Dogsong

A Newberry Honor Book!

Want to read about an fourteen year old Eskimo who sled races across Alaska?
Russell Susskit is the boy you’re looking for! Of course, he’ll have to break in the dogs, brave the elements, and pray he doesn’t starve to death or get killed by caribou. To win this race, he’ll have to draw from the strength of his people to become a true leader….a pack leader. If for no other reason than to save the girl that fate has put onto his sled.

Gary Paulson’s done it again! His tale of bravery in the face of nature will awe any young mind. Especially your male students. There’s no better way to introduce them to literature than to get their adrenaline pumping with this story of survival!

Paulson, G. (1985). Dogsong. New York: Atheneum Books For Young Readers.

A Wreath for Emmett Till

A Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book!

In 1955, Emmett Till was found washed up in a river with the fan of a cotton gin tied around his neck. It was later found that he was hung and severely beaten by five white men from Mississippi. His crime? Some witnesses say he whistled at a white woman. Now one woman is struggling to come to grips with a tragedy that rocked the nation and the hearts of African Americans everywhere. How does one deal with the effects of racism and injustice? The answer is in this book.

The story is told through a “heroic crown” of fifteen interlinking sonnets with Italian rhyme scheme. Through poetic verse, Marilyn describes the psychological effects of social injustice on our cultural psyche. Nelson concurs that it is our responsibility to speak out against injustice (despite social repercussions), lest we become slaves to fear and suffer the murderous consequences of future tragedy. Please share this book with your students, if for no other reason than to enlighten them about how our nation's past directly affects their future.

Image borrowed from Intuitive Roots, an online blog found at:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mwright2/iroots/cat_a_wreath_for_emmett_till.html

Nelson, M. (2005). A wreath for Emmett Till. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Facing the Lion

My dream is to kill a lion. Then I will be the strongest warrior in my tribe. My people are nomads, meaning we make our home where the cattle graze. When the land dries up, we move with them. We belong to the Ariaal, a subgroup of the Masaai Tribe in Kenya. Come with me on my journey and I will tell you about how I become a Harvard graduate and come face to face with my first lion. In the end, you will find me bringing education to my people and educating people (such as yourself) about my culture.

This book gives the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child.” a whole new meaning. Read on to learn about the customs and traditions of a native African. Struggle with him as he tries to reconcile Western teachings with his own. Laugh as he scares the tar out of some American tourists with his own brand of tribal humor. This is the story of Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton, tribesman, teacher, human rights activist, and the most recent addition to the Parliament of Kenya. What a great book for that
7th grade geography unit on Africa!

Lekuton, J. L. (2003). Facing The lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savannah. Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society.

Samir and Yonaton

My name is Samir. I’m a Palestinian and I live in the middle of a war-zone. I want to be like my brother Fadi…dying the death of a hero. Actually die…not fall off my stupid motorbike and land in the hospital like a coward cheating death. Never mind the fact that this is a Jewish hospital. How can it be that the only people who can save my leg are the same ones responsible for my brother’s death? How can anyone in this hospital understand me? Even if they are my age...

Samir and Yonaton is about a friendship forged from the ashes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As each child’s story unfolds, they will discover a deep humanity that leads to the tearing down of racial walls and emotional barriers. Use this book with your students to get them personally involved in a centuries-old conflict that still effects the world today.

Harlem Hustle

Harlem Hustle.
His street name.
Earned for hustling anything and everything just to turn a dime. Of course some people, no matter how tough they appear to be, can take being caged up like an animal. Hustle learns real quick he’s one of those people after getting busted for petty theft on his seventeenth birthday. Being a high school dropout, there’s only one thing keeping him going. Rapping. Does he have what it takes to come up in the industry or will his dreams take him somewhere else?

Does this sound like a book for students? Trust me, it is. For all the students in our schools who dream of making it big. The ones who might not see a future for themselves otherwise. Give them a book about real life…maybe they can picture a place for themselves if they know what they’re capable of.

MacDonald, J. (2006). Harlem Hustle. New York: Francis Foster Books.

The Time Warp Trio Graphic Novel Series

Whatever you do….

Don’t say it.

Don’t you dare…

Mention ANYTHING about history!

Because it doesn’t stand a chance
with the Time Warp Trio around!

This series of graphic novels is adapted from the popular TV show. Travel with Sam, Fred, and Joe as they chase the Time Travel book all over different historical eras. They may wind up in all sorts of trouble, but at least they learn something in the process.

If your kids can’t get into textbooks, give them a comic book. Seriously! How can anyone resist a history lesson on India with the title “Dude, where’s my Karma?” Why not check out some of the other books in the series like “My Big Fat Greek Olympics” “You Can’t But Genkis Kahn” or “What’s So Great About Peter?” Your students will learn more than you’d think with this crazy pack of kids!

Don't forget to check out their website at http://www.timewarptrio.com. Plenty of resources for teachers and students. Games, lesson plans, good books...and let's not forget about clips from the TV show!



Scieszka, J. (2006). "Seven blunders of the world." The Time Warp Trio, vol. 2. [Adapted from the teleplay by Gary Apple]. New York: Harper Trophy.

Children of the Dust Bowl and Grapes Of Wrath

Dust.
You wake up to find yourself covered in it.

It gets in your teeth...in your eyes and nose.
Every morning you have to sweep piles of it out of your house.



It destroys the farmlands.
You're forced to leave the one place you called home.

An "Okie" from Oklahoma...trying to make it to California. A place where "Okie" becomes a curse word. Where families are forced to live in labor camps.

This is life during the Great Depression in 1930.

FYI....
this expose takes place right around the time Grapes of Wrath was banned. Oh come on! Grapes of Wrath? Please tell me you've at least heard of it. It's that novel by John Steinbeck written about an Okie family and their struggle to survive in California? The one where the oldest brother, Tom Joad finds himself in a murderous brawl? Oh, but you probably think that sort of stuff is boring.

Still....why would a "boring old book" that accuses the Californian Farming Association of being racist...and depicts the deplorable conditions of the New Deal labor camps....get banned? Is Steinbeck waging a war on American ideals...just because he told the truth?

Read these two books together to present a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of New Deal America, told from the perspective of the poor Okie and migrant workers who were hit the hardest.


Stanley, J. (1992). Children of the Dust Bowl: The true story of life at Weedpatch Camp. New York: Crown Publishers.

Steinbeck, J. (1939). Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press.