My Survival: A Girl On Schindler's List

My Survival: A Girl On Schindler's List a memoir by Rena Finder with Joshua M. Greene

     April 1945 is a month that has gone down in history.  Adolf Hitler died and World War II ended in Europe.  It was also when the world began to learn what happened in Nazi occupied Europe while Hitler was in power.  Among many of the terrible things that the Nazi government tried to do was to kill every Jewish person (man, woman, and child) living in Europe.  When all the numbers were counted, over six million Jews had been killed in addition to millions of other people.  Rena Ferber was a child when the Nazis invaded her native Poland, and a young teen at the height of Hitler's power.  Her large Jewish family wasn't able to escape.  By the end of the war Rena and her mother were two of the few members of her family to survive.  But how were she and her mother able to survive when millions of others died?  That's where Oskar Schindler becomes important in Rena's life.  This is a true story.  While this book is aimed at 5th-8th graders it may be too intense for some readers.  That doesn't mean it's not a good book.  It's an excellent book and I highly recommended it to older students.  I just want readers to understand that these are not horror movie monsters.  These are human monsters who did terrible things to real people.  To learn more about World War II and what happened to the Jewish population in Europe please visit (with guidance from an adult) https://www.ushmm.org/


In addition to the above:

• There are plenty of books in SORA (ebooks) through the school and public libraries.
• BrainPOP has many student appropiate videos on World War II, it's causes, and aftermath.
• Visit https://www.nps.gov/wwii/index.htm to learn about the World War II Memorial in Washington DC.

Raymie Nightingale

Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo

Four paw prints

Raymie is a girl on a mission.  Her father has left her and her mother to be with his new girlfriend.  Raymie is determined to encourage her father to come home.  She is convinced the only way to do this is to enter and win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition.  Raymie is also convinced that to win the competition she needs to learn how to twirl a baton.  While at baton twirling lessons Raymie meets two girl named Louisiana and Beverly.  Unfortunately they are also taking lessons in the hopes of winning the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition.  Though these girls are completely different from each other, through some unusual circumstances they become unlikely friends.  But can their friendship last through the competition and will Raymie be able to make her father come home?  Now I must say I did like this book; but I’ll admit it’s not my favorite book by Kate DiCamillio.  I liked the girl, I liked the “adventures” they did together, and I really felt for each of the girls and the problems they were experiencing in their lives.  I even read this book in one day because I did really enjoy it that much.  So, why isn’t it my favorite book by this author?  I really felt like the story ended too soon.  I want to know what happened to the girls after the competition.  But, I think the book was written this way to make you wonder.  And that’s OK too.  To learn more about Kate DiCamillo and her books (including my favorite The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane) visit http://www.katedicamillo.com/.

Schools of Hope: How Julius Rosenwald Helped Change African American Education

Schools of Hope: How Julius Rosenwald Helped Change African American Education by Norman H. Finkelstein

Four paw prints.  In the early 1900s it was very difficult for an African American child to receive a good education in the southern United States.  Actually, it was difficult for African American children to receive any type of education. Booker T. Washington saw the lack of education as a huge problem since the lack of education meant a lack of opportunities.  Mr. Washington worked with older students in advance studies, but there was nothing in place for the youngest of children.  He tried to get people with money, power, and influence to help with this problem without much luck.  But his luck changed when he met Julius Rosenwald.  Julius Rosenwald was a very unlikely friend to the cause of educating African American children in the South.  Julius Rosenwald was a rich Jewish man from Chicago who happened to be the CEO of the Sears Roebuck Company. He was EXTREMELY wealthy, and he believed in the philosophy of "live to give".  He wanted to use his money to help as many people as possible. But he had one important requirement if you wanted his money and help; the person or group requesting help needed to help, too.  If a community wanted a new school, then the community had to help raise money and help build the school.  This became a huge opportunity for poor African American families to give their children the education that they never had.  These schools were built over decades. By the time the last school was built, over 5,000 schools had been built where there were once no opportunities, and ALL of Julius Rosenwald's money was gone.  And that's just what Mr. Rosenwald wanted to happen.  This is a fascinating story because when history is taught in school, teachers barely have enough time to teach basic historical facts like “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, and “why”. It is extremely difficult to get to the “how” in history.  We need more authors and illustrators who take the time to teach us about these important events because if they don’t, we may lose the history that helps to make our history so interesting and wonderful.  To learn more about Julius Rosenwald and his schools visit, http://www.historysouth.org/schoolhistory.html, http://www.searsarchives.com/history/questions/rosenwald.htm, or http://www.savingplaces.org/treasures/rosenwald-schools#.VBh7AKTD-1s.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan.

FIVE STARS!!!  The website dictionary.com defines music as an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.  This is the perfect description of the book Echo.  This story is about seven children who live in different parts of the world during different time periods.  The bulk of the story revolves around the lives of Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy.  Each of the children has a special musical gift, but each has a crisis within their families that risks these gifts.  The one thing they have in common is a harmonica that may or may not be magical.  This is by far one of the best fiction books I have read in a very long time.  I’ll admit that I love music and that may be one of the reasons why I was so drawn to this book, but I really believe anyone (musical or not) would truly love this book.  Between the music references and the World War II history, I had a very hard time putting this book down.  At almost 600 pages I still read this book in less than three days.  I know the size will look intimidating to some, but just give it a try...you won’t be sorry.  To learn more about harmonicas visit http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_ii_harmonica.html or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonica.  To learn more about Pam Munoz Ryan and her books visit http://www.pammunozryan.com/index.html.

Lily Renee, Escape Artist: From Holocaust Survivor to Comic Book Pioneer by Trina Robbins and illustrated by Anne Timmons and Mo Oh

Five paw prints.  During the 1930s life in Vienna, Austria was wonderful for Lily Renee.  Days filled with family, friends, school, museums, the theater…a typical life for a girl from a wealthy family.  But in 1939, everything changed when Austria joined Germany under the leadership of the Nazi Party.  After that, Lily’s life was in danger.  She was in danger because she was Jewish and the Nazi Party did NOT like people of Jewish descent.  The only way for Lily to be safe was to leave Austria, but she would have to leave without her parents.  Would Lily be brave enough to save her life without her parents with her, would the Nazi Party let Lily and hundreds of other Jewish children leave Austria, and would her love be enough to save her own parents if she left Austria?  Only time would tell.  I have to say this was a very good book.  I've read other graphic novels about the Holocaust, but I had never seen any that would be considered suitable for older elementary students.  This graphic novel was a good balance of getting important information across without being so "graphic" that it wouldn't be appropriate for 4th and 5th graders.  To learn more about Lily Renee visit, http://www.nywici.org/features/blogs/aloud/womens-history-month-lily-renee-wilhelm---holocaust-survivor-comic-book-pioneer.

The Popularity Papers: Research for the Social Improvement and General Betterment of Lydia Goldblatt and Julie Graham-Chang by Amy Ignatow

Reviewed by Miss Dewey at Orenda

Four pawprints.  Lydia and Julie are best friends, are in 5th grade, and they are worried about starting middle school next year.  Neither of them have many friends and they are determined to be popular next year, but they are not sure how to be popular.  They decide to watch all the popular kids in school and keep notes of  their observations.  Unfortunately, being popular isn't as easy as they thought and it's not working out the way they hoped.  When I first saw this book it was the great visuals that got my attention.  The book isn't really a graphic novel, but it is a combination of words and pictures.  I really liked this book.  I thought the words and pictures worked well together and I loved the idea of two students "observing" popular students to learn how to act.  I only had one problem with the book.  The story is supposed to be about 5th graders, but NOTHING about their experiences "say" elementary school.  This book may claim the girls are getting ready for 6th grade but the plot SCREAMS 8th grade girls getting ready for high school.  Though I feel this is a GLARING problem...I still loved the book.  The plot (aside from the grade) is very realistic and I think girls will be able to relate to Lydia and Julie.  I'm looking forward to reading the next book.  In fact, it's already on my nightstand.  To learn more about Amy Ignatow, visit http://www.abramsbooks.com/popularitypapers/.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose

Posted by Miss Dewey at Orenda

Five paw prints! She was small and quiet and she looked like a good kid who would do what she was told. Well, she was all of those things, except for one: she would not always do what she was told. She was told she had to give up her seat on a bus. But not just any bus, this was a bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. So why would she have to give up her seat? Claudette Colvin was a black teenager growing up in the segregated south. But Claudette knew her rights and she knew she shouldn't have to give up her seat to a white woman. You might be wondering why Claudette's story is so important. It's important because she refused to give up her seat nine months before Rosa Parks. Not only did she refuse to give up her seat, she challenged the laws of Montgomery, Alabama stating that being separate can really be equal. AND SHE WON! I love this book. Growing up I had heard there was a girl who challenged the bus rules in Montgomery, Alabama before Rosa Parks, but I could never find any information about who this girl was. I was beginning to believe I had imagined the story, but the author managed to find Claudette and interview her in New York City. Most people know the story of the many adults who helped end segregation, but not many people know of the children who also helped. Hopefully, with this book, now more people will learn about Claudette and the sacrifices she and other children made. This isn't the only wonderful book by Philip Hoose. If you would like to read more books by him, visit: http://www.philliphoose.com/ to see his other award winning titles.
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Joan of Arc by Josephine Poole and illustrated by Angela Barrett

Reviewed by Miss Dewey at Orenda

Three paw prints. You might be wondering who Joan of Arc was? She was a teenager who lived a quiet life in the country as a farmer's daughter. One day she was visited by a stranger who told her she was to become a soldier, form an army, and save the prince from his enemies. Joan lived in France in the 1400s and her country had been at war for many years. Joan did as she was told, and she saved the prince. But Joan didn't stop there. She also protected poor villagers and the towns they lived in from invading armies. Officials in France began to wonder who Joan (a young teenager) was and who was helping her. Joan said she was given direct orders to help others, including the prince, as a direction from God. This made French officials nervous. Why would God talk to "a girl" instead of them? And if Joan wasn't talking to God (since God would NEVER talk to a girl) who was she talking to? Officials felt there was only one logical answer. Joan was talking to the devil and people who talk to the devil needed to be arrested and put on trial. I had mixed feelings about this book. I liked the story and the pictures but I had concerns over the words. I couldn't decide if this book was supposed to be a picture book that had too many words or a detailed non-fiction book that could have used more pictures to help break up the given information. If you would like to learn more about Joan of Arc ,a website to start your investigation would be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_arc.

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome But True Story About Brain Science by John Fleischman

Reviewed by Miss Dewey at Orenda

Four paw prints. Imagine minding your own business just trying to do an honest day's work and all of a sudden a very long metal rod goes through your jaw and explodes out of your head. And your brain...the rod goes through that, too. In the 21st century you might have a chance to live another day, but odds are you would die. But what if the year was 1848? YOU WOULD DIE! Unless, of course, you are Phineas Gage. Phineas was a hard working man who helped build the railroad in Vermont, but one day he had terrible accident. Everyone thought Phineas was indeed dead, but instead he told everyone, including the town doctor, what had happened to him. Since the doctor knew exactly what happened (thanks to Phineas) he was able to put Phineas' skull back together...minus a few missing pieces. Phineas went on to live another 10 years, with a hole in his head, but he was never quite the same. So, was this a good book? Well, I liked reading about the history of the 19th century and about Phineas' life. Unfortunately, I had a very hard time understanding some of the science explanations. I have always had a hard time understanding science terms, but I think students will still enjoy the book, especially since many of the explanations and pictures are graphic. (Yes, graphic does mean gory.)

Anastasia's Album by Hugh Brewster

Reviewed by Miss Dewey at Orenda

Four paw prints. Imagine living in Russia 100 years ago. Your father is Tsar Nicholas II emperor of all Russia and you are "Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nicholaievna", also known as Anastasia the youngest daughter of the king of Russia. Anastasia's Album is a book about Anastasia's life of privilege while growing up in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. The book is set up like a real photo album (or scrap book) with pictures of the royal family taken by friends and family members and not just members of the press. The most interesting aspect of this book is that many photos and illustrations were created by Anastasia herself so you can see what was most interesting to her when she was alive. Unfortunately, Anastasia was not a grand duchess very long. There were may poor people in Russia when her father was emperor and they were not happy. Some of these people decided if they worked together they could overthrow Anastasia's father and take control of the country. The result was very sad for Anastasia and her family. Though the ending is sad I did like this book and if you like history you will probably enjoy this book too. If you like this book and would like to read more great history books by Hugh Brewster visit http://hughbrewster.com/. You won't be disappointed.

A letter to families from Mrs. Manore and Miss Dewey at Orenda

Dear Families,
At the end of the school year I promised the 5th grade students Miss Dewey and I would read some books with them in mind. Specifically, we would read some of the books from the 6th grade reading list to let students know what we liked and what we thought would be more challenging. Since these books are aimed for 6th graders the reviews on the blog will only be labelled at MIDDLE SCHOOL. This does NOT mean these books are only for middle school students. A number of these books can be found in our elementary library media centers. But since some of these books may have more advanced subject matters and language they will not be listed in any of the other labels. Also, throughout the year Miss Dewey and I preview books that we like a lot but feel these may be better for middle school students than elementary students. These books will also be labelled as MIDDLE SCHOOL. What is really important is that families choose books together and families enjoy reading. Thank you.