Here is a lovely little picture of my cute little NAWS (Nick, Ashley, Whitney, Stephanie) team. These little self-proclaimed nerds took us all the way to the regional competition in Roseburg. They placed 2nd at our district tournament and then 4th at the regional competition that had schools coming from all over southwestern Oregon. I am very proud.
This was one of the coolest things that I have been involved with. The state librarians association put this together. They chose 16 books for students to read. The students formed teams of four and then they had a few months to read all of the books. Then the battles were on. It was a sort of Jeopardy-like competition and it was so fun to see all of these kids reading the same books. At my school we had over 40 teams, that means 160 or so students were all reading these great books. They were all talking to each other about it and we organized book clubs that met after school with different teachers that all read some of the books. It has just been a great experience.
At our district competition they think that there were 1000 or so people crammed into our gym. They showed this video with some great music and pictures of the kids in the middle of their school competitions. After it was over, the crowd exploded into cheers and the excitement was contagious--and the best part was that it was all about books! I read 13 of the 16 books myself and loved nearly every one. So here is the list for all of you readers out there that are open to young adult literature. It is my own belief that some of the most creative writing is done for young adults, so pick one out and take a chance. You won't be disappointed.
*The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
*Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Eleanor's Story: An American Girl in Hitler's Germany by Eleanor Ramrath Garner
Cages by Peg Kehret
*Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
Shadow Spinner by Susan Fletcher
Under the Blood Red Sun by Graham Salisbury
Code Talkers by Joseph Brouchac
Among the Hidden by Margaret Petersen Haddix
Flush by Carl Hiassen
Code Orange by Caroline B. Cooney
The Kite Rider by Geraldine McCaughren
*Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
*Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
*Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen
*Criss Cross by Lynn Rae Perkins
*My favorites
5 comments:
that is so cool, heff! i'll have to add those to my reading list. trav will love them too, i bet, cos he loved the lightning thief and read the rest of that series.
That,s awesome Jeff! You are lucky to be involved in these kids life. They are lucky to have you. Thanks for the list of books I have been needing to find a good read!! Love ya!
i read the rest of those books by scott westerfeld. i liked pretties medium well, and i liked specials a lot. have you read any more of them?
Doge-
i did read pretties and specials. I felt much the same as you--medium for number 2, good for number 3. I have stayed away from "Extras" though....but maybe will come back to it. I've heard his book "Peeps" is pretty good.
Sweet! That's me! That was a totally awesome day!
-Nick
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