The Bar Code Tattoo- futuristic genetics

This book is by Suzanne Weyn and I enjoyed looking at the science connections to genetics in it. It describes a future society in the United States that requires everyone to have a bar code tattooed on their inner wrist. Kayla, a high school junior, and some friends decide to refuse to get the tattoo and eventually figure out that it is a code for their DNA and genes. Therefore, the government can refuse services to people who may be doomed to cancer or another disease, and not even know it. It gets a little weird at the end, but also kept me interested.
I liked the piece that connected it to science and how sometimes the consequences of having knowledge, if used incorrectly, can be very scary. One of the best moments for me was when my students and I were having a discussion about genetics and I mentioned I was reading Bar Code Tattoo. One of my students who is difficult to connect with lit up as she made the connection to the book, what we were discussing, and me since she had read it too! That is always a neat thing.

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

Nag tactics kids use --from Chew on This

I guess I hadn't realized that there were actual "nag" tactics that kids use--and more importantly that adults have studied this and use it for marketing kids.

Throughout the book "Chew on this", I guess I was surprised to find out that manipulation of our youth by the fast food industry. Had I stopped to think about it, sure, I guess it makes sense, but like with so much of our advertising culture, many of us just take for granted and accept what images/ideas we are being fed. Reading "Chew on this", not only disgusted me about what we are feeding our kids and ourselves, but disheartened me due to the commercial aspect of our society.


I copied a few passages that I wanted to remember from the book as a comment.

Newbery controversy

The Higher Power of Lucky not only won the Newbery award but is the center of controversy due to the use of the word scrotum. School librarians around the country are taking the books off the shelf.

The link will bring you to an NPR article about the controversy.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7484149

What are your thoughts?

code talkers

How would you align Code Talkers to the curriculum?

Blue

How do you think Blue can be aligned to the curriculum?

The Eyes of the Emperor

How do you think the book The Eyes of the Emperor could be aligned to curriculum?

Homefront

How do you think the book, Homefront can be aligned with curriculum?

Gender specific titles?

Often I hear, "that is a a girl book," or "that is a boy book." Do you think books are gender specific? If so, what are some characterisitics of girl and boy books? Do you think giving them such a classification would inhibit students from reading a specific title?