Remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books? Capstone Press has a similar series called You Choose. RL grades 3-4/IL grades 3-7 According to their catalog this is how Capstone describes the series - "...interactive history books! Everything in these books happened to real people. And YOU CHOOSE the path you take and what you do next. Readers will explore multiple perspectives and learn for themselves the value of seeing history from many points of view."
This week I read Mexican Immigrants in America by Rachael Hanel. This book is one of the new releases in the series. While the title is not very inspiring, the book was great. Just like the Choose Your Own Adventure books, you get to choose what you want to do at certain points in the story. Unlike the CYOA books, the YOU CHOOSE books deal with historical events and choices real people have made. I really expected to be less than awed by Mexican Immigrants in America, but after I started reading I couldn't put it down. I even went back and read some of the alternate choices to see what would happen. Color pictures sprinkled throughout the book add to the story. Some of the titles in this series that I plan to purchase for my middle school library are The Titanic by Bob Temple, Westward Expansion and The Attach on Pearl Harbor by Allison Lassieut. I really think our boys will enjoy these once I "book talk" them to get the first ones circulating.
Capstone Press http://www.capstonepress.com/
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Max Anderson - Author and Previous Reluctant Reader
Max Elliot Anderson is an author of action/adventure and mystery books for tween boys. Once a reluctant reader himself, he now writes for reluctant readers, especially boys. Check out his web sites at http://www.maxbooks.9k.com/ and http://booksandboys.blogspot.com/ .
I haven't read any of Max's books yet but am definitely interested in trying some. They sound like just what my boys at the middle school want in a book.
I haven't read any of Max's books yet but am definitely interested in trying some. They sound like just what my boys at the middle school want in a book.
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Capstone Publishers - Stone Arch Books
First, just to let everyone know.....Capstone Press sends me books to preview a couple of times a year; however, I do not receive any compensation for books purchased due to my reviews published on this blog.
I really like Stone Arch Books, a small publishing house which is part of Capstone Publishers. If you are really into finding books for reluctant readers, especially boys, you undoubtably already know about Capstone's books. The following post appeared on the Stone Arch blog site-
Good Books or Gross Books? "An article in the Wall Street Journal recently claimed that to get boys to read, you’ve gotta give them blood and guts. Here at Stone Arch Books, we understand the balance between what boys want and what kids want. Our (proven, kid-tested) method of getting boys to read simply consists of publishing books that contain elements boy readers are looking for—action, sports, humor, adventure, and just a pinch of irreverence. At the same time, we’re publishing books that librarians and teachers and parents can be comfortable with. August 13, 2008 http://www.stonearchbooks.blogspot.com/
Check out the Graphic Flash: Historical Fiction books by Stone Arch. They combine regular text with the graphic novel format. The books look good and are good reads. There are about 12 titles out already with several more coming in 2009. I recently read Jungle Scout: A Vietnam War Story by Tim Hoppey. IL grades 3-8/ RL grades 2-3 I know a fifth grader who will enjoy this book. For all the school librarians (as well as parents, etc.) - if a student enjoys one of the historical fiction books, gently show him where the Vietnam War books are in the nonfiction collection in the library. Hopefully, there is something on his level there. Encourage him to look at the pictures and read the captions if the overall text is too difficult.
If your reluctant readers enjoy scary stories like the Goosebumps series, try the Shade series by Stone Arch. IL grades 5-9/RL 2-3 The Mummy at Midnight by Steve Brezenoff is scary with high suspense. Be sure to point out the Internet sites at the back of the book that can be accessed through www.facthound.com using the book's ISBN number. For this title FactHound lead the reader to good sites about sleepwalking and mummies. And again, for readers who enjoyed this particular title in the series, show them where the nonfiction books about mummies are in the library.
I really like Stone Arch Books, a small publishing house which is part of Capstone Publishers. If you are really into finding books for reluctant readers, especially boys, you undoubtably already know about Capstone's books. The following post appeared on the Stone Arch blog site-
Good Books or Gross Books? "An article in the Wall Street Journal recently claimed that to get boys to read, you’ve gotta give them blood and guts. Here at Stone Arch Books, we understand the balance between what boys want and what kids want. Our (proven, kid-tested) method of getting boys to read simply consists of publishing books that contain elements boy readers are looking for—action, sports, humor, adventure, and just a pinch of irreverence. At the same time, we’re publishing books that librarians and teachers and parents can be comfortable with. August 13, 2008 http://www.stonearchbooks.blogspot.com/
Check out the Graphic Flash: Historical Fiction books by Stone Arch. They combine regular text with the graphic novel format. The books look good and are good reads. There are about 12 titles out already with several more coming in 2009. I recently read Jungle Scout: A Vietnam War Story by Tim Hoppey. IL grades 3-8/ RL grades 2-3 I know a fifth grader who will enjoy this book. For all the school librarians (as well as parents, etc.) - if a student enjoys one of the historical fiction books, gently show him where the Vietnam War books are in the nonfiction collection in the library. Hopefully, there is something on his level there. Encourage him to look at the pictures and read the captions if the overall text is too difficult.
If your reluctant readers enjoy scary stories like the Goosebumps series, try the Shade series by Stone Arch. IL grades 5-9/RL 2-3 The Mummy at Midnight by Steve Brezenoff is scary with high suspense. Be sure to point out the Internet sites at the back of the book that can be accessed through www.facthound.com using the book's ISBN number. For this title FactHound lead the reader to good sites about sleepwalking and mummies. And again, for readers who enjoyed this particular title in the series, show them where the nonfiction books about mummies are in the library.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)