City of Orphans

City of Orphans

Title: City of Orphans

Author:  Avi

Illustrator: Greg Ruth

Publisher: Scholastic

Genre: Historical Fiction

Level: Upper

Number of Pages: 350

Pub. Date: 2011

Summary: The streets of 1893 New York are crowded, filthy, dangerous.  Maks Geless, is a 13 year old boy who has had to grow up fast in order to take care of his family. He not only has to work and sell papers, he has to watch out for Bruno, leader of the Plug Ugly Gang. While being chased by Bruno and his gang, Maks discovers Willa, a young girl who lives alone in an alley and she ends up saving him by using her stick. Maks must also find a way to free his sister Emma from The Tombs, the city jail where she has been imprisoned for stealing a watch at the Waldorf Hotel. Maks, believing her innocent, has to find a way to prove it. He finds Bartleby Donck, who trains Maks and Willa to be detectives and eventually helps not only solve the theft case, but also helps Willa find her long lost father, who ends up being the man who framed her and dies right in front of her. Although she has lost all of her family, Willa is welcomed into Maks’ family and made to feel right at home.

Critique: This piece would be considered a historical fiction book in the category of historically researched with imaginary characters. Willa and Maks and his family aren’t real people, but they are very believeable along with the setting that surrounds them and the situations they have to go through. The poverty that their family goes through is a characteristic of the times and the New York at the time was a dirty and dangerous place. In evaluating the quality of this piece of historical fiction, the story definitely re-creates the times through setting and daily life. It also reveals history through a character of a similar age to the reader with Maks and Willa being young teens.

Response: The problem in the story is very intricately woven throughout the story.  Not only must Maks avoid the Pug Uglies, he must also watch out for Willa, find a way to prove his sister’s innocence, he must also be conscious of his family’s money troubles and bring home at least a day’s earning so he can buy more papers. Another problem in the story involves Maks’ younger sister who is growing sicker by the day. He is faced with all of these problems, which makes for a gripping and suspenseful plot.

Assignment:

City of Orphans Video Contest

 
"Create a video inspired by Avi's City of Orphans, and you could win an in-person visit from Avi to your classroom or library!

It's that time of year ... plan for a Common Core, technology-involved, learning experience in your classroom, library, or book club. We've chosen City of Orphans because it has possibilities for many children to be involved in the filming. Thinks newsies and rival gang, Maks' family ... there are numerous possibilities."

http://www.avi-writer.com/contest/index.html

Book trailer: 

Watch a Youtube trailer of the book before reading it to get children excited and interested in what they are about to read! 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-Ftb365YTo

Summer of Kings

Summer of Kings

 Title: The Summer of Kings

Author: Han Nolan

Illustrator: N/a

Publisher: New York, Scholastic, Inc.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Level: Upper

Number of Pages: 334

Pub. Date: 2006

Summary: Set in Westchester New York in 1963, Ester is a 14 year old girl who fantasies about an exotic romance with an 18 year old, African-American male who is sent to live with her family after being accused of murdering a Southern, White man. As the summer goes on and she learns more about King-Roy, she delves into the current issues of racism and segregation. Through her experiences and her struggles against her unsupportive family, she learns more about herself and of what she is truly capable of. In the end, she even convinces her whole family to participate in a march for peace in Washington D.C., and convinces King-Roy to turn away from the ways of a violent Muslim leader, which unfortunately leads to his death.

Critique: This piece is a great example of historical fiction. It fits within the category of historically researched with imaginary characters. It is set in New York in 1963, a time when racial issues were a very present issue. The main characters, Esther King-Roy and her family are most likely invented, but I’m sure there were people who lived during that time that went through a lot of the same things that they did. I’m sure there were young white girls who just wanted equality for all and wanted to go to the march and young black men who had to endure harsh realities because of the color of their skin. The author does a careful job of not sheltering the reader for the realities of the time, the racial segregation and violence, but she does relay the information through the viewpoint of a 14 year old girl, which makes it understandable, yet not too harsh. In the book, there is talk of and details presented about a violent Muslim movement and a peaceful one by Martin Luther King Jr. These are both elements that were present in that time, which displays the historical accuracy of the book well.

Response: I like how the author incorporates some very intense issues like racial violence and segregation in a narrative format that is easy for children to because the main character is a child encountering many of these issues for the first time. It allows for that ability to talk about these issues with children at a relatable point of view.

Assignment:

Book Report Sandwiches

The teacher draws slices of ham, tomato, and Swiss cheese; lettuce leaves; a layer of mayonnaise, and a couple of slices of bread. Then she photocopies the drawings onto appropriately colored sheets of paper -- ham on pink, tomato on red, Swiss cheese on yellow, etc. The sheets served as the ingredients for the students' book report sandwiches.

• On the top slice of bread, each student wrote the title and the author of the book the student had just finished reading.
• On the lettuce, the student wrote a brief summary of the book.
• The student wrote about the main character on the tomato slice.
• On the mayonnaise, the student described the book's setting.
• The student shared the book's climax on the Swiss cheese.
• On the ham slice, the student described the plot.
• On the bottom piece of bread, the student drew a favorite scene from the story.

Students stapled together their sandwich layers, then slapped their concoctions up on a bulletin board headlined "We're Hungry for Good Books!"

Example for Summer of Kings:

Tomato slice: King-Roy- He is an 18 year old Black male who is sent to live with a white family for the summer. King-Roy is haunted by an event in his past where is brother and sister were both injured because of a peaceful walk that was turned away with violence from white men. He is struggling to believe in the peaceful movement anymore and has turned to find hope in a violent, Muslim movement.

Charlotte's Web

 Charlotte's Web

Title: Charlotte’s Web  

 Author: E.B.White 


Illustrator: Garth Williams
 

Publisher: New York:  Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.

Genre: Modern Fantasy 

 Level: middle/intermediate  

Number of pages: 184  

Pub. Date: 1952

Summary  A pig named Wilbur is saved by a young girl named Fern.  He lives on Zuckerman’s Farm where he meets Charlotte a grey spider.  Charlotte befriends Wilber and creates a plan to save him by writing in her web.  Wilber is awarded a special medal at the fair and his life is saved.  Charlotte dies alone but her 3 of her children live on in the barn as Wilber’s friends. 

Critique: The setting is realistic; the barn is a real place.  The characters, particularly Fern and Charlotte, grow and change over the course of the narrative.  This story falls into “becoming one’s own person” category of realistic fiction.  There are elements of fantasy in this story.  The animals in Zuckerman’s barn can talk to each other and Fern can hear them; the author continually makes this fantastic element believable. 

Response: This was a book that I remember being a great part of my childhood. It was my mom’s favorite book growing up so when she heard that I would be reading it again she was so excited. I loved the descriptive language that E.B. White uses when describing the setting, especially at the beginning of each chapter. This story really tugged at my heartstrings, but I definitely don’t remember it being so sad. I must have blocked out the fact that Charlotte died because I it made me sad as a child because I don’t remember that at all. The characters are well-developed and comical and are definitely the biggest reason why this book tugged at those heartstrings.

Activity:

Venn Diagram Comparing Charlotte and Wilbur

http://littlestlearners.blogspot.com/2010/06/open-house-photos-charlottes-web-theme.html

Compare & Contrast:

Follow this link to find clips from the movie and compare and contrast them to thier counterparts in
the book!

 https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=charlotte%27s+web&oq=charlottes+&gs_l=youtube-reduced.3.0.0i10l4.237209.241966.0.245924.11.7.0.4.4.0.113.681.3j4.7.0...0.0...1ac.1.m6WqPrn7H6I

Double Fudge

Double Fudge

Title: Double Fudge

Author: Judy Blume

 Illustrator: N/a

Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

Genre: Modern Realistic Fiction

Level: Intermediate

Number of Pages: 213

Pub. Date: 2002

Summary: Pete, a young boy living in New York has a little brother, Fudge, who very much an interesting character. This is a very relatable story about the ups and downs of having a younger sibling. Fudge is very interested in Money, where it comes from and everything else he can learn about it. The family runs into long lost cousins from Hawaii who have a very different way of living. They travel all the time and home school their children. They stay with Pete and his family for several days, making their small apartment seem even smaller, and then end up renting an apartment in the same building. They have lots of adventures with the two families including Fudge getting stuck in an elevator while trick-or-treating

Critique:

Response: This was a very fun book to read. It seemed like Judy Blume hit it right on the head capturing the realities of having a younger sibling. It was entertaining, enjoyable and funny. I’ve never had a younger sibling, but it was fun to see what it’s like . Through all of the craziness that he went through with his little brother, it made me very thankful that I’m an only child. I can’t imagine how stressful that would be to have a crazy, messy little brother around all the time!  

Assignment:

 Pre-Reading Activity
1. Do you have a family member you haven’t seen in a long time? If so,
why haven’t you seen this person? Do you miss him or her? Write a
paragraph of what you would do if the two of you got together?
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2. Do you have a brother, sister, or relative that you enjoy being around but
can get on your nerves once in a while? If so, explain who the person is and
what they do that bugs you so. If not, how about a friend?
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Interview with Judy Blume:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRaSokOu4yc

Tells about who the character Fudge was based on and some insight into her inspiration in her writing!