How the Wizard Came to OZ

How the Wizard Came to OZ
By Donald Abbott

Ever wonder where the fraudulent Wizard in OZ hailed from?  Well this book will explain the history of the Wizard and many other things about the land of OZ.  This book talks of the two witches of the North and South, and the two bad witches of the East and West.  The Wizard, who has no magical powers, comes to OZ in a flying balloon and tries to improve the lives of the green loving Ozites.

How the Wizard Came to OZ is a good book if you love the book or movie The Wizard of OZ because it give some history and explains why certain things are how they are.  However the story line was hard to follow from chapter to chapter and the illustration are very antiquated.  I did not particularly enjoy this book, but found some parts of it interesting. 

Abbott, Donald. How the Wizard Came to OZ.  The Emerald City Press. New York, NY. 1991.

Firegirl

Tony Abbott. Firegirl. Little Brown and Company, New York. 2006.

A new girl, Jessica, joins Tom's class for just three weeks, but that time changes his life forever.  Jessica is the unfortunate victim of a terrible fire and is going through intense burn treatments.  The class is tense around her, not knowing quite what to say to her but Tom's few simple kindnesses reaching out to her make all the difference.

This was a great read about what it means to be "different" and how we should all react and live our lives when around those that are different from ourselves.

I would recommend this book for 5-8th grade students. 

Becoming Naomi León

Becoming Naomi León

By Pam Muñoz Ryan - Scholastic (2005) - Paperback - 272 pages - ISBN 0439269970

 Available in both English and Spanish!

León means lion, but Naomi doesn't feel like a lion. She is an excentric young girl who wears all hand made clothes and lives with her aging grandmother, Gram, and younger brother, Owen.  They all seem happy when one day their mother shows up and tries to befriend them but only wants to take Naomi home with her new boyfriend and leave Owen behind. They all go with some close neighbors in search of Naomi and Owens father in Mexico.  Naomi discovers her heritage and where her love of carving comes from as she gets to know her extended family and finally finds her father at an annual radish carving festival.  

I think that this book tells a great story about a non-traditional family and the struggles of a custody battle from the child's point of view.  It also uses rich language and inserts a lot of Spanish words in a way that explains the words.   

I would reccommend this book for 4-5th graders. 

Welcome

I am a teacher in Oregon.  For now I am a substitute teacher and as such I have plenty of time to read.  I believe that teachers should know what their students are reading so that they can relate to their students better, and also be able to converse about books to students.

I have read hundreds of young adult books, but after a while I tend to forget some of the details or combine plots of similar books in my head.  A few months ago I started writing book summaries/reviews so that I could quickly refresh my memory of a book.  Another thought is that I could put these summaries/reviews in a binder in my classroom (once I have one).  Then a friend suggested that I put the reviews online, so others could see and I could search them easily at a later point in time.  Also, others could also post their own thoughts and opinions about the books.  I want to make certain that people understand that what I'm writing is totally my opinion, and I welcome any additions or opinions that others might have.  

In an attempt to create some sort of order I went to my public library to find a good starting place.  After walking around a while I decided that I would just "start at the very beginning*" with "A" in the young adult section.  I am sticking with the plan, however I am also reading though my own young adult books, that are not in order by any means. 

* beginning of a song from The Sound of Music