Reading Rocks

A place to share my favorite books. 

I have had a few requests lately for books I would recommend. I teach 6th grade Language Arts and I use novels in my teaching. The classroom text book is used more for reference. I love reading. There is literally not enough time in the day to read all the books I want.

At school I try with all my heart to instill, excite and ignite this love in my students by making reading a living experience.

At home I have shelves full of books. Most are on my "someday" list. However, I also have a beloved group of books that forever have shaped who I am. Those I simply must own. I admit I used to think it was silly to re-read a book. That is until I actually picked up a treasured book and in an attempt to recreate the magic read it again. I was not disappointed and highly recommend it.

Here are my favorites. They will change as the life of an avid reader is always to read new and more books. I am categorizing them but you MUST understand that I do not believe in boxes. ALL book are for ALL readers.

Young Children  - (Elementary Age)

Pictures books

• Where the Wild Things Are
•  I Aint Gonna Paint No More
• Good Night Moon
• The Tooth Fairy
•  Fancy Nancy
• A Bad Case of the Stripes
• Lon Po Po by Ed Young (Red Riding Hood - China style)
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Chapter books

• Stink
• Judy B. Jones
• The Magic Tree House Series
• Clementine
• Gooney Bird Greene
• Frindle by Andrew Clements
• The Great Gilly Hopkins
• Maniac Magee by Jerry Spenelli
• The Whipping Boy by Peter Sis
• Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan

Middle Grades to High School

•  A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park (Not a Newberry for nothing. EXCELLENT book!)
•  Star Girl by Jerry Spenelli
• Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick
• Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling (Engaging for students!)
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
• The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
• The BFG by Ronald Dahl
• The Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
  
• The Iron Trial by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare
• The False Prince Series by Jennifer A. Nielsen
• Legend by Marie Lu
•  The Maze Runner by James Dashner (Great to get boys engaged).
•  The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (If you want to really reach a middle school student who has to learn about Greece and Rome in history I HIGHLY recommend reading this book with your students. Chances are they have seen the movie, therefore they have background knowledge of it. I have turned students on to reading two years in a row because I chose to teach from this book. They have literally stated my favorite phrase, "This is so much better than the movie!" Once I can get a student to say that, I know they are going to be okay.