Dear America Series: "Early Sunday Morning" The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows. By: Barry Denenberg

While searching in the library I found the Dear America series and instantly remembered reading some of these books as a young girl. I remember laying on my top bedbunk spending hours reading about these young women and their experiences they lived through during important historical events in time. Although these stories are fictional, the information given about the time period in american history is true. Some of the women are fictional characters and some are real characters. The Dear America series is written in diary form and are actually written by various authors. I always wrote in a diary as a young girl so I imagine that is why i loved reading these books too.

The particular book that I picked up and read for this assignment was "Early Sunday Morning": The Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows. Amber Billows is a young girl who grows up traveling with her parents and brother because her father is a reporter during the war around 1941. Amber starts a new diary every time she moves to a new state so this book is broken up into two parts: Washington state and Oahu Hawaii. The book has a slow start, as Amber writes about her daily routine and drama that she has with her school friends. When she finds out she is moving, she won't talk to her father for a few days, but then eventually gets excited about the move. As it gets closer, she has anxiety about not knowing how to speak their language, dress appropriately, and know how to act in the different culture. However, as soon as she gets there she meets her bestfriend and she realizes there are many people with different ethnic backgrounds including Japanese, Chinese, Hawaiian but can still be "american". Amber's new bestfriend is Kame and she is Japanese. Amber is surprised at how good Kame can speak english. When Pearl Harbor gets bombed things drastically change for Amber. She stops going to school and starts to go to the hospital with her mom to help all the wounded soldiers and civilians. Amber sees many people die and people she knows suffer from the bombings. Amber's friend Kame is going through a hard time as well, because at this time, people were afraid that the Japanese Americans would turn against America. Kame's father was taken away for questioning, and Kame's family was banned from speaking Japanese over the telephone. The story doesn't really have an ending, but leaves you kind of sad for Amber and her family and friends. There is an epilogue that tells what happened to the real Amber Billows after the war.

This book would definitely be appealing to any young girl who enjoys learning about history, but also anyone that enjoys reading about others' hardships with friends, family, and life obstacles. This book is a great way for kids to learn about historical events because it's interesting and they can connect with these young characters at a personal level. There are some descriptive scenes that depict what happened to the wounded soldiers and ships when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

I enjoyed reading this book, but was surprised at how fast and easy the text was. The recommended age for this book is 12+ but I would argue that any advanced third or fourth grader would be able to read and enjoy these Dear America Books.

The Twilight Series By: Stephanie Meyer

I just finished reading the last of the four twilight books right before school started back up two weeks ago. I decided what better time than to write about these books that have become a teen pop culture phenomenon! The only reason I read the first book was because I saw the not so great movie this summer in the theatre, and was curious to see what all the fuss was about.

After reading the first book I was hooked! The text is simple enough to engage a younger audience of probably 5th and definitely 6th graders. In fact, one of the boys I babysat this summer was reading the twilight books at the same time I was so it was really awesome to be able to connect with this 12 year old boy who for the most part doesn't want anything to do with babysitters!

SO what are these books all about? It starts off with the average girl named Bella who moves in with her dad because her mother is re-married and is traveling with her new husband and his basketball team. So to give a re-cap quickly, we've got this 17 year old girl who is uprooted from her whole life, and placed in this eerie small and damp town where the sun rarely comes out. Bella falls madly in love with the passionate but creepy edward cullen character who is of course, a blood sucking vampire. I think what is so fascinating about it is the fact that he wants her in so many different ways including the taste of her blood. Bella feels this connection and they become inseparable. There is so much action, love, sadness, and all different kinds of emotions that kids and adults (people like me :)) can get lost in the fantasy world that mixes with real world emotions. The book challenges friendship, parenting, trials of young love, etc. These are things that young pre adolescents are about to go through and so they can connect on a personal level with Bella.

The text is simple enough for students at the 5th or 6th grade level to understand and comprehend. Also, the books are PG for the most part..... however there are some parts that elude to sexual content and violence. I would recommend this book to any mature 5th or 6th grade reader that enjoys reading (because they are very long books) and a reader that has an imagination! I don't think these books should be used for the curriculum in school, but I do think that they are great option for free choice books and are fun, imaginative, and exciting! I would also recommend the Twilight series to teachers who are teaching grades between 5th and 9th (at least!) because they have become so popular and it would be a good way to connect with some of your students! I don't think it's necessary but it is interesting to know what your kids are reading in their free time in and outside of school.

The Straight Line Wonder By: Mem Fox

This was probably my favorite book out of the five short stories I have read so far for this class. It is just so unique in how the author uses lines to demonstrate the moral of the story (the moral of this story is so important.... (being like everyone else is boring, being yourself and doing what you want to do with your life is key!)

So this is a story about three straight lines and they are all best friends. The first line decides he wants to hop, jump, bend and creep in heaps instead of stay in a straight line. The two other lines are appalled by this, and say to the first line "Stop! People will stare!" but the first line would just respond and say " I don't mind". Eventually the two lines leave the first line because they do not want to be associated with this line that is so different from everyone else. The first line liked being different from everyone else and enjoyed doing the different actions .

One day, a famous film producer spots the unique line and says what a wonder the line is, and he loves how he moves, and he should be in his new upcoming film! So, the line now is famous and gets to jump in humps everyday. At the end of the story, the two old friend lines say they are pleased to have him as their friend, and the first line is so happy because he is accepted by his friends and he never has to be straight again.

This book can be used as a metaphor for many different things. But the most important lesson from the story is that it is good to be different from everyone else. I think kids would really like this book, because it has fun action verbs and illustrations, and it teaches them that being different and doing what you love is very important in life. Also, I thought that this would be a good book to make into a story drama. Kids could act out the different actions that the text provides, and the students can really understand the idea that being "straight" and doing what everyone else wants to do isn't always the best way to go.

Betsy Who Cried Wolf By: Gail Carson Levine

My very first impression of this book was confusion??? I kept waiting for something important to happen, or rather I was waiting for a lesson to be learned. I think the author was trying to make a point that everyone can get along, and you shouldn't just assume that wolves are going to hurt your flock of sheep. But even by the title of the book, I assumed that the moral of the story was to "not cry wolf" so that people will believe you when something really goes wrong and your in need of help.

This book is about an 8 year old girl named Betsy who goes through Sheppard School. Betsy is in charge of a flock of sheep that she takes care of everyday for the farmers in her community. she is taught different things such as "look to your left" and "look to your right" and "look straight forward" in order to spot the big bad wolf. When reading this book, I immediately went back to the old tale "the boy who cried wolf". The moral of that story was to demonstrate that lying can be dangerous because if you always lie, no one will believe you when your really in trouble. However this story, "Betsy Who Cried Wolf" was very different from the original tale. Betsy meets a wolf named Zimmo, but he's no ordinary wolf. He has a plan to get food from her, and he eventually gets a piece of Betsy's pie! He ended up startling the sheep, but in the end he saves them and herds them all together for Betsy. Betsy remembers what the farmers told her to do, and she goes to tell them about the wolf, but no one believes her when she tells them what happened. After a few times of her "crying wolf" she eventually proves that there was in fact a real wolf and the farmers did apologize to Betsy for not believeing her the first time. Zimmo and Betsy stay friends and Zimmo actually promises to help keep the sheep safe by taking the "Sheppard's Oath".

I understand that the author was trying to make a more hip version of the old tale, but I guess I liked the original much better. In reality, wolves and sheep don't get along and farmers do have to worry about various animals hurting or even killing their sheep. It wasn't believable for me, but I think most kids would probably like the story on the surface because it has a lot of funny lines (For example, the sheep talk and say quirky things). For the kids, they might find it funny to see this big bad wolf help this little girl out and eat pie instead of be mean and scary. On a positive note, there was an abundance of descriptive text and there was many illustrations that made the story more entertaining.

I Love Saturdays y Domingos By: Alma Flor Ada

Just by reading the title, it shows that this book is bilingual. The book caught my attention because more often we are seeing schools develop dual language programs. I think this is such a great idea and so I decided to read this book and decide if it would be a good book to read in such a program.

This is a story about a girl who spends saturdays with her fathers parents. She spends her saturdays with "Grandma and Grandpa". Los Domingos (which are sundays in english) are spent with "Abuelito y Abuelita" whom are her mothers parents. Throughout the story, the little girl goes back and forth between saturdays and los domingos. She explains what she has for breakfast on saturdays in english, and then explains what she has for breakfast on los domingos in spanish. The little girl is definitely fluent in both english and spanish as she explains different activities she does on saturdays and los domingos. For example, she counts her grandmothers owl collection in english, and she counts her other grandmothers chicken eggs in spanish. She talks about animals in english and in spanish. She also talks about origin and stories that her grandparents have told her about her background. At the end the little girl has a birthday and both grandparents come together. She explains that some people say "Happy Birthday" and some say "Feliz Cumpleanos".

I would highly recommend this book to any teacher that wants to incorporate spanish into their curriculum. This could be an effective tool in making some students feel more comfortable in the classroom environment if perhaps there are some students who speak mostly spanish and very little english. I took four years of spanish in highschool and I wanted to see just how much I could remember while reading this book. Even if you don't know spanish, it is easy to infer what the spanish words mean just by looking at the opposite page because the main character describes similar things in both english and spanish.

Aside from this book being a great teaching tool, I think this book would relate to many students. If it doesn't personally relate, this book could spark an interest in learning a new language or at least being introduced to a different culture. I think learning about different cultures is important and this book does just that without being too overwhelming.

Yes Day! By: Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

"What do you call a day when every answer is yes?...YES DAY!" This story is about a boy who dreams of a day where he gets to do everything and anything that he can think of. Kids are always asking questions, and a lot of the time, parents and teachers unfortunately have to say no. However, in this book, all of his questions are answered with a yes! I feel like students would really connect with this book, because all of the questions that this character asks is a question that most kids do ask in one way or another. For example, "Can I have pizza for breakfast? Can I clean my room tomorrow? Can we have a food fight? Can Mario come for dinner? Can we stay up late?" Okay so you get the point... all of these questions are usually hard to say yes to, and that is what makes it so appealing to the younger kids. This would be a great book for the younger crowd, probably between the ages of 4 and 6. The illustrations are simple, but very colorful and it adds to the story of all the things he gets to do throughout YES DAY. I really like the ending, when he asks "Does this day have to end?" and the last page says "Yes". This book wouldn't necessarily be a book I would use in a class lesson, however you could have a discussion with your students about the reasons why parents and teachers and even kids have to say no when people ask questions. Maybe you can't have a sleepover because it's a school night. Or maybe you can't clean up your room tomorrow because your cousins are all coming over to see you. Whatever the reason, people don't always get to do everything they want. Sometimes thats a hard notion for little kids (even adults) to understand.

The Worst Best Friend By: Alexis O'Neill

I remember being a young girl, and I also remember being a brat in my own social group. At the time. those little fights we got into felt like the end of the world. But fortunately, I am still friends witha few people from grade school. This book was fun to read and reminded me of how little kids can be enemies one day, and be inseparable the next. The story has two boys, Mike and Conrad who are the best of friends. Until one day, the new "cool" kid arrives at school and Conrad leaves his best friend Mike in the Dust for his new found friend Victor. In the end, it blows up in Conrad's face beause he realizes that Victor was just using him and he wasn't really a friend. Conrad realizes that he was the "worst, WORST best friend" to mike, and he asks if they can still be friends. Mike says yes, and they even do their secret handshake. (which by the way, I loved making up different handshakes when I was little!)

This would be a great read for the classroom, especially if there are issues with cliques, bullies, or even just fighting. The moral to the story was that people needs to treat their friends well, respect them, and be a friend that another can count on. This would be a good story to share with your class if you were having these kind of issues with your students. This book had vivid illustrations, which took up most of every page. The words are also easy enough for 1st and 2nd graders to start reading on their own. (depending on their reading level). There is a rhythmic tone when reading the story too. I enjoyed this book and would recommend reading it to a class full of 1st or 2nd graders!