Reading Challenge

I've never done a very good job of keeping track of the books I read.  I've always loved the idea of keeping a journal, but I never got around to doing it.  This year one of my New Year's resolutions was to keep track of my reading.  Just as I was deciding on my resolution I happened upon the Goodreads Reading Challenge.  A match made in heaven!  I set the goal of reading 52 books this year with the thought that I could read one book a week.  I added the badge to this blog to help me stay on track.  So far, I'm really happy with my progress, especially since I always read a lot more once school is out for the summer.  I'm trying to always work on two books -- one adult and one child.  I'm only including "chapter" books in my count.  I'm surprised at how competitive I can be and how much I'm loving this challenge.

Maryland's Black-Eyed Susan

Maryland's children's choice award is the Maryland Black Eyed-Susan Book Award.  It is sponsored annually by MASL (Maryland Association of School Librarians).  We've been participating for several years now and I'm continually impressed by the boys and their thoughts and insights.  We had almost 40 3rd-5th grade boys participate this year.  The guys have been reading from the list of nominated books since November.  Today was our voting lunch.  We gathered, ate pizza, spoke for books we felt strongly about, and then the boys voted for their favorite.  The winner at my school -- by one vote -- is The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity by Mar Barnett.  The statewide winner will be announced in the beginning of May.  Watch and listen to author Mac Barnett talk about his book.