Plan-Let children experience the I Spy books by JeanMarollo and Walter Wick. These books promote visual discrimination and helps build a working memory that young children need as they are learning about letters and numbers.
Promotion-Have an “I Spy Day” in the library. As they enter the library have a magnifying glass up to your face and keep saying, “Can you find it?” Let them know that they will be detectives for the day.
Preparation-Pull any I Spy books that you may have in the library and display them in a prominent place. Purchase one of the large I Spy puzzles. Create an I Spy box using a paper box top and fill it with small items; such as, army men, small plastic animals, small cars, erasers, paper clips, etc. These “I Spy Box Tops” can be themed if you wish or can be miscellaneous items. Have a few printable I Spy games from PaperTrailDesign available. Please see her copyright policy on her website.
Procedures-Introduce younger children to the I Spy books. They will need some guidance as to how to read and use these books. Teach them to scan in a pattern so that they cover the page in a consistent manner. After working with students on how to “read” the book, let them practice by going to different stations. These are the possibilities:
I Spy book station-students can work with a partner to identify objects in the books.
Put together an I Spy puzzle-work with a team to build an I Spy puzzle and then find objects with friends.
Printable I Spy pages from PaperTrailDesigns. This station can be an individual station for those who do not wish to work with a partner today.
I Spy in the Box-students work with friends to identify the objects in the box. The objects can be taken out once they are found.
Payoff-Students will be discriminating visually the objects that they need to find. They will also be verbalizing what needs to be found and increasing their vocabulary. They will be strengthening their working memory as they are searching for one object and then either I spy and object for a friend or get asked to find an object that they have in their memory. Great for ESL students working on vocabulary.
I’ve included a link to Bright Hub Education in which they use the I Spy books for many activities. Check it out if you want more information about how to use I Spy books in the classroom.
Reynolds, J. (2017). Long way down. Altheneum. ISBN 978-1481438261
Plot Summary
Will has a gun in the waistband of his jeans. He is headed out to enforce the rules. 3 rules for the neighborhood. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. Will’s brother was recently murdered, and Will is determined to carry out rule #3-revenge. He steps onto the elevator and has the longest ride of his life.
As he heads to the lobby the elevator stops on every single floor. People from Will’s past step onto the elevator to offer him advice. The problem is the people are all dead. With each floor a new stop and a new visitor to the elevator.
Will these people influence Will to continue with his mission to get revenge for his brother’s murder?
Critical Analysis
This was my first Jason Reynolds book and I have to say I can’t wait to read another. The subject matter of the book is not a genre that I particularly prefer to read, but the way in which Reynolds writes makes you want to read just for the beauty of the writing. The poetry allows the story to flow so quickly that you are finished with a “floor” or chapter in a matter of minutes.
When I got to “At the Elevator” I did not realize that there had not been chapter numbers before this and then to go from 7 to 6 made me think something was wrong. He is so very smart to take a story that lasts not even two minutes and fill 230 pages with gripping text. We are introduced to characters that are no longer in Will’s physical world as they have been killed, mostly murdered and they are all in the elevator with Will to discuss what he is about to do when the elevator gets to “L.” We all hope that Will makes the right decision, but is his right the same as the readers?
Review Excerpts
“An intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger.” —Booklist (starred review) “Astonishing.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A tour de force.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A Newbery Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Printz Honor Book A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017 A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017 A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017
Connections
Books by Jason Reynolds can be found here. This site also has a podcast where Jason and his mom talk about their history together. It can be found at the same site as his books.
Discussion of rules and choices.
Writing connection. Write the next scene of Will’s actions at the end of the book.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Bibliography
Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062498533
Plot Summary
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
But what Starr does – or does not – say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Critical Analysis
The Hate U Give is a powerful story about a strong girl, Starr, who lives a double life. Thomas develops Starr’s character well by giving the reader a strong picture of what her life is like at her prestigious school with her well-to-do friends and then gives us the Starr that lives in Garden Heights with the gangs and thugs. Starr is a model of bravery and courage for the readers. Thomas does an exceptional job with developing Starr’s family as well.
Starr must deal with racism and police brutality in Garden Heights. As a typical teen she is embarrassed by this and hopes that her friends from Williamson Prep do not connect her with the shooting that happened to her friend. The killing of her childhood friend causes her stress and want to make things right. Teens can identify with Starr’s character because Thomas makes her so real. This book is certainly one to get teens talking about issues of racism, bravery, and standing up for what is right.
Review Excerpts
Eight starred reviews ∙ William C. Morris Award Winner ∙ National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ Number-One New York Times Best Seller!
“Absolutely riveting!” (Jason Reynolds)
“Stunning.” (John Green)
“This story is necessary. This story is important.” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
Yoon, N. (2016). The sun is also a star. Ember. ISBN 9780553496710
Plot Summary
Daniel, 18, is the son of Korean immigrants to New York. Next year, he will certainly integrate the prestigious Yale University.
Natasha, 17, arrived from Jamaica ten years ago. Tonight, she may leave the United States forever.
He believes in poetry and love. She believes in science and explainable facts.
They have 12 hours to meet, get to know each other, and love each other. Beyond the differences.
Critical Analysis
Each chapter of this book is from either Daniel or Natasha’s perspective, or we are getting information needed for the story to continue. It almost seems like three shorter stories all interrelated. We see situations from each of the character’s perspective and wish that they would communicate a little better. For example, on page 101 Daniel sees that Natasha opens her hand and he thinks she will take his hand, but instead she walks on down the sidewalk. In the next chapter, from Natasha’s perspective, we learn that she really does want to take his hand but does not. Young adults can recognize themselves in these characters.
The short chapters keep the story moving along quickly.
Review Excerpts
With appeal to cynics and romantics alike, this profound exploration of life and love tempers harsh realities with the beauty of hope in a way that is both deeply moving and satisfying. Kirkus
“Fresh and compelling.” —Horn Book, starred review
“Lyrical and sweeping, full of hope, heartbreak, fate. . . and the universal beating of the human heart.” —Booklist, starred review
Discussions about immigration. Depending on what part of the country you are in the conversations will be vastly different. Natasha’s immigration story is different than that of people living in south Texas.
ONE., Murata, Y., Werry, J., & Gaubatz, J. (2015). One-punch man. Shonen Jump Manga edition. San Francisco, California, VIZ Media.
Plot Summary
Saitama is not much to look at as far as a superhero goes. He is bald and certainly not built like a superhero. His amazing power to best any opponent has no meaning to him. What can give his life meaning if he does not get any satisfaction out of pulverizing each one of his opponents with only one punch?
Critical Analysis
This was my first manga book ever. I called my 23-year-old daughter and asked her for a recommendation. One Punch Man was number one on her list. Manga is read from back to front and right to left. This took some getting used to and I was reminded of this periodically throughout the book when the illustrator would put little signs “read this way” with arrows pointing me in the right direction.
I found myself wanting to read parts of this story aloud to get the full effect of “whap,” “urrgh,” “clomp,” and “bwoosh” just to name a few. Parts of this story are quite humorous, for example at the beginning of the book you see a large crustacean-like monster standing in the street in a pair of underwear with boobies drawn on with a marker. Saitama fights this monster and many more in this fun and quite different kind of book. One Punch Man truly is a quick read and you find yourself wanting more.
Review Excerpts
Listless and unchallenged, the protagonist spends a lot of time fighting a wide variety of outlandish opponents who ridicule him for his bad attitude and because he is bald. The book is filled with over-the-top cartoony violence, and Murata’s illustrations exude destructive energy. The story is fast-paced, humorous, and entertaining in a way that looks and feels like an action movie. School Library Journal
Discuss with students what it means to be a hero. What are the characteristics of a hero? Does One Punch Man have these characteristics? Compare him to another superhero.
Create an enemy that One Punch Man will fight and illustrate this.
Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy by Sonya Sones
Bibliography
Sones, S. (1999). Stop pretending: What happened when my big sister went crazy. Harper Teen. ISBN 978-0064462181
Plot Summary
Continuously in print for nearly two decades, this groundbreaking and profoundly moving story told in verse, from award-winning author Sonya Sones, has been repackaged with a striking new cover and bonus content.
When her beloved older sister is hospitalized after a sudden mental breakdown, Cookie is left behind to cope with a family torn apart by grief, friends who shun her, and her fear that she, too, might one day lose her mind.
Critical Analysis
This story of a family going through mental illness is beautifully told in verse. Told from the point of view of a 13-year-old girl, Cookie sees her sister have a mental breakdown on Christmas Eve and is taken to a mental hospital for treatment. Cookie is hurt by this, feels despair, and wishes for things to be “normal.”
Most of the poems in this story are free form and quickly tell us how Cookie and her family are coping with her sister’s breakdown. We learn that Cookie is angry at times because she seems to have disappeared and does not matter to anyone. She is afraid to let her friends know why her sister is in the hospital for fear that she will be ridiculed. We see how courageous and hopeful Cookie is by never giving up on her sister. Cookie tells her new friend John about her sister, and this is the beginning of the healing process for her. Cookie eventually accepts her sister’s illness and finds ways to cope.
This is a wonderful story of a young girl who has so many of the usual feelings of a 13-year-old, but she also manages to stay grounded when it seems that her family is falling apart. Stop Pretending is a quick read and a book that you will not want to put down until you are at the end.
Review Excerpts
“The poems have a cumulative emotional power.” — ALA Booklist (starred review)
“The poems take on life and movement, the individual frames of a movie that in the unspooling become animated, telling a compelling tale.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Unpretentious. Accessible. Deeply felt.” — School Library Journal
“Sensitively written.” — The Horn Book
Connections
Other Sonya Sones novels in verse include:
What My Mother Doesn’t Know ISBN 9781442493858
What My Girlfriend Doesn’t Know ISBN 9781442493841
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies ISBN 9781442493834
The school counselor could do a presentation on mental illness and answer any questions that students may have.
Afoma at “Reading Middle Grade Books for Kids and Grown Ups” has an extensive annotated bibliography of books that deal with mental health issues. Find her blog and list of books here:
Living Beyond Borders: Growing Up Mexican in America edited by Margarita Longoria
Bibliography
Longoria, M. (2021). Living beyond borders: Growing up mexican in america. Philomel Books. ISBN 9780593204979
Plot Summary
Living Beyond Borders is a collection of short stories, essays, and poetry that celebrate Mexican Americans. Young adults give us a look into their lives and what it means to come from one culture and try to fit into another.
Critical Analysis
Magarita Longoria’s book Living Beyond Borders: Growing up Mexican in America is best experienced as an audio book. I have tried to listen to audiobooks in the past and have not found them conducive to my comprehension of the story but listening to Living Beyond Borders was a very different experience. To be able to hear someone with a Spanish accent read about the experiences that many of the contributors had made the stories so real.
Longoria has brought together in one place many perspectives on what it is/was like to be a Mexican American. We learn of many misconceptions about Latino people from hearing their stories told. The storytellers who have written their stories for us allow the reader to see their side of the story. The contributors were able to express themselves by the way in which they wrote their stories: poems, short stories, essays.
Review Excerpts
*”This superb anthology of short stories, comics, and poems is fresh, funny, and full of authentic YA voices revealing what it means to be Mexican American . . . Not to be missed.”—SLC, starred review
*”Superlative . . . A memorable collection.”—Booklist, starred review
*”Voices reach out from the pages of this anthology . . . It will make a lasting impression on all readers.”—SLJ, starred review
Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. Penguin Group. ISBN 0142407321
Plot Summary
Melinda Sordino’s freshman year at Merryweather High is not going as she would wish. At an end-of-summer party she made a phone call that made every one of her friends hate her and now she is paying for it by being ignored at school. She retreats inside of herself and does not interact with any of her past friends beyond what is expected of her at school. Something must give though because what happened at the party, the thoughts in her head, will not go away. She must stand up for herself and speak so that everyone knows the truth.
Critical Analysis
When you are introduced to Melinda’s character at the beginning of the book, you really feel sorry for her. She is being shunned by everyone at school for something she did at the end of summer. The reader learns about Melinda and her willingness to make life as normal as possible after what happened at the party. Anderson takes us day by day through Melinda’s days at school, meeting new friends, and her interactions with her parents. Interspersed throughout the story are her innermost thoughts about that horrific night. Her character develops into someone who is strong and courageous. She stands up for what must be done. Speak is a wonderful story of courageousness and perseverance.
Review Excerpts
“In a stunning first novel, Anderson uses keen observations and vivid imagery to pull readers into the head of an isolated teenager. . . . Yet Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers’ empathy. . . . But the book’s overall gritty realism and Melinda’s hard-won metamorphosis will leave readers touched and inspired.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“An uncannily funny book even as it plumbs the darkness, Speak will hold readers from first word to last.”—The Horn Book, Starred Review
“A frightening and sobering look at the cruelty and viciousness that pervade much of contemporary high school life, as real as today’s headlines. . . . The plot is gripping and the characters are powerfully drawn . . . a novel that will be hard for readers to forget.”—Kirkus Reviews, Pointer Review
“Melinda’s pain is palpable, and readers will totally empathize with her. This is a compelling book, with sharp, crisp writing that draws readers in, engulfing them in the story.”—School Library Journal
“A story told with acute insight, acid wit, and affecting prose.”—Library Journal
“Melinda’s voice is distinct, unusual, and very real as she recounts her past and present experiences in bitterly ironic, occasionally even amusing vignettes. . . . Melinda’s sarcastic wit, honesty, and courage make her a memorable character whose ultimate triumph will inspire and empower readers.”—Booklist
A Michal L. Printz Honor Book
A National Book Award Finalist
An Edgar Allan Poe Award Finalist
An ALA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults
Connections
Major Themes in Speak
Isolation — One of the main themes in the novel involves Melinda’s silence and her inability to talk to others about what happened to her.
Related Works:
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
Grief — This novel exemplifies the immobility that derives from grief and depicts the true dangers of depression.
Related Works:
The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse
Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson
Hope — It is relieving to see Melinda finally tell someone about her attack and undergo a transformation from the sullen, quiet girl she was at the beginning, to a person with a renewed sense of self.
Related Works:
The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom
The Miracle Worker, by William Gibson
Sold, by Patricia McCormick
Natbony, R. (2020, July 28). How to teach speak. Prestwick House.
Johnson, A. (2003). The first part last. Simon & Schuster. eISBN 9781439106587
Plot Summary
Bobby is a typical New York City teenager who likes hanging out with his friends. On his 16th birthday while out for pizza with his buddies, Bobby learns from his girlfriend, Nia, that he is going to be a dad. His life changes drastically after hearing this news. He is supportive of Nia and matures quite a bit when he must attend doctor appointments and then pediatrician visits for his new daughter, Feather. Bobby’s life changes even more when Nia slips into a coma. Bobby is now a single, teenage father learning to cope.
Critical Analysis
Johnson tells story of a young man who must grow up quickly when his choices he makes put him in the category of teenage father. In this fast-paced story of a young dad and his baby daughter we hear of what Bobby is going through in trying to raise Feather and continue his education. We learn of his relationship with the baby’s mother through some chapters entitled “then.” Bobby is the storyteller, and we get a glimpse of what it is like to have to make grown up choices at 16 years old. It is a quick read and heartwarming.
Review Excerpts
It’s the tale of one young man and his choices, which many young readers will appreciate and enjoy. Kirkus Reviews
Readers will only clamor for more about this memorable father-daughter duo—and an author who so skillfully relates the hope in the midst of pain. Publishers Weekly
A Michael L. Printz Award Book 2003
Connections
Coming of Age
Bobby must make some mature decisions after his girlfriend slips into a coma. He decides to raise his daughter by himself. What are the ramifications of this decision? In what ways has Bobby grown up by the end of the novel? In what ways is he still a kid?
Love
Discuss genuine love that Bobby has for Nia and then his daughter, Feather. What is genuine love? Supply text evidence of Bobby’s love for Nia and Feather. How do Bobby’s parents show him love? What are some of the sacrifices that many of the characters make in order to show love?
Men and Masculinity
Bobby is trying to figure out what it means to be a man. He has good role models: his father, his brother, and yes, even his mother. But he is only 16 years old. Why should he have to grow up now and take on the responsibilities of a man? How do characters in the novel define being a man? Consider Bobby, Just Frank, Fred, Bobby’s friends, and Paul.
Nayeri, D. (2020). Everything sad is untrue (a true story). Levine Querido. eISBN 9781646140022
Plot Summary
Khosrou, aka Daniel, is not like the other children in his middle-school classroom. He not only looks different, but he smells different, too, well, his lunch smells different. Daniel is an outstanding storyteller and his classmates are intrigued by his tales that span generations of family members. He tells stories of how his family lived in Iran and had to flee and his life in a refugee camp in Italy. He tells the reader his struggles of being bullied as he comes to live in the United States.
Critical Analysis
Nayeri does a phenomenal job of telling a fictionalized version of his early life in Iran and then being moved to a refugee camp in Italy. We get an insight into what it truly means to be an outcast from one’s country and struggle to make a life somewhere else. Nayeri’s character, Daniel, is a strong, mature character who manages to persevere in challenging times. He uses beautiful language to describe his ancestral Persian history. Nayeri gives us a first-hand insight into Daniel’s world by telling the story from Daniel’s point of view.
Review Excerpts
At its most basic level, Nayeri’s offering is a fictionalized refugee’s memoir, an adult looking back at his childhood and the forced adoption of a new and infinitely more difficult life. The language is evocative: simple yet precise, rife with the idiosyncratic and abjectly honest imagery characteristic of a child’s imagination. Kirkus
Nayeri weaves stories within stories in this fictionalized account of his formative years. He shares layers of rich information about life in Iran, refugee camps, and his experiences as an immigrant in the United States during the late 20th century. The themes of family, love, and truth are as strong as those of faith, endurance, memory, and storytelling as Khosrou (also known as Daniel) tries to tell the tales of his beautiful, complicated life and family. School Library Journal
