It's Monday! What are You Reading?

Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye and Ricki Ginsburg at Unleashing Readers cohostIt's Monday! What are You Reading weekly on their blogs.   To see what others are reading and recommending each Monday, or to participate, be sure to head over to these blogs. 

I was excited to read Patricia Reilly Giff's new book, Winter Sky, that came out in January because I love all of her books! This book is about a young girl, Siria, whose pop is a firefighter.  Her mother passed away when she was very young so she is extra protective of her father and doesn't want to lose him too so she begins chasing fires to make sure he is safe.  As she begins chasing fires, she becomes suspicious that there is someone in their neighborhood who is setting fires on purpose and may be an arsonist.  She begins to investigate it and link the clues together bit by bit and they lead to someone she would least expect.  But is she correct or does it turn out to be someone else? This book is a shorter chapter book at 152 pages and engaging so I see it as a perfect fit for reluctant readers as well as any other reader who may enjoy this story! Enjoy! 

I love all of Lois Lowry's books so I do not know how I missed out on reading Gossamer until now! One of my students recommended it to me last week and insisted that I read it because she loved it and knew I would too - thank you Eva!! I read this book yesterday and could not put it down.  It is a story that integrates reality and fantasy together to form a beautifully written story.  It is about a group of tiny dream-givers who help give dreams to humans by visiting their house at night, touching important objects that may have great memories attached to them, and bestowing dreams upon them.  One dream giver, Littlest One, is learning how to give dreams and is fascinated by the whole process and is full of questions for his teachers.  At the house they are working at, there is an older woman who takes in a boy who is a foster child.  His father was verbally and physically abusive to his mother and to him so he was removed from their home to live with this woman until the mother could get her life back together and create a safe home for the boy.  I love how Lois Lowry intertwined the story of the mother, the boy, and the older woman with the tiny creatures who are giving dreams and trying to fight off the nightmares that the Sinisteeds try to give the humans that they are looking after.  I really enjoyed this story and highly recommend it if you haven't read it yet.  Enjoy! 

Enjoy reading this week!