Classroom Library Buy – Page 134

We Were Liars by e. lockhart

July 27, 2015April 17, 2014 by Ricki

We Were Liars
Author: e. lockhart
Expected Publication: May 13th, 2014 by Delacorte

Summary: A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree e. lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review: I can’t tell you anything about this book without giving anything way, and I would never do that to you, so let me just say this—this is a book that I will remember forever. It is haunting and sent chills up my spine. I was sucked into the story of this beautifully screwed up family with too much money for its own good.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This would bridge beautifully with The Great Gatsby. There are so many parallels, and I can’t write them here, or I will give away too much of the plot. The figurative language in this title is also stunning. English teachers will go gaga over the pages upon pages of text that can be used for close reading. It made me want to go back to teaching English!

Discussion Questions: What does this story teach us about humanity?; What drives each of the family members?; What does Gat’s character add to the story?; How does lockhart unravel the plot? What makes her an effective writer?; What is the message of this complex text?

We Flagged: “If you want to live where people are not afraid of mice, you must give up living in palaces” (Chapter 40).

Please note: The above quote is from the Advanced Reader Copy. The chapter numbers is included instead of page numbers because the e-reader did not provide page numbers. The quotes may change when the book is published.

Read This If You Loved: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I Will Save You by Matt de la Peña, If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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Locomotive by Brian Floca (Kellee’s Review)

April 16, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

Locomotive
Author and Illustrator: Brian Floca
Published September 3rd, 2013 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Goodreads Summary: The Caldecott Medal Winner, Sibert Honor Book, and New York Timesbestseller Locomotive is a rich and detailed sensory exploration of America’s early railroads, from the creator of the “stunning” (Booklist)Moonshot.

It is the summer of 1869, and trains, crews, and family are traveling together, riding America’s brand-new transcontinental railroad. These pages come alive with the details of the trip and the sounds, speed, and strength of the mighty locomotives; the work that keeps them moving; and the thrill of travel from plains to mountain to ocean.

Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails, come cross the young country!

My Review: Rhythm. Onomatopoeias. (Well-researched) History. Gorgeous (and historically accurate) illustrations. Lyrical narrative. Unique point of view. This book has everything.

YOU (second person POV!) are a passenger on a train cross America with your family in 1869. Throughout the book, you will encounter many different landmarks, experience things on a train very few had at this time in history, and learn about the intricacies of the train. So fascinating! And all told in rich, beautiful language. It is hard to even share much more about the book because it is such an experience.

Check out Ricki’s review of Locomotive as well HERE.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I would LOVE to read this to kids. There are so many places to stop and discuss and research and learn, but never without an enthralling story accompanying. It would be a great book to use across subjects. There are definitely opportunities for all subjects: social studies (trans-continental travel, history, trains); science (the science of steam engines); math (travel); reading/writing (onomatopoeia, point of view, rhythm).

Also, and this is fresh on my mind because I just read it, but I would love to read this and The Donner Dinner Party and then look at the two journeys. How long did each take? Dangers? It would be an interesting look at how trains truly changed transportation.

Discussion Questions: How does having the book in 2nd point of view make it more enthralling?; What onomatopoeias were used in the book? How did these words help suck you into the story?; How did the author’s rhythm make you feel like you are actually on the train?; What are the landmarks that were passed on the trans-continental railroad? Why are these landmarks significant?; How does a steam engine work? What are the jobs of all of the different people on board?

We Flagged:
“Here is how this road was built,
with a grunt and a heave and a swing,
with the ring of shovels on stone,
the ring of hammers on spikes:

CLANK CLANK CLANK!

Men came from far away
to build from the East,
to build from the West,
to meet in the middle.

They cleared the rocks
and dug the tunnels.
They raised the hammers
and brought them down—

“Three strokes to the spike,
ten spikes to the rail!”

CLANK CLANK CLANK!”

Read This If You Loved: The Donner Dinner Party by Nathan Hale, Train by Elisha Cooper

Recommended For:

Bruised by Sarah Skilton

April 11, 2014 by Kellee

Bruised
Author: Sarah Skilton
Published March 5, 2013 by Amulet/Abrams

Goodreads Summary: Imogen has always believed that her black belt in Tae Kwon Do made her stronger than everyone else–more responsible, more capable. But when she witnesses a holdup in a diner, she freezes. The gunman is shot and killed by the police. And it’s all her fault.

Now she’s got to rebuild her life without the talent that made her special and the beliefs that made her strong. If only she could prove herself in a fight–a real fight–she might be able to let go of the guilt and shock. She’s drawn to Ricky, another witness to the holdup, both romantically and because she believes he might be able to give her the fight she’s been waiting for.

But when it comes down to it, a fight won’t answer Imogen’s big questions: What does it really mean to be stronger than other people? Is there such a thing as a fair fight? And can someone who’s beaten and bruised fall in love?

My Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Imogen is broken and she must overcome this feeling of hopelessness that surrounds her constantly. What an intense way to introduce us to a character? We then go on a journey with Imogen as she tries to rebuild her life, her memories, her friendships, and her family.

At first I struggled with this book because the timeline was choppy, and Imogen was hard to pinpoint. But then, through the flashbacks, Imogen starts to become clearer to us, the reader, and Imogen’s memories start to become clearer to her. Then you are so sucked into wanting to know everything, and you can only know everything if you stick with the book and see Imogen’s memories as they are revealed. This is a pretty brilliant tactic in making the reader feel like they are in the protagonist’s brain.

Bruised actually reminds me a lot of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Both young ladies are thrown into a tragedy, let that tragedy eat away at their hearts and souls, and have to figure out how to find themselves again. Truly a remarkable journey to go on with a character. And, like Speak, there are some intense topics/themes dealt with in Bruised that will definitely grab a teen’s attention: sibling rivalry, a disabled parent, disconnected family, friendship, sex, love, survival, and martial arts. It is one of those books that teens need to read, so they can learn to become resilient and to overcome whatever is in their path.

Discussion Questions: Is it ever okay to lie?; Would you have been able to forgive your best friend if she’d done what Shelly did?; Was it right of Imogen to call Grant down during the demonstration?; Why was having Ricky there such an important part of Imogen’s recovery?

We Flagged: “Don’t you recognize me?” says Ricky after a moment.
Confused, I force myself to look up from the floor, up his legs and along his body, until I’m looking him in the eyes.
I hear gunshots, the cashier crying, and the police sirens, but I don’t look away.
He’s my friend from under the table.” (p. 60)

“Today, eleven days later, I slide down the wall of my own shower and curl up in a ball, tuck my knees under my chin, and wrap my arms around my head. I’ve taken showers since the diner, but this one’s different. Get smaller. Small as you can be. Low to the ground is comforting, standing up is bad. Why is standing up bad? What happins if you stand up? (You don’t want to know.) Reset button. Start at the beginning. Gretchen’s in the bathroom when the gunman comes in. I see the glint of his gun, and I hide under the table. There’s Ricky, under a different table, he brings his finger to his lips. Shh…” (p. 95-96)

Read This If You Loved: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, Stained by Cheryl Rainfield, Rape Girl by Alina Klein

Recommended For:

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson (Ricki’s Review)

July 27, 2015April 10, 2014 by Ricki

Each Kindness
Author: Jacqueline Woodson
Illustrator: E.B. Lewis
Published October 2nd, 2012 by Nancy Paulsen Books

Summary: Each kindness makes the world a little better

Chloe and her friends won’t play with the new girl, Maya. Maya is different–she wears hand-me-downs and plays with old-fashioned toys. Every time Maya tries to join Chloe and her gang, they reject her. Eventually, Maya plays alone, and then stops coming to school altogether. When Chloe’s teacher gives a lesson about how even small acts of kindness can change the world, Chloe is stung by the lost opportunity for friendship, and thinks about how much better it could have been if she’d shown a little kindness toward Maya.

This unforgettable book is written and illustrated by the award-winning team that created The Other Side and the Caldecott Honor winner Coming On Home Soon. With its powerful message and striking art, it will resonate with readers long after they’ve put it down.

Review: This is a beautiful story that would be FANTASTIC for the classroom. Students of any age can learn from this book, and I would read it to my class on the very first day of school. It is easy to get caught up in drama and gossip, and Jackie Woodson reminds us how hurtful this can be. I am so glad that I own a copy of this book. I plan to read it to my son very often because the lessons are so important, and the story is simply stunning. Usually, I don’t review a book that Kellee has also reviewed on Unleashing Readers, but I couldn’t help but share my thoughts about this incredible text.

Teacher’s Tool For Navigation: I would be remiss if I didn’t direct you to Kellee’s post about this book. She did a fantastic activity with her class that used multi-flow maps.

One of my favorite parts about this book is that it doesn’t have a happy ending. I would love to discuss this with students–why might this be? Is Woodson teaching us something? Then, we might explore other books that don’t have happy endings and discuss why authors might do this intentionally and how it might impact readers’ feelings about the books. Students are notorious for disliking sad endings, so I think this would provoke much discussion.

This book can be both preventative and reactionary to bullying issues in the classroom/school community. While I would read it at the beginning of the school year, I could also see it as an effective tool for teachers who are having issues with bullying during the school year. This book makes us want to be better people.

Discussion Questions: Why is Chloe so mean to Maya?; What do we know about Maya? Why do you think Woodson characterizes her this way?; Why does this book end in an unhappy way? What does it teach us?; How might we spread kindness?

We Flagged: “And on that first day, Maya turned to me and smiled. But I didn’t smile back. I moved my chair, myself and my books a little farther away from her. When she looked my way, I turned to the window and stared out at the snow” (6).

Read This If You Loved: Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea, Endgame by Nancy Garden, Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick, Burn by Suzanne Phillips, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp, Inexcusable by Chris Lynch

Recommended For:

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub

July 27, 2015April 4, 2014 by Kellee

Little Red Writing
Author: Joan Holub
Illustrator: Melissa Sweet
Published September 24th, 2013 by Chronicle Books

Goodreads Summary: Acclaimed writer Joan Holub and Caldecott Honoree Melissa Sweet team up in this hilarious and exuberant retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, in which a brave, little red pencil finds her way through the many perils of writing a story, faces a ravenous pencil sharpener (the Wolf 3000)… and saves the day.

My Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I really think these wonderful woman created this book for just for teachers. It is a perfect, perfect, perfect book for a read aloud AND for a mentor text!

First, the book is a direct allusion to Red Riding Hood and is a great book to throw into the mix when looking at different versions of Red Riding Hood. I can just picture this book, with a version of the original story, Hoodwinked the movie, and Lon Po Po. Wow! What great discussions and activities you could do with this.

Second, this book is not just an awesome narrative and it includes a great lesson about writing a narrative. Red, our main character, is given the job to write a story and the book takes us through her journey of writing the story where she needs to include characters, setting, trouble, and fixing the trouble. A perfect opportunity to discuss narrative elements. Taking this even further, it would be so much fun to look at the ideas that each of the other pencils had for their stories and write the entire story. You would have to look at each pencil’s personality and think about how s/he would write the story.

Finally, the book also deals with some parts of speech and how to use them. First are verbs where Red looks for more interesting verbs. She then looks for adjectives to add description. Then learns the importance of conjunctions (but watch out! They can lead to run-on sentences). Finally came adverbs with a bit of punctuation and capitalization discussion. Each part of speech is discussed in a nonboring way and the introduction could be a jumping off point to a deeper discussion.

Discussion Questions: How did Red use adjectives throughout the story to help you visualize the action?; What ended up being Red’s trouble, how did it get worse, and how did she fix it?; Pick one of the other pencils’ stories. How do you think it would end?

We Flagged:

Read This If You Loved: Red Riding Hood by Brothers Grimm, Lon Po Po by Ed Young, The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Recommended For:

Locomotive by Brian Floca (Ricki’s Review)

July 27, 2015April 3, 2014 by Ricki

Locomotive
Author and Illustrator: Brian Floca
Published September 3rd, 2013 by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Come hear the hiss of the steam, feel the heat of the engine, watch the landscape race by. Come ride the rails, come cross the young country!

My Review: Filled with a beautiful array images (watercolor, ink, acrylic, etc.), this incredibly well-researched book takes readers on a journey through the summer of 1869. It took my husband and me three nights to read this title to our son because we needed to pause and take in its magic. After I closed the last page of the book, a library copy, my husband looked at me and mouthed (because our son was asleep), “Let’s buy this one.” There is a wonderful balance of factual information about the train and lyrical language that brims with gorgeous figurative language. This book is a standout and well-deserving of the accolades it has received.

**A special thanks to Kellee, who texted me that I had to read this one. You can read her review here.**

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: I would use this text in any grade level. I envision the eager eyes of elementary school students as their curiosity is piqued… middle schoolers, suddenly interested in trains and this time in our history…or high schoolers, researching the different parts of the train and learning how effective figurative language can be in writing. This book would be a great mentor text to teach creativity. The layout of the pages is so very purposeful, which pave the way for great classroom discussions.

Discussion Questions: How does Brian Floca grab the readers’ attention? How is his writing purposeful?; In what ways does Floca manipulate language?; How does the second person point-of-view add to the story?; What does this book teach us? Go beyond the obvious.; How do the pages differ in their visual appeal? Why do you think this is?

We Flagged:

Rather than including a quote here, I wanted to show you a few of the gorgeous spreads with this book. These pages are pulled from images posted on Amazon.

Read This If You Loved: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

Recommended For:

Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America’s Heart by Julie Cummins

April 2, 2014 by Kellee

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Flying Solo: How Ruth Elder Soared into America’s Heart
Author: Julie Cummins
Illustrator: Malene R. Laugesen
Published July 23rd, 2013 by Roaring Brook Press

Goodreads Summary: In 1927, airplanes were a thrilling but dangerous novelty. Most people, men and women, believed that a woman belonged in the kitchen and not in a cockpit. One woman, Ruth Elder, set out to prove them wrong by flying across the Atlantic Ocean. Ruth didn’t make it, crashing spectacularly, but she flew right into the spotlight and America’s heart. This is the story of a remarkable woman who chased her dreams with grit and determination, and whose appetite for adventure helped pave the way for future generations of female flyers.

My Review and Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Ruth Elder joins the group of amazing women who have eye-opening picture books about them and how they changed history. (I love this trend!) More and more brilliant and brave women from history are getting recognition through their story being told. Ruth Elder was America’s sweetheart daredevil, and through her crazy feats showed America that woman were brave too. Although Amelia Earhart beat her in her mission to cross the Atlantic, she never stopped pushing herself and the women around her. I would love to see a unit about amazing women in history that uses the slew of beautiful picture books about these woman. One idea would be splitting up kids into groups, having them each read about one of the picture books, maybe doing some extra research, and then sharing with the other groups what they learned. It’d be a great way to give these women the spotlight they deserve.

Discussion Questions: Although Ruth did not cross the Atlantic, why did she become famous?; Ruth had the chance to be a Hollywood star, but she chose to go back to flying–why would she make this decision? Do you agree with her decision?; How did Ruth and her race help change America’s view of woman pilots?

We Flagged: “On August 18, 1929, Ruth and nineteen other women set out to show that women could fly airplanes just as well as men in the first women’s cross-country air race. The pilots had more than headwinds to counteract. One reporter sputtered, “The only thing worse than dames in planes is dames racing planes!””

Look inside Flying Solo at Amazon

Read This If You Loved: Daredevil by Meghan McCarthy, Amelia Lost by Candace Fleming

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