Ms Rush Reads

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (8 and up) This is another book for younger readers.   So, although the time you spend actually reading Jake and Lily by Jerry Spinelli won’t be long, the time this story spends traveling around in your heart will be immeasurable. Spinelli is a master at getting straight to the heart of what keeps people from accepting one another: differences.   Through the story of young twins Jake and Lily, he tells a story of tolerance, acceptance, and ultimately friendship.   Jake and Lily have a very special relationship.   They are able to connect with one another through dreams and across distances.   In fact, as they write their stories for us in alternating chapters, they don’t even need to read to know what they other has written.   Conflict settles into their lives when growing up threatens to come between them.   As Jake begins to spend more time with a group of boys led by the roughest b

copyright date: April 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (high school) I’m just going to put this out there:  I like books about death.  I didn’t know this about myself as a reader until my students this year pointed out how many of the books I booktalk (basically all of them) involve someone who died or someone who is dying. I am not sure if that is just a me thing, or if that is a common thread in books since it is such a major part of life and conflict.  I’d like to think it is the latter. At any rate, I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga , is obviously my kind of book—it is quality literature with sophisticated vocabulary, and it is about death.  Jasper Dent, known as Jazz, is a teenager who is struggling to overcome the odds, to say the least.  His father, Billy Cornelius Dent, is the most infamous serial killer, with victims totaling triple digits.  Since his father’s arrest, Jazz has had to care for his grandmother while convincing the social w

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (5 th grade and up) I sort of expected One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt to be one of those overly sappy books with unrealistic, sickeningly sweet characters.  However, although the storyline might make it sound sappy, the characters are realistic and dynamic.  After a traumatic incident that lands both she and her mother in the hospital, Carley Connors is taken away and placed in foster care with the Murphy family.  The only life Carley has known is one of put-downs, food scraps, and shopping for clothes in Salvation Army drop boxes.  Until she meets the Murphys.  The Murphys are too good to be true: Julia, the mom, happily makes home-cooked meals for her three boys and firefighting, sports-loving husband.  In fact, Julia isn’t even rattled by Carley’s rough around the edges attitude.  At first, Carley despises the Murphys and the way they make her feel inadequate.  She doesn’t fe

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: middle school (age 10 and up) Everything you have heard about this book is true.  It is one of those books that will find its way into your heart and nestle in for a good long while. See You at Harry’s by Jo Knowles is filled with endearing characters far beyond the protagonist: twelve-year-old Fern.  Fern’s family is made up of a (much) younger brother Charlie, (who only pronounces his /r/ sound when calling Fern’s name), an older brother Holden (who is struggling with his own identity), an older sister Sara (who wears her hair in dreadlocks and torments her siblings as much as she adores them), a mother (who is juggling attending to her husband’s passion for the family business and a house full of children with varying needs), and a father (whose love of his restaurant often comes at the cost of family embarrassment).  The story largely takes place at Harry’s, the family restaurant, which hosts a cast of cha

copyright date: June 2011 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (5 th grade and up) Three things I cannot get enough of are: 1.      books that take place during WWII (there is so much to know about this important time in our history that these stories never get old) 2.      books told from multiple viewpoints (I love the layers of story this reveals) AND 3.      books about elephants (I am in love with these emotional creatures) An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo (author of War Horse ) satisfies my craving for all three kinds of books.  The story is initially told from the point of view of a nurse whose son comes with her to work at an assisted living facility.  Her son, Karl, bounds into the room of one of her most challenging patients.  Upon meeting Karl, the patient begins talking about an elephant that lived in her garden when she was a young girl.  The nurse dismisses her talk as the nonsensical words of fading mind.  However,

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (14 and up) Kekla Magoon is the amazing author who won me over with The Rock and the River (historical fiction) and captured my heart with Camo Girl (contemporary realistic fiction).  I have been waiting impatiently for her latest book 37 Things I Love to be released.  Did you know she will be our visiting author for the 2012-2013 school year?  I. Can’t. Wait. 37 Things I Love has been described as Magoon’s first book that is really meant for a high school audience.  I agree.  Although, I think mature 8 th grade readers will also appreciate this story. High school sophomore Ellis is struggling to remain positive in the face of some major challenges.  Her father is on life support, putting strain on her relationship with her mother, and her best friend is becoming increasingly self-centered and self-destructive.  With little support around her, Ellis turns to a past friend when she rediscovers c

copyright date: September 2011 (2010 in UK) primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (5 th grade and up) Growing up, I was familiar with Roddy Doyle .  My sister read his books for grown-ups and convinced me to watch a couple of her favorite movies, which were based on those books.  Years ago, I discovered his hilariously clever book for younger readers, The Giggler Treatment , a story about creatures called Gigglers who place dog poop in the paths of adults who’ve done wrong.  So, when I saw he had a new book out for young readers, I couldn’t wait to read it.  A Greyhound of a Girl is a book unlike any other I’ve read.  Roddy Doyle is a genius.  Life is a bit of a struggle for the protagonist, twelve-year-old Mary O’Hara.  Her granny is dying and she lost her best friend when her family moved away.  Now, she has to walk home down the hill from the bus stop alone before heading home to join her mother on a visit to the hospital.  One day, on her lon

copyright date: May 2010 primarily marketed for:   young adults (high school) Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler is one of those books I wish I would have had when I was in high school.  This is what I would’ve liked to have read then.  I picked it up after reading a letter-essay about the book by one of Nancie Atwell ’s students.  The excerpt she included showed the realism of the friendship between Anna and Frankie.  It was humorous and the dialogue felt like conversations I could’ve had with my high school best friend. I had no idea how serious the book is, too.  Anna and Frankie have always been best friends.  They grew up together and were part of a trio of best friends that included Frankie’s brother Matt.  It was a relationship they all trusted and relied on. That is, until Anna’s fifteenth birthday when everything changed.  That was the day Matt and Anna finally admitted to each other that they had stronger feelings for one another.  Anna promised

copyright date: September 2011 primarily marketed for:   intermediate readers (9 and up) Donalyn Miller, one of my hero teachers, wrote a review (on the Nerdy Book Club blog ) of Hound Dog True by Linda Urban that made me feel I had to read this book.  The thing she said that was particularly convincing was this: But have you ever read a book and loved it so much that you didn’t want to share it with anyone? As if the moment you told someone, the book would melt like a snowflake in a hot palm or wilt like a picked flower. This is how I feel about Hound Dog True . Some books you read and some books read you and some books fit right under your ribs, so you can carry them with you. I think that’s the kind of book everyone needs to read.  Hound Dog True is the story of 5th grader Mattie Breen.  Mattie and her mom temporarily move in with her uncle so that they will be around to care for him while he has surgery on his knee in a few months.  Mattie i

copyright date: December 2011 primarily marketed for:   young adults (13 and up) Maybe it is because I am not very athletic that this book appeals to me.  Catching Jordan by Miranda Kenneally is sort of an athletic girl fantasy story.  Jordan Woods is a teenage girl who is not just on her high school football team, but she is the quarterback of the team.  Not only is she surrounded by athletic guys, she also gets to lead them.  Talk about girl power.  At first it sounds like it might be a simple story about how difficult it is to be the only girl on the guys’ team.  However, Catching Jordan has much more depth than that.  Jordan does not face much resistance about being a girl who plays football from her teammates or even her rivals.  Her biggest challenger is her father, a pro-football player whose protective attitude prevents him from supporting his daughter, even though he has no trouble supporting her older brother’s passion for football. She is facing

copyright date: November 2011 primarily marketed for:   young adults (12 and up) I finally, reluctantly picked this book up after hearing lots of talk about how awesome it is.  I have to admit, I just couldn’t believe that ANOTHER post-apocalyptic-book-for-the-fans-of- Hunger-Games could really be that good.  Well, let me tell you, Legend by Marie Lu is really that good.  I think I might even like this one a little bit better than Divergent by Veronica Roth. Legend is told in alternating viewpoints and follows two protagonists: June and Day. June is one of the elite.  She is following in the footsteps of her esteemed older brother Metias by working her way up the military ranks with the speed only a prodigy could manage.  She is fully determined to do whatever it takes to defend the Republic’s honor.  Day is the Republic’s most wanted criminal.  He is a devious mastermind, but is driven by a love for his family and fierce belief in his own brand of justi