Confessions of a Closet Catholic

Littman, S.D. (2005). Confessions of a Closet Catholic. New York, NY: Dutton Children's Books.

Plot Summary:
Justine is having doubts about being Jewish. Her friend Mac’s family seems to be so much closer and more fun than hers; Justine thinks it might have to do with them being Catholic. She decides to turn her closet into a confessional, wearing her long black skirt and mother’s dinner napkin on her head, her large stuffed teddy bear is “Father Ted,” and matzo crackers and grape juice as her communion. Justine is also having a difficult time being the middle child in her family. She feels that her mother likes her older sister the best and her father likes her younger brother. Suddenly, Justine's grandmother, Bubbe, has a stroke and must come live with Justine's family. Justine is horrified when her mother finds out about her wanting to become Catholic and reveals this to Bubbe, a Holocaust survivor. Through her Bubbe's wise words and the help of a priest and rabbi, Justine begins to understand God and her own identity.

Review:
This book has so many wonderful levels to it. It discusses religion, self-identity issues, and the middle child syndrome, all very heavy subjects, but it does it in a very lighthearted way. Justine is a very likable character, she's smart and very funny, and is sadly pretty self-deprecating as well. As she struggles to understand her parents, God, and herself, Justine starts to appreciate herself. The author does a wonderful job of understanding and demonstrating the questioning nature of tweens in their discovery of self-identity, especially on the topic of religion.

Genre:
realistic fiction, humor

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:
religion, self-identity, middle child, the Holocaust, family

Character Names/Descriptions:
Justine Silver (Jussy): Justine is an eleven year-old girl; she is Jewish, but would like to be Catholic; she is a middle child; her grandmother is a Holocaust survivor
Bubbe (Zofia): Justine's grandmother; suffers a stroke; is a Holocaust survivor
Mary Catherine McAllister (Mac): Justine's Catholic friend, lives in Justine's new town
Shira: Justine's Jewish friend; lives in Justine's old town; has known her since birth

Annotation:
Justine has decided to give up being Jewish for lent. Through her grandmother's wisdom and the help of a priest and rabbi, Justine begins to understand God and her own identity.

Zombiekins

Bolger, K. (2010). Zombiekins. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Plot Summary:
Stanley Nudelman lives in a town no different than any other, except for the witch living on Shadow Lane, or at least that's what Stanley thinks she's a witch. He stops by her garage sale one day and finds a little stuffed animal in a box. The stuffed animal is unlike anything he's ever seen; it's part bunny, part teddy bear, and part lizard, with fangs. Mrs. Imavitch, the woman holding the garage sale, tells Stanley that he must pay attention to the instructions on the box and gives him some taffy telling him, "you never know vhen it might come in handy." Of course he doesn't read the box and he takes the stuffed animal to school. It immediately runs off and starts biting children, who then bite other children, creating an entire school of zombies. It is up to Stanley and his best friend Miranda to find the stuffed animal and reverse what's been done.

Review:
This is a very funny and quick read. Young readers will enjoy all of the jokes about the teachers in the book. It's full of clever names, such as "Mrs. Imavitch," the scary widow, or "Jacques Straap," the P.E. teacher. I think that this book would snag a lot of readers who are not typically interested in reading with its humor and horror. The illustrations are a fun addition to the book; the author using these illustrations at times to tell the story, rather than write it out. I think this would definitely be a winner among reluctant readers because of its popular subject and the fact that it is a quick read.

Genre:
Humor, horror

Reading Level:
Ages 8 - 12

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:
zombies, bullies

Character Names/Descriptions:
Stanley Nudelman: young boy who finds Zombiekins at a witch's garage sale, best friends with Miranda, gets bullied by Knuckles Bruzkowski.
Miranda: Stanley's best friend, tries to get Stanley to stand up for himself, helps him with the zombie situation
Zombiekins: stuffed animal found by Stanley at garage sale; part bunny, part teddy bear, part lizard, with fangs; turns all the stuffed animals at Stanley's house and the kids at his school into zombies
Knuckles Bruzkowski: big sixth grader, bullies Stanley, gets turned into a zombie

Annotation:
Stanley finds an odd little stuffed animal at a garage sale, but when he doesn't follow the instructions on the box the stuffed animals begins turning all of Stanley's classmates into zombies. It is up to Stanley to rescue his classmates and capture the zombie toy.

Breathe: A Ghost Story

McNish, C. (2006). Breathe: A Ghost Story. London, England: Orion Publishing Group Ltd.

Plot Summary:
Jack and his mom moved into an old house after the recent loss of his dad. This house was supposed to be a happy change, one that would breathe new life into their little family. What his mom didn't know was that the house was already occupied by five ghosts, one woman and four children. Jack had always been able to sense strange things, but after his father's death, he seemed to have a connection to people who had died. He was immediately aware of ghosts in the house, eventually being able to see them. He meets the ghost mother, a woman whose own daughter died in the house and has been longing to be a mother again. But, when Jack refuses to treat her as a mother, she forces him to by possessing his own mother. This feat isn't easy and the ghost mother must feed off of the souls of the ghost children in the house to do so. This is too much for Jack and his frequent asthma attacks to bear, will he be her next victim?

Review:
This was a haunting story. The spookiness of it would definitely appeal to young people. I ripped through it eager to discover what would come of Jack and his mother. The story was imaginative, the author providing interesting descriptions of "the other side" and "the Nightmare Passage." The author also weaves in the history of the ghost mother and her life with her daughter in the 19th century, who suffered from Scarlatina.

Genre:
Horror, Fantasy

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:
single-parent, loss, death, asthma, ghosts

Awards:
Rhode Island Teen Book Award

Character Names/Descriptions:
Jack: recently lost his dad, moved with his mom to old farmhouse, asthmatic, can see and speak to ghosts
Sarah: Jack's mom, recently widowed, becomes possessed by the Ghost Mother
Ghost Mother: died in the house in the 19th century, mother to Isabella who died of Scarlatina, possesses Sarah, wants to be mother to Jack, feeds off of the souls of the ghost children who live in the house

Annotation:
Jack has a special gift of being able to sense the dead, but this gift becomes a nightmare as he and his mother move into an old farmhouse along with five ghosts. Jack and his mother must fight to escape the evil Ghost Mother who is desperate to be a mother once again.

Waiting for Normal

Connor, L. (2008). Waiting for Normal. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.

Plot Summary:
Addie has only ever known glimpses of normal. Her family is full of twists and turns; her father died when she was young, leaving her with just Mommers, and her paternal grandfather. Then came along Dwight, her stepfather, followed by her half sisters, "the littles." When her mom and Dwight split, Dwight got custody of Addie's half sisters and she went to live in an old trailer with Mommers. Addie tries to make a normal life for herself living in a trailer on a busy street corner. She befriends the employees of a mini-mart on the opposite corner, who become more like family as her mother spends increasingly more nights away from the trailer. Addie begins to get glimpses of a normal home life as she visits Dwight, his new girlfriend Hannah, and the littles at their home in upstate New York, but the pain of having to go home to an empty trailer becomes too much to bear. But there is another twist in store for Addie's life, she may know normal yet.

Review:
Whenever I read books like this, they make me so unbelievably sad that there are children experiencing situations similar to Addie's. This is a sad, yet inspiring story of a 12 year-old girl and her incredible resilience to overcome a self-absorbed and neglectful mother and create wonderful bonds and family with an odd mix of people. The author succeeds in creating a bond between Addie and the reader, witnessing her navigating the already tumultuous tween years with the added strain of her unfortunate family situation. The reader is rooting for Addie throughout the entire book and almost when her case seems hopeless, there is a glimmer of hope and the most happiest of endings.

Genre:
realistic fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 9 - 12

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:
single-parent, loss, family, relationships, divorce, depression, dyslexia

Awards:
New York Public Library's "One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing"
School Library Journal Best Book
ALA Notable Children’s Book
ALA Best of the Best Books for Young Adults
ALA Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults
Schneider Family Book Award
ALA Best Book for Young AdultsTexas Lone Star Reading List
Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice

Character Names/Descriptions:
Addison Schmeeter (Addie): 12 year-old girl, lives with her mom in a trailer on a street corner, has an incredibly positive attitude
Mommers: Addie's mom, disappears for days at a time with her new boyfriend, suffers from depression
Dwight: Addie's step-dad, father to her little half-sisters, loves and supports Addie, becomes her adopted father
Soula: works at the mini-mart across the street from Addie's trailer, has cancer, becomes a close friend to Addie

Annotation:
Addie must overcome the twists and turns in her life, attempting to find normal among her life that is anything but.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer

Swanson, J.L. (2009). Chasing Lincoln's Killers. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

Summary:
The book begins with President Abraham Lincoln's inaugural speech on March 4, 1865, of which his eventual assassin, John Wilkes Booth, an actor, was present. It continues on to discuss the end of the Civil War with the fall of the Confederate Army on April 3, 1865. Booth, furious with Lincoln for his success in ending the war and his belief in the rights of black people, had been plotting harm to the president for some time. It was on the night of April 14, 1965, when Mr. Lincoln and his wife were to see a play at the Ford Theater that Booth took his chance to assassinate the president. The book details Booth's plan, as well as his plot with several accomplices to assassinate the Secretary of State and the Vice President as well. It discusses the events that took place that night and the weeks following as the manhunt for Booth and his accomplices ensued.

Review:
This book was fascinating. It is full of authentic quotations from the events that took place, as well as maps and photographs of the victims, assassins, and weapons used. This is a riveting historical account of one of the most horrible events in American history. I learned things I had never known about Lincoln's assassination, as the book goes into great detail into the plot. It was fascinating to read about the manhunt for Booth and to see how divided the country was, with all of the people willing to aide Booth in his escape to the South. The photographs are a wonderful accompaniment to the book, providing spooky photographs of Booth's accomplices as they waited their execution aboard prison ships.

Genre:
Non-fiction

Reading Level:
Ages 10 - 15

Similar Books:

Subjects/Themes:
Civil War, racism, history, Abraham Lincoln, assassination

Awards:
YALSA Best Book for Young Adults

Annotation:
Furious over the fall of the Confederacy, the actor John Wilkes Booth assassinates President Abraham Lincoln in the Ford Theater. What ensues is a chaotic manhunt, full of deception, narrow misses, and those willing to aide a murderer in his escape.

Professional Reading #3

Dotinga, R. (2006, August 16). ‘Tweens’ Curl Up with Graphic Novels. The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from: http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0816/p16s02-bogn.html

Krashen, S.D. (2004). The Power of Reading: Insights from the research (2nd ed.). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.

Until reading the book, The Power of Reading: Insights from the research, for my LIBR 271 class, I would never have thought to offer a comic book or graphic novel to a struggling reader. This book helped me to realize that graphic novels should not be overlooked in helping children to become lifelong readers. This particular author felt that comic books could help lead students to read more, eventually choosing to read novels. A librarian quoted in the article, “‘Tweens’ Curl Up with Graphic Novels” states, “there’s a value in and of themselves, not just as a bridge to reading ‘real books.’” Graphic novels contain vocabulary often at the same level as children’s and teen’s books, in addition, they are many more pages than their comic book predecessors. In fact, the article mentions that including the word “novel” in the title of this new genre has helped to elevate the status of the comic book.

Graphic novels are being produced for all types of genres, from fantasy to history. Popular books are even being reproduced in graphic novel format. My mom, a fifth grade teacher, has collected many Classics Illustrated comic books for her classroom library. Reading these articles prompted me to pick up a few graphic novels myself. I was instantly hooked. American Born Chinese was able to take difficult topics, such as self-identity issues and racism, and develop an incredible story with illustrations making these topics a little easier to digest. In Hereville: How Mirka got her sword, the artist was able to provide a smart and interesting girl role model as well as educational information on the Orthodox Jewish culture. These graphic novels were incredible, satisfying my intellectual and creative needs. I will definitely recommend graphic novels to tweens in the future; I believe that they would not only peak a reluctant reader’s interest, but also provide a different type of reading experience for a lifelong reader.

Professional Reading #2

Kim, V. (2009, December 13). For Students, a Right to be Mean Online? Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from: http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/13/local/la-me-youtube-schools13-2009dec13

Cyberbullying is such a hard topic to digest. The article gives a few cases of cyberbullying and schools that have jumped in to act against the aggressor through suspensions and other disciplinary actions. What has resulted from these disciplinary actions are lawsuits where the aggressor comes out on top. According to the judges in these court cases, by punishing the bully the school has violated their First Amendment rights.

It has been determined that unless the cyberbullying act has caused a "substantial disruption" to the school, the school has no right to punish the bully. In addition, the courts state that simply because students are able to broadcast cruelties over the Internet does not mean that they shouldn't be able to say these things. They are protected under their right to free speech. It is also mentioned that this is nothing new, students have been harassing one another forever, but it has become more of an issue because they can spread these cruelties to a larger audience.

This is so tough to read about. On the one hand I agree that once we start punishing students for the things they write or say, where do we stop. There is no line drawn for what is or isn't considered free speech, there can't possibly be. But, it is horrible to think that the victim has no rights against these attacks. This is new territory, I am sure as more and more of these cases occur, including those so terrible as where suicide results from them, we will hopefully develop a better system for handling these situations.