WHEN YOU REACH ME by Rebecca Stead

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Stead, Rebecca.  2009.  WHEN YOU REACH ME.  New York: Bantam/Dell; Enfield : Publishers Group UK.  ISBN 9780385737425

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Miranda and her best friend, Sal, are sixth graders who go to the same school and live in the same New York City apartment complex.  They're inseparable until the day a strange kid in an army jacket, Marcus, punches Sal for no reason, and now Sal doesn't want to be friends.  That same day, Miranda's spare apartment key gets stolen, and she starts to discover mysterious notes about the future, "I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own."  But who? How?

The notes continue as Miranda deals with her ordinary life.  She makes new friends, gets a midday job, even spends time discussing flaws in her favorite book, A WRINKLE IN TIME and the possibility of time travel with the estranged Marcus.  All of this while also training her mother to win a game show named the $20,000 Pyramid.    

Miranda slowly realizes that whoever is leaving the notes knows things she has never revealed.  Each message gives her proof that the notes are real, and she is a part of a plan to save someone's life.  In the end, she discovers the "you" is Marcus; someone's life is saved but another is taken.  

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

WHEN YOU REACH ME takes place in New York City during the late 1970s.  The main character, Miranda, is a tween with street smarts and a genuinely good kid.   She is obsessed with A WRINKLE IN TIME , carries the book everyday, and often makes references to it.  ( Stead makes many intertextual references.  Readers can enrich their experience by reading Madeline L'Engle's novel prior to this one, but it is not necessary.)  Both novels share a space and time factor, and Miranda's character, speaking in first person, switches back and forth between the past and the present.  Mystery and suspense are kept throughout the ordinary life of the character as Miranda and the readers try to figure out the "you" she must write a letter to in order to save a life.  It is a real world story that suddenly turns science fiction as time travel comes into play.

Stead encourages the reader to believe in time travel.  Through dialogue and references, Stead creates a consistent point of view where the readers can accept that this could be really happen.  Stead brings in theories, mainly through Marcus and L'Engles novel: Marcus brings up a flaw in A WRINKLE IN TIME which Miranda argues, "My God, what does it matter:  It's a story - someone made it up!  You do realize that , don't you?"
From which Marcus responds," The story is made up.  But time travel is possible.  In theory.  I've read some articles about it."  He makes reference to Einstein's Relativity and physics, and the idea that time travel as a real possibility develops.  But the fantasy does not take over the story.  The novel revolves around the sub-plot of Miranda helping her mother prepare to be on the $20,000 Pyramid.  The book's chapters: "Things That Get Tangled," Things You Keep in a Box," Things You Count," "Things You Pretend," are categories that could be answers on the game show.  The reader can't help but look for clues that led to the naming of each chapter.


Although the story takes place in the 1970s, Tween readers will relate to Miranda's joys and pains: loss of her best friend (Sal Miranda; Miranda Sal), her attempts to make new friends, liking a boy, her friend liking the same boy, dealing with uncomfortable people on the street (Laughing man, the guys in front of the garage, the naked man, Marcus), suddenly noticing flaws when new people are about to come over for a visit.  They will also appreciate her transformation as she gains a new perspective by "peeking under the veil."  

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

Andre Norton Award, 2009
Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 2010
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 2009
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 2009
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 2009
Golden Duck Award for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction Literature, 2010
Great Lakes Great Books Award, 2010-2011
Indies Choice Book Award, 2010
IRA Children's and Young Adults' Book Award, 2010
Massachusetts Children's Book Award, 2011-2012
National Parenting Publications Award, 2009
Parents' Choice Award, 2009
School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books, 2010
Waterstone's Children's Book Prize, 2011

IIene Cooper (Booklist, Jun. 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 19))

The '70s New York setting is an honest reverberation of the era; the mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children and adults, are honest bits of humanity no matter in what place or time their souls rest."

Uma Krishnaswami (Children's Literature)
Charmingly eccentric and impossible to categorize, this middle grade novel pays homage to Madeleine L'Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME while employing many of that book's elements as it crisscrosses the boundaries between reality and fantasy, time travel and mystery.

5. CONNECTIONS

* If you're interested in making a class unit out of this reading experience, check out more ideas in the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVYLhP7JOoc

* Read A WRINKLE IN TIME preceding this novel for greater effect.
  

L'Engle, Madeline.  1976.  A WRINKLE IN TIME.  New York: Dell Publishing.  ISBN 9780440998051

SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  1999.  SPEAK.  New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.  ISBN 0374371520

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Melinda Sordino has entered Merryweather High an outcast.  No one will talk to her; students are dropping her books, kneeing her back, glaring, whispering, and even her ex-best friend mouths, "I hate you," on the first day of class.  Melinda's the rat who called the cops on a popular end-of-summer party she was attending, but only she knows the reason.  She was raped by a popular senior and dials 911 for help, but everyone thinks she called to break up the party, so everyone hates her.  Afraid, ashamed, rejected, and confused, Melinda finds herself alone and barely able to speak.  Her inability to communicate leaves her withdrawn, lonely, and a hermit in a janitor's closet.  Only her art teacher, Mr. Freeman seems to recognize pain in her art.  He encourages her to express herself while her biology lab partner inspires her to find her voice.  By the end of the year, Melinda progresses.  She slowly recovers and demonstrates strength when the horrible predator returns.  The "Beast" attacks again when he finds out Melinda told his new girlfriend about the rape and attempts to violate her once again, but this time she breaks the silence.  

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Anderson's novel is an internal journey within the mind of a teenage girl who has endured a traumatic event.  Melinda's character is emotional.  She's biting her lips, cutting her wrists, skipping school, and staying quiet.  She's "a wounded zebra in a National Geographic special" and predators lurk all around.  Her character is witty, detailed, and authentic, and she reveals, without abandon, her teenage life: cliques, whacky teachers, selfish friends, busy parents, unchaperoned parties, secrets, and depression. 

The novel provides small details that predate the present: phone's "long curly cord," student's use of a "tape recorder," hospital staff with "beepers," but the description of the students, school, and family as well as Melinda's experience transcend time and still manage to give a sense of now.  Anderson's style of writing also provides a contemporary feel.  Her internal dialogue is raw and her descriptions revealing.  The chapters are paced by the marking periods of Melinda's freshman year with a report card at the end of each - Attitude, Lunch, and Clothes grades are added to the other principle subjects.  She writes in Top Ten lists, multiple choice options, and provides dialogue cues in her telling of conversations; she provides nicknames to many of her acquaintances (Hairwoman, Basketball Pole, Greek God, IT, Hero) - all of which give an authentic adolescent feel to the novel.    

SPEAK is a coming of age story readers (especially teens) will love.  Her character must admit and overcome her rape in order to move on.  "IT happened.  There is no avoiding it, no forgetting.  No running away, or flying, or burying, or hiding."   The boy villain, "Andy Beast," is balanced by the smart, heroic, David Petrakis who counsels Melinda: "Don't expect to make a difference unless you speak up for yourself."  Teens who have felt like outsiders or undergone devastation will empathize with Melinda and learn from her triumph. 

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

ABC Children's Booksellers Choices Award, 2000
Carolyn W. Field Award, 2000
Cuffies: Children's Booksellers Choose Their Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Books of the Year, 1999
Edgar Allan Poe Award, 2000
Evergreen Young Adult Book Award, 2002
Garden State Teen Book Award, 2002
Golden Kite Award, 2000
Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, 2001
Kentucky Bluegrass Award, 2001
Los Angeles Times Book Prize, 1999
Michael L. Printz Award, 2000
Sequoyah Book Award, 2002Society of School Librarians International Book Awards, 2000
South Carolina Young Adult Book Award, 2002
Volunteer State Book Award, 2003

Kirkus Reviews, pointer review

The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn, but it is its raw and unvarnished look at the dynamics of the high school experience that makes this a novel that will be hard for readers to forget.

Publisher's Weekly, starred review
A stunning first novel. . . . Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustain the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy. . . . Melinda's hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired."

5. CONNECTIONS

* Follow Daily Lesson Plan activies as you read the book
http://www.lsu.edu/faculty/jpullia/3223speakllesson.htm

*Watch the full length movie and compare details:
   http://www.yidio.com/movie/speak/22454?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Search&utm_campaign=speak-MOVIE&utm_term=speak&sf_campaign=Movies&sf_adgroup=speak-MOVIE&sf_adid=11722269611&sf_keyword=speak&sf_type=b&sf_placement=&gclid=CJ3hsM_d5LgCFUPl7AodgXcASg
  

*Read CATALYST by Laurie Halse Anderson which also takes place in the town of Merryweather:

Anderson, Laurie Halse.  2002.  CATALYST.  New York: Viking.  ISBN 9780670035663

* Create your own piece of art that evokes emotion and represents a transformation in your own life.

THE ODYSSEY by Gareth Hinds

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hinds, Gareth.  2010.  THE ODYSSEY.  Somerville: Candlewick Press.  ISBN 9780763642662

2. PLOT SUMMARY

The great hero, Odysseus has not returned to Ithaca since leaving to fight in Troy. Prince Telemachus, who hasn’t see his father in seventeen years, is visited by goddess Athena in disguise.  She assures him of his father’s soon return and urges Telemachus to stop the “shameless suitors who harass his mother and consume his wine and cattle, feasting in Odysseus’s palace.”  As Telemachus journeys to search for his father, Odysseus' long struggle to return home unfolds.

Odysseus' return home was doomed by Poseidon, the sea god, when Odysseus blinded his son, Polyphemus.  Poseidon sent a storm to shipwreck the hero, who becomes imprisoned on the island of Ogygia by the nymph Calypso.  Intervention from Mount Olympus allows the prisoner to build a raft and leave - only to be shipwrecked once again by the begrudging sea god.  Now he lands at the home of the Phaeacians who welcome him with feasts, games, and dancing.  Odysseus stuns his hosts with his identity and they are mesmerized by the recounts of his adventures with witches, cyclops, Sirens, sea monsters, and the walking dead of Hades.  They return Odysseus to Ithaca and Athena disguises him as a beggar in order to expose all enemies of the king.

Telemachus safely returns to Ithaca and joins his father and other loyal servants in purging the palace of greedy "curs."  After winning an archery competition among the suitors for Penelope's hand in marriage, Odysseus reveals himself and slaughters all suitors, maids, and servants who betrayed the family.  Those who remained loyal and honest are spared, and Odysseus' journey ends as he reunites with his wife, son, and kingdom.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Homer's epic novel, THE ODYSSEY in graphic novel form!!!

Hinds incredibly re-tells this ancient poem, originally written in dactylic hexameter, into an approachable adventurous graphic novel for young adults.  In this impressive feat, Hinds includes all of the essential events of THE ODYSSEY as well as its principal characters.  

The main character, Odysseus is a courageous, smart, strong, and cunning man who leads an army of brave men in and out of battle as they make their return to Ithaca.  There are many challenges and temptations along the way (riches, beautiful women, food and comforts); the gods provide many warnings in order to steer the men on the right path, but Odysseus and his crew are often hasty in their judgements and fall into temptation prolonging their journey home.

The most impressive asset in Hinds' interpretation is the illustration that accompanies the story.  Hinds provides adventurous, action-packed, watercolor and pencil images to tell the story of THE ODYSSEY.   In some cases, the two-page spread is only accompanied by one or two sentences of text (p. 148-149). This leaves the images to tell the story.  The panel layouts are varied throughout the book in mostly even strips, but the most climactic events have a skewed grid (diagonal or broken lines) to add dynamic manga action (p. 140, p. 212, and p. 246). The pages are filled with colorful, vibrant watercolor images, and the details provided are outstanding!  When Hinds introduces Odysseus into the story (p.50 -55) the reader can see the sadness in the prisoner's eyes and the weariness in his wrinkled face.  Later in the novel (p. 184-185), Odysseus battles against a "young buck" and spectators are impressed by the old man's build and thighs.  The face expressions are clearly evident and phenomenal.  They do not distract from but emphasize the events of the story.  The foaming waves of the sea have movement, the cave of cyclops is red from a crackling fire, the people of Hades are sunken-eyed, dreadful and ghastly.  Each of the gods (disguised or not) are traced with bright colored pencil instead of the black Hinds uses for mortals.  This graphic novel is full of unique details and perfect use of color.  

Young readers will enjoy this clear and understandable version of the classic poem themed with good vs. evil.  Hinds incorporated favored translations by Fagles, Fitzgerald, and Rieu because of their "balance of poetry and readability."  The gripping tale combines mythology and reality: gods helping a favored mortal complete an impossible journey.  Odysseus' complex character must face great quests and obstacles in a fantasy realm; readers will applaud his relentless desire to return to his family and empathize with him in the obstacles he must overcome to complete his journey.  

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

YALSA Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens, 2011
School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books, 2011
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2011

Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)

One of the oldest and most often retold literary classics is faithfully recreated in watercolors and pastels.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, January 2011 (Vol. 64, No. 5))
...with this graphic-novel interpretation Hinds will hook some of those holdouts who have thus far resisted THE ODYSSEY'S lure.

5. CONNECTIONS

* Use Teacher's Guide provided by Candlewick publishers to begin discussion questions for this book:
http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763642665.btg.1.pdf

*Read a section of the original poem (in English prose) to compare to the graphic novel; discuss differences:
   http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html
  

*Have students chose a character from the book that best matches their personality.  "Whom do you most closely identify with and why?"

BREAKING STALIN'S NOSE by

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Yelchin, Eugene.  2011.  BREAKING STALIN'S NOSE.  New York: Henry Holt.  ISBN 9780805092

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Growing up in Stalin-era Russia, ten-year-old Sasha Zeichek lives with his widowed father and 46 other hard working communists in a one kitchen, one toilet apartment - komunalka.  Sasha's dream is to become a Young Soviet Pioneer to demonstrate his devotion to Russia and his loyalty to Comrade Stalin.  Sasha's father is a respected State Security officer but is suddenly arrested the night before Sasha is to become a Pioneer.  Suddenly everything's amiss!  Sasha gets in a snowball fight, he hides from blame, and as he envisions his Pioneer Parade in Moscow's Red Square, he breaks off Stalin's nose from a plaster bust in the school's corridor.  He has become an enemy of people before he ever knew what happened. As his world shatters, Sasha faces a new reality and truth and must make a courageous decision to do what is right.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Yelchin transports the reader back to the USSR.   The setting is ice cold Moscow, but the ambiance of fear and suspicion in the story is far more frigid.  Yelchin's pencil illustrations only enhance the gloominess and oppression of communism in the story.  The naive point-of-view of the story's main character offers a first hand look at what it must have been like to grow up under Stalin's rule.  Sasha is so proud of his Stalinist spirit and can hardly contain his excitement to realize his dream of becoming a Young Pioneer.  He takes pride in Russia's "Communist 'WE' instead of capitalist 'I'."   No one can keep secrets, everyone is equal, "we know who gets up at what time, who eats what for dinner, and who said what in their rooms."  The theme of paranoia and developing a communist character is a constant, "always be vigilant, because our capitalist enemies are never asleep."  This message is repeated at home, on the playground, in the classroom, everywhere - it presents the tyrannical pressure to be spies and turn in anyone who might be suspect of betraying communism.  


Although the story takes place between 1923 and 1953, the main issue "transcends time and place."  The Author's Note states, "To this day, there are places in the world where innocent people face persecutions and death for making a choice about what they believe to be right."  The conflict Sasha faces with himself and with the values instilled in him are profound and enlightening. The heavy subject matter (imprisonment, killing, arrest and capture of "enemies of the state" - some children) is given some comic relief when Stalin's nose comes to life through magical realism (use of magical elements in an otherwise rational world - http://www.magicalrealism.info/p/definitions.html).  Yelchin also provides his Russian background and an insightful prospective in his Author's Note at the end of the novel.  Great read! 

  

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

John Newbery Medal, 2012
Mitten Award, 2012

Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Oct. 15, 2011 (Vol. 108, No. 4)) 

Picture-book illustrator Yelchin was raised in post-Stalinist Russia in the 1960s and left the country when he was 27.  In his first novel, he uses the child's innocent viewpoint to dramatize the heartbreaking secrets and lies, and graphite illustrations show the terrifying arrest of enemies of the people, even children, like Sasha's classmate.  

Jody Little (Children's Literature)
The main character is thoughtful, spunky and courageous, and the book's illustrations will captivate readers.  This is a well-written and accessible work of historical fiction for young readers.


Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)
An impressive . . . compact novel.  Through Sasha's fresh and optimistic voice, Yelchin powerfully renders an atmosphere of fear that forces false confessions, even among schoolchildren . . . Readers will quickly pick up on the dichotomy between Sasha's ardent beliefs and the reality of life under Stalinism, and be glad for his ultimate disillusion, even as they worry for his future."

5. CONNECTIONS

* Discuss the literary technique of magical realism with the appearance of Stalin's nose as a character.  What is its purpose?
-This and other guided questions are available at:
http://media.us.macmillan.com/discussionguides/9780805092165DG.pdf

*Engage readers to investigate further on Sasha's parents, his school, and the Young Soviet Pioneers by visiting the book's interactive website:
   http://www.eugeneyelchinbooks.com/breakingstalinsnose/index.php
  

* Under dictator Stalin, an anonymous accusation was enough to get someone killed or imprisoned.  How does this process differ from laws in the United States?  Compare the rights of citizens from both countries.

MATILDA BONE by Karen Cushman

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Cushman, Karen.  2000.  MATILDA BONE.  New York: Clarion Books.  ISBN 9780395881569

2. PLOT SUMMARY

"Saliva mucusque!"  Poor orphaned Matilda is removed from her pleasant manor-life under the care of Father Leufredus into the gloomy and unholy likes of Blood and Bone Alley.  Her latin, knowledge, and search for higher things in life are unappreciated and seem to serve no use in her new apprenticeship under Red Peg the Bonesetter.  Matilda is uneasy and fears she will be "snatched by the Devil" if she consorts with her new irreverent community.  She silently scrutinizes everyone's lack of piety and pleads to the saints for their intercession.  

As Matilda observes the hard work and care they give to those in need, she begins to question all that Fr. Leufredus taught her.  Why had he not instructed her on God's love?  After a slow transformation, Matilda recognizes education comes in different forms.  She also realizes her own unique talents and may take to bonesetting like a duck to water after all.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

You'll step out of the Middle Ages dusting off your Sunday kirtle and appreciating your doctor after reading MATILDA BONE.

It's a hard-to-imagine world for 21st Century learners, but Cushman includes every possible detail from milksops to chamber pots.  Readers are transported to 14th Century England and exposed to the ghastly realization of medieval medicine.  No good hygiene or public sanitation here; young Matilda must learn the trade of bonesetting in the medical quarters known as Blood and Bone Alley - where "ordinary people [go] to be bled, dosed, and bandaged," "barber-surgeons down this way and leeches down that." 

The main character is fourteen year old Matilda, a snobbish, stubborn teenager who parrots everything she has learned from Father Leufredus.  She is unyielding in her views and gives no independent opinion of her own until she meets kind, hardworking Red Peg, and a spunky loud-mouthed girl nicknamed Tildy.  Matilda's internal dialogue demonstrating the struggle between what she's learned growing up and her new experiences leads readers to hope in her transformation.

Cushman's details of patron saints and the public's common ideas of incantations, devils, dream interpreters, and the need to balance the humors are accurate to the time and place.  The dialogue (and lexicon) is authentic yet understandable for young readers.  (The audiobook is spoken in an English accent and would offer additional genuineness to this medieval experience. Highly recommended!)  

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

Parents' Choice Award, 2000
School Library Journal Best Books, 2000
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2001

Leslie Carter (VOYA, December 2000 (Vol. 23, No. 5)) 

No one has a better grasp of the flavor of the Middle Ages than Cushman.

Publisher's Weekly, starred review
Students will delight in the many peculiar cures used in Medieval England, such as: "pounded earthworms, ants' eggs, bull urine, the fat of a medium-sized viper, and a pinch of asses' dung" for failing eyesight.  MATILDA BONE will be an excellent addition to the classroom library when studying the Middle Ages.

5. CONNECTIONS

* Follow up with a discussion on some of the biased views portrayed:
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/readers_guides/cushman/matilda.shtml#questions

*Learn more about life in the Middle Ages:
   http://www.learner.org/interactives/middleages/feudal.html
  

*Read other books on the Middle Ages by Karen Cushman such as:

Cushman, Karen.  1995.  THE MIDWIFES APPRENTICE.  New York: Clarion Books.  ISBN 978-0395692295

DEAD END IN NORVELT by Jack Gantos

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gantos, Jack.  2011.  DEAD END IN NORVELT.  New York: Farrar Strauss Giroux.  ISBN 9780374379933

2. PLOT SUMMARY

School is finally out and just as Jack is about to start a "great summer vacation," his mother ruins it! She grounds Jack "for life" after shooting off his father's forbidden Japanese rifle.  Now he must assist a feisty old neighbor, "ancient Miss Volker" in writing obituaries as the last of Norvelt's original homesteaders die off.  Jack's summer of nothing is suddenly filled with death, Hell's Angles, rebel Girl Scouts, a murder mystery, and the fear that he may drown in his own blood.  By the end of the two months, Jack  gains a greater appreciation for his own history as he heeds Miss Volker's warning, "learn [your] history or [you'll] be doomed to dust like one of the Lost Worlds."

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

History oozes out this book like blood from Jack's nose: New Deal homesteads, Eleanor Roosevelt, the conquering of the Aztecs, the English Peasants' Revolt, King Arthur, Cleopatra and countless others.  The history is not over whelming or awkwardly placed, but rather woven into the story by the main characters, young Jack and "ancient Miss Volker," who can't seem to go through any experience without connecting the past to the present.

Readers will be able to identify with Jack's desire to get out of boredom and daydream into adventure.  He's a regular kid who doesn't mind being a "boy slob," gets excited when he gets to drive a car for the first time, and tries to squirm out of all sorts of trouble.  His "little problem" of a hypersensitive bloody nose provides gory, gruesome details that young readers will yearn for.  Jack's only escape from his doomed summer is reading history books and helping Miss Volker, the town medical examiner, nurse, obituary writer, and historian.  Her wit and "crazy old lady" manner is hilarious: "I love it when I get mad!  I feel like I'm ready to take on the world."

Gantos captures the time period well.  The references to homesteaders and their community life of giving a "hand up - not a hand out," people bartering for what they needed, community casseroles, and old time values draw the reader in to the morals of the early 1960s.  Small details of the era are also visible: milk jars delivered to doorsteps, typewriters, references to "Commies" and "Japs," and other war paraphernalia offer plenty of authentic elements to discuss with young readers newly exposed to this era. 

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, 2012
John Newbery Medal, 2012
School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books, 2012
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 2012

The Horn Book, starred review 

"There's more than laugh-out-loud gothic comedy here.  This is a richly layered semi-autobiographical tale, an ode to a time and place, to history and the power of reading."

Publisher's Weekly, starred review
"A bit of autobiography works its way into all of Gantos's work, but he one-ups himself in this wildly entertaining meld of truth and fiction by naming the main character . . . Jacki Gantos."

Jon Scieszka, founder of guysread.com and author of the Spaceheadz seriez

"Nobody can tell a story like Jack Gantos can.  And this is a story like no other.  It's funny.  It's thoughtful.  It's history.  It's weird.  But you don't need me to attempt to describe it.  Get in there and start reading Gantos."

5. CONNECTIONS

* Have students write their own "This Day In History" column.

*Read more about Norvelt, Pennsylvania:
   http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-2D6
  

*Follow along Miss Voker's red pins with a map of Norvelt's 250 family homestead map at
 http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-10BE.

*Learn about Eleanor Roosevelt's life and work as well as her contribution to her husband's New Deal programs:
 http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx:biography=33

Fleming, C. (2005). Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s Remarkable Life. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

BONES: OUR SKELETAL SYSTEM by Seymour Simon

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Simon, Seymour.  1998.  BONES: OUR SKELETAL SYSTEM.  New York: Morrow Junior Books.  ISBN 0688146457

2. PLOT SUMMARY

How many bones are you born with?  What happens to them as you grow?  What makes them hard?  Why do they break?  How do they heal?

All these questions and more are answered in BONES: OUR SKELETAL SYSTEM.  Did you know you have more bones as a baby than you do when you become an adult?   Learn about what happens to the missing bones from the top of your skull to the metatarsals of your feet.  The skeletal system of the body begins with flat plate building blocks that pile up and give bones strength.  Muscles, ligaments, and cartilage provide flexibility to enable you to run, skip, or do a cartwheel.  Learn how your bones connect to one another and how they work with the muscular system to accomplish amazing feats.  You'll learn everything you need to know about your skeleton in BONES: OUR SKELETAL SYSTEM.  

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

As a former science teacher for elementary and secondary school students, Simon offers an easy-to-read, fun, and accurate view of science children can enjoy and understand.  Some of his awards include the Advancement of Science/Subaru Lifetime Achievement Award, the Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for Non-fiction, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Forum on Children's Science Books.

Simon's outstanding book design uses colorful digital images, drawings, and photographs on mostly large black pages to add dramatic presentations of his informational text.  Microscopic enhanced images of lamellae and spongy bone and colored x-rays of fractures and joint replacements provide rare visuals for children and boost their understanding of the scientific content matter. 

The book follows a clear sequence for someone who will read the book from cover to cover.  Simon starts with the building block of bones then moves on to joints, muscles and ligaments.  He then covers the skeleton from head to toe (skull, spine, ribs, limbs) ending with broken bones, fractures, and bone diseases.  The only reference aid provided is a labeled skeleton image at the beginning of the book.  Subtitled categories and a glossary would have been excellent additions for children or adults seeking specific information.

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

Best Children's Books of the Year, 1999; Bank Street College of Education
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children, 1999; National Science Teachers Association

Susan Dove Lempke (Booklist, September 1, 1998 (Vol. 95, No. 1))Simon once again proves his remarkable facility for making complicated science clear and understandable.

Yumiko Bendlin (Children's Literature)
The basic information about the human skeletal system is easy to understand, especially for young readers who are just starting to find out about the human body.  Simon's vivid and colorful computer-enhanced pictures help readers understand what their bones look like, and how they all connect.

5. CONNECTIONS

*Read other books from Simon's series on the human body:
Muscles, The Brain, and The Heart.
* Checkout Simon's webpage at http://www.seymoursimon.com/

* Download Simon's free children's educational app: Science Fun to Go at
http://www.commonsensemedia.org/mobile-app-reviews/science-fun-to-go

THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY) by Barbara Kerley

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kerley, Barbara.  20010.  THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY).  New York: Scholastic Press.  ISBN 9780545125086

2. PLOT SUMMARY

No one truly knows you like your family does.  In THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY), thirteen year old, Olivia "Susy" Clemens tells the true biography of her father, Mark Twain.  According to her:
"People probably thought they were Mark Twain experts. 
But they were wrong, and Susy was 'annoyed.'  Greatly."

Susy, "the busiest bee in the household hive," offers her candid and unapologetic accounts of her father's writings, humor, speeches, love of animals, and physical appearance.  Indeed, Susy includes her Papa's fine and not-so-fine qualities in her biographical account - "and under the pillow - it all went."  That is until her mother discovers her journal and shares it with Papa.  "It was the finest compliment he had ever received" and determines to help Susy by providing any additional information she may need to fill in the blanks.  

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Susy Clemens' real life biography of her father, currently held at the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, inspired Kerley to write this book about Mark Twain.  Kerley studied a microfilm of the manuscript (with notes and comments by Mark Twain) along with excerpts from Twain's autobiography and additional sources to compose her account.  All sources are listed on the inside back cover of THE EXTRAORDINARY MARK TWAIN (ACCORDING TO SUSY).  Kerley's picture book biographies have been praised for their "accuracy, dynamism, and flair" and her account of Mark Twain does not disappoint.

The perspective of two texts running through the pages of this book provide a unique experience.  One is Kerley's account of Susy's idea of her father, and the other is Susy's actual observation of her father with direct quotations from the journal she kept under her bed between 1885 and 1886.  While the book's large graphic pages are filled with full digital color and accounts of Mark Twain's life, mini journal booklets are placed throughout various spreads.  When opened, the Journal mini booklets provide direct accounts from Susy's biography (spelling and grammatical errors included).  So, in the end the audience gets just what "Susy thought they needed: a portrait of the funny, serious, absentminded, cat-loving, billiard-playing, philosophical Papa - the extraordinary Mark Twain."

Reference aides include Author's Notes of Papa and Susy, a detailed How-to for kids interested in writing their own biography of a family member (printable page available at www.Barbarakerley.com/teachers.html), a selected time line of Mark Twain's life, and a full list of sources for each quote included in Kerley's book.  
   

4. AWARDS & REVIEW EXCERPTS

Cybil Award, 2010' '
Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children, 2011

Megan Dingee (Kutztown University Book Review, Spring 2011)
For readers looking for true, honest accounts of the author Mark Twain, this is the book for you. This story is told from perspective of his daughter Susy. It has excerpts of her diary, that include details about her father that cannot be found in other biographies.

Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly)
Kerley and Fotheringham (What to Do About Alice?\n) pair up again to offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse of another famous family. Wanting to present a portrait of her papa beyond that of just humorist and author, Mark Twain’s 13-year-old daughter Susy spent a year chronicling her observations and reflections. While her entire work was published in 1985 (Papa: An Intimate Biography of Mark Twain\n), Kerley contextualizes the teenager’s admiring musings with vivid familial backdrops. 

5. CONNECTIONS

*Read other biography books by Barbara Kerley such as

         WHAT TO DO ABOUT ALICE, illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

*Visit www.Barbarakerley.com/teachers.html to begin writing your own extraordinary biography.