Ms Rush Reads

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...

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for: young adults “Someday an opportunity will come.   Think about Harry Potter.   His life is terrible, but then a letter arrives, he gets on a train, and everything is different for him afterward.   Better.   Magical.”             “That’s just a story.”             “So are we—we’re stories too,” Russ says. -from Boy 21 by Matthew Quick Boy 21 by Matthew Quick was a book that surprised me with its depth.   On the surface it is the story of a basketball player who is challenged when a talented new player, who is used to wearing the same number as him, moves to his school.   However, there are many layers woven into that seemingly simple story.   Basketball means everything to Finley.   The only thing that comes close to meaning as much to him is his girlfriend Erin.   When Fi...

copyright date: January 2011 primarily marketed for: young adult (8 th grade and up) The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman is a book of rare quality.   It is one of the very elite books that could give any John Green book a run for its money.   That is high praise.   This story of Wes and June opens, “The first time Wes saw June, he thought she was kind of funny-looking.”   Aren’t you charmed already?   The Big Crunch is a love story with universal appeal.   It is one of the few books I would call a romance for guys.   And he gets inside the head and heart of both Wes and June in equal doses.   Although I still sense that Wes is the protagonist here—it is more his story than it is June’s.   I am confident Hautman got Wes’s character right because he certainly wrote June accurately as a female teen in love.   I continuously found myself wondering how Pete Hautman could possibly know exactly what went on in my mind when I was her ag...

copyright date: March 2012 primarily marketed for:  young adults (12 and up) The Night She Disappeared is the newest novel by April Henry, author of Girl, Stolen.   And it is every bit as good.  The book opens with a pizza delivery receipt, then jumps to the point of view of Drew, who wrote out that very order slip.  Drew took the order, then sent Kayla to make the delivery.  Only Kayla never came back.  The police end up finding Kayla’s car, purse, cell phone, and the pizzas, but no sign of where Kayla might have gone.  It turns out that Kayla switched delivery shifts with her co-worker Gabie, and the man who placed the order even asked if Gabie would be making the delivery.  Was Gabie actually the one being targeted?   This is a classic mystery story told in a fresh way.  The story continues, just as it began, by switching points of view and peppering in writing in other formats, like the receipt.  At one point, r...

copyright date: September 2011 primarily marketed for: intermediate readers (age 10 and up) I bought this book prior to the announcement that it won the 2012 Newbery Award.  I have to admit, once I heard it won the award I was less interested in actually picking it up to read it.  I mean, sure an award of that caliber denotes a certain standard of literary quality, but it doesn’t always ensure the same high standard of interest.  In short, I expected Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos to be: boring.  Luckily, I was wrong. What finally nudged me to pick the book up was seeing Jack Gantos speak in Springfield at the Illinois Reading Council Conference.  He is a master storyteller, and he is filled with stories to tell.  He spoke to a room filled with us teachers about how to get our students to turn their personal journals into stories the way he did.  Here he is with his current journal of choice: This is the map he drew of his childhood ...

copyright date: 2012 primarily marketed for: young readers (3 rd -5 th grades) “In cheering for Ivan and his friends, we cheer for our own humanity, and our own possibilities.   Read this.” -Gary D. Schmidt “This beautiful, life-affirming story will soar directly from Ivan’s heart into your own.” -Kathi Appelt “A Beautifully written, intelligent, and brave book.   Quite simply, this story is life changing.” -Patricia MacLachlan These are the quotes found on the back of this book.   Enough said, right? Nope. Even these powerful words don’t begin to explain how special this book is.   I want to purchase this book for everyone I know.   I believe this book is the new Charlotte’s Web.   It is that good. The One and Only Ivan is the story of a gorilla who is kept in captivity at a highway-side mall/zoo.   His cage consists of glass walls, a jungle mural, and a cement floor.   Ivan’s story is based on the story of an actual gorilla, w...

copyright date:   February 2012 primarily marketed for: high school readers (14 and up) Chopsticks is a story told through images.   The images include pictures, postcards, newspaper clippings, notes jotted on photos, scrapbooks, and text messages.   All of which have an ageless vintage sort of quality to them.   It is a very aesthetically pleasing book that tells the story of a piano prodigy named Glory who has disappeared. Her story unfolds as readers are taken back in time to the months that led up to her disappearance.   In those months, Glory seemingly met and fell in love with the boy who moved in next door.   This love affair with Francisco coincides with an apparent breakdown Glory is experiencing, causing her to break into an energetic rendition of Chopsticks mid-concert.   As details of their story unfold the love affair grows more intense.   While Glory is becoming less and less stable, Francisco seems to get in more and ...