Storyteller by: Edward Myers

Summary: Jack, a seventeen-year-old storyteller, goes to the royal city seeking his fortune and soon attracts the attention of the grief-stricken king, his beautiful eldest daughter, and his cruel young son, and he attempts to help them–and the entire kingdom–through his stories.

Author Web Site:  http://www.edwardmyers.com

Teacher’s Guide:  Currently  None Available

Booktalk:  http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/myers_storyteller.htm

Related Resources:  Castles

Medieval Castles
http://www.iol.ie/~sligogrm/index.htm

World of Castles
http://library.thinkquest.org/12132/

Related Resources:  Storytelling (Oral Traditions)

The Call of Story:  The History of  Storytelling
http://www.callofstory.org/en/storytelling/history.asp

The Moonlit Road:  Strange Tales of the American South
http://www.themoonlitroad.com

Story Arts:  Storytelling in the Classroom
http://www.storyarts.org/classroom/index.html

The Wren’s Nest Museum
http://www.wrensnestonline.com

Read Aloud Recommendation: While this story is not as fast paced as some of the other nominees, Jack’s stories and adventures should hold students’ attention.  This would be a good selection to use when discussing oral traditions.

Football Genius
by: Tim Green

Summary: Troy, a sixth-grader with an unusual gift for predicting football plays before they occur, attempts to use his ability to help his favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons, but he must first prove himself to the coach and players.

Author Web Site:  http://www.timgreenbooks.com

Teacher’s Guide:   LA Young Reader’s Choice Study Guides

Related Links:  Atlanta,  Georgia

50 Fun Things to Do in Atlanta
http://www.atlanta.net/50fun

Atlanta Falcons Web Site
http://www.atlantafalcons.com

Related Links:  Mathematics and Football

NCTM Illuminations:  Mathematics and Football Unit
http://illuminations.nctm.org/LessonDetail.aspx?ID=L213
The activities in this unit  focus on connections between mathematics and football by using the Super Bowl.  Students apply math to  problems associated with “The Big Game.”  The activities involve number sense, geometry, measurement, statistics, estimations, and problem solving.

Read Aloud Recommendation: Students who are sports fans will love the subject matter  and the cinematic descriptions of games.  Others will just enjoy the fast-moving plot.  This is a great selection for a read-aloud.  I think that it would be especially fun to use in a mathematics class as part of a unit that focuses on connections between mathematics and football.

Sequel Available:

Football Champ: A Football Genius Novel

Hiroshima Dreams
by: Kelly Easton

Summary: Lin O’Neil, a talented but shy girl growing up in Providence, Rhode Island, develops a close relationship with her Japanese grandmother, who shares Lin’s gift of precognition.

Author Web Site:  www.kellyeaston.com

Teacher’s Guide:  Not Yet Available

Related Resources:  Peace Lesson Plans

Hiroshima Day Lesson Plan (pdf)
This pdf document is a multi-day unit on Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes and Hiroshima Day with color illustrations of the story.

Peace Lesson Plans @ Wilmington College

This site contains lesson plans divided by grade levels:  elementary (1-5), junior high (5-8), and high school (9-12).   Many of these lesson plans deal with American/Japanese relations before and after WWII.    For example, one lesson plan explores prejudice and appreciation of other cultures through relating the story of friendship dolls that were sent from America to Japan in 1926.  Another lesson deals explores the story of Sadako and focuses on Hiroshima Day.  Teachers should find plenty of ideas at this site.

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

This site will help teachers and students to complete an engaging research project as part of a study of the historical novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, a true story about a girl who lived in Hiroshima on the day that the United States dropped the atomic bomb on that city in an attempt to end World War II.    This book would be a great companion novel to read before or after Hiroshima Dreams, or this assignment could be adapted.  To better understand the novel,  student assignments include  research about this event in history and its effect on the people of Hiroshima and the world at large.  This site includes mini-lessons, resources, and assessment tools.

Read Aloud Recommendation: This coming of age novel probably lacks the action to hold students’ attention as a traditional read aloud, but it would be great for literature circles and for the teacher to read aloud in segments.  I would recommend it as a companion novel to Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes as it deals with the aftermath of Hiroshima and the effects of the atomic bomb generations later.   

The Sorta Sisters by:  Adrian Fogelin

Summary: In Florida, Anna Casey lives with what she hopes is the last in a long line of foster mothers, and Mica Delano lives with her father on their small boat, and when the two of them begin corresponding, they discover they have a lot in common.

Author Web Site:  http://www.adrianfogelin.com

Teacher’s Guide:  Not Currently Available

Related Links:  Islamorado, Florida

About the Florida Keys (with Link to You Tube Video about Islamorado, FL)

Description: Islamorado Chamber of Commerce Video (Same Video Found in Link Shown Above)
This posting of the same video is for schools who cannot access YouTube due to content filtering. Please view the video from the original source if possible.

History of Islamorado, FL

Islamorado, Village of Islands (Photo Gallery)

Panoramic Views of Islamorado, FL  (The Florida Keys in 360 Degrees!!)

Related Links:  Manatees

Florida Manatees @ Defenders of Wildlife Web Site (Includes Video and Slideshow)

Manatees @ National Geographic for Kids (Facts, Photos, Video, etc.)

Save the Manatees (Facts About Manatees, Videos, Public Service Announcements)

Related Links:  Tallahassee, Florida

Slide Show @ Tallahassee Online Visitor’s Guide Web Site

Tallahassee Nature Video (You Tube)
Description:  YouTube Video about Tallahassee Nature
Please view this version of the video, as it is from the original source, if possible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwctKuura78

Description:  YouTube Video of Tallahassee Nature
This posting of the same video is for schools who cannot access YouTube due to content filtering.  Please view the video from the original source if possible.

Related Links:  Wakulla River/Springs

Edward Ball Wakulla Springs State Park

Springs Exploration:  Wakulla Springs Interactive Feature (Click on the Audio Feature of the Wakulla River to Experience a Virtual River Boat Tour)

Wakulla Springs @ Tallahassee Online Visitor’s Guide Site

Read Aloud Recommendation:  This book, with alternating narrative perspectives, letters, and sepia drawings depicting wildlife and packages that the main characters, Anna Casey and Mica Delano, discuss and exchange in the course of the novel, is best suited for individual readers.  In my opinion, the reader would lose a certain intimacy if this book is read aloud.  Students who read this book will definitely want to read others in the series.  At this time, the author has written five novels set in her Tallahassee neighborhood.  These novels, in order, are:

Crossing Jordan

Anna Casey’s Place in the World

My Brother’s Hero
The Big Nothing
The Sorta Sisters

Someone Named Eva by Joan M. Wolf

Summary: From her home in Lidice, Czechoslovakia, in 1942, eleven-year-old Milada is taken with other blond, blue-eyed children to a school in Poland to be trained as “proper Germans” for adoption by German families, but all the while she remembers her true name and history.

Author Web Site:  http://www.jmwolf.com

Teacher’s Guide:  Kids’ Wing Activities

Related Links:  Czechoslovakia (The Czech Republic and Slovakia)

The Czech Republic:  The CIA Factbook

Slovakia:  The CIA Factbook

Related Links:  Holocaust

AP Story of Lebensborn Children

Children of the Holocaust (US Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Deadly Medicine:  Creating the Master Race @ the Jewish Museum Berlin

Lebensborn Program:  Jewish Virtual Library

Lidice Memorial:  Children’s Victims Memorial

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Photo of War Crimes Trial:  Maria Dolezalova, One of The Children Kidnapped by German Forces After Destruction of Lidice (US Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Ravensbruck:  Concentration Camp for Women @ The Jewish Virtual Library

Related Links:  WWII

Interactive Map of World War II in Europe

The Third Reich in Ruins (Photos of Historical Sites:  Then and Now)

WWII:  The World Almanac

Read Aloud Recommendation: This book, based on a true story, will allow students a glimpse into the lives of children in Nazi occupied countries during World War II. This is a compelling story of one girl’s struggle to maintain her identity despite being torn away from her family and country.  I believe students will be immersed in this story from the first chapter.  I recommend it for students in grades 5 and up.  It is an essential piece of literature for World War II study.

Elijah Of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis

Summary: Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American South in 1859, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family’s freedom.

Author Web Site: http://www.nobodybutcurtis.com

Author Resources:

Author Interview @ Reading Rockets

http://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/curtis/transcript

Biography of Christopher Paul Curtis @ Random House

http://www.randomhouse.com/features/christopherpaulcurtis/christophercurtis.htm

Biography and Interview (Text) @ Kidsread.com

http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-curtis-christopher-paul.asp

Biography @ Scholastic Web Site

http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/contributor.jsp?id=3261

Teacher’s Guides for Bud, Not Buddy and The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 @ Random House Web Site

Video Interview by Scholastic (Part I and II)
Description:  YouTube Videos of Interview with Christopher Paul Curtis
Please view this version of the videos, as it is from the original source, if possible.

Part I URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5HkR1o2LiI
Part II URL:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaky2QAapVw

Description:  YouTube Videos of Interview with Christopher Paul Curtis
This posting of the same videos is for schools who cannot access YouTube due to content filtering.  Please view the video from the original source if possible.

Teacher Resources:

Booktalk @ Scholastic Web Site Including Link to Video Version of Booktalk

Discussion Guide @ Scholastic Web Site

Extension Activities @ Scholastic Web Site Including Web Links

Related Links:  Elgin Settlement at Buxton

History of the Elgin Settlement @ the Buxton National Historic Site and Museum

Photos of the Buxton National Historic Site (Including a School Built in 1861 and a Log Cabin Built in 1852)

Related Links:  Frederick Douglass

A Short Biography of Frederick Douglass (Links to Additional Information)

Frederick Douglass @ Africans in America by PBS (Links to Teacher’s Guide)

Frederick Douglass @ America’s Stories from America’s Library (Library of Congress/Primary Resources)

Frederick Douglass National Historic Site

Related Links:  John Brown

John Brown @ Africans in American by PBS (Links to Teacher’s Guide)

John Brown’s Holy War @ American Experience Site (PBS-Includes Maps, Timeline, Primary Resources, and Teacher’s Guide)

The Kennedy Farmhouse @ johnbrown.org (Staging Site for Raid on Harpers Ferry)

Related Links: Liberty Bell of Buxton

News Article on Symbolism of Buxton Liberty Bell

News Release with Photos @ the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Web Site

Related Links: Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad:  Presented by National Geographic Online

Read Aloud Recommendation: I am ambivalent about my recommendation on this book.   I do not want to turn anyone off to the story.  I think it is a “must read” for students in grades 5 and up, but I have to be straightforward with teachers who may be looking for a page turning, “keep ‘em on the edge of their seats” read aloud. I found the first half of the book difficult to read because I found it hard to relate to the main character, Elijah.  In fact, it took me longer to read this book than any of the other Georgia Book Award nominees.   I think that the dialect and the author’s use of stories within the story distant the reader at first.  However, the last six chapters of the book redeemed it for me.  The last part of the book is very powerful, particularly the scene in the barn where Elijah finds five captured slaves.  It will make students think about slavery in terms that a dry textbook will never be able to do.  Because this book explores the topic of slavery from a different perspective, that of a child born into freedom in the Canadian settlement of Buxton, and because of the humor in the story, I believe students will find the first part of the book enlightening and enjoyable, but slow paced.  However, they will find the last part of the book exciting, moving, and memorable.  I highly recommend this title for students (grades 5 and up) who are learning about the history of slavery in the United States.

Billy Creekmore: A Novel:  by Tracey Porter

Summary: One day a stranger comes to claim Billy Creekmore from the Guardian Angels Home for Boys; and he embarks on a cross-country journey in search of his past, his future, and his own true self.

Author Web Site:  Brief Biography on Harper Collins Web Site

Other Author Resources: Author Essay on Billy Creekmore

Teaching Resources:  Link to Reading Guide from Harper Collins (pdf)

Related Resources:  Circuses

Circus Historical Society Photos

Circus History in Sarasota (includes slideshows)

Circus Web:  Circuses Past and Present

Explore Circus World:  From the Wisconsin Historical Society (Click on Circus Museum to See a Slide Show of Photos including Circus Posters)

History of the Circus from Jugglenow.com

Related Resources:  Coal Mining

A Coal Miner’s Collection:  Photos of Coal Miner’s Basic Necessities

Coal Miner’s in the Past:  United Mine Workers of America Web Site (Includes Photos)

Kentucky Coal Museum Web Site (Includes Short Video about Mining Towns)

Little Miners:  Child Labor in the Coal Mining Industry (Includes Photos)

Related Resources:  Orphanages

History of Orphanages

West Virginia Department of Commerce, Travel, and Recreation

Read Aloud Recommendation:  Older students (grades 4 and up) will enjoy exploring the twists and turns of Billy Creekmore’s life from an Appalachian orphanage to the West Virginia coal mines, and finally, to traveling circuses.  Told in Billy’s voice, this historical tale about a boy who has to make his way in the world, relying on his own resources, will appeal to students’ sense of adventure in the same way that Huck Finn and Oliver Twist appeal to young readers. 

Deep and Dark and Dangerous:  A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn

Summary: When thirteen-year-old Ali spends the summer with her aunt and cousin at the family’s vacation home, she stumbles upon a secret that her mother and aunt have been hiding for over thirty years.

Author Web Site:  http://www.hmhbooks.com/features/mdh/index.html

Teacher’s Guide: Not Currently Available

Teacher Resources: Classroom Connections, Great Resources Posted by Elizabeth Borne, a Student at LSU School of Library and Information Science

Multimedia:  Digital Booktalk

Related Links:  Ghost Stories

American Folklore (Stories to Read and Audio Podcasts)

August House:  Tips for Scary Storytelling (Link provided to 20 page pdf document, “The August House Scary Story Startup Kit”)

Related Links:  Maine

Interactive Map with Photo and Video Links a the Maine Office of Tourism Web Site

Videos of Maine at the Maine Office of Tourism Web Site

Read-Aloud Recommendation: Oh, yeah!! This novel is a spine chiller, sure to keep students’ interest.  If you need a good ghost story, this book is for you.

Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson

Summary: When a new, white student nicknamed “The Jesus Boy” joins her sixth grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie’s growing friendship with him makes her start to see some things in a new light.

Author Web Site:  http://www.jacquelinewoodson.com

Teaching Resources:

Teacher’s Guide:  Not Currently Available

Lesson Plan from National Council of Teachers of English on Similar Books (Does Not Include Feathers, But Could Be Used As Building Block/Includes The Other Side, a Picture Book by Woodson )

Reading Guide of Discussion Questions by Penguin Publishing

Review Suitable for Booktalk from Kidsread.com

Related Links:  Civil Rights

Brown v. Board of Education:  National Archive Documents and Lesson Plans

Learn NC:  Race Relations (Includes Multimedia Resources)

Research Starters from Scholastic:  Civil Rights

Related Links:  Emily Dickinson

Biography of Emily Dickinson from the Academy of American Poets Web Site

Dickinson Electronic Archives

Teaching with Emily Dickinson:  The Classroom Electric (Emily Dickinson Resources)

Text and Slideshow of Entire Poem (TextFlow) from the Academy of American Poets Web Site

Excerpt:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
-Emily Dickinson

Related Links:  Hearing Impaired

Resources from the American Society for Deaf Children

Resources from Raising Deaf Kids

Related Links: Multimedia

Slideshow and Reading of Excerpt from Feathers on the Author’s Web Site

Mini Documentary of Woodson on Writing Realistic Fiction, Video of Author Reading from Feathers, & More

Related Links:  Sign Language

First 100 Signs (with Illustrations, Descriptions, and Photos of Person Making Each Sign)

Handspeak.com (including American Sign Language Online Dictionary with Videos Showing Signing of Words)

Read Aloud Recommendation: This is a good book to open dialogue about social issues such as race relations.  It will challenge students to question social injustices such as prejudice and stereotyping.

This year I plan to read all the GA Book Award Nominees and provide a “one stop” resource for teachers who would like to use these books in their classrooms.  I will be posting links to author Web sites, teacher’s guides, and related Web links.  I hope to make this an unbiased resource, so I will not be providing my own review of the books–other than recommending it as a read aloud (or not).

Saving the Griffin by :  Kristin Wolden Nitz

Summary: When eleven-year-old Kate and her younger brother Michael encounter a baby griffin in an Italian garden, they vow to help the creature find its way back home and to keep Griffo’s existence a secret.

Author Web Site:  http://www.kwnitz.com

Teacher’s Guide:  Not Currently Available

Behind the Scenes from the Author’s Blog:  http://kristinwoldennitz.wordpress.com/category/saving-the-griffin

Definition of Griffin:

A griffin is a legendary creature, usually represented in literature and art as having the head, beak, and wings of an eagle, the body and legs of a lion, and occasionally a serpent’s tail. The griffin seems to have originated in the Middle East, as it is found in the paintings and sculptures of the ancient Babylonians, Assyrians, and Persians. The Romans used the griffin merely for decorative purposes in friezes and on table legs, altars, and candelabra. The griffin motif appeared in early Christian times in the bestiaries, or beast allegories, of St. Basil and St. Ambrose. Stone replicas of griffins frequently served as gargoyles in the Gothic architecture of the late Middle Ages. The griffin is still a familiar device in heraldry and is thought to represent strength and vigilance.

Citation
Griffin. (2009). Retrieved August 16, 2009, from
Discovery Education: http://streaming.discoveryeducation.com/

Griffin Gargoyle Photos:

Credit:

Related Links:  Griffin (Mythical Creature)

KidzWorld:  Griffin

Mythical Creatures Coloring Pages

Related Links:  Florence, Italy

Guide to Italy (Photos and Video of Florence)

Related Links:  Sienna, Italy

Guide to Italy (Photos of Siena)

Video of Siena, Italy from GeoBeats

Related Links:  Basic Italian

Children’s Conversational Italian (Short Audio Files by Native Speakers)

Video of Top Local Italian Phrases from GeoBeats

Read Aloud Recommendation: Definitely!  This story has fantasy, adventure, and a hint of danger.