Reading Rumpus: 2013 Newbery: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

Today was one of those days. I got up early to make a casserole for a work luncheon. I hit the snooze button three times. I had to skip the shower so my hair was kind of greasy (ponytail day!). The minute I stepped out of my car a teacher stopped to ask me a favor. I had 20 students to test so I had to start-up all the computers (Monday), log-in with the "secret" account and load the test website on to each of them. I barely made it as they walked through the door. As the last student left, I could hear my office phone ringing. It was time to work on the School Improvement Plan. After an hour laboring over the 50 page document, I had a collaboration meeting with a teacher to look over her curriculum for the next quarter. I ran out of there to heat the casserole and sing Happy Birthday to my boss (and one of my best friends). After the clean-up, we returned to the School Improvement Plan once again and finished it just as I realized that I hadn't sent the testing schedule out for tomorrow. I ran to my office, typed the schedule at lightening speed, and sent it just as the dismissal bell rang. As I walked to my car, I thought, "Oh! Today was the Newbery announcement!" But my phone rang, it was my aunt, discussing 'family' stuff and then my son beeped in and then I was home. My mother and husband were waiting with hungry eyes. Hoping to get out of cooking dinner, I told them that I had a tummy ache (I didn't share that it was probably because I had eaten a big slice of birthday cake). As my husband offered to make dinner, I remembered, "Oh! Today was the Newbery day!" I grabbed the phone and nearly passed out.

I started to tweet @colbysharp (fabulous teacher, tweeter, blogger and lover of Ivan) and author @kaauthor (author Katherine Applegate). "Maybe I read it wrong," I thought. I googled again. It was there. In the NY Times! My absolute favorite book of 2012, one I have been passing along to EVERY SINGLE kid I can get my hands on, one which came along with a wonderful signed copy of Animorphs (for my - now 24-year-old - Animorphs-loving son) when the author so graciously let me read it early, had won!!!

HERE is my original review from December 2011 with a few teaching links and such :-)

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