Archive for 2016

March: Book Three

Written by John Lewis & Andrew Aydin
Illustrated by Nate Powell

It’s so easy to see why this volume has won so many awards and gotten so much attention. Packed with emotion and written by one who was there, it never steps outside of John Lewis’ experience and always speaks to how he felt at the time. It’s written in a way that draws in even the most reluctant reader.  

By September of 1963, John Lewis was coordinating the efforts by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to register blacks to vote in Mississippi and Alabama. As a student, he’d spent prior years with the Freedom Riders just trying to gain the right to ride public transportation and eat and sleep as a regular citizen. When the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was bombed in 1963, killing four young girls, even more people were inspired to register. Time after time, long lines waited while the clerks and police devised more ways to deny them the right. No lines on the sidewalk. Only four in the courthouse. Impossible literacy tests. They fought an uphill battle against the FBI, an uncaring Washington, and those within the movement who would respond with violence, but fight they did. They even fought the Democratic Party, who refused to recognize the delegation from the Freedom Democratic Party, led by Fannie Lou Hamer, at their convention. Eventually, after many years of beatings and other violence, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was signed into law. And, of course, John Lewis went on to become a Congressman and to see an African-American President.

It’s so difficult to underestimate the importance of this book. It’s a must read.

Buy on Amazon

  • Title: March: Book Three
  • Author: John Lewis & Andrew Aydin
  • Illustrator: Nate Powell
  • Published: Top Shelf Productions, 2016
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Paperback, 184 pages
  • Grade Level: 6 up
  • Genre: Graphic memoir
  • ISBN: 978-1-60309-402-3

To Stay Alive: Mary Ann Graves and the Tragic Journey of the Donner Party

Written by Skila Brown

By focusing on one member of the Donner party, the author makes one of the most mysterious episodes in American history come to life. Written in verse, the story comes across well as the voice of the real nineteen-year-old traveler.

Mary Ann’s father decided to move the family from Illinois to California in 1846, just as the gold rush and the Mexican-American War were beginning. They set out with husband and wife, nine children, a son-in-law, and a hired hand. Seemingly, they planned well and took along sufficient supplies. It was a few mistakes, the decisions of others on the trail, and the very early winter that proved to be the party’s downfall.

Due to the unusually harsh nature of the story, this book is not recommended for younger children.

From Father (p. 218)

If there was a final moment,

last glance,

thick sigh as all the air left his lungs

for good,

I missed it.

However, the reality of the situation and learning about the fragility of life can be important for young adults. The author takes a matter-of-fact attitude and is open about the natural revulsion present in the cannibalism that did occur. Most of the story is about the long, long journey prior to the great snowstorm, with the heat of the desert and lack of water, plus many other factors.  

Buy on Amazon

  • to-stay-aliveTitle: To Stay Alive: Mary Ann Graves and the Tragic Journey of the Donner Party
  • Author: Skila Brown
  • Published: Candlewick Publishers, 2016
  • Reviewer: Sue Poduska
  • Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
  • Grade Level: 6 up
  • Genre: Novel in verse, history
  • ISBN: 978-0-7636-7811-1

To Catch a Cheat

Written by Varian Johnson

Hacking and technology geeks get the upper hand over classic classroom cheats in this fun, Encyclopedia Brown type novel. Jackson Greene, hero of book one, The Great Greene Heist, returns with his diverse gang that meets in an old shed to plan their projects. A couple of the gang are super tech savvy, while Jackson remains the leader and master mind. They use invisible ink, tricky watches and new light bulbs to bring about interesting results.

A couple of classic bullies have produced a phony video of Jackson and his team, causing mayhem and a flood at the school when they were nowhere near the stopped up toilets. In order to clear their names, Jackson sets up an elaborate plan seeming to go along with the bullies in stealing a final exam. There are twists and turns today’s middle grade readers will enjoy as they understand the video systems and computer gadgets at work. This series looks ready to gain a big following.

Teachers and librarians will want to introduce this series to the techno geeks as well as the readers in their middle school. It is fast paced with well-developed characters. It would make a great book club read, or a fun read aloud for a small group of reluctant readers. English teachers can use it to satisfy literacy standards in the common core in many areas, including: characterization, setting, dialogue, and main idea. But the students will love the revenge, the planning, and maybe even all the start trek movie references.

Buy on Amazon

  • To Catch a CheatTitle: To Catch a Cheat
  • Author: Varian Johnson
  • Publisher: Arthur A. Levine, Scholastic, Inc., 2016
  • Reviewer: Elizabeth Swartz
  • Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-545-72239-1
  • Genre: Realistic Fiction
  • Grade level: 5 to 9