2009-2010 Sunshine State Books

The 2009-2010 Sunshine State Readers Book Lists have finally arrived! WHOO HOO!!!

The list for grades 3-5 is pretty exciting!

Drumroll please, . . .

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin
Middle of Somewhere by J.B. Cheaney
The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davis
The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming
Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in It by Sundee T. Frazier
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Defiance by Valerie Hobbs
Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat by Lynne Jonnell
Me and the Pumpkin Queen by Marlane Kennedy
Year of the Dog by Grace Lin
Highway Cats by Janet Taylor Lisle
Punished by David Lubar ***
Night of the Howling Dogs by Graham Salisbury
Crooked Kind of Perfect by Linda Urban

*** I was really excited to see Punished on the list this year. I feel in love with the story when I read it months ago.

This year's list has some amazing books on it and I think the voting will be kind of close at the end of the year.

reading "The Loudest Roar" during storytime

Roscoe Riley Rules # 2 Never Swipe a Bully's Bear by Katherine Applegate

Roscoe Riley has done it again. He's back in the time out corner. This time he remembered that you can't glue your friends to chairs, but he conveniently forgot that stealing the classroom bully's bear is a major no-no.

When Roscoe's stuffed friend Hamilton the pig gets "stolen" from his backpack, he is convinced the classroom bully stole it. So when Roscoe realizes that the bully still brings a bear to school, he takes the bear home to get his pig back.

Of course being Roscoe, things get a little out of hand, but everything turns out in the end.
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I still love Roscoe Riley! This is a fun, quick read and a very enteratining way to remember some of the rules of life you may not actually be told.

Roscoe Riley Rules #1: Never Glue Your Friends to Chairs by Katherine Applegate

The first book in the Roscoe Riley Doesn't Mean to Break the Rules series. Roscoe Riley has a little problem following all the rules the grown-up in his life give him. Whether it's simple rules like don't touch the don't paint the class hamsters green to don't touch the Super-Mega-Gonzo-Glue, Roscoe can't seem to follow them.

Roscoe knows he's not supposed to touch the Super-Mega-Gonzo Glue, but when he notices the "head-bobbles" not staying and bee drummers who would rather have sword or light saber battles, he can't help but use the "grown-up" glue to help save the day.
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I love Roscoe Riley. He reminds me of a couple of my cousins when we were little. Younger, new-to-chapter-book elementary school children will love this story simply because Roscoe is just like them. Also, teachers will get a kick out of the semi-accurate description of 1st graders anticipating an open-house.

2008 World Stack Up Day Wrap Up

Okay, so this post is a couple days late, sorry Allie.

On Thursday 13 November 2008, I held a program for 8-11 year olds and their families. The program was in honor of Guiness World Record Day and we were attempting to help the World Sport Stacking Association (WSSA) break the record for "The Most People Sport Stacking in Multiple Locations in One Day". My program was awesome if I do say so myself with a total of 40 people interacting with the cups that day!! I had set up a relay course for the kids and tables set up for competitions. Also on one side of the room, I had table set up for newbies to try their hand at stacking. The kids and parents LOVED the program and it was a blast!

As of 8:48 pm on Tuesday 18 November 2008, there was a record breaking number of 200,495 people who Stacked It Up!!!! Whoo HOO!!!!!! Last years record was 143,530 so we definitely helped to shatter it. Thanks to everyone who came or thought about us on Thursday.

No More Dead Dogs by Gordan Korman

Wallace Wallace (no, that's not a typo) doesn't lie. He absolutely refuses to lie. His father lies all the time to Wallace and about silly things. Since Wallace hates that his father lies constantly, he decides to NEVER lie. A decision that will get him in to a ton of trouble later, especially when he has to write a review on a book called Old Shep, My Pal (not a real book) and hates the book with a passion. His English teacher, Mr. Fogelman refuses to accept the paper and makes Wallace attend rehearsals for the upcoming school play, Old Shep, My Pal directed by the one and only Mr. Fogelman (go figure). Needless to say, this does not go very well. While on detention, Wallace Wallace can not even play football. (He was last season's hero, accidentally.) For Wallace, banishment from the team is horrible, but he refuses to jeopardize his morals to lie about a book he absolutely hated. Even when his team starts to turn away from him and someone starts to sabotage the play, Wallace sticks to his principles and refuses to lie. When the sabotage points to Wallace, he continues to tell the truth and eventually becomes the school pariah.

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No More Dead Dogs is a decent book. I have to admit, I hated 2/3 of the book, but eventually began to like it a little. I was annoyed by the constant pov shifts-- from Wallace to Rachel to Wallace to Rachel to Wallace to Trudi to Mr. Fogelman, it was excessive. The chapters were short, so by the time I was able to get into one characters head, it was time to shift to another person. I think Gordan Korman would have been better off keeping this story in one P.O.V. instead of five.

The part of this book that aggravated me the most has to be Wallace Wallace being punished for telling the TRUTH!!! Honesty is probably the most important character trait a person can have and what does this book do, it trashes honesty. First with Wallace's father lying all the time to look important to his son, then the English teacher refusing to accept an essay because he doesn't agree with it, to Wallace's team trying to get him to lie and say he loved the book. Throughout No More Dead Dogs we are shown that honesty is not as important as pleasing other people and that's wrong.

WHOO HOO!! WSSA 2008 STACK UP ALL STAR TEAM!

Just a short update to let all my one reader know that my library system has been added to the 2008 WSSA (World Sport Stacking Association) Stack Up All Star Team for the World Stack Up Day event!!! More details will come at a later date and be on the look out because on Thursday or Friday I will update about the program itself. WHOO HOO!!!