Blog Tour: Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak

Welcome to Teachers Who Read for the second stop of the Brief Chronicle of Another Stupid Heartbreak blog tour! I am so excited to host today because my 8 graders devour Adi Alsaid's books! This novel, like his others, was the perfect will-they-or-won't-they story. Releases today!

SYNOPSIS:

Has heartbreak broken her for good?

Dumped by her boyfriend the summer after senior year, teen love and relationship columnist Lu Charles has hit a wall with her writing. The words just won’t come to her like they used to and if she doesn’t find a topic for her column, she’ll lose her gig at hip online magazine Misnomer, and the college scholarship that goes along with it.

Her best friend, Pete, thinks she should write through her own pain, but when Lu overhears another couple planning a precollege breakup just like hers, she becomes convinced that they’re the answer to cracking her writer’s block. And when she meets them—super-practical Iris and cute, sweet Cal—and discovers they’re postponing their breakup until the end of the summer, she has to know more.

Have Cal and Iris prolonged their own misery by staying together, knowing the end is in sight? Or does the secret to figuring out all this love business—and getting over it—lie with them? One thing is certain—if Lu can’t make a breakthrough before summer is over, she can kiss her future goodbye.

From the acclaimed author of Let’s Get Lost and North of Happy comes a touching exploration of love, relationships and the pain of breaking up.

MY THOUGHTS:

• Characters: The best aspect of this book was its characters. That inner turmoil that bubbles up as you're getting ready to leave high school behind was captured perfectly. Lu knows that most high school romances don't last. But she just can't let her ex go. What if they're better off friends? What if he's the one, but she doesn't fight for him? Navigating these questions was all too familiar! As much as I liked hearing Lu's inner thoughts,  perhaps my favorite character was Lu's best friend Pete, who offers no-so-tactful advice about Lu's love life. 

• Setting: This is the perfect time of year for this book. As Lu follows Cal and Iris, she goes on adventures around NYC.  If you have a senior in your life who's still trying to figure out what to do at the end of the year, this book is for them. 

This was a quick and fun read perfect for the start of summer! 

Be sure to check out these other blogs:

Wednesday, May 1st: @lovelyreadergirl
Thursday, May 2nd: What is That Book About – excerpt
Monday, May 6th: Write Read Life
Tuesday, May 7th: From the TBR Pile
Wednesday, May 8th: Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile
Friday, May 10th: Not in Jersey
Monday, May 13th: Run Wright
Tuesday, May 14th: @fromlibrarywithlove
Wednesday, May 15th: A Bookish Way of Life
Friday, May 17th: Book Fidelity
Monday, May 20th: @bookstorefinds
Wednesday, May 22nd: Novel Gossip and @novelgossip

Purchase Links

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Connect with Adi

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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IMWAYR ~ April 15

I hope the weather near everyone is sunny, warm, and beautiful. Here in St. Louis we got a wonderful mix of snow and rain on Sunday, but not it's cold but sunny! I love some STL weather LOL! As I was scrolling through Instagram, I also saw there are a lot of east coast teachers that are on spring break this week or will be on spring break soon. I hope you have, had or will have a lovely spring break and some much-needed reading time :).

Here's what we are reading this week!

Cassie
 

Amber


Haley
   


Andrea
 

I hope you have a great reading week!

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We Were Beautiful Blog Tour

We are pleased to be a stop on the Blog Tour for We Were Beautiful by Heather Hepler! Be sure to check out this book about family, love, and loss! Released April 2. 

Facebook

Goodreads

Amazon
Pinterest
Instagram



Purchase Link:

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Adult Non-Fiction with Young Reader's Versions

A couple of years ago several of my friends were talking about this memoir by an African American man called Trevor Noah. I honestly had no idea who Trevor Noah was and after seeing a friend gawk at me after I said that, I thought, well… I guess I should look into this book...it must be good! I am SO GLAD that I did, because even though I don’t watch Noah’s late night talk show, The Daily Show, I still really, really enjoyed reading his memoir Born a Crime.

When I saw that Random House was releasing a young reader’s version, I was beyond ecstatic to read it and see how it would be adapted for a younger reader. Spoiler: it was fan-tas-tic!

Trevor Noah is mixed race. His mom is African and still lives in Johannesburg and his dad is Swedish. He was born in Africa when institutional racism called Apartheid (a-par-tide) existed. Multi-racial relationships were illegal and having children with someone of another race was even worse. 

Noah’s birth… was a crime in Africa.

Kids are going to lose their minds to learn this... and the kicker is, this didn't happen a long time ago. Trevor Noah is only 35 years old. Apartheid ended in the 90s ... and even though Apartheid has ended, like legal segregation has ended in the States, the racism in Africa is still horrible.

Reading about what life was like for Noah in Africa was so interesting and I learned so much about African history that I didn’t know. And, honestly, I felt ashamed that I knew so little. Kids are going to devour this book. Noah and his publisher did a fantastic job at adapting this (very mature) story for kids to read without sacrificing the integrity of Noah’s past. It is recommended for ages 10 and up and I would recommend a grade level of 5^th grade and up.

Reading Born a Crime did get me thinking about all of the other important non-fiction adult stories that are published and what Young Reader’s Editions are out there. Below is a list of several pairings that would be fantastic to add to your classroom or library’s non-fiction section.

Adult Title	Young Reader’s Edition
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah	It’s Trevor Noah: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Code Girls: The Untold Story of American Women Code Breakers of World War Two by Liza Mundy	Code Girls: The True Story of the American Women Who Secretly Broke Codes in World War Two by Liza Mundy
The Red Bandanna: A Life. A Choice. A Legacy by Tom Rinaldi	The Red Bandanna by Tom Rinaldi
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl	Man's Search for Meaning: A Young Adult Edition by Viktor E. Frankl
The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande	The Distance Between Us: Young Reader's Edition by Reyna Grande
Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg	Notorious RBG: Young Reader's Edition: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand	Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive by Laura Hillenbrand
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown	The Boys in the Boat: The True Story of an American Team's Epic Journey To Win Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai	I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up For Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope by William Kamkwamba	The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba
Pay It Forward: A Novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde	Pay It Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly	Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline	Orphan Train Girl by Christina Baker Kline
Chasing Space: An Astronaut's story of Grit, Grace and Second Chances	Chasing Space: Young Reader's Edition
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace - One School at a Time	Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Journey to Save the World One Child at a Time

Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust	Running with Roselle
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson	Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice by Bryan Stevenson
The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates	Discovering Wes Moore

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won't Stop Talking by Susan Cain	Quiet Power: The Secret Strength of Introverted Kids by Susan Cain
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero	My Family Divided: One Girl's Journey of Home, Loss, and Hope.
The Martian by Andy Weir	The Martian: Young Reader's Edition

Thank you so much to the MANY people that weighed in on this topic on Twitter! I learned about SO MANY new titles that I didn't know had a young reader's companion! 

With many of these books, the content is mature. Please read the young reader's version before putting them in your library so you know it is appropriate for your grade level. 

This post contains affiliate links. 

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It's Monday, What Are You Reading?

Hello, friends! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend!

Here in Iowa, the snow has mostly melted but the weather is still doing that yo-yo thing where you get 1-2 nice days then several chilly days in a row. We just want a nice spring! It's coming very soon though, I can feel it! Have you packed away all of your winter clothes yet? I haven't yet, but I want to!

This time of year is traditionally so busy. Test prep, testing, field trips, extra assemblies and concerts and squeezing in as much instruction as possible... I have nine weeks of school left and I know those nine weeks are going to fly. It feels like we still have so much to do! How much time do you have left?

However busy we are though, there's still a little time to squeeze in for reading, even if it's just 10 minutes before shutting your eyes for the night or listening to an audiobook on the drive to and from work! I know for me, I'm always a little happier when I've made time to read. :)

Here is what we're making time for:

Come tell us what you're reading this week in the comments below!

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