Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by: J.K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Scholastic

Copyright Date: 1997

Number of Pages: 309

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

Harry Potter lives with his aunt and uncle, the Dursley's. His parents were killed in a car accident when he was one and he has been living under the Dursley's staircase ever since. The Dursley's have a son named Dudley who is a bully to Harry and has been ever since they were small. Harry was left on their doorstep with a mysterious note explaining what had happened. Now, at 10 Harry was used to being shunted aside. When they went to the zoo for Dudley's birthday it was no different. His aunt and uncle bought Dudley souvenirs and food and didn't give Harry any. When they went into the reptile house Harry was excited to see the snakes. He walked up to one cage and started talking to a snake, more to himself about how he knows how it feels to be in a cage. All of the sudden, the snake started to talk back! He was talking to the snake for a while when Dudley noticed. He started in on Harry then all of the sudden the glass on the cage disappeared and the snake slithered out. That's when Harry knew he was different. He had suspected it all along but this was a big deal. Of course he got into trouble.

Soon after that a letter came in the mail for him. This was a big deal because he never gets any mail. As he was about to open it, Uncle Vernon took it away from him. HE was angry obviously because that was his letter! No matter though, because the next day a few more letters came for him. Uncle Vernon took those too! One morning he was determined to read his letter so he snuck to the front door and opened it only to find Uncle Vernon sleeping on the front porch! Letters kept coming and coming for him! Uncle Vernon, determined not to let Harry read his letter, packed up the family and drove them around until he found a spot where no one could find him. On and island, in the middle of the sea...

The next day happened to be Harry's 11th birthday. At midnight according to Dudley's watch there was a banging at the door! On a deserted island!! The door flew open and there was a giant man standing there. Take a long story short, his name was Hagrid he worked at a wizarding school called Hogwarts, Harry's parents did not die in a car crash but were murdered by the most dark wizard who ever lived, Harry survived and in the process vanquished the dark Lord, thereby making him famous. He was now old enough to attend Hogwarts and he was there to give him his letter.

Hagrid took him to a Diagon Alley, a Wizarding street in London. There they got his books, supplies, robes, a wand, and an owl called Hedwig. Hagrid dropped Harry off back at home. He was to get on the Hogwarts Express from platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station on September first.

A month later he was at Kings Cross trying to find PLatform 9 3/4 when he met the Weasleys. HE and Ron sat together on the train and they were instantly friends. Just as When he met Draco Malfoy, they were instantly enemies. Everyone knew who he was. Everyone wanted to meet him. It was weird to Harry. While on the train he met Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom. At school they were all sorted into different houses and Hermione, Ron, Harry and Neville were all placed in Griffindor.

As time went on Harry learned that Professor Snape hated his dad in school and thereby hated Harry. Harry was great at being a seaker in Quidditch and was placed on the Griffindor Quidditch team as the youngest seaker in history. Harry and Ron became friends with Hermione after they saved her from a giant Troll. Harry got an invisibility cloak from someone that was his dads when his dad was in school so he would explore the school under it at night. That is when he came across the mirror of Erised. When you look in this mirror, you see what your heart truly desires. When he looked in, he saw his family. He went back night after night to sit in front of it. Dumbledore found him there and told him about it. He said that it would be moved and that it would be wise not to go looking for it.

Throughout the school year Harry, Ron and Hermione suspected that Snape was up to something. There was a hallway on the third floor that was restricted and they found out what was behind it. There was a giant three headed dog, and it was guarding something. They suspected that Snape was trying to get passed it to whatever it was guarding. It was obvious that Snape hated Harry, he tried to throw him off his broom during Quidditch.

Many things were going on. Hagrid hatched a dragon in his wooden cabin that was growing alarmingly fast. Harry, Ron and Hermione had to take it through the castle up to the astronomy tower to meet some of Ron's brother's friends who were going to take it with them. They got caught in the process by Draco Malfoy and they all were sent to detention in the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid. While there they were searching for a hurt unicorn and they came across an evil figure that came after them until a Centaur came and saved Harry.

One night Harry knew that Snape was going to try to get through the trap door to steal the Sorcerer's stone (they found out from Hagrid that that was what was hidden below). The three of them snuck out that night to go and stop him. When they got to the three headed dog it was already asleep. They went through the trap door and they had to go through a bunch of obstacles (devil's snare, flying keys, poisoned potions, and an enchanted chess game) to get there, but with Ron and Hermione's help he succeeded. Come to find out however, that it was Quirrel - the defense against the dark arts teacher - who had come to steal it. He had Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. The mirror of Erised was there and when Harry looked into it he saw himself put it into his pocket, and all of the sudden, it was in his pocket. Quirrel tried to get it from him but when he touched Harry he burned up. Which gave Harry the idea to grab his face. He did, Quirrel died and Voldemort's spirit flew at him and out of sight.

He woke up in the hospital wing where Dumbledore explained what happened. HE also had a lot of gifts from well wishers. He, Ron and Hermione, and Neville were all awarded house point which made them win the house cup.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ who would I recommend this book to?

I would and have recommended this book to anyone who has never read it. It is the first book in the long line of my favorite series!!

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

There is the whole "Harry Potter is evil" thing going on, so that's a problem. Some people don't want their kids to read about witches and wizards because it could corrupt their kids.

My Reaction:

I love it. J.K. Rowling is the best author ever and I enjoy reading every book that she writes. The characters are believable and lovable. I can read Harry Potter any time and never get bored.

The Tourtise and the Dare by: Terry Deary

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Picture Window Books

Copyright Date: 2007

Number of Pages: 63

Reading Level: 7-11

Summary:

The Olympics were coming up in ancient Greece and so the local school was holding a smaller version of the Olympics for all the boys in celebration. Girls couldn't participate in, or go to the Olympics at all. Ellie's brother, Cypselis, came home from school and announced that he was going to race against Bacchiad the biggest kid in school. They had a bet against each other, if Cypselis won then Bacchiad would give him a goat, but if Cyselis won, he said he would give him... Ellie! Ellie was furious! In those days, when men made an agreement it had to be carries out. Her brother was a slow runner and now she was to become Bacchiad's slave! Well, she decided she better help her brother practice if she wanted to stay free. When they went out and raced each other, she won. She was afraid. They came across the track where Bacchiad was practicing... He started to trash talk Cypselis and he was telling Ellie what he was going to use her for. Ellie fought back. She bet that he probably couldn't beat her and Cypselis is much hfaster than her! So, they raced. She would have beaten him if he hadn't kept elbowing her... She had stamina and he was strong so it was a close race. Cypselis was distraught what had he gotten Ellie into? That night they decided that Ellie would race for him. They were identical twins and so she cut her hair to look like a boy. Race day came. They went to the track. Then, the runners were all told to take their clothes off. She rounded on Cyslslelis. Now what was she supposed to do? Girls weren't allowed to watch the Olympics so how was she supposed to know they raced naked?? She decided she'd have to let Cypselis race. Halfway through the race Cypselis and Bacchiad were shoulder to shoulder... Bacchiad tried to elbow Cypselis but he ducked out of the way and Bacchiad lost control... He fell! Cypselis took off. But Bacchiad caught up. at the last second, he passed Cypselis. He won. But the referee found out that Bacchiad had eaten a leaf that would make him run faster so he had to forfeit. Cypselis won and they got a goat!

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

This is a good book to teach about ancient Greece. IT is fictional but it talks about the Olympics when they were pretty recent.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

Well, the boys run naked so that could be a problem for some parents. They also say words like stupid and I know some kids aren't allowed to say that word.

My reaction:
I thought this was a cute book. It had a fun story line that incorporated Ancient Greece culture. I would use this to teach.

The Lion's Slave by: Terry Deary

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Picture Window Books

Copyright Date: 2007

Number of Pages: 63

Reading Level: 7-11

Summary:

Lydia is a servant who works for Archimedes (the lion of Syracuse) the famous Greek inventor/mathematician. She doesn't really like working for Archimedes because he always calls her stupid and useless. She doesn't like this treatment but believes that in comparison to Archimedes she is stupid and useless. One day the Romans came to attack Greece. Archimedes knew that his life would be over and Lydia worried that hers would be too but he told her she is too stupid to be killed she would be taken as a slave. She begged him to invent something that would stop the Romans from attacking. She suggested they throw rocks at them. He laughed at her. But she showed him how she and her brothers used to do it as kids. She grabbed a plank of wood and put a rock underneath it in the middle. She put the rock to be thrown on one end and then jumped on the other launching it into the air. This gave Archimedes and idea, and then the catapult was invented. She showed him two more childish games they used to play that led to him inventing something else. including, a giant crane, and a giant mirror that could reflect the sun's light and burn down the ships. All these inventions worked. But then the Romans came to attack on land. One soldier arrived at Archimedes house demanding to know who lived there. Lydia told him, and the soldier said that he was told not to harm him. In response, Lydia said, "that's nice of you seeing all that Archimedes did to you." She went on to explain that He was the one who invented the catapult, the claw, and the mirror that destroyed their ships. The soldier was so mad, he killed Archimedes. Lydia did in fact become a Roman slave, but she liked it better.

Who would benefit from reading this book/Who would I recommend this book to?

This is a good book for teachers to have when talking about ancient Greece. It has vocab words in the beginning that they should learn. Then at the back it talks about the true elements of the story and those that are fictional.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None that I know of.

My reaction:

I thought this book was great! It was a cute story that showed who Archimedes was and what he did in a way that kids could understand. I thought it was really well written.

The Drinking Gourd by: F.N. Monjo

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Harper and Row

Copyright Date: 1970

Number of Pages: 62

Reading Level: 4-8

Summary:

Tommy Fuller was sitting at church one day and he was bored. In those times, they went to church all day long. All the kids sat on the balcony while the adults sat in the congregation. Tommy had an apple and a string ans so he tied the apple to the string and three it out the window to where a bunch of geese were sitting. One goose latched on and Tommy pulled up. He was fishing for geese! The goose made a horrible racket and Tommy was sent home. He was told to go and wait in his room but he went to the barn instead. He talked to the horses a bit and then decided to jump off of the loft into the hay stacks. When he got to the top of the loft he heard a baby crying. He thought that was odd... Then there was a mans voice that said, "You won't take us alive!" Tommy was scared. Then he saw that it was a slave family hiding in the loft. Apparently this barn was a checkpoint on the underground railroad and his dad was involved in helping slaves escape. His dad got home and explained the situation. Then they set off to take this family to their next checkpoint. They were making their way to Canada so they could be free. The son of the black man explained to Tommy that if a slave wanted to be free all they would have to do is follow the drinking gourd, which Tommy knew as the big dipper. The last star on the drinking gourd pointed north so they just had to keep following it. Tommy's dad hid the family under some hay in the back of the horse trailer and they set off. Once they got to their destination on the bank of the river, his dad set off to find the boat and Tommy sat in the wagon. All of the sudden a "hunting party" arrived in search for the exact family that was in the back of their trailer! He knew the men because they were a part of the congregation at church. They asked him about the goose fishing and they all had a good laugh. They said it was procedure to check all the wagons. Tommy came up with a story. He said that he was afraid he's get a spanking when his dad got home so he took off in the trailer to go fishing. He said that he was a runaway but not the one they were looking for. They believed him and told him to run along home. He said ok! Shortly after that, his dad came for the family and he took them across the river in the boat. When his dad got home that night he explained that he believed in obeying the law but not when it came to people's lives. Slavery was wrong and he would do everything in his power to fight it.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ Who would I recommend this book to?

This is a good book to teach when talking about the underground railroad and slavery. I would recommend this to teachers who plan on teaching that part of history.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None that I know of.

My Reaction:

This is a simple book that teaches a great part of history. This teaches a valuable lesson about laws. I like the end when the dad is talking to Tommy and he tells him he is a law abiding citizen but sometimes it takes a moral judgement to determine what is right and wrong rather than just following the law blindly. I liked the story line and i would use this book if I ever have to teach about slavery.

Sarah, Plain and Tall by: Patricia MacLachlan

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Harper and Row

Copyright Date: 1985

Number of Pages: 58

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

Anna and Caleb's mother died a few days after Caleb was born. They were older now and Anna remembered much about her but Caleb couldn't remember anything so he always asked questions about her like if she sang a lot. One day, their dad came home from the fields and he had news. He had put an add in the newspaper saying that he was looking for a wife and mother to his kids. He got a response from s lady named Sarah who lived in Maine by the sea. They were all excited and they wrote her letters asking her questions. Finally it was determined that she would come and stay with them for a month to see if it was a good fit. She came. They loved her. She loved to get down and dirty and help with the chores. She brought suveniers from the sea that she missed very much. Caleb was anxious to see if she was going to stay with them forever. They would all play with the animals, swim, and eat meals together. Their dad taught her to ride a horse and drive a wagon. The kids could tell that she and their dad got along very well and that they were growing to love each other. There was a huge storm one night and they all had to hide in the barn with the animals. Their father held Sarah close. One day she went into town by herself and everyone thought that she was leaving for good, but she came back! She came back and brought with her colored pencils, the colors of the sea. She had drawn pictures and wanted to finish them. Caleb admitted that he didn't think she was coming back. She told them then that she was going to stay for good. She and their father got married and they ate dinner together, the four of them, from then on.

Who would benefit from reading this book/Who would you recommend this book to?

This is a short simple book that is easy to read. I would recommend it to children who are studying this time period because it is a historical fiction book.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None that I can see.

My reaction:

I thought it was ok. It was an easy read with a simple plot but I thought it was almost too simple. There weren't many descriptions about things that could make me really see what was going on. Sarah bugged me. I don't know why... Maybe its just because of how often she talked about missing the sea. In my mind I was thinking, why did you decide to leave it then? I know that question is answered but, overall, not my favorite book.

Harry Potter and the Prizoner of Azkaban by: J.K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Scholastic

Copyright Date: 1999

Number of Pages: 435

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

This is the third book in the Harry Potter series, and Harry's thrid year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. In the beginning of the book Harry is stuck at his aunt and uncle's again bored and bullied as usual. He has recieved a couple letters from his friends Ron and Hermione, but otherwise there has been nothing. He is ready to go back to school. After a week of mysery when his Aunt Marge comes to visit (she thinks he is a juvinile delinquent) he gets so angry at her one night for going off about his parents that he accidentally blows her up like a balloon. All the sudden she started to swell and then she was floating as if full of helium. Harry was furious and he was also on the run. Young Wizards are not supposed to do magic outside of school. He unintentionally calls upon the night bus to come get him when he fell to the ground after seeing a mysterious animal staring at him from the shadows of the houses, and it takes him the Diagon Alley where the Minister of Magic is waiting for him. Oops. Sure that he was going to be expelled or maybe even arrested he is surprised to find the minister relieved that he was ok. Why shouldn't he be?

He spends the next two weeks doing his homework and walking the streets of Diagon Alley. On the last night before term started Ron and his family come to stay at the Leaky Cauldron along with Hermione. That night Harry over hears Ron's parents having an argument about him. In a nutshell, Sirius Black, famous mass murderer broke out of Azkaban and is after him. They were having an argument on whether or not it is the right thing to tell Harry or not. The next day Mr. Weasley ends up telling him anyway and tells him not to go after Black. Harry is confused by that, why would he go looking for someone who wants to kill him?

On the train ride to school Dementors (the guards of Azkaban) come aboard the Hogwarts Express and Harry discover's first hand what they can do to people. They suck the happiness right out of you. Harry passed out because of all the horrible things that have happened in his life. It is then that Harry meets professor Lupin for the first time. Harry has a problem with dementors all year and professor Lupin gives him anti-dementor lessons. It is a charm called the patronus that acts as a shield to protect him.

It is a busy year for Harry, from passing out on his broom during quidditch from the dementors and being tailed by teachers all tring to make sure that he is safe from this Sirius Black... He also is in divination for the first time with Professor Trelawney who "predicts" his death every day. Somehow Hermione is taking two classes at once and he always has ongoing battles with Professor Snape. Ron and Hermione are always fighting because Hermione's cat is always trying to eat Scabbers, Ron's rat, who is looking older and closer to death by the day. Draco Malfoy is on a warpath to get Hagrid fired because the Hippogriff, Buckbeak attacked him, and oh yeah, a killer is after him.

There are a few times that Sirius Black breaks into the castle. The first time was on Halloween. He snuck up Griffindor Tower and slashed up the Fat Lady portrait because she wouldn't let him in. The second time, he breaks into Griffidor Tower and slashes the curtains on Ron's bed, but when Ron yelled out, he left quickly. Everyone was confused that he didn't just silence Ron and move onto Harry.

Harry, who didn't get permission to go into Hogsmede, snuck in with ron and Hermione. While at the Three Broomsticks, under his invisiblity cloak he over heard some of the teachers and the Minister of Magic talking about Sirius Black. He found out that Black and Harry's dad were best friends in school and apparently it was because of Black that Harry's parents were killed. Black joined the dark side and told Voldemort where Lilly and James were hiding. That filled Harry like fire. His parents best friend, turned them into Voldemort.

As the end of the semester drew near they had exams to take. During Harry's divination exam, Professor Trelawney, who everyone thought to be a fraud, made a real prediction that a servant of Voldemort will escape tonight and will rejoin his master to make him stronger. The Dark Lord will return stronger than ever before. Unnerved, Harry hurried to tell Ron and Hermione only to find out that Buckbeak the Hippogriff, who had attacked Malfoy, was sentenced to death that night. They wanted to be with Hagrid when it happened because he was so distraut. Because it was a formal execution the minister, an executioner, and Dumbledore were all going to be there for it. When Harry, Ron and Herminone arrived at Hagrid's hut Hagrid made them go back to the castle because they weren't supposed to be out of the castle! They left just as the Execution Party arrived. On their way, Scabbers was going crazy. He was squealing and freaking out. It was because Hermione's cat was slinking along behind them. Well Scabber's escaped Ron and was running across the lawn and ron ran after him. Just as a great black dog, the one Harry saw at his aunt and uncle's and the one he had been seeing all year, came running up. It latched onto Ron and took him underneath the Womping Willow.

They followed, afraid at what might be on the other end. When they got there, they realized that it was the shrieking shack. They found Ron and apparently, the dog was Sirius Black who was an animagious! To make it short, Lupin came in after them and they found out that Lupin is a werewolf, Sirius and Lupin had been friends too at Hogwarts and Ron's rat was an animagious as well, and he was the real one that betrayed Harry's parents. Sirius was not after Harry, he was after Peter Petegrew. After much explanation (including, revealing Peter Petegrew, stunning Snape who followed them, and learning the truth) Harry believed Lupin and Sirius.

They all made their way out of the shrieking shack pulling along with them Snape and Petegrew. They were taking Peter up to the castle to be turned in so that Sirius's name could be cleared. Once they were out on the grounds the clouds shifted and the full moon shown down on Lupin who turned into a werewolf. He was chased into the woods by Sirius, and Peter escaped (making Trelawney's prediction true). Eventually they made their way to the lake where they found Sirius benig converged upon by dementors. Harry tried to save him but the dementors turned on him too. He passed out but not before he saw someone across the lake conjure a patronus that drove the dementors away.

He woke up in the hospital wing. Apparently Sirius was being held and he was awaiting the dementor's kiss (sucking out of his soul). Dumbledore came in and explained that they needed to save him and that Hermione knew how. He said that there could be more than one innocent life that could be saved. Hermione had been using a time turner all year to get to her classes. They used it now. They went and relived the past 3 hours and in the process, they saved Buckbeak, flew him up to where Sirius was and Sirius escaped on him.

Now, Harry had a Godfather who cared about him and who he kept in contact with. It made for a very promising summer.

Who would I recommend this book to/Who would benefit from reading this book?

Anyone and everyone. It is a marvelously written book that has amazing descriptions and plots.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None, personally. But, there are a lot of religious groups who do not support Harry Potter because it is evil and sacreligious. I would be careful reading it in the classroom.

My Reaction:

There isn't much to say except, this book is amazing and it is my favorite of all the Harry Potters. Sirius Black is one of my favorite characters and so it is exciting that he is introduced in this book. The adventures that Harry and his friends go on are not only entertaining but they are clever and intense and proof of what a master writer J.K. Rowling is.

Junie B., First Grader - Aloha-ha-ha! by: Barbara Park

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Random House

Copyright Date: 2006

Number of Pages: 119

Reading Level: 4-8

Summary:

This Junie B. Jones is when Junie gets to go to Hawaii. For show and tell one day in class she announces to her class that her parents are taking her to Hawaii for a week! She is so excited! Mr. Scary gives her a camera to take with her and gives her the assignment of making the class' first official photojournal!

She gets to fly on an airplane for the first time. While in the air she finds out that there are grumpy ladies in front of her and behind her. While getting her picture taken on the plane she amkes both ladies mad and so they are both in the picture.

Once in Hawaii she gets to go swimming and snorkeling! Her parents buy her a float tube in the shape of a parot even though she knows how to swim already. The parot tube is too tight ans so she wears it deflated.

Over the course of her vacation she gets discouraged because she isn't getting good pictures. Then her parents take her on a boring old person nature tour. But that is where she has the most fun. She puts flowers in her hair and a little baby bird, thinking she is a giant flower, lands on her head. She gets a picture of it.

In the end, her journal turns out great and she is excited to share about her experience in Hawaii when she gets back to Room One.

Who would benefit from readnig this book/Who would I recommend this book to?

This is a cute book that little kids would enjoy. It is a good book to read outloud to a class.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

none

My reaction:

The Junie B. Jones books are so cute. I love reading about her adventures and this one was no different. She makes me laugh. I like the way the author talks from Junie's point of view, it makes the book so fresh and creative.

Marvin Redpost - Super Fast, Out of Control! by: Louis Sachar

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Random House

Copyright Date: 2000

Number of Pages: 79

Reading Level: 7-12

Summary:

Marvin and his friends were bored on a Saturday when his friends decided that they all should ride down suicide hill! Marvin, not liking this idea, since he hadn't broken in his new bike went in to ask his mom. He decided the best way to get her to say no was to be mean to his sister, so he was and she grounded him. His friends were disappointed but went home.

At school on Monday somehow a rumor started that Marvin was going to ride down suicide hill. Everyone was impressed because none of them had ever done it. Marvin was scared! How could he back down? everyone would think that he was a wimp. He worried about it all week. He tried to come up with ways of getting out of it. He tried asking his brother for advice he tried to get his mom to tell him he couldn't... Finally, he accepted the fact that he was just going to have to face his fears and do it, in front of the WHOLE SCHOOL.

Saturday came. He and his friends had decided to meet up and ride to suicide hill together. He went to his friends house but he and another friend were watching a movie. Marvin was in a hurry because he anticipated that everyone was there now waiting for him and he didn't want them to think he had chickened out so he went on without them. When he got to suicide hill, no one was there. He was confused thinking he had mistaken the time. Then his mom showed up to watch. The only people that came to watch was his family. He realized that no one had actually been planning on coming they just were amazed that Marvin was going to do it! So, he rode down the hill to the cheers of his family and that was all right by him.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

This is a short simple book that is exciting fro kids to read. Boys would love it because it has to do with bikes and girls would love it too! I would recommend this to any child looking for a good read.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None

My reaction:

This is a cute book. It is an easy read and it has a good theme about facing your fears and not giving into peer pressure. I would let my children read this any day.

Hiroshima by: Laurence Yep

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic

Copyright Date: 1995

Number of Pages: 52

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

This is an accurate account of the atomic bomb being dropped on Hiroshima using a girl named Sachi as the main character. The town was going through their normal daily routines that day. People were working to build a street of gravel just in case their town started on fire that would make them safe. Sachi went to her job working in a center that detected bomb threats. Up in the air there were three planes getting ready to drop the bomb on Hiroshima. One held the bomb and the others were there to document its magnitude. It was cloudy that day which would have impeded their mission but there was a clear patch right over Hiroshima so they were given the clear. When the first plane flew over Hiroshima the city was alerted and everyone got into their bomb shelters. But the plane just flew by. They knew they were safe because they bombers wouldn't trick them like that. So when the plane that held the bomb flew over everyone was out on the streets, not under cover. The bomb was dropped. It caused maximum destruction. its radiation was so hot that people burned up instantly. Some people right in the blast were subjected to such high heat that they disappeared but an outline of them was left on the cement. Houses disintegrated, people two miles away were getting burned. Fields started on fire...Out of 76,327 buildings, over 50,000 were destroyed. 125,000 people died just on that day. Thousands die days, weeks, months, and years later. People are still dying from it today. Sachi was burned badly from the blast but she was not killed. She went out to find her family. Her sister and father died.

The bomb ended WWII but at what cost? Was it worth it? Those questions are still being asked today. The bombing cuased the cold war with the Soviet Union. Many other countries started making atomic bombs. But, the U.S. decided that nothing like that should ever happen again. 25 girls were chosen that suffered from the bombing and they were brought to the U.S. to have operations that would make them look normal again. Shachi was one of them. She had plastic surgery to heal her scars.

There is now a monument in Hiroshima and on a plaque it says, "Rest in peace, for the mistake shall not be repeated." Millions of people visit it each year.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

Teachers who are teaching a unit on WWII should teach with this book. It is honestly presented with just the facts.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

This is a very controversial subject. Was it the right thing to do? Was it the wrong thing? It is an extremely sensitive subject to discuss and should be done so lightly.

My Reaction:

I found reading this book to be extremely educational and influential in my knowledge about what happened in Hiroshima. It really shows the horrors of what happened and the after math that something like the atomic bomb causes. It was interesting and sad, but definitely worth reading.

A Single Shard by: Linda Sue Park

Genre: Historical Fiction

Publisher: Yearling

Copyright Date: 2001

Number of Pages: 148

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

This is about a orphan boy living in Ch'ulp'o, Korea named Tree-ear. He lives underneath the bridge with his crippled friend Crane-man. Those are not their real names but they don't remember their real names. Tree-ear was orphaned as a toddler when his parents died of fever.

Tree-ear is an honest hard working boy who enjoys life even though he is homeless. He and Crane-man keep each other company, and have been for many years. The town of Ch'ulp'o is home to many talented potters. Tree-ear dreams of being a potter himself someday. He often sneaks in the woods right next to the most talented potter's home (Min) to watch him work. One day, when Min left to go inside, he cannot help but go take a peak and some of the work that Min keeps on the shelves outside. As he is admiring the pottery, Min catches him and scares Tree-ear so bad that he accidentally dropped the clay pot he was holding and it broke.

Min is furious and Tree-ear is horrified at what he did. For repayment he asks Min if he can work off his blunder by being h is assistant. Min agrees, and hires on tree-ear for the week. Tree-ear is excited because now he can be around the potter for a long time and watch him work. His dream is that Min will someday teach him how to make pottery, especially with the wheel.

When the week is up, Min hires on Tree-ear as his permanent assistant. Min isn't a very nice man, he is cold and rude to Tree-ear and never expresses thanks for the work Tree-Ear does for him. But Tree-ear works dutifully in hopes that he will be taught how to be a potter. Min's wife is a sweet lady who treats Tree-ear very kindly. She gives him extra food so that he can share with Crane-man at night. She gives him clothes in the winter time that he also shares with Crane-man.

Tree-ear has been working for Min for over a year when he finally asks Min if he would teach him how to make pottery. Min gets angry at him and tells him that he will never teach him how because potters only teach their sons the trade. Min lost his son to death many years before and is still bitter about it. Tree-ear is angry. He has been working for Min for a long time and the only thing that kept him going was the thought that he would someday be able to make pots. With that dream gone it was dull work.

Then word comes to the village that the Royal Emissary is coming to choose a commissioned potter for the palace. Min's stress levels rise and he is more strict with Tree-ear than usual. But tree-ear knows how important it is to Min, so he works even harder. Over the course of the next month, Min makes pots that are satisfactory to him and they are ready. The royal emissary comes and looks over the pottery. He sees what the town has to offer and leaves for another month to make his decision. It is between Min and another potter who came up with a new design and a new inlay process. Min's work is better but the other potter has a new style. Min works feverishly over the next month to create pots in the new fashion. the week before the emissary returns his pots are ready to be taken out of the kiln. In the firing process however, all of his pots had been ruined. He smashed them all over his yard. He had nothing to show the emissary when he returned. The other potter was commissioned. But, the emissary came to Min and told him that he wanted Min more but the new style was going to be tested. The other potter was a temporary palace potter until the emissary found out what min could do with the new style.

Min was going to refuse because he was too old to make the journey. Tree-ear volunteered to go for him. So, it was set. Min made the pots, Crane-man made a carrying bag to put them in and Tree-ear was ready to go. Before he set off, he gave a clay monkey that he snuck into the kiln to Crane-man (CM always called TE monkey). He set off. His journey was rough. Sometimes he would sleep in a village but other times he had to sleep in the woods. He reached the city of Puyo he visited the Rock of the Falling Flowers because Crane-man told him he shouldn't miss it. He climbed up the rock. At the top however, he found that he had been followed by a bandit who attempted to steal the package that had the pots in it thinking it was rice. Upon finding that it was pottery he chucked them over the cliff. Horrified, tree-ear ran down the hill and down to the river below to find the precious pots. He found them in shards. He either had to turn back to tell Min what happened or he could continue on. He decided to carry on with the biggest shard that he could find.

He reached the emissary with the single shard. even though it wasn't the full pot the emissary recognized the skill that it had. He sent Tree-ear back with news that Min had been commissioned. When he arrived in Ch'ulp'o it was to find that the bridge that he lived under, collapsed and Crane-man had been killed. He was invited to live with Min and his wife and he was given a new name, a name that meant that he was a sibling to the son that they lost. At the end of the book, Min asked him to go out and find wood to make his own wheel. He was going to be taught to make pottery.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

I think that anyone who reads this will like it. It has a theme of kindness and honesty throughout the whole book that anyone would benefit from.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

It's a little slow in the beginning. It drags on when it is developing the relationships of the characters. Some people might get bored reading it.

My reaction:

I only say that it was slow because that is what I heard from other people. I read this book straight through and I didn't find it slow at all. It was a great story. Tree-ear is an extremely like able person who anyone would love. It was a great story with a happy ending.

Lawn Boy by: Gary Paulsen

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Random House

Copyright Date: 2007

Number of Pages: 96

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

This is a book about a boy who is trying to raise money to buy a new inner tube for his bike tire. His parents are poor so he doesn't know where he is going to get it. Well, his grandma (kinda crazy lady) gives him a riding lawn mower for his birthday and then things begin to change. He starts by mowing his parents' tiny yard. Then, his neighbor pays him to do his... then that guys neighbor... and so on. Pretty soon he is mowing four lawns a day at about 40 dollars per yard. He is getting more and more money. More money than he knows what to do with. Well, one day he meets Arnold. Arnold makes investments in the stock market and he says that instead of paying the lawn boy he will invest that forty dollars for him... Lawn boy (his name is never mentioned) already has too many lawns to do and so he doesn't want to do one if he isn't going to get money for it. Well, Arnold knows people. Pretty soon Lawn boy has a crew of workers working for him. He gets half of what they earn and so now he can cover even more lawns. Money starts to rake it. As Arnold as his accountant all the money goes to him and he keeps the records and keeps investing things.

Eventually, between some luck with the stock market and all the work that they've been doing, lawn boy has 16,000 dollars! He didn't know what to do! But Arnold gave him even more news... He invested in another stock and... yup... the gain from that put the amount of money that lawn boy has at 50,000 dollars, with that news lawn boy passes out. On top of everything else, he is now a sponsor of a heavy weight champion Joseph Powdermilk. If he wins, then lawn boy gets a percentage of the winnings. The day that he meets "Joe Pow" they get news from one of their workers that there is a man at his house that is demanding all there money from them. Well all of them, including Joe, who is huge, pack into a little pickup to go figure out the problem. Without a word Joe Pow goes over to the man, picks him up with one arm and chucks him back into the car... They were sure that would be the last time that they saw "Rock".

Time goes on and money keeps pouring in. Lawn boy still has yet to tell his parents because he doesn't want to them to think he is bragging. Plus, he doesn't know how to even bring it up. One day as he is mowing lawns he gets a call from Arnold. He tells him to go home immediately and then hangs up. Curious, he heads over to Arnold's to find Rock and some of his buddies holding Arnold hostage. Lawn boy runs home and tells his parents everything. They are surprised, obviously, and they get a hold of Joe and they all meet at Arnold's. Joe walks right in and takes all of them out, well, more like tosses them all out the door. They never bother anyone again.

In the end, Apparently one of the numbers was calculated wrong and he didn't only have 50,000 dollars but 450,000 dollars. When he told his parents, his dad fainted, which made him think that there is a weak male gene in the family.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

I would recommend this book to any boy who is thinking about mowing lawns. Also, kids who like numbers would like this book a lot.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

Well, it can be a bit confusing at times when it starts going into detail about the stock market and stocks and bonds and interest and things... So that might turn some kids off. It also deals with people who are trying to steal the money from the business and that is a little off color. I definitely wouldn't recommend this to anyone below 11 or 12.

My reaction:

I thought this was an extremely clever book. It was really funny as well which made it easy to read. Arnold kept saying things like, groovy and far out. The grandma was kind of crazy and said really random things which make this a funny book as well. I enjoyed the exponential growth of the kids company and how he reacted to having all that money! It was a cute idea that I thought the author portrayed very well.

Lincoln: A Photobiography by: Russell Freedman

Genre: Non-Fiction/Biography

Publisher: Clarion

Copyright Date: 1987

Number of Pages: 160

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

This is the book about Abraham Lincoln's life. He was 6'4" inches tall (mostly legs), he was homely, gawky, and he wore a high silk hat. He was born in Kentucky in a log cabin with a dirt floor. He never liked to talk about his growing up much. But, he had very little schooling. His parents couldn't read or write. However, he was a bookworm. He read all the time. Anytime he could get his hands on a book, he would read it. They moved around quite a bit. His mother died and his father remarried. His first job was working as a ferryman's helper on the Ohio River. He went back and lived with his family for a while but eventually started working in a General Store. He would read, and wrestle, and tell jokes, and laugh... He started thinking about politics at 23 when he ran for state legislature. He was a confident public speaker so it was worth a try. He lost this time. After that he became a frontier merchant. He tried all sorts of small jobs. Eventually he ran for state legislature again and placed second this time out of 13. He was elected to the house of Representatives. At that point, he started to study law. He was good at it and he was becoming recognized. The next years of his life were filled with him practicing his law degree, getting married, and he was elected into the House of Representatives. That didn't go well and so he went back to practicing law. At this point slavery was becoming an issue with the expansion of the U.S. Lincoln, for a while, didn't take a firm stand on slavery, but her did think it was immoral. As time went on, he got back into the political race and he ran for president. It was a long campaign against the Democrat Stephen Douglas. He was elected. (at this point he started growing his beard) The election of President Lincoln caused an uproar because it was widley known that Lincoln opposed slavery. One thing led to another and before the country knew it, it was in a civil war. North against the south. The war was a continuous string of bad Union Generals. Enormous amounts of bloodshed and losses of life. Lincoln was the most unpopular president. The war was literally in people's backyards. Brother Against brother. It was gruesome. During the course of the war, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Slaves in the Rebel states were forever free, and they could enlist in the Union army. The war went on for many years longer than expected. People kept dying... Niether side was giving up, cities were destroyed, homes, and families were destroyed. It looked like the end of the nation. Finally however, in 1965, the war was finally over. It was almost exactly four years in length. Neither side expected it to be that long, nor to end slavery. But it did. The thirteenth Amendment was signed and all slaves were free.

Shortly after the war ended, Lincoln was reelected for another term. He and his wife went to the Ford's Theatre with another couple. The play started and his body gaurd slipped downstairs to watch it. With out him on gaurd John Wilkes Booth snuck in and shot the president. He lived for another day or two, but died on April 15th at the age of 56. His body went on a train for a funeral procession where people along the tracks lit fires in memorial to him. The stuff that was in his pocket at the time of his death was put in a bag and not opened for nearly 40 years after.

While Abraham Lincoln did amazing things for this country, he wasn't perfect. He fought with his wife, he wore carpet slippers, he let his children reak havoc on the white house, he went through bouts of depression... But all that just means he was a normal human being who did extraordinary things.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ who would I recommend this book to?

This is a book for older kids. It would be way too difficult for a child younder than prpbably 10 to understand and to be interested in. But I would recommend this to any age appropriate student because it is important for the children of America to get to know the American heroes.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

Like I said, it is a little more difficult to read so it should be targeted at an older audience. There is bloodshed in it that is portrayed accurately but still is there. He wasn't a perfect man.

My Reaction:

I loved getting to know this American president in such an honest way. What an amazing story that he has. I am so intrigued by the life that he lived because as I said, he wasn't perfect, but that made him all the more human and relatable. By reading about him in this way, I realize how little I knew about him in the first place and I realized how fantasized people portray him as. The pictures in this book are simply amazing and they make the book even better.

Bridge to Terabithia by: Katherine Patersoon

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Publisher: Scholastic

Copyright Date: 1977

Number of Pages: 128

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

It was the summer before Jess' fifth grade year and he was determined to be the fastest runner come fall. He would get up every morning when his dad left for work, before it was even light out, to go run in the field right next to his house. He didn't want anyone to see. It is a tradition at recess. All the fourth and fifth grade boys would race every day at recess to see who was the fastest. Jess had one once and he was determined to win every time. His summer went that way for a while. A family moved in across the street and the girl that was his age tried to make friends with him but he thought she was weird and so they didn't hang out all summer. Finally the first day of school came. Jess was excited for two things, to see his music teacher Miss Edmunds(who he is in love with), and to beat everyone at recess. Jess was ready, he had been practicing. Just as the races were about to begin his new next door neighbor, Leslie, shows up wanting to race. Girls weren't allowed but they let her anyway because they knew she'd be no match. Well, she beats them all. They are all mad and embarrassed. But, from that point on, Jess and Leslie become friends.

They are together all the time. They tell each other everything. Leslie is intriguing. Her family moved to this town to "find themselves" her parents are writers and they come there to get away from the material things of the world. They didn't even bring their TV. Leslie has a wonderful imagination. Together they share ideas and laugh and make up stories. They stick up for Jess' younger sister May Belle who is picked on by the older girls. The most important thing they do together is the make the magical kingdom of Terabithia. It is a secret known only to them. They use a rope swing to cross the creek behind their house and they enter the woods there. Once across, the land turns into Terabithia. They are king and queen. They have to protect their fortress (which they built with some scrap wood and nails) from outside foes and they have to bring peace to their kingdom. A little way into the woods, they found a sacred spot where they go in times of greatest fear or joy to ask for strength or to give thanks for their fortune. You could say it was their church grounds. On normal days they would sit in their fortress and Leslie would tell stories. All sorts of stories, from books that she had read to stories that she would make up. It was their magical land and it was perfect. While they were there, they would talk with royal words and there their imaginations could go wild.

At one point, Leslie's dad is remodeling their house and so Leslie is there helping him a lot. Jess gets jealous until Leslie invites him over. There he learns more about her family and he likes her parents a lot. Christmas time was coming and Jess' family didn't have any money (as his sisters were pretty bitter about). Jess wanted to get Leslie a really meaningful present. He could paint her a picture (which is a huge hobby of his) but he fears that he isn't talented enough. One day on the way home from school, he sees a sign for free puppies. He decides to get Leslie a puppy. That puppy becomes Prince Terrien of Terabithia.

Their friendship grows and grows and they become inseparable. They have other friends but they really only need each other. In the spring time it starts to rain a lot. It rains so much that the water level rises on the creek that they cross by rope. Jess is too proud to admit that he is afraid of crossing it and with Leslie there he is more brave anyway. One Saturday morning he gets a call on the phone. It's Miss Edmunds. She invites him to go to Washington D.C. with her (they live close to it). Of course he accepts. It is like a dream. They go to Washington D.C. and walk around the monuments and the museums. She buys him ice cream. Jess is on cloud nine. It had been raining as usual that morning but on their way home, the sun comes out. To him it is just a perfect ending to a perfect day. When he gets home however, something is wrong. His family was all waiting for him looking solemn. Leslie died. She went to cross to Terabithia on the rope and the rope broke and she hit her head and drown.

Jess can't believe it. He goes through each stage of the grief cycle. At first he doesn't believe it. He wakes up the next morning not remembering what happened. He fights it. He is angry with everyone. He hates everyone. He thinks that somehow she will come back. He mourns heavily for his lost friend. Then, finally, he accepts it. He realizes she won't come back. He then builds a bridge out of wood to Terabithia and he introduces May Belle to it. He knows that as long as Terabithia lives, Leslie's spirit can never die.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

This book is wonderful for anyone who has lost someone. Unlike the other book that I read that had death in it, this one ends in hope. It ends on a happier hopeful note that the reader can take courage from. This book explains the grief cycle (indirectly) really well because Jess goes through each of the stages. It is a wonderful book about friendship and how it never really dies.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

Well, Miss Edmunds takes Jess to the capitol alone. That is not tolerated anymore and so that was a little weird to read about. I thought that the climax of the book was going to be in that situation. Thank goodness it wasn't. But it is also obviously about death and so it is not for a younger audience who wouldn't understand death yet.

My reaction:

This was a sweet and honest book. It was a wonderful story about a friendship that was so strong that it couldn't be broken by death. There is so much imagination in it that it touched my heart in a way that other books couldn't that I have read this semester. It was about a true friendship where each person was making the other better. Together they were unstoppable. But even after Leslie died, Jess still found strength from the memories that they have together. It is a keeper.

Junie B., First Grader: Dumb Bunny by: Barbara Park

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Random House

Copyright Date: 2007

Number of Pages: 119

Reading Level: 4-8

Summary:

Junie B. Jones is in Mr. Scary's first grade class. One day Lucille announces that she will be having a birthday party and that everyone is invited! Lucille is rich and she has a huge mansion so all the kids are excited to go. She announces that there will be an Easter Egg hunt and whoever finds the golden egg will win a grand prize: a swimming play date with her! Junie is excited and determined to find the golden egg. However, so are other kids in the class, including Sheldon and May. Sheldon starts flirting with Lucille and everyone knows its because he wants to win the prize.

When the day comes Junie wakes up really early to get ready for the party, even though it isn't until lunch time. She waits and waits... finally its time to go to the party. She and her classmates show up around the same time and are greeted by Lucilles parents and Nanny. They are very stuck up people who don't like kids much. Once Junie spent the night at Lucilles and she did such damage that the maid still hadn't forgotten her. The parents have all the kids get into a "nice straight line," and they take them to the back. There are picnic tables set up with nice dishes and food. They all sit down for their picnic and they are served by their kitchen staff. It is really fancy.

There was a rumor that the Easter Bunny was coming. The kids were all excited. As lunch came to an end, Lucille's dad brought out a bag. In the bag was a jar full of jelly beans. They were going to play a game. There was only one purple jelly bean and whoever picked out the purple jelly bean got a special prize. Junie was determined to win, and she did! She pulled out the purple jelly bean! She got the prize that was all wrapped up. As she opened it, it was a giant bunny suit. Apparently the person who was supposed to be the Easter Bunny didn't want to come. Junie was disappointed because now she had to be the dumb bunny! Then she found out that she got to take pictures with all of the party guests and she got excited.

The egg hunt started. Junie couldn't go very fast because of her big bunny feet. But, according to Lucille's dad, there was no running allowed, so she was good. May suspected that Lucille told Sheldon where the golden egg was... So, May stuck to him like glue. He had the habit of yelling out every time he found an egg, so every time, May would sneak in and snach it from him. Junie had given up on the egg hunt. She was sitting on a rock pouting a bit when she saw something golden in the grass. It was the golden egg!! She started to run to get it just as Sheldon and May did the same thing. When the tackling ended it was Junie's hand that was on top of the egg. She ended up giving the egg to Sheldon because, afterall, he was Lucille's boyfriend. May was sulky. Junie got to give the person with the most eggs collected a giant bouquet of flowers to take home. It was a good day.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ who would I recommend this book to?

This is a cute book that is fit for any young child. I think that the humor in it is great and Junie is a very likeable character. I would recommend this to everyone.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

It doeas involve Easter which is a religious holiday, but it doesn't talk about Christ or anything.

My Reaction: This is the first Junie B. Jones book that I have ever read. I thought it was really cute. It was an easy read and it is definately something that I would read to my kids someday.

Frindle by: Andrew Clements

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Aladdin
Copyright Date: 1998
Number of Pages:112
Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:
Nick Allen is a clever kid. He isn't disrespectful, but he does have a way of bending the rules. For instance: In the third grade he turned his room into a tropical island. He had all the kids in class make palm trees out of construction paper and they taped them to their desks. The next day, everyone came to class in beach clothes and Nick made a volleyball net out of yarn and the boys shirts and he brought ten cups of sand and spread it out on the floor. The teacher loved it, but the janitors... not so much. So, that fun ended. Then, in the fourth grade, he had just got done learning about blackbirds on TV and how they have a unique peep they chirp when danger is near so the hunter can't tell where it was coming from. He was sitting in class and saw that his teacher's nose looked like the beak on a blackbird and so he let out a shrill peep. The teacher couldn't figure out where it came from... from then on he did it once or twice a week and his teacher never figured out who it was.

Then fifth grade rolled around. For seventh hour english he got Mrs. Granger as a teacher. He had heard about Mrs. Granger. She was a small, and wore her white hair in a bun. She had eyes that could make you feel like a speck of dust. She never missed a day of school, students swore she had x-ray vision, and she loved the dictionary. She would always make kids look things up in the dictionary. Parents were required to buy their kids a specific dictionary at the beginning of the school year.

On the first day of school Nick decided to try some of his delaying homework tactics on her. He would wait until the last 2 minutes of class, before the teacher had a chance to assign homework and he would ask a deep question that she was sure to answer, thus, forgetting to assign homework. He did it, all the students knew what was going on and they watched excitedly. He asked Mrs. Granger where all the words in the dictionary came from. She knew exactly what he was doing so she assigned him to write a report about the origins of words. Extra homework! He wrote his report alright, he made it 45 minutes long. Thus, hoping to delay the class an extra day. She listen attentively throughout the whole thing. When he was done she crammed the whole hour's lesson into 10 minutes. Then he asked the same question as he did the day before, "where do words come from?" The answer she gave changed his whole life. She explained that words are words because we, as human beings, say they are words.

That day Nick had the idea to change the name of a pen to a frindle. He told a small group of friends and they made a pact never to say the word pen again but to say frindle instead. They did. It worked by the end of the day they got the whole class saying frindle for pen. Words spread, and soon a few other people in the school were saying it. Then, Mrs Granger, angry that he was using words so lightly, put up a sign that said, if any student is caught saying the word frindle, they will be put into detention. Well, that did it. That got the whole school saying it. within a few days she had a classroom full of students in detention. The punishment was, they had to write 100 times "I am writing this sentence with a pen." But most of the students wrote frindle for pen. Pretty soon the word became so popular and there were so many people staying after school to write sentences that they had to arrange late buses to take the kids home.

One day, Mrs. Granger asked Nick if she could talk to him. She asked him, "don't you think this has gone far enough, aren't you ready to stop this?" and Nick replied that he wished he could, but the word wasn't his anymore. It was every one's. He would stop it if he could, but it couldn't be stopped. She pulled out a fat envelope, and she said I am going to send you this envelope when all of this is over, and she had him write the date across the seal on the back so he would know she didn't open it.

As time passed, a rich inventor in town made a Frindle brand. He made pens, shirts, and other merchandise that said frindle on them and they sold rapidly. A reporter got wind of all this and reported the story on the news. Nick ended up on CNN, NBC, The Tonight Show With David Letterman, and other news program. It spread across the country.

Just as things were settling down in Nick's town, the word was rapidly getting more popular throughout the country. The man who made the Frindle Merchandise was rolling in the doe and he was giving 1/3 of his earnings to Nick's father who put it in a savings account for Nick. By the time Nick was ready to go to college, he was wealthy. His word was still being used all over the country.

While in college, Nick got a package in the mail. It was from Mrs. Granger. She had sent him a dictionary with a page marked in it. With the dictionary came the fat envelope that he had put the date on ten years before. He opened it up and inside was a letter that explained what when he opened this, it meant that his word had made it into the dictionary. She told him how proud she was of him and reiterated the meaning and importance of words. With the letter was her favorite pen and in the cap was a small note that said "frindle". He opened to the marked page and there it was, frindle. Mrs Granger told him that this is the dictionary she requires her students to buy and she uses his story as an example of the miracle of words.

He sent her a new pen and on it was inscribed a note to her that said, she can name it anything that she wants to.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?
This is a good book to get kids interested in words. It shows a clever story of a kid who made a difference in the English language and he did it by listening to what his teacher said and learning from it. Language arts teachers could read this to their students.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?
If you do read this to your students you have to be prepared for a lot of new words to pop up.

My Reaction:
I loved this book. It is so cute and clever. I knew kids like Nick when I was in school. He is the kind of kid that is friends with everyone but he is happy to be himself. I think that everyone should read it. It was an easy read that made me happy!

Love That Dog By: Sharon Creech

Genre: Poetry

Publisher: HarperCollins

Copyright Date: 2001

Number of Pages: 86

Reading Level: 7-11

Summary:

This book is written from the perspective of Jack, a little boy in Mrs. Stretchberry's class. It is written as if it comes out of a writing journal that Mrs. Stretchberry reads and makes comments on, but all you can see is what Jack writes. They are starting a unit on poetry and at first Jack refuses to do it because, after all, boys don't write poetry, girls do. Over a few days in their poetry unit Mrs. Stretchberry convinces Jack to write a poem. He writes one about a blue car. She asks him to expand about the blue car but he doesn't want to. In class, they read a few poems by famous poets and Jack is amazed to see that some poems don't seem like poems. He thinks that

to be a poem it just has to have

short lines

that break up

the sentences.

Over the course of his writing, he begins to write poetry without realizing it. Every once in a while Mrs. Stretchberry asks if she can type up what he said about _______ and put it on the bulletin board. For a while he only lets her if she doesn't put his name on it. Finally he lets her, but some of his poems he has her edit because they might be too sad for his classmates. He is inspired by the poem Love That Boy by Walter Dean Meyers and he writes a poem "inspired by Walter Dean Meyers" called Love That Dog, and it is about his dog, Sky. Once his teacher gets him to talk more about his dog, he writes some beautiful poems about a dog he had that got hit by a car. The first poem that he wrote about a blue car racing down the street splattered with mud...which, we find out later, is the car that hit his dog sky.

He is influenced by many poets but Mr. Walter Dean Meyers is still his favorite. He asks his teacher if someone like Mr. Walter Dean Meyers would be able to come to their school and read poems to him. She convinces him to write to Mr. Meyers to see if he could come to his school. He doesn't think that Mr. Meyers will answer, but he does, and he comes and visits Jack's class and reads some of his poems to them. Jack is thrilled and can't get over Mr. Walter Dean Meyers and how good his voice sounds when he reads to them.

So, over the course of the book, Jack goes from not liking poetry to being the reason a famous poet comes to his classroom.

Love That Dog

(Inspired by Walter Dean Meyers)

By Jack:

Love that dog,

like a bird loves to fly

I said I love that dog

like a bird loves to fly

Love to call him in the morning

love to call him

"Hey there, Sky!"

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

I would recommend this book to anyone. I think that it is a great example of what poetry is and how it can change lives just by reading it. Kids would benefit from reading this book because they can appreciate the poems that Jack writes. Adults would benefit just as much from reading this book because Jack is an extremely lovable character and that makes it easy to read.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None whatsoever.

My Reaction:

My English teacher read this book to my class once and I fell in love with it. I think that this is the sweetest book. It shows how much passion children have for what they are learning even if they don't know it. It also shows that kids remember the bad things that happen in their lives just as much as adults do. At first Jack is unwilling to talk about his dog, but by the end he is writing beautiful poetry about him. The voice in this book is superb and you really feel like you are reading a kid's journal. I can picture a little boy named jack writing what he is thinking, not even knowing that what is coming out can be poetry.

Eyewitness: Time and Space by: Mary and John Gribbin

Genre: Non-Fiction

Publisher: DK Children

Copyright Date: 2000

Number of pages: 64

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

This book is packed full of information including stuff about ancient ideas, measuring time, the universe, black holes, space and time.... There is so much information that to summarize every little thing would be impossible so I will just talk about a few things I learned. For one thing, the idea of space only became important when farmers were trying to figure out whose land was whose. This led to research and discoveries about the Earth and space. I also learned that if you were to take a road trip around the circumference of the earth traveling at a steady pace of 37 miles (60km) per hour, you would finish your trip in just inder a month. But taking a jet plane at 500 miles per hour, it would take 21 years to travel the distance from the earth to the sun. WOW! Another interesting fact is, scientific evidence shows that there was a beginning to the universe. which would imply that there is an edge of time! That is a little much to think about. One last thing that I learned is that, when it comes to the universe, light provides the ultimate measure in length.

This book contains, along with its actual text, pictures and picture caps that give the reader even more information. It has labels for every picture so that there is hardly white space on a page to spare.

Who would benefit from reading this book/ who would I recommend this book to?

A very inquisitive and imaginitive child would like this book. I would recommend this book to a child that is always asking how something works and why. There is so much information in this book that it could keep a kid occupied for a long time.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

There are a lot of things that a student can learn from this book, but it also has a lot of words in it that could be potentially confusing and frustrating to a child. As I was reading it, there were a lot of words that I wasn't even familiar with. As I have said before the pages are completely covered with information and pictures. A student could have a hard time focusing while reading this book. I would be careful not to give this book to a child who is easily frustrated when they don't understand something.

My Reaction:

I thought there were a lot of amazing facts in this book that I had no clue about, ten times the amount that I discussed in my summary. If I had time, I would enjoy going through this book and reading each and every bit of text there is but that is hard to do. When I opened this book, I could feel my heartbeat quicken becuase there was so much on the page that it wasn't pleasing to my eyes. It makes me feel tired and anxious for some reason. I have read other books with a lot of information in them but for some reason this one didn't keep my interest as much as the others. Perhaps its because I felt like I didn't know enough information before I started reading. But as I said before, this book would benefit kids who like to learn about anything and everything. I think they would go crazy over the information inside.

Mountain Creatures by: Sujatha Menon

Genre: Non-Fiction

Publisher: Really Useful Map

Copyright Date: 2008

Number of Pages: 48

Reading Level: 9-12

Summary:

This book is about animals that live in the mountains all over the world. From mountains rodents to Mountain gorrilla, from the golden eagle to the giant panda, there are all sorts. The author dedicates a couple pages to each kind of animal and he explains different facts about their lifestyle and habitat. For instance the Rocky Mountain Goat. It talks about its physical features. They are stout, and have white to yellowish fur. They have think coats that protect them from the cold. It talks about how they live in herds during the winter and spring but live in smaller groups during the summer. For each animal it gives a "Creature Profile" that gives facts about the animals life including: Common name, scientific name, found in, size, feed on, enemies, and status. For example, the snow monkey: the common name is the snow monkey or, Japanese macaque, the scientific name is: Macaca fuscata, they are found in the mountains and highlands of Japan, the weight between 13-24 pounds, they feed on: seeds roots, fruit, berries, leaves, insects and bark; their enemies are humans - farmers consider them pests and they kill them; and their status is threatened - thier population is declining drastically. At the end there is a section about how the mountains are being over run and that we need to protect the life that happens there.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

Students who are doing a report on an animal would do well to use this book. It has great information about how animals that people don't hear about often, live their lives.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None that I know of

My Reaction:

I like learning about animals and the habitats that they live in. I think that the information in this book is extrememly useful and valuable and any kid who just likes to learn about cool animals would love to own this book. I had fun reading it and learning about animals that are new to me.

Life in the Oceans by: Lucy Baker

Genre:Non-Fiction

Publisher: Two-Can

Copyright Date: 1997

Number of Pages: 31

Reading Level: 7-11

Summary:

This book is full of what life is like in the oceans. The ocean is one of the oldest and largest living environments. Beneath the oceans are rugged mountains, active volcanoes, and endless trenches. There are animals as small as plankton and as large as the blue whale. There is actually only one ocean but because we have continents they can be divided into smaller sections: the four main oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic), and there are seas, bays and gulfs as well. The Atlantic is the biggest and busiest ocean. The oceans are always moving. They travel in movement patterns called currents and tides. These are linked to the pull on the earth from the moon.

Plants provide food for the life under the sea. Algae, and phytoplankton are two types. The plants and animals of the ocean come in all shapes and sizes. Each appearance of an animal depend on its lifestyle and where it lives. Sea anemones and sponges stay in the same spot their entire lives and thus they look more like pants than animals. Other animals look the way they do because of what they eat or who their predator is. The animals that sit around and wait for plankton are often hunted by other animals. The most notorious hunter is the shark. They are considered man eaters but there are two hundred species of sharks and only 25 of them are dangerous to humans.

People don't live in the oceans but they utilize it and its resources. They get food and raw materials from it (fish, oil, gas). A lot of the times the nets of the boats case problems from sea life and because there is so much fishing going on, fish stock has become very low in some places. People even dump pesticides and pollutants into the rivers and streams that eventually make their way to the ocean. This toxic waste kills and drives away many animals. Many countries are trying to keep this from happening. There are many legends and folk tales that come from people who live by the ocean like, "Dakuwaca Fights for His Life," that came from Fiji.

Including the information above, this book contains little text boxes of information that go along with the wonderful sea pictures that they have throughout the book.

Who would benefit from reading this book/who would I recommend this book to?

Just like the other documentary books that i have read, children would love this book because it is easy to read and there are lots of cool pictures and information about some neat creatures that they have probably never heard of.

What problems/conflicts could this book potentially cause?

None

My Reaction:

This is a very informative book. I enjoyed reading and learning about life in the ocean. The ocean has always scared me slightly and so reading about the cool things that happen there is pretty interesting. I can't imagine being an animal that is always hunted and always having to be on alert for danger. It had great photographs that illustrated the text very appropriately.