Chapter Book #8--95 Pounds of Hope

Title:  95 Pounds of Hope

Author:  Anna Gavalda

Illustrator:  N/A

Grade Level Equivalent:  3.4

Lexile Measure:  640L

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Realistic Fiction

Theme:  Never give up on yourself.

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Gregory, Grandpa Leon, Grandma Charlotte, Gregory's mother and father

Awards:  N/A

Date of Publication:  2003
Publisher:  Penguin Group
ISBN:  0670036722

95 Pounds of Hope follows Gregory on his journey through school and through life.  Gregory is having a pretty rough go of it.  He is not doing well in school, not even a little bit.  He has been held back twice—once in third grade and a second time in sixth grade.  His parents constantly fight and argue with each other and with him.  They tell him that he and his bad grades and lack of determination are the reason they fight and yell all the time.  And on top of all that, doctors have diagnosed him with ADD, which he thinks is bologna since he doesn’t have a problem concentrating on anything other than school.  But Gregory has a talent.  He can build just about anything he sets his mind to.  And his grandfather, Grandpa Leon, is the one person who stands behind him no matter what.  His favorite place in the world is in Grandpa Leon’s workshop.  The time comes for school to start back—a time Gregory is dreading—but because he has been expelled so many times, no school in the area will take him, and the one that finally does is a horrible school.  The teachers don’t care about homework, students get mugged on a regular basis, and groups of students sneak outside during school hours to smoke marijuana.  Gregory’s mother decides she and her husband cannot let their son go to this school so they go for the only available option they have left—boarding school.  They allow Gregory to choose the one he wants to attend, which just so happens to be a technical school with a lot of hands-on classes.  Before Gregory leaves to attend the school, he gets some bad news:  Grandpa Leon has fallen ill and is in the hospital.  Knowing that his grandfather is struggling just to live gives Gregory renewed determination at school.  He even successfully completes the rope climb in gym class, something he has never done before.  He decides that he needs to turn over a new leave and becomes more focused and determined in his efforts.  That is, until he learns that Grandpa Leon has taken a turn for the worse and fallen into a coma. 

This book would be great for students to read in a literature circle.  It does contain some profanity and other language so it would only be suitable for mature, older students; fifth or sixth grade.  But the content is very on task with what students at this age are going through, making it interesting and relatable for young readers.  Problems with bickering parents, trouble at school, and grandparents getting sick are some of the biggest problems faced by pre-teens.  Having a book that covers all of these on their level would be beneficial for them to read and discuss among themselves in a literature circle-type environment.

Chapter Book #7--Olive's Ocean

Title:  Olive's Ocean

Author:  Kevin Henkes

Illustrator:  (cover) Cleo Sullivan

Grade Level Equivalent:  4.8

Lexile Measure:  680L

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Realistic Fiction

Theme:  Life is short.  Treat others kindly while you have the chance.

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Martha, Godbee, Vince, Jimmy Manning, Tate Manning, Lucy, Martha's mother and father

Awards:  Newbery Medal (Nominated, 2004)

Virginia Reader's Choice Awards (Nominated, 2006)
Bluegrass Award (Nominated, 2005)
North Carolina Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2005)
Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominated, 2006)
American Library Association Notable Books for Children (Won, 2004)
Garden State Teen Book Award (Nominated, 2006)
Los Angeles Times Book Prizes (Nominated, 2003)
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2005)
Publishers Weekly Best Children's Books (Won, 2003)
Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2006)
Bluebonnet Award (Nominated, 2006)
Nene Award (Nominated, 2005)
Burr/Worzalla Award (Nominated, 2004)

Date of Publication:  2003

Publisher:  HarperCollins
ISBN:  0060535431

Olive’s Ocean tells the story of Martha, a girl who finds out that a classmate of hers that she had never really known has passed away in an accident.  It isn’t until after Olive’s death that Martha realizes how much they had in common and that they could  have been really good friends if Martha had ever taken the initiative to get to know Olive.  Martha is disconcerted by the realization that she and Olive had the same hopes of being a writer, Olive had always wanted to see the ocean—something Martha got to do every summer when she went to visit her grandmother, Godbee—and that Olive had really wanted to be Martha’s friend.  Martha sits on this quietly, thinking it over throughout the summer.  It is during this time that Martha evolves from the kid she was into the more grown-up, mature version of herself.  She realizes that she has feelings for Jimmy Manning, a boy who lives down the street from Godbee.  Jimmy tells Martha that he likes her and they hold hands while walking on the beach.  He tells her that he needs her help filming his movie that he has been working on.  When they get to the place where the film is to be shot, Jimmy kisses Martha—her first kiss from a boy ever—and then loudly exclaims that he got the shot and explains to Martha that the kiss had been a bet with his brothers to see if he could do it and get it on tape.  Crushed, Martha runs back to Godbee’s house and thinks about all the things that have happened to change her over the summer.  When she asks Godbee for some advice on what she should do when she is sad, Godbee tells her to think of someone who is worse off than she is and try to do something nice for that person.  This gets Martha to think about Olive and how she had always wanted to see the ocean but never got the chance.  With a bottle in hand, Martha decides to bring the ocean to Olive’s mother—Olive’s Ocean—so that she will have a piece of it.  When Martha gets back home, she looks up Olive’s mother’s address and heads over to give her the ocean.  When she arrives, she discovers that in grief, Olive’s mother has moved away. 

This book would be great for students to read in a literature circle.  It does have some light profanity, so it would have to be used for mature students.  The topic at hand is very deep and meaningful so it is something that students could read and discuss and get a lot out of.  Dealing with the death of a classmate (or loved one, as not all students have had to deal with the death of a peer) and getting your heart broken is something that all students can relate to, especially at the pre-teen age.  Martha goes through a transformation of sorts and this can correlate to what students at the pre-teen age are going through on a personal level.

Chapter Book #6--Rules

Title:  Rules

Author:  Cynthia Lord

Illustrator:  N/A

Grade Level Equivalent:  4.5

Lexile Measure:  780L

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Realistic Fiction

Theme:  Love and acceptance of others has to come from within yourself, not others.

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Catherine, David, Jason, Kristi, Ryan, Catherine & David's mother and father

Awards:  Newbery Honor Medal (2007)

Schneider Family Book Award (2007)
Mitten Award (Michigan Library Association)
Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan)
Maine Student Book Award
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award (Vermont)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Great Stone Face Award (New Hampshire)
Buckeye Children's Book Award (Ohio)

Date of Publication:  2006
Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc.
ISBN:  0439443822

Rules tells the story of twelve-year-old Catherine who is struggling to deal with her brother, David’s, autism.  Their mother is a tax preparation agent who works from home and their father is a pharmacist who works all the time.  Catherine has created rules for David, things like “Say ‘thank you’ when someone gives you a present (even if you don’t like it)”, “No toys in the fish tank”, and “Sometimes people laugh when they like you.  But sometimes they laugh to hurt you”.  She thinks these rules she has created are to help David—and some of them do—but really it’s to try to keep David from doing things that might embarrass her.  When a new girl, Kristi, moves in across the street, Catherine’s insecurities about her brother and his disability really take off.  She becomes almost hyperaware of the smallest of David’s quirks, such as his tendency to open and close every door in every house he goes in.  The fact that her parents allow David to engage in small behaviors like this angers Catherine to no end.  Then she meets a boy, Jason, a paraplegic, at David’s occupational therapy appointment.  Jason cannot talk but uses a communication book to communicate with others.  Catherine strikes up a friendship with him and creates new cards with new words to put in Jason’s book.  But even with her new friend, she cannot shed the embarrassment she feels towards the disabled people in her life.  When she tells Kristi about Jason, she conveniently leaves is disability out of the story.  When Kristi suggests that Catherine invite Jason to the upcoming dance, she makes excuse after excuse.  When Jason hears about the dance he asks Catherine and when she says no, Jason fears that Catherine is embarrassed by him and his disability.  It takes this deep, hurtful feeling to snap Catherine out of her embarrassment and learn, slowly but surely, that she is the one with the problem and she needs to be more accepting and understanding of the people she truly cares about and worry less about what others may think.

I think this book is a must-have for a classroom.  It is ideal for older students who have loved ones with disabilities.  The struggle for Catherine to come to terms with her brother’s autism and her friend’s disability is something that, I’m sure, almost every student in the same situation can relate to.  It can help students who face the same problem learn to see that the embarrassment or lack of acceptance they feel towards the person in their life who is faced with autism or any other disability is their struggle and one that they will have to come to terms with and does not reflect the person with the disability.  I just think it is a wonderful story that can resonate on so many levels with young students who face a similar situation.

Chapter Book #5--Pictures of Hollis Woods

Title:  Pictures of Hollis Woods

Author:  Patricia Reilly Giff

Illustrator:  N/A

Grade Level Equivalent:  4.5

Lexile Measure:  650L

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Realistic Fiction

Theme:  Nothing is more important than family.

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Hollis Woods, Josie Cahill, Steven Regan, "Old Man" Regan, Izzy Regan, the mustard woman

Awards: Newbery Medal (Nominated, 2003)

Mark Twain Award (Nominated, 2005)

Christopher Book Awards (Nominated, 2003)

California Young Reader Medal (Nominated, 2006)

Wyoming Indian Paintbrush Book Award (Nominated, 2005)

Iowa Children's Choice Award (Nominated, 2005)

Young Hoosier Book Award (Nominated, 2005)

Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award (Nominated, 2005)
Virginia Reader's Choice Awards (Nominated, 2005)
Land of Enchantment Book Award (Nominated, 2006)
Black-Eyed Susan Book Award (Nominated, 2005)
North Carolina Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2004)
Volunteer State Book Award (Nominated, 2005)
Colorado Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2005)
Golden Sower Award (Nominated, 2005)
Nevada Young Reader's Award (Nominated, 2004)
SCASL Book Award (South Carolina) (Nominated, 2005)

Buckeye Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2004)

Massachusetts Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2005)

American Library Association Notable Books for Children (Won, 2003)

Nutmeg Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2006)

Sequoyah Book Award (Nominated, 2005)

Iowa Teen Award (Nominated, 2005)

Charlie May Simon Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2005)

Prairie Pasque Award (Nominated, 2005)

William Allen White Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2005)

Great Stone Face Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2004)

Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award (Nominated, 2005)

Beehive Children's Fictional Book Award (Nominated, 2004)

Nene Award (Nominated, 2004)

Rhode Island Children's Book Award (Nominated, 2004)

Date of Publication:  2002

Publisher:  Random House Children's Books

ISBN:  0385326556

Pictures of Hollis Woods tells the story of Hollis Woods, a young girl who was abandoned as a baby, just hours old, and is named after the place authorities found her.  The story is told in two different ways:  first, through flashbacks of pictures that tell what she has been through that led her to where she is now and second, through the chapters that tell about her current situation and what she thinks and feels after her past has led her to her present.  In her past, Hollis has run from every home she has ever been placed in.  She just never seems to fit in anywhere.  That is until she is placed in the home of the Regan’s.  Here she feels loved and safe and as if she belongs.  But after an accident lands her and the Regan’s biological son in the hospital, Hollis blames herself and copes the only way she knows how—by running away.  After several failed attempts at getting Hollis back, the Regan’s leave for their winter home, hoping she will return.  It is then that the agency places Hollis in the care of Josie, an aging retired art teacher who lives with her cantankerous old cat, Henry.  Josie and Hollis get along great but soon it is Hollis who is taking care of Josie as Hollis begins to realize that she is facing the early stages of Alzheimer’s.  When the agency realizes Josie’s condition they find another family that is willing to take Hollis in.  Before that can happen, however, Hollis runs with Josie and Henry in tow.  Hollis takes Josie to the only place she knows they will be safe—the Regan’s summer home in Branches.  But deep down, Hollis is really running back home to the only place she has ever belonged.

This is a great book and would be a wonderful addition to any classroom.  The story is compelling and draws you in effortlessly.  The fact that the story is told from the perspective of flashbacks and the present lends a different tone to the story and allows the reader to gain a broader understanding of who Hollis Woods is and why she is the way she is.  I think that a lot of students would be able to relate to the character of Hollis Woods in that she often feels alone and as if no one really understands her, which is a feeling a lot of middle-schoolers can understand.  The story also taps in to a feeling that all students and adults, even, can relate to:  wanting to be needed and loved.  This would be a great book for students to read and discuss in a book club or literature circle.

Picture Book #13--The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

Title:  The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

Author:  (retold by) Tomie dePaola

Illustrator:  Tomie dePaola

Grade Level Equivalent:  2.8

Lexile Measure:  840L

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Traditional Literature

Theme:  Follow your dreams.

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Little Gopher

Awards:  N/A

Date of Publication:  1988

Publisher:  Penguin Group

ISBN:  0698113608

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush is a Native American tale that follows Little Gopher on his quest to find his true calling.  He is not like the other boys in the tribe.  He cannot keep up during hunts or athletic events so he sets out to the highest hill to await a Dream-Vision that would tell him what he was meant to do.  When he finally recieves his Dream-Vision, Little Gopher knows that he is supposed to be a great artist who captures his peoples' stories and legends with the colors of nature so that all the people can remember them.  His main mission is to find a pure white buckskin and paint the colors of the sunset.  After finding the buckskin, he struggles to find the right colors to paint it.  It is then that Little Gopher heard a voice telling him that since he had been true to his Dream-Vision he needed to go to the highest hill at sunset and there he would be rewarded with the colors he needed.  The next night, he followed the voice's instructions and he was given paintbrushes filled with the colors of the sunset.  After painting his buckskin, he took it back to show his people, leaving the paintbrushes behind.  The next morning, and every following spring, the paintbrushes bloomed into beautiful flowers. 

This would be a great book to have in a classroom when studying about Native Americans and their legends.  It gives insight into how the people of this culture discovered their true paths in life.  It is told in a very kid-friendly way and the illustrations by Tomie dePaola are very bright and colorful. 

Picture Book #12--Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Title:  Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears

Author:  (retold by) Verna Aardema

Illustrator:  Leo and Diane Dillon

Grade Level Equivalent:  4.2

Lexile Measure:  770L

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Traditional Literature

Theme:  Gossip can come back to get you.

Primary and Secondary Characters:  the mosquito, Iguana, Python, Rabbit, Crow, Monkey, Owl, King Lion

Awards:  The Caldecott Medal (won, 1976)

Date of Publication:  1975

Publisher:  Penguin Group

ISBN:  0140545891

Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears is a West African tale about a gossiping little mosquito who causes a lot of trouble in the jungle, which results in the death of a baby owlet.  After the death of her baby, the mother owl is so devastated that she cannot bear to wake the sun.  This results in a council meeting called by King Lion who gets to the bottom of the situation by calling on every member of the disturbance and getting his/her side of the story.  When it all is said and done, the mosquito is to blame but is nowhere to be found.  The end of the tale has a humorous moral with the fate of the mosquito. 

This is a classic book that has a place in any classroom.  It would be great to read to children even if just to expose them to other culture's and their folktales.  It can give children a look into how the people of West Africa got their legends and it tells why the people believe mosquitoes buzz in peoples' ears in a very humorous way.  I can remember reading it when I was young and my daughter enjoys the story today.  It has a really good moral that often goes unheard.  All in all, it is a great story that children will love to hear and/or read themselves and the illustrations are very vibrant and fun to look at.

Picture Book #11--Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers

Title:  Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers

Author:  Laura Numeroff

Illustrator:  Joe Mathieu

Grade Level Equivalent:  1.7

Lexile Measure:  N/A

Genre:  Children's Literature

Subgenre:  Fantasy
Theme:  Use your imagination!

Primary and Secondary Characters:  Various animals

Awards:  Maryland Children's Book Award (Won, 1996)
Date of Publication:  1993

Publisher:  Scholastic, Inc

ISBN:   0689808747

Dogs Don't Wear Sneakers is a silly story about the imagination.  It features dogs in sneakers, Siamese cats in dresses, bears taking a bath, dancing cows, swimming hens, and skiing yaks, among other things.  It is a very silly book that kids will absolutely love for it's humor.  The story rhymes so it flows nicely.  The illustrations are bright and colorful.  I think this book would be a great addition to any classroom because it is something that students will love to read and it has words that are easy to pronounce and follow.  Also, the end message is something that will stick with students: always use your imagination.  This would be a great book to read to students that can be a precursor to a creative writing assignment wherein students use their imagination to create a silly story of their own.  This will help to build up their writing skills, vocabulary usage (I could even have them incorporate their vocabulary words into the story for added practice), and require them to think and be creative.