The Candymakers

Another Golden Sower Nominee Finished!!!

Do you like candy?  How much do you like candy? Maybe enough to enter a contest to create the next great sugary confection?

In The Candymakers, by Wendy Mass, twelve-year-olds across America compete to create the next BEST candy.  Four intrepid candymakers are assigned to the "Life is Sweet" candy factory, but each has a hidden agenda.

If Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Westing Game had a baby, it would be this book. The mystery slowly unravels while the point of view juggles between the contestants.  I love the twist at the end that eventually ties the characters together in a time before the contest.

I am afraid to say much more about this charming book, for fear of giving away a clue to the ending.  Don't be scared of this thick book, it is detailed, but who can resist such delicious descriptions!!

PIE and Wild Life

Two more Sower nominees down!

PIE by Sarah Weeks is a short, original mystery involving a secret pie crust recipe, a jealous mother, and a cat named Lardo.  Alice's favorite person in the world is her Aunt Polly, owner if the world famous PIE shop.  When Polly unexpectedly dies, and leaves her top secret pie crust to Lardo, Alice begins to see her small town and family come apart.  After she discovers the bakery in shambles after a break-in, Alice decides it's up to her to find the would be thief.  Great story, good for any boy or girl who enjoys a good quick mystery.  I finished reading PIE and immediately handed it to my middle school daughter to read!

My next book, Wild Life , by Cynthia DeFelice, is really geared toward middle level boys.  That said, I know that the girls it school that hunt with their families will love this title!

Erik has just had his whole world pulled out from under him.  Both of his parents have been deployed to Iraq unexpectedly and all of his plans with his best friend Patrick have been thrown out the window.  In four days, Erik is in North Dakota, a world away from New York.

After he arrives, Erik begins to see why his mother had avoided trips home. Big Darrell, his grandfather, is grouchy and distant.  Erik spends the first two days avoiding him.  

When Erik finds a young hunting dog with porcupine quills stuck in her nose, he thinks he might have found a friend that can make North Dakota bearable.  Big Darrell has other ideas and that's when Erik decides to take off on his own and try his hand at the "wild life".

Great book for students who enjoy hunting or realistic fiction.

Three more Golden Sowers done!!

I finished three Sowers this afternoon, and all were really good, quick reads.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick uses the same, unique form he created for The Invention of Hugo Cabret. The novel is told in pictures and text, so that a book of 617 pages, only has about 100 full pages of text.  This time the story involves a young deaf girl from the 1920's, whose story is told in pictures.  Her images are intertwined between the story of Ben, told in 1977.  The stories are more straightforward than the tale in Hugo, but I think Ben's quest will make this tale more appealing to the middle school reader.

May B by Caroline Starr Rose is written in the form of a poem, so it is another very quick read.  May B is twelve when her family takes her out of her country school and sends her to help another farmer in this 1870's tale.  Although May B  longs to be a teacher when she turns 16, she struggles with reading.  A new teacher in her one room school house doesn't help, so her parents send her 15 miles away to another Sod House farm.  When the new bride at the Oblinger farm runs home, her husband chases after her, leaving May stranded and alone in the Oblinger Sod house.  How will she survive the horrible Kansas winter?  This is a great historical fiction choice for students who enjoy The Little House on the Prairie novels.

My last read today was Payback by Carl Deuker.  This sports novel is also a mystery.  Dan "Mitch" True, longs to be a top reporter someday.  When he and school newspaper photographer Kimi Yun find a new stand out football star on their HS team, they can't wait to write a fantastic story for their school paper.  It's when they are told no, that the anomalies start appearing and the two decide to investigate the new player.  Lots of football action, so you feel like you are right there, at the game.  Mitch is a great character, who really works hard at becoming a better writer and stronger person.  Super book for all sports and mystery fans.

I"ll keep working through the Golden Sower nominees, and let you know my favorites!!!

Updating and upreading

I have been updating our Middle School Library sites as I create our new Integrated Technology curriculum.  I hope that the updates have made the links and info on the site easier to access.  Feel free to check it out.

My goal to read every Golden Sower nominee this summer is not quite completed, but I have a few days before summer is over.  Here are the nominees I have read so far:

Intermediate Nominees:

The Clockwork Three by Mattew Kirby

The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

Wonder by R.J.  Palacio


Young Adult Nominees:

Matched by Ally Condie

Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25  by  Richard Paul Evans

Dark Life by Kat Falls

Red Cell by John Kalkowski

Legend by Marie Lu

Epitaph Road by David Patneaude


As you can see, I have quite a few titles left to read.  Hopefully this week and next weekend will afford me some time to get caught up.  My favorites so far have been Wonder and The Unwanteds, I was surprised by how much I loved both books.  I talked both of them up on my Twitter feed Follow @jessiesandre

Raven Boys

Just finished Maggie Stiefvater's awesome new series opener: The Raven Boys.

I love Maggie Stiefvater, she does such a great job creating believable situations out of unbelievable circumstances.  Magic?  Ley Lines?  A search for a sleeping prince?  Teenage angst?  She can write it all and it flows naturally and organically throughout the book.

Although the story opens with Blue Sargent, the daughter of the town psychic, this is not a "girls" book.  The male characters are just as present and just as strong.  Gansy, Adam and Ronan own their scenes in the book, just as Blue owns hers.   The tale shifts to the perspective of each character and the mystery flows seamlessly from person to person.

Blue has been told ever since she can remember that she will kill her true love.  One kiss and her love dies forever.  Gansey knows he is destined to find the missing king of Glendower.  Adam must find a way to escape his family and the stigma  of poverty and Ronan must learn to forgive himself for his father's death.

The Raven Boys is the first of a planned four part series.  I cannot wait to read the next title!!  I LOVE Maggie Steifvater!!!!!!!

Book Fair coming soon!

We will be hosting our second book fair in April!  This will the first time the Middle School has hosted TWO book fairs!  To accompany our fair, we will have a movie night on April 27th!!

Be on the look out for more information!!

Two Phenomenal Books

I was lucky to find two fantastic titles in the last few weeks.  The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson.  In both cases, I literally could not put the books down.  I was reading Jenna Fox in the middle of a Winterguard competition, when I should have been watching performers.  I stayed up half the night to finish Scorpio Races.  It's been a while for me...I haven't been so invested in a story for a few months and I think that obsession with a story, when you are there with the characters, is why reading is so important to me.

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

On Thisby, horses emerge from the sea.  They are beautiful, fast, and blood thirsty.  Every November, as the horses  pull themselves out of the breaking waves, the island residents of prepare for the races and sleep with one eye open.

The Adoration of Jenna Fox  by Mary Pearson