Rating Historical Fiction for the Classroom

New Historical Fiction: MAY B.

2012-01-11T12:03:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, debut novelist and former teacher Caroline Starr Rose published May B., a historical novel-in-verse for middle grades, and it's getting fabulous reviews...

Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2011:"If May is a brave, stubborn fighter, the short, free-verse lines are one-two punches in this Laura Ingalls Wilder–inspired ode to the human spirit."

Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, December 5, 2011:"Writing with compassion and a wealth of evocative details, Rose offers a memorable heroine and a testament to the will to survive."

Here's the description of May B.:

I've known it since last night:
It's been too long to expect them to return.
Something's happened.

May is helping out on a neighbor's Kansas prairie homestead—just until Christmas, says Pa. She wants to contribute, but it's hard to be separated from her family by 15 long, unfamiliar miles. Then the unthinkable happens: May is abandoned. Trapped in a tiny snow-covered sod house, isolated from family and neighbors, May must prepare for the oncoming winter. While fighting to survive, May's memories of her struggles with reading at school come back to haunt her. But she's determined to find her way home again. Caroline Starr Rose's fast-paced novel, written in beautiful and riveting verse, gives readers a strong new heroine to love.

For more info and giveaways, check out:

Caroline's website (www.carolinestarrrose.com) where she's created a whole section for teachers, including a free downloadable study guide for May B., or follow Caroline's blog.

You can also buy May B at Amazon or Indiebound.

It definitely sounds like a book worth checking out for your classroom (and if anyone has already used it with students I'd love for you to rate it for the blog.)

5 Fabulous Books: Are You Familiar w/ Them?

2011-08-27T14:19:00.004-04:00

There are so many excellent historical fiction books out there, but there are a few, in particular, I'd love to add to this collection. If you are a teacher or librarian who has used any of the following books with students, please click on Rate a Historical Fiction Novel. It should only take a minute to answer the multiple choice questions.

Here are five books I'd love to receive ratings for:

1) REVOLUTION by Jennifer Donnelly; Topic: The French Revolution

2) THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak; Topic: The Holocaust

3) STORM IN THE BARN by Matt Phelan; Topic: The Dust Bowl (Teacher Resources)

4) MOON OVER MANIFEST by Clare Vanderpool; Topic: Everyday Life in the 1930's (Teacher Resources)

5) RADIUM HALOS by Shelley Stout; Topic: Industrial Revolution, Workers Rights (Teacher Resources)

Of course, if you've used another book that students have enjoyed, please feel free to rate that one, too. The more we share what works, the better off our students will be.

May the beginning of the school year go well for all of you!

Addie Slaughter, The Girl Who Met Geronimo

2011-05-03T06:22:00.000-04:00

Title: Addie Slaughter, The Girl Who Met Geronimo

Author: Susan L. Krueger with Dr. Reba Wells Grandrud

Topic: Westward Expansion

Grade Level: 4th Grade

Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or reluctant readers

Rating by: Patti Johannsen from Arizona

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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?

____Too mature

_X__Just right

____Too simplistic

A Comment from Patti Johannsen:

Bravo! I read ADDIE SLAUGHTER, THE GIRL WHO MET GERONIMO. I liked the cover. It says "authentic". I was delighted with the clarity and simplicity of language. I admired the grit demonstrated by the ranch family, and the kind, generous spirit of these early settlers of Arizona. As a 5th grade teacher, I was always on the hunt for books like Addie Slaughter to supplement Social Studies topics. They were hard to find.

Amazon's Product Description:

Before most of today's children have spent even one day on their own without a caretaker, young Addie Slaughter braved Indian attacks, outlaws, smallpox, earthquakes and blizzards in Susan L. Krueger's historical chapter book, Addie Slaughter: The Girl Who Met Geronimo. In first-person narrative, Krueger expertly speaks for Addie Slaughter, daughter of John Horton Slaughter, a Texas Ranger, the Sheriff who tamed Cochise County and an early settler of the San Bernardino Valley in the late 1800s. The adventurous, sometimes heartbreaking, story tells of Addie's trek across the Wild West from Texas to Arizona to Oregon, eventually settling on the Slaughter Ranch near the Arizona-Mexico border. Along the way, her mother dies; she narrowly escapes a stagecoach robbery; her grandfather is rescued when their adobe ranch buildings collapse in an earthquake; her father's earlobe is shot off; and Addie meets the fierce warrior Geronimo.

"I wanted to show young readers that history is anything but boring," explains Krueger a teacher for 32 years before retiring in 2000. "When told with passion and realism, history is exciting, inspiring and captivating."

Krueger's book is based on actual stories told to Adeline Greene Parks by her mother, Addie Slaughter, and in-depth interviews with Arizona Culturekeeper Dr. Reba Wells Grandrud, the John H. Slaughter Ranch historian. Most of the book's photographs come from Slaughter family albums and the collection of Dr. Grandrud. Though retired, Krueger works now as much as she ever has. She joined the Phoenix Art Museum docent program and is currently their research chair. In addition to writing research papers, she gives slide show talks and is available for classroom visits to talk about writing, history, art and her book.

Link to Reviews on Amazon

Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Interview with Chris Eboch

2011-04-26T16:18:00.001-04:00

Today, I'm pleased to offer an interview with author Chris Eboch about the inspiration and work behind her novel The Well of Sacrifice, set amid the Mayan Civilization. Ms. Eboch has also recently released a new historical fiction novel about Ancient Egypt called The Eyes of the Pharaoh. Her website (www.chriseboch.com) is full of great resources for teachers and is definitely worth checking out.

*** Suzanne Borchers did a great review of The Well of Sacrifice, which can be found here.***

What inspired you to write The Well of Sacrifice?

I've always loved foreign cultures and ancient history, perhaps because I lived in Saudi Arabia between the ages of five and 11 and got to travel a lot. After college, I spent a summer touring Mexico, Guatemala and Belize with a friend. Mayan culture fascinated me, and so did one of the great questions -- why did the Mayan civilization collapse before the Spanish arrived?

I didn't start The Well of Sacrifice for a few years, but when I decided to write a novel, I began with the image of a girl being thrown into a Mayan sacrificial well and surviving. I loved revisiting that region in my writing, diving into the past to imagine what Mayan culture might have been like over 1000 years ago, and creating a character strong enough to fight against great odds.

What sort of research did you do to help you write it?

Traveling to many Mayan archaeological sites certainly helped immerse me in that ancient world. Even though the great cities have decayed, I could get a feel for the scale of the architecture, the smells and sounds of the jungle, and much more. I took pages of notes while there, even though I wasn't yet planning to write a book about it. I did more research before and during the writing process. I was living in New York City when I wrote The Well of Sacrifice, so I had access to great libraries (this was before the Internet). I also visited museum exhibits, where I picked up additional useful details, like what a cocoa pod looks like.

What was the most difficult part of writing it?

This was the first novel-length work I'd written, so I wasn't sure what I was doing. I originally thought the book would open with the scene of a girl being thrown into the sacrificial well. But I kept deciding I needed to start earlier. Eventually, my "opening scene" got moved to the end of the book. The whole thing was a learning process, so it's amazing that it actually turned into a publishable book. I got lucky!

What was your favorite part of the writing it?

Even now, just thinking about the book reminds me of the sights, sounds and smells of Latin America. As a reader, I've always loved the power of literature to take me to different places and times. This book allowed me to do that as well, and to play the part of an amazing heroine. All my writing lets me get into the heads of other people, whether it's the 13-year-old boy narrating my Haunted series, or the 30-year-old history professor/treasure hunter in my first book for adults, Rattled. I like being able to explore what it might be like to be someone else for a while. I can have adventures as someone else, from the safety and comfort of my own home.

What are some children's books that you've read recently and really enjoyed?

I've been reading more adult fiction, since I'm now writing romantic suspense for adults under the name Kris Bock. I did recently read the YA novel iDrakula, by Becca Black, since I was speaking on a panel with her at a convention. I was impressed by her ability to convey so much primarily through the character's text messages.

Some time ago I read Cabinet of Wonders by Marie Rutkoski, a fantasy set in medieval Bohemia, and I'd like to get back and read the rest in that series. The Stravaganza series by Mary Hoffman had great drama along with an interesting look into an alternate version of medieval Italy. The Shamer's Daughter, by Lene Kaaberbol, had intense action and beautiful writing. That's another where I need to read the rest of the series.

You just published a historical fiction book about Ancient Egypt, called The Eyes of Pharaoh. Can you say a bit about what it is about?

The Eyes of Pharaoh is a mystery set in ancient Egypt -- 1177 BC, to be exact. The book stars Seshta, a 13-year-old temple dancer, and the two boys who are her best friends, Reya and Horus. When Reya hints that Egypt is in danger from foreign nomads, Seshta and Horus don’t take him seriously. How could anyone challenge Egypt? Then Reya disappears. Seshta and Horus are determined to find him, and in the process they start to uncover a plot against Egypt. They spy on merchants, soldiers, and royalty, and start to suspect even The Eyes of Pharaoh, the powerful head of the secret police.

This book, for ages nine and up, draws on real history and touches on some issues still relevant today, such as immigration and the importance of each individual speaking up when they see something wrong. Interested readers can read the first chapter at www.chriseboch.com or on Amazon, where they can buy the book for $6.99 paperback or $2.99 e-book. The e-book is also available for the Nook.

The Well of Sacrifice

2011-04-15T09:10:00.001-04:00

Title: The Well of Sacrifice
Author: Chris Eboch
Topic: The Mayan Civilization
Grade Level: 4 - 8
Students: Mostly strong readers with just a few struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Suzanne Borchers from New Mexico

***An interview with Chris Eboch can be found here.***

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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Suzanne Borcher:
I used this book with my Grades 4/5 gifted students for language arts. We delved into the Mayan civilization, and both read the book in class and for homework. The students became immersed in the story, and answered higher level questions about character development, plot, and background. The students asked to dramatize their favorite scenes, which they wrote and worked on in small groups. The dramas were totally enjoyable. They also asked to write an Epilogue to the book. We culminated our reading the book by inviting the author, Chris Eboch, to a celebration of chocolate, oral reports, and discussion. I highly recommend this book for its depth and its readability. I definitely will use it again!

Amazon's Product Description:
Eveningstar Macaw lives in a glorious Mayan city in the ninth century. When the king falls ill and dies, the city begins to crumble. An evil high priest, Great Skull Zero, orders the sacrifice of those who might become king, including Eveningstar's beloved brother. Suspicious of the High Priest's motives, Eveningstar attempts to save her brother, thus becoming an acknowledged enemy of the High Priest. Condemned to be thrown into the Well of Sacrifice, Eveningstar must find a way not only to save her own life but to rescue her family and her city from the tyrannical grasp of Great Skull Zero. Set against the vivid background of everyday life at the height of the Mayan golden age and illustrated with striking black-and-white paintings, Eveningstar's candid, gripping, and not-for-the-faint-of-heart account of the last days of a great city will have readers at the edge of their seats.

Link to reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Chris Eboch (which links to lesson plans designed to accompany The Well of Sacrifice)
Preview The Well of Sacrifice at Google Books
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Impatient with Desire

2011-04-01T08:00:00.000-04:00

Title: Impatient with Desire

Author: Gabrielle Burton

Category: Historical Fiction

Topic: The Donner Party, Westward Expansion

Grade Level: Upper high school (11th or 12th grade) and college

Students: Mostly strong readers with just a few struggling or reluctant readers

Rating by: Andrew J. Peters from New York

(Andrew's extended review of this book is available at his website: http://andrewjpeterswrites.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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?

_X__Too mature

____Just right

____Too simplistic

Andrew J. Peters' Review:

In the spring of 1846, George Donner led his family and eighty pioneers on a trail of opportunity from Illinois to California. They made it as far as the Sierra Nevada mountains but were trapped by a snow storm. The mission turned desperate, and a horrifying legend was born.

Gabrielle Burton's IMPATIENT WITH DESIRE is an intimate re-telling of the journey of the ill-fated Donner Party. The story is told primarily through the letters and journal entries of Tamsen Donner, a schoolteacher and wife to George Donner, during the time they awaited rescue.

Burton is clear in labeling her work as a fictional account. But it is based on nearly forty years of her research, a vigorous sideline of the author, which included a family vacation with her husband and five daughters to retrace the steps of the Donner trail.

Burton, who has garnered praise for her portraits of women (her debut novel Heartbreak Hotel) and contributed extensively to feminist discourse over the past four decades, casts Tamsen Donner as a compelling heroine. Tamsen is self-assured, well-educated, and an independent thinker. She prefers collecting botanical specimens for her students to baking pies, she asks her pastor to remove the words "to obey" in her marriage vows, and she has clever observations on gender inequality.

Tamsen was the daughter of a Sea Captain, who encouraged her dream of traveling, at a time when women were expected to stay close to the home. She was heartbroken by the death of her first husband and one of her sons, but she ventured beyond a life of widowhood to find happiness in a second marriage. She was fiercely devoted to the promotion of her daughters, accepting the brand of unspeakable inhumanity so that they might survive. Living under the authority of men, she emerges as much (or more so) as the leader who rallied her counterparts to take the chance to better their lives, and she stewarded morale and comforted them when grief and fear left them broken

As such, the book will provoke good classroom discussions about the status of women and men in the 1800's (and beyond), and it provides a multi-layered heroine for young readers—female and male—to get behind.

The narrative never strays from Tamsen's point of view, but she is a circumspect and reliable storyteller. While stranded with her family at a makeshift camp, she records the daily life and the history, which gives readers a vivid picture of pioneer life. Like The Diary of Anne Frank, there are heavy themes here—starvation, many deaths, and of course the inevitable cannibalism—and they are explored frankly, realistically, but with a great deal of humanity. The story poses the question: what would you do to survive?—a curious, provocative topic for young readers, I think. The decisions made by different party members can be debated as well as points of view on the story: is it a cautionary tale about the price of ambition? or is it a story about human resilience in the face of desperate circumstances?

In terms of historical accuracy, there are Author's Notes at the end that clarify what is drawn from historical records, and what came from the author's imagination. Largely, it's a story that seeks to be as authentic as possible. The principal liberties are taken to bring to life Tamsen Donner, whose journal was never found. Ms. Burton portrays Tamsen as an early women's liberationist of her time, in the mold of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, so the book would work well as a supplement to studies of the early women's movement as well.

I think the book is appropriate and useful for upper high school grades and college.

*************************************

Link to reviews on Amazon

Link to review from NPR's Fresh Air

Link to the website of the author: Gabrielle Burton

Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Leon's Story

2011-03-25T07:20:00.000-04:00

Title: Leon's Story
Author: Leon Walter Tillage
Category: First Person Account

Topic: The Jim Crow Era, Sharecropping
Grade Level: 5-6
Students: Mostly struggling or reluctant readers with just a few strong readers
Rating by: Veronica in Vermont
(In Veronica's comment below, she offers excellent suggestions for how to connect Leon's Story with the lives of students today.)

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.

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

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
*This would also work well as a read aloud in an elementary classroom.

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Veronica:
This is a deeply moving autobiography. His personal accounts will never leave your memory. To help put his story into context we created a timeline that included the Constitution (to clarify who had rights and freedom?), the slave trade, Civil War, Emancipation, Jim Crow south, voting rights, the Civil rights movement (MLK, Rosa Parks), and connected it to present day with our school bullying/harassment policies.

It invites rich discussion and exploration of the ideals upon which our country was founded, Abe Lincoln, freedom rides, sharecropping, the separate but equal policies of the Jim Crow South, geography, perspective, "Are certain people better than others? What criteria would you use?", and presents a myriad of opportunities to make text to self connections.

Amazon's Product Description:
"Leon Tillage grew up a sharecropper's son in a small town in North Carolina. Told in vignettes, Leon's story is one of racial prejudice and hatred. It is also the story of a strong family and the love that bound them together."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to Quizzes and Activities about Leon's Story by EduHelper
Article about the author Leon Walter Tillage in his hometown paper, The Baltimore Sun
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano

2011-03-17T12:50:00.000-04:00

Title: The Kidnapped Prince: The Life of Olaudah Equiano
Author: Olaudah Equiano and Ann Cameron
Category: First Person Account

Topic: Slavery
Grade Level: 4-8
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or 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
*It is a first person account.

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

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
* I used excerpts, rather than the book in its entirety.

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Ann B.: When teaching about slavery, it was important to me to make sure my students remembered that behind the word "slaves" were hundreds of thousands of individuals -- real people who were forced to live a nightmare. This is a man's account of his life as a boy in Africa until he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. I used excerpts from it to teach about the slave trade because it begins with his normal childhood and helped keep a human face on all the horrors people had to undergo. Olaudah Equiano, the author, did not have a typical experience after arriving in North American (gaining the opportunity to learn to read and write and then publish a book was certainly unusual), so I usually concentrate on the earlier parts of his life in the classroom.

Amazon's Product Description:
Kidnapped at the age of 11 from his home in Benin, Africa, Olaudah Equiano spent the next 11 years as a slave in England, the U.S., and the West Indies, until he was able to buy his freedom. His autobiography, published in 1789, was a bestseller in its own time. Cameron has modernized and shortened it while remaining true to the spirit of the original. It's a gripping story of adventure, betrayal, cruelty, and courage. In searing scenes, Equiano describes the savagery of his capture, the appalling conditions on the slave ship, the auction, and the forced labor. . . . Kids will read this young man's story on their own; it will also enrich curriculum units on history and on writing.

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Preview it at Google Books
Link to the website of the author: Ann Cameron (includes discussion questions for The Kidnapped Prince)

Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Interview with Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

2011-02-25T07:45:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to offer an interview with the gracious Kristin O'Donnell Tubb, author of Selling Hope (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan 2010), Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different (Delacorte/Random House 2008) and the forthcoming The 13th Sign (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan 2012).

**Joyce Lansky's recent review of Selling Hope for this site can be found here.**

What inspired you to write Selling Hope?
Selling Hope was one of those happy accidents that came out of researching another project. I was writing a kid’s activity book about space for Dalmatian Press (called Space: An A+ Workbook), and Halley’s Comet was part of that research. I discovered that Earth passed through the tail of the comet on May 18 & 19, 1910. The world’s top scientists promised that no harm would result, but fear ran rampant, and people began prophesying the end of days. Others cashed in on that fear, selling everything from lead umbrellas to gas masks to comet pills. When I read those words – comet pills – I knew it was a story I wanted to tell.

What sort of research did you do to help you write it?
I researched books, magazines, newspapers, classified ads, advertisements, websites – anything about Chicago and vaudeville and Halley’s Comet circa 1910 that I could find, basically. I also watched YouTube videos of Buster Keaton to get his movements and facial expressions down pat. (And yes, I consider myself very lucky to have a job in which watching YouTube constitutes “research.” :)) I keep my research in a Word document, but also print out a copy and cut and paste them (literally – with scissors and tape) to 3x5 notecards. This helps me organize both the story outline and the items by topic.

What was the most difficult part of writing the book?
Making Hope McDaniels a likeable character was probably my biggest challenge. In the story, Hope makes some questionable choices (the girl is a con artist, after all!). It’s a balancing act, creating a character who is pulling off a hoax of that magnitude, but who also gains our sympathy.

What was your favorite part of the writing process?
Research is likely my favorite part of the writing process. We humans do so many heartbreaking, breathtaking things to and for each other. Those stories are out there, and uncovering them is a little akin to Indiana Jones unearthing his treasures! But here, I feel I should always add a caveat: the story is always the character’s journey first, so the history must be tied to that story arc, above all. If that doesn’t happen, then you’re just tossing in bits of history to show you’ve done your research, which doesn’t make for very interesting reading.

What were some of your favorite books as a child?
My favorite book as a child was – and still is – A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle. I also loved Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books, especially the first one, Little House in the Big Woods. (Oh, how I longed for an attic full of pumpkins in which to play dolls!) I adored Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume, The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Patterson, John D. Fitzgerald’s Great Brain books, and Donald J. Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown series.

************************

Link to this site's recent review of Selling Hope

Link to the website of Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

Link to Amazon's page for Ms. O'Donnell Tubb's earlier book: Autumn Winifred Oliver Things Different

Link to a Discussion Guide for Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different

Selling Hope

2011-02-19T11:43:00.002-05:00

Title: Selling Hope
Author: Kristin O'Donnell Tubb

**An interview with Kristin O'Donnell Tubb can be found here.**

Category: Historical Fiction
Topic: Vaudeville, Life in the Early 1900's
Grade Level: 5
Students: Mostly strong readers with just a few struggling or reluctant readers

Rating by: Joyce Lansky from Tennessee

Joyce is a teacher and writer. Check out her blog at: http://joycelansky.blogspot.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

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

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
* This would work well as a read aloud, too.

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Joyce Lansky:
"I enjoyed getting a peek of life in 1910 through the eyes of Hope McDaniels, the thirteen-year-old main character of "Selling Hope" by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb. In her book, "Coins," or people of Chicago, line up to buy flour coated mints passed off as anti-comet pills that will protect the user from dying from the gases given off from the tail of Haley's comet. This book uses real newspaper headlines to show the lead up to this historic non-event while at the same time, allowing the reader a glimpse of the Vaudeville life along with real stars such as Buster Keaton. The writing is beautiful as is the story of this young girl and her relationship with her father."

Amazon's Product Description:
"It’s May 1910, and Halley’s Comet is due to pass thru the Earth’s atmosphere. And thirteen-year-old Hope McDaniels and her father are due to pass through their hometown of Chicago with their ragtag vaudeville troupe. Hope wants out of vaudeville, and longs for a “normal” life—or as normal as life can be without her mother, who died five years before. Hope sees an opportunity: She invents “anti-comet” pills to sell to the working-class customers desperate for protection. Soon, she’s joined by a fellow troupe member, young Buster Keaton, and the two of them start to make good money. And just when Hope thinks she has all the answers, she has to decide: What is family? Where is home?"

Link to reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Interview with Liza Ketchum

2011-02-11T04:56:00.001-05:00

Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing author Liza Ketchum about the process of writing historical fiction. Among other things, Ms. Ketchum discusses the wide variety of primary sources she used in her research for Newsgirl. It is clear that she dove into the research process determined to accurately recreate San Francisco during the Gold Rush, and her persistence paid off. To me, reading Newsgirl was like taking a time machine into the past, just as she intended.

***The review of Newsgirl is here.***

In regards to Newsgirl, what was your favorite part of the writing process?

"I love doing research for my historical novels. When readers open my book, I want them to feel they are traveling in a time machine. When they step out into the past, I hope they enter a world that is historically accurate. For this reason, I think of myself as a “research detective” as I track down old diaries, letters, newspapers, and images to help me create this historical world. When I wrote Newsgirl, I had already written three other books set during that era, so I had a lot of information at hand. But I decided that the city of San Francisco would be like a character itself, in the story. Finding out more about that city’s past was the most exciting part of my journey with the novel. I had the chance to visit San Francisco during the research phase, and I met a wonderful librarian there, at the Society for California Pioneers, who gathered incredible primary source material for me. I felt that I had “struck gold,” like a California 49-er, when she unearthed documents, old photographs, city directories, maps, and diaries that helped me bring the past to life."

What was the most difficult part of the writing process?

"The most difficult part of the writing process, for me, is usually the first draft. Newsgirl was a little easier than some books, because I’d had the idea for the story for years, ever since I learned that newsboys, in Gold Rush California, could make more money than their parents when they sold East coast newspapers on the street. But figuring out the plot is always a challenge, and it takes me many, many drafts—and many plot changes—before a book is ready to send to my agent."

What are some of your favorite children's books?

"I read so widely that it’s hard for me to name a few favorite books. I’m lucky to teach in a graduate program, at Hamline University, with a number of wonderful colleagues who also write for young readers, and I always read their work with pleasure. When I was a young reader myself, I loved The Secret Garden, Charlotte’s Web, The Back of the North Wind, Stuart Little, and The Witch of Blackbird Pond, which my mother read to me when I had the measles—and had to stay in a darkened room for days. My mom sat in my closet and read to me through a crack in the door. The book seemed magical to me for that reason."

Can you tell us a little about what you've been working on recently?

"I have just finished a draft of a new, contemporary YA that takes place in Boston and Nova Scotia in 2004. The narrator is a 17-year-old boy whose father dies suddenly; a mystery in the story leads him to search for a missing half brother he learns about after his dad’s death. The book also has a strong baseball theme (I’m a Red Sox fan!). Next I need to finish revising a book about vaudeville. The novel begins in Brattleboro, VT, in 1913, and moves around the country as the narrator follows her dream to go onstage and become a singer. Stay tuned!"

********************************************

I'd also like to share a few of the FAQ's Ms. Ketchum includes on her website because they provide even more insight into the research process.

FAQ: How much of your story is true? How much is invented?

"While Amelia and her family are fictional characters, the story’s setting and many events are based on facts. When I write about the past, I imagine that I am taking my readers for a ride in a time machine. As they step out onto San Francisco’s streets in 1851, I want them to smell the city’s gritty smells, to feel the bustle of activity, hear the sounds, and taste the food. I want my story to help a time traveler experience the touch of the wind, the swirling dust, and the cold fog. And I hope my readers will see the city’s landscape and its buildings as they walk in the shoes of the people who came from all over the world in search of gold."

"I have based San Francisco’s layout— with its shops, wharves, and meeting places— on the maps, directories, newspaper stories, and first person accounts from that period. The stories that Amelia sells to the papers are invented, but the Alta California was a real paper, as was the Sonora Herald, the first newspaper in the southern mines. Dr. Gunn, who appears in the novel, was a real person and the editor of the Herald. The Boston headlines that Amelia calls out are actual headlines from Eastern papers of that time.

FAQ: Where do you find the historical details for your books?

"I do much of my research in libraries and historical societies. I am lucky to live in the Boston area, home to many wonderful research libraries. As I wrote Newsgirl, I searched for letters, diaries, and journals written by people who went out to California during the Gold Rush, and I looked for information about native California Indians and Mexican Californios who lived there before the rush began. I also studied maps and drawings and—of course—I read newspapers from that time period."

"Old newspapers are usually available on microfilm, which is difficult to read and hard on the eyes. Once in a while, I’m lucky enough to read an original paper from that time. If the paper is old and fragile, I might wear plastic gloves. I have to be careful not to tear the pages as I turn them. I study the news stories so that I know about the daily events that were happening as my story unfolded. Sometimes I can use those events—as I did with the fire—to help with my plot. And I also read the ads. The ads help me understand how people dressed, what foods they ate, where they shopped, and what was for sale in the stores. The ads gave me important information about the city’s restaurants, hotels, and businesses, and about the wharves where ships came in from around the world. When I wrote about Amelia and Patrick’s balloon ride, I wanted to describe that part of California as they saw it from the air—but I couldn’t take a balloon ride myself! Instead, I logged onto Google Earth, and I was able to zoom in on San Francisco and plot a path the balloon might take as the wind blew it to Sonora. I then “flew” that route, using the mouse on my computer to take me from west to east. I could imagine what Amelia and Patrick might have seen as I soared over the hills, valleys, and rivers, flying lower than an airplane, but higher than a bird. Try it yourself! It’s a great ride."

Newsgirl

2011-02-11T04:53:00.002-05:00

Title: Newsgirl
Author: Liza Ketchum
Category: Historical Fiction

***An interview with Liza Ketchum is posted here.***

Topic: The California Gold Rush
Grade Level: 5-6
Students: Mostly strong readers with just a few struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Scott Cole from Vermont

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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Scott Cole:
Fun story that gave a real feel for the early days in California. VT readers love the book- it made our DCF- Dorthy Canfield Fisher -list for the 30 best books for kids this year!

Amazon's Product Description:
"It’s the spring of 1851 and San Francisco is booming. Twelve-year-old Amelia Forrester has just arrived with her family and they are eager to make a new life in Phoenix City. But the mostly male town is not that hospitable to females and Amelia decides she’ll earn more money as a boy. Cutting her hair and donning a cap, she joins a gang of newsboys, selling Eastern newspapers for a fortune. And that’s just the beginning of her adventures. Participating in the biggest news stories of the day, Amelia is not a girl to let life pass her by—even and especially when it involves danger!"

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Liza Ketchum
Link to Newsgirl's Facebook Page (which has a link to a travelogue done by the Barbara Bell at the San Jose Examiner that follows Amelia's journey)
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Interview with Irene Latham

2011-02-10T11:18:00.001-05:00

I've always been an advocate for teaching critical thinking in the classroom. It empowers students when you remind them that words don't just magically appear on the pages of a book -- that instead each word is the result of a real person putting into practice the same skills students are learning in class (researching, asking questions, reading, writing, and revising). Giving students a glimpse of the work that goes into writing historical fiction can give meaning to their own work.

Today, I'm excited to offer you an interview with the fabulous Irene Latham, author of Leaving Gee's Bend. Her answers highlight the incredible love and dedication she invested in writing this story.

***The review of Leaving Gee's Bend is posted here.***

What inspired you to write Leaving Gee's Bend?

"I just watched the movie "The Social Network," and one thing I love about it is how it shows that an idea is inspired by countless interactions and impulses that somehow come together to make The Big Idea. It's such a mixed-up mess of string that it's virtually impossible to untangle. It's the same for this book. But I can tell you that the most immediate impulse for LEAVING GEE'S BEND was a trip my husband took to New York City, where we waited in line for two hours on the last day of the exhibit to see The Quilts of Gee's Bend at the Whitney Museum. I was overwhelmed by the colors and the textures and the voices of the women (as I first heard them on a documentary film that the museum had playing in another room). But before I viewed the exhibit were years and years going to sleep to the hum of my mother's sewing machine and hours and hours listening to my husband's grandmother (the real-life Ludelphia) tell the stories behind the many quilts she created."

What sort of research did you do to help you write it?

"Fortunately for me the history of Gee's Bend has been well-documented, in part due to the work of the amazing historians behind the quilt exhibit, and in part due to a certain president named Franklin Delano Roosevelt who hired photographers to document how awful conditions were in Gee's Bend during the 1930's so that there would be photographic proof of how his government housing affected positive change for the area. I spent a lot of time with the personal histories recorded by the women, and I spent hundreds of hours listening to recordings. This auditory research was essential for capturing Ludelphia's voice. I visited Gee's Bend, of course, and spent many hours and Wilcox County Public Library perusing microfiche of 1932 and 1933 issues of the Wilcox Progressive Era (local newspaper)."

What was the most difficult part of writing the book?

"The most difficult part for me was getting over my fear of writing a book in the voice of a 1932 African American girl growing up in poverty when I, the author, am none of those things. The weight of accountability is trememdous whenever one writes historical fiction, and especially so when one chooses to write outside one's culture. I just really wanted to get it right. I almost bailed out at one point, but an amazing writer by the name of Julius Lester helped set me back on course. (I blogged about that experience here.) Ultimately I had to keep reminding myself that I approached this story with love, what made me want to write it was love. And whatever the culture, we all feel the same feelings. I had to trust that the emotional experience of being human would carry the story."

What was your favorite part of the writing process?

"There are a couple of moments that stand out to me. The first happened when I was still casting around for the best way to tell this story and I, just for fun, decided to switch from third person pov to first person -- actually "owning" Ludelphia's voice. And that's when the magic happened. That's when Ludelphia really sprang to life with all her sassy goodness. The second moment that stands out is when I first saw the cover concept. It was an emotional moment for me -- I thought, there she is, Ludelphia, with that foot up in the air, actually doing it -- leaving Gee's Bend. I thought the cover was perfect, and I was so moved by the fact that the art department -- people I didn't even know -- read my book and saw the girl I saw. It was the first of many, many special connections I've made with readers since the book's release."

What were some of your favorite books as a child?

"It should come as no surprise that I loved historical fiction, especially Little House on the Prairie. I really can't think of another series that has influenced as many writers. I also loved horse books like the Black Stallion series and adventure books, and I was a sucker for anything Arthurian. My main requirement for a book was that it be LONG. I loved sinking into stories that went on and on and on."

Ms. Latham's most recent book, a collection of poems entitled The Color of Lost Rooms was just released last month.

Leaving Gee's Bend

2011-02-10T11:09:00.003-05:00

Title: Leaving Gee's Bend

Author: Irene Latham

***An interview with Irene Latham is posted here.***

Topics: The Great Depression,

The Jim Crow Era

Grade Level: 6

Students: Used with a group of gifted students

Rating by: Karen Narro from Alabama

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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?

____Too mature

_X__Just right

____Too simplistic

A Comment from Karen Narro:

We studied the history and visited the town of Gees Bend since we are a school in Birmingham, AL. We are just about 120 miles from Gee's Bend and we had a wonderful experience. We met with the ladies who made the quilts famous and inspired Irene Latham to write the novel. I enjoyed so much the language and the voice that she found for her main character, Ludelphia. In our classroom we ate pound cake when Ludelphia did, had a coke with she had her first one, brought dirt home from the roads in Gee's Bend and gathered acorns and cattails to welcome the beautiful images into our classroom. I can't remember when I've enjoyed teaching a book so much.

Amazon's Product Review:

"Ludelphia Bennett may be blind in one eye, but she can still put in a good stitch. Ludelphia sews all the time, especially when things go wrong.

But when Mama goes into labor early and gets deathly ill, it seems like even quilting won’t help. That’s when Ludelphia decides to do something drastic—leave Gee’s Bend for the very first time. Mama needs medicine that can only be found miles away in Camden. But that doesn’t stop Ludelphia. She just puts one foot in front of the other.

What ensues is a wonderful, riveting and sometimes dangerous adventure. Ludelphia weathers each challenge in a way that would make her mother proud, and ends up saving the day for her entire town.

Set in 1932 and inspired by the rich quilting history of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, Leaving Gee’s Bend is a delightful, satisfying story of a young girl facing a brave new world."

Link to Reviews on Amazon

Link to the website for the book: Leaving Gee's Bend

Link to Irene Latham's Website (includes discussion guides, teaching activities, etc.)

Link to Irene Latham's Blog

Preview the book at: Google Books

Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Link to Ms. Latham's most recent book of poetry:

The Color of Lost Rooms (just released in January 2011)

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child

2011-02-02T10:45:00.000-05:00

Title: The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child
Author: Francisco Jimenez
Category: First Person Account

Topic: Immigration, Migrant Workers
Grade Level: 3-7
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or 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.

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

Comment from Ann B.:
This is an excellent book to inform any discussion about immigration and help students look at the issue from a different perspective. Each chapter is a different episode from Mr. Jimenez's childhood, so chapters can be used as stand alone pieces, as well. The chapter about the drawing of the butterfly is my personal favorite. Also, this book focuses on the author's life when he was a small boy, but the second and third autobiographies Breaking Through and Reaching Out would be good choices for older students.

Amazon's Product Description:

"'La frontera'...I heard it for the first time back in the late 1940s when Papa and Mama told me and Roberto, my older brother, that someday we would take a long trip north, cross la frontera, enter California, and leave our poverty behind."

So begins this honest and powerful account of a family's journey to the fields of California -- to a life of constant moving, from strawberry fields to cotton fields, from tent cities to one-room shacks, from picking grapes to topping carrots and thinning lettuce. Seen through the eyes of a boy who longs for an education and the right to call one place home, this is a story of survival, faith, and hope. It is a journey that will open readers' hearts and minds.

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the book at Google Books
Link to the website of the author: Francisco Jimenez (Mr. Jimenez's site includes study guides under "Related Learning Links")
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

If the World Were a Village

2011-01-28T05:05:00.000-05:00

Title: If the World Were a Village
Author: David Smith
Category: Non-Fiction

Topic: World Geography
Grade Level: 3 - 8
This is a picture book that would work as a read aloud in any of these grades - I'm sure my fellow middle school teachers would agree that their students still like "storytime."
Rating by: Ann B.

Content: This book does the following...

Explains the topic in a clear and logical way
Focuses on the parts of the topic that are most important.
Prompts student to want to find out even more about a topic.
Makes the content relevant to the students’ lives.
Prompts students to reflect on their own lives and choices.

Effectiveness as a Learning Tool: This book includes the following...

Visuals that help break up chunks of text.

Readability?

Appropriate for everyone in class - even the most reluctant readers can learn from it.

Age Appropriate Content?

Just Right

Comment from Ann B.:
I read this book to seventh graders and its statistics on the hunger in this world inspired them to launch a fundraiser for Heifer International. This student-led initiative raised over $1,000 - that's a lot of goats! And it was all because this book helped them put things in perspective.

Amazon's Product Description:
"There are currently more than six billion people on the planet! This enormous number can be difficult to grasp, especially for a child. But what if we imagine the whole world as a village of just 100 people? In this village * 22 people speak a Chinese dialect * 20 earn less than a dollar a day * 32 are of Christian faith * 17 cannot read or write * 39 are under 19 years old In a time when parents and educators are looking to help children gain a better understanding of the world's peoples and their ways of life, If the World Were a Village offers a unique and objective resource. By exploring the lives of the 100 villagers, children will discover that life in other nations is often very different from their own. The shrunk-down statistics -- some surprising, some shocking -- and David Smith's tips on building "world-mindedness" will encourage readers to embrace the bigger picture and help them to establish their own place in the global village."

Link to reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: David Smith
Buy it from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Red Scarf Girl

2011-01-25T13:01:00.000-05:00

Title: Red Scarf Girl
Author: Ji-Li Jiang
Category: First Person Account

Topic: China, The Cultural Revolution
Grade Level: 5-9
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or 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.

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

Amazon's Product Description:

"Ji-li Jiang was twelve years old in 1966, the year that Chairman Mao launched the Cultural Revolution in China. An outstanding student and much-admired leader of her class, Ji-li seemed poised for a shining future. But all that changed with the advent of the Cultural Revolution, when intelligence became a crime and a wealthy family background invited persecution'or worse. For the next three years Ji-li and her family were humilated and reviled by their former friends, neighbors, and colleagues and lived in constant terror of attack. At last, with the detention of her father, Ji-li was faced with the most dreadful decision of her young life: denounce him and break with her family, or refuse to testify against him and sacrifice her future in her beloved Communist Party.

Told with simplicity, innocence, and grace, this unforgettable memoir gives a child's eye view of a terrifying time in twentieth-century history'and of one family's indomitable courage under fire."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to Teacher's Guide from Facing History and Ourselves
Link to the website of the author: Ji Li Jiang
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

The Golden Mean

2011-01-22T11:56:00.002-05:00

Title: The Golden Mean
Author: Annabel Lyon
Category: Historical Fiction

Topic: Ancient Greece, Philosophy
Grade Level: 11th and 12th grades and college
Students: Mostly strong readers, just as few struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Andrew J. Peters from New York
Andrew included thoughful, detailed comments with his review as you'll see below. To find out more about Andrew, check out: http://andrewjpeterswrites.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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
__X_Too mature
__ __Just right
____Too simplistic

Comments from Andrew J. Peters:
Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean tells the story of Aristotle's relationship with young Alexander the Great. The central story question is: will Aristotle's teachings have a humanizing effect on the future conqueror of the world, vis-a-vis the philosopher's well-known concept of the Golden Mean.

Besides being elegantly written, the story is rich on atmosphere and setting, and therefore, I think, a helpful supplement to students learning about what it was like to live in pre-Hellenistic Greece--from daily life, the status of women and slaves, religious beliefs, morality, politics and of course the history. Comparisons to modern issues, militarism and political power in particular, will make for interesting discussion. Certainly for a philosophy course, The Golden Mean would be a terrific reading assignment as Artistotle's views are developed and contrasted within a vibrant narrative (much easier to read than "dialogues.")

Many social issues are portrayed quite compellingly, realistically--Artistotle's mental illness (bi-polar depression), the mental disability of Alexander's younger brother, gender roles/male identity, society's view of homosexuality, to name a few.

A caveat or two: there is sex, prostitution, graphic violence and graphic medical procedures, and women and slaves are treated quite badly. As a social worker, working with adolescents, I think those heavy issues could be a distraction for lower grades, and the sophisticated language lends itself best to advanced placement/honors high school students or a college class. It's not that any of depictions are gratuitous or sensationalized/eroticized, but a teacher will want to talk about them in the context of how cultures/eras viewed morality differently than we do today.

Also, the book is fairly short - 300 pages - but students who crave action-based stories may find the story a little sluggish.

Amazon's Product Review:
"A startlingly original first novel by “this generation’s answer to Alice Munro” (The Vancouver Sun)—a bold reimagining of one of history’s most intriguing relationships: between legendary philosopher Aristotle and his most famous pupil, the young Alexander the Great.

342 BC: Aristotle is reluctant to set aside his own ambitions in order to tutor Alexander, the rebellious son of his boyhood friend Philip of Macedon. But the philosopher soon comes to realize that teaching this charming, surprising, sometimes horrifying teenager—heir to the Macedonian throne, forced onto the battlefield before his time—is a necessity amid the ever more sinister intrigues of Philip’s court.

Told in the brilliantly rendered voice of Aristotle—keenly intelligent, often darkly funny—The Golden Mean brings ancient Greece to vivid life via the story of this remarkable friendship between two towering figures, innovator and conqueror, whose views of the world still resonate today."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the blog of the author: Annabel Lyon
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Revisited)

2011-01-21T07:58:00.001-05:00

Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry*
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Category: Historical Fiction
*A previous review of this book can be found here. I love the idea of having several reviews for each book. The more opinions the better.

Topic: Jim Crow Era
Grade Level: 6-8
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Marquita Hockaday from Virginia
Besides being a teacher, Marquita is also a great writer of historical fiction. You can find out more about her work at her fun blog for YA writers: Y(A) Cuz We Write!

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 Marquita Hockaday:
I used this book when I taught English and History as a cross-curricular activity. It went well and most students enjoyed the novel as well as the activities that went along with it. This novel is great when discussing race relations in the years leading toward the second World War.

Amazon's Product Description:
"'We have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here'. The Mississippi of the 1930s was a hard place for a black child to grow up in, but still Cassie didn't understand why farming his own land meant so much to her father. During that year, though, when the night riders were carrying hatred and destruction among her people, she learned about the great differences that divided them, and when it was worth fighting for a principle even if it brought terrible hardships."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Year of Impossible Goodbyes

2011-01-20T12:08:00.000-05:00

Title: Year of Impossible Goodbyes
Author: Sook Nyul Choi
Category: First-Person Account

Topic: World War II, The Cold War, Korea
Grade Level: 4-9
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or 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 based on the author's own life.

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Ann B.: While the main character is only ten, this book could work in world history classes because the time period it describes is fascinating, though tragic. It sheds light on a side of World War II that is rarely addressed (the invasion of Korea by Japan,) as well as the realities of the Communist take-over of North Korea that followed. It could be a great way to introduce the Cold War and inform a discussion about our relationship with North Korea today.

From the Publisher:
"It is 1945, and courageous ten-year-old Sookan and her family must endure the cruelties of the Japanese military occupying Korea. Police captain Narita does his best to destroy everything of value to the family, but he cannot break their spirit. Sookan's father is with the resistance movement in Manchuria and her older brothers have been sent away to labor camps. Her mother is forced to supervise a sock factory and Sookan herself must wear a uniform and attend a Japanese school.

Then the war ends. Out come the colorful Korean silks and bags of white rice. But Communist Russian troops have taken control of North Korea and once again the family is suppressed. Sookan and her family know their only hope for freedom lies in a dangerous escape to Americancontrolled South Korea.

Here is the incredible story of one family's love for each other and their determination to risk everything to find freedom."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to Teacher's Guide from Holt, Rinehart, and Winston
Preview the book at Google Books
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Material World

2011-01-18T17:35:00.001-05:00

Title: Material World: A Global Family Portrait
Authors: Peter Menzel et al.
Category: Non-Fiction

Topic: World Geography, Materialism

Grade Level: 4 - 12 (the main content is communicated in the book's hundred of photos so younger students can still learn a lot from it, regardless of their reading level)
Rating by: Ann B.

Content: This book does the following...

Focuses on the parts of the topic that are most interesting.
Prompts student to want to find out even more about a topic.
Makes the content relevant to the students’ lives.
Prompts students to reflect on their own lives and choices.

Effectiveness as a Learning Tool: This book includes the following...

Visuals that deepen the students’ understanding of the topic.
Visuals that make students want to read the book.
Visuals that help break up big chunks of text.
A table of contents.

Readability?

Appropriate for everyone in class - even the most reluctant readers can learn from it.

Age Appropriate Content?

Just Right

Comment from Ann B.:
I've never taught a straight world geography class, but I've always kept this book on the shelf in my classroom. It's a great book to have on hand if a student finishes a project early. The premise of the book is intriguing to almost any student, and even just spending five minutes flipping through this will gets them thinking. The authors have also published other books based on the same idea, including Women in the Material World and Hungry Planet: What the World Eats.

Amazon's Product Review:
"In honor of the United Nations-sponsored International Year of the Family in 1994, award-winning photojournalist Peter Menzel brought together 16 of the world's leading photographers to create a visual portrait of life in 30 nations. Material World tackles its wide subject by zooming in, allowing one household to represent an entire nation. Photographers spent one week living with a "statistically average" family in each country, learning about their work, their attitudes toward their possessions, and their hopes for the future. Then a "big picture" shot of the family was taken outside the dwelling, surrounded by all their (many or few) material goods.

The book provides sidebars offering statistics and a brief history for each country, as well as personal notes from the photographers about their experiences. But it is the "big pictures" that tell most of the story. In one, a British family pauses before a meal of tea and crumpets under a cloudy sky. In another, wary Bosnians sit beside mattresses used as sniper barricades. A Malian family composed of a husband, his two wives, and their children rests before a few cooking and washing implements in golden afternoon light. Material World is a lesson in economics and geography, reminding us of the world's inequities, but also of humanity's common threads. An engrossing, enlightening book. --Maria Dolan"

Link to reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Peter Menzel
Link to companion site, "World in the Balance" at PBS
Buy it from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Rebel Hart

2011-01-17T05:11:00.001-05:00

Title: Rebel Hart
Authors: Edith Morris Hemingway and Jacqueline Shields
Category: Historical Fiction

Topic: The Civil War
Grade Level: 6 and 7
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Caroline Starr Rose
Caroline has her own middle grade historical novel-in-verse, May B. coming out in Spring 2012. Her website is: http://carolinebyline.blogspot.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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Caroline Starr Rose:
I used REBEL HART for my after-school historical fiction book club. My readers were motivated sixth and seventh graders already required to read historical novels for my class. Students were given the opportunity to read this novel and use it for their assignment. Those interested could come to the after-school book club and earn extra credit.

Amazon's Product Description:
Sixteen year-old Rebel guide and spy, Nancy Hart, left home to join a group of Rebel raiders. Nancy's struggle for survival during the Civil War changed her from an impulsive girl to a strong young woman. Her story is a mixture of fact and folklore, documented by both old newspapers and an intriguing Civil War photograph.

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Edith Morris Hemingway with discussion questions for teachers
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

2011-01-13T08:25:00.001-05:00

Title: First They Killed My Father:
A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Author: Loung Ung

Topic: The Cambodian Genocide, The Cold War
Grade Level: 9 - 12
Students: Mostly struggling or reluctant readers with just a few strong readers
Rating by: Craig in Vermont

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.

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Craig: Bellows Falls Union High School used this as an all-school read this year and it worked extremely well with all grades and reading levels. Students were drawn in by Loung Ung's story and it gave a solid history of the events leading up to the Cambodian genocide. I highly recommend this memoir to high school Social Studies and English classes as it contains a number of themes, including: war, women’s rights, communism, refugees, land mines, totalitarianism, family, social conditions, justice, genocide, politics, memoir, ethnicity, and Buddhism.

Amazon's Product Description:
"Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official.She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights, and sassing her parents. When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Ung's family was forced to flee their home and hide their previous life of privilege. Eventually, they dispersed in order to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier in a work camp for orphans while her other siblings were sent to labor camps. Only after the Vietnamese destroyed the Khmer Rouge were Loung and her surviving siblings slowly reunited.

Bolstered by the shocking bravery of one brother and sustained by her sister's gentle kindness amid brutality, Loung forged ahead to create a courageous new life. Harrowing yet hopeful, insightful and compelling, this family's story is truly unforgettable."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Loung Ung (includes links to her blog and work as an activist)
Link to Bellows Falls Union High School's Collection of Teaching Resources for the Book
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Fever 1793

2011-01-12T06:09:00.001-05:00

Title: Fever 1793
Author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Category: Historical Fiction

Topic: Yellow Fever Epidemic in Philadelphia
Grade Level: 4 and 5
Students: Mostly strong readers with just a few struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Nancy Hniedziejko in Pennsylvania
See Nancy's excellent blog post about using the novel in her classes at:
http://www.nancyteaches.com/2011/01/breaking-rules.html

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

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

Readability?

(4) Everyone - even the most reluctant readers – can get on board

(3) Can be used for a whole class read (Used as a read aloud together)

(2) Can only be used with a small high-powered reading group

(1) Recommend only to students that love reading

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

Amazon's Product Description:
"During the summer of 1793, Mattie Cook lives above the family coffee shop with her widowed mother and grandfather. Mattie spends her days avoiding chores and making plans to turn the family business into the finest Philadelphia has ever seen. But then the fever breaks out.
Disease sweeps the streets, destroying everything in its path and turning Mattie's world upside down. At her feverish mother's insistence, Mattie flees the city with her grandfather. But she soon discovers that the sickness is everywhere, and Mattie must learn quickly how to survive in a city turned frantic with disease."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the website of the author: Laurie Halse Anderson
Link to A Primary Source about the Yellow Fever Epidemic
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

2011-01-10T10:11:00.001-05:00

Title: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Category: Historical Fiction

Topic: Scientific Discovery, Everyday Life
Grade Level: 5-8
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or 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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Ann B.:
I personally loved this book. The main character Callie V felt very real, and it was interesting to think about the discovery of evolution in its historical context. It would be a great way to link to science classes or provide a new angle on the Industrial Revolution, focusing on the scientific discoveries at the time rather than just the problems. I personally couldn't use it as a whole class read because I have too many struggling readers who need a more action-packed book to keep their attention, but it would well for a small group.

Amazon's Product Description:
"Calpurnia Virginia Tate is eleven years old in 1899 when she wonders why the yellow grasshoppers in her Texas backyard are so much bigger than the green ones.With a little help from her notoriously cantankerous grandfather, an avid naturalist, she figures out that the green grasshoppers are easier to see against the yellow grass, so they are eaten before they can get any larger. As Callie explores the natural world around her, she develops a close relationship with her grandfather, navigates the dangers of living with six brothers, and comes up against just what it means to be a girl at the turn of the century.

Debut author Jacqueline Kelly deftly brings Callie and her family to life, capturing a year of growing up with unique sensitivity and a wry wit."

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

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

2011-01-07T10:48:00.000-05:00

Title: The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
Author: Christopher Paul Curtis

Topic: The Civil Rights Movement
Grade Level: 5-8
Students: A balanced mix of strong readers and struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Suzanne Pitner

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

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

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

Age Appropriate Content?
____Too mature
_X__Just right
____Too simplistic

A Comment from Suzanne Pitner:
Strong content is handled in a compassionate manner. It brings to life the bombing of the church in Birmingham 1963.

Amazon's Product Review:
"The year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of his younger brother Kenny's existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another, from straightening his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezing his lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his family too far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or steal change one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to send him to the deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother. Soon the whole family is packed up, ready to make the drive from Flint, Michigan, straight into one of the most chilling moments in America's history: the burning of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with four little girls inside. Christopher Paul Curtis's alternately hilarious and deeply moving novel, winner of the Newbery Honor and the Coretta Scott King Honor, blends the fictional account of an African American family with the factual events of the violent summer of 1963. Fourth grader Kenny is an innocent and sincere narrator; his ingenuousness lends authenticity to the story and invites readers of all ages into his world, even as it changes before his eyes. Curtis is also the acclaimed author of Bud, Not Buddy, winner of the Newbery Medal. (Ages 9 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to Scholastic's Teacher's Guide
Link to the website of the author: Christopher Paul Curtis
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Counting On Grace

2011-01-06T06:46:00.000-05:00

Title: Counting On Grace
Author: Elizabeth Winthrop

Topic: Industrial Revolution
Grade Level: 4-7
Students: Some strong readers and some struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Anonymous

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 the Reviewer:

Nice tie-ins to capitalism, child labor, photography, and good local New England history (Vermont Reads book)

Amazon's Product Description:
"1910. Pownal, Vermont. At 12, Grace and her best friend Arthur must leave school and go to work as a “doffers” on their mothers’ looms in the mill. Grace’s mother is the best worker, fast and powerful, and Grace desperately wants to help her. But she’s left handed and doffing is a right-handed job. Grace’s every mistake costs her mother, and the family. She only feels capable on Sundays, when she and Arthur receive special lessons from their teacher. Together they write a secret letter to the Child Labor Board about underage children working in Pownal. A few weeks later a man with a camera shows up. It is the famous reformer Lewis Hine, undercover, collecting evidence for the Child Labor Board. Grace’s brief acquaintance with Hine and the photos he takes of her are a gift that changes her sense of herself, her future, and her family’s future."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to the author's website: Elizabeth Winthrop (which includes discussion guides and links for teachers)
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

The Birchbark House

2011-01-05T06:24:00.000-05:00

Title: The Birchbark House
Author: Louise Erdich

Topic: Native Nations, Westward Expansion
Grade Level: 4 (but reading at a 5th or 6th grade level)
Students: Many strong readers, just a few struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Anonymous

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 the Reviewer:
"This book ties in well to our study of Native Americans/Early Vermont History, even though it takes place in the Great Lakes region. It is told from the Native American perspective, written by a Native author, and brings up many interesting discussions about the contact period - also about the impact of disease- a sometimes forgotten aspect of European impact."

Amazon's Product Description:
"[In this] story of a young Ojibwa girl, Omakayas, living on an island in Lake Superior around 1847, Louise Erdrich is reversing the narrative perspective used in most children's stories about nineteenth-century Native Americans. Instead of looking out at 'them' as dangers or curiosities, Erdrich, drawing on her family's history, wants to tell about 'us', from the inside. The Birchbark House establishes its own ground, in the vicinity of Laura Ingalls Wilder's 'Little House' books." --The New York Times Book Review

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to a Discussion Guide for Birchbark House
Link to the Birchbark House Non-Profit, an organization devoted to revitalizing indigenous languages, which was started by the author
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

The Things They Carried

2011-01-04T08:49:00.000-05:00

Title: The Things They Carried
Author: Tim O'Brien

Topic: The Vietnam War
Grade Level: 11
Students: Many strong readers, just a few struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Suzanne Hurley
(http://hurleyhistory.blogspot.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 Suzanne Hurley:
Excellent book about Vietnam. Used in both English and Social Studies classes.

Amazon's Product Description:
"One of the first questions people ask about The Things They Carried is this: Is it a novel, or a collection of short stories? The title page refers to the book simply as "a work of fiction," defying the conscientious reader's need to categorize this masterpiece. It is both: a collection of interrelated short pieces which ultimately reads with the dramatic force and tension of a novel. Yet each one of the twenty-two short pieces is written with such care, emotional content, and prosaic precision that it could stand on its own.

The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and of course, the character Tim O'Brien who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three. They battle the enemy (or maybe more the idea of the enemy), and occasionally each other. In their relationships we see their isolation and loneliness, their rage and fear. They miss their families, their girlfriends and buddies; they miss the lives they left back home. Yet they find sympathy and kindness for strangers (the old man who leads them unscathed through the mine field, the girl who grieves while she dances), and love for each other, because in Vietnam they are the only family they have. We hear the voices of the men and build images upon their dialogue. The way they tell stories about others, we hear them telling stories about themselves.

With the creative verve of the greatest fiction and the intimacy of a searing autobiography, The Things They Carried is a testament to the men who risked their lives in America's most controversial war. It is also a mirror held up to the frailty of humanity. Ultimately The Things They Carried and its myriad protagonists call to order the courage, determination, and luck we all need to survive."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Link to a Reader's Companion at Random House
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

2011-01-03T05:57:00.001-05:00

Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred D. Taylor

Topic: Jim Crow Era
Grade Level: 5
Students: Some strong readers, some struggling or reluctant readers
Rating by: Jenny Franz

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 Jenny Franz:
I've read this book as a whole group core literature selection for the past four years. Without fail, this book engages my students and gets them thinking and asking questions about race relations in the 1930s. Students come away with a greater knowledge and understanding of our nation's history.

Amazon's Product Description:
"'We have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here'. The Mississippi of the 1930s was a hard place for a black child to grow up in, but still Cassie didn't understand why farming his own land meant so much to her father. During that year, though, when the night riders were carrying hatred and destruction among her people, she learned about the great differences that divided them, and when it was worth fighting for a principle even if it brought terrible hardships."

Link to Reviews on Amazon
Buy this book from your local bookstore via Indie Bound

The Judas Field

2010-12-31T07:49:00.000-05:00

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

Farewell to Manzanar

2010-12-29T14:23:00.002-05:00

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

2011 - YA Historical Fiction Challenge

2010-12-28T20:19:00.000-05:00

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

2010-12-28T09:36:00.004-05:00

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

Before We Were Free

2010-12-26T08:12:00.000-05:00

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

Warriors Don't Cry

2010-12-23T10:10:00.010-05:00

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

2010-12-23T07:58:00.006-05:00

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