Sabrina Carnesi Crittenden Middle School Newport News, VA

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Genre: Juvenile NF 636 Setting: Zambia Meaning of Bulu

(Bantu)= wild dog (Northwest Africa) = Serious-minded, responsible, and stable ◦ ◦

Main Characters:

Steve & Anna Tolan Bulu

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Problem:

Steve was in an accident He and Anna sold everything and moved from England to Zambia to live and work in wildlife conservation. Warned not to get a dog if they were living in the bush / adopted Bulu / Runt of the litter    break their hearts dogs were eaten by predators died from diseases

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Themes:

Jack Russell     Known as Big Dog in Tiny Body Bulu cared for the orphaned animals  Monkeys, warthogs, baboons, and elephants  Protected them from lions, cheetahs, floods, etc..

Dog / Pet Care / Regional & Ethnic Views on household pets STARK CONTRAST – ELEVATED REALITY – LIFE OF DOG / LIFE OF HUMANS Human deaths by AIDS in Zambia and orphaned children Anna insisting Bulu be seen immediately by vet

Study Guide available for download: http://www.randomhouse.com/book/8 3299/bulu-african-wonder-dog-by dick-houston#reader'sguide

Animal Rights Blog http://www.ifaw.org/af/solr-search/pets%20in%20africa

Animal Rights Website http://www.ifaw.org/af/solr-search/pets%20in%20africa

"There is darkness on the water. There is darkness on the land. There is darkness all around us, but I will hold your hand. You are safe, my precious child. You are safe now, you are home. We have found you and we love you. You will never be alone." —

All the Broken Pieces

12 , PP. 11-

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Genre: Fiction – Quick Read- has been compared to Hesse’s Out of the Dust Setting: 2 years post Vietnam War…late 70s Main Character:

Matt Pin 12 years old / air lifted out of Nam

  Problem: ◦ Vietnamese birth / abandoned by Am. Soldier dad ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦   Brought to USA for a better chance at age 10 (story starts 2 years later) Although he learns piano and plays baseball…the past haunts him and Nightmares School kids bully him Rob blames Matt for his brother’s death Matt fears that if his adoptive parents really knew what he did, they will not want him anymore Theme ◦ PTS Post Traumatic Stress ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Conflict / Peer mediation Points of View (POV) of Vietnam War from Vietnamese perspective Immigration Suicide Bombing

http://www.adoptvietnam.org/adoptio n/babylift-index.htm

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Genre: Fantasy Fiction – Quick Read

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Setting:

◦ ◦ Modern day Noble Green, PA “The Safest Town on Earth”

Main Character:

Daniel Corrigan   12 years old tween sleuth (Sherlock Holmes is his idol

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Problem:

 Daniel moves to PA to care for his ailing grandmother.

the superheroes in Daniels town are plagued with loosing their powers once they turn 13.

No memory of super life or super friends Daniel is asked to solve the puzzle  Super power REPRESENTED IN THE BOOK: STENCH – FLY – INVISIBILITY – MANIPULATE ELECTRICITY – STRENGTH – HEIGHTENED SENSES

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Author’s Website http://matthewcody.com/

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The ultimate list of superheroes and villains in the comic book universe www.comicvine.com/characters/ Superhero Database: superheroes, villains, teams, and powers www.superherodb.com/ The Superheroes Quiz…Which Superhero are you http://www.thesuperheroquiz.com/ Chapter 1 is online

http://www.matthewcody.com/Powerless_Chapte rSampler_PDF_WEB.pdf

 Genre: SyFy ◦ Quick Read ◦ ◦ 1 st Person Humor that appeals to children and adults  Setting: mostly on the 1 st civilian ship to space as it journeys around the moon   Main Character: ◦ Liam  12 years old  Extra Tall ◦   Facial Hair Looks thirty / Often mistaken for a grown-up Florida Kirby  Liam’s friend (daughter) Problem ◦ He enters a contest as a "dad" and wins a trip with his "daughter" (friend, Florida) to a new theme park/thrill ride. When he and Florida arrive, they find out they're in China with three other dads and their sons; the object is to test drive a new top secret rocket

  ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Theme ◦ Walking in someone else’s shoes The game “War craft” Manned Space flights / NASA / Father / son relationships / Parenting Gravity Technology today and in the future Critique ◦ Technology mentioned in book could possibly date it ◦ Comparative language is used to allow his readers to immerse themselves in Liam’s adventure since they will never have the same opportunity to experience such an exotic journey. “She shouted so loud that you could hear her words moving away from us over the dunes. Then we heard something that sounded like God hovering the world. It was the wind. A wind that threw sand at our legs and arms so hard it felt like we were being stabbed with a billion nano-knives” (p. 132).

    Private Craft Soars into Space July 14, 2004 http://articles.cnn.com/2004-06 21/tech/suborbital.test_1_test pilot-mike-melvill-spaceshipone burt-rutan?_s=PM:TECH Virgin Galactic: Civilian Spaceship December 7, 2009 http://articles.cnn.com/2004-06 21/tech/suborbital.test_1_test pilot-mike-melvill-spaceshipone burt-rutan?_s=PM:TECH YouTube Video of SpaceShipOne (1 st Civilian Spaceship) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

=29uQ6fjEozI Update on Civilian Space Travel http://moonandback.com/2011/0 9/03/the-virgin-galactic-story the-future-of-civilian-space travel/

   Genre: Fiction – Quick Read – emotional realism Setting: ◦ Modern day suburbs of Las Vegas Main Character: ◦ Ella Cartwright – Bullied because she’s of mixed race and discoloration of skin ◦ ◦ Zachery – suffers from a mental illness that causes escapism into a fantasy world Bailey James – likes to be the center of attention – spins situations to make it look like he’s on top – only other black in Ella’s school

  ◦ ◦ ◦ Problem: ◦ a main character with self-esteem issues due to her mottled coloration of her face ◦ another character who at first comes across as funny/quirky & later is discovered to have a mental illness and need of professional help Theme: ◦ Mental Illness Bullying Camouflaged reality vitiligo

     Mental Health Issues in Youth Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLMhBrcxwWU Identifying mental health issues in teens http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/711264_3 The National Vitiligo Foundation, Inc.

http://nvfi.org/index.php

Vitiligo Support International http://www.vitiligosupport.org/ Here’s what vitiligo looks like:

    Genre: Historical Fiction Setting: ◦ 1941 ◦ WWII, Women’s Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) Main Character: Ida Mae Jones (Jonesey) Problem: ◦ Jonesey is a light skinned white that passes for black in order to be a pilot in the Air Force. This forces her to live a lie concerning her family and friends.

Theme: At what risk do you take to fulfill your dreams?

◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦  Stay true to yourself Preferential treatment outside and within a race her best friend observes that she is “Little Miss Pretty Hair [with:] Creamy White Skin” (p. 9) Female pilots  WWII How the home front helped Ration cards / saving bacon fat for ammo and medicine Jim Crow Laws / segregation Career choices for women in the 40s 2010 Congressional Medal of Honor to WASP program members

   Women’s Airforce Service Project http://wingsacrossamerica.us/wasp/  Will Latinos become the next group to pass for white? http://www.newstaco.com/2012/03/0 7/are-latinos-going-to-start-passing as-white/  Anita Florence Hemmings passed for white to get acceptance into Vassar in 1893. http://panachereport.com/channels/hip% 20hop%20gallery/PassingForWhite.htm

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Genre: Fiction Setting:

Young Oaks AFB, North Carolina

Main Character:

Bo – son of base commander Gari – Bo’s cousin from Seattle Ms. Loupe DOD teacher who uses improv techniques with 6 th graders to work through skills development and remediation

• ◦  Problem: ◦ Sibling rivalry among cousins      ◦ Theme  Department of Defense Schools(DOD)  ◦ Miss Loupe becomes distant and loses enthusiasm after her brother is MIA in Afghanistan In an effort to bring Ms. Loupe back to normal, the students stage a production for their base community to help them to cope with the unexpectedness of war tragedies Modern Day Military Base Living and employment Sibling rivalry Behavior expectations at school The war in Iraq and Afghanistan Working with others Stepping out of your comfort zone Personal Critique  Slightly construed characteristics of teaching methods and situations

    Department of Defense Schools in Europe http://www.eu.dodea.edu/ The Use of improv theatrical technique for urban classrooms http://www.eastsideinstitute.org/Edu cation_assets/The%20Developing%20 Teachers%20Fellowship%20Program %20Use%20of%20Improv%20Theatre.

pdf There actual is a technique for using improv to teach skills in K8 classrooms! The Second City Guide to Improv in the Classroom: Using Improvisation to Teach Skills and Boost Learning. ISBN 9780787996505. Wiley, 2008.

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Genre: Historical Fiction

Based on the story of the 1 st Japanese to come to the USA

Setting: 1843 Japan and New England

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Main Character: Nakahama Manjiro

Age 14 poor

Problem:    Nakahama wants to be a samurai, but due to rank this will never happen… Works as a fisherman Is shipwrecked w/4 others and saved by an American whaling ship in 1841  Japan tainted all citizens that mixed w/outsiders (barbarians) ◦ Nakahama was the only fisherman that mingled with the Americans…because he was sooo fascinated by the art of whaling and the English language & comes to America w/the captain ◦ ◦ ◦ Lives in usa for about 10 years and attends school Earns money in the Gold Rush / returns to Japan / and is then arrested as a spy until policies shift & Japan makes efforts to communicate with the outside world Earns rank of samurai for credit of helping Japan to relationship with the USA Theme   Elements of natural history, whaling, sailing,    prejudice, politics, courage and determination America and Japan pre Civil War years

   The 4-Tiered Class System of Feudal Japan: farmers / peasants, artisans, merchants, Samurai class http://asianhistory.about.com/od/japan/p/ShogJapanClass.htm

Heart of a Samurai Cliff Notes available for a fee on line http://www.enotes.com/heart-of-a-samurai Background Information on storyline is available on author’s website

 Genre: Fiction – Raw Adventure “…I had four fingernails split all the way down the middle. It felt like some had set them on fire.“   Setting: New York City & Tibet Main Character: ◦ Peak Marcello ◦    Age 14 Addicted to extreme climbing Joshua Woods Peaks famous mountain climbing dad

   Problem: ◦ Peak is arrested for climbing a sky scraper in New York, where he lives. ◦ ◦ Given the option to go to juvie hall or live with biological dad in Thailand.

Dad encourages Peak to be the youngest person to climb Mt. Everest…but it has to be done before his 15 th birthday Critique: I learned three main things from this book... ◦ 1) "...what makes a story unique is not necessarily the information in the story but what the writer chooses to put in or leave out. (pg. 146-147)" ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ 2)"You don't have to be alone to feel alone. (pg. 154)" 3) Sacrifice. Think of others before yourself. Theme ◦ Mountaineering Climbing Safety Techniques ◦ Dangers & thrills from extreme sports…”frozen dead bodies litter the paths to the summit” Father / son relationships Geography of Tibet and Mt. Everest Selfishness (a trait of those that are intensely single-minded

 This is a site that has info on mountain climbing schools that teaches you how to tie ropes, etc. http://santiamalpineclub.org/mountain/climbing/schools/instru ction/    Real life 13 year old American, Jordan Romero, reaches the summit of Mt. Everest in May of 2010 (CBS News World) http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-202_162-6508878.html

Climb Mt. Everest (National Geographic) http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/ne pal-everest-basecamp trek/detail?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campai gn=NGExpeditions&utm_content=General   Price needed to climb Mt. Everest in the tens of thousands – Equipment alone is between $8,000 to $15, 000 – Airfare between $2,500 to $8,000.

http://outdoors.whatitcosts.com/mt-everest.htm

 Mount Everest Fact Sheet http://www.mnteverest.net/history.htm

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Genre: Space and Time (Science?) Fiction Elements of “A Wrinkle in Time”

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Setting: 1970s New York City Main Character: Miranda

6 th grader – age 12 – introvert and single child syndrome ◦

Sal

Miranda’s best friend

 Problem: ◦ Miranda starts getting notes that tells her about things that are going to happen in the future ◦ ◦ As she tries to solve the clues, she is drawn out of herself and becomes more aware of the needs of others around her The puzzle gradually comes together on the last day  ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Theme: ◦ Rehabilitation in prisons $20,000 Pyramid Homelessness Racism Single mothers Dead-end jobs Self esteem \ self awareness Friendship NYC neighborhoods