Curtis, C. (1995). The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963.  New York:  Delacorte Press. Kenny is the middle child of the Watsons, he has an older brother Bryon and a younger sister, Joey. They along with their parents live in Flint, Michigan and their Momma who was raised in the South does not like the cold of the area. Bryon is out of control and keeps on getting in trouble in the neighborhood, his parents are unsure on what to do. The fact that Kenny had a lazy eye, smart in school causes bullies to pick on him, and call him names. Bryon does not take up for Kenny and sometimes even caused some of the hassles Kenny has to endure. Rufus Fry is a new kid, he was poor and from the South. Bullies switched from picking on Kenny to Rufus and his brother, the boys become secret friends. Rufus is hurt by Kenny when he believes Kenny is like everyone else making fun of him being poor. Kenny tries to repair and eventually wins Rufus over. Kenny is in charge of taking care of Joey pulling her layers of coats and even helps her put her shoes on during the winter time. Bryon keeps hanging out with the wrong crowd until Kenny's parents decide he is going to stay the summer with Kenny's grandma, Grandma Sands in Alabama. Kenny's parents meticulously save their money and plan the long journey down South. Kenny's Dad tunes up their car, the Brown Bomber, to run smooth and adds a special touch of an Ultra-Glide record player. He has his own plans on how he will drive the route. Once in Alabama with straight talking Grandma Sands, Bryon is not a cocky as he used to be. Momma loves being back with her family and the Watsons settle down for a long visit. The South is different from Flint, blacks are treated poorly. The culture and the places there give Kenny some concerns and Bryon even rescues him from the whirlpool he was warned to stay away from. Joey joins the neighbors as they go to church and Kenny still tired from almost drowning decides to rest under a tree. There is a huge noise and the house is frantic because they heard a bomb went off at the church where Joey was attending. Kenny runs through the wreckage of the bombing and believes he sees Joey's frilly sock and shoe. He sees the carnage of the aftermath of the bomb and believes Joey is dead. He is in a daze and wanders back home to find Joey safe with her parents. Christopher Paul Curtis is a masterful storyteller writing from the perspective of Kenny and the struggles of being a middle child and picked on by a big brother. He shows the kindness and dynamic between Kenny's parents with a familiar feel of life in a family. Curtis intertwines the historical event of the church bombing and deaths of the little girls in 1963. All who read are sure to be touched by the incredibly written story. The author provides an epilogue explaining the environment of the 1960 in the deep South. Curtis has authored many books including the exceptional, Bud, not Buddy.

Cleary, B. (1983). Dear Mr. Henshaw. New York: Scholastic Inc.. Dear Mr. Henshaw tells the story of Leigh Botts with letters to his favorite author and eventually his journal. Leigh writes to his favorite author as an assignment in school. He enjoys Mr. Henshaw's book Way to Amuse a Dog, it remind him of his dog Bandit. Bandit doesn't live with him right now, he stays with his Dad that drives an 18 wheeler. His Dad is gone most of the time and his parents are divorced. Leigh and his Mom struggle financially and she has a job with a caterer who lets his Mom give Leigh amazing food for his lunch. Others are aware of his wonderful lunch and Leigh's lunch is stolen several times, Leigh determine to create a sort of alarm to protect his lunch. Mr. Fridley is the janitor at the school and is kind to Leigh, it is his idea for Leigh to discover how to arm his lunch with an alarm. Leigh writes to Mr. Henshaw over the course of several years and is annoyed when the author answers Leigh's letter full of questions with questions of his own. His mom makes him answer back and Leigh lets Mr. Henshaw know that if his Dad was here he would tell him to climb a tree. Leigh does most of the writing, Mr. Henshaw replies infrequently. Leigh tells him all about his life, struggles and his budding writing skills. He was included to meet a famous author based on his work but unfortunately it was not Mr Henshaw. Leigh misses his Dad and he learns that his Dad despite his promises to come home to see his boy has another family he stays with when he is off the road. He confronts his Dad with his pain and his Dad tries to make it better by visiting him with Bandit. Leigh is so excited to see them both but realizes Bandit belongs on the road with his Dad instead of with him. Beverly Cleary in this 1984 Newbery Award winner constructs a lovely book that is a classic for several generations of students. The layout of the book with the dates in the corner engages the reader to flip back to see how long ago the previous letter was written. The simple revealing look into Leigh's life to an outside speaks to the common theme of being heard. Leigh and his Mom struggles to make ends meet and her care for him reminds the reader of how life is difficult but better together. His disappointment and hurt with his Dad and sometimes even Mr. Henshaw helps articulate words to similar feelings. Teaching with Favorite Newbery Books by Lori Licciardo-Musso has different ideas on how to incorporate Dear Mr. Henshaw with teaching including students keeping a diary, outlining and labeling a map of California, vocabulary study and meeting authors of other books by research and connecting with them.

Bragg, G. (2011). How they Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. New York: Walker & Company. How they Croaked is an irreverent fun book that tells about the demise of the famous. Interesting facts with a bit of gore and gross, Bragg explains in detail about each off these famous character in history. Included are Cleopatra, Caesar, Elizabeth I, Maria Antoinette not all are questionable presidents Washington and Garfield and Einstein are also a part of the macabre collection. She gives the epitaph on each subject with jobs, where and when they were born and died and the age at the time of death. Bragg tells a brief history of the person and what was happening around the time of their death. She examines in depth the gorey details of what happen to their body in the aftermath of the injury that causes the death. She also give background and interesting facts related to the subject's job or connection with others. It is a fascinating read and has many eww moments that after the initial gross out understanding will be shared with others as a fun fact maybe even over the dinner table. Bragg provides for a book rich in unknown facts with a impressive amount of research to each death and history of each subject. Georgia Bragg has also written How they Choked, a book about how the famous have failed and ideas flopped. Bragg and O'Malley partner in How they Choked, O'Malley has authored many books of his own. Georgia Bragg has an interesting website with her work, fan videos and obscure facts and opinions.

Bishop, N. (2007). Spiders. New York: Scholastic. Spiders provides a fascinating look at spiders and has remarkable photographs that Nic Bishop did himself. He explains his technique and traveling experiences at the end of the book. Spiders is a nonfiction and an award winning book. It is well written and beautiful photographed. Bishop gives an in depth understanding about all things spiders. Topics include their history and hunting patterns and methods, spiders have a variety of approaches in catching their prey. He also describes in detail about the various types of webs and how spiders create them. Bishop chronicles the sizes of spiders from the smallest that can be as small as a grain of sand to the biggest, the Goliath birdeater tarantula. He explains the differences between spiders and insects and their specific body parts. Spiders have pale blue blood. It reveals the way a spider eats and how silk is integrally designed along with how it helps the spider capture their prey. Bishop includes several pages of a three page fold out spreads, one showing a jumping spider. He tells the lifespan of a spider and when is the most dangerous time for a spider. Mating methods and caring for their young are included in the exceptional book. While the text is compelling and informative the photographs Bishop acquires are outstanding and amazing. Bishop also has books on other species including snakes, butterflies and frogs. He has collaborated for a series called Scientist in the Field that have several offerings on animals. Nic Bishop has been a world traveler since he was young with biologist parents and first started his career photographing adult nature books.

Bartoletti, S. (2005).  Hitler Youth. New York: Scholastic. In this nonfiction book author, Susan Bartoletti writes about the young people in the Hitler Youth Organization. She provides detailed personal accounts from those that were a part of this movement of indoctrination of the young in Germany. Bartoletti includes the pictures of 12 individuals who were Hitler Youth and gives a synopsis of where they lived and their roles. The unbelievable unimaginable movement had organization which focused on the young people of Germany. It gives those who examine history a warning of how easily the masses can be lead to something incomprehensible. One can argue without the strength of the Hitler youth that history might have played out differently. Some joined on their own with and without parents’ permission and some once they were in the organization rebelled against Hitler regime. Hitler Youth includes chapters on Hitler's rise to power, Organizing the Hitler Youth, A Nazi education, Nazi persecution of the Jews, Preparing for war, The German war machine, The Holocaust begins, Hitler Youth and resistance, Hitler's boy soldiers along with a conclusion chapter. Bartoletti has an Epilogue, Timeline of the Hitler Youth, Author's note, explanation of the photographs, quote sources and bibliography as well as acknowledgements and a detailed index. One cannot be a student of this era should Hitler Youth in their studies.  It is an excellent resource in understanding the climate of prewar times in Germany. The historical photographs and meticulous text tells the story of the Hitler youth with great attention to research. Scholastic has a link with how to connect with Bartoletti for an educational visit or virtual at http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/visitkit/susan-campbell-bartoletti-author-visit-kit.

Alexander, K. (2014). The Crossover. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Josh Bell and his twin brother, JB are amazing basketball players, their Dad, Chuck was a professional basketball player when he was young. Their Mom is a non nonsense type of person and is the Assistant Principal at the school they attend. All Josh can think about is basketball, he works hard on his skilsl day in and day out. Josh is a little better at basketball than JB but they work well as a team. Josh's Dad has nicknamed Josh - Filthy McNasty because he is so talented, Josh can even dunk at 12 years old. JB starts to get distracted with basketball when a new girl comes to town. She is cute but Josh is a little jealous of how JB spends more and more time with her. Dad's health makes his Mom nervous, she wants him to go to the doctor due to his bad eating habits and that his Dad died at a young age. Dad refuses to go, he just doesn't like doctors. He continues to coach the boys even from this stands usually as his Mom has to make him sit down and not yell. Sometimes Dad even starts to sweat and has to take a break, this is happening more frequently. Josh continues to excel in basketball and his schoolwork but has to sit out games due to the pass he threw at his brother's face in anger. Josh, JB and their friend is in 3 on 3 tournament, Dad plays with Josh pre-game, suddenly Dad pass out, he is rushed to the hospital. The Crossover is written in verse rather than typic novel form. The format and text of the book is compelling and visually interesting to read as the typeface changes to caps and sometimes stagger across the page. It is written with the language of a cocky basketball loving kid, the reader is invested in the main character and worried a little about his Dad. It won the 2015 Newbery Award and is a 2015 Coretta Scott King honor winner. Kwane Alexander is an author, poet and educator, he has created a page-to-stage workshop that encourages young writers and shares how to self-publish. He has written other books, most recently Booked.

Textbook Assignment #5 - https://padlet.com/cynthia_mccarty/qotktuygxz3z