In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson

Lord, B.B. (1984). In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson. New York, NY: Harper Row & Publishers, Inc.

Plot Summary:
The book is set in the year 1947. After hearing word from her father in America, Bandit and her mother must leave their family in China and travel to New York to join him. Upon leaving Chungking, her family gives her an American name of her choosing; she becomes Shirley Temple Wong. Shirley and her mother finally arrive to their tiny one room apartment in Brooklyn after a long journey. Shirley begins school and her mother adjusts to life without servants and with washing machines. It takes Shirley a few months to adjust to life, customs, and the English language. She is lonely at first, without any friends. She accidentally interrupts a stickball game one day after school and receives two black eyes from a bully named Mabel. After not squealing on Mabel, the stickball players befriend Shirley and teach her the game. Shirley takes to it immediately, becoming obsessed with baseball, specifically the Brooklyn Dodgers and Jackie Robinson. For the rest of the season, she doesn’t stray far from the radio when a game is being played. By the end of the year of the boar, Shirley has adjusted well to life in Brooklyn, but also realized the importance of maintaining her original language and customs.

Review:
I love the organization of this book, spread over a year, beginning in China. The author shows the progression of Shirley’s year of transformation from being well versed in Chinese customs, to struggling with English and American customs, to submersing herself in only American customs, and finally finding a balance between her Chinese culture and new life in America. I love that the main character is a girl, who is obsessed with baseball. Shirley’s obsession with the sport is fantastic; it adds a lot of humor to the book. There is a great explanation of why baseball is an America’s favorite pastime and there is a lot of symbolism in Shirley’s embracing of this. I like that the events in the book were drawn from the author’s own life and coming to America. Through Shirley’s experiences she shows the hardships and loneliness of children coming to a new country and learning a new language and all new customs.

Genre:
historical fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 – 12

Subjects/Themes:
immigration, self-identity

Award Information:
ALA Notable Children's Book
School Library Journal Best Book

Character Names/Descriptions:
Shirley Temple Wong (Bandit, Sixth Cousin): 10 years old; travels from China to New York with her mother to join her father; loves baseball and Jackie Robinson
Father: Shirley’s father; gets an Engineering job in New York and moves his wife and daughter from China to join him; takes on the job of landlord of their building
Mother: Shirley’s mother; moves from China to New York with her daughter, Shirley, to join her husband; becomes pregnant
Mabel: largest 5th grade girl in Shirley’s class; gives Shirley two black eyes, then becomes her friend; plays stickball; teaches Shirley all about baseball
Mrs. Rappaport: Shirley’s 5th grade teacher
Emily Levy: new girl in Shirley’s class; becomes one of Shirley’s good friends
Jackie Robinson: baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers; hero of Shirley’s

Annotation:
It is 1947, the year of the boar, and the year Shirley Temple Wong leaves her home in China and moves to Brooklyn, New York. Shirley learns English and American customs, falls in love with baseball, and tries to hold on to her Chinese heritage.

Out of the Dust

Hesse, K. (1997). Out of the Dust. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Plot Summary:
Billie Jo lives with her mom and dad in the panhandle of Oklahoma. The book begins in the winter of 1934, Billie Jo is 14 years old and after years of trying, her mother is finally pregnant again. Her family struggles to survive in the dust bowl where dust storms are ruining her father’s wheat crops. It is her mother’s piano and Billie Jo’s crazy style of playing which bring her the most joy in life. An accident of a pail of kerosene set by the fire by her father, mistaken to be water by her mother and thrown on the fire, and then hurriedly tossed outside by Billie Jo dousing her mother with it instead, turn the Kelby family’s life upside down. Her mother, covered in burns dies in childbirth, taking Billie Jo’s baby brother with her. Billie Jo’s hands were severely burned and she can no longer play the piano. Her relationship with her father is strained, each dealing with their own guilt and blame for the accident. Billie Jo, predicting the way her unhappy life is going in Oklahoma, hops a train west, only to be returned home by a government agency in Arizona. Her running away begins Billie Jo and her father communicating and begins to mend their little family.

Review:
The style in which this book was written was uniquely beautiful. It was a devastating book, with a glimmer of hope at the end, which I’ve found is similar most award winning tween books. I loved the setting for the book, having never read a book set in the dust bowl. The book provided a glimpse of the hard life people who lived in the dust bowl during the depression had to face. Billie Jo is a likable character, spunky and non-conforming to girls her age at that time. I loved reading about her crazy piano playing and was crushed when she could play no longer. As mentioned earlier, this is a really devastating book, but it shows how family is able to overcome incredibly difficult obstacles.

Genre:
historical fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 – 14

Subjects/Themes:
dust bowl, loss

Awards:
Newbery Medal Award Winner
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
A Publishers Weekly Book of the Year

Character Names/Descriptions:
Billie Jo Kelby: 14 year-old girl; lives in the panhandle of Oklahoma with her pregnant mom and dad; loves to play the piano; accidently burned her mother
Pol Kelby (Ma): Billie Jo’s mom; pregnant; died in childbirth after being burned over most of her body; played the piano
Bayard Kelby (Daddy): Billie Jo’s dad; a farmer
Arley Wanderdale: teaches music at Billie Jo’s school; invites her to play with he and his band at the Palace Theatre
Mad Dog Craddock: friend of Billie Jo’s; has a great voice; sings in the same shows where she plays the piano; she has a crush on him

Annotation:
Life in the dust bowl during the depression was hard, but after a terrible accident in her family, life becomes almost unbearable for Billie Jo Kelby.

Woods Runner

Paulsen, G. (2010). Woods Runner. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Plot Summary:
Samuel lives in a settlement in the woods with his parents. The woods are all that Samuel has ever known and are as much his home as the cabin where his family resides. Briefly after hearing news of fighting between the settlers and the British, Samuel returns from hunting to find his parents missing and his cabin home burned down as well as those of his neighbors. Samuel, an excellent hunter, tracks his parent's captors until he is injured by a tomahawk. Samuel is nursed back to health by rebels who inform him that his parent's were taken captive by British soldiers. Samuel continues on his way gaining an eight year-old companion, named Annie, orphaned after British soldiers killed her parents. On their journey to find Samuel's parents, they meet Abner, a Scottish trader, who works to help the Patriot's cause. It is with the help of Abner and his friend Matthew that Samuel is able to locate his parents in New York and free them.

Review:
Gary Paulsen does such a great job with showing the strength, determination, and complexities of his male protagonists. Samuel is a wonderful example of the many young boys forced to grow up quickly during the Revolutionary War. Paulsen includes historical information at the beginning of each chapter detailing certain events or explanations of certain practices that took place during the Revolutionary War. These were interesting and helpful in providing background for the story. This is an excellent story that will be very interesting to young readers, which also provides a great deal of historical details.

Genre:
historical fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Subjects/Themes:
Revolutionary War, self-identity, loss

Character Names/Descriptions:
Samuel Lehi Smith: 10 years-old;
Abigail Smith: Samuel's mother; captured by the British
Olin Smith: Samuel's father; captured by the British
Annie Clark: 8 year-old girl; her parents were killed by Hessians (German soldiers assisting the British); adopted by Samuel and his family
John Cooper (Coop): rebel looking to join up with the Patriots; nurses Samuel back to health after he is wounded by a tomahawk
Abner McDougal: Scottish tinker; assists the Patriots; helps Samuel find and save his parents
Matthew: friend of Abner's who helps Samuel's parents escape

Annotation:
Ten year-old Samuel is forced to grow up fast as he seeks out his parents who were captured by British soldiers.

Shooting the Moon

Dowell, F.O. (2008). Shooting the Moon. New York, NY: Athenium Books for Young Readers.

Plot Summary:
The Army is in Jamie Dexter's blood. Her dad is the Colonel of Fort Hood in Texas and her grandfather was in the Army before him. She has lived her whole life being a part of the Army, traveling around the country to base after base. When Jamie's brother TJ signs up for the Army, she is thrilled, her brother will finally be able to live out their childhood dreams of enlisting. But when Jamie's dad isn't happy about TJ enlisting, it puts a chink in everything Jamie has ever believed about her father and the Army. Her brother is sent to the Vietnam war, excitedly anticipating hearing his tales of war, Jamie is disappointed when the only things TJ sends her are undeveloped canisters of film. As Jamie develops her brothers photos and befriends a private whose brother died in the Vietnam War, the realities of war confront Jamie and she finds herself questioning everything she had been raised to believe.

Review:
This is an wonderful novel of a girl's love for her father and family values, and how getting older and being exposed to the realities of life can begin to shatter everything you've grown up to believe. As a Navy brat, growing up in Navy housing, this book struck a particular note with me. It is an odd thing to be raised almost exclusively around those in support of the military, and then come to an age when you realize that not everyone feels this way about the military, which begins your own questioning of your beliefs. I loved Jamie's gradual realization that her father has imperfections and weaknesses, this is something many girls go through in their tweens, and it was described nicely within this story. It was interesting to see Jamie's ideals questioned as the horrors of war are discovered in her brother's photos.

Genre:
realistic fiction, historical fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Subjects/Themes:
family, Vietnam War, self-identity, loss

Awards:
2010 Rhode Island Children's Book Award

Character Names/Descriptions:
Jamie Dexter: 12 year-old girl; lives in Fort Hood, Texas; dad is the colonel of the base; brother just sent to Vietnam; volunteers at rec center; plays gin rummy; learns to develop her brother's photographs of Vietnam
T.J. Dexter: Jamie's brother; enlists in the Army as a medic; sent to Vietnam; takes photographs to send to Jamie, especially of the moon; becomes a POW
Private Bucky Hollister: runs the rec center where Jamie volunteers; plays gin rummy with Jamie; his brother died in Vietnam
The Colonel: Jamie's dad; Colonel of Fort Hood; tries to prevent T.J. from going to Vietnam
Sergeant Theophilus James Byrd: teaches Jamie how to develop film; has already been to Vietnam, which greatly affected him

Annotation:
As Jamie's brother is sent off to Vietnam, the behavior of her Colonel father as well as the friendship with a private whose brother died in the war begins Jamie questioning her long time idealism of war.

Al Capone Does My Shirts

Choldenko, G. (2004). Al Capone Does My Shirts. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Plot Summary:
Moose and his family move to Alcatraz Island for his dad's new job as a guard and electrician at the prison. The island has apartments for guards and their families so that they can be close by in case anything happens with the prisoners. Moose's family moves him away from his friends and home to Alcatraz so that his parents can send his older sister, Natalie, to a special school, the Esther P. Marinoff School in San Francisco. Natalie is autistic, although that was not a known diagnosis in 1935, the year in which the book begins. Moose befriends the other kids on the island and becomes notorious at his school in San Francisco for living among the likes of Al Capone and Machine Gun Kelly. Natalie does not immediately get into the school and requires special care to prepare her for another shot at acceptance into the school. These lessons are expensive and Moose's mom must work evenings, leaving Natalie in the care of Moose. Moose's outlook on his experiences on the island and his feelings towards his sister begin to change, prompting him to take a big chance in getting Al Capone to pull some strings to make a good thing to happen.

Review:
The setting for this book is incredible. I had no idea that families ever lived on Alcatraz Island. The author does an incredible job of not letting the book get lost in the setting, it's more about Moose and his conflicted self as he navigates new experiences in his new surroundings. I would get so frustrated reading about the responsibilities loaded onto Moose in taking care of his sister. After finishing the book, the author's note states that the author's sister was autistic, which makes sense due to the incredible job she did in capturing the emotions associated with having a sibling with autism. Moose is realistically conflicted about most things in his life, where he lives, his friends, and his feelings towards girls; which is very common to boys this age. The author adds another layer to this with his relationship with his sister and loving her, but also being resentful for the responsibilities placed on him. I especially enjoyed the author's note at the end providing historical accounts of life for families and prisoners on Alcatraz Island. I found myself wondering at the probability of many things throughout the book, so the first hand accounts were very welcome at the end.

Genre:
realistic fiction, historical fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Subjects/Themes:
siblings, autism, Alcatraz

Series Information:
Al Capone Shines My Shoes is the sequel to this book.

Awards:
2005 Newbery Honor Book

Character Names/Descriptions:
Matthew Flanagan (Moose): 12 year-old boy just moved to Alcatraz Island; sister Natalie is autistic, he takes care of her a lot; likes baseball
Natalie Flanagan: Moose's sister; is 15 years-old, but their mom tells everyone she is 10; is trying to get into the Esther P. Marinoff school; loves counting the buttons in her button box; becomes friendly with an inmate on garden detail (Onion 105)
Al Capone: notorious gangster imprisoned on the island; helps Moose out with a special favor
Theresa Mattaman: girl living on the island; 7 years-old; gets along well with Natalie
Piper Williams: warden's daughter; smart; always scheming; goes to Moose's school in San Francisco
Annie: girl living on the island; 12 years-old; good at playing catch
Jimmy Mattaman: Theresa's brother; builds contraptions

Annotation:
Moose and his family move to Alcatraz Island in 1935. Once there he must adapt to his new life and adjust to the increased responsibility of his autistic sister.

Little Audrey

White, R. (2008). Little Audrey. New York, NY: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Plot Description:
It is 1948 in Jewell Valley, a coal mining town in Virginia. Audrey is eleven and lives with her mom, dad, and three little sisters. The town is made up of all coal miners and their families. Audrey's mom comes in and out of a deep depression brought on by the death of Audrey's littlest sister four years ago. Audrey is recovering from a recent bout with scarlet fever where she very nearly died, this sickness left her very skinny and having to wear glasses. Audrey's father has a drinking and gambling problem and often leaves his family with no money for food. Audrey struggles to get by amongst the problems at home, bullies, and the hard life of living in a coal miner town. In the end, Audrey's life gets even harder when tragedy strikes her family and she realizes that she must work harder than ever to help her family.

Review:
This book was interesting to me because even though it is fictional, the story was written about the author's family. It is a true account of what her family went through in 1948 through the eyes of her eleven year old sister Audrey. It is a bittersweet story of a little girl dealing with friendships and the typical problems of an eleven year old girl, but also having much more grown up problems to deal with as well. Problems such as not having enough food to eat or bringing her mom out of her depression or hoping her dad doesn't spend all their money on alcohol. I enjoyed the book because my great-grandfather was a coal miner and the town my parents grew up in had company towns such as these nearby. It was interesting to read a first hand account of the lives of the coal miner families, it was obviously a very hard life.

Genre:
Historical Fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:
poverty, family, death, siblings

Character Names/Descriptions:
Audrey: Eleven year old girl, has three younger siblings, wears glasses and is skinny due to having scarlet fever, narrates the book

Annotation:
With a mother suffering from depression and an alcoholic father, Audrey, an eleven year old in 1948 in a coal mining town in Virginia, faces more than just the typical problems of a young girl growing up. Sadly, Audrey must grow up even faster as tragedy strikes her already suffering family.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963

Curtis, C.P. (1995). The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

Plot Description:

The Watsons, consisting of Kenny (the middle child), Joetta (his younger sister) Byron (the oldest) and their parents, Daniel and Wilona are an African American family living in Flint, Michigan in the 1960s. The book is told from Kenny’s perspective. The majority of the book is Kenny recounting funny stories of the day to day lives of his family, the “Weird Watsons.” He and Byron don’t get along very well, his older brother is much too cool to hang around with Kenny. Some of the stories include Byron getting his lips stuck on their family car’s mirror while kissing his reflection when he was supposed to be scraping ice off of the car with Kenny. Another is about Kenny and his lazy eye and how he befriends Rufus, a new poor student just moved from the South. Kenny thinks that Rufus is his "saver", sent to save Kenny by taking all the attention from the bullies away from him, but when Rufus starts tagging along with Kenny, his plan backfires. A lot of the stories are about the trouble Byron gets himself into through playing with matches or getting his hair relaxed. Finally, his parents decide the best thing for him would be to take him to Birmingham, Alabama to spend the summer (and perhaps longer) with his Grandma Sands. The family readies their old car, the “Brown Bomber,” and prepares to make the trip to see their Grandma to leave Byron. With the upcoming trip, some discussion arises in the Watson family about the differences between their lives in Flint and those of African Americans living in Birmingham. Through his tragic experiences in Birmingham, including the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Kenny faces a really difficult reality which only his older brother’s toughness can help him through.

Review:

I truly loved this book. I laughed out loud in parts and sobbed in others. It was incredibly written, especially seeing such a horrible act as the 1963 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham dealt with through a 10 year old boy’s eyes. Through Kenny’s descriptions and tales of his family you fall in love with the “Weird Watsons” seeing similarities between them and each of our own families. I love how the author starts off keeping the book very light and funny; as the family is preparing and then traveling to Birmingham he introduces some heavier subject matter, such as racism and the differences between Michigan and the South. Then, once in Birmingham the book takes a very serious and tragic turn with the bombing and the author takes the reader into a much deeper understanding of Kenny and the Watson family. The interactions between the family are funny and touching. The relationship between Kenny and Byron is very well written, that strange tug of war siblings have between loving and hating one another. I loved how the epilogue discussed that although this is a fictitious story, the bombing did happen and young girls did die, young girls like Joetta, who the reader had come to love while reading the book. This gives a very personal, real, and emotional meaning to the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing and the civil rights movement for the reader.

Genre:

Historical Fiction

Reading Level:

Ages 9 - 12

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:

Civil Rights Movement, Family, Siblings, 1960s

Awards:

Newbery Honor Book

Coretta Scott King Award

Character Names/Descriptions:

Kenny Watson: Kenny is the middle Watson child. He is ten years old and narrates the book.

Byron Watson (By): Byron is the oldest Watson child. He is a bit of a rebel and is the reason the family must go to Birmingham.

Joetta Watson (Joey): Joey is the youngest Watson child. She is very protective of her brothers.

Annotation:

The Watsons are an African American family living in Michigan in the 196os. The family decides to take a trip to visit family in Birmingham, Alabama. It is through this trip and one particular tragic even that the Watson children learn about the harsh realities of racism in the South and become even closer as a family.