Emma and the Civil Warrior

Title: Emma and the Civil Warrior
Author: Candy Dahl
Genre: Historical Fiction

Emma Graham is a 12-year-old girl living in Raleigh, North Carolina during the Civil War. Her father has gone off to fight in the war with the Confederates and she hasn't seen him in 3 years. At the beginning of the story, the reader sees Emma, her brother Micah, and her Aunt Lily are being surrounded by Union officers. Soon after, Emma and Micah return home. Emma has snuck morphine for the doctor in her doll, Molly. When Union soldiers come into town, Emma doesn't know how to handle it except to fight with her words. Lieutenant Round and Private Corey Phillips help the Graham family stay safe and keep them informed. Throughout the story, Emma constantly hurls threats and words at the Union soldiers that are helping them. After they found out surrender has happened, Emma's father comes home but missing an arm. Emma feels that this is undeserved since he has been fighting for so long. Soon, she begins to see him as the father he once was. At the end of the story, Lieutenant Round has sent off fire signals spelling "Peace on earth. Good will to me." There is also the side story of Jinny, the Grahams house girl, and Simon, the capitol's slave. It turns out Simon lost a daughter in trades when she was young and never found her. Emma figured out it was Jinny by the fact that she always wore a turban to cover up her half-gone ear. All in all, the story ends with peace for everyone and happiness within a family.

This book can be used in a lesson for North Carolina history. Speaking about how North Carolina was involved in the Civil War. It can also be used to introduce the Civil War and the two sides involved. It can show two different perspectives and why people felt this way. It can also be used to show how society handled these rough times and how families were affected. You can have students write about how they would have felt during that time and compare it to one another.

Missing May

Title: Missing May

Author: Cynthia Rylant

Genre: Multicultural (Mountains and a trailer-different from many other students)

"Missing May" is the story of a young girl living the mountains of West Virginia with her aunt and uncle in a trailer. Summer, the young girl, has lived with Uncle Ob and Aunt May since she was 6. Aunt May grows vegetables and flowers in her garden and Uncle Ob creates whirligigs for the wind. They aren't a rich family, but they are a happy one. When Summer is 12, Aunt May suddenly dies in her garden. Summer is befriended by the class "weirdo" Cletus Underwood at this time. He and her Uncle Ob become fast friends for no apparent reason to Summer. Soon, Uncle Ob feels May's presence around him and wants to "speak" to her. He and Cletus convince Summer to travel with them to see the Bat Lady in Putnam County to talk to May. When they get there, though, they find out the Bat Lady has died and the young man can't help them. On the way home they go to Charleston to see the capital. In this time, Uncle Ob finds peace in the fact that May is gone. When they arrive home, he puts all his whirligigs in the garden in memory of her. Summer has also come to peace with the loss of her aunt and begins to cherish the friendship she has with Cletus.

This story can be used to create a lesson about diversity, family, and friendship. Many students may have not lost a family member yet, but may know someone that has. This can help them to see what that person is going through and how to help them. Also, it really gives a glimpse into a different lifestyle than many of them lead. Living with an aunt and uncle nowadays is common, but many students may not acknowledge this. A lesson talking about different families and why they are special can be done. Students can create a family portrait to show their family and share why they love them. It will show students that every family is different but there for the same reason.

Who Was King Tut?

Title: Who Was King Tut?

Author: Roberta Edwards

Illustrated by: True Kelley

Genre: Biography/Non-Fiction

This is the story of Ancient Egypt and in particular a young pharaoh, King Tut. Each chapter of this book discusses a different aspect of Egypt and King Tut. It talks about his father Pharaoh Amenhotep and his mother Ankhesenamun. Scientists aren't sure if these are his parents or not, but research points to them. It speaks about the culture of Egypt and the great land that the pharaoh's ruled. King Tut is one of the more famous pharaoh's not because he had a long rule, but because he was a very young pharaoh and his tomb is one of the only to be found with the mummy still in it. He only ruled 9 years and died at the young age of only 18 or 19.

I think this book can be used so many ways within my classroom. This book can be used to discover Ancient Egypt because it gives so much information about the culture and history. It can be used to have a lesson about pharaoh's - who they were, what they did, and why they were so important. A lesson could also be done about different religions and beliefs. There are many lessons that can be used with this book, which I really like. When a book can be applied to various lessons, it is worth reading.

Rowan of Rin

Title: Rowan of Rin

Author: Emily Rodda

Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy

This story is about a young boy, Rowan, who lives with a tribe of people in a town called Rin. At the beginning of the story the readers is shown a stream that is drying up and causing the town to fail including the animals they rely on, the bukshahs. Rowan is the caretaker of these gentle giants and has a special one, Star, near his heart. They village soon finds out that the way to figure out the problem of the water is to climb up the large mountain where a dragon is rumored to live. They must go to the town "wise woman" Sheba to find out the way to the top. Rowan is the only person who can cause the map to show up when Sheba throws it at him. Soon Rowan and 6 other villagers are on their way up the perilous mountain. This story follows their travels through giant spiders, cursed bogs, dangerous sand, tight tunnels and finally the dragon. At the end, only Rowan and Strong John come face to face with the dragon. Rowan faces his fears and helps the dragon remove a bone from his throat. Throughout this journey, all he thinks about is getting water for Star. He thinks he is free to go. Yet, when the dragon is free from pain he is hungry, and he wants Strong John. But, his fire is causing all the ice to finally melt and flow down to Rin in the stream. Soon Strong John and Rowan are "sliding" down the stream and back to Rin. The story ends happily with all of Rin celebrating Rowan's bravery and the restoration of the water to the stream. Rowan has acheived his goal of helping Star and saving his town.

I don't believe that I would use this book in my classroom. There is a lot of disturbing images and problems in this book. Also, it depicts a young boy that is made fun of because he isn't the best in his tribe of his age. While he does end up being the hero in the end, its depiction of him from beginning to end is still weak. I don't want any of my students feeling like they are like this character. While this book is very descriptive and has great imagery, it isn't worth having students feel down about themselves or feel scared from this book.

Shoeshine Girl

Title: Shoeshine Girl

Author: Clyde Robert Bulla

Illustrated by: Leigh Grant

"Shoeshine Girl" is an incredible story of money, hard work, and community. Sarah Ida is sent from the big city to a small town named Palmville. Her and her parents aren't getting along so she is sent to spend the summer with her Aunt Claudia. After arriving, Sarah Ida makes it clear that she doesn't want to be there and that she wants an allowance. Aunt Claudia has been instructed not to give any money to Sarah Ida and this infuriates her even more. Soon a girl in the neighborhood, Rossi Wigginhorn, comes by to meet Sarah Ida. They return to her house and Sarah Ida sees a piggy bank and convinces Rossi to 'loan' her 4 dollars. Aunt Claudia finds out and tells her to give it back. Angry, Sarah Ida says she is going to get a job (at 10-years-old) to make money. The only place that will take her is the shoeshine shop owned by Al Winkler. He gives her the chance to work for him even though he isn't sure she can do it especially because she is a girl. Soon, the two develop a rapport and run the business together. One day, this is shattered when Al is hit by a car and gets sent to the hospital. He tells Sarah Ida to close the shop. Instead, she keeps the shop open by herself. For a week and a half she runs the shop and gives the money to the Winklers. Soon after Al returns to the shop, Sarah Ida finds out her mother is truly ill and her family wants her back home. Sarah Ida wants to stay with the community she loves, but Al convinces her that she must return home because family is very important. Sarah Ida returns home with a new sense of joy and respect for people and money.

I think this book would be excellent to use in a 3rd-5th grade classroom. The books flows easily and the language isn't too difficult. It shows students that money isn't everything and community and family are everything. I can create a lesson based on this book by having students categorize what is important to them and why. We can then discuss that money isn't bad, but family and friends are going to stay around while money may not. It can also lead to the class creating a map of their community and the people in it. It will give them a chance to see how everyone contributes to a community and why they are all important.

I can also have a discussion about gender discrimination and how it can affect people even their age. This discussion/lesson would be more for 5th grade. We can have a chart up on the board in which they separate different professions or labels for boys and girls. We can then use this book to show that girls can do anything that a boy could do. I would show them not to hold themselves back because of what society says they can or can't do. It would apply to both girls and boys. And I think this book would be a great example for that sort of lesson.

The Rainbow Bridge

Title: The Rainbow Bridge

Inspired by a Chumash Tale

Retold by: Audrey Wood

Paintings by: Robert Florczack
Genre: Folk Tale

This folk tale comes for the Chumash Indians of California. The story begins with Hutash, the earth goddess, walking on her island of Limuw alone. She decided she would create people in her image. She planted seeds and from them came the humans. She saw that they were suffering, so she asked her husband, the Milky Way to see them and help them. He sent them a lightning bolt to create fire so they would be warm and could eat. Soon, though, there were too many people scaring the animals and destroying the land. At this time, a boy and a girl recognized Hutash and invited her into their hut. She told them that the Indians would need to choose half of their tribe to travel to another island across the sea. They were worried about how they could cross; when the woke up the next morning, however, a rainbow from island to island was in the sky for them to cross. In crossing the bridge, some of the Chumash began to fall into the ocean and drown. Hutash didn't want any of her people to die, so she turned the drowing Chumash into dolphins of the sea. From this point on, the Chumash tribe have viewed the dolphins as their brothers and sisters lost in the crossing.

I would definitely use this story in my classroom. At the beginning of the book, the author speaks about the research she has done on the Chumash Indians. She uses the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and The Chumash People: Materials for Teachers and Students as references for her story. Because of this, I believe this story correctly depicts the Indians and their belief in the story. I would use this story in an American history lesson. Many people have heard of the Indians, but not necessarily the Chumash. Giving students a glimpse into a culture they haven't seen or heard of before has many benefits. They learn new things and can delve deeper into our history.

I believe that a beneficial lesson would be to have my students create their own versions of this story. It will give them a chance to be creative while learning that many cultures have different tales for a reason. It is a part of culture and a way of expressing life in that culture. We can discuss why having these stories is important to us and how they help us learn about cultures. We can also discuss checking to make sure stories like this do not depict a culture in the wrong way. There are many different areas of study just off this one book which I find wonderful!

Abracadabra to Zombie

Title: Abracadabra to Zombie (More than 300 wacky word origins)

Author: Don and Pam Wulffson

Illustrator: Jared Lee

Genre: Nonfiction

www.wallwisher.com/wall/zombies2

This book was so entertaining to me. There are literally over 300 origins of so many words in our lives. From Jell-O to blurb to any word one could possibly imagine. I found out so many different origins of words that I had always wondered about.

I think children would absolutely love this book. Children are naturally curious about our language and the words in them. This books covers a lot of the words they know and can provide some new ones that they may have never heard before. It will give them new information to show off to their peers and families. It teaches them something that we as teachers can't necessarily do either - a love of reading. I think this book would really encourage students to read because it gives them words and an enjoying topic. I also feel that it could appeal to all ages and levels. The language is easy to read and flows easily for students.

For this blog I chose to do a Wallwisher. I thought this would be great to do for various reasons. First of all, it gives students a chance to see some of the words and their definitions. 300 words is a lot of words, so organizing this way would be a lot easier for the students. Also, it's easy for students to use. You just click and type. They can come up with their own backgrounds, titles, pictures, and posts.

In class, I would definitely use this book for a lesson. Children need to know where some words originate from and I think this is a great place to start. I would have students come up with some words and where they think they came from. I would then have them do research on their words and present a poster, or Wallwisher, to the class. They may find something they never knew existed or it might confirm what they think. Either way, it can give them a glimpse into the English language and how the words are formed.