Skyping with Erin Berlin

Over on my librarian blog, I'm sharing our 4th and 5th grade book club finale - reading The Potato Chip Puzzle and skyping with the author. Check it out! 

Skyping with Gordon Korman

Last Friday, we got to Skype with Gordon Korman. It was an awesome finale to our Lunch Bunch program with 5th graders at the Norwich Public Schools. We spent thirty minutes asking questions:

How did he become a writer?

Does he have kids?

Are they readers?

If he wasn't a writer, what does he think he'd be doing?

How he got his inspiration/ideas?

and dozens of others.

He was great - lots of fun, lots of information, and lots of laughter. The kids (plus the librarians) had a great time hanging out with him! We were lucky to have a technology grant that allowed us this amazing opportunity! 

Yesterday and Today: Bookish

I'm having a fun couple of book days - yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to go to Random House for a quick tour and lunch with some of the editors, which was fabulous. I'll share more on that over the weekend.

Plus, today Kim and I are Skyping with Gordon Korman!!!! Read more about why we're doing that at my librarian blog.

Tween Tuesday Review: Swindle

**Tween Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at GreenBeanTeenQueen to highlight great reads for tweens. Join the fun! **   

Griffin always has a plan. He wants to use the land from the house being destroyed for a skate park. However, everyone refused to let him speak. Now in a last ditch effort, he's invited his whole class to sleep over at the house. Only his best friend shows up.

The night isn't a total loss as Griffin finds an old Babe Ruth card hidden inside a desk. He hopes that this card could be the answer to his parents' money troubles. He takes the card to a local shop where the man gives him $20.

Later, he sees the man on TV raving about this rare baseball card. Immediately Griffin knows that he's been swindled. He's not about to let that stop him. He comes up with a plan to steal back his baseball card.

My Thoughts: I LOVED this book. I'm a huge Gordon Korman fan. I read this for our 4th and 5th grade book club at the library. I loved the action, the danger, the heist, and the characters. I like how Gordon Korman writes about kids standing up for their rights and often taking matters into their own hands. I loved Griffin and his plans. I was impressed by how he assembled his team. You can't go wrong with Gordon Korman, all of our book club kids love him. I'm eagerly awaiting my turn at the second book in the series.

Cover Thoughts: Great
Source: my Library

Book Trailer: Check out the awesome book trailer.

Tween Tuesday Review: Mysterious Matters of I.M. Fine

Franny's starting to notice strange behavior after everyone devours the latest Chillers book from I.M. Fine. At first there's the whole need for gummy worms. Next, everyone has headaches. Finally, everyone starts acting like a snake. Franny believes there's a connection between the books and the behaviors.

She tries to convince her best friend Beamer about the truth. It takes him a long time to listen to her, but even he can't deny there's something strange happening all over the country.

The two of them set out to uncover the identity of this famous author who keeps all private information out of print. Can they solve the mystery behind the strange happenings to their classmates?

My Thoughts: I've always been interested in reading this book because of the title and the cover. It's our current read for this month's 4th and 5th grade book club. I quite enjoyed the story - although I didn't entirely believe the conclusion. I loved the relationship between Beamer and Franny. I loved their sleuthing. Most of all, I loved how was a book about books and authors. A fun great mystery.

Cover Thoughts: Interesting - very fun.

Source: My Library

Created: Sammy Keyes book trailer

Here's a new trailer made after attending a technology workshop. It's next month's book pick for our 4th and 5th grade book club.

Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief

Created: Sideways Stories from Wayside School at OneTrueMedia.com

Created: Archer's Quest Booktrailer