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It has been three years since Iris Gadsby's death and no one in the Gadsby family has really been able to come to grips with it. Living in an old house in London, dad is away most of the time, teaching medieval courses at a distant university; mum has taken a job with a beauty products company and must fly all over the world; older sister Flora, 16, is totally involved with her boyfriend and continuously changing the color of her hair; younger siblings Jasmine and Twig, AKA the Babes, are obsessed with their pet rats, and Iris's twin Bluebelle, now 13, hides behind her lens of her new video camera. Now, the Gadsby parents have hired a dissertating student named Zoran to look after the kids while they are gone, who takes his job very seriously, even if he doesn't always get the cooperation he wants. Then, along comes Joss, who has been sent to live with his grandparents next door, and things really get crazy in the Gadsby household. Joss may be Blue's crush, but he is Flora boyfriend obsession. Communicating with their mother mostly on Skype, and seeing their dad only on weekends, and now only sometimes if then, the kids conclude that their parents are perhaps growing apart and thinking of divorce. And then the Babes run away. After Iris is one of the best contemporary novels I have read in a long time, and I have read a lot of really great novels lately. The Gadsby children are great characters, all different, but all well fleshed out. Flora is cool and has lots of friends, with the exception of Joss's friends who continually write terrible Facebook comments about her; Blue is geeky and awkward and no longer has any friends as they have moved on to inhabit the junior version of Flora's world and Blue has chosen to become invisible; the Babes have each other and their rats. At first, I thought they were twins as well, but Twig (the only boy) is the younger of the two. Despite the seriousness of coming to terms with and beginning the real healing work that the death of a child/sibling involves, After Iris is not the morbid story it sounds like it should be. Certainly not when the Babes rats drive into Blue's classroom, dressed and sitting in remote controlled cars. Nor when they are sent off to visit Grandma's in Dorset, who has some wacky ideas of her own about children. And there is a softer side of friend and enemy relationships that are more true to life than usually depicted in novels for middle graders. The whole thing is narrated in the first person by Blue. Some of the chapters begin with movie transcripts that describe what she is filming followed by diary entries that continue the filmed episode. The transcripts move the story along more quickly that straight narrative. And there is lots of humor and funny bits that keep you going in this well written novel, even as we watch compassionately when the family's coping strategies begin to fall away. After Iris is definitely a novel about coming to terms with death, but it is also a novel about Blue's own personal process of coming of age, which involves but is not limited to learning to accept the death of her twin sister. After Iris is a novel not to be missed. This book is recommended for readers age 10+ This book was borrowed from a friend
Last school year, when I went on my first book binge, I was searching for a way to keep up with all the books I had read and discovered the social media website GoodReads. I quickly joined up and have been tracking the books I've read this year. GoodReads made it very easy to keep up with not only what books I've read, but when I finished them. I love that I now how a record of the books I've read and enjoy looking back at my list. GoodReads also has a fun reading goal challenge so I joined up. My goal was to read 100 books in 2012 and I met that goal. Wahoo! Here's my GoodReads bookshelf for 2012: Some of my favorites books that I read in 2012 were... Source Source Radiance and Shimmer by Alyson Noel These were definitely in my top 10 for the year. There was just something about the way these books were written that drew me in and made me want more. I have ordered the third and fourth books in the series, Dreamland and Whisper, and am currently reading the companion series, the Immortals, although I would not recommend the Immortals series for an elementary library. It's definitely more high school material. Source Source Source Just about every Margaret Haddix book I read from The Shadow Children series (similar in feel to the Hunger Games, but maybe not quite as graphic, although just as intense) to The Missing series (Sci Fi meets Historical Fiction meets adventure) to her stand alones, The Always War, Escape from Memory, Double Identity, and The House of the Gulf I loved! None of these books disappointed and all left me wanting more. I think Haddix is now one of my all time favorite authors. Source Source Source The Matched Series by Ally Conde Oh! So good! I could not wait until books two and three came in. I read them in two days. If you liked the Hunger Games, you will also enjoy Matched, Crossed and Reached. Source Hank Zipzer books by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver I reluctantly picked up book #1 Niagra Falls, or Does It? and began reading it only to find myself laughing and rooting for Hank, an adventurous fourth grader who with the help of a concerned P.E. teacher discovers that he has dyslexia. I read books 1, 2, 3 and 16 because those were what we have in the Media Center. I plan to order more of these. I know some students who could relate to Hank and will enjoy his adventures, or misadventures, rather. Source Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford I read this book in about an hour and a half so it's a quick read, but a really good one. It is an inspiring story about a young boy who is basically overshadowed by his big brother and is all but forgotten until his brother goes into a coma after being tackled during a football game. I boo hooed happy tears by the end of this book. Source Grandpa Hates the Bird: The Battle Begins by Eve Yohalem This was a book I downloaded on my Kindle Fire. I was looking for a funny, quick read, and this book delivered. I laughed so hard, I cried. It reminded me a lot of my dad who also hated a bird we had when I was little. So funny and it was a free download! Source Science Fair by Dave Barry This is another great action/adventure/science fiction book. I was glued to the book! It was suspenseful, but not scary. It has something for the geek and the sports enthusiast as well. Source Source The Gollywhooper Games by Jody Feldman and Floors by Patrick Carman Modern day Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-type books, these books have adventure, suspense and mystery...a perfect combination to hook those reluctant readers. And there are more books to come in the Floors series...so BONUS!!! Source Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine I loved this book and I think it is because I've had students like the main character, Caitlin. It really gave me a different perspective on things and made me think differently about how to handle certain situations with certain students. I'd definitely recommend this book to any teacher who works with students with special needs. Source So B. It by Sarah Weeks This book is about a girl and her mentally disabled mother who end up living with a kindly neighbor. Such a touching book! I'd give it 3 tissues on the nose meter. I enjoyed making that 100 book goal so much that I am setting a new goal for myself for 2013...120 books! I have made a book goal chart for the Media Center so that the students can see my progress. I really want to encourage students to set a reading goal for themselves, so I am hoping that this chart I've made for myself will be a good model for that. We should be getting a new book order in any day now and I can't wait to get those books processed so that I can get to reading them. I don't feel too guilty about wanting to read them before the kids because when I read new books, I know what they are about and can recommend them to specific students. So it's really for my job that I am gobbling them up! I am a little worried that I might run out of books in our Media Center to read, but I recently found out about the website NetGalley that provides free advanced copies of books to librarians (as well as other professionals) and joined up. I have both a Kindle Fire and an iPad and can download book requests to these devices once the requests have been approved. So far I have 12 approved books, but I haven't started reading any of them yet because I am still reading a few books that I got for Christmas. I hope that reading books through NetGalley will also help me to figure out what books to order, or not order, for the Media Center. So, have you ready anything good lately? Maybe I can add it to my pile of books to read for 2013. *I'm an affiliate for things I've bought or used personally. If you click through any referral links (if included), at no cost to you, I will earn a commission if you make a purchase. Thank you for your support in this way.
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Nobody likes to think about their mortality, but the untimely deaths in 2012 of two Birmingham moms - both younger than me - really made me consider mine. I never met Laura Black or Elliot Williams in person, but they inspired me. They were the moms/friends/wives everyone knew and loved. For months I followed their stories on Facebook, praying as our mutual friends posted updates and bawling my eyes out at my computer. Whenever I started to complain about my life,…
Keeping You in My Heart: A Grief Journal for Tweens offers children, in the in-between years of nine to twelve, a place to work through their grief after the death of a loved one. The design, prompts and illustrations are engaging and meant to inspire this age group in giving voice to their feelings, celebrating memories, and learning to cope and move forward.
Middle grade books about grief and death can help children process their emotions and also provide them with a safe space to explore the difficult questions that arise after a loss. Reading books that explore
55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
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55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
These mature middle-grade books tackling serious topics are perfect for older middle schoolers between the ages of 11-13.
55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
55 middle-grade books about death and grief: the death of a parent, of a friend, or even the death of pet, beloved teacher, or grandparent.
Dimensions (Overall): 8.1 Inches (H) x 5.6 Inches (W) x .9 Inches (D)Weight: .52 PoundsSuggested Age: 8-12 YearsNumber of Pages: 144Genre: Juvenile FictionSub-Genre: Social ThemesPublisher: Katherine Tegen BooksTheme: Death, Grief, BereavementFormat: HardcoverAuthor: Patricia MacLachlanLanguage: EnglishStreet Date: October 2, 2018TCIN: 85785540UPC: 9780062687692Item Number (DPCI): 247-12-3981Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
For many kids, the death of a cherished animal is often their first experience of losing someone they love. These books sensitively address loss and offer hope for children in grief.
