The Giver

Title: The Giver

Author: Lois Lowry

Illustrator: NA

Novel for ages (approximately) 12 and up

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:

This book is about Jonas, a twelve-year-old boy growing up in a utopia, which he finds out is not really a utopia at all. It is a Newberry Medal winner.

Opinion:

I have read this book twice now and I loved it both times. It is packed with mystery and suspense as well as heated topics. The mood in this book is overwhelming at times and really gets you thinking about things. It is packed full of thought provoking issues and topics. For instance, when you find that the people no longer see color in order to eliminate differences, is this right or wrong? Why are differences bad? Yes, for the most part it would eliminate racism and harassment, but is that the right way to eliminate those problems? Wouldn’t it have more meaning if people simply chose not to behave in that way because they know that differences are something to be embraced?

Another time injustice seems to punch you in the face while reading this book is when you find out what release is. Is it right to kill the weak only because they are weak. Yes, I’m sure costs go down because you no longer have to care for those who can’t care for themselves, but can you really put a price on a life? Does any one person or group of people for that matter ever have the right to determine when someone should die? Is the right to live something you’re born with or is it earned and at what point are you old enough to begin earning towards that right?

There are also several more subtle controversies that come up. For example as one of my fellow students brought up, with the suicide of the receiver in training comes to light, not only is there the topic of suicide , but there is the deeper issue of is all the good worth all the bad and is something ever so hard that there is no way out? Although uncomfortable to talk about I feel suicide is something that should be discussed with students. It is one of the leading causes of death in teenagers today. Maybe if they had felt able to talk about it they would have made a different choice.

This book brings up many strong internal feelings and opinions as good quality literature should which is why I would definitely use this book in my classroom, again on the stipulation that it is not banned for its “controversial” content.

I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This

Title: I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Illustrator: NA

Novel for ages (approximately) 12 and up

Rating: 5 of 5 stars

Summary:

This book is about Marie, the only black girl in the eighth grade willing to be a friend to a new white classmate, Lena. Marie finds out that Lena’s father is doing awful things to her in private. It is a Coretta Scott King Honor book.

Opinion:

I loved this book. It addressed many issues prevalent in schools that need to be talked about. First, Woodson talks about racism, but in a different light than normally shown. Many of the people in this book are racist, but not just white against black, this book shows that one can be racist towards white people and that neither are right. There are bad white people and bad black people, but you should never judge a whole population based on one or two individuals. This could be easily related to the persecution many Muslims are facing today in America. Most Muslims are not terrorists, just like most white people are not murderers, yet we find many innocent Muslims being the target of vandalism and harassment.

 Secondly, this book addresses the issue of child molestation. This subject is also touchy because it is so very uncomfortable to think about. Many people, myself included , like to pretend that this type of thing is only something you hear about from far away, but the reality is this sort of thing happens all the time to people we know. We can’t have people reacting as Marie did when she found out, assuming the victim is lying, exaggerating, or making it up. We need to address the issue so that these children can feel comfortable enough to come out and tell someone.

Thirdly, Woodson addresses death and divorce. I feel we often shut these subjects down, but again the reality is people die and half of marriages these days end in divorce. Children need to be able to deal with the emotions that come with this. School is where they spend most of their day. Teachers often spend more time with children than their own parents do. They should be able to talk about what is going on in their lives and the feelings they have about it.

Finally, this book addresses friendship. What is it? Who is it best had with? What makes it real and special? What is a true friend? All those questions are considered when reading this story. Marie struggles with being friends with Lena because she is poor and white, yet she is there and Marie can talk to her about more than just fashion. She struggles with the possibility of losing other friends only because she hangs out with Lena. This is stuff that goes on with kids on a daily basis. For most kids, this is what concerns them the most during the school day. They need examples of kids doing the right thing. They need to see it, hear it, and read about it.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom, on the stipulation that it is not banned for its “controversial” content. It is rich with literary elements, mood especially. You can really feel what Marie is experiencing as you read. Mood is what I consider to be most important when reading a quality piece of literature. Without it the story is just words on a page and this book has it in truck loads.

Where Do Balloons Go?

Title: Where Do Balloons Go?

Author: Jamie Lee Curtis

Illustrator: Laura Cornell

Picture book for ages (approximately) 5 and up

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary:

This book describes a curious child’s thoughts as they release a balloon into the air.

Opinion:

I picked this book because I am a science specialization and thought this might be used as an introduction to an atmosphere unit. It is an adorable story with great flow and rhythm as you read. Your imagination goes soaring along with these balloons to places you never thought of before. Each new page is a new adventure and you never know where you’ll be going next. Curtis personifies the balloons giving them human characteristics, such as, feelings. The illustrations add to this by showing balloons out to eat and at a hospital.

The illustrations in this book are wonderful. They are soft, but bright watercolor giving that dream-like or imaginative appearance.  They show many things not described in the text, such as on one page the text says, “Are they always alone? Do they meet up in pairs?” the corresponding illustration is in a restaurant with human families and couples sitting next to and around balloon families and couples. There are two balloons “kissing” while one balloon is by herself being stood up and another balloon “child” has breadsticks in its “ears.” I would have never thought up anything like that for those two lines of text.

I would use this book in my classroom as I said, for an introduction to an atmosphere unit. We could read this book then take our own fictional balloon through what would really happen if it was released. What layers of the atmosphere would it pass through? What weather would it meet? Maybe for more advanced students where would it end up based on wind currents?

Dinosaur Bones

Title: Dinosaur Bones

Author: Bob Barner

Illustrator: Bob Barner

Picture book for ages (approximately) 5 and up

Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Summary:

This book describes many facts about dinosaurs and their bones.

Opinion:

I picked this book because I am a science specialization and dinosaurs are something most elementary children are interested in. This book is really good for younger children as it talks about the most simple and basic elements of dinosaurs and their fossils. It has almost two different books going on within it, which I’m not sure whether I like or not. There is almost a story about dinosaurs that is written in different large font at the top of each page and another small, more in depth blurb about dinosaurs at the bottom. Most times these two texts were related, but it sometimes got confusing reading them both at the same time.  The only thing I really didn’t like about this book is that it gave a specific reason dinosaurs went extinct. As far as I know there is no one agreed upon reason, and the reason listed is not the most popular theory. I don’t think we should ever show kids that science is definitive and certain. Almost nothing in science is proven, it’s all a bunch of theories being worked out, so I really didn’t like that this gave an “answer” when there really is none. Other than that I found this book very useful with charts and diagrams in the back as well.

The illustrations in this book are cute and fun. They are done in mosaic form, looking like a bunch of torn paper, but are quite accurate as far as proportions go. They are colorful and attractive to the eye, but again I feel they are gauged towards younger students.

I would use this book in my classroom, but if I read it aloud I would probably skip that first blurb about how they went extinct. This would be a nice book to have in a dinosaur unit as well since it has a lot of basic information.

Never Take a Shark to the Dentist

Title: Never Take a Shark to the Dentist (and other things not to do)

Author: Judy Barrett

Illustrator: John Nickle

Picture book for ages (approximately) 5 and up

Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Summary:

This book is a list of things one should not do with certain animals, such as sit next to a porcupine on the subway.

Opinion:

Although this book is cute and filled with imagination and creativity, I’m not sure I would consider it great quality. Don’t misunderstand, I like this book, but as far as deep quality literature goes, I’m just not sure this qualifies. It does have several good literary elements, such as place, the illustrations show vividly each place, getting smaller or larger as the animal in question requires. There is a mood that goes with each illustration and animal as well, but it’s never a strong mood. There is absolutely no plot. This book is just a list, nothing more. There is no rhyme or reason to which animals were picked or why some weren’t.

The illustrations in this book are quite funny and they do tend to capture the moment well. They are entertaining and often show things not described in the words or text. Without the illustrations this book would not be the same, boring even.

I would use this book in my classroom, but probably just on my library shelf. There is no reason to keep it out of my classroom, yet I see no reason to run out and get it either. It’s a cute, funny read, but that’s about it. There isn’t anything super special or important related in this book that I would specifically pull it out for a lesson or study.