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.