Grace

=Book Log=
 * # || =Book Title= || =Author= || =E, JR, C= || =Date Completed= ||
 * ==1== || I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916 || Laren Tarish || E || Summer ||
 * ==2== || The Familers || Adam Jay Epstien and Andrew Jacobson || JR || Summer ||
 * ==3== || Liar and Spy || Rebecca Stead || JR || Summer ||
 * ==4== || The Friendship Matchmaker || Randa Abdel-Fattah || JR || 2 weeks before 9/16ish ||
 * ==5== || The Fenwaypark Foul-up || David A. Kelly || E || 9/15 ||
 * ==6== || Little Dog Lost || Marion Dane Bauer || JR || Summer ||
 * ===**7**=== || Whatever After Sink or Swim || Sarah Mlynowski || JR || 9/13 ||
 * ===**8**=== || I Survived The Bombing of Pearl Harbor || Lauren Tarish || E || 9/23 ||
 * ===**9**=== || White Fur Flying || Patricia MacLachlan || E/JR || 9/24 ||
 * ===**10**=== || Capture the Flag || Kate Messner || JR || 10/28ish ||
 * ===**11**=== || Surviving The Applewhites || Stephanie S. Tolan || JR/C || 12/17ish ||
 * ===**12**=== || Whatever After If the Shoe Fits || Sarah Mlynowski || JR || 11/21ish ||
 * ===**13**=== || Whatever After Bad Hair Day || Sarah Mlynowski || JR || 11/28ish ||
 * ===**14**=== || When Life Gives You OJ || Erica S. Perl || JR/C || 3/1 ||
 * ===**15**=== || Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Long Haul || Jeff Kinney || E || 3/2 ||
 * ===**16**=== || The Secret Chicken Society || Judy Cox || E || 1/16ish? ||
 * ===**17**=== || Tortilla Sun || Jennifer Cervantes || Read Aloud || 12/12ish ||
 * ===**18**=== || The Lost Treasure of the TuckerNuck || Emily Fairlie || Read Aloud ||  ||

Mrs. Palmieri recommends...

 * ==#== || ==Book Title== || ==Author== ||
 * ==1== || The Applewhites at Wits End || S. Tolan ||
 * ==2== ||  ||   ||
 * ==3== ||  ||   ||
 * ==4== ||  ||   ||

Dear Mrs. Palmieri,

l really am enjoying TuckerNuck so far but I totally agree with you about Lori being a brat and Bud being a kiss up. The book is a little confusing but very interesting. If I had to compare this to another book it would be City of Ember because Doon and Bud are very similar because they both live with there Dads and no Moms. Lina and Lori are similar too they both want something really bad. Lina really wants to find out what's in the Unknown Region.

Sincerely, Grace :)

Hi Grace- I can't believe how fast this school year is flying! I am so glad that we read __Tortilla Sun__ too, and I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. It reminded me how fun it can be to read a book out loud "cold"- like I have never read it before so I get to ask questions and make predictions right along with you guys. __***I'd like to read another book by this author, Jennifer Cervantes,because I enjoyed the beautiful imagery she created when she described the village with such beautiful colors.**__ **On page 22 she describes Albuquerque from the airplane- "it looked like brown sandpaper stretched between a giant mountain in the east and a long green ribbon of trees in the west. The river beyond the valley curled back and forth across the landscape as if it were looking for a place to rest." That's one of the many beautiful descriptions I enjoyed.**


 * I'm glad that we made the decision to read another MCBA. I like __Tuckernuck__ so far. I wouldn't say I love it, yet. It's hard when a book doesn't grab you right away. I know many students have mentioned that this book is kind of hard to follow- and I agree. This might be another good reason that we are reading it together so that we can talk about and think about everything that is going on and help each other to understannd. Actually, I think one of the parts I'm struggling with most in the book are the main characters. When I read a book, I tend to like something about the main character right away- Ex. I love Shade and Marina.**
 * In Tuckernuck, I like and feel sympathetic to Bud; his mom is gone, dad seems intense, and other kids seem to think he's kiss up. But Laurie, I just don't like her. I feel like she acts bratty like on page 40 where she says, "Sorry Bud no dice. I found it, okay? All you did was act like a klutz. This paper means treasure, and sorry, I'm not giving it up." **


 * Do you this Laurie is bratty? Do you think Bud is annoying? Do you think they will change through this story?**


 * I would love to hear about your guided reading book or other books you are reading too.**


 * I would especially like it if you could find a quote like I did above to back up your ideas.**


 * Your friend,**
 * Mrs. P:)**

January 4, 2015!

Dear Students of Room 7,

I hope you all had a wonderful vacation! I wish I could tell you that I got tons of reading done (hopefully you did for your upcoming book talk) but alas I did not. I found myself thinking about our read aloud book, __Tortilla Sun__ quite a bit. We left off at such an exciting part and I'm pumped to get back and find out how it ends! ***If I could talk to one of the characters, I think I would want to talk to Izzy's mom and ask her about why she kept so many secrets from Izzy. Obviously what happened with Izzy's dad was terrible, but by keeping it all a secret from her daughter and keeping her daughter away from New Mexico she really caused Izzy more pain. Do you agree?

I like how you connected this book to The White Giraffe which was actually an MCBA a few years ago, Did you know that it is part of a series?

I'm kind of shocked by how quickly we read this book- yay! So the question is what do we read next? Do we go back to Sunwing? Read something entirely different? I think I will set up a discussion tab to see what we all think.

Talk to you soon, Mrs. P

December 9, 2014

Dear Mrs. Palmieri,

So far I love Tortilla Sun. One reason I love this book is because all the mystery and substance. I predict that Izzy will tell the story teller about the baseball and she will not tell her about it. I read a book similar to this and its called The White Giraffe. The similarities are the parts when the girl moves away for her mom in Tortilla Sun and in The White Giraffe the girl's parents die in a fire. Another reason they are similar is because they both had to move in with there grandma.

Sincerely, Grace:)

December 7, 2014

Dear Grace,

= = One of the other MCBAs I read this summer, and I see that you finished recently, was Capture the Flag. This story captured my attention right away as I have been to see the flag that they were describing being stolen. The real "Star Spangled Banner" is famous for surviving the War of 1812 and can now be seen at a very cool exhibit at the American History Museum (Smithsonian) in Washington D.C. One thing I really like about this book was how it started out with a lot of action and adventure and pulled you as a the reader right in. One thing I would have changed about the story was that it was slow in the middle and I had to push myself to stay interested and to finish it. I assumed that the author would make this into a series and I was interested to find her next two books are called Hide and Seek and Manhunt. I like that her book titles seem to match with games that kids like to play- clever. This book reminded me of several other series where kids work together to have some awesome adventures- like Chasing Vermeer and I.Q. Both books involve stolen famous artifacts or artwork, and if you like creative adventures with kids trying to solve the mysteries you would probably like these books too. = =

= = In my next letter I'm going to talk about Tortilla Sun- what do you think of it so far? = =

= = Talk to you soon, = = Mrs. Palmieri = =

====

November 24, 2014
Dear Mrs. Palmieri,

Sadly, I abanded The Book of Elsewhere. The reason I stopped reading that book was because the book didn't grab my attention and I spook to other people about The Book of Elsewhere and they said it was a pretty boring towards the middle and at the beginning. After reading the first chapter of this book, I felt that the book wasn't a right fit for me and I should just stop. Another book I'm reading is Surviving the Applewhites. (As you know) I really like it so far but, there are some challenging words once and a while. Even though I have to read I would maybe chose it if I had a choice. I would chose it because the title is really interesting and going through the first 14 chapters I am very into it.

Sincerely, Grace Whalen :)

====

November 20, 2014
Dear Grace,

I see from your last letter that you were reading The Book of Elsewhere and you said you were really into it. I haven't read that one yet- would you say it is Fantasy? Does it remind you of any other books you've read? Don't forget to add that or any other books you've been reading to your log.

Let's see if we can move you from E/JR books to some more JR/C texts.

Right now I am slowly reading The Mark of Athena. I really enjoy Rick Riordan's books (The Lightning Thief, Lost Hero, etc.) I have always LOVED Greek Mythology and was excited to discover a series that included it in modern day situations. I say I am slowly reading as I find myself dozing off at night and also that I'm getting a little bored with the series. I typically love books that are in a series (do you like books in a series?) because I like to have characters that I'm familiar with and can get to know over a series of books. Sometimes I think authors who write very popular series (like J.K. Rowling and Harry Potter) start to write books that get too long and maybe could stand to be edited/revised to make them a more concise story. The Mark of Athena feels like it's just a recycled version of his other books. Demi god kids having adventures, fighting monsters, trying to solve some giant quest or task by the end of the book. I dislike these parts of the book because I feel like I'm bored of the same thing happening over and over again. I've been told by other kids that I should stick with this book and the rest of the series, and I probably will. I just feel a little stuck right now.

Talk to you soon, Mrs. P.

====

====

Dear Mrs. Palmieri,
====Silverwing is definitely excellent so far. I like the part when Shade meets Goth because Shade is all excited to travel with Goth, but Marina wasn't to sure about it. If I could talk to Shade I would ask him why did you think Goth would be a good person to travel with. The title of the book I'm reading is The Book of Elsewhere The Shadows. The title of the book says to me that this book is a little scary. I just started it, but I am already hooked. I predict that Olive will find Ms. McMartain's three cats.====

Grace Whalen


September 1, 2014 Dear Grace,

I am so excited to be sharing Silverwing with you this year as a read aloud. This is definitely one of my all time favorite books, which is probably why I can’t imagine starting a school year without sharing it with my class. *The genre of this book is definitely fantasy since I don’t believe that bats and owls have wars or detailed adventures together. I also consider this to be a genre of my own invention- called Animal Adventure. I love the character Shade; he’s one of my all time favorites. *If I could talk to Shade, I would ask him if he thinks it was worth it to break the law and see the sun, especially after what happens to his colony as a result. What do you think of Silverwing so far?

Your friend in reading,

Mrs. Palmieri