Synopsis: Shorty and his family, along with thousands of Japanese Americans, are sent to an internment
camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Fighting the heat and dust of the desert, Shorty and his
father decide to build a baseball diamond and form a league in order to boost the spirits of the
internees. Shorty quickly learns that he is playing not only to win, but to gain dignity and
self-respect as well.
The illustrations done in Baseball Saved Us are done in dark colors that make the reader get the idea that the pictures are from a long time ago. This is probably a good strategy used by the illustrator because this is a historically based book. The distinct colors make the book stand out from others.
I thought this book was an excellent book in that it incorporated history in a way that would keep students interested and engaged, which can sometimes be difficult to do. I also really enjoyed this book because the topic is very unique from any other I have heard before.
I would definitely use this book as an introduction into a lesson on life for Japanese Americans during World War II as well as a discussion on internment camps. I also found a website with a lesson plan complete with various creative writing prompts, vocabulary activities, as well as interdisciplinary connections with social studies and math. This website is awesome and I would definitely use it when creating a lesson using this book. The website can be accessed here: https://www.leeandlow.com/images/pdfs/baseball.pdf
To learn more about the author, you can look at his website located here: http://kenmochizuki.com
Publishing: Amistad, Reprint Edition. December 27th, 2011.
Synopsis: The story of One Crazy Summer begins when one summer, three sisters from New York travel to Oakland, California to live with their mother who abandoned them as babies. Delphine is the oldest sister who acts as the mother to her younger sisters Vonetta and Fern. They arrive in California only to realize their mother is nothing like they could have ever imagined. Instead of doing fun mother daughter activities all summer their mother sends them to a day camp run by a radical group called the Black Panthers. The girls learn from a woman names Sister Mukumbu about all of the positive things that The Black Panthers do for the community such as feeding hungry children. After one of The Black Panther members gets shot by the police, the girls are told that they will be participating in a rally to get the founder Huey Newton out of prison. After returning from a day trip to San Francisco, the girls come home to find their mother being arrested. Cecile says she has no daughters to the police officer so the girls pretend to be neighbors. The time comes for the rally and the sisters read one of their mothers poems that they found in the kitchen. The sisters see their mother has been released from jail at the rally and they go home with her. Their mother reveals to them that she lost her mother at age 11 and that she has had a rough life ever since, trying to explain why she left them as babies. The next day the girls return home to New York after finally getting a hug from their mother.
The author Rita Williams-Garcia writes in a way that is clear, concise and direct in a way that is easy to follow. The author also has a way of writing that is subtle yet impactful and therefore sets her apart from other authors from whose works I have read.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book because I love any sort of story about discovery. Over the course of this One Crazy Summer, the girls learn so much not only about who their mom is, but also about whats going on in the world as well as who they are as people. I find books like this to be extremely interesting because I love to watch the transformation from the characters in the beginning to the characters at the end of the book.
While reading this book, I thought a lot about using this story to introduce a lesson on African American's fight for civil rights during the 1960s. I would definitely use this book to start a conversation and then a lesson on this topic and what was going on during this time. I would then have my students work in groups to present on different popular names that played a major role during this time period, such as The Black Panthers or Rosa Parks. I would then have them create a power point presentation to share with the class. Another activity to go along with this story that I thought of was using poetry like Cecile did in the book to share knowledge gained on the African American Civil Rights movement. I would then have my students create a "poetry café" in which each student would present their poem and the class would snap their approval afterwards.
Title: My Secret War: The World War II Diary of Madeline Beck
Author: Mary Pope Osborne
Publishing: Findaway World. August 1st, 2009.
Synopsis: This book tells the story of a young girl named Madeline Beck who is living with her mother in a Long Island boarding house until her father; a Lieutenant- commander returns home from war. Madeline has a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings without her dad around and making friends until her classmate and crush Johnny Vecchio learns that Maddie's father is in the Navy. The two then decide to make a a student club to support the war effort by selling war bonds, gathering scrap metal and used books, and making first aid kits. One night Maddie decides to take a walk on the beach and sees and overhears two men discussing something in hushed tones with very heavy accents. This causes Maddie to become suspicious enough to contact the FBI and in turn leads to the arrest of four Nazi agents. Just when things are going well from young Maddie, her mother receives a telegram stating that her father has been injured. The mother daughter duo pack up and move to San Francisco where he will be hospitalized. The book ends on a happy note when Maddie is reunited with her father.
This book is written in a unique way in that it is written from the perspective of a young girl during the times of World War II. In addition, the book is written in a series of diary entries that make reading it feel like you get real insight into the fictitious character that is Madeline Beck. This diary format approach to writing makes this book unique from others in the historical fiction genre.
This was my absolute favorite book growing up and I have read this book atlas ten times. I fell in love with the character and remember thinking how cool it was that even though we come from different times and circumstances, I still could relate to how she was feeling. This book does an excellent job of giving the reader an excellent feel of what is was like to grow up as a young girl during World War II and I believe that it makes this an excellent book.
I could definitely see myself using this book in my future classroom as a supplement to learning about World War II as well as a segway into creative writing. I could use this book to bring up lessons about ways that children were able to help in the war effort, as well as what occurred during World War II and why. I also thought it would be cool if while the students were reading Madeline Beck's journal, the students kept their own journal of their daily lives for a whole month. That way the students could connect with Madeline Beck and practice their writing skills.
In looking online for further resources, I discovered a unit plan with various lesson and activity ideas that would go along with the book. The website for this unit plan can be accessed here: http://www.homeschoolhelperonline.com/units/my_secret_war.shtml
In using this book to create a World War II lesson, I found a website which had all the information you need to know about World War II written specifically for students, which would be helpful for lessons. You can find the website here: http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/war/
To learn more about the author, you can go to her website by following this link: http://marypopeosborne.com
Publishing: Signet, Rei Cen Edition. July 1st, 2003.
Synopsis: This story follows the life of nine year old Mary Lennox living in a British colony of India being raised by a slew of nannies. Her parents barely have the time to raise her so she is very self-centered and spoiled. In a tragic turn of events, her parents both die of cholera and Mary is left in the care of her uncle Archibald. He doesn't care much for her and basically moves her into his mansion in England and leaves her there. Her maid Martha does not put up with her temper tantrums. She also tells her about the secret garden that her Uncle Archibald had closed off after his wife's death and about her little brother who loves gardening and the outdoors. Mary discovers the garden and opens it up with a key that was discovered with the help of a robin. She also makes a discovery as to who the person is that she hears crying at night. She figures out that it is her Uncle Archibald's son who like her is very self absorbed. He believes himself to be ill even though he is not because he has been told so his entire life. His father does not like to be around him because it reminds him of his mother and he also fears that he will have the same physical difficulties that he does and therefore he is always in Europe away from his son. Mary, Dickon and Collin work on the garden together and Collin begins to think less and less of himself and more about the wonderful world around him. With this he gathers more and more strength and eventually begins to walk. When his father Archibald returns home, he is able to show him the garden while standing on his own to feet. This in turn creates a new and beautiful father son relationship that they have never had.
The story of this book is told in 3rd person by a narrator who has a completely objective perspective. The language written in this book is dark due to the heaviness of some of the concepts but is also very flowery and descriptive which makes this book stand out from others of the same genre.
I love this book and have loved it ever since my mom read it to me when I was little. Not only is this book beautiful written, but I have always loved the story of transformation when Mary and Collin both change from spoiled self centered children, to children who are kind and considerate and more aware of those around them. I feel that the message that everyone can change for the better is a powerful one and that this message is eloquently shown in this book.
While reading this book, I could think of many different fun activities to supplement with the reading. The first idea I thought of would be hard to do but so cool if it were to work out. I was thinking it would be amazing to create our own little secret garden in which we could plant flowers and tend to them and watch them grow. We could also add some science mini lessons into the mix by discussing the different parts of the plant and how it grows. Another idea I had was that after the book I could have my students watch the movie and take notes on the difference between the two stories. Once we are done watching, I would have my students pretend to be movie critics and rate the movie based on how closely it stuck to the original book. I would then have them present to the class their rating and why they gave it, which would be a great way to sum up the book in a fun way.
Synopsis: This story revolves around the life of a Mexican girl names Esperanza. Esperanza lives a charmed life on her family's beautiful ranch home with servants and anything Esperanza could ever want or need. But suddenly, when tragedy strikes, Esperanza is forced to flee from her wonderful home and everything she's ever known for a new life in California during the Great Depression whereto will live in a camp for Mexican farm workers. This of course is a far cry from her wonderful life back home in Mexico, and Esperanza does not feel prepared in the slightest for the physical labor she must do, financial situation she is in as well as the new discrimination she now faces. To make matters worse, Esperanza's mother becomes ill and she must now work to pay for her mother's care as well as both of their survival.
The author Pam Munoz Ryan does an excellent job of creating an element of suspense in her writing that kept me hanging on until the very end. Ryan's writing also contains so much emotion that sets her writing apart from the works of others.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book because of the message of the importance of rising to the occasion and the many teachable moments throughout the story. Not only did I enjoy the many lessons folded into Esperanza Rising, but I enjoyed the drama and suspense that made me feel very involved in the plot. I enjoy books that can pull at my emotions and make me feel truly invested in the main character and this book did just that.
While reading this book, some very obvious lesson ideas popped into my head, such as using this book to discuss life as immigrants and immigration, discussing labor rights and working conditions during the great depression, and also just in general using this book during a unit on the Great Depression. I found a lesson plan to go along with an Esperanza Rising unit that included many of these ideas and the website can be found here: http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/esperanza-rising-learning-not-be-afraid-start-over#sect-objectives
I also stumbled upon a few fun activities to incorporate after reading this book including making posters with some of the Mexican Proverbs written in the book before chapter one and students draw pictures to make the posters pop. I could also have my students create acrostic poems with the name of a character and a word to describe them for each word. That way they could analyze the characters in this book in a fun way. These activities were found on a website that can be found here: http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/esperanza-rising/funactivities.html#gsc.tab=0
I also found a well done book trailer that ban be found here:
If you would like to read more information about the author, you can visit her website by clicking on the link here: http://www.pammunozryan.com
