resourcesRecommended Adolescent Literature
Dr. Pam Petty
Western Kentucky University
http://www.pampetty.com
pam@pampetty.com
Universal Discussion Questions for Quality Literature:
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/universalquestions.html
Click on the book graphic and/or title to go to Amazon.com and read review or order books.
Holes
by Louis
Sachar
Our Price: $4.55
http://www.pampetty.com/holes.htm
http://askeric.org/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Language_Arts/Reading/RDG0048.html
Sachar does an amazing job of weaving a
tale from three strands that culminate into a bold and memorable story.
Fully developed plots (Horn Book, 1998) and characters keep the reader
interested and guessing what the next twist will involve. Readers soon
learn that anything Sachar mentions in the story will probably appear again and
could prove integral in solving the rapidly evolving puzzle that this story
becomes.
This book "works" based on several factors.
Clever manipulation of storylines that incorporate carefully placed flashbacks
help the reader gather important tidbits that play a part in Stanley's story.
Clear distinctions appear between the "good guys" and the "bad
guys." A genuine humanness permeates through Stanley's and Zero's
characters that make it easy for readers to relate to at least some aspect of
their personalities.
Sachar's cleverly chosen words keep the reader a little
off-balance, not quite sure what to expect next. The "tall tale"
flavor of the story gives Sachar license to stretch the bounds of belief, making
the reader receptive to major coincidences that occur in the story. Adding
to the complexity of this already complex story, the author also incorporates
several social issues worthy of discussion. Hard-hitting topics flow in
and out of the story, tugging slightly at the hearts of readers.
Understatement of these issues seems to make them all the more alarming.
The author accomplishes much with what he does not say. Leaving the reader
to do just as he suggests, "fill in the holes" themselves.
A Guide for Using Holes in the Classroom
by Belinda
Zampino
List
Price: $7.95
http://www.nancymatson.com/HOLES.HTM
http://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/hschool/webq/webq91/
(A Holes WebQuest)
http://www.fsu.edu/~CandI/ENGLISH/webq/holes/holes.htm
(Another Holes WebQuest)
http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-sachar-louis.asp
(Information on Louis Sachar)
http://www.thinkquest.org/library/lib/site_sum_outside.html?tname=J0113061&url=J0113061
(ThinkQuest Based on Holes)
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/sachar.htm
Louis Sachar Teacher Resource Page (for Holes and his other books)
http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuidesText/holes.htm
(literature guide for Holes)
http://aol.kidsreads.com/features/010314-holes.asp
(Holes: Includes trivia,
word scramble, much more)
http://ericir.syr.edu/Virtual/Lessons/Language_Arts/Reading/RDG0048.html
(Holes lesson plans - reciprocal teaching.
http://www.bmiedserv.com/asp/holes.asp
(commercial products - teacher resource guides for Holes)
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/99a.htm
(on-line unit)
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/holes.html
(on-line unit)
The
Watsons Go to Birmingham The year is
1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of his younger brother Kenny's
existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing or another, from straightening
his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezing his lips to the
mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his family too far. Before
this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or steal change one
more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to send him to the
deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother. Soon the whole
family is packed up, ready to make the drive from Flint, Michigan, straight into
one of the most chilling moments in America's history: the burning of the
Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with four little girls inside.
Christopher Paul Curtis's alternately
hilarious and deeply moving novel, winner of the Newbery Honor and the Coretta
Scott King Honor, blends the fictional account of an African American family
with the factual events of the violent summer of 1963. Fourth grader Kenny is an
innocent and sincere narrator; his ingenuousness lends authenticity to the story
and invites readers of all ages into his world, even as it changes before his
eyes.
A Guide for Using the
Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 in the Classroom: Literature Unit
by Debra
Housel
List Price:
$7.95
Internet Resources for Watson's
On-Line Unit on Watson's ... :
http://www.pampetty.com/novelunit.htm
ERIC Document on
Author : http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/bibs/curtis.html
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/wats.html
http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/ALAN/winter99/george.html
http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/watsons.html
http://www.fsu.edu/~CandI/ENGLISH/webquests/watsons5.htm - WebQuest
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/96c.html
http://www.ncteamericancollection.org/beyondthecore/the_watsons.htm
http://faculty.ssu.edu/~elbond/watsons.htm
http://www.planetbookclub.com/kids/archive/watsons2.00/watsonsintro.html
http://www.gretchenle.com/online_units/watsons/watson1.html
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-watsons.html
Out of the Dust
by Karen
Hesse
Our Price:
$4.99
"After seventy days of wind and sun, of wind and clouds, of wind and sand, after seventy days of wind and dust, finally a little rain came." "The dust came tearing up fields where the wheat, stood helpless. I watched the plants, surviving so many droughts and so much wind, I wathced them fry or flatten, or blow away, like bits of cast-off rags. You can't stop the dust." These are some of the most descriptive poems in the novel! I enjoyed reading this novel immensely. Karen Hesse gives you, as the reader, a vivid description of the dust storms and what it was like to live and experience life in the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. The novel is told through a fourteen-year-old girl's eyes named Billie Jo. Billie Jo makes you understand the sufferings and many hardships that her and her family have endured. As time goes on, things get worse for Billie Jo, a horrible accident has killed her Ma, scarred Billie Jo's hands, and left her only with her father. Billie Jo and her father hardly ever talk, will Billie Jo ever survive with her Daddy? You will have to find out for yourself when you read Out Of The Dust.
A Guide for Using Out of the Dust in the Classroom
by Sarah
Kartchner Clark
List
Price: $7.95
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/98a.html
http://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/hschool/webq/webq109/
Because of Winn-Dixie
by Kate
Dicamillo
Our Price:
$5.99
The summer Opal and her father, the preacher, move to Naomi,
Florida, Opal goes into the Winn-Dixie supermarket -- and comes out with a dog.
With the help of her new pal, whom she names Winn-Dixie, Opal makes a variety of
new, interesting friends and spends the summer collecting stories about them and
thinking about her absent mother. But because of Winn-Dixie, or perhaps because
she has grown, Opal learns to let go, just a little, and that friendship -- and
forgiveness -- can sneak up on you like a sudden summer storm. Recalling the
fiction of Harper Lee and Carson McCullers, here is a funny, poignant, and
unforgettable coming-of-age novel.
http://suzyred.com/2001winnlogic.html
http://www.booknutsreadingclub.com/becauseofwinndixie
http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-dicamillo-kate.asp
http://www.sle.slv.k12.ca.us/~aweld/winndixie.html
http://www.coe.ufl.edu/faculty/lamme/book/RealisticFictionArticles/BecauseofWinnDixieA.html
http://childrensbooks.about.com/library/weekly/aa040801a.htm
http://aol.kidsreads.com/reviews/0763607762.asp
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-because.html
Number the Stars
by Lois
Lowry
List
Price: $5.99
In
1943, during the German occupation of Denmark, ten-year-old Annemarie learns how
to be brave when she helps shelter her Jewish friend Ellen from the Nazis.
"Grades three to seven." (SLJ)
Literature Guide: Number the Stars (Grades 4-8)
by Lois
Lowry, Inc
Staff Scholastic
List
Price: $3.95
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-number.html
List
Price: $5.99
On his way to visit his recently divorced father in the
Canadian mountains, thirteen-year-old Brian Robeson is the only survivor when
the single-engine plane crashes. His body battered, his clothes in shreds, Brian
must now stay alive in the boundless Canadian wilderness.
More than a survival story, Hathcet is a tale of tough decisions. When all is
stripped down to the barest essentials, Brian discovers some stark and simple
truths: Self-pity doesn't work. Despair doesn't work. And if Brian is to survive
physically as well as mentally, he must discover courage.
A Guide for Using Hatchet in
the Classroom
by Gary
Paulsen
List
Price: $7.95
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/88c.html
http://coe.west.asu.edu/students/dcronin/hatchet/index.htm
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/lewis/rescue/ (webquest)
Bridge
to Terabithia
by Katherine
Paterson, Donna
Diamond (Illustrator)
List
Price: $5.99
All
summer, Jess pushed himself to be the fastest boy in the fifth grade, and when
the year's first school-yard race was run, he was going to win. But his victory
was stolen by a newcomer, by a girl, one who didn't even know enough to
stay on the girls' side of the playground. Then, unexpectedly, Jess finds
himself sticking up for Leslie, for the girl who breaks rules and wins races.
The friendship between the two grows as Jess guides the city girl through the
pitfalls of life in their small, rural town, and Leslie draws him into the world
of imaginations world of magic and ceremony called Terabithia. Here, Leslie and
Jess rule supreme among the oaks and evergreens, safe from the bullies and
ridicule of the mundane world. Safe until an unforeseen tragedy forces Jess to
reign in Terabithia alone, and both worlds are forever changed.
In this poignant, beautifully rendered novel, Katherine Paterson weaves a
powerful story of friendship and courage.
A Guide for Using Bridge to Terabithia in the Classroom
by John
Carratello, Sue
Fullam (Illustrator), Patty
Carratello
List Price: $7.95
Literature
Guide (on-line – free): http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuidesText/bridgetoterabithia.htm
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-bridge.html
Shiloh
by Phyllis
Reynolds Naylor
List
Price: $5.50
Eleven-year-old Marty Preston "finds a stray dog that seems to be abused and is determined to keep it at all costs. Because his family is very poor, without money to feed another mouth, his parents don't want any pets. Subsequently, there is a lot of conflict over the animal within the family and between Marty and Judd Travers, the dog's owner. . . . Grades four to six."
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-shiloh.html
Walk Two Moons
by Sharon
Creech
List
Price: $6.50
"Thirteen-year-old
Salamanca Tree Hiddle, proud of her country roots and the 'Indian-ness in her
blood,' travels from Ohio to Idaho with her eccentric grandparents. Along the
way, she tells them of the story of Phoebe Winter-bottom, who received
mysterious messages, who met a 'potential lunatic,' and whose mother
disappeared. Beneath Phoebes's story is Salamanca's own story andthat of her
mother, who left one April morning for Idaho, promising to returnbefore the
tulips bloomed. Sal's mother has not, however, returned, and the trip to Idaho
takes on a growing urgency as Salamanca hopes to get to Idaho intime for her
mother's birthday and bring her back, despite her father's warning that she is
fishing in the air." (Publisher's note) "Grades six to nine."
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/95a.html
http://www.multcolib.org/talk/guides-walk.html
Maniac Magee
by Jerry
Spinelli
List
Price: $5.95
In
this modern-day tall tale, Spinelli ( Dump Days ; Jason and Marceline ) presents
a humorous yet poignant look at the issue of race relations, a rare topic for a
work aimed at middle readers. Orphaned as an infant, Jerry Magee is reared by
his feuding aunt and uncle until he runs away at age eight. He finds his way to
Two Mills, Pa., where the legend of ``Maniac'' Magee begins after he scores
major upsets against Brian Denehy, the star high school football player, and
Little League tough guy, John McNab. In racially divided Two Mills, the Beales,
a black family, take Maniac in, but despite his local fame, community pressure
forces him out and he returns to living at the zoo. Park groundskeeper Grayson
next cares for the boy, but the old man dies and Maniac moves into the squalid
home of the McNabs, who are convinced a race war is imminent. After a showdown
with his nemesis, Mars Bar, Maniac bridges the gap between the two sides of town
and finally finds a home. Full of snappy street-talk cadences, this off-the-wall
yarn will give readers of all colors plenty of food for thought. Ages 8-12.
A Guide for Using Maniac Magee in the Classroom
by Michael
Levin
List
Price: $7.95
Literature
Guide (on-line: Free):
http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuidesText/maniacmagee.htm
Literature Circle Guides: Maniac Magee (Grades 4-8)
by Jerry
Spinelli, Perdita
Finn
List
Price: $5.95
Sarah, Plain and Tall
by Patricia
MacLachlan
List
Price: $4.99
When
their father invites a mail-order bride to come and live with them in their
prairie home, Caleb and Anna are captivated by their new mother andhope that she
will stay. "Grades three to five." (Bull Cent Child Books)
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/86a.html
Touching
Spirit Bear
by Ben
Mikaelsen
Price: $5.95
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover - 241 pages 1 Ed edition (January 9, 2001)
Harpercollins Juvenile
Books; ISBN: 0380977443
Cole
Matthews is angry. Angry, defiant, smug--in short, a bully. His anger has taken
him too far this time, though. After beating up a ninth-grade classmate to the
point of brain damage, Cole is facing a prison sentence. But then a Tlingit
Indian parole officer named Garvey enters his life, offering an alternative
called Circle Justice, based on Native American traditions, in which victim,
offender, and community all work together to find a healing solution. Privately,
Cole sneers at the concept, but he's no fool--if it gets him out of prison,
he'll do anything. Ultimately, Cole ends up banished for one year to a remote
Alaskan island, where his arrogance sets him directly in the path of a
mysterious, legendary white bear. Mauled almost to death, Cole awaits his fate
and begins the transition from anger to humility.
Ben Mikaelsen's depiction of a juvenile
delinquent's metamorphosis into a caring, thinking individual is exciting and
fascinating, if at times heavy-handed. Cole's nastiness and the vivid depictions
of the lengths he must go to survive after the (equally vivid) attack by the
bear are excruciating at times, but the concept of finding a way to heal a whole
community when one individual wrongs another is compelling. The jacket cover
photo of the author in a bear hug with the 700-pound black bear that he and his
wife adopted and raised is definitely worth seeing! (Ages 12 and older)
http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/0380977443.asp
http://www.benmikaelsen.com/lesson_plans_ten.htm
Charlotte's Web
by E.
B. White, Garth
Williams
List
Price: $6.99
An
affectionate, sometimes bashful pig named Wilbur befriends a spider named
Charlotte, who lives in the rafters above his pen. A prancing, playful bloke,
Wilbur is devastated when he learns of the destiny that befalls all those of
porcine persuasion. Determined to save her friend, Charlotte spins a web that
reads "Some Pig," convincing the farmer and surrounding community that
Wilbur is no ordinary animal and should be saved. In this story of friendship,
hardship, and the passing on into time, E.B. White reminds us to open our eyes
to the wonder and miracle often found in the simplest of things.
A Guide for Using Charlotte's Web in the Classroom
by Patsy
Carey, Susan
Kilpatrick, Theresa
M. Wright (Illustrator)
List
Price: $7.95
The
Real McCoy : The Life of an
African-American Inventor
by Wendy
Towle, Wil
Clay (Illustrator)
Category: Children's
Books
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback (January 1995)
Scholastic Paperbacks;
ISBN: 0590481029
Lesson Plan for Book :
http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/lessons/realmccoy.htm
The African-American inventor Elijah McCoy produced over fifty inventions and was best known for an automatic oil cup he developed in 1872. This brief biographical sketch reconstructs his life and achievements in a routine, reportorial style. Single portraits of the subject are appealing, but many of the other illustrations brim over with details.
The Ear, the Eye, and
the Arm
by Nancy
Farmer
Categories: Teens,
Children's
Books
Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback - 311 pages Reprint edition (October 1995)
Puffin; ISBN: 0140376410
This novel is "set in
Zimbabwe in 2194. . . . Tendai, 13; his younger sister, Rita; and preschool
brother, Kuda, are children of Matsika, their country's Chief of Security.
Frustrated by their choreographed existence, they attempt a cross-city trip . .
. and find themselves abducted soon after their trip begins. Prisoners of the
'She Elephant,' so-called queen of a toxic dump known as the Dead Man's Vlei,
the children discover they are not to be ransomed, but to be worked and then
sold to a terrorist group called The Masks. . . . Matsika calls in 'The Ear, The
Eye, and The Arm Detective Agency,' whose threeagents each have a special power
to aid in their search for the captives. . .. Grades seven to ten."
On-Line
Information and Resources on Author: http://www.indiana.edu/~eric_rec/ieo/bibs/farmer.html
On-Line
Author Profile: http://www.edupaperback.org/pastbios/Farmerna.html
Time
for Andrew: A Ghost Story
by Mary
Downing Hahn
List Price: $4.95
"Shy, insecure, and an
only child, Drew adores his great-aunt Blythe.There's something odd about the
ancestral house she lives in, though--the house where Drew is to spend the
summer while his parents are in Europe. It isn't long before he finds out what.
By removing a bag of marbles from beneath an attic floorboard, he and Blythe
unwittingly open a door to the past and clear the way for the visitation of the
boy Andrew Tyler, a distant relative who looks just like Drew. When the boys
change places, Drew travels back to 1910, where he finds two new caring parents
and the brother and sister he's always wanted. In trying to live up to Andrew's
brash, mischievous reputation, polite ,quiet Drew also discovers how to assert
and to trust himself." (Booklist) "Grades four to eight."
ThinkQuest (On-line unit):
http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210321/
Nothing
But The Truth: A Documentary Novel
by Avi
http://www.carolhurst.com/titles/nothingbut.html
http://www.ncte.org/teach/Murphy4451.shtml
http://www.teachers-connect.net/TNT/mlp0043.htm
http://faculty.ssu.edu/~elbond/giver.htm
http://www.mce.k12tn.net/reading17/giver.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/8416/giver.html
http://www.mcdougallittell.com/disciplines/_lang_arts/litcons/giver/guide.cfm
http://www.geocities.com/jed51459/giver.html
http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/Giver/givertg.htm
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/guides/give.html
http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts//473.html
http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/664.html
Other suggestions:
Bud not Buddy - http://www.multcolib.org/talk/yrca/guides-bud.html
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=0385323069&view=tg
Skylark,
Patricia MacLachlan
Dear
Mr. Henshaw, Beverly Cleary,Paul O. Zelinsky (Illustrator)
Words With Wings : A Treasury of African-American Poetry
and Art
by Belinda
Rochelle (Compiler)
Color
Me Dark : The Diary of Nellie Lee Love, the Great Migration North (Dear America)
Pat McKissack
Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt,Designed by Cynthia Krupat
Island
of the Blue Dolphins, Scott O'Dell,Scott C'Dell
Roll
of Thunder, Hear My Cry, Mildred D. Taylor
http://projects.edtech.sandi.net/pershing/roll/
Missing
May
by Cynthia Rylant, Orchard Books, Newbery Winner 1993
Literature Guide – (on-line: Free)
- http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuidesText/missingmay.htm
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/93a.html
Wringer
http://www.eduscapes.com/newbery/98d.html
http://www.harperchildrens.com/rgg/outerframe.htm
The
True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
by Avi, Orchard books, 1990
Literature Guide – (on-line: Free)
http://www.nancypolette.com/LitGuidesText/doyle.htm
Teacher
Resources
The Play of Words
If You're Gonna Teach Kids to Write . . .
Words Their Way
Anguished English
101 English Riddles
101 American Superstitions
101 American English Proverbs
Novels
Holes & the guide
The Watson's Go to Birmingham & guide
Nothing But the Truth
Because of Winn Dixie
Wringer & guide
Touching Spirit Bear
Picture Books
The Wretched Stone
Baseball Saved Us
The Real McCoy
Letters from Felix
A Regular Flood of Mishap
Goodtimes on Grandfather Mountain
Pig, Pigger, Piggest
Fanny's Dream
Miss Alaineus
The I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish
11/02/04 02:02:29 PM
The Giver - Lois Lowry