It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It has been a while since I've done a #IMWAYR post. It's not because I haven't been reading, I just have lost track of days this summer. This meme was started by Sheila at Book Journey. The kid's version was started by Jen at Teach Mentor Text and Kellee at Unleashing Readers.

I can't believe that my summer is quickly coming to an end. It is almost the end of July and I'm wondering where the month went! Soon I will be starting that balancing act of teaching and trying to keep up with my reading.

The hard part of this post is trying to decide what to share. I've been reading quite a few chapter books lately. I've had a stack of them sitting on a table and I'm finally making my way through them. In between I've been reading some picture books which you can see in my Book Smiles posts below.

The first chapter book I want to share is Jinx's Magic by Sage Blackwood. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. I was excited to read this book, since I loved Jinx so much!  In Jinx Sage Blackwood really created characters that I grew to care about and that continues in Jinx's Magic. I can't wait to share both of these books with my students next year. I know many of them enjoy fantasy, so I'm hoping this will only add to their enjoyment. If you don't, make sure you follow Sage Blackwood on Twitter (@urwalder).

Thanks to NetGalley I was able to read Star Wars: Jedi Academy: Return of Padawan by Jeff Brown. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This is the second book in the Jedi Academy series. I loved this book, it is just a fun read. The hardest part for me is the names, but in my head I make up something that sounds right and move on. I just love how Brown takes what is going on in the middle grade world today, but puts it in Star Wars world and terminology. This is going to be a hit with my students, just like the first one was. This book will be published tomorrow, July 29th.

On Saturday, once again thanks to NetGalley, I had the opportunity to read the first book in Cynthia Lord's newest early chapter book series Shelter Pet Squad. This first book is all about Jellybean, a guinea pig. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. This is such a great early chapter book! I know that many of my 2nd grade students love animals, but are not ready for some of the older chapter books with animals in them. I really liked that this isn't the typical pet story, but instead highlighted Pet Shelters. At the end of the book there were directions on how to create the dog treats mentioned in the book and ways to help out the animals at the Pet Shelters.

The other book that I've read, thanks to NetGalley, which my kids have been waiting for is Amulet #6: Escape From Lucien by Kazu Kibuish. Click here for a summary on Goodreads. Besides Diary of a Wimpy Kid, the Amulet series is the most read series in my library. Emily and Navin have been two favorite characters of my students. In this book they are continuing their battle against the Elf King. There is so much action and adventure that happens in this book I know it will be a favorite of my students. When I was talking books with my 5th graders, they were crushed to learn that this installment wouldn't be published until August 26th, when they are in middle school and no longer with me. Before then end of school last year, I started a hold list with my fourth graders and I know it will only continue to grow!

What great things have you been reading? Look for a Book Smiles post later on this week.

Happy Reading!!

Stacey (@libraryjo92)