No Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman

No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Grades 3-6



Kids will like this one. It is humorous and a mystery of sorts. It is a battle of the wills between Wallace Wallace, star athlete, and his English teacher. Wallace rebels against writing a review for his teacher's favorite book, which the drama club happens to be turning into a play. Wallace must sit in detention daily during rehearsals and gives suggestions and new dialogue to the play turning it from dull to fun. Meanwhile someone is sabotaging the play and seemingly blaming it on Wallace. Who is ruining the play? Will Wallace find out? Will Wallace get back on the football team in time to help win another championship?



Read to find out.....



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Also Known as Harper by Ann Haywood Leal

Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


p243   grades 5-8

Subject matter for mature readers.

realistic fiction, poverty, homelessness, family, friendship, death, single parents, alcoholism, tragedy.

Story of a family that falls apart and spirals into poverty, eviction, and homelessness. The father developed alcoholism and has run away and left them penniless. Mother is a house cleaner struggling to feed the family and not able to pay rent. They are evicted and the family must leave everything behind and take only what fits into their car. Harper Lee, main character, and her brother, Hemingway, struggle with not being able to attend school due to hardship on their mother with basics of transportation while maintaining a job.The kids are left all day long to fend for themselves and meet other kids who also live in poverty and are homeless. They learn about a whole niche of people who are learning to deal with homelessness while maintaining some dignity and sense of themselves.

The story leaves you with a lesson of learning to see people and have empathy. To know that the people who live in poverty have a story and life to them and often have families they are struggling to keep together.

Quote from book: "If folks don't like the way you look, they almost never take the time to find anything out about you. They just make up their own stories." Dorothy Pine p146.



Similar to Fastest Friend in the West by Vickie Grove, How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Conner,  and Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor.



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Extra Credit by Andrew Clements

Extra Credit by Andrew Clements

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A good story but ending was less than satisfactory. I think there was an understanding developed about people being similar no matter what your culture but Clements missed an opportunity to have more depth in a cross cultural understanding.I liked the message of the importance of doing your work and taking school seriously.



Similar to Frindle. Kids will like this one. Great for independent readers grades 3-5.



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Family Reminders by Julie Danneberg

Family Reminders by Julie Danneberg

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


Fast read. I read it in about 45 mins. This means that it probably a good fit for for my third and fourth graders. I sometimes get upset that the WAW titles have so few that the younger kids can actually read independently, but this is one they should be able to handle.



Unfortunately the plot is superficial. Family lives in a mining town, dad mines. He gets injured and the family makes a miraculous adjustment with few problems in only one year. The fact that the family has a nice house with a parlor and upstairs when dad is only miner seems far fetched to me. Mom only has to take in laundry from two miners who overpay her and they are able to keep the house and make ends meet while Dad turns to carving figurines and becomes an artist and craftsman. All due to the upbeat Pollyanna attitude of Mary, the daughter. Mary prods him in to playing the piano again and turning his hobby into full time employment. It seems a bit cheesy but younger kids will probably like this one.

It does not give much detail and feel for a historical fiction


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Amaranth Enchanted by Julie Berry

The Amaranth Enchantment by Julie Berry

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Listened to this one as an audio book, not sure if that had an impact or not. This one was okay but the main character did not resonate with me.

This one is a fairytale Cinderella tale. Prince, girl in rags falling in love with the prince, a witch, a ball, an evil aunt (instead of a stepmother) then add a thief, a hunt for a jewel. Happy ending with all the ends tied up neatly. Girls might like this one. Best characters were Peter and the goat.







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Double Eagle by Sneed B. Collard

Double Eagle by Sneed B. Collard III

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


WAW nomination 6-8.



I was hooked right from the beginning. WOW!! I think this will be the winner of the WAW. Fabulous story. Lots of action, really believable, drama, mystery, and friendship all rolled into one. A very enthusiastic thumbs up!







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Reading is Critical and Leads to Professional Careers

Study Finds Out-of-School Reading at 16 Leads to Professional Careers
Reading books is the only out-of-school activity for 16-year-olds that is linked to getting a managerial or professional job in later life, according to an Oxford study. Researchers asked more than 17,000 people born in 1970 about how they spent their downtime when they were 16 years old and their careers when they turned 33. The findings, presented at the British Sociological Association, show that girls who had read books at 16 had a 39 percent probability of a professional or managerial post at 33, but only a 25 percent chance if they had not. For boys who read regularly, the figure went up from 48 percent to 58 percent. None of the other activities surveyed were found to have a significant effect on their careers.

The Mall Adventures of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor

The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Folksy, reminiscent of days from 60's or 70's perhaps. Word choice, prediction. Short, fast read. Gr 3 for read aloud, +4th grade for independent reading.

Two boys from different families meet while one family's Holiday Rambler is stuck in the mud and they explore the surrounding woods and creek. Kids are excited about finding boats made from Ya-hoo containers floating in the creek and wonder where they came from. This one is about looking at your world through different eyes and the relationships in two dysfunctional families that are low social economic and have little direction and expectations. Vocabulary
is woven in as Popeye brings up great words and uses them in the story. This adventure may not be enough for some kids who want more adventure.

This one has gotten great reviews.

More books by Barbara O'Connor: How to Steal a Dog, Fame and Glory in Freedom, Georgia; Greetings from Nowhere; Me and Rupert Goody, Moonpie and Ivy. And others

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The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. foggy by Rodman Philbrick

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Very humorous read. Greatly enjoyed this read as the boy gets in and out of several outlandish adventures as he tries to find his brother who was sent off to the Civil war. Think kids will enjoy this one.





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