Double Dutch

Double Dutch

Author: Sharon M. Draper

Page Length: 183

Reading Level: 5.5

Genre: Fiction

PLOT SUMMARY:  Delia and her teammates have a chance at winning the World Double Dutch Championships. Delia and her friends tremendously love double dutch. Delia would not know what to do if she could not jump. However, she has a secret that might keep her off the double dutch team next year. Delia’s friend, Randy, also shares a secret. Both Delia and Randy try to keep their secrets with great effort. Randy’s secret evokes a sense of loneliness and fear. At the same time, the Tolliver twins are planning a malicious event. Everyone in the school is trying to figure out what the Tolliver twins might do – causing rumors to spread. Also, the Tolliver twins may have a secret of their own. Unfortunately, on the day of the World Double Dutch Championship, Delia’s and Randy’s secrets collide threatening to destroy their friendship. On what should be the happiest day of Delia’s life, Randy and her friendship may be in jeopardy. She wonders why life can’t be as easy as double dutch is to her. What is Delia’s secret and how has she been able to keep it this long? What or who is threatening to expose the secret? If her secret is exposed, she fears that she may not be able to be on the double dutch team next year.  

REVIEW:  Double Dutch is a face-paced book and an easy read. The reader’s attention immediately is captured. The characters are well developed and teenagers can certainly identify with them. The author realistically portrays how teenagers think, act, behave, feel, and interact with one another. The book deals with truths that can be identified on a personal and public level. Delia has to keep a secret that, if known, may keep her off the double dutch team next year in which she finds solace.

AREAS FOR TEACHING:  context clues, figurative language, connotation and denotation, main idea and supporting details, theme, setting, characters, point of view, conflict, plot, compare/contrast, cause/effect, sequence of events, inference, voice, mood, and tone

RELATED BOOKS:  The Skin I’m In by Sharon Flake, Double Dutch by Veronica Chambers, Who am I Without Him? by Sharon Flake,  The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, Begging for Change by Sharon Flake, Money Hunger by Sharon Flake, Bang!  by Sharon Flake, Street Love  by Walter Dean Meyers, Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson, Heaven by Angela Johnson,  Like Sisters on the Homefront by Rita Williams-Garcia. Books by the same author: Copper Sun, Forged by Fire, Tears of a Tiger, Battle of Jericho, Romiette and Julio, Darkness Before Dawn

MOVIES CONNECTIONS: Double Dutch Jump Roping (2002), Jump In! (2007)

MUSIC CONNECTIONS: Rowdy Ropes: Jump Rope Activity Songs by Dinonastics, Jump Aerobics by Kimbo Educational, Jump In! (Soundtrack)

RELATED WEBSITES:

http://sharondraper.com/lessonsdetail.asp?lesson=7

http://www.sandtpublications.com/f/Double_Dutch_Samples_for_Web_Site.pdf

http://www.simonandschuster.net/content/book.cfm?tab=22&pid=413195&agid=21

http://www.instructorweb.com/lesson/jumpropejam.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dyslexia

http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/learning_problem/dyslexia.html

http://www.usajumprope.org/    (scroll down on right to view all-star demo)

REVIEWED BY:  Tammy Leitzel

Boy Proof

Boy Proof

Author: Cecil Castelluci

Page Length: 203

Reading Level: 3

Genre: Fiction

PLOT SUMMARY: Victoria, known to all her friends as Egg, is a senior at a Hollywood High School. She is a cineophile who loves movies; her knickname, Egg, comes from her favorite movie – Terminal Earth. Egg’s become an expert at keeping people at bay – her friends, her mother, and even the new guy. Egg soon discovers that pushing everyone away may not be what she wants after all. Egg thought she was boyproof, but she’s jealous of Nelly and the attention she gets from Max. Egg begins to discover that she can’t do everything all by herself. She really does need love and friendship from both her family and friends. How can she undo the damage she’s already done?

REVIEW: Teen readers will be able to relate to Victoria’s (Egg’s) self conscious attitudes and her feelings that she must keep everyone at bay. Readers will also identify with her need to belong and her deep desire to want to be beautiful and feel comfortable with herself. Egg discovers that she does need people. That she’s talented and must learn to believe in herself. It’s interesting that her choice after being in the running for Valedictorian at school is to not go to college right away and instead work as an apprentice in costuming with her father. Some cautions – typical teen behaviors in one sense but point of discussion about acceptable behavior toward parents and friends – Egg pretty much walks all over her mother and comes and goes whenever she wants. Overall, the message is the book sends is a good one—Victoria had to find herself, throw off her cloak, and become comfortable with who she was before she could find love and happiness.

AREAS FOR TEACHING: connecting text to self, sequence of events, cause and effect, making predictions

TOUCHY AREAS-PAGES: references to sexuality, language (2-3 times)

RELATED BOOKS: Plain Janes, Janes in Love, Beige, The Queen of Cool

MOVIE, MUSIC, ART CONNECTIONS: The Breakfast Club, Can’t Buy Me Love

RELATED WEBSITES:

http://www.misscecil.com/

http://www.readingmatters.co.uk/book.php?id=269

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Make-up_artist

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hsw/13188-skills-for-healthy-living-learning-to-like-yourself-video.htm

REVIEWED BY:  Dayna Taylor

Old Yeller

Old Yeller

Author: Fred Gipson

Page Length: 117

Reading Level: 6th

Genre: Fiction

 

PLOT SUMMARY: When Papa leaves his Texas homestead to provide for his family, 14 year-old Travis becomes the man of the house.  He must help with the crops, hunt for food, tag the wild hogs, and try to keep his younger brother, Arliss, out of trouble. 

 

As a boy who has already lost a beloved pet, Travis is first resistant to the yellow dog that shows up on their land.  But when Arliss bonds with the mongrel and names him Old Yeller, Travis is forced to put up with the creature.  At first Old Yeller seems useless; they even suspect him of stealing some of their meat.  But he soon earns his keep, and eventually Travis’s love, as he protects the family from the dangers of frontier life, such as bears, bulls, Hydrophobia (Rabies), and hogs.

 

One day, while Travis is marking the wild hogs, he is attacked.  His leg becomes badly hurt, yet his wounds are nothing compared to those Old Yeller suffers while defending Travis.  Travis, Arliss, and Mama trek across their land to bring Old Yeller back, unsure of what they’ll find.  Fortunately, he survives his injuries.

 

Yet, it is to no avail.  Soon after, Old Yeller is infected with Hydrophobia while saving Mama’s life from a sick bull.  And Travis is forced to shoot his beloved dog when old Yeller begins showing signs of the illness.

 

The book’s ending is bittersweet.  Though Travis is certain that no one can replace his dog, he is given one of Old Yeller’s offspring.  Finally, Papa returns to find that his oldest boy has truly become a man.

 

REVIEW: I was really impressed with this read.  Since it was written over fifty years ago and the setting was the 1860’s, I thought I would have a hard time connecting with the book.  Instead, the story really came to life for me.  The characters were authentic, the language that the author used was natural, and the story’s action created suspense and intrigue.  As is usually the case, the book was even better than the movie.

 

AREAS FOR TEACHING: Predictions, Inference, and Characterization, since most students have probably seen the movie. You could have students compare/contrast Travis’s characteristics at the beginning of the book with those he has acquired by the end.  We definitely see a transformation in Travis throughout Old Yeller.  You could also have students write about a coming-of-age experience in their own lives, or a time when they had to take charge of a situation which was frightening.

 

TOUCHY AREAS: The only touchy area in this book was the death of Old Yeller. 

 

RELATED WEBSITES:

 

http://www.mce.k12tn.net/dogs/yeller/old_yeller.htm

 

http://www.sabine.k12.la.us/intech/lessonplans/Middle/Old%20Yeller,%20Reading%20Response%20Lesson%20Plan.dot

 

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/gipson.html

 

http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/diseases/rabies.htm

 

http://pbskids.org/stantonanthony/frontier_girl.html

 

REVIEWED BY: Jennifer John

Heartbeat

Heartbeat

Author: Sharon Creech

Page Length: 180

Reading Level: 5th

Genre: Poetry

 

REVIEW & PLOT SUMMARY: The cover of this book is very appealing. A clean white background with a shiny yellow/orange apple attracts the attention of the writer. However the title, Heartbeat, does not exactly fit with the front illustration. One would think this book might be about nutrition, health, or dieting. However, that is not the case at all.

 

The story is written in the format of poetry. It is easy to follow. The main character is Annie. Her greatest joy is running, and she runs everywhere! Annie also loves to draw.

 

However, Annie has fears too. She has stated ones such as war, being left alone, and dying. She also has unstated fears such as change and growing up. Many things in her life are occurring all at once. Her mother is pregnant, her grandfather who lives with her is forgetting many things, and her best-friend Max has good days and bad ones. In this story, Annie is trying to make sense of it all.

 

Starting on page 51, the author begins to use the tool of footnotes, for humor and effect. Annie has learned about footnotes in Mr. Welling’s class. On page 59, we are introduced to the apple assignment in Annie’s art class. The students each have a real apple from which to draw. They are to draw one picture of an apple a day for 100 days. The teacher feels that through this assignment, the students will discover the “un-ordinary-ness” of an apple. As weeks progress, Annie’s apple changes in appearance. The apple is a metaphor for change in Annie’s life.

 

The apple ultimately gets bitten into by Annie’s grandpa. At first, Annie is sad. But then she realizes that she can alter her project by drawing the apple with the bite in it. Each picture from then on would have less and less of the apple exterior drawn. In the end, what will remain will be the tiny seed. The seed is a metaphor for new beginnings, life, and creation.

 

The author enjoys the use of repetition. For example, “flip, flip, flip” give us a sense that we can see pages turning in Grandpa’s photo album as he attempts to remember his past. Annie is experiencing the pain and confusion her grandfather is going through. It appears that he has a condition similar to Alzheimer’s. Also, “thump-thump, thump-thump”, makes us feel as if we can hear a baby’s heartbeat in the womb of Annie’s mother. Annie is mesmerized by the fact that an “alien baby”, as she calls it, is growing inside her mother.

 

The quietist moment in the book is when Annie’s new brother, Joey, is born. Here he is lying on a blue sheet in the birthing center and not moving. I was shocked and did not know what would happen next. Fortunately, with a few puffs of oxygen, the baby begins to breathe normal.

 

In terms of more change, Max (Annie’s running partner) joins a school team. Also, girls begin to feel attracted toward him. Annie is not fazed by this and desires Max to be her running partner for a little while longer. She wants to hold on to her present friendship with him, still knowing that change is inevitable.

 

AREAS FOR TEACHING: This story is a simple one about adolescent change. I would use this book to talk about theme and poetic devices. On page 106, I was amused by the section titled, “Forbidden Words”. Mr. Welling, posted a list of words on the board that students are not to use: very, like, ya know?, uh, well, stuff, and yeah. I found this funny because I had come up with a similar list myself in my classroom. I believe I would add the words “stuff” and “cuz” to the list. On page 120, a “Treasure of Words” list is shown. Mr. Welling lists words such as thrilling, sensational, and exhilarating. These are to replace the forbidden words in class.

 

RELATED WEBSITES:

 

http://www.sharoncreech.com/novels/heartbeat_guide.pdf

 

http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/pdfs/heartbeat_t.pdf

 

REVIEWED BY: Kevin Stratton

 

Freeze Tag

Freeze Tag

Author: Caroline B. Cooney

Page Length: 166

Reading Level: 4th

Genre: Fiction

 

REVIEW & PLOT SUMMARY: The cover of this book is awesome. It truly depicts the main character, Lannie, and the feeling of being frozen. The action in this story happens quickly. It did not take long for me to get “hooked”. This book is about a girl, Lannie, who has been deprived of a loving upbringing. This story is also about a pair of love-struck teenagers, Meghan and West.

 

In the Prologue we see the kids of Dark Fern Lane playing a harm-less game of Freeze Tag. However, we discover that the game is not harm-less after all. Lannie has the power to actually freeze people in their place. This realization frightens the children of the neighborhood who end up avoiding the game from then on. However, Lannie’s power to freeze, remains.

 

On page 8, we see a good description of childhood jealously. Lannie is jealous of West’s family because they are nothing like her own. Lannie’s personality becomes even more layered as the story progresses with the added emotion of hatred. Lannie hates Meghan because Meghan is allowed to hang out with West’s family. On top of all this, Lannie is jealous of the relationship that West and Meghan have. Lannie wants West in every sense of the word, and she hates Meghan because she has West as a boyfriend.

 

Lannie is the product of a family that has divorced and re-married. She has not adjusted well at all to this change. Lannie’s step-father doesn’t even hug her, but rather shows his affection towards a new dog. This infuriates Lannie. Meghan makes a clear realization on page 51, that no one loves Lannie and no one ever has. Lannie’s feeling of parental neglect transforms itself into a violent act as we find out that Lannie froze her own mother as she was driving a car. Her mother subsequently died. On page 63, West’s mother paints a vivid description of the type of emotional neglect that Lannie has suffered in her early life.

 

Lannie’s retaliations on others are in the form of freezing them. Lannie yearns for affection and love. She yearns for it from West – the boyfriend of Meghan, the son of the family Lannie admires. Eventually Lannie persuades West to go out with her. West only agrees because Lannie has threatened to freeze his loved ones if he disobeys. Meghan cannot believe West is actually going to date Lannie and drop her as a girlfriend. Yet, Meghan understands the very real threat that is Lannie and her freezing-fingers. What is ironic is that just as Lannie is jealous of West’s family, Meghan is jealous of his family too. Both Lannie and Meghan do not regard their families as comforting ones. The difference is Lannie has been emotionally neglected, while Meghan has not.

 

The story progresses with Lannie freezing and unfreezing people. Lannie is only persuaded to unfreeze people because of opportunities to visit with West, have sleep-overs with his sister, and just be part of a loving family environment.

 

As West’s siblings become more and more annoyed, they begin to plot, along with West, a way to “end” Lannie. Meghan, even though she cannot stand Lannie, does not feel that any human should be “ended”. Meghan holds fast to the idea that good triumphs over evil, and if they plot to kill Lannie, then they are no better than she is.

 

Eventually, West and his siblings carry out a plan where Lannie becomes trapped in his truck (one with no handles on the inside). Lannie is stuck in this truck out in the freezing cold. Meghan realizes “the plan” and tries hard not to think about it. She ultimately cannot bear to think of someone dying in the cold and rescues Lannie from her “end”. The ending of this story is more of a beginning for both Meghan and Lannie as we can only infer what may happen next. Good did triumph evil, however it appears that some of the characters who were initially “good” have turned “evil”.

 

AREAS FOR TEACHING: A compare/contrast lesson on the themes of good and evil would be most appropriate to touch upon with this book. Discussions on different types of family life would also be beneficial.

 

I would highly recommend this book to students!

 

RELATED WEBSITES:

 

http://www.chw.org/display/displayFile.aspdocid=20792&filename=/Groups/CAPFund/cap_emotional_neglect.pdf

 

http://teacher.scholastic.com/professional/bruceperry/bonding.htm

 

http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-cooney-caroline.asp

 

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/ccooney.htm

 

REVIEWED BY: Kevin Stratton