Fiction Friday

Today I am linking up with Amanda at The Teaching Thief for Fiction Friday. I love, love, love this link up because I always end up adding new books to my list!

This week I read....

The One and Only Ivan
by: Katherine Applegate


Ivan has spent 27 years in his "domain" (as he calls it) at a shopping mall. He spends most of his time watching TV (rarely thinking about his time in the jungle), talking to his friends Stella (a previous circus elephant and Bob (a stray dog), and coloring. It's a mundane life for Ivan. A baby elephant named Ruby was taken from the wild and is brought to the shopping mall and placed with Stella. Ivan now sees their home and his art in a new way.

* If you haven't read this book yet, GO GET YOURSELF A COPY. I read the entire thing in one day. It is SO good. You won't regret it.

Information about the book:
Interest level: Grades 3-5
Grade level equivalent: 3.3
Lexile measurement: 570L
DRA: 40
Guided Reading: S

 

I also read:
Quake!
by: Gail Langer Karwoski


Quake is a fictional story about the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. The story begins when Jacob Kaufman's uncle gives him a stray dog. Jacob is excited to take the dog home to his father and his sister, but his father disapproves. His father is stressed taking care of his children after losing their mother. He doesn't want to add a dog to the number of mouths to feed and things to take care of. He tells Jacob he must take the dog back to Uncle Avi the next morning. While Jacob is on his way with the dog, the unthinkable happens. An earthquake hits San Francisco. Buildings are torn down, lives are lost, home are destroyed. The dog is still with Jacob and helps Jacob find a little boy named San Wei Chang, who was trapped under rubble. Together, the boys (and the dog who is now named Quake)spend months trying to find their families. San experiences discrimination as a Chinese boy and Jacobs stands by him through it all. Will they find their families?

Information about the book:
Interest level: Grades 3-7
Reading level/grade level equivalent: 4.3
Lexile measure: 770L
DRA: 50
Guided Reading: T


1 comment

  1. Quake sounds fascinating! My students always love reading a disaster/survival story...so captivating! I'm adding it to my list. Did you ever read Earth Dragon Awakes? It was about the 1908 earthquake too. It might be cool to compare and contrast the two books. I love, love, love The One and Only Ivan. Thanks for linking up!! :)

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