Morrison, T. M. (1970). The bluest eye. New York City: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
The Bluest Eye was written by Toni Morrison. First published in 1970.
Every night Pecola, unlovely and unloved, prays for blue eyes like those of her white schoolfellows. She becomes the focus of the mingled love and hatred engendered by her family's frailty and the world's cruelty. This novel is a coming of age, tragic tale. This story reminded me a lot of Judy Bloom's "Are You There God? It's Me Margaret" This novel is very tragic and probably would not be used in any education lower than high school. The content that it deals with is hard for some readers to understand at a young age. This book also dealt with a lot of controversy if it should even be allowed in the schools, because of the topics that are discussed in it. There are no illustrations in the novel. This book is an contemporary realistic fiction. The story engages readers. The characters are real and the situations are real. The main character grows and learns about herself. This novel gives a very optimistic view into the eyes of a young black girl in an all white community. Some activities that the students could do is to have a class discussion on what they like or do not like about the book. Also for the students to put themselves in the main characters shoes and write an essay on how they would feel if they were in her situation. Some questions the teacher could present to the class are why do you think the main character felt the way that she did? What do you think she could have done to make herself feel better? Why do you think Toni Morrison wrote this book? I really enjoyed this book. At times it was hard to read, because the things that were happening were hard to read. I did enjoy this book. It offered a different view of how young African American women felt back then in a time where white was the only beautiful thing. I feel that this book would be wonderful for students that are having trouble with their own feelings of their own appearance. This book is a classic, and I believe it will be around for a long time to come.
Grimm, B. G. (1812). Rumpelstiltskin. Germany: Grimm's Fairy Tales.
I love the short story of Rumpelstilskin. This is a classic story. This story was written by the Grimm brothers. It was first published in 1812. This story is a folk tale, fairy tale. This tale has been told for many years. The story is about a young girl who is made to spin straw into gold for a king. The girl cannot do this task. While she is locked away in the tower a strange creature comes to her and tells her if she trades him something he will spin the straw into gold. The girl agrees. The young girl then makes a horrible deal with this creature and most stand up for herself and beat him. This story is such a classic story and is told all over the world. The story has also been translated into every known language. The brothers Grimm were very famous writers. They are known for writing Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, and Snow White. This story is age appropriate, it has very high quality illustrations and it does retain the oral tradition of the tale. There are many things you can do with your students using this traditional tale. You can have your students make up another ending to the story. By writing an essay. The students can then share their endings with the rest of the class. The students can also all participate in a play or skit of the classic tale. You can ask some questions about how the students feel about the story? Who do they see as the bad guy in the story, the young girl or the strange creature.What were their emotional responses after reading the story? Why do you think this story has stayed around for so many years? I have read many versions of this classic tale and I always love the books. The illustrations really make this story come to life. The strange creature is always different looking in every story. Sometimes he is terrifying! Other times he looks friendly! This is a classic story that will be around forever.
Anderson, L. H. (1999). Speak. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.
Speak is a novel written by Laurie Halse Anderson. This book is a realistic fiction novel. I recently re-read this book. Speak was introduced to me when I was in middle school by a friend. This book is a childhood favorite of mine. Speak is about a young girl named Melinda Sordino. The summer before her freshman year in high school, Melinda is date rapped at a party. Melinda calls the cops after this incident. Everyone ends up being mad at her and thinks that she is a snitch because the cops break up the party. No one knows why Melinda truly called the cops that night they are all just mad at her. Melinda suffers a lot through high school her freshman year. This novel shows you how it is like for her through her eyes. I loved this book it got me through a lot of hard times and I was also a fan of the movie that was made from this book. Laurie Halse Anderson is a wonderful writer she is well know for many books. Almost every book she has written there has been some controversies that arise from the books. These controversies are because the topics she writes about are tough topics to hear about. Regardless Laurie does a wonderful job writing these books. Winter girls is also another well known book of hers. Speak is a book that I would recommend for middle school students and above. The date rape is not in detail but it is a topic that I feel is not appropriate for elementary children. This book is a great book for realistic fiction you can help your students if you feel that they may be going through something like this or maybe just a hard time. This book will show your students that they are not alone they can relate to the character in the book. Some activities that students can do are, read the book independently and have a book circle to discuss how they feel about the book. The students can also make a play about the book. The students can portray each character and the rest of the ones who do not want to be in it can play the play critics.
Blume, J. (1970). Are you there god? its me, Margaret. New York: Yearling.
Are you there God? It's me Margaret was written by Judy Bloom. This book has always been my favorite book.
I read this book when I was ten years old. I recently read the book again this year and fell in love with it all over again! This book is about a young girl named Margaret Simon, she is almost twelve, and has just moved from New York City to the suburbs. She in anxious to fit in at her new school. When she is asked to join a secret club of girls she jumps at the chance. This book is all about the troubles of growing up as a girl and the things that girls go through. Margaret's friends wonder what kind of religion she is because her parents come from different religious backgrounds. Margaret keeps it to herself that she has someone to talk to when she is having trouble. She talks to God. Throughout the whole book we as readers see things through Margaret's eyes as she talks to God and asks for advice. This book is amazingly well written. It is not difficult to comprehend. I was only ten years old when I read this for the first time and I had no problem. I recommend this book to all teenage girls to read. This book is relate-able, and funny. Because of the time period of when this book was published it can be considered a Historical Fiction book. This book was published over thirty years ago in 1971. Another great book by Judy Bloom is the book called Blubber. Judy Bloom has written many books some more famous ones are, Forever, Double Fudge, and Freckle Juice. For some classroom activities with the students it may be challenging to focus on this one book because the book is aimed more towards girls. What a teacher can do is have the girl students read "Are you there God? It's me Margaret" and have the boys read another one of Judy Bloom's books like "Freckle Juice". The students can do literature circles so they can discuss the books. Also the students could write an essay about there most embarrassing moment as a teenager. Also as a teacher you can help your students talk about the book by asking them what they liked most about the book or what part stuck out to them the most. This book may be old but it sure is a classic for all ages!
Potter, B. P. (1908). The Tale of Jemima Puddle ~Duck. New York: Penguin Group.
The Tale Of Jemima Puddle ~ Duck is a story about Jemima the duck. Jemima lives on a farm and she is annoyed because the farmers wife will not let her hatch her own eggs. Jemima decides to make an adventure to find somewhere to hatch her eggs. Along Jemima's journey she meets a very suspicious animal. You'll have to read the book to find out the rest ! This story is a classic. It dates back to about 1908. You can see just how old the book is by the illustrations. The boarder illustrations are identical on every page. The illustrations yet small, they do help add depth to this book. This book would be a wonderful book to use in the classroom. You could use the book to show the children the dangers of talking to strangers. This story is in the genre of fictional, an animal fantasy. I really enjoyed reading this book. I was a big fan of Peter Rabbit growing up. I had no idea that this author made other stories in this collection. I recommend this book to any everyone! The author made the story so appealing by the words that the author picked to help describe the story. To me once you get half way through the book it is a page turner. Even as a young children's book I was very interested in the book. I believe that, that is a reflection of the words the author uses to illustrate the meaning. Some questions I would ask a child if they were reading this story would be, who is your favorite character? Why is he or she your favorite? What did you think would have happened if someone would not have helped Jemima? This book would be best used in a younger elementary class. We could use a felt board in the class room and have the students predict what is going to happen next while using the felt board. This book is a classic and I am sure I will read this book to my future students one day.
