Quote

There is a quote in library land that goes

"If there is not something in this library that offends you then I am not doing my job."

What do you think?

Copper Sun - Historical fiction

Currently, I am reading Copper Sun by Sharon Draper, the book won this years' Coretta Scott King Award. It tells the story of fifteen year old Amari, who is kidnapped from Africa and brought to the American colonies in 1734 as a slave. It chronicles her passage over on a slave ship and her new life on an American plantation.

The book is horrifying and yet compelling, it gives the shocking realities of slave life. It is historical fiction at its best and does not sugar coat or glorify this chapter of American History.

I would like other opinions of Copper Sun and how it would fit into our curriculum.

Monster by Walter Dean Myers

Monster is a court-room based drama about a teenage boy, Steve, who is accused of being the "lookout" in a murder. Although the writing style in play format, Steve is an aspiring young filmmaker, so the format is supposed to be a screenplay for his movie, the story of his life and trial.

I really enjoyed the format of this book. I think it's a great way to introduce students to "plays". I doubt that many of our students have much experience with this genre.

I also liked that there was a balance between empathy and disgust for the main character. The end of the book leaves a lot for discussion about his innocence/guilt.

Fooled You

This book talks about fakes and hoaxes throughout the years. It's very kid friendly and goes through each hoax in an exploratory way. It's a quick read so kids would like it. There are illustrations that make the book fun.
It would be neat to have a group of students reading this book and Tales of the Cryptids. They could preselect a certain hoax and both read about it in different books. Next they could have a discussion about what they each found and decide what they thing-- hoax or real. A group of students might also read a few of these books and have a debate about a particular animal-- creature. Is that creature real or not?!

Tales of the Cryptids

The bottom line for this book is that there is still so much uncertainty that cryptids exist. There is the question that dinosaurs may have evolved along a different path forming things like Big foot etc. Then there are the snakes that go from 20' to 195' long andd crow like roosters. (I'm sure my dog would love one of these!) In South America there is something htat smells like garlic and rotting flesh that is of a questionable nature.
All in all, there are more questions than answers in this book. Many of the dreatures are simply a case of mistaken identity.
Students would enjoy this if they had an inquisitive mind. Reading it from cover to cover would be too much to ask of anyone!
Sally Capurso