-aloud)?
Contact the author before ordering any books to make sure that the information on the Skype visits is current (I contacted Kate Messner prior to ordering her books from our Scholastic Book order for our I Love Books! Club)
Confirm with your principal and building technology coordinator that Skype can be used in the building. Outline your reasons for using the technology.
Begin reading the book with your group of students (I have done this both in a small-group and whole class). Provide students an index card to write down questions about the story, writing process or even the writer’s life. Preview the questions ahead of time.
Confirm the time and date with the author. (If possible, exchange phone numbers in case of technical glitches and practice using the technology at school)
Prepare students for the visit. Remind them of appropriate speaker etiquette. Just because the author is on the computer does not mean that he or she cannot see you. Making goofy faces or calling out in a large group would not be appropriate.
Decide on the set-up of the room. For our visit with Kate Messner, I had students pull chairs around the computer/web-cam and had a computer hooked up to our SMARTboard.
Decide on how Q+A session will work ahead of time. Will you ask all of the questions written by the students? Will you have per-determined speakers? Will the student stand when he or she is reading a question? Many authors will leave time for questions at the end of their presentations so it is good to plan ahead for this.
Be ready to troubleshoot. Lost connectivity could happen and you will need to dial up the author again. Be patient with the technology and let students know what do if there are glitches.
Be sure to thank the author for his or her time. A follow-up e-mail is also appreciated.

Want to learn more about Skype? Kate Messner wrote an excellent article for the School Library Journal about her own experience with Skype visits. At the bottom of the article is another great list of authors who Skype for free!

I would love to hear more about your experience with Skype in the classroom in the comments below.

Skype’s Not Just for Grownups Anymore!

Posted on November 13, 2011 by jmaschari

Students Skype with Kate Messner

In today’s economy, it can be difficult for many schools to pay for in-person author visits. These visits can include travel, food and lodging costs over the initial price of the actual visit. Many visits of well-known authors can cost upwards of 2,000 dollars. However, author visits are still vital for our students and can allow them to interact with the text they are reading more fully. Additionally, an author visit allows students to see the writing process in action – the author is not just some faceless entity but is just like them! This can be a valuable experience and great inspiration for our young writers.

What is the solution then? Skype visits! For just the cost of a web-cam*, a little bit of planning, and a Skype account you can bring authors regularly into the classroom. Many authors will list whether or not they Skype on their websites or you can send a simple e-mail request.

My first experience with Skype was last year as moderator of the 5th and 6th grade I Love Books! Club. We had just finished Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner and talked with her over Skype for a half hour. We even got a sneak-peak of one of her up-coming books. This was a fantastic way for the students to learn more about the author behind story.

More recently, my two fifth grade language arts classes Skyped with author Adam Gidwitz.

Students loved Skyping with Adam Gidwitz

We had just finished reading his fabulous book, A Tale Dark and Grimm, and the students loved it. I e-mailed Adam to see if he offered Skype visits and would be willing to Skype with my students. For a nominal fee, we were able to have two Skype visits of 45 minutes each. He told stories, talked about a writer’s life and answered the students’ questions. He interacted with the students like he was there in person. The reaction from the students was extremely positive and many asked if we could Skype with all of the authors we read.

There are many resources that make it easy to find Skyping authors.

http://authorskypetour.livejournal.com/ – This resource highlights different authors who are hosting virtual “tours” for their books. Authors featured on this site do not require that students have already read their books but can talk about a variety of reading and writing topics.

http://skypeanauthor.wetpaint.com/ - This resource features a Skype author directory. Each author is linked to a page in which the author webpage, genre, presentation possibilities, audience and availability are displayed. Skyping success stories + recaps are also provided.

http://kmessner.livejournal.com/106020.html – Author and junior high teacher Kate Messner is a fantastic resource for both reading and writing ideas and Skype visits. This page lists authors who are willing to do a 20 minute Skype visit for free (longer visits could be done for a small fee). The authors are broken up by age group appeal.

*Some Skype visits will have a fee but will only be a fraction of the cost of an in-person visit.

I think Skype is a great way to make authentic connections with authors and is another way to make literature come alive for your students! Happy Skyping!

Breadcrumbs: A Book Review

Posted on October 9, 2011 by jmaschari

BREADCRUMBS

Written by Anne Ursu

Drawings by Erin McGuire

Ten year old Hazel’s life is in upheaval. Her father has left the family and is too busy planning his wedding to keep in contact with Hazel. Because of the divorce, Hazel can no longer attend her old school where she was considered bright and creative. At her new school, she is considered disruptive and a problem. Her mom, overwhelmed with life, pleads for Hazel to “make good choices” and act more grown-up. It’s not that her mom doesn’t love her, but in becoming a single parent, life has become much more difficult. The only bright spot in Hazel’s life is Jack, her neighbor and best friend. He’s the kind of friend who makes goofy faces at you through the classroom window, who you go sledding with until you can no longer feel your toes and who you fill a whole baby pool full of ice with so you can feel what its like to melt.

Jack anchors Hazel even when his own life has spiraled out of control. His mother is battling severe depression – a shell of her former self and his father is working to just keep everything together. One day, when they are out at recess, a piece of shattered glass lands in his eye – enchanted glass from the large mirror of a goblin. The glass goes straight to his heart, turning his heart cold and icy – immune to the love that Hazel has for him. Jack becomes more and more distant, causing Hazel to begin to delineate between new Jack and old Jack. Then, he disappears into the magic forest with the Snow Queen and Hazel must set off on a perilous journey – one paved with temptation and lies and enchantment- to save her best friend.

In this beautiful story, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen, Anne Ursu crafts a haunting tale about the power of friendship, loss and choices. The friendship between Jack and Hazel had such depth – essentially when Jack gave Hazel his signed baseball to help her with the divorce of her parents, he was giving her his heart – the deepest part of himself. Hazel, too, had to be selfless in her journey as well, sacrificing things that were important to her to save Jack. That friendship also changes and evolves was also touched on – an occurrence that many children (and adults) should be able to relate to.

The theme of loss was predominantly woven throughout the story. What struck me as interesting was the juxtaposition of the loss of someone who was still present (Jack’s mom) vs. the loss of someone who was now absent (Hazel’s dad, Jack). Loss can manifest itself in multitude of ways in children and the attempt to find things that can fill this void (as represented by the enchanted forest and the allure of the Snow Queen) can cause great issue and difficulty. Hazel had to face things in the forest that offered to fill the void that she felt from both the loss of Jack and her father and the sense that she didn’t belong or fit in.

Choices also played a large role in the novel – the choice of Jack to follow the Snow Queen, the decision of Hazel to follow him, the temptations that she had to face in the woods. Hazel comes to understand that some parts of life will be hard or difficult or not go the way we had imagined, but it is what we choose to do with those instances and the choices we make that is most important.

I loved the allusions to other books like Chronicles of Narnia, When You Reach Me, or A Wrinkle in Time. This book would actually pair nicely with any of those for classroom lit circles because similar themes and ideas are touched on. Another book you could pair Breadcrumbs with would be A Tale Dark and Grimm – in both books, the children go on a journey and gain wisdom and understanding. I also love that both are rooted in the classic stories of the Grimm brothers and Hans Christian Andersen.

This is a beautifully written, poetic story about the nature of loss and the power of friendship. You can find it at bookstores and libraries now!

Books to Tickle Your Funny Bone

Posted on September 26, 2011 by jmaschari

My current work-in-progress is about a fifth grader named Matt Muldoon who discovers that his teacher is a zombie. This allows for a lot of uncomfortable and awkward situations (including a pudding explosion and out-of-control robots) that bring humor to the story.

This past weekend, I attended the Northern Ohio Society of Book Writers and Illustrators’ conference which was a fantastic experience (more on that on Wednesday!). One of the workshops I attended was humor writing with Bruce Hale. In addition to learning so much about the craft of humor, it also got me thinking about my very favorite funny books of all time – books that I loved and have inspired my own writing.

NIGHTMARE AT THE BOOK FAIR by Dan Gutman

Trip Dinkleman hates to read but somehow finds himself roped into volunteering at his school’s book fair. After he is knocked out cold by a crate of books, he goes on a fantastic adventure through a series of different genres. This book is super goofy and outlandish – but that is definitely part of its charm. My favorite chapter is “girl’s fiction” (though I don’t believe there is such a thing) because it was so ridiculous and it involved funnel cake. Dan Gutman is an author that my students love to read. I would also suggest his new book THE GENIUS FILES: MISSION UNSTOPPABLE and THE HOMEWORK MACHINE.

SKINNY-BONES by Barbara Park

Author Barbara Park might be known best for writing the series Junie B. Jones for the younger crowd. However, she has two gems of books called Skinny-Bones and Almost Starring Skinny-Bones that are sure to please even the most reluctant of readers. The pair of books star a young man named Alex “Skinnybones” Frankovitch who has a huge mouth that gets him into a lot of trouble! In Skinny-Bones, he challenges the star pitcher to a pitching contest with hilarious results. I remember reading Skinny-Bones for the first time when I was younger and laughing hysterically at Alex’s antics! I highly recommend these short reads for both boys and girls who are looking for a laugh-out-loud book.

THE CHET GECKO MYSTERY SERIES by Bruce Hale

This is a series that I was just introduced to this weekend but am already in love with. Chet Gecko is the best detective at Emerson Hickey Elementary school. Together with his partner, Natalie Attired, they solve mysteries big and small (and tell a lot of jokes in the process). Awesome puns, funny situations, clever quips and a main character who is over-confident make this an awesome series to read. I am looking forward to introducing these books into my classroom. Bruce Hale’s website has some fun extras as well to accompany this series. Check it out here – Chet Gecko Extras Kids will love the opportunity to draw Chet, learn some detective tips from the master himself and get a peek inside Natalie’s joke book.

EMMA JEAN LAZARUS FELL OUT OF A TREE by Lauren Tarshis

Emma-Jean Lazarus is a little bit different than her junior high classmates. A super analytical girl who sees the world in black and white, she just doesn’t understand the messes that some of her classmates get into – messes they could easily avoid. She decides that she will use her observations of the world and student interactions to help her peers with their problems. At first things are working great but things get more complicated when a bully gets involved. The humor of this book comes from Emma-Jean’s character and the interactions with those around her. She is a fantastic, likable character who you empathize with immediately!

What are your favorite middle grade humor books?

Jen Maschari

a blog about writing and reading

Category Archives: Reading