Children "need the freedom of a library where they can experiment with different books. Once they find the ones they really love, they'll never stop reading." Ursula Dubosarsky Sydney Morning Herald
As a passionate reader and retired Teacher-Librarian I hope my reading can inform other Teacher-Librarians about splendid books they might add to their shelves. These are the books I have on my 'to read' pile. My blog is called Momo Time to Read. The power word here is TIME. I hope during this time of COVID-19 children, parents, teachers and teacher-librarians can find time to read and explore new books. As Ursula says in the Sydney Morning Herald article I quoted from previously "to become a good, fluent, happy reader, you actually have to read. There's no other way."
A house without Walls by Elizabeth Laird
Publisher blurb: Pan Macmillan
"Thirteen-year-old Safiya and her family have been driven out
of Syria by civil war. Safiya knows how lucky she is – lucky not to be living
in a refugee camp, lucky to be alive. But it's hard to feel grateful when she's
forced to look after her father and brother rather than go back to school, and
now that she's lost her home, she's lonelier than ever.
As they struggle to rebuild their lives, Safiya realizes
that her family has always been incomplete and with her own future in the
balance, it's time to uncover the secrets that war has kept buried."
why did I choose this book - because I have read and enjoyed other books by Elizabeth Laird especially Secret Friends and Oranges in no man's land.
Publisher blurb: Hachette
"There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it. He's nine years old (just like me), but he's very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn't like sweets - not even lemon sherbets, which are my favourite!
But then I learned the truth: Ahmet really isn't very strange at all. He's a refugee who's run away from a War. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to help. That's where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we've come up with a plan."
Why did I choose this book? The burb reminded me of the Nicola Davies book The day the war came and the subsequent campaign where illustrators produced pictures of chairs to raise awareness about the plight of refugees.
Publisher blurb: Walker Books
"Eleven-year-old Mercy lives with her eccentric foster aunts – two elderly sisters so poor they can afford only one light bulb. A nasty housing developer is eyeing their house, which suddenly starts falling apart – just as Aunt Flora does too. She’s forgetting words, names and even how to behave in public. Mercy tries to keep her head down at school but when a classmate frames her for stealing the school’s raffle money, Mercy’s teachers decide to take a closer look at her home life. With the help of a neighbour, Mr Singh, who teaches Mercy about Gandhi and his principles of passive resistance, Mercy finds a tool that can help solve her problems. But first, like Gandhi, she needs to stand up for herself. She also needs a miracle. And to summon it she has to find her voice and tell the truth – and that truth is neither pure nor simple."
Posted by John David Anderson
Blurb: Harper Collins
"In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.
When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost
and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate:
leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and
soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and
friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.
Why did I choose this book? I have read Mrs Bixby's last day by John David Anderson and it affected me profoundly. I also really like the cover.
Runaway Robot by Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Publisher blurb: Pan Macmillan
"Alfie is off school after an accident in which he lost both his hand and his confidence. He's lonely all day on his own. So when he comes across Eric, a one-legged robot in need of a friend, he brings him home with him. But a ban on humanoid robots has just been passed, which means Alfie is breaking the law by sheltering Eric. Can he keep his new friend safe - and himself out of trouble?"
Why did I choose this book? I am a little bit crazy about robots and I have read Millions and Framed by Frank Cottrell-Boyce both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Running on the roof of the world by Jess Butterworth
Publisher blurb: Hachette
"There are two words that are banned in Tibet. Two words that
can get you locked in prison without a second thought. I watch the soldiers
tramping away and call the words after them. 'Dalai Lama.'
Tash has to follow many rules to survive in Tibet, a country
occupied by Chinese soldiers. But when a man sets himself on fire in protest
and soldiers seize Tash's parents, she and her best friend Sam must break the
rules. They are determined to escape Tibet - and seek the help of the Dalai
Lama himself in India. And so, with a backpack of Tash's father's mysterious papers
and two trusty yaks by their side, their extraordinary journey across the
mountains begins."
Publisher blurb: Penguin Random House
"Max’s parents are missing. They are actors, and thus unpredictable, but sailing away, leaving Max with only a cryptic note, is unusual even for them. Did they intend to leave him behind? Have they been kidnapped? Until he can figure it out, Max feels it’s safer to keep a low profile. Hiding out is no problem for a child of the theater. Max has played many roles, he can be whoever he needs to be to blend in. But finding a job is tricky, no matter what costume he dons.
Ironically, it turns out Max has a talent for
finding things. He finds a runaway child, a stray dog, a missing heirloom, a
lost love. . . . So is he a finder? A detective? No, it’s more. Max finds a way
to solve people’s problems—he engineers better outcomes for them. He becomes
Mister Max, Solutioneer. Now if only he
could find a solution to his own problems..."
Why did I choose this book? I really intrigued to read a book by one of my favourite authors Cythia Voigt. Her Tillerman series had a huge impact on me when I first started working in school libraries.
Publisher blurb: Harper Collins
"The Unteachables are a notorious class of misfits, delinquents, and academic train wrecks. Like Aldo, with anger management issues; Parker, who can’t read; Kiana, who doesn’t even belong in the class—or any class; and Elaine (rhymes with pain). The Unteachables have been removed from the student body and isolated in room 117.
Their teacher is Mr. Zachary Kermit, the most burned-out
teacher in all of Greenwich. He was once a rising star, but his career was
shattered by a cheating scandal that still haunts him. After years of phoning
it in, he is finally one year away from early retirement. But the
superintendent has his own plans to torpedo that idea—and it involves assigning
Mr. Kermit to the Unteachables.
The Unteachables never thought they’d find a teacher who had
a worse attitude than they did. And Mr. Kermit never thought he would actually
care about teaching again. Over the course of a school year, though, room 117
will experience mayhem, destruction—and maybe even a shot at redemption."
Why did I choose this book? Simple answer - the title! Plus I really enjoyed the trilogy by Gordon Korman - Island Book One Shipwreck and Gordon Korman is from Canada and I do enjoy books by Canadian authors.
Why did I choose this book? Simple answer - the title! Plus I really enjoyed the trilogy by Gordon Korman - Island Book One Shipwreck and Gordon Korman is from Canada and I do enjoy books by Canadian authors.
Publisher blurb: Oxford University Press
"It's always just been Bonnie and Granda, living off the land, keeping to themselves and out of trouble. Until one day, Bonnie goes scavenging on the beach and finds a battered rowing boat, and a bare-footed boy. He's cold, hungry, and in need of shelter. Bonnie knows it's a crime to help this stranger boy, but she can't leave him for the border guards to find.
The longer she cares for this boy, who has traveled across oceans for a new beginning, the more Bonnie longs for her own freedom. Perhaps it's time to escape the life she's always known, to move out of the darkness and set sail for the house of light."
Why did I choose this book? That's an easy question - it has a lighthouse on the front cover and I am crazy about lighthouses. I have finished this book and it is five stars from me!
