Amelia Lost: The
Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart,
by Candace Fleming
Published by Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011
Awards:
Golden Kite
Award for Nonfiction: Winner, 2012
ALSC Notable
Books, 2012
NCTE Orbis
Pictus Award for Outstanding Non Fiction, Honor Book 2012
Intertwined with incredibly suspenseful events of the
unsuccessful (and unsolved!) rescue of Amelia Earhart, Candace Fleming takes
the reader on a journey to know about Earhart’s life before and beyond the
cockpit. Through research and expert
writing, Fleming hooks the reader with details of her search interspersed with
details about the young lady, allowing readers to bear witness on Earhart’s
childhood, her flair for self-promotion, her stubborn tenacious (and, perhaps,
reckless) qualities, as well as those qualities which made her so adoring to
those who met and knew her. Even
“reluctant readers” will be excitedly turning pages to learn more about the
rescue as well as history itself. The
book is filled with valuable, historic photos of Amelia Earhart which further
brings Amelia Earhart to life in the reader’s mind.
Interesting in hearing from the author herself? Click HERE (thanks ReadingRockets.org!)
Interesting in hearing from the author herself? Click HERE (thanks ReadingRockets.org!)
Teaching Strategy included using teleconference with
Candance Fleming
Chains,
by Laurie Halse Anderson
Published by Atheneum, 2010
Awards:
National Book Award, Finalist, 2008
Scott O’Dell Award for Historical
Fiction, 2009
A magnificent piece of historical fiction which is set at
the beginning of the Revolutionary War, Anderson sheds the light on the life of
a thirteen year old slave girl, while caring for her younger sister, who, in a
turn of events following one of her master’s death, become the slave of a Loyalist
couple in New York City and, in an attempt to protect her sister and win her
freedom (as was promised by the “master” who, in the beginning of the book, has
died), she becomes entrenched as a spy for the Patriots and a caregiver to
many. The book is filled with factual
information which holds the reader’s attention, teaching about the cruelty and
hardships for the slaves, and the value of determination, goals and loyalty to
one’s beliefs.
Interested in hearing from the author herself? Click here (thanks ReadingRockets!!!)
Interested in hearing from the author herself? Click here (thanks ReadingRockets!!!)
Teaching Strategy included the Power Continuum
Rules,by Cynthia Lord
Published by Scholastic, 2006
Awards:
Newbery
Honor Medal
Schneider Family Book Award
Mitten Award (Michigan Library
Assn)
Great lakes Great Books Award
(Michigan)
Maine Student Bok Award
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award
(Vermont)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Great Stone Face Award (New
Hampshire)
Buckeye Children’s Book Award
(Ohio)
This wonderfully written tale is aout a twelve year old
girl, Catherine, and her relationship with her younger brother, who has
autism. As she attempts to keep her
social life and family life as normal as possible, Catherine has created a
“rule book” for her brother in order to help him have more socially acceptable
behavior. The book details a summer in
which Catherine hopes that a new neighbor will become a best friend and tries
to solve the problems she anticipates as having because of her brother’s
behavior. In the meantime, she meets a
boy approximately her own age who is in a wheelchair and unable to speak. As their relationship grows, Catherine begins
to see disabilities in another light, and her values and attitudes grow with
the relationship. This book is very
credible, creative, light and “reader friendly,” disguising the important
message through the humorous and authentic expressions created by Cynthia Lord.
Teaching Strategy included utilizing the critical literacy
strategy of “Author’s purpose.”
One Crazy Summer,
by Rita Williams-Garcia
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Published by Amistad
Awards:
Newbery
Honor Book , 2011
Coretta Scott King Award, 2011
Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical
Fiction, 2011
National Book Award Finalist, 2010
Texas Library Association Best Book
for 2010
Set in the tumultuous times of 1968, Riga Williams-Garcia
writes a tale of three sisters who are sent to Oakland, CA to spend the summer
with their mother who they do not know and has little interest in the girls and
does not care for them during their stay.
The responsibility falls to the oldest sister, Delphine. . Each
day during the summer visit, the sisters are sent to a “camp” run by the Black
Panthers and, during their stay in Oakand and in the midst of the Civil Rights
Movement, they learn that people who are black are treated much differently in
California than they are in Brooklyn and, as they’re eyes are opened to this
fact, so, too, are their eyes opened to ideas about racial pride, family and
responsibility. This is a great book for
middle schoolers. Although it is not
difficult, it is also not watered down to lose credibility.
Teaching strategy included literature circles
I Broke My Trunk,
by Mo Willems
by Mo Willems
Published by Hyperion Books for Children, 2011
Theodor
Seuss Geisel Honor Book
This book features Mo Willems’ beloved characters, Gerald
and Piggie. Gerald has a broken trunk
and the Piggie hears Gerald tell the tale of how he came to break his trunk in
a hilarious, crazy story. After hearing
the story, Piggie may very well have a sequel to tell. This is an adorable book for young readers
who love to laugh, even if they don’t yet love to read!
Want to hear from the author himself? Well, CLICK HERE!! (Thanks ReadingRockets for such great resources!!)
Want to hear from the author himself? Well, CLICK HERE!! (Thanks ReadingRockets for such great resources!!)
Teaching strategy included readers’ theater.
A Long Walk to Water,
by Linda Sue Park
Published by Clarion, 2010
Awards:
Jane
Addams Award
Although this novel is fiction, it is based on the true
story of an eleven year old boy who, when the civil war reaches his village, is
separated from his family, becoming one of the thousands of refugees trying to
find a safe place. As one of the “Lost
Boys of Sudan,” Salva Dut’s life is brought to the page by Linda Sue Park,
describing the horrors, the losses, and the chaos of the lives of the refuggees
as they travel for years, endlessly, until, when he is a young man, he not only
finds refuge at a camp but goes on to find a home in America. At the beginning of each chapter, the reader
learns about a young Sudanese girl who’s life is literally spent walking to get
water for her family and, as her story progresses, about a young man who, once
a refugee, has returned to Sudan to ease the burden of villagers by helping to
provide wells. It is not clear, until
the final chapters, that this young man is the same little boy, Salva Dut. An excellent book, allowing the reader to
experience the horrors of war and life as a refugee, to witness how
determination can change a life, and the importance of supporting one
another. Additionally, it offers the
readers ways in which they can make the long walk to water substantially
shorter for children living in Sudan.
Want to hear from the author herself? Click HERE (thanks again, ReadingRockets.org!)
Teaching Strategy - Celebrating Literature Circles
Want to hear from the author herself? Click HERE (thanks again, ReadingRockets.org!)
Solider Bear, by Bibi Dumon Tak
Published by Eerdmans, 2011
Awards:
Batchelder
Award
In the early 1940’s, Polish soldiers, in an effort to save
it, purchase a bear cub which, unbelievably, becomes a member of the army’s
Transport Company, which participates in the work of the Army during the war in
Italy. The story is based on facts about
a Syrian Brown Bear which, because of having captured the attention of a
commanding officer as it helped load ammunition, the Polish Army’s emblem
depicts the bear. Although the bear
existed, the story about the men who cared for him was fictionalized, detailing
how they fed, contained, controlled and fell in love with him. Although it allows the readers to experience
only some of the war experiences, it primarily engages the reader in the way
that the bear, and his animal companions, made the war a more “bearable”
situation by their existence in the soldiers’ lives.
Donovan’s Big Day,
by Lesliea Newman
by Lesliea Newman
Published by Tricycle, 2011
Awards:
Rainbow
Books: Highly Recommended
This picture-book story tells the tale of Donovan and all
that is involved in preparing for his role in the wedding of his two
mothers. Told from a child’s
perspective, and with fantastic illustrations which give motion and emotion to
the story, the tale is told in a matter-of-fact way such that the reader begins
to get clues that he will be the ring-bearer but, aside from careful observation
of one of the illustrations in the book the reader does not discover that the
marriage is between two women, Donovan’s mothers! It is a perfect book for lessons about family
and family structures, as it not only reflects the change in our culture to allow
same-sex marriage, but, perhaps more importantly, it demonstrates love and
excitement in being a part of a loving family.
Return to Sender
by Julia Alvarez
by Julia Alvarez
Published by Knopf
Awards:
Pura
Belpre Award
With a transparent purpose of spotlighting the tirals,
hardships, atrocities and beliefs of undocumented Mexicans working in the
United States of America, the story tells about an eleven year old American
boy, Tyler, whose dairy farming family may, due to his father’s injury and the
troubling economy, may have to sell the farm until they hire three Mexican men
who have entered the country illegally.
One of these men, has three daughters, including eleven year old Mari,
who becomes friends with Tyler. The
details of the migrant workers’ hardships, including the kidnapping and
horrific abuse of the girls’ mother, comes through Mari as she writes
“letters.” Although there is a great
deal to learn about the culture of undocumented workers and the struggles they
endure, the book is not written in a style which makes it seem realistic and,
in fact, opens with stereotypical descriptions of Native Americans and
continues throughout by depicting the young boy as intelligent in all things
except people entering the country illegally.
The usage of letter writing was a novel idea, but the letters themselves
were long, rambling and unlike anything a “typical” eleven year old would
write. It would have, in my opinion,
been more beneficial for the author to use other means to fill the gaps,
express the beliefs of Mari, and write
with a more contemporary audience in mind.
Teaching Strategy used : Disrupted Understandings
Crossing Bok Chitto:
A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom,
by Tim Tingle
by Tim Tingle
Published by Cinco Puntos Press, 2006
Awards
American
Indian Youth Literature Award, 2008
Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book,
2007
Paterson
Prize, 2007
ALSC
Notable Books for Children List, 2007
Teddy
Award from the Texas Writer’s League, 2006
Oklahoma
Book Award for Best Illustrations (Illustrator Jeanne Rorex-Bridges), 2007
Austin
Public Library Award for Best Children’s Book from the Texas Institute of
Letters, 2006
I just finished this wonderful book and love the fact that it taught me about some historical facts which I knew nothing about. This beautifully written (and illustrated!) book describes a relationship between a girl from the Choctaw tribe, though disobeying her mother's rule, who crosses the Bok Chitto river where the plantations exist and, therefore, where the slaves live. She develops a relationship with a boy named Little Mo (short for Moses), and his family, who are slaves. The story shares the story-telling of the Native Americans, sharing the history of the Choctaw people having helped
the family of slaves cross the river to freedom, creating a lasting historical memory in the minds of the Choctaw people, the descendants of the slaves and some rather mystified plantation owners/guards. The prose and the combined work of the author, Tim Tingle (a member of the Choctaw Nation of Okalahoma - and a friend of my long time buddy!) and illustrator/artist (from Cherokee descent) provided the reader a sense of tradition, historical education and enjoyment. This makes it a great choice for all classes. I believe that the relationship between the
slaves (people who were in bondage) and the Native Americans (people who would soon be in a state of forced oppression) is
especially poignant and meaningful. It is interesting to me how race and culture didn't seem to matter to these strong people. Once again, makes me wish I shared the heritage... but, at least I can share the stories. After reading the story, our class was afforded the opportunity to share a few moments (through the magic of the Internet) with the Mr. Tingle. A collector of Steinbeck's work, we learned much about his earlier life and how he incorporated some of his personal experiences into the historical story of Bok-Chitto. In the few moments with Mr. Tingle, I felt as if a world was opened for me. I'm especially excited to read his upcoming books - for both children and adults alike.
Teaching Strategy: Illustrations
Teaching Strategy: Illustrations
Inside Out and Back Again,
by Thanhha Lai
by Thanhha Lai
Published by Harper/Harper
Collins
Awards
National
Book Award for Young People’s Literature, 2011
Newbery
Honor Book, 2012
Thanhha Lai writes the story in poetic verse. Each poem is as if snatched from her personal diary, creating a year in the life of a young girl, Ha, who, with her family, live in Saigon. The glimpses of the beauty of her home, the magic of the markets and the warmth of the Vietnamese traditions, capture the reader. However, the joy and beauty the reader is enveloped within is suddenly transformed and the reader is taken on a journey with Ha, as she and her family make the difficult, frightening trip, away from the world they knew, to America. The world of changes within Ha's life and from their home is riddled with painful changes, misunderstandings, grief and, mercifully, kindness and triumph. The author's selection of writing style and extraordinary ability to transport the reader to the very place and time and, through the words, viscerally understand Ha's being:
"Brother Vu chops;
the head falls;
a silver blade slices.
Black seeds spill
like clusters of eyes
wet and crying."
Lai allows us to not only read but feel and see the challenges the child and family faced as they attempted to find their loss and their place.
Teaching strategies: Emotions through paint chips
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