Welcome to Litsy!

We all enjoyed this as a read aloud! Based on the work of folk artist James Hampton, it‘s a moving account of a boy‘s reckoning with life & death and learning what is truly most important. It was fun predicting and then finding the links between the 7 types of found art materials and the boy‘s emotional growth.

#thoughtfulthursday @Cathythoughts 💜 @MoonWitch94

Better a day late than never!

1. #1 Ladies Detective Agency 🧐

2. Thought provoking and intelligent. 🌟

3. The antithesis of “magic” in the traditional sense, but the profound influence of Darwin on modern thought. Magical in the wonderment of his insight.

This was such a heartwarming read. I selected this as my February choice for The Two Book Nerds Talking challenge on a book about Redemption. The prose was very easy reading but towards the end I was caught by surprise to know that its actually modeled after a REAL Mr Hampton! Love this! Now I want to see the Throne of Heaven!.

#nowreading this for my February challenge of Redemption themed book. I'm participating in a reading challenge from Two Book Nerds Talking. https://www.facebook.com/twobooknerds/ #readingchallenge

I just finished this with one of my 6th grade book clubs and they loved it. This was definitely the more “bookish” of my two groups, and had a lot of questions about the real James Hampton and his art. We had fun looking up pictures and talking about the story.
#schoollibraries #librariansoflitsy #litsyloveslibraries

“with his heart hammering in his chest he began pushing through the remaining coats, searching for his fathers old corduroy jacket“

Talking about the extreme mix of emotions that flood a person after the loss of a parent being shown in this book is really useful for kids going through that and also kids who know a friend who has so they can empathize

I loved this book. I think having books about the trauma and grief of losing a parent available to children is really important. Personally I have and obviously it's not very talked about because it pretty much makes everyone who is talking about it uncomfortable so it's easy to feel isolated. Having relatable books for kids at a time where they could feel alone is really good.

“Some angels are like peacocks. Others are less flashy. Like city pigeons. It all depends on the wings.“

I like this book because it does talk about real life problems that some people may face such as money troubles, trauma, identity, etc.

This book uses real events and fictional characters to tell the story of the highly ornate, sculpture's creation. Thirteen year old, Arthur, is in the middle of grief and trauma of his father's sudden death in a motorcycle crash. He ends up possibly going to juvie after assault charges and works his way through the system. This would be good for kids to read since it shows how Arthurs gains maturity and a sense of self throughout the story.

“Some angels are like peacocks. Others are less flashy. Like city pigeons. It all depends on the wings.“

This is a super cool storyline for a book. It is fresh and original. I feel like it would be a good attention getter and really spark the interest of the students.

The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall is a piece of contemporary realistic fiction. It was published in 2015. This story involves Arthur who threw a brick at a garbage man and is being faced with being sent to juvie. But the garbage man offered him to do 120 service hours with him instead. He is given a list of things to find that will be used to create something. This seems super interesting and can be relatable for some.

This book was written around this piece of art and its creator, James Hampton. The Third Throne of Heaven is housed at the Smithsonian institute. Grief and anger cause Arthur to act impulsively and hurt an older man. Now, as part of his parole, he is required to gather items for James Hampton, the man he injured and from whom he has much to learn. A sweet but not entirely engaging story.

I couldn't put this #ebook down. The story of redemption pulled me right in. After his father dies, Arthur struggles with his emotions and violently lashes out, hurting the "Junk Man" in the process. For his parole, he must help his victim by gathering trash, in the process redeeming himself. I think this is a great book for young readers who may be struggling with their own emotions and circumstances in their lives. Another WAW nominee finished!

This was just okay for me. It was interesting to learn about real-life artist James Hampton, but you don't actually learn that much. Main character Arthur isn't very likeable and never really grew on me. I liked the ending, though.

I love good middle grade books with male protagonists. This will definitely be one I recommend to my students.

It was a cold day when Arthur grabbed a brick and hurled it at the Junk Man. Amazingly, it‘s the Junk Man himself who offers an alternative to juvie: 120 hours of community service working for him.

Arthur is given a list of Seven Things: bottles, foil, cardboard, wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors. It isn‘t long before he realizes the “trash” he‘s collecting is being transformed into something more than anyone could imagine.

#TBR 📚❤️

#booktober #greatfirstlines @RealLifeReading

#Reccomendsday! With bonus #kittenlitten! (I want to have more fun with hashtags here.) i'm booktalking this at a conference tomorrow morning, along with some other middle grade and middle school books. But this one is my favorite in the bunch. It's a story of redemption inspired by a true work of art and its artist.

Read this with my son! Thoroughly enjoyed...loved finding out it was based on a true story!