VVMBookBlog

Fire from the Rock

(Originally posted by Ms. Moeller)

Fire from the Rock is a historical fiction novel that weaves a fantastic story and supplies information about the fight to desegregate American schools. This is the story of the Little Rock Nine. The main character, Sylvia Patterson, is a typical high school student concerned with friends, boys, and music. She is also a strong willed girl who needs to make difficult choices. Although this book is fiction, the incidents are based on reality. Sylvia is chosen to be one of the few black students to go to the all white Central High School. Her choice is not an easy one as many white people in the community are against desegregation.

Life As We Knew It

Students often come in asking for “scary books.”  Deciding what is “scary” varies from person to person, but this story is very scary to me.

A large meteor is on track to collide with the moon.  Shouldn’t be a huge deal since it’s the moon and not Earth, right?  But then it happens and day by day they began to find out how the moon’s influence on the Earth through tides being messed up and the resulting tsunamis, earthquakes, and volcano eruptions  around the world, turns everything into chaos.  Communication was affected when cable TV went out and cell phones stopped working.  Then real problems began when they realized the climate was affected and winter was coming on sooner than usual.

This is the kind of book where I put myself into the story and wonder how I would react as a mother trying to take care of my family.  When supplies of food, fuel and other necessities get low, how will people behave so that they can all get through the crisis and on to hopefully better days?  Read this book and find out.  Then read the sequel, The Dead and the Gone, to see what happens next!

Written in poetry form using few words, Kek tells a compelling story about escaping from Sudan in Africa after his father and brother were killed, leaving his mother behind, and coming to live in Minneapolis.  He comes to live with his aunt and cousin, arriving in winter to experience cold and snow for the first time.  Riding to his new home with Dave from the resettlement center, he asks to stop when he sees a cow inside a fence along the road.  That  cow is his one connection to his old life.

The story goes on to tell how he adjusts to live in America, going to school in his ESL classes, meeting new friends, and finding a way to care for Gol, the cow.  But all the while he worries about his mother back in Sudan.  Everyone says he probably won’t see her again.  He just can’t accept that.  What do you think will happen?

Read this Maud Hart Lovelace reading list entry for a new way to think about students who come to our country–and our school–directly from another country.

First Crossings: Stories about Teen Immigrants
edited by Donal R. Gallo

Short story books are wonderful because one can read the stories they choose. First Crossings has a wonderful introduction which explains the collection. Each story is unique in its perspective. One story is about getting in trouble at school and the problems with translation. A story talks about football and the prejudices of some people. A Minnesota author, Marie G. Lee, also has a story in this collection. These stories talk about the difficulties of being a teen in a new country.

Don’t Read This! And Other Tales of the Unnatural by various authors

Don’t Read This is a collections of short stories. Three stories stand out as particularly entertaining although they all are tales to be read. In one story a boy kills his grandmother in order to inherit her money and go to a private school. Another story talks of a boy moving to a new house only to find a ghost his own age. A third story talks about a girl being pulled into a mirror. These stories are scary, creepy, and a bit odd.

Readers who have enjoyed the Scary Story books will like this collection of short stories.