Summer Reading

Saint Joe Beach, Florida

So last week the fam and I headed to the beach and I took along some books to read, 'cause you know I can't just sit on the beach and do nothing.  Here's what I read while we were there...

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I really enjoyed this book as it falls into the same genre as The Hunger Games. The setting of this book is in a society which is supposed to be very Utopian but everything is very controlled and planned...even relationships, thus the title Matched.  I don't want to give too much away if you haven't read it yet, but I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in the series...Crossed.

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This was the next book I read.  It was so good, but definitely a heavy book as it dealt with death in the family due to a school shooting.  The main character in the book is an eleven year old girl with aspergers syndrome.  In the book, she keeps thinking that everyone doesn't "Get It," and everyone else is thinking that she doesn't "get it."  As a teacher, I loved that the book was from her perspective.  It really made me think about how I interact with some of my students. I highly recommend this book for any teacher.  It would also make a book good for a book club for upper elementary and middle school students, especially if there are any students in a class who don't interact well with students who are "differently challenged."

Then I went on a girly-girl book binge and read

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Basically all three of these books were about preteen or barely teen girls who are just discovering boys and who are dealing with changing friendships and fitting in.  It was pretty amazing how similar the themes all were even though the plots were all different.  And interestingly, all these books are part of different trilogies or sets.  I think the fourth and fifth grade girls at my school will enjoy these books so I will keep an eye out for the rest of the books in these sets.

And just to be fair, I have also started reading some "guy" books.  Two days ago I finished reading 

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This book started off really good, very sci-fi, but it ended with a literal "save the dolphins" political message, which I wasn't really crazy about. It's not that I don't think we should save the dolphins, it's just I didn't care for how it kind of snuck into the story.  But this book, too, is part of a set, so maybe the next book will be better.  I am curious to find out how the hero ends up using his super power.

And I have these four books on my night stand ready to read

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and

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I also have plans to catch up with Cari's S'More Tech Summer Camp.  

I am a bit behind, but I am super excited to dig in and get caught up.  You can check it out yourself here.  And then in a few weeks, I plan to go back to school and work on that super long to do list to get the Media Center even more ready for the up coming school year.  It'll be here before you know it. 

What about you?  How are you keeping busy this summer?  Read any good books lately?  I'd love to hear about it!

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