Fiction Friday: Chapter 2

Good Morning Book Lovers! It's Friday and you know what that means....

Fiction Friday!!

 

I'm just going to hop right in and tell you about my books of the week.  

(Psst! Are y'all reading this like a game show announcer, because that is definitely what I have going on in my head right now.)

And.... here the books are now....

Edgar Allan's Official Crime 

Investigation Notebook

by Mary Amato

Edgar Allan often feels overlooked.  He's not a great musician like his brother and never wins first place in anything.  He blends in.  When the class fish goes missing, Edgar is determined to solve the case first and have his moment in the spotlight. But what kind of thief steals things and leaves poetry behind?  Something fishy is definitely going on!

Initially, I had a hard time getting into this book.  It just didn’t grab me from the beginning with the story or with the writing.  It was sort of okay, but as I kept reading I found the meat of the story.  And then, I was hooked.  You see it is not really about finding the thief, but about friendship, secret identities and seeing more than meets the eye.   

Edgar is a detective, but his observant nature shows him more than just clues to the case. As Edgar writes, “If every person saw every other person’s sadness, there couldn’t ever be such a thing as a complete enemy because how can you hate somebody who you feel sorry for?” This book is about empathy and understanding. 

I enjoyed Edgar’s character immensely.  In fact, he reminded me of a student I had two years ago so much that I actually pictured my student and I having the exact same conversations Edgar had with his teacher. Talk about a text to self connection!

The mystery behind the stolen goods and poetry was also fun.  I’m proud to say I figured it out pretty early on, but it was well constructed and I liked that the pieces all fell into place at the end. I can’t help but wonder at what point the students will figure out "whodunit".  Or will they figure it out?  Definitely a good read aloud grades 3-4.  The chapters are short and easy to read.  Kids would be hooked, but the heart of the story gives you a great platform to discuss bullying and social issues.

Fast Facts:

• Read Aloud 3-4
• Grades 3-5 (RL 4.5)
• 138 pages 

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Next up, we have...

Fairest of All

by Sarah Mlynowski

Fairest of All is the first book in the Whatever After series. Now, I know you aren’t supposed to say there are girl books and boy books, BUT….there are girl books and boy books.  This is a girl book.  I think this will be a very tough sell to most of the boys in my 4th grade class. I know based on the cover, you all find this very surprising, right? *wink, wink*

Basically, Abby, the uber control freak, and her laid back brother, Jonah get sucked into a mirror and are transported into a fairy tale world.  More specifically, they are transported directly into Snow White’s story and while they are there, they mess it all up. Jonah stops Snow from eating the poison apple, therefore Snow is never poisoned, which means that the prince can not find her and fall in love with her, and well…everything is ruined.  So, Abby and Jonah set out to right this wrong in a silly mixed up fairy tale adventure.

This was a fun read. I think readers of the Candy Apple series or Katie Kazoo will be highly entertained.  The text is a mash up of modern day and fairy tale lingo, which makes for some very humorous moments. I know my niece would have LOVED this book when she was in first and second grade and was completely obsessed with fairy tales and princesses.  As a fourth grader, I'm  not sure she would be as excited about it.  This might be best as a read aloud for girls K-2.  Abby is a smart, witty, and take charge kind of girl. She’s exactly the kind of character we want young girls looking up to.

Fast Facts:

• Read Aloud K-2
• Grades 2-4 (RL 2.8)
• 169 pages
• Texas Bluebonnet Nominee

Now it's your turn.

Please link up and share some of your favorite books.  

Reviews, pondering, lesson ideas...whatever! 

I love learning about new titles or hearing new ways to use favorite titles.

When you link up, please remember to link directly to your Fiction Friday blog post, not your blog. And, please please grab my Fiction Friday button to link back to me so that everyone can enjoy the party.

 I can't wait to see what y'all have been reading.