It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. This weekly roundup is a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share recommended (or not so recommended….) titles, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
Title: Firegirl
Author: Tony Abbott
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: 2007
Genre/Format: Novel
While going through a stack of library donations I came across this slim novel and decided to skim through a few pages. I ended up reading the entire novel in one sitting, unable to put it down. It really is quite a special little book. A young girl who’s been horribly scarred in a fire transfers into Tom’s school, turning his class upside. Tom struggles with his feelings for Jessica, torn between curiosity, fear, disgust and empathy. This is a very simple, understated story in which very little actually seems to “happen”, and yet the characters are profoundly changed in quiet ways. I really appreciated Abbott’s honesty when writing about the characters’ emotions and actions – Tom, our hero, is an honest, authentic character who doesn’t always make the best decisions or do the “right” thing, which just makes his personal growth feel more significant. In the interest of full disclosure – a tear or two might have been shed during the reading of this book…
Title: Charlotte’s Web
Author/Illustrator: E.B. White / Garth Williams
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication Date: 2012
Genre/Format: Novel
I just…*sniff*…reread this children’s classic….*sniffle*…..for the first time since elementary school….*sniffle*
Suffice it to say, I’d forgotten just how sad this sweet little story is, and just how guilty it would make me about eating a ham sandwich…Want to encourage someone to reduce their meat consumption? Have them read the passage where Wilbur the little pig, upon discovering that he is to be slaughtered, runs around his pen sobbing “somebody save me! I don’t want to die!” My goodness….
Well, this was a bit of a week for tear-jerkers! What have you been reading this week?
Raincity Librarian 