Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld

Specifics
Uglies, by Scott Westerfeld
Published by Simon Pulse, 2011

Target Audience
Lexile level 77L
This book, because of the length and some of the themes and ideas, is for older students, middle schoolers.

Summary
This book is about a futuristic society where everyone gets plastic surgery when they turn sixteen. With that operation, the doctors also alter the person's mind, to make them "happy" and compliant. After that operation, everyone gets to move over to "Pretty Town" where everybody parties and has fun all day long. Right before the operation, Tally meets a girl who has the same birthday as her. They become friends, and the other girl, Shay, talks about running away. She had had friends that ran away from the city, but she had chickened out. Now, she wants to go and meet up with this guy who will take her to a place where there is no operation, but also no city, no technology. Tally gets forced to go and join that society, and she learns a lot of things about her city and the people who run it along the way. She also learns to see beauty in a totally different way than she ever thought she would.

Evaluation
This is a great story that children, I believe, will relate to so easily. Because our society is so permeated with the ideas and ideals of beauty, this book will teach students to view the idea of beauty in a way that they will actually think about it. This story shows a society that we could potentially turn into, so I believe this setting and story is realistic, in that world. The setting is that there was some sort of thing that infected all of the oil, and so regular cars stopped working. The rusty city has shut down, and is now just a ruin of what that city used to be. Reading this book, I did feel like I was in that time and place with Tally. The characters are realistic because there are those who question, and there are those who just follow along blindly.

Lesson
The main theme behind the lesson with this book will be the idea of beauty, and how it is just a social construct that everybody believes in. Anything can be beautiful to anybody, if they look at it the right way. The author's use of foreshadowing will be discussed after finishing the book. The use of metaphors and allegory will be discussed, because the author is making a statement about our society, and what we believe, and so we will talk about how things should change, and how we can maybe avoid this kind of future.

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson

Specifics
Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
Published by Penguin Group, 2014

Target Audience
Lexile level 990L
This book is for older students, probably around middle school age.

Summary
This book is about the younger years of Jacqueline Woodson herself. It is about how her and her family moved from Ohio, to South Carolina, to New York City, and the many differences between all of them. A lot of the differences have to do with the fact that they are black, and this is the 60's and 70's, so not everything is equal for her and her family. Jacqueline sees the differences through a child's eyes, and is retelling the story of her life through things her family has told her and through her own memories, through the eyes of a child. This book is written in poem format, and is actually pretty easy and fun to read.

Evaluation
This book is a great tool for teaching about the civil rights movement that was going on at that time. The characters seemed real, especially because Jacqueline doesn't always understand the reasons for what the adults tell her. The language, for being written in poem form, sounded incredibly natural. I don't usually like poems all that much, but I love the way that Woodson wrote this. The characters mostly fit their settings, especially Jacqueline's grandparents in South Carolina, and how close they were to their grandchildren. The story is realistic, if you keep in mind the fact that most of the very early years are known because of stories from Woodson's other family members. I definitely felt like I was in that time and place with the character of Jacqueline.

Lesson
The lesson for this book will go along with a history unit about the civil rights movement of the 60's. The author's use of allegory throughout the book will be thoroughly discussed. Any uses of assonance will be noted and used as tools for the students to write their own forms of poetry. Metaphors and how they affected this story will be discussed. The students will either do a found poem, like we did with this book in class, or they will write their own form of poem about a memory from their own childhood.

Maximum Ride, by James Patterson

Specifics
Maximum Ride: The Manga, Vol. 1, by James Patterson, Illustration by NaRae Lee
Published by Hachette Book Group, 2009

Target Audience
Lexile level GN380L
This book is for older students, probably around middle school age because of some of the themes.

Summary
This book is an adaptation of the novel by the same name, and the same author. It goes through about half of the first novel. It is about a group of children who are the result of scientific experimentation and gene splicing. They are kids who can fly. They have run away from the lab that had created them, and they are trying to stay hidden from those that are looking for them, but the lab sends these mutated wolf-men to find them. When they capture the youngest of the group, the rest have to go and save her.

Evaluation
This story is good because, while the characters in the book are technically different from "normal" humans, there has to be one character that each student can relate to. Because there is a girl who's in charge, a girl who loves fashion, a sweet little girl, a blind guy, a kid who loves explosions, and a guy who is the "broody" type, there is most likely going to be one character that everybody can relate to. The characters are portrayed both as individuals and as a group, which shows the power of teamwork and family. This story is realistic in that if there were bird-humans, they probably would have been born in a lab, and the scientists would not want to lose track of them. The characters and their actions and decisions matched, and they all seemed real and relatable.

Lesson
The lesson going along with this will be more complicated, so older students will understand it more. It will be about how DNA and gene splicing may work, so they can understand how the characters in this story were made. The author's use of foreshadowing with the dream in the very beginning of the book will be discussed. The author's use of allegory with the idea of having lab-born experiments basically being imprisoned their whole lives will be discussed and pointed out throughout. The author's use of similes will be pointed out throughout the book.

The Best Part About The Day of the Dead, by Marianne Arellano Pazos

Specifics
The Best Part About The Day of the Dead, by Marianne Arellano Pazos, Illustrated by Justin Dial
Published by Infinity Insurance, 2014

Target Audience
Lexile level not shown
This book is for younger children to learn about The Day of the Dead, kindergarten to third grade

Summary
This is a book specifically about the holiday of Day of the Dead. One of the characters in the book has never celebrated Day of the Dead before, so her friends are all explaining to her that on the second day of November, they honor the memories of their gone loved ones. It goes through all of the different decorations, traditions, and foods that are a part of the Day of the Dead. Each friend believes that the part they are putting into the celebration is the best part, and at the end, the main character finds that the best part of the celebration is actually that everyone does something to honor the ones they love. The story is told in English on the left side of each page, and in Spanish on the right.

Evaluation
This book, unlike the rest of the books illustrated by Justin Dial, has only animal characters, with no humans. The characters fit the setting well, in that the characters were all colorful, like the Day of the Dead decorations. This story is very good to teach students about the Day of the Dead, a traditionally Mexican holiday, that is becoming more popular in America. It is a great way to bring in the culture and heritage of some of our students, that would not normally be addressed. I believe the culture is accurately portrayed in this book.

Lesson
The overall lesson and activity will be a celebration of the Day of the Dead. The children can help decorate the classroom, and snacks can be brought in. The author's personification of the characters in the book will be addressed, and maybe the students can identify what kind of animal each character is. The author's use of onomatopoeia will be pointed out. The author's use of metaphor will be discussed.

The Twins Who Share, by Taneesha Crooks

Specifics
The Twins Who Share, by Taneesha Crooks, Illustrated by Justin Dial
Published by Infinity Insurance 2014

Target Audience
Lexile level not shown
This book is definitely for younger students, the storyline is fairly simple. kindergarten to second grade.

Summary
This book is about a brother and sister, who are twins. They share everything with each other, and have the same friends. One day, Ricky randomly decides that he does not want to share his toys anymore. He spends all his time trying to keep his things away from his sister, that he has no fun actually playing with the toys. He realizes that sharing his things leads to a lot more fun for everyone. The story is told in English on the top of the page, and in Spanish below.

Evaluation
This book is a great story to use for teaching students about sharing, and why it is important. The story is very realistic, because children can easily decide that they want to keep everything to themselves, and not share at all. We saw Ricky growing in this story when he realized that sharing his toys is the best thing for everyone. The only weird thing about this book was, again, the fact that most of the characters were human, but there was one character that was just randomly a lion. A lot of the read conmigo books, I have found, have the same illustrator, and he uses the same characters for each book, so they almost all contain animals and humans as characters.

Lesson
The lesson for this book will be about twins, and how they have the same birthday. It will also be pointed out that if the twins are a boy and a girl, it is the same as being brother and sister, but if they are both girls or both boys, it is possible for them to look exactly like one another. The author's use of allusion, with Ricky wanting his toys, will be discussed. The author's use of metaphors will be pointed out, and the author's use of personification of his characters will be discussed and analyzed.

Hanukkah in Alaska, by Barbara Brown

Specifics
Hanukkah in Alaska, by Barbara Brown, Illustrated by Stacey Schuett
Published by Henry Holt and Co., 2013
http://www.storylineonline.net/hanukkah-in-alaska/

Target Audience
Lexile level not shown
This book is for younger readers, kindergarten to fourth grade.

Summary
This book is about a young girl who lives in Alaska. It is explained that in winter in Alaska, daylight only lasts for about five hours, there is a lot of snow, and everyone has to watch out for moose. Moose like to use the path that humans shovel out, like driveways and roads. There is a moose that decides to camp out in the main character's back yard, right by her swing. She tries everything to get it to leave, but nothing works until the last day of Hanukkah, when she discovers that a Jewish food is something that the moose likes to eat. She ends up successfully luring the moose away from her swing, and she then enjoys the beauty of the northern lights with her family.

Evaluation
This story is good because it explains a lot of things that people don't normally think about, like what life is like in Alaska during the winter, and having to watch out for moose. The characters fit the setting perfectly, in that the main character dresses in a giant snowsuit just to go outside. This story makes it sound like this kind of thing could actually happen, because it says that you can hug a tree to avoid getting stepped on or attacked by a moose, and the moose stays where there is less snow. The character is portrayed as an individual who has lived in Alaska her whole life, and she knows that snow and darkness and moose are a reality of the winter.

Lesson
The lesson for this story will be about moose, the northern lights, and Hanukkah. The children can be taught about onomatopoeia, and what kinds of sounds a moose makes. They can discuss the author's use of foreshadowing, with the other moose that got caught in the swing. The author's use of simile can also be addressed. The students can do a research project about Alaska and the northern lights, as well as talking about the different winter holidays, other than Christmas.

A Perfect Season for Dreaming

Specifics
A Perfect Season for Dreaming, by Benjamin Alire Saenz, Illustrated by Esau Andrade Valencia
Published by Cinco Puntos Press, 2008

Target Audience
Lexile level not shown
This book would be for younger students, because they would really enjoy looking at the illustrations and counting the things Octavio Rivera dreams of.

Summary
This book is about an old man during the summer, and each day of summer he dreams about something wonderful. His dreams are so crazy, though, he does not want to tell anybody about them. After eight days of his incredible dreaming, Octavio can no longer keep his dreams to himself, and he thinks of someone that he can definitely tell- his granddaughter. So he shares his wonderful dreams with her, and the next night, he has an even more wonderful dream about nine hundred hummingbirds. There is an English paragraph on the top of each page, with a Spanish translation under each one.

Evaluation
This is a great story about it being okay to use your imagination, and to tell others about what your mind comes up with. The character's motivations for telling someone about his dreams are very realistic, because when you dream of something so great, all you want to do is tell someone about it. His reservations about telling other people are also realistic, though, because they might just believe that he is old and crazy. The character fit the setting because the illustrations do look like they have mexican influences, and his dreams are all in the background behind him, along with illustrations of his family members, including his granddaughter who loves his dreams. The author's message of it being a good thing to use your imagination is a very good message for kids, because as adults, we tend to use our imagination less and we should encourage them to use it as much as they can. The character overcame his problem of having no one to tell about his dreams in a very natural way, and I love that he told his granddaughter, rather than another adult, about his dreams.

Lesson
The lesson for this book will be for each student to write about some kind of fantastic dream that they have had, whether it was while they were sleeping, or if it is just from their imagination. The use of allegory for the message of the book can be discussed, by talking about what the book is telling readers. The author's use of repetition in the numbers, and each animal or thing Octavio dreams about being from a different place can be discussed, asking why the author decided to use repetition for this story. The personification of each thing that Octavio dreams can also be discussed, using the illustrations as tools to show how each thing is being brought to life by the dreams.