The GMGR 2018 A to Z Challenge

[Susan]

Justine wrote: "Wow! Well done! What are your top 5 books, Susan?"

My top two are easy - Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston is Roald Dahl meets Dr. Seuss, and The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (I'm reading book 2 now).
One Crazy Summer and Counting By 7s of course. Fifth place is a four way tie.

[Rebecca]

Susan wrote: "Justine wrote: "Wow! Well done! What are your top 5 books, Susan?"

My top two are easy - Zorgamazoo by Robert Paul Weston..."

I haven't read that one, but the rest of your top list are books I thought were excellent as well.

[Georgie]

Georgie's 2018 A to Z List:
A:The Apothecary by Maile Meloy *****
Al Capone Shines My Shoes *****
Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Coldenko *****
B: Boy In The Tower by Polly Ho-Yen - ***** .
Back on Weird Street by Anne Fine ****
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket *****
Black Hearts in Battersea by Joan Aiken *****
C: The Children of Green Knowe by Lucy M. Boston *****
Cheesemares by Ross Collins *****
The Chocolate Factory Ghost by David O'Connell *****
D:The Daybreak Bond by Megan Frazer Blakemore *****
E: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein *****
F: The Firefly Code by Megan Frazer Blakemore - *****
Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar *****
Fortune's Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors *****
G: Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes *****
H: The Haunted Piccolo by Gene Kemp ****
I: The Island at the End of Everything by Kiran Millwood Hargrave *****
The Imaginary by A.F. Harrold and Emily Gravett *****
The Invisible Man's Socks by Alex Shearer ****
J:Jolly Foul Play by Robin Stevens *****
The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste *****
K: King of the Sky by Nicola Davies & Laura Carlin *****
L: Lost on Mars by Paul Magrs *****
The Lives of Christopher Chant by Diana Wynne Jones *****
M:The Misfits Club by Kieran Mark Crowley *****
The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket ****
N:Nasty! by Michael Rosen ****
O: Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt - and Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D Schmidt -both *****
P: The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall - *****
Q: Quirky Tails by Paul Jennings ****
R:Real Friends by Shannon Hale (graphic novel) *****
The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket *****
S: Skellig by David Almond - ***** Spirit Hunters by Ellen Oh ***** The Storm Keeper's Island by Catherine Doyle *****
T:Thunderstruck by Ali Sparkes **** and
The Teacher's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley ***** Tales from Weird Street by Anne Fine *****
This Book Is Not Good for You by Pseudonymous Bosch ****
Tins by Alex Shearer *****
U: Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley *****
V:Vampire Breath by R.L. Stine ****
W: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle *****
The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket ****
Wed Wabbit by Lissa Evans ****
White Dolphin by Gill Lewis ****
X: Galaxy X by Franklin W. Dixon ****
Y:Young, Gifted and Black: Meet 52 Black Heroes from Past and Present by Jamia Wilson & Andrea Pippins *****
Z: Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke *****



I'm done! Just in time too. ;)

[Rebecca]

Georgie, I think our policy has been to accept that approach for X--any word in the title starting with X. But there are more options for Q, so we hold that one to the alphabet. Check out some of the completed lists above, and I'll hunt up the link to a list of Q books.

[Rebecca]

Here's the list from our nominations for the BOTM a while back:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

[Georgie]

Rebecca wrote: "Georgie, I think our policy has been to accept that approach for X--any word in the title starting with X. But there are more options for Q, so we hold that one to the alphabet. Check out some of t..."
That's great, thanks. And are we allowed to count audiobooks?

[J.S.]

Georgie wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "Georgie, I think our policy has been to accept that approach for X--any word in the title starting with X. But there are more options for Q, so we hold that one to the alphabet. Che..."

I definitely count audiobooks. I'd only have one or two on my list if I didn't.

[Rebecca]

Definitely yes on audiobooks. I do a lot of them, too!

[Georgie]

Great, I was pretty sure they did count but wanted to check. Love audiobooks, especially for MG as they’re often very well narrated by readers who really get into it, and for longer books as well.

[C.J.]

C.J. wrote: "This year, my goal is to get through the alphabet twice!"

Huzzah! Last night, I read my second "Z" book and achieved my goal of getting through the alphabet twice!

[Cindy]

I'm done.....there were some really good ones. So many books so little time!

Cindy Wise 2018 A to Z List:

A: Ageless-Deanna Altomara,
The Austere Academy-5-Lemony Snicket,
Al Capone Shines My Shoes-Gennifer Choldenko
B: Booked-Kwame Alexander,
The Bad Beginning-Lemony Snicket
C: Crash-Jerry Spinelli
D: Dreamwood- Heather Lackey
E:Emily Windsap and the Monster From the Deep,
The Ersatz Elevator-6 Lemony Snicket
F: Face on the Milk Carton-Caroline B. Cooney
G: Girl Who Drank the Moon-Kelly Barnhill,
Graveyard Book -Neil Gaiman
H: Harlem Summer -Walter Dean Myers
I: Inside Out and Back Again-Thanhha Lai
J: Jack, the true story of Jack and the Beanstalk-Liesl Shurtliff
K: Knife-RJ Anderson
L: Loser-Jerry Spinelli
M: The Miserable Mill-4-Lemony Snicket
N: Ninja LIbrarian-Rebecca Douglass
O: One and ONly Ivan-Katherine Applegate
P: Pie-Sarah Weeks,
Q: Queen Zixi of Ix-Frank Baum
R: Reptile Room#2-Lemony Snicket
S: Secrets of Briar Hill-Megan Shepard,
Stef Soto: Taco Queen -Jennifer Tores
T: Tuesdays at the Castle-Jessica Day George
U: Unwanteds-Lisa McMann
V: The Vile Village-7-Lemony Snicket
W: Wide Window#3-Lemony Snicket,
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon-Kelly Barnhill,
Wishing Spell(The land of Stories)-Chris Colfer,
Wrinkle in Time-Madeleine L'Engle
X: Xander and the Island of the Monsters(Moromoto series #1)-Margaret Dillaway
Y: The Year of the Dog-Grace Lin
Z: Zoo at the Edge of the World(Eric Kahn Gale)

I'm working on finishing the series challenge--Series of Unfortunate Events...I'm on #8

[Justine]

Wow! Well done, Cindy. What are your top 3-5 books?

[Jemima]

Well done, Cindy. I seem to have stalled this year. Looking forward to seeing your 3-5 top reads as Justine suggested :)

[Cindy]

hmmmm....that's tough and I bet if I answered this on a different day I would pick some different books. But today as I sit here reflecting on the list....the ones that stuck out for me are the following (not in any particular order)
1. Graveyard Book
2. Fourteenth Goldfish
3. Loser
4. Ninja Librarian
5. Knife
6. Jack, the True Story of Jack and the Beanstalk

[Jemima]

I shall check out Loser, Knife and Jack, then, since I've read (and loved) the others!

[Cindy]

enjoy Jemima!

[Rio (fairy circle ink)]

ohhh i would choose

1.The outsiders (even though its YA i read it when i was quite small and loved it and its clean)
2.The lost planet series
3.Sammy keyes
4.Fairy dust and the quest for the egg
5.Furthermore
6.If I Run

[Cindy]

I"m going to check out If I Run, Furthermore and the Lost Planet. Thanks, Rio for the suggestions- I read the Outsiders every 2nd quarter with my 7th graders. Its a great YA read!

[Rio (fairy circle ink)]

always happy to help cindy ^.^

[Tonja]

Tonja's 2018 A to Z List:

A: The Adventures of Popcorn and Jellybean by Robert Gillespie
B: The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast by Samantha M Clark
C: The Children in the Garden by R.A. Douthitt
D: Destiny's Gambit by R.J. Wood
E: Edge of Yesterday by Robin Stevens Payes
F: Flying in a Cage by Melody Bremen
G:Grynbad and the Seven Soups: A Fully Illustrated Comedy Fantasy Book for Children Aged 7-9 by David Hailwood
H: The Haunted Serpent by Dora M. Mitchell
I: Inside the Star by Barry Wilner
J:Junior High Drama by Louise Simonson
K: Kate's Really Good at Hockey by Christina Frey
L: The Last Of The Navel Navigators by David Hailwood
M: Ms. Mulligan and the Enchanted Ice Cream by Tiffany Elaine
N: Never Too Young!: 50 Unstoppable Kids Who Made a Difference by Aileen Weintraub
O: October Jones: The Lightning Pines Mystery by J.D. McFarren
P: The Piraroo by Marko Kitti
Q:
R: The Royal Rabbits Of London by Santa Montefiore and Simm Sebag Montefiore
S: Some Very Messy Medieval Magic by C. Lee McKenzie
T: Team Players by Mike Lupica
U: The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Clair by Amy Makechnio
V: Voices for All: The Legend of ZoaBrio by Scott Vincent
W: Wrath of the Dragon King by Brandon Mull
X: X Dare and the Keys to Nin by PK Hzero
Y: The Yark by Bertrand Santini
Z: Zora and Me: The Cursed Ground by T.R. Simon

[Becky]

Yay! I did it!! :)

Becky Avella 2018 A to Z List:

A: Al Capone Does My Shirts and
Anne of Ingleside and
Antsy Does Time (Might be too YA to count)
B: The Bungalow Mystery
C: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
D: The Dragonfly Pool
E: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
F: Fuzzy Mud and
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and
The False Prince
G: The Graveyard Book
H: The Hidden Staircase
I: In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
J: Julie of the Wolves
K: Keeper of the Lost Cities
L: The Last Battle and
Louisiana's Way Home
M: Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics and
Mr. Lemoncello's Great Library Race
N: Number the Stars
O: Okay for Now
P: The Phantom Tollbooth and
The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
Q: The Quilt
R: Raymie Nightingale and
Rilla of Ingleside and
The Runaway King
S: The Secret Horses of Briar Hill and
The Shadow Throne
T: The Tower Treasure and
The Tail of Emily Windsnap
U: The Unfinished Angel
V: The Vanishing Game
W: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and
A Wrinkle in Time
X: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters
Y: Young Indiana Jones and the Gypsy Revenge
Z: Zorgamazoo

It was a good mix of old and new titles and has been such a fun year of reading so far.

[Leone]

Great job, Becky! I think you've inspired me to start my own
A to Z list!

[Justine]

Jemima wrote: "I shall check out Loser, Knife and Jack, then, since I've read (and loved) the others!"
I checked out Knife (because I had to fulfil K), and I think it's for a young YA?

[Jemima]

Well done, Becky!!

[Rebecca]

Congrats to all the finishers!

[Maria]

Are we going to have another thread like this for 2019? I'd like to try it this coming year.

[C.J.]

Maria wrote: "Are we going to have another thread like this for 2019? I'd like to try it this coming year."

Yes, indeed! I'll post the 2019 A-Z Challenge in time for a new year of reading!

[Justine]

I've just entered another book on my list. My most frequently read letter is W (7 books), G is a close 2nd with 5 books. I'm 3 books away from completing it, but I won't be able to do that by the end of the year. Ready to start again in 2019. Happy Holidays!

[Carmel]

Congratulations to everyone who participated and big congrats to the finishers! I'll try to do better next year!

[Jemima]

I'm still working on mine, although I'm never going to complete it!

Well done all you who are rounding off the last letters!