Nino Wrestles the World By: Yuyi Morales

Nino Wrestles the WorldBy: Yuyi Morales

Morales, Y. (2013). Niño wrestles the world. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

2014 Illustrator Award Winner of the Pura Belpre Award

Award Link

Note: This award is given to a latin writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth.

Summary: This is a wonderfully silly tale of a little boy who is pretending to be a luchadore (mexican wrestler).  At every page turn he encounters a different opponent from a scary mummy to an alien.  The story comes to a close as his toughest opponents wake up, his little sisters!

Activity: This story is great to use and teach about Mexican traditions.  What kid doesn't imagine being a superhero at one point or another. Luchadores are not superheroes but they let you take on a seperate identity.  For a creative and fun activity have your students create their own Luchadore mask.  Once they have created their masks help students name their Luchadore identity and explain why they would pick that name.  

Penny and Her Marble by: Kevin Henkes

Penny and Her Marble

By: Kevin Henkes

Henkes, K. (2013). Penny and her marble. New York: Greenwillow Books.

2014 Honor Book for the Theodore Seuss Geisel Award

Link to Award

Note: This award to the author and illustrator of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.

Summary: Penny and her Marble is a sweet story for young beginner readers.  Penny is busy taking her doll on a walk when she spots a shiny blue marble in her neighbors yard.  Penny picks up the marble and takes it home.  She loves the marble, but begins to worry that the marble actually belongs to her neighbor.  As the story continues Penny's worry increases and she can't eat, make cookies, and even sleep.  The next morning Penny knows what she has to do and returns to her neighbors yard and puts the marble back.  As Penny is leaving her neighbor tells her that she put the marble there so someone would find it and take it home.  Penny is relieved and glad to have the marble back.

Activity: This story is great to use when teaching students the basics of cause and effect. It also provides a fantastic lesson for the students to learn.  Using chart paper and making a diagram as you discuss with the class is one of the best ways to utilize the book.

1. Ask your students what was causing Penny so much trouble. (Taking the marble home)  Record their answer at the top of the chart paper.

2. Now ask them what happened to Penny after she took the marble. (didn't feel good, could not enjoy helping her mother bake cookies, could not eat dinner, could not sleep, had bad dreams)  Record each answer by placing it under the first response and connecting them with an arrow.

3. Now label the first response with the word cause and label each of the other responses with effect.

4. After discussion students will write their own cause and effect chart.

"The President has been Shot!" The Assassination of John F. Kennedy By: James L. Swanson

"The President has been Shot!" The Assassination of John F. Kennedy

By: James L. Swanson

Swanson, J. L. (2013). "The President has been shot": the assassination of John F. Kennedy. New York : Scholastic.

2014 Finalist for the YASLA Excellence in Nonfiction

YASLA Award Link

2014 YASLA Winner Announcement

Note: This award honors the best nonfiction book published for young adults.

Summary: James Swanson takes you back with detailed historical accuracy to the beginning of John F. Kenned's political career. You embark on a journey through the youngest president in history's election and inauguration; detailing how JFK dealt with the failed Bay of Pigs, Cuba Invasion, prevented a Russian Missile Attack, made landing on the moon possible, Nuclear test ban treaty, and his fight against communism and racial inequality.  Swanson then switches back and forth between JFK and Lee Harvey Oswald (the man who shot JFK) actions the few days before the assassination and the days following.  Swanson enlightens us with the numerous coincidences that lead to Oswald being able to carry out his assassination plan, such as Oswald taking a job at the book depository just a short time before the decision that the President would travel to Texas and follow a route that would take him past the book depository.  There is no sugar coating to the gory details and spends time connecting us to Jackie Kennedy's emotional roller-coaster that left her scared for life.  The novel is written with a sense of urgency and is depicted through Swanson's words and archival black and white photographs, diagrams, source notes, and a bibliography.

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Locomotive By: Brian Floca

Locomotive

By: Brian Floca

2014 Honor Book for the Robert F. Sibert Award

Sibert Award Link

2014 Caldecott Award Winner

Caldecott Award Link

Note: The Caldecott award is given each year to the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children. 

Summary: Locomotive begins in the year of 1869 and details a persons journey on that of a train! As you take the ride, Brian Floca makes the trip come alive by detailing the sounds, the speed, the work it takes to keep the train moving, and the strength of the train and crew.  The story is filled with alliteration and onomatopoeia that make your senses come alive. 

Illustrations: Floca creates beautiful illustrations using watercolor, ink, and acrylic.  The colors are subdued almost muted browns, tans, and earthy tones.  Floca uses a variety of views in his illustrations from up close details to vignettes of the stopping points on the journey.  What I found most exquisite were the end papers detailing exactly how a steam engine looked and the map of the train route. 

Floca, B. (2013). Locomotive. New York: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

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Parrots Over Puerto Rico

Parrots Over Puerto Rico

By: Susan Roth and Cindy Trumbore

2014 Medal Winner of the Robert F. Sibert Award

Note: The Sibert Award is given to authors and illustrators that are the most distinguished informational book published in the United States in the previous year.

Sibert Award Link

Summary: High in the treetops over Puerto Rico fly brilliant emerald parrots.  These Puerto Rican parrots have lived in Puerto Rico for millions of years.  Over many years settlers, explorers, and developers came to the island and do what they do best.... ruined habitats, captured the parrots, and simply made these majestic parrots begin to fade away.  By 1960 the Puerto Rican Parrot was almost extinct.  As we learn about Puerto Rico's history we see how scientists slowly and amazingly recovered the Puerto Rican Parrots. 

Illustrations: With a children's informational book the illustrations are a must and one of the most important elements especially if the book is used as a read aloud as this one definitely would be.  Susan Roth creates the illustrations using a fabric and paper collage method. The book is turned sideways and becomes vertical. This allows Roth to do almost a double page layout for her illustrations.  The verticalness of the book gives the illustrations depth and layers of grass, trees, and lushness.  It feels like a true rain forest canopy.  

Roth, S. L., & Trumbore, C. (2013). Parrots over Puerto Rico. New York: LEE and LOW Books Inc.

Lesson Plan Idea: 

      1. Read Parrots over Puerto Rico out loud to the class.

      2. Create a class timeline of the parrots drop in population to their increase.

      3. Discuss the illustrations and the collage technique

      4. Have students chose one animal that is on the endangered list. They will find at least 5 facts                   about that animal.

      5. Once they have their facts they will create a "Save the ?" poster for their animal.  

      6. The illustration of the animal must be done using the collage technique of paper and fabric that                Roth used in Parrots over Puerto Rico.

Sex & Violence By: Carrie Mesrobian

Sex & Violence

By: Carrie Mesrobian

2014 William C. Morris Finalist

Morris Award Link

Summary: It is always tough to be the new kid and Evan Carter is ALWAYS the new kid.  His mother is long since dead and his fathers job moves them from place to place so Evan bounces from school to school.  The one thing Evan can always count on is always having enough girls to hook up with without the worry of them or him getting too attached.  Until Evan makes the wrong choice and finds himself waking up in the hospital damaged, broken, and bleeding with a pain running through his soul as he thinks of the girl and her condition.  From here Evans non existent father takes him to his hometown, Pearl Lake.  It is here that with the help of the lake, his father, the hodge-podge of quirky friends, and himself that Evan begins to find peace and untangle the web of sex and violence. 

Mesrobian, C. (2013). Sex & violence: a novel. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group, INC.

Books with Similar Themes

  “And then their voices stopped and their souls stood still and they ceased being who they had been. Because who they were had always been determined by him.” 

― Melina Marchetta, On the Jellicoe Road       

                                      

“Mrs. Leene says I should think about people in the present tense. It forces you to take responsibility for them,” she says.” ― Adam Rapp, Under the Wolf, Under the Dog

"Imagine your father is a monster. Would that mean there are monsters inside you, too?" 

- Daniel Kraus, Scowler

"Who do you blame?" -Christa Desir, Fault Line

Charm and Strange By: Stephanie Kuehn

Charm and Strange 

By: Stephanie Kuehn

2014 Winner of the William C. Morris YA Debut Award

Note: The Morris award is given to a first time author writing for teens.

Morris Award Link

Summary: Charm and Strange details the life of a young boy, Andrew Winston Winters, or known throughout the book as either Drew or Win.  As you enter this novel you go from reading about his past to reading about the present.  You are thrown into the life of an overly aggressive and sometimes violent boy when spending time with his family to the isolated and lonely boy who hides himself from every other student at his boarding school.  Stephanie Kuehn takes you on an emotional journey through Andrew's life and the secrets he buries inside of himself and lets out only when he becomes the "wolf" predator he contains inside.  The story will keep you guessing from page to page as you weave together the pieces of brokenness that somehow are keeping Andrew from completely breaking apart.  Within the last few pages you get complete clarity of Andrews mind, emotions, and soul.  It is heartbreaking and upon its completion I could only sit in utter silence and playback the words that I had read.  I will not tell you Andrews secret, for you need to read and in a way walk through Andrews shoes, to truly feel what Stephanie Kuehn so eloquently and cryptically put together. 

Kuehn, S. (2013). Charm & strange. New York: Macmillan.

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