BookTok: Lunar New Year Love Story

I was super excited to have this book sent for review! 

And here's my review for BookTok

 

@yabooknerdlibrarian You will want to put this one in your reading list! Thank First Second for the review cooy! #lunarnewyear #graphicnovel #yabook #booktok #lovestory ♬ original sound - Jennifer @YA Book Nerd 📚📚📚

Graphic Novel Review: Dragon Hoops

Dragon Hoops follows one California team as they chance the state championship title. They've been chasing the title for years and have gotten to the title game several times...but have come up short each time.

Gene Yang's never been a jock. He's more of a nerd and that has stayed true from his high school days to his teaching days.  When he attempts to find the subject for his new book, he thinks this might be the perfect story to tell.

My Thoughts: And it is. I'm a basketball fan. I played basketball, I watch basketball, and I love reading about basketball. So I knew that I was going to love this book. I loved how the history of basketball was interwoven with the story. I loved learning about the players on the team. I also love stories about the underdogs. It's the story of dreams, hope, and hard work.

Cover Thoughts: Perfect. I love the little bumps on the cover. Genius.

Source: My Library

Library Recommendation: A must have book for high school libraries and public libraries.

Reading without Walls

Reading Without Walls this April -- a month-long, nation-wide program to promote diversity in reading, inspired by National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Gene Luen Yang and his ambassadorial platform. Thousands of schools, libraries, bookstores, and comics stores are joining in to help celebrate Reading Without Walls. 

This month, Gene is challenging us all to: 

Read a book about a character who doesn't look or live like you.

Read a book in a format you don't typically read -- graphic novels, poetry, audiobooks, plays.

Read a book about a new subject you don't know much about. 

And we'll be sharing our thoughts with the #readingwithoutwalls hashtag on social media. 

Wanot to know more? Check out the website. 

What will you be reading?

Reading Without Walls Blog Tour

Hopper hates her new school. The kids aren't very nice. She feels like she's being watched all the time. And then it turns out she is...

She befriends a boy and together they uncover the truth about the school. There are robots everywhere. Soon they're keeping secrets, learning about coding, and meeting robots.

But there are those at the school who want to get their hands on the robots. Will they accidentally spill the secrets?

My Thoughts: I enjoyed the first two graphic novels of the series and of course I'm looking to read more after the cliff hanger endings. I like how the books introduce coding as a game, as a secret, and as something super cool. I like the interactions between Josh and Hopper. I love Josh's program names. Coding is very logical, which makes so much sense to make and makes me want to learn coding. I'm from the era of the turtle, which was interesting to me in school, but bored me at the same time because I wasn't allowed to play enough with it. We had very specific instructions and then had to wait for everyone to catch up. I love that these three friends are creating programs and learning about code - both in a practical and an aesthetic manner. Fun graphic novels that are perfect for your STEAM needs.

But don't just take my word for it, here's what Booklist has to say: 

These book take me back to my childhood. Beside the turtle in school, I really enjoyed LEGOs. There were one of my favorite toys and still are. I could spend hours building. I'm super excited for next summer's reading program theme because I hope to start up a LEGO club. I bought a bunch of new LEGO books for the library. Flipping through this one made me itching to build something - anything really. 

I love building based off instructions - and building based off imagination. 
I hope to blend those two together next summer. I can't wait!

What STEAM activities do you enjoy?

Check out the rest of the READING WITHOUT WALLS BLOG TOUR  for more STEAM idea, great books to enjoy, and more

August 31: Colby at Sharp Read

September 1: Jess at Reading Nook Reviews

September 2: Samantha at Forest of Words and Pages

September 6: Maria at Maria's Mélange

September 7: Gigi at Late Bloomer's Book Blog

September 8: Jen at Starry Eyed Revue

September 9: Cheyenne at The Hollow Cupboards

September 12: Anya at On Starships and Dragonwings

September 13: April at Good Books and Good Wine

September 14: Cindy at Charting by the Stars

September 15: Erica at The Book Cellar

September 16: Sandie at Teen Lit Rocks

September 19: Asheley at Into the Hall of Books

September 20: Daphne at Gone Pecan

September 21: Mary Ann at Great Kids Books

September 22: Kathy at The Brain Lair

September 23: Michelle & Leslie at Undeniably (Book) Nerdy

September 26: Laurie at Reader Girls

September 27: Margie at Librarian's Quest

September 28: Victoria at Art, Books, & Coffee

September 29: Cee at The Novel Hermit

September 30: Amanda at Forever Young Adult