The Graveyard Book

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, and YA

Gaiman, Neil, and Dave McKean, Ill.. The Graveyard Book. New York: Harper Collins, 2008. Narrated by Neil Gaiman. Audiobook. Harper Audio, 2008.  ISBN: 978-0061551895  Book ISBN: 978-0-06-053092-1

“It takes a graveyard to raise a child.”  At least that is what the ghosts think.  Nobody Owens, Bod to his friends, is a young boy who grows up in a graveyard after wandering out the night his family is murdered.  Given the Freedom of the Graveyard, Bod is able to go places in the graveyard that no other living person can.  Bod still manages to get himself into mischief as he meets the Indigo Man, the Ghouls, and Elizabeth Hempstock, a witch buried in the graveyard.  As Silas, Bod’s guardian, and the ghosts work to protect him from Jack, the man who tried to kill him along with the rest of his family, he may just find out the truth about his real family the night he toddled into the graveyard. 

Gaiman writes an incredible tale of a toddler who grows up in a graveyard.  Gaiman narrates the book himself.  I love the fact that the author narrates the book because you can get the author’s intentions for the story.  Gaiman’s characters are full of life, even if they are ghosts.  Every ghost has a personality that draws from the time period in which he or she died.  The primary setting is in the graveyard, but there are some places outside the graveyard where Bod gets himself into trouble.  The theme that rings true from this story is that family, no matter who or what they are, do whatever they can to keep each other safe from harm.  This is seen as the Silas and the ghosts work to keep Bod safe from Jack.  Gaiman creates a story that is inviting for all ages. 

“Wistful, witty, wise – and creepy.  This needs to be read by anyone who is or has ever been a child.” – Kirkus Reviews

“An utterly captivating tale … this is a rich story with broad appeal and is highly recommended for teens of all ages.” – Booklist

“Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.” – School Library Journal

Winner of the Newbery Medal, the Carnegie Medal, and the Hugo Award

You can listen to Neil Gaiman read his book at his website http://www.mousecircus.com/videotour.aspx.

This book has also received the following awards:

Locus Award, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book, Best Indie Young Adult Buzz Book, Audiobook of the Year, ALA Notable Children's Book, ALA Best Book for Young Adults, ALA Booklist Editors' Choice, Horn Book Fanfare, Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book, Time Magazine Top Ten Fiction, Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice, New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, New York Public Library Stuff for the Teen Age, and Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (Vermont)

Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians

Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, and YA - Graphic Novel

Krosoczka, Jarrett. Lunch Lady and the League of Librarians. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-375-84684-7

It is time for the school read-a-thon, but something weird is going on in the library.  The Breakfast Bunch wants to get a head start on reading and end up getting thrown out of the library.  The librarian says she is trying to get ready for the book fair.  The League of Librarians has a secret meeting that the kids overhear.  The kids are suspicious and go to tell the Lunch Ladies what is happening.  The Breakfast Bunch tries to take matters into their own hands, and with the help of the Lunch Lady, they take down the League of Librarians.

This graphic novel is a fast and fun read.  The League of Librarians is out to conquer the world.  Who can stop them?  The Lunch Lady!  The characters in this story are full of surprises.  From the bully Milmoe to the Lunch Lady, every character will bring laughs.  The school setting makes it fun to think about what could go on at school when all the kids go home.  All of the graphic novels in the Lunch Lady series are filled with action and adventure. 

“With its appealing mix of action and humor, this clever, entertaining addition to the series should have wide appeal.” –School Library Journal

WINNER 2010 - Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices

Other great books in the series include:

Lunch Lady and the Summer Camp Shakedown

Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute

Lunch Lady and the Field Trip Fiasco

All of these graphic novels are a great way to get kids interested in reading.  The stories are fun to read and easy to follow. 

The Green Glass Sea

Genre: Historical Fiction

Klages, Ellen. The green glass sea. New York, N.Y.: Viking, 2006. Narrated by Julie Dretzin. MP3 Playaway.  Recorded Books, 2007.   Book ISBN:  0-670-06134-4

Dewey Kerrigan is a young girl moving around the country to wherever her Army dad is working.  When her grandmother has a stroke, Dewey has to go live with her father at a top secret location in a top secret place.  It is 1943 and Dewey is dealing with World War II.  Everything is top secret and no one can say anything about anything.  As the war goes on, Dewey tries her best to fit in on “The Hill” where she and her father are living.  Her father was a scientist working on “The Gadget” for the Army.  After her father’s untimely death, Dewey is terrified of what will happen to her.  Then “the Gadget” works, and we have the birth of the atomic bomb. 

Klages writes an intriguing story about a young girl growing up and trying to find herself during World War II.  She intermixes a story of a girl trying to fit in with a bunch of “Army brats” into the historical facts about the making of the atomic bomb.  Her setting of “the Hill” is in Los Alamos, New Mexico, a real place that wasn’t on any maps during the 1940’s.  “Trinity” is also a real place that Klages uses.  This was the desert place where they tested the bomb.  One feels the pain and confusion of each of the characters as they realize what is going on with the war, the tragic deaths, and even the playfulness of the children on “the Hill”. 

“An intense but accessible page-turner… history and story are drawn together with confidence.” – Horn Book Magazine

“Klages makes an impressive debut with an ambitious, meticulously researched novel set during WWII. Writing from the points of view of two displaced children, she successfully recreates life at Los Alamos Camp, where scientists and mathematicians converge with their families to construct and test the first nuclear bomb.” –Publisher’s Weekly

“Clear prose brings readers right into the unusual atmosphere of the secretive scientific community, seen through the eyes of the kids and their families.” –School Library Journal

“The characters are exceptionally well drawn, and the compelling, unusual setting makes a great tie-in for history classes.” –Booklist

Winner, 2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Winner, 2007 Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature
Winner, 2007 New Mexico State Book Award (YA)
 Finalist, 2007 Quill Awards (Young Adult)
Finalist, Northern California Book Awards, 2007 (Children's)
Finalist, Locus Awards, 2007 (Best First Novel)
Book Sense #1 Children's Pick - Winter 2006/2007
 One Book, One Nebraska for Kids - 2009
 2009 Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award Master List, (Illinois)
2008 NeNe Award List (Hawaii)
2008 Bluegrass Award Master List (Kentucky)
2007-08 Maine Student Book Award List
2007-08 Isinglass Teen Read List (New Hampshire)
2009 Rhode Island Teen Book Award List
2008-09 South Carolina Junior Book Award List
 A Horn Book Fanfare selection
A Junior Library Guild selection
A Scholatic Book Club selection

For more on Ellen Klages, visit her website at http://www.ellenklages.com/index.html.

This fictional story is a great tie-in and story starter for a lesson or unit of study on World War II.  Other great stories about the making of the bomb or life on “the Hill” include:

Broder, Bernice. Tales of Los Alamos: Life on the Mesa 1943-1945. Los Alamos Historical Society, 1997.

Conant, Jennet. 109 East Palace: Robert Oppenheimer and the Secret City of Los Alamos. Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Mason, Katrina. Children of Los Alamos: An Oral History fo the Town Where the Atomic Age Began. Twayne Publishers, 1995.

Rhodes, Richard. The Making of the Atomic Bomb. Simon & Schuster, 1995.

Maggie's Door

Genre: Historical Fiction

Giff, Patricia Reilly. Maggie's Door. New York: Yearling, 2003.  ISBN: 978-0-440-41581-7

In Ireland in 1845, Nory Ryan is suffering during the great potato famine, as is her friend Sean Red Mallon.  Most of their family members have already left for America.  Nory travels to the port in Galway and finds her way onto a ship headed to America.  She dreams of getting to her sister Maggie’s in Brooklyn.  Even though they don’t leave at the same time, and don’t realize they are on the same ship, Sean and Nory tell their story as they travel on the ship Samson to America.

Giff writes a fascinating tale about a young girl and her struggles to get to America and away from the Great Famine.  Each chapter alternates between Nory’s story and Sean’s story.  Giff really brings out the plight of the famine and how much the Irish suffer.  The imagery that Giff uses throughout the story allows the reader to really envision what happened during that time in Ireland.  With no food and very little clean water to drink, it is amazing that anyone makes it to America alive. 

 “Vivid language, attention to detail, and fully realized characters… heart-wrenching and unforgettable.”  -- Kirkus Reviews

“Giff brings the immigration history to life.”  -- Booklist

To read more about Nory and Sean, check out Giff’s prequel to Maggie’s Door by picking up and reading Nory Ryan’s Song.   Both of Patricia Reilly Giff’s books about Nory Ryan are a great way to introduce some world history to your class. 

Other books about the Irish Potato Famine:

Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly.  ISBN: 978-0446697101

Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850 by Susan Campbell Bartoletti. ISBN: 978-0618548835

The Great Hunger: Ireland: 1845-1849 by Cecil Woodham-Smith.  ISBN: 978-0140145151

The Wednesday Wars

Genre: Historical Fiction

Schmidt, Gary D.. The Wednesday Wars. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2007. Read by Joel Johnstone. Audiobook. Scholastic Audio Books, 2007.  ISBN: 978-0439023405, Book ISBN: 978-0-547-23760-2

Holling Hoodhood is a 7^th grade boy in 1967 who thinks the world is against him.  His father expects him to take over the family business, his sister is embarrassed by him, and he believes Mrs. Baker, his teacher, is out to get him, along with some other bullies.  Through reading Shakespeare’s plays with Mrs. Baker on Wednesday afternoons while everyone else is in Catholic Catechism class or Hebrew school and using Shakespeare’s curses from the plays, Holling may just find himself, even through all the strife the world is going through with the Vietnam War and the deaths of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.

This audiobook presentation of The Wednesday Wars is an unabridged version read by Joel Johnstone.  The audiobook contains 6 CDs of the story presented in a first person narrative by Johnstone.  Johnstone is an actor that has done voiceovers for video games and has been in numerous short films.  More information can be found about him at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1179578/ on the Internet Movie Database. Johnstone creates several different voices for the different characters by adding an element similar to listening to a play or radio broadcast.  The entire recording is clear and engaging.  The first CD of the audiobook has an introduction to the book presenting the title and who the story is being read by. 

As you listen to Holling’s story, you easily become sympathetic to his situation.  I think all of us have felt like the world was against us at one time or another.  This is a coming-of-age story presented at a time in history when the country was not sure of what was going to happen next.  Holling is a kid who is more interested in baseball than his flower child sister Heather or even reading Shakespeare. 

Schmidt writes an incredible story that, even listening to the audiobook, can be visualized by descriptions he repeats throughout the story.  Holling wants some cream puffs and every time they are described or mentioned in the book, Schmidt uses the same descriptors every time; brown, light, perfect cream puffs.

Notable awards and reviews:

"Schmidt...makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous...a gentle, hopeful, moving story." --Booklist

"Schmidt rises above the novel's conventions to create memorable and believable characters." --Horn Book

2008 Newbery Honor Book

This book is great for a fictional story taking place during the Vietnam War.  It can be tied into a social studies lesson about the Vietnam War. 

Other books by Gary D. Schmidt include:

·         Mara's Stories: Glimmers in the Darkness (2008)

·         Trouble (2008)

·         First Boy (2005)

·         Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2004)

·         A Passionate Usefulness: The Life and Literary Labors of Hannah Adams (2004)

·         The Wonders of Donal O'Donnell (2002)

·         Straw Into Gold (2001)

Walt Whitman: Words for America

Genre: Nonfiction, Biography

Kerley, Barbara, and Brian Selznick. Walt Whitman: Words for America. New York: Scholastic Press, 2004.  ISBN:  978-0-439-35791-3

Walt Whitman loved words even as a young child.  Throughout his life, wherever he went, he always had a notebook with him to write down words when he was inspired.  Walt loved to travel.  He would visit wounded soldiers during the Civil War to cheer them up.  This began when his brother George became wounded in the war.  He wrote about those he helped.  Walt was generous and helped everyone, Black, White, Confederate, and Union.  His poem O Captain! My Captain! is a poem he wrote about his friend President Lincoln.  He wrote his poetry even up to his death. 

Kerley writes a riveting tale about Walt Whitman’s life and how he cared more for others than himself.  He wrote wherever he went.  He wrote about those he met.  Selznick’s illustrations beautifully depict Whitman in various stages of his life.  The illustration of Abraham Lincoln shows Lincoln’s sadness at the beginning of the Civil War.  Every turn of the page reveals a full color illustration that shows not only the artistry of Selznick but also the changes through Whitman’s life.

Notable awards and reviews:

Sibert Honor Book
California Book Award
Best Book Award -- Oppenheim Toy Portfolio
ALA Notable Book
Best Children's Books -- Publishers Weekly
Best Illustrated Books -- New York Times
100 Titles for Reading and Sharing -- New York Public Library
Nominated for Young Reader Awards in Kentucky, New Mexico, and Tennessee

“An exuberant picture-book biography that focuses on Whitman's formative years and his selfless work as a Civil War nurse.  Delightfully old-fashioned in design, its oversized pages are replete with graceful illustrations and snippets of poetry.  The brilliantly inventive paintings add vibrant testimonial to the nuanced text." – School Library Journal

"A visual and textual portrait of America's most revolutionary and celebrated poet.  Kerley distills Whitman's wide-ranging biography, centering on the significant themes of his life: his passion for words, America, and the common man, as well as his torment over race, democracy, and the Civil War.... Depicting Whitman as both a literal and metaphorical journeyman, Selznick paints him hiking with the pages of his habitual notebooks floating around him, each with a word from his poetry, graphically bursting the boundaries of convention.... A cultural force rendered with power and immediacy for a new generation."  -- Kirkus Reviews

"With a lyricism and an ardor that echoes Whitman's own, Kerley writes of his passion for both language and for "rambling".... Selznick's versatile illustrations encompass a stark realism...and surreal whimsy.... Their enthusiasm is convincing and contagious."  -- Publishers Weekly

"Splendid."  Horn Book

"Vibrant."  New York Times

"Outstanding."  San Francisco Chronicle

For more information about Barbara Kerley’s books, check out her website at http://www.barbarakerley.com/.

Kerley’s book about Walt Whitman can be discussed during a social studies unit on the Civil War.  Whitman is a fantastic poet that can be discussed during a poetry unit.  This book can be tied into other subjects with just a little thought and imagination.  Kerley even provides some ideas on her website of how to use this book in the classroom.

Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition

Genre: Nonfiction

Blumenthal, Karen. Bootleg: murder, moonshine, and the lawless years of prohibition. New Milford: Roaring Brook Press, 2011.   ISBN:  978-1-59643-449-3

 

During the 1920’s, America ignored the law and came up with their own ways for getting the alcohol they craved.  The 1920’s were the years of prohibition.  The United States had just put into effect the 18^th amendment to the constitution outlawing alcohol and liquor sales.  The history leading up to and through the years of prohibition is laid out in stories of those who fought for and against alcohol.  From Morris Shepherd and Carrie Nation all the way to Al Capone, Americans fought for the things they thought they deserved.  Shepherd and Nation were completely against alcohol.  Al Capone is a name no one will forget because of his lawlessness in regards to prohibition. 

Blumenthal clearly lays out the history of prohibition in this book.  Key players in the prohibition movement have stories that help to explain how the United States adopted the 18^th Amendment to the Constitution.  Initially the goal was to stop alcohol abuse.  While crime was lowered during the years of prohibition, the people still wanted their beer to help them relax at the end of a hard day.  The photographs used throughout the book help to relay the stories Blumenthal is telling to give a history of the lawless years of prohibition.  She provides an extensive bibliography at the end of the book of sources she utilized in writing this book. 

Other books about the history of prohibition include:

Asbury, Herbert. The Great Illusion: An Informal History of Prohibition. Garden City, NY: Double Day & Company, Inc., 1950.

Coffey, Thomas M. The Long Thirst: Prohibition in America: 1920-1933. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 1975.

Okrent, Daniel. Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition. NY: Scribner, 2010.

Willebrandt, Mabel Walker. The Inside of Prohibition. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-merrill Company, 1929.

“An informative, insightful account of a fascinating period of American history.”  – Kirkus Reviews

“Filled with period art and photographs, anecdotes, and portraits of unique characters from the era, this fascinating book looks at the rise and fall of the disastrous social experiment known as Prohibition.” – GoodReads.com

"The breadth of the well-researched material makes Bootleg a substantial resource for reports; a deep bibliography and copious source notes provide ample opportunities for further study…this book is also a lively read…” --School Library Journal

"The scope is ambitious, but Blumenthal investigates various tangents with telling anecdotes, quotes, statistics, photographs, and illustrations without losing her focus on the bigger picture. Whether you consider ongoing problems with substance abuse or increasingly polarized political discourse, the book is startlingly relevant to modern times in many ways, marking Blumenthal as one of the more intellectually adventurous authors writing for young adults today.” --Horn Book Magazine

“…a highly readable, well-shaped look at the Eighteenth Amendment… Plenty of archival images lend to the book’s pleasant design, and an ample bibliography and source notes close out this top-notch resource, which will also help spark discussion on the current War on Drugs.” --Booklist