This book of poetry took some real and imaginary voices from the historic March on Washington. I liked that many walks of people were represented and different aspects of that day. I think for my students this would need to be read in conjunction with other books about the topic to give background knowledge. I did like it though...
Jenna adores her very independent Aunt Tannie and loves going to visit her at her farm. But Aunt Tannie is getting older and when she breaks her ankle Jenna's mom decides it is time for Aunt Tannie to come live with them. This short book follows their journey to convince Aunt Tannie to live with them and their first weeks together as they adjust to a new normal.
This was not a long book. For me as a reviewer for the Maine Student Book Award I felt it was too short. However, for my younger students who are just starting in with chapter books I think this would be a good fit. I liked the title and the crow rhyme - it fit well...
This was a short informational book about schools around the world. Each child and their school had about 3 pages of text so the information was brief. This would be great for younger students who start learning about different cultures. For slightly older students this book could be a spring board for more research about schools in the countries in the book or other countries. The book could also be used for compare and contrast activities. In an increasingly connected society students could probably find ePals or connect with students around the world in other ways. The back of the book has other ideas as well. This was a nice book.
This was a short informative book about the migration of gray whales. This was a very light read. it would be good for my younger students if they were studying migration, life cycles, or the specific type of whale. It is not really long enough for in-depth research or for the Maine Student Book Award. The illustrations were nice and it gave good information and back matter.
I guess shame on me for making assumptions and not reading the whole cover. I thought this book was primarily about Nellie Bly. While Nellie Bly was featured at the beginning and more time was spent on her life than any other, there were also several other mini-biographies of Ida Tarbell, Upton Sinclair, and others. The book was still interesting but not quite what I was expecting. I was a bit disappointed in the 21 activities. Again I assumed they would be more focused on investigative journalism and instead most of them were more general writing activities.
I think if teachers are doing units on investigative reporting and need background info on some of these reporters than this would be a good fit. For a general audience???
Veda has trained to be a dancer her whole life but when an accident leaves her without a leg she struggles to not only recover and accept the situation but learn to dance again - and this time to feel more of the emotional side of the dance as opposed to the competitive side.
I enjoyed this poetic narrative. It reminded me of The Running Dream which was on the MSBA list a few years ago. It was done well and the language was beautiful.
River is struggling with her brother's disappearance and has always wondering about her birth mom. When Meadow lark comes to town the two strike up a friendship. The river in town ties them together and they start to make wishes in the river.
I wanted to like this and it had some interesting elements. More could be done with the wishes and what the girls did to help fulfill them. Meadow Lark was a mystery...was her dad even real, was her story about her scars real...that whole thing was strange. I did like how the story came together in the end with River and her mother but it took a long time to get there.
