Ms Rush Reads

copyright date: 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (teens) The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow opens with this quote: “There is one kind of sport which should be especially encouraged, although many people . . . consider it brutal and vulgar, and that is boxing . . . There is no other sport which equals this in developing the militant spirit, none that demands such a power of rapid decision or which gives the bod the flexibility of good steel . . . But, above all, a healthy youth has to learn to endure hard knocks.” -Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf As an opening, it is a perfect representation of Sharenow’s ability to craft a story that is at once rooted in history and grounded in contemporary relevance.   Karl Stern is a young boy growing up in Germany during Hitler’s rise to power.   He is Jewish by descent, though his family does not identify with or practice Jewish religion or culture.   His Jewish identity serves as t...

copyright date: May 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (high school) Shine by Lauren Myracle is one of those books I felt an itch to talk about as soon as I finished reading.   The story is that powerful, the craft that stunning, the characters that compelling.   It is a book that will surely linger in my mind for days to come. Ever since I took a summer literature class in Southern American Fiction, I have been in love with stories set in the South.   So, I am sure that element drew me further into what is already a captivating story.   Shine begins with a fictitious, yet chilling, newspaper article reporting the brutal beating of sixteen-year-old Patrick Truman, apparently driven by his homosexuality.   From that point on, while Patrick lies comatose in a hospital, the story becomes Cat’s.   Cat used to be one of Patrick’s closest friends, before a traumatic event in her own life caused her to quietly withdraw fr...

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 g...

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...

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 fe...

copyright date: May 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) This is Geoff Herbach 's sequel to Stupid Fast and continues Felton Reinstein’s story in true Felton fashion.   This is definitely a smart guy book—a book for smart guys, who definitely love a good chuckle. The story opens at the end of summer with Felton typing a letter to his girlfriend Aleah while flying in an airplane on his way to retrieve his younger brother from Florida.   The entire book is written as one giant letter to Aleah explaining how his summer led him to this moment in time.   After Felton and his brother Andrew got some help with their mother’s issues, Felton went right back to throwing himself into football and track—because he is stupid fast.   However, Andrew did not cope quite as well as Felton did.   Felton ignores his brother’s cries for help and continuously lets him down.   His brother ends up cooking up an elaborate plan to run ...

copyright date:   October 2011 primarily marketed for: young adults (high school) Everybody Sees the Ants by A. S. King is unlike anything else I have ever read.   Lucky’s story has lingered in my mind long after I put the book down.   {The ants cheer.} Lucky Linderman has been ruthlessly bullied by Nader McMillan since second grade.   Needless to say, high school is not a pleasant experience for him.   His mother is a squid; she swims laps to escape reality.   His father is a turtle; he works long hours at his restaurant to escape reality.     His grandfather fought in the Vietnam War and never returned.   He is officially listed as Prisoner of War/Missing in Action.   When Lucky’s grandmother died, she charged him with the duty of continuing the search for his missing grandfather.   The book covers a summer in Lucky’s life when the bullying reaches a point where it can no longer b...

Wonder by R.J. Palacio copyright date: February 2012 primarily marketed for: young readers (3 rd grade and up) From the moment this book was released, it seems it was all I heard about.  Every blog I read, every tweet I followed announced another reader had fallen in love. And that is just what will happen to you. August, Auggie, Pullman is not your average 5 th grade boy.  Although, according to Auggie the only reason he is not ordinary is because no one else sees him that way .  Auggie was born with a cleft palette amongst other medical anomalies that interfered with the development of his facial features.  At the start of the book he says, “I won’t describe what I look like.  Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” 5 th grade marks the first year he will attend school after having been homeschooled through years of surgery.  This book is about all the challenges he faces and the affect that his story has on others. Which brin...

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher copyright date: October 2007 primarily marketed for: young adults (12 and up) This is one of those books I heard people talk about for so long that I thought I knew what it was about.   I knew it was the story of a girl who committed suicide, but had left behind cassette tapes explaining the thirteen reasons why.   I knew it was moving.   I knew it was powerful.   I knew it was about a girl who was bullied.   I knew reading it changed people. But I had no idea. First of all, it is not really the story of Hannah.   It is really the story of Clay.   Clay receives the 7 cassette tapes Hannah left behind in an anonymous package in the mail.   He has to hunker down in the garage to listen to the tapes because it is the only place with an old cassette player.   As he listens to the tapes, Clay learns that all 13 people who make up Hannah’s story, who played some part in the events that led her to take...

copyright date: 2001 primarily marketed for: grades 4-8 In honor of No Name-Calling Week, the idea for which originated with this book, I thought I would post a review of The Misfits by James Howe.    This book has one of my favorite leads: "So here I am, not a half-hour old as a tie salesman and trying to look like I know what I am doing, which have got to be two of the biggest jokes of all time, when who should walk into Awkworth & Ames Department Store but Skeezie Tookis. " I think I like it because it is such an inviting introduction to Bobby and Skeezie, two of the four friends referred to in the book’s title.   Bobby, Skeezie, Addie, and Joe are seventh graders who decide to create their own political party to run in the student council election.   Their goal is simple: to put an end to name-calling.   Who doesn’t think that is a good idea? The wonderful things about this book aren’t limited to the positive messages about acceptance and k...

I had seen this book all over the place since I attended the NCTE convention in November.  Every time I see it, I am drawn to the cover.  The cover claims that Playground is “The Mostly True Story of a Former Bully.”  However, I was hesitant to buy it because I had little faith that it was quality literature.  Sure, it might be appealing enough for some of you to pick it up and read, but was the story really going to be the kind of message I wanted my students to read?  Was it really based on 50 Cent’s experience?  Would it really send a message about the negative effects of bullying?  Then I came across Crazy Quilt Edi’s book review of the book.  She said after reading she wondered, “Did 50 Cent really write this on his own?”  That was all I needed to know.  Her question told me it must be better than I thought it would be.  And it was. Aside from the gratuitous use of mild swear words and some minor, but noticeable e...