The Magnificent Mya Tibbs:

Spirit Week Showdown

by Crystal Allen

Allen, C. (2016). The magnificent Mya Tibbs: Spirit week showdown.  New York, NY: Balzer + Bray.

Fourth grader Mya Tibbs is super excited.  Spirit week is coming and she just knows that her and her super popular best friend Naomi are going to win the grand prize...VIP tickets to the fall festival!  She even made a pinky promise with Naomi that they would be spirit week partners and she would do anything she could to help Naomi win.  Of course things don't go quite as planned when the students are asked to draw the name of their spirit week partner out of a hat and Mya selects none other than the school bully, Mean Connie Tate.  When Mean Connie flat out refuses to switch partners, Mya is stuck, and now Naomi is telling everyone that Mya broke a pinky promise and is getting them to call her "Mya Tibbs Fibs."  But what could she do?  Did Naomi really expect her stand up to the school bully?!  Mya is devastated and determined to do anything she can to win back her best friend.  Reluctantly, at the teacher's insistence, Mya begins spending time with Connie planning for each day of spirit week.  As the two girls spend more and more time together, Mya begins to realize some things; first of all she hasn't actually seen or heard Connie do even one mean thing, and two, her and Connie actually have quite a bit in common.  As nice as Connie seems, Mya still wants to reclaim her spot as Naomi's best friend, even if that means betraying her new "friend."  When Mya reveals her and Connie's plans for spirit week outfits to Naomi to give her an edge, she just knows that Naomi will welcome her back with open arms.  But when Naomi threatens to tell Connie of Mya's betrayal, unless Mya can make her brother, Nugget, like her, Mya starts to think that maybe her and Naomi were never really best friends after all.  Will Naomi ever accept Mya back?  How will Connie react when she finds out her partner spilled their secrets to her arch nemesis?  Find out all the valuable lessons Mya learns about friendship when you read 2017-2018 Texas Bluebonnet Nominee The Magnificent Mya Tibbs: Spirit Week Showdown.  Students in grades 3-6 will adore this book.

Spirit Week Showdown Book Trailer

Activities and Resources for Spirit Week Showdown

Interview with the author Crystal Allen

The Great Shelby Holmes

by Elizabeth Eulberg

Eulberg, E. (2016). The great Shelby Holmes.  New York, NY: Bloomsbury.

After the separation of his parents, 11 year-old John Watson has just moved to a New York City apartment with his mom.  After living on numerous Army bases throughout his life, John is used to having to start over with new friends, schools, and such, but this big city is somewhat of a culture shock.  Will he ever be able to make friends in a place like this?  Enter 9 year-old Shelby Holmes...Detective Shelby Holmes that is.  Within about two minutes of meeting her, she's practically figured out their life story and solved the mystery of the broken mirror.  John can't help but be intrigued, even if she is a bit on the young side.  A reluctant Shelby ends up showing John around the city and he's amazed that everyone seems to know and admire this girl.  What is her deal?  It's definitely not her friendly disposition, as she's actually kind of rude with a know it all attitude.  It turns out Shelby has helped all of these people in one way or another with particular cases, including some that the police couldn't even solve.  While she may not be a great friend, hanging out with her has to be more interesting that sitting alone at home unpacking boxes.  As the pair are out one morning walking Shelby's dog, Tamra, a girl in Shelby's grade, approaches and exclaims that her dog has gone missing 3 days before the big dog show.  Shelby, with John in tow, makes it her mission to find the missing dog, leaving no stone unturned.  When she begins crawling around on the floor and acting like a dog, John begins to wonder what he has gotten himself into.  Perhaps he should just ditch Shelby and go play basketball with Tamra's brother Zane and his friends instead.  But he's got to admit that this case has gotten interesting and he really wants to know who took the missing dog.  Plus maybe Shelby could actually use his help, not to mention a friend of her own.  With some persistent sleuthing and a bit of teamwork, these two not only find Tamra's dog, but something much more important...a friend.

Shelby's use of language would make this book an excellent choice for working on vocabulary.  It would also make a great choice for teaching lessons on making predictions.  This Texas Bluebonnet Nominee, the first in a series, would most likely be enjoyed by students in grades 3-6.

Book Trailer for The Great Shelby Holmes

Activities and Resources for Use with The Great Shelby Holmes

Discussion Questions for The Great Shelby Holmes from Teachers Pay Teachers

Soar

by Joan Bauer

Bauer, J. (2016). Soar.  New York, NY: Viking.

Jeremiah is 12 years old, at least he thinks he is.  Abandoned as an infant in the snack room of a computer company the doctors could only assume his age.  Luckily Jeremiah, chewing on his stuffed eagle, was found by a kind hearted computer programmer named Walt who decided to take him in and adopt him as his own son.  Walt, a former baseball player in school, loves the game and shares his passion and knowledge of the sport with his new son.  Jeremiah develops a love of baseball as well and has big dreams, until all of a sudden they are dashed when he is forced to have a heart transplant.  Well if he can't actually play ball, he'll do the next best thing, he sets his sights on becoming a coach.  It just so happens that Walt has been transferred to Hillcrest, Ohio, a town known for it's championship baseball team.  Jeremiah couldn't be more excited to watch the Hornet's kill it on the ball field.  But when the star player suddenly dies, and Coach Perkins is accused of giving his players performance enhancing drugs, the town erupts in scandal and it seems like Hillcrest's days of baseball and glory are over.  So where does that leave Jeremiah?  He can't stand to watch his beloved sport smeared and dying in this town, and takes it upon himself to rally up some of his middle school classmates to form their own team.  But will anyone ever take them seriously?  Has the damage to baseball's reputation in this town been done?  Can he really take this group of kids and turn them into real ball players?  One thing he learns for sure is that it is not all about winning or losing, but how you play and never giving up.  I would recommend this Texas Bluebonnet Nominee for students in grades 4-8, and think it will have a special appeal to males and sports lovers.

Book Trailer for Soar

Activities and Resources to Use With Soar

Unidentified Suburban Object

by Mike Jung

Jung, M. (2016). Unidentified suburban object.  New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books.

Soon to be seventh grader Chloe Cho and her family are the only Koreans in her entire town.  In fact they're the only Asians in her whole town, and she's getting really tired of people who think all Asians are only either Chinese or Japanese and they can't even tell the difference. And don't even get her started on Asian stereotypes or compare her to world famous violinist Abigail Yang!  Luckily she has her best friend Shelly who is also a super smart teacher's pet, in the band, and loves the fact that Chloe is Korean, to keep her sane.  But, this year could be different.  This year Chloe has a new teacher, Ms. Lee, who is new to the area and is also Korean.  This is just fantastic.  You see, anytime Chloe broaches the subject of her family's history or being from Korea, her parents ALWAYS change the subject.  Whether it's something deep like about family members or their past, or something more fun like food or clothing, Chloe can never get a straight answer from them and it is infuriating.  Perhaps this new teacher will provide Chloe with some of the information she so desperately seeks.  Of course it's also possible that her search for answers will lead her to a family history that she never could have expected!  After Ms. Lee accuses Chloe of plagiarism on a story about their family history, an angry Chloe confronts her father about the story he told her.  Together, Chloe's parents explain to her that they are in fact NOT from Korea, but are aliens from the planet Tau Ceti.  This revelation leads Chloe down a path of denial, self destruction, and a lot more questions than answers.  Can Chloe and Shelly's friendship survive?  Will Chloe finally find self acceptance?  Read 2017-2018 Texas Bluebonnet Nominee Unidentified Suburban Object to find out.  Recommended for grades 4-8.

Book Trailer for Unidentified Suburban Object

Discussion Guide for Unidentified Suburban Object

Interview with Author Mike Jung

The Best Man

by Richard Peck

Peck. R. (2016).  The best man.  New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.

     Archer is the best man in his uncle's wedding, who just happens to be marrying his new student teacher; another man. Of course before he can tell this story, he has to take you back to the first wedding he was in... where he ripped his pants, had to walk down the aisle exposing his bottom, and met his very best friend Lynette.  Archer recounts his years in elementary school through a humorous narrative that all students will be able to relate to.  There are the bullies, the teachers (both the great and not so much), the student from another country, oh, and the incident that brought out the SWAT team and local news media.  The story progresses through the sixth grade, which used to be part of the elementary school, but has now been moved into the high school.  We see much of the expected; growth spurts, attitude changes, and questioning of the kind of person they want to be.  This Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee would be most enjoyed by students in grades 4-6.

The Best Man Book Trailer

TBA Activities and Resources for The Best Man

Rodeo Red 

by Maripat Perkins

Perkins, M. (2015). Rodeo Red. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree.

Rodeo Red and her best friend Rusty, a stuffed hound dog, are living the good life until the arrival of Sideswiping Slim, a new baby brother.  Despite the fact that this "scallywag" does nothing but holler, destroy her things and even steals her beloved Rusty, her parents (the Sheriff and her Deputy) seem "smitten."  When her "city slicker" of an aunt sends her a belated birthday gift, "some sort of varnished varmint" (stuffed cat), she comes up with a plan to outwit her new brother and get her best friend back.

The highlight of this text describing the age old issue of sibling rivalry has to be Perkins’ extensive use of language that seems to come from straight out of the old west.  When punished for trying to retrieve her toy from her baby brother, her mother, “dropped me into a holding cell quicker than you could say lickety-split.  I was madder than a bee in a Sunday bonnet.”

Molly Idle does a great job of combining all the visual elements to convey an image that blends reality with Red’s imagination.  She uses soft, rounded lines and muted pastel colors to add some old west flavor, such as Red’s cowgirl hat, the saloon style doors in the home and even small touches like the sheriff’s badge adorning the mother’s neckline and father’s cuffs. 

Podcast Interview with Maripat Perkins

This is Not My Hat 
by Jon Klassen

Klassen, J. (2012). This is Not My Hat. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.

Little fish is excited because he has a hat and it fits just right. Unfortunately the hat does not belong to him. It belongs to a much bigger fish who had it stolen right off his head! Unbeknownst to little fish who thinks he is getting away unnoticed, the hat's owner is on his trail. When the witness who said he wouldn't tell spills the beans, things don't turn out quite the way little fish had hoped.

With very basic and minimal text, much of the humor of the story is told through the illustrations, such as in the big fish’s eyes and the crab pointing the way to the culprit.  Though the ending is not specifically stated in the text, the reader is left to infer the outcome based on the pictures.  

The dominant shape in This is Not My Hat is the oval.  Used to not only represent the main characters of big and little fish, ovals are also used to illustrate the underwater setting’s plants throughout the story.  This is significant in that little fish believes he can hide and will be safe in the tall plants.  The shape of the larger fishes’ eye is very telling as well, as you really gain a sense of his thoughts and emotions through even the slightest change in its shape and direction.

Book Trailer for This is Not My Hat

My Teacher is a Monster! 

by Peter Brown

Brown, P. (2014). My Teacher is a Monster! New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. 

She roars, she stomps, she keeps children in from recess; Bobby's teacher is a real monster.  One Saturday as Bobby is happily going along to his favorite spot in the park, he finds a terrible surprise... Ms. Kirby is at the park!  He feels trapped, what should he do?  He can't run away.  As Bobby forces himself to sit down and make small talk with his teacher, a gust of wind carries off Ms. Kirby's hat and he comes to the rescue.  What happens next is beautiful as teacher and student spend a bit of time together, and Bobby comes to see his teacher as a real person and not necessarily the monster he thought she was.  But honestly, don't we all have a little monster in us?

A student thinking their teacher is a monster is not exactly a new idea.  Teachers have to raise their voices and correct misbehavior and sometimes to children that can come across as “monstrous.”  However, when Bobby accidentally runs into his teacher, Ms. Kirby, in the park and they spend some real time together outside of class, he begins to see her more than just a disciplinarian and “monster”.  The theme of getting to know a person before passing judgment on them is strong and Brown does a terrific job of illustrating how Bobby’s perception of his teacher changes when she goes from an actual green monster to a real person.  

In My Teacher is a Monster, Brown creatively uses shapes to illustrate Bobby’s view of his teacher.  As the story begins Ms. Kirby is depicted as the monster Bobby sees her as, with a large awkwardly shaped green head, big circular nostrils, and sharp, pointy triangular shaped teeth and claws.  As the story progresses and Bobby comes to know his teacher on a more personal level, we see her features begin to soften and round out until eventually she takes on the same shapes and coloring as the children in the story.

Lesson Plans for Use with My Teacher is a Monster!

My Teacher is a Monster! Read Aloud

Princess Labelmaker to the Rescue:

An Oragami Yoda Book

by Tom Angleberger

Angleberger, T. (2014). Princess Labelmaker to the rescue: An oragami Yoda book. New York, NY: Amulet Books.

The perfect book to go along with the recent hot topic discussion about standardized testing and “teaching to the test”.  Forced to participate in ‘FunTime’, a test prep video series with “cool” (lame) songs such as Oppa Funtime Style, a take on Gangam Style with Professor FunTime and his talking calculator, Gizmo, the students at McQuarrie Middle School are fed up. They have had all their fun extracurriculars taken away as the district shells out thousands on this FunTime program that the students hate.  The Rebel alliance has decided that as a whole they will do poorly on the test, actually they will barely pass so as not to be retained, to bring down the scores of the school to protest this new program.  The students are in for a surprise when the principal, Mrs. Rabbski, receives the case files and while they fear they will be in trouble, she actually sides with the students and backs them against the school board refusing to utilize the program at the school any longer.  Using origami Star Wars characters and phrases straight out of the movie, this book is sure to be a big hit with middle grade Star Wars fans.  

Tom Angleberger's Oragami Yoda Website

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Alexander, K. (2014). The crossover. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Twelve-year-old Josh Bell, aka Filthy McNasty, is a basketball phenom.  He aims to be the next Kevin Durant or LeBron James.  His twin brother Jordan is just as good and idolizes another great, Michael Jordan.  The boys inherited their love of the game from the father, a former professional basketball player, Chuck “Da Man” Bell.  Everything is going great, the team is on their way to the championship and it seems that these boys just cannot be stopped.  Then a new girl in school catches Jordan’s attention and leaves Josh feeling more alone than ever.  As if that wasn’t enough, mom seems very concerned about their father’s health and the boys are starting to wonder if maybe they should be worried.  This story of family relationships, sibling dynamics and middle school drama is brilliantly told in a poetic form that upper elementary students and middle schoolers will not want to put down.  A great recommendation for reluctant readers!

In addition to family relationships the overriding theme of this story is basketball.  It’s what the men in this family live for.  If they’re not out on the court destroying other middle school teams, they’re shooting free throws in the driveway or hanging out at the rec center organizing games.  Alexander even uses the structure of basketball to divide the story into “quarters” rather than chapters and delivers life lessons in the form of “basketball rules.”  Novel-in-verse is the style of this book and Alexander does an amazing job of weaving in all the excitement of game play-by-plays to Josh’s inner struggles with his life and family in a form that is pure poetry in motion.

Lesson Plans for Use with The Crossover

Time for Kids Interview with Kwame Alexander

The Snowy Day

by Ezra Jack Keats

Keats, E. J. (1962). The snowy day. New York, NY: The Viking Press.

          Young Peter awakes one morning to find that snow had fallen while he slept and now covers everything as far as he can see.  After eating breakfast, he throws on his snowsuit and runs outside to discover that snow is piled up very high along the street.  As he walks along the snow he tries making different patterns with his feet and then with a stick he finds.  He smacks snow covered trees, makes a snowman and snow angels, and contemplates joining in a snowball fight with older boys.  He is a typical young boy doing all the things any young child would do when they awaken to the first snow fall.  He pretends to be a mountain climber, then slides down.  He gathers up some snow and packs it tight to save in his pocket for tomorrow.  Then Peter goes in, takes off his wet clothes and takes a nice warm bath while telling his mom all about his adventures of the day.  Before bed that night, Peter sadly discovers that his snowball is no longer in his pocket; only a large wet spot remains.  That night Peter dreams of the sun shining in the sky, melting away all the snow.  However when he wakes the next morning, he finds there is even more snow falling, and he ventures out again, this time with a friend, to have new adventures.  This Caldecott Honor book would be the perfect addition to a K-1 unit study on Winter or an author study on Ezra Jack Keats.

The Snowy Day Read Aloud/Interactive Book

35 Crafts, Activities, and Printables to go along with The Snowy Day

Ezra Jack Keats Foundation

Ezra Jack Keats Teaching Guide

The Bad Guys

by Aaron Blabey

Blabey, A. (2015). The bad guys.  New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

          Mr. Wolf might have a long rap sheet of bad deeds including blowing down houses and attempting to eat old women and their granddaughters, but that doesn't mean he's a bad guy!  Everything you've heard up until now has been a lie.  He really is a NICE guy.  And it's not just him...he has a few friends who also have undeserved reputations and have been unjustly labeled as "Bad Guys."  They include Mr. Snake, Mr. Piranha and Mr. Shark.  Forget the fact that they just want to eat everyone, because Mr. Wolf has a brilliant plan.  No longer will they be the villains, eliciting screams and fear from those they meet.  As of today, these 4 friends are now known as the "Good Guys Club."  They'll drive around in their wicked cool car, rescuing kitties from trees and dogs from the pound.  They'll be heroes!   Even reluctant readers will delight in the friends' humorous dialog and antics in this first book of a brand new graphic novel series from author-illustrator Aaron Blabey, author of the Pig the Pug series.  Recommended for students in grades 1-3, but enjoyable for all ages!

Scholastic Teaching Resource for The Bad Guys

Book Trailer for The Bad Guys

The Last Kids on Earth

by Max Brallier

Brallier, M. (2015.) The last kids on earth. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.

Jack Sullivan was pretty much your typical 13 year old boy.  Well except the fact that he was technically an orphan and bounced around from foster home to foster home most of his life.  But 42 days ago when the monster apocalypse hit, his foster family hightailed it west looking for safety and left him behind to fend for himself.  So what is a boy to do all on his own in a town swarming with gigantic monsters and former inhabitants that have been zombified?  Well for starters he takes refuge in his "scummy little foster" brother's tree house and after some major additions has the place better defended than Fort Knox.  Now that he's feeling a little more secure, he's decided to seek out his best friend, Quint, who he hasn't seen since the day the monsters first struck.  Thankfully he does finally reunite with Quint, as well as Dirk, the resident bully who never passed up a chance to give Jack and Quint a hard time.  Of course every true hero must rescue his "damsel in distress" and Jack is no different.  Jack has his sights set on June Del Toro, editor of the school paper and his current love interest.  The last time he saw her was also the first day of the apocalypse where they locked eyes and then she disappeared into the school.  With Quint and Dirk's help, he is determined to save the love of his life, but as it turns out June is more than capable of taking care of herself.  With the giant monster Blarg hot on Jack's trail and every zombie in town surrounding the school, the 4 teens will have to work together to escape and make it back to the ultra fortified tree house.  Douglas Holgate's black and white comic type illustrations not only bring the characters to life, but add much humor to the story.  This book will be a big hit with students in grades 4-6 and is a great recommendation for reluctant readers.  It is also on the list of Bluebonnet Nominees for 2017-2018.

Interview with Max Brallier

Last Kids On Earth Book Trailer