#wecantputbooksdown READ, WHITE & BLUE!

We are back again for some July #wecantputbooksdown fun! Make sure to follow all of us on Instagram for the chance to win a $25 gift card to Barnes & Noble. It's the perfect chance to pick up a holiday weekend read, summer read, daily read, whatever!!

My favorite read of the summer so far just so happens to be one that I will share with my students AS SOON AS WE GET BACK in August. Anyone who has a heart and a sense of adventure will devour this book. I read it quickly and it was my first #bookaday of the summer!

Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. 

I don't mean to keep comparing this book to the movie, Big Fish, but it kind of keeps happening. All of the magic and hope I felt while experiencing that movie is how I felt reading this one. Cassie does such an amazing job at developing the setting and characters in this book that I just felt like

 I was there, experiencing it myself. The unlikely friendship that develops, the pain and grief that our main character goes through, those light up candies from the Circus? All feel so real. The light up candies really stuck out to me... Like, I want to know where to get one. It has reached Everlasting Gobstopper from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Whipped Neon Cream from Hook Status for me... I'm on the hunt. I can just see it glowing through my stuffed cheeks now! 

This Fantasy story has everything needed to become one that kids of all ages will love. A classic. The way Beasley weaves in and out of Grandpa's stories is just magical. Roald Dahl is my all-time favorite author, and she makes me feel RDish when I read this book. Make sure to pick this one up ASAP. And as Beasley reminded us this week, a book is for anyone who wants to read it.

Join us over on Instagram and tell us about a summer must read for a chance to win a gift card & connect with other teachers while finding great new books!

Nerdy Book Club: Book Review

As someone who is a huge stalker follower of the Nerdy Book Club, I was so excited when I woke up today to find out that my book review post for Lynda Mullaly Hunt's Fish in a Tree was posted!

I signed up months ago to contribute to the Nerdy Book Club and kind of forgot about it. Colby Sharp sent me an email last month asking for my review. I had a lot of mixed feelings when I sent it in. Is this good enough? Do I sound lame? Did I use too many commas? All thoughts that crossed my mind after I hit that "send" button.

What I was met with this morning was two of my closest teacher friends (Amanda and Lisa) waking me up to say that they loved my review. I had no idea it would be posted today and it was kind of cool having someone else discover it before me. This is such a big deal to me because I love The Nerdy Book Club... I find so many great posts there from authors, librarians, literacy gurus and more. Nerdy Book Club is a place where I feel like I fit in, a place in Education where people believe the same things I believe. I feel like I fit in there. The support from others who have read the review has been fantastic, too. All of you seasoned Nerdies may think this is silly, a post about a review, but this has given me such a high going into my first trip to Nerd Camp MI. I just can't even.

Yeah, that's Teri Lesesne. Dead.

Seeing my name right next to Cassie Beasley's amazing post Who is a Book For Anyway???

I. Can't. Even.