ARCs (Advanced Readers Copy)

     

One good thing I'm taking away from this time of distance learning is that I get more time to read. Before teaching reading I had never heard of ARCs. Now that I have, I love the idea of them. The thought that I am one of the first people to read a book before it is available to the public is so enticing. A few years ago I was able to attend the NCTE Conference in St. Louis and I received numerous ARCs. My students, also, liked the idea of reading a book before it was published for the masses.

Recently I received two ARCs from two different sources. One was sent from the author because I won a Facebook contest. The other was sent by the publisher because I won a Goodreads challenge. Being selected to receive a book is one of the best things in my opinion. I'll post more about how I use Goodreads and the student friendly version, Biblionasium, at another time.

Back to the ARCs.

The first book, Super Puzzletastic Mysteries, I am extremely excited about. I have read many Chris Grabenstein books including: the Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library series, Welcome to Wonderland, and The Island of Dr. Libris. His books are always entertaining and pull you into the world he creates. My favorite genre right now is mystery and realistic fiction and this fits right in. It is a book of short mysteries. I like that at the end of each short story you are given the choice to figure it out on your own or go to the back of the book for the continuation of the story and the solution. Short story books are what I like to recommend to my students because it allows them to familiarize themselves with multiple authors in one book. If they really like a short story in the book we can search for other books written by that author. If they like one author already, this allows them a low risk way of trying out other authors while still having that comfort of an author they already enjoy reading. I'm only two chapters in, but so far it is definitely one I will recommend to my students.

The second book, Raybearer, is a debut Young Adult fantasy written by Jordon Ifueko. Fantasy is normally not what I choose for myself, but most students, I've noticed, like to get lost in a world that is different from their own. This is what drew me to this book. The fact that it was written by and starred a person of color added to the appeal of the book. I am a firm believer in books as windows, doors, and mirrors. Because this is considered a Young Adult book gave me pause because it may not be something I can put in my classroom library for my fifth graders. The age range says that it is for 12 years old and up, so once I have finished reading it I will make the decision on whether this goes in my classroom library, or if I will give it to my husband for his freshman/sophomore classroom library.

As I started reading Raybearer I fell in love with how the author described her world and her word choice. It pulled me in right from the start. Another thing that pulled me in is how the author describes the book. "It's the book I needed growing up: a world where coily-haired fairies grant wishes in mango orchards, cursed princes ride leopards over Asiatic mountains, and dark-skinned girls dare to challenge immortal emperors."

I hope that you will get the opportunity to read both of these books and recommend them to the readers in your life. Once I have finished both I will write about my final thoughts on them.