Shooting the Moon

Title: Shooting the Moon

Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell

Rebecca Caudill Nominee

Justin and the Best Biscuit in the World

Title: Justin and the Best Biscuit in the World

Author: Mildred Pitts Walter

Coretta Scott King Award Winner

This book is about a Ten-Year old boy named Justin who doesn't want to make his bed, fold his clothes, clean his room, or wash the dishes to help out around the house. His sister and his mother all are frustrated with him until their Grandpa visits and offers to take Justin back to the family ranch and off their hands. Justin is thrilled to see the big rodeo and festival, and Grandpa is going to teach him how to do real "men's work" like mending fence and handling horses. At the ranch, after Grandpa makes breakfast, he asks Justin if he would like to wash or dry the dishes. Justin replies that he doesn't want to do, then watches as his Grandpa carefully. By the example from his Grandpa, he is able to slowly able to show Justin that the division of labor is not quite what he had thought. Grandpa then makes his bed to have a warm welcome after a hard day on the ranch. Little by little, Justin learns the pleasure of taking care of himself, and even learns to bake Grandpa's special Best Biscuits in the World as well as a delicious pork dinner for his mother and sisters.

I believe this book to be a good book for children to teach them what is fair and that everyone is equal. There is no "girl jobs" and "boy jobs". This book teaches good life lessons and morals that children should learn. I believe that parents would really like this book because it shows that the children should be helping around the house rather than sitting around and watching their mother or father do all the chores. I would recommend this book for people to read.

Half a Moon and One Whole Star

Title: Half a Moon and One Whole Star

Author: Crescent Dragonwagon

Illustrations by Jerry Pinkney

Coretta Scott King Award Winner

This book was a good book. The illustrations was really good and it was a poetry based book, which I thought really helped the book. This book is about what a little girl, Susan, dreams when she falls asleep and what is going on around her. This book talks about what happens under half a moon and one whole star.
This book would be really good to use in a classroom when teaching rhyming words and poetry. This book wasn't an emotional book but, could teach children great language art skills. I would recommend this book to any teacher who need help with language art lessons.

Everett Anderson's Goodbye

Title: Everett Anderson's Goodbye

Author: Lucille Clifton

Illustrated by Ann Grifalconi

Coretta Scott Kind Award Winner

Everett Anderson's Goodbye is about the feelings Everett is feeling as he is coping with an accident that occurred in his life. I really like the way this book was written because it adds to the dramatic side of the story. I feel that every student should read this book because it can help students cope with something they have just lost. I really enjoyed reading this book. The illustrations were amazing and I feel that those really added to the book also.

This book really helped me cope with things that I am dealing with at this time, this is why I feel that anyone could get something out of this book. Everett Anderson's Goodbye is a great book. I loved everything about it.

Lon Po Po

Title: Lon Po Po

Author: Ed Young

Caldecott Award Winner

This book was a great book to read. The illustration really was fantastic in the book. I would suggest for a teacher to use this book when comparing different version of stories.

This book is another version of Little Red Riding Hood. Instead of Goldie Locks going to see her grandmother, the grandmother came to the children. Yes in this book there is not one girl there are three little girls who out smart a wolf.

This book really opened my eyes because it showed me a different side of a children classic book. It was great to see teamwork. When reading this book to children, the children will learn about teamwork with brothers or sisters and don't talk to strangers.

Walk Two Moons

Title: Walk Two Moons

Author: Sharon Creech

Newberry Award Winner

Walk Two Moons is an exceptional book. This book is filled with mystery, fun and excitement. This book is about a girl, named Salamancha, who is forced to move after her mother had left her father and her. Through out the book you really get to understand Sal as a person and what emotions she is going through. During the book she is traveling with her grandparents to Lewiston, Idaho to go and visit her mother on her birthday. She feels that seeing her mother on her birthday is the only way she is going to be able to persuade her to come home. During this road trip with her grandparents she tells a story about her friend Phoebe and a lunatic. During the story Phoebe undergoes an experience like no other, that is very similar to what Sal has went though. As she gets closer and closer to Idaho her story gets more and more interesting. There are secretes that are shared about Sal and her family and reasons to why her mom had left her and her father.
This book is a great book to have middle school children read because it teaches you about "walking in someone else's moccasins", and "treating a day as if it matters". This book can really teach children that you can't judge a book by its cover. This book is like no other, and is a must read.

Weedflower

Title: Weed Flower

Author: Cynthia Kadohata

Required Reading

Weedflower is a great book, it is a story about a twelve- year old Japanese- American. Her story takes place before the events of Pearl Harbor and what her life is like after the Pearl Harbor. I can't believe we kind of did what Hitler did to the Jewish people. It is sad to think that America put the Japanese people into internment camps. This story really shows me how much we discriminate against the Japanese, this book also reminded me of 9-11, because we did the same thing to the Muslims in our country.

The main character in Weedflower is, Sumiko. She tells the story of what happened to her family after Pearl Harbor and their experience was during that time. She shows how horrible it was because of the loss of their home and flower business. Through out this book it shows the strength of her family that helped guided them through the rough time and situation. I really liked in the story that Sumiko and Mr. Mom decided to put some flowers around the camp to help it feel like home.

I really liked Weedflower, I feel that it is an excellent book and I would recommend it to all students and adults. Just like the other books that I have read the books theme was "hope". The flowers were the sign of hope. The only part that I didn't like in the book was the ending this is because I really wanted to know what happened after they had left the camp.

Esperanza Rising

Title: Esperanza Rising

Author: Pam Munoz Ryan

Required Reading

This book was a very sad book, but tells an amazing story about a young girl who has to live through many struggles in her life that all happened within a year. In the beginning of the book after the first page I had said to my sister, “This book reminds me of the Lion King” and after I had said this and kept reading, I wished I never would have made that prediction. My prediction was exactly right, and by the third chapter I was sobbing. Esperanza and her family had to go though horrible situations. I could not imagine being her, I think I would have given up.

I liked this book for many reasons. This book had caught my attention right away. The main character, Esperanza quickly went from a rich life style to a poor lifestyle working to help her family. I felt that Esperanza really does deserve her name, because her name means “hope” in Spanish. In the book they did a great job of explaining new Spanish vocabulary words. As I was reading the book I felt that I was there with her going though her situation.

Overall, I really like this book. I would tell everyone to read this book because it is a good motivational story. I like how the author told the story as she did. This story talks a lot about hope and how to achieve it and all the struggles Esperanza had to go though. I loved the ending of this story, this story showed how Esperanza had grown within a year and all the responsibilities she had acquired.

Yellow Star

Title: Yellow Star

Author: Jennifer Roy

Required Reading

When I first heard the title of this book I was hesitant about reading it. I knew exactly what the book was going to be about, I really wasn’t happy about reading another Holocaust book. Then when I first started reading I became amused with the life of Silvia. This book once I got started was really hard to put down. I can’t believe what Silvia and her family had to go through. I could not imagine being in her place. She had over come and survived a great victory. This book was a different kind of Holocaust book, this book didn’t talk about the torture or the pain that they had suffered. This book talk about how she and her family had out smarted the Germans. I really enjoyed reading this and think this was a great read that is for everyone.

Silvia and her family had survived one of the worst massacres in the world. Silvia was the youngest in her family. There were many parts in the story that really caught my attention, but the one that I remember the most was when her father had out smarted the Germans. This story did a great job of really getting to know the characters. It was really interesting to hear about the Holocaust in a child’s perspective. This book did have many sad parts, but I think it is a very well written story. I really like the ending, it really showed how much Silvia had grown though out the years.

I really enjoyed reading this book, even though it was another Holocaust story, but it wasn’t. I love the way the story talked about the Holocaust. I love how at the end of the story there was a unity within the camp. I feel like I have learned a lot from this story.

Leon's Story

Title: Leon's Story

Author: Leon Walter Tillage

Art by: Susan L. Roth

Required Reading

Leon's Story is an emotional roller coaster. The way the author started writing this story was carefully thought out. In the beginning of book the grammar in was terrible, well bad enough for me to have to go back and reread a couple of sentences. Then by the end of the book, after Leon had gotten more educated the grammar was easier to read. I thought this book did a great job of letting the readers understand the key points in Leon's life. In this book there were a few chapter that really took me by surprise, for example in one of the chapters there was a connection between Esperanza Rising and this book. Leon had a tough childhood he was the second from the oldest. It is amazing how far Leon has come and how much he has achieved since his sharecropping days. This is a motivational book, that can really help readers be determined to follow their dreams. Something I also found interesting in the book was the art, there was art after every chapter. I thought it was important because it was a black and white design that formed unity.

This book is not like a "typical" black history book, but it is a book from a children point of view who had to make his own discussions. He had to figure out how to survive and make the right choices for himself and his family members. It was great to read a book that wasn't about Martin Luther King Jr. (no offense to the people who like him, I do, but reading the same type of book over again can get old) and how he helped with Black rights. It was nice to see how a citizen took charge and helped the cause. Leon did a great job of explaining all the events that took place when he was marching.

At the end of the book it was great to see that Leon after working thirty years was honored by the school he was working at. I recommend that everyone should read this book. It is great the see the struggles that someone had to face and still learn about the history of slavery. In the beginning of the book I had made a connection with Leon, "I remember as a young boy I used to look in the mirror and I would curse my color, my blackness, but in those days they didn't call you "black". They called you "colored" or "nigger"." These sentences really hit home for me, no I am not black but I have vitiligro (lack of skin pigmentation in certain areas) and I remember as a young girl looking in the mirror also, and hating the way I looked. I had kids in school calling me "cow legs". This book is a very good book that everyone should read.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Title: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Author:Sherman Alexie

Art by: Ellen Forney

Required Reading

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a story filled with endless possibilities. The style of writing makes this book feel as if it were happening at that moment as if you were in the story. The illustrations in this story helped understand the events in the book and help get to know the main character. There were a few events in the book that really opened my eyes. I could have never imagined going through what this brave boy had been though, especially as a teenager.

This book did a great job of introducing all the characters. I think this book did a good job of explaining the controversies that had risen throughout the book. This book was told through the narrators own experiences, the author did a great job of telling his story. He included not only great memories about his past, but had wonderful illustrations that helped explain how he was feeling. Junior is a character that everyone can relate to in some point in their life. I really started to like him as I was reading, I really got to know him through his character. Junior had to over come some tough situations in his life.

Overall, I feel this book did a great job of letting the readers know what life was like on the Indian Reservation. I really do recommend everyone to read this book. I think everyone could get something out of this book. This book has inspired me to work to achieve all my dreams. This book show how Indians live and the struggles that the children and adults have to face. Again, I do recommend that everyone should read this book.