MONSTER

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Myers, Walter Dean. 1999. MONSTER. Ill by Christopher Myers. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0060280778

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Is Steve Harmon really a monster, a sixteen year old accused of being the lookout for a robbery in which the store owner was killed, or was he an innocent boy who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? As Steve grapples with the reality of what he has done and his time in jail awaiting his trial, he begins to picture the whole situation as that of a filmmaker. He is able to distance himself from what is going on in the courtroom by writing the script as he sees it. Steve tells the story of what really happened the night of the murder, his involvement, his time in jail, and the trial itself. Before long it is hard to decide whether Steve is truly convinced of his innocence or if this is the only way he can keep himself from being the monster described to the jury.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Walter Dean Myers uses an interesting format to tell the story of Steve Harmon in this young adult novel. Between the script, script notes, and notes for camera angles, some of the horror of what has happened in this novel seems easier to take. The true feelings of Steve come out in his journal which is “written” in his bold script. This difference in fonts and styles helps the reader see the difference in the feelings the character truly has and the spin he gives on the reality of the situation.

From the scared sixteen year old who questions his involvement to the hardened gang member who actually pulled the trigger of the gun, the characters are real. The dialogue is true to the streets of Harlem (“Me and King planned a getover and we done it”, “You got to leave your mark on somebody”, “Since when you been down?”). The main character changes from an innocent young boy who chooses to get involved with the wrong crowd to one who actually put himself in the position of being considered a murderer.

Christopher Myers uses grainy black and white images to give the book the feel of an actual notebook with photographs added. There are even pages in the book where it looks like Steve marked out parts of his script and wrote in the word Monster over and over. This gives the book a realistic feel without allowing the reader to get caught up in the illustrations rather than in the story being told.

This realistic novel leaves the reader wondering who the main character really was…an innocent boy or a monster. The decision of the jury and how Steven feels about himself will leave the reader haunted long after the pages of the novel have ended.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Coretta Scott King Honor Book
Michael L. Printz Award 2000 (the first book to receive this award)
National Book Award Finalist

School Library Journal:”Steve Harmon, 16, is accused as serving as a lookout for a robbery of a Harlem drugstore. The owner was shot and killed, and now Steve is in prison awaiting trial for murder. From there, he tells about his case and his incarceration. Many elements of this story are familiar, but Myers keeps it fresh and alive by telling it from an unusual perspective. Steve, an amateur filmmaker, recounts his experiences in the form of a movie screenplay. His striking scene-by-scene narrative of how his life has dramatically changed is riveting. Interspersed within the script are diary entries in which the teen vividly describes the nightmarish conditions of his confinement. Myers expertly presents the many facets of his protagonist’s character and readers will find themselves feeling both sympathy and repugnance for him. Steve searches deep within his soul to prove to himself that he is not the “monster” the prosecutor presented him as to the jury. Ultimately, he reconnects with his humanity and regains a moral awareness that he had lost. Monster will challenge readers with difficult questions, to which there are no definitive answers. It’s an
emotionally charged story that readers will find compelling and disturbing.”

Booklist:”Myers combines an innovative format, complex moral issues, and an intriguingly sympathetic but flawed protagonist in this cautionary tale of a 16-year-old on trial for felony murder. Steve Harmon is accused of acting as lookout for a robbery that left a victim dead; if convicted, Steve could serve 25 years to life. Although it is clear that Steve did participate in the robbery, his level of involvement is questionable, leaving protagonist and reader to grapple with the question of his guilt. An amateur filmmaker, Steve tells his story in a combination of film script and journal. The “handwritten” font of the journal entries effectively uses boldface and different sizes of type to emphasize particular passages. The film Script contains minimal Jargon, explaining camera angles (CU, POV, etc.) when each term first appears. Script and journal together created a fascinating portrait of a terrified young man wrestling with his conscience. The tense drama of the courtroom scenes will enthrall readers, but it is the thorny moral questions raised in Steve’s journal that will endure in readers’ memories. Although descriptions of the robbery and prison life are realistic and not overly graphic, the subject matter is more appropriate for high-school-age than younger readers.”

5. CONNECTIONS
In order to have a better understanding of the legal system, students could take a field trip to their local courthouse and reenact the trial scenes from the book.

The students could put together brown bag reviews. Half the class could bring items concerned with Steve’s time in jail while the other half could bring items pertaining to his regular life.

The theater arts teacher could come and demonstrate some of the filming terms used in the book. Students could write a script concerning Steve’s first days back home and try to perform it.

Discuss with the students if they agree with the verdict given in Steve’s trial. They can explain why or why not by responding in a reader’s response journal.

Other books by Walter Dean Myers include:
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MY DEAD BROTHER. ISBN 0060582928
BAD BOY: A MEMOIR. ISBN 0060295236
HANDBOOK FOR BOYS: A NOVEL. ISBN 0060291478
HERE IN HARLEM: POEMS IN MANY VOICES. ISBN 0823418537
145TH STREET: SHORT STORIES, ISBN 0385321376
SHOOTER. ISBN 0060295201

PRINCESS ACADEMY

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hale, Shannon. 2005. PRINCESS ACADEMY. New York: Bloomsbury Children’s Books. ISBN 1582349932

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In the small village on Mount Eskel, linder is its most valuable resource. Generations of Mount Eskel's citizens have worked in the linder quarry as their main source of income. Imagine the surprise of all when the king announces that the next royal bride will be chosen from the small village and that all of the maidens between the ages of twelve and eighteen must attend an academy in order to prepare the future princess in the ways of etiquette, diplomacy, and knowledge.

Fourteen –year-old Mira, whose mother died when she was born, longs for a chance to prove herself to her father. Her small size, she thinks, has kept her from working in the linder quarry, and she feels that the academy will be her chance to prove her worth.

Although she is bright, Mira’s strong will and independent thinking create a barrier between herself and the other students. During the struggles at the academy (from poise lessons, learning how to read, history lessons, confrontations with the headmistress, to a kidnapping attempt) Mira discovers the mystery of quarry speak and the true value of the linder which is only found in Mount Eskel. Mira learns exactly what her purpose is and just how important she is to her family and, eventually, her entire village.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This fantasy tale takes us back to the time of a structured class system, royal balls, and a system of trade involving items instead of money. There does not seem to be a battle of the sexes since the girls are allowed to be educated and to work in the quarry along with the men. In fact, by the story’s end, the young women are helping the men and boys become literate.
The female characters are strong physically and mentally. When the girls are able to use quarry speak to help with their academics and then help free themselves from a group of kidnappers, one sees just how remarkable these characters are. Even though the main character, Mira, is small, she is fittingly named after the flower that “conquers the rock”. Her struggles to become the top student at the academy (to be educated) and deciding whether she wants to be princess or stay on the mountain with her family, are believable and encouraging to those who are trying to discover themselves.

Shannon Hale’s writing is so realistic that the reader begins to wonder if there really are such things as quarry speak, linder, Mount Eskel, and mira flowers. While this novel ends with the feeling “and they all lived happily ever after” it is not artificial because each character’s ending is fitting for who they have become. The right girls become instructors, trade experts, and there is even a surprising twist in the choice for the new princess.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

Newbery Honor Book

School Library Journal:”The thought of being a princess never occurred to the girls living on Mount Eskel. Most plan to work in the quarry like the generations before them. When it is announced that the prince will choose a bride from their village, 14-year-old Miri, who thinks she is being kept from working in the Quarry because of her small stature, believes that this is her opportunity to prove her worth to her father. All eligible females are sent off to attend a special academy where they face many challenges and hardships as they are forced to adapt to the cultured life of a lowlander. First, strict Tutor Olana denies a visit home. Then, they are cut off from their village by heavy winter snowstorms. As their isolation increases, competition builds among them. The story is much like the mountains, with plenty of suspenseful moments that peak and fall, building into the next intense event. Miri discovers much about herself, including a special talent called quarry speak, a silent way to communicate. She uses this ability in many ways, most importantly to save herself and the other girls from harm. Each girl’s story is brought to a satisfying conclusion, but this is not a fluffy, predictable fairy tales, even though it has wonderful moments of humor. Instead, Hale weaves an intricate, multilayered story about families, relationship, education, and the place we call home.”

Booklist: “Miri would love to join her father and older sister as a miner in Mount Eskel’s quarry. Not a glamorous aspiration for a 14-year-old, perhaps, but the miners produce the humble village’s prize stone, linder, and mining is a respected occupation that drives the local economy. When the local girls are rounded up to compete for the hand of the kingdom’s prince, Miri, the prize student in the Princess Academy, gets her chance to shine. In addition to her natural intelligence and spunk, she discovers an intuitive, and at times, unspoken language that grew out of work songs in the mines and uses linder as a medium. With the “quarry-speech” giving a boost to her courage and intelligence, Miri leads her classmates in the fight against being treated as social inferiors in the academy, at the same time educating herself in ways that will better the village. Hale nicely interweaves feminist sensibilities in this quest-for-a-prince-charming, historical-fantasy tale. Strong suspense and plot drive the action as the girls outwit would-be kidnappers and explore the boundaries of leadership, competition, and friendship.”


5. CONNECTIONS
Have the students pretend that they are going to an academy where they will be trained in leading the United States. Giving them a paper bag as their “suitcase” have them choose the items that they will take with them, and the importance of each item. Then begin a discussion about what the girls of Princess Academy left behind and what was expected of them.

Make a list of subjects that should be studied by future leaders. How does this compare to what the girls of Mount Eskel studied?

Study different stones and gems. Is linder real? What would be like it? Draw, define, and categorize it.

Discover what you can about the mountain flower miri (Does it exist or not? Give proof). Draw a picture of it (or what you think it would look like) and compare it to the character Miri. Discuss the symbolism in her name.

Other Princes Novels:
Levine, Gail Carson. ELLA ENCHANTED. ISBN 0064407055
Levine, Gail Carson. FAIREST. ISBN 0067034108
Stanley, Diane. BELLA AT MIDNIGHT. ISBN 1582349932

THE CITY OF EMBER

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
DuPrau, Jeanne. 2004. THE CITY OF EMBER. New York: Random House. ISBN 0375822747

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In the city of Ember, it is the year 241 (give or take a few years since some of the past time keepers forgot to keep the clocks wound or to change the date sign). There is no natural light and “the sky was always dark”. Unknown to the citizens, time has run out on their city. It should have been evacuated at the 200 year mark, but the secret box with the directions on how to leave was misplaced by one of the early mayors. Now the city is plagued with power outages, food and supply shortages, and a doomsday feeling.

Two twelve year olds, newly assigned to the work force of the city, begin to fear for the future of Ember. Lina, who is being raised by her grandmother after her parents untimely deaths, discovers a mysterious box in which the contents have been chewed apart by her little sister. Doon (who Lina has recently renewed her friendship with) has been concerned with the more frequent blackouts in the city and knows that the city’s generator will not be working much longer. Together Lina and Doon must piece together the mystery of the builders’ instructions and work against a system that believes “curiosity causes trouble”.

Will these young protagonists successfully rescue the citizens residing in their doomed city, or will they be victims of the tyrannical mayor and his corrupt leadership? This the reader must discover.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
At the beginning of this science fiction novel is a map of Ember. This graphic helps the reader with the layout of the city while giving a feeling of familiarity to it (If there is a map to it, it might actually exist!). Jeanne DuPrau draws the reader in with well written descriptions of what life in this fanciful city is like. From Assignment Day (“Some years there were several good jobs, like greenhouse helper, timekeeper’s assistant, or messenger, and no bad jobs at all. Other years, jobs like Pipeworks laborer, trash sifter and mold scraper were mixed in. But there would always be at least one or two jobs for electrician’s helper. Fixing the electricity was the most important job in Ember, and more people worked at it than anything else.”) to descriptions of the blackouts (“And then the lights flickered and flickered again, and went out. Darkness slammed up in front of her like a wall. She stumbled, caught herself, and stood still. She could see absolutely nothing.”)the reader is able to be emotionally involved with what is happening in Ember.

Although you are never given the history of why Ember was started, the story runs smoothly, giving the reader the details needed to stay involved in the story. The plot is believable and even though the story is science fiction, the characters act normally, with no supernatural powers or abilities. The fact that Lina has no parents and Doon only has a father makes them both sympathetic characters. Because of their losses and the fact that education in Ember ends at age twelve (“first we get our education; then we serve our city”), these two characters are believably mature.

There is no light hearted feel to the story as potatoes, colored pencils, and cans of peaches become scarce, and the darkness continues to permeate the city and the novel.
The ending is well done, and although there is not closure, there is satisfaction along with the need to read the next novel to find out what happens to the citizens of Ember.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist: “Ember, a 241-year-old, ruined doomed city surrounded by a dark unknown, was built to ensure that humans would continue to exist on Earth, and the instructions for getting out have been lost and forgotten. On Assignment Day, 12-year-olds leave school and receive their lifetime job assignments. Lina Mayfleet becomes a messenger, and her friend Doon Harrow ends up in the Pipeworks beneath the city, where the failing electric generator has been ineffectually patched together. Both Lina and Doon are convinced that their survival means finding a way out of the city, and after Lina discovers pieces of the instructions, she and Doon work together to interpret the fragmented document. Life in this post holocaust city is well limned—the frequent blackouts, the food shortage, the public panic, the search for answers, and the actions of the powerful, who are taking selfish advantage of the situation. Readers will relate to Lina and Doon’s resourcefulness and courage in the face of ominous odds.”

Kirkus Reviews: “Well-paced, this contains a satisfying mystery, a breathtaking escape over rooftops in darkness, a harrowing journey into the unknown, and cryptic messages for readers to decipher. The setting is well realized with the constraints of life in the city intriguingly detailed. The likable protagonists are not only courageous but also believably flawed by human pride, their weakness often complementing each other in interesting ways.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Discuss all the different jobs necessary in a community and list them. Then write the different jobs on note cards and place in a sack. Tell the students that the job they select will be theirs for the rest of their life. Students choose their jobs and then respond to how they feel about them. Explain that this was the fate of the twelve year olds in Ember. Compare and contrast the different jobs from Ember and the jobs required in a community.

Visit the website http://www.cityofember.com/ and have students enter the site’s widget. Then have students click on Underground and they can explore different underground structures from Sweden’s underground naval base to the world’s subway system. There are even pictures and information about the underground tunnels behind Niagara Falls. This will lend itself to a discussion about life for the residents of Ember.

Other books in the Ember series:
DuPrau, Jeanne. THE PEOPLE OF SPARKS. ISBN 0375828257
DuPrau, Jeanne. THE PROPHET OF YONWOOD. ISBN 0440421241
DuPrau, Jeanne. THE DIAMOND OF DARKHOLD: THE FOURTH BOOK OF EMBER (Due out August 26, 2008), ISBN 0975855718

ELIJAH OF BUXTON

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 2007. ELIJAH OF BUXTON. New York: Scholastic. ISBN 0439023110

2, PLOT SUMMARY
This story about the settlement in Buxton, Canada established for runaway slaves to live freely has as its narrator eleven –year-old Elijah Freeman, the first child born in the settlement. This lovable young boy loves to fish, is gifted with his stone-throwing, and is considered “fra-gile” by his mother due to his sensitivity.

Elijah and his best friend, Cooter, attend school where they learn to read and write, something the adults in Buxton have to learn, too. The Preacher, who is not a holy man, just knowledgeable, tries to use Elijah’s rock throwing prowess as entry into the life of the carnival. When he discovers a young black boy is being mistreated as a slave, the Preacher declines the carnival’s offer and whisks the boy off to freedom in Buxton. These two sides of the Preacher leave Elijah conflicted as to the true nature of this character, but in the end, the discovery is not what he expected.

Uncle Leroy, who is trying to earn enough money to back to the United States and buy his family, freeing them from slavery, is give a large amount of money after he helps Mrs. Colton, a woman recently widowed, make a memorial honoring her dead husband.
With this money, Uncle Leroy begins the steps towards freeing his family.

This turn of events leads to betrayal, robbery, murder, captured slaves, and freedom. Elijah learns about strength of character and honesty as he looks to justify Uncle Leroy’s trials and bring freedom to a newborn slave.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Christopher Curtis delivers an emotional story in which a young boy outshines most of the adults around him when it comes to the strength of his character. Elijah learns “you cain’t be timid ‘bout nothing you do, you got to go at it like you ‘specting good things to come out of it”, and he is still able to be sensitive and appreciative of the things around him.

The setting is realistic from the Liberty Bell which is rung twenty times ‘ten time to ring out their old lives and ten more to ring in their new ones, their free lives” to the river at Detroit in which “one side of the river meant you were free and the other side meant you were a slave”. From the author’s notes we discover that Frederick Douglass did visit the Buxton Settlement and that it was started by Reverend King who was a white man. The dialect is true to the time (using afeared, toady-frogs, afore, kneelt as well as dropping the first vowel from some words such as “mongst for amongst and ‘bout for about).

Curtis delivers much humor (the misunderstanding that familiarity breeds contempt was really a family breeding contest) as well as moments that will stay with the reader long after the book has been finished (as Elijah leaves the four captured runaway slaves with his pistol while carrying away their “Hope”, knowing that he may have given them the means to end their own lives). This is one of the most incredible books I have ever read, and, in my opinion, truly deserving of the honors it has been awarded (such as the Newbery Honor Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, and the Scott O’Dell Award for historical fiction).


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
2008 Coretta Scott King Award
Scott O’Dell Award
Newberry Honor Book
Booklist Starred Review

Booklist:”After his mother rebukes him for screaming that hoop snakes have invaded Buxton, gullible eleven-year-old Elijah confesses to readers that “there ain’t nothing in the world she wants more than for me to quit being so doggone fra-gile.” Inexperienced and prone to mistakes, yet kind, courageous, and understanding, Elijah has the distinction of being the first child born in the Buxton Settlement, which was founded in Ontario in 1849 as a haven for former slaves. Narrator Elijah tells an episodic story that builds a broad picture of Buxton’s residents before plunging into the dramatic events that take him out of Buxton and , quite possibly, out of his depth. In the author’s note, Curtis relates the difficulty of tackling the subject of slavery realistically through a child’s first-person perspective. Here, readers learn about conditions in slavery at a distance, though the horrors become increasingly apparent. Among the more memorable scenes are those in which Elijah meets escaped slaves-first, those who have make it to Canada and , later, those who have been retaken by slave catchers. Central to the story, these scenes show an emotional range and a subtlety unusual in children’s fiction. Many readers drawn to the book by humor will find themselves at times on the edges of the seats in suspense, and, at other moments, moved to tears. A fine, original novel from a gifted storyteller.”

Kirkus Reviews: “Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman is known for two things: Being the first child born free in Buxton, Canada, and throwing up on the great Frederick Douglass. It’s 1859, in Buxton, a settlement for slaves making it to freedom in Canada, a setting so thoroughly evoked, with characters so real, that readers will live the story, not just read it. This is not a zip-ahead-and-see-what-happens-next novel. It’s for settling into and savoring the rich, masterful storytelling, for getting to know Elijah, Cooter, and the Preacher, for laughing at stories of hoop snakes, toady-frogs and fish-head chunking and crying when Leroy finally get money to buy back his wife and children, but has the money stolen. Then Elijah journeys to America and risks his life to do what’s right. This is Curtis’s best novel yet, and no doubt many readers, young and old, will finish and say, “This is one of the best books I have ever read.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Students can write more of Elijah’s story by telling what happened to Hope as she was raised in Buxton, Uncle Leroy’s family, the slaves in the horse stable waiting for the bounty hunters, and how the people of Buxton reacted to the deaths of Uncle Leroy and the Preacher.

The community of Buxton can be researched through the following website:
http://buxtonmuseum.com/
It even has information about the Liberty Bell, used to ring in the freedom of its new citizens.

Students could choose a famous person with connections to abolishing slavery or the Underground Railroad such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Sojourner Truth, Reverend William King, and Abraham Lincoln.

There could be a comparison done on those who fought for the freedom of slaves and those who fought for Civil Rights.

A discussion could take place using the topic “What would Harriet Tubman do and discuss if she met Rosa Parks?
Another topic could be what would Martin Luther King Jr. do and discuss if he met Frederick Douglass?

THE WHIPPING BOY

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fleischman, Sid. 1986. THE WHIPPING BOY. Ill by Peter Sis. New York: Greenwillow Books. ISBN 0688062164

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Jemmy is a young boy in the Middle Ages who has become the Prince’s whipping boy. From putting bullfrogs in the moat to tying banquet guests’ wigs to their chairs the prince has rightfully earned his nickname “Prince Brat”. Jemmy is even whipped when the prince refuses to do his lessons, but Jemmy does benefit from learning to read, write, and cipher.

When Prince Brat decides to run away in the middle of the night, Jemmy is forced to go with him. Upon the road, they meet the feared highwaymen/murderers Hold-Your-Nose-Billy (whose name is derived from his garlic eating remedy to avoid the Plague) and his side-kick Cutthroat. Because of his writing skills, Jemmy is thought to be the prince while Brat, the whipping boy. Brat uses every opportunity to show that he is the rightful heir to the throne, but eventually is whipped for the escape of the two boys. The experience changes his attitude, along with finding out that his royal subjects dread the day “Prince Brat” is crowned king.

With the help of Betsy and Petunia (her dancing bear) and the Hot Potato man, the boys eventually escape the scoundrels (who after a chase through the sewer, look like they are wearing a fur coat-of sewer rats-and the two eventually stow away on a ship headed for a convict island). Brat aka Prince Horace, helps Jemmy convince the king he did not set up the whole plot for a “king’s ransom” and the king lets them off easy with a promise that if they run away again, they take him along. Prince Horace assures his friend that no more whipping would occur because HE would cry and scream if Jemmy was whipped, and the boys live together as friends in the castle.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sid Fleischman created a page turner with one adventure after another from beatings in a castle, to dancing bears in the forest, to kidnapping, sewers, and role reversals.

The characters are well developed with Jemmy realizing that although he misses his freedom, he would miss “the shelves of books he’d left behind in the castle. In the sewers, he hadn’t been aware of his own ignorance. But he realized that he’d lost his taste for ignorance.”
Prince Brat develops from a selfish, bored royal (“A whipping boy is supposed to yowl like a stuck pig! It’s no fun if you don’t bawl!”) to a thoughtful future ruler (“Prince Horace tells me it’s thanks to you that he’s back, sound and safe”).

The setting is believable because Fleischman uses vocabulary and items from that time including lords, ladies, powdered wigs, velvet breeches, silk stockings, ballad sellers, knights, Highwaymen, cobbled streets, writing with a hawk’s feather and beet juice for ink, rat catchers, and sewer rats.

Peter Sis’s illustrations add to the book, especially the visual of Billy and Cutthroat escaping from the sewer, covered in rats.

Fleishman shares in his author’s note that “the most surprising part of it(this work) is true. Some royal households of past centuries did keep whipping boys to suffer the punishments due a misbehaving prince”. He also adds that “history is alive with lunacies and injustices”.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Winner of the Newbery Award

Publisher’s Weekly:”With his flair for persuading readers to believe in the ridiculous, Fleischman scores a hit. Sis’s skillful pictures emphasize events in the adventures of the orphan Jemmy, kept in his king’s palace to be thrashed for the offenses committed by the royal heir, known as Prince Brat. It is forbidden to punish Brat, whose tricks multiply until Jemmy is tempted to escape the daily round of flogging. But the Prince himself takes off and forces the whipping boy to go with him. As they get into and out of trouble on the outside, Jemmy hears that he has been accused of abducting Brat. When the prince arranges for their return to the palace, poor Jemmy fears the worst, but things turn out for the best at the story’s satisfying close. Colorful types like a thief called Hold-Your-Nose Billy, Betsy and her dancing bear Petunia, et al., increase the fun.”

School Library Journal:”Roles are changed when young Prince Brat, as everyone calls him (He is so altogether rotten that “Not even black cat would cross his path”), runs away with Jemmy, his whipping boy (the commoner who takes the Prince’s punishments). Because Brat has never learned to read and write and Jemmy can, a couple of prince-nappers decide that Jemmy is the real prince. Chiefly through Jemmy’s cleverness, the two escape and return to court. Brat has learned much and changed for the better during his adventures. He winds up calling Jemmy “friend, “and he is certain to be a better prince hereafter. Full-page black-and-white illustrations, somewhat grotesque but always complementary, add attractiveness to the story. The mistaken identity plot is always a good one: children, even fairly old ones, like disguises and this kind of mix-up. Supplementary characters are well-drawn both by Fleischman and by Sis, so the whole hangs together in basic appeal. Readers could well move from THE WHIPPING BOY to its much longer cousin, Mark Twain’s THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Students can discuss the different versions of “Prince and Pauper” stories/movies they have come across. Some recent movies are MODEL BEHAVIOR, MICKEY MOUSE’S PRINCE AND THE PAUPER, and BARBIE’S PRINCESS AND THE PAUPER.

Older students could research the Middle Ages and present the information they find in a Renaissance Fair. This would include exhibits set up that share the class system, diseases, games and dances, dress, food, careers, etc.

Students could create a missing persons poster for Prince Brat and/or a wanted poster for Remmy.

Research References:
Cels, Mark. LIFE ON A MEDIEVAL MANOR (MEDIEVAL WORLD). ISBN 0778713857
Eastwood, Kay. WOMEN AND GIRLS IN THE MIDDLE AGES (MEDIEVAL WORLD).
ISBN 0778713784
Elliott, Lynne. CHILDREN AND GAMES IN THE MIDDLE AGES (MEDIEVAL WORLD).
ISBN 0778713814
Elliott, Lynne. CLOTHING IN THE MIDDLE AGES (MEDIEVAL WORLD). ISBN 0778713830
Elliott, Lynne. FOOD AND FEASTS IN THE MIDDLE AGES. ISBN 0778713806
Elliott, Lynne. MEDIEVAL MEDICINE AND THE PLAGUE (MEDIEVAL WORLD).
ISBN 0778713903
Elliot, Lynne. MEDIEVAL TOWNS, TRADE, AND TRAVEL (MEDIEVAL WORLD).
ISBN 0778713822
Groves, Marsha. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN THE MIDDLE AGES. ISBN 077871389X
Trembinski, Donna. MEDIEVAL LAW AND PUNISHMENT. ISBN 077871392X

Other Historical Fiction Novels from the Middle Ages include:
Avi. CRISPIN: THE CROSS OF LEAD. ISBN 0786808284
Cushman, Karen. CATHERINE, CALLED BIRDY. ISBN 0064405842
Cushman, Karen. THE MIDWIFE’S APPRENTICE. ISBN 006440630X
Jacques, Brian. REDWALL. ISBN 0441005489Schlitz, Laura Amy and Robert Byrd. GOOD MASTER! SWEET LADIES! ISBN 0763615781

SEESAW GIRL

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Park, Linda Sue. 1999. SEESAW GIRL. Ill. By Jean and Mou-sien Tseng. New York: Clarion. ISBN 0395915147

2. PLOT SUMMARY
In seventeenth-century Korea, girls of the upper class are not allowed outside of the walls of their families Inner Court until they married and then they were restricted to the Inner Court of their husband’s home. This is the world of twelve-year-old Jade Blossom, whose father is one of the king’s most trusted advisers.

Jade Blossom’s world is turned upside down when her beloved cousin and playmate, Willow, is married and sent to live in her husband’s Inner Court since she is now considered a member of that family. Who will help Jade Blossom sabotage her brother’s lessons or help with the tedious chore of unstitching the clothing, washing it, pounding out the wrinkles, and then sewing all the garments back together?

Jade soon develops a plan in which she can go outside of her father’s home to see her cousin. After sneaking out in a basket used to gather vegetables, Jade Blossom reaches the market place. To her amazement, she sees women and girls outside. In her silk clothing, it is obvious that Jade is of a royal family so she gets help to dirty her silk clothes.

During the process, some strangers to Korea are brought to the market place. Jade Blossom is amazed by their ‘red faces, eyes that seemed to have no color at all and noses that protrude like the beaks of birds”. Some even had “yellow or brown sheep’s wool on their cheeks and chins” and hair “the color of straw”.

Jade leaves the town and starts down the road to see the house in which her cousin now resides. When she knocks on the gate she is treated as a peasant and the gatekeeper refuses to let her see her cousin, believing that she is lying. Willow refuses to see her, but insists that she is not to be punished. A disappointed Willow goes back into the town. When the servant who was in charge of her family’s cart sees her, he is horrified. He puts her on the seat of the cart, covering her with cloth he purchased so that she could not be seen by” the eyes of strangers”.

Jade Blossom is returned to her home, where she is met by her mother who is shocked that she went out, but is understanding about her daughter’s curiosity. As Jade struggles with the memory of the men in chains and the beauty of the outside world that she cannot be a part of, her father wisely counsels her through her brother (“Our father has told me that , as you already know, these events are not the affairs of women. But he also knows what you saw that day, and he believes that unanswered curiosity can build a road to danger. I will tell you what I know.”)Jade’s brother shares his knowledge with her, helps her learn to paint (“painting was a noble art reserved for men”), and Jade Blossom is able to find some contentment in her life.

She still dreams of the beautiful mountains she has heard her brother talk about, so, using a long wooden board, a sheaf of straw, and an unsuspecting cousin, she creates a seesaw on which, when she jumps and then is thrust into the air, she can see outside the walls of her home.”As she flew through the air, she glimpsed them (the mountains) only for an instant, but it was long enough for her to make a picture in her mind—a picture that she would paint as truly as she was able.” The seesaw gave Jade Blossom more than just a glimpse of the world outside, it gave her a dream for her future.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This novel is written simply because it is intended for children. Linda Sue Park uses language and shares customs that are part of the Korean culture at that time. Jade Blossom refers to her brother as “Elder Brother”, her formal name to call her father is “Abu-Ji”, and her father talks of the Five Virtues of Confucius.

The wedding tradition of the groom bringing a goose to the wedding to symbolize faithfulness since geese mate for life was another Korean tradition written in this book. Men eating first and why the clothes were taken apart before they were washed (“Don’t you know that dirt hides in the stitching, in all the pockets and corners? Wherever there is dirt, the spirits of sickness can hide, too”) also help mark the historic setting of this book.

The significance of Jade Blossom’s curiosity and escape into the “real world” is not truly understood until the author’s end notes are read. Linda Sue Park explains about the Choson period in Korea (from 1300-1900) in which “Korean girls were not allowed to leave their homes”. The prisoners that Jade Blossom sees are Dutch explorers who were lost in a storm and wound up in Korea, which forbid strangers from entering it.


Park also shares information about the Korean aristocracy and how the great paintings of the time came from men, even though some anonymous paintings from that era might be done by women, just as Jade Blossom did.

There are also notes about the “standing and jumping” seesaw which had been used in Korea for hundreds of years. This authentic information raises many questions for young people to be able to research and discover more about Korea and this time in their history.

Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng’s illustrations help explain some of the details of this time. The definite lines between the girls of the time and the boys is shown in an illustration of Jade Blossom and Willow sitting embroidering while Tiger Heart (Jade’s brother) is standing at the door talking to his mother about the trouble he is in. The simplicity of the room is shown along with the sewing kits and the definite divide between the women and men. When Graceful Willow is to be married, the author says that she has an elaborate wedding headdress, but the illustrators bring to life how truly ornate the headdress is as well as the rest of Graceful Willow’s wedding attire. The Illustrations add depth and detail to this novel.



4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publisher’s Weekly:”This first novel set in 17th-century Korea centers on twelve-year-old Jade Blossom, daughter of one of the king’s advisers. With all the temerity of a 1990’s girl, Jade plays tricks on her brother (with the help of her cousin Willow), and her yearnings to see the world outside of her family’s walled household ultimately leads her into trouble. She conceals herself in a basket on market day and catches her first glimpse of the mountains as well as a group of imprisoned Dutch sailors. Park manages to get across many of society’s restriction on girls and women, but often relies on telling rather than showing. For example, Jade says how much her view of the mountains affects her, yet she never describes what it is about the vista that moves her. Readers gain little insight into Jade’s relationship with other members of her household or her daily routine. Though the novel glosses over the meaning of the Dutch sailors’ appearance, a closing author’s note helps to put it into context. Fortunately, Jean and Mou-sien Tseng’s animated black-and-white drawings fill in many details missing in the text concerning dress and setting.”

School Library journal:”Life in 17th-century Korea is not easy for a girl, even for the daughter of a wealthy family. Jade Blossom must learn to do the laundry, sew the clothes back together after each washing, help in the kitchen, and embroider flawlessly. Her world is circumscribed by the walls of the Inner Court where she will spend her life until she marries and then will be confined to the Inner Court of her husband’s household. However, when her aunt and best friend since childhood gets married, Jade is determined to see her again. Park maintains a fine tension between the spirited girl’s curiosity and her very limited sphere. Certainly Jade looks for opportunities to expand her horizons, but after her first disastrous foray to see Willow, she learns that those chances have to come within the wall of her own home. The story is full of lively action and vivid descriptions, enhanced by appealing black-and-white paintings, to give a clear sense of the period and reveal the world as Jade sees it. Even the minor characters have substance. The girl’s parents are understanding but not indulgent. Her father is a thoughtful man, distant from the family, but looking at the possibilities for the future of his country. Her mother recognizes Jade’s longings and shows her that it is possible to be content with her life. Like Jade’s stand-up seesaw, Park’s novel offers readers a brief but enticing glimpse at another time and place.”

5. CONNECTIONS

Students could compare and contrast the five virtues of Confucius to the Golden Rule by using a T-chart.

For discussion the students could talk about what Susan B. Anthony would say to the Korean Emperor concerning the rights of girls and women.

Students could be shown the steps in embroidery. They could discuss which way they would want to capture an image-through painting or embroidery. The discussion could include which would be easier, more true to the actual image, which would be more valued, etc.

Students could study Korean writing. They could practice writing in that manner.

Using the concept of simple machines, students could study the Korean Seesaw, telling which simple machines are involved. They could design their own Korean Seesaw.

Subjects to Research:
Dutch Explorers in Korea
Choson Period
Confucius
Korean clothing

Resources:
Han, Heung-Gi. LET’S VISIT KOREA. ISBN: 1565910109
Han, Suzanne Crowder. LET’S LEARN ABOUT KOREA: CUSTOMS OF KOREA. ISBN 1565910001
Landau, Elaine. A TRUE BOOK: KOREA. ISBN 0516267663
Lane, Kimberly. COME LOOK WITH ME: ASIAN ART. ISBN 1890674192
Stickler, John. LAND OF MORNING CALM: KOREAN CULTURE THEN AND NOW. ISBN 1885008228
Tracy, Kathleen. BIOGRAPHY FROM ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CONFUCIUS. ISBN 158415246X
Young, Sunny. HANBOK: THE ART OF KOREAN CLOTHING. ISBN 1565910826

A WOMAN FOR PRESIDENT: THE STORY OF VICTORIA WOODHULL

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Krull, Kathleen. 2004. A WOMAN FOR PRESIDENT: THE STORY OF VICTORIA WOODHULL. Ill by Jane Dyer. New York: Walker And Company. ISBN 0802789080

2. PLOT SUMMARY
“The truth is I am too many years ahead of this age.” This statement sums up Victoria Woodhull as she lived life in the 1800's and early 1900’s, a time when “personal ambition in a woman was thought to be evil.” At eight, she was traveling around as child preacher, delving into Spiritualism, “the belief that spirits of the dead can communicate", and by fourteen she was married to an alcoholic doctor who fathered her two children.

As a travelling “fortune teller and healer” she and her sister advised Cornelius Vanderbilt who was “the richest man in America”. After splitting half the profits from a stock tip deemed beneficial to Vanderbilt, Victoria and her sister formed the first female owned stock company.

In “the wildest, most outrageous act she could dream up to prove women’s equality” Victoria announced in 1870 that she was running for President, even though women couldn’t vote. For the next two years, she campaigned for office and for voting rights for women. Although she was chosen as the Presidential nominee for the newly formed Equal Rights Party, and was the first woman to run for the presidency, Victoria Woodhull was defeated by Ulysses S. Grant. Even though she didn’t get to vote for herself, Victoria ensured that “times would never be the same for women”.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This is the first biography about Victoria Woodhull written for young readers. The watercolor illustrations compliment the text, which glosses over some of the more controversial activities of Mrs. Woodhull including “communicating with the dead at a dollar per séance “as a child, marrying her doctor at fourteen, “travelling from town to town as a fortune-teller and healer”, her first husband living with her while she was married to her second husband, and allegations of her being a “witch” and acting “satanic”.

This book follows her life from its meager beginnings to her nomination as the first female candidate for the office of President of the United States. In author’s notes at the end of the book, the reader discovers that Ulysses S. Grant wins the presidency. The notes also conclude that Woodhull was alive for eight years after women won the right to vote.

There is an introduction to the book setting the reader up for the climate of the time from “heavy dresses dragging her down” to the opinion that “the quieter and sicker she was , the more attractive” showing how womanhood was represented at the time. Jane Dyer’s watercolor illustrations accurately portray Mrs. Woodhull, even including “her trademark white rose worn at her collar”. The bibliography at the end of the book cites the books, video, and websites used to maintain the authenticity of this biography.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal: “Despite her impressive number of achievements-first woman to sit on the Stock Exchange, first woman to own a newspaper or speak before Congress, first woman to run for the presidency of the United States-Woodhull is little known by elementary-grade students. This book, though soft-pedaling the more scandalous aspects of her life, rectifies that omission. Born into an impoverished family, Woodhull was supporting her clan by the time she was eight as a gospel preacher. Married at 14 to her alcoholic doctor, she and her sister became well known as fortune-tellers. By the time they became spiritual and financial advisers to Cornelius Vanderbilt, Woodhull had divorced, remarried, and moved her entire family, including her ailing ex-husband, into a large house in New York City where she took an active role in the women’s suffrage movement. It was this involvement that led her to declare herself a candidate for president in 1872. Although the campaign was a failure, it did serve to raise the issue of women’s rights in an obvious and unforgettable manner. Krull’s writing style is lively and engaging and Dyer’s large, photo-realist watercolors capture the sense of the age and involve both eye and imagination.”

Booklist:”Victoria Woodhull’s life reads like a novel. A Dickensian childhood led to a teenage career as a spiritualist. Later, her perceived ability to talk to mediums influenced Cornelius Vanderbilt to take her stock-market advice—and give her millions of dollars. Rich enough to advance her political ideas about equality for women, she started her own newspaper and investment business and eventually ran for president against Grant. Woodhull is a fascinating figure, and Krull’s lively and astute writing does her justice (though she leaves out that messy business of Woodhull’s promotion of free love). Krull also gives kids a clear picture of the fettered life of most women of the time, clearly contrasting it with the stances taken by Woodhull and other suffragettes. Dyer tends toward portraiture here, and at times, Woodhull seems surprisingly placid in the art, but the watercolors, cast with a golden glow, are handsome and add a dignified note to the occasionally raucous events.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Students may wish to learn more about the woman’s suffrage movement:
Fritz, Jean. YOU WANT WOMEN TO VOTE, LIZZIE STANTON? ISBN 0698117646
Kops, Deborah. PEOPLE AT THE CENTER OF WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE. ISBN 1567117724
Landau, Elaine. WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE. ISBN 0531188337

With a presidential election coming up, students may wish learn more about the election process or the presidency with the following books:
Chriselow, Eileen. VOTE. ISBN 0618247548
Granfield, Linda. AMERICA VOTES: HOW OUR PRESIDENT IS ELECTED. ISBN 1553379896
Sobel, Syl. PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND OTHER COOL FACTS. ISBN 0764118943
St, George, Judith and David Small. SO YOU WANT TO BE PRESIDENT? ISBN 0399257529

Students may then conduct their own election from registering for voter registration cards to simulating a true election complete with ballots, ballot boxes, and the voting process being followed.

Students could also study the platform of each candidate and then vote on the issues, rather than an actual candidate. It could then be revealed which candidate won and a discussion could occur about the realities of party affiliation and media coverage affecting voters.

HITLER YOUTH: GROWING UP IN HITLER’S SHADOW

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bartoletti, Susan Campbell. 2005. HITLER YOUTH: GROWING UP IN HITLER’S SHADOW. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 0439353793

2. PLOT SUMMARY
“Adolf Hitler said that person’s money and titles didn’t matter. All that mattered was whether a person contributed to the well–being of the people.” These are the principles which the Hitler Youth believed in starting in 1926 and lasting until 1945. From the organization of the group with “each boy and girl stepping forward to take the Hitler Youth oath (swearing to devote all of one’s energies and strength to the Savior of the country, Adolf Hitler, while being ready to give up one’s life for him)" to proving their racial heritage through a stamped and signed official document stating such, these young people proudly served their Fuhrer without originality or individuality.

The members of the Hitler Youth served their country as “cheap labor” working as field laborers, building roads and highways, and, during World War II, becoming the replacements for those who went to serve their country. When the sirens began for the air raids, “the Hitler Youth raced to the air-raid stations.” These young people even helped serve in concentration camps and were involved in the war effort, even being responsible for using weapons against the enemies of Germany.

Many who resisted the youth movement lost their lives in order to think freely and help others see what Hitler was truly about. One young man, Helmuth Hubener, wrote and delivered essays about the “lies of the Nazi party”. This sixteen year old was captured, tortured, and beheaded by the Germans. Hans and Sophie Scholl, siblings at a German university, were also beheaded by the Gestapo when they were discovered to be printing and distributing leaflets against the Nazis and Adolph Hitler.

This book ends with a question for young people “What are you willing to do to prevent such a shadow (someone like Hitler rising to power on the shoulders of young people) from falling over you and others?”

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Susan Bartoletti does not shy away from the actual events of the Holocaust in this children’s social history book. The reader experiences the horror of the Nazi regime from euthanasia of the elderly and handicapped ("the doctor administered a lethal drug, and the baby was put sleep"), massacre of Jews (“It’s estimated that the commandos murdered two million people, lining them up, shooting them, and shoving them into mass graves”), to the horror of the concentration camps ("infants, young children, pregnant women, the elderly, the disabled, the weak, and the sick were sent to the left in a line that ended at the gas chambers”).

Although this book can be used to find specific facts with a table of contents, titled chapters (“Fanatical Fighters”/Hitler’s Boy Soldiers), and user friendly index with bolded pages being photographs, this book is meant to be read from beginning to end. At the beginning of the book are two pages of photographs called “The Young People in this Book” which also tell about each youngster and their part. The epilogue of the book tells what became of each one. One example is Alfons Heck, a former member of Hitler’s Youth who is alive in California and is considered to be an authority on the Third Reich. There is also a time line of the Hitler Youth located after the epilogue.

The black and white photographs used in the book came from family albums, Nazi publicity shots, United States historical news media, soldiers, the National Archives and Records Administration, and the Bildarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz (in Berlin, Germany). The author a used the online photograph collections from the Library of Congress and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. These pictures, along with their explicit captions, haunted me long after I finished the book.

This book contains quote sources sequenced by chapter (FOREWARD/”I begin with the young…”Rausching 246-47. (81)) with 81 being the page of the corresponding bibliography entry. The bibliography is organized by topic or person involved with a book symbol placed by those entries considered pertinent to young readers.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Newbery Honor Book
The Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL starred review
BOOKLIST starred review
KIRKUS REVIEWS starred review
School Library Journal:”Hitler’s plans for the future of Germany relied significantly on its young people, and this excellent history shows how he attempted to carry out his mission with the establishment of the Hitler Youth, or Hitlerjugend, in 1926. With a focus on the years between 1933 and the end of the war in 1945, Bartoletti explains the roles that millions of boys and girls unwittingly played in the horrors of the Third Reich. The book is structured around 12 young individuals and their experiences, which clearly demonstrated how they were victims of leaders who took advantage of their innocence and enthusiasm for evil means. Their stories evolve from patriotic devotion to Hitler and zeal to join, to doubt, confusion and disillusion. (An epilogue adds a powerful what-became-of-them relevance.) The large period photographs are a primary component and they include Nazi propaganda showing happy and healthy teens as well as the reality of concentration camps and young people with large guns. The final chapter superbly summarizes the weighty significance of this part of the 20Th century and challenges young readers to prevent history from repeating itself. Bartoletti lets many of the subjects’ words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has."

Booklist:” What was it like to be a teenager in Germany under Hitler? Bartoletti draws on oral histories, diaries, letters, and her own extensive interviews with Holocaust survivors, Hitler Youth, resisters, and bystanders to tell the history from the viewpoints of people who were there. Most of the accounts and photos bring close the experiences of those who followed Hitler and fought for the Nazis, revealing why they joined, how Hitler used them, what it was like. Henry Mentelmann, for example, talks about Kristallnacht, when Hitler Youth and Storm Troopers wrecked Jewish homes and stores, and remembers thinking that the victims deserved what they got. The stirring photos tell more of the story. One particularly moving picture shows young Germans undergoing de-Nazification by watching images of people in the camps. The handsome book design, with black-and-white historical photos on every double-page spread will draw in readers and help spark deep discussion, which will extend beyond the Holocaust curriculum. The extensive back matter is a part of the gripping narrative.”

Kirkus Reviews:”Case studies…root the work…, and clear prose, thorough documentation and an attractive format…make this nonfiction writing at its best.”

5. CONNECTIONS

After reading this book, older students may want to learn more about the Holocaust:
Gluck, Angela. HOLOCAUST. ISBN 0756625351
Zullo, Allan. SURVIVORS: TRUE STORIES OF CHILDREN IN THE HOLOCAUST. ISBN 0439663360
Dvorson, Alexa. THE HTILER YOUTH: MARCHING TOWARDS MADNESS (TEEN WITNESSES TO THE HOLOCAUST). ISBN 1562544624
Frank, Anne. THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK. ISBN 0553296981
Ten Boome, Corrie. THE HIDING PLACE. ISBN 0553256696
Axelrod, Toby. HANS AND SOPHIE SCHOLL: GERMAN RESISTERS OF THE WHITE ROSE. ISBN 1562544519

Websites to use:
http://loc.gov/ (Library of Congress)
http://ushmm.org/ (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

This book could also open a discussion about the right to think and speak freely. The importance of thinking critically and true examples from the text could be used.

VOLCANOES

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Simon, Seymour. 2006. VOLCANOES. New York: Collins. ISBN 0060877170

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This photo essay book begins with an explanation of the legends and stories surrounding volcanoes from the early Romans who believed their god of fire, Vulcan, “worked at a hot forge, striking sparks as he made swords and armor for the other gods”, to the Hawaiian legend of Pele, the goddess of fire, who “although the islanders tried to please Pele, she burst forth every few years.”.

How volcanoes form (by “erupted material that piles up around the vent”) , famous volcanic eruptions (“the eruption of Mount St. Helens was the most destructive in the history of the United States”), and where and why volcanoes erupt (“Down the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, two plates are slowly moving apart”) are some of the topics covered in this book. The Hawaiian volcanoes are discussed as well as the two types of lava (aa and pahoehoe) and the four groups of volcanoes (shield, cinder cone, composite/stratovolcano and dome).

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Seymour Simon’s photo essay book contains photos of volcanoes and volcanic activity. Instead of picture captions, the text on each page emphasizes what the photograph is about such as on page 25 when the author explains that when the pahoehoe lava cools it “forms a smooth, billowy surface” and that surface is what the photograph shows. There is only one chart in the book, showing the plates of the Earth’s crust, but it is overshadowed by the dramatic pictures of lava, volcanic destruction, billowing smoke, and types of volcanoes. The photo credits are given on the same page as the author’s dedication to his sister. On the back cover of this paperback, there is a glossary of terms, an index with bolded page numbers being those in which illustrations are found, and a section featuring book selections and websites in order to “read more about it”.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal: “Simon presents information on volcanoes to young readers in an understandable text and colorful format….Further, it can be used successfully to generate interest on the part of those readers reluctant to pick up nonfiction books….The book is graced with many illuminating color photos that bring the text to life. However the illustration of the plates, or crust layers of the earth, is somewhat difficult to understand….This is a useful and attractive addition to science collections, as it is likely to become a favorite choice of young scientists.”

Book Review Digest:” The overview emphasizes geographical consequences and leaves the reader wanting to know more about the human losses and risks in the vicinity of active volcanoes. One very interesting scene features fire fighters spraying the encroaching lava during an eruption in Hawaii; but generally there is no real sense of the impact on humanity, making the boldly dramatic landscapes seem almost abstract….On the whole, however, the exceedingly handsome presentation is both appealing and compelling.”

Kirkus Reviews:”Simon may have done more than any other living author to help us understand and appreciate the beauty of our planet and our universe.”


5. CONNECTIONS
This book lends itself into a discussion about the layers of the Earth. Students may wish to do further research and explore more about volcanoes and their activities.

Books about Volcanoes
Burleigh, Robert, David Giraudon, and Phillipe Bourseiller. VOLCANOES: JOURNEY TO THE CRATERS EDGE ISBN 0810945908
Decker, Barbara. HAWAII VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK: FIRE FROM BENEATH THE SEA. ISBN 1580710441
Editors of TIME FOR KIDS. TIME FOR KIDS: VOLCANOES! ISBN 006072234
Herman, Gail and Bob Ostrom. THE MAGIC SCHOOL BUS BLOWS ITS TOP: A BOOK ABOUT VOLCANOES. ISBN 059050835

Websites about Volcanoes:
http://www.si.edu (Smithsonian Institution)
http://www.volcanoworld.org

This book could also be a start to an author study of Seymour Simon.
Website about Seymour Simon:
www.seymoursimon.com

Other books by Seymour Simon:
EARTHQUAKES. ISBN 060877154
HORSES. ISBN 0060289449
OCEANS. ISBN 0060889993
STORMS. ISBN 0688117082

WEATHER. ISBN 0060884398

WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN'T KNOW

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sones, Sonya. 2003. WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689855532

2. PLOT SUMMARY
This verse novel tells the story of Sophie, a ninth grader who struggles as she falls in love with the wrong boy. At first she thinks she loves Dylan (“But Dylan calls me Sapphire. He says it’s because of my eyes. I love the way his voice sounds when he says it.”). Sophie begins to realize that she and Dylan aren’t that compatible (“If only Dylan liked Ferris wheels/If only I liked roller coasters”).

A cyber relationship turns from an innocent flirtation to something perverse(“I read those words again and again, trying to get myself to believe them/I felt like I was plummeting through cyberspace out of control/until I took some deep breaths, pulled myself together/and wrote: “Consider yourself permanently deleted.”/Then, I clicked off”).

When Sophie finally meets the right boy, she must make a choice: to date an outcast or continue to enjoy her social status and friendships. As the novel ends, Sophie chooses the boy (“He’s smiling through and through. And I am, too. Because everything’s going to be all right. Sometimes I just know things.”).

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This verse novel is written from a first person point of view (Sophie’s). The chapters in this novel are the titled individual poems that follow Sophie through growing up (from “molehills to mountains” and “the rebooting of my ovarian system”) to her personal relationships (“maybe if I hadn’t lied to her in the first place, my mother wouldn’t be down there in the basement right now”). This young adult novel is full of realism from “Another Business Trip” for Sophie’s father, “Winter Break” in which Sophie is the only one in her group to have no vacation plans, to “I Slink into the Cafeteria” in which Sophie sits with her new boyfriend, possibly alienating herself from her friends. The language is real to teens and although there are 259 pages, this book reads easily.
“Tears”
Usually/I can feel them coming/feel them swirling in my chest/like a swarm of angry bees, /buzzing up through my neck/and filling my head,/ till it feels like a balloon/getting ready to burst./Usually/there’s time to at least try to stop them/before they sting out through my eyes/and slip down my cheeks like hot wax./But not this time.

The only illustrations are in the form of a flip book and occur the last fifteen pages. It is supposed to resemble the flip book that Sophie and Robin drew together, depicting a couple from long ago sharing a kiss. In the poem “Dear Grachel and Race” the author has Sophie explain the flip book to her friends, Rachel and Grace.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
BOOKLIST Starred Review
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY Starred Review
Booklist: “In a fast, funny , touching book, Sones uses the same simple, first-person poetic narrative she used in STOP PRETENDING:WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY, but this story isn’t about family anguish; it’s about the joy and surprise of falling in love. The poetry is never pretentious or difficult; on the contrary, the very short, sometimes rhythmic lines make each page fly. Sophie’s voice is colloquial and intimate, and the discoveries she makes are beyond formula, even while they are as sweetly romantic as popular song. A natural for reluctant readers, this will also attract young people who love to read.”

Publisher’s Weekly: “Drawing on the recognizable cadences of teenage speak, Sones poignantly captures the tingle and heartache of being young and boy-crazy. With its separate free verse poems woven into a fluid and coherent narrative with a satisfying ending, Sophie’s hones and earthy story feels destined to captivate a young female audience, avid and reluctant readers alike.”

School Library Journal: “A story written in poetry form, Sophie is happily dating Dylan. Then she falls for cyberboy. Imagine her surprise when he becomes downright scary. In the satisfying ending, Sophie finds the perfect boyfriend-someone she’s known all along. Sones is a bright, perceptive writer who digs deeply into her protagonist’s soul. There she reveals the telltale signs of being “boy-crazy”; the exciting edginess of cyber romances; the familiar, timeless struggle between teens and parents; and the anguish young people feel when their parents fight. But life goes on, and relationships subtly change. Sones’s poems are glimpses through a peephole many teens may be peering through for the first time, unaware that others are seeing virtually the same new, scary, unfamiliar things (parents have nuclear meltdowns, meeting a boyfriend’s parents, crying for no apparent reason). In WHAT MY MOTHER DOESN’T KNOW, a lot is revealed about the teenage experience-(“could I really be falling for that geek I dissed a month ago?”), clashes with close friends, and self-doubts. It could, after all, be reader’s lives, their English classes, their hands in a first love’s. Of course, mothers probably do know these goings-on in their daughter’s lives. It’s just much easier to believe they don’t. Sones’s book makes these often-difficult years a little more livable by making them real, normal, and OK.”

5. CONNECTIONS
This book of verse is written from the view point of Sophie. The sequel is written from the view point of Robin, Sophie’s boyfriend. The students could predict what the title to the sequel is, what the cover might look like, and write some of the verses and/or summarize what the book would be about.

The sequel is:
Sones, Sonya. WHAT MY GIRLFRIEND DOESN’T KNOW. ISBN 069876025

Students could also go through the book and rewrite some of Sophie’s verses to fit their life. They could also pick the poem most like them and the one least like them and respond with their reasons.

A verse book dealing with grieving:
Sones, Sonya. ONE OF THOSE HIDEOUS BOOKS WHERE THE MOTHER DIES. ISBN 1416907882

A verse book dealing with mental illness:
Sones, Sonya. STOP PRETENDING: WHAT HAPPENED WHEN MY BIG SISTER WENT CRAZY. ISBN 0613349792

Poetry for Teens:
Cormier, Robert. FRENCHTOWN SUMMER. ISBN 0385327048
Wong, Janet. BEHIND THE WHEEL: DRIVING POEMS. ISBN 0689825315

LITTLE DOG POEMS

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
George, Kristine O’Connell. 1999. LITTLE DOG POEMS. Ill. By June Otani. New York, NY: Clarion Books. ISBN 0395822661

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Little Dog scampers through a day starting by waking up his owner “Little Dog’s cold nose is better than any alarm clock”. He “barks and chases the noisy enemy around the house until the vacuum learns its lesson and stops growling”. Thirty poems chronicle a day in the life of this canine, showcasing his talents as a sentinel (“I move a chair to the front window, so Little Dog can supervise the neighborhood”) , an air traffic controller (“Shhhh. Little Dog must rest after chasing that airplane away”), and a thief(“Oh, Dog./ I bought you toys./ Why my new socks?).
The day ends with both mistress and dog fast asleep together in one bed.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This poetry book by Kristine O’Connell George is written for young readers. The language is very simple. The most challenging vocabulary words are peering which Little Dog does in the poem “Evening”(peering into the darkness) and sentinel, which is the title of the poem in which Little Dog “wants to see what is going on outside”. A young girl and her dog are a topic which most young readers can relate to, and, although none of the poems rhyme, they are easy to follow. The presentation of the poems is interesting. In “Wisdom” the last word’s two syllables are written vertically so that fully in carefully spreads down to the bottom of the page. “Morning Nap” is a concrete poem which curls up just like Little Dog does while he is sleeping. In “Thief” the three lines of the poem are written with much space in between. The reader can almost hear the frustration in the little girl’s voice as she scolds her dog for taking her socks instead of playing with his toys.

June Otani’s illustrations add great appeal to this book of poems. Each poem is accompanied by a watercolor illustration of the young owner and/or the little dog, which was drawn as a terrier. From the dog, who is looking out of the back window in “Car Ride” to a clearly reprimanded canine peeking out from under the bed he wasn’t supposed to be on in “Mystery”, each illustration enhances the imagery of the poem’s words. Without the illustrations, this collection would not be as enjoyable. The illustrator clearly shines in this book.


4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Publisher's Weekly: “ Experienced dog owners will recognize the familiar behavior of a winsome brown puppu as it attacks the “enemy” vacuum cleaner until it “stops growling” or as it barks until its owner “witnesses the triumph-one cornered beetle.” Otani’s skillful watercolors of the girl and her fluff of a dog are sweetly fetching. Otani’s familiarity with the exuberance and joy of puppies and children shines through her delicate watercolors, and she depicts their pounces and feints, cuddles, and anticipation, with a deft sense of line. George’s text, however, is disappointingly slight. Despite Otani’s engaging and inventive illustrations, this depiction of a girl and her dog seems uninspired.”

School Library Journal: “Thirty short poems about a lively terrier, narrated by the dog’s young mistress. The girl describes how her pet wakes her up in the morning, chases the vacuum cleaner, digs holes in the garden, chews up her sock, snuggles up at bedtime, etc. Each poem appears on a separate page and is accompanied by a realistic watercolor-and-ink illustration. The appealing paintings show the pooch interacting with its owner, a sweet faced girl. The poetry and painting in LITTLE DOG POEMS complement one another wonderfully and bring to life an engaging canine character.”

5. CONNECTIONS
Students will have the chance to read other author’s poetry collections about dogs. Then have the students either create a topical poem book about dogs (taking poems from other author collections and adding their own illustrations) or try to create a collection of poems written about their favorite animal.

Poem books about dogs:
Crawley, Dave. DOG POEMS. ISBN 1590784545
George, Kristine O’Connell. LITTLE DOG AND DUNCAN. ISBN 061811758X
Prelutsky, Jack. MY DOG MAY BE A GENIUS. ISBN 0066238625
Sklansky, Amy E. FROM THE DOGHOUSE: POEMS TO CHEW ON. ISBN 080506673X

ON THE WING:BIRD POEMS AND PAINTINGS

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Florian, Douglas. 1996. ON THE WING: BIRD POEMS AND PAINTINGS. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace & Company. ISBN 0152004971

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Each of the twenty-one poems describes a different bird. The topical collection starts with an egret causing the beach to have “A feathered hat”. “This helicopter of a bird” refers to the hummingbird while a vulture is described as being “weak on culture”. The hill mynah’s poem is told through a first person (bird) point of view “I gab/ I blab/ I’m never terse” while the harsh life of emperor penguins is shown “Of Antarctic sea/ All huddled together/For warmth and protection”. Woodpeckers are described as “peck-uliar” while the stork “feeds on frogs without a plate”. Each bird’s poem is emphasized by a full page illustration done in watercolor. Bird watching was never so easy!

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Douglas Florian’s collection of bird poems showcases some different forms of poetry. Each poem rhymes although not in a constant way. In “The Egret” there is one, four- line stanza with the second and fourth line rhyming (On morning tide/An egret sat/And gave the beach/A feathered hat.).

In “The Andean Cock-of-the-Rock” the ten lines could be divided into two stanzas, reminiscent of a limerick’s five lines with the first, second and fifth line rhyming
and the third and fourth lines rhyming. (The Andean cock-of-the-rock/Has a crest that’s as round as a clock/Its shoulders and head/Are a flaming bright red-/Just to think of it gives me a shock). (Descending upon forest floor/It feeds upon fruit, and what’s more /On ground or in trees/ Each expert agrees/This vivid bird can’t be ignored).

In “The Quetzal” the poem’s words circle around just as the tail of the bird does in its illustration. The book’s table of contents makes it easy for the reader to find the poem he/she would like to read.

Florian’s watercolor illustrations enhance each poem. In the illustration for “The Green Catbird” the word meow appears in the picture, interjecting onomatopoeia into the book. For “The Magnificent Frigate Birds” the breast of the bird is puffed out, covered in military medals so that the lines “Our crimson chests/We can inflate/How could you /NOT/Regard us great?” are emphasized. The hummingbird has a propeller over its head and landing strips added to its claws since it is a “helicopter of a bird”.

There is a comic element to the illustrations which are given a full page for every poem represented. The roadrunner has wheels, the hill mynah a tape recorder for its brain, and the hawk sports a pair of binoculars around its neck. On the back flap of the book cover, instead of a photograph of the author there is self portrait of him with a beak.

Although the strokes of the paintings are simple, the illustrations add a new dimension to the poems creating the visuals for the words.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS
Booklist: “This colorful collection features twenty-one poems about a variety of birds, from hummingbird to vulture, roadrunner to emperor penguin. The imagery in these short poems finds visual expression in the full-page, watercolor paintings, illustrating verse with high spirits and ingenuous charm. Many of the poems use internal rhyme effectively, but the book’s appeal lies in its fluent wordplay and generous use of humor in both the poetry and the paintings.”

Kirkus Reviews: “As in that book (BEAST FEAST), biology and whimsy combine in verse and pictures. Florian’s watercolors match the tone of the verse, bright and funny portraits of individual birds, combining accurate representations with visual puns (the roadrunner has wheels; the nightjar is shown flapping its wings inside a jar). Nonfiction and humor don’t always fit comfortably together, but in this book they become a delightful whole, a sturdy foundation from which to explore the playfulness of language.”

5. CONNECTIONS
After reading the poems, viewing the illustrations, and discussing ON THE WING: BIRD POEMS AND PAINTINGS, read other Douglas Florian poem collections without showing the illustrations. Have the students discuss and/or draw what they think the illustrations for each poem would be. After the students share their illustrations and explain their choices, show the original pictures.

Books to share:
Florian, Douglas. BEAST FEAST: POEMS. ISBN 0152017372
Florian, Douglas. INSECTLOPEDIA. ISBN 0152163352
Florian, Douglas. LIZARDS, FROGS, AND POLLIWOGS. ISBN 0152052488
Florian, Douglas. MAMMALABILIA. ISBN 0152050248
Florian, Douglas. ZOO’S WHO. ISBN 0152046399