Module 15 - Censorship Issues



Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska.
New York, NY: Dutton Books.

Summary:

Looking for Alaska by John Green is a young adult fiction that is written from a sixteen-year-old boy’s point of view named Miles.  Miles goes off to a private school for his junior year in high school.  His roommate Chip, is poor and on a full scholarship due to his great intelligence and he can’t stand the rich preppy kids that are classmates. The two boys, a girl named Alaska, and several other students are always up to mischief, drinking, and smoking.  Alaska attracts most boys around her, but she seems to be on a path of self-destruction. 

The story is based on experiences the author, John Green, experienced as a student when he was in school.  The book received the Michael Printz award for 2006.

My Impression:

The book tells of situations that many teens may face.  Some may object to the frequent sexual reference, drinking, and pranks that are shares.  The content is very typical of teenagers trying to make sense out of their life.

Reviews:
Looking for Alaska
School Library Journal Reviews
Gr 9 Up  Sixteen-year-old Miles Halter's adolescence has been one long nonevent–no challenge, no girls, no mischief, and no real friends. Seeking what Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps," he leaves Florida for a boarding school in Birmingham, AL. His roommate, Chip, is a dirt-poor genius scholarship student with a Napoleon complex who lives to one-up the school's rich preppies. Chip's best friend is Alaska Young, with whom Miles and every other male in her orbit falls instantly in love. She is literate, articulate, and beautiful, and she exhibits a reckless combination of adventurous and self-destructive behavior. She and Chip teach Miles to drink, smoke, and plot elaborate pranks. Alaska's story unfolds in all-night bull sessions, and the depth of her unhappiness becomes obvious. Green's dialogue is crisp, especially between Miles and Chip. His descriptions and Miles's inner monologues can be philosophically dense, but are well within the comprehension of sensitive teen readers. The chapters of the novel are headed by a number of days "before" and "after" what readers surmise is Alaska's suicide. These placeholders sustain the mood of possibility and foreboding, and the story moves methodically to its ambiguous climax. The language and sexual situations are aptly and realistically drawn, but sophisticated in nature. Miles's narration is alive with sweet, self-deprecating humor, and his obvious struggle to tell the story truthfully adds to his believability. Like Phineas in John Knowles's A Separate Peace (S & S, 1960), Green draws Alaska so lovingly, in self-loathing darkness as well as energetic light, that readers mourn her loss along with her friends.

Lewis, J., Jones, T. E., Toth, L., Charnizon, M., Grabarek, D., & Raben, D. (2005). Looking for Alaska. School Library Journal, 51(2), 136.

Suggested Library Use:
Looking for Alaska could be used in the library when exploring award winning books.  The book received the Michael Printz award in 2006 for its excellent literary merit in young adult fiction.

Module 14 - Poetry and Story Collections



Florian, D. (2007). Comets, stars, the moon, and Mars.
Orlando, FL: Harcourt, Inc. 



Summary:
Florian shares many facts about comets, stars, the moon, and Mars through the use of poetry.  There are 20 poems for a young astronomer to enjoy while they explore the colorful illustrations.  The book gives many facts about our solar system including A Galactic Glossary.

My Impression:
What a great way to learn about our solar system than through these wonderful poems.  Children will enjoy the illustrations throughout this great book.  Florian exposes children to the use of poetry through a subject that children take great delight in.

Reviews:
Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars
Booklist
Gr. 3-5.  This large-format book looks at astronomy through the magnifying, clarifying lens of poetry. Each broad double-page spread features a short, accessible poem about a subject such as the sun, each of its planets, a comet, a constellation, or the universe, set within an impressive painting. A concrete poem entitled "a galaxy" is a curling spiral of words set against the midnight-blue sky and surrounded by other galaxies. Stamped type, cutout pages, collage elements with printed papers, and sweeping brushstrokes all figure prominently in the expressive collage artwork, which ably illustrates the verse. The last pages carry "A Galactic Glossary" with a paragraph on the topic of each poem, followed by a list of books and Web sites. Florian's ode to Pluto matter-of-factly notes its demoted status, but even better is his pithy poem on Jupiter: "Jupiter's jumbo, / Gigantic, / Immense, / So wide / Side to side, / But gaseous, not dense. / With some sixteen moons / It's plainly prolific-- / So super-dupiter / Jupiterrific!" Read this aloud.
Phelan, C. (2007). Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars. Booklist, 103(15), 50.

Suggested Library:
Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars could be used as a study of poetry to illustrate the different ways poems can be used and written.  Children who might be resistant to poetry should enjoy this book and see how great poetry can be.
 

Module 13 - Graphic Novels & Series Books

Warner, G. (1977). The boxcar children.
Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman & Co.

Summary:
The four Alden children are orphans and they are determined to stay together.  They run away and soon find themselves living in an old railroad boxcar in the woods.  They experience many adventures as they attempt to survive living in a boxcar.


My Impression:
The Boxcar Children series is a delightful series involving various mysteries these children take part in solving. This first book in the series sets the stage for the numerous books to follow.  The first book in the series was originally published in 1942.  The story of these responsible children does reflect the way of life of the 1940s.  Inspite of the age of the story students do still enjoy the adventures of these children.

Reviews:

The Boxcar Children
Children's Literature Comprehensive Database
K-3rd.  This is the first book in the series about the Boxcar Children. The Alden children, Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny, are orphans. They could live with their grandfather, but they are afraid he would be mean to them. So they decide to take care of themselves and find a home in an old, abandoned boxcar. They are very resourceful and take care of themselves rather well. But when Violet gets sick, they must find help. Find out if Violet gets well and learn about the surprise in store for the Boxcar children when they finally meet their grandfather.
Jeanenne. (n.d.). The Boxcar Children. Children's Literature Reviews. Retrieved from www.clcd.com

Suggested Library Use:
A lesson could be developed taking the original Boxcar Children book(s) and the new graphic novel adaptation of the Boxcar Children and compare and contrast the two books. 

Book Trailer - How Angel Peterson Got His Name

Animoto Productions. (2012). Animoto. Retrieved from

http://animoto.com/create

Paulsen, G. (2004). How Angel Peterson  got his name. 

New York, NY:  Random House Children's Books.

Book Trailer - Disasters

Animoto Productions. (2012). Animoto. Retrieved from
http://animoto.com/create

Guiberson, B. (2010) Disasters: Natural and man-made catastrophes
through the centuries. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Co.

Module 12 - Biography & Autobiography

Paulsen, G. (2004). How Angel Peterson  got his name. 
New York, NY:  Random House Children's Books.


Summary:
Gary Paulsen writes an autobiography of his life as a 13 year old.  He shares the many daredevil stunts he and his friends perform.  Some of the stunts include going over a waterfall in a wooden barrel, attempting to set a new world record for speed on skis, and to wrestling a bear.

My Impression:
This book was unlike any autobiography I have ever read.  It was very entertaining and scary to think that a 13 yr. old boy would attempt some of these stunts.  It should be a grat read for boys this age.

Reviews:
How Angel Peterson Got His Name
Booklist
Suggested Library Use:
A librarian could use this book as part of an author study on Gary Paulsen.  Its use would be a great addition to the writing of an autobiography doesn't have to be dry and uninteresting.

Gr. 6–9. Every boy who is 13 or about to be 13 or who remembers being 13 should read this short story collection based on people and events from Paulsen’s own life.  Even though the action takes place 50 or so years ago, they will recognize themselves.  And every girl who has ever liked a 13-year-old-boy, or been related to one, or wondered about one, should read this, too, because although the book doesn’t explain why boys like to do things like pee on electric fences, it does give an insight into how their funny little minds work.  Writing with humor and sensitivity, Paulsen shows boys moving into adolescence believing they can do anything: wrestle with bears; shoot waterfalls in a

barrel; fly eight-by-twelve-foot Army surplus kites—and hang on, even as they land in the chicken coop. None of them dies (amazingly), and even if Paulsen exaggerates the teensiest bit, his tales are sidesplittingly funny and more than a little frightening.

DeCandido, G. A. (2002). How Angel Peterson Got His Name. Booklist, 99(8), 754.

Book Trailer - The Teacher's Funeral

Animoto Productions. (2012). Animoto. Retrieved from
http://animoto.com/create

Peck, R. (2006). The teacher's funeral. New York, NY: Puffin Books.