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sometimes_samantha_reads's reviews
268 reviews
Hooked by Emily McIntire
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Shook me from my reading slump for sure! With the audiobook, I loved the dual narrator. I'm only rating 4.75 because I was not a big fan that each VA didn't narrate their own dialogue in each other's chapters. In other words, Jame's VA put on a girl voice to read Wendy's lines in his chapter and vice versa instead of having them read their respective parts. Also the new England accents were a little rough... but I liked the story well enough! I'll be looking into the other books in the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Sexual content
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
I think I may have been able to hang on and pay attention more if I had read the physical copy. It was well written and interesting! Just slow paced and I wasn't able to follow along as easily as I had hoped with the audiobook
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow! This one snapped me out of my rut. I related a lot to Emoni and felt for her as she took steps to growing forward and figuring out her life path.
Not only was Emoni the same ethnicity as me but the story was set in a place where I live AND she visited a place I've been before out of country. It was very easy for me to imagine myself in Emoni's place - seeing the scenery vividly and feeling all her emotions.
Great ending too!
Not only was Emoni the same ethnicity as me but the story was set in a place where I live AND she visited a place I've been before out of country. It was very easy for me to imagine myself in Emoni's place - seeing the scenery vividly and feeling all her emotions.
Great ending too!
The Black Girl Survives in This One by Saraciea J. Fennell, Desiree S. Evans
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
What a fun read! I didn't like every story, but most of them were great.
The Last Fifth Grade of Emerson Elementary by Laura Shovan
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
An excellent novel in verse. It's great to read for enjoyment but I plan on reading it to my own 5th grade class as we study character, poetry, and perspectives.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
The Ancient Maya by Jackie Maloy
informative
fast-paced
3.5
I'm working on increasing my social studies literature collection. In 5th grade, I teach pre-colonial Americas including ancient civilizations.
This books is informative and formatted wonderfully for new non-fiction text readers. My only reservations about it is that it was published 14 years ago and I'm not sure how accurate archeological assumptions from then are to current knowledge. I will keep studying. I also am not a big fan that it was written by a theater major. I feel like this potentially ruins the accuracy of the book, which is why I'm rating it so. Again, I will continue to do my research. At the very least, it is a first stepping stone resource for my students to use.
This books is informative and formatted wonderfully for new non-fiction text readers. My only reservations about it is that it was published 14 years ago and I'm not sure how accurate archeological assumptions from then are to current knowledge. I will keep studying. I also am not a big fan that it was written by a theater major. I feel like this potentially ruins the accuracy of the book, which is why I'm rating it so. Again, I will continue to do my research. At the very least, it is a first stepping stone resource for my students to use.
Hiawatha and the Peacemaker by Robbie Robertson
adventurous
informative
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
I am reading a slew of new to me picture books to bolster my social studies curriculum before my new class of 5th graders joins me this year. I teach pre-colonial America through the revolutionary War and always try to support Native voices throughout. I think this will be a great addition for when we talk about the 5/6 nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.
I also like that it was written by a Native person and includes a song composed and performed by the author! My students will like it.
I also like that it was written by a Native person and includes a song composed and performed by the author! My students will like it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Violence
The People Shall Continue by Simon J. Ortiz
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I bought this for my 5th grade students. I like how it is written by Native people and that it's honest and straightforward. The kids will understand - it' not too much and it's not sugar coated. It's the perfect amount of information for 10 year olds to get them wondering more about the topic. It will help the kids become curious and it let's students know that Native people are still here.
Good Poems for Hard Times by Jennifer Michael Hecht, John Keats, Erica Funkhouser, W.H. Auden, Sharon Olds, E.E. Cummings, Kenneth Rexroth, Wendell Berry, Herman Melville, Hayden Carruth, Patricia Hampl, Carl Dennis, X.J. Kennedy, Carl Sandburg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, John Berryman, Fleur Adcock, Philip Booth, Howard Nemerov, Mary Oliver, Liesl Mueller, Rita Dove, Lawrence Raab, Maxine Kumin, Donald Hall, Robert Burns, Stephen Dunn, Stephen Dobyns, John Donne, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Garrison Keillor, Raymond Carver, Elizabeth Bishop, Hilaire Belloc, Kate Light, W.S. Merwin, Charles Bukowski, William Blake, Billy Collins, Thomas Hardy, Jane Kenyon, Noël Coward, Louis MacNeice, Emily Dickinson, Grace Paley, Virginia Hamilton Adair, Galway Kinnell, David Ignatow, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Jim Harrison, Robert Frost
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
2.0
More religious poems than I care for. Not my ideal balance of uplifting poems - there were too many melancholy ones for what I was hoping for with the book title.
It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit by Justin A. Reynolds
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Weird pacing
I'm a 5th grade teacher and I read this to see if it would be a good read aloud for my students. I'm glad I previewed it. The idea is cute, but the pacing is very weird. More than 50% of the book was before the beach bash and it was just jumbled up chapters that kept waffling between Eddie talking to his family, lamenting about his choice to not do laundry, and going off on random tangents. I know Eddie is supposed to have ADHD so the chapters are written to express that because Eddie is the narrator but he loses track of what he's thinking so often that as a reader, its kind of hard to follow. Also because there are so so so many shifts in what Eddie is talking about and points where he makes intersections on himself and breaks the 4th wall, I don't think it's good as a read aloud. It also bothered me that the main action that the summary expresses (black out and missing parents) doesn't even happen until almost 60% of the way through the book... and it's left on an actual "to be continued." Yes, it's written into the book as "to be continued." I personally did not like this book. It was a little too messy for me. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel.
I'm a 5th grade teacher and I read this to see if it would be a good read aloud for my students. I'm glad I previewed it. The idea is cute, but the pacing is very weird. More than 50% of the book was before the beach bash and it was just jumbled up chapters that kept waffling between Eddie talking to his family, lamenting about his choice to not do laundry, and going off on random tangents. I know Eddie is supposed to have ADHD so the chapters are written to express that because Eddie is the narrator but he loses track of what he's thinking so often that as a reader, its kind of hard to follow. Also because there are so so so many shifts in what Eddie is talking about and points where he makes intersections on himself and breaks the 4th wall, I don't think it's good as a read aloud. It also bothered me that the main action that the summary expresses (black out and missing parents) doesn't even happen until almost 60% of the way through the book... and it's left on an actual "to be continued." Yes, it's written into the book as "to be continued." I personally did not like this book. It was a little too messy for me. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel.