Tag Archive for sixth grade

Liberator

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Written by Bryan Davis

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In the last, twisting, turning, tense installment of the four-part series, Davis succeeds in keeping each character’s story tense until the end. We jump into this book in the middle of the war on the planet Starlight. Dragons fight humans, slaves are yet to be set free and many people are dying of disease. Starlighter Cassabrie holds a secret that may help, but her plan is risky. Moving to peace means not only finding a resolution with the dragons, but discovering a cure for the disease, and changing the attitudes of both slave holders and slaves. With the epic’s cast numbering in the tens, keeping up with all their perils is a bit of work, but worth it in the end. Jason, Elyssa, Koren, etc. all of them have their own personal troubles. These individual issues allow us to see their war as something that affects these people personally. And we know that the outcome of the war, good or evil, will not just be affecting a wash of humanity, but our “friends.”

As with most books from this publisher, the religious overtones are strong, though no particular religion is mentioned. Instead, as all technology and magic fall away, the war will be won or lost because of the young characters’ abilities to live up to high standards of truth, love, faith, courage and mercy. Sixth grade readers and above will enjoy this book, especially if they have read the earlier installments. However, some of the references to Christianity may be beyond their comprehension.

  • LiberatorTitle: Liberator
  • Author: Bryan Davis
  • Publisher: Zondervan, 2012
  • Reviewer: Amy S. Hansen
  • Format: Paperback, 432 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-310-71839-0
  • Genre: FICTION/ religious/Christian/fantasy
Posted in 2012, Fantasy, Fiction, Religion tagged with ,

The Enchanted Attic: Dueling with the Three Musketeers

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Written by L.L. Samson

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A mysterious fire threatens a boarding school.  Heroic young people rescue the gruff and intimidating headmistress.  There is a secret passageway.  All this is in chapter one of an adventure story that combines classic literature with a modern mystery.  Linus and Ophelia are teen-agers who have been left with their elderly aunt and uncle who own a bookstore while their scientist parents are on a tropical island carrying out their research.  It is a miserably hot summer, the stuffy and academic narrator tells us.  Bartholomew Inkster cannot tell this story without injecting bits of literary devices, Linus and Ophelia’s history along with background on the literary works they explore.  Linus has discovered writings from an ancestor who tells how to bring literary characters to life.  In this episode, they bring D’Artagnan and the evil Lady DeWinter to life while trying to solve a real life mystery of who wants to destroy their best friend Walter’s school.  But D’Artagnan and Milady are more of a headache than a solution.  And Bartholomew keeps putting in his two cents.

Written with humor and a respect for the classics, Bartholomew manages to entertain and provide descriptions of literary devices.  The story could be a way to develop a guide for writing.  Because the voice is so strong – think a snarky Lemony Snicket – and the characters are so eccentric, this would make a good class read aloud for sixth graders.  Even better let them read it to a book buddy as a literacy activity.  The students could make several lists, any one of them would be a good reading worksheet: the literary devices, story details from The Three Musketeers, even the instructions on how to make literary characters come to life.  There is a great book trailer for the first book in the series on the author’s website: http://llsamson.blogspot.com/.  With the commercially-made book trailer as a model, students could make their own trailer for this installment.  There is a lot of action, and the story problem is maintained throughout.  Not everything seems logical, and the real life villain escapes.  We never do meet the three Musketeers as promised on the cover.  Still the adventure is a lot of fun.

  • MusketeersTITLE: The Enchanted Attic: Dueling with the Three Musketeers
  • AUTHOR: L. L. Samson
  • PUBLISHER: Zonderkidz, 2013
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • FORMAT: Paperback, 166 pages
  • ISBN: 978-0-310-72799-6
  • GENRE: Adventure
  • LEXILE: 1130, Reading level 6.2
Posted in 2013, Adventure, Fantasy, Fiction, Literature tagged with , , ,

Aldo’s Fantastical Movie Palace

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Written by Jonathan Friesen

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Chloe is in her first year of secondary school and hates school with a passion. It’s not so much that she hates school, as that she hates the other kids. Chloe had been in an accident, which left her neck and face scarred, and that made her a target for bullying. The family’s Movie Palace had been a safe place to hide all summer, but now school was starting up again and so would the bullying. Chloe was hoping that because she was now starting secondary school, with new kids from all over the school district who wouldn’t know the dreaded name the kids called her, that this would be a better year. Then she spotted a new kid at school, a blind kid, complete with a seeing-eye dog, and she had real hope that he would replace her as the target. That hope didn’t last long.

 

Creativity ran in Chloe’s family. There was her inventor father, who Chloe hated, because the accident had been his fault. And grandpa, who painted just about anything he came in contact with, including windows and walls. Then there had been Aldo, Chloe’s great-grandpa, who built the Fantastical Movie Palace. Chloe and her mom struggled to keep the Movie Palace up and running, but it was out in the middle of nowhere, and was costing more to run than it made.

Nick was an angry young man, who took his blindness out on everyone. His safe place was to get lost in a screenplay he was writing. It was about another land, where things were different, and the blind man was the hero.

Chloe’s mom asked Nick and his family over for dinner, and that was where the adventure started. Chloe discovered Nick’s screenplay, and started making changes in it, without asking. When Nick confronted her about it while Chloe was working in the projection room, they somehow ended up going through the projector and the screen, landing in a very strange land; the very same land that was in the screenplay.

This is a coming-of-age book, about how Chloe and Nick struggle to come to grips with what they perceive as their deformities and how they must fight the evil that is taking over. Chloe must decide who the real blind person is, try to spot the lies, and reach beyond herself to save those around her.

There are some difficult subjects covered in this book, including death, so it may not be a good read for the younger crowd, unless they can get involved in a discussion group to work through some of the issues.

I would recommend this book for sixth grade and up as a good way to open up discussions on bullying, self-esteem and death.

View the Book Trailer on youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMKo4TOY9Wc

  • Aldos Movie PalaceTitle: Aldo’s Fantastical Movie Palace
  • Author: Jonathan Friesen
  • Publisher: ZonderKidz, 2012
  • Reviewer: Carole Robishaw
  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • ISBN-10: 0310721105
  • ISBN-13: 978-0310721109
  • Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
  • Lexile Score: 810, Grades 5-8
Posted in 2012, Fantasy, Fiction tagged with

Poetry Rocks! Contemporary American Poetry

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Written by Sheila Griffin Llanas

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Poetry inspires dread in the most intrepid of students. If reading literature is seen as a slog through heavy tomes, then reading poetry is walking the path wearing leaden shoes. Enslow’s Poetry Rocks! series works to tame that fear with books that describe both poet and poetry in simple, easy-to-understand language.

What gives such value to the book (and the series) is the chapter organization. Each chapter begins with a short biographical sketch that helps to place the work in the context of the poet’s life and answer the question why: why did the poet choose those particular topics and themes. Even poets who were contemporaneous didn’t write about the same subjects. We see that it is the life experiences that dictate the choice of topics.

One representative poem is subject to a detailed analysis: summary and explication, poetic techniques and themes. Middle school and high school students will benefit immensely from this reading of the techniques of literary analysis in a non-threatening manner. Armed with that knowledge they can work their way to an understanding of the poem, rather than putting away the book, frustrated at their lack of understanding of writing that is different from the prose works they are used to.

Each poet’s style is given its own analysis, creating easy reading activities and discussion points. The reader can discuss how one poet’s style is similar to, and differs from, another’s.  A few more poems are included (the number varies from poet to poet) and the discussion paragraph points to further questions to be considered. The chapter ends with a listing of the poet’s major works and a final paragraph on related poets, which helps to understand the poet’s cultural milieu.

The eleven contemporary American poets included in the book are Theodore Roethke, Elizabeth Bishop, William Stafford, Robert Lowell, Gwendolyn Brooks, Richard Wilbur, Allen Ginsburg, W.S. Merwin, Sylvia Plath, Billy Collins and Louise Gluck.

Chapter notes, a glossary, further reading suggestions and links to poetry sites comprise the back matter. “A poem is not the end but the beginning of an excursion.” This book is a good start to an excursion into the world of poetry.

  • Poetry RocksTitle: Poetry Rocks! Contemporary American Poetry
  • Author: Sheila Griffin Llanas
  • Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2011
  • Reviewer: Anjali Amit
  • Paperback:  160 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-59845-380-5
  • Genre: Nonfiction, Literature
Posted in 2011, Biography, Literature, Nonfiction, Poetry tagged with ,

Elizabeth I, the People’s Queen: Her Life and Times with 21 Activities

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Written by Kerrie Logan Hollihan

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Half a millennium ago, Europe was in turmoil. The Reformation was underway and religion-based wars and conflicts were ongoing. Kings and Queens led their countries and determined the religion of their peoples. Non-conformists were often killed as traitors. Spain, the most powerful country at the time, was staunchly Catholic and determined to convert the rest of Europe. At the same time, the Renaissance was underway. Books and plays were being written. Shakespeare was becoming known in England and more people were learning to read and write. Women were considered second-class citizens without the same rights as men and often with different laws governing their behavior.

Into that political and social climate, Elizabeth I came into power, stepping into the vacancy left by the untimely death of her 16 year old half-brother. It was the monarch’s duty to protect her people, but England at that time was weak.  Without a trained army or navy, and with constant death threats and plots against her and her people, Elizabeth had to be constantly vigilant. Fortunately, she had been given the best education of the time. Educated alongside her younger half-brother she learned to think critically, reason and speak, and read and write in several languages. England was in her very capable hands and Elizabeth I ruled successfully for 45 years.

History lovers will find a thorough description of the life and times of Elizabeth I in this balanced look at one of England’s most famous royals.  Serious sixth grade and older history readers and report writers will find her strengths and weaknesses are described along with the events and characters that shaped her decisions and behaviors. The cast of characters is understandably long, but can be confusing when their names and titles are used interchangeably. Readers may want to keep a list of names to aid in comprehension. Visual learners will appreciate the plentiful sidebars, portraits and reprints of art depicting the time. Hands-on learners will find the 21 activities varied, mostly easy to do and well integrated into the text.

Although the author references her website several times for further information, the cited information wasn’t available at the time of this review. You can search for yourself here: http://www.kerrieloganhollihan.com  You will find plenty of other web links to explore at the end of the book.

  • Elizabeth ITitle: Elizabeth I – the People’s Queen: Her Life and Times with 21 Activities
  • Author: Kerrie Logan Hollihan
  • Publisher: Chicago Review Press, 2011
  • Reviewer: Carol S. Surges
  • Paperback: 129 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-56976-349-0
  • Genre:  History, biography
  • Lexile Score: 870
Posted in 2011, Biography, History tagged with ,

Ravens of Solemano

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Written by Eden Unger Bowditch
Illustrated by Mary Grace Corpus

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The brilliant children of the Young Inventors Guild are in danger again.  In the second installment of the Young Inventors Guild series, their relief at escaping from the evil Komar Romak and the joy of being reunited with their parents is short-lived.  The group travels in luxury aboard a train that is suddenly blown up.  They are not on the train but their parents appear to be.  In a haze of grief and pain, their teacher, Miss Brett, and the five children are swept away by the mysterious men in black, those men who barely speak English but manage to keep them one step ahead of death.  Jasper and his sister Lucy Modest are from England; Wallace Banneker is from New York, Noah Canto-Sagas is from Toronto and Faye Vigyanveta is from New Delhi.  They continue to build their relationship, learning one another’s strengths and weaknesses, and become a team in order to survive and do the work that each is drawn to do.  After a harrowing sea voyage and near discovery, they are taken to a lovely manor house in a small village in Italy.  There they are safe to work and explore the grounds.  They especially like the village baker, a warm, affectionate woman who bakes them all sorts of treats.  The house is a haven but they also discover that it is a vast library of all the brilliant inventors before them.  When Komar Romak attacks them once again, they barely escape and can only hope that the manuscripts in the subterranean library are still intact.  Because the children work together, their escape is especially satisfying.

There are new situations for the children to explore as they travel, when they are not in danger, that is.  Each part of the adventure is filled with amazing inventions and tantalizing mysteries that hint at the centuries-old Guild at the heart of the story.  Reading the first installment is recommended.  The girl characters are the most believable: Faye pushes everyone away so she deals with trust issues, and Lucy has a perfect memory but remains a babyish little girl.  The boy characters tend to be defined by their role in the group: Jasper takes care of Lucy, Noah is a clown and Wallace is painfully shy.  Much of the story is told through Miss Brett’s point of view although there is not a clear main character.  One literacy activity could be to write a description of each character and list their inventions as a way to predict how they will defeat Komar Romak.  The illustrations at the beginning of each chapter are enticing and other illustrations help explain how the inventions work.  The author’s website has a certificate for the Young Inventors Guild: (http://www.younginventorsguild.com/), which could be a prize for reading games.  There is an interesting YouTube video about the author being in Egypt during the revolution while trying to finish the first installment of the series, The Atomic Weight of Secrets: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQrlP1ZjwOM).  Each volume is very long.  Strong readers will take to this series.

  • Ravens of SolemanTITLE: The Ravens of Solemano: or The Order of the Mysterious Men in Black
  • AUTHOR: Eden Unger Bowditch
  • ILLUSTRATOR: Mary Grace Corpus
  • PUBLISHER: Bancroft, 2013
  • REVIEWER: Risa Brown
  • FORMAT: Hardcover, 465 pages
  • ISBN: 978-1-61088-104-3
  • GENRE: Fantasy
  • Grade level: Sixth
Posted in 2013, Fantasy, Fiction tagged with , ,
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