We hope you are enjoying the books selected for this year’s All Alexandria Reads campaign. Once you have read the books, we want you to write to the authors to let them know what you enjoyed about the books, what you learned, or how the books inspired you.
Every author loves to hear from readers. But you are a little special, as you are part of a city-wide reading campaign. Read two or more of the selected books and compare them in your letters. Send your letters to the ACPS Office of Communications, 1340 Braddock Place, Alexandria VA 22314 and we will send them on to the authors.
This year’s books are all focused on the Space Race and in particular the race to the moon in the 1950s and 1960s, so we have designed a Twitter scavenger hunt to help you discover a little more about space. When you find the items on the list below, tweet a picture and tag @ACPSk12 with the hashtag #AllAlexReads to win prizes.
- Find a piece of the moon
- Find something that looks like it came from the moon
- Find items that were created as a result of the Space Race
- Record a message to send to astronauts in the International Space Station
- Draw a picture of your favorite Martian
Good luck!
Don’t forget to mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 10, when ACPS will be screening the family movie “E.T.” at T.C. Williams High School. Everyone who shows up to watch the movie will be entered into a drawing for free books selected for the campaign.
Missed the list of All Alexandria Reads books? The children’s books on the list are:
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“The Martian” by Andy Weir (for teens) – The story follows American astronaut, Mark Watney as he becomes stranded alone on Mars in the year 2035 and is required to improvise in order to survive. This science fiction novel was also made into a 2015 movie directed by Ridley Scott and starring Matt Damon. |
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“George’s Secret Key to the Universe” by physicist Stephen Hawking, author of “A Brief History of Time”, and his daughter Lucy (older elementary school-aged children) – This is a book where the main character, Cosmos, the world’s most powerful computer, can draw windows to look into outer space, as well as doors that act as portals allowing travel into outer space. The children’s book is written like a story and aims to describe aspects of the universe in a manner that is accessible to children. It starts by describing atoms, stars, planets and their moons. It then goes on to describe black holes, which remains the topic of focus in the last part of the book. |
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“Mousetronaut” by astronaut Mark Kelly – Astronaut Mark Kelly flew with “mice-tronauts” on his first spaceflight aboard space shuttle Endeavour in 2001. Mousetronaut tells the story of a mouse that wants nothing more than to travel to outer space. The mouse works as hard as the bigger mice to show readiness for the mission and is chosen for the flight. While in space, the astronauts are busy with their mission when disaster strikes, and only the smallest member of the crew can save the day. |
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“The Astronaut Wives Club” by Lily Koppel –This is the true story of the wives of the first astronauts into space and to land on the moon. Get comfy. You will not be able to put it down once you start reading it! |
See a full list of Alexandria Library events for the month.