It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly link up hosted by Kathryn at Book Date . Then, Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers decided to give it a focus on kid’s literature. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their weeks of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.
Books I Finished:
Efrén Divided by Ernesto Cisneros tells the story of Efrén and the disruption and heartache caused when his mother is deported. It is a serious reminder for those of us in education that sometimes we have very little idea of the amount of stress and worry that our students are dealing with.
Spanish was woven into the narration throughout the book and I really enjoyed that. The glossary at the end of the book will be very helpful for readers who do not know Spanish.
I loved this book. It is a great middle grade read. It dealt with some heavy subjects in just the right way for this age level. The reality is that many of our students live with the fear of being separated from their parents daily.
Also, I liked how the author was able to make the story hopeful without making it unrealistic. I highly recommend this book.
Books I’m Reading:
The Art of Coaching is a book that I am reading for professional growth.
I am still reading Personality isn’t Permanent. I have still not made any progress in this book yet. Putting together this blog post is reminding me that I should get back to this one.
I am 85% of the way through this novel. As with other William Kent Krueger novels, I am savoring the descriptions and so intrigued by the plot. This is most likely going to be highly recommended by me very soon. I just need to know how it ends first.
What’s Next:
As is almost always the case, almost all of my holds came in at once. I have a killer line up of books that I am looking forward to: Dear Martin by Nic Stone and Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson are in the mix. I will probably start with one of these and see how far I can get in my ebook pile before they expire.
What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!
Efren divided is on my TBR and I need to get to it .. and your post is my reminder to do so!
The Art of Coaching sounds good
Oh how I remember enjoying Efrén Divided. Good point on it being hopeful, but still realistic. What a tender story! Thanks for sharing and I hope you have a wonderful reading week, Andrea!
I can’t believe I still haven’t read Efrén. I have it on order, but it hasn’t arrived yet and the last time I tried to order it was out of stock. Someday soon I hope to get to it.
What a great set of books! Efrén Divided is heartwrenching but necessary, and I’m glad you liked it! I really enjoyed Before the Ever After a few weeks ago, and I’m hoping to finally get Dear Martin read in the coming weeks! Thanks for the great post!
Efren Divided has done very well with my students. You are right about it being hopeful, yet not too unrealistic. I think one of the teachers is going to look into using it as a lit circle choice.
I have Efrén Divided on my for later shelf at my library. I’m waiting for a break in my reading life to get to it. Ha. It sounds like I should make time for it. I agree that “those of us in education that sometimes we have very little idea of the amount of stress and worry that our students are dealing with.”