Intro   Hi and welcome to Books Between - a podcast for teachers, parents, librarians, and anyone who wants to connect middle grade kids to books they’ll love.  I’m your host, Corrina Allen - a 5th grade teacher, a mom of two daughters, and happy to be DONE with 2016 and onward to 2017! Typically we have a New Year’s Eve party at our house - last year was a disco theme - but this time my kids were not feeling so great and instead we had a quiet night. I set up my new bullet journal with my reading goals, played canasta with my kids, crocheted, and just cuddling on the couch under the heating blanket. I know - NOT a very cool New Year’s Eve celebration. But - it was wonderful and I hope yours was as well. So - hello to 2017!   This is Episode #14 and today we are discussing some fun reading challenge ideas to kick off your new year, the most anticipated middle grade books coming out in 2017, and I’ll answer a question about what books to recommend for a 5th grader who has a high school reading level.   Main Topic - Reading Challenges for the New Year   One of the best things about the New Year is the reset that happens when December flips over into January and you have a full twelve months laid out in front of you with all the possibilities in the world! You’re past the indulgences of the holidays and ready to refocus, make some resolutions, build better habits, and set some goals.  So today I’m going to talk about a few fun ideas for reading challenges this year that can help you connect with your community, keep you motivated, and maybe spur you to stretch yourself as a reader in 2017.   Now our conversation today is geared toward personal reading goals for you, but these same ideas can be shared with the students and the children in your life. And as the lead reader in your library or classroom or home, sharing your own reading goals shows that you take your reading life seriously and that we’re all in this reading community together. I know that my first day back with my class, I’ll be sharing my Reading Challenge list with my students and helping them set up their own. So - if you are thinking about doing a reading challenge this year, here are a few ideas for you:   Challenge Idea #1 - Set a number goal.  Maybe that’s forty books or sixty books or a hundred books! Something that’s a bit of a stretch but still doable for you.  Last year, I participated in the #SixtyBooks Challenge  - I happened to see the hashtag last January and I thought, “I can do that!” And it’s been fantastic. One thing that kept me motivated was connecting to others doing the same challenge on Twitter, Instagram, and Goodreads. So - if you decide to do any kind of challenge, connecting with other readers through social media helps keep you stay excited about it through the year. And if you want to join me this year, just check out #SixtyBooks and we can support each other!   Challenge Idea #2 - Set a goal based on type of book.  These can be found all over the internet this time of year. They are usually focused on adult books but you can easily read middle grade books within those categories and maybe make just a couple adjustments.  A really great one is Book Riot’s yearly Read Harder Challenge which this year features tasks like read a debut novel, read a travel memoir, read a superhero comic with a female lead, or  read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative.  Those last two are definitely going on my list.  I’ll leave a link to that in the show notes and what’s nice about the Book Riot challenge is that they have suggestions for each category, a Goodreads group, and in-person meetups throughout the year.     Another Reading Challenge that my friend Emily told me about is the one from PopSugar. They feature 40 book categories with this year’s theme of diversifying and expanding your reading - love it! Some of their reading prompts are a book involving a mythical creature, a book recommended by a librarian (I love that o