Ms Rush Reads

copyright date: September 2013 primarily marketed for: young adults (7 th grade and up) Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson is not the kind of book you would typically find in my stack of books to be read.   However, something about it called to me.   And boy am I glad it did!   I am eagerly awaiting the sequel, promised to be released this fall. The story begins with a gripping prologue that takes place years before the action of the rest of the book.   It is the story of a young boy named David witnessing his father’s death at the hands of Steelheart, a sort of superhuman called an Epic.   Although David is in awe of Steelheart’s power to turn anything that is not living to steel, he is even more amazed to witness Steelheart reveal a weakness.   David is the only human who knows the truth about what happened during that attack and survived. Years later, when David is eighteen, he has finally caught up with a group of ...

copyright date: 1991 primarily marketed for: young adults (7 th grade up) In preparation for our author re-visit, I tried to read every Neal Shusterman book that has been sitting in my pile of books to read.   Every time I read his work I am blown away. Speeding Bullet is typical of Shusterman’s work in the sense that there is a supernatural element in the story, but it is so realistically told that as a reader, I completely suspend my disbelief.     Nick Herrera is an average teenager with below average intelligence.   He is constantly told by teachers he sees as completely unreliable that if he simply believed in himself more, he would achieve greater success in school.   It is not until a chance encounter with fate at a New York subway stop that Nick’s self-image begins to change.   After saving a young girl’s life and defying death himself in the face of a speeding train, Nick notices that luck is consis...

copyright date: November 2010 primarily marketed for: grade 6 and up Hero by Mike Lupica was a refreshingly fast-paced exciting book to read after slogging through Matthew Cody’s Powerless as a class read aloud to prepare for our author visit with the author.   Although both books are appropriate for a 6 th grade audience, Hero is much more appealing for students beyond 6 th grade.   Hero starts out describing a few moments of Zach’s father’s life, from his father’s point of view.   The rest of the book flips to a third person account of Zach’s adventures after his father is gone.   Zach begins to discover he has superpowers, but Lupica manages to tell this superhero story so well that it almost seems plausible.   The story is set in New York City. Being a fan of the city, I enjoyed the talk about landmarks and the city feel to the book.   Not to mention, how fun it is to imagine living Zach’s life as the child of parents w...