January 8, 2008
THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt
I like this book, I really like this book because it reminds me of being in school, it has got an unbelievable great adult character, it set on Long Island and it is a good story. This is THE WEDNESDAY WARS by Gary D. Schmidt.
Holling Hoodhood, yes that is his name not a spelling error is the only Presbyterian in his class. Now this is 1967 and on Wednesday afternoons all the Catholics go to catechism and all the Jews go to Hebrew class, which leave very few students in their regular classrooms. (By the way when I went to school that is exactly what happened.) In Holling’s class the only one left is Holling, who stays in school with Mrs. Baker. Holling is certain Mrs. Baker hates him.
After a few Wednesdays of house cleaning, the chalk boards, erasers, and the coat room, Mrs. Baker decides to introduce Holling to the plays of Shakespeare. Of course Holling views this extra work as a punishment, but as the school progresses he learns a lot from the plays about himself, his family, his friends and the world around him. Holling even learns to curse in old English.
Since it is set in 1967 there are historical references including the Vietnam War, and the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, and there is a lot of baseball, the Yankees and Mickey Mantle.
Holling is a seventh grader, but I RECOMMEND THIS TITLE FOR BOYS AND GIRLS IN ALL THE MIDDLE SCHOOL GRADES AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE A GOOD LAUGH ANYONE WHO LOVES SHAKESPEARE.
Mrs. Jackson
Head of Young Adult Services
Posted by fjacksonem at 9:12 AM | Comments (0)
December 27, 2007
TREMBLING EARTH by Kim L. Siegelson
Historical fiction readers you might like TREMBLING EARTH by Kim L. Siegelson. It is set during the Civil War.
War between the North and the South was strong. Hamp, a swamper, lived in a time when fighting would never end. Hamp hopes for the South to win the war between states, even though he’s never seen a slave. Hamp’s father lost a leg and a part of his soul because of the war. He hated the Union army for turning his loving father into a man that he has never met before. Now his father always sits on the porch singing sad songs and pining away, as the war draws closer and the family gets poorer. Scrub, the neighbor, caught a family of Negroes and held them captive with no food and water. Neeta, Hamp’s sister, felt that this was wrong and convinced Hamp to rescue the family. But Hamp was more interested in a reward for a slave named Duff. He was a no-good slave who was accused of killing his own master and is now loose on the swamp. Hamp goes after him, figuring that the bounty is his by rights. But when Hamp meets up with Duff, Hamp realizes that right and wrong weren’t black and white as he thought they were.
Stephanie Zhang
Grade 8
WT Clarke Middle School
Posted by fjacksonem at 8:50 AM | Comments (1)
October 2, 2007
HITCH by Jeanette Ingold
HITCH by Jeanette Ingold is historical fiction with universal themes.
The Great Depression had struck Moss Trawnley, a seventeen-year-old janitor at Muddy Springs Airport. He was just fired from his job and now Moss was jobless and homeless. His father left to get a job at WPA and hadn’t returned for two years. Moss needed to get his father back to have him support his mom and siblings in Spanish Creek, Louisiana. After many attempts Moss found his father without a home or job. He turned into a drunken hobo. Moss realized his father was useless to bring home so Moss decided to find a decent job at CCC (President Roosevelt’s Civilian Conversation Corps). At least he will have food and a shelter. While the trip to Monroe, Montana, he was able to make new friends such as Nate, Sam and Apple. As soon as Moss was enrolled, they were assigned to a new project. As Moss worked harder, he learned to take action faster and better. After all Moss’s hard work and determination he earned himself a great future and a good life.
This is a must read book!! If you like a realistic fiction then you should definitely read this novel.
Stephanie Zhang
Grade 8
WT Clarke Middle School
Posted by fjacksonem at 3:06 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2007
FOR FREEDOM: THE STORY OF A FRENCH SPY by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
FOR FREEDOM is a about a teenage girl named Suzanne, who is a singer. Suzanne is experiencing living during a war. She is living around the time of 1940.
The Germans have invaded her city of Cherbourg . Due to the invasion; a bomb is dropped on Cherbourg and silences her friend Yvette permanently. Suzanne herself is hurt and goes to the doctor. Soon after the accident everyones' homes on the street are invaded by Germans, accept Dr.Leclerc’s house. Suzanne and her family have to find another home.
For Suzanne singing lessons were very tight because of the war, but Suzanne gets a leading part in an opera. As Suzanne keeps on going to her doctor, he sees a quality in her that is worthy of the job he needs someone to do. Dr.Leclerc is a spy and he asks Suzanne to become a spy as well. She will carry messages to different spies. The Spies don’t call each other by their names but only by numbers. There are 22 spies in all of France . The Germans find out that Suzanne is a spy, so she is thrown in jail, but she escapes. When Suzanne gets out of jail, she knows that number 16 and herself, number 22, are the only spies left alive in all of France . They killed everyone else including Dr.Leclerc and his family, who were also spies.
Thanks to Suzanne and her strong will power she gives America and England a chance of fighting the Germans. She becomes a French hero. This is the story, FOR FREEDOM: THE STORY OF A FRENCH SPY by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley.
I BELIEVE THAT EVERYONE FROM THE 5TH GRADE ON UP WILL ENJOY READING THIS PAGE-TURNER. This is a historical fiction book that really touches the heart.
Tharshana Chandrakumar
Woodland Middle School
Grade 7
Posted by fjacksonem at 8:13 AM | Comments (2)