The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Help

By Kathryn Stockett

★★★★★

Summary

Miss Skeeter is an independent thinking, Ole’ Miss college graduate.  She is a reporter and wanted to do more than write a help column for people looking for cleaning advice.  Skeeter decides to secretly write a book about “the Help”, black women working for white women, in the 1960’s, in the south.

Aibileen and Minny are two of the women who tell their stories and help Miss Skeeter write the book in private.  The stories range from daily cleaning and childcare to the once in a lifetime stories you just have to read about.  The friendship that develops between these women is unconventional for the time, but has a great sincerity from all participants.   

Review

The craftsmanship is great, and the voice and dialect changes when the story is told from the perspective of Minny, Aibileen or Miss Skeeter.  This is a fictional book, inspired by the author’s personal experiences and research, but each piece of the story could have been true on it’s own. 

This is a humorous book that made me laugh out loud on several occasions.  The book tells it how it was, with a constant leaning toward the better times to come.  While this book was probably not written for school aged children, I believe that middle school and high school students would get a lot out of reading this book.  It puts the Civil Rights movement in a much more relatable light than the Martin Luther King Jr. Day activities that are usually observed in schools. 

Author Website

http://kathrynstockett.com/

I did not find her website very helpful, there were a few “no brainer” discussion questions, but mostly it served as a promotional tool.

Technical Stuff

Paperback: 544 pages

Publisher: Berkley Trade; Mti Rei edition (June 28, 2011)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0425245136

ISBN-13: 978-0425245132

Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  

The Cat That Was Left Behind - C. S. Adler

The Cat That Was Left Behind

By C. S. Adler

★★★★☆

Summary

Chad is a foster child who has been transferred so many times he is not expecting to stay with the Sorenics past the summer months.  His mother, April Anne, has promised year after year that she would come for him.  Chad would like nothing more, when he is devastated by a letter telling him that she is getting married and doesn’t want him any more.  Chad feels like the cat he has spent all summer taming that was tossed aside by another family.  He is eventually open to the Sorenics and can finally see their open arms welcoming him to their family, not as a foster child but as an adopted son.

Review

This is a great story about fitting into a family group, and what learning what true family is all about.  Chad must find his place in the world, just as we all must learn to transition from being told what to do all of the time to making our own decisions, and accepting the rewards and consequences for those decisions.  I would recommend this book for 4-8^th graders.

Author Website

http://www.c-s-adler.com/

Technical Stuff

Adler, C.S. The Cat That Was Left Behind. Clarion Books, New York. 1981

ISBN 0-395-31020-2

The Three Little Witches Storybook

The Three Little Witches Storybook

by Georgie Adams

Illustrated by Emily Bolam

   ★☆☆☆☆

Summary

Ziggy, Zara & Zoe are the three little witches.  They want to host a midnight Halloween party and invite their friends.  They clean, cook and prepare for the party as they eagerly await the replies of their guests.

Review

This book is written for a younger audience.  It includes text in paragraph form as well as speech bubbles, letters to their friends, and labels for pictures.  This format has become popular, but this book did not pull it off as well as others that I’ve seen including Diary of a Wimpy Kid and the Chester books by Melanie Watt.  I might recommend this book for 2^nd-3^rd graders who like stories about magic, and witches, or who need a shorter book to read.

Author Website

http://www.georgieadams.com/

This is a very nicely designed website, with tons of information about all of her books.  There is also an interview with Georgie Adams.  

Technical Stuff (from Amazon)

Publisher: Orion Children's Books (September 2, 2010)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1444000802

ISBN-13: 978-1444000801

Courtyard Cat - C.S. Adler

Courtyard Cat

by C.S. Adler
★★★☆☆

Summary

Lindsay is eleven years old and tasked with taking care of Garth, her 3 year old brother, for the summer while her mom works and her dad goes to school.  They had to move to the city to be closer to Garth's doctors, as Garth had previously been in an accident that disfigured his face.  Lindsay is angry that she has to take care of him, that she had to move away from her friends and that she can't leave the courtyard of their apartment building.

Even though life seems impossibly rough, a cat named Sapphire and the task of saving her from the landlady's clutches brightens their otherwise dull summer days. 

Review

At first this was a slow read but as I got into the book, it touched my heart.  I would recommend this book for 4th-7th grade readers.  It has a little mystery and gives the reader lots of personal connection points such as struggles with money, parents working and in school, taking care of siblings and pets, and much more.  

Author Website

http://www.c-s-adler.com/

Technical Stuff (from Amazon)

• Age Range: 8 and up 

• Hardcover: 172 pages

• Publisher: Clarion Books (September 18, 1995)

• Language: English

• ISBN-10: 0395711266

• ISBN-13: 978-0395711262

Spirit Horse - Ned Ackerman

Spirit Horse

by Ned Ackerman

★★★☆☆

Summary

Running Crane is a youth new to the Kainaa Indian tribe and gets picked on a lot by the other boys.  Weasel Rider is especially rude to Running Crane and calls him "Falls Off" when he can't rie any of the horses.  The elder, Wolf Eagle, invite both boys and some warriors along on a raid to capture some horses from the Snake People.  The raid goes awry and Running Crane is separated from the group. He must fend for himself, and while trying to find his way back to the Kainaa, runs into many dangers.  He is able to capture the prised Spirit Horse of the Snake People and break him before he heads back to the Kainaa to share his story.

Review 

This book had a slow beginning and many difficult to follow names such as Beaver-Slaps-Tail-Twice and Hunts-Smoke-Rising.  There is however a very good moral, that hard work and patience always win over empty bragging, and slacking.  I would recommend this book for 4rd-6th graders or anyone interested in Native American culture in the 1770's.    

Technical Stuff (From Amazon)

• Age Range: 10 and up 
• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic; 1 edition (April 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590396501
• ISBN-13: 978-0590396509

Frindle - Andrew Clements

Frindle

by Andrew Clements
Ill. by Brian Selznick

★★★★☆

Summary

Nick Allen is a very bright 5th grader who likes to step out on his own against the main stream.  His teacher Mrs. Granger tells the class the history of how new words are made and Nick decides that he is going to create a new word of his own.  Frindle.  That was Nick's new word for pen.  Pretty soon kids, then adults all over weren't using the word pen anymore, but the word frindle.  Mrs. Granger tries to put a stop to it, but it was too late, the word had become a sensation.  

Review 

This book is well written, and I would recommend it for 3rd-5th grade students.  Kids will enjoy reading this story of a word invention by a student their own age.  Nick likes attention and can be a bit obstinate, but he is humble in the end.  I think that most kids will be able to connect to this book easily.  While this is a very good story, the characters are not very deep and some students might desire more.  

For Teachers

Andrew Clements' webpage has a lot of good information that could be used in an author study here.  More specifically is the page dedicated to Frindle including answers to some frequently asked questions about the book.  This was a great resource!

If reading this story with a whole class, you should be ready for your own students to start creating their own new words.  :)   This died down in my class after a few weeks, but it was interesting for a while.  

Technical Stuff (From Amazon)

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (February 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689818769
• ISBN-13: 978-0689818769

The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds - Rodman Philbrick

The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds : The Donner Party Expedition, 1846

by Rodman Philbrick

★★★★★

Summary

This is a journal style book written from the point of view of 16 year old Douglas Deeds in 1846.  He is alone, just him and his horse until he joins up with the Donner Party as they head toward the Oregon Territory. He is loyal to the party, even when they hit hard times and he could have left.  He and the Donner party cross with many hardships, including the issue of cannibalism when members of the party are dying and others are starving to death. 

Review 

Love, Love, Love this series!  This is a wonderful historical fiction piece based on the true story of the fated Donner Party.  The story of the Donner Party is a hard one to speak to students about, but this book does a wonderful job of explaining it from a young man's point of view.  I would recommend this book for small book groups for mature 5-6th graders.  5-8th grade students could learn a lot about the Oregon Trail and the hard decisions that had to be made to survive just 160 years ago in American History.  The Journal of Douglas Allen Deeds is book 13 in the "My Name is America" book series, a series for middle grade boys. 

Technical Stuff (From Amazon)

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
• Hardcover: 158 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Inc.; 1st edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439216001
• ISBN-13: 978-0439216005