School Booktalks: The List

Here is a complete list of all the books I took on my summer reading visits to the 6th grade groups and to 7th/8th grade classes - complete with booktalks! (Some of these I also took to 5th graders - I'll note those in a later list). This is approximate....after multiple visits, I don't remember precisely what I talked where or when. Or what I said, since most of my booktalking is spur of the moment and I make it up as I got along.

• The book that eats people by John Perry. Yeah, it's a picturebook, but it's one that older kids LOVE. Especially the part where the bones "clatter across the floor like wooden blocks."
• Saving the Ghost of the Mountain by Sy Montgomery. Non-fiction about a scientist who has spent most of his life studying the rare Snow Leopard - an animal he's only seen a few times. How do you spend your whole life studying an animal you never see? Read this book to find out!
• Whaling Season by Peter Lourie. This is the story of another scientist, John Craighead George, who has dedicated his life to studying whales in the Arctic. We especially like the picture of the whale eyeball, although there are many more gory pictures.
• Marsupials by Nic Bishop. You probably know about the kangaroo, koala bear, and oppossum. But what about the boodie, quoll, or bilby? The numbat or the fat-tailed dunnart?
• Made by Me by Jane Bull. Yes, this is a very pink book. It's got a ton of amazing sewing projects in it, great instruction, and lots of cute factor!
• Sparky by Beverly Gherman. A wonderfully designed new biography of Charles Schulz. Booktalk "How many of you like biographies? Nobody? Well, that's only because you've never read this one!"
• Never Smile at a monkey by Steve Jenkins. A list of dangerous and deadly animals. Do you know why you should never pet a platypus? Caress an electric caterpillar? Touch a tang?
• I love to draw dogs by Jennifer Lipsey. This and its companion, I love to draw horses are my favorite drawings books ever! They show how to draw different breeds, the animals in motion, and lots of other drawing tips.
• Total Tragedy of a Girl Named Hamlet by Erin Dionne. Hamlet's younger sister is a genius. As if that's not bad enough, she's joining Hamlet in 8th grade. Hamlet is not a genius. She has to deal with her super-smart little sister, friendship drama, crushes, and her Shakespeare-obsessed parents. It's a total tragedy.
• Guinea PI: Hamster and Cheese by Colleen af Venable. This one is really kind of young for 6th grade...but I love it so much! It's about an unbearably cute and extremely grumpy guinea pig named Sassspants, a very confused hamster who thinks he's a koala, and a mystery.
• Star Wars Adventures: Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes. This is a new series of Star Wars comics - it's my "yes we have Star Wars comics" book.
• Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon. "Do you ever feel like you don't fit in? Like you're completely different from everyone around you? Well, Danny Dragonbreath does. He's the only dragon in a school of reptiles and he can't even breath fire! He also has a little problem with daydreaming and one day he daydreams instead of writing his big report, so he makes the whole thing up, and well, you know what happens next. He has ONE DAY to rewrite his report before he completely fails! So he takes the bus to the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean (never underestimate the power of a really good bus system) and he meets his cousin, who just happens to be a sea serpent, and they go down into the ocean. Danny thinks this is the best way ever to research his paper! His best friend Wendell isn't so sure, especially when the giant octopus grabs them....*as you can tell, this is one of my favorite books!*
• Love Aubrey by Suzanne Lafleur. This is a real tear-jerker. A story of tragedy and loss, healing and hope.
• The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. Dwight is a total loser. Everybody says so. But when he shows up with an origami Yoda finger puppet one day....the finger puppet starts giving good advice. Or does he? Tommy and his friends decide to conduct a scientific investigation. Is Yoda real? Is his advice good? Is Dwight really a loser? Or is he a lot smarter than anyone thought?
• Reef of Death by Paul Zindel. I owe this booktalk to the amazing Ms. Yingling. "I didn't read this book. I read the first page. When I got to the part where the giant mutant fish came up out of the water and bit the guy's legs off, I stopped. You can finish it if you want, but please don't tell me what happened next.
• Skulduggery Pleasant by Derek Landy. I got the booktalk for this off one of the jacket flaps or the cover. I don't remember which. "He's a living, breathing, fire-throwing skeleton. And he's the good guy."
• Battle of the red hot pepper weenies and other warped and creepy tales by David Lubar. I haven't really got a good booktalk for this one, but the cover kinda talks it up without me, so it's ok.
• Big Nate by Lincoln Peirce. "It's Diary of a Wimpy Kid with a different cover." I've also read the "I'm saving my potential" excerpt which I find funny, but the teachers probably don't appreciate as much...
• Fizzy Whiz Kid by Maiya Williams. New school, giant cockroaches, and Hollywood.
• Violet Wings by Victoria Hanley. I'm not happy with any of the booktalks I've done for this one - except the one where I point at my fairy girl in the audience and say "it's an amazing fantasy adventure. ask her for more details."
• Attack of the fluffy bunnies by Andrea Beaty. Pretty much just read the plot description and the kids will start falling around laughing. This one is a little younger, but good for reluctant readers.
• Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers. Theodosia just wants to be left alone to sleep in her sarcophagus and remove curses from the Egyptian artifacts in her parents' museum. But with secret societies showing up, strange artifacts disappearing, and Grandmother insisting on her being a proper lady, she's got more trouble than a few mummies on her hands.
• Bone handbook by Jeff Smith. To get serious Bone fans through the summer and until the next Bone book comes out this fall.
• Smile by Raina Telgemeier. Dental drama and middle school drama in comic book form (I don't have time to type out ALL my splendiferous booktalks. Sorry)
• Cosmic by Frank Boyce. A twelve-year old who looks thirty and his best friend who looks ten sign up for a father-daughter competition. All they wanted was a trip to Japan...they didn't except a trip to the moon!
• My cousin the alien by Pamela Service. Really a younger book but...it's so funny and if you read the whole series at once it's like reading a longer book, right?
• Storm Chaser by Chris Platt. New horse series, lots of drama and horsiness.
• Smells like dog by Suzanne Selfors. I haven't got a really good booktalk for this one either...I need to read it.
• Boys are dogs by Leslie Margolis. I think this is my best booktalk...."This is the story of Annabelle. She's moving to a new town, new school, new house, and her mom has a new boyfriend. He thinks everything will be fine if he just gets Annabelle a new puppy. Puppies are cool and Annabelle is working on training him but she's got one problem: This is the first time she's been to a co-ed school and the boys are making her life miserable. Until...she realizes that her puppy training book? It works on boys. So, girls you will want to read this book to figure out how to deal with boys. Boys? I know this book is pink, but if you don't read it, you will find yourself being puppy-trained without knowing it."

Books I took but didn't get around to booktalking. Nothing wrong with them, we just didn't have time...or they are paperbacks and the kids couldn't see them as well.

• Cyclist Bikelist by Laura Robinson. The ultimate book on bike safety, repairing your own bike, and more!
• Camp Out by Lynn Brunelle. The ultimate book on camping, from your backyard to the most remote wilderness.
• Olympians: Zeus by George O'Connor. Rick Riordan fans who want to know more about the Greek gods will want to check out this new graphic novel series, starting with Zeus.
• Real Friends vs. the other kind by Annie Fox. This is part of the Middle School Confidential series. With comics, situations, lists, and more, Annie Fox walks middle school kids through the drama and confusion of friendship. More titles discuss dealing with family and self-confidence.
• Enchanted Glass by Diana Wynn Jones. Gorgeous new fantasy from the queen of magic.
• One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. Historical novel about the Black Panthers, family, friendship, and more.
• Wide-Awake Princess by E. D. Baker. This one is a galley I brought - our library doesn't have a copy. It's a hilarious fractured retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
• Practical Guide to Vampires by Treval Vorgard. Um...not much to say about this one.
• Calamity Jack by Shannon Hale. I was surprised no one asked about this companion to Rapunzel's Revenge, but it was kind of at the back so maybe they didn't see it.
• Muppet Peter Pan by Grace Randolph
• Baby-sitters Club: Kristy's great idea by Ann Martin. These are the new, updated editions. But I think these kids are a little too old for BSC...
• Pokemon Diamond and Pearl Adventure vol. 1. by Ihara We got a whole set of the Diamond and Pearl movies, so I got manga to go along with them. Nobody asked about them, but several kids were surrepticiously stroking them after my talk so...
• Brain finds a leg by Martin Chatterton. This is Hoot with more wackiness pretty much...very funny.
• Spellbinder by Helen Stringer. It's Harry Potter with ghosts! I love this story and I was disappointed I didn't have time to booktalk it.
• Wolverine: Worst day ever by Barry Lyga. I think they couldn't see this one at the back.

Teen Sampler for 7th/8th grade class at First Lutheran (wish I'd thought to take these to St. Pat's...)

• Generation T by Megan Nicolay. This is my "hey, we have nonfiction in the teen area!" selection. All I really say about the book is that it has 108 ways to reconstruct your t-shirts - most of them involving scissors.
• Aria by Kozue Amano. This is my "hey we have new manga in the teen area" book! I also mention that it is pretty and involves gondoliers in a futuristic space world. I think that's roughly accurate? I haven't read it.
• Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey. This is my "hey, I listen to suggestions" book. Someone dropped a suggestion for Alfred Kropp in the teen suggestion box (every word of which was misspelled, but I figured it out) and we got them! I do booktalk it briefly "Alfred Kropp is a total loser, just trying to get through highschool without failing. Then he finds Excalibur and suddenly he's got bigger things to worry about."
• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen [playaway] This is my "hey, we have audiobooks including playaways in the teen section." Are you seeing a trend?
• Happyface by Stephen Emond. I grabbed this one b/c it looks fun. I tell kids it's Diary of a Wimpy Kid for teens - although I don't think most of these kids have read Kinney, they're too old. So I show them the comics and they look mildly interested. Oh well. It's checked out at least once since I put it on the shelf a few weeks ago.