Archive for the ‘Fiction’ Category
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Gennifer Choldenko |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 12 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, autism |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
Some books are of their times. This book takes place at Alcatraz prison in the 1930s but is very much a reflection of contemporary culture.
The first-person narrator is a boy whose family moves to Alcatraz so that his sister may apply to a school for autistic children near San Francisco. |
The characters' understanding of the disease and of each other is no doubt very anachronistic.
My daughter enjoyed the local color and the family relationships seemed truthful, for a child of today at least.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Al Capone Does My Shirts |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Fiction, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Elizabeth Gray Vining |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction, historical, medieval |
| Year of publication: | 1942 |
Eleven year old boy walks the roads of medieval England searching for his father and his dog. Newbery award winner |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Adam of the Road |
Posted in Animals, Conceptual: 8 and up, Culture, Dickensian, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
Saturday, March 25th, 2006
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| Author: | Christopher Paolini |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2003 |
Involving dungeons and dragons style story, with dragons of the Anne McCaffery model. (You know, the inhabitant of the egg becomes impressed on a single special human. They grow up together and have adventures.) |
Amazingly well-written by a 15 year old homeschooler. Grabs you right from the beginning and pulls you along.
My 11 year old is not sure she'll survive until we get the next book in the series.
And here is our review of Eldest, Book Two in this trilogy.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Eragon |
Posted in Conceptual: 8 and up, Death is a central theme, Dragons and/or mythological beasts, Fiction, Homeschool, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Author: | Marianne Wiggins |
| 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: | 1999 |
Intense story about how ordinary people cope (or fail to cope) with witnessing horrors, both natural and man-made.
-- Emily Berk |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Almost Heaven |
Posted in Conceptual: for grown ups, Death is a central theme, Fiction, Reading level: Grown 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: | Paul Stewart |
| Illustrator: | Chris Riddell |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Children 8 and up |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 2004 |
The Edge Chronicles is an interesting series for advanced young readers.
They are for-real chapter books set in a very odd post-apocalyptic time/place, but they include very interesting pen drawings on nearly every page. The only downside to them is that there is a great deal of violence and death throughout, including deaths of very prominent characters. |
Two years ago, my daughter would not have finished even one of these. She's on the fourth of the series now. Each time she finishes one, she vows to not read the next, but after a few weeks pass, she's on to the next. |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Edge Chronicles, The |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Death is a central theme, Fiction, Reading level: age 8 and up, Science Fiction | Comments Closed
Monday, March 13th, 2006
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| Author: | Pearl S. Buck |
| Illustrator: | Hokusai and Hiroshige |
| Reading Level (Conceptual): | Sophisticated readers |
| Reading Level (Vocabulary): | Children 8 and up |
| Genre: | fiction |
| Year of publication: | 1947 |
Two Japanese boys survive a tidal wave.
Living as we do near the coast, I was surprised that it took my ten year old more than a week to react to the recent devastating tsunamis.
Last night, finally, she began to take the tsunamis very personally. "We live at the top of a high hill," she said. "So I'm not worried about what would happen if I were here and the tsunami hit. But, my school is much closer to sea level. What would we do if the tsunami hit when we were at school?"
Run uphill, I told her. Run fast. What else should I have said?
Today, I paid a visit to my daughter's school. I asked them whether they would be notified if a tsunami were detected. I asked what the procedures would be in case that sort of a warning is issued. I suggested that everyone at the school get together to discuss what the plan would be.
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Tonight, I read The Big Wave all the way through in one sitting.
It is only 80 pages long and it packs a punch.
The lovely woodblock prints in the hardcover edition were selected by the author.
Here are my favorite quotes in order.
The Big Wave: every child over 10 living on a coast should read it. But although the words are simple,
the ideas are difficult to deal with.
The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck
-- Emily Berk |
| Similar books |
If you found this review helpful and/or interesting, consider supporting our book habit: Buy this book!: Big Wave, The |
Posted in Conceptual: age 12 and up, Culture, Death is a central theme, Fiction, History, Reading level: age 8 and up | Comments Closed
