Betsy Ross By Peter and Connie Roop

I bought this book on a trip to Philadelphia last summer but never got around to reading it. I toured her tiny little house while on the trip and saw the recreated things she surrounded herself with. I tell you these because I am not a fan of informational books that do not directly relate to information I am actively seeking. I taught trade books as a 5th grade teacher and had to work very hard to make them interesting to students. The fact that I visited the home Betsy Ross made the reading experience a bit more personal.
As adolescent informational books go this one was pretty good. The print is large with adequate space between words. There are several illustrations that help with visualization. Many of the pictures are of Betsy Ross but I learned from reading the book that no photographs were ever taken of her so all pictures are based on written descriptions of what she looked like.
Another interesting feature of this book is that it does not just go into every last detail about how she made the flag but it also tells her about other aspects of her life. It begins by telling us why she is a historical figure and then begins telling of her life from birth.
One of the most interesting things I learned about Betsy was that her father made her take an apprenticeship in sewing so that if she were ever widowed she could take care of herself. Sadly her parents died many years later of Yellow Fever. I also did not know that she was married three times and widowed two times and basically raised two young daughters alone. What an inspiration.

Joyful Noise By Paul Fleischman

Poems for multiple voices remind me of dark coffee house scenes in movies where artsy folks are resighting very insightful deep poems in the smokey haze. I think that makes me seem very old. I actually struggle to teach poetry because I am not a very poetic person. I enjoy reading poetry but can not create any thing of value. All of that personal information was to get to the point that I need good examples of poetry to support the teaching process.
I really enjoyed Joyful Noise. Insects are a great way to engage children The language used is beautiful as well as enriching. I learned more about insects while reading this book than I did in elementary school. Who knew Whirligig Beetles actually turn around and around. The vocabulary was so challenging and intriguing. I loved the words serpentine, tortuous, twisty, and turny. The illustrations are fabulous. I love that they are in black and white. It gives cute fun poems a touch of maturity.
The Cicadas was one of my favorite selections. The featured critters with their great big eyes won my heart. They hum and sing and buzz. How great is that?
This book is a wonderful opportunity for peoples of all ages to have fun with poetry.

Bull Run by Paul Fleischman

It took me a really long time to read this book. I like some historical books but this one did not start off great for me. As I got further along I began to really take an interest in the character Dietrich Herz. I really thought he had died when everything went black for him. Other characters were far less interesting to me.
Gideon Adams intrigued me. I thought it must be very difficult for him to conceal his identity to his comrads. I wonder how the students and their parents will handle the fact that he signs a letter "Your Wood Headed Jackass"?
I liked how the author separated the characters into North vs South on the last page of the book.
This is a wonderful book readers theater and I would bet the students would absolute love the gore and violence if they had a general idea about the battle of Bull Run prior to reading it. This would be a great pick for boys.

Begging For Change By Sharon Flake

Begging For Change is the sequel to Money Hungry, another novel I recently posted. This particular book takes us a little deeper into Raspberry's troubled life. Forced to continue to live in the projects, Raspberry's mother is attacked by a thug neighbor girl called Shikera. When Shikera is arressted for assault her friends band together to make life miserable for Raspberry adn her mother. Raspberry is also forced to consider life on her own without her mother to look after her.
Raspberry's father, a homeless drug addict, comes around multiple times and steals money from her. Each time she is deeply wounded by his betrayel.
As you would expect her mother heals and things end up working out. But is not the predictable happy endings that draw me to Flakes books. It is the insight I gain from getting this private glimpse into the lives of Raspberry and her extended family.
Flake allows me to see into a culture to learn that there is more than meets the eye. There are bad scarey people that live in the projects. There are drug addicts and thieves. There is also a strong community spirit when it comes to helping people out and looking out for the people you care about. There are people willing to go to bat for you. Friends who allow you to be yourself. I learn so much each time I read a Sharon FLake novel. Most importantly I learn to look a bit closer. I used to always say that color didn't matter to me. But it should matter in positive way. I should take time to get to know other cultures and assume we are all alike.
I look forward to reading more works from Sharon FLake.

The Westing Game By Ellen Raskin Newberry Award

Overall I would give this book two thumbs up! The beginning was intriguing and I was hooked right away to piece together the clues to discover the connection between the heirs and to identify the murderer. The last five or so chapters were also great as they pieced together the lives of the heirs. It was interesting to discover how they ultimately effected one another simply by participating in the Westing Game.
I had a feeling that Turtle would be a very important character but had trouble getting past her always kicking people.
Honestly, I got sort of lost in the middle. There were so many clues with so many variations and characters with multiple names and histories. I spent more time sorting through information than I normally do in informational texts.
I was left with one question: Who was the guy who died in the study of the Westing House? If Sandy was actually Westing and Westing died five years later, who was that?

The Van Gogh Cafe By Cynthia Rylant

This book surprised me. It was not a down home classic like the other books I recently read by Cynthia Rylant. I respect her writing far more now that I have seen the vast differences on her writing style. I was beginning to think that all she wrote about was the country and sad things.
The Van Gogh Cafe reminded me of a movie I once watched called The Majestic. Jim Carey was the star, of course. The Majestic was a theater that was believed to make good things happen until the owner's son did not return from war and the Majestic fell into disrepair. Many years pass and a young man comes to town and everyone believes he is the lost son. They believe it though they know it is not true. Come to find out he is a famous actor who was in an accident and has amnesia. Of course the Majestic opens back up and good things happen again. The actor even decides he will be the man they all thought he was though they knew he wasn't. Is that confusing enough?
The Van Gogh Cafe is very similar. The magic is in the cafe and wonderful things happen there. Wishes come true. People find what they are looking for. One night an actor shows up looking for a friend. My favorite line from the book was wishes come true if you believe they will. I think both stories I am speaking of are trying to tell us that we must believe in something and expect that it will happen.
Overall, I liked this book far better than any other Cynthia Rylant books. I am not sure at what age this would have made sense to me. The power of believing in something is a bit abstract for most students in the age group I have taught. Any thoughts?

Money Hungry By Sharon Flake

I had the wonderful opportunity to meet Sharon Flake at the VSRA conference in Roanoke last week. I read her book The Skin I'm In last year when one of my students was reading it and having trouble getting into it. Her mom had bought the book for hoping that it spark a love of reading. I really enjoyed the book and was eager to read more from Sharon Flake.
I selected Money Hungry because it is a part of a sequel and the summary on the back was intriguing. I am currently selecting books for a group of students for a lunch bunch reading group and I want books with sequels or other good selections that relate to encourage reluctant readers to grab another book when we complete the group.
I sat down to read Money Hungry yesterday and did not put it down until I was finished. This was another enjoyable read by Sharon Flake.
I love the way she embraces cultural and creates her characters in real life situations with real life problems. I find it interesting that Sharon has some characters speaking with AAE (African American English) and others in SAE (Standard American English). Her characters are free of stereo typical roles and yet embrace heritage and cultural. Conflicts are solved in nonviolent ways. The most interesting aspect for me personally is that her characters are very real to life and she puts them a situation that seems very real and then allows the reader to see what most people would think (as inspired by stereo types) and then lets us see inside of the character to the reality of the situation.
In this particular book, Raspberry, is seen as greedy and money hungry because her main goal everyday is to make money. She sells things at school and works hard after school always coming up with a new plan to make money. Raspberry is desperate to make and hide money. Her friends, mother, and school staff look at her in a negative way because of this never really asking why she was so focused on money. As the story progresses we see the hardships that Raspberry and her mother face while trying to make a better life for themselves and get out of the projects. Come to find out, Raspberry is so obsessed with money because she is building a nest egg for her and her mother in case of emergency. They were homeless once and Raspberry never wants to be in that position again.
Throughout the story of Raspberry and her obsession with money we get a glimpse of her life in the community, at school, and with her friends.
Sharon Flake does a great job of allowing the reader to glimpse life in the projects. There are good neighbors who look out for one another. There are friendships bonded in such a deep way that you feel their connections. There are also dangerous situations and the need to survive.
I will be reading her second book in this series today!