The Misfits

The Misfits by James Howe

Young Adult novel

Four stars

                Four students who do not fit in at their small-town middle school decide to create a third party, The No- Name Party, for the student council elections to represent all students who have ever been called names.

                I really enjoyed this book.  As a reader I really connected with all the characters.  But I feel that I can relate to Bobby the most.  He is a quiet young fellow, who is a follower at first and then becomes a leader.  When I was in grade school, I never participated much in class and mostly listened to what people had to say.  But when I do give my input it is usually something that was well thought out.  I also can relate to Bobby because he has a close group of friends who are just themselves and don’t really care what others think.

                The Misfits is a great book to bring in the middle school classroom.  It gives you a perspective of the kids who are being bullied in school and of the kids who are the bullies.  I really enjoyed the discussion in our class about people’s creeds and the task of creating a creed for a certain character in the book.  It helps me step into the shoes of a character.  For example, Addie comes off as a character that is tall, smart, and really bossy.  You grow to dislike her in the book.  But by making a creed that is in her voice strengthens the background of Addie.  Also, this book provides a discussion of implementing the No-Name Party in your own school.  Bullying does happen in schools, and as a future teacher I am not going to ignore it.  Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would love to bring it into my classroom.

Princess Grace

Princess Grace

By Mary Hoffman and illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright & Ying Hwa Hu

Multicultural Picture book for ages 7-9

Four stars

            The girls in Grace’s class will be princesses in the town parade, and Grace can’t wait.  She loves reading all the princess fairy talk books, but she is unsure of what to wear to the parade.  Her mother and her teacher, tell Grace about the famous princesses not in the fairy tale books, and Grace ends up wearing an African princess outfit.

            I thought this book was enjoyable, and has a very good story.  I feel that a lot of little girls could relate to Grace since she loves all the princess stories so much.  I remember when I was young I would try wear my princess crown and bossing my brothers around.  The thing I like most about this book is the multicultural aspect of it.  Hoffman brings in all these famous princesses around the world.             

            As a future teacher, my mind was racing with the possibilities of using this in the classroom.  First off you have the noticeable multicultural lesson.  You can expand that into a lesson about geography since the princesses are from all over.  Also, it is important to note that Grace is connecting with her identity and who she wants to be.  She didn’t want to be a frilly princess anymore, she wants to be strong princess now. 

When It's Six O'Clock in San Francisco

When It’s Six O’Clock in San Francisco by Cynthia Omololu

Multicultural Picture book Ages 9-12

3 stars

                 When it’s six o’clock in San Francisco, children all around the globe are busy going to school, playing with their friends, and spending time with their families.  Some are even sound asleep in their part of their world, it’s the middle of the night.

                This book not only shows the different time zones that people take part in, but also the different cultures around the world.  Within each page of the different cities, you get a little glimpse of something that is commonly found in the city.  For example in New York City the lady is on her telephone and in the window behind her you can see the Empire State Building.  That is why I like this book.  It is incorporating so much that it is hard to focus on one thing.

                When using this in the classroom, it could be used over and over.  Time zones would go over well with this book, because on each page at the bottom it shows a clock and what time it would be and the city.  This would also cover geography because time zones span over the entire earth, and you could point out where the major cities are.  Also the characteristics of each city can be seen through the illustrations.

Chrysanthemum

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

Ages 5-9

4 stars

            Chrysanthemum absolutely loves her name.  But she changes her mind, when she starts school and her classmates make fun of it.  In the end she finds out her teacher has a long name and is also named after a flower.  Then all of her classmates start to think her name is really cool.

            I love this book.  I think I can relate to Chrysanthemum in the sense that I really love my name too.  Salena is a beautiful and unique name just like Chrysanthemum.  But I cannot relate to being made fun of for it.  The watercolor paintings with black pen were used for the illustrations in this book.  They bring warmth and character to the pages.  Oh did I mention the characters in the book are mice? It is something that is only seen through the images, not the text.  Also, one of my favorite pages in the book is the page where she is playing Parcheesi with her family after her horrible first day of school.  I like it because the father is reading a book titled, “The Inner Mouse Vol.1 Childhood Anxiety” Here the illustration is expanding the text farther by showing that the parents are reassuring her but are still concerned for their daughter. 

            This book is a wonderful representation of bullying in the school setting.  I am not sure I really like the resolution Henkes provided. It seems unrealistic that the teacher would also have a long name that is also named after a flower, and then suddenly everyone wants to be just like her.  Who is to say that the children wouldn’t start making fun of the teacher as well?  A classroom activity could be making new illustrations for the text.  Maybe have each child interpret one of the pages in the book and then put all of the pictures together.

Goggles!

Goggles! by Ezra Jack Keats

Ages 5-9

Five stars

            When Peter and his friend Archie find a pair of old motorcycle goggles near their hideout, they can’t believe their luck-until some bigger boys decide they like the goggles too. Peter and Archie are in a squeeze, but after some quick thinking and a little help from Peter’s dog, things start to look a lot better.

            Ezra Jack Keats was a awarded a Caldecott Honor for Goggles!  She was also awarded the Caldecott Medal for The Snowy Day.  I checked out this book, for a presentation on bullying.   Keats does a nice job showing us a prime example of a bully picking on others.  What I most enjoyed about this book was the pictures.  They are dark, collage, and gritty illustrations. 

For me, it was obvious to see that this takes place in the American Ghettos around the 1960s.  You can see this from their hangout, and they way they talk. “Let’s go sit on the steps.”  Kids don’t sit on the steps anymore.  This obviously isn’t the meaning of the book, and the book is still enjoyable whether you see this or not.   One thing that I did not like about this book is the solution of what Peter and Archie did about the bullies.  Yes, it was a more realistic answer to trick them and run away, but I feel that there could be a better solution to teach the readers about bullies.

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury

Ages 4-8

Four stars

            This is a multicultural book about babies from all over the world.  They may all come from different countries but they are all alike in the sense that they all have ten fingers and ten toes.

            I enjoyed this book, and so did my two year olds that I watch.  It has a great rhyming scheme that is catchy.  Oxenbury uses pencil and watercolor on a pure white page.  The pictures look like real babies and real hands and feet.  All my kids shouted “HAND!” when they saw the picture of the pair of hands.  It has a fantastic moral that students can learn from, “Everyone is different and alike.”  Another reason, that I really enjoyed this book, is the simplicity of it.  When noting on the different cultures, Mem Fox says simple things like “They were born on the ice. And another baby is born in a tent.”  And she brings it back to, “and both of these babies, as everyone knows, has ten little fingers and ten little toes.”

            This book is not only perfect for a multicultural lesson, but it is great for beginning readers.  It also shows the emotion of love from parents to their children.  With the narrator of the story kissing her own child three times on the nose.  Another idea for discussion would be the characteristics of the different children.  Where do they come from, geographically speaking?  The different clothing?  But I would always bring back the meaning of the book, that we are similar too.

My Woodson Experience

I have read one of Jacqueline Woodson’s books, The House You Pass on the Way.  But, I have also experienced a thoughtful discussion about the other books she has written. 

            She has quite a few similarities in her writings.  The one that I found most common was an interracial relationship in the majority of her books.  And going off that idea, she frequently has characters that are multiracial.  When her characters are multiracial, she does not keep this hidden.  The character usually identifies with it being a large part of their identity or something they are struggling with.  This topic of ‘identity crisis’ would be relatable to middle school aged kids who are going through something similar.

            Another topic that was regularly found in Woodson’s novels is family involvement.  There is always a loving family around supporting the main characters.  Within this family involvement, the father figure has a large role.  It may be that the main character really connects with their father, or that their father is distant to them but this affects them greatly.  Family involvement can be connected to almost everyone. 

            My opinion on Woodson’s novels: I don’t think she is a good writer.  She brings up potential controversial topics that would lead to fantastic discussions with grades sixth through eighth.  But, her writing style is really jumpy.   The endings are abrupt and leave me feeling that I missed something.