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Episode 44: "The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry" by: Chad Morris and Shelly Brown

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry" by: Chad Morris and Shelly Brown.
Eleven-year-old Juniper Berry lives in a cabin with her family deep in the wild woods. Living off the grid is usually exciting, like the time she chased off three growling raccoons with a tree branch and some acorns, or when she thought she glimpsed the legendary Bigfoot. But her happy life in the wild ends abruptly when her younger brother gets sick, and the family moves to the city to be closer to the hospital.
Juniper and her older sister are sent to live with cousins they hardly know and attend a public school for the first time, which is harder to navigate than the wild woods ever were. Juniper feels like a wolf cub separated from her pack.
When Juniper notices that her cousin, Alayna, is being bullied by so-called friends, she's ready to fight back like the wild geese do when protecting their goslings, but her cousin tells her to stay out of it; she doesn't want Juniper making things worse.
As the hospital bills for her brother start piling up, Juniper knows they'll need to be paid before the family can go back to the woods, so she decides to make enough money to help out. With Alayna's support, Juniper starts posting videos filled with her wisdom from the woods, hoping to get a following. But what if it doesn't work? What if the bills never get paid? Not going home to the wild is Juniper's worst nightmare. But while she's stuck in the city, she might as well make the most of it, like sticking up for her cousin, for starters.
The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry is a story about perseverance when faced with difficult and unfamiliar challenges, belonging and finding your identity, compassion for others, and learning that our differences can sometimes be our strengths.
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: The Wild Journey of Juniper Berry.
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else these authors have written be sure to check out Chad Morris and Shelly Brown.
Enjoy,Anne
 

Episode 43: "15 Secrets to Survival" by: Natalie D Richards

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "15 Secrets to Survival" by: Natalie D. Richards.
When classmates Baxter, Abigail, Turner and Emerson break a school rule, they're forced to travel to the middle of nowhere for an extra credit project. They think things can't get much worse. After all, how will learning to survive in the wilderness help them stay out of trouble in school?
What starts off as a weekend of team building takes a scary turn when their instructor goes missing and they are given nothing but pages of a survival guide to complete a series of challenges.
They soon learn the woods around them have unexpected surprises. Will they discover a way to work together to find their teacher and overcome the dangers of winter in the mountains?
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: 15 Secrets to Survival.
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Natalie D Richards.
Enjoy,Anne
 

Episode 42: "The Doughnut Fix" by: Jessie Janowitz

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "The Doughnut Fix" by: Jessie Janowitz.
Tristan isn't Gifted or Talented like his sister Jeanine, and he's always been okay with that because he can make a perfect chocolate chip cookie and he lives in the greatest city in the world. But his life takes a turn for the worse when his parents decide to move to middle-of-nowhere Petersville--a town with one street and no restaurants. It's like suddenly they're supposed to be this other family, one that can survive without bagels and movie theaters.
His suspicions about his new town are confirmed when he's tricked into believing the local general store has life-changing chocolate cream doughnuts, when in fact the owner hasn't made them in years. And so begins the only thing that could make life in Petersville worth living: getting the recipe, making the doughnuts, and bringing them back to the town through his very own doughnut stand. But Tristan will soon discover that when starting a business, it helps to be both Gifted and Talented, and it's possible he's bitten off more than he can chew...
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: The Doughnut Fix
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Jessie Janowitz.
Enjoy,Anne
 

Episode 41: "Gregor the Overlander" by: Suzanne Collins

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "Gregor the Overlander" by: Susanne Collins.
When Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats, cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. A prophecy foretells that Gregor has a role to play in the Underland's uncertain future. Gregor wants no part of it -- until he realizes it's the only way to solve the mystery of his father's disappearance. Reluctantly, Gregor embarks on a dangerous adventure that will change both him and the Underland forever. 
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: Gregor the Overlander.
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Suzanne Collins.
Enjoy,Anne
 

Episode 40: "Ferris" by: Kate DiCamillo

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "Ferris" by: Kate DiCamillo.
It's the summer before fifth grade, and for Ferris Wilkey, it is a summer of sheer pandemonium: Her little sister, Pinky, has vowed to become an outlaw. Uncle Ted has left Aunt Shirley and, to Ferris's mother's chagrin, is holed up in the Wilkey basement to paint a history of the world. And Charisse, Ferris's grandmother, has started seeing a ghost at the threshold of her room, which seems like an alarming omen given that she is also feeling unwell. But the ghost is not there to usher Charisse to the Great Beyond. Rather, she has other plans--wild, impractical, illuminating plans. How can Ferris satisfy a specter with Pinky terrorizing the town, Uncle Ted sending Ferris to spy on her aunt, and her father battling an invasion of raccoons?
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: Ferris.
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Kate DiCamillo.
Enjoy,Anne
 

Episode 38: "The Mapmakers" by:Tamzin Merchant

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "The Mapmakers" by: Tamzin Merchant.
Cordelia Hatmaker has saved England from war. She stopped Lord Whitloof's sinister plans, rescued the King and Princess, and restored the Makers Guild. But she still hasn't found her missing father. Ever since Cordelia discovered the hidden map in her father's telescope, she's been searching the streets of London by starlight, trying to uncover its secrets.
She never expects to stumble upon a secret society of Mapmakers--or to learn that magic isn't limited to the few Maker families, but instead is all around, if you know where to look. But danger is lurking around every corner, and Cordelia must convince the rival Maker families to work together for once--not only to bring her father home, but to save the very essence of magic itself. . . .
With exceptional and inventive storytelling and a lionhearted heroine, Tamzin Merchant once again draws readers into her captivating London and takes them on a breathless new adventure full of wildness, wit, warmth--and magic.
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: The Mapmakers
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Tamzin Merchant.
Enjoy,Anne
 

Episode 35: "The Lost Library" by: Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "The Lost Library" by: Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass.
When a mysterious little free library (guarded by a large orange cat) appears overnight in the small town of Martinville, eleven-year-old Evan plucks two weathered books from its shelves, never suspecting that his life is about to change.
Evan and his best friend Rafe quickly discover a link between one of the old books and a long-ago event that none of the grown-ups want to talk about. The two boys start asking questions whose answers will transform not only their own futures, but the town itself.
Told in turn by a ghost librarian named Al, an aging (but beautiful) cat named Mortimer, and Evan himself, The Lost Library is a timeless story from award-winning authors Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass. It's about owning your truth, choosing the life you want, and the power of a good book (and, of course, the librarian who gave it to you).
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: The Lost Library
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Rebecca Stead and Wendy Mass.
Enjoy,Anne
 

Episode 34: "Wretched Waterpark" by: Kiersten White

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "Wretched Waterpark" by: Kiersten White.
 
Meet the Sinister-Winterbottoms: brave Theo, her timid twin, Alexander, and their older sister, Wil. They're stuck for the summer with their Aunt Saffronia, who doesn't know how often children need to eat and can't use a smartphone, and whose feet never quite seem to touch the floor when she glides--er--walks.
When Aunt Saffronia suggests a week pass to the Fathoms of Fun Waterpark, they hastily agree. But the park is even stranger than Aunt Saffronia. The waterslides look like gray gargoyle tongues. The employees wear creepy black dresses and deliver ominous messages. An impossible figure is at the top of the slide tower, people are disappearing, and suspicious goo is seeping into the wave pool.
Something mysterious is happening at Fathoms of Fun, and it's up to the twins to get to the bottom of it. The mystery, that is. NOT the wave pool. Definitely NOT the wave pool. But are Theo and Alexander out of their depth?
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
 
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: Wretched Waterpark.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Kiersten White.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
 

Episode 33: "Puppy Love" by: Gary Soto

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter of "Puppy Love" by: Gary Soto.
 
Thirteen-year-old Jordan Mendoza has a huge crush on his classmate, Sierra, but he's never going to win her affections if he stays a C student and keeps embarrassing himself on the basketball court. And it doesn't help that his best friend, Antonio, likes to tease him about it all a little too much.
But when Jordan dives into the waters of a dangerous irrigation canal to save a drowning puppy, he's suddenly got even more on his mind than kissing Sierra and making the starting team. Can he nurse the abandoned puppy back to health (and will his parents let him keep her)? Who threw her into the canal--and is it possible that there are more puppies needing rescue? And why are the cops suddenly at Jordan's door, looking for him?
There's something for every reader in this story's mix of humor, sports, themes of thrilling independence, subtle strands of magical realism, and timely social commentary, all held together by a sweet and satisfying emotional core.
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
 
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: Puppy Love.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Gary Soto.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
 

Episode 32: "Jawbreaker" by: Christina Wyman

Hey there teachers, in the classroom and those at home, need someone to help you get the kids into reading? 
 
Join me in this week's episode while I read aloud the first chapter along with the author note's of "Jawbreaker" by: Christina Wyman.
 
Max Plink's life is complicated. Her parents aren't getting along. The school bullies are relentless--and her own sister is the cruelest of them. Worst of all, her mouth is a mess. With a mismatched puzzle of a jaw, Max has a Class II malocclusion, otherwise known as a severe overbite. She already has braces, which means she lives on Advil and soft foods after each orthodontist appointment. But now Max has to wear painful (and totally awkward) orthodontic headgear nicknamed "the jawbreaker." Could things get any worse?
Yes. The journalism competition Max wants to enter has a video component. But being on camera means showing her face not just to her junior high classmates, but possibly the whole city. Going viral is the last thing Max needs, but winning this competition is what she wants most. Turns out, following her dreams is complicated, too.
If you enjoyed this first chapter please screenshot today's episode and share it on your IG stories and tag me @booktastingspodcast.
 
Want to keep reading?? Here is a click to buy the book: Jawbreaker.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Christina Wayman.
Enjoy,
Anne