Genre - Fiction Young Adult
Rating - 3.5/5
Age group recommendation - Grades 6-9
The Scoop - When Ali agrees to spend the summer with her aunt and cousin at the family's lake house, she has no idea of the family mystery that has been hidden for thirty years.
The Story - I think certain students will find this book exciting and suspenseful. Parts of it are intriguing and the family dynamics are easy for a variety of students to identify with. I found the middle of the book very irritating to read; Hahn uses arguments and petty dialog to establish the rifts Sissie causes between Emma, Ali and Dulcie. She shows this effectively, but I wanted to stop reading because the dialog was so annoying. I am not sure how students would react to this or if they would view it as anything other than a part of the story. There are some other good elements to the story - teenage independence, relationships across generations, and the consequences of lying and secrets. Since Hahn was a children's librarian, I would have to assume that she knows this age group's taste and preferences.
Educational applications - With help from the State Library of Louisiana.
Georgia Performance Standards
S6CS9. Students will investigate the features of the process of scientific inquiry.
ELA6RC2 The student participates in discussions related to curricular learning in all subject areas.
ELA6RC3 The student acquires new vocabulary in each content area and uses it correctly.
ELA6W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and provides a satisfying closure.
ELA6W3 The student uses research and technology to support writing.
The teacher and media specialist will introduce the Library of Congress Everyday Mysteries web site to the class. Students are divided into groups of two, select a mystery from the web site and use the scientific process to question and research the mystery they chose. Students may use any additional resources needed either print or online. All resources must be reputable. Student will compile their information into a simple report to share with the class.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
New York : Clarion Books, c2007
Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library
Rating - 3.5/5
Age group recommendation - Grades 6-9
The Scoop - When Ali agrees to spend the summer with her aunt and cousin at the family's lake house, she has no idea of the family mystery that has been hidden for thirty years.
The Story - I think certain students will find this book exciting and suspenseful. Parts of it are intriguing and the family dynamics are easy for a variety of students to identify with. I found the middle of the book very irritating to read; Hahn uses arguments and petty dialog to establish the rifts Sissie causes between Emma, Ali and Dulcie. She shows this effectively, but I wanted to stop reading because the dialog was so annoying. I am not sure how students would react to this or if they would view it as anything other than a part of the story. There are some other good elements to the story - teenage independence, relationships across generations, and the consequences of lying and secrets. Since Hahn was a children's librarian, I would have to assume that she knows this age group's taste and preferences.
Educational applications - With help from the State Library of Louisiana.
Georgia Performance Standards
S6CS9. Students will investigate the features of the process of scientific inquiry.
ELA6RC2 The student participates in discussions related to curricular learning in all subject areas.
ELA6RC3 The student acquires new vocabulary in each content area and uses it correctly.
ELA6W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and provides a satisfying closure.
ELA6W3 The student uses research and technology to support writing.
The teacher and media specialist will introduce the Library of Congress Everyday Mysteries web site to the class. Students are divided into groups of two, select a mystery from the web site and use the scientific process to question and research the mystery they chose. Students may use any additional resources needed either print or online. All resources must be reputable. Student will compile their information into a simple report to share with the class.
Deep and Dark and Dangerous by Mary Downing Hahn
New York : Clarion Books, c2007
Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library
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