Becoming Ben Franklin: How a Candle-Maker’s Son Helped Light the Flame of Liberty

Becoming Ben Franklin is a biographical story written by acclaimed nonfiction author Russel Freedman. It tells about all of the different sides of Benjamin Franklin and how he was a scientist, printer, inventor and writer. This book speaks about Franklin's achievements, such as being the only Founding Father to sign all four of the major documents that would eventually lead to establishing the nation as the United States, and taking a stance against slavery. The book is filled with great photographs and illustrations of documents, people, and historical diagrams. Overall, it informs readers of how Ben Franklin became an icon during his time, and how he still remains an iconic figure today.

I thought this book was just excellent! The author was very skilled in using well-researched facts and explaining them through great storytelling. It's a fairly short book that is filled to the brim with interesting facts and information, some of which was new to me. It seems like this would be a great book for upper elementary students and certainly for middle schoolers. It would fit right into a U.S. History class as it references many important happenings in our nation's history. It teaches students about the significance of Franklin during the creation of the U.S. while also informing readers of aspects of his personal life. I would use this book as a research reference source for students to use to complete a report on a Founding Father. Students could also use this book to create a timeline of Franklin's life and achievements.

Freedman, R. (2013). Becoming ben franklin: How a candle-maker’s son helped light the flame of liberty. New York: Holiday House Publishing.

Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives

Written by Lola M. Schaefer and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal, Lifetime: The Amazing Numbers in Animal Lives is an extraordinary counting picture book that invites readers to learn about some very interesting facts regarding the lives of a variety of animals. Readers learn about the numerous things that can happen in just a single lifetime, such as "a seahorse will birth 1,000 babies" and "a woodpecker will drill 30 roosting holes". The content is based off of real data gained from observing a wild animal from birth to adulthood, and it counts how many times an animal conducts a certain activity or behavior, or gains a particular feature.

This book was really something special, and not like anything I've read before. It was cool to have all of those facts in one place instead of having to learn about one animal at a time. It's intriguing, sometimes astounding, and I learned a lot from reading it! I like that it is exciting yet informational to read, and this book can be tied into many content areas like science, art, reading and math. I would use this book in an elementary class setting during a math lesson. Students would read through the book, and then synthesize the numbers and facts into tangible elements. For example, students might read that a caribou will grow and shed 10 pairs of antlers; they would then use paper cutouts to represent the number 10 on a piece of paper. For the larger numbers (a giraffe will wear 200 spots), students might use pieces of paper that are labeled by 10's to represent the number 200 - there would be 20 pieces of paper to illustrate counting by ten's. Students could illustrate their counting with the animal they are representing.

Schaefer, L. (2013). Lifetime: The amazing numbers in animal lives. San Fransisco, CA: Chronicle Books.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars is a popular fiction novel (and movie) written by John Green, and is aimed at late middle school to high school leveled audiences. This fantastic novel is about two teenagers, Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters, who are both battling terminal illnesses. They first meet at a youth support group for kids who have cancer, although Hazel is not yet aware of the extent of Augustus's illness. Hazel and Gus come together while fighting similar battles, and eventually fall in love. Hazel ends up introducing Gus to her favorite book, An Imperial Affliction, and they both become adamant on meeting the author in person so they can ask him questions about the characters in his book. Through charitable organizations, the two teens are able to fly to Amsterdam to meet the author. Yet, when they meet him, they are confronted by a rude, drunk man who won't answer their questions. The two teens brush it off and try to enjoy the rest of their trip, but on the last day Gus reveals to Hazel that his cancer has returned. After many tears and a short but memorable relationship, Gus passes away and leaves Hazel with a letter that is delivered to her by the author they met in Amsterdam. In the end, Hazel is comforted by Gus's last words to her and the readers are left somber, but happy for her.
  
I had to review this book because I have a personal connection to it that involves my own love for someone very special to me. I think this book can speak to teens and young adults in many ways like this, it truly is a book that stays with you for a long time. I really admired the author's literary style, he uses vocabulary that ties into the title of the book in very subtle ways. Although this book is directed at a slightly older audience and is a youth love-story, it has countless ways that it can be used in the classroom. I would use this book in an English classroom in a book club activity. There are endless directed discussion questions, anticipation guides, opportunities for extended writing prompts, author connections, and higher-level vocabulary terms to go along with this book. I would highly recommend using it in a high school classroom.

Green, J. (2012). The fault in our stars. New York: Dutton Books.

Iguanas in the Snow

In this picture book Iguanas in the Snow, author Francisco X. Alarcón creates a family-friendly story book of poems that celebrates the diversity of people and the changing of the seasons. This is the last book in Alarcón's series and it focuses on the season of winter. This is a bilingual book that has poems written in Spanish and English, though each version is slightly different so it can be told properly in its native language. This story makes connections to different parts of the world by comparing California to Mexico in the winter time. This is a great component of the book because students from different parts of the world can relate to what the seasons are like where they're from.

I like that this book is part of a series on seasons and how they are all written in poetry, especially that they are in two different languages. I really appreciated how each poem was not translated word-for-word in the opposing language so that the special nuances of each language is kept throughout. This book put a smile on my face as I read through it, the poems are very delicate and reign true to each season and the illustrations are lovely. I would use this book in an elementary classroom when learning about the seasons, or about geographical locations and how people experience seasons differently depending on where in the world they live. It's a great way to include components of poetry and how stories can be told in different ways.

Alarcón, F. (2001). Iguanas in the snow. San Fransisco, CA: Children's Book Press.

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow

Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow is a historical non-fiction text that tells the story of the millions of children who grew up in Nazi Germany during the time of World War II. This book is about Adolf Hitler and how he recruited millions of children to be part of Germany's "Hitler Youth" groups in his attempt to control the masses. Hitler looked at children as a way to increase his following because children were young, controllable, and easy to persuade. This book is filled with many photographs of these children and is written not as a novel, but as individual true stories. Each story focuses on a different child who either questioned what was happening, or who followed the leaders of the Third Reich. Some children were brave enough to speak against this movement, while others went along with it seamlessly. The stories tell of the different "classes" the children had to take, and about the true power that this leader had over millions of lives.

This book can be disturbing when you think about how these children were basically brainwashed through propaganda and exposed to the horrors of Hitler's command. While reading this book I felt very connected to the stories and the people who told them, while also learning about lesser-known facts and details about the Hitler Youth. This generation of young men and women were indoctrinated under false pretenses to follow this merciless leader during a difficult time of war. I would recommend using this book in a history or English classroom to teach about propaganda and how it still happens today in different ways. I would create a lesson to focus on the symbols in America (with either political or social intentions) and how they are used to persuade society. I would use examples from the text supported by examples of symbolism/propaganda in modern times to enhance comprehension. This book is a great tool to teach children about the intensity and realness of this time and how children much like themselves had little control over what they could and could not believe in.

Bartoletti, S. (2005). Hitler youth: Growing up in hitler's shadow. New York: Scholastic Press.

One Crazy Summer

One Crazy Summer is a youth chapter book written by award-winning author Rita Williams-Garcia. This book is about a young girl named Delphine and her two younger sisters, Vonetta and Fern who are visiting their mother in California who left them and their father seven years prior. It is set in the summer of 1968 when the Black Panthers were becoming a heavy influence on society. When the girls arrive to California, they are greeted by their mother who acts like she wants nothing to do with them, and won't even allow them in her own kitchen because of some secret meetings held there. Their mother, Cecile, sends the sisters off to a summer camp that is sponsored by the Black Panthers where the girls will end up learning many lessons of their own. Delphine looks after her two younger sisters as a motherly figure while they are on "vacation", and together they learn about their mother's past, discover new things about their own lives and take adventurous journeys of their own.

I thought this was a very good read, I enjoyed the characters and the dialogue very much! The author did a great job writing the dialogue between the three sisters, and I loved how their conversations always included the two younger girls adding in little bits of hilarity and child-like observations. I thought that the setting was very cool and enjoyed reading about this era from a child's point of view. Because this book is a work of historical fiction, I would use this book in the classroom to help integrate units on the Black Power movement of the 60's. It includes social issues and family issues, both of which are great discussion prompts. Since there is a lot of history that students can be learning from this book, I would think to use a KWL chart before, during and after reading. Students could fill out what they already know about this period of civil rights movements, and as they read they can fill in what they have learned. The lesson could extend to talk about family dynamics and how they've changed or stayed the same.

Williams-Garcia, R. (2010). One crazy summer. New York: Harper Collins Children's Books.

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream - Book Review 2

Stone, Tanya L. Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream. 2009. 133 pp. $24.99 hc. Candlewick Press. 9780763645021

Grade Level: 5th and up

Review: This book tells the quest of the “Mercury 13” women, which were the thirteen women who attempted to become apart of NASA’s astronaut program nearly twenty years before the first women were allowed in NASA. This title is a proclamation of the prejudices these women faced as they tried to challenge their own government to allow them to become astronauts in a time where only white males were able to be apart of the missions and command the shuttles, even though the women often outperformed the men in the qualification training tests. What I loved most about this book was that it gives women and girls inspiring examples of female role models in the field of science and space exploration, and the importance it places on overcoming gender roles. Even today there are many gender biases regarding women in the STEM fields, and this book aimed at young readers is a fantastic example of defying those stereotypes. This full-length text is very well-written and the author turns an elaborate political story into something that is comprehensible for children, and is accompanied by full page photographs of the heroic women and their suppressors. Although the text is long and might be intimidating at first glance, the amount of information included is enough to entice any space lover. Overall, I would highly recommend this book to readers because of its power to inspire women to overcome gender roles, especially in the field of science and astronomy.

Recommendation: Recommended

Byline: Chelsea Bland, Graduate Student, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA