Book Tastings- hook, chapter 1 reading, read aloud, circle time, picture books, YA Fiction, YA Books, classic books, relevant books

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
 
 

Episode 31: "The Magical Imperfect" by: Chris Baron

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 five verses of "The Magical Imperfect" by: Chris Baron.
 
Etan has stopped speaking since his mother left. His father and grandfather don't know how to help him. His friends have given up on him.
When Etan is asked to deliver a grocery order to the outskirts of town, he realizes he's at the home of Malia Agbayani, also known as the Creature. Malia stopped going to school when her acute eczema spread to her face, and the bullying became too much.
As the two become friends, other kids tease Etan for knowing the Creature. But he believes he might have a cure for Malia's condition, if only he can convince his family and hers to believe it too. Even if it works, will these two outcasts find where they fit in?
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 Magical Imperfect.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Chris Baron.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
 

Episode 30: "Mustaches for Maddie" 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 "Mustaches for Maddie" by: Chad Morris and Shelly Brown.
 
Maddie is a normal twelve-year-old girl. Well, except for the fake mustaches she carries in her pocket. She likes to make people laugh and slapping on a mustache, especially a fuzzy pink or neon green one, always gets a smile. Maddie hopes that the class queen, Cassie, will find her mustaches as funny as she does and want to play with her at recess. She's been self-conscious lately because her right arm only feels normal when it's curled against her chest and she's constantly tripping over her feet. But that's probably just part of growing up and not something weird, right?When Maddie's arm continues to bother her, her parents take her to a doctor who gives them a shocking diagnosis: the cause of the abnormal behavior of her limbs is a brain tumor and she must have surgery to remove it. She's understandably afraid as he describes the procedure, but knows she must find a way to be brave and must face her fears--all of them--at the hospital, at home and at school.She will need all of her courage not only to face her illness, but also to face Cassie at school. Both Cassie and Maddie are auditioning for the same role in the school play, but when Cassie accuses Maddie of lying about her tumor in order to get attention, Cassie's bossiness turns into bullying.And as Maddie's surgery approaches, she begins to worry more and more about the outcome. What if something goes wrong? What if the doctors don't get all the tumor out of her brain? What will happen to her family? What will happen to her?It will take all of Maddie's vibrant imagination, a lot of kindness-both given and received-and of course, the perfect mustache to overcome the tough stuff ahead of her.
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: Mustaches for Maddie.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Chad Morris and Shelly Brown.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
 

BONUS Episode 2: " The Intrepid Three" by: Brianna and Matthew Penfold

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 Intrepid Three" by: Brianna and Matthew Penfold.
 
Dez, Arabella, and Walter are seemingly ordinary teenagers from different worlds. Dez is a dejected coder living in Euporia under the oppressive conglomerate E-Corp. Arabella skates through life in an Aurelian aristocratic family. And Walter treads a typical path in the technology-obsessed society of Immerxia.
In a day's time, their lives are turned upside down when they meet Author, the writer of the universe, and discover they have gifts to heal the past, alter the present, and foresee the future. Author implores the three teens to restore their broken worlds. Complicating the kids' decision are supernatural forces working to end humanity and free a dark army from their prison known as Animus.
Can Dez, Arabella, and Walter save their worlds?
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 Intrepid Three.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Brianna and Matthew Penfold.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
Disclamer: A copy of this book was sent to me in return for reading the first chapter. 
 
 

Episode 29: The Someday Suitcase" by: Corey Ann Haydu

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 Someday Suitcase" by: Corey Ann Haydu.
 
Clover and Danny are the kind of best friends who make each other even better. They’re so important to each other that Clover believes they’re symbiotic: her favorite science word, which describes two beings who can’t function without the other.
But when Danny comes down with a mysterious illness that won’t go away, the doctors can’t figure out what’s wrong with him. So Clover decides to take matters into her own hands by making lists—list of Danny’s symptoms, his good days, his bad days.
As the evidence piles up, only one thing becomes clear: Danny is only better when Clover is around.
Suddenly it feels like time is running out for Clover and Danny to do everything they’ve planned together—to finally see snow, to go on a trip with the suitcase they picked out together. Will science be able to save Danny, or is this the one time when magic can overcome the unthinkable?
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 Someday Suitcase.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Corey Ann Haydu.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
 

Episode 28: ”Hatchet” by: Gary Paulsen

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 "Hatchet" by: Gary Paulsen.
 
Thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson, haunted by his secret knowledge of his mother’s infidelity, is traveling by single-engine plane to visit his father for the first time since the divorce. When the plane crashes, killing the pilot, the sole survivor is Brian. He is alone in the Canadian wilderness with nothing but his clothing, a tattered windbreaker, and the hatchet his mother had given him as a present.At first consumed by despair and self-pity, Brian slowly learns survival skills—how to make a shelter for himself, how to hunt and fish and forage for food, how to make a fire—and even finds the courage to start over from scratch when a tornado ravages his campsite. When Brian is finally rescued after fifty-four days in the wild, he emerges from his ordeal with new patience and maturity, and a greater understanding of himself and his parents.
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: Hatchet.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Gary Paulsen.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
Disclaimer: Some of the following links contain affiliate links in which I receive small commission.

Episode 27: ”The Takeout” by: Tracy Badua

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 Takeout" by: Tracy Badua.
 
Mila may have moved to Coral Beach months ago, but it still doesn’t feel like home. A few awkward incidents with her new friends make her wonder if she’ll ever neatly fit into the super-samey small town.
The only place she can be herself is at her dad’s Filipino-Indian food truck, The Banana Leaf. But when celebrity chef twins the Fab Foodie Brothers open a restaurant nearby, it turns out the food they are serving is exactly the same as The Banana Leaf's--right down to the recipes!
Mila realizes that she needs to take the Fab Foodie Brothers down before they run her family's tiny truck out of town. But that means dabbling in the Filipino magic that she has shied away from her whole life . . . as well as alienating her new friends.  
Does Mila have to choose between her family and fitting in? Or, like the best recipes, will a blend of the traditional and the unexpected mix into something truly special?
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 Takeout.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Tracy Badua.
Enjoy,
Anne
 
Disclaimer: Some of the following links contain affiliate links in which I receive small commission.

BONUS Episode 1:”Dare to be Me” by: Kaci Bolls and Nathan Meckel

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 book "Dare to be Me" by: Kaci Bolls and Nathan Meckel.
 
Today’s a blank page, a plain white TeeI wake up brave and I dare to be meIn Dare to be Me, children are encouraged to face the world as their truest, most fantastic, and authentic selves. With text and rhythm by Kaci Bolls & Nathan Meckel, and vibrant illustrations by Ana Martín Larrañaga, this “start-your-day” story will help young readers brave the most essential part of every day: being yourself, and nobody else.
If you enjoyed this book 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: Dare to be Me.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Kaci Bolls and Nathan Meckel.
 
Enjoy,
Anne
 
Disclaimer: I have received a free copy of this book to record live on my podcast. THANK YOU!!!
Some of the following links contain affiliate links in which I receive small commission.

Episode 25: ”Dogtown” by: Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko

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 "Dogtown" by: Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko.
 
Dogtown is a shelter for stray dogs, misbehaving dogs, and discarded robot dogs, whose owners have outgrown them.Chance, a real dog, has been in Dogtown since her owners unwittingly left her with irresponsible dog-sitters who skipped town.Metal Head is a robot dog who dreams of being back in a real home.And Mouse is a mouse who has the run of Dogtown, pilfering kibble, and performing clever feats to protect the dogs he loves.When Chance and Metal Head embark on an adventure to find their forever homes, there is danger, cheese sandwiches, a charging station, and some unexpected kindnesses along the way.
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: Dogtown.
 
Loved this book and interested in seeing what else this author has written be sure to check out Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko
 
Enjoy,
Anne
 
Disclaimer: Some of the following links contain affiliate links in which I receive small commission.