The Swap

                                                                                           By Megan Shull

     What happens when you swap bodies with the most popular boy in school?  This is a very engaging tale of star crossed shenanigans!  Ellie has had one best friend since kindergarten, but Sassy has a new friend, and Sassy is well SASSY!  She likes to mock and belittle those around her, and has found Ellie to be a handy target.  Ellie begins 7th grade feeling ostracized and friendless.  The "Prince", Jack, on the other hand is Mr. Popularity, all of the girls have a crush on him and all of the boys want to be like him.  Jack, however, is shy and the youngest of four boys.  His father, "The Captain", is a hard nosed ex military man who runs his home like the army.  It is hard work, and training all day every day in Jack's home.  When Ellie and Jack end up in first aid on the first day of school, things are bound to happen.
     By the end of the day, Ellie is no longer Ellie and  Jack is no longer Jack. They promise each other that they will spend the weekend in the perspective bedrooms and avoid their "normal" lives.  Of course, that would be boring and too simple.  Jack comes face to face with the bully Sassy, and Ellie meets "The Captain".  This story takes, walk a mile in someones shoes to a whole new level.  It is told very endearingly with plenty of charm and humor.  Of  course, the story ends with a twist, that ensures that Jack and Ellie will be friends for a long time.
     This book is a very nice read, very enjoyable, with just enough humor to keep someone totally entertained.  It is a fairly easy read, and appropriate for 5th or 6th grade up.  Although, this book tells both sides of the swap,  it read a bit more on the female side, but would be worthwhile for either gender as a good read.  I give this book a 5 star rating!

Links 

How to avoid being bullied in Middle School

Bullying Facts

Coping with Divorce

Megan Shull books etc

Sunny Side Up

                                                                                         by Jennifer L. Holm 

     Sunny Side Up is a graphic novel, but be forwarned that this book is not for young children.  Although the story begins innocent enough, young Sunny is sent to her Grandfather for the Summer.  Sunny is very upset, about the change in her summer plans.  Normally, her family travels to a lake for part of the summer and she had invited her friend to go with the family.  Something happens with an older sibling that forces her parents to send Sunny to Florida.  Sunny is not happy living in a retirement home with her Grandfather, there are no other children, and his idea of big plans is going to the post office, not a trip to Disneyworld.  

     Eventually, Sunny meets the landscapers son and he introduces her to the wonder of comic books.  Sunny quickly becomes infatuated with the high drama of superheroes.  Sunny and her new friend end up saving several cats, which enables them to buy more comic books.  They even aid in locating a missing resident.  This friendship leads to  Sunny being invited to dinner and her discovering that the landscaper is really a Cuban Chemist, that can not work in his field due to foreign paperwork.  The story comes to a head when Sunny discovers the real reason why she was sent to Florida, and she makes her Grandfather give up hiding and smoking his cigarettes.  Just before Sunny is to return home her Grandfather takes Sunny to a horrible tourist trap, DisneyWorld.  Sunny returns home, a little more understanding and with a love of comic books.  

     I think that this book would be a very good read for many students 4th grade and higher.  There is some adult content, in reference to the older sibling that needs help.  I did not expect the subtlety and the responsible method in which sensitive material was shown.  I was actually very pleasantly surprised with the content and enjoyed this story a lot.  This is a fairly easy and quick read, I would give this book a rating of 5 stars.  

Links 

Teen Addiction

Siblings with drug addiction

Comic Book Resource

Jennifer L. Holm

Vanished True Stories of the Missing

                                                                                                        By Marc Tyler Nobleman


     This is a small collection of interesting individuals that have vanished, almost out of thin air.  These seven short stories relay a short background, the tale of their vanishing and a resolution.  Some of the lost were found, some remains were discovered and some have never been seen or heard from again.  These are true stories, some of the people were well known, some were known because of their vanishing.  Either way, all of the stories illustrate how easy it is for people to disappear and never been seen or heard from again.

     Although these stories are short, they are not exactly a quick read.  The topic is real the characters are real and the content is depressing.  I would rate this book as 3 stars and would encourage those who are interested in missing people to read.

Links 

Teaching Books

Vanished into thin air

Marc Tyler Nobleman's Blog - Noblemania

Marc Tyler Nobleman - Biography

Is it Night or Day?

                                                                                                By Fern Schumer Chapman

          This inspirational tale of a young Jewish girl, Edith, traveling to the 'safety' of America on her own during World War II is a rewarding read.  Fern uses the inspiration of her mother as the basis for this story and relates the poignancy and heart break of these young victims of Hitler's reign.

     You meet Edith as she is preparing to leave her Mother, Father and Grandmother and her small village that is all she has ever known.  Her parents tried to give her a lifetime of teaching in a matter of weeks and Edith is numb and overwhelmed with the events surrounding her departure.  On the boat across the Atlantic Edith befriends a group of kids and they quickly become inseparable.  All of the children on the boat are there for differing reasons and going to different parts of the United States.  Edith is bound for Chicago, IL, along with fellow passenger Julius.  They both believe that they will be able to maintain their relationship in this city.

     Edith is met at the train station by her Uncle Jakob, whom resembles her father in Germany.  She is relieved to see something from home.  He takes her to his 2 bedroom apartment that is shared by his wife and daughter.  Edith does not have her own room, but a couch in the dining room.  She quickly realizes that she is not to be welcomed by her aunt and cousin.  Her aunt makes Edith into a servant/ slave and expects Edith to do all of the housework.

     Throughout this story Edith strives to maintain her identity as a German, in an attempt to maintain some sort of contact with her family remaining in Germany.  But she is forced to attend an American school, to learn more English, her Aunt throws away all of her clothes and will not let German be spoken in the apartment.  Through her Uncle Jakob, Edith learns to love the sport of Baseball especially the Chicago White Sox.  She even discovers a Jewish Baseball Great in Hank Greenberg.  As she grows, her love of the sport and the loss of her loved ones in Germany, she begins to identify with her new country.

     This tale is very powerful and a tribute to the 1000 Children program that saved children from Hitler's reign.  Very well written with wonderful detail and an identifiable theme of the difficulties of assimilation into a new culture.  Is it Night or Day?  is well worth the read, especially for students 10 and up.

Links

One Thousand Children Effort

Orphans of World War II

Hank Greenberg

Fern Schumer Chapman

 

A Time to Dance

                                                                                                     By Padma Venkatramen


     This is a beautiful story, told in verse.  A young Indian girl, Veda, has just won a prestigious dance competition; and is in a horrible accident.  The tragedy results in Veda losing part of her leg.  This devastates the young dancer, and she swirls into a pit of despair.  Through the aid of an American Doctor, Veda attains a prosthetic limb and is convinced that she may be able to return to dance.
After some work and practice, she returns to her old dance instructor.  Only to be turned away without a thought.  This does not sway Veda, she continues to work and with the help of Jim, the American Doctor, and her Grandmother, Veda finds an enlightened instructor that is willing to help her rekindle and find her love of dance.

     At the new dance school, she meets Govinda, the beginning dance instructor.   He is very handsome and passionate about dance, which Veda finds very attractive.  Their bond begins to flower and deepen, but Govinda's parents want him to be an engineer, not a dancer.  He eventually has Veda teach one of his classes so that he may study for his college entry exams. Veda is an accomplished dancer, the technique,  and mechanics of dance, but she does not become the dance.  After the death of a loved one, she finally begins to understand the nuance of drawing the audience into her dance, and her passion for her craft is rekindled.

     This is a beautiful story of a young girl not only coming to grips with a tragedy but blossoming and inspiring those around her, through her dance.  This book is a great read for those that love to dance from 5th to 6th grade and beyond.

Links

Childhood Prosthetics

Bharatanatyam Dance

Indian Caste System

Padma Venkatraman

Prosthesis and Athletics

On The Fence

by Kasie West

   Meet Charlie, she is a young woman of 16 years old that from a young age has been raised by her Police officer father and 4 older brothers.  She is an outstanding athlete and an all american tom boy.  Until, her dad forces her to get a job and help pay for her speeding tickets and insurance premiums.  Charlie is thrust into girl world when she procures a job in a women's clothing store.  The proprietor hires her on the  spot, but insists that she buy clothing from the store to work in.  Charlie is also questioned about a parental signature and lies about her mother.  She is over people giving her sympathy because of the death of an all but forgotten mom.  Slowly, Charlie begins to enjoy the clothing and the make up and learns that being a girl is not a bad thing.  

     Meet Braden, the boy next door.  The brother from another mother, Charlie's brothers' best friend.  He is over at the house, constantly.  Braden's life is difficult, he has an abusive alcoholic dad whom Braden wants out of his life.  Charlie and Braden often will sneak out at night and meet at the fence to talk about their problems.  Their friendship grows and secretly Charlie begins to think of Braden as more than a friend.  

     As Charlie begins to enjoy being a girl, she earns girl friends and one night meets up with a boy that she is attracted to.  Charlie, the tom boy, and Charlie, the girl, go to battle.  She is convinced no boy would be attracted to her if he knew about the sports and how competitive Charlie is on and off the field.  Finally, she comes to the realization that she has to be happy with herself and true to who she is meant to be.  

     This is a wonderful coming of age story, that is very identifiable by many young women today.  The dilemma of being yourself, being accepted and how does one fit into the society.  Please only read if you are at least 7th or 8th grade, since some of the content is adult.  

Links

Female Athletes:  http://www.biography.com/people/groups/athletes-female

Raising a teenage daughter:  http://life.familyeducation.com/girls/mothers/54215.html

Kasie West:  http://www.amazon.com/Kasie-West/e/B00MCKM9CS

The Hidden Girl by Lola Rein Kaufman and Lois Metzger

The Hidden Girl 

by Lola Rein Kaufman and Lois Metzger

     This is a nice short story written in retrospect from an adult looking back to what she endured as she hid from the Germans in Poland.  Lola looks back into a childhood, which began pretty idyllic in a Polish town.  Shortly after her mother is killed she is sent to a Ukrainian women for safe keeping by her Grandmother.  She stays in the countryside for a short time until the women is threatened by her son.  He wants to hand over Lola to the German Police.  Lola is then shipped off to another family where she is kept in a hole under the cellar and fed through a door.  She is hiding with 3 other people, and they are not allowed to talk or move. They do not want Lola there and are very dismissive of her as a young child.  When Germany is liberated, Lola is forced to remain with the family, since no one is left that is able to keep her.  She is forced out to begin the march into Russia and finally meets up with somebody who recognizes her and is willing to help.  She eventually is reunited with an uncle and they make the laborious trek to the United States.  

     

     Lola grows up and looses her childhood due to World War II.  She clutches her memories to her and does not share the horrors that she endured, like the dress that she keeps.  The last thing that her mother made her before she was killed.  Finally, she is encouraged to meet up with other hidden children and begins to tell of her story.  One person, becomes very interested and the restult is "The Hidden Girl."  Lola eventually, is willing to give her beautifully embroidered dress to a museum, so that the memory will live on.  

     Although, this was a short read, it initially left me wanting more.  I wanted more detail, I wanted to smell the dirt in the barn.  Not until the end when I realized that this was a story going back in time from a memory, that I realized that over time some of the details would have faded.  I ended up enjoying the story and would encourage anyone over 4th grade to grab a copy.  

Links 

Hidden children of the Holocaust.  https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10006123

The Holocaust in Poland:  http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/holocaust/about/09/poland.asp

World War II:  http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii

Lois Metzger:  http://www.amazon.com/Lois-Metzger/e/B001HMLK6S