Mrs. Sadler's Reading Classes

February 15, 2010

Do You Know the Monkey Man? by Dori Hillestad Butler

Sam is looking for her father, whom she hasn't seen since the death of her twin sister ten years ago. Her mother, engaged to be married, hates her father and won't answer any of Sam's questions. When Sam's best friend is traveling to Minnesota during summer vacation, Sam goes along, hoping to find a way to drop in unannounced on her father who lives close to the Mall of America. After all, a dad should be happy to see his daughter, shouldn't he? Realistic fiction, Mystery, Family Fiction

Peak by Roland Smith.

Looking for an outdoor adventure book? Peak is a fiction story about a teenager’s journey to the top of the world. Climbing skyscrapers, tagging them, and being caught by the police lands Peak Marcello in quite a predicament. Fortunately, because Peak’s father volunteers to take custody of him and take Peak away from the city and media, Peak is given a fine and probation instead of several years in juvenile detention. Before Peak knows it, he is on a journey to be the youngest person to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Yet, Peak questions his father’s intentions for taking him on this adventure. Check out and read Peak by Roland Smith, if you want to discover the lessons Peak learns on his journey to the top of the world. Mrs. Harvey, Schoo teacher librarian Adventure, Realistic Fiction

Wrestling Books...Realistic Fiction:

• Wrestling Sturbridge by Rich Wallace. Relegated by his wrestling coach to sit on the bench while his best friend becomes state champion, Ben decides he can't let his last high school wrestling season slip by without challenging his friend and the future.
• There's A Girl in my Hammerlock by Jerry Spinelli. Thirteen-year-old Maisie joins her school's formerly all-male wrestling team and tries to last through the season, despite opposition from other students, her best friend, and her own teammates.
• Takedown by Matt Christopher. As he is helped by an assistant referee to prepare for a wrestling match with the neighborhood bully, Sean begins to wonder if his mentor could be his long-lost father.
• Takedown by Rich Wallace. Seventh-grader Donald, living with his parents in New Jersey, is determined to master wrestling but discovers that to win at the sport he must learn to control his temper.

Basketball Books...Realistic Fiction:

• Deuker, Carl. Night hoops. While trying to prove that he is good enough to be on his high school's varsity basketball team, Nick must also deal with his parents' divorce and the erractic behavior of a troubled classmate who lives across the street.
• Deuker, Carl. On the Devils Court. Seventeen-year-old Joe Faust finds himself willing to trade his soul for one perfect season of basketball.
• Deuker, Carl. Painting the black. When star athlete Josh Daniels moves in across the street, Remy Ward doesn't realize how much his life will change during his senior year at Seattle's Crown Hill High.
• Draper, Sharon M. Tears of a tiger. The death of high school basketball star Rob Washington in an automobile accident affects the lives of his close friend Andy, who was driving the car, and many others in the school.
• Dygard, Thomas J Tournament upstart. Under the leadership of their new young coach, a Class B high school basketball team from the Ozark foothills challenges big-city schools for the state championship.
• Dygard, Thomas J. The rebounder. Doug Fulton, coach of the Hamilton High Panthers, is certain that transfer student Chris Patton can lead the team to a championship, but a tragic accident has made Chris decide to never play basketball again.
• Klass, David. Danger zone. When he joins a predominantly black Teen Dream Team that will be representing the United States in an international basketball tournament in Rome, Jimmy Doyle from Minnesota makes some unexpected discoveries about prejudice, racism, and politics.
• Myers, Walter Dean. Slam. Sixteen-year-old "Slam" Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently.
• Myers, Walter Dean. Hoops. Growing up in the streets of Harlem, seventeen-year-old Lonnie Jackson dreams of making a better life.
• Nishiyama, Yuriko. Rebound. The Johnan High School varsity basketball team is going to do Tokyo proud at the championships if they do not get distracted by the tourists spots, shopping, and the girls.
• Soto, Gary. Taking sides. Fourteen-year-old Lincoln Mendoza, an aspiring basketball player, must come to terms with his divided loyalties when he moves from the Hispanic inner city to a white suburban neighborhood.

Biographies...Nonfiction; Multicultural

Tony Dungy-coach
Maya Angelo-author
Hilary Rodham Clinton-politician
Jennifer Gardner-actress
Al Gore-environment, politician
George Clooney-activist, actor
Adrian Peterson-athlete
Rachel Ray-chef
Samuel L. Jackson-actor
Michelle Obama-1st Lady
Miley Cyris-musician, actress
Barak Obama-President
Carrie Underwood-musician
Kevin Garnett-athlete

Red Moon at Sharpsburg by Rosemary Wells is the story of love, war, and a young woman seeking opportunity in a time when women were treated as unequal to men. India Moody was not a typical teenage girl living in Virginia during the Civil War. When her school closed because her teacher died in battle, India’s father had her tutored by Emory Trimble, the son of a wealthy southern family. Rather than teaching her scripture, handwriting and household economics, Emory teaches her “man’s science.” India has ambition to go to college during a time when it was unusual and not socially acceptable for a southern woman. Yet, before India can pursue her dreams, she faces people with little faith in her dreams, the brutal aftermath of southern battles, utter destruction of her homeland, and the deaths of the people she loves. Mrs. Harvey, Schoo teacher librarian Historical Fiction, Romance, Civil War

The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson. The six horrible Herdmans, the worst kids in the history of the world, cause mayhem throughout the school year. Humor, Realistic Fiction.





December 6, 2009

Haddix, Margaret Peterson .
BECAUSE OF ANYA
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2002
RL 5.7

How would you feel if your hair started falling out for no reason? What do you do? Do you wear a wig to hide it from everyone at school? Do you tell your class? Ten-year-old Anya, who has alopecia areata, chooses to wear a wig so no one will know her hair has fallen out, but “popular” Stef realizes it’s a wig and tries to get Keely to give it a tug to test it. For once, Keely refuses to do what Stef wants and realizes Anya needs help, particularly after the wig accidentally comes off in gym one day. Anya is mortified and doesn’t want to come back to school. Read this book to find out how Anya and her family begin to cope with Anya’s disorder and what surprising thing Keely does to help.

	Hobbs, Valerie. DEFIANCE New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2005. Eleven-year-old Toby wants to do normal things--hike and race his bike down a hill. He doesn't want to return to the hospital and the painful treatments for his cancer. When Toby starts spending time with Pearl, a spunky old woman who lives on a nearby farm, an her broken-down cow named Blossom, he decides to keep the new lump on his side a secret from his parents, in defiance.
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews
	SUBJECTS: Death -- Fiction. Hope -- Fiction. Cancer -- Fiction.

Kinney, Jeff. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID : GREG HEFFLEY'S JOURNAL New York : Amulet Books, 2007 RL 5.0 Greg Haffley’s diary….oh wait. Boys don’t have diaries. Girls have diaries. This is just a gathering of thoughts. Hilarious thoughts. Greg is your average middle school kid. His little brother can do no wrong in his parent’s eyes. . Klise, Kate. REGARDING THE FOUNTAIN New York : Avon, 1998. IL 5-8 RL 4.8 "Class, pay attention! You two in the back, listen up as fifth grader are able. You never know what you’ll miss if you donut listen. As you know, Dry Creek Middle School needs a new water fountain. The designer, Ms. Florence Waters, wants input from this class on how the new fountain should look as we are the class most often viewing it, our room being directly by the fountain. So please take out your writing notebooks and write a paragraph or two describing your ideas." And so the comedy of errors begins as letters, memos, and postcards keep flowing back and forth and no one ends up communicating. A humorous mystery! Friend, Natasha. PERFECT New York : Milkweed Editions, 2004 RL 5.1
		Her mother discovers her secret and Isabelle is sent to group therapy. Among the girls in her group is Ashley Barnum. Ashley is considered ‘the most perfect girl in school’. Despite their seeming differences they develop a friendship and as they do, Isabelle gets more and more peeks into just how Ashley manages to keep herself so "perfect", The balance begins to shift and Isabelle begins to believe in her own strength and to try to help Ashley who is so fragile inside. Like Cut, by Patricia McCormick, this is a story of healing and self-discovery, and like Define Normal, by Julie Ann Peters this is a story about the illusion of appearance and an unlikely friendship.
Hoffman, Alice. GREEN ANGEL New York : Scholastic, 2003. IL 5-8, RL 5.3 Fifteen-year-old Green is the only surviving member of her family after a terrible disaster hits the city where they had gone for the day. Green struggles to survive: physically, because nothing will grow under the thick layer of ashes and emotionally, while she looks for answers to why she was the only one left, she tattoos designs into her skin. Eventually, after a series of encounters, Green starts to relearn the lessons of love and is able to heal enough to tell her story. Drucker, Malka and Michael Halperin JACOB'S RESCUE New York : Dell, 1993. JACOB'S RESCUE begins with a Passover seder. Elderly strangers, Alex and Mela, non-Jewish guests at the seder, lead eight-year-old Marissa to ask her father a fifth question. "How do you know them?" Jacob, prodded by his brother David, closes the Haggadah and tells her, "This year we'll tell the story not from [the Haggadah] but from here," pointing to his heart. "This is also a true story, only more recent." Jacob tells of David's and his rescue when they were children in Poland, a rescue in which this elderly couple were the heroes. This book tells the actual story of Jacob and David Gilat (Gutgeld) and their heroes, Alex and Mela Roslan. (Barbara Goldenhersh, PhD, Assistant Professor, Harris Stowe State College, St. Louis, MO)

	Peck, Richard. ON THE WINGS OF HEROES New York : Dial Books, 2007 IL 5-8, RL 4.9 I
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews	This is a story of life in America during WWII through the eyes of Davy Bowman. It is a time of sacrifice for American families. Young Davy spends his time collecting scrap metal that will be used to make ammunition and milkweed pods for stuffing life vests for the sailors. During these searches, Davy meets some of the town’s mysterious and cantankerous characters. He meets old Miss Titus, who later becomes his teacher, because of the teacher shortage. As Davy explains, “We weren’t used to a teacher who looked like a walnut with a mustache.” Davy’s carefree and innocent lifestyle is turned upside down by the war. His father is very sad that another war is happening because when he fought in WWI it was supposed to be the “war to end all wars”. Davy’s brother is a bomber pilot and is flying secret and dangerous missions overseas. Find out how Davy copes with everyday life during a war and how he looks up to his heroes. (New Hampshire Great Stone Face nominee, 2008-2009)
	SUBJECTS: World War, 1939-1945 -- Fiction.

LaFaye, A. WORTH New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2004. RL 5.0

Click on the book to read Amazon reviews

In the late 19th century, life on a Nebraska homestead involved lots of hard work. Everyone in the family is expected to do his share. But when 11-year-old Nathaniel is seriously injured in an accident, he cannot do his share. And he wonders if his leg will ever be well enough for him to work again. Needing some help, Nathaniel's father adopts a young boy from an Orphan Train. John Worth lost his family in a fire in New York City and has been sent west on the Orphan Train in search of a home. Nathaniel understands why his father needs Worth but is afraid that he will take Nathaniel's place in the family. Will these two boys ever feel like brothers or will they be suspicious of each other forever?

Almond, David
SKELLIG
New York : Delacorte, 1999
IL 5-8
f you like a mystery and you like stange-types of beings you will love this book? What kind of being comes to mind when you hear the word Skellig? Try part man, bird, and angel? If you saw this creature what would you do? Why is he in this rundown dilapidated garage? Why does he regurgitate his food like a bird? To read what the main character Michael thought and to see what happens between Skellig and Michael you will have to read "Skellig" by David Almond.


September 17, 2009
Baby by Patricia MacLachlan
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
Burning Up by Caroline Cooney
Driver's Ed by Caroline Cooney
Heart of a Champion by Carl Deuker
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Runt by Marion Dane Bauer
Secrets of my Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita

Upcoming book talks:

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Bull Run by Paul Fleischman
Burning Up by Caroline Cooney
Driver's Ed by Caroline Cooney
Heart of a Champion by Carl Deuker
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot
Runt by Marion Dane Bauer
Secrets of my Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita

Sees behind Trees by Michael Dorris

Whittington by Alan Armstrong

September 14, 2009

Today's Specials:

Cracker, the best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata.
Historical fiction. 2009-2010 Golden Sower nominee.
Do you like to read about wars? Are you an animal lover?
This is the book for you. Cracker, the best Dog in Vietnam tells the story of a young soldier who becomes
a dog handler in the Army during the Vietnam War. Read how Cracker, a German shepherd, and other
dogs, helped save soldiers' lives by sniffing out bombs and enemy soldiers during the war. Based on true
stories of using dogs during the war and what happened to them after the war ended.

Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac
Multicultural. Historical Fiction
Navajo Indians joined the Marine Corp during World War II to become Code Talkers, sending and receiving military communications using their Navajo language.

Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe
Multicultural, Historical Fiction. Winner of 2006 Nebraska Golden Sower Award
A historical fiction based on the true story of the murder of 15-year-old African American Emmett Till in Mississippi in the summer of 1955. The author's extensive research adds rich details to this event that helped spark the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

364.15 CRO Getting Away with Murder: the True Story of the Emmett Till Case by Chris Crowe
Nonfiction.
A companion book to Mississippi Trial, 1955. Tells the true story about the murder of a 14-year-old boy in Mississippi in 1955 and the speedy trial and aquittal of his murderers.

Featured Author: Joan Lowery Nixon
When you are looking for a great mystery/horror story Joan Lowery Nixon is a great author to try! She's won the Edgar Award for mystery writers four times! You will find her books in the fiction collection under the call number FIC NIX.

Series: City of Ember, People of Sparks, Yonwood Prophet by Jeanne DuPrau
SciFi/Fantasy.
The lights in the City of Ember start to flicker and Lena and Doon, two teens who have just finished their education and entered the world of work, join forces to figure out what is going on. City of Ember has a cliff-hanger ending that makes you want to read People of Sparks to see what happens next!

More scifi/fantasy:

• Podcast of Series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras by Scott Westerfeld
  
• Maximum Ride Series: Podcast for Saving the World by James Patterson (Science Fiction Adventure)

Mrs. Krenk's Reading Class

Each week Mrs. Krenk brings her reading class to the media center to check out books. Sometimes I get to share some of my favorite books with them. Last week I read "There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" by Simm Taback. It is an American folk poem first heard in the US in the 1940's.

This week I am reading Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, written by Mem Fox, in honor of Grandparent's Day, September 13. It is the story of a young boy's friendship with residents of a care home.

Both books can be found in the book shelves next to the magazines in the Scott Media Center.

I always get requests from teachers, students and parents for recommendations for good books to read.

It is difficult to make a "one-book- fits-all" list because of the wide variety of reading levels, developmental maturity and interests of middle-school students so I prefer to think of my recommendations as a MENU of books from which to choose. Some of these titles I have personally read; others are recommended by other teachers or organizations such as the American Library Association or the Nebraska Golden Sower Committee. Have a book you think needs to be listed here? Email your name, the title and author of the recommended book, and your review of the book to jhellma@lps.org and I'll consider adding it to my Menu of the Reading Cafe.

Reading Menu

Appetizers

Chicken Soup for the Soul books--too many titles to list but each one full of short stories that will make you laugh, cry, and reflect on life. These will be in the non-fiction section of most libraries.

Podcast: Diary of a Wimpy Kid (a novel in cartoons) and Rodick Rules by Jeff Kinney
Frindle by Andrew Clements (Realistic Fiction)
Lunch Money by Andrew Clements (Realistic Fiction)
Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
Nancy Drew books by Carolyn Keene (Mystery)
Shredderman by Wendelin Van Draanen
The SOS File by Betsy Byars, Betsy Duffey, and Laurie Myers
The Stupendous Dodgeball Fiasco by Janice Repka, illus. Glin Dibley
The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney

Snack Bar
"Skinny" books

Babe & Me by Dan Gutman (155 pages)
The Black Pearl by Scott O'Dell (100 pages)
Black Star, Bright Dawn by Scott O'Dell (103 pages)
Brian's Return (115 pages) by Gary Paulsen (first read Hatchet, The River, and Brian's Winter (133 pages)
Disney Adventures Series by Joan Lowery Nixon (under 100 pages)
Heroes Don't Run: A Novel of the Pacific War (113 pages)
Island, Everest, Dive, Kidnapped, On the Run Series by Gordon Korman (130 pages)
The Legend of Red Horse Cavern by Gary Paulsen (55 pages)
White Water by P. J. Petersen (107 pages)

Entrees

Perfect, Lush and Bounce all by Natasha Friend (Perfect won the 2007 Golden Sower Award). The girls in these books deal with grief, eating disorders, alcoholism, and blended families.

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney Did Mitt accidently start a smallpox epidemic while working on his high school project?

Code Talkers by Joseph Bruchac
Navajo Indians joined the Marine Corp during World War II to become Code Talkers, sending and receiving military communications using their Navajo language. Historical Fiction

Driver's Ed by Caroline Cooney
Three teenagers agonize over what they should do after they steal a stop sign. A woman is killed by driving through the intersection. Can they keep the secret and live with the guilt?

Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick
Steven is a normal 8th grader: a drummer in an honor band who has a crush on the hottest girl in school (who doesn't know he exists) and whose little brother annoys him constantly. His world is turned upside down when his brother gets sick and he has to cope with that as well as the other pressures of his life. Realistic Fiction

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Action adventure mixed with Greek mythology.

Mississippi Trial, 1955 by Chris Crowe (Winner of 2006 Nebraska Golden Sower)
A historical fiction based on the true story of the murder of 15-year-old African American Emmett Till in Mississippi in the summer of 1955. The author's extensive research adds rich details to this event that helped spark the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Historical Fiction

The Perfect Shot by Elaine Marie Alphin (Mystery)

Dessert Bar

Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Clique (series) by Lisi Harrison
The Princess Diaries (series) by Meg Cabot
Sarah Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
The Summer of the Traveling Pants (series) by Ann Brashares

Sports Cafe

Heart of a Champion by Carl Deuker (Golden Sower Winner)
Seth and Jimmy have been friends since a chance meeting on a baseball field in sixth grade. Now they are in high school on the varsity baseball team and learning how decisions they make off the field impact their lives. (This is one of my all-time favorite books!)

High Heat, On the Devil's Court, Night Hoops, Painting the Black, Runner, and Gym Candy are also by Carl Deuker.

Heat and Travel Team by Mike Lupica

Slam by Walter Dean Myers

Winning Season series by Rich Wallace includes The Roar of the Crowd, Technical Foul, Fast Company, Double Fake, Emergency Quarterback, Southpaw, Dunk Under Pressure, Takedown and Curveball.

Buffet Line
Series, Award Winners and Book Lists

• Golden Sower Nominees: These are nominees for a state award voted on in April by the children of Nebraska. There are three catagories: Primary (K-3), Intermediate (4-6) and Young Adult (7-12). I've listed the Intermediate and Young Adult titles with a short summary in a separate post below. Scroll down to read it.
• YALSA (Young Adult Library Service Association) book lists.
  
• Series: City of Ember, People of Sparks, Yonwood Prophet by Jeanne DuPrau
  The lights in the City of Ember start to flicker and Lena and Doon, two teens who have just finished their education and entered the world of work, join forces to figure out what is going on. City of Ember has a cliff-hanger ending that makes you want to read People of Sparks to see what happens next! (Fantasy/SciFi)
• Podcast of Series: Uglies, Pretties, Specials, and Extras by Scott Westerfeld
  
• Series: Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Among the Hidden and Among the Imposters are the first two books in this series.
• Podcast of Series: Maximum Ride by James Patterson (Science Fiction Adventure)
• Podcast of Series: Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
  
• Series: Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan (Horror)
• Series: Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
  
  
  

Welcome to the Book Bistro!

Today's Special: Cracker, the best Dog in Vietnam by Cynthia Kadohata.
Historical fiction. 2009-2010 Golden Sower nominee.
Do you like to read about wars? Are you an animal lover?
This is the book for you. Cracker, the best Dog in Vietnam tells the story of a young soldier who becomes
a dog handler in the Army during the Vietnam War. Read how Cracker, a German shepherd, and other
dogs, helped save soldiers' lives by sniffing out bombs and enemy soldiers during the war. Based on true
stories of using dogs during the war and what happened to them after the war ended.

International Fare: NEW non-fiction books about countries of the world:
Cuba
Denmark
France
Panama

American Cuisine (NEW non-fiction books about the United States):
973.2 WIL African-Americans in the Colonies
973.049 KLE Life on an African Slave Ship