Self

Self is a great book from Yann Martel that explores the topics of sex, love, identity, and ambiguity. It is about a young male writer that wakes up one morning as a woman. The book is like an autobiography and I love the dialogue in it. Many characters speak another language and instead of having everything in English, the dialogue runs simultaneously down the page, English on the right, and the other language on the left. There are also no chapters in this book which makes it quite different from many books of fiction. If you liked the style of writing in Life of Pi, then you will probably enjoy the writing in this book.
Just a warning, there is a violent rape scene in this book and although it is good to talk about topics like rape, the character does not really deal with the rape because of events in the book (from my memory).

Rivers of London Series

"Rivers of London" by Source. Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rivers_of_London.jpg#/media/File:Rivers_of_London.jpg

This is an awesome series that I have been reading that centres on Peter Grant, an officer in the Metropolitan police of London, who after a strange encounter with a ghost, joins a part of the force that deals with the supernatural and becomes the first apprentice wizard of the force in 70 years. Diana Gabaldon claimed this is "what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz."
Through the books, he is learning to become a wizard as well as solve crimes and learn about what there is in the supernatural world. It is great British humour.
The books do touch on themes of sex and alcohol and such but don't shy away from letting people read them. They could start some good conversations but the themes aren't so prevalent that they will. If students are already reading series' such as Mortal Instruments or Steven King books, I think these are okay.

11 Birthdays - Wendy Mass

This was a very cute book about friendship and insecurity and adventure. It is Amanda's eleventh birthday and this is the first time she is going to celebrate it without Leo because they have been in a fight for one year. She goes through the motions and doesn't have the greatest time at her party. Once it is over, she is glad and can't wait for the weekend. Then her alarm goes off and it is her birthday again...

This book is definitely targeted towards girls but there might be some boys who could enjoy it. I think it could resonate well with some people because of the struggles Amanda goes through. Her problems are ones that many people could relate to and I think most people go through these feelings at some point in their lives.

Pendragon Series

The Pendragon series by D.J. MacHale is an exciting fantasy series of novels for middle school aged students (and beyond).  It may be of particular interest to boys, based on my experience with two of my sons, who both loved this series and devoured all 10 books.

The premise is that Bobby Pendragon and his two best friends must save ten distinct territories, which are not part of Earth's space or time.  Each book deals with another unique territory and what Bobby and his friends must do to save it from destruction.  But how do Bobby and his friends end up in these territories?  They have been trained by Bobby's uncle to be "Travelers", able to travel through space and time to other dimensions. Part science fiction, part adventure, part fantasy, these books might just appeal to a lot of kids looking for a good read.

Mmm, Cookies!

Mmm, Cookies! by Robert Munsch is full of delicious words. I read it with a grade 4 student who I tutor. We made onomatopoeia cookies out of paper to explore the world of sound words.

Ghostopolis

Ghostopolis by Doug TenNapel is a graphic novel about a critically ill boy who gets accidentally taken to the afterlife (Ghostopolis) prematurely "I'm not dead yet!".  The images are quite dark at times and the subject matter can be heavy (death and dying, a deadbeat dad, broken family relationships, failed love) but it is also sprinkled with humour.  A skeleton king blushing, some bathroom humour and Benedict Arnold, a hapless traitor even in the afterlife.   There is reference to God (named Joe in this case), forgiveness, redemption and second chances.  Being a graphic novel, it is not text heavy and I think that even the most reluctant readers might be able to enjoy it.

@h_james18's Middle Years Book Recommendations

We had a BlueJeans chat with @h_james18 last Thursday. Check out her blog post with a list of middle years book recommendations!

BlueJeans Video Conference with @h_james18

Circle Talk: What We've Been Reading This Week

• Project Superhero by E. Paul Zehr - @MlleBallen
• Ned, the story of Bear 693 - @KaitlynMorino
• Night by Elie Wiesel - @JacquiOVictoria
• Star Girl - @Fernwoodteacher
• Word Nerd - @mariah_burt
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - @Reading_Buddy1
• Fortunately the Milk - @kmychelle
• Silverwing - @caroc1968
• Jacob Have I Loved - @caroc1968
• Chasing Vermeer - @the_kelsi
  

 Look for more about these titles in our upcoming blog posts! 

@h_james18
Thanks to @h_james18 for joining us, and sharing your passion for middle years literature! You brought some really intriguing titles to our attention, and some really neat ideas about how to run literature circles. Some take-home messages that resonated with me were: 

• Read-alouds are important, even at the middle years level, and
• Literature circles can be expanded beyond classroom walls!

-Britney (@MlleBallen)

Jacob Have I Loved

In 1980, Katherine Paterson wrote a beautiful coming of age novel about the older, less celebrated twin, Sara Louise, and her struggle to find identity and value.  She lives in a time and place that does not privilege her unique gifts and interests which causes bitterness and envy of her beautiful, sweet and talented younger twin.  Sara Louise navigates her youth with neither charm nor grace but with feelings of resentment and envy overwhelming her at every turn.  I won't give away the ending . . . but my 11 year old daughter and I both read this book and it lead to engaging conversations about injustice, sibling rivalry and being comfortable in who you are.  I would recommend this book as a middle years literature resource.  It's not the newest book on the block but it stands the test of time.

On the wings of a . . . bat

I just finished reading Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel - a fantasy about an adventurous bat named Shade, a runt with a chip on his shoulder who would like nothing better than to climb the social ladder in his bat community.   It is a book about friendship, loyalty, determination, courage and love.  This book provides many opportunities for cross curricular studies in science:  a study of bats - different varieties, their special skills and their habits; hibernation; lightening and other weather patterns and the healing properties of plants.