Ryan M

=Book Log= The Dragonet Prophecy || Tui T Sutherland || Just Right || Summer || The Quest Begins || Erin Hunter || Easy || Abandoned || Thomas || Challenging || November 1st, 2015 || Into The Wild || Erin Hunter || Easy || November 23rd, 2015 || Fire and Ice || Erin Hunter || Just Right || December 12th, 2015 || The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe || C.S. Lewis || Easy || January 10th, 2016 || Independence Hall || Roland Smith || Just Right || May 10th, 2016 ||
 * # || =Book Title= || =Author= || =E, JR, C= || =Date Completed= ||
 * ==1== || Wings of Fire:
 * ==2== || A Tangle of Knots || Lisa Graff || Just Right || Summer ||
 * ==3== || The School For Good And Evil || Soman Cainani || Just Right || Summer ||
 * ==4== || Ophelia and The Marvelous Boy || Karen Foxlee || Easy || September 9th, 2015 ||
 * ==5== || Seekers:
 * ==6== || Artemis Fowl || Eoin Colfer || Challenging || October 10th, 2015 ||
 * ==7== || The Hidden Life Of Dogs || Elizabeth Marshall
 * ==8== || So B. It || Sarah Weeks || Easy || November 9th, 2015 ||
 * ==9== || Warriors:
 * ==10== || Warriors:
 * ==11== || Return to Sender || Julia Alvarez || Easy || December 30th, 2015 ||
 * ==12== || The Chronicles of Narnia:
 * ==13== || The Mark of The Dragonfly || Jaleigh Johnson || Just Right || February 7th, 2016 ||
 * ==14== || The Maze Runner || James Dashner || Just Right || February 23rd, 2016 ||
 * ==15== || The Scorch Trials || James Dashner || Easy || March 12th, 2016 ||
 * ==16== || The Zodiac Legacy || Stan Lee || Easy || Abandoned ||
 * ==17== || Gracefully Grayson || Ami Polonsky || Just Right || March 29th, 2016 ||
 * ==18== || The Phantom Tollbooth || Norton Juster || Just Right || April 4th, 2016 ||
 * ==19== || Dragon Keeper || Carole Wilkinson || Easy || May 1st, 2016 ||
 * ==20== || I, Q
 * ==21== || The Hobbit || J. R. R. Tolkien || Easy || Still Reading... ||

Mrs. Palmieri and Ryan recommend...

 * ==#== || ==Book Title== || ==Author== ||
 * ==1== || Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism || Georgia Byng ||
 * ==2== || The Other Side of the Island || Allegra Goodman ||
 * ==3== || Double Identity || Margaret Peterson Haddix ||
 * ==4== || A Dog Called Homeless || Book Talk By: Teresa Hall ||

February 11, 2016 Dear Coach,

You haven't written back to me yet, but I have a few things to write to you about Hiding Out at the Pancake Palace. I do agree with you that it is surprising that Cecilia isn't the most main character in the story. It was a very big twist that I wasn't expecting when we realized Tween Star was fake. It was right under our noses the whole time. I oppose (ding!) the time you said that Elvis meant to choke onstage. He might have, but why would he let himself feel so embarrassed all throughout the book? One thing I love about the story is that Aaron is always switching from Aaron to Elvis. Like whenever RJ is there Aaron/Elvis is Elvis. But it also depends on what is going inside Aaron/Elvis's brain. I am still wondering about Cecilia. Will she ever hear the music in the trees? Probably, but it's not talking about that much more in the book. It is more focusing on Aaron/Elvis.

In The Young Man and The Sea, I really love how much description the author uses.I think that Skiff is going to get lost in the sea, and that will be why it is "A rousing (ding!) sea adventure with a lot of action" states one of the ratings on the back of the book. I know there are no illustrations, but it seems that way with all of the detail. I think that Tyler Croft and the hostile (ding!) Gally from The Maze Runner are pretty much alike. They are both either rich or powerful; they both are bullies, and they both would be great companions (ding!). An example of hatred from Gally is when he says, "There is something about you that I just can't put your finger on. I've //been// through the changing. And I've seen you. I will go out of my way to kill you, greenie." to Thomas on page 117.

In The Maze Runner by James Dashner, there is one main character who is Thomas. He wakes up in a black metal box, and all he can remember is his first name, Thomas, and some words. He's in there for a while, until someone pulls him out and shows him to the Glade: a place with a tiny living area, and an "unsolvable" maze all around with ever-changing walls. Although he is new, he feels like he wants to go into the maze. Is that confusing? Well brace yourself for this next bit... The next day, "a girl shows up in the Glade. The first girl ever. And the message she delivers is terrifying:" The back of the book states. The girl is unconscious, but in her hand is a note that says, **//this is the last// one.**Meaning that No one else will be carried up the black box into the Glade ever again. No one knows who created this place. All they know is that the people are **WIKED.** To lead on to all of the mystery, Thomas goes out in the maze, and is the first person to ever survive the maze through the whole night. With the monsters and all, this is clearly a heroic (ding!) act. Oh, and I just remembered: BOSCAR HATS!

Your fantastic reader, (and future New York Times Bestselling author) Ryan McCann _-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_ January 28, 2016 Dear Coach,

Unfortunately, I didn't read The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck. But when I first was introduced to Cecilia, I thought she was a very interesting character. I liked her. (After all, just because you're weird doesn't mean you have a bad personality.) I think the book is cool that Aaron is famous and hiding while Cecilia is the exact opposite. I really enjoy books that talk about characters minds as if you are adventuring through them. Like Return to Sender or The Mark of The Dragonfly. Cecilia is just a girl trying to fit in, and I like her. I think the friendship Aaron and Cecilia have is kind of amazing.

I have a theory with books. I think that when an author doesn't know what a powerful, brave name is, they go to Aaron. I think this because Elvis Ruby is famous, and his name changes to Aaron. In Elementists, by Kevin Liu, Aaron is the name of a really powerful world. Aaron seems like a popular, alpha name. I can relate to how you thought of Cecilia as strange. I used to think that Gee, the person in The Mark of The Dragonfly was strange. With his creepy glowing green eyes, and his weird reactions to things, I thought he was either evil, or was just odd. I didn't like him. He seemed uncaring and rude. Like the time in the book when he threatens to throw Piper and Anna off of the train. But I learned that he is just trying to be tough. He will go out of his selfishness to help and protect the 401, and all of it's passengers. Like when Anna and Piper are trying to run away from slavers on the train. They jump off the train and keep running. Gee has to fight back against the slavers just to help Anna and Piper. But that leads him to almost death when they spray this poisonous powder down Gee's throat. On page 257, the author writes, "His family was on the 401. It was his home." That is a really touching part of the story because Gee's family sold him away. Later in the book, the author states, "He managed to escape and had been working on the 401 ever since."

Do you think my last two book reports have been good? I don't think I have been using a lot of sentence leads in them.

Your fantastic reader, (and future New York Times Bestselling author) Ryan McCann

January 24, 2015 Dear Ryan.

I haven't read all of the Chronicles of Narnia book, but I have read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

I wish I had more time to read at home, but it was funny over this weekend I found myself thinking about __Hiding Out at Pancake Palace__. I was thinking about what would happen next and I'm getting really excited to finish it! This is what happens when I get hooked into a book! I wasn't sure I loved this book at first. At first, I thought Cecilia seemed strange (alright, she IS strange) and I wasn't sure if I would like her as a character. I have found that if you don't like the characters in a book, it can make it very hard to want to keep reading the book.

This happened to me last year when I read aloud my class the MCBA, __The Lost Treasure of Tuckernuck__. Did you read that one last year? The female main character of that book was Laurie, and she was quite unlikable! She was snobby, kind of nasty, and altogether kind of tough to tolerate. It took a little while but class and I really go into the story and soon I better "understood" why Laurie acted the way she did. We liked the book so much, we decided to immediately read the sequel, __The Magician's Bird__. Reading that was easy because we already knew and understood the characters. Do you find that you like to read sequels or books in a series because she kind of already know a lot about the characters?


 * Feel free to tell me about a character in the book that you just read/or are currently reading**


 * Back to Cecilia- so at the beginning she seemed strange, but now I find myself feeling sorry for her. She is lonely and kind of an outcast. I'm sure it's not easy to be her- and it definitely feels like she really wishes she had friends. On page 125 it says, "It wasn't like Cecilia wanted to be friends with Natalie. All she wanted was to wave and have them wave back." It's such a simple thing- you don't realize how much it might mean to someone just to be friendly towards them.**


 * What are your thoughts on our read aloud?**


 * Your friend,**
 * Mrs. P**

January 14, 2016 Dear Coach,

The last book I read was The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I really enjoyed this book, and I watched the movie too. After I watched the movie, it was hard to imagine what the characters that I imagined looked like. For my mind had a vibrant picture from the movie. I think this happens a lot in books; like with Harry Potter etc. The character I liked best in the story was surprisingly Lucy. She is the youngest of the family, but she had great enthusiasm when she traveled into Narnia.(the magical place behind a wardrobe) I also like the professor that two of the characters, Peter and Susan go to talk to because they think their sister had gone mad. I like him because he believes in the most obscured things like Narnia. He is very wise, and gives a few morals like 'you must believe someone if you don't have proof otherwise.' As compared to other like-fantasy fairytales like this one, I think this book was a great idea, but with really easy words. It was a great book, and I plan to read the series in the summer! (Now that I bought all of the books for 50% off.)

I started reading the book, The Mark of The Dragonfly. The title of the book says to me that it would be an easy fantasy read. And I didn't really want to read it. But it was the weekend, and I needed something to read, so I took that book out of my shelf, and LOVED it. It is the perfect Just Right read about a poor girl named Piper, and her parents have died. One day she finds this girl lying unconscious on the ground and when the girl wakes up, all she can remember is her name, Anna. She also has this integrate tattoo on her arm, which stated that she is under the protection of a rival country. There happens to be this man that comes chasing after Anna, and claims to be her father. But she is terrified of him. So Piper and Anna run on to this train called the 401. There, they think they are safe from the "wolf." (what they call the guy chasing them) But I don't think so. Especially that they have come into this really dangerous city. Another one of the characters is Gee. He is a monster that can mutate into a human. He gets in a lot of fights with Piper, but treats Anna like royalty because she has a tattoo. Piper feels torn between just leaving Anna because she is like royalty, but Anna can't remember anything about her life. This book reminds me of a book you showed the class, The Boundless, by Kenneth Oppel. I haven't read it, but it seems familiar to The Mark of The Dragonfly because they are both adventures on a train. I certainly learned something today: NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY IT'S COVER because I LOVE The Mark of The Dragonfly, when I thought I would hate it.

Your fantastic reader, Ryan McCann

January 3, 2016 Hello Team 7-

Welcome back from vacation!

I found myself thinking about our new read aloud during this break. I always get excited when I'm reading a new book out loud to my students that I also haven't read.

Several of you were talking to me about your book talks before we left for vacation. I know specifically people were wondering about how to figure out a book's "theme" or "author's message". This sometimes feels like it will be hard, but might not be as tricky as you think. Think about what the author is trying to teach you, the reader, through the story; what big life lesson do they want you to know. One of the themes in __Silverwing__ is teamwork, or believing in yourself.

What do we think might be the message in __Hiding Out at Pancake Palace__? Let's think about what we know so far. Elvis is cutting off and coloring his hair- something he is famous for and he has to hide away from the world because of this embarrassing thing. I wonder if the message might be something about "being true to oneself" like don't be pretend to be something else, be who you want to be. I'm also wondering if Elvis really wants to be this famous star- or is this something his dad really wants? Again, since I'm reading this with you guys I'm just guessing (speculating)

I don't think we know as much about Cecilia yet- but I predict she and Evis (Aaron) are going to help each other in some way. She wants to find out if the trees sing- he likes to sing.

Guess we will read more and find out!

Your friend, Mrs. P

December 14, 2015 Dear Coach,

I am taking on a full series! I have never done this before, and I am exited to feel that accomplishment. I shall try to read the first Warriors series. In this story, a cat named Rusty is a "Kittypet." (pet cat) I love that word, "kittypet, and shall call my next cat a kittypet. Rusty is in a forest one day, and meets this cat from the ThunderClan. The ThunderClan is fighting against 4 other clans, and they are trying to defend their territory. At the end of the second book, a war breaks out between the clans, and many cats die. I feel sorry for some of the dead cats, for Rusty had so many bonds. I can relate to Rusty, because Ms. Hannible will be leaving, and I really enjoyed her around. This book really makes me think about the greediness of humans, and that many people have much more poor lives than us. I think that Erin Hunter should make a huge book instead of over 500 small books in the same sagas. Although I have not finished all the books in the series, I am glad I finished the book so I can move on to book talks.

For a book talk book, I think I shall read Return to Sender. From the 26 pages I have read so far, I still have no prediction. But I feel sorry for Tyler's dad. When he flipped the tractor over. I enjoy books that hook you in on the first page. Like when Tyler yells, "There's some Indians trespassing! Call the police!" I started to read faster after that. As for Mari, I feel sorry that she took a long journey to come to the USA, and is illegally living here. It must be hard for her to have left her mother, but still write to her everyday. I would love to write more, but I haven't read much of it. Have a nice holiday as well!

Your fantastic reader, Ryan McCann

December 6, 2015 Dear Ryan-

As Christmas approaches, I often like to reread some favorite holiday themed books from my own childhood. When I was your age and a little younger, I loved to read __The Little House on the Prairie__ series. These wonderful stories are from the childhood of the author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, as she grew up in the late 1800s in places like Wisconsin, Kansas, and eventually the Dakota Territory (today South Dakota). This time of year can be so busy and crazy and I always enjoy seeing how simple this pioneer family made their holidays. Sometimes we get so caught up in "buy, buy, buy" or " I want" that I really like reading these descriptions of the simple food and presents that they had and the happy holiday they created as a result. Here is a quote from fifth book in the series called, By the Shores of Silver Lake. Chapter 19 "Christmas Eve"-

"It had snowed all day and soft, large flakes were still falling. The winds were quiet so that snow lay deep on the ground, and Pa took the shovel with him when he went do the evening chores. "Well, it's a white Christmas," he said  "Yes, and we're all here and all well, so it's a merry one," said Ma  The surveyors' house was full of secret. Mary had knitted new, warm socks for Pa's Christmas present. Laura had made him a necktie from a piece of silk that she found in Ma's scrap bag. Together in the attic, she and Carrie had made an apron for Ma from on of the calico curtains that had hung in the shanty. In the scrap bag they found a piece of fine, white muslin; Laura had cut a small square from it, and secretly Mary had hemmed the square with her fine stitches and made a handkerchief for Ma. They put it in the apron pocket. Then they wrapped the apron in tissue paper and hidden it under the quilt blocks in Mary's box."

Descriptions like these really help me imagine what it would have been like to make gifts like Laura and her sisters did. Life was very different then. ***But when you read the descriptions of the family making and eating their meals and celebrating, it makes you as teh reader feel like maybe life isn't that different after all.**


 * When I want to read these books, I usually pull out my little paperback set of all the books that I bought in book order when I was a student teacher. I was recently excited to discover __A Little House Christmas Treasury: Festive Holiday Stories__ was published. This is one book that contains all of the holiday stories from the author's different books. Perfect!**


 * I hope you have a wonderful holiday with your family.**


 * Your friend,**
 * Mrs. P**


 * November 28, 2015**
 * Hi Ryan-**


 * I'm glad that you stuck with Artemis Fowl and finished it! I read it a very long time ago, maybe before you were even born. But I think my favorite character was Holly. The next book in the series, The Arctic Incident, wasn't my favorite but I think it's necessary to understanding the series as a whole. I remember really liking the third book, but I totally understand that you're taking a break and reading some other books instead!**


 * I want to compliment your book log- I like seeing that you have a very nice balance of Easy, Just RIght and Challenging texts. Way to go!**


 * I am trying to think of some other books/series that you may enjoy.**


 * I am attempting to read the new Rick Riordan book.**


 * October 10th, 2015**
 * Dear Coach,**


 * I finished Artemis Fowl today! The last few days, I was getting tired of it, but I needed to finish it. My favorite character in the story is Mulch Duggums. I really like his personality, and he's very tricky. If I were Mulch, I would at the last second save the bunny that Mulch put the helmet on. I feel as if there is a meaning behind Artemis's mother feeling awake and happy. Besides the epilogue, I think that Artemis's mother will help him with his evilness in the next book. Juliet is a confusing character. At the beginning of the book, I thought that she was about the age of 10, but near the end, she seemed like she was about 15. I like stories like these when at least one of the characters is not a human, and seeing how they think of humans, and humans' pollution to the world. I would like to read the next book in the series, but I have so many other books in my bookshelf that I NEED to read.**


 * I can't wait to go back to school on Wednesday, and try to read Elementists. Because a kid wrote that story, I am typing as much as I can in my story, hoping to finish it soon. (Which will never happen.) While I wait, I plan to read the book Dominic. I have read it multiple times before with my dad. But now I would like to try to read it by myself. This will definitely be a challenging book because when my dad and I read it last year, We had 3 dictionaries out, ready to find a challenging word. This book is full of challenging words. Like somnambulist, which means someone who is sleepwalking. Must get reading.**


 * Your fantastic reader,**
 * Ryan McCann**


 * October 5, 2015**
 * Hi Ryan-**


 * Thank you so much for your first letter.**


 * I'm so excited that you are reading __Artemis Fowl__ and that you were interested in finding a challenging book for yourself! One of the first years that we decided to have the MCBA party and have kids make hats, this is what I made a hat for and voted for. Artemis is a complicated character. You want to hate him, because he's just so mean. But then you have to feel sorry for him with his dad gone (kind of like Shade) and his mom in such a bad place. I thought the author, Eoin Colfer, put a lot of clever thoughts into things like LEPrecon division. Clever! I'm adding a couple more books to your recommendation log.**


 * Myself I am trying to get back to reading __Elvis and the Underdogs__. .**
 * I had started it this summer and kind of abandoned it. I hate to abandon books and I always try to go back and finish reading them. Sometimes when I do that, the second time I read it and I read it a little more I get really into it! Has this ever happened to you? The main character Benji is small and sickly,** *this reminds me of Shade. Benji's mother is also very overprotective of him and smothers him like Ariel does to Shade. I wonder if when I start reading again if Benji will kind of break away from his mother like Shade did?

Talk to you soon, Mrs. P

September 30, 2015 Dear Coach,

I'm currently reading Artemis Fowl. This is defenetely a challenging book, and that was what I was looking for. Thank you for recomending that book to me. If I could ask Artemis something, I would ask if he could redo his life, would he be good instead of evil? My feeling about the sprite at the beginning of the book are very high. I feel pretty sorry for her, but the book is so interesting, that I usually forget about that. If I were Holly, I would go the actual path to the oak tree, instead of taking a shortcut. When the book ends, I predict that Artemis's father will come back.

Your fantastic reader, Ryan McCann

Dear Ryan,

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 J