Edinger House (4th grade) listened to True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp by Kathi Appelt, read aloud by Ms. Edinger.  Here are some of the comments shared during Library:

• You never really know what’s gonna happen next.
• The sugar pies seem so yummy.
• A lot of different characters to make the story interesting.
• Scene switching is effective and entertaining and full of suspense.
• Each chapter starts with a different perspective — from animals to humans and even Sugarman, so it’s fun.
• It’s cool that each chapter is very short.
• The division of different parts (next day, next night, etc.) give you a good sense of the time
• The author is very creative in coming up with the characters.

The students also shared some of their recent favorite reads:

The Pushcart War, Jack and the Seven Deadly Giants, The False Prince, Timmy Failure, The Hunger Games trilogy, The Dragonet series, Ark Angel, Twistrose Key, Arnie the Donut, 13 Gifts, The Red Umbrella, House of Hades, Because of Winn-Dixie, The Fourth Stall, 39 Clues series, Inkheart, Inside Out and Back Again, and A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears.

Now that we are in the middle of the semester, Gordon House students shared some of their reflections and

Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (assigned class reading)

• Part of the book is sad, but it gets happier.  The end is sad and then happier again.
• Bittersweet
• E.B. White is good at describing the emotions of the characters and life, death, love, friendship and changes.
• I feel that the book is not magical enough for my taste.  I wish Charlotte would have been more magical and the ending for her different.
• It is a sweet story and has a fast start.
• It is a beautiful classic.

Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White (some students read this)

• The book is fun and magical.
• It’s kind of a love story, sweet.
• It’s a love story in many different ways, not just the boy-girl kind!
• It might not be as good for kids younger than us — they might get scared or might not understand parts of it about people/characters who are different.

Stewart Little by E.B. White (some students read this)

• I didn’t think it’s a great story because Stewart Little is full of hope but didn’t get what he wanted.
• A very adventurous story.
• The beginning is too weird for a person to give birth to a mouse!
• I liked it because it’s sort of a love story.
• Stewart Little would have been a great book if it hadn’t left you in suspense — an epilogue would have been great.  I wanted to find out what happened to Stewart after the book ended.
• There are some interesting parts but a lot of it is kind of boring.  I feel that the plot sometimes are mismatched.  Too random.
• If there were a sequel to the story?  Stewart Little Two – Margalo and Stewart will be married and give birth to Flying Baby Mice!

October Favorites:

Astronaut Academy by Dave Roman, House of Hades by Rich Riordan, Flower Power Series by Lauren Myracle, d’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire, Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild, Rivalry by John Feinstein, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand, A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket, The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, Baseball Great, Best of the Best, and Rivals by Tim Green, the first Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan, The Second Life of Abigail Walker by Frances O’Roark Dowell, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, The Winnie Years series by Lauren Myracle, His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman, Amber Brown Goes Fourth by Paula Danziger, Atlantis Rising by T.A. Barron, Gryphon Chronicles series by E.G. Foley.

Stormbreaker (Alex Rider series) by Anthony HorowitzTrouble with May Amelia by Jennifer Holm

Freaky Friday by Mary Rogers
The Mysterious Benedict Society Trenton Stewart
The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan

Chronicle of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Percy Jackson and the Oympians series by Rick Riordan
A Whole Nother Story by Doctor Cuthbert Soup