2004 - 2005
Goddess of Yesterday
Caroline B. Cooney
Delacorte Press, 2002
263 pages
SUMMARY: Anaxandra is taken from her birth island at age
six by King Nicander to be a companion to his crippled daughter, Princess Callisto.
Six years later, her new island is sacked by pirates and she is the sole
survivor. Alone with only her Medusa figurine, she reinvents herself as
Princess Callisto when Menelaus, great king of
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY…
Black Ships Before
The Wanderings of Odysseus by Rosemary Sutcliffe
Dateline:
Greek Myths by Olivia E. Coolidge
The Trojan War by Olivia E. Coolidge
CURRICULUM
CONNECTIONS:
Language Arts:
Research
Greek gods and goddesses. What powers
were attributed to them? Why did the
Greeks of Anaxandra’s time fear and revere them? Look for hints in Goddess of Yesterday and in
the myths you read. Watch Clash of the Titans or Disney’s Hercules and identify at least five
gods/goddesses portrayed and discuss the role each one played in the movie.
Social Studies:
Explore the
Bronze Age and discover Anaxandra’s
Art:
Research the
art and architecture of Ancient Greece.
Recreate a character, structure or scene from the book using one of the
many mediums used in Greek art.
Guidance:
Develop
character sketches for Anaxandra, Menelaus, Helen, and Paris. What qualities would you attribute to each of
these characters? How did their actions
and behaviors affect the events in their lives?
Music:
The Ancient
Greeks used song to pass their stories from generation to generation and also
to carry news from area to another. As a
class, write a ballad or ode telling of Anaxandra’s adventures.
WEB SITES:
Ancient
Greece: History, Mythology, Art, Culture,
and Architecture
MythWeb
BOOKTALK:
Siphnos is
bathed in blood and fire. Once again my
home has been snatched from me. If not
for my goddess, I too would be part of that blood bath. My goddess gave me courage to jump from the
cliff into the water. She gave me will
and strength to snatch an octopus from the sea and plant it firmly on my head
and the voice to shout into the winds, “I am Medusa! Look upon me and die!” This curse struck terror in the bloodthirsty
pirates and they left my desolate island home.
What will become of an orphan on an island where nothing lives? Has my goddess given me a blessing or a
curse?
Prepared
by: Samantha McManus
Heir Apparent
Vivian Vande Velde
Harcourt, Inc., 2002
315 pages
SUMMARY:
Giannine loves her present from her father – a gift certificate to play a total
immersion virtual reality video game. At
the arcade, Giannine picks the game Heir Apparent , a game of political
intrigue and war set in the middle ages. Giannine is just getting the hang of
the game when she finds out that protestors have damaged the equipment, and now
the only way out is to win the game.
IF YOU LIKED THIS
BOOK, TRY…
Invitation to the Game by Monica Hughes
Night Room by E.M Goldman
Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Science:
Discuss the advances and
new inventions in virtual reality science. Decide whether Giannine’s experience
is scientifically possible now, or what advances would be necessary for a total
immersion virtual reality video game.
Social Studies:
Discuss ideas relating to censorship. Look for current event articles about
censorship and discuss ways that censorship occurs in this country and in other
countries.
Language Arts:
Chart the sequence of events to trace Giannine’s attempts to beat the game.
Work in literature circles with other books on a survival or “fight for your
life” theme.
Psychology
Giannine makes several bad decisions based on her first impressions of people
in the game. Have each student choose a character from the story to analyze and
create a comparison chart that would have helped Giannine win the game.
WEB SITES:
Vivian Vande Velde’s Homepage
“How
Holographic Environments Will Work”
Review
of the Novel
BOOKTALK:
In the last thirty minutes, Giannine has died at least twenty times, and it is
starting to get annoying! After all, each time she dies, she has to start the
game over! It is really her father’s fault – for her birthday, he got her a
gift certificate good for thirty minutes in a total immersion virtual reality
video game. Thanks to the great graphics and cute prince in the advertisement,
she chose Heir Apparent, a medieval game where she has to solve various political
intrigues and other dangers in order to take the throne. She is just starting
to get the hang of staying alive when someone from outside the game contacts
her to tell her that protestors have damaged the equipment, and now her only
safe way out is to win the game. As if that was not pressure enough, he also
tells her that she only has about an hour before the broken equipment damages
her mind and makes death in the game a permanent experience.
Prepared by: Amanda LeBlanc
Hippolyta and the Curse of the Amazons
Jane Yolen and Robert J. Harris
Harper Collins, 2002
248 pages
SUMMARY:
At thirteen years of age,
Hippolyta, whose mother is queen of the Amazons, faces the dilemma of watching
her second brother serve as a sacrifice to keep the Amazon’s society from being
destroyed or carry out her mother’s wish to take the newborn to its father and
avoid the curse of the Amazons. Artemis has declared that a second-born male
born to an Amazon woman must not live to adulthood, otherwise the Amazon race
will be destroyed.
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY…
Odysseus in the Serpent of the Maze by Jane Yolen and Richard J. Harris
Mythology
by Edith Hamilton
D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths by Ingri D’Aulaire and Edgar D’Aulaire
Favorite Greek Myths by Mary Pope Osbourne
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Language Arts:
Read the D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths. Discuss
the major gods and goddesses of Greek Mythology and myths associated with the
Greek’s conception of the world around them.
Create newspapers composed of events in Greek Mythology. Create new myths using Greek and Roman myths
as models. Read and discuss the various
myths about Hippolyta and the curse of the Amazons.
Social Studies:
Study the role of women
in earlier civilizations such as
Science:
Many of the myths that we
have read are based on conceptions people used to explain occurrences in the
world that had no scientific explanation at the time. Find myths that explained the seasons,
weather, good and evil, and day and night.
Find the scientific discoveries that have been able to disprove many
myths people had years ago.
WEB SITES:
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/GettingAcquainted.html
http://www.milica.com.au/greek_myths/intro.shtml
BOOKTALK:
Jane Yolen and Robert J.
Harris take us back to a time when women ruled and men were weak and
inferior. The story is told through a
young Amazon princess’s eyes. Hippolyta,
the brave, heroic, headstrong daughter of the Amazon Peace Queen, has been
trained as a huntress from early childhood.
When her mother gives birth to a second son, Hippolyta’s life changes
dramatically. The goddess, Artemis, sets
upon the town a decree, which stated that all sons must be sent away before
their first birthday. The rule was
different for the Amazon queens, though.
They were allowed only one living son and all others had to be
sacrificed upon Artemis’s altar. If the
second son grew into manhood, he would cause the death of the Amazon race. Hippolyta’s mother refuses to kill her second
son, so she is put in jail. Hippolyta’s
sisters are sent to live in an orphanage, and she is to become a warrior. She is sent to live in the barracks, where
she learns to use a bow and arrow, a javelin, and an ax along with many other
weapons. As the sacrificing day draws
closer, she decides that she must save her infant brother by taking him to his
father in
Prepared by Terry
Atkins
Booktalk by Hannah
Jarrett
The Hunting of the Last Dragon
Sherryl Jordan
HarperCollins Publishers, 2002
186 pages
SUMMARY:
In
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY…
St. George and the Dragon by Margaret Hodges
The Dragonling by Jackie French Collier
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
Castle Diary: The Journal of Tobias Burgess, Page by Richard Platt
Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
Fire, Bed & Bone by Henrietta Branford
CURRICULUM
CONNECTIONS:
Language Arts:
Work with a
partner to record an adventure that you have had, just as Jude worked with the
monk to record his adventure. Your
adventure can be true or made up.
Remember to add illustrations just as Brother Benedict added to Jude’s
tale.
Social Studies:
Study life in
the Middle Ages. Report on customs,
daily living, the caste system, government, and other aspects of life in the
Middle Ages. Why was this period of time
referred to as the Middle Ages?
Health:
Research the
Chinese custom of foot binding. Why were
the feet of Chinese women bound? During
what time period was this custom used?
What were the effects of foot binding?
Guidance:
Jude does not
think he is a hero. Is he? Discuss what makes a person a hero. Is a hero always brave or physically strong? What are the characteristics of a hero? Who are the heroes in your life? Why?
Art:
Research
dragons and dragon art on the Internet.
Create your own dragon. Use the
book Dragons and Prehistoric Monsters
by Isidro Sanchez or illustrations and art found in books and on the Internet
for inspiration for your dragon.
WEB SITES:
History for Kids:
Medieval Europe
BOOKTALK:
Jude is no
hero. That is perfectly clear…or is
it? Jude slowly begins to transform
after the last living dragon destroys his family and village. After anger, guilt, and sorrow nearly destroy
him, he begins to change. Meeting the
lovely but exotic Jeing-wei strengthens Jude, but will her presence and her
determination really help Jude slay the dragon or will the dragon slay Jude?
Prepared
by: Samantha McManus
William Lavender
Harcourt, c2002
277 pages
SUMMARY: Fourteen- year- old Jane Prentice, orphaned daughter of an English earl, arrives in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1776 to find her family and her loyalties divided over the question of American independence.
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY …
The Two Cultures by C.P. Snow
1776: Son of Liberty: A Novel of the American Revolution by Elizabeth
Massie
Benjamin and William Franklin: father and son, patriot and loyalist by
Sheila L. Skemp
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Language Arts:
Research Charleston and the American Revolution.
Research United States History Revolution, 1775-1783
Social Studies:
Discuss issues related to orphans and family relationships. Study the role
of teenagers in the American Revolution and of females.
Discuss daily life, customs and habits of people in this historical era.
Guidance:
Develop character sketches for Jane Prentice, her Uncle Robert and the schoolmaster,
Simon Cordwyn. How did their allegiances and behaviors affect the events in
the story?
WEB SITES:
Charleston (S.C.) History Revolution, 1775-1783 fiction
Family problems Fiction
Loyalty Fiction
Orphans Fiction
Historical fiction
Revolutionary War Web Sites for Kids
Yahooligans.com/Around_the_World…/American_Revolutionary_War
edtech.kennesaw.edu/web/amrevol.html
BOOKTALK:
Fourteen-year-old Lady Jane Prentice crosses the Atlantic to live with her
uncle and aunt in Charleston, South Carolina. She has been recently orphaned
and arrives in Charleston just as passions concerning relations between the
colonies and England are at their highest level. Her loyalties are torn between
her Uncle Robert who is a staunch loyalist and her cousin Hugh who is a patriot
very much in favor of independence. Soon after arriving in South Carolina
she begins attending a school headed by Simon Cordwyn who takes a pacifist
role in relation to the Revolution. This book details the horrors of war as
it spotlights the effect on families and close friends who wind up on the
opposite sides of an issue.
Kindling: The Fire-Us
Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butler
Harper Collins, 2002
224 pages
SUMMARY: In 2007, a small band of children
have joined together in a Florida town, trying to survive in a world where it
seems that all the adults have been killed off by a catastrophic virus.
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY…
Keepers of the Flame by Jennifer Armstrong
and Nancy Butcher
The Kiln
by Jennifer Armstrong and Nancy Butcher
Calling Z for Zachariah by
Robert O’Brien
Haymeadow
by Gary Paulsen
Red
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Language
Arts:
Pretend, like
Angerman, that you are a. new member of the family. What name would you choose for yourself? Why would it fit you? What would your place in the family be?
Teacher
chronicled things she feels she needs to teach the other children in the Yellow
Pages. Select 10 topics from this book
that could be useful in helping them survive.
Justify your choices.
Math:
How far is it
from
Science:
The children survive mainly on food scavenged from grocery stores,
mini-markets
storms and abandoned homes. What plants native to northern
WEB SITES:
http://www.jennifer-armstrong.com/flash/
Author’s Home page. Includes: biographical
information, what she is working on now, speeches and articles she has written,
games and puzzles related to her work. A
word-search for The Kindling is
available here.
BOOKTALK:
It is the year 2007. The world has
been wiped out by a deadly plague that killed all the adults. Without them,
children perished of hunger and disease. No more people, no more electricity,
no more civilization -- just mildewed houses, overgrown yards, and abandoned
cars. Yet on a highway strip outside a small town in
Miraculously, seven children have survived among the ruins. They cannot
remember their names, their families, or much else from the Before Time. But
they have forged a new family, with new names: Mommy, Hunter, Teacher, Action
Figure, Teddy Bear, Baby, and Doll.
They must face each day with enough hope to endure and the strength to realize
that there may be nothing out there worth living for. Then one day, a new kid
shows up on their doorstep and changes everything. He invites them to join him
on a dangerous journey to Washington, to find a man called President -- if he's
still alive -- and seek the answers to the mystery at the heart of Fire-us.
Prepared by: Heidi Lewis
Once Upon a Marigold
Jean Ferris
Harcourt, Inc., 2002
272 pages
SUMMARY:
Christian has been living in the forest with his adopted father Ed, a troll,
since he was six years old. Now through a series of funny mail messages,
Christian has fallen in love with the princess Marigold and wants to leave home
to meet her. Unfortunately, Marigold is in the middle of a royal mess with a
horrible fiancé, a mother plotting murder, and an ailing father. Christian
didn’t know love could be so complicated!
IF YOU LIKED THIS
BOOK, TRY…
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Love Among the Walnuts by Jean Ferris
Frog Princess by E.D Baker
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
CURRICULUM
CONNECTIONS:
Science:
Christian is always
inventing new things. Have students research famous inventors and inventions
that have made a difference in modern life.
Social Studies:
Discuss systems of government in this and other countries. Look at the monarchy
system present in the middle ages and compare to the system in the novel.
Language Arts:
Christian and Marigold fell in love through “p-mail,” letters sent by carrier pigeons
back and forth between the two of them. Study the form of different types of
letters, and create a new system for delivering these letters between people.
Ed the troll has a
horrible time mixing up his adages. (For example: “You have to grab the bear by
the horns.”) Discuss adages and the history of various phrases, then chose
several of Ed’s original adages and research to figure out which adages he has
combined or changed to make the new ones.
WEB SITES:
Homepage for Jean Ferris
Quoteland – A searchable database of
quotations for adage research
Review
of the Novel
BOOKTALK:
Ed the troll is happily
living a quiet life in the forest until he finds a bossy six year old who
forces him to take him to live in the forest – in Ed’s cave no less! Ed thought
this would only last a day or two, but ten years later Ed can’t imagine life
without his adopted son. After all, Christian, with his wild inventions and
easygoing ways has really turned the old cave into a home. Ed’s worked hard to
teach Christian everything he needs to know, but he forgot to warn him about
girls! So when Christian sees a lonely princess through his telescope – he
can’t help but fall in love. Christian sends her a message via carrier pigeon,
and soon Christian and Marigold are great friends, communicating almost daily
through “p-mail.” Then Christian decides he needs to meet Marigold in person,
so against Ed’s wishes, he leaves the forest and finds a job working at
Marigold’s castle. But how is Christian, a lowly servant, supposed to talk to a
princess?! He also doesn’t figure on Marigold’s horrible fiancée, a queen
plotting double murder, and a kindly king who’s close to death. Why is love so
complicated!
Prepared by: Amanda LeBlanc
Back to
top
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK TRY:
The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
Gib Rides Home by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Aggie’s Home By Joan Lowery Nixon
WEBSITES:
Patricia
Reilly Giff Teacher Resource File http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/giff.htm
BOOKTALK:
My name is Hollis
Woods. I’m twelve and I’m a mountain of
trouble. My name is a real place, a
place they found me when I was a baby.
An hour old, no blanket, with a scrap of paper that said, “Call her
Hollis Woods” I’ve been in foster care all my life. Being moved from one family to the next. I run away sometimes. I don’t go to school. Kids don’t want to play with me. Don’t feel sorry for me because I am tough!
I’m also an
artist. I’ve been happy with the
families I’ve been placed with twice. In
my story, The pictures of Hollis Woods
I tell all about the time I lived with the Regans and with Josie Cahill.
The Regans, Izzy, her
husband, Old Man, and their son, Steven, wanted to adopt me, make me part of
the family, the daughter Izzy never had.
I ran away after Steven was critically injured in an automobile wreck
that was my fault. Josie, the retired
art teacher, nurtured my love of art but was very forgetful. She was in the
beginning stages of dementia and I soon became the caregiver for her.
To read how my life
turns out please read my story, The
Pictures of Hollis Woods.
Prepared by Ann
Lewis
Red
Ben Mikaelsen
Harper Trophy, 2002
212 pages
SUMMARY:
Twelve-year-old
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY…
Stranded by Ben Mikaelsen
Count Down by Ben Mikaelsen
Other Side
of Truth by Beverly
Naidoo
Under a
War Torn Sky By LM
Elliott
Basher
Five-Two by Scott
O’Grady
After the
War by Carol Matas
CURRICULUM
CONNECTIONS:
Language Arts:
Write a news
article about what life is like for
Geography:
Locate
Math:
Calculate the miles between
Science:
Investigate
how long a person can exist without any food or water. Also find out the effects of drinking salt
water.
WEB SITES:
Lesson
Plans for Red Midnight
BOOKTALK:
I remember
the night my family died as if it were yesterday. My mother woke me up in the middle of the
night. She told me to take my four-year-old sister and run for our lives. The soldieries were killing everyone in our
mountainous village. Where could we
run? The soldiers had to kill everyone
so the world would not find out what they were doing. I finally decided to go down to my dead
uncles house on the coast. He had a boat
there. Angelina and I had a terrible
time sneaking away. We had to do things
that we would never have normally done.
When we got to my uncle’s house, we were lucky that one of his kind
neighbors helped us. They told us that
we must take Uncle Ramos’s boat and try to make it to the
Prepared
by: Barbara Satkowski
The Rope Trick
by Lloyd Alexander
Dutton Books, 2002
195 pages
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY…
The Giver by Lois Lowery
Crispin: The
Cross of Lead by Avi
Black Horses
for the King by Anne McCaffery
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Science:
WEB SITES:
Biography
and Booklist from Scholastic
Conjuror Magic – great information on the
history of stage magic and beginner illusions
Magic: The
Science of Illusion – a wealth of links on science and magic tricks
BOOKTALK:
Imagine stepping onto a stage and performing illusions you have so cleverly
mastered; then stepping down to collect the coins that had been dropped into
your hat. After one last trick you would
leave and head for the next tavern or inn.
These are things only you and I can imagine, but for Lidi, this was real. Lidi was a great magician. She had mastered every trick and illusion in
the world, except the greatest, the rope trick.
The only person ever known to perform this amazing trick was the
legendary Ferramondo. This is why Lidi
is looking for the man known as the “Fantastic Ferramondo”, so he can teach the
mesmerizing trick to her. With the help
of
Prepared by: Hannah
Jarrett and Amanda LeBlanc
Back to top
Rowan of Rin
Emily Rodda
Greenwillow, 2001
160 pages
Rowan and the
Travelers by Emily Rodda
Rowan and the
Keeper of the Crystals by Emily Rodda
Rowan and the
Zebak by Emily Rodda
Rowan of the
Bukshah by Emily Rodda
The Book of
Three by Lloyd Alexander
The Wayfinder
by Darcy Pattison
The Hobbit by
J. R. R. Tolkien
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS:
Language
Arts:
WEB SITES:
Scholastic’s Rowan of Rin web site http://www.scholastic.com.au/rowanofrin/
Emily Rodda’s
Official Website http://www.emilyrodda.com/
BOOKTALK:
“Seven hearts the journey make. Seven ways the hearts will
break.” Rowan’s village is in danger.
The stream that runs by it has suddenly gone dry. Six of the bravest and strongest men and
women decide to climb the mountain to its source and risk the dragon who lives
at its summit to discover what is wrong.
The only person in the village who knows the way up the mountain is the
mysterious Wise Woman of the village,
Prepared by: Suzanne Washick
Ruby Holler
Sharon Creech
Harper Collins Publishers, 2002
310 pages
Everything on a
Waffle by Polly Horvath
The Great Gilly
Hopkins by Katherine
Paterson
Adam and Eve and
Pinch Me by Julie Johnston
Walk Two Moons
by Sharon Creech
Because of Winn
Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
Singularity
by William Sleator
A Piece of Heaven
by Sharon Dennis Wyeth
Mitch and Amy
by Beverly Cleary
BOOKTALK:
I’m sure
you’ve seen twins before, but these fraternal twins, Dallas and
Prepared by: Leigh
Jordan
Putnam, 2002
182 pages
SUMMARY:
“Tree” is 12 years old and already 6’3” tall and does not
feel that he fits in. Then he meets
Sophie – who is very outspoken. His
parents are divorcing and his grandfather, a
IF YOU LIKED THIS BOOK, TRY…
Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
Pictures
of Hollis Woods by
Patricia Reilly Giff
Loser by Jerry Spinelli
Same Stuff
as Stars by Katherine
Patersen
Crispin:
Cross of Lead by Avi
Rules of
the Road by Joan
Bauer
The Silent
Boy by Lois Lowry