Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

It doesn't take much to get me to read a book.  An amazing cover and tweets from Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp...that will pretty much do it.  This is how I came upon Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee.

As I spent my days indoors during the great "Polar Vortex" of 2014, I happened upon Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy on NetGalley.  I had already requested it at the library, but when I thought about waiting until January 28 or popping it onto my Kindle in 10 seconds...well I didn't have to flip a coin.

Ophelia Jane Worthington-Whittard ranks right up there with my most favorite of characters...Harry Potter, Hazel from Breadcrumbs, Flora from Flora & Ulysses.  

Ophelia has just lost her mother.  She is sad and she is lost and her relationship with the rest of her family is different now.  She and her sister, Alice, have traveled with their father as he prepares for a great exhibition of swords in a mysterious museum with a mysterious curator.  

As Ophelia spends her time exploring this museum, she comes across a hidden door.  When she peers through the keyhole, she finds another eye peering right back at her.  Ophelia has discovered the Marvelous Boy, locked away from the world by the Snow Queen.  He's been waiting for someone for many years and he thinks that Ophelia is just the person to help him.

I didn't read any reviews or summaries of this book before starting, so it was a surprise to me that this was another story based on the Snow Queen.  If you have read my blog in the past, you will know that Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu is one of my favorite books of all time.  As I read, I was thinking about how awesome it would be to read this with my class, who I have shared Breadcrumbs with.  I think we would have fantastic discussions about how both authors incorporated aspects of The Snow Queen.  

So now to figure out if I can squeeze this book into my read aloud schedule...

Have you read Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy?  I'd love to hear what you thought!

Happy Reading!

It's Monday..What Are You Reading?

I'm joining Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers in sharing my reading this week.  Head on over to their blogs to see what others are reading and link up your own post!

This is the Arctic Blast edition of It's Monday!  What Are You Reading?  I just received the phone call that school is cancelled again tomorrow due to cold temps...more time for hot tea, books, and a little Netflix!  Though I am getting a little anxious to get back into a routine.  I even had an email from a student today, sad that we were out of school.

Here's what I read last week...

YA Books

We Were Liars was on my Must Read in 2014 list.  It doesn't come out until May, but I happened upon an ARC on NetGalley and devoured it in about 3 hours.  I highly recommend it!

Cinder was also on my Must Read in 2014 list.  I liked how different it was from the usual dystopian novel.

  

I read If I Stay last week and was happy to get this sequel right away.  It was interesting hearing from Adam's point of view.  I wasn't into this book too much until the ending (possibly because I just don't get into music that much), but I am really glad I finished it!  If you read the first book, you should definitely read this one too.

Picture Books

I love books with illustrations done in unusual mediums.  This is a wordless book that I will definitely share with my 5th graders!  (When we share wordless books, I place the book next to some chart paper, kids read it when they have time and jot their thoughts.  After about a week, we will talk about it as a class.)

I think I will enjoy sharing this story with my little niece when she is slightly older.  Someone is stealing the bedtime stories from all the animals...and they will be surprised to find out who it is and why he's stealing them.  

Reading Plans For This Week

I just found Ophelia and The Marvelous Boy on NetGalley, so this one is up first!

Happy Reading...Stay Warm!

Must Read in 2014

As I've been poking around Twitter during this winter break, I came across a great idea shared by Carrie Gelson who blogs at There's a Book for That.  She shared her list of books that she "Must Read in 2014".  Beyond making a Goodreads goal, I don't do much goal setting for my reading life.  If I see a book I like/want to read, I add it to my to-read list or read it right away.  I decided to join this group on Twitter to see how setting this goal would go for me.  Here's my list of Must Reads in 2014...

                          

                                    READ - 4/30/2014               READ - 1/2/14

                     
 READ 1/13/2014                                                           READ 1/20/2014

                    

                 READ 1/5/2014

                    

                 

                READ 5/31/2014                          READ 1/11/2014              READ 3/8/2014

As I was looking over my Goodreads to-read list, I realized that this could go on and on forever.  So I decided to stop at 12 15.  I've got some middle-grade fiction and a non-fiction, some YA, and an adult fiction and nonfiction.  Some old, some new.  I'm excited!

I'm looking forward to watching the progress of everyone else during this challenge.  You can follow this challenge on Twitter at #MustReadIn2014.

Also...here's a link to other participants and their posts!  

Happy Reading!

**Update - I started this post yesterday...and today I found WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart on Netgalley.  Three hours later, I can check that book off my list.