Author: Compiled by Jon Scieszka; Stories written by Jon Sciesszka, M.T. Anderson, Mat De La Pena, Anthony Horowitz, Walter Dean Myers, Margaret Peterson Haddix, Jarrett Krosoczka, Gennifer Choldenko, Bruce Hale, James Patterson, and Patrick Carman
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: September, 2011
Genre/Format: Thriller/Short Stories
Summary: The second volume of Jon Scieszka's Guys Read short story collections are filled with all types of mysteries and thrillers- from ghosts to monsters to life and death situations to bad guys to a train accident to other exciting stories.
What I Think: This short story collection was touch and go for me, but we have to remember that I am not the demographic for this short story collection. I think that all of my boys (and some of my girls) would truly love this collection. When I gave my reading interest survey at the beginning of this year, so many of my students wanted scary books or ghost stories- this collection is right up their alley.
My favorite story in the bunch was Walter Dean Myers's story "Pirate" which is a thriller in a different sense than the other books in the collection. Myers's story is about Somalian pirates and is a true life and death situation that kept me on the edge of my seat. It is was also so beautifully written; most of my snatches that I marked in my Kindle were from this story.
I also truly enjoyed "Ghost Vision Goggles", "Nate Macavoy, Monster Hunter", and "Thad, the Ghost, and Me". The three of them are all such fun stories filled with mystery. "Nate Macavoy" even finishes with a cliffhanger and now I want another!! Matt De La Pena's story "Believing in Brooklyn" is a touching story as well as a mystery. I felt that Anthony Horowitz's short story "The Double Eagle has Landed" is a great introduction to the Diamond Brothers and it was the first Diamond Brothers story I've ever read and now really want to read some of the novels. I'll also now be able to book talk the series and I think many students would love the mystery and humor aspects of these stories.
My favorite story in the bunch was Walter Dean Myers's story "Pirate" which is a thriller in a different sense than the other books in the collection. Myers's story is about Somalian pirates and is a true life and death situation that kept me on the edge of my seat. It is was also so beautifully written; most of my snatches that I marked in my Kindle were from this story.
I also truly enjoyed "Ghost Vision Goggles", "Nate Macavoy, Monster Hunter", and "Thad, the Ghost, and Me". The three of them are all such fun stories filled with mystery. "Nate Macavoy" even finishes with a cliffhanger and now I want another!! Matt De La Pena's story "Believing in Brooklyn" is a touching story as well as a mystery. I felt that Anthony Horowitz's short story "The Double Eagle has Landed" is a great introduction to the Diamond Brothers and it was the first Diamond Brothers story I've ever read and now really want to read some of the novels. I'll also now be able to book talk the series and I think many students would love the mystery and humor aspects of these stories.
Read Together: Grades 4-8
Read Alone: Grades 5-8
Read With: Pirates by Cecelia Rees (with Myers's "Pirate"), The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (with "Nate Macavoy"), Three of Diamonds and other Diamond Brothers stories by Anthony Horowitz (with "The Double Eagle had Landed"), All the Lovely Bad Ones by Mary Downing Hahn, City of the Dead by Tony Abbott, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac, Gilda Joyce: Psychic Investigator by Jennifer Allison, The Seer of Shadows by Avi
Snatch of Text:"What would he do if something happened to his grandman? He couldn't even think about it without feeling a hole opening in his stomach." (Believing in Brooklyn)
"My mother, with a smile in her voice, called me a dreamer." (Pirate)
"'I don't know if there is a right thing that fits everybody,' I said." (Pirate)
"I will never know. Each of us will live in the memory of the other for a little while, but we will fade away. That is the human way, I think." (Pirate)
"Hatchetface Hutchinson breathing down my neck, scolding in her cackly voice, 'Now, where should that comma go?' and acting like she'll give me the death penalty if I answer wrong. (Thad, the Ghost, and Me)
"Niko has the kind of sturdy body that looks like it belongs on the ground, which makes his penchant for jumping even more surprising. I am longer and leaner, but my feet never leave the ground." (The Snake Mafia)
(I apologize for not having page numbers, I read it on my Kindle)
"My mother, with a smile in her voice, called me a dreamer." (Pirate)
"'I don't know if there is a right thing that fits everybody,' I said." (Pirate)
"I will never know. Each of us will live in the memory of the other for a little while, but we will fade away. That is the human way, I think." (Pirate)
"Hatchetface Hutchinson breathing down my neck, scolding in her cackly voice, 'Now, where should that comma go?' and acting like she'll give me the death penalty if I answer wrong. (Thad, the Ghost, and Me)
"Niko has the kind of sturdy body that looks like it belongs on the ground, which makes his penchant for jumping even more surprising. I am longer and leaner, but my feet never leave the ground." (The Snake Mafia)
(I apologize for not having page numbers, I read it on my Kindle)
Reading Strategies to Practice: Predicting, Making Connections
Writing Strategies to Practice: Dialogue, Imagery, Figurative language
Writing Prompts:What are you afraid of?; Who is someone that you would do anything for?; Do you believe in ghosts, monsters or any type of supernatural beings? Why or why not?
Topics Covered: Adventure, Challenges, Curiosity, Taking risks, Humor, Ghosts, Thriller, Suspense
Translated to Spanish:No
(Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for allowing me to review this collection.)
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