Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a fantastic book about very civilized children who plane wreck on an island and what become s of them as the process trying to live on their own. The characterization has so many archetypes and symbols that the good and evil characters are easily picked out. The boys go from being very civilized to uncivilized as they try to create a form of government and rule the island. The children who are stronger extroverts are the ones who begin to rule the island and have the control and power on the island. They become savages and deaths start to occur. The children have a pig on a stick which flies fly around. They call it the Lord of the Flies. An event occurs where a plane flies overhead and a drops a dead parachutist out. The kids begin to worry about a monster at the top of the island and there imaginations go rampant. A fantastic book great for any middle school age. Fantastic for teaching students about symbols, themes, and archetypes.

1984

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength, and Big Brother is Watching You. Winston Smith lives in a community in which these statements are brought forth as true. The story 1984 was writing in 1948 as what George Orwell believed would be the circumstance of the future and how the government would have become so corrupt by the year 1984 and what society would be like. In the society, cameras are constantly on people and rules are controlling what they do. The people aren’t allowed to read or many things. The government controls all information in the society as well as the thoughts of others. Winston Smith joins a covert brotherhood and pursues a forbidden love affair. He starts to become hunted by the state and even more importantly, by Big Brother. We go through his struggle and trials and watch as he is reeducated in the ways of the society.

This is a strong tale of conformity and what happens when the destruction of truths and freedoms come into society and make us who we are.

I thought this was a fantastic book, I think it would be for the end of 8^th grade or a high school book. Great choice though.

Chasing Vermeer

For this week I read the book Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett. This book is a good read for a middle school level kid. The story goes that a famous painting by Vermeer called A Lady Writing gets stolen and the thief is trying to convince the community through letters sent that he stole it for the good of society. The thief warns about ruining the masterpiece of the "wronged" isn't fixed and that some of Vermeer's paintings weren't really painted by him. He continues on the idea that if those that aren't true Vermeer's don't have their labels changed, then he will destroy the painting.
Two children in the early middle school years become fascinated with the mystery and head out to solve the puzzle. They slowly start putting pieces together to solve the mystery and learn how everyone in the puzzle is involved. They become friends through the process and continue to solve things step by step. Overall, Calder and Petra find different aspects that seem very much so like coincidences and begin to realize those "coincidences" all lead into the clues to solve the puzzle.
A fantastic read for middle school kids who can relate to the ages of the two main characters, and really gets the students brains to begin critical thinking.

Wonder Struck

This week for my blog I read the book Wonder Struck, by Brian Selznick. First off, this book was fantastic. Never before have I read a 600+ page book so quickly. The book contains two stories that take place approximately 40 years apart and become intertwined. They parallel each other so well that it's almost like reading one story. The coolest part of the book is although the story of Ben, a young boy searching for his father, is told in the traditional sense, using words, the other story is of a girl named Rose who is missing something in her life, but her story takes place through pictures.

The book overall probably has more picture pages than word pages, but the pages that tell of Ben are so descriptive that the pictures aren't necessary. I really enjoyed this book. I feel it would be a good book for a middle school student who is struggling at home with a missing father. Many families now a days are broken, and Ben's story helps to encourage those who are alone at home.

The story also goes into the culture of children with special needs because Ben was born deaf in one ear, and quickly in the book Ben is struck by lightning and goes deaf all together. You quickly learn in the story that Rose is also deaf. The two stories from the beginning are obviously going to intertwine at some point, the fun part is guessing in what way the stories will do so.

I really enjoyed this book and highly suggest it to all.

From the Miexed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

This week I read From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsberg and it is a fabulous read for the middle school aged child. The story goes that a young 11 year old girl who is a great planner and manages to talk her younger brother Jamie, her very rich brother Jamie, into running away from home with her to go live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art so that thing around home will change.

While at the museum they learn the tricks of avoiding the security officers between the hours that they come and go and kick everyone out of the museum. The biggest piece of the whole book though revolves around a statue that looks like an Angel. Many believe that the statue was crafted by Michelangelo and that the museum got the statue for a fantastic deal. Claudia spends the majority of her time trying to figure out whether or not Michelangelo crafted the statue and she becomes consumed in thought with what is going on with the statue.

Overall the book would be fantastic for the middle school student because it teaches some of the most common grammar mistakes through interesting conversations. Jamie, who is nine, makes many common grammar mistakes and Claudia take the time every time he screws up to fix his grammar.

An absolutely fantastic book and and a must read for children.  

The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hossieni is a fabulous book about a man named Amir looking back on his past life and an event that changed his whole perspective on life and everything about himself. Amir's best friend Hassan, is an outcast of society but since they were young and grew up together the two of them are very much like brothers. Amir learns quickly how much of a coward he is and how he won't stand up for his best friend, while Hassan would do anything for Amir. For a long time Amir takes this for granted until the day of the kite running, a special event that takes place every year where people run for kites, and Amir lets Hassan down in such a terribly depressing way that even though Hassan  forgives him, Amir won't forgive himself. Amir basically forces Hassan's family to move out by setting Hassan up for stealing. Even after they are told it's ok to stay they move out which is Hassan's way of saying it's ok.
The story jumps forward many years and Amir is given the chance to make up what he did to Hassan to himself and right what he did wrong.
The story has themes of friendship, redemption, and has some very serious moments in it. For some the book can be a tear jerker, but would be good for the end of an 8th grade year all the way through high school. It shows different cultures and the syntax is fantastic. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

Our Town

This one is slightly different than the the others we have done in the sense that it falls under the genre of play rather than a novel, but plays are my favorite genre. Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, follows the story of a young girl who falls in love, gets married, and then looks back on life after death. The play when performed is a fabulous piece where everything is pantomimed as to not distract from the story. Emily, the name of the young girl, falls in love with a young boy named George. It starts with Emily talking to her mom about George, to George and Emily talking to each other through windows, to going and getting ice cream, to the marriage.
In the after life Emily yearns to go back to the living and through the help of the character of the Stage Manager, she gets the option to go back and see her twelfth birthday. Through watching what happened she views that life is so beautiful and she can't take it anymore and decides to just go back and be part of the dead where George is kneeling and crying at her grave.
This story teaches lessons of life, death, and love. It shows that life can be short, it's important to have a companion in life and is an absolutely fantastic read.

Dear Mr. Henshaw

Dear Mr. Henshaw is a coming of age story for a young boy. He gets excited when he reads a book written by Mr. Henshaw and decides that Mr. Henshaw is his favorite author. The whole book is written in letter format and is an absolutely fabulous read. We get to dive into this young boys head as he goes and learns the difficulties when a parent gets divorced and when things don’t always go his way. He is taught throughout the book how to become a better write by Mr. Henshaw who believes the best way to become a better writer is to write. He isn’t always happy about having to write and gets angry with Mr. Henshaw for having to write letters to answer the questions that were asked of him. Although the plot isn’t as obvious there is a definite plot taking place where the young boy misses his father and wants his parents to be happy again. We get the great part of the story being first person which puts us right into the adolescents head. 6^th and 7^th grade students would be able to relate to this story really easily and those who have divorced parents would also be able to relate. A fabulous must read for any young child.

To Kill a Mockingbird

In To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, a young girl named scout learns the difficulties of the world and the prejudices that come with living in the 1930s in the South. The main part of the story takes place around a lawsuit that has been called out upon a black man named Tom Robinson. Tom Robinson has been accused of raping a white woman named Mayella Ewel. Even though all the evidence points against Tom Robinson's guilt everyone in town is convinced he must be guilty because he is black.

Scout learns the hard way about the justice system when Tom Robinson is found guilty and then later shot to death. It's a great coming of age story for the young girl scout and is told from her point of view as an adult. She learns about the shortcomings in social justice and how unfair and cruel the world can be.

To Kill a Mockingbird is a fabulous book for a middle school or high school aged kid. I would suggest it be read for the upper middle school around 8th grade just because the themes are really deep and some might find them a little over the younger ones heads. An absolute must read for everyone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi88P7KfaMA

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is an absolutely fabulous book for the middle school aged kid. The basic plot line brings Milo, a young boy into his own imagination where he learns multiple things about life in general. He runs into many interesting characters on his journey to rescue two princesses (Rhyme and Reason).

This book would be really good for a classroom setting. It is a great tool to teach about irony because Milo's best friend on his journey is a watch dog that has a clock built into him and goes tickticktickticktick all day long even though his name is Tock. Milo runs into characters that teach him a great deal. In the city of Dictionopolis, a kingdom that cares about words and letters, he meets the king's cabinet and therefore learns what a cabinet is and this cabinet works a lot with synonyms. Overall, the book can be seen as very educational and will teach whoever is reading it quite a bit. 

I think this would work best in a 6th or 7th grade classroom. It's a simple read and can encourage students who don't like reading to pick up a book again. The book has pictures throughout and will help those that are more visual learners pick up on the story quickly and keep them interested. An absolute must read.

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth is a fabulous book and a must read. In the story, a young boy named Milo goes into his own imagination and learns a lot about life and basics of synonyms, words, numbers and basic life tools. For example: on his first expedition he runs into a guy who is called the whether man and quickly learns that certain words have different meanings (weather v. whether) is just one example. He learns throughout the novel how entertaining life can be if one puts his or her mind to it.
The story is quite humorous as well. He runs into a watch dog who has a clock built into him named tock, but goes tickticktickticktick all day long. The irony unfolds as we learn that tock has a brother named Tick that goes tocktocktocktocktock all day long.
This would be a fabulous book for middle school aged kids between 5th and 7th grade. It's an easy read  and would really renew the interest of anyone who has lost interest in reading. I look forward to using this book in the classroom and expect my students to enjoy it.