Kayley De Rovira's picture book reviews

Kayley De Rovira picture book reviews 1

1. Butterworth, Chris. Sea Horse: The Shyest Fish in the Sea. (2006). Massachusetts: Candlewick Press.

            Sea Horse is a story about sea horses, specifically the Barbour’s sea horse. In this book students learn many things about sea horses; camouflage, the way they look, food, mating rituals, birthing, swimming, and growth and development.

            This book is very helpful to young students wanting to learn more about sea horses, especially because the bottom of most of the pages gives extra information like the scientific name of sea horses. The pictures are interesting and informative; showing how the sea horse camouflages and changes color for protection and mating, how the sea horse’s eggs grow into baby sea horses, and how they use their tail to swim and hold onto coral. As a teacher you can read the book aloud as part of a lesson on sea horses or in a unit plan about sea animals.

2. Coles, Robert. (1995). The Story of Ruby Bridges. Scholastic Inc.

            The Story of Ruby Bridges is an inspirational story of the first black child to go to school in New Orleans in 1960. Through mobs of white men and women shouting for inequality, Ruby walked to an all-white school as the only student, praying for all of those who hated her. Eventually the mobs died down and the white students went back to school with Ruby, showing that faith and determination prevails.

            I read this book when it first came out, and quickly fell in love with Ruby Bridge’s story. Ruby struggles with discrimination, but sticks to her schoolwork and her faith in God to help her through it. This is a great introductory book for a lesson on racism and discrimination in America.

3. McGrath, B. B. (ed.). (2006). The Storm: Students of Biloxi, Mississippi Remember Hurricane Katrina. Watertown, Mass: Charlesbridge Pub Inc.

            Through The Storm, students, teachers, and faculty of Biloxi share their experiences of Hurricane Katrina. They express their grief, anger, acceptance, and thankfulness through stories and illustrations that McGrath compiled.

This book would be beneficial for students of any age, as the children in the book are from grades 1-11. For those not living in an area affected by Hurricane Katrina this book provides an insight into the lives of the victims. One teacher said, “What was once a faceless storm all of a sudden became personal” (16). This allows students who didn’t feel the storm was personal to see it from different perspectives. At the end of the book, some students and faculty express their thanks to everyone around the world that helped the Biloxi community restore it’s homes and schools. This book provides hope to victims of natural disasters while showing how important it is to help out others in a time of crisis.

4. Mortenson, Greg, & Roth, S. L. (2009). Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea. New York, NY: Dial Books for Young Readers.

            Listen to the Wind is the story of Greg Mortenson’s first building project in Korphe, Pakistan. Mortenson ended up cold, sick, and hungry in Korphe, Pakistan on his way to climb the mountains. In order to repay the village for it’s kindness he came back a year later to build a school; first creating a bridge to carry supplies across, and then building the school with the help of men, women, and children of Korphe.

            The pictures in the book are collages, created by Susan Roth, which moves the story along. They show the interactions between the villagers and Mortenson through the use of various textiles. A teacher can use this book to show the differences between our cultures.  An open discussion about how there are many people who are less fortunate can help the students understand the world better. Community and helping others are themes that can be discussed further as well.

5. Penn, Audrey. (2004).  A Pocket Full of Kisses. Indiana: Tanglewood Press.

            A Pocket Full of Kisses is a story about the reassurance and love a mother Raccoon gives her son after he becomes jealous of his new baby brother. Chester Raccoon becomes very sad when his mother gives his brother a Kissing Hand, his Kissing Hand, but she explains to him that his brother isn’t taking over his territory, and that her love and kisses will never run out for Chester and his brother.

            This book is a great way for students to learn about the feelings that come with a new addition to the family. Chester feels hurt when his mother gives his brother a Kissing Hand, a kiss the mother places on the palm of his hand, afraid that if she gives the baby a Kissing Hand her kisses will run out. The mother Raccoon explains that every night the sun’s rays touch all the stars, and that no matter how many stars are in the sky the sun won’t stop reaching out it’s light to each and every one of them. She explains that when someone loves you their kisses are always there, like the sun’s rays, and that she will never run out. This will help students understand unconditional love.

Iggie's House Book Review By: Taylor F

CITATION


Blume, Judy, Iggie’s House, (New York: Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 1970).

INTRODUCTION

As a kid, I never read any Judy Blume books, but my mother had always suggested that I read them, as they were popular books when she was a middle school student and a teenager. Judy Blume is an American author who has written numerous books that have gained world-wide recognition and have generated revenues in excess of $80 million. Most of Judy Blume’s books were written in the 1970s and they often deal with controversial topics such as divorce, bullying, religion, teen sex, and menstruation. Many of Blume’s books have been met with censorship in school libraries.

Iggie’s House focuses on racism. It is a book written for mainly for middle-school children or older elementary aged children, and mainly for children aged nine to twelve. The book was written in the late 1960s and published in 1970. It was written during a tumultuous time in the country. It was a time when there were multiple race riots in the United States, when schools were desegregating and when Martin Luther King Junior had been the victim of a horrific assassination.

The book deals with racism through the eyes of its main character, Winnie Barringer, as she works to befriend a black family who has moved onto her street in a white suburban neighborhood.

The book jacket pictures a girl, presumed to be eleven years old, with dirty blond hair and blue eyes, positioned between two similar aged black boys.

PLOT SUMMARY

The book deals with an eleven year old girl who is excited when a black family moves into their suburban white neighborhood. The book deals with a range of emotions and situations that develop as a result of the family’s move into the neighborhood.

CRITICAL THINKING

RACISM

First and foremost, the book presents the topic of racism. The book does a wonderful job of displaying both racist and race based feelings from multiple perspectives. It shows a girl, Winnie, who is enamored with the fact that the Garber family is black. It shows a white suburban housewife who has banned her child from playing with “colored” children and whose feelings lead her to outwardly expressing her feelings in efforts to push the Garber family out of the neighborhood. It shows the how Winnies parents, Mr. and Mrs. Barringer, work through their own personal feelings.

The book also shows how the Garbers dealt with the racism. It explained how Mrs. Garber was devastated and up crying all night and how she ultimately wanted to pack up and move. It showed Mr. Garber, who decided to stay put, as he worked hard for the promotion that had brought the Garber family to this new city. Most importantly, it showed how the three Garber children dealt with race. Herbie, the middle child, who was just starting the fifth grade was the most out-spoken about his feelings. Herbie was very vocal with his negative thoughts towards Mrs. Lanthorn and wished that he could outwardly hurt her, as she had hurt him. Moreover, Herbie was often very cynical with towards Winnie, especially when Winnie had difficulty understanding their feelings, even though Winnie’s main objectives and actions were positive.

PERSONAL CHARACTER AND INDIVIDUAL VALUES

Another major theme in the book is how important character and personal value systems are to humanity. The book demonstrated a person with strong personal character and individual values within the main character, Winnie. Winnie’s dealt with a series of situations where displayed her willingness to be accepting, her courage, her confidence, and mostly importantly, her determination. Her strong values helped her work through a series of events during a one week time span that she’d never experienced before.

The two main male father figures in the book both had minimal roles, but also provided us with a look into how their own personal values helped them make the right decision for their families. In Mr. Barringer’s case, it was his personal determination and independence that lead him to redirect Mrs. Lanthorn when she tried to push the Barrigners to leave the neighborhood. It was these same values that were the foundation for him also standing up to Mrs. Lanthorn when she came to the Barringers in efforts to get Winnie in trouble for circulating a race based questionnaire.

Again, although Mr. Garber’s role was limited it the book, it was her perseverance and hard working principals that provided him with the foundation to keep his family put, although his wife was having a difficult time dealing with the unwelcoming communications that she had received from some of the neighbors.

Mrs. Lanthorn provided us with a source of a value system that should be questioned. Mrs. Lanthorn was a woman who lacked in moral value and demonstrated a series of negative traits, including cowardice, inconsiderateness, thoughtless. She was a woman void of compassion and was very close-minded and hurtful.

DIVERSITY AND FRIENDSHIP

We all know that diversity helps us to understand that individuals are unique creatures and that we should all be recognized for our individual differences. The exploration of our differences, especially as it relates to race, can create both negative and positive outcomes. This book provides both negative and positive elements. By focusing to the positive, and understanding that we are all different, we are able to begin to embrace some of the diverse elements which have traditionally kept us apart.

Winnie was excited to have a black family on the street. She was drawn to the unique and unknown and her desire to become friends with the Garber children lead her to make new friends. A turning point for Winnie was when she noticed that the Garber children ate the same type of peanut butter as her. Shortly thereafter, she realized that same type of parental structure and communication obstacles that existed in the Barringer family also existed in the Garber family. As Winnie began to indentify commonalities between the children and herself, the initial excitement about having new black friends evolved just into an excitement of having new friends period.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I loved reading this book. It kept me engaged and once I started to read it, I didn’t want to put it down. There were numerous elements to the story line that I could personally relate to. I am amazed that over forty years since the book was written, that some of the major themes of the book are still pertinent in today’s world. It helps me to understand how controversial this book must have been when it was written and first published.

I believe that this would be a wonderful book for children to read today. It was extremely well written and deals with multiple topics that are important for children to understand. I believe that although we have made great progress in our country in regards to race based issues, that there is still much work to be done. I believe that if children can understand that diversity is an important and essential element of our society, that they’ll be better equipped to deal with the various situations that they’ll be experience during their life time and that this book can help to reinforce a positive personal value system.

Anthony Perez - Book Review #2 - Holes

CITATION

Sachar, L. (1998). Holes. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,.

            

INTRO

         When it comes to young adult books one book stands out from my childhood as a classic, that book is “Holes” By Lois Sachar. “Holes” is one of the books that I actually remember reading in my 6t^h grade reading class. I thought it was a very interesting story that kept me reading the book. I believe my 4^th grade year is when reading books started to get more of a chore, so I am happy that I actually had the chance to enjoy this book and not just write it off as an assignment. This is why I have chosen to share it as a review for my 2^nd book review this quarter!

SUMMARY
           The book “Holes” follows the story of a young boy name Stanley Yelnats IV, a young boy who’s family is cursed with bad luck, and his adventure at Camp Green Lake, a camp for boys who have committed a crime or are in trouble. Stanley is sent to the camp because he is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of very expensive shoes from a charity auction. At the camp he meets many of the other characters in the book and they are forced to dig holes as a way to build character, but secretly the warden has the boys digging to find a buried treasure!  In the end the boys do find the treasure and it turns out that it actually belonged to Stanley’s ancestor, so it rightfully belongs to his family, which is a huge help.

CRITICAL THINKING

            One of the best things about using this book in a classroom is that there is a movie adaptation. One of the things that I would do in my classroom is to have the students first read the book version of the story. Then I would show the movie in the classroom. I would ask the children to explain which version of the story that they enjoyed the most and why. I would also ask them to list noticeable differences between the movie and the book.  I believe this is a good book to movie adaptation but there were still differences and I would like my students to be able to notice the differences and express if they thought they helped or hurt the story.

            When I remember reading the book, way before the movie had actually came out and even as a reread it, my mind always created an image of what Camp Green Lake looks like in my mind. As a creative piece I would ask that my students create what their view of Camp Green Lake. If I were tying the book in with the movie, I would ask that the students complete this assignment before we actually watched the movie so their imaginations weren’t hindered.  I think that by letting the students use there imaginations and create there own version of Camp Green Lake they will be able to share how they connected with the descriptions in the book.

            Another thing that kept me reading the book as a child, and even today, was my connection to Stanley. I feel like I connected to him because I could actually put myself in his shoes and see myself in his position and it made me a little scared. It made me think about how anyone could be wrongly accused for a crime and be sent away for something they didn’t do. As a child I didn’t really know the reality of this, but now, as an adult I do know that people are wrongly accused and sent to prison. As a classroom adaptation to this I would have my students try to find a character in the book that they most identified with and write a journal entry as that person. The journal entry would be about a day at Camp Green Lake in the eyes of the character chosen. I believe this would be another way for students to express how they personally connected with the story. This is an assignment that I would probably assign AFTER watching the movie, because students might be able to better identify with a character after seeing them on the screen.

            At the end of the book the author leaves us with a pretty good picture of how everything went. I think that the reader is left with the ability to use their imagination at this point in the story as well. I think another great activity for students would be to use their inference skills to write about what might happen next in Stanley and Zero’s lives. Using what they learned from the story and mixing it with their imaginations giving a whole new start to a 2^nd installment of “Holes”.

            All in all I believe that “Holes” is a very good book and something that I will definitely share in my classroom one day! If you have read it as a young child and have seen the movie I definitely suggest that you read the book again. It is one of the few books from my middle school years that I actually enjoyed that I was forced to read. I think that it having a touch of “realistic fiction” really made me enjoy it more. It was different then the other books that we were forced to read in class. The spotted lizards, the buried treasures, and the crazy nicknames definitely made the story more interesting and it made me want to continue reading the book until I was finished! It is one of the few books that I actually “read ahead” on.

Ali Boone Midterm

Lesson Plans Alice Boone

Day 1-5: October 25- October 29th

Day #1 = October 25 (Monday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling  instruction 8:15-8:55  (40 minutes) Objectives:  Identifying and understanding capital and proper nouns Materials: New working with words list Procedure: Introduce new words for the week. Go over the rules for plural nouns. Practice. Spelling plural nouns on dry-erase boards. Give out baseball teams to each student so they can begin to research the teams to use in a paper topic.

Preview Station for 5 day lesson 8:55-9:05 or 1:25-1:35 (10 minutes)

Station 9:05-9:45 (40 minutes)

2:45-2:55 Clean up and pack up

2:55-3:00 Listen to Announcements

3:00 Dismissal 

Day #2 = October 26 (Tuesday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling  instruction 8:15-8:30 (15 minutes) Objectives: Use correct capitals and plural nouns Materials: DOL #15 Procedure: Students will do DOL in composition notebook. They will correct the sentence. They will raise their hand when finished to be checked. Afterwards, we will review the concepts plural nouns.

Writing Workshop 8:30-9:10 (40 minutes) Objective: The student will be able to select, create and use graphic organizers to interpret textual information. We will be choosing from baseball looking graphic organizers to go on with our novel Skinnybones Materials: graphic organizer Procedure: I will introduce graphic organizers. Students will then work on graphic organizer.

Station 9:10-9:45 or 1:40-2:15(35 minutes)

Lesson Plans 

Day 1-5: October 25-29, 2010

Day #3 = October 27 (Wednesday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling  instruction 8:15-8:30 (15 minutes) Objectives: Use correct capitals and plural nouns Materials: DOL #15 Procedure: Students will do DOL in  composition notebook. They will correct the sentence. They will raise their hand when finished to be checked. Afterwards, we will review the concepts plural nouns

Guided Reading 8:30-9:10 (40 minutes) Objective: Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade level appropriate print texts. Materials: Chapter 1 and 2 in Skinnybones Procedure: Introduce background history and vocab for Skinnybones. Then read aloud chapter one as a whole group Skinnybones. Ask comprehension questions as we read. HW: No HW

Station 9:10-9:45 (35 minutes)

Lesson Plans 

Day 1-5: October 25-29 2010

Day #4 = October 28 (Thursday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling  instruction 8:15-8:30 (15 minutes) Objectives: Identify and understand uses of words Materials: Spelling Review Procedure: We will play a review game over spelling words

Writing Workshop 8:30-9:10 (40 minutes) Objective: The student will be able to select, create and use graphic organizers to interpret textual information. The student will be able to organize writing, beginning with an introduction, body and a resolution of plot, followed by a closing statement or a summary of important ideas and details. Direct the graphic organizer around specific team that they were given at the beginning of the week, by tracing the locations of the places where the team has visited in the past month.  Materials: graphic organizer/ fact finder/notebook paper Procedure: Students will start writing their baseball themed paper, I will work with them if they need help.

Station 9:10-9:45 (35 minutes)

Lesson Plans 

Day 1-5: October 25-29, 2010

Day #5 = October 29 (Friday)

Reading/Grammar/ Spelling  instruction 8:15-8:30 (15 minutes) Objectives:  Use correct capitals and plural nouns Materials: DOL quiz Procedure: Students will take their DOL quiz.

Guided Reading 8:30-9:10 (40 minutes) Objective: Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade level appropriate print texts. Materials: Skinnbones, chapters 3 and 4 Procedure: Students will partner read aloud SkinnyBones and then do the 10 questions that are on the smartboard on notebook paper.

Station 9:10-9:45 (35 minutes)

Stations for the days of Day 1-5: October 25-29, 2010

Stations	Objectives	Materials	Procedures
Creative Writing	Use correct capitals and plural nouns The student will be able to organize writing, beginning with an introduction, body and a resolution of plot, followed by a closing statement or a summary of important ideas and details.	5 Burdich pages/notebook paper	Students will pick one Burdich picture and write a descriptive story about the story.
Word Wall	Identify and understand uses of words	List of  spelling words/notebook paper	Students will write riddles for each spelling word. Then exchange riddles and figure out partners riddle.
Computers	Use correct capitals and plural nouns	Hartcourt.school.com games noun duck	Students will get onto Edline and go to this game.
Grammar/Cursive	Write legibly in cursive, spacing letters correctly Use correct capitals and plural nouns	Noun/cursive packet	Students will work on cursive and plural noun packet.
Guided Reading	Answer literal, inferential and evaluative questions to demonstrate comprehension of grade level appropriate print texts.	Skinnybones/ questions/ answer sheet	Teacher and students will read story. Then students will answer questions over story with teacher assistants.
Listening/Pair Reading	Establish and adjust purpose for reading, including to find out, to understand, to interpret, to enjoy and to solve problems	CD/ Skinnybones/poster paper	Students will listen to chapters 1-4 of Skinnybones. Afterwards, they will take a piece of poster paper and draw and write about what they think will happen next.

Maggie Roby: Review of ENCHANTED GLASS by Diana Wynne Jones

When Andrew Hope’s grandfather passes away, leaving Andrew the master of Melstone House, an enchanted field-of-care, and several cranky servants, all Andrew wants is some peace, quiet, and a computer so that he can begin writing his book. What he gets instead are vast quantities of improbably large vegetables, a blunt and beautiful secretary who can predict the future based on the day’s racing results, and a twelve-year-old boy named Aidan Cain, whose late grandmother instructed him to seek out Andrew’s grandfather in times of danger. Times certainly have become dangerous as the insidious Mr. Brown begins to encroach upon Andrew’s field-of-care, bent on destroying Aidan, his heir and only rival to an ancient and mystical power. Together, Andrew and Aidan must explore the boundaries of their field-of-care, learn how to harness the magic within themselves, and discover the power of certain mysterious panes of colored glass if they are to have any hope of preserving the balance of magic in the world.


In this story, there are two protagonists: thirty-year-old Andrew and twelve-year-old Aidan. The first chapter focuses exclusively on Andrew, and I was initially taken aback to find myself reading about a middle-aged academic rather than the middle school student I had been expecting. While I found his University existence and desire for independence easy to relate to on a personal level, I questioned his prominence in what is clearly a piece of young adult literature. But as I continued reading, Aidan’s arrival in Chapter Two having restored my equilibrium, it became clear that the characters of Aidan and Andrew are meant to function together. That they are meant to be juxtaposed is evidenced by the fact that the two look remarkably similar, both use their glasses to do magic, and are later revealed to be relatives. But more importantly, it is through Aidan that Andrew is able to reclaim specific memories about his childhood that he “had made himself forget…because he had decided that magic was not an adult thing to know” (204). It is only when Aidan sneaks out of the house to meet Groil that Andrew remembers that he had done the exact same thing when he was a boy staying at his grandfather’s house. While these revelations are integral to the plot (Andrew must assemble the memories of his grandfather’s magic lessons piecemeal before he is able to harness the power of the enchanted glass), they have much larger thematic significance in that they refute the notion put forth by such works as Peter Pan and The Chronicles of Narnia that one must needs “grow out” of magic. Peter Pan himself so fears this eventuality that he refuses to grow up at all, and when C.S. Lewis’ characters reach a certain age, they lose the ability to travel to Narnia. Diana Wynne Jones rejects this idea, suggesting instead that it is only the demands of society that keep us from retaining the magic of our childhood. Just as Andrew is able to remember and harness his magic by finding himself in Aidan, one need only try to see themselves in the words or actions of a child to reclaim some of the magic of childhood. And that, I think, is a beautiful idea.

One of the most interesting concepts in this novel is that most of the characters have what are called counterparts. Counterparts are magical beings who are similar in appearance to humans who live in the village. Some counterparts are similar in terms of personality, as well. For example, Groil, a giant who eats all of the prohibitively large produce, is the counterpart of Shaun, a slow but sturdy young man with a flair for fixing things. Neither Shaun nor Groil is particularly bright, and they get along wonderfully. However, Tarquin, a loyal ally, has for a counterpart the Puck, who is undeniably a villain. I find this disparity intriguing. Counterparts are not simply reflections or foils, but vague distortions of character that reveal aspects of their personalities that may not be otherwise apparent. There is no dichotomy of good and evil—the line is blurred. What does it say about Stashe, who ends up marrying Andrew, that her counterpart attempts to seduce him? Though one is good and the other bad, both share the same attraction to Andrew and are therefore more similar than Stashe would like to admit. Shaun and Groil accentuate one another. Shaun seems gentle, but is it possible that he too, like Groil, is capable of (at least metaphorically) eating people? For an assignment, I would have the students create their own magical counterparts, drawing a picture and determining which of their hidden personality traits their counterparts reveal about them.

In the novel, the character Stashe (Andrew’s eventual love interest) uses the results of horse races printed in the newspaper to predict the future. Naturally, even the most ridiculous names prove relevant to the development of the plot. I liked trying to guess how names like “Dogdays” and “Heavy Queen” were going to fit into the story, and I feel that this creative, entertaining, and humorous device lends itself to a lesson on foreshadowing—how it can be used to pique the reader’s interest and heighten the tension of the piece. In addition, the concept of fortune-telling brings with it the issue of fate. Is it inner strength that renders Andrew powerful enough to drive out Mr. Brown, or is it fate? Is man master of his own destiny? Is the name “Heavy Queen” vague enough to refer to, say, a chess match rather than an overweight counterpart disguised as a social worker? Is fate but another one of man’s inventions, twisted to the whim of his interpretation? I think that we would have quite enough material for a rather rousing class discussion. Also, a fun in-class writing assignment would be to get a set of actual racing results from a newspaper and then have the students write stories guided by the names of the selected horses, allowing them to put their new knowledge of foreshadowing to practical use.

While Enchanted Glass does not displace Howl’s Moving Castle on my list of favorite Diana Wynne Jones novels, I found this book enjoyable in the extreme. It would not be my first choice for use in the classroom, but it is certainly worth the read, particularly for those who enjoy Jones’ other work: it has the same delightfully outlandish characters, magically ridiculous circumstance, and charming wit and humor. The ending (which I refuse to divulge), particularly the final grand reveal about Aidan’s parentage, takes much of the tension and significance out of the plot, and I felt a bit cheated because the resolution seemed so effortless. This book also features the world’s fastest and most random marriage proposal, which is so abrupt that I laughed aloud when reading it. Ultimately, I quite liked this book and would recommend it to anyone seeking magic, adventure, the power of family, and, above all, a happy ending.

Jones, Diana Wynne. Enchanted Glass. New York, NY: Greenwillow, 2010. Print.

Beth Montgomery First Book Review

Harper, C.M. (2006). Fashion Kitty. New York, NY: First Scholastic Printing.

  The Kittie Family is unusual in three different ways.  First they own a pet mouse and are vegetarians.  Second the two daughters in the family KiKi and Lana get to pick out all their own clothes.  And third they know the secret identity of 'Fashion Kitty.'  Throughout the story the identity of 'Fashion Kitty" is revealed as she goes through many adventures helping those challenged in their fashion.  In the end she helps a friend who was being bullied along with helping her fashion needs.

    I choose this book because it went along with our discussion of graphic novels, the pictures and first few pages intriqued me as I thought this was going to be a book about choosing your own fashion style, and being happy with your own unique self.  In the beginning couple of pages it leads you on to believe this as Lana the youngest daughter is talked about as having her own fashion style; wearing stockings on her neck, underpants on the outside of her jeans, two skirts, and running off saying " you're not the boss of my fashion"  In the end I did not like this book and how it potrayed fashion and the characters in it, I will discuss this book by certain pages that stood out to me and made me dislike the content.

   The first thing comes in how Fashion Kitty(who is actually kiki) is described, she has a brain that can mix and match hundreds of outfits in a second.  But in the beginning of the book its states that the Kittie family is one where the two girls can wear whatever they like, not having a mother who controlled what they wear.  Who is to say that what fashion kitty can mix and match is 'fashion'.  Also if they are aloud to wear whatever they like then why should KiKi be controlling or telling other people what to wear when she turns into fashion kitty?  This made me confused on the moral of this story.

  Another thing that turned me off to this story was how the family was described as having a mouse as a pet.  That this would be compared to 'a human having a chocolate cake as a pet' where they would have a urge to eat their pet, but in fact the Kittie family were vegetarians.  The story goes into great detail about how the mouse has a special smell-proof clubhouse in the closet of Kiki's room, and any time cats would come over the mouse would run into the room and lock the door.  It also talked about how Mother Kittie sprays blue-cheese air freshener all over the house to be safe when vistors come over.  This mouse seemed to be very special to them in all they did to protect it as a pet.  I was expecting this mouse to come up as an important part of the story, but it only had an appearance in the very beginning which confused me on the importance of that pet.  I just took the importance as that the family was different then all the others.

   One of the efforts of Fashion Kitty was to help Mary Jane who was going to wear polka-dotted shorts over her pants the next day at school because, 'Priscilla Persian, the most popular kitty in school', gave her a note to say that all her friends were doing it.  I liked that Fashion Kitty was helping someone who was being bullied and tricked as a joke, but as fashion kitty helps her to go through her wardrobe and change her style for what she was going to wear the next day in order to look 'just as good' in Fashion Kitty's eyes as the most popular girl in school.  If Fashion Kitty was going with her ways of wear whatever you wanna wear, her message would be to be yourself and wear whatever makes you comfortable, not what you think the most popular girl in school wants you to wear.

  Overall I disliked the book in that I felt it was choppy and didnt follow a story line that seemed to make sense.  I did like the easiness of the reading to get those to read that may not often pick up a book, along with the fact that it is a graphic novel.  There were a few good lessons in the book including how the family handled stress by thinking about how things werent that bad and could be worse.  There is a picture saying it could be worse if: KiKi had not woken up, Lana had hit her head, Father Kittie has fallen down.  This shows good stress management skills.

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

If the message of S.E. Hinton’s 1967 novel The Outsiders is that “nothing gold can stay” than someone must have forgotten to mention that to her.  Over 40 years after its release The Outsiders still carries with it a valuable lesson for adolescents today.  The classic struggle of youthful alienation and the inevitability of change is still at the forefront of the adolescent experience to this day, and Ponyboy’s captivating narrative paints a vivid picture of two group of friends from different sides of the tracks, each struggling to find their way. 

            As the story opens up, we are introduced to the type of bullying and violence that the poor “greasers” face throughout the story at the hands of rich “socs”.  Ponyboy is walking home from the theatre when he is jumped by a group of socs, luckily he is saved by his brothers and the rest of their gang.  There are many more similar conflicts throughout the book, culminating in an all out gang fight between the greasers and the socs.  The most important conflict happens when Ponyboy and his friend Johnny, who always carried a switchblade because of a beating he received by a group of socs, were confronted in a vacant lot by a group of drunken socs.  As one of the socs was drowning Ponyboy in a fountain, Johnny pulled out his switchblade and killed him as the other socs fled.  In one night everything would change for both sides. 

            Bullying and alienation have always been and most likely always will be an integral part of the adolescent experience, whether a student is on one side or the other.  The Outsiders provides a valuable chance for students to engage in conversations about the violence and bullying they read about in the book and translate it to their own experiences.  The kids that are often the target of such violence are likely to interpret it in a different way than the kids who are often the perpetrators of these acts.  However, I don’t believe that either interpretation is more or less valuable than the other when it comes to examining their own adolescent experience. 

            Kids that are bullied in their school and even kids who simply feel alienated can look at the story Ponyboy tells and realize that they are not alone in their unfortunate circumstances.  In fact, with such dramatic displays of violence in The Outsiders, these kids may be able to put their experiences into an even better perspective.  On the other hand, kids that are often bullying others are offered the chance to see life from the perspective of the bullied, and hopefully realize that they are not so different.  This theme of adolescent alienation provides a valuable opportunity to open up a discussion about bullying and alienation in their school in a non-threatening literary environment where real problems and concerns can be expressed.

            It is also important as a teacher to make sure the students aren’t taking the story completely literally as the dynamics of these universal struggles in this day and age are probably not the same as they were for the  “greasers” and “socs”.  However, no matter the dynamics of the school there will undoubtedly be individuals who feel like an outsider in their own right.  It’s difficult to imagine any school in this country being completely homogenized to the point that similar conflicts do not exist.  Reading The Outsiders in class and discussing these themes could be an extremely valuable experience if mediated correctly. 

            The Outsiders also touches on another important theme relating to the adolescent experience, the reality that everything changes.  “Nothing gold can stay,” as Ponyboy would say.  This poem by Robert Frost seems to be the overarching theme of the text, and is played out brilliantly in the lives of the “greasers”.  Dallas Winston is the toughest of the “greasers” and is kind of an allegory for youth lost.  He’s seemed to have grown up too fast and made a lot of bad choices along the way.  Ponyboy on the other hand is still 14 and holding on to his youthful innocence as much as possible.  The incident in the vacant lot would drastically change the lives of everyone involved. 

Johnny’s guilt allowed him the courage to run into a burning church to save the lives of a few younger children and was fatally wounded in the process.  Looked at by the other “greasers” as their little brother, when Johnny finally succumbed in the hospital, it was too much for Dallas to bare.  As the police gunned him down after pulling a gun on them, Dallas death signified the idea of youthfulness lost. 

            The inevitability of change can be a tough thing for adolescents to accept, and S.E. Hinton brilliantly portrays this struggle throughout the book.  This theme provides another opportunity for a class discussion.  Students can be asked to expand on this idea by writing a short sequel to The Outsiders and explain how they think the story played out after the ending.  This gives students the opportunity to really dig in to the characters of the book by analyzing their actions throughout and creatively explaining how each character is handling his/her lives after the end of the book.

            I unfortunately never read this book during school but reading it now really gave me a chance to look back at my adolescence and think about it in a different way.   I think this book is perfect for English classes from 6^th to 9^th grade levels.  The Outsiders is definitely a book I will consider reading as a class in my classroom.  The fact that S.E. Hinton was only 15 when she began writing The Outsiders is another great aspect of the book in a classroom environment.  Studentss can use her as an inspiration and set their goals accordingly.  Perhaps one of my students will one day write a book that stays this golden 40 plus years after it’s published!

Hinton, S.E.. The Outsiders. New York: Penguin Books, 1967. Print.

Posted by: Lance Buckley