The One and Only Ivan

Dates Read: March 2013
I don't know why, but I'm on a big Young Adult kick right now. I think it's the appeal of having quick, easy, thoughtless books to read that take my mind off of work and allow me to relax. Most of my YA books have come from recommendations from the Everyday Reading blog so when she recommended The One and Only Ivan, a recent Newbery winner, I decided to give it a try. And oh my goodness this book did not disappoint!! I read it in one sitting because I could not put it down! Ivan is wonderful and the story is gripping, and sad, and exciting, and just an overall joy to read!

Summary: (from Amazon.com)

Ivan is an easygoing gorilla. Living at the Exit 8 Big Top Mall and Video Arcade, he has grown accustomed to humans watching him through the glass walls of his domain. He rarely misses his life in the jungle. In fact, he hardly ever thinks about it at all.

Instead, Ivan thinks about TV shows he’s seen and about his friends Stella, an elderly elephant, and Bob, a stray dog. But mostly Ivan thinks about art and how to capture the taste of a mango or the sound of leaves with color and a well-placed line.

Then he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family, and she makes Ivan see their home—and his own art—through new eyes. When Ruby arrives, change comes with her, and it’s up to Ivan to make it a change for the better.

Katherine Applegate blends humor and poignancy to create Ivan’s unforgettable first-person narration in a story of friendship, art, and hope.

The Secret Prince

Dates Read: February 2013
This is the second book of the Knightley series (I read the first book earlier this month). Although it was the second book, it started a little slow. Once I got to the halfway point (about 200 pages in), I was hooked and couldn't put it down. The first book felt very Harry Potter-like. This one still had a Harry Potter feel, but it started to stand alone and take on its own non-Harry Potter storyline. The nice thing about these books is that they don't have a cliffhanger ending. So although I'm anxiously awaiting Book 3, I don't regret having read the first two books in the meantime. 

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Knightley Academy is back in session, and Henry Grim is confident that nothing else can prevent him from earning his knighthood. But Henry and his friends quickly discover that their professors have made some troubling changes to the curriculum—and there’s an old classroom filled with forgotten weapons. It is the discovery of this classroom that prompts Henry and Valmont to become the unlikely leaders of a secret battle society. But disaster strikes as Henry, Adam, and Frankie find themselves stuck as Partisan School servants—and something is rotten in Partisan Keep. When Henry is discovered by a secret society of outlaws with a sinister purpose, he must come to terms with a great sacrifice that will take him away from everything he has ever known and wanted. The stakes get higher and tension mounts in the second installment of Violet Haberdasher’s fresh, fast-paced, and always surprising Knightley Academy books.

Sparkly Green Earrings

Dates Read: February 2013
I read this book in under 24 hours - both because it was a relatively short book and because it was sooo good that I could not put it down. I am not a mother, but I still found this memoir about motherhood very endearing. It might have made my baby fever a little worse, but at the same time, I very much appreciated her honesty about the highs and lows of motherhood. I think all women who are mothers or want to be mothers should read this book!

Go here to learn more about the book from the author's blog (and she included a short video).

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Written in the familiar, stream-of-consciousness style of her blog, Big Mama, Sparkly Green Earrings is a heartwarming and hilarious look at motherhood from someone who is still trying to figure it all out. Filled with personal stories—from the decision to become a mother to the heartbreak of miscarriage and ultimately, to the joy of raising a baby and living to tell about it—Sparkly Green Earrings will make you feel like you’re sitting across the table from your best friend. A must-read for anyone who’s ever had a child or even thought about it.

Building Mathematics Learning Communities

Dates Read: December 2012
My adviser at Teachers College was Erica Walker. While I was there, I had the pleasure of working as a mentor for a peer tutoring project she was developing. Last year she published this book, which is about that project. I LOVED this book! So many educational books have a doom and gloom feel and ramble on and on about the problems in education. Erica does a great job of saying "here's the problem, but look, here's a way to fix it." I found this book to be very motivational. I also loved how real it was - although peer tutoring is great and can have some wonderful results, it is not a process that will be implemented without bumps along the way and Erica is very honest about that aspect. Teachers are often told to implement strategies that will work, improve test scores, yadda yadda, but teachers aren't told how to get past the hurdles or the low times and are led to believe every day will be a good day. I truly appreciate the honesty in this book. In fact, the only downside of this book is that it made me sad that I don't currently have a job where I can implement some of the strategies she recommends.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Drawing on perceptions, behaviors, and experiences of students at an urban high school--both high and low achievers--this timely book demonstrates how urban youth can be meaningfully engaged in learning mathematics. The author presents a ''potential'' model rather than a ''deficit'' model, complete with teaching strategies and best practices for teaching mathematics in innovative and relevant ways. This resource offers practical insights for pre- and inservice teachers and administrators on facilitating positive interactions, engagement, and achievement in mathematics, particularly with Black and Latino/a students. It also examines societal perceptions of urban students and how these affect teaching and learning, policies, and mathematics outcomes.

Knightley Academy

Dates Read: February 2013
After finishing Emma, I decided I wanted a quick and fun read so when I saw this book recommended on a blog, I decided to check it out from the library. It wasn't as good as some of the other YA books I've read lately, and although there are some similarities, it's definitely no Harry Potter, but it was a good, quick, fun read and I've already placed the second book in the series on hold at the library. (Sadly, the third book is not out yet.)

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Henry Grim is a servant boy at the Midsummer School—until he passes the elite Knightley Academy exam and suddenly finds himself one of the first commoners at the Academy, studying alongside the cleverest and bravest—and most arrogant—young aristocrats in the country. They thwart Henry’s efforts to become a full-fledged Knight of the Realm, but he and two commoner classmates are determined to succeed. In the process, the boys uncover a conspiracy that violates the Hundred Years’ Peace treaty—and could lead to war! Can Henry manage to save his school and country from their enemies—and continue to study at the Academy?

Emma

Dates Read: ??? - January 2013
I started this book sometime in 2012 (perhaps in the spring). I wanted to join Elaine on her quest to read all of Jane Austen's books and this was the last one. I loved all the other books but sadly, I had the hardest time finishing this one! Perhaps it's because I was reading it on my phone so it felt like I wasn't making any progress (no pages to flip through) or perhaps it's because I was too into the other books I was reading at the same time. I'm glad I was finally able to finish because the third volume of this book was quite entertaining and a wonderful read - it's just too bad I didn't enjoy the second volume (or the end of the first volume) as much.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Sparkling comedy of provincial manners concerns a well-intentioned young heiress and her matchmaking schemes that result in comic confusion for the inhabitants of a 19th-century English village. Droll characterizations of the well-intentioned heroine, her hypochondriacal father, plus many other finely drawn personalities make this sparkling satire of provincial life one of Jane Austen's finest novels.

The Racketeer

Dates Read: January 2013
After hearing this book, I immediately added my name to the library's wait list - I was number 684. I knew it would be a while. Finally, around Christmas, it was my turn to read it. Yay! I've been busy with work so it wasn't until this week (of course, the due date) that I finally sat down and started ready it - and then three nights later I was done. I love Grisham's books because they have wonderfully short chapters (perfect for public transportation), are slow at first but then pick up the pace without you realizing it and before you know it your 150 pages in and don't want to put it down. This was another great Grisham book (with wonderfully surprising twists) and I'm glad it was finally my turn to read it! (And it was definitely worth the $2+ that I will owe in late fees.)

Summary: (from the amazon)
Given the importance of what they do, and the controversies that often surround them, and the violent people they sometimes confront, it is remarkable that in the history of this country only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five.

Who is the Racketeer? And what does he have to do with the judge’s untimely demise? His name, for the moment, is Malcolm Bannister. Job status? Former attorney. Current residence? The Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland.

On paper, Malcolm’s situation isn’t looking too good these days, but he’s got an ace up his sleeve. He knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and he knows why. The judge’s body was found in his remote lakeside cabin. There was no forced entry, no struggle, just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.

What was in the safe? The FBI would love to know. And Malcolm Bannister would love to tell them. But everything has a price—especially information as explosive as the sequence of events that led to Judge Fawcett’s death. And the Racketeer wasn’t born yesterday . . .

Nothing is as it seems and everything’s fair game in this wickedly clever new novel from John Grisham, the undisputed master of the legal thriller.