Young Adult Book Fun

Title: Shiver

Author: Maggie Steifvater

Publishing: Scholastic Press; 1 edition (August 1, 2009)

ISBN: 978-0545123266

Grade Level: 9-12

Summary: Grace has got an obsession. An obsession that tugs at her heart and prickles at her senses. It’s not natural. It’s supernatural and the only person who understands really isn’t a person at all, he’s an animal. Can love overcome magic?

Comments: Romances as a general rule start out a bit slowly, but Shiver is uncommonly slow in the begging and clocking in at 400 pages it may be difficult for those struggling readers to become invested in the story before giving up, but for some the sad and haunting tale of Grace and Same will be worth it.

With a twist on the werewolf legend the reader is plunged into a world of winter and and longing set with high school as a background rather than the focal point. Those readers who have completed the Twilight series might be interested in this story as a follow-up, especially the Team Jacob fans. The story  is told from both Grace’s and Sam’s perspectives which offers a kind of dual insight that is interesting and lovely. We don’t have to wonder what the other is thinking or feeling we know it.

With the addition of Sam’s love for poetry and song lyrics as well as Stiefvaters lyrical prose there is a hefty amount of poetry which lends itself to a number of classroom discussions about wordsmithing, emotion and reading.

Georgia Performance Standards:

Extensions:

• Have students discuss the choice that Olivia had to make. What were the pros and cons of both options? Did she make the right choice?
• Have students compare Sam’s “artful” nature to Grace’s practicality? Were they a good match?
• Have students discuss the “cure” and its plausibility?
• Have students write an epilogue for Grace and Sam.
• Have students write an extra chapter that explains Sam’s change.

Title: The Surrender Tree

Author: Margarita Engle

Publication:Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (April 1, 2008)

ISBN: 978-0805086744

Grade Level: 7-12

Awards: 2009 Pura Bulpre Award, 2009 Newbery Award Honor Book

Summary: Through a series of poems the story of Cuba’s Wars for Independence, spanning from 1850-1899, are told through the eyes of Rosa ” La Bayomesa”, the girl-witch/healer who would be come the first woman to be given full military honors at her death.

Comments: Engle proffers a lyrical introduction to pre-Victorian era Cuban history, a history that is often overlooked in American review – the Spanish-American War being one of those “lesser” wars that don’t get much attention. The same could be said for the Korean War.

Each poem reflects on the pain of slavery, the weariness of continued war, and the hope for peace. It is especially interesting to contrast the abolition of slavery in Cuba to that of America and how Cuba’s imperialistic history led to its current government. This kind of insight is usually lost when the subject of Cuba begins in 1950.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA8RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA9RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

The student identifies and analyzes elements of poetry and provides evidence from the text to support understanding; the student:
a. Identifies, responds to, and analyzes the effects of diction, syntax, sound, form, figurative language, and structure of poems as these elements relate to meaning.
i. sound: alliteration, end rhyme, internal rhyme, consonance, assonance
ii. form: lyric poem, narrative poem, fixed form poems (i.e., ballad, sonnet)
iii. figurative language: personification, imagery, metaphor, simile, synecdoche, hyperbole, symbolism

ELAALRL1 The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (i.e., examples of diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (i.e., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation.

SSWH15 The student will be able to describe the impact of industrialization, the rise of nationalism, and the major characteristics of worldwide imperialism.

SSUSH14 The student will explain America’s evolving relationship with the world at the turn of the twentieth century.
b. Describe the Spanish-American War, the war in the Philippines, and the debate over American expansionism.

Extensions:

• Have students write an epilogue for Sylvia based on the known history of Cuba at the turn of the century.
• Have students discuss the intersection of race and class and how that differed in Cuba’s War of Independence and the Civil War.

Title: Show Way

Author: Jacqueline Woodson , Illustrated by Hudson Talbott

Publication: Putnam Juvenile (September 8, 2005)

ISBN: 978-0399237492

Grade Level: 3-5

Awards: 2006 Newbery Honor Book

Summary: The story of Jacqueline Woodson’s family traced through the maternal line to the pre-Civil War era. Focuses on the history of the family and the tradition of quilting and storytelling.

Comments: Woodson’s geneology is the basis of her poetic picture book, Show Way. She creates lyrical explanations of the events in the lives of her mother, great-grandmother and beyond. Through quiliting the legacy of storytelling and a hope for freedom and equality is passed down from generation to generation.

While this is a lovely picture book, it seems to be more appropriate for smaller groups to allow children to appreciate the different pieces in each collage on each page, or for an art class where the illustrations can be discussed more thoroughly.

In addition to the amazing artwork there is an overview of African-American history that will lend itself to discussion for younger readers. Elementary teachers will be able to find Social Studies, Art and Literature applications for the book which make it deserving of its Newbery Honor.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA3R1 The student demonstrates the ability to read orally with speed, accuracy, and expression.

ELA4R1 The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a
warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational
texts.

ELA5R2 The student consistently reads at least twenty-five books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) each year. The materials should include traditional and contemporary literature (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and electronic material. Such reading should represent a diverse collection of material from at least three different literary forms and from at least five different writers.

SS5H2 The student will analyze the effects of Reconstruction on American life.
c. Explain how slavery was replaced by sharecropping and how African-Americans were prevented from exercising their newly won rights; include a discussion of Jim Crow laws and customs.

Extensions:

• Have students make a collage using copies of family pictures.
• Have students create a timeline of major events and include the history of Soonie’s family.

Title: Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow

Author: Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Publishing: Scholastic Nonfiction (April 1, 2005)

ISBN: 978-0439353793

Grade Level: 5-8

Awards: 2008 Sibert Medal Winner, 2006 ALA Notable Children’s Book

Summary: 12 portraits of what it was like to be and grow in the Third Reich as a member of the Hitler Youth during World War II.

Comments: Bartoletti offers insight into an oft-neglected population of history – the perpetrators. Much is written from the perspective of victims of atrocities, but it is rare to get a good, in-depth glimpse into what drives people to commit them. Recently there has been an effort to tell these stories, an example would be Memoirs of a Boy Soldier.

Social Studies and History teachers will rejoice when this is added to their school library collections, as it offers balance to the stories of Anne Frank and other notable Jewish children who survived the Holocaust.  Hitler Youth details the lives of 12 young Nazi children and how they came to support the regime that was responsible for mass genocide and how they were convinced, encouraged, and rewarded for their patriotic zeal and blind faith, and how that faith was misplaced.

The saying goes ” If we don’t remember history we are doomed to repeat it”. The most wonderful result of reading this book is the honest knowledge of how not to repeat what happened during World War II by recognizing the tactics that were used to blind a Nation.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA5R2 The student consistently reads at least twenty-five books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) each year. The materials should include traditional and contemporary literature (both fiction and non-fiction) as well as magazines, newspapers, textbooks, and electronic material. Such reading should represent a diverse collection of material from at least three different literary forms and from at least five different writers.

SS5H6 The student will explain the reasons for America’s involvement in World war II.

ELA6RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA7RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA8RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

Extensions:

• Have compare the stories of the Hitler Youth to that of Anne Frank.
• Have students create a timeline that details the events of a member of the Hitler Youth with that of significant events in the War and events in the life of a prominent Jewish person surviving at the same time in either Poland, Germany or France.
• Have students discuss what tactics were used to blind the Youth to what was happening on the war front. Are some of those tactics used today?

Title: The Wednesday Wars

Author: Gary D Schmidt

Publishing: Clarion Books (May 21, 2007)

ISBN: 978-0618724833

Grade Level: 6-9

Awards: 2008 Newbery Award

Summary: Young Holling Hoodhood lives in a perfect house on a perfect street, but everything is not perfect in Long Island because he’s the only Presbyterian in a town of Catholics or Jews and thus the only one left with Mrs. Baker on Wednesdays while everyone else is either at Hebrew School or Catechism. It’s just too bad she’s got a thing for Shakespeare and it’s too bad that he starts to like him too.

Comments: The Wednesday Wars are and English teachers dream come true (it should be seeing as how Schmidt is a professor of English). It, at once, combines the love of Shakespeare, grammar and vocabulary into a story filled with humor, humiliation and good old fashioned middle school rivalries.

With a historical backdrop that flavors the tale without overpowering it, Schmidt is able to create a glimpse of what it might have been like to be a 7th grader in an idealized Long Island in the 1960’s.

While the story does seem fantastical at times it is fun and the classroom applications are seemingly endless. It would be hard to find a reader that this book would not be appropriate for.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA7RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA8RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA9RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

Extensions:

• Have students create a timeline of events during Hollings 7th grade year.
• Have students discuss the characterizatin of Holling’s Dad. Is he a sympathetic character or a villain? Is he strong or afraid? What makes him so?
• Have students read portions of Romeo and Juliet. Is Hollings’ view of Romeo justified?

Title: The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimeus Trilogy, Book 1)

Author: Jonathon Stroud

Publication: Disney-Hyperion (September 29, 2003)

ISBN: 978-0786818594

Grade Level: 7-12

Awards: 2004 Printz Award Honor Book

Summary: 11-year-old Nathaniel is bent on revenge. It’s a good thing he’s an apprentice wizard. It is not such a good thing that he has summoned Bartimeus to be his demon servant, because Bartimeus doesn’t take kindly to pale boys who send him on suicide missions- like stealing the Amulet of Samarkand from one of the most powerful wizards in London.

Comments: Stroud lets the djinni (pronounced jee-nee [I think]) out of the bottle and lets them loose in a modern day London where the government is run by wizards. These wizards are made not born, which is how we meet young Nathaniel, who has been given over to the wizardry office (my own term) in exchange for a large sum.

With a completely unsentimental take on childhood and upbringing the reader is comes to care for Nathaniel while not necessarily liking him, while at the same time learning to like Bartimeus, a demon trickster, without actually caring for him.

A new kind of fantasy novel, The Amulet of Samarkand, is both classical tale and pop-fiction brain candy with both lyrical storytelling and snappy, slang-filled dialogue giving it an appeal that begins in the younger years but sustains itself through high school.

Unfortunately the length and level of writing will make it unsuitable for struggling and reluctant readers of all ages.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA7RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA8RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA9RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

Extensions:

• Have students locate the real written histories of Ptolemy, Atlantis, and Cleopatra and compare them to the explanations detailed in the book.
• Have students write a prologue that details the rise of the wizard’s control over the imps and djinnis.
• Have students discuss the reasons why a book such as this would be banned.

Title: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson

Author: Louise Rennison

Publishing: HarperTeen (April 10, 2001)

ISBN: 978-0064472272

Grade Level: 7-10

Awards: Printz Award Honor Book

Summary: 14-year-old Georgia deals with sex gods, homicidal cats and kissing instructors while trying to make it though the year at her girl’s school.

Comments: Angus is typical teen chick-lit and like Seinfield is ultimately a book about nothing. At it’s core it is a slice of life story, but don’t expect there to be any realizations about the self or life in general. This is purely unrealistic anecdote after unrealistic anecdote written to be humorous.

The first installment in a series the book most resembles Meg Cabot’s Princess Diary series in form with a bit more information in British slang – there’s a glossary.

The book really has no use in the classroom, but will interest girls whom you suspect to have home subscriptions for Teen Vogue and steal their Mom’s Cosmopolitans to do the naughty quizzes with their friends.

Though it won a Printz award it remains to be seen why. There are also less than favorable depictions of lesbians that border on vicious stereotyping. Without any literary merit to support it, a prudent school librarian might steer clear, especially if there are other similar books to choose from.

Georgia Performance Standards:

ELA7RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA8RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

ELA9RC1 The student reads a minimum of 25 grade-level appropriate books or book equivalents (approximately 1,000,000 words) per year from a variety of subject disciplines. The student reads both informational and fictional texts in a variety of genres and modes of discourse, including technical texts related to various subject areas.

Extensions:

• Have students disucss the characterization of the girls in Angus. If this book were a historical document what would you surmise about the teenage British girl of the new century?
• Have students create an alternate ending in which Georgia moves to New Zealand.