Review: Jefferson’s Sons, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Published August 6, 2013 by Dagmar

Here’s a book from my summer reading list that surprised me. I was worried that this book would be heavy handed. Instead, I found a rich story; and, although it is a fictionalized account, this story based largely on historical fact.

It took me a little while to get into the book. As I kept reading, the writing seemed to become smoother, and I became totally absorbed in the story. I couldn’t put it down. I will definitely recommend this book to tweens and middle school.

Jefferson’s Sons starts with the story of Beverly, Thomas Jefferson’s oldest son with Sally Hemings, his slave. Beverly pines for his father’s love and is constantly reminded that he may never speak about his father to people outside his family. I was starting to wear on this theme but became really interested in the book as it changed voices to his next son, James Madison, or Maddy for short. Maddy’s voice is angry. He feels the indignity of being a slave more deeply and is bitter that of all Sally Hemings children, he is the only one that can not pass as white because of his dark skin. With each changing voice, the author provides another perspective to being Thomas Jefferson’s child. This technique added a lot of interest for me. As the story progresses, readers learn of the huge debts that plagued Thomas Jefferson’s household and how those debts would ultimately affect the lives of everyone at Monticello.

The author’s note at the end is excellent. She tells which parts of her book are based on historical fact and where she filled in parts of the story as she felt they might have occurred. This author’s note is great for students who wonder, “How much of this story is true?”

I was so interested in this story that it sparked my interest in Thomas Jefferson. I spent time on the Monticello.org web-site, reading about Sally Hemings and her children as well as looking at the Monticello grounds and pictures of Thomas Jefferson. There, on Monticello.org, you’ll find that there was a DNA study done that confirmed that Thomas Jefferson was the father of Sally Hemings children.

I’m excited to recommend this book to my students and teachers in the fall.

Amelia’s Notebook series, by Marissa Moss

Published July 29, 2013 by Dagmar

If you’re looking for a fun read for tweens and middle school girls, here’s a great choice. Marissa Moss’ Amelia Notebooks are written like diaries that look like composition books full of Amelia’s writing and her many drawings. Amelia is 10 and has an older sister named Cleo. They act a lot like you’d imagine an annoying younger sister and a more annoying older sister might act.

In Oh Boy, Amelia, Amelia can’t believe how her sister Cleo changes when she’s around a boy she likes. Amelia tells it like it is. “I know why Cleo’s suddenly so polite. She’s eating lunch at school with Oliver now, and she doesn’t want him to htink she’s a rude slob…If Oliver saw the real Cleo, there’s no way he’s ask her to go out with him.” and “Today when Oliver came over, Cleo actually fluttered her eyelashes at him – I thought that only happened in cartoons! I thought I’d see big pink hearts pop up over her head.”

As Amelia tries to make sense of the way Cleo is acting, she has her own struggles in “Life Skills” class. Amelia has to sew, something and that does not come naturally to her. Amelia talks about “The Truth Behind Boy and Girl Things” Her truth? “All girls aren’t the same, and neither are all boys. And even if most girls like something, I don’t have to like it, too.”

Amelia’s sewing project is a disaster, and she’s really nervous about her teacher’s suggestion that they have a fashion show with everyone modeling their projects. Her big challenge though, is making a science project that will impress Oliver enough that he’ll invite her to go the state science fair. Amelia loves science and is dying to go to science fair.

Will Amelia get through the fashion show and get to go to the science fair? Will Cleo figure out that it’s better to be yourself than to try to change yourself to get someone to like you?

Read this fun book to find out and enjoy the entire series of Amelia’s notebooks!

As a note, our school was lucky enough to receive an author visit from Marissa Moss. She did a great presentation and writing workshop for our sixth grade. Yay, Marissa!

Greek Myths and Legends, by Graphic Universe

Published July 9, 2013 by Dagmar

One of my favorite genres is the graphic novel. I have many students who are graphic novel devotees and will read anything written in this format, including mythology and American history.

My students are big fans of The Olympians series of graphic novels. They’ve read all the books in the series that I have in the library (Zeus, Hades, Hera, Athena and Poseidon). They are eagerly awaiting the newest book in the series, Aphrodite.

Thank goodness for Graphic Universe and their series of Greek mythological tales. They’ve helped quench my students’ thirst for Greek myths. These graphic novels include myths like Jason: Quest for the Golden Fleece; Theseus: Battling the Minotaur; Trojan Horse: The Fall of Troy, Perseus: The Hunt for Medusa’s Head and others.

While these tales are a quick read (I often get them back the same day I check them out), there are quite a few of them and they do a great job broadening my students’ understanding of Greek myths. Written by various authors and drawn by various artists, these books bring these stories to life in a dramatic and exciting way. I would recommend them to any mythology or graphic novel fan.

Women of Hope: African Americans who Made a Difference, by Joyce Hansen

Published June 30, 2013 by Dagmar

I love to read parts of this book aloud to my students during African-American history month. This book features quotes, black and white photographs and a page about many notable African-American women, including: Ida B. Wells-Barnett, The Delany Sisters, Septima Poinsette Clark, Ella Josephine Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, Marian Wright Eledman, Alica Walker, Alexa Canady, Mae C. Jemison with a list of more notable women in the back of the book.

This book makes a great resource for teachers or a wonderfully inspiring book for young people. Read a page here and there, or read the entire book. Either way, don’t miss it.

Holes, by Louis Sacher

Published June 25, 2013 by Dagmar

This book has an effect on kids. I’ve had countless kids tell me that it’s a great book. I have one student that stood up and hugged me when I gave him a donated copy to keep. I knew it was his favorite book in our library. It’s also one of my son’s favorites, so I think I have a soft spot for this book.

Stanley Yelnats (read it backwards) is an unlucky child that comes from an unlucky family that is said to be cursed. When a star basketball player’s pair of sneakers falls on Stanley’s head from above, Stanley is accused of stealing the shoes. Stanley goes to court, is found guilty and is sent to Camp Green Lake, a youth detention center in the middle of a dried up lake in Texas. There Stanley and the other children are forced to dig holes every day for the warden, with little water and bad food. You might think this book is too dark and might even want to give up on reading the book at this point. Don’t. If you do, you’ll miss an amazing book.

Sacher cleverly weaves Stanley’s story with that of Stanley’s great, great grandfather, Elya, an old Egyptian woman named Madame Zeroni, a woman named Kate, a man named Sam, his donkey, Mary Lou, and Sam’s incredibly powerful onions. Woven together, Louis Sacher creates a powerful story of friendship and of good overcoming evil that you won’t forget.

Highly recommended for tweens and middle schoolers. Holes is a Newbery and National Book Award winning book.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Brian Selznick

Published June 19, 2013 by Dagmar

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is very special. It is unlike any other children’s book I’ve read. Selznick masterfully intertwines illustration with words to create a captivating story. When I first opened this book with my son years ago, I was amazed by the illustrations. As my son and I turned the pages, he was completely taken in by the story, as was I.

This year, I had a student who was reading easy chapter books. As a very bright fifth grader, I knew he needed to challenge himself with more difficult books. I suggested this book and watched as it opened up the world of literature for this child. He devoured the book in two days, brought it back and checked out Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick’s next book. These two books led him to explore many different books in my library. I was amazed at this student’s transformation from a child who liked books to a child who became an insatiable reader.

Hugo is an orphan, living in a train station in Paris. Hugo’s father and his uncle had a talent for fixing mechanical things, particularly clocks and taught Hugo their trade. After Hugo’s uncle passes away, Hugo hides in the train station in his uncle’s old apartment, maintaining the station clocks in order to fool the station master into believing his uncle is still alive. But, Hugo has an even bigger secret. Before he died, Hugo’s father was trying to repair a mechanical man that he and Hugo believed would draw a picture or write a message once he was repaired and able to write again. Hugo’s one wish is to complete his father’s work and read the mechanical man’s message. This endeavor leads Hugo to meet new friends and unravel more than the mystery of the message, but the mystery of of the mechanical man and his inventor.

This book won the 2008 Caldecott Medal and is unique and memorable. It’s perfect for tweens, middle school students and adults. Don’t miss it.

Flight, edited by Kazu Kibuishi

Published June 18, 2013 by Dagmar

Finally, something to satisfy the many Amulet fans in my library. As I mentioned in my blog article about Amulet, my students are so sad that the series only has five volumes. Many of my students have read each book of Amulet multiple times. Kibuishi’s Copper book also circulated like crazy until our copy was lost.

So, when I found out that Kazu Kibuishi created a collection of graphic short stories, I thought I’d give these books a try in my library. I was not disappointed. While the work is not entirely that of Kazu Kibuishi exclusively, it is a really nice collection. It contains short stories from 21 authors, including one story from Kibuishi. I ordered the first three books, and they immediately started circulating. There are eight books in all, and I’ve already been asked by my students to add to our collection. While most of these stories can be understood by younger students, I would recommend them for a tween and older audience.

Anne Frank: Her life in words and pictures, published by the Anne Frank House

Published June 11, 2013 by Dagmar

Many adults know the story of Anne Frank, the 14 year old girl who died in the Holocaust and whose diary told the story of her family’s ordeal hiding from the Nazis in Holland. When I was young, we not only read The Diary of a Young Girl, by Anne Frank, we saw the play. Both the book and the play had a huge impact on me when I saw the play in middle school.

It always surprises me that my students don’t know Anne Frank’s story. It was heartening to hear the outrage they expressed when they realized that Anne was killed by the Nazis just because she was Jewish. This injustice touched my students deeply, and this particular book about Anne Frank’s life was in high demand during my sixth grade girls’ biography unit.

This book has a unique format. Published by the Anne Frank House, this book is six inches square and includes many family photographs of the Frank family. The beginning of the book shows a picture of the diary that made Anne famous. It’s a red plaid diary that she chose herself for her 13th birthday. Pasted inside the front cover is a beautiful picture of Anne on her birthday. Readers are drawn in by the picture of a young and pretty girl with a big smile.

After the Adolf Hitler and the Nazis came to power, the Frank family decided to leave Germany for Holland in 1933, because of the many restrictions Hitler and the Nazis placed on Jews. In 1940, the Germans invaded Holland, and life for Jews changed dramatically for the worse. In 1942, the Frank family went into hiding with the van Pels at Otto Frank’s office. In June 1944, the Frank family celebrated as Allied troops landed at Normandy; but, in August, their dreams were shattered as they were captured by the Nazis and sent to different work and extermination camps.

I think this book was so successful with my students because Anne’s family’s story is interwoven with Anne’s own words from her diary. There are many pictures of where Anne’s family and the van Pels family hid, so young readers can really get a sense of what Anne might have experienced as she hid from the Nazis. Pictures of her diary pages are scattered throughout the book. This book brings the story of the Holocaust to a whole new generation very effectively.

Anne Frank and her sister Margot were sent to Bergen-Belsen camp. The only member of the Frank and van Pels families to survive the war was Anne’s father Otto, who was liberated at Auschwitz by the Russians.

This is a powerful book and highly recommended. This book was a Junior Library Guild selection.

Bake Sale, by Sara Varon

Published June 9, 2013 by Dagmar

I really like Sara Varon’s graphic novels. They are emotional, a little melancholy but most of all, really good. Bake Sale is very popular in my library. I have a lot of cooks and bakers at my school, so I think Bake Sale’s appeal extends beyond the very sweet (sorry) story of friendship to the recipes throughout the book.

Cupcake owns a bake shop in New York City. He has a best friend named Eggplant and plays drums in a band with his friends. He loves baking and playing in the marching band. Eggplant tells him that he is going to visit his aunt Aubergine in Turkey. His aunt Aubergine knows Turkish Delight, the famous baker. Turkish Delight is Cupcake’s baking idol. Eggplant invites Cupcake to come along to Turkey so that he can meet Turkish Delight. Cupcake doesn’t have the money for his plane ticket. At Eggplant’s urging, Cupcake quits his band and works lots extra hours creating new recipes and selling his baked goods all over New York City so that he can save up all his money to buy a ticket to Turkey. I love Cupcake’s entrepreneurial spirit. He sells little marzipan dogs and cats outside to sell at St. John the Baptist Cathedral for St. Francis of Assisi Day, dog biscuits for the Westminster Dog Show and heart-shaped peppermint brownies for Valentine’s Day. Finally, Cupcake saves up enough for his ticket to Turkey so that he can meet Turkish Delight. Sadly, Eggplant loses his job and can no go to Turkey.

What happens next? Read and find out how this great story ends. I loved it.

This book was a Junior Library Guild selection.

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