Wisconsin – Heise Reads & Recommends https://www.heisereads.com A School Librarian Sharing Books & #ClassroomBookADay Thu, 03 Jun 2021 17:12:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.3 https://www.heisereads.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Favicon-75x75.png Wisconsin – Heise Reads & Recommends https://www.heisereads.com 32 32 Busy Reading, New Role (Chair) https://www.heisereads.com/busy-reading-new-role-chair/ Sun, 09 Nov 2014 16:42:00 +0000 I’ve been busy reading, very busy reading, but there hasn’t been as much time to blog about the books individually because of an exciting new role I’ve taken on and the reading I’ve been doing related to it. It became official this weekend!

The Wisconsin State Reading Association (WSRA) Children’s Literature Committee is a group of WI education professionals who read widely in an effort to create a master recommendation list of the best books published each year [Sept of the previous year through Dec of the current year] for students based on quality, kid appeal, and value for teacher use. We create two lists: Picture This! (picture books) & Just One More Page! (chapter books up to 8th grade).
I joined this committee last fall, and I’m thrilled to be taking on a new role as the Chair! This weekend, we had our last meeting of the year to discuss and decide on our final lists. Our lists are not revealed publicly until the WSRA Convention in February, but I am excited that every convention attendee (approximately 3000) will receive a copy of the lists this year, and afterwards, it will be posted publicly to share (watch for that post in early Feb!). 
With the changeover and new direction we are heading in for these lists as we work to grow the presence and increase the usefulness, this is a transitional year for us, but I’m proud of the work this group of ten people has done in trying to help teachers, librarians, and parents sort through the wealth of children’s books released this past year in order to make recommendations. We selected 120 titles for our Picture This! list and 92 books for Just One More Page! 
So that’s where I’ve been, what I’ve been working on, and what I’m been focused on lately (outside of my teaching work). I’ve read over 416 books so far this year (106 of which were novels) – I’ve upped my picture book reading game considerably. Now I’m anxious to get to those 2015 advanced copies that I had to hide away to avoid temptation until we finished our work on this year’s lists!
What would make your list of some of the best books released in 2014?
]]> #BetterOffInWI Blog Tour: BETTER OFF FRIENDS by Elizabeth Eulberg & Giveaway https://www.heisereads.com/betteroffinwi-blog-tour-better-off/ https://www.heisereads.com/betteroffinwi-blog-tour-better-off/#comments Mon, 24 Feb 2014 11:30:00 +0000

Elizabeth Eulberg is one of my favorite authors when I want a guaranteed enjoyable book (we bonded over our cheeseheadedness) and have been a huge fan of all of her books since I first read THE LONELY HEARTS CLUB. Then came PROM & PREJUDICE, followed by TAKE A BOW, and the latest, REVENGE OF THE GIRL WITH THE GREAT PERSONALITY. So I was thrilled when I heard that Elizabeth’s latest book was set in Wisconsin (finally!) and even more excited when I was able to get an early copy of BETTER OFF FRIENDS to read in September. And let me tell you, I was up early the next morning to keep reading the book because I couldn’t stop thinking about Macallan and Levi. When I finished later that day, I declared it Elizabeth Eulberg’s best book yet. And now (well, tomorrow) you get to read it, too! We Wisconsin bloggers were so excited that Elizabeth’s launch part would be in Milwaukee, and I knew I had to be a part of the blog tour. And the best part? Elizabeth is visiting my school today! 

In honor of her visit, I wanted to share some of my students’ thoughts/blurbs for BETTER OFF FRIENDS. 

“I LOVED it! It was mind-blowing and heart-breaking.”

“A sweet and entertaining book that’ll have you hooked by page 1!”   




“This book was so amazing. I love Levi & Macallan together. No other girls will compare to Macallan and how nice and cool she is. I think Levi is pretty cool too with his long haired self.”




“Girls and guys can be best friends too…just like Levi & Macallan were.” 




“My all time favorite bok of the year. Perfect setting, since it’s Wisconsin, perfect names, perfect story, just everything about this book is perfect.”   




“A book full of love, friendship, and cheese curds!”  


Reviews:
“…a pitch-perfect rom com. With a nod to When Harry Met Sally, rising YA romance writer Eulberg situates relatable characters in realistic situations. There’s depth, too… A humorous and cozy story about friendships and relationships, and the oh-so-fine line between them.”
– Booklist

“Reminiscent of When Harry Met Sally, Eulberg’s account of an evolving relationship offers witty banter interspersed with pangs of unrequited love. …their roller-coaster relationship provides plenty of entertainment and romantic thrills along the way.”
– Publishers Weekly

“Can a guy and a girl ever really be friends, as in ‘friends, but just friends?’ This is the question that animates this delicious, delightful romantic comedy. Readers will devour each chapter, narrated in Macallan’s and Levi’s alternating voices, correct in their confidence that Eulberg is going to deliver on her promise of an enormously satisfying story.”
– Children’s Literature
Backstory:
Better Off Friends came from a conversation my editor, David Levithan, had with one of his colleagues, Erin Black, who said she was looking for a YA story like When Harry Met Sally… that grapples with that age old question: can a guy and a girl really be just friends? When David mentioned it to me, I called dibs. 


Over the course of a year (while I was writing Revenge of the Girl with the Great Personality), I thought about how I could tell the story in a fresh way. I went back toWhen Harry Met Sally… and loved that it’s a story that takes place over a long period of time so you can really see the relationship develop between those two characters. So I knew that I wanted Better Off Friends to be over the course of a few years as well as have little moments of the characters bantering throughout the book so the reader can see right from the beginning the kind of friendship they have.


I began to slowly develop the characters of Macallan and Levi, and map out their friendship through five years. When I began writing the book, I decided on a whim to have it set in Wisconsin, which ended up becoming a character of its own. As someone who grew up in Wisconsin, it was fun to set a book in a place that I have such affection for. This also provided me with countless ways to insert my love for the Green Bay Packers (from Levi’s last name, Rodgers, to the various teachers names throughout the book). GO PACK!


Writing this book was a lot of fun, but it also made me cry in a few places. I’m really proud of Better Off Friends and hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.


*If you can’t make it to the launch party event,  SIGNED copies can be pre-ordered or purchased after the Better Off Friends Launch Party through Boswell Books by calling (414) 332-1181. If you want it personalized, you have one more day to order!




a Rafflecopter giveaway




Feb 16 Liza @ WhoRuBlog
Review & some more recipes & giveaway of a signed book http://www.WhoRuBlog.com
Feb 17 Sarah @ Novel Thoughts
Review and and giveaway of signed book  http://www.novelthoughtsblog.com 
Feb 18 Jaime and Erin @ Fiction Fare
Quotes from the book with Wisconsin references & giveaway of a signed book http://fictionfare.blogspot.com
Feb 19 Andrea @ Mrs. Payan Reads
History of Culvers and giveaway of a signed book http://mrspayanreads.blogspot.com
Feb 20 Erica @ The Book Cellar
The Packers in Better Off Friends & giveaway of a signed book http://www.thebookcellarx.com
Feb 21 Heidi @ YA Bibliophile 
Irish references and giveaway of a signed book http://www.yabibliophile.com
Feb 22 Rachel @ As Told By Rachel
Pictures of places mentioned in the book from Wisconsin and giveaway of a signed book http://tigerlilyrachel.com
Feb 23 Kelly @ Belle of the Literati
WHEN HARRY MET SALLY: Can girls and boys be friends? Kelly is asking her friends for for their thoughts! http://belleoftheliterati.blogspot.com 
Feb 24 Jillian @ Heise Reads and Recommends 
Reviews from Students & giveaway of a signed book https://www.heisereads.com

Thanks to Liza Wiemer at http://www.WhoRuBlog.com for organizing this blog tour!

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