All Along You Were Blooming

poetry

This is a book of feel-good poetry. There is not a storyline, but the theme of the book is, "thoughts for boundless living." I love this collection of poetry. If I am ever having a bad day, I turn to a random page, read the poem, and journal my thoughts about it. This poetry book has helped me through breakups, mourning, friendships, and so much more. This book could be considered a religious text because it relies heavily on faith.

I recommend this book for older middle-grade students. They will understand and relate to the emotions evoked from this book. Younger students might not be able to relate to some of the themes this book covers.

Standards Related:

ELAGSE7RL5: Analyze how a drama’s or poem’s form or structure (e.g., soliloquy, sonnet) contributes to its meaning.

ELAGSE7RL10: By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6-8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Hey, Kiddo

biography

This graphic novel will be hard to put down. In a touching memoir by Jarrett Krosozka, Jarrett illustrates his early childhood in a gripping graphic novel. Jarrett's mother is a struggling addict who, sadly, cares more about drugs than her child. Jarrett's grandfather eventually becomes his primary caregiver. Jarrett's mother refused to let her mother, Jarrett's grandmother, adopt him. She thought of her as a drunk who does not care about her daughter. Throughout the novel, Jarrett's mother is never a constant in his life. She blows in with the wind and is gone just as quick. Jarrett knows not to rely on her. He knows not to rely on his father either, only because he has no idea who the man even is.

Join Jarrett on his way to adulthood navigating life with an addict mother and a nonexistent father. Will he ever discover the true identity of his father?

This book would be good for older students who understand the struggle of addiction or who have someone in their life who is an addict. Sadly, a lot of students might be able to relate to this story and see that Jarrett survives and thrives in his adulthood.

Standards Related:

ELAGSE7RI3: Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

ELAGSE7RI5: Analyze the structure an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas.

Ms. Battle's Opinion:

WOW! I loved this book. I read it in about 45 minutes. It was amazing. I do not have a connection to the theme of this book, but I hope it will help me understand some of my students' stories.

The Summer I Turned Pretty

Romance

Love. That's all any teenage girl wants.

The Couple Next Door

Drama

A dinner party turned into a disaster. The crime is chilling, it is not what you think. This drama will shock you to your very core. You will never know what happens next. Once you think you have figured it out, you are right back to square one.

A couple attended a small dinner party, at their neighbors home. When they arrive back home later that night, their infant daughter has been kidnapped from her crib. The couple left Cora sleeping and brought the baby monitor with them. The dinner was at the condo they shared a common wall with. They checked on Cora every 30 minutes. Sometime between the last time they checked on her at 12:30 and 12:35, Cora was kidnapped from her bedroom without a trace. The detectives think it is the parents. The parents do not know what to think. Who would take their baby girl? Anne, the mother, was diagnosed with postpartum depression, the cops believe she killed her baby and the husband covered it up. The truth will shock you. Every page leaves you speechless.

Secrets are revealed and so will the truth. Find out where Cora is and about the couple next door.

Standards Related:

ELAGSE7RL6: Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

ELAGSE7RI3: Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g., how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas or events).

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