Jennifer+Heeres

__Girl in Translation__ Kwok, J. (2011). //Girl in translation//. New York: Riverhead Books. ISBN: 978-1-59448-515-2

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Award: Alex Award

The story of Kim, a young immigrant from China will inspire students everywhere. Kim is driven to succeed despite language difficulties and other roadblocks, including her family. Along the way, she has to make difficult decisions about who she wants to be and sacrifices may need to be made. She is an excellent example of working hard and balancing a complicated home life that is vastly different from her public life.

KCAS: R.L.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters (e.g. those with multiple of conflicting motivations) develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Activity: Compare/Contrast Characters Compare and contrast how the main character behaves when she is at home or the factory (Ah-Kim) versus when she is at school and around her American friends.

\ \ __Victory__ Cooper, S. (2006). //Victory//. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books. ISBN-13: 978-1-4769-1477-8 ISBN-10: 1-4169-1477-3

Genre: Speculative Fiction

Award: Margaret A. Edwards Award

Molly's family recently moved from London, England to Connecticut in 2006. She misses England terribly. Sam is a boy pressed into service into His Majesty's navy in the 1800s. They are connected through the years through a mystical happenstance. Both stories are interesting on their own, but together they weave a tale of intrigue.

KCAS: R.L.7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g. how setting shapes the character or plot)

Activity: SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put, Eliminate, Reverse/rearrange) Developing Content Area Literacy # 26 In small groups, students will complete the SCAMPER Topic Strategy Guide regarding Molly's story or Sam's story. They will share their thoughts with the class.

__A Curse Dark as Gold__ Bunce, E. (2008). //A curse dark as gold//. New York, NY: Arthur A. Levine Books. ISBN-13: 978-0-439-89576-7 ISBN-10: 0-439-89576-6

Genre: Fantasy/Traditional Literature

Award: William C. Morris Award

This retelling of the fairy tale, Rumpelstiltskin has been remastered to emphasize the character of the miller’s daughter. Charlotte Miller is a strong character whose goal in life is to keep her extended family together. She feels responsible for all the workers at her mill and she must incorporate the magical idiosyncrasies of the mill itself into her logical and pragmatic world if she wants to secure that which is most precious to her.

KCAS: R.L.6-8.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Activity: Imagination Recreation: Deepening Understanding Through Creativity Developing Content Area Literacy # 13 After reading, the students will make a video, poster, or newspaper article to show understanding of the text. Necessary components include character sketches (or interviews), an event timeline, and an alternate ending. Groups will present to the class to deepen each other’s understanding.

__In the Belly of the Bloodhound__ Meyer, L. A. (2008). //In the belly of the bloodhound//. Roseland, NJ: Listen & Live Audio, Inc. ISBN: 978-1-59316-142-2 Genre: Adventure

Award: Odyssey Award

Jacky Faber is an incorrigible teenager whose previous adventures include sailing with the British navy, pirating, and causing her boarding school to catch fire. Set in the early years of the United States, Jacky and her schoolmates are captured and only Jacky can manage all the personalities and difficult situations to attempt to bring them home to safety. Although this is the fourth book in a series, it stands alone as an exciting tale. The reading by Katherine Kellgren on the audio version, that earned the Odyssey Award, is spectacular. Ideal for reluctant readers, the audiobook will encourage them to follow up with the other books in the series. KCAS: R.L.7.9 Compare and contrast a fictional portrayal of a time, place, or character and a historical account of the same period as a means of understanding how authors of fiction use or alter history.

Activity: Explore the historical context While reading/listening, students will make a list of places and events referenced in the book. Afterwards, they will plot them on a map and research the events to establish the historical context for the book.

__The Returning__ Hinwood, C. (2009). //The returning//. New York, NY: Dial Books. ISBN: 978-0-8037-3528-6

Genre: Realistic Fiction (bordering speculative)

Award: Michael L. Printz Award

The Returning is the story of a village recovering from the impact of a war that took the lives of all but one of their soldiers. The one that returned has to struggle with the memories of the war and the lack of acceptance he faces from those at home. A cast of characters each has their own struggles as they deal with each other and the new way of life that is infiltrating their home.

KCAS: R.L.11-12.2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

Activity: Journaling: Helping Students to Respond, Reflect, and Learn Through Informal Writing Developing Content Area Literacy # 40 This book is confusing due to the many perspectives of many characters with unfamiliar names. Journaling will give students an opportunity to write their questions and uncertainties so they can solve their confusion independently. The teacher can also review the journals to see if there are any deeper issues that need to be explained with the help of the entire class.

__Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition__ Blumenthal, K. (2011). //Bootleg: Murder, moonshine, and the lawless years of prohibition//. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press. ISBN: 978-1-59643-449-3 Genre: Nonfiction

Award: YAFSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction

This book is an excellent look at the history of the United States. I didn’t know how early in our country’s history people began to campaign against the evils of alcohol. Students have a natural interest in things they are not allowed to experience yet and they will be interested in seeing how involved young people were in the illegal activities during prohibition. They will of course enjoy the stories of mafia life and tricking the authorities. This book is fast-paced and will hold the reader’s attention.

KCAS: R.I.7.3 Analyze the interactions between individuals, events, and ideas in a text (e.g. how ideas influence individuals or events, or how individuals influence ideas of events).

Activity: Connect to It: Making Personal, Text, and World Connections to Text Developing Content Area Literacy # 18 Before reading, the students will list prior knowledge about prohibition. During reading, students will take notes in their journals about how they connect to the text.
 * Text-to-Self || I know how it felt because I… ||
 * ^  || Something like that happened to me when… ||
 * Text-to-Text || The sentence in the chapter that is the same is… ||
 * ^  || I read something about that in another book or chapter that said… ||
 * Text-to-World || This reminds me of what I was on TV about… ||
 * ^  || In my neighborhood something like that happened when… ||

__Leaving Gee's Bend__ Latham, I. (2010). //Leaving gee's bend//. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN: 978-0-399-25179-5 Genre: Historical Fiction

Award: Blue Grass Award for Middle School

Leaving Gee’s Bend adds flesh to real events that occurred to the people of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Ludelphia Bennett is a spunky girl who must brave the world outside her small sharecropping town. Ultimately it is her bravery and luck that could save her family and her neighbors from social and financial ruin.

KCAS: R.L.7.3 Analyze how particular elements of a story or drama interact (e.g. how setting shapes the characters or plot).

Activity: Paired Reading Developing Content Area Literacy #7 Students will be paired with someone in a skilled/unskilled pair. The students will read silently and then meet in pairs to review the story and list difficult vocabulary, make predictions about the next chapter, and writing a summary of the main events from the chapter.

__Incarceron__ Latham, I. (2010). //Leaving gee's bend//. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN: 978-0-8037-3396-1 Genre: Fantasy

Award: Blue Grass Award for High School

This book contains two stories; one about Finn and his attempt to escape from a mysterious prison and the other about Claudia and her attempt to escape from the abstract prison of her life. This book will capture your students’ attention as the characters must help each other defeat their prisons and those that would keep them inside and obedient.

KCAS: R.L.11-12.3 Analyze the impact of the author's choices regarding how to develop and relate elements of a story or drama (e.g. where a story is set, how the action is ordered, how the characters are introduced and developed)

Activity: Conflict Dissection: Analyzing Relationships in Text Developing Content Area Literacy #14 Students fill in the chart based on their reading to help understand the motivation and events in the story.
 * Somebody/Someone: major character
 * Wanted/because: motivation of main hasracer or main group of characters
 * But: conflict or problem
 * So: resolution of conflict/problem
 * Someone || Wanted/Because || But || So ||
 * (Major Character) || (Motivation) || (Conflict/Problem) || (Solution) ||

Digital Books:

__The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope__ by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (ebook) Kamkwamba, W., & Mealer, B. (2010). //The boy who harnessed the wind: Creating currents of electricity and hope//. New York, NY: William Morrow Paperbacks. ISBN: 978-0061730337 Genre: Nonfiction

Award: YAFSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction

William is a boy growing up in Malawi. Politics and drought leave his entire community starving. Even after the period of hardship is over, recovery is slow. He can’t afford school fees, so he uses the tiny library in town to teach himself. Eventually he decides to build a windmill and so begins the adventure of the rest of his life.

KCAS: R.I.8.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone.

Activity: Questioning the Author (QtA) Developing Content Area Literacy #16 Prompted by the teacher's prepared queries, students will read and respond. When the students demonstrate understanding of the section, they can continue on through the book. The teacher will summarize the class' findings at the end of the session.

__Born Blue__ Nolan, H. (2001). //Born blue//. Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN: 978-0152046972 Genre: Realistic Fiction

ebook

Janie is in foster care, but her mom comes around to see her sometimes. The foster parents aren’t the best, so she doesn’t mind being taken away from them. Although she is white, she is convinced that her daddy must be black and she revels in the music of Aretha, Odetta, and Etta James. She runs away several times and tries to find herself in drugs, boyfriends, and music. Students will connect with the search for self and be swept along in the pursuit of dreams.

KCAS: R.L.9-10.3 Analyze how complex characters develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters, and advance the plot or develop the theme.

Activity: Introspective Project Following the reading of this book, students will think about the events that have occurred in their own lives and write a few chapters expressing how those events have shaped them and led to their current situation. They have the option of sharing with the class, but it will not be a required activity.