The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

Written by: Jacqueline Kelly

Published by: Macmillan, 2009

ISBN 978-0-312-65930-1

Plot Summary:

Calpurnia Tate, or Callie Vee, lives in Texas and is the only girl of seven children. She dislikes sewing, knitting, and cooking, and would trade in her domestic duties for a microscope or magnifying glass without question. During the hot Texas summer of 1899, Calpurnia begins a relationship with her naturalist grandfather, who she at first sees as cranky and difficult. Calpurnia becomes interested in science, specifically how things work in the natural world. She yearns to read Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, but her hometown library does not keep a copy. Calpurnia and her grandfather discover what they think may be a new species of vetch, and send their information to the Smithsonian. Throughout the story, Calpurnia and her grandfather grow closer and share many exciting adventures.

Critical Analysis:

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate is an enchanting and lively story. The story is set in 1899 during a hot, Texas summer. The setting is well detailed, and throughout the book, readers can almost feel the dry Texas heat. The main character of the story, Calpurnia, is one girl of seven children, and her character is very well-developed. She is caring, curious, and brave. She resists any duties that will lead to domestication, and the last thing she wants to become is a debutante. What she truly wants is to become a scientist, although this is a seemingly unreachable goal according to Calpurnia’s mother. The plot of the story is authentic and stays true to the time period. The characters in the story experience for the first time the use of a wind machine (fan), the taste of Coca-Cola, and the power of an automobile. Jacqueline Kelly tells this story beautifully, as the words seem to float right off of the pages. The plot is light, without intense conflict, and enjoyable for young readers. This story is written in a fresh and inviting style that will leave the reader wanting more from Calpurnia. Readers will learn to appreciate failure and experimentation from Callie Vee’s grandfather. “…we should celebrate today’s failure because it is a clear sign that our voyage of discovery is not yet over. The day the experiment succeeds is the day the experiment ends.  And I inevitably find that the sadness of ending outweighs the celebration of success.”

Awards and Reviews:

Indies Choice Book Award (2010)

John Newbery Medal (2010)

Josette Frank Award (2010)

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2010)

School Library Journal Best Books (2009)

Kirkus Reviews: Mother was awakening to the sorry facts: My biscuits were like stones, my samplers askew, my seams like rickrack." The year is 1899, the place Texas and the problem is 11-year-old Calpurnia Virginia Tate, who is supposed to want to cook, sew and attract future beaux, not play in the dirt, examine insects and, perhaps most suspect of all, read Darwin's controversial The Origin of Species, the source of the novel's chapter introductions. A natural-born scientist, she alone among her six brothers has discovered the rare specimen under her own roof—a funny-smelling, rather antisocial grandfather who preoccupies himself with classifying flora and fauna...when he's not fermenting pecans for whiskey. Their budding friendship is thoughtfully and engagingly portrayed, as is the unfolding of the natural world's wonders under Calpurnia's ever-inquisitive gaze. Calpurnia is not a boilerplate folksy Southern heroine who spouts wise-beyond-her-years maxims that seem destined for needlepoint—her character is authentically childlike and complex, her struggles believable. Readers will finish this witty, deftly crafted debut novel rooting for "Callie Vee" and wishing they knew what kind of adult she would become.

Booklist: Starred Review* Growing up with six brothers in rural Texas in 1899, 12-year-old Callie realizes that her aversion to needlework and cooking disappoints her mother. Still, she prefers to spend her time exploring the river, observing animals, and keeping notes on what she sees. Callie’s growing interest in nature creates a bond with her previously distant grandfather, an amateur naturalist of some distinction. After they discover an unknown species of vetch, he attempts to have it officially recognized. This process creates a dramatic focus for the novel, though really the main story here is Callie’s gradual self-discovery as revealed in her vivid first-person narrative. By the end, she is equally aware of her growing desire to become a scientist and of societal expectations that make her dream seem nearly impossible. Interwoven with the scientific theme are threads of daily life in a large family—the bonds with siblings, the conversations overheard, the unspoken understandings and misunderstandings—all told with wry humor and a sharp eye for details that bring the characters and the setting to life. The eye-catching jacket art, which silhouettes Callie and images from nature against a yellow background, is true to the period and the story.

School Library Journal: Starred Review. Grade 5–8—A charming and inventive story of a child struggling to find her identity at the turn of the 20th century. As the only girl in an uppercrust Texas family of seven children, Calpurnia, 11, is expected to enter young womanhood with all its trappings of tight corsets, cookery, and handiwork. Unlike other girls her age, Callie is most content when observing and collecting scientific specimens with her grandfather. Bemoaning her lack of formal knowledge, he surreptitiously gives her a copy of The Origin of Species and Callie begins her exploration of the scientific method and evolution, eventually happening upon the possible discovery of a new plant species. Callie's mother, believing that a diet of Darwin, Dickens, and her grandfather's influence will make Callie dissatisfied with life, sets her on a path of cooking lessons, handiwork improvement, and an eventual debut into society. Callie's confusion and despair over her changing life will resonate with girls who feel different or are outsiders in their own society. Callie is a charming, inquisitive protagonist; a joyous, bright, and thoughtful creation. The conclusion encompasses bewilderment, excitement, and humor as the dawn of a new century approaches. Several scenes, including a younger brother's despair over his turkeys intended for the Thanksgiving table and Callie's heartache over receiving The Science of Housewifery as a Christmas gift, mix gentle humor and pathos to great effect. The book ends with uncertainty over Callie's future, but there's no uncertainty over the achievement of Kelly's debut novel.

Connections: The cover art of this book is done using silhouette art. What do your readers want to be when they grow up? Use the help of an art teacher to teach readers to create a silhouette art project depicting their dreams.

Gather plants or insects and have students figure out their species, or collect pond water and view it under a microscope. Enlist a science teacher for help with this project.

Related Titles:

Klages, Ellen. The Green Glass Sea. New York: Viking, 2006.

Klages, Elles. White Sands, Red Menace. New York: Viking, 2008.

Lawson, Kristen. Darwin and Evolution: His Life and Ideas: With 21 Activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2003.

Sis, Peter. The Tree of Life: A Book Depicting the Life of Charles Darwin, Naturalist, Geologist & Thinker. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003.

Thimmesh, Catherine. Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000. 

One Crazy Summer

Written by: Rita Williams-Garcia

Published by: Harper Colline, 2010

ISBN 978-0-06-076088-5

Plot Summary:

During the summer of 1968, three sisters, Delphine, Fern, and Vonetta, are sent to Oakland, California to spend a month with their mother, who abandoned them years ago. The girls believe their mother will be just like their grandmother describes, crazy and living on the streets. After arriving, and not gaining any affection from their mother, the girls are rushed off to the “Center,” run by the Black Panthers, for breakfast and day camp every day.  The girls quickly realize their summer is not going to be what they were expecting. No trip to Disney Land, but many lessons learned.

Critical Analysis:

One Crazy Summer takes place during the summer of 1968 during the “Black Power” revolution. The characters in the story, mainly Delphine, Fern, Vonetta and their mother Cecile, are all well developed. Delphine is a responsible, caring, and smart eleven year old. She shows these, and many more admirable characteristics, throughout the summer while caring for her younger sisters. The book also includes characters who are historical, like Black Panther leaders Huey Newton and Bobby Hutton.  The story told in this book is easily seen through the eyes of Delphine. She uses language true to the time period, describes events like a child, and shows a truly youthful point of view. This is how Delphine describes the excitement of their mother giving them a radio, “It was a sho-‘nuf, left-by-the-garbage-dump, second-hand radio. Vonetta and Fern squealed as if the little colored girl in the commercial were standing in our room eating buttered bread.” The plot of One Crazy Summer paints a story of the Black Power revolution that many children today would not believe. The book shares new experiences that are both scary and exciting for children. The style of writing used in this book shows the careful research done by the author. The characters use language that is true to the time period and entertaining. One Crazy Summer is a gem of a book that teaches the importance of family and acceptance.

Awards and Reviews:

Audie Award (2011)

Coretta Scott King Book Award (2011)  

John Newbery Medal Honor (2011)  

Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature (2011)

Parents' Choice Award (2010)

Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction (2011)

School Library Journal: Starred Review. Grade 4–7—It is 1968, and three black sisters from Brooklyn have been put on a California-bound plane by their father to spend a month with their mother, a poet who ran off years before and is living in Oakland. It's the summer after Black Panther founder Huey Newton was jailed and member Bobby Hutton was gunned down trying to surrender to the Oakland police, and there are men in berets shouting "Black Power" on the news. Delphine, 11, remembers her mother, but after years of separation she's more apt to believe what her grandmother has said about her, that Cecile is a selfish, crazy woman who sleeps on the street. At least Cecile lives in a real house, but she reacts to her daughters' arrival without warmth or even curiosity. Instead, she sends the girls to eat breakfast at a center run by the Black Panther Party and tells them to stay out as long as they can so that she can work on her poetry. Over the course of the next four weeks, Delphine and her younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern, spend a lot of time learning about revolution and staying out of their mother's way. Emotionally challenging and beautifully written, this book immerses readers in a time and place and raises difficult questions of cultural and ethnic identity and personal responsibility. With memorable characters (all three girls have engaging, strong voices) and a powerful story, this is a book well worth reading and rereading.

Booklist: Starred Review* Eleven-year-old Delphine has only a few fragmented memories of her mother, Cecile, a poet who wrote verses on walls and cereal boxes, played smoky jazz records, and abandoned the family in Brooklyn after giving birth to her third daughter. In the summer of 1968, Delphine’s father decides that seeing Cecile is “something whose time had come,” and Delphine boards a plane with her sisters to Cecile’s home in Oakland. What they find there is far from their California dreams of Disneyland and movie stars. “No one told y’all to come out here,” Cecile says. “No one wants you out here making a mess, stopping my work.” Like the rest of her life, Cecile’s work is a mystery conducted behind the doors of the kitchen that she forbids her daughters to enter. For meals, Cecile sends the girls to a Chinese restaurant or to the local, Black Panther–run community center, where Cecile is known as Sister Inzilla and where the girls begin to attend youth programs. Regimented, responsible, strong-willed Delphine narrates in an unforgettable voice, but each of the sisters emerges as a distinct, memorable character, whose hard-won, tenuous connections with their mother build to an aching, triumphant conclusion. Set during a pivotal moment in African American history, this vibrant novel shows the subtle ways that political movements affect personal lives; but just as memorable is the finely drawn, universal story of children reclaiming a reluctant parent’s love.

Kirkus Reviews: A flight from New York to Oakland, Calif., to spend the summer of 1968 with the mother who abandoned Delphine and her two sisters was the easy part. Once there, the negative things their grandmother had said about their mother, Cecile, seem true: She is uninterested in her daughters and secretive about her work and the mysterious men in black berets who visit. The sisters are sent off to a Black Panther day camp, where Delphine finds herself skeptical of the worldview of the militants while making the best of their situation. Delphine is the pitch-perfect older sister, wise beyond her years, an expert at handling her siblings: "Just like I know how to lift my sisters up, I also knew how to needle them just right." Each girl has a distinct response to her motherless state, and Williams-Garcia provides details that make each characterization crystal clear. The depiction of the time is well done, and while the girls are caught up in the difficulties of adults, their resilience is celebrated and energetically told with writing that snaps off the page.

Connections:

This book can be tied in with a study of the civil rights movement during African American History Month (February). Students can research and give a short presentation on a leader, event or participant in the Black Power revolution.

Lead a discussion with the following questions: How would it feel to be eleven years old and in charge of younger siblings during your summer vacation? Which character are you most like in the story and why?

Introduce students to shrimp lo mein, and invite them to try eating it with chop sticks.

Related Titles:

Magoon, Kekla. The Rock and the River. New York: Aladdin, 2009.

Van Peebles, Mario. Panther: A Pictorial History of the Black Panthers and the Story Behind the Film. New York: Newmarket Press, 1995. 

When the Circus Came to Town

Written by: Laurence Yep

Illustrated by: Suling Wang

Published by: Harper Collins, 2002.

ISBN 0-06-029326-8

Plot Summary:

Ten-year-old Ursula is a fun-loving girl who lives in Whistle, Montana. She is inventive, creative, and loves to travel on pretend adventures. Sadly, Ursula comes down with smallpox, which leaves her face badly scarred. Instead of facing her friends and the teasing she expects, she decides to stay cooped up in her bedroom. The Chinese family cook, Ah Sam, tries his very hardest to encourage Ursula to leave the house, but he is unsuccessful until he surprises her by bringing a circus to town. Ah Sam invites his cousins from California, and they put together a wonderful circus. The Chinese cousins are able to coax Ursula from her room to play the harmonica for the circus. Ursula saves the day and learns that appearances are not all that important.

Critical Analysis:

When the Circus Came to Town is a touching story set Montana in the early twentieth century. Some parts of the story have been fictionalized, but the story is based on real events. The story is short, at just over 100 pages, but the characters are well-developed. The main character, Ursula, is happy, adventurous, and fun-loving, until smallpox leaves her face with scars. After being scarred, she becomes a reclusive. Ah Sam, the Chinese cook, is hard working, encouraging, and caring. It is he who is finally able to persuade Ursula to come out of her house, even with her scars. Ah Sam is the only member of his immediate family living in America, until he can make enough money to go back to China and support his family. In the mean time, he is sending all of his earnings to his family, including a daughter he has never met. Ah Sam’s character is encouraging to readers as he is a true portrait of a determined person. The story’s plot includes a few instances of Chinese-American discrimination, which is true to the time period. The story is well told in a serious yet encouraging style. When the Circus Came to Town teaches a hard lesson for children: the importance of acceptance based on race or appearance.

Awards and Reviews:

Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People (2003)

Publishers Weekly Book Review Stars (2001)

California Young Reader Medal (2004)

School Library Journal: Ten-year-old "Pirate Ursula" is the fearless leader of her playmates, but after she contracts smallpox and is left with significant facial scarring, she sees herself as "Monster Ursula." She becomes a recluse, never leaving her family's stagecoach station in early 20th-century Whistle, MT. Ursula is a very human child surrounded by mostly sympathetic adults. Through the efforts of the new Chinese cook, Ah Sam, she eventually finds the courage to rediscover Pirate Ursula. He and his family of acrobats help to heal not just the girl, but also the racial divides in Whistle, and Ursula finally understands that it is what is inside a person that matters most. Touches of humor and whimsy counter the darkness she feels about herself. That these events are based on fact enables readers to accept the fairly quick turnaround in the villagers' racist attitudes. Wang's evocative illustrations add to the flavor of this quick, absorbing read.

Booklist: Ten-year-old Ursula, who lives with her parents at an early-twentieth-century Montana stagecoach stop, enjoys reading dime novels, dreams of seeing a circus, and plays pirates with her friends. Then she develops smallpox, which leaves her face pitted and scarred. Unable to risk the pity and teasing of others, she elects to hide away in her house, and not even the family's Chinese cook, Ah Sam, can coax her out. It takes a visit from Ah Sam's cousins, who produce a circus for the entire town, to bring Ursula back into the world. She, in turn, arranges for her own friends to put on a Chinese New Year celebration after the circus performers are stranded during a blizzard. Yep has based his novel on a true story, and his writing is, by turns, direct, humorous, and poignant. He doesn't gloss over the hardships faced by Chinese immigrants, but he clearly relished finding an upbeat incident to recount. Ursula and her friends will seem believable to young readers, and the descriptions of circus acts and Chinese New Year traditions are a plus. A pleasing classroom read-aloud and a useful supplementary reading for history and multicultural units.

Kirkus Reviews: A story taken from real life provides the foundation for a tale of healing through human interconnection. Ursula is a ten-year-old girl with a big imagination and a love for her small Montana town, finding enough happy magic at home by leading her pirate crew in fanciful adventures in between helping her Pa at his stagecoach station. But when she survives a smallpox scare only to be left with a pitted face, vanity replaces her ebullient spirit and she won't leave her room. Pa hires Ah Sam, a Chinese cook, to help feed the passengers when the stages arrive. Her "curiosity bump" is larger than her prejudice against him, and the two soon find they share a common loneliness as well as a common love of the circus. She begins once again to help in the kitchen, although she still won't show her face outdoors. She faces a turning point, however, when a mean-spirited stage passenger harasses Ah Sam, who cannot retaliate because of state law. Ursula decides she must cheer up the now ashamed cook, realizing that they all share what Indian Tom calls "the mark" of outsiders. One kindness leads to another as Ah Sam's circus relatives arrive to entertain the town with their special magic while Ursula is enlisted to back them up with music. Yep (Newbery Honor, "Dragon's Gate", 1994), has applied his considerable skills to embellish a true story into a moving parable of how people help each other overcome suffering. The simple plot uses perfectly believable characterizations to discuss deceptively complex emotions and issues for those who would mine its lessons, but Ursula's own story of healing is rewarding enough for those who read from the younger child's point of view

Connections:

Study and celebrate the Chinese New Year with readers. Have children try their hands at Chinese printing, or creating a Chinese dragon for a school parade. Research the hardships experienced by Chinese Americans during the early twentieth century.

Related Titles:

Bledsoe, Karen. Chinese New Year Crafts. Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publishing, 2005.

Lin, Grace. Bringing in the New Year. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2008.

Namioka, Lensey. Half and Half. New York: Dell Yearling, 2004.

Wong, Janet S. This Next New Year. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

Yep, Laurence. The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. New York, Harper Collins, 2006.

Yep, Laurence. The Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale. New York: Dutton Children’s Books, 2011. 

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

Written by: Candace Fleming

Published by: Random House, 2011

ISBN 978-0-375-84198-9

Plot Summary:

“All I wished to do in the world was to be a vagabond in the air.” –Amelia Earhart

This book tells the story of Amelia Earhart’s life and disappearance in alternating chapters. The story begins with her childhood and ends with her mysterious disappearance. Throughout the book, Amelia moves to many new places, witnesses the despair alcoholism can cause on a family, learns to fly airplanes, gets married, attempts a trip around the world, and much more. 

Critical Analysis:

This biography is wonderfully written and well organized. Author Candace Fleming has much experience in writing biographies. Other biographies credited to her are The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary, Ben Franklin’s Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman’s Life, and Our Eleanor: A Scrapbook Look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s Remarkable Life. Amelia Lost received starred reviews from Kirkus, Book List, and Horn Book. There is an extensive bibliography at the end of the book to support facts, opinions, quotations and images used in the book. Since Amelia’s disappearance is still a mystery to the world today, there are speculations included in the book, and the speculations are clearly separate from the facts. Amelia Lost contains eighteen chronologically organized chapters; each contains information about either Amelia’s life or her disappearance. The vintage-looking bright red text on the cover is inviting, and the images included in the text support the facts well. Most of the images are photographs of Amelia, her airplanes, and her family. Also included are newspaper clippings, letters written by Amelia, and many other images of primary source materials. Readers are sure to share Fleming’s enthusiasm for Amelia while reading her book. In her note on Navigating History, Fleming writes, “[Amelia] symbolized the new opportunities awaiting women in the twentieth century.” Throughout the chapters, the author includes information in sidebars pertaining to flying, Morse code, and radio signaling. This book is intriguing, haunting, and enjoyable all in one.

Awards and Reviews:

Kirkus Book Review Stars (2011)

School Library Journal Book Review Stars (2011)

Kirkus Reviews: The most intriguing part of Amelia Earhart's life is often thought to be the way it ended. A mysterious disappearance and an unsolved rescue mission is a powerful story on its own. But Fleming digs deeper and shows readers why everyone—from young girls who looked up to her to the First Lady of the United States—cared so much for this daring woman pilot. Chapters alternate between the days surrounding Earhart's fateful crash and her growth from child to trailblazer. The narrative shifts could have been maddening, for suspense reasons alone, but a rhythm is established and the two plotlines gracefully fold into the conclusion. The author also astutely reminds readers that Earhart had a public image to uphold and "took an active role in mythologizing her own life," so even excerpts from Earhart's published works can never be completely trusted. Handwritten notes, photos, maps and inquisitive sidebars (What did Earhart eat during flight? Tomato juice and chocolate) complete this impeccably researched, appealing package. A stunning look at an equally stunning lady. (bibliography, Internet resources, source notes, index) 2011, Schwartz & Wade/Random, 128 pp., $18.99. Category: Nonfiction. Ages 8 to 12. Starred Review. © 2011 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Booklist: Drawing on her training as a historian and her considerable writing talents, Fleming (The Great and Only Barnum, 2009) offers a fresh look at this famous aviatrix. Employing dual narratives—straightforward biographical chapters alternating with a chilling recounting of Earhart’s final flight and the search that followed—Fleming seeks to uncover the “history in the hype,” pointing out numerous examples in which Earhart took an active role in mythologizing her own life. While not disparaging Earhart’s achievements, Fleming cites primary sources revealing that Earhart often flew without adequate preparation and that she and her husband, George Putnam, used every opportunity to promote her celebrity, including soliciting funds from sponsors. The use of a gray-tone background for the disappearance chapters successfully differentiates the narratives for younger readers. Frequent sidebars, well-chosen maps, archival documents, and photos further clarify textual references without disturbing the overall narrative flow. Appended with a generous bibliography and detailed source notes, this is a book most libraries will want both for its fascinating story and as an illustration of how research can alter historical perspective.

Connections: This book can be used across the curriculum in many ways. Students can study the geography of Amelia’s flights by mapping her locations on a world map. The miles can be added up to learn out how far she flew. Since flying is often dependent on the weather, use this book in science to talk about weather patterns and climates around the globe.

Related Titles:

Blair, Margaret Wilson. The Roaring 20: The First Cross Country Air Race for Women. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2006.

Burleigh, Robert. Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2011.

McLean, Jacqueline. Women With Wings. Minneapolis: Oliver Press, 2001.

Micklos, John. Unsolved: What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart? Berkeley Heights: Enslow, 2006.

Wells, Susan. Amelia Earhart: The Thrill of It. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2009.

They Called Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group

Written by: Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Published by: Houghton Mifflin, 2010

ISBN 978-0-618-44033-7

Plot Summary:

This well-document text covers an organization known as the Ku Klux Klan, or the KKK. The book follows the group from its start as a fraternity-style group to a terroristic club. What began as a group created to protect society quickly turned into a widespread and violent secret society.

Critical Analysis:

This social history book tells the story of a terrible group in a wonderful way. The information presented in the book is accurate according to starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus, Booklist, Horn Book, and Publishers Weekly. The author, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, has much experience in writing historical non-fiction books. Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler’s Shadow, Growing Up in Coal Country, and Black Potatoes: The Story of the Great Irish Famine are also authored by Bartoletti. This book contains 10 chapters and an epilogue, and is organized chronologically, with the forming of the group at the beginning and the most recent events toward the end. Bartoletti also included a table of contents, a list of quote attributions, a bibliography and notes section, and an index. The cover of this book contains a haunting KKK mask on a black background. While this isn’t exactly an inviting cover, it would definitely intrigue today's teen readers. Many newspaper photographs and clippings, all of which are well captioned, compliment the text. The images, staying true to the time period, are printed in black ink only. A simple but readable Times New Roman font was used in the printing of this book. The vocabulary in this book is accurate to the subject matter. While words that often have a negative connotation are used in this text, the words are well placed and necessary. The author includes a note explaining why she chose to use specific words and their importance in the book. In this note the author states, “No matter how difficult it is to see the offensive words in print, I have made no attempt to censor these historical statements.” The book includes respectful but detailed descriptions of beatings, whippings, hangings and many other types of murder. While this book can be brutal to read at times, it belongs in every library’s collection. The book tells the story of a horrific time in United States history that many will want to read.

Awards and Reviews:

School Library Journal Battle of the Kids’ Books Nominee (2011)

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist (2011)

Booklist Editor’s Choice (2010)

Horn Book Fanfare (2010)

Kirkus Best Young Adult Books (2010)

Publisher’s Weekly Best Children’s Books (2010)

Washington Post Best Kid’s Books (2010)

School Library Journal: Gr 7-10–This richly documented, historically contextualized account traces the origin and evolution of the Ku Klux Klan from a small mischievous social club into a powerful, destructive organization. With compelling clarity, anecdotal detail, and insight, Bartoletti presents the complex era of Reconstruction, 1865-1877, that gave rise to the KKK. After the Civil War, the defeated South was a simmering cauldron of political, economic, and social instability. As the federal government struggled to provide law and order and to protect the rights of freed slaves, secret groups of Southern whites banded together to vent their anger over lost property, prosperity, and power. From six men in a law office in Pulaski, TN, KKK dens spread across the South targeting freed blacks and their supporters. Although the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 was meant to end violence, KKK activity persisted through the 20th century, diminishing in the last 30 years as civil rights became a reality for all Americans. Bartoletti includes excerpts from slave narratives, archival illustrations, and historical quotes to convey the human drama of KKK terrorism. An annotated bibliography and source notes illuminate the variety and significance of reference works. Additional secondary titles include Chester L. Quarles's scholarly The Ku Klux Klan and Related American Racialist and Antisemitic Organizations (McFarland, 2008). Bartoletti effectively targets teens with her engaging and informative account that presents a well-structured inside look at the KKK, societal forces that spawn hate/terrorist groups, and the research process.

Booklist: *Starred Review* Bartoletti follows multi-award-winning titles such as Hitler Youth (2005) with another standout contribution to youth history shelves. Here, she examines how the Ku Klux Klan formed and grew out of the ashes of the Civil War. Bartoletti, who taught eighth-graders for 18 years, writes in admirably clear, accessible language about one of the most complex periods in U.S. history, and she deftly places the powerfully unsettling events into cultural and political context without oversimplifying. It’s the numerous first-person quotes, though, that give the book its beating heart, and her searing, expertly selected stories of people on all sides of the violent conflicts will give readers a larger understanding of the conditions that incubated the Klan’s terrorism; how profoundly the freed people and their sympathizers suffered; and how the legacy of that fear, racism, and brutality runs through our own time. In an author’s note, Bartoletti describes visiting a contemporary Klan rally as part of her research, and that bold, immersive approach to her subject is evident in every chapter of this thoroughly researched volume. Like the individual stories, the powerful archival images on every page will leave an indelible impression on young readers, who will want to move on to the extensive annotated resources. The adjacent Story behind the Story feature fills in more details about this lucid, important title, which should be required reading for young people as well as the adults in their lives.

Connections: This time in America’s history can be easily compared and contrasted with the Jewish Holocaust during World War II. Brainstorm ideas together that can prevent us from falling into the trap of genocide or terrorism again.

Related Titles:

Bowers, Rick. Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement. Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2010.

Brimner, Larry Dane. Birmingham Sunday. Honesdale: Calkins Creek, 2010.

Heinrichs, Ann. The Ku Klux Klan: A Hooded Brotherhood. North Mankato: Child’s World, 2002.

Stanley, George Edward. Night Fires. New York City: Simon & Schuster, 2011.

Stauffacher, Sue. Bessie Smith and the Night Riders. New York City: Putnam Juvenile, 2006.

Storms

Written by: Seymour Simon

Published by: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1989.

ISBN 0-8335-9548-2

Plot Summary:

Storms begins with an introduction to the atmosphere and then discusses thunderstorms, hail storms, tornados, and hurricanes. Included in the descriptions of the storms are the causes, dangers, safety concerns, and aftermath of the variety of storms.

Critical Analysis:

Seymour Simon is well known for writing nonfiction children’s books. He has written many different books concerning the weather including Tornados, Lightning, and Weather. Although there isn’t a bibliography or source list in this book, Seymour Simon has a high reputation in the field of weather and many other nonfiction topics. The book, of course, includes many facts, and also some assumptions and theories. In these cases, the facts are clearly differentiated from the theories. The pages of this book contain many surprising and often frightening facts about storms. Did you know that one thunderstorm has the potential drop 125 million gallons of water in only twenty minutes? Readers will also learn that most tornados last less than fifteen minutes. Storms is well organized beginning with information about the atmosphere and then covering each type of storm including thunderstorms, hail storms, tornados, and hurricanes. The book does not have a table of contents or chapters, so it would work best by being read cover-to-cover. The book is designed wonderfully with full-page photographs attained from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The photographs are stunning, threatening, and, at times, scary. Storms is written in a style that would best suit the younger elementary grades. The pages contain short but well structured paragraphs. The writing is clear, simple, and intriguing.

Awards and Reviews:

Best Books-Children’s Catalog, Eighteenth Edition (2001)

School Library Journal: Grade 4-6-- Simon uses the same handsome format that he used to introduce the planets to explain storms here on earth. In a simple and direct way he explains the mechanisms that cause thunderstorms, tornadoes, and hurricanes to form their tremendous destructive power. The amazing color photos are well chosen and range from an excellent four-panel display of a tornado's progress to full-page photos of storm clouds, lightening strikes, and so on. The type is large and clear, and the information is sufficient for basic reports. While there is no new information here, this beautiful science book from a reliable and prolific author should certainly be considered to augment existing weather collections or to begin a new collection.

Connections:

Use this book as an introduction to stormy weather. Split a class or group into four groups (thunderstorms, tornados, hurricanes, and hail storms). Have each group research their assigned type of storm and present their findings in an interesting way.

Wait for a thunderstorm and learn how to use math and counting to track the distance of a thunderstorm from your library.

Related Titles:

Carson, Mary Kay. Inside Hurricanes. New York: Sterling, 2010.

Fowler, Allan. When a Storm Comes Up. Chicago: Children’s Press, 1995.

Gibbons, Gail. Hurricanes! New York: Holiday House, 2009.

Higgins, Nadia. It’s a Tornado! Edina: Magic Wagon, 2010.

Hiscock, Bruce. The Big Storm. New York: Atheneum, 1993.

Osborne, Will. Twisters and Other Terrible Storms. New York: Random House, 2003.

Rudolph, Jessica. Erased By a Tornado! New York: Bearport Publishing, 2010.

Stiefel, Chana. Thunderstorms. New York: Children’s Press, 2009.

First Food Fight This Fall and Other School Poems

Written by: Marilyn Singer

Illustrated by: Sachiko Yoshikawa

Published by: Sterling Publishing, 2008

ISBN 978-1-4027-4145-6

Plot Summary:

This poetry collection covers an entire school year. Poem subjects range from the first bus ride, to the spelling tests, to the last day of school. Poems are told in the voices of the twelve students who experience these activities together.

Critical Analysis:

This quirky book of school-related poetry is sure to be a read-aloud crowd pleaser for young students. The poetry collection is a celebration of all things school-related, and students of all ages can easily relate to the content. Most students can relate to the horror of answering a math problem on the board, trading lunch items, and snow days. On the inside covers of the book, the illustrator provides a snapshot of each student in the book. This gives the reader insight into the students’ personalities, likes or dislikes, and cultures.  The collection of poems is chronologically organized, beginning with “The First Day” and ending with “Field Day.” The poems are well balanced. Some pages contain only one long poem, while others hold a few shorter poems. The illustrations are lively and friendly. The illustrator used a combination of pastels, acrylic paints, and collage items to decorate the fun and welcoming pages. This poetry collection includes a table of contents which helps the reader to locate poems by subject easily. One student in the book, Laksmim, describes her view of poetry as “lullaby words in a quiet, warm room.” The poems and illustrations in this book of poetry are too entertaining, funny, and true-to-life to cause any students to fall asleep.

Awards and Reviews:

This poetry collection was chosen for the Children's Catalog Supplement to Nineteenth Edition by the H. W. Wilson Company. (2009)

School Library Journal: Kindergarten-Grade 4—Twenty-nine poems, in the voices of a dozen children who ride the school bus together, depict various activities that take place in and out of the classroom. Bright, cartoon illustrations in acrylics, pastels, and collage capture the youngsters' boundless energy. From a food fight in the cafeteria and its disastrous aftermath—a virtual indoor storm in the lunchroom—to a joyous ode to field day at year's end, these poems resonate with mischievous good cheer. Characters represent a cross-section of race and color. This collection will surely strike a familiar note with young readers.

Booklist: Twelve students from various cultural backgrounds who are in Ms. Mundy’s classroom compose 29 poems covering school-year activities from the beginning of the year to the end. In various styles of poetry, topics include classes (“Spelling,” “The Class I Love”), school activities (“Cleaning Erasers,” “Field Trip,” “Class Picture”) and, as the titles indicates, good-natured fights (“Pen Fight,” “First Food Fight This Fall,” “Water Fight’). There is much with which to identify: trouble with math, students with various strengths and weaknesses. The exuberant acrylic, pastel, and collage illustrations with swirls of activity on each page match the upbeat poems. The irreverence of a free-for-all food fight is counterbalanced by the pure joy expressed for the more endorsed school activities. The poem following the food fight is somber, seeming to indicate that the students realize things got out of hand, and showing a few of them cleaning up with a very angry principal. Children will enjoy the poetry and find comparisons and contrasts to situations in their daily routines. Grades 1-3.

Kirkus: Lively and engaging acrylic-and-pastel illustrations that include bits of lace, fabric and other found items accompany 29 poems describing the school experiences, from first day to last, of a middle-grade class. A variety of styles are included: haiku, quatrain, acrostic, free verse and others. Most of the poems are no more than ten to 12 lines and are written in the students' voices, with child-appealing topics like "Tag" and "The Class I Hate." The title poem may make school administrators cringe, as food flies across the double-page spread: "A cafeteria ballad— / it started with tossed saladà / (That lettuce really flew! / We're glad it wasn't stew!)" Happily, the following poem, "Indoor Storm," finds everyone pitching in to clean up the disaster. The interesting combination of identifiable poetic forms and Yoshikawa's amusing illustrations should make this a popular choice for classroom reading, as students recognize at least some of their own school experiences (though, one hopes, not food fights) in the poetry.

Connections:

Two poems in this collections, “The Class I Hate” and “The Class I Love,” are written by the same student, Fumi. Each poem is actually written about the same class, physical education. Fumi hates gym class because she doesn’t enjoy team sports, but she loves gym when they get to dance. Have each student choose a school subject or class and write two poems. One poem about what they love about the class, and the other about what they hate.

The acrostic poem “Marylou Mundy” is a poem that describes the students’ teacher. Have each student write an acrostic poem describing themselves, one of their teachers, or a friend or family member. This would make a great gift for Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, or a birthday. Illustrate the poem using pastels, acrylic paint, or collage art.

Related Titles:

Franco, Betsy. Messing Around on the Monkey Bars and Other School Poems for Two Voices. Somerville: Candlewick, 2009.

Lewis, J. Patrick. Countdown to Summer: A Poem for Every Day of the School Year. New York: Little Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009.

Shields, Carol Diggory. Lunch Money and Other Poems About School. London: Puffin Books, 1998.

Singer, Marilyn. I’m Your Bus. New York: Scholastic Press, 2009.

The Llama Who Had No Pajama

Edited by: Mary Ann Hoberman and Linda Winston

Illustrated by: Betty Fraser

Published by: Harcourt Books, 2006

ISBN 1-4177-4657-2

Plot Summary: This book is a compilation of 100 of Mary Ann Hoberman’s favorite poems for children. The book covers everything from time to applesauce and bugs to zoo animals. It also contains poetry about favorite childhood pastimes such as climbing trees, ice-skating, and celebrating birthdays.

Critical Analysis: This collection of poetry is funny, entertaining, and relatable for readers of all ages. These poems would work wonderfully as read-alouds, and most can stand alone without the accompanying illustrations. The collection is organized well and the poetry flows freely from one page to the next. Parts of this collection are organized by theme, including bugs and animals. The pages are well balanced, with many poems of varying sizes on each page spread.  The skillfully placed, watercolor illustrations compliment the poetry beautifully. The poem “Both My Slippers” describes a pair of bright red slippers that that sit under the bed during the night. The accompanying illustration of a bed is painted in varying green hues, with the bright red slippers sitting underneath. Since red and green are complimentary colors, the simple red slippers seem to pop right out of the page. Illustrations that accompany the bug poems in the book are stunningly painted, and realistic enough to spook the reader just a bit. This book does include reference aids including a table of contents and a first line index, and the illustrations in the book help the reader to browse through the collection to find a poem of choice.

Awards and Reviews:

Best Children’s Books of the Year (1999) Bank Street College of Education

Children’s Book of Distinction (1999) Riverbank Review

Children’s Literature Choice List (1999)

Texas Reading Club (2005)

Gold Award Winner (1998) National Parenting Publications Awards

School Library Journal: Kindergarten-Grade 4?Hoberman's poems, accompanied by Fraser's illustrations, have been delighting children for 40 years. Now, many poems from their out-of-print books are available in this satisfying collection. The selections are mostly humorous, sometimes contemplative, and deal with animals, family, play, and plain silliness. Hoberman's rhythms are lively and agile, and her imagination and sense of humor are still in tune with young readers. Fraser's simple but detailed gouache and watercolor illustrations exhibit the same qualities. The layout is masterfully varied and never overwhelms the poems. There is a table of contents as well as an index of first lines. Good for beginning or experienced readers of poetry, this should indeed become a favorite.

Booklist: Poems drawn from Hoberman's previous works, published between 1957 and 1981, are packaged to delight a new generation of youngsters. Children may be reminded of A. A. Milne's poetry about Pooh, particularly by the earlier poems, but Hoberman's poetry goes deeper, offering children a new way to look at things. In "Birthdays," for instance, Hoberman wonders what it would be like if the celebration came once a week instead of once a year: "Think of all the gifts you'd get / And all the songs you'd hear / And think how quickly you'd grow up; / Wouldn't it feel queer." Animals and bugs, as well as a variety of ordinary childhood experiences, are featured in poetry that is sometimes funny, and often playful in its rhythm and repetition of sounds. Fraser's illustrations add a cheery, appealing look to the book without overwhelming the text. Use this along with Jack Prelutsky's Ride a Purple Pelican (1986) to sprinkle your story times with poems.

Horn Book: This collection of some forty years of Hoberman verse is a charmer. The poems - peppy verses immediately identifiable as Hoberman's by their use of alliteration and repeated words and lines - seem to cover every subject under the sun; all are dependably child-centered.

Christian Science Monitor Best Children’s Books: Want to give young ones the fun of rhyme, rhythm, and word play? Then look for The Llama Who Had no Pajama. There's no reason to wait for poetry units at school to introduce children to verse when Mary Ann Hoberman can do it with her collection of 100 poems.

Connections:

“The Folk Who Live in Backward Town”

The folk who live in Backward Town

Are inside out and upside down.

They wear their hats inside their heads

And go to sleep beneath their beds.

They only eat the apple peeling

And take their walks across the ceiling.

This poem would fit perfectly in “Backwards Day” at school or a “Backwards Storytime” at a library. Have each child in the group write a couplet to add to this poem. With the help of an art teacher or local artist, the children can illustrate their new poem with watercolors.

Read Hoberman’s “The Llama Who Had No Pajama” and Anna Dewdney’s “Llama Llama Red Pajama,” a picture book written in poetic form. Which llama do the student like best? Which llama can they relate to most? To which llama mama are the children’s moms more similar?

Related Titles:

Dewdney, Anna. Llama Llama Red Pajama. New York: Viking, 2005.

Hoberman, Mary Ann. And to Think That We Thought That We’d Never Be Friends. New York: Crown Books, 1999.

Hoberman, Mary Ann. The Tree That Built Time. Naperville: Sourcebooks Jaberwocky, 2009.

Wicked Girls

Written by: Stephanie Hamphill

Published by: Puffin Books, 1986

ISBN 978-0-06-185328-9

Plot Summary: Wicked Girls, set in the 1600’s, follows the stories of six young ladies during the Salem Witch Trials. Throughout the story, Mercy, Margaret, Ann, Betty, Abigail, Elizabeth and Susannah all become “afflicted,” and accuse many citizens of the town of Salem of witchcraft. When the pressure becomes too much, the girls turn against each other and stop their antics, but only after many are hanged for supposedly signing the Devil’s book.

Critical Analysis: This historical book, although not completely accurate, is a powerful story for young adults. The book is told from the points of view of the young, “afflicted,” girls who were accusers during the Salem Witch Trails. Wicked Girls is written in continuous verse, and the imagery, although raw at times, is fantastic and emotional. A small excerpt from the story describes the execution of a supposed wizard, “They noose the last witch,/Samuel Wardwell:/a man I do not know,/have never seen./He opens his mouth/to proclaim his innocence,/but the executioner’s pipe smoke/chokes him and clogs his last words./The crowd rumbles and storms.” While reading these disturbing words, the reader can surely grasp the emotion and intensity of the crowd and the accuser. The book is told in chapters, each written from the point of view of one of the seven young accusers. The language of the poem is true to its time, using words such as proctor, goodman, meetinghouse, and goody. A section at the beginning of the book explains the roles of each accuser in the story. At the end of the book, the author provides a section that teaches the reader about the characters in the story and their true roles in the Salem Witch Trials. The author also provides a short list of resources used while writing the book. This is a great section for curious readers yearning for more information about the Salem Witch Trials. This story, full of friendship, betrayal, romance, drama, and jealousy, is sure to please the young adult crowd.

Awards and Reviews:

School Library Journal: Gr 9 Up–Wicked Girls weaves a fresh interpretation of the events put forth in Arthur Miller's The Crucible and revisited more recently by Katherine Howe in The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane (Voice, 2009). Mercy Lewis, Ann Putnam, and Mary Walcott (in this story, called “Margaret”) point their fingers, lift their eyes, and cry “witch” once again. Elderly Goody Nurse appears, Mary Warren (here called “Ruth”) recants her accusations, John Proctor is accused and hanged, and Giles Corey is pressed to death. The verse format is fresh and engaging, distilling the actions of the seven accusing girls into riveting narrative. In Hemphill's village of Salem, Mercy Lewis (age 17) and Ann Putnam, Jr. (age 12) vie for control of the group of girls who quickly become swept up by their celebrity. Their accusations become self-serving: the merest look or shudder from one of the “afflicted” means the offender (an inattentive lover; someone who has done a parent wrong) risks being branded a witch or wizard. Eventually, the group fractures and the girls turn on each other, leading to cruelty and death. In the author's note, Hemphill outlines the historical background, with source notes for further reading. As in Your Own, Sylvia (Knopf, 2007), she bases her book in fact, but acknowledges that “certain names and accounts have been changed, amended and altered” in the construction of her novel. Teens may need some encouragement to pick up this book, but it deserves a place in most high school collections

Booklist: Hemphill follows her Printz Honor Book Your Own, Sylvia (2007) with another bold verse novel based on historical figures. Here, her voices belong to the “afflicted” girls of Salem, whose accusations of witchcraft led to the hangings of 19 townspeople in 1692. Once again, Hemphill's raw, intimate poetry probes behind the abstract facts and creates characters that pulse with complex emotion. According to an appended author's note, unresolved theories about the causes of the girls' behavior range from bread-mold-induced hallucinations to bird flu. In Hemphill's story, the girls fake their afflictions, and the book's great strength lies in its masterful unveiling of the girls' wholly believable motivations: romantic jealousy; boredom; a yearning for friendship, affection, and attention; and most of all, empowerment in a highly constricting and stratified society that left few opportunities for women. Layering the girls' voices in interspersed, lyrical poems that slowly build the psychological drama, Hemphill requires patience from her readers. What emerge are richly developed portraits of Puritanical mean girls, and teens will easily recognize the contemporary parallels in the authentic clique dynamics. An excellent supplementary choice for curricular studies of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, this will also find readers outside the classroom, who will savor the accessible, unsettling, piercing lines that connect past and present with timeless conflicts and truths. Grades 7-12.

Connections: This book leads wonderfully into a study of the Salem Witch Trials. It would pair well with other fiction books is verse, other books concerning the Salem Witch Trails, or books depicting the abundant tragedies in the history of the United States. Try challenging students to write a poetic piece from the a protagonist’s point of view.

Related Titles:

Miller, Arthur. The Crucible. New York: Penguin Cassics, 2003.

Rees, Celia. Witch Child. Somerville: Candlewick, 2002.

Rinaldi, Ann. A Break with Charity. Santa Ana: Graphia, 2003.