Al Capone Does My Shirts by Jennifer Choldenko

Genre - Historical fiction

Rating - 4.5/5

Age group recommendation - Grades 5-8

The Scoop - Matthew "Moose" Flangan and his family relocate to an exotic location - the island prison of Alcatraz!  Moose must learn to juggle baseball, making new friends and caring for his autistic sister. 

The Story - I really enjoyed reading this book.  The story is fun and engaging, the characters are believable and likable (or despicable enough...Piper!), and the location and time period make it even more interesting.  Moose is a character that kids can identify with, particularly those who have special needs children in their families.  The book is also a serious, but not too heavy, look at autism and how it affects regular family life.  Since Natalie's behaviors are based on the author's experience with her sister, the interactions and reactions to Natalie ring true. 

Educational applications

Georgia Performance Standards 

MSFCS6-CF1
Grade: 6,7,8
Description: MSFCS6-CF1 Students will identify and discuss social and financial skills needed to develop personal independence and interpersonal relationships.

Activities 

With help from Scholastic's Teaching Extensions.  Students create a poster of Piper's money-making laundry plan (p. 75).  Students then break into small groups, come up with their own money-making idea, and create a poster to advertise the plan.  Each group presents their plan to the rest of the class.  The class discusses whether the plan is viable, if it will damage personal relationships (as Piper's did), and whether the plan would be long-term or short-term.
 

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Jennifer Choldenko  
New York : G.P. Putnam's sons, c2004  

Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library

Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci by Jon Sciezska

Genre - Historical fiction

Rating - 3/5

Age group recommendation - Grades 3-6

The Scoop - The Time Warp Trio searches for the inventor of The Book and meets up with Leonardo in the fifteenth century. Can the Trio, with Leonardo's help, invent a way to get back home?

The Story - This is the first Time Warp Trio book I have read in its entirety.  I was a bit disappointed.  I was looking forward to reading one of Sciezska's longer works, but the story just didn't really hold up.  It felt rushed and seemed to have gaps.  According to some of the reviews I read, this is a common opinion of this book.  However, a few reviews mentioned the other books in the series being stronger, so I may have selected the weakest of the bunch.  I would still recommend it for someone who is interested in Da Vinci as his character in the book is fun and I think that historical figures often seem stodgy.  This book gives Da Vinci humanity and a good sense of humor - two things kids will appreciate.

Educational applications - Idea from timewarptrio.com. 

Georgia Performance Standards 
ELA4R1 The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational texts.
ELA4R3 The student understands and acquires new vocabulary and uses it correctly in reading and writing.
ELA4W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals a satisfying closure.
ELA4W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres:
 

To prepare for this lesson, the teacher introduces the concept of persuasive writing.  In particular, discussing the elements of a good billboard or advertisement: image, title,tagline, etc. If possible, bring in some samples to share with students.  In this activity, students create an advertisement in honor of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions or innovations.  Students research Leonardo da Vinci’s many inventions and innovations. The media specialist creates a list on the board.  Students are divided into teams of two or three to create an ad featuring one of Da Vinci's inventions from the list.  Students decide which are the most important features or functions and what should be promoted in the ad.  Each team presents - or sells-  their ad to the class.

Da Wild, Da Crazy, Da Vinci by Jon Sciezska Illustrated by Adam McCauley 
 New York, N.Y. : Viking, 2004

Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library

Flight by Sherman Alexie

Genre - Fiction

Rating - 5/5

Age group recommendation - Grades 9-12

The Scoop - "Zits" has been in and out of foster homes and in and out of trouble, but when he experiences life from different points in history, he learns about what is really important.

The Story - Once again Sherman Alexie takes a completely heartbreaking story and turns it into a funny, irreverent, honest exploration of abandonment, violence, self-awareness and historic injustices.   This is a book to read in one sitting, but the amount of issues explored make it a novel that could be discussed at great length.  Students will appreciate Zits' honesty and struggle through adolescence.  Without preaching, Alexie presents a good lesson on what can happen to unchecked self-loathing, anger and the consequences of giving up hope.

Educational applications

Georgia Performance Standards 

SSUSH12 The student will analyze important consequences of American industrial growth.
ELA9RL1 The student demonstrates comprehension by identifying evidence (i.e., examples of diction, imagery, point of view, figurative language, symbolism, plot events and main ideas) in a variety of texts representative of different genres (i.e., poetry, prose [short story, novel, essay, editorial, biography], and drama) and using this evidence as the basis for interpretation.
ELA9RL3 The student deepens understanding of literary works by relating them to contemporary context or historical background.
ELA9RC4 The student establishes a context for information acquired by reading across subject areas.
ELA9W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals closure.

Students will choose one of the time periods Zits travels to and write a letter from the person Zits visits to Zits.  Students will explore what Alexie intends to convey to the reader by sending Zits to each of these historical times. 

Flight by Sherman Alexie  
New York : Black Cat : Distributed by Publishers Group West, c2007
Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

Genre - Historical Fiction

Rating - 4.5/5

Age group recommendation - Grades 5-12

The Scoop - When Turner Buckminster moves from Boston to Maine, he discovers a new way to play baseball, friends in unlikely places and how hard growing up can be. Turner causes controversy in the town with his friendship with Malanga Isaland resident Lizzie and changes the course of the entire town.  

The Story - I enjoyed reading this book.  Even though the story is set in a different time period, I don't think that would keep readers from connecting with the story.  The characters are vibrant and believable and the action of the story keeps the reader's interest.  Toward the beginning of the book, it felt like it was going to be a "boy" book, focusing on baseball and the interests of a young boy.  But, with the introduction of Lizzie and her friendship with Turner, the story takes a turn that makes it an "everybody" book.  Turner's relationship with his father has a lot of conflict and could be another point of connection for young readers.  Even though the ending is sad, with a lot of death, the lessons of people making the right choices helps even out the sadness.

Educational applications

Georgia Performance Standards 

ELA6R1 The student demonstrates comprehension and shows evidence of a warranted and responsible explanation of a variety of literary and informational texts.

Working in collaboration with the classroom teacher, students are instructed to use the text as a basis for finding the factual events that happened at the time in which the story is set.  Students should look for events described in the book (the destruction of the Malanga Island community) and events that have similar conflicts (e.g. characters vs. society). Students use a variety of research methods including online journals and archives and the school OPAC for other historical and fictional sources.

 
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt 
 New York : Clarion Books, c2004

Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library

Saving the Griffin by Kristen Wilden Nitz

Genre - Fiction

Rating - 4/5

Age group recommendation - Grades 3-6

The Scoop - When Kate and Michael find a baby griffin outside their Italian vacation villa, they vow to return Grifinino to his home and to keep his existence a secret.

The Story - Technically, this may not be a historical fiction book, but it does have some historical aspects with the setting in Italy and the appearance of the griffin.  This is a fun story especially for those who are interested in the Harry Potter series.  I would recommend this to students who are below the Harry Potter reading level, but still really want to read that type of book.  The plot is simple to follow and the themes are easy for a younger audience to identify with.  This book would be great practice before moving on to something more complicated.

Educational applications  

 
Georgia Performance Standards 
ELA5W2 The student demonstrates competence in a variety of genres.

 

Katie and Michael learned very quickly how to tell if what they had found was a griffin or not.  Students should imagine that they have found a mythological creature in their backyard.  The student must now educated their family on the characteristics of the creature and explain how they identified the creature.  Students write an informational brochure about a mythological creature of their choice.  Students should use print and online sources for their information.

Saving the Griffin by Kristen Wilden Nitz Atlanta, Ga. : Peachtree, c2007
Copy from Atlanta Fulton County Library