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READING STYLE GUIDE

Being Human

10/31/2016

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The Diabolic by S. J. Kincaid

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It begins with the cover. The intriguing image of a half realistic/ half mechanical butterfly informs readers that The Diabolic examines some fascinating ideas.  S. J. Kincaid's blend of intense action, SF,  and romance is an intriguing study of what it means to be human.
Nemesis is a Diabolic, an individual who has been engineered and programmed to kill.  She is imprinted to protect Sidonia, the daughter of Senator von Impyrean. Events take an unexpected turn when this Diabolic must take on the identity of Sidonia. Impersonating a caring, feeling person is not something that Nemesis has been programmed to do.  In a world filled with deception and destruction, can a Diabolic find her humanity?

What Does It Mean to Be Human?

Nemesis struggles with her identity.  Who is she? Is she a monster? Does she have a soul?
​Kincaid's exploration of what constitutes one's humanity is woven throughout the narrative. Here are a few of Nemesis observations on her identity. Many of her thoughts make excellent questions for further discussion.
  • "I'm not your friend. Friends are equals. We're not... I'm not here to be a companion. I'm a murderer, here to kill for you or die for you as needed. I'm your tool, your weapon - your property."
  • "I surveyed the effect in the mirror. I didn't recognize this person staring back..."
  • "I didn't bother carrying a weapon. I was the weapon."
  • "I'd laughed. Laughed. ...Whatever was the matter with me?"
  • "Or we're talking about a girl," said Donia softly. "A girl who grows up treated like a monster, so she thinks of herself that way..."
  • "My thoughts turned to all those lives I'd taken over the year. Doing that made me a good Diabolic. Being a good Diabolic meant being a hideous person."
  • "the subtleties of the way people - real people - thought and acted and felt were beyond me."
  • "Then let your heart tell you the truth. I know you have one."
  • "You glow like a star, Nemesis. A beautiful star... You're a supernova."
  • "You do have a divine spark."
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One Purse: Two Girls. Two Stories.

10/25/2016

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Threads by Ami Polonsky

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​Two girls: a twelve-year-old from Illinois and a thirteen-year-old living in China.
​One purse connects them.
     Yuming, abducted and forced to sew purses in a factory outside of Beijing is desperately searching for an escape.  Along with twenty two children she has become a prisoner and a slave.  Her main source of solace is memories of her deceased grandmother. Her primary source of hope is to be reunited with her brother and return to the rice fields of her village. One day she makes a bold move, and hastily scrawls a note pleading for help. She includes the note and a precious family photo inside a purse, hoping that it will find its way into the hands of someone who can rescue her.
     Clara is haunted by memories of her adopted sister Lola, who recently died of cancer. Lola's ghost fills Clara's days and nights. One day she discovers a purse, containing a cry for help and a photo of a Chinese family at the Beijing location where she and Lola played together. Clara becomes obsessed with finding the girl in the photo, convinced that this girl will fill the emotional emptiness in her heart. She persuades her parents to make a pilgrimage to China in her sister's memory.
     Told through alternating voices, Threads follows the journey a photograph hidden inside of a Chinese purse and the two girls who are aware of its existence. Because they do not know each other, the girls' paths cross without their knowledge. The search for what is missing from their respective lives is at times harrowing and often heartbreaking. The conclusion is bittersweet. The girls never meet, but both find resolution to painful circumstances and are able to move forward with their lives. 
     Readers will find several connecting threads and themes woven throughout Ami Polonsky's thoughtful and poignant book.

Followup Discussion

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While reading this book, I was horrified to see the "Made in China" label inside items of clothing in my closet. I immediately wondered about who had created these things. What it indeed a child?
​This book offers opportunities to research the complexities child labor throughout the world.  Young readers may want to identify countries where the exploitation of young children exists.  They may want to identify steps taken to protect young children throughout the world working in sweatshops.

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Teeny Tiny Treat

10/24/2016

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A Teeny Tiny Halloween by Lauren L Wohl ill by Henry Cole

Just in time for Hallowen is this delightful rif on the teeny tiny woman folktale.  
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A Teeny Tiny Halloween cover art features a view of a charming little house, overwhelmed with autumn leaves. Comparing the size of the leaves with the size of the house informs the reader that this is indeed a very small house. As darkness falls and leaves begin to blanket the house, the teeny tiny woman living inside begins to be fearful and cries out, "Oh, who will save me?"  An oil lamp illuminates her face, revealing her rising terror as her cries for help go unheeded.
What to do? This resourceful woman tries making noise with various kitchen utensils. These baking implements give her an idea and she formulates a plan to attract rescuers. 
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Help comes in the form of a cat, a ghost, and a witch who get to work, removing the mountain of leaves and uncovering the source of the delicious aroma wafting from inside the house. 
​
​Wahl's use of expressive language begs to be read aloud. 
The cat kicks away dry leaves: crackle crackle.
The witch sweeps leaves with her broom: swoosh, swish.
The ghost fans leaves away with billowing sleeves: whooooo, whoooo. 
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Text size and placement enhance the storytelling experience.
​ 
"Oh, who will save me?" cries the 
teeny tiny woman in her teeny tiny voice.
No one hears her.
​Cole captures the expressive faces of the teeny tiny woman and the little treat-seeking hobgoblins. Note: Love the charming details. Take a look at the witch's monstrous green nose.
The Teeny Tiny Halloween is a storytelling treat.  Don't forget to add some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.
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Freshly Baked 

10/24/2016

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Nanette's Baguette by Mo Willems


It's frogs. It's France. It's the irresistible aroma of freshly baked bread. It's an understanding mother. It's eye-popping illustrations. It's wordplay and rhyming.
​
It's Nanette's Baguette.  

​It's Mo Willems at his best.
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​
​How many words rhyme with baguette?

Ready. Set. Go.
​Start with...

Nanette  Juliette regret  beset  yet  forget  pet  wet  get  jet, quartet Georgette  Suzette  Bret  clarinet  Antoinette...
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​Check out this stop motion video of Willem's paper-crafted recreation for the French village that is featured in his latest picture book.
​C'est magnifique!
Fun Things to Do:
  • Using small milk cartons and other boxes, make a paper model of your own community.
  • Learn about baking bread. Try making mini-loaves of bread, either from scratch or from frozen bread dough. Use all the senses to see, smell, touch, taste, and eat the bread. Discover what makes freshly-baked bread irresistible.
  • Discover rhyming words. Make your own display of rhyming words, maybe with a cloud of words, either with colored paper or digitally.​
  • ​Read the book to a friend and share your favorite words, sounds, pictures. Then let your friend read the book to you and discover your friend's favorite words, sounds, and pictures.
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A Creature Called Hope

10/17/2016

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People have a habit of forgetting about the Small Things. But just because something (or someone) is small doesn't mean they aren't important. They can do stupendous, awe-inspiring, heroic things.

Hercufleas by Sam Gayton

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​Look. Look close.
Closer.
Closer still.  
​It's miniscule. It's wingless. It's a parasite.
​It's a ..... flea.

Seriously, a middle grade book about a flea?
Wait... This is no commonplace flea.  ​Meet Hercufleas, a flea who dreams of life beyond the ordinary. From birth, this is an insect destined for greatness.
The village of Tumber is being destroyed by a monster. When the strongest and fiercest opponents have been unable to stop his unrelenting siege of terror, Greta seeks a hero who will save her town from destruction. She decides to place her faith in a flea. This determined girl convinces him to leave his family and set off with her on what he believes will be an adventure.
It turns out to be considerably more than he anticipated. Greta expects results. Greta expects saving Tumber. Greta expects him to be her hero. 
He learns that being a hero is much more than he envisioned. It can be frightening and require courage to face the unknown.  Add to this a generous dose of gross-out moments. Imagine a flea stuck inside the monster's nostrils. Yes, it's that disgusting. 
Gayton's book is filled with heart, humor and clever wordplay.  Ultimately this is a story of determination, courage, and hope.
​"There is always another way. You just have to believe."
​"We are all fleas on the back of a creature called Hope."
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​"you're unbefleavable"
"you're parasiticulous"
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Going Vertical

10/14/2016

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The Highest Mountain of Books in the World by Rocio Bonilla

"There are other ways to fly Lucas."
From the time that he was an infant, Lucas was obsessed with one thing: flying. Looking towards the heavens, he dreamed of taking flight like a bird.  He tried creating his own sets of wings and then launching into the air from off of his bed. Failed attempts did not deter him. Lucas wanted nothing more than to take flight. It was his only wish. 
​One day, his mother places a book in his hands. Lucas is captivated by the contents of the book and begins to read voraciously. He discovers another way to fly.His world is filled with information and ideas and books. Lots and lots of books. He owns so many books that his stack of books becomes The Highest Mountain of Books in the World. 
The book is bursting with visual homages to children's literary classics.
​Bonilla's charming text and delightful illustrations are a heart-warming tribute to the joys of reading.  ​

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Wouldn't it be fun to build a mountain of books?
It's a daunting task and not particularly practical.
I searched for an application for the "mountain of books" concept.
There are many charts of various configurations to log books read, but most involve filling in boxes on a sheet of paper.
Why not think vertically?
It would be possible to create vertical charts, similar to those used to record a child's height?  While such an idea is possible, it seems awkward and unwieldy to maintain. 
​
But what if...
A log of reading was a length of string and books read became "kite tails"?  Book titles could be added to the string and suspended from the ceiling or top of a bulletin board. Because the tail is relatively lightweight and doesn't require staples or glue to maintain, it can be a simple visual recognition and celebration of books read.
The kite tail fits well with the concept of flight and creating a vertical record dovetails nicely with the message of this book.

Let reading take flight!
​
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When Words are More Than Words

10/10/2016

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The Raven King by Maggie Stievfater

“He was a book, and he was holding his final pages, and he wanted to get to the end to find out how it went, and he didn't want it to be over.” 
It was a sad day.  I was coming to the conclusion of The Raven King, the final volume in The Raven Cycle and the realization sunk in: the story of Gansy, Blue, Ronan, Adam, and Noah was coming to an end.
Finis.
My reading slowed down. I kept going back and rereading, postponing the inevitable day when I would have to read the final chapter, the final paragraph, the final sentence, the final word.
This series is magnificent. The prose is gorgeous.  The characters are so well delineated that they become "people you want to hang out with". The cycle is as sweeping and thrilling and achingly wondrous as I knew that it would be. 
Maggie Stiefvater's vividly painted palette of words continues to haunt me. Thank you Maggie, for creating The Raven Cycle.
Postscript: I am looking forward to the continuation of Ronan's story, with a new three volume series recently announced by Stievfater.
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New Waters

10/3/2016

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Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea by Ben Clanton

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Meet Narwhal and Jelly. Together they form one of the most unlikely friendships that you will ever encounter.
One would think that the fun-loving narwhal would have little in common with a jellyfish. That would be a mistake. They are aquatic friends who share a love for... waffles.
​How Clanton ever came up with the idea of this unlikely friendship escapes me. But it works. Completely and charmingly works.


​Narwhal decides to form a pod: a group of friends to share a love of waffles and ocean adventures.
All that is needed to become a member of this auspicious group is a tusk tooth. Among all the other ocean dwellers, not one has this distinctive feature. Fortunately Narwhal is equipped with a supply of faux horns so that all of his friends may join in the fun.

​Through a series of short stories, told in panel form, readers share in the adventures of Narwhal and his friends. It's the perfect early graphic novel form for young readers, a delightful introduction to some interesting aquatic animals, and an excellent choice for Early Readers.
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Filled with friendship, puns, and fun. In the words of Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea this book is podtastic!
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Companion book

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Wendell the Narwhal by Emily Dove
Can Wendell and the other ocean dwellers blend their sounds together to create an aquatic symphony?

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    Barbara Moon

    I like talking about books and  interesting ideas. I like thinking about how books affect my life. Not particularly interested in giving out stars or in rating books. 

    Audio Publishers Association
    2013, - present  Audies judge 
    American Library Association Book Awards and Lists 
    ​2017 YALSA Award Nominating Committee
    2016 Excellence in Nonfiction 
    2014 Margaret Edwards Award
    2012 Odyssey Awards.  
    2009, 2010, 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

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