Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

This is one of my best books that I have read this semester at the intermediate level. I loved Stargirl because she is a character that everyone can learn a little bit from. In the book, Stargirl comes into a high school and everyone wants to know about her because she is always changing her name and wearing odd clothes. Leo becomes so fascinated with her that he secretly stalks her and the two end up becoming great friends, and then boyfriend and girlfriend. After they kiss, and spend a lot of time together, Leo realizes that he loves her for her uniqueness. However, Leo is not the only person in the high school that is inspired by Stargirl, but also the band, other students, cheerleaders, and the fans at the football game. But eventually, her popularity dies and so does Leo and Stargirl's relationship. When Stargirl is upset, she goes back to being called Susan and dresses in normal clothes; however, this still does not get people to like her again. In the end, Stargirl moves away but leaves a great impact on the entire school and especially Leo. I admire her character, because she is always kind and in the end she realizes that being herself is the most important things. This book would be great for middle schoolers in preperation for high school because I think that Stargirl represents high school well and teaches a valuable lesson.

Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business by Barbara Park

The Junie B. Jones books are some of my favorite books that I have ever read. These books are great for all ages! My sister and I always read these books aloud to my family in the car (everyone is above the age of 19) and my dad always insists that we read more! These books are so great because they make everyone laugh and even though they were written for little kids, there are some secret jokes hidden in the book that only adults will laugh about. Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business is one of my favorite books because of all of the ridiculous adventures and things she does in this book. In this book, she tries to sell her cutest little monkey brother for things that her friends will give her and she ends up in the principals office. All of the funny things that happen in this book and the quirky characters are sure to win anyone over when reading this book. I would recommend this to read for younger elementary students because they will get a kick out of it and learn some valuable lessons!

Sharon Creech Author Study

I chose to do my Author Study on Sharon Creech. She has many books of a wide variety than have won a lot of medals. I decided to read three of her books because I have always heard of her, but had never read any of her books. I am definitely glad that I chose this author because the three books I chose: Walk Two Moons, Love That Dog, and Hate That Cat. I picked these novels because I could not tell what they would be like just from the cover and I wanted to find out!

Out of the three books, my favorite book was Walk Two Moons. Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down. It was interesting to go on many journeys in this book with Sal and her friend Phoebe and learn about Native American heritage. It shows the reader how to deal with anger and that even though bad things can happen in your family, it is still important to stay strong. I think this a great lesson for children to learn because one of the worst things that can happen to a child is the death of a parent. This shows the stages of her acceptance and how to deal with problems. In my classroom, I would be sure that none of my students have had a similar happening in their family, because then this book may be hard for them to cope with.

Love That Dog and Hate That Cat were fun books to read. I picked these books based on their titles because I LOVE dogs and HATE cats! I liked the way that she wrote these books with poetry and in 1st person of the main character, Jack. My favorite part was when he learned the "poetry of silence". This is something that many children need to learn! I also enjoyed Jack's quirky personality. I think that Creech did a good job at showing his personality through the poems. These books were short and easy reads that could be used in the classroom to learn about different writing styles and for inspiration.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

When I was younger, Matilda was one of my favorite movies to watch. But after reading the book, I would much rather reading about Matilda than watch the movie. This was a fun read and would be great to use in the classroom because Matilda is a very loveable character. It is hard not to love her because she is independent, cute, smart, and has been through a lot of problems in the first part of her life. Miss Trunchbull and Ms. Honey are also great characters in the book. I think this book is an exaggeration of how most students view their teachers and this goes to prove that some teachers like Ms. Honey really care about their students. Some of the things that Miss Trunchbull would do to her students were absolutely outrageous, yet entertaining to read. I like this book because it shows that intelligence can go a long way and its okay to be different than others.

How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt by Tamara Bower

This book is a classic example of the strength of a woman over a man. I enjoyed reading this book because it was a legend and showed the strength and courage that women can have. It was interesting to read this because it was based off of an actual Egyptian scroll and the book includes great illustrations and translations of hieroglyphics. In the end of the book, it shows that men and women are equal and if they work together, more can get accomplished. How the Amazon Queen Fought the Prince of Egypt would be great to use in a classroom because it teaches a valuable lesson and could be connected to a history unit easily! I loved the hieroglyphics and Egyptian drawings.

So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small, written by Judith St. George (Philomel)

One of the most popular future that little kids want to have when they grow up is to be the President of the United States. This book is really fun because it tells a lot of fun facts about the presidents. My favorite part of So You Want to Be President is the illustrations. These are realistic, yet are designed in the form of cartoons. It was fun to see what was going to be written and drawn on each page. I liked the part when the author talks about the “Presidential Beauty Contest”. This really shows that looks do not get someone far in life, but it’s what on the inside that really counts. The only complaint that I have about this book is that it is not updated. At the end it says, “Every President was different from every other and yet no woman has been President. No person of color has been President.” In fact, in our last election a woman and a man of color ran for president. All in all, this book would be great to use in the classroom and shows the strengths and differences of all of the presidents really well.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

The first time I read this book, it was because my sisters both loved it and they forced me to read it. I think that I didn’t like it because I was forced into reading it. This time, I read the entire book and found it to be very enjoyable. Even though I am not a huge fan of fantasy/science fiction novels, this book is very entertaining and teaches valuable lessons. In this book, Harry spends the first ten years of his life living with a family that hates him and treats him horribly. They even make him living underneath the stairs. Then one day, he receives a letter from a mysterious person inviting him to Hogwarts, a school of magic. It turns out, that Harry Potter is actually very famous in the wizard world because he is the only one to survive against Voldemort. While at Hogwarts, Harry makes new friends, enemies, and learns to play Quidditch. But most importantly, he finds the true meaning of the scar on his forehead. This book is sure to keep all readers on their toes all the way to the last page and I would reccommend it for leisurely reading. However, I am not sure that this would be a good book to use in the classroom. There are many controversial issues that could arise from reading this book in class. Anything from magic to evil spirits could cause problems and arguments. While it is important for students to read books like Harry Potter and Twilight, I think this should be kept at home and out of the classroom.

The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron (Newberry)

I enjoyed reading this book because I was able to connect the main character of this book, Lucky. She was a young girl who is forced to be taken care of by her dad’s new wife, Brigitte. She starts to think that her new mother has something up her sleeve and is going to leave her, but in the end, she really just wanted to adopt her. I like this book because Lucky tries to connect to a higher power when she has problems and this is something that I try to do as well. Also, the book, “Are You My Mother?” is mentioned in the story, and that is my all time favorite children’s book! This also sends out a great message about trust. Trust is very important for kids to learn about and can definitely be used in the classroom.

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.

Leon’s Story by Leon Walter Tillage Collage art by Susan L. Roth

Leon’s Story by Leon Walter Tillage Collage art by Susan L. Roth

This book is a narrative story of Leon Tillage's life and the hardships that he encounters being an African American in the South. When I was reading the story, I felt very connected to Leon and had no idea the type of things that African Americans had to deal with during this time. I was appauled by the way people acted and thought in these days. I found myself tearing up in many parts of the story.

The biggest shock that I had in this story was when Leon's father died. I cannot believe that people would just run over other people like African Americans had no feelings. Then, the next day when the father of the boy acted like it was not a big deal at all, I was even more surprised and disturbed. I can't imagine what it would feel like to be helpless and watch my father get run over by a car. I have so much respect for Leon and his family by staying calm in this situation and dealing with his father's death with such understanding. I know that if I was in that situation I would want revenge or be very angry with the white people.

Finally, I was impressed with how courageous he was when he grew up. Even through all of his hardships growing up, he still fought for his rights by marching in front of the mayor's house. It was absolutely awful to hear about the way the white people would throw things and hurt the African Americans. It was even worse to hear about the police watching it happen in front of their eyes. I was so happy to hear that all of their hard work and protesting paid off when the mayor brought in the National Guard at the end of the book.

Overall, this book was very moving and I loved every page of it. I have a new respect for African Americans and a better understanding of the history of our country. I am glad that times have changed and that people are able to respect different races in our country. It was also interesting to read the pages in the book after the story to learn that Leon still has no hard feelings and realizes that he can only learn from the experiences and that being angry about it will do no one any good. This book and Leon are very inspiring to me.

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life