Growing Minds Through Reading

BIBLIOGRAPHY Saeed, Aisha. Amal Unbound. New York: Nancy Paulsen Books, 2018. ISBN: 978-0-399-54468-2. PLOT SUMMARY:  Amal is a twelve-year-old who loves to learn and hopes to become a teacher one day.  As the eldest daughter, Amal must stop attending school to help with the house chores after her mom has a hard timer recuperating after her delivery.  One day, on her back home from the market, Amal has an incident that changes her life drastically.  After insulting Jawad Sahib, the village’s powerful landlord’s son, Amal must leave her beloved family and go to the Khan’s estate as a servant.  Amal with other servants takes a big risk to win their freedom as well as free their village from the control of the Khan family.  ANALYSIS: Amal is a twelve-year-old Pakistani girl who has many dreams.  She is very studious and loves to learn new things.  She considers many of things unfair such as not being able to spend time with her good friend Omar...

  Watch the author, Joanna Ho, read her story Eyes that Kiss in the Corners .  BIBLIOGRAPHY Ho, Joanna and Dung Ho. EYES THAT KISS IN THE CORNERS. New York: Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2021. ISBN: 978-0-06-291562-7. PLOT SUMMARY:  A young girl observes that her eyes are different from other girls.  Her eyes are like her Mama’s, eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea.  Her Mama’s eyes tell the girl how much she means to her Mama just like her Mama means a lot to her.  Her Mama’s eyes are like Amah’s eyes, her grandmother.  Amah’s eyes kiss in the corners and even though her eyes do not work the same, her eyes still tell many stories.  The girl’s sister, Mei-Mei has the same eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea.  They all have the same eyes that are just beautiful. ANALYSIS: This young girl recognizes the beauty in her eyes and the eyes of the women important in her life.  She knows that her eyes ho...

  BIBLIOGRAPHY Walton, Julia. WORDS ON BATHROOM WALLS. New York: Random House, 2017. ISBN: 978-0-399-55088-1. PLOT SUMMARY:  Adam is a 16-year-old that is schizophrenic.  He hears and sees people that others can’t.  Adam starts a new experimental drug.  The drug has side effects such as headaches, sensitivity to light and increased hallucinations but it seems to work in how he reacts to his visions. At his new school he has befriended a boy named Dwight and a girl named Maya.  With the medication working, Adam starts feeling hopeful that he can be a regular guy and continue to be the person that Maya thinks he is.  Adam and Maya become a couple and even though Adam knows he should be honest with Maya about his condition he doesn’t say anything.  After seven months on the medication, the doctors conclude that Adam is no longer a good candidate for the drug since he has shown signs of resistance to the drug.  During prom, Adam has an episod...

  Read the following interview with Ashely Herring Blake on her book Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World . https://www.younginklings.org/2018-12-ashley-herring-blake/ BIBLIOGRAPHY Herring Blake, Ashley. IVY ABERDEEN’S LETTER TO THE WORLD. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2018. ISBN: 978-0-316-51546-7. PLOT SUMMARY:  Ivy Aberdeen is a twelve-year-old whose family has lost everything when a tornado destroys her house.  Ivy’s notebook with her special drawing goes missing when her family stays at the local school.  Ivy worries that her notebook will be found and her drawings of girls holding hands will be discovered.  Ivy finds some of her drawing in her locker with notes telling her to be honest about her feelings.  Even though she does not know who is leaving these notes, Ivy starts communicating with this person through notes. During this time, Ivy starts developing a crush on a girl named June.  Ivy is torn on how to handle the feelings she...

Read this interview with Alex Gino on his new book You Don’t Know Everything, Jelly P.! and the book George. https://medium.com/@afalck/trans-author-interview-alex-gino-da00eebf1651 BIBLIOGRAPHY Gino, Alex. GEORGE. New York: Scholastic, 2015. ISBN: 978-0-545-81254-2. PLOT SUMMARY:   George is a fourth-grade student who identifies as a girl.   She has been keeping her secret from her family as well as her best friend.   When her class is preparing for the play Charlotte’s Web, George wants to play the part of Charlotte.   Her teacher does not allow her to audition for the part because she is a boy and George is heart-broken. With the help of Kelly, her best friend, they come up with a plan for her to play Charlotte.   Not only does George get to play Charlotte but it also helps her to show her family who she is.   ANALYSIS:   George has always felt like a girl and wishes she could freely express herself with her family, friends and classmates...

Listen to this audio recording of Joseph Bruchac sharing some of the backstory in creating Code Talker:  A Novel About the Navajo Marines in World War II. https://www.teachingbooks.net/book_reading.cgi?id=4858&a=1 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bruchac, Joseph. CODE TALKER: A NOVEL ABOUT THE NAVAJO MARINES IN WORLD WAR II. New York: Speak, 2006. ISBN: 978-0142405963. PLOT SUMMARY:  This is a historical fiction story about the Navajo Marines that played an important role during World War II.  Using their native language, they were able to send messages back and forth that helped save many American lives.  For many years, their work remained classified which prevented people from knowing the important role these Navajo Marines played during this time.   ANALYSIS: The main character in this novel is a Navajo boy.  The reader is introduced to him as Kii Yazhi, a six-year-old who must leave his family to go to boarding school to learn the way of the white peopl...