BIBLIOGRAPHY
Hale, Shannon. 2005. PRINCESS ACADEMY. New York: Bloomsbury. ISBN 1582349932
PLOT SUMMARY
Miri is 14 years old and living with her family on Mount Eskel. She lives with her father and sister in a linder quarry. Her mother died a week after she was born. Miri spends her time tending the house and goats as she is not allowed to work in the quarry. Everything changes when the village learns that the Prince will choose his bride from their village. All girls ages 12-18 are sent to the Princess Academy a few hours walk away. Miri and the other girls have to face many challenges at the academy, a strict teacher, strict rules, and learning to read. As time goes on the girls become competitive for one girl will earn the title of Academy Princess. The competition becomes intense and Miri wants to win, yet her heart belongs to Peder.
The story discusses the isolation that the girls felt, kept away from their families and expected to learn a new way of life at the Academy. Miri teaches herself to quarry speak a silent language which allows the girls to communicate. This skill becomes useful when the girls are kidnapped as ransom. In the end Miri realizes that she wishes to be home with her family and true love. She is relieved to have won the Academy Princess title, and not chosen to be the princess. Miri is pleased to see her friend Britta be reunited with the love of her life Prince Steffan.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Shannon Hale writes a wonderful story about a girl on a journey to learn more about the world since she is forced to attend the Princess Academy. The author writes the story using a voice which enables the reader to feel that they are on Mount Eskel, having the same experiences as Miri. She is a young girl who is easy to relate to.
Miri is a small and determined girl who puts into action the things that she is learning at the academy. She learns about democracy and trading. The information that she learns will touch the lives of her classmates and the people in her village. Readers should realize that anyone can make a difference. Miri was able to living high up on top of Mount Eskel. This story was engaging and quick to read. Miri learns that it is great to learn about new places and things, yet there is no place like home on Mount Eskel with her family, community and Peder. Girls in 5th grade and up will enjoy reading this novel, along with others by Shannon Hale.
REVIEWS
Starred Review in School Library Journal: “Hale weaves an intricate, multilayered story about families, relationships, education, and the place we call home.”
Reviewed in Booklist: “Hale nicely interweaves feminist sensibilities in this quest-for-a-prince-charming, historical-fantasy tale.”
Newbery Honor Book
ALA Notable Children’s Book
CONNECTIONS
*Have students write a story of how they can make a difference in their community.
*Other stories written by Shannon Hale:
Hale, Shannon. BOOK OF A THOUSAND DAYS. ISBN 1599900513
Hale, Shannon. RIVER SECRETS: BOOKS OF BAYERN. ISBN 1599902931
Hale, Shannon. THE GOOSE GIRL: BOOKS OF BAYERN. ISBN 1582349908
Saturday, August 8, 2009
LOOKING FOR ALASKA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Green, John. 2005. LOOKING FOR ALASKA. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0525475060
PLOT SUMMARY
This is the story of Miles Halter who is a teenager from Florida that decides to attend a boarding school in Alabama in search of his “great perhaps”. Miles adjusts to life without his parents monitoring his every move. He is searching for new friends and a more exciting life than his boring and uneventful life in Florida. Miles new found friends teach him about smoking and cigarettes. One friend is particular is very special, Alaska. She is beautiful, intellectual, and liked to live life on the edge. Alaska was traumatized as a child by her mom’s sudden death. The story takes a sudden turn when Alaska is killed in a car crash in the middle of the night rushing to take flower’s to her mother’s grave. She felt that she had let her mother down again. The shock of the death left Miles and their close friends reeling and attempting to find the answers as to why she died.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story depicts a teenagers need to find something better and different than what they already know. Miles made several friends, yet he had to learn how to be a friend. He found the social Labyrinth a challenge to navigate. It was a daily struggle at first, adjusting to boarding school. Miles fell in Love with Alaska and the idea of loving her. The chapters are labeled days before and after; this leads the reader to assume that something is going to go wrong for Alaska. It was through her death that Miles was able to recognize that she had touched the lives of many people at the school. Miles matures as he realizes that he should have been a better friend. The book illustrates the range of feelings that a teenager goes through when they lose a close friend to drunk driving. Miles and his friends set out to find answers as to why she died. The book also discusses drinking and the problems that it caused the students. Alaska was using drinking and smoking to ease her pain. In the end, it is what killed her.
REVIEWS
Reviewed in Publishers Weekly: “Readers will only hope that this is not the last word from this promising new author.”
Reviewed in School Library Journal: “Miles's narration is alive with sweet, self-deprecating humor, and his obvious struggle to tell the story truthfully adds to his believability.”
Michael L. Printz Award
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year 2005
CONNECTIONS
*Students can learn more about famous farewells:
Allen, Robert. FAMOUS LAST WORDS: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION OF FINALES AND FAREWELLS. ISBN 1856487083
*Other stories by John Green:
Green, John. AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES. ISBN 0142410705
Green, John. PAPER TOWNS. ISBN 0525478183
Green, John. 2005. LOOKING FOR ALASKA. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0525475060
PLOT SUMMARY
This is the story of Miles Halter who is a teenager from Florida that decides to attend a boarding school in Alabama in search of his “great perhaps”. Miles adjusts to life without his parents monitoring his every move. He is searching for new friends and a more exciting life than his boring and uneventful life in Florida. Miles new found friends teach him about smoking and cigarettes. One friend is particular is very special, Alaska. She is beautiful, intellectual, and liked to live life on the edge. Alaska was traumatized as a child by her mom’s sudden death. The story takes a sudden turn when Alaska is killed in a car crash in the middle of the night rushing to take flower’s to her mother’s grave. She felt that she had let her mother down again. The shock of the death left Miles and their close friends reeling and attempting to find the answers as to why she died.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This story depicts a teenagers need to find something better and different than what they already know. Miles made several friends, yet he had to learn how to be a friend. He found the social Labyrinth a challenge to navigate. It was a daily struggle at first, adjusting to boarding school. Miles fell in Love with Alaska and the idea of loving her. The chapters are labeled days before and after; this leads the reader to assume that something is going to go wrong for Alaska. It was through her death that Miles was able to recognize that she had touched the lives of many people at the school. Miles matures as he realizes that he should have been a better friend. The book illustrates the range of feelings that a teenager goes through when they lose a close friend to drunk driving. Miles and his friends set out to find answers as to why she died. The book also discusses drinking and the problems that it caused the students. Alaska was using drinking and smoking to ease her pain. In the end, it is what killed her.
REVIEWS
Reviewed in Publishers Weekly: “Readers will only hope that this is not the last word from this promising new author.”
Reviewed in School Library Journal: “Miles's narration is alive with sweet, self-deprecating humor, and his obvious struggle to tell the story truthfully adds to his believability.”
Michael L. Printz Award
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year 2005
CONNECTIONS
*Students can learn more about famous farewells:
Allen, Robert. FAMOUS LAST WORDS: THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION OF FINALES AND FAREWELLS. ISBN 1856487083
*Other stories by John Green:
Green, John. AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES. ISBN 0142410705
Green, John. PAPER TOWNS. ISBN 0525478183
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kinney, Jeff. 2007. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. New York: Amulet. ISBN 0810993139
PLOT SUMMARY
Greg Heffley is a middle school student who tells the reader about a year of events in middle school through sketches and journal entries. Greg discusses what his life is like with an older brother, younger brother and a best friend named Rowley. He tries to fit in at school and finds that it is not easy. Rowley and Greg have several adventures together including, trick-or-treating and snowball making, somehow things do not turn out as he plans them to.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jeff Kinney has written this book with engaging characters and the preteen dialogue which allows the story to come to life. Readers of many ages will be able to connect with Greg’s mishaps in Middle School and with his family. Humor is found in the many situations in which he finds himself, such as dressed as a tree in the school play, having to go trick-or-treating with his father and little brother on Halloween, and having his mom as a substitute teacher. The cartoon sketches allow the pages to come to life and they give the reader a visual picture of the situation in which Greg has found himself. The pictures allow the story to be an easy and enjoyable read. This is an immediately engaging graphic novel that will motivate boys to keep on reading, to learn what happens next.
REVIEWS
School Library Journal Review: “Kinney does a masterful job of making the mundane life of boys on the brink of adolescence hilarious.”
Starred review in Publishers Weekly: “Kinney ably skewers familiar aspects of junior high life, from dealing with the mysteries of what makes someone popular to the trauma of a wrestling unit in gym class.”
Horn Book Review: “Kinney's writing and illustrations are filled with laugh-out-loud kid humor.”
CONNECTIONS
*Students may enjoy writing their own graphic novel.
*Read more about Greg’s middle school adventures in DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LAST STRAW.
*Look for these other graphic novels:
Holm, Jennifer. MIDDLE SCHOOL IS WORSE THAN MEATLOAF: A YEAR TOLD THROUGH STUFF. ISBN 0689852819
Kinney, Jeff. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES. ISBN 0810994739
Kinney, Jeff. 2007. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID. New York: Amulet. ISBN 0810993139
PLOT SUMMARY
Greg Heffley is a middle school student who tells the reader about a year of events in middle school through sketches and journal entries. Greg discusses what his life is like with an older brother, younger brother and a best friend named Rowley. He tries to fit in at school and finds that it is not easy. Rowley and Greg have several adventures together including, trick-or-treating and snowball making, somehow things do not turn out as he plans them to.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Jeff Kinney has written this book with engaging characters and the preteen dialogue which allows the story to come to life. Readers of many ages will be able to connect with Greg’s mishaps in Middle School and with his family. Humor is found in the many situations in which he finds himself, such as dressed as a tree in the school play, having to go trick-or-treating with his father and little brother on Halloween, and having his mom as a substitute teacher. The cartoon sketches allow the pages to come to life and they give the reader a visual picture of the situation in which Greg has found himself. The pictures allow the story to be an easy and enjoyable read. This is an immediately engaging graphic novel that will motivate boys to keep on reading, to learn what happens next.
REVIEWS
School Library Journal Review: “Kinney does a masterful job of making the mundane life of boys on the brink of adolescence hilarious.”
Starred review in Publishers Weekly: “Kinney ably skewers familiar aspects of junior high life, from dealing with the mysteries of what makes someone popular to the trauma of a wrestling unit in gym class.”
Horn Book Review: “Kinney's writing and illustrations are filled with laugh-out-loud kid humor.”
CONNECTIONS
*Students may enjoy writing their own graphic novel.
*Read more about Greg’s middle school adventures in DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LAST STRAW.
*Look for these other graphic novels:
Holm, Jennifer. MIDDLE SCHOOL IS WORSE THAN MEATLOAF: A YEAR TOLD THROUGH STUFF. ISBN 0689852819
Kinney, Jeff. DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: RODRICK RULES. ISBN 0810994739
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