Completely Full Bookshelf

Today's poem for Poetry Thursday is "Pot Roast" by Mark Strand. Here's the link: http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2001/03/11 Thanks!

Other posts: Poetry Thursday (August 18, 2016): "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver My feature today is for Ruby Goldberg's Bright Idea by Anna Humphrey, and illustrated by Vanessa Brantley Newton. Here's the publisher's description: Ten-year-old Ruby Goldberg is determined to win her school science fair and beat her nemesis Dominic Robinson. She’s snagged second place for the last two years, and she’s set on claiming first prize. The only trouble is that Ruby has no ideas. When her grandfather’s beloved basset hound dies, Ruby thinks of the perfect thing that will cheer him up and win her first place—an innovative, state-of-the-art, not-to-be-duplicated Ruby Goldberg invention! Before long Ruby is so busy working on her idea that she ignores everything else in her life, including her best friend, Penny. And what started out as simple turns into something much more complicated! Can Ruby get her priorities—and her project—in order before it’s too la...

I've decided to start Poetry Thursdays, in which I will post a link to a poem that I love. Today's poem is "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver. Click  here  for the poem. (Note: This link won't open in another window, so, if you want it to, right-click it and click on "Open in New Tab" or "Open in New Window." If you have a Mac mouse that doesn't right-click, turn right-click on in the settings.)

Edit (10/30/2016 ): A format ting error has been fixed. It feels like it's been two weeks since my last post! But I checked and nope, it's only been one. Anyway, for today's MMGM, I'm reviewing Ava and Pip , by Carol Weston. Here's the publisher's description: Meet outgoing Ava Wren, a fun fifth grader who tries not to lose patience with her shy big sister. When Pip's 13th birthday party turns into a disaster, Ava gets a story idea for a library contest. But uh-oh, Ava should never have written "Sting of the Queen Bee." Can Ava and her new friend help Pip come out of her shell? And can Ava get out of the mess she has made? I really enjoyed this book. It is depicted as Ava's diary, which is a nice change from the traditional first-person point of view. There are also two interesting ideas in the story that aren't in the description. The first is that Ava's family loves words (Ava enjoys writing), and the children's...

 Edit (October 6, 2016): A formatting error has been fixed. Hi! Welcome to my new blog, Completely Full Bookshelf! This post is for Marvelous Middle Grade Monday (MMGM), a meme created by middle-grade author Shannon Messenger, author of the Keeper of the Lost Cities series. As a reader of these books and a student who recently completed middle school, I decided to join the MMGM fun with my own blog! Today, I am reviewing Newbery Medal-winning When You Reach Me , by Rebecca Stead. Here's the publisher's description: This remarkable novel holds a fantastic puzzle at its heart. By sixth grade, Miranda and her best friend, Sal, know how to navigate their New York City neighborhood. They know where it’s safe to go, and they know who to avoid. Like the crazy guy on the corner. But things start to unravel. Sal gets punched by a kid on the street for what seems like no reason, and he shuts Miranda out of his life. The apartment key that Miranda’s mom keeps hidden for em...