Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing

Angel, A. (2010). Janis Joplin: Rise Up Singing. New York, NY:  Amulet. This book chronicles the life, obstacles and music career of Janis Joplin. The book is divided into 10 different chapters that highlight specific times in her life. The heartfelt Introduction was written by Sam Andrew, who says she was his best friend. Chapters include: “Spreading Her Wings”, this chapter gives details about Janis’ demeanor in High School compared to her fellow classmates’. “Out of Port Arthur” tells of Janis’ desire to leave her hometown of Port Arthur, TX. She didn’t feel like she fit in with the norms of the small town. “Looking for Love” tells of how she starved for affection and acceptance. “Pearl” goes on to tell of Janis returning to Port Arthur for her High School reunion, again being rejected by her peers. The book includes a Time Line of her life, notes of each chapter, acknowledgements and an index. This book would be appropriate for High School students. History or Music teachers could use this book as a part of a history lesson. The major strengths of the book include the Time Line and Notes of each chapter. Students could easily refer to these sections to gather specific information. One lesson that students may learn is to not look to others for approval. This book could also help students with their Emotional Development. Some students could be able to identify with Janis and some of the struggles she experienced as a young adult.

The Dog Who Loved Tortillas

Saenz, B. (2009). The Dog Who Loved Tortillas. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press. Sophie is the new dog of siblings, Little Diego and Gabriela. The siblings both longed to have a dog all their own and did not have intentions of sharing a dog before they got one. Mr. Dominguez, their father said if they did not share a dog, they would get no dog at all. The siblings did not like this but reluctantly agreed. After they realized that Sophie likes tortillas, the dog became known throughout the neighborhood for loving tortillas. Soon, Sophie becomes ill and the siblings are heartbroken over the dog’s illness. But her illness helps to make the siblings become closer as they both mourn over the possible chance that they may lose their dog. Once Sophie is all better, the siblings both love, cherish and share the dog. Although this book is intended for children in grades Kindergarten – 3^rd grade, English speaking students may not understand the Spanish in the book until they have taken it in Middle School or a higher grade.  However, the story is translated in English throughout the book so younger children or non-Spanish speakers are able to enjoy it independently. I personally like the author’s style in this aspect. A Spanish teacher could use this book in a lesson for Beginning Spanish classes. The story meets the criteria of emotional development. The way the siblings come together after their dog is sick shows emotional growth and maturity.

Code Named Verity

Wein, Elizabeth. (2012). Code Named Verity. New York, NY: Egmont. Lady Julia Lindsay MacKenzie Wallace Beaufort-Stuart’s code name is Verity. She is more commonly called Julie. Julie is a spy and an officer in the military. During a covert operation, Julie’s best friend Maddie is the pilot who attempts to fly her to a Nazi camp so that she could ultimately destroy their operation. But antiaircrafts fired at them causing the friends to be separated, as Julie parachutes from the plane and Maddie lands harshly. Julie is captured by Nazi who order her to write down secrets that she knows as they torture other captured people. Julie knows that she too will be tortured.  Maddie is able to safely hide in a barn of a French family after the separation but soon hears of her friend’s dilemma. As an act of love and friendship, Maddie has to eventually end Julie’s life to save her from divulging important information to Nazi. In the end, Maddie is able to carry out the original, planned operation of destroying the Nazi operation. This book is intended for students ages 14-17. Teachers could use this book after a lesson about the Holocaust. Although this book is fiction, the premises behind the story and the historical events are real. The story meets the criteria for style development. The story is told from the perspectives of the two friends. Both are sharing their own experience of the events of the story, giving a complete and vivid depiction.

Parish,  H. (2012). Amelia Bedelia’s First Vote. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers. Children’s  Choices, 2013. For Ages: 4-8.
Personal Response: I love this book! It was different for me reading this book that portrays the main character as a child, as the Amelia Bedelia series of books that I’ve read in the past, were of a naïve older maid. However, in this particular book, she is portrayed as a child with the same innocence as the older character. Like in the older books, Amelia Bedelia’s series of misunderstandings is what makes the story funny. This story is indicative of most children. I can’t help but to be reminded of my own childhood and my journey to more sophisticated thought processes.
Literary Response: Amelia Bedelia’s character is an important element in this story. The story thrives on Amelia’s misunderstandings and the fact that she takes literally the figures of speech that she encounters throughout the story. She is a simple but confident girl who stands strong in her convictions.  She does not understand many things and doesn’t even realize that there is anything that she does not understand. This naivete is what makes the story humorous and causes the reader to fall in love with Amelia Bedelia and her comical personality.

DiCamillo, K. (2013). Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures. Somerville, Massachusettes: Candlewick Press.  Newbery Medal, 2014. For Ages: 8-12.
Personal Response:  This is a delightful story from a pre-teen girl’s perspective. Flora’s relationship with her mother is indifferent, like many girls that age. She reaches out to help a wild animal that becomes her best friend. I believe Flora feels that she is misunderstood and ignored by her mother. Her mother seems to not understand that she is contributing to Flora’s anger towards her with the insensitive words that she speaks to Flora. I love reading about the various adventures that Flora experienced with Ulysses and subsequently, Mrs. Tickham and her nephew – friends that she gained through the shared interest in the unique squirrel.
Literary Response:  The characters in this story each have distinct personalities. The main character, Flora is battling her feelings about the manner in which her mother regards her. Flora feels that she is ignored and feels her mother looks down on her in a sense. She even mentioned that her mother has never told her that she loved her. Flora’s mother is into writing romance novels and is passive in her relationship with Flora.  Flora’s father seems to enjoy spending time with her when he can. It seems she feels closer to her father as he seems to share some of Flora’s characteristics – characteristic that I assume her mother is not able to fully appreciate. It seems Flora’s mother maybe suppressing feelings of her own through the writing of the novels.  Mrs. Tickham, her husband Donald, their nephew William and Ulysses all have very whimsical personalities, giving comic relief to Flora’s otherwise mundane and solemn personality.

Lewis, J. (2009). Spot the Plot. San Francisco, California: Chronicle Books. NCTE Excellence in Children’s Poetry Award, 2011. For Ages: 4-8.

Personal Response: The style of writing and the illustrations in this book are a lot like books I read as a child. The riddles are similar to Dr. Suess’. However, I like that the reader must prior knowledge about stories in order to fully enjoy this riddle book. It encourages the reader to read books they have not already previously read. I like the way the answer to the clues are listed as the book titles on the last page. This helps young readers to understand that the riddles are about real books that they can actually obtain and read for themselves.

Literary Response: The literary theme of this book is storybook plots. It seems the author’s purpose is to engage young readers with a fun “game” and have them attempt to solve the mystery of the storybook plot. This technique should cause the reader to self-evaluate. After reading the plot of some books that weren’t previously read, the reader’s interest for reading more should be sparked. The illustrations are also based around the theme of storybook plots. Each riddle’s illustration depicts the plot of the “book of topic”. The illustrator cleverly uses characters from the “book of topic” as clues to guide the reader to discovering plots.

Hill, L. (2010 ). Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave. New York, NY: Little Brown Books.
Coretta Scott King Book Award, 2011. Illustrator Award (Bryan Collins). For Ages: 4-8.
Personal Response:  I absolutely love the illustrations in this book. The illustrator’s choice of colors is brilliant. The blends of browns, grays and beiges seem to bring the pictures to life. Normally, I prefer children’s fiction books, as opposed to non-fiction, but this story reminds me of how my husband enjoys pottery. The steps that the character, Dave has to go through in making the pottery and how he feels when he does, is very similar to my husband. He loves it as well and gives him a feeling of peace and calmness.
Literary Response:  Again, the illustrations in the book tells the tale of a slave man, deeply rooted in culture, is able to pull himself out of his oppressions – if only for a while – and engross himself in his talents. His talents are making pottery and writing poetry. Although the words tell of the steps that he takes to make the pottery, the illustrations truly tell of what he is going through as a slave, artist and poet.

Weisner, D. (2006). Flotsam. New York, NY: Clarion Books.
Caldecott Award, 2007. For Ages: 4 to 8.
Personal Response: The pictures in this book were great! As an adult, I can appreciate a story told in pictures only. And the story was interesting to me. However, I think this book would not be as enjoyable to a young child. The reader has to figure out what the author is trying to convey through complex illustrations. I believe this would be a bit cumbersome for a 4 or 5 year old to do. But I enjoyed the hint of nostalgia in the story. When the boy finds the old camera on the beach, it reminds me of my childhood. I love when he brings the film into the lab to have the pictures developed. In this age of technology, I almost forgot about film!
Literary Response: The setting in this story has a familiar feel. I believe that the author wants the reader to have a feeling of nostalgia when looking at the pictures. Even if a reader has never been to a beach, most readers have been with a parent or parents/grandparents in some setting as a child.  And we, as children would never be “into” the same things that our parents enjoyed. Instead, something else would spark our curiosities. So, readers can relate to the main character by connecting with through setting. This book is similar to Wonderstruck, in that it tells an in depth story through the use of illustrations. In both stories, the pictures are detailed and the author/illustrator is able to emphasize points with exaggerated illustrations.

Graphic Novel(2): Will & Whit

Gulledge, L. (2013). Will & Whit. New York, NY: Amulet Books. Wilhelmina (Will) Huxstep is a seventeen year old girl that is coping with the death of her parents, as she lives with her aunt Elsie (Ella) and assists her in her antique shop. Will also copes with her dark past by ironically creating lamps (her light) from old items that she finds. She is as creative as she is terribly afraid of the dark. When Hurricane Whitney blows through their town, it leaves them without electricity. Will is devastated because with no electricity, her lamps are useless and she must now face her fears. She does so with the help of her friends, Ella and the new project of planning an art carnival. This beautifully illustrated graphic novels is intended for students in the 7^th grade and up. Will is a normal girl who has gone through a tragedy, some students may be able to relate to her experience or can rather relate to Will simply because she is a teenager with a struggle. I would suggest Page by Paige also by Laura Gulledge for further reading. I can appreciate the fact that she writes about normal, everyday teenagers and brings them to life with their own unique story. Will and Whit meets the criteria of emotional development as outlined in the text because it deals with death and how this teenager handled death initially, her coping mechanisms and how she ultimately faced her fears and was able to love.

Graphic Novel (1): Smile

Telgemeier, R. (2010). Smile. New York, NY: Scholastic. Raina is a 6^th grade girl who initially needs braces to correct an overbite. But unfortunately, before she gets them, she has a bad fall that leaves her missing her front two teeth. As she goes through ups and downs with getting them repaired and then corrected, her peers have many questions and opinions about Raina which made her very self-conscious. This in turn results in her sometimes making bad decisions and falling victim to the bad decisions of her peers. But once the braces come off when she is high school, Raina seems to have a delayed positive reaction to her “new” teeth. It is not until her friends assure her that she is “cute” with her new that her self-confidence surfaces. This is a cute tale of the misfortune this little pre-teen is having. My heart goes out to her throughout the story because I realize life can sometimes give you lemons. Students ages 8 to 12 years old may be encouraged by reading her story and relating their own experiences to Raina’s. Raina’s story does end positively which could give children hope that “this too shall pass”. Health teachers could probably use this book to begin a lesson on why it is important to take care of your teeth. The book meets the criteria for social development, as Raina struggles with a physical set back, it is affecting her socially as well. Self-awareness plays a big role in self-esteem.