Module 8 - The Hunger Games

Summary:

This is a very interesting book about a very strange place.  Prim is where Katniss lives with her family.  Her dad is dead and Katniss takes care of the family by hunting and keeping food on the table.  However, something interesting occurs in the capitol where she lives and it is known as the hunger games.  There are twelve districts and Katniss lives in the twelfth one.  Two members are selected from all of the districts to come compete in these games which are really fights to the death.  A boy and a girl are both selected and sent to the games.  There can only be one winner and Katniss realizes that her sister is one that will be chosen for that year’s event.  She chooses to go in her place.  The games were created for a good show.  However, they were also a way for the ruler to make sure that his people knew their place.  It was control.  Katniss and another boy from her district, Peeta, end up being the last two survivors of the games.  The rules end up changing back and forth to where there is more than one winner and back to only one that can win.  They did this because the supposed romantic feeling shared between Katniss and Peeta were being publicized and that just made the event more appealing.  They ended up being able to walk away as winners together. In the end they survive but only until the next adventure.


APA Reference:


Collins, S. (2008). The hunger games. New York, NY:  Scholastic Inc.

My Impressions:

Exciting, creepy and very creative!  This book reminded me of the first story I had ever read that involved young children and a bizarre one-way ticket to death.  Stephen King wrote a story called “The Long Walk” that shared many similarities as far as the controversy involving these mandatory events that only some or one would survive.  I love stories like this.  Many people found it controversial but I found it just as fascinating as “Lord of the Flies”.  These types of books make you think, in my opinion.  They show a different sort of life than we are used to.  In our society, children are taken care of and nurtured.  In these stories, children are living adult lives while trying to deal with adult feelings that are not familiar to them yet.  They are survivors and show just as much courage and bravery as their adult counterparts. 

Professional Reviews:

Kirkus Review

Katniss Everdeen is a survivor.  She has to be; she's representing her District, number 12, in the 74th Hunger Games in the Capitol, the heart of Panem, a new land that rose from the ruins of a post-apocalyptic North America. To punish citizens for an early rebellion, the rulers require each district to provide one girl and one boy, 24 in all, to fight like gladiators in a futuristic arena. The event is broadcast like reality TV, and the winner returns with wealth for his or her district. With clear inspiration from Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" and the Greek tale of Theseus, Collins has created a brilliantly imagined dystopia, where the Capitol is rich and the rest of the country is kept in abject poverty, where the poor battle to the death for the amusement of the rich. Impressive world-build, breathtaking action and clear philosophical concerns make this volume, the beginning of a planned trilogy, as good as The Giver and more exciting. However, poor copyediting in the first print will distract careful readers--a crying shame. (Science fiction. 11& up)

Kirkus Reviews. (2008, September 1). The hunger games (Book Review). Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/suzanne-collins/the-hunger-games/#review

Library Uses:

a.       This book could be used with lessons that discuss class and status in society.  There are many different countries that still have a very serious class system in place.

b.      Social differences and motivation can also be taught here. Not only are Katniss and Peeta fighting for their life, they are fighting for very different reasons.  

Module 7 - Dope Sick

Summary:

Lil J is a very sad and distraught young man.  Not only does his mother have a drinking problem, Lil J is having a difficult time in all aspects of his life.  He can’t seem to find a descent job or find his way in life.  He also has his own addictions.  He is hooked on heroin does not see any light at the end of the tunnel. Then if that was not bad enough, he finds himself involved in a botched drug deal and is on the run.  He leaves his mother and his son alone while he tries to hide out.  He eventually finds himself in an abandoned crack house where someone begins showing him scenes from his own life and begins asking all of these crazy questions.  Kelly tries to show him what he wants to see and as Lil J tries to answer his questions he realizes that there is not just one.  Lil J has been trying to find that one moment in his past that changed him or sent him down the wrong path.  He soon realizes that there were many events and bad choices that caused him to be where he is.  It turns out that he might be given a second chance to reexamine his life and to change it before it is too late.  

APA Reference:


Myers, W. D. (2009). Dope sick. New York, NY:  HarperCollins Children’s Books.

My Impressions:

This is one of those stories that allow the reader to be right there with the character during the intensity of real life.  There is drug dealing, drug doing and a mess of other immoral things taking place in this story.  Lil J is classic.  There are thousands of kids that find themselves in a mess before they even realize what has happened to them.  Many of them are misguided and do not have the means to survive the real world without having to suffer many consequences. I really like how Myers tells the story and also allows Lil J a chance to rectify his situation.  Most people are not given that proverbial second chance and I think that it is important for the reader to see where he was headed before he was allowed to change it.  It is not always about the end but how it all started and the events that led up to him being on the run.  Many people can identify with what Lil J struggles with and that is a very important connection this book can make with its reader.    

Professional Reviews:

Booklist Review

Grades 9-12. Pursued by police after a drug deal goes disastrously wrong, 17-year-old Lil J hides out in an abandoned building where he encounters a strange, solitary man named Kelly, who is watching television. Stranger still is what Kelly is watching: scenes from Lil J’s past and his prospective future! How can this be? And how to answer the question that Kelly then asks: “If you could do it all over again and change something, what would it be?” As Lil J ponders his answer, Kelly screens more scenes from the teen’s unfortunate life, including his growing heroin habit. Is this a drug-induced hallucination? A ghostly visitation à la Dickens’ Scrooge? A metaphysical fantasy? A cautionary tale? All of the above? Wisely, Myers provides no easy answers to these difficult questions, trusting his readers to find their own truths and lessons in Lil J’s life. Yes, “lessons,” for there is definitely a didactic element here. But, happily, Myers’ narrative strategy is so inherently dramatic that it captures his readers’ attentions and imaginations, inviting not only empathy but also thoughtful discussion. - Michael Cart

Cart, M. (2008, November 15). [Review of the book Dope sick]. Available from Booklist Website: http://www.booklistonline.com/Dope-Sick-Walter-Dean-Myers/pid=2903806

Library Uses:

a.       This book could be used for discussion topics over African-American youth and poverty.  The author grew up in Harlem and writes many books about young teens and the struggles they endure.

b.      In the words of a science teacher, “Action. . . Reaction”.  There are consequences for your actions and this book offers the perfect example that kids can relate to.

Module 7 - Ninth Ward

Summary:

Lanesha is a young girl that is living with her grandmother, Mama Ya-Ya.  Her mother died leaving her to be raised by Ya-Ya.  Lanesha was born a little different than other children and also has a gift in which she can see ghosts, mainly her own mother.  She is taunted by children at school and yet the relationship between her and Ya-Ya is so strong that she is able to carry through. With her grandmother’s gift of foresight, she is able to predict a terrible storm that will hit New Orleans.  They live in the Ninth Ward.  Hurricane Katrina is the storm that she predicts.  Both she and Lanesha prepare for the worst.  This is the story of a young girl on the brink of a disaster and how the love and strength of those around her help them pull through together.


APA Reference:


Rhodes, J. P. (2010). Ninth ward. New York, NY:  Hachette Book Group.

My Impressions:

I liked this book.  I think that Hurricane Katrina was so highly publicized and there were so many issues surrounding the mishandling of the situation that I tired of the story quickly.  However, this book brings back the realization of the tragedy itself and how it affected so many people. I also like how this book shows the struggles and triumphs of this terrible ordeal through the eyes of a child.  This was particularly eye opening because it shielded the reader from the negativity that surrounded the event during the aftermath. It was her experience.

Professional Reviews:

Booklist Review

Grades 5-8. New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina is the setting for this tense novel that blends the drama of the catastrophic storm with magic realism. Twelve-year-old Lanesha’s teenage mother died while giving birth to her, and, because her mother’s wealthy uptown family won’t have anything to do with her, she is raised in the Ninth Ward by loving Mama Ya-Ya, 82, who feels like her “mother and grandmother both.” Born with a caul over her eyes, Lanesha is teased at school, but she is strengthened by her fierce caretaker’s devotion and by a teacher who inspires Lanesha to become an engineer and build bridges. Lanesha also has “second sight,” which includes an ability to see her mother’s ghost. As the storm nears and the call comes for mandatory evacuation, Mama Ya-Ya envisions that she will not survive, but Lanesha escapes the rising water in a small rowboat and even rescues others along the way. The dynamics of the diverse community enrich the survival story, and the contemporary struggle of one brave child humanizes the historic tragedy. - Hazel Rochman

Rochman, H. (2010, May 1). [Review of the book Ninth Ward].  Available from Booklist Website:  http://www.booklistonline.com/Ninth-Ward-Jewell-Parker-Rhodes/pid=4109026

Library Uses:

a.       This book could be used to teach the events that surrounded Hurricane Katrina.

b.      There could also be a great lesson in servicing your community using Lanesha’s story.  There were many issues that surrounded that event and students could be recruited to learn about their local emergency services.

Module 6 - Very Hungry Caterpillar

Summary:

This children’s book is about the caterpillar life cycle.  The story begins with an egg on a leaf.  Then the caterpillar comes out.  The caterpillar begins his “adventure” of finding and eating a lot of food in the time before he is to cocoon himself and transform into a butterfly.  The food that he does eat is counted up to five.  The first day is one apple.  The second day is two pears and so on.  Then he eats some junk food and does not feel very well.  When he eats a leaf he feels better and then begins his transformation.


APA Reference:


Carle, E. (1969). The very hungry caterpillar. New York, NY:  Philomel Books.

My Impressions:

Well we own this book.  My daughter and I are butterfly fanatics!  This was one of the first books that she and I read together.  This book offers a few things to young children.  First the illustrations are very colorful and fun.  There is an opportunity to count, learn about different types of food and to watch the life cycle of a butterfly.  Then there is the underlying message about healthy or smart eating habits after the caterpillar gets a tummy ache from eating junk food.  We have always enjoyed this book and it was one of those that we just did not throw away.

Professional Reviews:

Publishers Weekly Review

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar comes the first-ever pop-up edition of this book. When the familiar, tiny caterpillar pops out of his egg, a dial lets readers help him chug across Carle's earthy color palette. Next, the caterpillar eats his way through a week's worth of pop-up fruit, as well as a full-page display of sweet and savory treats, (resulting in a stomach-ache), before his eventual transition into a butterfly. The pop-ups, particularly a half-cylinder tree trunk that sprouts from the center of the spread and a large accordion-like cocoon, are well executed and engaging. While the prominent use of white space lends a sparser feel than in the picture book, the shimmering wings of the pop-up butterfly dazzle on the final spread. Ages 3-up. (Mar.)

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book. (2009). Publishers Weekly, 256(9), 63.

(Note: It was very difficult to find a review.  The book hit 40 years and that was all I could find were the pop up book reviews and audio book reviews. The review shares about the book but in a pop up format that enhances the original story.)

Library Uses:

a.       This is the perfect book to teach elementary children the life cycle of a butterfly.

b.      This could also be used for a lesson on healthy eating habits. 

Module 5 - Bud, Not Buddy

Summary:

Bud Caldwell is a young boy that is placed in an orphanage after his mother dies.  He’s was only six years old at the time.  He does not like living there but has no choice. Poor Bud is sent to live with all of these foster families.  They are not good experiences for him. The Collins family home does not prove to be any better than anywhere else he has lived. He is abused in the home and treated so differently.  Todd Collins proves to be particularly ugly to Bud by teasing him about bed wetting and just being plain mean to him.  In this home, he is forced to stay in the shed outside with hornets and other creepy things.  He eventually runs away.  But not before he gets Todd Collins back by dumping a glass of water on him in an attempt to make him think that he has wet his own bed.  Bud is in search of his real father.  His travels take him to Michigan where he believes a man named Herman E. Calloway is his father.  This man is in a band and it turns out in the end that this man is not his father but the father of his own mother.  This man turns out to be his grandfather instead.   


APA Reference:


Curtis, C. P. (1999). Bud, not buddy. New York, NY:  Random House, Inc.

My Impressions:

Oh books like this make me sad.  However, there was an element of humor in some parts which lightened up the terrors that Bud had to endure.  Bud was easy to identify with even if you were not an orphan.  Many people feel misplaced or lost.  Also it is not hard to find people that are willing to make you feel bad for no reason, which Bud seemed to run into often.  The best part about the book is when Bud decides to actually leave in pursuit of a blood relative instead of being swept completely away into the system.  Most kids just fall through the cracks along the way and he took it upon himself to break free from that.  He still went through some pretty tough times but it was nice to see some sort of resolution for a child that had gone through so much and at such a young age.

Professional Reviews:

Publishers Weekly Review

As in his Newbery Honor-winning debut, The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963, Curtis draws on a remarkable and disarming mix of comedy and pathos, this time to describe the travails and adventures of a 10-year-old African-American orphan in Depression-era Michigan. Bud is fed up with the cruel treatment he has received at various foster homes, and after being locked up for the night in a shed with a swarm of angry hornets, he decides to run away. His goal: to reach the man he--on the flimsiest of evidence--believes to be his father, jazz musician Herman E. Calloway. Relying on his own ingenuity and good luck, Bud makes it to Grand Rapids, where his ""father"" owns a club. Calloway, who is much older and grouchier than Bud imagined, is none too thrilled to meet a boy claiming to be his long-lost son. It is the other members of his band--Steady Eddie, Mr. Jimmy, Doug the Thug, Doo-Doo Bug Cross, Dirty Deed Breed and motherly Miss Thomas--who make Bud feel like he has finally arrived home. While the grim conditions of the times and the harshness of Bud's circumstances are authentically depicted, Curtis shines on them an aura of hope and optimism. And even when he sets up a daunting scenario, he makes readers laugh--for example, mopping floors for the rejecting Calloway, Bud pretends the mop is ""that underwater boat in the book Momma read to me, Twenty Thousand Leaks Under the Sea."" Bud's journey, punctuated by Dickensian twists in plot and enlivened by a host of memorable personalities, will keep readers engrossed from first page to last. Ages 9-12. (Sept.) 

Publishers Weekly. (1999, September 6). Bud, not buddy (Book Review). Publishers Weekly. Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-385-32306-2

Library Uses:

a.       First this book would be great to use for story mapping.  Students could analyze the story and identify the characters, plot and setting.  Then they could identify the conflict and resolutions within the story.

b.      This would be an excellent example to use for discussing the current system in place for children with no home or family including shelters, orphanages and foster homes.

Module 5 - Monster

Summary:

This story is one that is very sad and very real.  Steve Harmon is a young African American boy that was pressured by James King and Richard “Bobo” Evans into the robbery of a convenient store.  These two characters were the main ones involved in planning the initial robbery. There was another young man involved named Osvaldo Cruz.  However, both Steve and Osvaldo were involved because King and Bobo made it clear that participating would not be optional.  Steve was the lookout and Osvaldo was to make sure no one came after them.  However, the store owner ended up getting shot and killed.  The sad part is that even though Steve Harmon did not actually shoot Mr. Nesbitt, he was charged with felony murder.  The book focuses on his time and experiences in jail along with his journey into trial.  He was facing up to life in prison and he didn’t even have a gun.  Eventually there was enough evidence to link King and Evans as the main culprits of the robbery and the shooting.  The charges against Steve Harmon were then dropped.   


APA Reference:


Myers, W. D. (1999). Monster. New York, NY:  HarperCollins Publishers.

  

My Impressions:

My heart just bleeds for kids in these types of situations.  I watch children everyday get sucked into illegal activity because they feel that they do not have a choice.  Either they grow up with crime and feel they have no choice or they are pressured into it by others.  In this book, Steve Harmon gets a second chance but that is not always the case.  There are hundreds of children that go down every day because of one bad choice.  It is very heartbreaking.  I really like how this book actually places Steve Harmon in jail and allows the reader to feel his pain and to experience what he does.  There are so many people that do not even know the law and simply being a participant in a serious crime could land you in jail for the rest of your life.  This story clearly demonstrates that fact.  I highly recommend this book.  We live in a very low socioeconomic area and these types of crimes are very prevalent among our middle and high school students.    

    

Professional Reviews:

Booklist Review

Gr. 9-12. 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. Myers' son Christopher provides the black-and-white photos, often cropped and digitally altered, that complement the text. Script and journal together create 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.--Debbie Carton

Carton, D. (1999, May 1). [Review of the book Monster]. Available from Booklist Website:  http://www.booklistonline.com/Monster-Walter-Dean-Myers/pid=1707796

Library Uses:

a.       I think that this book could be used for a lesson on recognizing and discussing racial profiling along with understanding the death penalty.

b.      This book could also be used for lessons in debate because of both sides of the trial.

Module 4 - The Graveyard Book

Summary:

Bod is young boy that climbs out of his crib in the middle of the night and crawls to a graveyard.  However, what is not known to him yet is that his family was being murdered by a man named Jack at the same time and it should have been him.  Bod is taken in by Mr. And Mrs. Owens. The couple is also dead and lives in the graveyard.  They take the boy in and name him Bod.  He lives in the graveyard and has some special powers that help protect him from outsiders.  A man named Silas helps care for the boy so he can get a hold of items Bod needs that caretakers of the graveyard cannot help him with.  Bod interacts with a variety of characters like a witch, a werewolf and a serpent known as The Sleer.  He also makes a friend named Scarlett.  Bod is basically trying to live his life but is always on the lookout for Jack.  Bod eventually meets the man that killed his family face to face and Jack Frost ends up a permanent part of the old graveyard forever after a run in with The Sleer. He begins to lose his powers and as he grows moves on to live his own life.     


APA Reference:


Gaiman, N. (2008). The graveyard book. New York, NY:  HarperCollins Publishers.

My Impressions:                          

This was a very neat book!  Our 8^th grade reading department uses this book for many of their lessons so I was familiar with it.  The funny thing was after all these years I had actually never read it.  I felt that this was a very creative way to tell a story.  I am leery of ghost stories but this one was unique.  This was not about a haunting or of trapped souls.  These ghosts live in their graveyard perfectly content.  That is until nobody or “Bod” showed up unexpectedly.  The fact that a couple took him in and he became part of the graveyard was really exciting.  Bod was raised in a very different sort of way but was being protected all the same.  He did not learn about American history or read learn math.  He was being taught how to haunt and to disappear.  This story really appeals to our middle school students.  I can see why!

Professional Reviews:

Booklist Review

Grades 6-10. While a highly motivated killer murders his family, a baby, ignorant of the horrific goings-on but bent on independence, pulls himself out of his crib and toddles out of the house and into the night. This is most unfortunate for the killer, since the baby was his prime target. Finding his way through the barred fence of an ancient graveyard, the baby is discovered by Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a stable and caring couple with no children of their own—and who just happen to be dead. After much debate with the graveyard’s rather opinionated denizens, it is decided that the Owenses will take in the child. Under their care and the sponsorship of the mysterious Silas, the baby is named “Nobody” and raised among the dead to protect him from the killer, who relentlessly pursues him. This is an utterly captivating tale that is cleverly told through an entertaining cast of ghostly characters. There is plenty of darkness, but the novel’s ultimate message is strong and life affirming. Although marketed to the younger YA set, this is a rich story with broad appeal and is highly recommended for teens of all ages. – Holly Koelling.

Koelling, H. (2008, September 15). [Review of the book The graveyard book]. Available from Booklist Website:  http://www.booklistonline.com/The-Graveyard-Book-Neil-Gaiman/pid=2835797

Library Uses:

a.       I am not sure how some people feel about this topic but this book would be a great example in showing the nature of death. 

b.      There are a lot of interesting relationships in this book and this could be a good opportunity to create a character map or a collage.