Chapter Book #14

Chapter Book #13-- Bud, Not Buddy-- Newberry Award

TITLE: Bud, Not Buddy

AUHTOR: Christopher Paul Curtis

GENRE: Historical Fiction

THEMES: Music, Adoption, Foster Care, Runaways

AWARDS: This book won both a Newberry award and a Coretta Scott King award.

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: Yearling, 2002

SUMMARY: This book is based on the life of an orphan that the only thing he knew about his life was that he had a picture of his mom as a child, and a bag of rocks that she left him. This book deals with the trials that he has to go through as an orphan, and dealing with going to different foster homes. Eventually he meets up with a famous musician, who accuses him of stealing the rocks from his house. Then it is found out who his mother was, and why she had the rocks. 
This is a great book to inform children and parents about the life in the early 1900's. Though, it must be used carefully in class, as to not upset someone who may have been in foster care at some point.

Chapter Book #12 -- The Giver -- Newberry Award

TITLE: The Giver

AUHTOR: Lois Lowry

GENRE: Science Fiction

THEMES: Power, Authority, Government

AWARDS: Newberry Award winner.

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: Houghton Miller Books for Children

SUMMARY: The book the Giver is written from a young boy, Jonas' perception of the world. This book is about coming of age for Jonas, and how he is nervous to move on from childhood into adulthood. The society that Jonas and his family live in is one that is set in the future, there is no feelings (especially not of pain or anger) and very little color. Many of the people that live there look the same, they all have the same features. When children are born, they aren't born to their mothers, but to more of a surrogate, and then they spend the first year in a cross between an orphanage and a day care, until they are older. When it comes time for adults to move on to another life because they are too old to function, they 'release' them, which is another word for letting them go onto death. They also sometimes have to release babies that are born with disabilities, or when there are twin babies. 

This book is a classic, and is a good one to read for an English class, or even for a history class to see a semi-example of what the world would have been like if Hitler had won World War II. 

Chapter Book #11 -- Through My Eyes --Orbis Pictus

TITLE: Through My Eyes
AUTHOR: Ruby Bridges
GENRE: Auto-biography
THEMES: Civil Rights Movement, African American History
AWARDS: Orbis Pictus Award
PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: Scholastic Press, 1999
SUMMARY: This book is an auto-biography written by Ruby Bridges about the trials that she had to face when the schools became segregated. She writes about what it was like for a young girl to have to be escorted into and out of school every morning. What it was like to have people yelling hateful things at her, to not have any other students in class. 
This book like many that I have read for this class would be great to teach students what it was like to be segregated, and the troubles that many American's faced back in the 1950-1960 era.

Chapter Book #10-- Thanks to My Mother -- Mildred L. Batchelder

TITLE: Thanks to My Mother
AUTHOR:  Schoschana Rabinovici
 GENRE: Memior
 THEME: Social Studies, World History
AWARDS: Mildred L. Batchelder
 PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: 1994, Puffin
SUMMARY: This book recounts a young child's life during the time of Hitler. This story, meant for middle school aged children, is a very graphic and horrifying glimpse into the past. It is important to realize that humans are cruel and have the ability to treat others in the worst way possible. In this book it discusses topics such as the killing of orphans, and how when the concentration camps were moved many times they were sprayed with human fecal matter. It is a sad and scary truth, and the author, who is writing from memories, spares no detail. This is a good book to read not only in an English class, but could also be used in a Social Studies/History Class when learning about World War II.

Chapter Book #9 -- Elijah of Buxton -- Coretta Scott King Award

TITLE:  Elijah of Buxton
AUTHOR: Christopher Paul Curtis
GENRE: Historical Fiction
THEME: Slavery, Courage, and Honor
AWARDS: Coretta Scott King Award
PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY:Scholastic Press, 2007
SUMMARY: This book is about the first child born into a town in Canada, his name is Elijah. He was born into a town that was mostly run away slaves. When growing up Elijah had a friend who had money stolen from them, and Elijah wants to help him get his family back. He then makes a crazy trip down into the United States to follow the robber, and finds out what his life would have been like had his parents not ran away from slavery. He has to try to not only follow the robber into the United States, but he then has to try to make it back to his home in Canada.
This would be a great book to use in both English for reading, and in a History class when learning about slavery. 

Picture Book #26 -- Stellaluna

TITLE: Stellaluna

AUTHOR: Janell Cannon

GENRE: Adventure

THEMES: Nocturnal Animals, Individuality

AWARDS:

PUBLISHING DATE AND COMPANY: 1993, Harcourt Children's Books

SUMMARY:This is a great book to teach individuality, as well as diversity. In this book, the main character Stellaluna, gets lost from her mom, and ends up with a bird family. They accept her, and even though she is a little different she lives with them for some time. Towards the end of the book she is found by another bat, who thinks it is funny that she is sitting up right, and not hanging upside down like the rest of the bats do. Does he help Stellaluna find her mom? Read to find out.

THis is a great book to use in a classroom that even when people are different we should still love them.