The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor was published in 2018. I listened to this book because I loved Connor's book Waiting for Normal. This book is every bit as good. 

Mason Buttle is a tall and large young teen who has a sweating disorder - he sweats a lot, and he also has reading and writing learning differences. He is bullied and tormented by the popular Matty and other boys on the lacrosse team. Mason lives on an apple orchard, and his uncle has been selling parts of it off for development. 

Mason has troubles. The police want to find out what happened to his best friend Benny who turned up dead in his apple orchard, and now Mason's new best friend is missing, and just like Benny, Mason is the last person to see him alive. 

Mason is such a well written character with depth and growth. The other characters in the book are also well written, and the story flows well. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

We've had several donations lately to our book project. 

Britney Shaw donated these:

Grace Olsen donated $60, and I purchased the following 78 books:

Primary Children's Hospital donated 40 books and 20 teddy bears to go with them. 

 As always, thank you all for the donations!

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot was published in 2010, and I finally listened to the well narrated audio version. I enjoyed this story for many reasons. It brings up a lot of discussion points about who really owns tissue samples, who should own them, and who should get financial compensation for them. 

It's a shame that Lacks' family was never compensated for the most famous cell-line ever. Her family was so poor, they lost their mother, and should have received something. You can argue that research would stop if researchers had to pay, but for these important cells, her family should have received compensation. 

I enjoyed the story of Lacks' family and felt Skloot represented them in an unbiased way. I also enjoyed how she revealed the science behind the person and how far science has progressed since Henrietta's diagnosis of cervical cancer. I am thankful for the research that she made possible and for all the lives that have benefited. It's a shame it couldn't have helped her or her family. 

I gave this book 5 stars. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

My friend, Grace, donated books to our NICU book project. Thank you, Grace. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Tracing Stars by Erin E Moulton

Tracing Stars by Erin E Moulton was published in 2012 and is the story of Indie Lee Chickory. She doesn't fit in at school or in the town. She loves fish and has a pet lobster. She doesn't mind that she smells bad from fish heads and guts, but everyone at school teases her because of it. 

She wants to fit in to please her sister, but she finds giving up on her values may be hard when she befriends another misfit. She tries to keep her new friendship a secret so that she can be accepted by her sister Bebe, and her friends. Owen, Indie's new friend, is a well-written character who is such a good friend and good person. 

I really liked how this book portrayed kids this age. I liked that they were struggling with self-awareness and awkwardness. I liked the growth that was portrayed in the characters. The cover of this book is beautiful and there is plenty of white space on the pages. I also liked that no parents were harmed in the creation of this story. 

 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Hidden by Helen Frost

Hidden by Helen Frost was published in 2011. This story is written in verse, and I found the story compelling enough to read in one sitting. 

The story begins from Wren's point of view as an eight-year-old who was unintentionally kidnapped by a car thief. Her sense of fear is well written. 

From page 15, "I was shaking.                                                                                                                                                         Trying hard not to cry.                                                                                                                               How could I sleep                                                                                                                                                  in the crowded boat?                                                                                                                                   I was thirsty.                                                                                                                                                    Hungry.                                                                                                                                                            I had to pee."

In the next section we get to hear the point of view of the kidnapper's daughter. Her story is also written in verse, and pay attention to the end word of each line because they let the reader know what else was happening. I found this cleverly crafted. 

Darra is upset that her abusive father has been sent to jail, which some readers may find unbelievable, but I understand the desire to have a father in your life even if he isn't a good father. 

Later, the girls meet at camp and things become even more interesting as they both have trauma they act out. 

I think teen readers will like this book, and I will add a copy to my classroom. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Your Name by Makoto Shinkai

Recently Matt (my youngest son) has introduced me to light novels. Light novels are generally written before the author/artist writes the Manga. I enjoy watching anime, but I'm not a fan of manga because for me it takes so much work to decode all the pictures. I love words, so light novels are right up my alley. I definitely want to get some of these for my classroom. 

Your Name by Makoto Shinkai was published in 2016 and has a manga and anime that go with it. This story has two main characters: Mitsuha, a high school girl who lives in a small mountain town, and Taki, a high school boy living in Tokyo. 

They begin to have what they think are dreams about each other even though they've never met - except they aren't dreaming. They are switching places. These switches are sometimes comedic and sometimes confusing for both of them. Will they ever be able to meet in person, or will the stars get in their way? I loved the symbolism of threads and cords in this novel and how the author wove everything together. 

I enjoyed reading about Japanese culture and look forward to visiting there sometime when they reopen to tourism. 

Quotes I liked: "Joinin' threads is a called musubi. The passage of time is musubi. It's the name for our god, and the god's power. It describes the braided cords we make, divine acts, and the flow of time itself" (59). 

"Puttin' anything in your body is also called musubi. What you put in your body binds to your soul. . ." (60).

The anime that goes with this book is beautiful, so if you get a chance to watch it, do. 

 Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan was published in 2017 and is one of the books I purchased a few months ago when I was looking for books by POC. I really liked this book about Amina, a girl who plays the piano and sings beautifully, but she is afraid to sing a solo. 

She has two good parents and an older brother. Her family is Muslim, and I enjoyed learning more about their faith. While their faith is important to her family, this isn't a book about religion. This is a book about friendships, change, growing up, and learning to be brave in hard situations. 

This book is beautifully written and has wonderful cover art. I look forward to reading Khan's other novels. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Tomorrow I'll be Brave by Jessica Hische

 Tomorrow I'll be Brave by Jessica Hische was published in 2018, and it's a darling book with a wonderful message. I found out about this book from one of our NICU families. They brought it to read to their baby, and Angie sent me pictures of some of the pages. This family recently sent 10 more copies of this book for our NICU book project, and have now donated 20 copies of this book. 

This is a great book for babies in the NICU. It reads, "Tomorrow, I'll be adventurous. I'll play and I'll explore. I'll make or learn or try something I've never done before. Tomorrow, I'll be strong. I'll climb and jump and run. It doesn't matter if I win as long as I have fun!" The ending message is that even if the child doesn't do it today, they can try again tomorrow, and of course, they will always be loved. 

Every parent in the NICU is waiting for the day they get to take their baby home, and this book is a great one to read to their baby while they are growing. 

We recently received book donations from three donors, and they are greatly appreciated because we are quite low on books right now - especially board books.  

These are the books that were donated by one of our NICU graduates. 

My friend, Grace, donated $20, and these are the books, I purchased with her donation. As a teacher, I am good at finding deals on books to get the most out of every dollar. 

My friend, Tanya, sent these books from our Amazon baby registry. 

Combined with books I've purchased, I'll be able to send more packets to Angie next week. I love that these babies are getting read to early as it will help them when they start school. The more words a child hears before kindergarten, the easier reading will be for them. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell was published in 2008. This non-fiction book shows how factors other than intelligence, ambition, and personality create successful people. 

Blurb from the back of the book: In understanding successful people, we have come to focus far too much on their intelligence and ambition and personality traits. Instead, Malcolm Gladwell argues in Outliers, we should look at the world that surrounds the successful - their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way, Gladwell reveals what the Beatles and Bill Gates have in common, the reason you've never heard of the smartest man in the world, why almost no star hockey players are born in the fall, and why, when it comes to plane crashes, where the pilots are born matters as much as how well they are trained. 

The lives of outliers - people whose achievements fall outside normal experience - follow a peculiar and unexpected logic, and in uncovering that logic, Gladwell presents a fascinating and provocative blueprint for making the most of human potential.  

I listened to the audio book and found it interesting and feel this book is important for teachers and parents to read. I wish he had included a woman outlier in this work - are there no women outliers?

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino

I Want to Eat Your Pancreas by Yoru Sumino was published in 2013 and has manga and anime to go with the light novel I read. 

I watched the anime before reading this light novel, and so many of my questions were answered by reading the book. The art in the anime is incredibly beautiful. The title makes it sound like a slasher story, but in reality, the title is a tender thing the characters say to each other. This is a story of friendship and love. 

When the main character finds a diary of one of his classmates, he discovers she is dying from a pancreatic disease. He is the only one outside of her family who knows that Yamauchi Sakura is dying. She is an extrovert and fun loving. He is very quiet and keeps to himself. She helps him step outside of himself and see more of life. She takes him on her journey to do things she wants to do before she dies. 

Quotes I liked: "I was greeting the house. This is where I've grown up. The place is important to me" (155). 

"Everyone is where they are because of the choices they've made. . . All the choices you've made brought us together. You and I met by your own decisions" (178).  

"Living is sharing connections with other people" (199, 200).

"When you are all on your own, you don't know who you are" (200).

"The flooring had darkened at the edges along the wall, as if fragments of the pervious patients' illnesses had accumulated there and wouldn't let go" (210).

I enjoyed this touching story and find I prefer light novels to manga. 

 Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George

 Princess of the Midnight Ball by Jessica Day George was published in 2009 and is a retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses. I love a good retelling of a fairy tale, and this one was quite good.

The story is told in third person omniscient, so the reader gets to see what the villain, Galen (the hero), and Rose (the oldest princess) are doing. I liked that all of them have a back story. 

The princesses are cursed to dance night after night, even if they are ill, and the dancing is taking a terrible toll on their physical and mental health. Their father offers his kingdom to the prince who can discover where his daughters go at night and break the curse, but so far, no prince can figure out it out. 

Enter, Galen who is a returning soldier and kind, young gardener. He wants to help the princesses, but he doesn't expect to be given the kingdom as he is a commoner. 

This story has many twists and turns. I listened to the audio version and found it well narrated. 

The text is larger and there is plenty of white space on each page. This book has a beautiful cover. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate. 

2021 NICU Book Project Donation Totals

2021 NICU Book Project Donations - can you believe it's been seven years since we started this project!

I started collecting books in 2014 for the NICU where my daughter works to honor the lives of my own twins and also of two grandchildren who did not survive pregnancy. As a reading teacher, I see that children who are read to have better attention spans and do better in school. It took me a year to gather 150 books sorted into packets of 5 books each. I delivered them in September of 2015. I had only planned on making this one donation, but the books were so appreciated by the parents that I kept on gathering books.

Other people started donating books so we could try to send every NICU baby home with a packet of books. Parents read these books to their babies during their often lengthy stays, helping their baby's brains and creating bonding moments full of love. 

Each packet has a half sheet handout explaining why it is important to read to your baby. I put at least one board book in each packet, and we also create packets for families whose first language is Spanish.

We started 2021 with plenty of books from all those who were worried that we would run out because of the pandemic, and just now we are getting low on books again. 

We collected 1,036 books this year from over 40 donors. We benefited from an Usborne Book Drive that gave us over 100 books. I appreciate each and every book that is donated. Reading to babies is so important for brain development, and I love that all these babies benefit from this project. 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

If you'd like to contribute to our project use the link below. If you are clearing book shelves, I am happy to take gently used books for this project. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James was published in 2018. The author had a huge goal with this one: combine a ghost story, two murder mysteries, two time periods, a Holocaust story, and a romance in one book. I was pleasantly surprised at how well she wove everything together. 

I love historical fiction, and St. James added the Holocaust connection and kept it real even though this is a ghost story. As a mystery, St. James did an excellent job of setting up suspense that kept me listening. I listened to the audio version of this book, and it was well narrated. I love a good ghost story, and this one was just scary enough. 

This story fluctuates between present day and 1950. The main character, Fiona, had an older sister who was murdered and her body was found on the grounds of an abandoned boarding house. When the boarding house is sold and the plan is to refurbish and reopen it, Fiona finds it brings her grief right back to the surface. 

Fiona is a reporter, and tries to find out more about the boarding house, the person who plans on restoring it, and the holes in the narrative of her sister's murder. Her search leads her to another story from 60 years ago, and the truth may put her own life in jeopardy.

 

Read to a child today even if that child is you. 

Link to our NICU book registry to donate books to babies in the newborn intensive care unit so their parents can read to them while they grow. You can also donate gently used books to our project by sending them to me or to Angie. Email me for a mailing address. We can use both English and Spanish books. If you have a graduate of the NICU, or if you have a baby whose life you would like to honor by donating books to this project, let me know, and I can make a book plate with their name for the books you donate.