Friday, July 25, 2008

The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1)

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: The Field Guide (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Book 1)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
DiTerlizzi, Tony & Black, Holly. 2003. THE FIELD GUIDE (THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, BOOK ONE). New York: Simon and Schuster.
ISBN: 0689859368

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The Field Guide is the first book of five written about the Grace children, Mallory, Jared, and Simon and the Spiderwick Manor. The children have moved with their mother from New York City to their great-aunt Lucinda’s old Victorian home after their parents divorce. Strange and spooky occurrences begin in the home shortly upon their arrival. Jared hears a noise that sounds that make him think there might be a creature of sorts living inside the walls of the dilapidated home. The children are curious to find out more about where the sound is coming from.

Mallory cracks a hole in the wall and they discover evidence that some kind of animal or being is really living there. Jarod stumbles into a mysterious study that contains a trunk with a field guide inside which detailing the existence of fairies and other creatures at the Spiderwick manor. Strange things start happening in the Grace home as Jarod takes the blame for the unexplainable destruction. Book one ends abruptly with the appearance of a creature who tells the children to dispose of the book warning that harm may come to them. Readers will have to tune into book two to find out what happens to the Grace children.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
DiTerlizzi and Black have created short and engaging work of fantasy that brings readers into a world of excitement and curiosity. The inclusion of boys and girls as the main characters in the story will make this book appealing to both genders. Mallory, Simon, and Jarod are all characters that students can relate to. They are playful, mischievous, and interested in finding out the unknown.

The plot of the story is outlined at the beginning of the book, and moves in a logical progression that young readers can follow. The style of writing in this book will hold the interest of readers with the anticipation that builds as Jarod ultimately discovers The Field Guide to the Spiderwick Manor and begins reading about creatures such as pixies, nixies, and boggarts.

The setting is well-detailed allowing readers to visualize the details of the home and it’s surroundings. The house was is described as looking as if, “… a dozen shacks had been piled on top of one another. There were several chimneys, and the whole things was topped off by a strop of iron fence sitting on the roof like a particularly garish hat,”

The language of the book includes vivid details of the home. When Mallory looks into the contents found inside of the wall the description is as follows, “Straight pins poked into the wooden beams on either side, making a strange upward-snaking line. A Doll’s head lolled in one corner. Dead cockroaches were strung up like garlands.” The drawings done by DiTerlizzi offer a form of visual appeal that also helps establish and enrich the setting and plot of the story.

The end of the book comes suddenly when the children receive a warning about the dangers that come with reading the book from a "mannikin the size of a pencil" who appears to them in manor library. He warns, “All who have kept it have come to harm.” The authors leave a lot of wondering up to the imagination of readers, which will surely be an appeal and a hook factor for students to explore the next book in the series.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publishers Weekly: “Appealing characters, well-measured suspense and an inviting package will lure readers on to The Seeing Stone.”

School Library Journal: “The fast, movie-like pace will grab young readers.”

5. CONNECTIONS:
*Students can discuss and write their own ending to the story and then compare their story with other classmates.
*Students can begin to predict what might happen to the Grace children in the second book.
*The second book in the series can be read following the first book to continue interest in the series.

AWARDS:
North Dakota Flicker Tale Award in the Intermediate Book Category
Colorado Children’s Choice Book Award
Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Award

Web Resources:
http://www.spiderwick.com/

Looking for Alaska

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: Looking for Alaska

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Green, John. 2005. LOOKING FOR ALASKA. New York: Dutton Books.
ISBN: 0525475060

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter leaves the comfort of his Florida home and “boring” high school to attend the private school Culver Creek in Birmingham, Alabama. He is looking for adventure and the mystery of the “Great Perhaps”* that he hopes awaits him at his new school.

Miles makes friends quickly at Culver Creek. His roommate Chip “the Colonial”, and young female student Alaska become the friends her trusts most. A tragic event and loss of a close friend force Miles and his friends to deal with grief like they have never experienced in their lives. Miles and his friends begin to search for answers surrounding their friends death, and in the process learn more about life and loss then they ever realized was possible.

*Famous last words of French writer Francois Rabelais

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This debut novel by John Green is one that will leave a lasting impression in the minds of readers. Green has developed very sophisticated and complex characters in this novel. Green does not shy away from bringing real and relevant topics and themes such as sex, smoking, drugs and alcohol, and suicide to readers in spite of any controversy the discussion may arouse. His style of writing is sharp and witty with dialogue that reveals the internal and emotional challenges that the characters face as they deal with the “real” pressures that related teen life.

Green writes through Miles’s narration after the loss of his friend, “… I have lost something important, and I cannot find it, and I need it. It is fear like if someone lost his glasses and went to the glasses store and they told him that the world had run out of glasses and he would just have to do without.”

The story is set at a private school in southern Alabama. The setting is important to the story because of the inclusion of the outdoor places characters frequent as a get-away place from the pressures of their school.

The relationships between the characters in the book develop and grow in many of these private areas set outdoors. Areas such as the “smoking hole” and the surrounding areas around Culver Creek provide comfort and solace for the characters. The tragic event that defines this book occurs on the I-65 interstate which is the main highway going in and out of Culver Creek.

Green writes, “And lying there, amid the tall, still grass and beneath the star-drunk sky, listening to the just-this-side-of-inaudible sound of her rhythmic breathing and the noisy silence of the bullfrogs, the grasshoppers, and the distant cars rushing endlessly on I-65.”

The plot development is defined in two parts around the central tragedy in the book, before and after. The strength and the individual growth seen in the characters in the story builds throughout, and comes to a head in the “after” section of the story. Readers will feel like they are right there experiencing the lives of the characters in this novel and they turn the pages of this book. An author's note is included at the end of the book where Green shares his intent for writing the story. He also includes references related to the literary works quoted in the book.

Green has written a well-developed and contemporary work of fiction that will engage readers and allow them to connect with the characters in this story on many different emotional levels. Readers will surely be looking to his next novel for another dose of exciting and adventurous writing.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publisher’s Weekly: “Readers will only hope that this is not the last word from this promising new author.”

Kirkus Reviews: “What sings and soars in this gorgeously told tale is Green's mastery of language and the sweet, rough edges of Pudge's voice. Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent.”

5. CONNECTIONS:
*Teachers can use this novel to talk to teens about peer-pressure as their lives relate to the characters in this book.

AWARDS:
Winner of the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Rules

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: Rules

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lord, Cynthia. 2006. RULES. New York: Scholastic.
ISBN: 9780545036405

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Rules is a delightful and heartwarming book about a twelve-year-old girl named Catherine and her relationship with her younger brother David. David is autistic and his sometimes odd and repetitive behaviors embarrass her at times, especially in front of her peers.

The chapter titles in the book are named after a list of rules Catherine created for David to follow that include topics such as chewing with your mouth closed, knocking before opening the bathroom door, and saying “excuse me” after you burp. Catherine is the narrator of the story giving readers insight into the personal struggles she faces as a sibling of a child with a disability. She wishes at times that her parents would pay as much attention to her as they do David. She is terrified of losing friends because of her brother.

Catherine’s life and point of view about her brother take a positive turn when she meets Jason, a patient who receives therapy at the clinic where her brother attends. Jason helps Catherine gain a new perspective on the way she views her family, and realizes that people are more accepting then she thought allowing her to begin accepting her brother for who he is.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Cynthia Lord has excited readers with the debut of her contemporary fiction novel Rules. Lord has created a candid coming of age story in which readers meet Catherine, a twelve-year-old girl who’s younger brother David is autistic. Through Catherine, readers come to an understanding of the emotional ups and downs that come with living with a sibling who has a disability.

Lord has created believable characters that readers can identify with relate to. Catherine’s emotions come through in her thoughts as well as her words. She says of her brother David,

“Sometimes I just wish I someone would invent a pill so David’d wake up one morning without autism.”

Strong themes surrounding acceptance and understanding people who are different then yourself run throughout the story. Family issues related to wanting a sense of belonging and attention from parents are themes that readers may relate well to. Catherine longs for the attention of her parents, and resents that so much of their time goes to her brother David. She creates a set of rules for David out of the embarrassment and frustration that her brothers behavior has caused for her.

Catherine says, “I keep all the rules I’m teaching David so if my someday-he’ll-wake-up-a-regular-brother wish doesn’t ever come true, at least he’ll know how the world works, and I won’t have to keep explaining things.”

Catherine is keenly sensitive to the social pressures that come with having a brother with a disability. She lives in fear of her new neighbor Kristi rejecting her as a friend because of David. Catherine learns to face her fears through a relationship that she develops with Jason, a boy who is not able to speak at her brother’s therapy sessions. The relationship between Jason and Catherine is ultimately what leads Catherine to the point of acceptance and sensitivity to her brother’s needs.

Readers will gain their own understanding about autism and acceptance of people who are different then themselves through the experiences of each character in the story. Lord has created a work of fiction that is very current and relevant to lives of its readers.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Library School Journal: “A lovely, warm read, and a great discussion starter.”

Booklist: “The details of autistic behavior are handled well, as are depictions of relationships.”

5. CONNECTIONS:
*After reading this novel, teachers can lead a discussion about autism asking students what they know about autism from their own lives and how this book has changed or shifted their perception about people with disabilities.
*Students can use the rules in this book as a starter for writing their own set of rules they would want to create for certain situations in their lives or classrooms.
*Teachers can ask students to do a character analysis of Catherine and discuss how her feelings change over time in the story.

AWARDS:
Newbery Honor Book, 2007
Schneider Family Book Award, 2007
ALA Notable Children’s Book, 2007

Web Resources:
www.cynthialord.com

Monday, July 21, 2008

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Schlitz, Laura. 2007. GOOD MASTERS! SWEET LADIES! VOICES FROM A MEDIEVAL VILLAGE. Cambridge: Candlewick Press.
ISBN: 9780763615780

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The doctor’s son, the tanner's apprentice, and the glassblower’s daughters are all characters readers will meet in Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. This stunning collection of plays contains twenty-two monologues and dialogues written about life in England during the year 1255. The author wrote these plays to be read or to be performed. The plays included in this collection are written in prose and verse. Background information is included for topics that will help the reader with historical information and context during the Middle
Ages.

Topics included in this collection include ways of life in a medieval village and towns, a structured social caste system, farming techniques, medieval pilgrimages, the crusades, and falconry. The characters included in this collection breathe life and witty dialogue into a fascinating time period of history.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This Newberry Award winning book provides readers an opportunity to interact with the figures and voices from of a medieval village in a dramatic fashion. Schlitz describes her purpose for writing the book in an engaging forward, where she describes the students whom she wrote the plays for. Her intent was to give them engaging dialogue to perform to supplement their excitement and passion for their study of medieval history.

The topics that Schlitz offers readers about the Medieval Ages are historically accurate and well researched. She includes an extensive bibliography at the end of the text allowing students to do more research about this time period if they please. The plays themselves cover a wide range of medieval life offering readers a glimpse into life inside a medieval village through the eyes of different individuals within medieval society. She includes footnotes throughout her writing giving readers “on the spot” background information as they read. These notes deepen the comprehension of the text and offer details that help enrich the reading experience. The collection also features background notes at several points in the book giving readers factual information about topics such as the three-field farming system, medieval pilgrimages, and falconry.

Each play in the collection has it’s own unique plot, characters, setting, and theme. Some characters appear more then once in the collection showing up in several plays. Schlitz uses a combination of dialogue, prose, and verse throughout the plays giving readers a different experience with each story. Her writing reflects the written and spoken language of the Middle Ages.

One play, Alice, the Shepherdess, offers a song with notes and lyrics at the end of the monologue where the words are changed to reflect a young shepherdess’s prayers for her ailing sheep, “God restore thee, thou heavenly sheep, hark to my music and heal in thy sleep. Do not forsake me, my sister, my sheep, slumber ye gently and heal in thy sleep.”

Another play, Otho, The Miller’s Son is written in verse with a repeated chorus throughout,

“Oh, God makes the water, and the water makes the river,
And the river turn the mill wheel
And the wheel goes on forever.
Every man’s a cheater, and so every man is fed,
For we feed upon each other,
when we seek our daily bread.”

The illustrations that accompany this collection of plays adds depth and drama to the pages including a detailed map of village that shows careful attention to the setting and the characters included in the book.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village is a well crafted collection of plays that will delight readers and those who may witness the performances of students who choose to dramatize stories included in the book.

5. CONNECTIONS:
*Teachers and librarians can use this book as an engaging tool to read and share with students prior to or in conjunction with a social studies unit on the Middle Ages.
*Students can perform the monologues and dialogues as intended by the author.
*Teachers and students can use the extensive bibliography in this book extend their study of this time period in history.

AWARDS:
Newberry Medal, 2008

WEB RESOURCES:
http://medievaleurope.mrdonn.org/
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/medieval/

Friday, July 18, 2008

The River Between Us

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: The River Between Us

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Peck, Richard. 2003. THE RIVER BETWEEN US. New York: Puffin Books.
ISBN: 0142403105

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The small southern Illinois town of Grand Tower serves as the backdrop for Richard Peck’s award winning historical fiction novel The River Between Us. The story begins in 1916 with a young boy taking a trip to Grand Tower with his father and brothers in a Model T Ford. Young Howard Hutchings meets four older family members in Grand Tower who helped raise his father. The story unfolds as Howard wonders what these individuals’ lives were like in the time of his Father’s childhood.

The novel backtracks to the year 1861 with the arrival of two young ladies who arrive in Grand Tower via the Mississippi River from New Orleans. The women were destined for St. Louis, but with the start of the war the trip is considered too dangerous. Delphine is a stunningly beautiful and impeccably dressed. She is accompanied by a woman thought to be her slave or servant. Both women need a place to stay, and Ma Pruitt comes forward offering her home that she shares with her three children, Tilly, Noah, and Cass.

Young Tilly Pruitt narrates the story. Tilly, her younger sister Cass, and twin brother Noah become entwined in the lives of Delphine and Calinda. Delphine is a sophisticated woman who speaks French and tells stories about the grand events in her life back in “Nouvelle Orleans”. She is a larger then life woman who is very passionate about her southern home. Calinda is a quiet woman who walks behind Delphine.

The beginning of the Civil War brings each of the main characters in the story to a state of worry and fear. Ma worries about Noah going off to war, Cass sees visions of soldiers dying, and Tilly works hard to keep the family together during this time of uncertainty. Townspeople in Grand Tower begin to start rumors that Dephine and Calinda are spies for the south.

When Noah leaves for war the Pruitt family is torn apart. Fear tears apart Ma who desperately worries about her son’s safety. Tilly and Delphine travel to Cairo, Illinois to find Noah and the events that transpire reveal not only the harsh realities of life during the Civil War, but the strength and determination of the human spirit.

The novel ends with a return to the events in the first chapter in 1916. Readers will encounter many of the main characters of the story in their latter years as secrets about the Pruitt family are revealed that will startle readers leaving them wanting to know more about the lives of Tilly, Noah, Delphine, and Calinda.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Peck tells an emotional and moving story about a small Mississippi River town and it’s inhabitants during the beginning of the Civil War. He successfully achieves a balance of providing readers with factual elements of the places and happenings of the Civil War while blending elements of storytelling as well. Peck pays close attention to historical accuracy carefully citing his research and the historical events and locations of the novel in a note section at the end of the story. The various settings in the novel are real places that were researched by Peck. Events that were portrayed in the novel such as the Battle of Belmont were actual events of the Civil War.

The characters in The River Between Us are real and believable. Peck’s descriptive writing will have readers visualizing the details of the dresses that adorn Delphine, and the atrocities of war through vivid battlefield descriptions. The characters and the townspeople of Grand Tower show a very human side of war as social issues such as racism and classism are revealed through their beliefs and actions. Peck demonstrates how individuals and families were impacted by the war through the eyes of the characters in this story through his writing.

The style of writing and dialogue in the novel reflects the language of the time period and the geographical areas represented in the story. Mama responds to the townspeople who want her to send Delphine and Calinda on their way, “Well, I don’t see how I can send them home. The boats isn’t running.” Calinda shouts, “PRAWLEEENS, NEW ORLEANS STYLE” from the foot of the gangplank as she sells to boats stopping in Grand Tower, and Delphine speaks often of her “Maman and Papa” back in New Orleans in a French dialect.

The plot of the story thickens when Delphine and Tilly take off to find Noah in Cairo, Illinois. The vivid descriptions of their experiences when they first walked into Camp Defiance paint a vivid picture for readers, “The smell hit me, and nearly sent me sideways.” The condition of the soldiers also evokes powerful images. This was written about a soldier who turned out to be Noah when Tilly and Delphine find him at camp, “One sat at the end of his cot with a bucket and a dipper at his feet. He was badly wasted, and his cheeks were sunk to where he looked like a death’s-head.”

The combination of unforgettable characters, intelligent discussions about race and culture, and lyrical storytelling in this novel offers readers a glimpse into a period of U.S. history through a emotional and thought provoking story. The characters and events in this story are memorable and will stick with readers long after the have finished reading the book.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publishers Weekly: "The author crafts his characters impeccably and threads together their fates in surprising ways that shed light on the complicated events of the Civil War."

Kirkus Reviews: “Peck writes beautifully, bringing history alive through Tilly's marvelous voice and deftly handling themes of family, race, war, and history. A rich tale full of magic, mystery, and surprise.”

5. CONNECTIONS:
*This novel can be paired with a social studies unit on the Civil War to bring a new perspective to this period of history.
*Students can create a map and timeline of the events in this novel and of the war in Mississippi River region to deepen their understanding of the events and places in this story.
*Students can research and learn more about the battles and the main figures of the Civil War mentioned in this novel such as: President Lincoln, General Grant, and Jefferson Davis.

AWARDS:
Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 2003
National Book Award Finalist

Web Resources:
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/subjects/civilwar.htm
http://users.stlcc.edu/jangert/grndtwr/grndtwr.html

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Nightjohn

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: Nightjohn

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paulsen, Gary. 1993. NIGHTJOHN. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc.
ISBN: 0440219361

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Hardship, struggle, abuse marked the lives of slaves working on plantations in the 1850’s. Award winning author Gary Paulson breathes life into this dark period in American History in his book Nightjohn through Sarny, a twelve-year old slave girl struggling to find her way on a southern plantation. Sarny’s life changes for the better in ways she never dreamt were possible when she meets Nightjohn, a new slave on the plantation.

During the dark of night, veiled in secrecy, Nightjohn teachers Sarny to read and write. Slaves during this time could read or write, and furthermore those who taught other slaves to read and write faced severe consequences for their actions including physical abuse, and sometimes death. Nightjohn proceed with nightly teachings in spite of the danger until the day Mr. Waller finds out Sarny’s secret.

The punishment inflicted on Nightjohn by plantation owner Mr. Waller terrifies Sarny, but she does not let her fear of punishment derail her passion for learning to read and write. Paulson’s heart-warming story reveals the strength and determination that Sarny and Nightjohn possessed, and shines a light of happiness and hope to a very dark period of American History.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Award winning author Gary Paulson combines a true story adapted in parts about the horrific realities of slavery with emotion that reveals a very human side to the life of protagonist Sarny and those who are close to her. Nightjohn is narrated by Sarny, which allows readers to get her perspective on the life of a slave girl during the 1850’s. Both characters are strong and prolific figures that will stick in the minds of readers long after they have finished reading the book.

Paulson’s style of writing and dialogue included reflects the dialect and language of the time in which the novel takes place. The plot and setting of Nightjohn reflect careful consideration to the historical accuracy of plantation life with descriptions about slavery that reflect the harsh conditions in which slaves lived, the disparaging actions of slave owners, and the fear that existed in the daily lives of slaves. Paulson does not list his sources for Nightjohn but does write in the beginning of the novel, “Except for variations in time and character identification and placement, the events written in this story are true and actually happened.” Perhaps more creditability for historical accuracy could have been gained if Paulson had cited his sources.

Paulson does not try to water down the details of slave life. The descriptions he gives about slavery include harsh and difficult to read details at times because of the raw emotion that the words evoke. Paulson writes the following about a slave who attempted to run away, “The master set the dogs on him and they tore and ripped what they could reach until there wasn’t any meat on Jim’s legs or bottom. The dogs ripped it all off to hang in shreds.” He includes background detail that helps the reader understand the desires and actions of the characters. Sarny asks Nightjohn, “"Why they be cutting our thumbs off if we learn to read--if that's all 
there is?" Nightjohn replies, “'Cause to know things, for us to know things, is bad for them. We get 
to wanting and when we get to wanting it's bad for them. They thinks we 
want what they got."

Readers will experience a wide range of emotions ranging from anger to hope upon finishing this piece of historical fiction, and will more then likely want to know more about what followed for Sarny and Nightjohn.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Publishers Weekly starred review - "Among the most powerful of Paulsen's works, this impeccable researched novel sheds light on cruel truths in American history as it traces the experiences of a 12-year-old slave girl in the 1850s."

School Library Journal starred review - "Nightjohn should be required reading (and discussing) for all middle grade and high school students."

5. CONNECTIONS:
*After reading Nightjohn, teachers can read the first chapter of the companion book, Sarny: A Life Remembered for readers interested in how her life turns out.
*This book can be used in conjunction with social studies lessons and units related to slavery and the Civil War.
*Students can talk about and discuss what it would be like to want to learn to read and write and not be allowed to.

AWARDS:
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
An IRA-CBC Children’s Choice

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Krull, Kathleen. 2003. HARVESTING HOPE: THE STORY OF CESAR CHAVEZ. New York: Scholastic.
ISBN: 0439691087

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Harvesting Hope is a biography written by Kathleen Krull about the life of Cesar Chavez. The story begins with a glimpse into Cesar’s happy childhood growing up on a ranch with his family in Arizona. At the age of ten Cesar and his family is forced to move from their Arizona ranch to the green valleys of California when a drought hits the area. Cesar and his family become migrant workers living and working in the harsh conditions that existed at that time.

Cesar begins to speak out against the hardships migrant workers and their families were forced to endure with low wages, long hours, and horrific living conditions. At first, Cesar had a hard time getting people to pay attention to his cause for change, but with time and effort he was able to gather supporters and come up with a plan of action for change. Cesar organized the National Farm Workers Association, and organized a strike in the San Joaquin valley in 1965. The owners of the vineyards began to suffer financial losses because of the strike. La Causa (The Cause) was officially beginning to make an impact on the lives of the migrant workers.

Chavez and La Causa gained momentum during the march from the San Joaquin valley to the state capitol in Sacramento. Supporters came out in droves during the march and began lending their voices to the plight of migrant workers. The wealthy ranch owners and agricultural companies came to Chavez after losing millions of dollars in crop money after the strike and offered workers a contract guaranteeing fair wages and living conditions for migrant workers. The contract was the first ever for farmworkers in American History.

Cesar Chavez continued to push for change and fair labor laws until his death in 1993.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Award winning author Kathleen Krull brings the story of Cesar Chavez to life in Harvesting Hope. Krull’s descriptive and lyrical writing with the inclusion of personal anecdotes and stories about Chavez’s life will give readers who may not be familiar with Chavez’s story a solid understanding of his leadership, bravery, and dedication to the cause of improving life for migrant workers.

Although Krull does not cite her sources or include documentable dialogue, it is evident that careful consideration was paid to historical accuracy with the inclusion of timelines and an author’s note at the end detailing historical, political, and social events that defined the life of Cesar Chavez.

Krull’s biography is organized nicely for readers beginning with Chavez’s childhood and moving sequentially through his life, struggles, and victories. Krull features the most important events that shaped the life of Cesar Chavez and personalizes the story allowing the reader to really know who Chavez was and why he believed what he did. “Despite his shyness, Cesar showed a knack for solving problems. People trusted him. With workers he was endlessly patient and compassionate. With landowners he was stubborn, demanding, and single-minded. He was learning to be a fighter.”

Krull captures Chavez’s commitment to non-violent resistance including statements that demonstrate his strong views about the topic, “In a fight for justice, he told everyone, truth was a better weapon then violence. Nonviolence, he said, Takes more guts.

The design of the book pairs Krull’s writing with vivid and colorful illustrations that bring Cesar Chavez and the events that shaped his life into a clear and engaging focus. Krull’s passionate writing style will leave readers feeling inspired wanting to read more about the life of Cesar Chavez and the history of the migrant workers he championed for.


4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
School Library Journal: “The dramatic story of Chavez's 340-mile march to protest the working conditions of migrant farmworkers in California is the centerpiece of this well-told biography.”

Kirkus Reviews: “She portrays Chavez as a quiet, patient, strong-willed man who believed implicitly in his "causa" and worked tirelessly for his people.”

5. CONNECTIONS:
*This book can be used as a companion to a study of American History during the time of Chavez’s life.
*Students can pair this biography of Chavez with narrative texts written about the life of migrant workers in California such as Esparanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan and A Day’s Work by Eve Bunting
*Students can read this biography and the biography of other historic figures that worked for non-violent social change during their lives such as Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King.

AWARDS:
ALA Pura Belpre Honor Book
ALA Notable Children's Book

Web Resources:
http://www.kathleenkrull.com/
www.yuyimorales.com/guide.pdf

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Animals Nobody Loves

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: Animals Nobody Loves

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 2001. ANIMALS NOBODY LOVES. New York: SeaStar Books.
ISBN: 1587170809

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Most people cringe at the thought and sight of cobras, vultures, rats, cockroach, fire ants, and piranhas. Seymour Simon’s book Animals Nobody Loves informs readers about these misunderstood creatures and helps to dispel common myths that exist about these animals. Simon gives readers insight into the pesky, dangerous, and often feared animals offering readers factual scientific information about these creatures and their behaviors.

Simon devotes a two-page spread for each of the twenty animals featured in the book with one side containing informational text, and the other a remarkable glossy photograph that captures the brawn and beauty of these animals.

He uses this book as a way to inform readers and warn them of the dangers that can come from interacting with these animals. Simon writes about the wasp, “They usually will not sting unless they are bothered.” He goes on to warn about the Gila monster, “Few people are bitten by Gila monsters – only those foolish enough to try to handle one.”

The informational text featured in Simon’s work also includes facts about the geographic location of the animals, varying species of the animal, and the danger that can come from human contact with these creatures. Readers will have a new perspective on the twenty animals featured in this book thanks to Simon’s descriptive writing and the inclusion of remarkable photography.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is one that will engage readers right from the start beginning with a dramatic and detailed photograph of an intimidating spider on the cover. High quality photographs are included throughout the book with a “wow” factor that will have students talking and sharing aloud about what they look inside this book.

Young and reluctant readers will find the book appealing due to the layout and organization of material in Simon’s work and large print type. The pages are well defined and sectioned with two-page spread that include bold headings. Colorful pages with bright contrasting colored font varying with each featured animal. The introduction is concise and explains his purpose for writing the book.

Simon writes, “Some animals just have bad reputations that are not based on fact. Animals are not bad or evil. They do what they must in order to survive.”

Vivid and detailed descriptions of animal behavior will engage readers pulling them into the remarkable strength and voracious appetites some of these creatures display. Simon writes this about the great white shark, “Its large, saw-edged teeth can rip through wood and even metal. The great white shark has a huge appetite and will eat any animal or person that it finds in its path” The piranha, “Piranhas can strip the flesh from a large animal in just minutes.”

Descriptions also show the timid side of some of these animals including this written about the octopus, “Some people think of an octopus as a terrible monster that attacks any diver swimming near its cave. But the octopus is really shy and harmless.”

Simon does not include an index or sources for readers, so students will need to locate additional sources for in depth information about these animals. Simon concludes the book by posting a question to readers asking if they feel differently about any of the animals in the book after reading the text. He encourages students to make a list of animals they don’t “love” thinking about why they put them on the list. The interactive nature Simon’s text paired with the high interest photography will provide readers with a bold and dramatic literary experience as they explore animals that nobody likes or loves.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Booklist: “The photos (and even the text) won't do much to change the reputation of animals such as the vulture and the rat, but there's no denying they'll draw a crowd and a chorus of "Gross."

Kirkus Reviews: "You may never love a rattlesnake, a cockroach, or an octopus-but this book may help you begin to understand and respect them for what they are."

5. CONNECTIONS:
Students can connect this book to studies in science about animals using this text beginning point of gathering scientific information about animals.

Students can evaluate their prior knowledge of the animals in a compare and contrast format using a KWL chart to analyze how what they learned was different from what they knew before reading the text.

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jurmain, Suzanne. 2005. THE FORBIDDEN SCHOOLHOUSE: THE TRUE AND DRAMATIC STORY OF PRUDENCE CRANDALL AND HER STUDENTS. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
ISBN: 0618473025

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The Canterbury Connecticut Female Boarding School owned and run by Prudence Crandall officially opened in October of 1831. Crandall’s school quickly gained a reputation as one of the best boarding schools for girls with its pupils coming from prominent and wealthy families until the day an African American girl named Sarah approaches Prudence asking if she can attend classes. Prudence knows that teaching an African-American student in her all white school would be a highly controversial move. She is willing to teach Sarah, but fears how supporters of her school and community members will react to this radical change to her school.

Jurmain writes, “Prudence wanted to help black people. She believed education was important. There were lots of good emotional reasons to say yes to Sarah. There were also a lot of sensible reasons to say no. First, admitting a black student was almost certain to cause an uproar. Although free blacks lived in the North, they weren’t welcome.”

Prudence chooses emotion over sensibility deciding she will teach Sarah in spite of the fears she has about the wrath that may follow when the townspeople find out the news. What follows is a story about a woman who perseveres in the face of adverse racism, attacks on her school, and angry townspeople who are determined to do everything possible to ruin and destroy her school.

Crandall enlists the help of several prominent abolitionists including William Lloyd Garrison (publisher of the Liberator), Samuel May, and Arthur Tappan to help fight the legal system that proposed the Connecticut Black Law making it illegal for Crandall to allow students of color from out of state to attend school. Prudence is arrested and her team of supporters helps her fight the charges against her that are eventually dropped. When the charges were dropped, the team of townspeople that vigorously prosecuted Crandall for her school continued to torment Prudence and her students vandalizing her school beyond the point of repair.

It is with a heavy heart that Prudence closes down the school in 1835 just two years after it’s opening moving to upstate New York with her family. Prudence continued to teach working in prairie schools in Illinois and Kansas later in life, and also worked actively in the abolition movement.

Fifty years after the closing of her school in Connecticut at the age of eighty-four after Prudence Crandall received a formal apology from the Connecticut State Legislature, which included financial compensation for her losses and suffering. Prudence Crandall died in 1890 at the age of eighty-six. Her brave and fighting spirit lives on through history and The Forbidden Schoolhouse is just one way her memory is kept alive.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The Forbidden School House is an attractive and inviting book that will pull readers into the historical and social forces that impacted Prudence Crandall’s life living in Connecticut during the 1830’s. Jurmain uses descriptive and emotional language to help readers understand the depth of adversity Crandall faced. She includes harsh elements of racism that existed as Crandall attempted to educate young African American girls at a time when most people felt threatened by blacks becoming educated. Readers can sense the social tension and fear that Crandall felt as she bravely accepted African American students into her school.

“To many northerners, African Americans were no better than animals or criminals. Some viewed free blacks as a “curse and a contagion.” Prudence didn’t believe that blacks and whites ought to be treated differently. But what if the parents of her white students did?”

It is evident from the emotional elements of Jurmain’s writing that she was passionate about researching and sharing Prudence Crandall’s life story. Her clear and descriptive writing is supported by photographs that give readers the ability to see inside Crandall’s school in addition to photographs of people who were important to her story.

Jurmain’s goes to great lengths to provide a historically accurate account of Prudence Crandall’s life and the adversity she faced when she opened her boarding school to African American female students. She sites her sources throughout the book and includes a section for notes at the end of the book, which is carefully organized by chapters. A thorough bibliography, index, photo credits section, and appendix is included detailing the lives of the students who attended the school as well as “friends and enemies” who were crucial to Prudence Crandall’s story.

Readers will find themselves wanting to read more about this period of time in history after reading Jurmain’s work. This book is a historical treasure that should be included in the study of African American history during the 19th century. Prudence Crandall’s story will leave a memorable imprint in the heart of readers.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Booklist *starred review*: “Jurmain has plucked an almost forgotten incident from history and has shaped a compelling, highly readable book around it.

School Library Journal: “This book offers a fresh look at the climate of education for African Americans and women in the early 1800s. Report writers and recreational readers alike will find it informative.”

5. CONNECTIONS:
*This book would be a great companion to use for students studying slavery, black history, and the abolitionist movement.

*Students can read other social history informational books about black history from more recent times and discuss if and how historical and social contexts changed from one story to another.

*Students can study and read about women who showed great courage like Prudence Crandall during the 19th and 20th centuries during the Woman’s Suffrage Movement or Civil Rights Movement.

AWARDS:
Orbis Pictus Honor Book 2006,
National Council of Teachers of English, 2006

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

One of those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

**This review was created for an assignment at Texas Woman's University**

Book Review: One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sones, Sonya. 2004. ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. New York: Simon and Schuster.
ISBN: 9781416907886

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Fifteen-year old Ruby Milliken is forced to move from Boston to Los Angeles to live with her father she has never met after losing her mother. She is forced to abandon her best friend Lizzie and boyfriend Ray to live with Whip (Ruby’s father) who is a “big time” Hollywood star in everyone’s eyes except Ruby.

Ruby unwillingly jumps into her new life in LA with her father. Cameron Diaz is her new neighbor. Her father insists on driving her to school each day where she attends “dream interpretation” classes with children of famous parents. While she is adjusting to live in LA things begin to change at home with her best friend and Ray and the events that transpire shake Ruby’s fifteen-year old world upside down.

Just when Ruby thinks she can’t take another word of bad news, Ruby’s father comes through for her in a big way. Ruby must decide if she can trust Whip, grappling with emotions such as fear, grief, and a strong desire to forgive. This coming of age story will warm the hearts of readers as they experience first hand the intensity and depth of Ruby’s character.


3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This novel told in first person and written in free verse is a story that young adult readers will relate to and adult readers will enjoy. Sones’s writing hooks the reader in right from the start with powerful writing that reveals Ruby as a person who has experienced a great deal of turmoil and suffering for someone her age. Honesty, sensitivity, and emotion spill off the pages as Ruby begins to tell her story,

“I love to read but my life better not turn out to be like one of those hideous books where the mother dies and so the girl has to go live with her absentee father and he turns out to be an alcoholic heroin addict who brutally beats her … I love to read, but I can’t stand books like that.”

Sones’s writing shows the complexity and emotional elements of Ruby’s character allowing readers to develop a keen understanding of the anger, grief, and uncertainty she experiences in during the progression of the novel. As the story builds, the reader shares in Ruby’s struggles and victories as her character grows and develops eventually finding love and friendship in her new life.

This book is anything but hideous, and will entertain and warm the hearts of readers who connect with Ruby’s grief, wit, humor, and heart felt emotion.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Booklist – a starred review, “A satisfying, moving novel that will be a winner for both eager and reluctant readers.”

Kirkus Reviews – “Short stream-of-consciousness free-verse poems make up most of the narrative, by turns bathing readers in Ruby’s emotions and treating them to very sharp, very funny observations.”

5. CONNECTIONS:
*Students unfamiliar with novels written in verse can explore books written by Sones and other successful authors.

*Students can try their own hand at writing in verse using this novel and other examples of free verse as examples.

AWARDS:
2006 - International Reading Association (IRA) Young Adults Choice
2005 -American Library Association (ALA) Best Book for Young Adults
2005 - American Library Association (ALA) Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Other Titles by Author:
Sixteen
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy
What My Mother Doesn’t Know
What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know


Web Resources:
www.sonyasones.com