Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Author: J.K. Rowling

Genre: Fantasy

Grade level: 3-6

There is a boy named Harry who's parents were killed by a bad wizard named Voldemort. He tried to kill Harry but was unsuccessful. Harry lives with a family called the Dursley's and they spoil their own children while Harry has to sleep in the attic. Harry exhibits special powers at the zoo when the glass breaks and he is punished for the incident. Letters come for Harry but Mr. Dursley hides them. Eventually Hagrid comes to give him his acceptance letter to Hogwarts. A month later he boards the train to London to go to school. He meets Hermoine and Ron on the train and they become great friends. There is a troll roaming around the school and together they defeat the troll. For Christmas he receives his fathers invisibility cloak and he explores the school. They find out a three headed dog is guarding the sorcerer stone which is capable of providing eternal life and wealth. Harry finds out that Voldemort is trying the steal the stone. Harry decides that he should find the stone before Voldemort does. They make it past lots of different quarrels and eventually make it to be face to face with a guy named Quirrell and he puts him in front of the mirror that shows you what you always desire and he desires to have the stone and he feels it in his pocket. He tells Quirrell something else and a voice tells him that Harry is lying. He reveals a face on the back of his head and that face is Voldemort who tells Quirrell to kill Harry he is burned when he comes in contact with Harry. Harry faints and wakes up in the hospital with Dumbledore the headmaster by his side who tells him that he saved him just in time and they decided to destroy the stone. 

This book is a very good book to introduce to your students. There is a lot of very good vocabulary that can be used in weekly vocab and spelling tests. It is a very imaginative book that can be used for all sorts of activities and prompts for journal writings. 

The cover art is very cartoonish and there are a couple hints to what the book would be about with the unicorn in the background and the broomstick. On hardcover books the lettering of the Harry Potter is gold and in different material than the rest of the book. 

Holes 

Author: Louis Satcher 

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Grade level: 3-5

Award: John Newberry Medal

Stanley Yelnats has a curse on him and his family put on his great great grandfather. He is sent to Camp Green Lake for a crime that he did not commit. They are forced to dig giant holes everyday. He soon realizes that the warden is looking for something and that is why they dig holes. He meets other boys at camp and we learn about why his family has a curse because his great great grandfather did not take Madame Zeroni up the mountain and sing a song when she helped him fatten up a pig to hopefully win over a girl he loved. The thing that the warden was looking for was a treasure a big treasure that kissing kate barlow collected. The love of her life was killed and so she went seeking for revenge. She would kill people and kiss them after they were dead. She would rob people and eventually she runs into stanleys great grandfather. When the man she loved was killed rain stopped falling and the lake dried up. Stanley makes a friend named Zero and eventually Zero runs away from the camp after saving Stanley. Stanley eventually goes after Zero and the two make their way up the mountain. Zero gets hurt and Stanley has to carry him up the mountain. They reach the top and find onions and water where they eat and drink and stanley sings the song he learned from his ancestors. This breaks the curse and on the way back they find the treasure as well. Zero hires a private investigator and finds his mom. 

This book can be used in the classroom for a variety of reasons. There is lots of vocabulary that can be learned. Each week there could be a weekly spelling test on words from the story. This book also teaching about perseverance and friendship and would be a great prompt maker for journal entries. 

The cover art is pretty abstract. It looks as if it is a moon. The colors are pretty bold and bland. 

Mama Played Baseball

Author: David A. Adler

Illustrator: Chris O'Leary

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade level: K-3

Amy's dad is away at war. While he is away at war her mother has to be able to work to provide for their family. She takes a job on a professional baseball team. At first she doesn't understand why her mother would be playing baseball but as she watched how hard she worked and how good she was she would end up being the one who cheers the loudest in the entire stadium. Amy starts to work on a surprise for her father for when he returns from war. In the end Amy's mother tells her that she's gong to take her somewhere as a surprise. She thinks that they are going to a game since her mother has her uniform on but instead she takes her to the base where her dad is returning home from war. They both tell each other they like their uniforms when they see each other. 

This book can be used to talk about WWII. It can also be used to teach about women's rights and how they changed over the years. We could also learn about technology since there are technological things that are talked about in the book. 

The illustrations in the book are very lightly colored and perfectly drawn for the time period. It is detailed to where you can tell when this took place. 

Child of the Civil Rights Movement

Author: Paula Young Shelton

Illustrator: Raul Colon 

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade level: K-3

A little girl named Paula who lives in New York grew up following Jim Crow Laws. One day they were watching tv a story appeared and it was about freedom riders. Paula's parents wanted to immediately do something to help protest the Jim Crow Laws. They moved to Georgia instantly. While living there they are denied access into things just based on the color of their skin and Paula never understood why. She would cry every time that they would be denied access. She soon would be surrounded by her uncle Martin Luther King Jr and many others protesting against Jim Crow Laws. She talks about different things that happened in order to eventually pass the Voting Rights Acts. 

This book can be used to teach about the civil rights movement. There is a lot of information in this book about the movement and is in the viewpoint of a child. This book can relate to students on a personal level since it is in the viewpoint of a young child. It can teach lessons about racism and segregation. 

The illustrations are very colorful depictions of what it was like to be black during that time period. It showcases emotions as well as detailed things to illustrate the time period this was taking place. The blurred edges of the illustrations give it the feel of a memory which it is a child's memory. 

Red Kits, Blue Kit

Author: Ji-li Jiang

Illustrator: Greg Ruth

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade level: K-3

Tai Chan likes to fly kites with his father. He flies a red kite. His father flies a blue kite. They fly their kites together all the time with a sense of freedom while he tells him stories. Then one day Japanese soldiers come to their town and ransack it. They take his father to a labor camp and Tai Chan is left in the care of his grandmother. The son and father still fly their kites so they can be free together despite being far away not not exactly free. In the end he returns to his son and they are free again together. 

This story can be used in the classroom to teach a child to be thankful for what they have. It also can be used to teach children about what it was like when China was invaded by Japanese soldiers and put them into labor camps and separated their families. 

The illustrations are beautiful and brightly colored. The kits are the only things that are brightly colored. Everything else is a kind of dull color of dim browns in order for the kites to pop out to the readers. They are layered showing lots of different views. You can see the different action going on in the background of the war. 

Back of the Bus

Author: Aaron Reynolds

Illustrator: Floyd Cooper

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade level: K-4

A small boy plays with his marbles on a long bus ride. He heard angry voices and kept asking his mom if they had done something wrong. The bus pulled up and their were police all over. He witnesses Rosa Parks refuse to get up from her seat. He witnesses her being taken away to jail. This was a story in the viewpoint of a child.

This story can be used to learn about the Civil rights movement. It can also be used to teach a lesson about racism and what it was like for children during that time period. Learning about segregation as well. 

The illustrations are beautiful and detailed realistic paintings. It is perfect for the view of a child and portrays emotions through the artwork. 

Baseball Saved Us

Author: Ken Mochizuki

Illustrator: Dom Lee

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade level: K-4

Award: Washington State Book Award

There is a boy who is nicknamed Shorty because of his size. Shorty and his family are taken to an interment camp. Shorty's dad decided that it was time to build a baseball field. The community is all for the sport in order to boost moral. Shorty is not very good but he practice a lot and eventually gets much better. He is motivated by one of the guards that sits and watches him. Shorty is faced with many racial slurs, negative comments, and bullying for his Japanese nature. In the end he is up to bat again in a game winning situation. He tunes out the heckling and he comes up big for his team in the end and wins. 

This book can be used to talk about how the Japanese were treated during WWI. This can be used to learn about how racism is bad and how they were treated during this time. 

The illustrations are very interesting. They are mostly dark colors to represent how depressing and how dark and dreary their time is. Each page is differently occupied with the illustrations. Some pages occupy the whole page and some have white borders. Some even cover a two page spread. The illustrator used beeswax on paper scratching out images and adding oil and paint for color.