The Best School Year Ever - The Herdman's #2 (Barbara Robinson)

I came across this book by chance. I read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and loved it. I have always wanted to do it for grade 3 book club, but I figured the slang on the real Christmas story might not fly very well with everyone in school. This one has the same hilarity and would totally work for grade 3 book club! It even has a bit of character attached to the story with the teacher's year long assignment to make a list of positive traits about everyone in the class.

This book reminded me of sitting around listening to my aunt and uncle and their kids talk about funny stories in their insurance adjusting business.....matter of fact stories with hilarity attached.

Goodreads says:

The Worst Kids in the History of the World!

When anything goes wrong at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School, from the hexing of Bus Six to the mysterious disappearance of the kindergarten gerbil, it's sure to have a Herdman behind it. The Herdmans are more than famous -- they're outlaws. They smoke cigars, lie, and set fire to things, and that's only when they bother to come to school!

Then a school project forces the students to think of compliments for all their classmates -- including the Herdmans. Is it possible that behind their outrageous pranks there may be something good about this crazy clan after all?

Slim for Life (Jillian Michaels)

I listened to the audio book. Jillian Michaels is hilarious. I love how real she is.

This is a great book. It is one that I should buy a copy of because it is one to read every six months and to get a plan for new habits to add to healthy living. This book is full of great ideas. I like that she doesn't expect you to wipe out any food groups or take any weird pills or starve. Bonus!

New habits I will incorporate:
1. Always have a plan
2. Carry healthy snacks
3. Eat every four hours

Goodreads says:

Stop battling your weight and slim down for life with this no-nonsense, insider's plan from America's health, wellness, and weight-loss guru: Jillian Michaels. She has helped millions lose weight and feel great, and now she can help you, too.

Bestselling author and Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels swore she'd never write another diet book. But she realized that with all of the conflicting, overly complicated information being thrown at you each day, what you need is a clear, simple plan that cuts through all the confusion to deliver amazing results, fast. This book distills all she's learned about diet, fitness, and a healthy lifestyle to provide anyone seeking to be slim, strong, and healthy with an easier path to achieving dramatic body transformation.

No nonsense, no gimmicks, just actionable advice that gets incredible results fast!

Healthy Brain, Healthy Life (Wendy Suzuki)

I'm fascinated at how exercise is such a big part of every brain book I read. It makes all the difference. I can testify to that! I loved her research on how exercise helps with creativity, problem solving, mood and more. It made me want to recommit to getting my students to move more. I also think that when the school day ends, I should go for a walk around the block and think about what went great and what I need to follow up on the next day before I sit down. Perhaps I'd be more productive if I did. Her stories of voicing intentions while exercising made a lot of sense. I have read recently how important it is to use all the senses to increase memory - see it, read it, write it, say it. This fits well with what she talked about.

I really enjoyed the mix of science and personal experiences in this book. It made it much more relate-able than just straight science research.

This book made me want to work on adding meditation to my life.

I listened to this as an audio book and I have to admit I found the voice a little irritating. It was a little too bouncy and chipper (which I feel silly saying...but it's true). I liked the brain hacks (ways to implement the topics of the chapter) at the end of each chapter.


Goodreads says:

Dr. Wendy Suzuki one day woke up and realized she didn’t have a life. As an almost-40-year-old award-winning college professor, world-renowned neuroscientist, she had—what many considered—everything: tenure as a professor at New York University; her own very successful neuroscience research lab; prizes for scientific discoveries on cognition and memory; articles published in prestigious scientific journals. As a woman and a scientist, she was the envy of her peers and lauded by her superiors. On paper, she had a stellar career and an impeccable record. 

What could she possibly be missing? Everything else. 

Suzuki was overweight. She was tired. She was lonely, had strained work relationships, and for the first time in her life, completely without direction. So she resolved to change her life. The first step--get moving. 

Everyone knows that exercise makes you feel better—that when you hit the gym despite the dread, you leave in a better mood. Healthy Brain, Happy Life offers the real science of how exercise effects your mind. 

Using Wendy’s journey from frumpy, fat and frustrated to fit and fabulous as a guide, Healthy Brain offers not just the HOWS of making exercise an important part of life, but the WHYS of the benefits it brings. But movement is just the first step to being Brain Healthy. Once you get your body and mind hooked on exercise, you bring in practices in mindfullness to calm stress and allow your minds to wander to unlock creativity. As your brain begins to change (something called neuroplasticity), the benefits build--you get fitter, improve your memory, increase your ability to work quickly and move from task to task easily. 

Along with Dr. Suzuki’s 4 minute Brain Hacks, Healthy Brain, Happy Life offers a simple program for changing your life, straight from a leading scientist’s personal experience.

Alexander Hamilton (Jean Fritz)

Now I want to see the play! After I finished reading this, I spent time listening to the songs on YouTube from the musical.

This was a good short version of Alexander Hamilton's life. It was a quick read. The subtitle, 'The Outside' was a good one. He was an outsider because his parents never married, because his step brother took what he loved, was poor but found a way to get a good education and was a great leader in the early years of the US government. The musical starts off with:

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence impoverished, in squalor grow up to be a hero and a scholar?

I loved reading about how he loved to learn and how aggressive he was about it. He would get up early and read and then go walking and work on memorizing the information he had read by reciting it. People thought he was a little crazy when they saw him walking and talking to himself.

I enjoyed reading about how banks started. Many people thought they were akin to gambling and would rather be seen in a brothel than a bank....perhaps still a legit concern. :)

In the end, he died in a duel, just a few years after his son died the same way. I thought it was bizarrely dumb way for such a smart guy to die.

When I read books like this, I wish someone had written some similarly great stories about people in Canadian history!

Goodreads says:

Acclaimed biographer Jean Fritz writes the remarkable story of Alexander Hamilton, one of America's most influential and fascinating founding fathers, and his untimely death in a duel with Aaron Burr.

Born in the British West Indies, Hamilton arrived in New York as an "outsider." He fought in the Revolution and became Washington's most valuable aidede- camp. He was there with Washington, Madison, and the others writing the Constitution. He was the first Secretary of the Treasury as the country struggled to become unified and independent.

Fritz's talent for bringing historical figures to life is at its best as she shares her fascination with this man of action who was honorable, ambitious, and fiercely loyal to his adopted country.

The Secrets of My Life (Caitlyn Jenner)

In my conservative social circles, this is an explosive topic. That is one reason I read this book. I felt like I had very little understanding of people who transition from one gender to another. I'm not a Kardashian fan. I've never watched the show actually and I can't keep the names of the Kardashian children straight, nor do I really care to. I was well aware of Bruce Jenner as an Olympian. I'm a fan of all things Olympics. When I first heard of it, his story really surprised me. I suppose that is one thing that compelled me to read this book.

A lot of people say this is a scourge of our day. They say that people are only doing these kinds of things because it's trendy right now. That wasn't the case for Bruce Jenner. This wasn't something he came up with just recently. It was a struggle his entire life. It is only now that it is really "safe" to even attempt to live as he felt most comfortable.

I am not part of the crowd that condemns people who choose to transition. I don't know why God makes people like this. I just hope that we can all be a little kinder. I"m glad to have a little more understanding of what life was like for Bruce and then late, Caitlyn Jenner. I appreciated the honesty found in the book.

Goodreads says:

The book will cover Caitlyn Jenner's childhood as Bruce Jenner and rise to fame as a gold-medal-winning Olympic decathlete; her marriages and her relationships with her children; her transition; and her experience as the world's most famous transgender woman.

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis: The Untold Story (Barbara Leaming)

I've said before, I am a fan of royalty. The Kennedy family has always fit in that category in my mind. I really knew nothing about Jacqueline Kennedy though until I read this. I'm sure there are many other books that would maintain the fairy tale imagine. This isn't one of those. I enjoyed reading about her upbringing, her debutante life and coming out, her relationships and desire to be with someone who wasn't boring and predictable (until she married someone who wasn't boring and predictable, that is).

I was surprised at this book - but also touched. Trauma changes you. It talks about the trauma Jackie Kennedy experienced and how it changed her. PTSD wasn't something talked about back then - but it's clear she had it. Some people wanted her to not respond how she did - but it changed it and there was no ignoring the trauma. That seemed to be the focus of this book. It would be interesting to read other books to get another perspective on her life.

I was also sad to hear what a unfaithful husband she had. So much of married life back then in those circles seemed to be about convenience. Their marriage certainly seemed to be one of those. However, there had to be some love. She wouldn't have been as traumatized if she hadn't loved him.

Goodreads says:

Barbara Leaming's extraordinary and deeply sensitive biography is the first book to document Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' brutal, lonely and valiant thirty-one year struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that followed JFK's assassination.

Here is the woman as she has never been seen before. In heartrending detail, we witness a struggle that unfolded at times before our own eyes, but which we failed to understand.

Leaming's biography also makes clear the pattern of Jackie's life as a whole. We see how a spirited young woman's rejection of a predictable life led her to John F. Kennedy and the White House, how she sought to reconcile the conflicts of her marriage and the role she was to play, and how the trauma of her husband's murder which left her soaked in his blood and brains led her to seek a very different kind of life from the one she'd previously sought.

A life story that has been scrutinized countless times, seen here for the first time as the serious and important story that it is. A story for our times at a moment when we as a nation need more than ever to understand the impact of trauma.

Sleepover Sleuths (Carolyn Keene)

I wish I could go back and see myself when I was a Nancy Drew reader. Seems to me Nancy Drew books were quite sophisticated. This one was recommended by one of my students. I've been reading them some picture books that are mysteries and have told them I love mysteries so one student said I just had to read Nancy Drew. I love it when they give me books and say, "You have to read this!" She said some of them were too scary for her, but she did like this one.

When I started, a flood of memories came back as I realized the character names were the same. This one is modernized. The Nancy Drew I read was 16. This one is 8 years old. Now Nancy has a computer, uses instant messenger and has a cool doll from the City Dolls collection. Carolyn Keene's books were first published in 1930 though. Is this really by her?? Is she alive still? I did some googling (although, in my mind I was solving a mystery) and found out that Carolyn Keene isn't even a real person. There are a group of people who have written these books and the pseudonym they all use is Carolyn Keene.

Mystery solved. (I'm a little disappointed though)

Goodreads summary:

Eight-year-old Nancy Drew has her first case to crack! Can you help? Nancy and her two best friends, George and Bess, are so excited! They have been invited to Deirdre's sleepover party! There will be pizza, cake, and even a pajama fashion show. But the most exciting thing is that the party has a City Girls doll theme. All of the guests are bringing their dolls with them!

But then Deirdre's City Girls doll -- Hollywood Heather -- goes missing. Is her sleepover ruined? Or is there a detective in the room who can make sense of this mystery?

The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi)

I love Avi! I got to meet him once and ever since then, I've been a huge fan of his books. I have always meant to read this and am glad I finally got around to it. My son read it in junior high and loved it. I can see why. I wish I could do it with my grade 3 book club. I think it may  be too scary for them though. Perhaps it would work for  Grade 4's Battle of the Books, though!

When I read it I wished that Charlotte Doyle was a real person. I wish this was a real story. I loved her strength and determination and willingness to do whatever it takes. The acts outside of normal gender roles. That, by itself, would make for a great discussion.

“A sailor chooses the wind that takes the ship from a safe port. Ah, yes, but once you're abroad, as you have seen, winds have a mind of their own. Be careful, Charlotte, careful of the wind you choose.” 

Goodreads says:

An ocean voyage of unimaginable consequences... Not every thirteen-year-old girl is accused of murder, brought to trial, and found guilty. But I was just such a girl, and my story is worth relating even if it did happen years ago. Be warned, however: If strong ideas and action offend you, read no more. Find another companion to share your idle hours. For my part I intend to tell the truth as I lived it.

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh (Robert C O'Brien)

I must have read this book when I was younger. It was all vaguely familiar and comfortable. However, I couldn't remember enough of the story to justify not continuing to the end - and I'm glad I did. I loved it. We read it for our grade 3 book club and it was a hit! The books we've read so far this year were pretty easy. This one had much more substance. It made for a smaller crowd at book club, but a great discussion. Some were troubled to not know who the rats were that didn't make it out. Maybe that comes up in the next books? Not sure. I am definitely interested in reading more.

I love the theme of reading and learning. For the rats, reading brings them hope and freedom so they can escape their evil Nimh captors. It changes their life forever....even makes them unable to enjoy their social circles the same as they did in the past. Life changes because they learned to read. If they hadn't learned to read they would have been content to live in their cages forever and have someone look after them. Because they could read, they created a whole new social structure where they really got into a rat race (err, people race??) and dissatisfaction was created.  I also liked that rats are positive characters. That doesn't often happen with rats. They are very smart creatures so I was glad to see someone give them a little respect!

Goodreads says:

Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, is faced with a terrible problem. She must move her family to their summer quarters immediately, or face almost certain death. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with pneumonia and must not be moved. Fortunately, she encounters the rats of NIMH, an extraordinary breed of highly intelligent creatures, who come up with a brilliant solution to her dilemma. And Mrs. Frisby in turn renders them a great service.

Mechanimals (Chris Tougas)

Goodreads says:

There once was a farmer who had lots of animals that got swept away by a tornado. The twister left behind a mountain of scrap metal and machine parts. And a very sad farmer. When a tornado leaves a farmer with a heap of scrap metal and no animals, his neighbors are sure it's all over for him. But the determined farmer refuses to admit defeat. His plans are big, and when his neighbors dismiss them with the words, When pigs fly, they grow bigger still. The farmer sets to work to turn that scrap metal into some rather surprising creatures. 

The Little Knight Who Battled Monsters (Gilles Tibo)

A Canadian author. Yea!!

This story was so cute. It is a great friendship story....similar to enemy pie. Maybe most of the witches and ogres and ghosts out there are just misunderstood.

We really had some good chuckles. The whole chocolate cake business was a good starter for conversations. Imagine how much more this little knight could do if he ate healthy? LOL The book will be a favorite in our library corner, for sure. Every page is full of hilarious labels and comments that will keep kids engrossed for long stretches, I'm sure.

This book isn't listed on Goodreads!!

Here is the story summary from my library:

Sometimes the bravest thing a knight can do is to lay down his arms.

In a curious kingdom built on top of a forest lives a little knight. He has no battles, because there are no enemies around. He spends long days reading and planting flowers, long nights dreaming and snoring peacefully.

One day the little knight wakes with a start to a loud knocking at his fortress door. Three of his loyal subjects have been kidnapped! With fresh chocolate cake in his belly, he sets off into the dark forest to find the monsters holding them captive. Can the little knight keep his vow and return them home safely?

IMWAYR

November is a crazy month for me. I always think I will be able to finish report cards and continue with my life's regular activities. Once again, I was wrong. Report cards are finished now though and I'm ready to get back to things like blogging, making dinner and doing a little housework. Surprisingly, I did a fair bit of reading in November, but I wasn't so good at blogging about it and certainly not good at my note-keeping. Oh well. Moving on!

Here's what I'm reading this week:

I started this book a while ago, but got stopped. It is our grade 3 book club book this month. We did some pretty easy books so far this year. This one seems to have kids engaged in reading for longer periods of time. That is good. So far I love it. Looking forward to finishing it this week.



This is the book I'm reading for the book club I recently joined in my community. Another great Canadian author!


And of course, I'm still reading this great one by Brene Brown:

Two Truths and a Lie (Ammi-Joan Paquette and Laurie Ann Thompson)

This book is fabulous. It should be required reading for every adult before the post anything on Facebook (my current pet peeve is the STUPID falsehoods people put on Facebook). This would be a great book to use to start off a unit teaching students who to discern information that is useful and information that is not useful, especially online. This book would be a great way to teach kids to question what they read and seek back up information. The vocabulary in the book is quite impressive and might be tricky for younger grades.

I can't wait for the next volume to come out!


Goodreads says:

Two Truths and a Lie is the first book in a new series that presents some of the most crazy-but-true stories about the living world as well as a handful of stories that are too crazy to be true—and asks readers to separate facts from fakes! Did you know that there is a fungus that can control the mind of an ant and make it do its bidding? Would you believe there is such a thing as a corpse flower—a ten-foot-tall plant with a blossom that smells like a zombie? How about a species of octopus that doesn’t live in water but rather lurks in trees in the Pacific Northwest?

Every story in this book is strange and astounding. But not all of them are real. Just like the old game in this book’s title, two out of every three stories are completely true and one is an outright lie. Can you guess which? It’s not going to be easy. Some false stories are based on truth, and some of the true stories are just plain unbelievable. And they’re all accompanied by dozens of photos, maps, and illustrations. Amaze yourself and trick your friends as you sort out the fakes from the facts!