Well, @LBility, The Cards Dealt You a 5th Grade Classroom This Year and I Have Another Book to Recommend. @varianjohnson is a One-of-a-Kind Writer

Week Two & One Day - Officially 15-days. Surgical recovery going extremely well and my Tasmanian-devil tendencies are harnessed to a reading chair, a twin-bed lounge in the dining room, and my Queen bed upstairs. 

Yesterday, during Henri, I read Playing the Cards You're Dealt by Coretta Scott King Author Honoree, Varian Johnson (also recipient of Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Awards). I'm forever thankful to Kwame Alexander and Carmen Oliver for sending The Parker Inheritance to me last summer, while I was doing sabbatical work...it remains, by far, one of the smartest middle grade books I've ever read (in fact, yesterday while reading the upcoming Playing the Cards You're Dealt, I laughed when my favorite library-friend, Tiana, told me she was reading The Parker Inheritance to her boys).

Win. Win. Joy. Joy. 

Speaking of - Black Boy Joy. Tanya Baker and I had the honor of hearing Kwame Mbalia, Varian Johnson, and Julian Randall speak on The Write Time during our last recording. I'm thrilled, too, that our National Writing Project show will feature Mr. 'Ant Joplin' and Varian Johnson during October show to help promote the book launch.

Disclaimer: We in the northeast have this game, Pitch, we are taught in late elementary and middle school. The high, low, Jack & game-suited play requires smart bidding, incredible team-work, and spare time. I might argue that 35% of my high school years were smack-talking, winning, and losing at Pitch in the study halls of Cicero-North Syracuse. It was our camp game, our generational tie, and a pastime I miss tremendously. 

Disclaimer: My Kentucky students (LOUISVILLE!) played Spades. As I read Playing the Cards You're Dealt, I kept trying to recall if my students taught me how to play. I believe they tried, but my Pitch-brain always made me stubborn to the slight alterations of play, especially with suits, ground rules, and keeping score (the old dog, new trick conundrum).

Last Disclaimer: In my autobiography of why I became a teacher, especially one who promotes writers, I often name Mr. Finster from Cicero Elementary School. He was the rare educator who actually took interest in students, who lived to make learning fun, and who made 5th grade one of the best schooling experiences I've ever had. I thought of him often as Anthony Joplin's story was shared, especially knowing that Lossine will be teaching 5th grade this upcoming year. Playing the Cards You're Dealt is yet another Varian Johnson-text needing to be read by young people (and their parents)(and their teachers). I'm always impressed by middle-grade writers who magically capture the muscle, the magic, the youth, and the self-doubt of that age. I love how they bring the minds of kids to the page, narrating a story needing to be told, but from the perspective of the age (ha! well, at least from a celestial narrator who is on scene for the storytelling).

I always know when I've got a good book, because I shut out everyone and lie about what I'm doing. "No, I can't come over." "I'm sorry, but I've had family plans for a few weeks now." The truth is, I was huddled in a chair with Ant, his brother, a girl named Shirley who catches his attention, a strong mother, and a family secret that reveals itself rather quickly and toxically as a father's game-of-life relapses.

Intelligent. Mature. Strong. Heavy. And Beautifully Crafted.

It is a story that resonates close-to-home, close to the lives of the young people we teach, and near the numerous conversations young boys need to have with their friends, families, and themselves. Varian Johnson brings with his writing a strong sense of community, healing, and a tremendous amount of clarity, grace, and hope. 

This will definitely be on the radar of our profession in the upcoming year (and beyond). I look forward to its release in just a couple of months.

All in all, Lossine...this is another book you need in your classroom library.