Realistic Fiction and Young Readers Rolls

Since I finished both A Monster Calls and Speak pretty much back to back, I had those two categories to roll for.

I rolled first for young readers:

For this one, I took a percentile die and a D10. The roll was 18, which turned out to be Old Yeller by Fred Gipson. I have actually never read this one - I read Where the Red Fern Grows instead. So that'll go into my rotation.

Next, I rolled for realistic fiction:

I rolled a 5 for this one, and that was.... GO TO THE BOOKSTORE!!! 🎊 So we went to the bookstore, and I bought Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman for a book club I'm excited to be joining for this year.

So, there we go, two new books added into the rotation!

Comments

Dashka Slater: The 57 Bus

I picked this one up to possibly use in my AP class. It had been recommended to me by one of my coworkers and I was trying to decide if it was worth using in AP. The 57 Bus recounts the true story of two teens whose happenstance meeting on a public bus in Oakland, California. Sasha identified as nonbinary, liked to wear skirts, and went to a private school in Oakland. Richard was a black student, a good kid, but also tended to get mixed up in trouble. He went to a public school in Oakland's poorer side of town. One day, Sasha was riding the bus as they always did back to their house from school. This time though, Sasha fell asleep on the long ride. Richard and his friends boarded the bus as well, and seeing the skirt hanging off the edge of the seat, decided to see what would happen with a lighter. The material of the skirt burst into flames, and suddenly Sasha was burning. This story is unbelievably sad for both teenagers involved. In working with teenagers, one thing is tr...

T. J. Klune: The House in the Cerulean Sea

I was finally able to finish a book! Things with the baby got crazy and I wasn't able to finish this before he came, but I've finally settled in and have gotten back to reading. It will take me a little while to finish another book. Next on my list is Ruta Septys' new book I Will Betray You . The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune felt distinctly Harry Potter -esque. Linus Baker is a case worker for DICOMY - the Department in Charge of Magical Youth. He visits orphanages and seeks to help the kids he observes with the utmost objectivity, never getting attached nor revisiting the cases to see what ultimately happens to the children. He leads a dull and dreary existence with his small house, his monogrammed pajamas, obnoxious neighbor, and unusual cat, Calliope. That all changes when he is summoned by Extremely Upper Management and sent on a secret assignment to the most unusual orphanage Linus has ever seen. There, he meets the most unusual children, and possibly the m...

Truman Capote: In Cold Blood

This is another book I plan on using next year in AP language. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote is the story of the Clutter murders in Holcomb, Kansas in 1959. Perpetrated by two men who had never met the family, Capote tracks them in the days that lead up to the murders and the months that follow. He follows investigators, family members, and many connected with the case to its ultimate end - the hanging of the two murderers. I loved this book. While this book is completely true, it reads like a mystery novel. Capote masterfully unravels the mystery and carefully reveals the secrets of the case. It was fascinating to read and is amazingly well-written. I feel like my only criticism is that it was a little unclear at first that it was non-fiction. I would have loved something at the end that described how Capote got the information he got. Did he follow the case from the start, or did he do his extensive research afterwards? Regardless, this is a beautifully written book and i...

Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

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