Fiction Friday: Celebrating Children's Literature in October

Three more days, people! Three more days and October will be complete. Whoo-hoo!

To celebrate the end of one of the most stressful months of the school year, let's link up and share some of our favorite books (recently read or long time favorites) with an October edition of FICTION FRIDAY!

I started Fiction Friday this summer to help me get through my ever growing list of books I was dying to read.  I discovered lots of wonderful new books and by turning my own reading challenge into a weekly linky party I learned about even more.

Now, that I am back in school, I can't keep up with every Friday, but I am hoping to keep up monthly and be able to share a few more outstanding books with y'all.  In turn, I hope you will all link up and share your good reads with me too.

First up...

 

Happenstance Found

by P.W. Catanese

Happenstance Found is the first book in the relatively new trilogy, The Books of Umber.The book begins with the discovery of a boy with unusually green eyes in a cave with no memories of his previous life.   This is Hap and he is more than just an young boy with striking eyes.  He can see in the dark, jump unimaginable heights, and sees a mysterious thread that leads him places. He is taken under the care and guardianship of Lord Umber, a great adventurer, explorer, and scholar of sorts whose knowledge of music, science, architecture, and more is well beyond any in the realm. Together, Hap and Lord Umber try to uncover Haps past and figure out who he is and who he is meant to be in this mystical land.

The book unravels slowly as you learn more and more about the characters, their secrets, and their back stories. The author gives you small pieces of information but keeps you wanting more all the time. It's a great book to look at foreshadowing. With so many questions, I was glued to this book. I had to know more and I had to find out if my predictions were right.  For example, what does Umber keep in his room that provides him with endless information?  The answer might surprise you...or not...if you follow the clues.

Honestly, I thought this was one of the best fantasy books for grades 4-6 that I have read in awhile.  For students who enjoyed The Lighting Thief, this would be another good series for them.  It would also make a great read aloud because here is so much to uncover as you read.

And now...

A Crooked Kind of Perfect

by Linda Urban

Zoe has always wanted a piano - a beautiful, lovely, piano that will allow her to play in Carnegie Hall one day.  Unfortunately for Zoe, her father has a different idea and buys her an organ that comes with free lessons.  With a mother that works non-stop and a father that won't leave the house, Zoe's life is far from perfect.  The organ lessons are just the icing on the cake.  Yet, as Zoe begins to play the organ she discovers an unexpected talent.  She ends up with an opportunity to perform in Perform-O-Rama organ competition.  And, if she can get there on time and not let her nerves get the better of her, it may turn out to be exactly what she has been looking for.

Written with great voice, Zoe comes to life in these pages and you can't help but fall in love with her and root for her.  Her family is far from perfect, but through all the dysfunction there is a lot of love and Zoe soon learns that life may not always turn out they way you think, but that doesn't always have to a bad thing.

This book is appropraite for grades 4-6.  Many of my girls read it last year and loved it! It is not a difficult read and for your more mature 4th graders, they will be captivated with Zoe just like I was.

So, there you have it.  Two more excellent books to add to the Fiction Friday master list.  I can't want to see what you have been reading in October.  Please link up and share your newest discoveries or old favorites in children's literature.   Remember to grab my linky button and link back to me so others can find all the posts.

Happy Reading!

Fiction Friday: A Celebration of Children's Literature

1. Smiles and Sunshine	2. peacocks and penguins in the classroom	3. iTeach 1:1
4. The Rainbow Stick Boy

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

Recovering from October Stress Overload

I'm here! I'm here!

I'm alive.  Sorry for the month long absence. I really did miss all my readers and faithful commenters.  To those that sent me messages checking on my whereabouts... thank you so much.  That was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to log back in.

It was one of those things where a few days turned into a few weeks and the more I thought about logging in the more intimidated I got.  I was actually scared terrified to see my Google Reader count. Yup... I have that dreaded 1000+ staring me down.

So, what has been happening you may ask.  Well, I've been frantically trying to keep my head above water.  Does anyone else just hate October?!  Seriously, my stress level sky rockets during this month every single year.

Is it the parent teacher conferences?  Is it the endless testing that I have to put my students through?  Is it the ridiculously low scores I see after grading these tests?  Is it knowing how far my students have to come this year?  Is it knowing that we are months in and we should be so much further than we are?  Is it that the vision I had in the summer of everything has shifted and things are not exactly the way I want them?

The answer is D - all of the above.

Like clock work, at some point during this month I come home and go on some long winded rant about...well...everything... that inevitably ends with "I hate my job!" (Please don't judge me too harshly here.)

Does this happen to anyone else?!?  Yup, I hit rock bottom every October.  I work LONG hours, like longer than usual and find myself beyond exhausted every night.  It's a good thing I don't have children right now, because when I get home I'm worthless.

So, how do I cope with the stress of October ? Well...

I eat candy...lots and lots of candy.  I basically just crave sugar and with Halloween just around the corner there is candy everywhere. Snickers, anyone?

I watch a ridiculous amount of  TV.  And thankfully, there is plenty to watch.  Have y'all seen Nashville yet?  I'm currently obsessed.

I escape with a good book.  (I'm reading Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness right now.  It is the sequel to Discovery of Witches and it's really good.)

And finally... I go to bed EARLY! (after reading 5-10 pages of my book which means it takes me forever to finish anything!) Needless to say,  blogging takes the hit. 

The good news is that my stress level is starting to decline.  The first sign came last week when I made it through a whole day at school without hitting the candy bowl. I'm well on my way to recovery.  

By the time November rolls around I'll be fully back to normal and I will only dislike my job the appropriate amount on those exceptionally tough days. You all know the ones.  :)

So, hopefully I'm not the only teacher on the planet that goes through this October stress madness. 

Please say yes here. 

I'd love to hear your stories. I take comfort in knowing that I am not alone. Please share your coping skills as well. Do we all eat candy and increase our caffeine consumption? Let me know! 

P.S.  It's been WAY too long since we celebrated some Children's Literature.  Look for a new Fiction Friday this upcoming week.  I can't wait to see what you have been reading!