Growing Minds Through Reading

  One Crazy Summer BIBLIOGRAPHY Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2010. One Crazy Summer .   New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060760908 PLOT SUMMARY In the summer of 1968, Delphine and her two younger sisters go visit their mother in Oakland, California from Brooklyn.   Their mother abandoned them when, Fern, the youngest sister was still a baby.   When they arrive at Oakland, their mom does not receive them the way the girls expect.   Their visit is more of a hassle to Cecile, their mother, than a way to get to know them better.   As a poet, Cecil does not want distractions from her writing and sends the girls to a Black Panther’s summer camp.   In the camp the girls learn about the Black Panther Party movement for self-defense and community activism for the black community. One day, Cecile tries to tell Delphine why she left.   Cecile’s own struggles as a child were the cause of her leaving them.     After spending a whole month th...

  Okay for Now BIBLIOGRAPHY Schmidt, Gary D. 2011. Okay for Now .   New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544022805. PLOT SUMMARY In 1968 many important things are happening such as the Apollo space mission, Joe Pepitone from the New York Yankees having a solid season and the Vietnam War.   For Doug, it is becoming the new kid in town and dealing with unpleasant situations as home.   Things at home are not the best, there is his abusive father, an irresponsible and trouble-making brother, his oldest brother is in the Vietnam War and to top it off things at school are not going that great.   Doug comes upon the book Birds of America by John Audubon and is mesmerized by it.   Doug now has a new mission of learning how to draw the birds.   He develops two important relationships one being Mr. Powell, one of the librarians, who helps Doug with his drawings and “Lil,” who helps Doug get a job in her father’s deli as a delivery boy. With...

  Lily’s Crossing BIBLIOGRAPHY Reilly Giff, Patricia. 2008. Lily’s Crossing . Read by Mia Dillon. Random House: Digital Audiobook. 3 hours 54 minutes. PLOT SUMMARY: In the summer of 1944, during World War II, Lily must live with her grandmother since her father has been called overseas.  Not only does Lily have to separate from her father but her best friend, Margaret, whose family has moved to a wartime factory town.  Lily is left feeling mad and lonely.  Lily meets, Albert, a boy from Hungarian.  Albert has suffered the loss of his family to the war.  Even though Lily is hesitant about speaking and getting to know Albert soon she comes to have a special bond with him.   They get to know each other by sharing their secrets but also lie to each other.    CRITCAL ANALYSIS: The unabridged audiobook was used for this review.  The story was narrated by Mia Dillon. The sound quality was acceptable with clear pronunciation, acce...

  What to do About Alice? How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! BIBLIOGRAPHY Kerley, Barbara. 2008. What to do About Alice?  How Alice Roosevelt Broke the Rules, Charmed the World, and Drove Her Father Teddy Crazy! New York; Scholastic Press. 0439922313. PLOT SUMMARY Since her early years, Alice was a very active child that made her father, Theodore Roosevelt, go crazy.  Alice loved to do things that back in her time were not considered appropriate for a lady, things such as drive her own car at a fast speed, bet on horse races and be out and about at late hours of the day.  Even though many people saw her behavior as inappropriate many people came to love her. After Alice got married, she continued to immerse herself in the things that she enjoyed doing.  Eventually, she became one of her father’s most trusted advisers as politics was one of the things she came to love and was very knowledgeable about. ...

  T errible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America BIBLIOGRAPHY Campbell Bartoletti, Susan. 2015. TERRIBLE TYPHOID MARY: A TRUE STORY OF THE DEADLIES COOK IN AMERICA. New York; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-544-31367-5. PLOT SUMMARY Mary Mallon is a cook that has worked for many wealthy families.  Not much is known of her since she is a quiet person who keeps to herself.  Six people from the household she is working at fall sick from typhoid fever.  After some investigation Mary is seen as the culprit of that outbreak as well as having caused other people from other households she worked at to get sick.  After many failed attempts to have Mary collaborate with the health department to collect body specimens, Mary is forcefully taken to a quarantine hospital to collect the necessary specimens.  Even though, Mary has never fallen sick to typhoid fever as an adult, or to her recollection as a child, Mary is known as what they...

  An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 BIBLIOGRAPHY Murphy, Jim. 2003. AN AMERICAN PLAGUE: THE TRUE AND TERRIFYING STORY OF THE YELLOW FEVER EPIDEMIC OF 1793. New York; Clarion Books. ISBN 0395776082. PLOT SUMMARY In August of 1793 a disease starts sickening and killing the people from Philadelphia.  Doctors do not know exactly what it is.  Whatever it is, it is contagious and killing at a fast pace.  People, including government workers, scared of getting sick, try to escape the vicious-killer disease by fleeing the city. There is conflict among doctors as what is the best way to treat it.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS Murphy thorough extensive research has done a well job of showing readers what people in Philadelphia went through during this epidemic.  Not only has he gathered information, but he has inserted people’s firsthand accounts, which he gathered through personal journals and letters to loved ones.  Th...