Johnston, E.K. (2014) The story of Owen: Dragon slayer of Trondheim. Carolrhoda Lab: --------

2015 William C. Morris Award Finalist.

This is a story about Owen a teenager who is a dragon slayer and is learning the skills from his Aunt and Father both of whom are dragon slayers.  They have moved to Trondheim and that is where he meets Siobhan his bard. They find themselves being attacked more and more by dragons but why?  They go on a quest to find the hatching ground to save their town.  They complete their task but at great cost, and Owen continues to be the dragon slayer and protect those that live around him.


Book talk for The Story of Owen: Dragon Slayer of Trondheim

Hubbard, J. (2014) And we stay. Ember: New York.

Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book

Emily has a secret and she is starting at a new boarding school in the middle of her junior year, Amherst School for Girls.  She meets her roomate KT and they become friends.  This school once had Emily Dickinson as a student and her and Emily not only share a name, birthdate but they both write poetry.  Poetry is how she deals with all that has happened in her life.  She spends lots of time in the "lieberry".

If you liked this book you might like:

Gabi: A Girl in Pieces.  Both books deal with teen pregnancy and death and use poetry to tell the story.

Fleming, C. (2014) The family Romanov: Murder, rebellion & the fall of Imperial Russia. Schwart & Wade Books: New York.

2015 Robert F. Sibert Informational Honor Book Award

This book is based on the story of Nicholas and Alexandra Romanov and their children as they were the Royal family of Russia.  Nicholas was not a very good Tsar as he was never prepared to become Tsar.  The people of Russia were starving and his was out of touch with the people.  They stayed in places that were isolated from the troubles of Russia and lived to excess.  In the end, that isolation and denial of things that are going wrong were the demise of the entire family.  He finally gave up his right to rule but it was too late.  They were imprisoned and then killed.


To find out more about why she wrote this book and about the author please listen to the podcast link below.

Podcast conversation with Candice Fleming

Quintero, I. (2014) Gabi, a girl in pieces. Cinco Puntos Press: New York.

2015 William C. Morris Award Winner

This book is about a girl named Gabi who is starting her senior year in high school.  Her two best friends are Sebastian who is gay and Cindy who is pregnant.  She is dealing with having light skin, being told she is heavy, as well as her Dad's drug habit.  Her Dad ends up OD'ing on drugs and her mother is pregnant.  She is being guilted by her mother not to attend Berkley.  She meets her boyfriend Martin in her poetry class.  She writes to help herself deal with her life.  Gabi is a collection of all the pieces of her life.


Booktrailers for Gabi: A Girl in Pieces

  

Burcaw, S. (2014) Laughing at my nightmare. Roaring Books Press: New York.

2015 YALSA Award Finalist for Excellence in NonFiction for Young Adults.

This is the hilarious account of Shane's life as he and his family deals with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) is it a neuromuscular disease and it causes his muscles to deteriorate.  It tells stories from his childhood through adolescent and now as a young adult. He focuses on the positive side of life, I laughed through most of the book.  There is some language that is offensive, but the truth of the words doesn't lose you to the message of the book.





If you liked this book you might like:

Old Before My Time by : Hayley Okines' Life with Progeria

Castillo, L. (2014) Nana in the city. Clarion Books: New York. 

2015 Caldecott Honor Book

A little boy is visiting his Nana in the city.  He gets there and doesn't like the noise and how busy and scary it is.  He doesn't think that a city is the place for his Nana to live.  She makes him a cape that helps him to explore and be brave.  He then finds that the city is an exciting place and leaves his Nana the cape so that she will feel brave like he did.  It has beautiful water color illustrations.  


Lesson ideas

Social Studies -    For lower grades you could compare and contrast the different types of communities.  They could write about what kinds of things that could be seen, things to do, where people live, transportation, etc.  
Language Arts - Could do a lesson on adjectives to describe the sights and sounds that he explores in the city with Nana.

Bell, C. (2014) El Deafo. Amulet Books: New York.

2015 John Newberry Honor Book

This is a memoir of her life dealing with her hearing loss.  She uses humor and creates the comic El Deafo.  She loses her hearing after getting meningitis when she was 4 years old.   It give you insight into her life as she learns to cope and deal with her hearing loss.  How she is searching for people who like her and don't treat her differently because she doesn't hear as well as everyone else.  Great graphic novel that is an easy read that helps other's understand about what it is like to grow up with a hearing loss and being different from other people.


Booktrailer for El Deafo