Ashes by Laurie Halse Anderson (historical fiction, grades 5-8)
Ashes, the final book in the Seeds of America trilogy, is about family, war, slavery, friendship, hardship, and finding out what is really important in life. In this third book, Isabel continues her mission to find her little sister, Ruth, and take her safely to freedom. Curzon, her friend since book one, is by Isabel’s side for most of their journey. The year is 1781 and the Revolutionary War is ravaging the country. However, our country is not the only thing fighting for freedom and the slaves and former slaves must decide which side to take in the war. Ashes if full of action and provides a wonderful conclusion to the series. There were two quotes in the book that really stayed with me:
““Don’t forget to be gentle,” she warned. “Don’t let the hardness of the world steal the softness of your heart. The greatest strength of all is daring to love.”” page 39
“”Rain’s going to fall, can’t change that. The trick of it is to find the good in the rain, the aspect of positivity. Rains come and rains go, but the sun is always waiting to shine, waiting on the far side of the clouds.”” page 205
If you haven’t read the first two books in the series, Chains and Forge, I highly recommend them!
The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus by Jen Bryant and Melissa Sweet (biography, grades 2 and up)
This narrative biography tells the story of Peter Mark Roget (pronounced roh-zhay) and how he invented the thesaurus. While the topic of how the first thesaurus was created might not seem too interesting, this book is packed with fascinating information about Roget's life. Through the book, we learn about the hardships that Roget faced such as the loss of his father and how shy he was. Many students will relate to Roget's love of making lists. Melissa Sweet's collage and mixed-media illustrations are packed with additional information about Roget, his love of lists, and the time period. One quote from the book that I loved: "But books, Peter discovered, were also good friends. There were always plenty of them around, and he never had to leave them behind." This book won the Caldecott Honor and the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal. The Right Word would be a great book to read to kick off a biography unit (it includes timelines and additional reference material) or to begin talking about word choice and Thesaurus use.
This narrative nonfiction book tells two interesting stories. The first is about the Puerto Rican parrots, how they almost went extinct, and the efforts of scientists and environmentalists to save them. The second story is about the history of Puerto Rico and how that history has effected the parrots. The paper and fabric collage pictures are vibrant and absolutely beautiful! At the end of the book there is a more detailed description of the efforts to save the parrots along with many colorful photographs. This is a book that I would not normally have picked up and read but it was a required book for my course this summer (Informational Books and Resources for Youth) and I'm so glad! Parrots Over Puerto Rico would be a great book to read when talking about environmental issues, animal extinction, and the effects that humans have on animals. It would also be perfect for an art teacher to show prior to teaching the collage technique.
