From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Mrs.N

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg

Claudia is a planner and when she decides to run away from home, she not only hand picks which sibling is lucky enough to accompany her, but she knows exactly where she’s going to go.  Not one for roughing it, Claudia has chosen her brother Jamie, because he’s the richest and has decided to run away to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The concept is sheer brilliance on the part of Konigsberg. What could be a more perfect setting for setting up a home away from home.  I love the premise; I love Claudia and Jamie; I love how they become completely enthralled by an art mystery; I love how the trip makes them closer than they’ve ever been before.

The only drawbacks to this book are that it is reasonably dated, and it is pretty hard for kids.  Let’s talk about the latter first.  This is one of those books that adults love for kids to love.  And as such, it is often pushed on children well before they are ready to read it.  I would argue that even my gifted third grade students usually won’t do well with it.  Oh sure, they’ll read it, and they’ll understand enough of it, but often, they won’t like it.  This is sometimes a question of taste, but often it is also a sign that a book is not the right reading level.  How can you fully enjoy all the nuance and emotion and interest in the book if you’re only getting the general idea of what is going on?  I would definitely keep this for very advanced fourth graders or older.

And yes, it is of another time.  The money amounts quoted throughout are extremely dated in a way that will probably amuse readers.  A number of out-dated references such as typewriters, carbon copy and an automat may also stump a modern audience.  But the general safety and security of today’s world are what would make this adventure much less plausible today.  From the children hiding on their school bus, to being able to avoid detection at the museum, today’s culture will not allow for Claudia and James’s deception.  Readers with a fondness for days past or with the ability to suspend disbelief will get far more enjoyment out of this book than those that are sticklers for accuracy.

This is an absolutely brilliant New York book.  The Museum is such an amazingly important part of the city.  Some may find themselves shocked to learn that the Museum of Metropolitan Art is free for Jamie and Claudia, but I’ll let you in on a little secret.  The Museum is still free.  The admission charge (currently $25 for adults) is recommended.  As a supporter and great believer in the arts, I firmly believe that you should pay the $25 if you can in any way afford it.  But I love the fact that if for some reason, you are someone who does not have the ability to pay the $25 due to poverty or whatever else life has handed you, that you can still see all of this important and beautiful art.  An extra entertainment for those familiar with the museum, check out the maps in the book!  They are so small!  The Met has hugely expanded since then.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Claudia incorrectly assumes that Jamie chooses to look at Renaissance art because of the naked bosomy ladies.  In reality he hopes to bore her.  They discuss that cupids are naked.  An illustration shows them bathing in the fountain.  They are naked but other than bottoms, all private parts are covered.
Profanity – “brat”, “fussbudget”, “cheapskate”,
Death, Violence and Gore – Claudia is against hitchhiking because you could get mugged, kidnapped or robbed.  A bed at the museum labels itself as the scene of an alleged murder.  Claudia pushes Jamie to keep him from being photographed.  Claudia’s mother worries the children have been bruised or maimed.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Jamie drinks coffee which isn’t drugs or alcohol but certainly not a drink for an elementary school aged boy.  They find a candy bar which Claudia fears has been poisoned with marijuana.  She goes on for a bit about how dope pushers hook children on dope through chocolate.  Claudia speculates that a workman was drinking beer.
Frightening or Intense Things – Children run away from home to the city.

Posted in Middle Grades, Tween | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Autumn in New York

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Mrs.N

New York City is the kind of place that inspires strong emotions in people.  Some hate it, citing big city snobbery and the crazy hectic pace and the usual city complaints of “dirty, noisy, dangerous”.  Others, especially New Yorkers themselves, see it as the center of the universe, a thriving, diverse center of culture, cuisine, intellectuals and the arts. But whatever people thought of New York City, something shifted on September 11, 2001.  When the twin towers fell and New Yorkers committed completely selfless acts of heroism in the wake of a tragedy, the city became something more than what it had been. Being a New Yorker became a badge of honor and there was a pretty booming business selling patriotic paraphernalia emblazoned with New York themes.

I was not yet a teacher on September 11th.  I was completing my graduate program in education in Boston, a city that held its own share of the grief, pain and even blame for the tragedy.  In the years that followed, I’ve worked in Massachusetts and New Jersey, places where student understanding of the tragedy ranged from complete oblivion to devastating loss of a loved one.  In a classroom, it is incredibly hard to reconcile the needs of a grieving child with the need to respect a parent’s wishes that their child not be made aware of a tragedy.  As the years have gone by, things have shifted.  The marking of the date has moved from a very personal and almost delicate management of something our students lived through to a slightly bland celebration of patriotism.  I don’t mean to offend by calling it bland, but I must admit that it is incredibly difficult for younger students to understand why we are marking the date without explaining why.  And it is very difficult to explain why in a way that is not scary, because it was scary.  It was one of the scariest things I have lived through.

This month rather than go blandly patriotic for you, I’m going to honor New York, an amazing city that suffered an incredible tragedy and has never lost its magic.  I have lots of wonderful books for you, but if you are impatient or simply want to maximize your New York reading exposure, I can strongly recommend that you visit Storied Cities. She reviews books about all cities, but has a deep and thorough collection of New York City books under her New York City tag.

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Boy – Roald Dahl

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Mrs. N

Boy by Roald Dahl

In the interest of full disclosure, I am a Johnny-come-lately to the world of Roald Dahl love.  As a child, my entire knowledge of him was limited to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which I did not love as much as everyone else; The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More which absolutely terrified me and The Twits which I was almost embarrassed to like, it was so vulgar (Disclosure: I was a very proper child.  As an adult I don’t think I’d mind having kids read The Twits.)

My elementary school librarian however is practically a Roald Dahl evangelist and will press his books into the hands of anyone who stands still long enough to take them.  When I went to her in search of memoirs for my unit, she apologized profusely and handed me Boy. She told me (quite rightly so) that I would love it, but that there was just about no way I could teach it in a third grade classroom.

Dahl is a great author and he brings his childhood to life.  At times I was laughing so hard tears ran down my cheeks.  Yet it is amazing how someone’s childhood can be so completely inappropriate for children!  Perhaps it is my American upbringing, but public school stories involving having your naked bum inspected by others (or beaten by a Headmaster) and being called Fag aren’t exactly things I can share with third graders!)

The Fag question is a particularly sticky one, because I personally can’t think of a situation where that word is acceptable.  Evidently “fagging” was an established practice at British public schools.  But in this day and age, in the US anyway, I can’t imagine offering children a context where use of those terms is really okay.

Age Recommendation: Grade 5 and up.  And even then, I’d be much more comfortable with a parent making that call.  As a teacher I probably wouldn’t recommend it to anyone below middle school without knowing their family well enough to gauge how it might be received.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – His father has a theory on exposing pregnant women to beautiful things so that the unborn baby is somehow exposed to beautiful things.  He reports that his Matron has a “bosom.” He finds her in the embrace of the Latin master. At boarding school the boys flick each other with towels while naked.  His older sister is engaged. Her fiancé is referred to as her “male lover” and kissing is mentioned.  At boarding school, the prefects make the boys pull down their trousers so they can inspect how well they hit them on the bottom.  A headmaster has boys pull down their trousers before he canes their bottoms.
Profanity – “damn,” “scummy,” “shut up,” “stinkin’,” “blighter,” “hell,” “damned,” For some reason the term “Fag” is heavily used.  In this context it means a servant to the owner of a shared study at school.  The “Fag” being a younger student.
Death, Violence and Gore – His father has a broken arm. A doctor treats it incorrectly; bone pushes through the skin; the arm must be amputated. His father’s first wife dies after the birth of a child.  His sister died of appendicitis and his daughter from measles.  All of the aforementioned deaths are very quickly mentioned. His father dies of pneumonia soon after his sister.  This is explained in slightly greater detail.  One boy talks about his father (a doctor) sawing off legs.  The boys find a dead mouse.  The headmaster repeatedly canes the boys (age 7ish) for bad behavior.  Dahl later receives another caning at the hands of a different headmaster.  It leaves considerable bruising.  Dahl has his adenoids out and describes the event to you.  Back in his day it was done without anesthesia so he can remember it quite well. Dahl writes about his mother’s death (when he was an adult I believe) and his own spinal operation.  There is an auto accident and everyone is thrown from the car.  Dahl is the only one injured, but his nose is nearly severed.  The trip to the doctor and doctor’s visit are described in some detail.  A boy has a doctor cut into a boil on his leg; he is not given any painkillers.  At public school the prefects (called Boazers) frequently hit the boys.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A doctor is drunk and misdiagnoses and injury. The boys believe a candy contains chloroform.  Grown ups drink wine and liqueur. Dahl says he is allowed to drink liqueur in Norway from the age of 10 and sometimes ends up “tipsy as a lord.”  Dahl is given chloroform during his nose reattachment surgery.  His sister’s fiancé smokes a pipe.  The family plays a trick on him in regards to the tobacco.  A headmaster smokes a pipe.
Frightening or Intense Things – A friend’s father has convinced them that Liquorice Bootlaces are made from rats’ blood. The process that would be used to make them is described in great detail.  Roald sees his sister’s appendix after it is removed.  His Nanny tells him that appendix trouble is caused by swallowing toothbrush bristles.  A teacher is rumored to suffer from shell-shock.

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When I Was Your Age, Volume 2 (Part 2)

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Mrs.N

When I Was Your Age, Volume Two: Original Stories About Growing Up

Friends, if you’ll recall, I reviewed HALF of the stories in this anthology last week – click here.

The rest of the volume is reviewed below.  The second half of this anthology contains even darker and more serious stories than the first half.  Overall, the whole compilation is skewed to a much older audience than its predecessor.  The quality of the stories is still excellent, but most would require more mature readers.  Again, keep in mind that if you feature a single story with students, you should explain thoroughly whether or not they should seek out the rest to read on their own.

Bus Problems by Howard Norman

This is a fantastic story.  Howard is working on the Bookmobile one blistering hot summer day.  The man in charge of the Bookmobile heads inside for an “unscheduled stop” to see his wife.  An older boy stops to talk to Howard and they meet a young girl who has just come from swimming in a local pond. The difficulty is, the local pond is rumored (at least among the children) to contain polio germs.  The older boy acts swiftly, driving the Bookmobile to the emergency room to get the girl help.  The results of his actions are perfect for a discussion of right and wrong.  An added bonus is that the women in the story are strong characters.  The wife of the Bookmobile driver is a)beautiful and b) a bus mechanic. The young girl snaps right back when the older boy calls her baby.

Due to the reason the Bookmobile is making unscheduled stops, I would recommend this for teenage audiences.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Mrs. Oler kisses Mr. Oler. They take “a long moment” to kiss.  Sometimes Mr. Oler has the bookmobile make unscheduled stops.  He tells Howard this is because he and his wife are trying to make a baby.  No other information is given.  An older boy says “Hey baby” to a girl in a bathing suit.
Profanity – “dummy,”
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – His father has left and only returns sometimes to cause trouble.  His older brother is in juvenile detention for stealing a car.   The boys are invited to swim in a pond that is locally known as polio pond.  There are rumors you get polio from the pond. There is some discussion of being lame or being in the hospital in an iron lung due to polio.

Pegasus for a Summer by Michael J. Rosen

This story takes place at camp, where a boy just loves to ride horses.  His horse for the summer is a mare named Sparky and they get along better than he has with any other horse. Partway through the summer he learns that she is blind and must re-evaluate his choices when riding her.

Barring the cursing, this would be fine for almost any age, but probably would be most interesting to an audience that is actually interested in horses and riding.  Since the swear is a single instance, you could omit it if you read the story aloud.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “idiot,” “son-of-a-bitch,” “stupid,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A horse gets a bit wild and a riding instructor ends up with 4 broken ribs.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Learning to Swim by Kyoko Mori

Kyoko is a strong athlete.  In races she can often keep up with the boys or even beat them!  But she wants to be on their level at swimming as well.  Her mother trains her in the crawl and the breaststroke.  The real test of Kyoko’s swimming skills will not come in a pool as she expected, however.   When a riptide pulls her and her mother out to sea, Kyoko will really see if she can swim.

This is a touching memory Kyoko has of her mother.  The story continues to explain how her mother eventually took her own life. Suicide and depression are so rarely written about in a manner that is appropriate for younger readers.  This would probably be best for teens due to that content, but it is handled very well.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Kyoko’s mother “chooses to die.”
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Waiting for Midnight by Karen Hesse

This is a very serious and depressing story about Hesse’s childhood in a Maryland row house.  She has her own troubles; her mother is not well; her parents fight constantly, but nothing can compare to the situation next door.  Each night when she goes to bed she can hear the neighbor children through the wall.  They are begging and pleading with their Mother, begging her to let them out of the closet.

This is very sensitive subject matter and would be best for older readers, probably middle school or high school.  The story is one of tragedy, but also of faith, and as such has a fair amount of vocabulary relating to Judaism.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – The neighbor locks her children in a closet each night.  Her mother seems to be depressed and twice goes to the hospital and nearly dies.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

The Snapping Turtle by Joseph Bruchac

A young boy gets his love and appreciation for the outdoors from his grandparents.  He’s much better at fishing than his peers because of the lessons he’s learned from his grandfather.  One day he happens upon a snapping turtle and risks its powerful jaws in order to haul it home.  He’s heard that you can earn up to $10 for a snapping turtle.  But when the moment to sell comes, what will he do?

This story manages to have a less-traditional family structure and a native american character with grace and respect.  Therefore it seemed odd and anomalous that a certain section of town was called the “colored” section.  There was nothing else in the story that really marked it as a period piece and therefore the decision not to use a different term was an odd one.

While some young boys smoke, it it clear from the narrator that this is a bad thing, so barring any real sensitivity to the topic, I would okay this story for as young as third grade.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “jerk,” “crap,” “colored” is used in reference to African-Americans.
Death, Violence and Gore – Four cats and two dogs have died on the local highway.  His grandparents advise him to stay off it.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Some boys have stolen a cigarette and are smoking it.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

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When I Was Your Age, Volume Two

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Mrs.N

When I Was Your Age, Volume Two: Original Stories About Growing Up

Discovering that there was a second volume of these stories by authors was a real treat.  I’d enjoyed When I Was Your Age so much that I was delighted to learn that even more authors had contributed stories!  I’m only reviewing the first half of Volume Two here, I’ll do the second half later this week.

My love for these collections is a bit of a surprise to me, because I never was one for stories.  They always felt incomplete to me as a young reader, I wanted to know the rest of what happened, but there never was any rest of it.  I’ve grown much more amenable to them with age.  I think that the younger children are when introduced to chapter book style stories, the more likely they are to be able to appreciate them.

While I love the flexibility of using stories from an anthology such as this in the classroom, I do need to give some words of warning.  If you read students (or allow students to read) very good stories out of a book, carefully selecting the ones that they will enjoy, they will want to read the rest of the book. At least some of them will.  This is something to keep in mind so that you can have a response ready if you are not comfortable with them reading all of the stories in the book.  Others will want to continue reading books by the author whose story they enjoyed most.  Again, it would be best to be prepared to answer which if any of the author’s books would be appropriate for students their age.

Please forgive the array of tags applied to this book, they aren’t all true for every story, rather a story of each variety appears somewhere in the compilation.

In the Blink of an Eye by Norma Fox Mazer

Norma is conflicted.  Outside of her house she is a tomboy, a rule-breaker, tough. She picks up lit cigarette butts from the gutter to try out smoking, something she knows she’d get into trouble for. She spies on the neighbor’s son through a peephole in the shed, watching him as he does science experiments.  At home, she is a cry-baby, tearing up at the smallest slight.  She doesn’t understand why she can be so very different and both of her personalities seem just out of her control.  She doesn’t quite know why she does things that would get her in trouble just as she doesn’t quite know why she’s always in tears.  But when her outside persona gets her into a dangerous situation, everything shifts for Norma.

This is certainly easy enough for a strong fourth grade reader to understand, but due to the subject matter I might hold it off for fifth or sixth grade.  Anyone older than that might find the topic too young.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A boy pushes her down in the snow and shoves his lips on hers.   Her mother gives her a book on the facts of life which has information about chickens and eggs and frogs and eggs.  Her older sister has a boyfriend.  She sometimes wishes he would notice her.
Profanity – “dumb sissy,”
Death, Violence and Gore – A boy pushes her and she accidentally hits her head.  She gets acid in her eye and is in danger of losing her vision.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – The character finds a lit cigarette butt and takes a puff.  Her father is a smoker.  She mimics him in her smoking as well as the famous actor Humphrey Bogart.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Food from the Outside by Rita Williams Garcia

Rita’s mother, the formidable Miss Essie, is a terrible cook.  Not only is she a terrible cook, she will not allow her children to eat food prepared by anyone else.  For years, Rita and her siblings pray for a dog they could slip their dinner to and conduct experiments with the rock hard pork chops they’re served.  But when the presence of a color television set alerts them to how food should look they become even more determined to try food from the outside.  The children hatch a plan, but will they be successful?

Always a fan of writing about food, I loved this story. Readers will definitely be entertained by Rita and her siblings as they try to outsmart Miss Essie.  It could certainly be used as young as third or fourth grade (dependent on reading level), but the universal subject of food allows it to be appreciated by students right up through high school.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Rita’s brother likes a girl named Rachel.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Their mother threatens to spank them if they break a rule. Rita breaks the rule, and says she took a beating.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Interview with a Shrimp by Paul Fleischman

Fleischman’s entry is written as a mock interview about his Chronic Stature Deficiency, a fancy made up way of saying he’s short.  I love the format, because it could make a great instructional tool with the right age group.  You could have the students interview each other about a perceived or actual weakness.

From Fleischman’s content and word choice this would be best understood by Grades 6 and up.  I think younger than that and students will have trouble with some of his vocabulary and references. At one point he refers to himself as a “modern Job, punished by an inscrutable God.”  He also likens gym class examinations to “slave auctions and the inspections at Auschwitz” which is problematic. I’m also not sure I’d like to introduce a game that awards points for sexual experience to anyone younger than that.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Kids are in their underwear for gym inspections.  He’s asked how he does with the opposite sex and he explains about a sexual experience test awards points for different kinds of kissing.  He stops before points allotted for other activities.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – He says he’d trade another World War for six more inches.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A joke inscription in his yearbook tells him to stay out of taverns.  He mentions that some boys smoke.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

The Long Closet by Jane Yolen

When Jane’s father goes off to serve in World War II, her mother takes the children and moves back in with her parents for the duration of the war.  Jane loves it at her grandparents’ house, where there are tons of playmates and plenty of adults to dote on you.  The whole dynamic of the house changes with the death of her grandfather.

This is a very nicely done piece on grief and childhood.  It could easily be used with a wide range of ages.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – This story deals with the death of a grandparent and the grief of the one that remains.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Her father is a soldier and is away at war.

How I Lost My Station in Life by E. L. Konigsburg

Elaine’s family has to move away from her hometown when the economy takes a turn for the worse.  For awhile they are unsettled, living with family and then in a variety of affordable homes.  She must change where she lives and sometimes where she goes to school, but Elaine is not at all prepared for the biggest change – her mother is expecting a baby.  The story follows her feelings throughout her mother’s pregnancy and her reaction once the baby arrives.

I would recommend this for older children simply because I’d rather not field any questions about how babies are conceived.  Other than that, the content is one that lots of children will find relatable, specifically being supplanted as the baby of the family.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Elaine’s mother is going to have a baby.  The family never says pregnant, they use euphemisms such as “she’s expecting.”  Elaine knows the truth; she knows what you need to do to have a baby and is ashamed of her mother (at her age!)
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

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Homesick

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Mrs.N

Homesick by Jean Fritz

Jean Fritz is the queen of historical biography (Can’t You Make Them Behave, King George?, What’s the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? and so many more) but her most personal effort is Homesick which tells of her childhood in China.

Jean was born in China, the daughter of a missionary. Although China is the only home she’s ever known, Jean very much considers herself an American. Her experiences in China are fascinating, as she lived there during the 1920s when there were considerable struggles for power.

Fritz’s ability to capture her own childhood thoughts is another reason that Homesick is a standout memoir.  Clearly a perceptive child, Jean distrusts her parents’ advice “When in Rome…” because she believes their missionary actions contradict their expectations of her. Major points to Jean here for acknowledging that the goal of missionaries is to impose their beliefs on others.  Jean is also constantly processing the idea of being good.  She is always told to be good and would much rather just be herself and have that be good enough.  Her observations throughout range from heartbreaking to hilarious.

Homesick does deal in some difficult issues.  Jean’s mother gives birth to a baby girl who only lives a short time and Jean must cope with this loss without much guidance from her mother.  China is going through difficult times and there is violence in her area, often directed towards foreigners. There are issues of race and class mentioned throughout, and while sometimes Jean’s childhood observations are very apt and sufficient for understanding the issues, there are times when clarification about the situation in China and racism could use further examination. I would recommend this book for fourth grade an up provided that someone was on hand to discuss the harder issues.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Jean’s mother said that her teacher Miss Williams might have come to China to catch a husband.  A friend tells her to ask her mother where babies come from (the answer is NOT in the book).  A Chinese woman’s husband takes a second wife, so she leaves him.  Very little Chinese boys go around with nothing on the bottom half on their bodies.  A family she knows often walks about the house with no clothes on as though it is not a big deal.  Jean’s mother has a baby and she is put out that her family didn’t tell her before the baby arrived and that she didn’t notice what was happening under her mother’s loose dresses.  Towards the end Jean’s friend Andrea is interested in romantic songs and movies and boys.  Jean meets a boy and he’s nice to her and she mentions she thinks she’s in love.
Profanity – “bloody,” Jean says all the swear words she knows in Chinese (we’re not told any of these). “Shut up,” Upon returning to America, Jean hears people say “Chinamen” and “Chinks”.  She immediately tells them this is unacceptable.
Death, Violence and Gore – Women beg the River God to return drowned family members.  A Russian girl’s family ran away so they would not be killed in the Revolution.  A classmate steps on Jean’s foot intentionally and twists her arm behind her back.  Some Chinese women have bound feet.  Beggars have sores on their bodies and “mangled faces”.  The Americans have gunboats in the Yangtze river.  There is a revolution going on and there are riots which must be put down with tear gas.  A woman howls for money to bury her dead baby.  Her mother goes to the hospital with blood clots in her legs and must stay there for quite awhile after Jean’s sister is born.  Jean’s baby sister dies before she ever comes home from the hospital.  This is a very important part of the story and might be very sad or scary for some readers.  Some readers who have lost a younger sibling may connect with Jean’s feelings.  Jean’s father helps set up a hospital for the sick and wounded.  Jean and her family are surrounded by a mob and a man with a knife orders them to pay more for the coolie’s services than ever before.  Her father pays more than they are asked and wants to leave.  All of the coolies pull knives and threaten to kill them if they call for help.  She worries that one of their servants is trying to poison her family.  Her father tells of the rotting dead bodies in the streets being taken away in wheelbarrows.   A servant’s brother is killed by a shell. Her father tells her about men who cut off the heads of their enemies and stick them on poles.  Her father worries about the murder of British and Americans staying in China.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – A man smokes a cigarette. Jean mentions that when returning to the US her bags are checked to make sure they’re not smuggling opium.
Frightening or Intense Things – Jean worries about the hard life led by the coolies, particularly rickshaw coolies who often don’t live past 30.  The woman who takes care of Jean goes to visit her family and her father will not let her in to see her sick mother.  Jean’s father doesn’t evacuate until later, and she and her mother anxiously wait in Shanghai. Her father drives across a condemned bridge.

Adoption Issues: A friend of Jean’s has an adopted brother.  His parents love him the same as their other children, but he feels different sometimes and wonders about his birth parents.  His parents don’t want him to talk about it, but he does with his sister and Jean.  He makes a plan to have someone steal his records from an orphanage.  An orphan girl comes to spend Christmas with the family, but is very unhappy the whole time (understandably so).

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When I Was Your Age

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Mrs.N


When I Was Your Age, Volume One: Original Stories About Growing Up

In what can only be considered a stroke of brilliance, 10 authors were sent a letter asking for a story about their childhood.  This compilation is the result.  The audience of the stories varies greatly, so please make your decisions based on individual stories rather than the book as a whole.  There are three stories featuring characters of color, the entry by Walter Dean Myers, the one by Laurence Yep and the one by Nicholasa Mohr.

All-Ball by Mary Pope Osborne

In today’s world with so many military families still waiting for their loved ones to come home for good, All-Ball will have much significance.  It touches on both a child’s grief and concern over things she can’t control in her life as well as her attachment to a special childhood item.  For kids who only know Mary Pope Osbourne as the author of the Magic Tree House series, this will be a very different reading experience.  It could be read aloud to students as young as 3rd or 4th grade, but would do well for 5-8 if analysis and deeper understanding were required.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – The girl’s father is deployed to Korea for a year.  A house has lizards, water bugs and spiders.  A beloved toy is destroyed.

The Great Rat Race by Laurence Yep

This story was SO much better than Yep’s memoir.  Rather than a litany of moments that might have become great story, this was the funny, poignant, warm story that still captured his childhood.  Unable to be athletic due to crippling asthma, Yep always felt like his father couldn’t love him as much as his brother.  Surprisingly, a hunt for a rat ends up being the event that reveals the depth of his father’s love.  Other than the use of a gun, this is a story that will appeal to readers of many ages.  Especially funny are the moments when Yep and his father are confronted with the rat.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – His father broke his nose playing sports.  After numerous attempts to kill rats with other techniques, father gets a gun to shoot the rats.  They talk about how chickens are killed at the market and grandfather likes a dish made from the blood squeezed from the chicken.  His father was bullied by white kids and by American-born Chinese kids when he was younger.  There were fist fights.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – A child is physically limited due to asthma.

Everything Will Be Okay by James Howe

This is a very sad entry from the author of Bunnicula, recounting a time he found kitten and wanted to keep it as a pet.  Absolutely best left to older readers and listeners, as the kitten is very ill and the story focuses on what must be done.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “sissy,”
Death, Violence and Gore – James knows boys who would use a kitten for slingshot practice.  They had a pet dog that died.  His brothers hunt and kill animals (rabbits, pheasant, deer).  His brother twists his arm behind his back and makes him promise to do things.  A kitten is put to sleep.  James hears it scratching to be let out before the gas kills it.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Why I Never Ran Away From Home by Katherine Paterson

Katherine is doomed to the life of a little sister.  She’s teased for being a crybaby, given the worst part when the neighborhood children put on plays and is the first out in games. She feels she could never be as wonderful as her big sister.  When a visitor mentions that Katherine doesn’t look a thing like the other children and jokes that she must not be one of the family, she is determined to leave and make everyone’s life better. There’s just one thing in her way, her big sister Lizzie.

Many children know this feeling of exclusion, whether it occurs at the hands of siblings or classmates.  The ending is reassuring, but I think a bit abrupt and adult; I don’t know that children will find it satisfying.  However, if your goal is to have them make connections this provides many opportunities.  As a heroine, Katherine is quite young in this one, making it a better choice for elementary age students than middle school or high school.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Paterson shares that there were soldiers standing with guns and bombs falling some of the Chinese cities where she lived.  Her father is stationed where there is war.  They worry he will not be safe.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – Chinese children are dressed in rags and some have sores on their bodies.  Katherine is excluded and teased.  A adult visitor teases her that she is not one of her mother’s children.

Reverend Abbott and those Bloodshot Eyes by Walter Dean Myers

This is a small sketch of Myer’s childhood neighborhood and in particular the church. Reverend Abbott was a conservative white minister who was filling for the summer.  He was well meaning, but the children took exception to his intervention, especially when it came to the church dances.  They plan a prank to embarrass Reverend Abbott.  Myers contribution is humorous and gives a vivid look at his neighborhood.  This would work with a wide range of ages, from younger kids up to high school students.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – There are dances.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Sugar Ray Leonard jokingly challenges children to a fight.  There’s a funeral which may be attended by gangsters.  A woman is prank called and told of an emergency, but “emergency” always indicated a fire or a death in that neighborhood.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – There’s a song about a man whose eyes are bloodshot after a night of “carousing.”
Frightening or Intense Things – Myers and his friends were a bit afraid of “Root Ladies” who they thought might be doing some magic or such, but they knew they didn’t really have anything to be afraid of.

Muffin by Susan Cooper

This has long been one of my favorites in the compilation.  Despite its sad and difficult topic, I used to read it to my third graders.  In World War II England Daisy’s biggest fear is not the Nazis, it’s a bully at her school called “Fat Alice” (no I don’t really love that that’s how the bully is named, but I can’t do anything about it).  Alice and her friends torment Daisy and any efforts to have the teacher help just mean the bullying increases.  Daisy finds a defender in an older woman who lives near the school and her small terrier.  But the war has ways of turning everything upside down.

I think a lot of children will understand the bullying scenarios that occur in this book, particularly the way it escalates after help is sought. Older students and readers will be able to think more deeply about the war’s role in the book and the weight of Daisy’s different fears, whereas young readers will better manage with just the bullying themes.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “Jerry” to refer to the Germans.
Death, Violence and Gore – A bully and her friends pin a girl against a wall and push a splinter into her arm.  They knock her to the ground, pull her hair and scrape her hand against the asphalt until it bleeds.  She kicks to try to get them off her.  The bully hits her with branches and pinches her arm until it is black and blue.  Her town is bombed.  A sympathetic character is killed in the bombing.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – The story is set during World War II in England.  The children must spend time in air raid shelters and live with the possibility of a German invasion.  A girl is a relentless bully.  A bully destroys a girl’s painting.

Taking a Dare by Nicholasa Mohr

Nicholasa’s mother is a member of the Catholic Church. She prays and attends mass regularly. Nicholasa’s father is an atheist and wants her to grow up skeptical about religion.  Their conflict creates some difficulties for Nicholasa as she’s not really sure what she believes.  Feeling jealous and excluded around her friends that attend mass and take Communion, Nicholasa ends up taking a dare.  She’ll take her Communion without having gone to confession or following any of the Church’s other requirements.  Although she thinks both her parents would disapprove, she knows it is for different reasons.

This is a really interesting peek at how religious differences and beliefs affect a family.  Because of the topic, it would probably be most effective with students who are at least in middle school.  Also, this is probably best understood by students with familiarity with the Catholic Church.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “hell” is used in a religious context.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Flying by Reeve Lindbergh

No one could be more bored with having a famous aviator for a father than Reeve.  She found the frequent flying trips with him to be incredibly repetitive and dull.  As the youngest of her siblings, she basically was along for the ride, not getting mini instructions from the master.  But one day is different.  The engine has stopped and her father must force land the plane.  It is the first time Reeve really sees her father as the amazing pilot the rest of the world knows him to be.

I found a little much of this story to be about Reeve’s siblings and it means there’s less of a sense of voice.  However, the connection to Charles Lindbergh does make this a special entry.  This would easily be used with a wide range of ages, but would be more of interest to those who have some knowledge of early aviation.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – Reeve’s father warns her about limbs severed by propellers.  He also warns her about pilots who crash.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – The plane’s engine dies and the plane must be force landed.

Scout’s Honor by Avi

Determined to make it above the lowly Tenderfoot rank in the Boy Scouts, Avi and his friends plan a campout.  This means leaving Brooklyn for the wilds of New Jersey.  Armed with with comic books, an umbrella, a compass that always points north and a pretty random assortment of food, the boys head on their mission, through the subway, over the bridge and into a whole other state.  The trip goes exactly as well as you would expect it to, given three unchaperoned young boys who’ve never really left city.

This story would work for a variety of ages, but will be most humorous to people with some city knowledge.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – “sissies”
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

Blue by Francesca Lia Block

This is the most fictionalized of all the accounts in the set (each story is followed by an author’s note revealing how much of themselves went into the piece).  It’s heartbreakingly sad about a girl whose mother has left and who has no friends.  But I did feel a bit manipulated by this when I learned Block had never had such an experience.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – La’s mother leaves without saying good-bye.  She is excluded at school.  The other girls tell her that her mother left because she was weird.

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The Lost Garden

Posted on August 10, 2012 by Mrs.N

The Lost Garden by Laurence Yep (1991)

Yep is a serious and driven narrator.  The story of his life is relentless in the details.  Just as you are absorbing one story or part of his life he is moving on to the next thing you need to know.  The result is that cute stories and anecdotes are overpowered by the overwhelming pace and sheer quantity of information.

Yep grew up in San Francisco, but not in Chinatown.  His neighborhood was less homogeneous and it seems, a lot less safe.  As new housing projects were built his father’s store experience increased gang interference.  Living outside of Chinatown also separated Yep from his community heightening his feeling of being an outsider.

Some chapters are much better than others.  Doubtless many readers will sympathize with his stories about his embarrassing grandmother and his turns as a reasonably incompetent Catholic altar-boy are good as well.  The true gems to be pulled from The Lost Garden are Yep’s experiences as a reader and writer.  These are the the bits that would inspire and explain to the young audience what is necessary.  He talks about his passion for reading and how his reading preferences changed and evolved (something that would be really fun to have middle school students try using their own life).  Yep even talks a little about the process of researching an historical novel.  Best of all, he shares that you must write what you know and what you love and outlines how he took people and experiences from his own life to write his own novels.

Given the density, reading level and violence I would say this would be best for middle school and up.  If you pulled carefully chosen selections for students to read, you could probably go down to fifth, maybe lower than that if you are planning to read aloud the sections rather than have students do it.

Good for: Try pulling selections from this to use for writing instruction and to jumpstart discussions in class.

Hmm…midget wrestling on television is mentioned.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – A laundry line has boxer shorts pinned to it.  He mentions pregnant women’s food cravings.  There are topless clubs in his neighborhood and he describes a few of the acts.  His friends tell dirty jokes (we don’t know what they are.)
Profanity – “gook” to refer to Asians. “hell,” in the context “pits of hell”.
Death, Violence and Gore – Yep mentions his father’s death.  An accident with a bedspring poked a hole in his father’s cheek.  His father would shock people by letting water go out the hole when he drank (until the wound healed). His father was beaten up by other kids when he first arrived from China.  Laurence is named after a saint his brother was studying in school. The saint was martyred by being roasted on a spit.  His brother used to shoot him with ping-pong balls.  A customer’s husband had attacked her with a kitchen knife in front of their children and then thrown the woman out the window.  He compares a beloved car being stripped and sold for parts to a puppy being sent to a butcher.  His father’s legs had problems from standing a lot.  A vein tore and blood gushed; he needed surgery.  He mentions that Mark Twain had contemplated suicide.  A gang broke into their store and when one member was caught, they told Yep’s father that an older brother would return with a gun.  He has a toy rifle.  Some store owners had guns.  A man tells would-be robbers that he’ll bust their heads.  A man fell out his bedroom windows a full story to the ground (he was okay).  A photo shows Yep and a girl holding water pistols. Yep and a friend are threatened by boys with a knife.  He says that a teacher seemed like a witch who liked to beat children.  There were fist fights between foreign-born Chinese and American-born Chinese.  Yep tells of writing about a murder and having a family member help him plan the fictional murder. A boy is hit in the eye with a knife and has an eye transplant (do you call it a transplant with an eye?)  A teacher brags about killing “gooks” in Korea. A story is told about a bomber crew that died.  A teacher flash froze a goldfish and threw it against a wall to show students how it would shatter.  Yep and classmates used to create harmless explosions with chemicals; he does refer to these as “bombs.”
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – The store sells beer, wine and liquor.  A customer used to come in drunk. A man smokes cigars. On Halloween children would surround drunks coming out of a bar and yell trick-or-treat hoping the drunks would give them money.  A teacher smoked cigarettes. An old lady who runs the switchboard drinks whiskey.
Frightening or Intense Things – Their car is stolen and Yep tells about burglaries to local stores.  He talks a lot about how the gangs came in and stole things.  He and his friends are bullied, called names and spat on.  His grandparents lived in an area where the Ku Klux Klan was active.  His father and a friend were once refused service at a whites-only restaurant.  Yep suffered from asthma.  A chemistry teacher accidentally causes explosions.

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26 Fairmount Avenue

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Mrs.N

26 Fairmount Avenue (Newbery Honor Book, 2000) by Tomie dePaola

Tomie dePaola is one of the best children’s book author/illustrators working.  Period.  Maybe you know Strega Nona or Oliver Button Is a Sissy.  Maybe you don’t.  But you really should, because he is amazing.  I always had his picture books in my collection but nothing prepared me for just how much I adore 26 Fairmount Avenue.

This is just such a perfect beginning chapter book that I can’t help but be thrilled.  Even better, it’s the first of a series (although I haven’t read the whole series for content, disclaimer, disclaimer, etc.).  Best of all, the kids love it.  For years I taught this to one of my third grade reading groups with great success.  They love the stories, there was lots of giggling.  The chapters are more episodic, so it’s easier for children to understand than one continuous story arc.  I really knew I had a hit on my hands when the kids would come to reading group with other information they’d researched about the book.  Unprompted.  Just showing up at group “Hey Mrs. N, did you know that the hurricane Tomie talked about didn’t have a name?  They didn’t name hurricanes back then!!”

I would say this would be great as a read aloud for small children, and a perfect pick for first and second grade readers that can read well beyond their grade level but still need appropriate content.  Definitely preview the series as it continues though because Tomie does get older in each book.  An on grade level third grade reader can probably read this toward the beginning of the school year.

Great for: This is the sweet spot, the holy grail.  This is a beginning chapter book that is actually interesting and engaging.  It still has illustrations which are so reassuring to readers as they move towards books with more text.  I managed to maintain a waiting list for students dying to read the next in the series, a true coup in a room that had been so thrilled with Spongebob and My Weird School books.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – Tomie mentions how in Sleeping Beauty and Snow White the prince kisses the princess.
Profanity – Tomie tell us that his father said “some bad words.” Later he says “more and more bad words.”
Death, Violence and Gore – One chapter is about seeing Snow White at the theater.  The content in Snow White can be scary. The Evil Queen sends her into the woods to be killed by a huntsman; the Evil Queen makes a poison apple. Tomie reflects on the book version where the Evil Queen tightens Snow White’s laces until she can’t breathe and gives her a poison comb. Tomie is angry the movie doesn’t have the part where the Queen dances herself to death in the red-hot iron shoes.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking –
Frightening or Intense Things – There is a bad hurricane.  They use a fire to get rid of weeds in the yard and it gets out of hand.

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Knots in My Yo-Yo String

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Mrs.N

Knots in My Yo-Yo String by Jerry Spinelli

Reading Knots in My Yo-Yo String is a bit like being caught with an uncle at a family reunion and listening to him reminisce about parts of his childhood in a wandering and sometimes random manner.  There are bits that are really cool and fascinating and there are large sections that young readers will totally tune out because they have absolutely no context for what he is talking about.  Filled with fifties nostalgia references like Lash LaRue and a fluoroscope for shoe-fitting, Knots in My Yo-Yo Strings seems more intended for an audience that will actually be able to join in the reminiscing than the school children of today.

Spinelli has a way with words, and in some of the small sketches this is clearly evident.  His path as a writer is also laid out which is always great to be able to share with students as they undertake their own writing efforts.  Overall, I worry that the effort it will require on the part of the reader will make this an unappetizing choice for the potential audience.  It skews a bit young for students above Grade 6.  I’d recommend it for Grades 4 & 5, but used with an adult assistance with context.  Teachers may prefer to use selections from the book rather than have students wander through the whole book, especially considering Spinelli’s non-linear, non-chronological approach.

Sex, Nudity, Dating – At age 7 he returns from a party with lipstick kisses on his face.  He has his first girlfriend at 7 (totally innocently).  Boys and girls like each other, walk home together, hold hands, kiss, go steady and make out.  They go to dances together and a girl is given a friendship ring by a boy.
Profanity – “phooey,” “hell,”
Death, Violence and Gore –  Jerry collects salamanders and when he brings them home they all die. His legs are bitten by blood-sucking leeches.  He owned a cap gun.  There is some fighting – boys punch and hit each other.  He reads about war including dead soldiers, the torture of troops, fingernails being pulled off.  Jerry and his friends play war.  They throw rocks at each other and one friend gets hit; there is a lot of blood.  A boy jumps in hay and lands on a pitch-fork.  Jerry’s dog is hit by a car and dies.  He knows a kid that died in his 30s from asthma.  His Sunday School teacher died alone, because none of the boys wanted to visit him.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – He grew up near a brewery.  They smoke candy cigarettes (this is shown in a photo).  His grandfather drank red wine and smoked cigars.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.

 

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