Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare by Darren Shan

Shan, Darren. Cirque Du Freak: A Living Nightmare. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2000.

Summary

Two boys, Darren Shan and Steve Leopard, who are best friends, are excited when they get to visit an illegal freak show. The two are just mesmerized by the fantastic, but disturbing show. However, when they get caught up in a deadly trap Darren must soon deal with the only person who can help, except the only problem is that he is a vampire in need of an assistant.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

If you love a book that is hair raising and humorous at the same time this book is for you. Cirque Du Freak is a movie in words that will have readers wanting more, but you better love spiders in this first book. Especially since a character throughout is a huge spider named Madam Octa that does tricks that will amaze the eye. I enjoyed this quick and easy read that caught my interest to continue reading the series, and it does with most young adults. However, a little clumsy on the editing side with several mistakes, but will definitely have reluctant readers wanting more.

I recommend this thrilling book to boys and girls ages ten and up.

Reviews

Publishers Weekly: "...compelling...[T]he author mines the exploitative history of early 20th century sideshows to create an artfully macabre cirque du freak."

Booklist: “Though originally published in England, there are no off-putting Briticisms, just a rip-roaring story full of oddities, low-key horror, and occasional, unexpected poignancy.”

Witness by Karen Hesse

Hesse, Karen. Witness. New York: Scholastic, 2001.

Summary

In the year 1924, Hesse uses a series of poems written in free verse to discuss the views of eleven people. They are located in a small Vermont town, that includes a young black and Jewish girl, which the Ku Klux Klan steadily infiltrates into the community.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

Starting the book off with pictures of all eleven characters allows readers to begin to attach to each one in one way or another. Karen Hesse, Newbery Medal winner, adds a memorable voice to each one that relates to Ku Klux Klan in some way. As several members embrace the Klan like Constable Johnson and retailer Pettibone, others will see the trouble coming in. With the book written in the voice of each character, the audience will be able to gain love for some while hating others. Readers will be flipping pages to see the impact of the Klan during this time period. When reading this I could not help but feel like I was right there in the middle of this ordeal wanting to reach out to Leonora and Esther as they are slowly being harassed. In the end it is great to see a community come together and protect it's own as they run the Klan out of their town.

I would recommend this book to ages nine and up. I also think this would be an exceptional book to use in a classroom study of this time period.

Reviews

Amazon.com: “The free verse format and distinct characterizations also make Witness a perfect choice for library or classroom reader's theater productions.”

From Publishers Weekly: “The author of Out of the Dust again turns language into music in her second quietly moving novel written entirely in verse. Here, 11 narrative voices chronicle actual events occurring in a sleepy Vermont town after the arrival of the Ku Klux Klan in 1924.”

Booklist: Add this to the Holocaust curriculum, not because every racial incident means genocide, but because the book will spark discussion about how such a thing can happen even now.

Kissing Tennessee by Kathi Appelt

Appelt, Kathi. Kissing Tennessee and Other Stories from the Stardust Dance. New York: Harcourt, Inc., 2000.

Summary

At Dogwood Junior High School the cafeteria is filled with paper moons and tons of glitter ready for the eighth-grade dance. Readers will love the short stories about Mason and Carrie not having the courage to ask each other to dance to Becca locking herself in the bathroom stall after a terrible even has happened. In these moving tales Appelt will captivate her audience with these unforgettable students and their tales of the Stardust Dance.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

With the start of this book is an invitation to the Stardust Dance, and readers will be ready to hear all the details given after reading the enchanted words of…

"For this one night, this one room is no longer the Dogwood Junior High cafeteria, not at all. It's the Stardust Dance. You're invited."

Now, that the audience is intrigued with the dance we will hear about the participants. Including Tawny who hopes no one will notice her borrowed shoes. Also, Mary Sarah whose life at home is hard, but she will tie a ribbon in her hair and put on the forbidden lipstick. Readers will love to hear of the unforgettable Annie P. Peggy Lee is enchanted by the magic of her childhood beau Tennessee's kisses, bringing out the great title. Between these remarkable stories and more, readers of all ages will eat this book up, and the amazing thing is that it can be read quickly. With a wide range of story topics, there is at least one that a person can relate with in one way or another. Between tears for some and joy for others, the worst part about this book is that we do not know what happens with each of their lives after the dance, but that is point of a short story.

I would recommend this book to grades six and up, especially to our readers who are indecisive about reading.

Reviews

School Library Journal: “This collection will spark conversation in contemporary literature discussions, will quietly unsettle readers, and will elevate the quality of short-story collections.”

Amazon.com: “Kissing Tennessee, Kathi Appelt's first book for older readers, is a nice mix of frothiness and substance. Appelt humorously and accurately describes the making and breaking of the eighth-grade heart, while still tackling weighty issues like date rape, same-sex crushes, and family violence. Best of all, the entire short novel can be devoured in one study-hall period. This is a great choice for reluctant readers.”

The Agony of Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. The Agony of Alice. New York: Aladdin Paperbacks, 1985.

Summary

Alice McKinley’s mother has been dead for years and she is on her way to becoming a teenager. The only problem is that she does not know how, and her father and nineteen-year-old brother have no idea about being a teenage girl. When the family moves and Alice starts the sixth grade she hopes to get a teacher for her new role model. The problem is she gets Mrs. Plotkins the pear-shaped teacher instead of Miss Cole the beautiful one, until she discovers it matters what is inside of a person that truly counts.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

Naylor takes her readers into a series of incidents both hilarious and emotional as Alice tries to deal with her emotions of becoming a teenager. Readers will feel her pain throughout, but laugh out loud at the new adventures that she will encounter. Audiences of all ages will be able to relate to the feelings and wants that Alice will have about growing up. Through mishaps at school to visiting her aunt and cousin, you will not be able to put this book down. It is a speedy and simple read for even your reluctant readers. At the end of this book, you will want to pick up the next one in the series to continue your adventure of Alice and her life.

I would recommend this book mainly to girls around the ages ten and up. This book would be a great suggestion to any girl living without her own mother.

Reviews

A Children’s Choice Book

School Library Journal: “The lively style exhibits a deft touch at capturing the essence of an endearing heroine growing up without a mother.”

Booklist: “A wonderfully funny and touching story.”

The Vanishings (Left Behind: The Kids) By Jenkins and Lahaye

Jenkins, Jerry B., and Tim LaHaye. The Vanishings (Left Behind: The Kids). Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1998.

Summary

Around the globe, in one shocking moment millions disappear. For those that are left behind will face the uncertain future, and especially for four kids who are now alone. As they search for answers they are told the truth behind the disappearances. The question they must ask themselves is that are they ready to believe? Judd, Vicki, Lionel, and Ryan must band together to find faith and fight the evil forces that threaten their lives.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

The Vanishings is just the first one of a series of books that will teach children about the Rapture and Tribulation, and is based on the adult series Left Behind. Jenkins and LaHaye do a fantastic job of explaining the Rapture through the eyes of four children who do not believe. They write the book in a very realistic fashion, and will have readers questioning their beliefs at the end. After reading the first book you can not help, but want to continue to read further into the series. It is an easy read for students, and the four children’s characters are relatable.

I would recommend this book for children ten and up who are interested in learning about the Rapture and Tribulation.

Reviews

This series is based on the best-selling book Left Behind.

Jenkins writings has reached the New York Times best-seller list three times.

LaHaye is the author of numerous international best-sellers with sales over eleven million copies.

The Great Fire by Jim Murphy

Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1995.

Summary

Jim Murphy gives a vivid firsthand description by people who lived through the 1871 Chicago fire. This fire is known for the disaster of wiping out a wide part of Chicago. Murphy will also look at the origins of the fire, errors of judgments, and the problems with organization amongst the city’s firefighters, plus efforts to rebuild.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

Murphy does a fascinating job of laying out the facts concerning one of the biggest disasters to take place in American history. He includes accounts of witnesses that were involved in the fire, as well as historic photos, engravings, and newspaper clippings on almost every page. Readers will be fascinated with the stories and pictures included that will help the audience get a true understanding of what took place during that time. As the fire continues to spread through Chicago, Murphy includes a drawing that shows how the city continues to burn giving a detailed vision in a readers mind. The story is fact-based and suspenseful that will keep you turning the page, but gaining an educational insight as well.

I would recommend The Great Fire for those ten years old and up. This is a good resource to have in a classroom setting with the inclusion of lithographs, historical photographs, and a bibliography, especially with the drought and continuous problems of forest fires.

Reviews

Newbery Medal/Honor

Notable/Best Books (A.L.A)

The Horn Book: "Vivid firsthand descriptions by persons who lived through the 1871 Chicago fire are woven into a gripping account... Absorbing and riveting reading."

School Library Journal: “The diversity and multitude of personal accounts is presented in both text and voice so that there is no sense of frustration in the changes of viewpoints, but rather a better appreciation of the event as a dynamic experience from which we still have much to learn.”

Hole in My Life by Jack Gantos

Gantos, Jack. Hole in my Life. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2002.

Summary

Jack Gantos who was trying to become a writer was desperate for money to help with college and looking for a way out of a dead-end job. So in the summer of 1971, he thoughtlessly agreed to help sail a yacht that was loaded with hashish for ten thousand dollars. They traveled from Virgin Islands to New York City, where he and his partner eventually got caught by federal agent at the Chelsea Hotel. Gantos was sentenced six years in prison at the age of twenty. Gantos discusses his last year of high school, life as a smuggler, and his time in prison that pushed him to become a writer.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

This book has won several awards including Michael L. Printz Honor book that Gantos well deserves. The writing used will captivate readers making them want to know what happened next and how he survived. The book does slow down some when he discusses his days on the yacht, but with the urge to know what happens with his life readers will continue to read. The story is one of sacrifice, bad decisions, and Gantos turning everything around to become a success writer still to this day.

However, I was shocked with the continuous use of marijuana, and the details spoken about some scenes in prison. My shock was derived from this book being a young adult book, and I could not imagine what a twelve year old would think of these details. I do understand that this is a biography of Gantos’ life, but with feelings that this should be a book for older readers.

Many would recommend this book for ages twelve or thirteen and up, but I would have to disagree. I would definitely say at least a mature sixteen and higher to read this. As Gantos tells of his experience with scenes from his first night in prison to helping a fellow prisoner with a light bulb placed within him I feel this is not appropriate for a twelve year old.

Reviews

A Michael L. Printz Honor Book

A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book

A Booklist Editor’s Choice

Amazon.com: “Using short, meaty sentences, Gantos manages to write in a way that dismisses the dubious "romance" of prison, drugs, and "life on the edge" without ever sounding didactic or heavy-handed.”

Publishers Weekly: “The book requires a commitment, as it rambles a bit at times, but it provides much food for thought and fuel for debate.”

Freedom Riders by Ann Bausum

Bausum, Ann. Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2006.

Summary

Freedom Riders tells the experience of the segregated time period through the childhoods of John Lewis and James Zwerg that will help readers have a clear understanding of our past. As these men journey on a bus with the common interest in justice, you will see a first hand perspective of these freedom rides. The two young men were among the group who continued the freedom rides after the violence in Alabama which left the original bus in flames and riders injured. Both, Lewis and Zwerg kept on even knowing that their own fate could be death. Readers will see an in-death tale of how they shared the freedom ride through the Deep South that changed our nation’s history.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

As Bausum retells the experiences of Zwerg and Lewis, readers will be captivated with these two guys and their lives together and apart. Using a narrative style, Bausum presents the material in a manner that will keep a reader absorbed in the heart-stopping story as you travel through their tale. Bausum includes vivid black and white pictures on every page, including a full page picture to start each seven chapters. Captions are included by the pictures giving details that are engaging and clear. When readers turn the page it is hard to determine if you want to finish your sentence or just look at the pictures and read the captions first. The book could easily be used as a skim through, just looking at the pictures and reading the captions provided.

I would recommend this book to readers ten and up. This would also be a good recommendation to those classrooms studying about this or adults who have interest in the Freedom Riders.

Reviews

Booklist: “In another excellent work of nonfiction, the author of the acclaimed With Courage and Cloth (2004), covers a civil rights topic less frequently addressed than Brown v. Board of Education or the 1963 March on Washington”

School Library Journal: “The incredible courage and determination of young people, black, white, male and female, who risked great personal danger and even death as they participated in the freedom rides during the Civil Rights Movement are the focus of this remarkable book.”

Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth

Muth, Jon J. Zen Shorts. New York: Scholastic Press, 2005.

Summary

Addie, Karl, and Michael meet a giant panda who moves into the neighborhood that happens to tell great stories. Stillwater, the bear tells of a poor man who gives gifts to a robber, a farmer who knows that luck can be neither judged nor predicted, and of a monk who carries the weight of a burden long past. Muth uses bright ink colors to add to this delightful tale.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

When I finished reading this book, I felt I received a bonus of four books in one. Jon Muth takes a tale of a panda named Stillwater and then includes three more stories within that are told by him. As Stillwater shares to Addie, Karl, and Michael he links the conversation between each of them with the story topic making an easy shift between stories. He also does a fascinating job with the colors throughout using a different color tone for each story, so to help readers not become confused. Readers and listeners will be enthralled with the stories as well as the interesting use of colors created in this book. One can not help, but fall in love with the bear outside.

I would recommend this book for children in kindergarten through the fourth grade.

Reviews

Caldecott Medal/Honor 01/23/06

Notable/Best Books (A.L.A.) 01/01/06

School Library Journal: “Appealing enough for a group read-aloud, but also begging to be shared and discussed by caregiver and child, Zen Shorts is a notable achievement.”

Library Media Connection: “As well as being read for enjoyment, the stories in this book can be read and discussed several times, forming a basis for discussions about character building and decision making."

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer

Meyer, Stephenie. Eclipse. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2007.

Summary

In this third book of the Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer does an incredible job with the riveting love saga. Bella must make the hard decision of who her true love is Edward, the vampire or Jacob, the werewolf. At the same time Seattle is being destroyed by mysterious killings, and a spiteful vampire is to still out to get her. Now, Edward and Jacob will have to team up together to help Bella survive, plus she will have to decide between the two. To make matters worse, graduation is near and the question is whether to stay a human or become a vampire.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

Stephenie Meyer’s takes both Twilight and New Moon and combines the two together to create a great master piece with Eclipse. As Bella can’t live without Edward, but struggles with her friendship and possible love for Jacob readers will be mesmerized with this third book. As you continue to turn the page the tension created will just keep you wanting more especially when Jacob, Bella, and Edward are together on the mountain waiting for the big fight. Depending on if you are an Edward or Jacob fan the scene with Jacob kissing Bella will have you mad as can be or jumping for joy. Meyer's created a book for readers that have people talking all over and age isn't even an issue. With many conflicts created throughout, Meyer’s will have people waiting in line for the fourth book to see how she continues on this great saga, including myself.

I would highly recommend this book to at least 7th graders and up, plus some mature 6th graders. I would also suggest this book to adults who love to read.

Reviews

Kirkus Review: “Fans of Bella's angst-drenched love triangle will gobble this entry up, and the open-ended conclusion paves the way for Jake's story to come.”

School Library Journal: “Meyer knows what her fans want: thrills, chills, and a lot of romance, and she delivers on all counts.”