Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis (Coretta Scott King)

I chose to read this book because I have read another book that is written by Curtis: Bud, Not Buddy, and really enjoyed it. I was definitely not let down when I was reading Elijah of Buxton. It was fun to read because I was able to get in touch with all of my emotions throughout the book. It was interesting to hear about slavery in the perspective of a child. I love how detailed the author was in this story. I felt like I was in Buxton and that very connected to Elijah. It was interesting when he met different slaves and got to hear all of their stories. I think that Elijah is a very admirable character and that it took a lot of courage to go back into America where he could have been captured. I could see myself using this is in the classroom because it would be very easy to connect this story to history, journal writing, narrative writing, and Elijah is a great role model for the students. I give this book two thumbs up!

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

I loved reading this book by Alexie. I thought that the author did a fantastic job of presenting this book like the diary of 14 year old boy, Junior. And the drawings were very comical! I liked looking at those because I felt like it helped me get to know him on a different level. I enjoyed getting to know this original and quirky character. It was interesting to get to know what it was like to see what it would be like to be an Indian in a school that is predominately wealthy, rich kids. I think that this story was very uplifting and perfect for students to read in the classroom. It shows that even in the roughest situations, it is important to recognize your heritage and keep believing in yourself.

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

This book was about a 12 year old Japanese-American girl, Sumiko, and their lives in camps after Pearl Harbor. I liked learning about their journey in the camps because I have never learned about this before. I think that a lot of times, Americans try to hide this from our history because we put most Japanese into camps. However, I think that it is important to know where our country came from, even if it was not the best thing to do at the time. It was also interesting to see how she delt with living in the camps and how her and Mr. Moto tried to make the best out of the situation. I think that the flowers helped show that there can be hope even in the worst of times. I think that I could definitely use this in my classroom. For example, since they never explained what happened to the family after they got out of the camps, I think that this could be a chance for the students to predict what would happen next.

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

I loved reading Esperanza Rising because it was a different than I expected. I loved that instead of going from poor to rich, she was able to adjust to life without much money. I think that in society today, people focus way to much on money and this book really demonstrates the importance of other things in life other than money. In the book, Esperanza had to deal with a lot of things, but losing her father was very tragic. At first, she was did not handle the situation the best, but after a while she matured into a beautiful woman from the inside. I loved watching her grow through out the book and I think that many people would agree. I can definitely see myself using this in my classroom because it porttays a valuable lesson and exposes children to a different culture and time period.

Let it Shine by Ashley Bryan (Coretta Scott King)

This award winning book for its illustrations is very beautiful. There are three songs that are written in the book, "This Little Light of Mine", "Oh, When the Saints Come Marching In", "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". However, I think that the main focus of the book is the illustrations. I loved how the illustrator used different pieces of colored papers to do all of the pictures. I can't imagine how long this must have taken her to make each picture. The colors and style of the photographs automatically make me feel happier because of the patterns and papers used in it. I would love to see other books that were illustrated by Ashley Bryan.

Mallory McDonald Series by Laurie Friedman

For my series study, I chose to read the Mallory McDonald Series. The three books that I chose from this series are Red, White, and True Blue Mallory, Happy Birthday Mallory, and In Business with Mallory.

I found these books to be very entertaining and funny! Mallory and the other characters in these books were quirky and kept me interested the entire book. It was funny because the Mallory and her best friend in the book, Mary Ann, reminded me of me and my best friend from home. Even though these books were about nine year olds, I think a lot of people from all ages could relate and learn from the lessons portrayed in these stories.

In the book, Happy Birthday Mallory, she decides that she needs to celebrate her birthday for an entire month. However, when she brings up this idea to her parents, they are not so thrilled about it. The only part that her mom agrees to, is a weekly birthday cake. But when Mallory expects her birthday to be the best month of her life, she keeps getting let down and deals with a lot of issues. In order to try and salvage her birthday month, she decides to plan her own surprise party with her best friend, Mary Ann. In the end, she ends up with an even bigger surprise and learns an important lesson about trust and friendship.

In the book, In Business with Mallory, Mallory and her best friend, Mary Ann both want to get the Perfect Purse that they saw on TV. Since, they always get the same of everything, when Mary Ann's parents buy the purse for her right away and Mallory's parents do not get it for her, she is extra upset. When Mallory calls her Grandma to buy her the Perfect Purse, her Grandma refuses, but suggests that she could try and buy the purse herself by starting a business. After many failures, Mallory finally finds a business that works and she get to buy the Perfect Purse. But how "perfect" is the Perfect Purse? She ends up learning that thinking of others is more important than doing things for herself.

In the book, Red, White, and True Blue Mallory, Mallory's class goes on a field trip to Washington, D.C. This book is filled with fun facts about the nation's capital! Mallory and Mary Ann are supposed to stay partners through the whole trip, but instead her friend finds a new boy. Through the field trip Mallory gets upset and her and Mary Ann learn the importance of friendships.

I loved how the author wrote the book in Mallory's point of view and the drawings that "Mallory drew" added humor to the book as well. My favorite book out of the three that I read was Red, White, and True Blue Mallory. I liked how the entire book was a journal. I actually learned a lot about the capital of the United States from reading her journal. This would be a fun book to read in the classroom to teach about the capital because it was funny and quirky.

I would definitely reccommend these books to anyone of any age, but especially those in the primary grade level. If anyone likes Junie B. Jones, they will definitely love Mallory! When I was at my track meet passing time, I even read these books to my teammates (who are in college) and they thought Mallory was hilarious!

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy

After reading the inside cover of this book, I knew that I was not going to be able to put it down until the book was finished. When reading this book, I felt so connected to Syvia and her family. I cannot imagine what it would be like to go through over 5 and a half years of starvation and fear every single day. I was scared for her and her family just reading about her experiences.
When she had to lay down in the graveyard many nights with her father to hide from the Jews, I was so worried for them. Just to think about the times when they were starving and cold. It makes me feel guilty for the times I have complained about being cold or hungry for just half an hour. However, after reading this story, I feel blessed for what I have now.

I think that Syvia’s father was very smart. I loved how he was so optimistic throughout the book and was able to devise plans that saved not only his family, but other Jews as well. If it weren’t for him, I think a lot of those Jewish people that were alive at the end of the story would have died.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone because I think it gives a different perspective to what actually happened in Europe at this time. I think this would be interesting for students to read to learn about the Holocaust instead of reading out of a textbook. I know that I have learned more about the Holocaust from this book than any other history class I have read. Also, I think that it is important for all people to know what the Jews went through. This way children and adults will think twice before they discriminate against a certain race or religion.