Read Smart: Upper Elementary Book Club (February: Trex by Christyne Morrell)

📚 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝘂𝗻, 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿! 📚

𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱:
January: Iceberg by Jennifer A. Nielsen
February: Trex by Christyne Morrell
March: Liesl & Po by Lauren Oliver
April: Maizy Chen's Last Chance by Lisa Yee
May: Nothing Else But Miracles by Kate Albus


𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰:
January: A Rover's Story by Jasmine Warga
February: The Wondercurrent by J. R. Parks
March: The Last Beekeeper by Pablo Cartaya
April: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A. F. Steadman
May: Grounded by Aisha Saeed, Huda Al-Marashi, Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, and S. K. Ali 
June: The Last Human: A Novel by Lee Bacon
July: The Lost Library by Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass
August: New Kid by Jerry Craft
September: The Last Wild by Piers Torday
October: Took by Mary Downing Hahn
November: The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez 
December: No class!


As a professional author, I love talking about books with students-- and I especially love urging them to dig deep and think about books beyond a simple "I liked it" or "I didn't like it". This class seeks to engage students in meaningful discussion about books while also touching on literary devices like symbolism, foreshadowing, tone, and voice.

We will read modern books that should appeal to a multitude of readers-- even reluctant ones! While I love the classics as much as the next person, I think it's important for students to see that reading "smart" isn't just for dusty old books-- and that spotting literary devices can feel like cracking a secret code that helps you love and understand books on a deeper level.

**Students should attend the first class having read approximately one-third of the chosen book.**
While reading ahead isn't "against the rules", please encourage your student not to get too far ahead, lest they risk accidentally revealing spoilers to the other readers. Please note that we read one book per month/per session, and that it is the student's responsibility to acquire and read the first one-third of the chosen book before class begins. These books are widely available wherever books are sold or borrowed, as well as in e-book format.