Archive for February 19, 2014

The Day My Father Became a Bush

Written by Joke van Leeuwen

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In this completely offbeat novel, the reader has a chance to learn about all the concerns of refugees. The author is able to give subject a light touch by showing the world through the eyes of a child. Children don’t look at war the same way an adult would.

Toda lives with her father and grandmother on one side of the border. Her mother lives on the other side of the border. As her father prepares to go to war, Toda learns with him about the various ways a soldier can use the landscape as camouflage – thus the title. Her father plans to become a bush and protect himself from the fighting. The fighting closes in on their home, so, for her protection, Toda is sent to live with her mother. But the journey is anything but easy. The bus she’s on makes unexpected stops. People try to adopt her. People helping her get captured. She loses her mother’s street address. But Toda maintains her good humor and realistic view of the world throughout.

The frequent drawings, allegedly by Toda, are whimsical and sometimes reminiscent of Kurt Vonnegut.  “There was a picture in the book of a soldier who had disguised himself as a bush.” Literacy skills are reinforced by the language barrier created by the border and various other reasons Toda must think about what people really mean. Fourth graders and older readers will cheer for Toda and wish her well.

  • Father Became a BushTITLE: The Day My Father Became a Bush
  • AUTHOR: Joke van Leeuwen
  • PUBLISHER: Gecko Press, 2014
  • REVIEWER: Sue Poduska
  • ISBN: 9781877579486
  • FORMAT: Hard cover, 104 pages
  • GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, War, Refugees
  • USA PUBLICATION DATE: April 1, 2014

From Norvelt to Nowhere

Written by Jack Gantos

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Get ready for more antics from that Gantos boy, hero to fourth grade boys and girls everywhere. From his Halloween costume that looks like the local serial killer to digging a fallout shelter right into his family’s septic tank, Jack’s misadventures are memorable and hilarious. Miss Volker, Jack’s best friend, becomes the last old lady in Norvelt, courtesy of a series of poisoned Girl Scout cookies. Then Eleanor Roosevelt dies and Jack’s cross country adventure begins. Jack escorts Miss Volker to Mrs. Roosevelt’s grave. They get word of her sister’s death in Florida. With detectives and killers alike following them, they take a zig-zag course in various vehicles, including a hand-painted VW Beetle, a hearse, an amphibious vehicle, and a police motorcycle with a side car. They take a train to Washington, DC and buy a beetle at a Foggy Bottom used car lot. Jack, at age fourteen, drives them to Tennessee and to Florida, with Miss Volker warming her hands in everything from split pea soup to a bucket of coals in the car. Although Jack tends to get all his literary information from Illustrated Classics, there is enough about Moby Dick and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to make the references interesting and informative, and to encourage further literary activity. The historical references are also sneakily educational and funny.

The publisher’s website, mackids.com, has a lot of information about the author and his books. The author’s website, http://www.jackgantos.com/, is a good companion guide.

From Norvelt

  • TITLE: From Norvelt to Nowhere
  • AUTHOR: Jack Gantos
  • PUBLISHER: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2013
  • REVIEWER: Sue Poduska
  • ISBN: 978-0-374-37994-0
  • FORMAT: Hard cover, 278 pages
  • GENRE: Historical Fiction, Humor, History

Out of My Mind

Written by Sharon M. Draper

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Melody is incredibly smart, but no one knows it. She’s locked inside her brilliant mind because she has cerebral palsy. She can’t talk or walk. She attends special education classes at school. Her mother and her neighbor always knew there was more going on in there than met the eye. Eventually, she finds a teacher who tries to help her and an aide who knows what she needs. They find an electronic device that allows Melody to show what has been going on in her head for the past eleven years. One of the first statements she programs into her machine is, “We all have disabilities. What’s yours?” She reserves this for particularly confrontational people. She enters an academic competition and shines, in spite of all the missteps and issues surrounding it.

Draper does an incredible job of getting inside Melody’s mind. People, even the people who know her well, often speak over Melody like she isn’t even there. Melody always points this out to the reader. Thus, the author shows how important it is to treat everyone with the same consideration and respect the reader would expect. Life is never easy for Melody, but she able to do what she can do.

This is an excellent resource to teach fourth grade readers about the spectrum of abilities and disabilities without being preachy. Melody loves words, so this is a great resource for increasing comprehension and literacy skills.

The author’s website, http://www.sharondraper.com offers an excellent study guide, complete with reading activities.

  • Out of My MindTITLE: Out of My Mind
  • AUTHOR: Sharon M. Draper
  • PUBLISHER: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010
  • REVIEWER: Sue Poduska
  • ISBN: 978-1-4169-7170-2
  • FORMAT: Hard cover, 295 pages
  • GENRE: Contemporary Fiction, Physical disability