Module 6: Smoky Night

Image from: http://emilyreadsagain.blogspot.com/2011/05/smoky-night.html

Summary:
A young boy sees a riot for the first time in his life right in his neighborhood.  The illustrations displays the intensity of the riot such as crumbled red paper in the background.  The riot gets worse when a fire starts in his own apartment building from the rioters themselves and so the people needed to evacuate for safety.  He begins to worry when he can't find his cat Jasmine but his mother encourages him by saying that she is ok and knows how to take care of herself.  


Reviews:
Books can be barriers against the wind, though, and Smoky Night . . . [is a] perfect example of [a] picture book that, in [its] treatment of tough topics, invite[s] reading and healing discussion, not only by kids of the traditional target age--6 through 9--but also by older kids, even those in high school. The problem is getting the books into the hands of these older kids. Because the production, marketing, and distribution of books all hinge on the perceived need to categorize, any title that can't be easily labeled with an "age appropriate" designation runs the risk of being lost. . . .

Cart, M.  (1995, September 15).  Barriers against the wind.  [Review of the book Smoky night, by E. Bunting].  Booklist 92(2), 150.  Retrieved from http://booklistonlie.com

Impressions:
It was sad to see a child experience a violent riot in his neighborhood but glad to see his family and the neighbors finally uniting during this time.  I enjoyed the illustrations that portrayed the violence of the scene.  It is rarely seen using this type of illustration with violence involved and sends a very powerful message.


Suggestions:
A lesson can be made in focusing the illustrations of a book.  Students can bring materials from home from a list given to them and students can create their own personal page of a class book using those same materials.  Students can create a page about themselves as a collage theme.  Magazine pages can be used, strings, ribbon, buttons, and any other materials can be used to create a unique page.  Once the pages are created, the librarian can place them together to make a class book.


Bibliography:
Diaz, D. (1994).  Smoky night.  San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.

Module 5: Before We Were Free

Image from: http://www.juliaalvarez.com/young-readers/

Summary:

Anita De La Torre is a young twelve year old who lives in the Dominican Republic in a compound when once her relatives lived.  Due to the decisions of her father and uncles in killing the dictator, many of the relatives flew to the U.S. to escape.  Anita and her family was the only family to stay longer.  Her father and her uncle decided to continue the plan which they eventually succeed only to be captured by the dictator's son.  Anita, her mother, and brother were in hiding to avoid being tortured by the SIM.  They all somehow move to New York to escape to later find out her father and uncle got killed before being rescued.  But many people tell Anita how they think her father is truly a hero now that the country can elect their own president.  Due to her father's death, the family decide to stay in New York for a while and try to move on with their lives through pain and changes in lifestyle.

Reviews:

Gr. 7-10.  What is it like for a 12-year-old girl living under a ruthless dictatorship in the Dominican Republic in 1960?  Alvarez draws on her own cousins' and friends' experiences to tell the political story through the eyes of Anita, whose father is involved in a plot to assassinate the dictator and bring democracy to the island.  This doesn't have the passionate lyricism of Alvarez's great adult novels.  The pace, at least for the first half of the book, is very slow, perhaps because the firs-person, present-tense narrative stays true to Anita's bewildered viewpoint and is weighed down with daily detail and explanation of the political issues ("I feel just awful that my father has to kill someone for us to be free").  Yet it is Anita's innocence, her focus on the ordinary, that young readers will recognize.  She's busy with school, friends, getting her period, falling in love, even as the secrets and spies come closer, and finally, the terror destroys her home.  Her father is arrested; she and her mother are hiding.  There's no sensationalism, but Anita knows the horrific facts of how prisoners are tortured and killed.  Trying to block out the truth, she loses her voice, even forgets the words of things, until she starts to write in a secret diary.  Readers interested in the history will grab this.

 Rochman, H. (2002, August).  Alvarez, Julia. Before we were free.  [Review of the book Before we were free, by J. Alvarez].  Booklist 98(22), 1945.  Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com.


Impressions:

This story was difficult for me to be engaged to due to the fact that the main character had limited information about that was going on.  But after three or four chapters, I was able to know more or less what was going on.  This is a good book for people that can understand the hardships other countries go through.  Placing the little girl as the main character shows people that sometimes they feel helpless and they too want to help in some way but can be too hard due to their age.  

Suggestions:

I would highly recommend this book during a history lesson using a Venn Diagram.  On the right side the student can fill out things that occur in the U.S. and on the left what Anita encountered in her native land.  The middle area of the diagram are the similar things between them and discuss in class.

Bibliography:

Alvarez, J. (2002).  Before we were free. New York, NY: Knopf.

Module 5: Forged by Fire

Image from: http://books.simonandschuster.com/Forged-By-Fire/Sharon-M-Draper/9780689806995

Summary:

Gerald Nickelby begins to describe his difficult life as a son whose mother is a drug addict, a stepfather that physically abuses him his mother and his younger sister.  His younger sister also goes through sexual abuse by his own father as well while Gerald tries at any cost to defend her.  Gerald finds a new meaning in his life when he meets his sister.  Jordan, his stepfather, is arrested after trying to molest his own daughter and their mother doesn't forgive them for doing that.  Monique, Gerald's mother, always defends Jordan and accepts his actions even though the situation is not so great for the family.  Angel, his sister, is dealing with all this through dancing and the only person she trusts is Gerald.  Throughout the story, Gerald faces more tragedies but tries to live a normal life as much as he can and eventually becomes a very brave and smart young man.

Review:

  Gr 7-10--The riveting first chapter was originally published as a short story in Ebony magazine under the title "One Small Touch."  While the rest of the book does not sustain the mood and pace of the initial chapter, Forged by Fire is a grim look at an inner-city home where abuse and addiction are a way of life and the children are the victims.  There's no all's-well ending, but readers will have hope for Gerald and Angel, who have survived a number of gut-wrenching ordeals by relying on their constant love and caring for one another.

Hurlburt, T.  (1997, March).  Forged by fire.  [Review of the book Forged by fire by S. Draper].  School Library Journal, 43(3), 184.  Retrieved from http://www.schoolibraryjournal.com

Impressions:

 This was a very intense book where children are mistreated by their own family.  I was really hooked by it and left me speechless after I finished reading the book.  I really wanted to know how the outcome of their parents' lives would change when justice comes to them.  The main character in the story was very strong and brave and I believe that the strength came from his sister to protect her.

Suggestions:

Once reading this book, counselors can be invited to talk and discuss the importance of self respect and respect from others.  They may talk about child abuse and neglect and provide key points on how to report it without being afraid.  This is the best time to encourage these discussions so everyone can be aware of children's rights.

Bibliography:

Draper, S.  (1997).  Forged by fire.  New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Module 4: The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Image from: http://thehillhangout.com/?p=434

Summary:
Katherine Tyler was a young teenager that recently lost her grandfather (and her parents as well due to a tragic accident) and all his assets due to a workers bad business choices.  She leaves her hometown in Barbados to seek her aunt and uncle and to avoid marrying a very old man, who wanted to save everything she had with her grandfather.  Her grandfather had many servants, Kit learned how to read which during that time is very uncommon, and she learned how to swim.  Kit arrives with her aunt, uncle, and cousins and is not fully accepted there.  Later becoming friends with Hannah Tupper, the witch from Blackbird Pond, Kit encounters many misfortunes by the friendship and her own unique personality and upbringing.  A love triangle with her cousins Mercy and Judith also brings encounters all of them can't help to avoid.  Kit even goes on trial for witchcraft towards the end of the story.

Reviews:
Gr. 6-8. Hurt masterfully read this Newbery award winner, set in seventeenth-century Puritan New England.  Orphan Kit Tyler sails to the Connecticut colony to live with her aunt and uncle, but despite earnest attempts to belong, her behavior is unacceptable by Puritan standards.  Criticized by the community, Kit seeks solace with a kindly old Quaker woman.  Hurt's youthful voice and soft New England accent perfectly match Kit's buoyant personality and well-meaning antics.  Hurt's perception of the story enables her to shift seamlessly among characters, and she ably portrays everyone, including Kit's soft-spoken aunt and her terse, unforgiving uncle.  The villager's talk of heresy is thick with suspicion, and Hurt's capable reading accentuates this sense of foreboding.

Rich, A.  (2002, November 1).  The witch of Blackbird Pond.  [Review of the book The witch of Blackbird Pond, by E. Speare].  Booklist, 99(5), 518.  Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com 

Impressions:

I can see young girls reading this book and would enjoy the story, especially the love situation the girls encounter.  I was impressed by the way Kit showed her courage for everyone she cared about and put herself to one side and even in danger.  Not many girls had that kind of courage during those times.  I was also intrigued by the way the trial changed all the scenarios to make it seem like she was actually doing witchcraft.  I am glad that at the end Kit found peace.  

Suggestions:

This would be great to invite the debate teacher into the lesson and provide a list of topics to create a trial during the library visit.  Students are divided into groups and have an accuser, the accused, and the two lawyers.  This experience will help them know what the main character went through when she had to go through trial and fight for her freedom.

Bibliography:

George Speare, E. (1958).  The witch of Blackbird Pond.  New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin.

Module 4: Call it Courage

Image from: http://mrtelles.pbworks.com/w/page/10239319/Call%20It%20Courage

Summary:
There is a place called Hikueru where the main character Mafatu, a Polynesian, lives.  At the age of three, tragedy occurred on the ocean that made his mother lose her life.  At that moment, Mafatu was very afraid of the water and could not complete the tasks of a fisher and in the village everyone made fun of him.  Even his father was embarrassed by him because he could not do the usual tasks like the others.  Only Uri, a yellow dog and an albatross named Kivi were his only friends.  One day he decides to leave the village and go to an island nearby to prove to the people that know him that he is not a coward.  His journey going away was very rough due to a very heavy storm that left him with no food or water and thought he was not going to make it out alive.  When he lands on an island, he tries to search for any living being, food and water to get his strength back.  He found the place strange at first because he could not find anyone around.  Throughout his stay, he was able to make a knife out of a whale's bones, killed a wild pig, killed a shark to rescue his dog Uri, killed an octopus in order to get the knife he made underwater, and made his own boat by hand in order to go back to his village.  It is when he realized that he was capable of doing things without fear.  On his last night at the island, he hears drumming noises and finds that he landed on the eaters of men land!  When they see him, they chase after him with clubs that they have made while Mafatu and Uri run for their lives and were able to reach the boat.  They were able to escape the chaos but was very difficult because there was no wind for the boat to move.  By the time they reached the village, Mafatu was exhausted and unrecognizable by the people that knew him, even his own father.  The ending is when the people know that it is him and notice the necklace he made out of the pigs teeth that he killed.  His father comments his pride towards him.

Reviews:

Gr. 4-7. In this Newbery Medal winner set on a South Pacific island, 12-year-old Mafatu, son of the Great Chief of Hikueru, is labeled a coward because he is afraid of the sea. Determined to save face with his people and conquer his fear, Mafatu takes off in his canoe to prove that he is a worthy member of his tribe.

Scales, P.  (2005, January). Call it courage.  [Review of the book Call it Courage, by A. Sperry]. Book Links, 14(3), 38.  Retrieved from www.booklistonline.com/booklinks.

Impressions:
The story also demonstrates courage by the character.  He needed to find himself to prove to everyone what he is capable of doing.  I considered it very hard to have gone through what he did since he was not really a skillful person as he should have been.  Uri also played the loyal companion part very well.

Suggestions:

Although this book is older and would need some type of promotion for young readers to read, a book display can be done in the library during the week when Newbery Medals for the year are announced.  Students need to see what books are out there besides the 2000 and up winners.  That way they can see why these books were also picked as winners during that time.

Bibliography:
Sperry, A. (1971).   Call it courage.  New York, NY: Collier Books.

Module 3: Chanticleer and the Fox

Image from: http://theartofchildrenspicturebooks.blogspot.com/2011/01/good-book-cover-design.html

Summary:
The story begins with the Once upon a time... the drawings of the illustrations change.  In one it is in black and white and the other it is in color.  The main character of the story is a rooster named Chanticleer that lived with seven hens and was owned by a widow and her two daughters.  One day he dreamt that someone was out to eat him.  Later on in the week there was a fox that indeed tricked him and took him by the throat.  Chanticleer was able to make the fox talk and slip away from his mouth.  Once again the fox tried to trick him by coming down from the tree but this time Chanticleer did not fall for that.  At the end the widow mentions that one must not trust the flattery of others.

Reviews:

younger for reading aloud. Dramatic and immediate for storytelling, this companion volume handsome design with spacious type, thick paper, and full-page painting and illustrated title page for each story.


Rochman, H.  (1998, May 1).  Favorite medieval tales.  [Review of the book Chanticleer and the fox, by B. Cooney].  Booklist 94(17), 1515. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com

Impressions:

I really like books that give a moral to the lesson, especially to younger kids.  Chanticleer was really lucky to be alive after what he went through.  Although the beginning threw me off because the author introduces the human owners of Chanticleer because I thought they were part in the major plot of the story.

Suggestions:

Once the story is read, a discussion is started on why we should not always trust what strangers say and what comments can be seemed nice for someone to hear.  A story time lesson can tie to this book and afterwards color a rooster that is given to each student and write at the bottom of the paper what one thing they should not trust when a stranger tells them something.  This helps them to become more self aware of their surroundings.  Then once they are done, they can present their paper to the class.

Bibliography:

Cooney, B. (1958).  Chanticleer and the fox.  New York, NY: Harper Collins.

Module 3: The Little House

Image from http://www.landofnod.com/authors-(a---i)/toys-gifts/1

Summary:
A little house was built by a man who had all the intentions to use it for many generations to come.  Throughout the book, the little house describes the night and day along with the seasons that came and gone.  Things changed when a road was being built in front of the house and slowly the trucks and cars are  constantly driving by the house.  Then more buildings were made around the house, elevated train was going by, and subways were there.  That caused a lot of traffic and pollution which for the little house it was not the same.  During that time, there was no one living in the little house and looked unnoticed and abandoned.  The little house needed a new coat of paint, the windows were broken, the shutters cracked but the house was still good to live in.  One day the great great great granddaughter of the person that build the house decided to move the house back in the country side and live in it.  She made sure everything was replaced an painted the house.  The little house was happy to be at her new spot.

Reviews:

Preschool-Gr. 2. This classic story of a house built in the country, and the city that grows out to meet it, won the 1943 Caldecott Medal. In the beginning, the little house sits atop a hill surrounded by apple trees, whose blossoms signal the coming of spring. The city is only a faint glow far away. But as time passes, more signs of the city appear: a road bringing carriages, then trucks, tall buildings, stores, and bright lights that obscure the nighttime sky. When the family living there moves, the little house is abandoned, until someone rescues it by returning it to the country.


Goss, G.  (2001, June). The little house.  [Review of the book The little house, by V. Burton]. Book Links, 10(6), 40.  Retrieved from www.booklistonline.com/booklinks.

Impressions:

This is a story that makes you think about how an object would feel if they went through emotions.  I enjoyed the fact that one was encountering and seeing what the house was seeing and feeling.  I also liked the way the words seemed to form the shape of a path.  The words seemed as if they were part of the illustrations.

Suggestions:

While reading the story, students have a piece of paper, pencil, and crayons to draw what is read to them. Students can have the opportunity to create their own version of the little house and changes to the surroundings the house goes through.  It can motivate them to listen and think about it as well.

Bibliography:
Burton, V. (1942).  The little house.  New York, N Y: Houghton Mifflin Co.