This week I have given a whole bunch of book suggestions on Twitter. This got me thinking about what books I have read this year and I decided to keep track. I have not keep a list of what I have read before and I think it might be fun, so here it goes. This may end up being great or terrible, I don’t know. I should note that I am a self-professed book addict. My personal library has more than 1,700 books in it. My classroom library clocks in at 807 books right now (most are mine). Beware, I have a soft spot for young adult fiction. I read it A LOT. Also it helps me make recommendations to my 6th graders.
As a side note, I believe strongly that in order to be a well-rounded person you have to read stories written about and by people who don’t look like you as well as those who do. I am a straight, white male it is easy to find books written by people who look like me with characters who also look like me. I do my best to select books for myself (and my students) that feature women and characters of color and that are written by women and authors of color (this of course includes women authors of color). I do this to give myself a wider perspective and to give my students the opportunity to have characters that look like them in their reading. I am a big supporter of the We Need Diverse Books (@diversebooks) campaign and really like their recommendations and resources. Seriously though, check out this list of books.
Tag after author’s name:
AOC – Author of ColorTag after book title:
FP – Female Protagonist
POC – Protagonist of Color
Final Count: 45 books completed
List last updated: 1/25/2018
In Progress:
- Fueled by Coffee and Love Edited by Mari Venturino
On Deck:
- Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds
- Solo by Kwame Alexander
Temporarily Abandoned:
- Launch by John Spencer and A.J. Juliani
- School is starting and I can’t focus on this so I am abandoning it until I get the year under me.
Professional Reading
- The Hyperdocs Handbook by Lisa Highfill, Kelly Hilton, and Sarah Landis
- Kids Deserve It by Adam Welcome and Todd Nesloney
- The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
- Assessment That Matters by Kim Meldrum, M.Ed.
- The Genius Hour Guidebook by Denise Krebs and Gallit Zvi
- The Classroom Chef by John Stevens and Matt Vaudrey
Fiction
Middle Grades and Young Adult
The Best
- The Hate You Give (FP, POC) by Angie Thomas (AOC)
- This is one of the best books I have read in such a long time. It is an absolute must read.
- The Girl Who Drank The Moon (FP) by Kelly Barnhill
- This is such a great book! As you read you think you know what is going to happen but I was consistently surprised by where the story went.
- The Wild Robot by Peter Brown
- This is the middle grades selection for the Global Read Aloud (#GRA17 #GRAWild).
- Ghost by Jason Reynolds (AOC)
- I had heard great things about Jason’s writing. This book just sucked me in and I couldn’t stop reading it.
- Crossover by Kwame Alexander
- Written in free verse poetry. 1 excellent story, 200 poems.
- Save Me A Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
- I picked this up and couldn’t put it down until I finished. Fairly short and thouroughly engaging. The whole story takes place over one week.
The Rest (alphabetically by author)
- The Boggart by Susan Cooper
- The Search for WondLa (FP) by Tony DiTerlizzi
- Hero for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
- Battle for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi
- Silver in the Blood (FP) by Jessica Day George
- Dragon Slippers (FP) by Jessica Day George
- Dragon Flight (FP) by Jessica Day George
- Dragon Spear (FP) by Jessica Day George
- Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
- Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
- Thursdays with the Crown by Jessica Day George
- Ungifted by Gordon Korman
- Cinder (FP) by Marissa Meyer
- Scarlet (FP) by Marissa Meyer
- Cress (FP) by Marissa Meyer
- Winter (FP) by Marissa Meyer
- MiNRS by Kevin Sylvester
Rereads (read previously and reread this year)
- First Test (FP) by Tamora Pierce
- Page (FP) by Tamora Pierce
- Squire (FP) by Tamora Pierce
- Lady Knight (FP) by Tamora Pierce
- Trickster’s Choice (FP) by Tamora Pierce
- Trickster’s Queen (FP) by Tamora Pierce
Picture Books (alphabetically by author)
- Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty
- Rosie Revere Engineer (FP) by Andrea Beaty
- Ada Twist Scientist (POC, FP) by Andrea Beaty
- Zero by Kathryn Otoshi (AOC)
- Self worth
- One by Kathryn Otoshi (AOC)
- Anti-Bullying
- Two by Kathryn Otoshi (AOC)
- The Girl Who NEVER Made Mistakes by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein
- Miss Hazeltine’s Home for Shy and Fearful Cats by Alicia Potter, Illustrated by Birgitta Sif
- School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex
- Hold On To Your Horses by Sandra Tayler
- Strength of Wild Horses by Sandra Tayler
A Mirror Into My Teaching 
Micah, great list!!! I have to say, YA lit is the best. The stories move along quickly, the content usually has a message, and by reading them, we can have conversations with out students. “The Hyperdoc Handbook” is a definite must for educators on a Google journey. “The Girl Who Drank the Moon” sounds intriguing. Are you going to use “The Wild Robot” for GRA? Also, have you read “Fish in a Tree”? I highly recommend it. I can’t wait to see how your list grows over this year. Thanks for sharing!!! Marilyn . . .
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Haven’t read Fish In A Tree. Will have to add it to my list.
Yes I am going to do GRA with Wild Robot.
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Hello, Micah,
Wow , that’s a lot of books with a great variety. Equally impressive is that you remembered them all and wrote them up with all the links! May I ask, how did you keep track of all you’ve read in the past 7 months? I use Goodreads, and when I forget to put one there, the fact that I read it is lost.
I read one by Tamora Pierce this summer, Tris’s Book in the Circle of Magic series. My favorite young adult book so far this summer has been The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. So powerful, told with an economy of words. Have you read that one yet?
Thank you for the shout out here and on Twitter. And thank you for reading our book!
Warmly,
Denise
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Denise,
Thanks for the comment.
My memory is funny. I can’t remember people’s names half of the time but I can remember book covers, user names, and numbers. My students’ email addresses have a random number in them and I remembered all 26 within a month. I have my whole families social security and medical record numbers memorized as well as two of my credit card numbers, but names I am terrible with.
I was able to recall the covers of most of the books though I have at least two that I read as ebooks that I can see the cover in my head but can’t recall the title so they aren’t on the list yet.
It also helps that most of the books were hardcopy are still sitting in piles around the house. I do also use Good Reads but it has been an afterthought. I only just started using it recently.
If you liked Tris’ Book I would recommend getting Tamora Pierce’s Protector of the Small series or Beka Cooper series. They are set in Tortall (different universe from the Circle of Magic). I think they are her best two series. http://www.tamora-pierce.net/series/the-protector-of-the-small/ http://www.tamora-pierce.net/series/beka-cooper-a-tortall-legend/
I haven’t read Buddah in the Attic. I will have to check it out.
Cheers,
Micah;
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P. S. By the way, I love the title of your blog. Making our learning visible is one of the most valuable reflective tools we have as educators, and it’s helpful to others, as well.
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Hi Micah,
Great list. I would add The Pitcher by William Elliott Hazelgrove. Touches on cultural diversity, the prejudice in society over skin color. It’s YA and a quick read. Have you thought of keeping track of all your books through Goodreads? Connecting with other teachers this way as well as students? It’s strictly a social media site for books.
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Hello Joyce,
I just got on Goodreads recently but I have only conncted with three college friends. I hadn’t thought about connecting with educators through it.
I will have to add The Pitcher to my “to read” list.
Cheers,
Micah;
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