Module 15: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

Summary: Ever since the day Arnold was born, he was destined to a life of hardship.  Arnold was born with encephalitis.  Due  to his disabilities, Arnold has a hard time fitting in on the reservation.  With the encouragement of his teacher, Arnold decides to leave the reservation for school and attend school at the closes public school.  Arnold knows that making this move will isolate him from the others on the rez even more.  He decides to go anyway and even plays for the schools basketball team.  


Alexie, S. (2008). The absolutely true diary of a part-time indian. New York, NY: Little Brown and Company.

My Impression:  This book gets an B+ for high school students.  Some of the slang and phrases in this book could be viewed as highly offensive which is why this book is getting a slightly lower grade.  That being said, the author does a great job of writing in a style that will appeal to avid and reluctant readers alike.  His humor will keep you laughing and wanting to read more.  Overall, this book was a great read!
 

Professional Reviews:

Library Media Connection (January 1, 2008)

This novel features a hard-luck teenager who is dealing with several issues.  Arnold was born with encephalitis, and he has several disabilities.  He grew up on a reservation, and every aspect of "rez" life is discussed; it is not a flattering portrayal.  When Arnold throws his math book in frustration, it hits his teacher.  Events spiral and Arnold decides to attend school off the reservation, which causes major conflict.  Author Sherman Alexie writes whit humor and wit.  The story is bittersweet and intense; events are sometimes shocking, but the author does an excellent job of keeping the novel moving at an interesting pace.  Reluctant readers would enjoy the changes of fonts and the humor of our not-so-mainstream hero.

Garrett, E. (2008, January 1). The absolutely true diary of a part-time indian  [Review of the book The absolutely true diary of a part-time indian, by S. Alexie]. Library Media Connection, 26(4), 75. Retrieved from http://www.librarymediaconnection.com/

Library Uses:  This title would be great for use in a Banned Books Week display along with other titles that have earned their spot on this list.

Module 14: My Dog, My Hero

My Dog, My Hero

By Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, and Laurie Myers

Summary: This book begins with a newspaper article stating the hunt for a hero.  The article is followed by eight chapters.  Each chapter represents one dog hero.  This impressive dogs save their owner from a bull, rescue a neighbor from a snake, and save a baby trapped in a car.  The story concludes with another article stating each award the dogs one and the grand winner as well.


Byars, B., Duffey, B. & Myers, L. (2000). My dog, my hero. New York, NY: H. Holt.

My Impression:  I give this book an A+ for elementary readers.  This is a fun collection of short stories that will excited animal lovers.  This is perfect for reluctant readers as they have closure at the end of each chapter.  The realistic nature of the author's writing keep the readers interested and wanting to know who the winner will be. 
Professional Reviews:

Booklist (January 1, 2001)

 Gr. 3-6. Newbery Medal-winner Byars and daughters Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers--dog lovers all--collaborate for the first time in this collection of eight stories about extraordinarily heroic dogs. Each of the first-rate tales is told from the point of view of a contestant entering a dog in the My Hero contest. Among the entries is one from a gruff gardener who has no use for dogs until one alerts him to a poisonous snake lurking in his petunias. In another, a 93-year-old woman relates how a dog's cold nose and loving touch transformed her after she'd given in to depression in a nursing home. Drama, humor, excitement, and love fuel these short, well-written stories that are certain to be relished by dog lovers. The selections can also provide students in English classes with excellent examples of point of view, characterization, and plot construction. Loren Long's evocative full-color artwork not only shows off each canine but also invites readers into the crises and emotions of the episodes.

Mandel, E.  (2001, January 1). My dog, my hero [Review of the book My dog, my hero, by B. Byars, B. Duffey & L. Myers]. Booklist, 97(9), 954. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Library Use:  This title would be fun to use during Children's Book Week.  Have an elementary school wide read athon and each teacher could read one or two chapters a day and then the students could vote on who they think derserves the My Hero award.  The final newspaper article announcing the award can be read over the intercom as a school.

Module 13: The Clique

The Clique

By Lisi Harrison

Summary:  Seventh grade Massie Block's world is shaken when an old friend of her dad's moves to Westchester from Florida.  The Lyons family isn't just moving to Westchester, they are moving into Massie's guest house and her mom expects her to buddy up with the Lyon's daughter Claire.  From her fashion style to her personality there is no way Claire stands a chance of joining Massie's quartet of friends.  After many pranks, loads of gossip, and mean girl drama, the reader is left wondering if Massie and Claire will ever be able to become friends in book two.

Harrison, L. (2004). The Clique.  New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

My Impression: This series receives a B from me.  The series is predictable and a little extreme but has great appeal to middle school girls.  Packed with the daily drama preteen and teenage girls face, this book is sure to keep many girls reading.  I would hesitate to recommend this series to girls still in elementary (4th and 5th grade) due to mild language and the girls' behavior.

Professional Reviews:


School Library Journal  (June 1, 2004)
Gr 5-8-- Claire Lyons moves with her parents from Florida to wealthy Westchester County, NY. Until they can get settled, the family stays in the guest house of Mr. Lyons's college buddy, who happens to have a daughter who is also in seventh grade. Expected to welcome her, Massie instead chooses to make Claire's life miserable for no other reason than she's the new girl. Massie enlists her clique of friends at Octavian Country Day School, all part of the beautiful and popular crowd, to help with the harassment, which ranges from catty comments on Claire's clothes to spilling red paint on her white jeans in a conspicuous spot. Tired of it all, Claire tries to fight back, but then the abuse worsens. The book has trendy references kids will love, including Starbucks in the school, designer clothes, and PalmPilots for list making. However, this trendiness doesn't make up for the shallowness of the characters or the one-dimensional plot. Nor is the cruelty of the clique redeemed with any sort of a satisfying ending. The conclusion leaves one with the feeling that a sequel is in the works. Amy Goldman Koss's The Girls (Dial, 2000) shows the same cruelty of girls with a more realistic story and resolution.


Pierce, D. (2004, June 1).  The clique [Review of the book The clique, by Lisi Harrison].  School Library Journal, 50(6), 143.  Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/ 

Library Uses:   Use this book for an online book group for girls only. Put up posters and segments in the school's weekly paper advertising the up coming group.

Module 12: How Angel peterson Got His Name

How Angel Peterson Got His Name

by Gary Paulsen

Summary: Gary Paulsen goes back to the late 40's and early 50's to relive his early teenage years and the crazy things he and his friends did to pass the time.  Some of these adventures include skiing while being pulled behind a car, riding down a waterfall in a barrel, and the creation of the first skateboard. 

Paulsen, G. (2003).  How Angel Peterson got his name. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

My Impression:  I really enjoyed this book and give it an A for kids 13 and older.  This book is quite engaging and will leave boys wanting to know what stunt Paulsen and his buddies will choose next.  This will be a great read for reluctant readers and daring boys.  This book does contain one incident where the boys see a sign and much like young boys do take it out of context.  In my opinion it turned what could be a great read for boys of all ages to a great read for middle school boys.

Professional Reviews:

Booklist
 

Gr. 6-9. Every boy who is 13 or about to be 13 or who remembers being 13 should read this short story collection based on people and events from Paulsen's own life.  Even though the action takes place 50 or so years ago, they will recognize themselves.  And every girl who has ever liked a 13-year-old-boy, or been related to one, or wondered about one, should read this too, because although the book doesn't explain why boys like to do things like pee on electric fences, it does give us insight into how their funny little minds work.  Writing with humor and sensitivity, Paulsen shows boys moving into adolescence believing they can do anything: wrestle with bears; shoot waterfalls in a barrel; fly eight-by-twelve-foot Army surplus kites-and hang on, even as they land in the chicken coop.  None of them dies (amazingly), and even if Paulsen exaggerates the teensiest bit, his tales are side-splittingly funny and more than a little frightening.

DeCandido, G. A. (2002, December 15). How Angel Peterson got his name [Review of the book How Angel Peterson got his name, by G. Paulsen]. Booklist, 99(8), 754. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Library Uses:  Do a book talk or create a display that says, "Do your spring break plans include riding barrels down waterfalls, wrestling bears, or jumping through a flame of fire on a bike?"  Read How Angel Peterson Got His Name to read how Paulsen and his friends spent their time outside of school.

Module 11: The Tarantula Scientist

The Tarantula Scientist

by Sy Montgomery

Summary: Author Sy Montgomery and photographer Nic Bishop travel to South America with tarantula scientist Sam Marshall.  They travel through the jungle exploring tarantula holes and other insects of the jungle.  Throughout their journey in the jungle and Sam Marshall's story of being a scientist, facts about tarantulas are spread throughout the book.


Montgomery, S. (2004). The tarantula scientist. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.

My Impression:  I give this book an A.  I hate spiders, but I found this book to be very interesting and it changed my perspective of spiders.  It is written in a kid friendly manner and does an excellent job of explaining words and terms that kids might not comprehend.

Professional Reviews:


Horn Book (July 1, 2004)

Writer and photographer team up again to bring us another excellent entry in the Scientist in the Field series. We follow arachnologist Sam Marshall on a field expedition to South America, and then back to his laboratory in Ohio to investigate several tarantula species. Information about spider basics, spider silk, and how to observe your own local spiders is woven into the main narrative. Montgomery is effective in showing how scientists' research questions integrate their field and laboratory study, and how Marshall's enthusiasm drives his scientific work. The additional profiles of undergraduates in the lab illustrate manageable projects, inviting young readers to imagine themselves as researchers someday (and the students profiled are women, helping to dispel any stereotypes about which gender likes spiders). Unlike other books in the series, the discussion of Marshall's childhood and initial interest in science is brief. The color photography is outstanding, and so very interesting that even the squeamish may take a second look at the glossy and hairy tarantulas portrayed in close detail in both their natural and laboratory habitats. Appended material includes a list of websites, a bibliography, a glossary, and an index.

 Ford, D. J. (2003, July 1). The tarantula scientist [Review of the book The tarantula scientist, by S. Montgomery].  Horn Book, 80(4), 469.  Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

Library Uses: Create a book mark that has a picture of a tarantula and interesting facts about spiders.  To find out more fascinating facts about tarantulas, you should read The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery.

Module 10: Day of Tears

Day of Tears 

by Julius Lester

Summary: The Butler family is faced with a very hard decision.  Master Butler has lost his money gambling and must figure out how to repay his debt.  In an attempt to clear this debt he begins to sell his slaves leading to the biggest slave auction in history.  Through dialogue, Butler's daughters, Emma (Butler's daughters' care taker), and Emma's parents tell of the events that led up to the sale and separation of Emma and her parents, her bravery, and she continued to live on.


Lester, J. (2007). Day of tears. New York, NY: Hyperion Books for Children.

My Impression: I give this historical fiction novel an A+.  This account gives me a glimpse of what slaves must have truly felt like when they faced being separated from their families.  This novel brought tears to my eyes and left me wanting to research this day further and read the book again.

Professional Reviews: 

Book List 

Gr. 6-9. From his first book, To Be a Slave (1968), Lester has told the history of slavery through personal accounts that relay the dehumanizing message of the perpetrators.  Here he draws on historical sources to fictionalize a real event: the biggest slave auction in American history, which took place in Savannah, Georgia, in 1859.  He imagines the individual voices of many who were there, adults and kids, including several slaves up for sale, the auctioneer, and the white masters and their families buying and selling the valuable merchandise.  The huge cast speaks in the present tense and sometimes from the future looking back.  A note fills in the facts.  The horror of the auction and its aftermath is unforgettable; individuals whom the reader has come to know are handled like animals, wrenched from family, friends, and love.  Then there's a sales list with names, ages, and the amount taken in for each person.  Brave runaways speak; so does an abolitionist who helps them.  Those who are not heroic are here, too, and the racism in virulent (there's widespread use of the n-word).  The personal voices make this a stirring text for group discussion.  Older readers may want to go on from here to the nonfiction narratives in Growing Up in Slavery. 

Rochman, H. (2005, February 1). Day of tears [Review of the book Day of tears, by Julius Lester]. Booklist, 101(11), 967.  Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/ 

Library Uses: Use a section of this book as a reader's theater.  With permission from parents record the students and play it as a book teaser for other classes.

  

Module 9: Chasing Vermeer

Chasing Vermeer

By Blue Balliett

Summary: Calder Millay and Petra Andalee find themselves red hot in the middle of a mystery.  After they both notice their teacher acting funny, things begin to fall into place.  Calder's boss at the used bookstore has been acting strange, and he sees his teacher, boss, and an old lady acting strangely outside his house one day.  Soon afterwards, they discover that a famous painting has gone missing and it is up to them to discover it before it is destroyed forever.

Balliett, B.(2004). Chasing Vermeer. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

My Impression: I give this book a B+.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book but it had a slow start and was overall a slower read for me personally.  I love that there was a girl detective paired with a boy detective.  This makes it appealing to both boys and girls.  This would be a great book for a book group for kids.  This would give the teacher an opportunity to show the students artwork by Vermeer that might make them more interested in the book.

Professional Reviews:

Horn Book (July/August 2004)

"Dear Friend: I would like your help in identifying a crime that is now centuries old." Sixth-grade classmates Petra Andalee and Calder Pillay are drawn into the mystery: a claim that some of the works attributed to Johannes Vermeer were not, in fact, painted by that seventeenth-century Dutch artist. Their investigation--fueled by the enigmatic behavior of their favorite teacher, a shared interest in unexplained phenomena, and a few mystical experiences of their own--uncovers a series of coincidences and connections that, like the pentomino set (a puzzle-like math tool) Calder carries in his pocket, fit together in often-unexpected patterns. And when Vermeer's A Lady Writing disappears while in transit from the National Gallery to the Art Institute of Chicago, Petra and Calder end up hunting for the missing painting right in their own neighborhood. The protagonists are smart and appealing, the prose style is agreeably quirky, and fans of puzzle-mysteries will enjoy cracking the codes presented within the text and hidden in Helquist's stylish black-and-white illustrations. But they may also be frustrated that such a heady, elaborately plotted novel comes to a weak resolution, as the answers to the mysteries are explained away in a too-hasty summation--and the villain turns out to be an offstage figure. The conclusion may be disappointing, but the chase to the end is entertaining.

Sieruta, P. (2004).  Chasing Vermeer [Review of the book Chasing Vermeer, by Blue Balliet]. Horn Book Magazine, 80(4), 446. Retrieved from  http://www.hbook.com/

Library Uses: Make October a month of mystery.  Choose a different novel for each week which will include Chasing Vermeer.  On each day of the week reveal a different clue for the book either through a display, email to teacher, or through morning announcements.  Have students submit their guesses.  The first student to correctly guess the title gets a copy of the book.

Module 8: Beastly

Beastly

By Alex Flinn

Summary:  Kyle Kingsbury is one of the most vain boys at his school.  He believes that with his good looks and his famous dad, that he can get anything or any girl he wants.  He plays a mean trick on a not so popular girl at school which he soon regrets. She casts a spell on him turning him into a beast.  The only way he can break the spell is by getting someone to love him as the beast.  His father treats him like an outcast, banishing him to a house outside the city so no one will discover what has happened.  The one thing that Kyle finds joy in is growing roses.  Kyle is awakened in the middle of the night and discovers that a druggie has broken into his green house.  As Kyle dangles the man from a upper story window, he offers to trade his daughter for his life.  Soon after, Lindy moves in with Kyle, his teacher, and his maid.  At first she is reluctant, but eventually she falls in love with the beast.


Flinn, A. (2007).  Beastly. New York, NY: HarperTeen.

My Impression: My initial reaction to this book was that I thought it was a little silly.  As I continued reading, I quickly became hooked and could not put it down.  You really get attached to Kyle as his heart truly changes and he realizes the important things in life.  Rooting for Kyle, it is impossible to put the book down because you have to find out if he is able to break the curse.  Students who like Twilight and the The Mortal Instruments are bound to enjoy this modern take on a traditional fairy tale.  Overall, I give this novel a B+.

Professional Reviews:

Kirkus Review (September 2007)

Cavalier and cruel, Kyle Kingsbury rules as prince of an upper-crust school until he angers the wrong Goth girl, who casts a spell that makes him look as ugly as his inner self. When claws, fur and fangs appear, Kyle is confined to a Brooklyn brownstone, where he grows roses, paws through The Hunchback of Notre Dame and IMs other transformed kids. Flinn's contemporary adaptation of Beauty and the Beast pulls fairy tales and classics like Phantom of the Opera into the context of modern teen life. Kyle's hilarious chat-room sessions most effectively exploit clever convergences of old and new. Chris Anderson moderates (sans Hans), while BeastNYC (Kyle), Froggie (a webbed prince) and SilentMaid (a little mermaid) offer support using the virtual vernacular. Teens will LOL. They will also find their preoccupations with looks, status and pride explored thoroughly. When Lindy, Kyle's Beauty, moves in, much of the interesting adaptive play recedes, but teens will still race to see if the beast gets his kiss, lifts the curse and lives happily ever after. (Fiction. YA)

Beastly. (2007). [Review of the book Beastly, by Alex Flinn]. Kirkus Reviews, 75(17), 927. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com/ 

Library Uses:  
Create a display titles, "If you liked the movie, you'll LOVE the book." Each month or bimonthly switch out the feature book with a summary and student reviews of the book.  You could even have students nominate the book that will be used on the display, but begin with using Beastly by Alex Flinn

Module 7: Frindle and Speak

Frindle

By Andrew Clements

  

Summary:  Nick Allen is known for steering teachers off track in order to get himself and his classmates out of work.  That is until he meets his match, Mrs. Granger.  Mrs. Granger responds to his attempt by giving him an extra homework assignment to research the dictionary.  This eventually leads to Nick creating a new word for a pen, frindle.  This also leads to a lot of chaos.  Much to Mrs. Granger's dismay the entire school starts using the word frindle which eventually leads to the use of it throughout the town, country, and world.  The battle between Nick and Mrs. Granger finally ends when his word is added to dictionary and he receives a letter from her when he becomes an adult.  He discovers she was secretly on his side the entire time but was posing as his adversary to draw more attention to his creativity in inventing his own word.


Clements, A. (2009). Frindle. Chicago, IL: Simon & Schuster.

My Impression:  This book is a delightful and easy read.  This would be a great addition to any school library.   The plot is well developed and easy to follow making this book a great choice for reluctant and lower level readers.  Nick Allen is easy to relate to and we can all relate to have a teacher like Mrs. Granger or hearing rumors of teachers like Mrs. Granger. This fun and easy read for reluctant readers and avid readers receives an A.

Professional Reviews:

Booklist (September 1996)

 Ten-year-old Nick Allen has a reputation for devising clever, time-wasting schemes guaranteed to distract even the most conscientious teacher. His diversions backfire in Mrs. Granger's fifth-grade class, however, resulting in Nick being assigned an extra report on how new entries are added to the dictionary. Surprisingly, the research provides Nick with his best idea ever, and he decides to coin his own new word. Mrs. Granger has a passion for vocabulary, but Nick's (and soon the rest of the school's) insistence on referring to pens as "frindles" annoys her greatly. The war of words escalates - resulting in after-school punishments, a home visit from the principal, national publicity, economic opportunities for local entrepreneurs, and, eventually, inclusion of frindle in the dictionary. Slightly reminiscent of Avi's Nothing but the Truth (1991), this is a kinder, gentler story in which the two sides eventually come to a private meeting of the minds and the power of language triumphs over both. Sure to be popular with a wide range of readers, this will make a great read-aloud as well.

Weisman, K. (1996). Frindle [Review of the book Frindle, by Andrew Clements]. Booklist, 93(1), 125. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Library Uses:  Create an interactive display using the book cover of Frindle and a brief summary as the central focus point.  Have students create their own words they think should be added to a dictionary.  Surrounding the book cover, have index cards with the student invented words on the front and the definition on the back.  Student can guess what the words means and flip it over to see what it really means.

Speak

By Laurie Halse Anderson

Summary: After, calling the cops to end the first high school party she ever attended, Melinda finds herself friendless and speechless.  She loses all her friendships and her relationship with her parents isn't that great either.  What no one knows is that she is speechless because of a secret she is holding on to.  The reason she called the police at the party is because she was raped.  As she struggles through her freshman year with only one friend, she discovers her former best friend is dating the guy that raped her.  It is up to her to tell her friend the truth about her boyfriend and mend the relationships that have been broken.


Anderson, L. H. (1999).  Speak. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 

My Impression: Although this book deals with a very delicate subject, it receives an A+.  It grabs your attention and does let go until the last word.  It does a great job of painting a picture of what it must be like to hold a secret so big and so serious captive.  This book could be used as a great lesson older girls.

Professional Reviews:

Horn Book Magazine (September/October 1999) 

Speaking out at the "wrong" time — calling 911 from a teen drinking party — has made Melinda a social outcast; now she barely speaks at all. A conversation with her father about their failed Thanksgiving dinner goes as follows: "Dad: 'It's supposed to be soup.' / Me: / Dad: 'It tasted a bit watery, so I kept adding thickener….' / Me: ." While Melinda's smart and savvy interior narrative slowly reveals the searing pain of that 911 night, it also nails the high-school experience cold — from "The First Ten Lies They Tell You" (number eight: "Your schedule was created with your needs in mind") to cliques and clans and the worst and best in teachers. The book is structurally divided into four marking periods, over which Melinda's grades decline severely and she loses the only friend she has left, a perky new girl she doesn't even like. Melinda's nightmare discloses itself in bits throughout the story: a frightening encounter at school ("I see IT in the hallway…. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks"), an artwork that speaks pain. Melinda aches to tell her story, and well after readers have deduced the sexual assault, we feel her choking on her untold secret. By springtime, while Melinda studies germination in Biology and Hawthorne's symbolism in English, and seeds are becoming "restless" underground, her nightmare pushes itself inexorably to the surface. When her ex-best-friend starts dating the "Beast," Melinda can no longer remain silent. A physical confrontation with her attacker is dramatically charged and not entirely in keeping with the tone of the rest of the novel, but is satisfying nonetheless, as Melinda wields a shard of broken glass and finds her voice at last to scream, "No!" Melinda's distinctive narrative employs imagery that is as unexpected as it is acute: "April is humid…. A warm, moldy washcloth of a month." Though her character is her own and not entirely mute like the protagonist of John Marsden's So Much to Tell You, readers familiar with both books will, be impelled to compare the two girls made silent by a tragic incident. The final words of Marsden's books are echoed in those of Speak, as Melinda prepares to share her experience with a father-figure art teacher: "Me: 'Let me tell you about it.'" An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from first word to last.

Adams, L. (1999). Speak [Review of the book Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson]. Horn Book Magazine, 75(5), 605-606. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

Library Uses:   This would be a great book to use in a girls' book club.  This would be a great opportunity to hold a mother daughter book club where some serious issues could be discussed in a safe setting.

Module 6: Koala Lou

Koala Lou

By Mem Fox

Summary:  Koala Lou is one of many brothers and sisters in her family.  Being the first born, her mother showered her with love and always told her, "Koala Lou, I DO love you," but as more siblings came along Koala Lou heard this endearing phrase less and less.  In an effort to hear these precious words from her mother again, she enters herself in the Bush Olympics where she would compete in the climbing contest.  To her dismay she is defeated by Koala Klaws and retreats into the woods to cry.  When darkness falls and she returns home, her mom is awaiting her with open arms to tell her, "Koala Lou, I DO love you."

Fox, M. (1988). Koala Lou. San Diego, CA: Gulliver Books.

My Impression:  This simple tale is beautifully written and will stand the test of time.  All children who have siblings can relate to Koala Lou as she has to share her mother's attention and that isn't always easy.  Koala Lou teaches kids a great lesson, moms will always love their children.  This book is a must have for all libraries and a great addition to kids' collections at home too.

Professional Reviews:

A perfect example of why the Australian writer has become one of today's top authors of children's books. Koala Lou is loved by everyone, but it is her mother who loves her most of all. She often tells her daughter, "Koala Lou, I DO love you." As the family grows and her mother gets busier, Koala Lou yearns to hear those words again. She sets out to win the Bush Olympics as a way to gain her mother's attention. Lofts's colored-pencil drawings portray the Australian flora and fauna beautifully, including a few of the more exotic species. This book sends out positive messages to children about the wonders of being human: Koala Lou celebrates the eternal love of a mother for her child without sentimentality.

Koala Lou (2008). [Review of the book Koala Lou, by Mem Fox].  Pivotal Book Review. Retrieved from http://www.consultpivotal.com/koala_lou.htm

Library Uses:  This book is naturally a perfect fit to have kids chant along with the repeated phrase, "Koala Lou, I DO love you."  This also provides librarians with the perfect segue to discuss author's purpose for writing and specifically for writing a phrase repeatedly.  In this case, the repeated phrase was the catalyst for the entire story.  Have students come up a phrase that they hear often and create a story based around this phrase.

Module 5: Monster & Esperansa Rising

Monster

by Walter Dean Myers

Summary: 16 year old Steve Harmon stands on trial for pleading innocent.  He is being accused of his participation as a look out in a drug store "get over" that resulted in one man losing his life.  Through a screen play Harmon writes of his experience. Throughout the trial the reader experiences what Harmon goes through during the trial and his time in prison as well. Harmon was to do a walk through in the drug store to make sure it was clear before King and Evans would enter the store to conduct the robbery.  Osvaldo Cruz was to be the look out outside the store while they were robbing the joint.  The owner had a gun which he ending up being shot with which resulted in the ending of his life.  Evans and King left with money and a few cartons of cigarettes.  Neither Cruz or Harmon received a cut of the money which was said would be given to all parties involved.  The crime began to be unraveled with the stolen cigarettes were sold to someone who passed on the information about the get over.  All parties involved except for King take the stand while the reader is left to decide whether or not Steve Harmon is guilty or not.  It was determined that both King and Evans were put in jail.  Steve Harmon is not proven guilty but the reader is left to determine whether or not he truly was a participant.  The court might not have said he was guilty but upon finishing the case his lawyer could not look at him and his father's relationship with him was changed forever.

Myer, W.D. (1999). Monster. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publisher. 

My Impression:  I thoroughly enjoyed the format this book was written in.  I think it would be appealing to kids but is definitely only appropriate for an older reading audience.  This book expresses some of the realities of facing time in prison and what it must feel like to be a 16 year old on trial.  It handles a touchy situation in a tasteful manner.  I could see how this book would help kids think twice before doing something that could get themselves into trouble with the law.  This book receives an A for student appeal.

Professional Reviews: 

Horn Book (May/June 1999):
Arrested and charged with  murder, 16-year-old Steve Harmon is writing a screen play of his ordeal.  Interspersed with his handwritten journal entries, Steve's script makes up a novel that in both form and subject guarantees a wide teen audience.  Balancing courtroom drama and a sordid jailhouse with flashback to the robbery that resulted in a shopkeeper's murder, Myers adeptly allows each character to speak for him or herself, leaving readers to judge  the truthfulness of the defendants, witness, lawyers, and most compellingly, Steve himself.  Did Steve serve as a lookout for the robber?  Was he in the store at all?  Through all the finessing and obfuscation of the trial process, readers will find plenty of evidence for a variety of conflicting opinions.  Even the cri de coeur in Steve's journal leaves plenty of room for interpretation: "I didn't do nothing! I didn't do nothing!" Tailor made for reader's theater, this book is a natural to get teen reading - and talking.

Sutton, R. (1999). Monster [Review of the book Monster, by Walter Dean Myers]. Horn Book Magazine, 75(3), 337. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

Library Uses: This book would be a great book to use when teaching students about different styles of writing.  Combined with books that show narrative and free verse, students could look and listen to the text and then complete a Venn Diagram with three circles to compare and contrast the different styles.  This would also be a great text to use when teaching kids about persuasive writing.  Since each person in the story takes the stand and tells their side of the story, it presents itself as an excellent tool to teach this writing skill. 

     

Esperanza Rising

by Pam Munoz Ryan

Summary:  Esperanza excitedly awaits her 13th birthday until suddenly she and her mother are forced to leave their ranch in Mexico.  She has always lived a privileged life in Aguascalientes on one of the biggest grape ranches with plenty of people to take care of her until her father is killed by bandits.  Her evil uncle proposes to her mother and when she refuses their beautiful home mysteriously burns down in the night.  She and her mother must escape in the night with their long time close family workers, Alfonso, Hortensia, and Miguel leaving Abueltia (grandmother) behind.  When they reach California and begin work, Esperanza finds it very challenging.  Her mother contracts Valley Fever and must be put into the hospital.  This motivates Esperanza to do everything she can to bring her Abuelita to California and Mama home from the hospital.  After months of hard work and threats of losing her job  due to strikers, her family is finally reunited.

Ryan, P.M. (2000). Esperanza Rising. Scholastic: New York.

My Impression:  Ryan does a beautifully job of weaving together a story about a part of history that many kids are not familiar with.  I love the way she incorporates Spanish words into the story.  It adds to its authentic nature and truly helps the reader connect with the characters and join the story.  Its fast moving plot and honest characters and sure to make this book a page turner for readers of all ages.  The authors note makes you love the book even more!  Although this book is clearly a favorite of mine, I give it an A-.  Not all students will relate to this book or appreciate its beauty.

Professional Reviews:

Booklist

 Gr. 5-8. Moving from a Mexican ranch to the company labor camps of California, Ryan's lyrical novel manages the contradictory: a story of migration and movement deeply rooted in the earth. When 14-year-old Esperanza's father is killed, she and her mother must emigrate to the U.S., where a family of former ranch workers has helped them find jobs in the agricultural labor camps. Coming from such privilege, Esperanza is ill prepared for the hard work and difficult conditions she now faces. She quickly learns household chores, though, and when her mother falls ill, she works packing produce until she makes enough money to bring her beloved abuelita to the U.S.. Set during the Great Depression, the story weaves cultural, economic, and political unrest into Esperanza's poignant tale of growing up: she witnesses strikes, government sweeps, and deep injustice while finding strength and love in her family and romance with a childhood friend. The symbolism is heavy-handed, as when Esperanza ominously pricks her finger on a rose thorne just before her father is killed. But Ryan writes movingly in clear, poetic language that children will sink into, and the books offers excellent opportunities for discussion and curriculum support. 

Engberg, G. (2000). Esperanza Rising [Review of the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan]. Booklist, 97(7), 708.  Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Library Uses:  This is a great book to use to discuss the Repatriation Act.  Discuss with students why Mexicans were moving to the United States, more specifically California, and why they were being forced to leave.  View the section of the book when Esperanza is living at camp and what the standard of living is like.  Also view the section where the workers are striking and the immigration buses arrive forcing everyone on them even some people who were American citizens.  Discuss with students whether or not they think these actions were fair.

Pair this book with a biography on someone who made a difference for Hispanics living in America such as Cesar Chavez.  Cesar Chavez by Brown (2006) would be a great title to read a class and then discuss how his works would have made a difference for Esperanza's family and friends.  You could also take this time to show students how to do an appropriate internet search by searching a biography database for information on Cesar Chavez.

Brown, J.A. (2006). Cesar Chavez. Milwaukee, WI: Weekly Reader Early Learning Library.

Module 4: Jacob Have I Loved & Out of the Dust

 Jacob Have I Loved

by Katherine Paterson

Summary: Beginning at birth, twin Louise better known as Wheesie, lives in the shadow of her younger sister Caroline.  Due to her fragile state at birth, Caroline always received more attention than Louise and was often given more privileges.  Louise got to leave their island home of Rass to go into town to have piano lessons.  Louise never left Rass and spent most of her time playing with her dear friend Call.  When a stranger arrives in town, Louise believes he is a spy and convinces Call to help her discover the stranger's identity.  They soon discover he is a Captain whose family once lived on the island.  Louise isn't crazy about the Captain and doesn't think his jokes are funny, but Call instantly clicks with the Captain.  Out of fear of losing her one friend, she continues to visit the Captain with Call and eventually forms a crush on him.  Louise soon loses all the things important to her.  Call gets deployed to fight in the war, the Captain marries Trudy Braxton, and Caroline gets sent to boarding school for her vocals.  When Call finally returns from the war, Louise has decided she love him and awaits his arrival only to discover he is engaged to her sister.  The Captain encourages Louise to move away and follow her dreams.  Louise does follow her dreams and becomes a nurse.  She eventually find true happiness when she marries and begins a family of her own.

Paterson, K. (1980).  Jacob have I loved. New York, NY: Thomas Y. Crowell Junior Books.

My Impression:  At the time it was written, Katherine Paterson did an excellent job of portraying a modern day story of Jacob and Esau.  This book was interesting and I found myself pulling for Louise in her attempt to find happiness.  The plot of this story moves along a little slowly.  I found the crush Louise had on the Captain to be a little strange, but it did help to develop the senile grandmother's character.  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel it would be best for middle and high school students.  That being said, I give this book a B for kids.

Professional Review:

School Library Journal

GR 7-10: First-born twin Louise, the narrator, is the somber sister of the sunny, sensible musical prodigy Caroline.  Envy and jealously darken Louise's life and trap her  in a web of unhappiness as isolating as the waters that both imprison and protect Rass, a Chesapeake Bay island, and its population-descendants of generations of watermen whose grim hard life is centered in the sea and in the church.  Louise's unhappiness makes her anxious to please, easily crushed by unthinking friends, unable to accept as true the very real, though unexpressed, love of her parents.  When Caroline's chance comes to leave the island-her musical talent a tickets to the world-Louise's bitterness turns further inward, and when WWII takes Call, her oldest and dearest friend, her loneliness is devastating.   The war years find Louise doing a man's job as she helps her father, a crab fisherman, with a silent strength that matches his own and draws them together in mutual need. The carefully built facade of content is shattered after the war when Call, with whom she thinks she is in love, leaves the island to marry Caroline not even realizing the hurt he leaves behind.  What might have precipitated final personal destruction becomes, for Louise, the impetus to finally leave the island and make a satisfying future for herself as well as peace with the past.  Told with Louise's poignant dignity, this is different-more complex, more subtle- than Paterson's other novels.  A new and older audience will find it affecting, however.

Lewis, M. (1980). Jacob have I loved [Review of the book Jacob have I loved by Katherine Paterson]. School Library Journal, 27(3), 87.  Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/

Library Uses:  This book would be a great read aloud when older students are learning about weather, particularly hurricanes. After reading the book aloud, students could determine the necessary steps that need to be taken for protection in the event of hurricane.  They could analyze the steps Louise's family took and compare them to what would happen now.

Out of the Dust

by Karen Hesse

Summary:  Set in Oklahoma in the mid thirties, Billie Joe is literally stuck in the dust.  Due to the lack of rain and excess of dust, Billie Joe's father is unable to get anything to grow.  Try as they might, it is nearly impossible to keep out the dust.  They leave their plate and glasses turned down on the table to prevent dust from entering them, they take other preventative measures as well.  One of the things that keeps Billie Joe going is playing the piano.  Coming from a refined background, Billie Joe's mother is a beautiful pianist and teacher her this skill.  Billi Joe's music is her way to connect with others at school.  Good news arrives for her family when they discover her mother is pregnant.  Things take a turn for the worst when Billie Joe's dad leaves a pail of kerosene on the stove which ends in both her and her mother covered in burns.  Shortly after, the baby is born both Billie Joe's mother and the new baby die.  In addition to this tragedy, Billie Joe's hands were burned so badly she can no longer play the piano.  Feeling as though there is nothing left for her but dust, Billie Joe runs away in an attempt to escape the dust.  When she hops a ride in a train car, she runs into someone else who has left their family behind.  This encounter causes her to realize that she must return home.  After she returns home, she and her father reconnect.  A school teacher enters their lives and teaches Billie Joe's dad that he can love again and teaches Billie Joe that their is a future for her family.

Hesse, K. (1997). Out of the dust. New York, NY: Scholastic Press.

My Impression:  I give this book an A+.  This historical fiction account of a family living in the Dust Bowl is an honest depiction of what imagine life must have been like.  Hesse pulls you in, making you feel as though you too are a part of this family.  This is a beautifully book written in free verse and is sure to spark interest in students leaving them wanting to learn more about what happened during this time period.

Professional Review:

Horn Book Magazine

Prairie winds dark with dust blow through this novel — turning suppers gritty, burying tractors, and scouring lungs. Even the pages of the book, composed solely of first-person, free-verse poems, have a windswept appearance as fourteen-year-old Billie Jo Kelby relates her Depression-era experiences in the Oklahoma panhandle: "We haven't had a good crop in three years, / not since the bounty of '31, / and we're all whittled down to the bone these days." Billie Jo's world is further devastated when a kitchen fire causes the deaths of her mother and newborn brother and severely injures her hands, stalling the fledgling pianist's dream of a music career. A few of the poems are pretentious in tone or facile in execution, and some of the longer, narrative-driven pieces strain at the free verse structure, but the distinctive writing style is nonetheless remarkably successful. Filled with memorable images — such as Billie Jo's glimpse of her pregnant mother bathing outdoors in a drizzle — the spare verses showcase the poetry of everyday language; the pauses between line breaks speak eloquently, if sometimes melodramatically. The focus of the entire book is not quite as concise. As tragedies pile up over the two-year timeline (a plague of grasshoppers descends, starving cattle need to be shot, Billie Jo's father develops skin cancer), the pace becomes slightly numbing. Billie Jo's aborted escape from the dust bowl almost gets lost in the procession of bleak events, instead of serving as the book's climax. Yet her voice, nearly every word informed by longing, provides an immediacy that expressively depicts both a grim historical era and one family's healing.

Sieruta, P.D. (1998). Out of the dust [Review of the book Out of the dust, by Karen Hesse]. Horn Book Magazine, 74(1), 73-74. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

Library Uses:  This would be an excellent book to use during a history unit being taught on this time period.  After collaborating with a teacher, a lesson could be built using Out of the Dust and a non fiction book such as Children of the Dust Bowl: The True Story of the School and Weedpatch Camp by Jerry Stanley.  Student could identify the hardships faced by the characters in both stories and then compare and contrast the hardships that were faced.