Sarah, Plain and Tall

Bibliographic information: 

MacLachlan, Patricia.  Sarah, Plain and Tall.  Harper Trophy, 1987.  p. 64.

Brief plot description:

Sarah, Plain and Tall is a story about a family living on the prairie, a widow and his two children.  Jacob receives a letter from Sarah who saw an ad in the newspaper from Jacob for a wife.  The family wants Sarah to come and live with them so they each write her a letter.  Jacob goes into town to get Sarah, and Sarah brings gifts for the children.  They show Sarah around the farm.  Sarah tells the children that she wants to learn how to ride a horse and drive a wagon which the children see as her wanting to leave.  A storm comes and they hide in the barn, but Sarah goes back out to save the chickens.  Sarah goes into town, and the children become worried that she won’t come back.  Will Sarah stay or will see leave the family? 

Brief review:

I believe that Sarah, Plain and Tall could be used for the grades of fourth through sixth.  With these students the book could be used in a prairie unit or in a family unit.  In the prairie unit it could be used as a way to show how men put ads in the paper to get a wife. It also gives a realistic picture of life of the prairie.  For a family unit the book could be used to show how a family reacts to another parent joining the family.  The main idea is that one can accept a new parent into the family even if they loved their past parent.  Although the book is not long it addresses some serious issues in a straightforward manner that students can relate to even with the prairie setting.  I felt that this book was very good because of the emphasis it places on the family.   

Genre label:

Historical Fiction

Reading level/interest level:

4^th- 6^th grade

Character names/descriptions:

Jacob - father

Anna - oldest child of Jacob

Caleb - youngest of Jacob’s children

Sarah - a mail order bride 

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Skylark, Caleb’s Story, More Perfect Than the Moon, and Grandfather’s Dance by Patricia MacLachlan (Sarah, Plain and Tall Series)

Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder

A Fine Start: Meg’s Prairie Diary, Book 3: Kansas, 1856 by Kate McMullan

Subjects/themes:

Prairie life

Awards:

Newbery Award

New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year

ALA Booklist “Best of the 80s”

Garden State Children’s Book Award, New Jersey

Charlie May Simon Book Award, Arkansas

Christopher Award

The Sign of the Beaver

Bibliographic information: 

Speare, Elizabeth George.  The Sign of the Beaver.  Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers, 1983,  p. 135. 

Brief plot description:

Have you ever dreamed of being left alone in the wilderness?  Matt is left alone at the age of twelve in a log cabin in Maine with his father’s watch, rifle, and gunpowder.  Matt helps his father build a one room cabin before his father returns to Quincy, Massachusetts to get his mother and sisters.  A stranger stops by the cabin and he steals the rifle, and a bear steals some food.  While collecting honey, Matt gets attacked by bees and is found in the water by two Indians.  They bring Matt medicine, crutches, and moccasins.  Matt feels that he needs to give them something so he gives Saknis Robinson Crusoe, and teaches them to read.  Attean and Matt spend time fishing and hunting.  Attean teaches Matt several things including making hooks, bow and arrows, and how to hunt.  What will happen with the Indians?  Will Matt’s family return? 

Brief review:

I found that The Sign of the Beaver is a great example of two important things.  First, the book shows that a young boy can learn to adapt and survive in  the wilderness when left alone.  Second, the book shows how Native Americans and settlers can get along with each other when they respect each other.  The book can be used when discussing pioneers, Native Americans, or frontier life.  I think the book could be read by fourth through seventh graders.  This book will appeal to boys because they will be able to connect with Matt and his will to survive.    

Genre label:

Adventure

Reading level/interest level:

4^th- 7^th grade

Character names/descriptions:

Matt- 12 years old

Saknis – Native American; leader of tribe

Attean- Saknis grandson; Native American

Marie – Attean’s sister

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Run Away Home by Patricia McKissack

The Arrow Over the Door by Joseph Bruckac

Mr. Tucket by Gary Paulsen

Subjects/themes:

Pioneers

Indians

Wilderness

Awards:

Newbery Award

Massachusetts Children’s Book Master List

Kansas William White Master List

Arkansas Charlie May Simon Master List

Number the Stars

Bibliographic information: 

Lowry, Lois.  Number the Stars.  Yearling Book, 1989,  p. 137.

Brief plot description:

Number the Stars takes place during the Holocaust in Denmark in the village of Copenhagen.  In the story there is the Johansen family that includes Lise, Annemarie, and Kristi.  The town of Copenhagen has a curfew of eight o’clock since the Germans have been there for the past three years.  Peter brings news that many Jewish shops are being closed down by the Germans.  The Rosen family is Jewish, and Ellen comes to live with the Johansen’s to be safe.  Peter takes her parents somewhere else to be safe.  The families then meet at Uncle Henrik’s house.  What happens while they are at Uncle Henrik’s house?  Will the families survive the war?

Brief review:

I really enjoyed this story because it shows how a family overcomes a war to help a family in trouble.  I believe that this book could be used in a fourth through eighth grade class.  In these grades it could be used when discussing World War II or the Jewish culture.  The book illustrates the sacrifices some people are willing to make in order to overcome injustice and evil.  I believe that the main idea of Number the Stars is that one should never discriminate against another and that if someone is discriminating against others that you should step up and help them fight.  I really enjoyed this book because I enjoy reading things about war and the way the Jews were treated during the Holocaust.

Genre label:

Historical Fiction

Reading level/interest level:

4^th- 8^th grade

Character names/descriptions:

Lise Johansen– eldest, not Jewish

Annemarie Johansen- 10 years old, middle child, not Jewish

Kristi Johansen- youngest who is in kindergarten, not Jewish

Uncle Henrik – lives on water overlooking Sweden

Ellen Rosen- Annemarie’s friend; Jewish

Peter Neilse - Lise’s finance

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Jacob’s Rescue: A Holocaust Story by Malka Drucker

The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Behind the Bedroom Wall by Laura Williams

Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli

Subjects/themes:

World War II, Jewish culture

  

Awards:

Newbery Award

School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

ALA Notable Children’s Book

Maine Student Book Award

Kentucky Bluegrass Master List

Kansas William White Master List

Sydney Taylor Book Award, Association of Jewish Libraries

Arkansas Charlie May Simon Master List

Missing May

Bibliographic information:
Ryland, Cynthia.  Missing May.  Orchard Books, 1992, p. 89.

Brief plot description:
This story is about a girl, Summer, who is living with Aunt May and Uncle Ob after her parents died in a flood in Ohio.  Summer enjoys living with them because they make her feel welcomed and loved.  Summer and her family live in Deep Water located in Fayette County in West Virginia.  The story starts when May has passed away.  At this time Summer is twelve years old.  Her Uncle Ob is a disabled navy man, who makes whirligigs and feels May’s presence as they are working in the garden.  Summer feels that Ob is dying gradually on her and that there is nothing she can do.  Cletus talks to Ob about him feeling May’s presence.  Ob becomes obsessed with getting May back.  Cletus comes over later that day to talk about a pastor that can talk to the dead, but he has passed away.   

Brief review:
I feel that this book has relatable characters for anyone who has lost a loved one.  I think this book could be used in a fifth through seventh grade class when talking about family, death, and life.  The main idea is that even if one dies they are still with us.  This book could be given to a tween that has recently lost someone and my help the tween in their grieving process.  If this book is used in a classroom, it is important for the teacher to discuss the themes of the book with the students so that they better understand what the characters go through. 

  

Genre label:

Realistic Fiction         

Reading level/interest level:

5^th- 7^th grade

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:
Miracle on 49^th Street by Mike Lupica

  

Awards:
Newbery Award 

Island of the Blue Dolphins

Bibliographic information: 
O’Dell, Scott.  Island of the Blue Dolphins.  Dell Laurel-Leaf, 1960, p.197.

Brief plot description:
How would you feel to be left alone on an island for many years?  This story is about Karana who is left on the Island of the Blue Dolphins.  The story begins with an Aleut ship coming to Coral Cove as Roma and Karana are digging for roots.  The Aleuts are there to hunt otter, but they are to split the profit with Chief Chowig.  Something happens, and Chowig dies along with most of the village.  Chief Matasaip prepares the village for a return of the Aleuts, but the past chief Kimki sends a boat to collect the survivors.  Roma misses the boat and Karana goes after him.  An accident then happens and Roma dies.  Karana is left alone on the island.  She leaves the village to burn and moves to a new location.  Rontu, a wild dog whom she injuries, becomes her pet.  What will happen to Karana while she is on the island and will she ever leave?            

Brief review:
I liked this book because it tells of a girl that overcomes all the odds to survive on an island all by herself.  I also like it because it shows how one can survive on the food around them and how weapons can help.  I think this book could be used in fourth through sixth grades.  It could be used when talking about adventures or when talking about islands.  I think that the main idea in this story is to never give up on living.  Karana goes through many things but she never gives up.  I really enjoyed the story and I believe others will too.

Genre label:

Adventure

Reading level/interest level:

4^th – 6^th

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Truth is a Bright Star: A Hopi Adventure by Joan Price
A Way of His Own by T.A. Dyer

Awards:
Newbery Award

Character names/descriptions:
Roma is twelve years old
Karana is twenty-four years old
Chief Chowig- Roma and Karana’s father; chief of the village of Chalas
Chief Kimki- first replacement chief
Matasaip- replacement chief for Kimki
Orlov- captain of ship
Aleuts- people on the ship; come to hunt otters

Julie of the Wolves

Bibliographic information: 
George, Jean Craighead.  Julie of the Wolves.  Harper & Row Publishers, 1972, illustr. Schoenherr, John.  p. 170.

Brief plot description:
In this story an Eskimo girl who lives in Alaska learns about the wilderness around her and that the old ways are not going to help her survive in the new world.  Miyax lost her mother at age four and her father is supposedly dead after going on a seal hunting mission; her father sent her to her aunt to be raised.  After she turns thirteen years old she is sent to marry Daniel, but Daniel is not kind and Miyax runs away.  Her goal is to reach Amy, her pen pal, in San Francisco, but she soon becomes lost.  Miyax finds herself camped near a pack of wolves that she names.  Miyax does not have enough supplies and must use the land around her for food until one day Amaroq accepts her into the pack and they share their food with her.  What will happen to the wolf pack and Miyax? 

  

Brief review:
This story was very detailed about the way Miyax looked and how she lived.  There were also some illustrations that were all black and white with a rough look about them.  They were not finely detailed, but they were recognizable.  I really enjoyed this story because it gave the life of an Eskimo in a changing world.  The main idea of this story is that one can only keep their culture, but they must change with the world around them.  I think that this book could be used for fifth through eighth graders.  There are not any difficult words, but there needs to be some level of understanding about the past and the present in society and culture.  

Genre label:

Adventure

Reading level/interest level:

5^th-8^th grade

Similar materials in style content, theme or characters:

Julie by Jean Craighead George

Julie’s Wolf Pack by Jean Craighead George

Dogsong by Gary Paulsen

The Legend of Jimmy Spoon by Kristiana Gregory

Awards:

Newbery Award

Library of Congress Children’s Books
ALA Notable Children’s Book
Horn Book Fanfare

Subjects/themes:

Adventure

Living off land

Character names/descriptions:

Miyax or Julie- 13 year or older girl

Kapugen- Miyax’s father
Amy- pen pal of Miyax
Amaroq- leader of the wolf pack

Kapu- leading pup of the wolf pack

Silver- female of the wolf pack

Nails – gray male of the wolf pack

Jello- smallest male of the wolf pack

Sister- smallest pup of the wolf pack
Kupa – black pup of the wolf pack

Zing- wolf pack

Zat- wolf pack

Zit- wolf