Reading Youth Literature

Module 9: Fish Finelli: Seagulls don’t eat pickles by E.S. Farber, Jason Beene (Illustrator). Summary:   Fish Finelli and his friends are trying to save money to buy a motor for their boat in hopes of winning the Captain Kidd Classic annual boat race. They have heard of Captain Kidd’s treasure that no one has found.  They heard rumors that it may be on Lyon’s island. The developer’s son, Bryce, places a bet that he’ll find the treasure before they do.   Fish and his friends also discover that the director of the Whooping Hollow Library, Mr. E. Mann is also looking for the treasure map., Fish and his two friends are determined to find the treasure before Bryce and Mr. E. Mann do.  If they can find the treasure, it means reward money, but it may also save Lyon’s island from developers since it has nature reserve for the endangered Osprey. My Perspective: Fish Finelli and his two friends go on a real treasure hunt.  The main characters, Fish is a plu...

Module 8 Savvy by Ingrid Law Summary:  Mississippi Beaumont (Mibs) has been anticipating her thirteenth birthday. In her family, that is the age that your savvy, or special skill, manifests. She wondered if her savvy would be as powerful as her brother Rocket who could set off electrical power or her brother Fish who creates water storms.   Mibs was hoping for something as exciting.  However, her savvy comes quietly and internally.  She thinks she has the power to wake up people and animals after she wakes up her younger sister and a pet turtle they thought was dead.  She knows that she can use her savvy to wake up her father who is in a coma after a car accident.  She makes her plan by becoming a stowaway on the bus of a bible salesman.  The preacher’s son and daughter decide to go with her, her protective brother Fish insist on going, and the brother Samson is already hiding on the bus.  The meek bus driver found himself taking thi...

Module 7:   Hatchet by Gary Paulsen Summary: In Hatchet (Paulsen, G., 1987) the protagonist is a 13-year-old Brian Robeson that survives an airplane crash after the only other passenger, the pilot, suffers from a fatal heart attack.  Miraculously, he survives, and finds himself stranded in a Canadian forest.  He is faced with surviving until he is rescued.  If they come to rescue him.  However, faced with the need to survive, he draws on what he has read in books or seen on tv in order to find food and shelter.  He learns that to survive he must build a shelter, gather berries, make fire, make tools to catch food.  Fortunately, he is equipped with a hatchet that proves to be a useful tool. He also encounters a porcupine attack, a skunk spraying, and a moose beating.  From each experience he gains wisdom on dealing with the wilderness animals.  He ends up being out in the wilderness for 54 days alone before he is rescued.  This sur...

Module 7: Umbrella Summer by Lisa Graff Summary:   In Umbrella Summer , (Graff, L., 2009) Annie Richards is a 10-year-old who is determined to protect herself from pain.  She has become paranoid of contracting every possible disease because her 12-year-old brother, Jared, died earlier that year from an undiagnosed heart condition.  She is depressed and living under a cloud of sadness. Annie’s extreme worrying is her way of coping with her brother’s death.  It keeps her mind from thinking about him.  Things seem to be going downhill until she befriends the new neighbor, Mrs.Finch.  Mrs. Finch tells her, it’s time to stop hiding under her umbrella, take it down, and enjoy the sunshine.  Annie in turn helps Mrs. Finch, and both her parents to take down their umbrellas as well. My Perspective: This story is about Annie who is struggling with depression after the sudden loss of her brother five months earlier. She is not dealing well with her sa...

5720 Module 6: Click, Clack, Moo Cows that type by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)  Summary: Farmer Brown has a problem.  His cows like to type.  They begin typing messages to him with demands.  It’s cold in the barn at night, and they want electric blankets.  When Farmer Brown refuses their request, they go on strike refusing to give milk.  Further, the chickens also want electric blankets, so they go on strike by refusing to give eggs. Finally, Farmer Brown types his own message to the cows and sends it via the duck who is a neutral party. The cows agree to give up the typewriter in exchange for the electric blankets.  Farmer Brown considers that a fair deal and agrees.  However, instead of the ducks delivering the typewriter they have their own demands.  The pond needs a diving board!  My Perspective: This is one of my favorite picture books due to the humor.  The idea of cows typing with hooves is funny ...

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz.                                        Summary:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe is the story of two 15-year-old boys growing up in El Paso, Texas in the 1980’s. The story revolves around Aristotle "Ari" Mendoza and Dante Quintana who meet at the pool one hot summer day.  The two boys are very quiet opposite in character. Ari is a loner who has never really had a friend, he is uncomfortable with sharing his feelings.  He represses his anger against not knowing what happened to his older brother. His father refuses to discuss the past, especially his time in the Vietnam War.  Dante is talkative more open about his feelings.  Dante’s father is a University professor and very affectionate.  As Ari and Dante get to know each other, Dante introduces ...

One Crazy Summer by Rita William-Garcia Summary: Delphine and her two younger sisters, Fern and Vonetta are sent to spend a month with their mother in Oakland, California in the summer of 1968.  Sent by their father in Brooklyn, New York so that their mother, a poet and a printer, can get to know each other.  She is less than thrilled to have them even for a month.  Instead of welcoming them, she sends to a summer camp run by the Black Panthers. Meanwhile, Delphine takes her sisters to the nearby summer camp run by the Black Panthers and Mother Mukumbu.  A rally is planned to protest the injustices committed against two of the Black Panther members.  The campers will participate in the talent show.  The sisters decide to recite one of their mother’s poems at the rally.  Just prior to the rally, their mother and two black panther members are arrested.  The girls are taken care of by some neighbors while their mother is in jail.  At...

Book Trailers These are great books for middle school students. Click on the links to find out more about these great books.  The Crossover by Kwame Alexander (New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014) https://spark.adobe.com/video/RYIvmwu47zfQ1 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin (New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1978) https://spark.adobe.com/video/wlEplyRsAchQ1 Hoot by Carl Hiassen (N ew York: Scholastic, Inc., 2002) https://spark.adobe.com/video/1YBqpvedXkeSk Monsterland by James Crowley (New York:  Penguin Young Readers Group, 2017) https://spark.adobe.com/video/ rZXxWRmYMfNbt CIA:  Operation Golden Llama by Sam Bond (California: Bound Publishing, 2013) https://spark.adobe.com/video/uoUak1MFIpVu0

Module 4:  The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin Summary: This book is a murder mystery, but not a scary one. Mr. Westing, the paper mills giant dies leaving 16 heirs in his will. Paired together to make eight teams, they must all play a game using clues to figure out who is the murderer. Whoever solves the mystery first will receive all the money left in Mr. Westing's will. However, the clues provided to each team leads them in all directions.  As they search for the suspect, they discover that the people around them are not what they appear to be. When the players think they are defeated, one player continues to investigate, ultimately solving the puzzle.   My Perspective: The Westing Game is a mystery that most students 10 years old and up would enjoy.  Students can try to predict, infer or draw their own conclusions in this tale. This book was very well written, and a must read.  This was the Newbery Award winner, an ALA notable book, and th...

Module 4:  The Crossover by Kwame Alexander Summary: Twin brothers Josh Bell (a.k.a. Filthy McNasty) and Jordan Bell (a.k.a. JB) are 13-year-old basketball stars at the middle school where their mother, Dr. Bell, is the vice-principal.  Even though they are twins, they are different in character.  Filthy McNasty lives for basketball, attending three summer camps, and perfecting his crossover, a difficult basketball move that trips up opponents.  JB is far more sensitive and has other interests, including girls.  When JB gets a girlfriend, Filthy’s jealousy and anger are taken out on JB during a game; getting him removed from the team.  The tension between the two boys remains until the one fatal day when their father suffers from a heart attack.  The boys realize their need for each other and move towards reconciliation. My Perspective: The Crossover by Kwame Alexander was awarded the Newbery and named a Coretta Scott King Honor Book. ...

Module 3 Smoky Nights by Eve Bunting, David Diaz (Illustrator) Summary:   Smoky Nights recounts the Los Angeles riots from the perspective of a young boy, Daniel, and his mother, Gena.  They watch as violence erupts and looting occurs at local businesses, including the dry cleaners and Ms. Kim’s grocery store; a neighborhood grocery store that they do not support.  When a fire breaks out in the middle of the night, the boy and his mother and many of the neighbors have to escape to a nearby shelter.  It is there that they get to know their neighbors that they had previously shunned, including Ms. Kim.  The story is illustrated by David Diaz who won the 1995 Caldecott for his illustrations. My Perspective:  Smoky Nights presents the difficult and controversial topics of the violence of Los Angeles riots as well as prejudice and bias.  The underlying basis for the riots is not explained in this book.  The only explanation is given by the...

Drummer Hoff by Barbara Emberley, Ed Emberley (Illustrator) Summary: Drummer Hoff is a rhyming story about an army constructing a cannon.  The rhyme introduces each brightly, colored officer that contributes a part of the cannon until its completion. In the end Drummer Hoff fires off the cannon with a KAHBLABLOOM! Each page provides additional pieces and parts to the rhythm of the words that are aligned with the progression of the construction of the cannon.  The bright, multi-colored, wood-cut illustrations won this book the 1968 Caldecott Award. My Perspective: This book is best known for its colorful characters and its rhythm and rhyme.  However, there may be a deeper message entwined.  When Drummer Hoff was written and illustrated the nation was involved in the Vietnam conflict.  There was ample protesting of the war, and it is believed that this story sends an anti-war message.  Drummer Hoff is based off an old English cumulative folk rhym...