Archive for the ‘Dealing with bullies’ Category
Saturday, April 1st, 2006
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| Author: | John D. Fitzgerald |
| Illustrator: | Mercer Mayer |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | biographical |
| Year of publication: | 1967 |
First person story of one of three Catholic brothers growing up in turn of the century Mormon Utah.
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We were amazed at the similarities
and differences between then and now. For example, they had telephones, but used them only in emergencies. A boy's leg gets infected, he gets gangrene and
the leg is removed. The chapter about his attempts to commit suicide because he is "plumb useless" is terrifying, sad, and, eventually, funny.
The Great Brain, the middle brother, is the smartest and not ashamed.
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Great Brain, The |
Posted in Biography, Child-raising, Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, April 1st, 2006
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| Author: | Louise Fitzhugh |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | Fiction, girl heroine |
| Year of publication: | 1964 |
My daughter initially resisted reading this book because the movie made such an awful impression on her. But she really enjoyed this story of a girl who "wants to know EVERYTHING" and gets into deep trouble for writing down what she knows. |
Interesting slice-of-life of mostly upper-middle class children at school and play in Manhattan in the nineteen-fifties.
The sequel, Harriet the Spy: The Long Secret gets into all sorts of complicated topics such as menstruation, abusive-parenting, and the public expression of religious beliefs that my daughter did not find as compelling. |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Harriet the Spy |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dealing with bullies, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, April 1st, 2006
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| Author: | Alexandre Dumas |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1844 |
Gifted guy takes his devastating revenge. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Count of Monte Cristo,The |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 12 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Jerry Spinelli |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2000 |
An amazing fiction book that confronts the issue of a gifted child trying to fit in. My 10 yo and I loved this
VERY sad but VERY funny and VERY true novel. We read it to each other this summer, alternating chapters, and every time
my older daughter caught us, she'd hang out and listen.
Stargirl is a brilliant and highly eccentric high school girl.
The novel is written in the narrative voice of the boy who loves Stargirl with and for all her eccentricities and yet despite himself wants her to fit in at school so he can fit in too. |
As this book points out, to a great extent, being eccentric is a choice and it does have a profound
influence on how other students treat one. OTOH, NOT being eccentric can really isolate a person from herself.
Other books about gifted children |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Stargirl |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Branwen: |
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I have no idea what your powers might be, my son. I only know that God didn’t give them to you without expecting you to use them. … |
| Emrys: |
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But I didn’t ask for powers!
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| Branwen: |
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Nor did I. … But with every gift comes the risk that others may not understand it. …
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| Emrys: |
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Don’t you sometimes wish … [t]hat you didn’t have your gifts? That you weren’t so different? …
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| Branwen: |
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Of course. |
| — T.A. Baron, The Lost Years of Merlin
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Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fairy tales, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Author: | Orson Scott Card |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 12 and up |
| Genre: | Science fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1977 |
Story of a boy who is raised (some would say, manipulated) to use his gifts to save humanity, and the thanks he gets. Easy to read, but not appropriate for young readers. |
Caution: Lots of violence, some racial stereotyping.
The only answer to bullying, per Orson Scott Card, is to beat the ringleader to a pulp, if not worse.
(It might not sound like it, but we did enjoy this book, when we were not wincing...)
Other books for about ages 12 and up
Other books about/for gifted children |
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If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Ender's Game |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dealing with bullies, Fiction, Gifted, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Author: | Anne McCaffrey |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, dragons |
| Year of publication: | 1979 |
Menolly's friend Piemur (a boy) comes of age (confronts bullying and anti-intellectualism). |
Not as compelling as the previous two in the series, and Dragonsinger, and beware the love scene at around page 238. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Dragondrums |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Dealing with bullies, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fiction, Gifted, Music, Reading level: age 12 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Author: | Richard Dawkins |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Sophisticated readers |
| Genre: | Non-fiction: Science |
| Year of publication: | 1990 |
Richard Dawkins' take-no-prisoners-style riff on how evolution has made all of us. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Selfish Gene, The |
Tags:book review, evolution, Gifted, history of science, non-fiction, religion, Science
Posted in Animals, Conceptual: age 12 and up, Conceptual: highly sophisticated, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Gifted, History, Reading level, Reading level: age 12 and up, Reading level: Sophisticated reader, Science | Comments Closed
Saturday, January 15th, 2005
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| Author: | Louise Erdrich |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | For grown-ups
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| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | For grown-ups
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| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2001 |
Woman is mistaken for a priest, and ends up adopting his identity and ministering to an Indian reservation in the early twentieth century. It's interesting to learn the background of some of the characters we met in Love Medicine. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Culture, Dealing with bullies, Death is a central theme, Female protagonist, Fiction, Gifted, History, Reading level: Grown up | Comments Closed
