Welcome to Litsy!

Not bad story of poor black boy in Harlem area who works through grief for his brother by building great lego structures. If not a movie yet, it could be.

Starting a YA novel that looks interesting.

And just like that, year 5 has come to an end!

Dear Lolly,
I wish I could hug you and tell you everything will be alright. Death is not easy for adults to experience and as a young scholar I‘m sure it‘s even harder to process. Am I the only one who talks to fictional characters?

I want to like this book, but I am having a hard time getting past the odd LEGO lingo! As a serious LEGO hobbyist, I‘ve never heard anyone call the sets “kits” or the instructions “blueprints.” 😂

Still deciding on novels for this year! Finished Ghost Boys and Poet X, and onto this!

Today, when virtual professional development ended early, this #teacherofLitsy headed to the bookstore for a treat! Today was my last chance to go for a while because I‘m not super comfortable going to my small local indie on the weekends because it‘s so popular and it‘s a lot of people.

Kids come back on Monday & while I have so much to do, I can do it while I‘m up at night & stressed & instead I‘ll use the daylight hours for some joy.

Here‘s my first read of #CoronaBreak! Wow, I loved this book. It was poignant and hopeful and tense and soothing all at the same time. The characters felt so real and dimensional. I‘d love to read it with my middle schoolers. Now, let‘s see how many more books I read by the time I (hopefully) return to teaching!

When you‘re rooting for the character and want to know how life turns out for him, you know the author‘s done something right.

Book 9 for #MiddleGradeMarch

💖

#MiddleGradeMarch

The book is a really great book and it talks about life. The things he goes through are sad but he discovers a way to be happy again witch are legos.

I like the book because it gives and example of what a young black male could be going through, growing up in a place full of gang violence. To focus the attention of his brother being shot and killed in a drive-by shooting elsewhere, the main character plays video games and playing with legos with his new friends from his new school.

Unpopular opinion ahead! This book really didn‘t work for me. This is likely coming from my own privilege but I don‘t want my 10 year old reading a book where a tween gets a gun and plots to kill someone who attacked them. The main story was okay, if a bit unbelievable, but there were so many peripheral stories and characters, I couldn‘t keep track of it all. #booked2019 and #readharderchallenge diverse middle grade/diversity award winner.

I will definitely be recommending this to students! Something that struggling readers would LOVE — this book is about a kid who lives in the projects in New York. He is struggling with his brother‘s murder, his neighborhood and his family. Feeling alone, he turns to art with LEGOS and makes an amazing friend along the way. I can‘t wait to get a few more copies for my students! “The decisions you make can become your life. Your choices are you.”

🎶 I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice🎶

Will Lolly be a constructive force, or will he join the “crew” for protection?

#roar #amonthofsongs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @OriginalCyn620

Haven‘t been able to find anything that really pulls me in so I‘m checking this one out. #currentlylistening #audiocommute #audiodriving #readdiversebooks #weneeddiversebooks #ownvoice #pocauthors #blacklitsy #blitsy

Wallace lives in the PJs (the projects) and carries a big rock in his chest churning with grief, anxiety, and fear. But his Lego towers and his love of architecture help give him some flow...

David Barclay Moore's The Stars Beneath Our Feet is a gorgeous, middle-grade read. Protagonist Lolly, who lives in Harlem with his mom and her girlfriend Yvonne, is grieving after the shooting death of his brother, Jermaine. Lolly finds strength in a few places: his friend Vega is his constant companion, and his Lego creations provide an outlet for his imagination. (continued in comments)

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would! It‘s a touching story of a 12-year-old Harlem boy trying to survive among the gangs and violence in his neighborhood after suffering a loss, and thankfully, he finds a creative outlet. Some beautiful writing throughout! #lmpbc #round4

Starting this one for #lmpbc...the last one of #round4!

Sending this out tomorrow or Saturday to @OriginalCyn620 ! Can‘t wait to hear what everyone thought. I honestly loved this. So far, my favorite one out of all the ones we read. Can‘t wait for the last one!

#LMPBC #GroupC

@cwarnier I received your book today! It possibly was sitting at the post office for days because I haven‘t been home... but I have it now!

@Victoriahoperose I plan on sending mine out to you tomorrow!

This book will be sent off this week. Hope you enjoy @whippoorwill815
Each of you will get one of these fun paper clips books marks.
@OriginalCyn620
@Victoriahoperose
#groupc
#lmpbc

A Harlem kid has to make life-defining choices while also building LEGO towers. Loved the points of view in this book.

5 ⭐️ #bookbento #tdscampread18

“The decisions you make can become your life. Your choices are you.”

A tween boy grieving the death of his brother. He‘s facing pressure in the neighborhood to join a gang, but just wants to hang out with his friends and build legos. I loved that his mom is a lesbian, but that‘s just his life, rather than a source of conflict. The after school program where he meets Rose felt very realistic and I thoroughly enjoyed their weird friendship.

Lolly is dealing with some tough choices and finding his way in the world.

“It all started with two garbage bags full of LEGOS.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Love this cover! Enjoyed the book.

Loving this book! Enjoying it with a delicious gyro and fries.

Really great, kinda wish I hadn't done the audiobook cause I know I missed some things. But holy crap a kid dealing with a lot of grown-up things. Also: really great to see representation of queer people of colour in a middle grade book (the main character's mom is a lesbian). #AwesomeAudiobooks #MiddleGrade #BlackBooks #QueerBooks

Good books and my favorite tea! Cozy afternoon. ☕️📚#MiddleGradeLit #AwardWinning

Really clear kid's voice in this so far. Also they were talking about mac and cheese and cherry cobbler, which made me so hungry I stopped at the store and bought both (although I had to settle for cherry pie). #BlackBooks #AwesomeAudiobooks

I picked up a couple ARCs at #MLA17AC today, and I'm really excited about The Stars Beneath Our Feet! I want to offer the kids at my library books they can relate to, not books that treat them like they need to be sheltered from anything remotely difficult

The voice was everything in this read. From the first chapter I could clearly hear it and loved it. A boy tries to deal with the loss of his brother and the troubles of living in the projects. His love of legos and building help him cope. He builds LEGO cities and thinks up of creative stories to go with them! Writing teachers!!!! I see a fun writing activity with legos here! Great read for 4th and up.

I loved this middle grade novel. Lolly is grieving the loss of his older brother, Jermaine, who was killed as a result of gang violence. It is through building with Legos that Lolly finds his way out of his grief as he tries to navigate life in the projects while taking a different path than his brother.

Amazingly powerful look at the life of a 12-year-old boy grieving over the death of his older brother, who was a victim of gang violence. I don't proclaim to know what it's like to live in the projects in Harlem, but Moore's debut novel gave me a glimpse. For audiobook fans, Nile Bullock's performance is near-perfect. More on my blog today http://www.bethfishreads.com/2017/09/stacked-up-book-thoughts-2-great.html?m=1