Children's Literature Reviews for Teaching History

Know a great book for teaching social studies that's not yet included here? Click the appropriate link on the left to add it.
Have you used one of these books with students? Leave a comment after the rating about your own experience.

Friday, December 31, 2010

The Judas Field

Title: The Judas Field
Author: Howard Bahr


Topic: The Civil War
Grade Level: 9-12
Students: Many strong readers, just a few struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Charles Laramie (http://www.chucksview.com)

Historically Accurate?
(4) Yes and also includes historical notes, primary sources, etc.
(3) Yes
(2) A few inaccurate or misleading portrayals
(1) Not a bit

Readability?
(4) Everyone - even the most reluctant readers – can get on board
(3) Can be used for a whole class read
(2) Can only be used with a small high-powered reading group
(1) Recommend only to students that love reading

An Engaging Story?
(4) Almost all students will beg to keep reading
(3) Most students will get caught up in the story
(2) Some students will read ahead by mistake
(1) Students will groan when the book is mentioned

Prompts Discussion?
(4) Students will still be talking about it in the hallway
(3) Will prompt discussion about major issues in the past as well as today
(2) Will prompt discussion about the characters and the events in the book
(1) Will not prompt discussion

A Comment from Charles Laramie:
The book The Judas Field deals with the characters' experiences in the Civil War through flashbacks. We hear a lot about PTSD today but what Civil War veterans must have had to deal with can only be imagined. It's likely that thousands drank themselves to death or committed suicide. The book does not in anyway glamorize war. It's much better and more hard hitting than The Red Badge of Courage.

Amazon's Product Description:   
"After returning from the Civil War, Cass Wakefield means to live out the rest of his days in his hometown in Mississippi. But when a childhood friend asks him to accompany her to Franklin, Tennessee, to recover the bodies of her father and brother from the battlefield where they died, Cass cannot refuse. As they make their way north in the company of two of Cass's brothers-in-arms, memories of the war emerge with overwhelming vividness. Before long the group has assembled on the haunted ground of Franklin, where past and present--the legacy of war and the narrow hope of redemption--will draw each of them to a painful reckoning."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the book at Google Books
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Farewell to Manzanar

Title: Farewell to Manzanar
Authors: Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, James D. Houston, James A. Houston

Topic: World War II, Japanese Internment Camps
Audience: Grade 7 or 8
Students: Some strong readers, some struggling/reluctant readers
Rating by: Ann B.

Historically Accurate?
(4) Yes and also includes historical notes, primary sources, etc.*
(3) Yes
(2) A few inaccurate or misleading portrayals
(1) Not a bit
 *This is a first person account.

Readability?
(4) Everyone - even the most reluctant readers – can get on board
(3) Can be used for a whole class read
(2) Can only be used with a small high-powered reading group
(1) Recommend only to students that love reading

An Engaging Story?
(4) Almost all students will beg to keep reading
(3) Most students will get caught up in the story
(2) Some students will read ahead by mistake
(1) Students will groan when the book is mentioned

Prompts Discussion?
(4) Students will still be talking about it in the hallway
(3) Will prompt discussion about major issues in the past as well as today
(2) Will prompt discussion about the characters and the events in the book
(1) Will not prompt discussion

Amazon's Product Description:  
"During World War II a community called Manzanar was hastily created in the high mountain desert country of California, east of the Sierras. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese American internees. One of the first families to arrive was the Wakatsukis, who were ordered to leave their fishing business in Long Beach and take with them only the belongings they could carry. For Jeanne Wakatsuki, a seven-year-old child, Manzanar became a way of life in which she struggled and adapted, observed and grew. For her father it was essentially the end of his life.

At age thirty-seven, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston recalls life at Manzanar through the eyes of the child she was. She tells of her fear, confusion, and bewilderment as well as the dignity and great resourcefulness of people in oppressive and demeaning circumstances. Written with her husband, Jeanne delivers a powerful first-person account that reveals her search for the meaning of Manzanar.

Farewell to Manzanar has become a staple of curriculum in schools and on campuses across the country. Last year the San Francisco Chronicle named it one of the twentieth century"s 100 best nonfiction books from west of the Rockies
."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link Facing History and Ourselves' Study Guide for Farewell to Manzanar
Link to the book at Google Books
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

2011 - YA Historical Fiction Challenge


Reading a wide variety of historical fiction can help us discover new books to use with students. I joined the 2011 Young Adult Historical Fiction Challenge at YABliss.com.  Check it out!

Parallel Journeys

Title: Parallel Journeys
Authors: Eleanor H. Ayer, Helen Waterford, and Alfons Heck
Topic: The Holocaust
Grade Level: 8 - 12
Rating by: Ann B.


Historically Accurate?
(4) Yes and also includes historical notes, primary sources, etc.*
(3) Yes
(2) A few inaccurate or misleading portrayals
(1) Not a bit
 * It is a first-person account.

Readability?
(4) Everyone - even the most reluctant readers – can get on board
(3) Can be used for a whole class read
(2) Can only be used with a small high-powered reading group
(1) Recommend only to students that love reading

An Engaging Story?
(4) Almost all students will beg to keep reading
(3) Most students will get caught up in the story
(2) Some students will read ahead by mistake
(1) Students will groan when the book is mentioned

Prompts Discussion?
(4) Students will still be talking about it in the hallway
(3) Will prompt discussion about major issues in the past as well as today
(2) Will prompt discussion about the characters and the events in the book
(1) Will not prompt discussion

Amazon's Product Description:
"She was a young German Jew. He was an ardent member of the Hitler Youth.
This is the story of their parallel journey through World War II.

Helen Waterford and Alfons Heck were born just a few miles from each other in the German Rhineland. But their lives took radically different courses: Helen's to the Auschwitz extermination camp; Alfons to a high rank in the Hitler Youth.

While Helen was hiding in Amsterdam, Alfons was a fanatic believer in Hitler's "master race." While she was crammed in a cattle car bound for the death camp Auschwitz, he was a teenage commander of frontline troops, ready to fight and die for the glory of Hitler and the Fatherland. This book tells both of their stories, side-by-side, in an overwhelming account of the nightmare that was WWII. The riveting stories of these two remarkable people must stand as a powerful lesson to us all."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to Scholastic's Discussion Guide
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Before We Were Free

Title: Before We Were Free
Author: Julia Alvarez
Topic: Latin America, Dictatorship. Immigration
Used in: Grade 7 (but with a lot of strong readers)
Rating by: Ann B.


Historically Accurate?
(4) Yes and also includes historical notes, primary sources, etc.
(3) Yes
(2) A few inaccurate or misleading portrayals
(1) Not a bit

Readability?
(4) Everyone - even the most reluctant readers – can get on board
(3) Can be used for a whole class read
(2) Can only be used with a small high-powered reading group
(1) Recommend only to students that love reading

An Engaging Story?
(4) Almost all students will beg to keep reading
(3) Most students will get caught up in the story
(2) Some students will read ahead by mistake
(1) Students will groan when the book is mentioned

Prompts Discussion?
(4) Students will still be talking about it in the hallway
(3) Will prompt discussion about major issues in the past as well as today
(2) Will prompt discussion about the characters and the events in the book
(1) Will not prompt discussion

Amazon's Product Description:
"Anita de la Torre never questioned her freedom living in the Dominican Republic. But by her 12th birthday in 1960, most of her relatives have emigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared without a trace, and the government’s secret police terrorize her remaining family because of their suspected opposition of el Trujillo’s dictatorship.

Using the strength and courage of her family, Anita must overcome her fears and fly to freedom, leaving all that she once knew behind.

From renowned author Julia Alvarez comes an unforgettable story about adolescence, perseverance, and one girl’s struggle to be free
."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Julia Alvarez
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Warriors Don't Cry

Title: Warriors Don't Cry 
Author: Melba Pattillo Beals
Topic: Civil Rights Movement
Used with: Grade 8
Rating by: Ann B.

Historically Accurate?
(4) Yes and also includes historical notes, primary sources, etc.
(3) Yes
(2) A few inaccurate or misleading portrayals
(1) Not a bit

Readability?
(4) Everyone - even the most reluctant readers – can get on board
(3) Can be used for a whole class read*
(2) Can only be used with a small high-powered reading group
(1) Recommend only to students that love reading

*My struggling readers were able to just focus on a few key chapters and that worked out fine.

An Engaging Story?
(4) Almost all students will beg to keep reading
(3) Most students will get caught up in the story
(2) Some students will read ahead by mistake
(1) Students will groan when the book is mentioned

Prompts Discussion?
(4) Students will still be talking about it in the hallway
(3) Will prompt discussion about major issues in the past as well as today
(2) Will prompt discussion about the characters and the events in the book
(1) Will not prompt discussion

From Amazon's product description:
"An innocent teenager.
An unexpected hero.  
In 1957, Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, Melba was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School.
Throughout her harrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mob's rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamite, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But through it all, she acted with dignity and courage, and refused to back down.
This is her remarkable story."
 
Link to its reviews on Amazon
Link to the author's website: Melba Pattillo Beals
Buy this book from your local book store via indiebound.org

Rating Rubric

 Do you have an opinion about which historical fiction novels are best-suited for the classroom?  

Assess a book according to this rubric by clicking "Rate a Historical Fiction Novel" at the top left.
 
I'll post your ratings so they can be easily located by grade level, topic, readability, etc., and I'll link to reviews of the book in other places and the author's website.

Rating Rubric

Historically Accurate?
(4) Yes and also includes historical notes, primary sources, etc.
(3) Yes
(2) A few inaccurate or misleading portrayals
(1) Not a bit

Readability?
(4) Everyone - even the most reluctant readers – can get on board
(3) Can be used for a whole class read
(2) Can only be used with a small high-powered reading group
(1) Recommend only to students that love reading

An Engaging Story?
(4) Almost all students will beg to keep reading
(3) Most students will get caught up in the story
(2) Some students will read ahead by mistake
(1) Students will groan when the book is mentioned

Prompts Discussion?
(4) Students will still be talking about it in the hallway
(3) Will prompt discussion about major issues in the past as well as today
(2) Will prompt discussion about the characters and the events in the book
(1) Will not prompt discussion