Hey all!
I thought I'd update the list of popular authors/ titles here at Monarch as of last year.
Do you have any we need to add?

John Green:  Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns (filming is under way as we speak), Fault In Our Stars, Will Greyson/ Will Greyson
EVERYONE LOVES JOHN GREEN- most popular author out there writing about real teens.

Veronica Roth
series-  Divergent, Insurgent and Allegiant
Think Hunger Games world.  I did like the characters, but I have to say that I haven't seen that many REALLY upset readers as I have when they read book #3.
(Similar to Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series, Allyson Condie's Matched series)

A.S. King
Ask the Passengers, , The Dust of 100 dogs, Monica Never Shuts Up, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, Reality Boy
She's smart and it comes across in her writing- the books really resonates with teens.  Kids say they feel like characters that anyone would know in their own school and the dialogue is realistic.  Many say she's the new John Green.  We met her at last year's Colorado Teen Lit Conference and after that we wanted to read everything that's out now and all the ideas she talked about for her future books. If I had to pick my two favorites, I'd say Please Ignore Vera Dietz and Reality Boy.  RB is interesting because the narrator was a child on one of those Nanny 911 reality shows and the experience made his already dysfunctional family even worse.  Now it's ten years later and he's one unhappy, angry, strong young man who is ready to right some wrongs and live his life.

Simone Elkeles
She has lots of books with basically the same plot:  girl and boy from two different worlds meet, hate each other then fall completely in love, but the world is still completely against them.  Can their love survive?
Perfect Chemistry series, Leaving Paradise series, Better Than Perfect, Rules of Attraction, Wild Cards, How to Ruin a Summer Vacation

Jonathan Maberry
series-  Rot & Ruin series, Dead of Night (stand alone)
Sure these books have zombies, but what makes them great is its much more about the people trying to live in a world full of zombies than about the actual zombies.  The books are grounded in reality in such a way you can imagine living in this world yourself.  The people left after a virus wipes out 99% of the world's population have come to the conclusion that God was punishing them for too much technology and their modern ways, so people have reverted to living pretty much like they did a hundred years- no cell phones, computers, cars, etc.  But with vast amounts of land (the Rot & Ruin) just being inhabited by zombies, bounty hunters are sent out to kill zombies and try to reclaim the land for the survivors.  You come to find out that zombies are definitely NOT the worse things you'll find out there.  Plenty of people are taking advantage of no law, no justice, no limits and it's not pretty.

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
When students come in and say they need a history book to read, but they hate to read, this is the first book I show them.  The true story of the creation of the Chicago's world fair AND the serial killer who operated there at the same time.  Remarkably, it's true.   The murder takes advantage of the fact that so many people are coming to the fair that its not unheard of people deciding not to come back.  He got away with it for far longer than you'd think.  The author pieces the story together using genuine court records and you can see that in all the details - pretty grim, so not for everyone.

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
Brilliant, disturbing- definitely not for everyone- but an amazing book full of so many unexpected details that I had to go back and re-read parts when I was done to catch the clues I missed the first time.  It opens with a woman arrested for murder in Las Vegas and the police questioning why she did it.  She responds that she's part of this top secret government organization that takes out the trash that regular law enforcement can get enough evidence to prosecute.  You find yourself asking the entire time:  is she crazy or is it possible she really does work for such an organization???

Ready Player One by Earnest Cline
Even if you are not a gamer, pretty much everyone who has picked up this quick, fast paced novel has really enjoyed it.  You won't know until the last few pages who actually ends up winning control of the world wide web, but by the end I was more invested in how the characters were changing as the story played out.

Book Girls

One Million Pages Logged! Read the Boulder Daily Camera Article

http://www.dailycamera.com/News/ci_25831339/Monarch-High-students-top-one-million

Student Recommended Books (10th Grade)

Student Recommended Books

Reading Challenge in the News

Reading Challenge in the News

Teen Literature Conference Powerpoint 2014

'Teen Literature Presentation 2014

Time Magazine article about reading and brain science!

This is your Brain on Great Literature

Popular reads at MHS

1. Anything by John Green- Especially Fault In Our Stars
2. Maze Runner series by James Dashner
3. Rot and Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry
4. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (also has a Delirium series)
5. 
   

2012 Boulder Daily Camera article

Here is one of our first newspaper articles by the Boulder Daily Camera:

http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-schools/ci_19785187

March 11 Celebrations and Challenges

One of our former students from the first year of the challenge has been accepted to CSU's veterinary program.  She will be the first generation in her family to attend college - neither of her parents speak English. We are so proud of both of her!

Next week we will be celebrating our students who have read 1,800 or more pages at this point in the year.  Beatrice is working on prizes for the students who have met the goal at this point.  Mystayn has a student who has read over 12,000 pages at this point.

Tracker Form and Questions

This is our tracker form we have developed for students to use.  We ask them to select a question from a list we have developed based on our themes and essential questions we are discussing from the semester's units and then use their books as evidence of supporting their answers to the questions.  Students are expected to write one paragraph per 100 pages they have read in the books.

Tracker form:
https://drive.google.com/a/bvsd.org/file/d/0B4s9rihiUF5LZnNGN05CdWp6dEE/edit?usp=sharing


Tracker Questions (sample)
https://docs.google.com/a/bvsd.org/document/d/1LVuvKzZq9jOPaCmPAdJTKOaQaBNQBoIsg9piFGEpZY4/edit

Reading Challenge Description

Reading Challenge!

Barnes/Bucher/Gerrish/DiCarlo

Description:

Welcome to the 2013-2014 reading challenge!  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to read 2,500 pages this year…if not more!  Our goal?  To get you interested in reading recreationally as well as for class AND hopefully the two will become intertwined.

Rationale:

Studies show that if a student reads….anything….frequently that their reading comprehension and fluency increases.  This will help you succeed in school, in college and in life!

The Process:

• Grab a book or a magazine and start reading.
• Complete a TRACKING SHEET. Turn in when you finish a book, when you “drop” a book, or on the last school day of each month.  (participation grade)
• Teachers may assign academic writing as the year progresses that relates to the independent reading you are doing.
• At the end of the semester, we will compare to see who has read the most of pages. The winners (top 10% across all 5 classes) get a pizza party, courtesy of Ms. Gerrish.
• At the end of the year, we have an even bigger surprise…so keep reading!!!!

What kind of reading counts?

• Almost any kind – magazines, newspapers, books.  
• Select one book per semester from the “Recommended Reading List”.  These books will tie in directly to what you are learning in Social Studies and Language Arts classes. Title are listed:
• City of Thieves by David Benioff (2009)
• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
• Book Thief by Markus Zusak  (2007)
• Marcelo and the Real World by Francisco X. Stork (2011)
• Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (2008)
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (2013)
• In the Time of Butterflies by Julie Alvarez (2010)
• A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
• Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden (2013)
• First they killed my father by Loung Ung (2006)
• Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick (2010)
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo (2012)
• Pyongyang:  A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle  (2007)
• Ghost in the Wires by Kevin Mitnick (2011)
• Geeks by Jon Katz (2001)
• LOL, OMG by Matt Ivester (2012)
• The rest is your choice…as long as it adds up to 1,250 pages per semester.

Can I read poetry books?

Yes.  There are some amazing slam poets as well as the classic poets…explore and enjoy!

What about magazines?

Keep your choices enjoyable, but challenging.  The idea is to read text…not look at pictures.  Some good suggestions are: trade magazines, People, Rolling Stone, Newsweek, so on and so forth. If you read a magazine, count the pages of text, not advertising.

Religious Documents

Many of you read as part of your religious practice.  Please feel free to count this as your free reading.   If you read something that is outside of your own tradition (i.e. someone Jewish reads the Koran) Then you may count it as “historical” reading.

Do I have to write about everything I read, even if I did not finish it?

Absolutely!  You can stop reading whatever it is you are reading at any time.  You don’t have to finish everything, but you do have to complete a tracker on the part you did read.

What if I don’t like the book?

Then stop reading it.  Move on and find something else.  Fill out a tracker and then drop it.  We live in an information age…read information you are interested in.

What if I don’t know what I like?

Then you are in luck!  Ms. Gerrish is ready willing and able to help you as much as possible.  

Try something new?

If you feel stuck or unchallenged, try some technology to enhance your read.  Check out a nook from the library, or download the unabridged audio file for the book and listen to a professional reader while you read along.  Visit the Monarch Library or a Public Library and browse.  You can even check out ebooks from the public library web page.   Read something you are interested in online.  Learn to do something new.  Build something from directions on the Web….share what was good.

Due Dates:  Turn Trackers in when you finish a book, if you drop a book, or by the due dates below:

Monday 9/30  Tracker Due

Friday  11/1 Tracker Due

Friday 11/22 Tracker Due

Friday 12/13 Tracker Due

Friday 1/31 Tracker Due

Friday 2/28 Tracker Due

Friday 4/04 Tracker Due

Tuesday 4/29 Tracker Due

Final Due Date:  All Trackers turned in

Friday 5/16