New Book Club and a Symphony of Armpit Farts

The discussion of Dog Man by Dav Pilkey was fun.  The boys spent more time than usual pointing out the merits of the graphic novel.    They were polite to each other, and when they disagreed with someone they would say, “I disagree with you because..”  I thought, “wow what a new civilized group”.  Well when 12 boys get together after school with food and beverages the civility doesn’t last long.  All it takes is one, third grade, boy to change the tune of the meeting.  As the last boy finished the symphony of armpit farts began.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the boys tried to play a song with their armpits.  I knew if I didn’t intervene it was down hill, and no way to get back.  “Hey what did you guys read over break?” I asked.  Luckily for everyone involved they quickly moved on to answering the questions.

A little background about this Guys Read Book Club:  I currently teach at a Title 1 school with a magnificent view of downtown Denver.  We can walk to the a few museums and Denver Public Library’s main branch.  We are, also, a school in which 60% of our students have been either homeless, or in some type of foster care.  It is a tough school.  Our achievement on the state’s test shows that we lag behind students from middle class schools.  There are about 14 boys this year that come to the monthly meeting.  Of the 14, 11 come from homes where English is not the primary language, and at least one parent is a new immigrant.  Four of the boys read significantly below grade level.  All 14 boys are your typical goofy boys.

After 10 years of doing a book club it is exciting and rewarding to see a group of boys come together and participate in a book club.  It is just like any “fun” book club.  We eat, drink, laugh, talk a little bit about the book, talk, laugh, eat… I am very fortunate that I get a grant to buy the books.  Each month the boys get to keep their books.  For some families these are some of the only books that are in the house.

January 2018

I have worked in Title 1 urban schools and in most of them there is a belief that “these kids won’t do that” or “these kids can’t do that”.  I know that if we don’t provide opportunities for kids in Title 1 schools we will never break the cycle.  Is it challenging? YES.  Is it worth it? Look at the picture.  The saying goes “A picture tells a thousand words.”  In the case of these guys the picture tells a million words!

Time Traveling With A Hamster by Ross Welford BLOG TOUR!

ARC complements of Random House

Albert Einstein Hawking Chaudhury (what a great name!) twelfth birthday was not what he expected.  He receives two special birthday gifts.  The first one is a hamster he names Alan Shearer.  The second is a letter from his deceased father.  Al’s father died when he was eight, so it is a bit unexpected.  What is in the letter is even more peculiar.  It describes how he needs to get his dad’s time traveling machine and return to 1984, so he can prevent the go-kart accident that eventually causes his dad’s demise.

Time traveling is not as easy as expected, and messing with time has consequences.  Al meets his dad, and grandpa.  Has to steal, break into houses, and lies to hopefully safe his dad.  I’m not going to tell you more because a little more gives a lot away.

The other night at dinner I told my nephew I was reading a book called Time Traveling with a Hamster. I was telling him about the book and he replied, “Why do so many books have a back story where the parents die in a tragic car crash?”   I told him he was jumping the gun.  I never said there was a car crash, but that his dad had a go-kart accident 30 years ago and that caused the death.  He seemed more interested.  For the record this 10-year-old boy reads numerous books where the parents have tragic deaths, so his concerns lack merit! I’ll be interested to hear his reaction to the book.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Ross Welford is a master at capturing the reader and keeping us on the edge of our seat.  He pulls at our heartstrings with scenes involving a loving grandfather and grieving grandson.  He makes us laugh with scenes of Al “borrowing” his grandpa’s scooter to get to his old house so he can steal the time machine.  He makes it difficult to put down this enjoyable book.

Random House has this as a book for ages 8-12.  I would say closer to the older range.  There is nothing shocking or too upsetting, but I think higher readers and more mature readers will enjoy it more.  It would be a great Guys Read Book Club book if the group is mostly 10-12 year old boys.

I did use the book to model how to “think about my reading”.  I showed my third graders how I had questions while I was reading.  I even showed them a YouTube video about the Geordie dialect because I wasn’t sure what it was.

Like I wrote earlier, I am excited to see what Levi thinks of this book.  I will have to see if he will fit it to his reading.  He is currently rereading the Potter series. Maybe he will take it to school and read it there.  If that happens I will never see the copy again because he passes it around to the other fourth graders.

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Thank you Random House for the copy.
The Rule of Thoughts on sale August 26, 2014

Recently, I received a paperback copy of The Eye of Minds by James Dashner.  The second book in the series The Rule of Thoughts will be released on August 26.  As I lost my self in The Eye of Minds I began thinking of the importance of this book.  I am trying to organize my thoughts to blog about the book, but it hasn’t been easy.  After a brief summary of the book I will explain.

Michael is your average teen.  He is a total gamer.  Michael spends most of his free time in the VirtNet.  A place that seems very real.  At the beginning of the book he attempts to stop someone from killing herself.  Soon Michael finds himself helping the government stop the cyber-terrorist before he kills more.  To do this he enlists his friends to help.  They set off on a mission that is terrifying.

This is all you get about the plot.  However, I have a lot of thoughts about the book.  First off I loved it.  I am not a gamer, but after reading this I can see why so many are sucked into the gaming world.  Second, the characters are very interesting.  It was easy to relate to them and want to see what more will happen.  Finally, with all the focus on getting kids to learn computer coding this book is the perfect portal to have students want to learn coding.

Ok, so the reason I have trouble putting my head around how to do this entry has to do with wanting our readers to be come life long readers.  In other words we don’t want them to just read in our class or during the time they spend with me in guys read.  This summer I am reading Donalyn Miller’s new book Reading in the Wild.  (Very good, and I have some great ideas for the upcoming school year.)  Anyhow, she writes about the same thing.  What can we do to make them continue to love reading after they leave our classroom?

The last 12 months have been kind of tough, but one thing that has helped is one of my previous students consistently stopped by to visit, and even helped during Guys Read.  Ciaran is a wonderful young man.  At times he would stop by just to tell me something he thought was hilarious, or to talk about books.  However, something happened at the end of the school year.  He seemed to loose interest in books.  I am not around him all the time so it is hard to say why.  My gut feeling is that he is just taking a break while trying to figure out how to maneuver the big change of becoming a freshman.  So what can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen often?  I don’t really know, except that if any book is going to get him excited about reading again it will be The Eye of Minds.  I look forward to passing it on to him and hearing his thoughts. I know with sports, jazz band, and making new friends the book his old teacher is dropping off will not be high on his priority list, but when he does read it I hope the book love starts again.

Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson

Truth be told I’m much more a vampire person than a zombie person.  I don’t really know why.  Well, the whole flesh falling off is just a bit too much.  With that said, the buzz recently has been about Boys of Blue by N.D. Wilson.  I really enjoyed Mr. Wilson’s 100 Cupboards series so I decided to give it a try.

Charlie moves to a very small town in Traper, Florida with his mom, sister, and stepfather. They originally come to Traper to attend the funeral of the beloved high school football coach.  Charlie’s step-dad was a pro football player.  Traper is not your ordinary small town.   It is close to the everglades where kids chase rabbits and try to out run the sugarcanes that have been set on fire.  This alone would set it off from other small towns, but Charlie soon discovers that strange things happen in the swamps.

As soon as Charlie arrives he befriends Cotton.  Cotton is a distant step cousin of Charlie.  Charlie, also, discovers that his deadbeat biological father lives in the next town.  Rereading this I expect to hear “And like sand through the hour glass, so are…”. It really isn’t that type of book. 

The boys quickly find themselves engaged in something unnatural in the everglades.  They get to the point where every decision could mean life or death.

N.D. Wilson has a way of sucking in the reader.  The laundry can wait, the weeds will be there tomorrow, and the books accrue an even larger fine from the library, but once I started Boys of Blur I was hooked. I remember as a kid meeting someone and forming an instant connection like what happens to Charlie and Cotton.  There were times where I felt the book was very creepy, but in a good creepy way.  The natural flow of the book made everything fit together and not forced. 

The reading level is 4^th grade, but I would be careful.  In my opinion it is end of 4^th grade or to 7^th grade, but one I will quickly recommend to boys I know.

Will In Scarlet by Matthew Cody

Recently I finished The Shadow Throne by Jennifer A. Nielsen.  It was book three in a wonderfully exciting trilogy.  As I searched my TBR stack for my next book, I realized how much I enjoyed the medieval fantasy genre.  A while back I received Will In Scarlet by Matthew Cody from Random House, but hadn’t started it, so here it was a book that fit into the genre I was looking for.  I really enjoy Mr. Cody’s writing, so I knew I was in for a treat.  Little did I know that it was going to be a huge treat!

Copy from Random House

The legend of Robin Hood is one that has been done in film, books and TV.  Most we wish had never been done.  Yes, Kevin Costner comes to mind.  Matthew Cody’s adaptation is one that is sure to be a hit.  (We are doing Lucy Calking unit of study on Fairy Tale adaptations right now in class.) 

Will in Scarlet is the tale of William Shackley heir to Shackley Castle.  Will’s father is currently traveling with Richard I The Lionheart.  They had been away fighting.  Prince John is ruling England during his brother’s absence and the Sherriff of Nottingham is helping.  Will is thirteen and spends most of his time getting into trouble with his friend Milo.  When the Sherriff arrives at the Shackley Castle with Sir Guy of Gisborne tragedy comes with them.  This sends Will and his mother fleeing to safer places.  Unfortunately, for Will he ends up in Sherwood Forest. 

While trying to stay alive Will befriends Little John, a lad named Much, and a drunk named Rob, that used to be very good with a bow and arrow; and was in love with fair maiden named Marian. To buy time Will tells Gilbert, the leader of the Merry Men that he can get them into Shackley Castle to get rich.  Will’s true reason for going back to his home is to seek revenge on the man that murdered his uncle. 

I really enjoyed this book.  I liked the pace of the book and how Will knew right from wrong, but that often that line had to be blurred for the good of everyone.  The book is gritty, but I can see our guys read book club really enjoying this book.  There is action, good vs. evil, and a pretty girl.  All the things that make for a fun read.  The thing that stands out the most is that it often takes the back stories of a legend to really make them exciting.  I can’t wait for this to come out in paperback, so I can order it for Guys Read.

On a final note I am still waiting for a sequel for the Dead Gentleman.  Hint! Hint!