tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1158744617379702452012-02-17T19:05:58.665-05:00A book is a gateway: there is always another road, a field, a city, a planet, a world on the other side of the gate.teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-87967953499394346732009-12-07T07:29:00.002-05:002009-12-07T07:35:09.818-05:002009-12-07T07:35:09.818-05:00Gary Paulsen<br />195 pages<br />Published by Scholastic<br /><br /> Brian is a passenger in a small plane flying over the Canadian northwoods when the pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian lands the plane in a small lake and escapes from drowning to find himself fighting for survival in the wilderness. All he has to help him is a hatchet given him by his mother. His experience changes him inwardly as well as outwardly.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-8796795349939434673?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-48669616923838314282009-05-12T09:42:00.000-04:002009-05-12T09:49:10.567-04:002009-05-12T09:49:10.567-04:00<!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal">By Gary Paulsen</p> <p class="MsoNormal">New York: Dell Yearling: Random House, 1999</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">Contemporary Fiction—88 pages</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <p class="MsoNormal">A boy lives with his constantly drunk parents in the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He has made his own space in the basement and makes money by selling newspapers in bars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>He has nearly flunked the 8^th grade and has no interest in school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His grandmother—Alida—invites him to spend the summer on the farm in Minnesota.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span>His life is changed as he learns to milk cows and do farm work with Gunnar and Olaf, Norwegian men who live there. He eats his grandmother’s delicious cooking, sleeps on the porch, attends a dance and comes out of his shyness. This book is almost multi-cultural, giving details of Norwegian farm life. It is beautifully written and very sensitive. Girls as well as boys would like it.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p> <!--EndFragment--> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-4866961692383831428?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-71961182814562217802008-04-11T23:54:00.002-04:002008-04-11T23:57:10.064-04:002008-04-11T23:57:10.064-04:00This site has book reviews written by students ages 10-14 about what they have read. The reviews are divided by genre, and the site also has links to other review sites.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-7196118281456221780?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Lorihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04326575191215799189noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-33480737926319320652008-03-15T19:18:00.006-04:002008-03-17T12:13:04.105-04:002008-03-17T12:13:04.105-04:00The Secret of Skullcracker Swamp<br />By Carole Marsh<br />Gallopade International, 2006<br />113 pages<br /><br />Tabby is spending the summer with her father, a professor and naturalist, in the Okefenokee Swamp. Because she is a city girl from Atlanta, she does not see the beauty that her father sees in the swamp. After some interesting and frightening adventures, she comes to appreciate the people and wildlife, and helps solve a mystery.<br />This story by Georgia author Carole Marsh has been written with adolescents in mind, and the contemporary problems of dividing time between estranged parents. It also presents conservation issues involed in preserving the swamp.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-3348073792631932065?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-60524860022193147182008-03-05T12:10:00.002-05:002008-03-05T12:17:38.114-05:002008-03-05T12:17:38.114-05:00Reading a good book adds a dimension to your life. It is a place that is waiting for you, a place you experience by simply reading.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-6052486002219314718?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-91282326029823815942008-03-04T09:24:00.002-05:002008-03-04T09:24:47.416-05:002008-03-04T09:24:47.416-05:00<a href="http://bigblogdir.blogspot.com"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger2/1176/373809733834064/320/button1..png" /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-9128232602982381594?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-11116571422370613942008-03-01T17:17:00.005-05:002008-03-01T17:41:31.428-05:002008-03-01T17:41:31.428-05:00I had never been into science fiction until I read <em>The House of the Scorpion</em>, by Nancy Farmer. I could not put it down! The country of Opium between Mexico and the United States is the empire of a drug lord, who has created a society of clones and eejits. The eejits have computer chips in their brains that direct them to do the jobs they are programmed to do.<br />Matt is a clone of El Patron, the evil dictator. He feels privileged until he realizes the future that is planned for him. His escape attempt gets him into more hot water. Anyone who loves an adventure would like this book. It is futuristic but entirely believable.<br /><br /><em>The House of the Scorpion</em><br />Nancy Farmer<br />New York: Athenium Books for Young Readers, 2002<br />National Book Award<br />380 pages<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-1111657142237061394?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-28115692341215547922008-02-29T09:21:00.002-05:002008-02-29T09:29:40.631-05:002008-02-29T09:29:40.631-05:00The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963<br />By Cristopher Paul Curtis<br />New York: Delacorte Press, 1995<br />210 pages<br /><br /> An African American family experiences the fear and tragedy of the Civil Rights era as they travel to Birmingham. The story is told by Kenny with his wry humor and rich 11-year-old wisdom. The family experiences racism firsthand as the neighborhood church is bombed and three little girls die. Kenny is traumatized, but recovers through the caring of his older brother.<br /> This book is a great blend of humor, history and honor.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-2811569234121554792?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-74541377042231403822008-02-28T21:41:00.002-05:002008-02-28T21:50:25.583-05:002008-02-28T21:50:25.583-05:00A Wrinkle In Time<br />Madeleine L'Engle<br />New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1962<br />203 pages<br /><br /> Meg, her brother Charles Wallace and friend Calvin meet an odd woman and travel with her through a "wrinkle in time," a phenomenon called a tesseract. They land on a planet that is populated with people who have been bound by conformity. Meg's adventures in space are exciting and harrowing--will she be able to rescue her father and tesser back to earth?<br /> This book is a classic of the early fantasy/science fiction genre.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-7454137704223140382?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-115874461737970245.post-26746720293179751752008-02-26T19:02:00.005-05:002008-02-29T09:30:36.323-05:002008-02-29T09:30:36.323-05:00I'm glad you are here! There are many books I would like to introduce to you. I will write a short review of each of my favorite books. Pick one from the My Favorite Books list and have fun reading!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/115874461737970245-2674672029317975175?l=goodmiddlebooks.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>teacher09http://www.blogger.com/profile/17685185693297022300noreply@blogger.com0