Searles, J. (2013). Help for the haunted. New York: HarperLuxe.

This book is about the Mason family.  The parents who are deeply religious and believe in helping those they think are “possessed by demons.”  Early in the story the parents are lured to a local church where they are killed.  The story moves back and forth from past to present telling tales of the family before and after the parent’s death.  Most of the story is told by Sylvie.  She is the youngest daughter, who is following in her parents belief system.  Her older sister Rose is the rebel in the house.   Initially a  preacher is charged in the murder but he denies killing anyone even though he is in jail.  At some point after the girls are orphaned, more information comes out that a reporter ma have fallen in love with their mother.  The girl’s uncle Howie says he will help but he is a drunk and lives like a pig.  In the end we find out that all of this mystery is simply overblown.  While Rose first appears to be a psychotic, we finally find out that she is secretly gay and the reason she is so mean to Sylvie is because of her Father.

With a reading lexile of about 950 this mystery may be okay for an older teenaged audience.  I felt that is bordered on offensive for some with strong religious beliefs.  The idea of ghost hunting makes this story almost unbelievable to me.  I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the ending, but it would definitely be interesting to the target audience of 9 -12^th grade.  I wonder though if the older group might find it hard to relate to Sylvie and really dislike Rose.  I do think that more kids than I like to think would relate to the dysfunction of this family.

Searles, J. (2013). Help for the haunted. New York: HarperLuxe.

This book is about the Mason family.  The parents who are deeply religious and believe in helping those they think are “possessed by demons.”  Early in the story the parents are lured to a local church where they are killed.  The story moves back and forth from past to present telling tales of the family before and after the parent’s death.  Most of the story is told by Sylvie.  She is the youngest daughter, who is following in her parents belief system.  Her older sister Rose is the rebel in the house.   Initially a  preacher is charged in the murder but he denies killing anyone even though he is in jail.  At some point after the girls are orphaned, more information comes out that a reporter ma have fallen in love with their mother.  The girl’s uncle Howie says he will help but he is a drunk and lives like a pig.  In the end we find out that all of this mystery is simply overblown.  While Rose first appears to be a psychotic, we finally find out that she is secretly gay and the reason she is so mean to Sylvie is because of her Father.

With a reading lexile of about 950 this mystery may be okay for an older teenaged audience.  I felt that is bordered on offensive for some with strong religious beliefs.  The idea of ghost hunting makes this story almost unbelievable to me.  I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the ending, but it would definitely be interesting to the target audience of 9 -12^th grade.  I wonder though if the older group might find it hard to relate to Sylvie and really dislike Rose.  I do think that more kids than I like to think would relate to the dysfunction of this family.

Carroll, E. (2014). Through the woods. New York, NY: Margaret McElderry Books.

This graphic novel is a collection of 3 separate tales.  They are really creepy around the bonfire type stories.  One tells the story of 3 girls whose father has left to “go into town.”  But in the storm and snow, it doesn’t take long to realize that he is not going to return.  After the 1^st night when a man appears at the door, leaving no footprints the oldest sister disappears.  Two nights later the same thing happens to her baby sister.  Believing that she will be next, she takes out on her own where in a “house” she is reunited with her sisters.  I believe they were all dead.

With a lexile of 550 this text’s audience is grades 14 – 17.  I loved this graphic.  The artwork was a creepy as the stories.  This could be used for inference, as well as teaching story or plot, a

lso the idea of irony.  We expect the character to be “killed” by a “mysterious man in a wide brimmed hat with a big white smile.”  But I don’t think so.  I think they surrendered to the elements and were reunited “on the other side.”

Freedman, R. (2014). Because they marched: The people's campaign for voting rights that changed America. New York, NY: Holiday House Publishing.

Set in 1965 in Selma this wonderful piece of historical non-fiction begins with Dr. King taking the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to connect with the blacks in the south.  They started by meeting in defiance of a court order by Judge Hare. The public safety commissioner) planned to try to stop the meeting without using force.  He hoped that this would prevent media attention to the meetings and cause Dr. King and his group to move on.  Sheriff Clark wanted to continue meeting these movements with force and intimidation..  The day of the march 500 were arrested and jailed.  On March 6 a group of white citizens also marched on Selma.  Riots and murders occurred in opposition to the voting rights act.  Ultimately over 8000 people participated in the march.  On August 6, 1965 President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law.  By the end of that year 250,000 black voters had registered in the south.

With a lexile level of 1160 the target audience for this book is grades 5 – 9.  I found the book so interesting.  Even though I was alive during this time, I do not remember the marches on Selma.  I was 5 years old at the time and my first and second grade classes were integrated.  The vocabulary is well within reach of the 5^th grade audience. Freedman does a great job of providing insight into the times and events.  The photos were amazing.  I found myself totally captivated by them.  This text has so many educational applications it is difficult to narrow them down.  Black History Month, encouraging activism, the civil rights movement, the nonviolent ways of Dr. King and his ministry council and 1960’s America.  It has a wealth of information which could be easily applied.

Tamaki, M., & Tamaki, J. (2014). This one summer (1.st ed.). New York, NY: First Second.

Up at her family’s cottage for the summer, Rose and her friend Windy spend their days watching horror movies, checking out the boys and spying on the older teens in town.  Rose’s mother is extremely depressed due to her miscarriage and eventually her father goes back to the city just to get away from her. When the local girl, Jenney, turns up pregnant, they realize that life will never be the same. The girls find out that being a woman is more complicated than Rose and Windy originally thought, and this one summer will show them what growing up really means.

With a lexile of 300 this graphic novel targets a reading audience of grades 9 – 12.  I enjoyed the illustrations: the pale shades of the images well represent the fluid nature of the teen aged years.   These seem to follow the thoughtful and reflective tone of the novel itself.  Personally I was more enchanted by the artwork and the detailing of the illustrator.  I would be cautious about allowing younger adolescents to read this on.  There are some sexual references and a significant amount of profanity that I feel might be inappropriate.  I’m not sure it would appeal to high school students as the protagonists are tween aged.

Ewing, L. (2014). The lure. New York, NY: HarperCollins /Balze.

15-year-old Blaise lives in a bad neighborhood, where gangs roam the streets. Blaise lives with her grandmother who works herself to death every night trying to keep a roof over their heads. There are battles waged over drugs and territories, and even innocent bystanders get shot if they happen to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time.  Blaise thinks that things would be easier if she joined a gang, and she’s set on joining C9 but things get only more dangerous when she becomes a member of Core 9 and tensions with a rival gang heat up. Trek, the head of Core 9, asks Blaise to be his "lure," the sexy bait he'll use to track down enemy gang members and exact revenge and Blaise can't resist the money and power. As Trek puts Blaise in increasingly dangerous situations, she begins to see that there's more to lose than she ever realized-including Satch, the one person who has the power to get under her skin. 

This book started out pretty strong with me.  At a lexile of   its target audience is grades 9 – 12.  Unfortunately the plot started to fall apart and it became way over dramatic.  The love triangle was terribly predictable and some of the sentax choices simply did not seem realistic within the setting.  The ending left way to many unanswered questions for me to feel satisfied with it.  I’m not sure I would necessarily recommend this book, but I might consider others by Ewing after previewing them.  One review referred to it as “stylish gangster porn.”

Kiely, B. (2015). The gospel of winter: A novel. San Francisco, CA: Margaret McElderry Books.

Aidan Donovan is a 16 year-old boy whose family is falling apart in front of him. His priest, Father Greg, begins to show him a lot of attention and he is the only adult that will take the time to listen to Aiden.  Aiden experiments with Adderall, his father’s wet bar, and the attentions of Father Greg.  Aidan’s  own life falls apart when he realizes that there is more to Father Greg’s attention than simple priestly concern.  Aidan turns to his friends for help to make sense of all that is going on. The novel ends with Aidan confronting Father Dooley and railing on the conspiracy to conceal the truth and allow the abuses to be covered up and the priests transferred.  Ultimately Aidan admits his secret.

The target audience for this book is 9^th – 12^th grade with a lexile of 780.  I found the story both intense and complicated.   It deals with sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and the scandal and cover up that was all a part of that.  It addresses the shame and the confusion that occurs in the victims and the natural reaction of denial.  Some of the content might be a bit intense and quite tricky in a predominantly Catholic area.  I was unable to find any lesson suggestions for this text, however, I do think that it would work well for teaching about social issues.  For the child who has been abused, the characters would be extremely relatable.

Green, J. (2014). The fault in our stars. New York, NY: Penguin Young Readers.

This one is a quick one.  Girl  (Hazel) gets sick. Girl meets boy (Augustus) who is in remission.  Hazel and Augustus have a sick friend (Isaac) who is sacrificing his eye in order to be cancer free.  Augustus gives up his “wish” trip for Hazel to go to Amsterdam to meet the author (Peter Van Houten) whom she idolizes and who ultimately dramatically disappoints her.   Hazel and August admit they are in love with each other and consummate their relationship and in the end, Hazel lives while August dies.  At the funeral Hazel reads the eulogy to meet the needs of Augustus’ parents who are now the ones struggling.  Van Houten is present at the funeral and Hazel discovers he has a daughter who passed away.  Even thought she still doesn’t like him, she finds a measure of understanding.

The target audience is grades 9 – 12.  The lexile level is 850.  There is some vocabulary that students may need help with.  It addresses issues such as teenage sex, illness and early death.  Some of the lesson suggestions include Socratic Seminar discussions.  Another way this can be used as a lead in to introducing writing eulogy.  This might also work as an interactive journal text.  I enjoyed the novel and I have also seen the movie.  I try o remind my students not to judge a book by its movie.  I do find that my students are more likely to read a novel if a movie is attached to it.  I love being able to do compare and contrast with novels and movies.

Stead, R., & Gartner, K. (2009). When You Reach Me. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

                 

This novel begins in the common “in medias res’ or in the middle with a postcard and Miranda’s mother planning for an appearance on $20,000 Pyramid.  It is set in New York City in 1979.  Miranda is a 6^th grader who is considering writing letters to the ever elusive you.

Her mom’s lawyer boyfriend visits them often.  Miranda keeps her favorite copy of “A Wrinkle in Time” with her always.  Moving back and forth on a fluctuating timeline Miranda keeps receiving notes and realizes that who ever is sending them knows all about her and things that haven’t happened yet.  There are many references to being open minded in order to “understand” things.  Marcus appears.  He is the student who punched Miranda’s friend at an earlier time. Miranda receives several notes that reveal many future events.  Ultimately Miranda gives her mom the law school applications (she has planned to use the money from playing Pyramid for this.)  At the end, we find out that in spite of his negative behaviors, Marcus is the magic thread.

With a lexile of 750 this book targets grades 6 – 8.   It falls under the genre of Science/Historical Fiction.  It addresses adolescent issues as well as magic and the supernatural.  This text could be used in as part of a science discussion on the passage of time and motion.  It could also find connections to The Time Machine when they enter High School.  This novel was a Newberry Medal winner and is certainly one I would recommend.  I found several sites that provided learning links as well as lesson plans using this text.  It might work for middle-school ages but the content level would be a bit immature for a high school audience.

Black, H., & Wheeler, E. (2013). Doll bones. New York, NY: Doubleday Children’s Books.

Zach, Poppy and Alice have always been friends.  They love playing with action figures and, imagining worlds where they participate in adventures.  Suddenly at one point, Zach’s father throws out his action figures declaring that he is way too old to be playing with them.  Zach decides that he is going to stop playing altogether, and quit being friends with Poppy and Alice completely.  The girls go visit him and tell him about a succession of strange and eerie events.  Poppy is convinced that she is being haunted by a china doll that claims to have been made of the ground up bones of a murdered girl.  They decide they have to return the doll to the girl’s home or they will be cursed forever.  Eventually they find themselves at the cemetery where Zach breaks down and confesses what his father did with his figures.  He lies down at a “willow” in the cemetery and this is where they bury the dolls.  They end up returning to their respective parents agreeing to keep their story alive.

This book was seriously creepy.  With a lexile of 640, its target audience is grades 5 – 9.  I enjoyed the suspense of the novel and its approach to dealing with “growing out of” certain things.  I think kids this age will be able to relate to having treasured items thrown away without a care.  I felt the text was well written and that the character development helps to make them characters you want to know and invest in.  The game played by the kids is one that younger students might enjoy and it can be used to teach kids plot development.  Playing the game can also build critical thinking skills as they try to figure out what they want to happen and where they want their imaginary characters to end up.  While I would recommend the book, 8=9I was bothered by the sudden ending.  It almost felt anti-climactic.

Angleberger, T., & Rosenstock, J. (2015). The strange case of Origami Yoda. New York, NY: Henry N.

Abrams.

In this book the main character Dwight is a 6^th grader who is considered weird by his classmates.  One day he decides to an origami finger puppet of Yoda from Star Wars.  Imitating Yoda’s voice, Dwight provides advice to his classmates using Yoda as his “spokesperson.”  It doesn’t take long for the kids to believe that this ‘Yoda’ is actually connected to The Force.  Tommy decides to write a case file about Yoda to prove that he is real and another student Kellen does the illustration.  One student Harvey, attempts to disrupt their case file and prove that the Yoda is not real. 

The layout of the book is perfect for young readers.  It fits in the comedy/humor diary and journal genre.  Its target audience is grades 3 – 5 and deals with middle school issues and understanding yourself and others.  The lexile reading level is 760.  This novel is perfect for this age group.  The pages appear to be crumpled (just like middle-school kid’s papers).  The novel looks like a ‘case file’.  It has doodles in the margins like notes and illustrations that fit the context.  I think this might be a great way to introduce a new generation to the Star Wars franchise.  It could easily be adapted in the classroom for learning to write abbreviated notes, organization and keeping track of events.  I loved this book and so did my 14 year old son, even though he is a bit old.  It was a perfect connection to his video gaming on the Xbox.  There is also tons of fan fiction regarding this volume of the 3 volume series

Smith, A. (2014). Grasshopper jungle (p. 400). New York, NY: Dutton Books.

Austin Szerba is a descent kid who it totally confused about his sexual identity.  Set in a dystopian atmosphere he can’t figure out why he feels attracted to his girlfriend, Shann, and his best friend, Bobby, who is a confident homosexual.  Using 6 ft preying mantises to end the world is definitely a new perspective and could easily symbolize the over the top consumption of natural resources.  Many sections of the text are focused on Austin’s obsessive sexual thoughts.  “Smith has a lot on his mind from the grand tapestries of history to teenage sexual confusion to ideas of military investments in technology derailing otherwise sound science into horrifying ends to the hypocrisy of anyone attempting to tell someone else how to live a life that’s ‘proper’”.

The target audience for this book is supposedly grades 9 – 12 with a lexile of 910.  Personally I found way too much of this content personally offensive.  It is not for those who find it difficult to cope with the language common in teen-aged culture today.  It is a coming of age book, which deals with ideas of sex, sexual orientation, war, violence, substance abuse and strong language.  I’m not sure I would feel comfortable recommending this book but I can see my students becoming wrapped up in the characters and the creatures.  One website referred to potential readers as “precocious.”  Precocious is definitely not the word I would choose.  For me it would be more appropriate for mature readers.

King, A. (2010).  Please ignore vera dietz.  New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.

This story is told primarily through the eyes of the Protagonist, Vera and her now deceased friend Charlie. Prior to his death he betrayed Vera by selecting a group of friends known as the over her.  They tormented her in some pretty awful ways.  She uses drinking as a way of coping with Charlie’s death and struggles with the knowledge that she has information about his death that no one else knows. In notes Charlie left in his tree house, Vera learns that Charlie and his girlfriend had been making sex videos for money.  When Charlie decided he wanted to quit, Jenny broke up with Charlie, threatening to burn down the store and kill him. Vera eventually goes to the police with the info she has before she and her father leave on a road trip.

The target audience for this book is 9^th – 12^th grade at a Lexile of 830.  It falls under the YA Mystery/Suspense genre.  It deals with such difficult subjects as grief, loss, death.  I loved the way the story progressed.  There is some strong language, violence and adult content, but I enjoyed the novel.  It was easy to relate to Vera and Charlie as I had a friend in high school that was my friend in private but not in front of his very cool friends.  He never really mistreated me too badly but he admitted what he was doing and 35 years later actually contacted me on Facebook and apologized after a mutual friend of ours passed away.

Crutcher, C. (1993). Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes. New York, N.Y.:  Greenwillow Books.

This is a story about Moby, Sarah and Virgil.  Moby is an overweight high school senior whose best friend is a girl named Sarah.  Suffering burns when she was 3 years old, she has significant scaring and refuses to speak which lands her in the hospital.  Moby visits her everyday reminding her of their experiences of being bullied in Jr. High. At one point Moby joins the swim team and begins losing weight, but he quits out of fear of losing Sarah.  We find out that Sarah is faking her illness to “have time to think.”  This is when we learn that the burns were caused by her father (Virgil) and that she is extremely afraid of him and what else he will do.  Eventually, Virgil attacks and tries to kill Moby, which gives the police a reason to arrest him.  Sarah is adopted and given a second chance at a happy life.

Staying fat is a great book about coping, choices and coming of age.  Its target audience is 9^th through 12th grade with a reading lexile of 920.  It addresses the common high school experience from the perspective of the bullied.  It has moments of poignancy and anticipation.  Some good follow up texts are Life is Funny – Frank, Fat Kid Rules the World – Going and Mexican White Boy – de la Pena.  This text could easily be used to discuss the social issues of abuse and bullying.  Some essay topics could include compare and contrast of several characters of your choosing.  Analysis of character development and discussions regarding friendship and bullying could also be developed for instruction.

Myers, W. D. (1999).  Monster.  NY: Harper.

Monster is set in Manhattan and Harlem, NY in the city lockup and partially in the neighborhood where the main character Steve Harmon lives.  In this story Steve is on trail for murder where he faces 25 to life if he is convicted.  It is written in both script and diary form supposedly by the main character.  The murder occurs while Steve was supposedly participating in a robbery.  It goes back and forth between the present and flashbacks.  Even though he is on trial there is no real clear information that puts him at the scene, in spite of being implicated by another.  It gives a close up yet very adversarial view of the judicial system and its underlying tenants of prejudice.  Ultimately Harmon is found not guilty, but his attorney’s reaction lets him know that not everyone is convinced of his innocence.

This novel’s target audience is grades 9 – 12 with a reading lexile of 670.  It is considered YA fiction.  The book includes issues such as the African American experience with the criminal justice system, elements of peer pressure and nature and consequences of violence and crime. I found the text to be intense. The alternating writing genre for this book would make it applicable for instruction in both drama and writing.. It does contain some vivid descriptions of violence as well as some adult content, which I think needs to be addressed before beginning the reading.  This text could also be used for considering the civil rights of people and how the constitution is applied.  Lesson plans abound for this text in both ELAR and Social Studies.

Sartrapi, M. (2004).  Persepolis.  NY: Pantheon.

This story begins with Marjane about a year after the Iranian Revolution.  Even though her family isn’t religious she must now wear a veil and attend an all girls school.  The story is told from a child’s point of view with all the confusion and wonder of a child.  As the country becomes more religious the bombing in Tehran begins and the family spends time in a bomb shelter.  All along Margi is trying to become a normal teenager.    Her parents send her away to a school in Austria.  Soon she moves into a boarding house run by nuns where the nuns make cruel comments about her heritage.  She moves in with a friend and wonders why European teens are so interested in sex.  She experiments with sex and drug use and eventually ends up on the street.  Eventually she returns home only to realize she doesn’t fit in there either.  She marries and divorces and realizes she must leave to find the life she desires.  As an adult and an artist she realizes that that leaving is also painful.

Target audience for this text is grades 9 – 12.  It is a Graphic Novel and has a Lexile of about 380L.  It could easily be used for current world issues as we see a rise in ISIS and Al Queda.  It could also be used as a way to instruct Middle Eastern morals and customs.    As a coming of age novel, it may be relatable to a wide audience.  Monitoring the student’s perceptions can provide opportunities to encourage tolerance and respect for others.  This is a chance to introduce graphic novels and discuss culturally relevant comic strips

Quintero, I.  (2014).  Gabi: A girl in pieces.  TX:  Cinco Puntos

This book chronicles Gabi Hernandez’ last year in high school via her diary.  She talks about the cute boys, how bad her father’s drug habit is, the foods she loves, her friend, Cindy’s pregnancy and Sebastian coming out as homosexual.  It also touches on subjects such as death, rape religion and race.Gabi wants to connect with her primarily white social culture, but she’s afraid that her mother might accuse her of trying to be white.  The poetry that helps her forge her identity is a huge part of the story.

I really enjoyed the language and character development.  We get a clear view of Gabi’s emotions and feelings through her diary entries and poetry. This text could be used for students to emulate her writing both in style and genre.  Encouraging letter writing to deal with personal issues and creating poetry to express their feelings a both excellent ways of adapting this text to writing lessons.

Some others books that could be offered as follow ups are “What Can’t Wait” by Ashley Peres and “Under the Mesquite”I  by Guadalupe Garcia MacCall.

1.       Harris, R.  (2009). It’s perfectly normal.  Boston, MA:  Candlewick Press

This great non-fiction text lets kids know that people and bodies come in all shapes an sizes and that even though different they are all perfectly normal.  Texts that honestly answer questions about sex and sexuality are very difficult to come by.  This book provided easy to understand answers to questions that all kids have.  Information included is birth control, HIV and sexually transmitted illnesses.    It’s successful in it’s unbiased response to common everyday questions that kids have about these topics. 

I think this book was amazing.  I loved the illustrations and the straightforward responses.  The target audience is grade 6 – 8, but some more mature 5^th graders could probably use the text especially considering the fact that early onset puberty is becoming more common.  With a genre of general no –fiction, this text could easily be adapted to a health class or science class.    Candlewick press has a great resource for using this text both at home, in class by caregivers and other adults in a child’s life.

http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763626104.mis.1.pdf

1.       Harris, R.  (2009). It’s perfectly normal.  Boston, MA:  Candlewick Press

This great non-fiction text lets kids know that people and bodies come in all shapes an sizes and that even though different they are all perfectly normal.  Texts that honestly answer questions about sex and sexuality are very difficult to come by.  This book provided easy to understand answers to questions that all kids have.  Information included is birth control, HIV and sexually transmitted illnesses.    It’s successful in it’s unbiased response to common everyday questions that kids have about these topics. 

I think this book was amazing.  I loved the illustrations and the straightforward responses.  The target audience is grade 6 – 8, but some more mature 5^th graders could probably use the text especially considering the fact that early onset puberty is becoming more common.  With a genre of general no –fiction, this text could easily be adapted to a health class or science class.    Candlewick press has a great resource for using this text both at home, in class by caregivers and other adults in a child’s life.

http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763626104.mis.1.pdf