Friday, October 28, 2016

Our Teacher is a Vampire and Other (not) True Stories by Mary Amato - ADVISABLE


Amato, Mary Our Teacher is a Vampire and Other (not) True Stories, 253 pgs. Holiday House. 2016 $16.95.  Content: G.  

Alexander H. Gory Jr. received a beautiful blank book for his birthday and can’t wait to write in it.  But he wants to share the writing with his class so he passes it around class inviting everyone to write and letting them know that he has PROOF that their teacher, Mrs. Penrose is an actual vampire! He read her journal (which was left open on her desk) noticed that she is looking pale and seems more tired than usual. Turns out, her secret is more natal than paranormal, and so the passed around notebook becomes a class writing journal, complete with spelling mistakes (and corrections) writing ideas, short stories and plans to enter a contest.  They even contact a famous author and get writing ideas!  

This is a great concept and a lot of fun.  Amato does a nice job keeping the kids voices in their writing and letting us watch the classroom drama unfold from several different perspectives.  This would be a fun class read as lots of language arts topics are covered and the students would want to make a journal of their own.  Both reading and writing are championed in this fun elementary level novel.  

EL - ADVISABLE  Lisa Librarian

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