Julie of the Wolves

Julie of the Wolves, written by Jean Craighead George, is about an Eskimo girl named Miyax who's mother died at the age of 4, and her fathers aunt came to take her away from her father Kapugen. Kapugens Aunt wanted to take her and enroll in her in school. As Miyax leaves to live with her Aunt, she becomes Julie. Within a month her father is presumed dead from a hunting trip that he didn't return from. By the age of thirteen Julie had gotten married and was in a bad situation, she wanted to go to San Francisco and meet her pen pal. As she leaves, she states that Julie is gone and Miyax is her name again. She tries to find her way across the Tundra but gets lost and she runs out of supplies. She finds a way to communicate with wolves, and uses knowledge that her father taught her and is accepted into the pack. The leader of the back is skeptical in the beginning but Miyax longs for his acceptance in the pack. She finds the leader, Amaroq, to be her father figure and learns to love the pack. Amaroq is later killed and Miyax situation changes dramatically. But how?
The book have starts with Miyax among the wolves, then it talks about her life as a young girl and the struggles that took place leading up to her running away, the last part is about how she discovers that her father is still alive, but is he who is use to be?
I think that this would be a good book for readers in 5th to 6th grade, who like books about survival and adventure. It would also be a good book to read as a class to discover cultural differences from their own. It will show a reader how life changes and decisions may be hard to make up, like Miyax's decision at the end of the book. The book has a few sketches through the book that help build visuals for the reader as well, the text is detailed and informative enough as well that a good sense of visualization can be created from reading. I would recommend this book as a must have in the classroom.

The BFG

The story, The BFG, written by Roald Dahl, is about a little orphan girl named Sophie who was longing to see what witching hour was like outside as she laid awake in her orphanage home. As she stood at the window she saw something coming down the street and peeking in windows. She figured out it was a giant person with a  black coat, suitcase, and trumpet. Well the giant sees that she notices him and he comes and takes her form her orphanage and back to his cave where all the giants live. The BFG sits Sophie down when they get back to the cave and talks to her, in really bad langwitch. He talks to her about all the other terrible giants who like to eat children and people throughout the world. He shows her how he is a good giant and has to eat snozzcumbers, a terrible vegetable, and how he catches dreams to blow into children's bedrooms at night. The BFG really doesn't like how the other giants eat people and Sophie especially doesn't. So Sophie and the BFG devise a plan and carry it out to keep the giants from ever eating any more innocent people. Does their plan work out?
I think that many 5th or 6th grade kids would like to read this book. There are times when the reader has to figure out what the giant is saying, so it does require thought as you are reading to understand him. The main part of the text is easy to read and flows well, the transition between chapters are smooth and lead your right where you want them to go from anticipation of wanting to know what is going to happen next. There are also some sketches through the book depicting what is happening on these pages, which are fun to look at because they give the reader a good visual of what the giants look like, and what Sophie looks like as well. Overall this was a good book that I would recommend to students to read who like Giant fiction!

Just Kidding

Just Kidding, written by Trudy Ludwig, is a book about teaching awareness about bullying. It is about a boy who is constantly being made fun of, and he hates it. His name is D.J. and the bully, Vince, thinks he is a funny guy and makes jokes at D.J.'s expense. D.J. is tired of being made fun of and being picked on by Vince, so he gets a small lesson from his father about bullies and tries to solve the problem, when the problem doesn't get solved they go to the principal. D.J. believes that "its fun to kid around with your friends and family. But...when a joke has a sharp edge to it, it can cut you to pieces."
Just Kidding would be a good book to read to older students, upper elementary, who feel they are funny and don't realize they are being bullies. It would be a good book for students to hear and to keep them aware of what they are actually doing to others even when they feel it was just a joke. The artwork of the book is very captivating and the emotions of the children in the book really give that bully/victim feel, you can see the hurt in the victim and the "joke" in the bully. It provides the reader with advice to tell students who are bullied, and also gives a chart of Do's and Don'ts about bullying. This would be a great book to keep in the classroom whenever these situations arise!

My Side of the Mountain

My Side of the Mountain, written by Jean Craighead George, is a great adventure book about a 12 year old boy, Sam, who runs away from his hectic life in New York to live on his great-grandpas abandoned farm in the Catskill Mountains. Sam is a very resourceful boy after learning so much from reading. He finds a home in the Catskills, a hollowed out tree. He uses Indian techniques to make his hollowed tree a little bit bigger. Sam gets very good at finding plants and trapping animals for food. One of Sam's most courageous acts was stealing a baby falcon from a nest. Sam read about falconry at the library and stole the baby falcon, whose mother he had been watching, to raise and teach how to hunt. This proves very successful and Sam and his falcon, Frightful, create a strong relationship. Sam learns to preserve meat, store food, and is very observant of animals and learns from them how to hunt for certain items. Sam uses many parts of the surrounding world to create a life in the forest, but will he be able to survive the brutal winter and the challenges that he faces as he lives alone?
My Side of the Mountain is a great book to read about adventure and independence. I think that readers from 5th grade on would enjoy the book. The text is easy to follow, and the story line may be something that some readers could relate to, like the urge to run away and be adventurous and independent in the wild. It is something that I could see myself wanting to do when I was young since I loved the outdoors and being able to hunt and fish would have been something I could do daily for the rest of my life. It sparks interest in learning new techniques about survival, and how being observant in the wild can be a beneficial.

Eragon

Eragon, written by Christopher Paolini, is about a 15 year old boy named Eragon who lives in a town named Carvahall, in Alagaesia. Eragon is a farm boy and one day while exploring in the mountains he discovers a magical stone. This magical stone soon hatches, and to Eragons amazement a dragon, which is very rare, is now his. The dragon, Saphira, is sought after by Lord Galbatorix, who sends the Ra'zac in search of Saphira and the new dragon rider Eragon. As Eragon and Saphira hide in the forests of Alagaesia from the Ra'zac, his Uncle is killed and his farm burned down. Saphira and Eragon create a bond and relationship that allow them to communicate with each other, and even heal each other. Eragon's long journey to find help at the Varden takes him through many new places and more troubles arise as he meets new people and encounters new enemies. Can help be found before the elite Ra'zac find and kill Eragon and Saphira?
This book is a young adult fantasy book. Many readers, probably along the lines of middle school, who enjoy fantasy should definitely read Eragon, which is book 1 in a 4 book series. It has good readability and keeps the reader drawn in, the book is very hard to put down, the suspense of situations will keep the pages turning. The author uses text that is easy to visualize and that helps the reader become a part of the book. Some of the towns, cities, landmarks and vocabulary of the book are hard to remember and are easy to be confused by, but the glossary in the book and the maps are very useful and helpful to limit confusion. This book is highly recommended to any who like to read fantasy, not just middle school, young adults.

Night-Graphic Novel

Night, by Elie Wiesel, is a graphic novel of a boys unimaginable account in Jewish concentration camps during World War II. The boy is introduced in the book a very religous boy. His religion was tested as the germans came into his town of Sighet, Transylvania and formed ghettos for the jews to live in and within a week all families were shipped out. Their trip to where they were going was crowded and his account of the ride with a possessed lady screaming fire really got them worried and as they rolled into the town of Auschwitz where they saw horrific buildings with fire and the smell of flesh in the air their lives seemed over. His time spent in camps ruined him as he lost track of his mother and siblings from the second they stepped of the trains, and his father, he was able to spend most of the time with, what happened to him? The horrifying accounts of seeing people hung, executed, burned, and tortured, people of every age sticks in my mind. This book is a great account from a boy who lost everything he had, his innocence, his family, and his God, but lived to tell the story.
I would never recommend a book like this be read at school or given out to students in any form. A book like this could be one recommended to a college student but you would have to really be close to someone to offer this book. If someone is studying life during the holocaust or something of that nature then check it out and know that it is an R rated book. It has text that is easy to read, some sentences don't make very much sense since it was translated from French. Honestly the book was a great read, very interesting; however, the situation the boy went through is unbelievable. Understand this book is a non-fiction account of a real boy and that there are graphic images that will be forced onto the reader through the detail of the boys memories.

Pink and Say

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco is a heart felt book about two young boys that fought in the Civil War. Sheldon Curtis, Say, was found in a field shot and disoriented by Pinkus Aylee, Pink. Pink saved him by carrying him and dragging him for "a powerful long way." Pink led Say back to his home where his mother, Moe Moe Bay, nursed him back to health and prayed that her son and Say wouldn't have to leave to go back to the war. Pink knew he had to leave to keep his mother out of harms way. On the day Pink and Say were going to leave and head back towards the war marauders came and Moe Moe Bay hid the boys in the cellar inside and made a run for it to protect them. A single shot was heard outside of the house and Pink knew what had happened, and things only get worse for Pink.
The story depicts a great story of a friendship that took place after Pink saved Say, who had never seen a black man before. I think this book would be a great book to read with a unit on the Civil War, or slavery. The story is amazing and is an easy book to read and it is also very interesting to follow along with. The pictures are very detailed and give a very good visual to the story as it is read. Some of the pictures really capture the emotion that take place and make the reader feel the emotion as well. I would highly recommend this five star book as a read aloud to older students with some background of the Civil War and slavery so that they really understand the situation and appreciate what the book is about.

Buried Onions

Buried Onions by Gary Soto was an interesting book about a Mexican boy from Fresno fighting to get out and make a better life for himself. Eddie had been a gangaster growing up but changed due to deaths occuring all around him and situations arising that he just didnt want to be a part of. Eddie tried to attend college but failed at that. He tried to hold down a simple job of painting address numbers but other problems arose from this, such as a stolen vehicle, another friend gets stabbed and he gets arrested. Eddie is tyring so hard to stay away from the violence that is around him but after his cousin gets killed his aunt and a "friend" named Angel keep trying to convince him to find and kill the man responsible. Eddie's only real friend Jose and past mentor, Coach, help Eddie get through the situations that are ruining his life and sending him spiraling in the wrong direction. Eddie seems to be in the wrong place in the wrong time, and just can't catch a break.
The book is suppossed to be a grade level 6 book. However I feel that the violence that takes place and the situations that Eddie is in should make this book be a read for more mature audiences.I think that the book may be read by 6th graders that are in this situation; the violent inner city, gang ridden communities. But I also think that it should be read by highschool audiences from 18-20 to relate directly to Eddie, since he is 19 in the book. It is an easy book to read as far as text and flow of sentences go. The author does a great job at leaving the reader in suspence waiting for the next page to see what is going to happen to Eddie next. Wanting things to go right for him is what is hopeful but it just doesnt seem to happen this way.

A Single Shard

A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park is about a 12 year old boy named Tree Ear. Tree Ear was highly interested in pottery, he especially liked to watch Min. Tree Ear was a poor orphan who lived under a bridge, he scavenged for food and was just in a bad situation. He decides that he likes that pottery enough that he sneaks in to see what type of creations Min has made and finds a special piece that he likes that is inside a box in his pottery studio. What was is that really made Tree Ear love pottery and want to help out Min to get to make his own.
This book was interesting and I would recommend this book to people to read. It is an easier book to read and gives good detail to the reader to create good visuals. I dont know if I would read the book again, it didnt pull me in as well as I like a book to do.

The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt is about a boy named Holling Hoodhood and his struggles at school with his  teacher Mrs. Baker who "hates his guts". The year is 1967 and there are many struggles outside of school that Holling has to deal with such as the Vietnam War, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and his father who cares nothing about anything but his own work. While in school Wednesdays become the day that Holling has to read poetry, Shakespeare, in class for Mrs. Baker. He is the only one who has to do this because all the other kids leave for church activity's. As school goes on Holling and Mrs. Baker become closer and things get better for Holling as Mrs. Baker seems to rescue Holling on occasion from certain downfalls, including Mickey Mantle, a heroic event, and a nearly missed Yankees game. Mrs. Baker has her own problems as well as news reports show how a downed helicopter is missing a marine, her husband Lt. Baker. Outside of school Holling has trouble with his mean older sister as well, but his relationship with her becomes much better as well because he is there to support her when she has problems, including needing money, the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, and general support since their father is so self centered.
The book started off really slow. It was an interesting book with problems arising everywhere and situations being resolved. I would recommend this book for people to read because it is an award winner and would stick out to people especially to those who may relate to the era.