Module 15 - Lush

Lush

by Natasha Friend

ALA's Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010 

ISBN  0-439-85346-X

Summary:
Samantha (Sam) is a thirteen year old 8th grader who is struggling.  Her father is an alcoholic, her mother and grandmother deny it, she is no longer friends with her best friend, and the boys tease her about her big boobs.  In an act of desperation, she leaves an autobiographical note in a carrel in the library, hoping a high school girl she admires will pick it up, read it, and give Sam advice.  Someone does find the note, and does correspond with Sam, and does befriend her.  Sam deals with the typical life of a teen:  boys, crushes, popular girls, high school party invites, wanting her family to be normal, protecting her little brother, and dealing with school classes.   

My Impressions:
This was a difficult book for me to read because there is an alcoholic in my life.  It was difficult because Friend has done her homework and accurately portrays the life of family members who live with an alcoholic.  The details are all real.  The cover-up by family members, the denial, the emptying of the alcohol bottles.  It's hard to deal with an adult, so I can only imagine how horrifying it would be to a young girl who really needs her daddy at such an awkward time in her life.  
Alcohol is not glorified in this book.  Sam even goes overboard with it at the party and regrets it the next morning and realizes that she had acted like her father.  It is treated as a real, serious issue with consequences.
I have a feeling the book has been banned not because of the father's drinking, but because of the boob references (Samantha developed early, and very quickly), one of the characters is gay and the almost-rapes that occur at the high school party she goes to.
I do not think the book should be banned.  The author handles all the touchy subjects with honesty.  Sam's father finally goes to rehab, Sam and her former best friend make up (and he is ready to defend her honor), and she meets her mysterious letter writer.  It gives hope to students that they can survive in an alcoholic family, although it certainly won't be easy.  It also can teach students that friends can be found in unlikely places.

Professional Reviews:
Gr 7 Up --To the outside world, 13-year-old Samantha's family seems perfectly happy. However, they are struggling to keep her architect father's alcoholism a secret, and the balancing act of enabling his addiction and protecting their image is becoming more and more difficult. Sam longs to be able to share her burden with a friend and reaches out by leaving an anonymous autobiographical letter in a library book. Her anger and frustration are palpable as she struggles with her love for her dad despite the fact that his promises to clean up never materialize. When Sam is chastised by her mother and grandmother for not believing in his ability to change, readers will sympathize with the injustice of her difficult situation. Yet, the author avoids a maudlin tone by infusing the plot with details of typical teen life, such as Sam's crush on an older boy and embarrassment at her developing body. Witty dialogue and smooth writing move the novel along at a clipped pace, and tension is successfully built and maintained as the teen's father's illness takes a dangerous turn, her budding relationship comes to a head, and her anonymous library pen pal is revealed. Despite the minor appearance of a stereotypical librarian, this is a perceptive novel featuring a likable protagonist to whom readers will easily relate. As in Perfect (Milkweed, 2004), Friend adroitly portrays a weighty topic with touches of humor and grace.  By Rebecca M. Jones, Fort Myers-Lee County Library, FL
Jones, R.M.  (2006).  Lush.  School Library Journal, 52(12), 138-140.

Having Fun in the Library:
I'm not sure we could have "fun" with this book.  It deals with serious topics.  I think it would be a good launching point for a discussion about drinking and alcoholism and where students can find help.
Discussion Questions and Ideas:

1. Have you ever felt hopeless about a situation or circumstance?
2. If so how have you helped yourself feel better?
3. Do you think asking for random advice from the girl in the library helps Sam?
4. Discuss how Sam's family members deal with the father's alcoholism?
5. Do you think is was a good plan that Sam visited her Dad at rehab without her mother's permission?
6. Do you feel that the characters in the book come to a realistic and hopeful resolution?

Questions like this are probably best discussed in small groups.  I would also provide resources, such as the school counselor, al-anon and al-ateen.

Friend, N.  (2006).  Lush.  New York: Scholastic Press.  

Module 14 - all the broken pieces

All the Broken Pieces

by Ann E. Burg

ISBN 978-0-545-08092-7

Summary:

Matt Pin was adopted out of Vietnam during the war.  He lives with an American family and must confront his past.  The book is written in verse, which simply and powerfully tells Matt's story.  He tries out for the school baseball team and must deal with antiwar sentiments from other students while dealing with his own haunted past in Vietnam.   

My Impressions:

This was a very moving novel.  When I was in school, we did not learn about the Vietnam War.  It wasn't until I was in college and took a mass communication class that I first studied the war.  I like that younger students will be able to learn more about this war.  Ann Burg has done an incredible job telling Matt's story in verse.  Each chapter starts with a picture of the bass clef and ends with five lines, which I assume are supposed to be the staff lines of the music.  Matt plays the piano and it, and the piano teacher, are key in helping him through his trauma.  Baseball is also an important element in this book and Matt's healing begins on the baseball field.  I think this is a good book for students because they can take the deep information and pain in small, verse-sized chunks.

Professional Reviews:

In 1977, 12-year-old Matt Pin lives a fractured life. He is the son of a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier and was airlifted to safety from the war zone. Adopted by a caring American couple, he has vivid and horrific memories of the war and worries about the fates of his mother and badly injured little brother. Matt's adoptive family adores him, and he is the star pitcher for his middle school baseball team, but there are those who see his face and blame him for the deaths of the young men they lost in the war. The fractured theme runs the course of this short novel in verse: Matt's family, the bodies and hearts of the Vietnam vets, the country that is "only a pocketful of broken pieces" that Matt carries inside him. Ultimately, everythingbroken is revealed as nonetheless valuable. While most of the selections read less like poems and more like simple prose, the story is a lovely, moving one. Use this in a history class or paired with Katherine Applegate's Home of the Brave (Feiwel & Friends, 2007).  Campbell, H.M.  (2009).  All the broken pieces.  School Library Journal, 55(5), 101.

Having Fun in the Library:

This would be a good book to introduce a poetry unit with the English teacher or collaborate with the history teacher for a unit about Vietnam.

Burg, A.E. (2009).  All the broken pieces.  New York: Scholastic Press.

Module 13 - Knights of the Lunch Table

Knights of the Lunch Table; The Dodgeball Chronicles

by Frank Cammuso

ISBN  9780439903226

Summary:

Artie King is a new student at Camelot Middle School.  His first day starts off on the wrong foot when his sister makes him a nasty lunch, he misses the school bus and must walk to school, and he irritates the principal and her gang of student bullies.  He is given the worst (?!) locker in school and somehow he leads all the kids into believing he was a dodgeball champ at his old school.  Thankfully, along the way, he makes some good friends and has the help of the science teacher, Mr. Merlin.

My Impressions:

I thought this was a great book.  The illustrations were easy to follow and really helped me understand the story better.  I can definitely see this book being a favorite among the Lunch Lady and Wimpy Kid followers.  I don't think elementary kids will get all the Arthurian references, but it certainly made fun reading for me.  I loved the thread running through the book about Hannibal, the tarantula.  Students will have fun looking for him in various frames throughout the book.  Most kids will be able to relate to Artie in some way: being the new kid, trying to make new friends, being scared of the principal, and trying to figure out your locker (although he has a particularly awesome locker).

Professional Reviews:

Camelot Middle School isn’t your ordinary middle school. There’s the locker Artie King is assigned that has never been opened. The student that can open it will be a king to all students. There are the ladies of the lunch that tell the future by reading the lunch menu. Mr. Merlyn the science teacher seems nice but is weird. Then there’s dodgeball. The Knights of the Lunch Table must play the Horde to defend their honor and help Mr. Merlyn keep his job. Children might not understand all of the references to King Arthur of Camelot, but they will be able to relate to the characters. Adult readers will get a chuckle from the antics of Artie King as he tries to fit in to his new school. The story line is easy to understand by looking at the brightly colored illustrations. This graphic novel is easy to read panel to panel and pleasing to the eye with its thick lines and cartoony art.  Jergensen, J.  (2009, April 7).  Knights of the lunch table: The dodgeball chronicles.  Retrieved from: http://librarianschoices.blogspot.com/2009/04/knights-of-lunch-table-dodgeball.html

Having Fun in the Library:

http://www.scholastic.com/knightsofthelunchtable/

I would have the students start their own graphic novel.  They can choose to start with text or graphics.

Cammuso, F. (2008).  The knights of the lunch table; The dodgeball chronicles.  New York: Graphix/Scholastic.

Module 12 - Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise

by Jan Pinborough

Illustrated by Debby Atwell

ISBN  978-0-547-47105-1

Summary:

Anne Moore was the youngest of eight children in her family, and she was the only girl.  She loved to rough and tumble with her brothers and do all of the things a proper lady was not supposed to do.  When she heard that she could go to college to become a librarian, she jumped at the chance.  She eventually was put in charge of the children's sections of the thirty-six New York Public Library system.  She immediately began to make changes:  she took down the sign that proclaimed "Silence" in the library, she allowed children to check out books, and she held story times for the children.  While not the only female to make changes in the history of the library, she was one of the forerunners.

My Impressions:

This was a delightful book that I felt ended too soon.  Miss Moore did all of the "things" that are such pillars of a children's library now: she let the children touch the books, check out the books, she hosted story times and invited famous authors to her library.  I read this book and thought-how lucky that we had someone like her to pave the way for us!  And the authors and writers that she invited to the NYC libraries!!  Ludwig Bemelmans, Theodor Geisel, Carl Sanburg-what an exciting time to be a child in one of Miss Moore's libraries!  The illustrations in this story are gorgeous and cheery.

Professional Reviews:

Nowadays, Anne Carroll Moore is remembered as the fiercest of the library ladies whose influence on children's library service and publishing was both inspirational - and sometimes - intractable.  But this easy-going picture book biography forgoes coverage of the more formidable aspects of Moore's personality, giving us instead a simple narrative of Moore's Maine childhood early love of books on through to her career at the New York Public Library, where she created the innovative Central Children's Room for the library's new main building in 1911.  With sun-dappled acrylic paintings of, first, rural Maine and, later, triumphantly, the light-filled interiors of the new Children's Room, the tone here is one of uncomplicated optimism, reflecting Moore's practical idealism.  A bird-eyes view of Miss Moore setting off on her "retirement" travels spreading the gospel of children's librarianship across the land clearly places this apostle in the company of her (fictional) Maine sister, Miss Rumphius.  "More about Miss Moore" and a list of sources are appended.

Miss Moore Thought Otherwise: How Anne Carroll Moore Created Libraries for Children. (2013). Horn Book Magazine, 89(2), 136-137.

Having Fun in the Library:
After reading this book I would ask the children what they like about our school library.  Do they wish things were in a different place?  Would they like me to move a series to a lower shelf?  Have they visited other libraries?  I would also introduce them to the Fort Worth Public Library, tell them where the closest one is, and how they can get their very own library card for free!

Pinborough, J.  Miss Moore thought otherwise.  (2013).  Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

Module 11 - A Splash of Red

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin

by Jen Bryant

Illustrated by Melissa Sweet

ISBN 978-0-375-86712-5

Summary:
Horace Pippin always liked drawing.  He drew on scraps of paper with pieces of charcoal.  He drew on his spelling tests.  It made others happy to see what he could draw, so Horace drew.  During World War I Horace was injured and unable to use his right hand.  He struggled for years with what to do.  Then, one night, he props up his right hand with his left hand and teacher himself to draw again. Eventually his artwork is recognized and placed in museums.  And Horace continues to paint the pictures in his mind.

My Impressions:
There is so much to this book that it begs to be read more than once.  The story itself is interesting and well-written and the illustrations deserve a Caldecott Medal.  The historical notes at the end of the story drew me in further and made me want to research this fascinating American artist.  I was disappointed to find out that none of his paintings are close by (in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex) and will certainly seek out his artwork the next time I am in New York or Houston.  This book is also a great example of a man who rose above difficulty and struggles in his life to finally do what he always dreamed of doing: painting for a living.

Professional Reviews:
Born in 1888, grandson of a slave, Pippin loved to draw from an early age. He painted “…every day scenes in natural colors; then he added a splash of red.” His classmates often begged, “Make a picture for us, Horace!” When he was in the eighth grade, he quit school and went to work. From rail yard to farm to hotel to factory, his workmates echoed the request, “Make a picture for us….” And when he enlisted in World War I, his fellow soldiers also entreated him to draw. “The war brought out all the art in me.” But a bullet to the shoulder rendered his right arm useless and he was unable to find work due to his injury. Still, his drive to draw remained. One day, “using his good arm to move the hurt one, he scorched lines into the wood” to create a picture. With practice, his weak arm improved enough to allow him to paint, and paint he did. N.C. Wyeth recognized his talent and arranged for him to have a one-man exhibit. Today his work hangs in museums all over the country. Bryant’s meticulously researched, eloquent text makes this a winning read-aloud, while Sweet’s vibrant, folksy illustrations, rendered in watercolor, gouache, and mixed media, portray the joys and hardships of the man’s life, using his trademark palette…with just a splash of red. Quotations from his notebooks, letters, and interviews are effectively woven into the pictures.
Auerbach, B.  (2013, January 1).  

Book Review Preschool to Grade 4: January 2013, SLJ, http://www.slj.com/2013/01/reviews/preschool-to-grade-4/book-review-preschool-to-grade-4-january-2013/

Having Fun in the Library:
1.  Horace Pippin and George Washington share a birthdate.  I would have the students research and find out which famous people share their birthday.
2.  Show this YouTube video: 

Bryant, J.  (2013).  A splash of red: The life and art of Horace Pippin.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Module 10 - Fire From the Rock

Fire From the Rock

by Sharon M. Draper

ISBN 978-0-525-47720-4

Summary:
It is 1957 and Sylvia Patterson is looking forward to high school in Little Rock Arkansas.  Her plans for school dances, joining clubs, and possibly even having a boyfriend are challenged when the school board announces it will integrate Central High School.  Sylvia's teacher recommends her name be put on the list, and Sylvia and her family agree.  Placing her name on the list is an honor, but also a burden.  There are black families in her neighborhood that do not agree with her decision and Sylvia must decide between helping bring about change and remaining safe and doing what is the right thing for her and her family.

My Impressions:
This book gave such a different side of the integration issue.  We see Sylvia Patterson who, at first, is thrilled to have her name on the list for Central High School.  But as tensions in her neighborhood rise, and she begins to witness firsthand some of the backlash of choosing to be one of the first black students at an all white high school, Sylvia realizes there is more at stake and she realizes she may not be as brave as she thought she was.  I loved her mother and her calmness, her proverbs that she spoke in times of angst or hurt, and how she was always there for her children.  Draper showed racism from another angle in this book as Sylvia's best friend, a Jewish girl named Rachel Zucker, and her family are tormented and their store is vandalized.  I think this is an excellent read for high school students who are studying the civil rights movement or who are studying biographies.  

Professional Reviews:

An honor student, Sylvia Patterson is thrilled when she is chosen as one of the first black students to integrate all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1957. But the racism in her town is terrifying, and she is not sure she can go through with it. Unlike her older brother, she does not want to be a hero and change the world. Besides, many in her black community are against integration; why not stay with her friends, concentrate on academics, and get to college? With stirring complexity, Draper personalizes the civil rights struggle beyond slogans and politics. There is sometimes too much historical background purposively woven into Sylvia’s narrative, including her diary entries. But the surprising turnaround in the plot, as well as the shocking facts, will grab readers and raise the elemental issue: what would I have done? A final note fills in history and provides a list of Web sites. Pair this with Robert Sharenow’s My Mother the Cheerleader (2007), about a white kid whose mother is part of the racist mob. 
Rochman, H. (2007). Fire from the rock. Booklist, 103(22), 63.

Having Fun in the Library:
I think this would be a good book to book talk.  I would pair it with My Mother the Cheerleader by Robert Sharenow and Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals.  I could do this in conjunction with a history unit on civil rights.  
I could also take some quotes from the book, put them on posters and put a different poster on each table in the library.  Then the students could write down, silently, their responses to the quotes.  At the end of the class we could read a few out loud and even hang the posters in the library.

Draper, S. M.  (2007).  Fire from the rock.  New York: Dutton Children's Books.

Module 9 - Capture the Flag

Capture the Flag

by Kate Messner

ISBN 978-0-545-41974

Summary:
Three tweens, who have never met, end up at the same party at the Smithsonian Museum of American History's celebration.  The do not become friends until the next day when they are trapped in a snowed in airport and they learn that the flag that inspired "The Star-Spangled Banner" has been stolen.  Anna is convinced the flag is somewhere at the airport and she convinces Jose and Henry to join her in searching for it.  They encounter some sinister characters, an over the top politician, and a super friendly dog named Hammurabi while searching for the flag. 

My Impressions:
This is a fantastic middle level, contemporary mystery novel.  The three main characters, Anna, Jose, and Henry, are all very realistic and relatable.  I love that Jose carries around a backpack full of Harry Potter novels and that Henry would rather be playing video games.  These kids are not perfect nor are they overly damaged; they are just regular kids.  The plot is predictable (for grown-ups) and it's easy to guess who the bad guy is, but that didn't make me want to put the book down.  The story takes place in two different, but fascinating settings: the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the airport, including a few trips behind the scenes of the baggage handling system.  The story is also humorous such as this bit about Anna's dad: "The notes 'Hail to the Chief' rang out from his pocket, and he pulled out his phone.  'Hold on, this is Mom. . . . Hey, what's up?" (p. 98).


Professional Reviews:
Three preteens are in Washington, DC, to view the flag that inspired the "Star Spangled Banner," which had recently been restored. Anna Revere-Hobbs, a budding reporter and daughter of one of Vermont's senators, is looking for a scoop. She hopes to land an interview with presidential hopeful Senator Robert Snickerbottom, but he isn't interested. Henry Thorn doesn't want to be in DC at all, but he's stuck visiting his Aunt Lucinda while his newly married father honeymoons. José McGilligan's scientist mother has been away for three weeks working on the restoration project. He has missed her terribly and he's hoping his life will return to normal now. Unfortunately, the flag is stolen during the night, and his mother has been detained since she was one of the last to view it. The three meet at the airport as they jockey for available outlets to recharge their electrical devices. A fierce snowstorm is about to strand everyone. As news dribbles in, Anna begins to suspect that the flag is somewhere in the airport and convinces the two boys to help her sniff out some clues. As they do, they learn that each of them has historical pedigree and a parent who is a member of a secret organization called the Silver Jaguar Society.. Think of a "39 Clues" /National Treasure mash-up. There's plenty of action, suspense, and red herrings to keep eager mystery fans turning pages despite a rather buffoonish presidential candidate and huge holes in security at our nation's capital no less. As usual, Messner creates believable characters, nails the dialogue, and deftly weaves history and humor into the mix.

Kahn, B. (2012). Capture the Flag. School Library Journal, 58(10), 145-146.


Having Fun in the Library:
I would have the students individually write a newspaper story about the theft of the American flag.  This would include a lead, the 5 W's and quotes from people involved with the story.  They could type the stories on the computers and then I could print them and hand them either in the library or in the hallway.  

Messner, K.  (2012).  Capture the flag.  New York: Scholastic Inc.

Module 8 - Eragon

Eragon

by Christopher Paolini

ISBN 978-0-375-82668-9

Summary:
Eragon finds a smooth, blue stone on the ground.  He picks it up so he can sell it for food to help feed his family.  One night the stone begins to glow and a small crack appears.  Soon, a baby dragon hatches out of the stone and Eragon begins a life changing journey.  He discovers magic and power and evil.  He and Saphira, his dragon, encounter strange new creatures and learn of an entirely new world as they journey to the Beor Mountains to fight against the Empire.

My Impressions:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  I thought it was a great example of fantasy literature, from the basic plot of the hero discovering who he is, to starting his quest, to the end of this particular quest.  There are mythical creatures such as dragons, elves, a witch and a werecat (who reminded me of Crookshanks from Harry Potter).  The escape from the jail in Gil'ead was heroic and exciting to read.  I did think it was a bit too fortuitous that Eragon discovers he can do magic and he's a Dragon Rider and he becomes the owner of the sword Zar'roc.  All of the keys to becoming great and rising above the situation were certainly handed to Eragon.  But, he's only 15 and has lead a tragic life.  I was left wondering about the lineage of his mother and the fate of his cousin, and I'm sure those things are revealed in the rest of the novels.

Professional Reviews:

WITH all the hoopla surrounding the publication of ''Eragon'' and its 19-year-old author, Christopher Paolini, it isn't easy to read this first novel ''plain'' -- that is, without preconceptions. The young author, who has been home-schooled, began writing a planned trilogy at 15, published the first edition himself with the help of his family, then sold it to Alfred A. Knopf for a large advance -- it's a real Cinderella story, one that makes J. K. Rowling's experience with Harry Potter appear modest. Nonetheless, there is the work itself, a 509-page fantasy, and what is one to make of it?

''Eragon'' is about an ordinary boy -- he's 15 at the start of this book, 16 by the end -- who finds a strange blue stone in a stretch of mountains known as the Spine. ''Nature had never polished a stone as smooth as this one. Its flawless surface was dark blue, except for thin veins of white that spiderwebbed across it. The stone was cool and frictionless under his fingers, like hardened silk.''

Eragon has all the makings of a classic literary hero -- he is poor, orphaned, brave and impulsive. His history is mysterious even to him; he scrapes out a meager living working with his taciturn uncle and a cousin -- and his life is swiftly overturned when the blue stone hatches a dragon, commencing a journey into murder and magic, among elves, warriors, kings and monsters, leading, of course, to a battle between good and evil. It is a familiar plot, but originality has never been one of the fantasy genre's strengths.

By its nature, fantasy draws upon archetypes -- less enchanted readers might call them stereotypes -- of heroes and villains, magic and magical creatures. Some writers, like Ursula K. Le Guin and Anne McCaffrey, use exquisite prose. Others, like J. R. R. Tolkien and J. K. Rowling, create reverberating plots that twist and dive with a dramatic flexibility that is like swordsmanship or dance.

Paolini does not yet have these strengths. He often slips into clichéd descriptions -- ''His tanned skin rippled with lean muscles'' -- or

B-movie dialogue: '' 'Boy!' roared Brom. 'You demand answers with an insolence rarely seen.' '' His prose can be awkward and gangly: ''Things that had been permanent and unquestionable were suddenly thrown into doubt. Eventually he had learned to live with it, but he always had a nagging suspicion that he had not been good enough for his mother. I'm sure there was a good reason for what she did; I only wish I knew what it was.''

The plot stumbles and jerks along, with gaps in logic and characters dropped, then suddenly remembered, or new ones invented at the last minute. And yet, as Beatrix Potter wrote, ''Genius -- like murder -- will out.'' ''Eragon,'' for all its flaws, is an authentic work of great talent. The story is gripping; it may move awkwardly, but it moves with force. The power of ''Eragon'' lies in its overall effects -- in the sweep of the story and the conviction of its storyteller. Here, Paolini is leagues ahead of most writers, and it is exactly here that his youth is on his side.

Some of our greatest writers have written badly, at least some of the time, from Tolstoy to Dreiser to Crane. Paolini has a passionate commitment to his story, and he has created some fine images. Eragon's room is cold and bare, but ''covered with objects he had collected. There were twisted pieces of wood, odd bits of shells, rocks that had broken to reveal shiny interiors, and strips of dry grass tied into knots. His favorite item was a root so convoluted he never tired of looking at it.''

The hatching of the dragon's egg is a lovely scene, and more wonderful is the fledgling dragon herself: ''When dawn came, the dragon was sitting atop his bedpost, like an ancient sentinel welcoming the new day. Eragon marveled at its color. He had never seen such a clear, hard blue.''

But this is fundamentally a gloomy book.

Eragon, a true teenage hero, is moody, angry and somber, questioning the meaning of life. ''Love, family, accomplishments -- they are all torn away, leaving nothing. What is the worth of anything we do?'' He punches things a lot, and spends most of the time injured or bruised. Yet it's impossible not to become attached to him and care about his fate. Paolini never dwells on evil, though its presence haunts the novel. But unlike the vast majority of contemporary writers, he keeps most blood and gore offstage; brutality is something to mourn, to resist.

There are marvelous surprises, as in the first contact between Eragon and his dragon, or their first flight together: ''She crouched and her wings rushed upward. They hung there for an instant, then drove down as she flung herself into the sky. Eragon yelled as the ground dropped away and they rose above the trees. Turbulence buffeted him, snatching the breath out of his mouth.''

Paolini's best turns often strike the reader like splashes of icy water, refreshing if stinging: ''The air was chill and dry. Bare walls extended to a vaulted ceiling that was so high Eragon felt no taller than an ant. Stained-glass windows depicting scenes of anger, hate and remorse pierced the walls, while spectral beams of light washed sections of the granite pews with transparent hues, leaving the rest in shadow. His hands were shaded a deep blue.'' His sense of place is acute, with a vividness reminiscent of Poe: ''A mountain of bare rock speared the sky with spires and columns, a tenebrous nightmare ship. Near-vertical sides rose out of the ground like a jagged piece of the earth's bone.''

''Eragon'' is filled with nightmare moments, dreams, visions. It never falters in its velocity. Its plot is episodic rather than climactic; it is clearly part of a larger work. The 500-plus pages race past. I found myself dreaming about it at night, and reaching for it as soon as I woke. Like countless other readers, I am waiting to see what happens next, with wonder, with admiration and with hope. As Eragon's dragon tells him, ''All will be well, little one.''

Rosenberg, L.  (2003, November 16).  Children's books; The egg and him [Review of the book Eragon].  The New York Times.  Retrieved      from      http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/16/books/children-s-books-the-egg-and-him.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Having Fun in the Library:
1.  Students could draw a map of the realm Eragon lives in, then have them trace his path on the map.
2.  Students could make a character map (graphic or artistic or online) of Eragon.


Awards:

• Arizona Young Readers’ Award (2006: Teen Book, Winner)
• Beehive Award (Utah) (2004-2005: Young Adult, Winner)
• Book of the Year Award (2004: Kids’ Non-Illustrated, Winner)
• Book Sense Book of the Year Award (2004: Children’s Literature, Winner)
• Books I Love Best Yearly (BILBY) Award (Australia) (2007: Shortlist Older Readers)
• Borders Original Voices Award (Finalist, 2003: Intermediate/Young Adult Literature)
• Buckeye Children’s Book Award (Ohio) (2007: Grades 6-8, Winner)
• Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award (2004-2005, Winner)
• Colorado Children’s Book Award (2005: Junior Novel, Winner)
• Eliot Rosewater Indiana High School Book Award (2006, Winner)
• Evergreen Young Adult Book Award (Washington) (2006, Winner)
• Florida Teens Read (2006, Winner)
• Gateway Readers Award (Missouri) (2006: Young Adult Division, 1st Place)
• Golden Archer Award (Wisconsin) (2006: Middle/Junior High School, Winner)
• Iowa Teen Award (2008, Winner)
• Kanga Award (Australia) (2005: Year 6-7, Top 15 Book)
• Nene Award (Hawaii) (2006, Winner)
• Pennsylvania Young Readers’ Choice Award (2005: Grades 6-8, Winner)
• Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award (Illinois) (2006, Winner)
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2005, Winner)
• Sequoyah Book Award (United States) (2006: Young Adult, Winner)
• Soaring Eagle Book Award (Wyoming) (2005: Grades 7-12, Winner)
• South Carolina Young Adult Book Award (2006, Winner)
• Teens’ Top Ten List (2004, Winner)
• Virginia Readers’ Choice Award (2006: Middle School, Winner)
• Volunteer State Book Award (Tennessee) (2006: Grades 7-12, Winner)
• West Australian Young Readers’ Book Award (2005: Older Reader, Reading List)
• White Ravens Award (2004, Winner)
• Young Readers’ Choice Award (2006: Grades 7-9, Winner)

Paolini, C. (2002).  Eragon.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Module 7 - Purple Heart and The Penderwicks

Purple Heart

by Patricia McCormick

ALA Best Books for Young Adults 2010

NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2010

Contemporary Concerns: Publishers Weekly Best Children 's Book of 2009

ISBN 978-0-06-173090-0

Summary: 
Eighteen-year-old soldier Matt Duffy wakes up to find himself in a Baghdad hospital recuperating from a traumatic brain injury.  He cannot clearly remember the details of the attack that day but has a nagging feeling that it somehow involves his ten-year-old local friend, Ali. Duffy wishes to be back with his unit where he believes he will find normalcy again.

My Impressions:
I can tell that McCormick put a lot of research into this book.  It certainly fits the category of Realistic Fiction and is a good story that pulls the reader into Duffy's world.  I think McCormick does a great job of revealing the horrors of war without sensationalizing it.  Duffy struggles with remembering what happened the day he was injured, as well as with the way his superiors handle the incident.  

There is strong language (plenty of uses of the f-word) in this book, but I don't feel that it is gratuitous.

One example of a small detail that McCormick (2009) uses to makes this book so real includes a phone conversation Duffy has with his younger sister:

          "Jeez, Matt, when did you turn into such a tool?"  She snapped her gum.          

          It was funny, Matt thought, how the tiny sound of a piece of Bubblicious popping                              i         in the United States could travel all the way to the other side of the world in a        m       millisecond (p. 24).

McCormick (2009) shows us Matt's confusion and fogginess through actions:

          If Francis noticed, he didn't let on.  "So what brings you here, Duffy Matt?"

          Matt frowned.  He couldn't remember the name of the thing that happened to his    b        brain.  It was three initials.  "My brain got shook up," he said finally.

          Francis nodded.  "IED?"

          Matt shook his head.  It wasn't an IED.  He knew what that was: an improvised    e       x        explosive device.  A roadside bomb (pp. 34, 35).

Professional Review:

The Book Review

Gr 7 Up--McCormick follows up her best-selling Sold (Hyperion, 2006) with a haunting look at the soldiers in Iraq. Matt Duffy is a private who escapes dying after nearly being hit by an RPG, but cannot remember what happened to him, has a hard time grasping new things, and desperately wants to get back to his squad. Most of the book is about Matt trying to recover from TBI, the soldiers he meets in the hospital and the physical and mental problems they face, and the discovery of what really happened that day he got shot. The characters are heart-wrenching, true, and realistic. The author's research into the war is obvious and brings an awareness to readers of the situation over there that they might not otherwise have. What the text lacks is a sense of the military action. While this is a worthy purchase, teens will get more out of it if they read Walter Dean Myers's Sunrise Over Fallujah (Scholastic, 2008) first.

By Richard Winters, Wasco High School, CA

Winters, R. (2009). [Review of the book Purple Heart]. School Library Journal, 55(11), 114.

Having Fun in the Library:
I'm not sure how to use a novel in the library, but I think a good place to start would be to host an online book club (or it could by tied in with English class) where students have to post a short summary of the book and then their responses to it.  The librarian could be the moderator and make sure the discussion stays on topic.  Maybe after every 5 chapters the students could post their response to the book as well as respond to what others have said about the book.

McCormick, P.  (2009).  Purple heart.  New York: Balzer + Bray.

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The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy

By Jeanne Birdsall

2005 National Book Award winner

ISBN 0-375-83143-6

Summary:

The Penderwick family (Dad, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, Batty and Hound) spend the summer in a rented cottage on the back of an estate called Arundel.  Their father is busy with work (but not too busy to lend an ear or a helping hand) so the girls must entertain themselves and explore the estate.  They befriend Jeffrey Tifton, the young son of the estate owner and they create adventures all summer long.

My Impressions:

This is a fun, charming book that brings to mind Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  
I loved this book.  The characters enjoy life and enjoy each other; the reader feels like a member of the family.  Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty each grow as characters and Birdsall (2005) allows us to be privy to the moments that stretch them, such as Skye standing up to Mrs. Tifton:

          Skye knew she shouldn't go in there.  It wasn't gentlemanly, and it would only give     M        Mrs. Tifton more reason to hate her.  Yes, she knew all that, and even Batty was     t         tugging at her arm to keep her from doing it.  But it didn't matter.  The family--   h        her mother's!--honor was at stake, and she had to defend the people she loved the     b        best.  She took a deep breath, girded herself for battle, and threw open the door   a        and charged across the room toward Mrs. Tifton (p. 188).

Skye proceeds to give the snooty Mrs. Tifton a piece of her mind and the reader is cheering her on for finally being so brave and honorable.

Professional Review:

Gr 4-6-- This enjoyable tale of four sisters, a new friend, and his snooty mother is rollicking fun. The girls' father is a gentle, widowed botany professor who gives his daughters free reign but is always there to support or comfort them. Rosalind, 12, has become the mother figure. Skye, 11, is fierce and hot-tempered. Jane, 10, is a budding writer of mysteries who has the disconcerting habit of narrating aloud whatever is occurring around her. Batty, four, is an endearingly shy, loving child who always wears butterfly wings. The family dog, Hound, is her protector. The tale begins as the Penderwicks embark on a summer holiday in the Berkshire Mountains, at a cottage on the grounds of a posh mansion owned by the terribly snobbish Mrs. Tifton. Her son, Jeffrey, is a brilliant pianist, but her heart is set on him attending a military academy like her beloved father. The action involves Rosalind's unrequited love for the 18-year-old gardener, Skye's enmity and then friendship with Jeffrey, Jane's improvement in her melodramatic writing style, and Batty's encounter with an angry bull whom she rather hopefully calls "nice horsie." Problems are solved and lessons learned in this wonderful, humorous book that features characters whom readers will immediately love, as well as a superb writing style. Bring on more of the Penderwicks!

By B. Allison Gray, John Jermain Library, Sag Harbor, NY; Trevelyn E. Jones, Editor; Luann Toth, Managing Editor; Marlene Charnizon, Associate Editor; Daryl Grabarek, Contributing Editor and Dale Raben, Assistant Editor.

Gray, B. (2005). [Review of the book The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters,      T         Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy]. School Library Journal, 51(7), 95.

Having Fun in the Library:

1.  Jane, the second youngest Penderwick, writes stories based on a character she  made up: Sabrina Starr.  I would have students either write a new Sabrina Starr story or write a letter to Jane suggesting what they think Sabrina Starr should do next.

2.  Batty, the youngest Penderwick, likes to listen to bedtime stories. I would pair the students off and have them tell each other bedtime stories, like Rosalind does with Batty.

Birdsall, J.  (2005).  The Penderwicks: A summer tale of four sisters, two rabbits, and a very interesting boy.      N         New York: Alfred A. Knopf

Module 6 - Creepy Carrots

Creepy Carrots

by Aaron Reynolds

Caldecott Medal, 2013, NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD

American Library Association Notable Books for Children, 2013, WON AWARD

Grand Canyon Reader Award, 2014, NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD

Colorado Children's Book Award, 2014, NOMINATED FOR AN AWARD ISBN 978-1-4424-0297-3 Summary: Jasper Rabbit loves carrots.  He even has a special carrot patch that he stops by several times a day to grab some munchies.  But then one day the carrots follow him home and soon Jasper decides to take action. My Impressions: This is just a fun, fun, fun book.  It is not at all creepy of scary.  I love that the carrots, instead of making creeping noises, make a 'tunktunktunk' noise when they follow Jasper.  The illustrations, done in almost all black and white, with just a wee bit of orange here and there, help tell the story and reveal some of Jasper's fears.  Jasper is a problem solver and takes matters into his own hands to keep the carrots from following him.  He builds a fence around the carrot patch and even adds a moat with alligators.  This book reminded me of Chris Van Allsburg books because you never really know if the story is true or just made up in the child's mind (The Garden of Abdul Gasazi).   Professional Reviews: A children’s librarian is half media specialist, half psychic. It isn’t enough to have to know the books in your collection. You have to know what that pint-sized patron standing before you REALLY wants when they say they want “a scary book”. For a while there I had this very persistent three-year-old who would beg me for scary fare and wait as I dutifully pulled picture book after picture book for him. After a while I’d begin to wonder what would happen if I actually gave him what he said he wanted. What if I’d handed him Alan Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark)? Would it have scarred him for life? Fortunately the shelves of your average children’s room abound with titles that are “scary” enough for a small fry. The trick is to find something that manages to balance the funny and the frightening in equal measures, never overplaying its hand. Had Creepy Carrots! by Aaron Reynolds been available when I met that kid, it would have been the first thing I’d have pulled from the shelf. With pitch perfect illustration by the increasingly talented Peter Brown, this beautifully shaded creation is a great example of how to get the tone of a picture book exactly right. Strange and wonderful and weird in all the right places. Jasper Rabbit. You average everyday hare. Jasper has a penchant for carrots. Stands to reason. He’s a rabbit. Every day he plucks them from the Crackenhopper Field. Never has a care in the world either. But one day Jasper has a suspicion. Carrots in his tummy he understands, but carrots in his bathtub? In his bedroom? In the tool shed? Seems that Jasper is being stalked by vegetation. Without realizing it, Jasper Rabbit is crossed out of his everyday existence and into . . . the carrot zone. Before we get into anything else, let’s talk text. As difficult as it may be, I tried reading this book without paying attention to the accompanying illustrations (no small feat) to get a sense of what author Aaron Reynolds is doing here. What I discovered when I went through it on a word alone basis was that Reynolds has penned a really good readaloud. There’s a great inherent drama to lines like, “Jasper was about to help himself to a victory snack.. when he heard it. The soft… sinister.. tunktunktunk of carrots creeping. He turned… but there was nothing there.” This passage is just begging to be read aloud with Vincent Price-esque cadences. The inherent ridiculousness of creeping carrots being scary is paired with the rather effective “tunktunktunk” sound. It reminded me of the sound of the dead son in that old short story The Monkey’s Paw. It speaks of unnatural slowness, always creepy to kids who move at lightning speeds themselves. Reading this book you hit that dichotomy of potentially frightening and potentially funny over and over until, at last, you reach the end. The book’s finale is one of those twist endings that some kids will get while others just enjoy the visuals. I love a picture book with a good twist, and so do child audiences. Particularly when they don’t see where the story is going. It’s interesting that though Reynolds has specialized in child lit noir for years (his Joey Fly Private Eye comic books practically typify the genre) there’s nothing ostensibly noir-ish about the text for Creepy Carrots! Just the same, Peter Brown saw something atmospheric there to be plundered. The decision was the right one and Brown cleverly culled from not a single noir source but from many. There are hints of Hitchcock, Wells, Twilight Zone, and other influences (Vertigo being the most direct reference of them all). The result is a picture of psychosis running rampant. Kids are naturally afraid that there might be monsters under their beds, so they understand paranoia. Only a few books think to take advantage of that fact. Meet one of the few. Atmospheric black and white, when done right, yields picture book gold. Think about the Caldecott Honor winner The Spider and the Fly as illustrated in a 1920s movie house style by Tony DiTerlizzi. Brown’s work isn’t wholly black and white, of course. He allows himself a single color: orange. This is a deep dark orange though. One that goes rather well with the man’s copious shading. Previous Brown books like The Curious Garden had fun with the borders, filling them with creeping smog around the edges. In Creepy Carrots! the borders now teem with encroaching darkness. Each picture is enclosed in a black border that seeps a foglike substance into the images. It’s like watching a television show or a movie where you know something’s gonna get the hero sometime. You just don’t know when. Fair play to Brown with his carrots too. As you can see from the cover alone, he takes care to make them funny and scary all at once. They have a random smattering of gappy teeth like jack-o-lanterns, crossed eyes, and a variety of tops. They’re like The Three Stooges in vegetable form, only more intimidating. Brown also makes the rather interesting decision to give much of this book a cutout feel. His style consists of drawing in pencil on paper and then digitally composing and coloring his images. The result is that he can give his scenes some real depth. That first shot of Jasper sitting merrily amongst the carrots really makes it look as if he’s cut out from the scene, nearer the audience, much like the tufts of the trees behind him. And finally there’s Jasper himself. You’d think the book would just feature the regular emotions like happy and frightened, but Brown does a lot more than that. The scene where Jasper laughs at himself for being so ridiculous to think that the carrots were following him is a triumph of mixed emotions. Worried eyes, smiling mouth, uncertain eyebrows, and hubris-filled ears. Beautiful stuff. Though it has absolutely nothing to do with Halloween, thanks to its black, white, and orange palette (to say nothing of its subject matter) expect to see this book read aloud in many a Halloween storytime for years and years to come. There are worse fates. I would simply remind everybody that scary books aren’t seasonal. That kid who requested them of me asked me for them month after month, never tiring of what I put before him. Kids love to be scared within the safety of their parents’ arms. Happy endings and gorgeous art are just a nice plus at that point. More fun than it deserves to be and thrilling to the core, expect to be asked to read this one over and over again and to willingly acquiesce so that you can pick out more details on a second, third, fortieth reading. A masterpiece of the scary/funny balance. On shelves now. Bird, E. (2012, September 20).  Review of the day: Creepy carrots! by Aaron Reynolds [Review of the book Creepy carrots! by Aaron Reynolds].  Retrieved from: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2012/09/20/review-of-the-day-creepy-carrots-by-peter-brown/#_ Having Fun in the Library:

I would have the kids cut creepy carrot shapes out of orange construction paper and then glue googly eyes on them and draw creepy mouths.

This would also be fun to pair (pear) up with The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss for a carrot themed story time.  I could serve carrots for a snack!

Reynolds, A. (2013).  Creepy carrots.  New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.