Claudette Colvin & Friends

Some of my favorite books have nominated by or have received this award. It's an award that is given not just to books that are widely popular and well received, but to books that represent excellence in young adult literature. Here are some of my favorite National Book Award nominees and winners:

• What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell,
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang,
• Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin,
• Inexcusable by Chris Lynch,

and I could on and on and on but I won't. I'll just trust that you look at the links and pick a few to add to your future book lists. Go ahead; you are about to be wowed!

Congrats to this year's nominess and winner:

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman
Stitches by David Small
Lips Touch: Three Times by Laini Taylor
Jumped Rita Williams-Garcia

This years nominess and winner are officially on my book list. As I read them, I'll certainly post about what I've experienced. Add them to your lists too! Go ahead; you are about to be wowed by the talent listed here. Keep reading everyone!

-stenson

*image taken from The National Book Foundation and http://us.macmillan.com/claudettecolvin

The 1st 5 Books of Stenson's Summer

Super exciting stuff...

1. I'm 5 for 5 with books this summer. I've been on a roll. Some of them are really just for grown-ups, but the two I'd recommend for kids are The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (though I don't need to talk it up that much...it's a huge hit that I'm just getting to) and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (a book written for all ages, brilliant writing, a fun and feisty protagonist, and an amusing caper).

2. Have you heard of Animoto? Love this free site where you simply upload picutres, pick the music, add some text and submit it all. A funky, original video appears after a few moments. I can't wait to use this in Room 103 with 7th grade readers. Here's a peek at what it can do. *It was my first attempt, so please just humor me. You can watch by clicking on the image above....

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Flavia, the protagonist from the mystery The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, made me laugh, made me want to study Chemistry, and made me keep reading until the caper was solved. I really fell in love with little Flavia. Feisty, smart, fun- this little girl has two sisters she's constantly trying to poke, pinch, and prod and a father she is constantly trying to delight and charm. The family lives in her deceased mother's family's estate in 1940's Britain.

Day by day, Flavia is entertained mostly by the chemistry lab in the family mansion, but all of that changes one day when she stumbles upon a dead man in the garden of the estate.

Flavia is part Scout, part Sherlock Holmes, and part Marie Lavoisier (don't worry, I didn't know who that was until I read this book either), and she pulls you right into her mind, her home, and her life- a land where emotions though rare sneak out, observations are detailed, complete, and funny, and the story, like the mystery at the center of it, only gets better and better.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is definitely a challenge book (those of you who have had me as a teacher will know what I mean) because I think it's intended audience is grown-ups. However, this delightful tale will be enjoyed by all ages, and the writing is simply too brilliant and too fun to not be shared by everyone of all ages.

Enjoy! The book is a part of a series so get excited for all sorts of amusement.

Please visit the sit for more information about this charming, fun series. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. The picture above was taken from the site linked to the left: www.flaviadeluce.com.

Keep reading!

-stenson