Illustrator: Rick Geary
Publisher: NBM/Comics Lit
ISBN (library bind): 978-1-56163-529-0
Price: $15.95 #pages: unpaged
Call number: 741.5 GEA
Genre: Graphic novel
One of several “crimes of the century,” the kidnapping of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s firstborn son on March 1, 1932, captivated the world and tugged at everyone’s heartstrings. Following the payment of a ransom, communication between the Lindbergh family’s go-between and the kidnappers ended. In May of that year, a sad discovery was made not far from the Lindbergh estate—the body of a child later identified as Charles, Jr. Police finally made an arrest more than a year later after carefully tracking ransom bills and linking the suspect, German immigrant Bruno Richard Hauptmann, with forensic evidence and corroborating witness identifications. The circus-like atmosphere of Hauptmann’s trial in Flemington, New Jersey ended in a guilty verdict and his eventual execution. Rick Geary’s graphic illustrations quickly give us background information on Lindbergh and his historic flight and then intimately acquaint us with the layout of the Lindbergh estate and the crime’s major characters. While definitely not for the reluctant reader, Geary’s graphic technique and unique viewpoint will fascinate readers with their own artistic inclinations or an interest in crime stories.
This book is part of a series called A Treasury of XXth Century Murder.
Recommended grade levels: 6-12
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
No Cream Puffs
Author: Karen Day
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (division of Random House)
ISBN (library bind): 9780375937750 Copyright 2008
Price: $15.99 #pages: 209 Call number: FIC DAY
Recommended for grades 5-8.
Annotation:
Madison Mitchell is a 12-year old tomboy who loves to play baseball and is quite good at it. Her older brother has coached her and encourages her to join one of their town’s summer league teams. She does and since the year is1980, she becomes the first girl in Michigan to play on a boy’s baseball team. She is one of the best players in the league and soon she is noticed by the press. The newspaper calls her a trailblazer, crowds begin to come to her games and then TV cameras begin to show up. Some of her teammates accept her and others are jealous. Madison doesn’t want to prove anything; she just wants to play baseball because she likes it. There are some subplots in the story as well; Madison losing her best friend to the popular clique, having her first crush on a boy, and coming to terms with her dad’s abandonment of their family and learning to make difficult choices. The novel is realistic and told from a middle school student’s point of view.
Curriculum
Social History of the 1980’s, sex roles and stereotypes
Character Education: discrimination, empathy for others, handling conflict and pressure; and learning to accept yourself.
Picture book tie in:
Champions on the Bench-The Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrations by Leonard Jenkins
Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, copyright 2007.
This book is based on the true story of the Cannon Street YMCA league, the only Little League in South Carolina for African Americans in 1955. It tells of how 61 all white teams refused to play them in the tournament and withdrew to start their own league. This book illustrates the prejudices of the time and how it affected the everyday things like Little League baseball.
Publisher: Wendy Lamb Books (division of Random House)
ISBN (library bind): 9780375937750 Copyright 2008
Price: $15.99 #pages: 209 Call number: FIC DAY
Recommended for grades 5-8.
Annotation:
Madison Mitchell is a 12-year old tomboy who loves to play baseball and is quite good at it. Her older brother has coached her and encourages her to join one of their town’s summer league teams. She does and since the year is1980, she becomes the first girl in Michigan to play on a boy’s baseball team. She is one of the best players in the league and soon she is noticed by the press. The newspaper calls her a trailblazer, crowds begin to come to her games and then TV cameras begin to show up. Some of her teammates accept her and others are jealous. Madison doesn’t want to prove anything; she just wants to play baseball because she likes it. There are some subplots in the story as well; Madison losing her best friend to the popular clique, having her first crush on a boy, and coming to terms with her dad’s abandonment of their family and learning to make difficult choices. The novel is realistic and told from a middle school student’s point of view.
Curriculum
Social History of the 1980’s, sex roles and stereotypes
Character Education: discrimination, empathy for others, handling conflict and pressure; and learning to accept yourself.
Picture book tie in:
Champions on the Bench-The Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars
by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrations by Leonard Jenkins
Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, copyright 2007.
This book is based on the true story of the Cannon Street YMCA league, the only Little League in South Carolina for African Americans in 1955. It tells of how 61 all white teams refused to play them in the tournament and withdrew to start their own league. This book illustrates the prejudices of the time and how it affected the everyday things like Little League baseball.
the dead & the gone
When an asteroid hit and pushed the moon closer to the Earth life as Alex Morales knew it changed forever. After catastrophic tidal waves, flooding, and volcanic eruptions hit parts of the Earth Alex and his two sisters find themselves alone; having to fend for themselves. Food shortages, disease, and death abound and Alex finds himself having to make some tough character/morality judgments. Alex and his sisters are devoted Catholics and they are forced to question aspects of their faith such as surviving by stealing from the dead. Illness is not immune to the Morales’ and when it strikes do they have what it takes to survive?
Note: This is a companion novel to Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Note: This is a companion novel to Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson
Neeka and our narrator have been best friends since birth. A new girl shows up on their block calling herself “D” and blends into their friendship seamlessly. The girls call themselves “Three the Hard Way” and build a tight bond over a two year time frame. It’s 1994, the year Tupac Shakur is enduring legal issues and multiple physical attacks. D, and the rest of the neighborhood, relate wholeheartedly to Tupac’s music and their quotations frame their emotions throughout the story.
When D’s real mom shows up, D must leave the tight knit community that has taken her in hope of starting a positive new life with her mom. Her departure parallels Tupac’s final attack and eventual death.
Woodson weaves a beautifully simple story about friendship, family, community and how the power of can music can tie us all together.
Recommended grade levels: 6-12
When D’s real mom shows up, D must leave the tight knit community that has taken her in hope of starting a positive new life with her mom. Her departure parallels Tupac’s final attack and eventual death.
Woodson weaves a beautifully simple story about friendship, family, community and how the power of can music can tie us all together.
Recommended grade levels: 6-12
A Long Way Home Memoris of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
ISBN: 13: 978-0-374-53126-3
Price: $12.00 # pages: 229
Call number: 966.404 BRA [B]
copywrite: 2007
Ishmael Beah is one of the first to tell his story of being one of as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and weilding AK-47s in more than 50 conflicts around the world.
Ishmael's journey began when he was 12. He fled attacking rebels and wandered a land,
Sierra Leone, unrecongnizable by violence and brutality.
By 13 he had been picked up by the government army and found himself engaging in truly terrible acts.
Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humamity and to re-enter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion.
Ishmael Beah living in the US at the present time.
Recommended for grades 10-12 in such curricular areas as World Lit, World History,and Character Education.
ISBN: 13: 978-0-374-53126-3
Price: $12.00 # pages: 229
Call number: 966.404 BRA [B]
copywrite: 2007
Ishmael Beah is one of the first to tell his story of being one of as many as 300,000 child soldiers, hopped-up on drugs and weilding AK-47s in more than 50 conflicts around the world.
Ishmael's journey began when he was 12. He fled attacking rebels and wandered a land,
Sierra Leone, unrecongnizable by violence and brutality.
By 13 he had been picked up by the government army and found himself engaging in truly terrible acts.
Eventually released by the army and sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation center, he struggled to regain his humamity and to re-enter the world of civilians, who viewed him with fear and suspicion.
Ishmael Beah living in the US at the present time.
Recommended for grades 10-12 in such curricular areas as World Lit, World History,and Character Education.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Bone: Treasure Hunters
Bone:Volume 8 Treasure Hunters
By Jeff Smith
Publisher:Graphix
ISBN: 978-0439-706308
$19.99 #Pages: 136
Call #: YA Graphic Novel Smith
Reminiscent of the Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones characters and settings, Treasure Hunters is a playful and inviting continuing saga of the Bone cousins and the royal family. The Bone cousins are still searching for the gold treasure.
The graphics and, especially, colors are incredible in setting the tone and action for each panel. The story successfully incorporates knowledge of past episodes so as to create a stand alone volume. Suitable for all ages.
By Jeff Smith
Publisher:Graphix
ISBN: 978-0439-706308
$19.99 #Pages: 136
Call #: YA Graphic Novel Smith
Reminiscent of the Star Wars, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones characters and settings, Treasure Hunters is a playful and inviting continuing saga of the Bone cousins and the royal family. The Bone cousins are still searching for the gold treasure.
The graphics and, especially, colors are incredible in setting the tone and action for each panel. The story successfully incorporates knowledge of past episodes so as to create a stand alone volume. Suitable for all ages.
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