Mrs. Henager's Book Blog

The Boy Who Dared

2010-07-26T18:07:00.000-07:00

I had no idea what this book was about before I picked it up. I couldn't wait to find out what this boy "dared" to do. It was quite shocking what he really did do, and this novel is based upon a true story.

Helmuth Hubener was a real boy, who did this real thing; he stood up against the Nazi's lies. This boy was courageous, and religious. He wasn't Jewish, therefore he was able to keep practicing his religion. What he believed through and through was amazing. I would be proud to call Helmuth my own son. Given this was during World War II, that his adopted father was a Nazi police officer, and that he secretly listened to the radio he was very daring.

Throughout the whole story, Helmuth is in jail. This novel is told through flashbacks. He tells you briefly about what happens in jail, but the rest of the story is all of his memories of how things led up to him being convicted.

I'm glad the author included some author's notes and pictures because it helps connect the story with the real people this happened to.

Of course I strongly urge you to read this book because it was good, it is historical fiction, and it kept you on the edge of your chair wondering what Helmuth had done that was so horrible that as a teenager he was on death row.

Here is a photo of Helmuth.

This is a really good one, I read it years ago and still remember it!

2010-07-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Palmer family is on a camping trip when Mom breaks her ankle. As Mom and Dad Palmer leave for the hospital, Jonathan, his disabled sister Abbey, and their dog Moose begin the walk back to their camper. On the way an earthquake strikes. Now the surrounding trees are destroyed, their camper is smashed, along with Abbey’s walker. Jonathan is faced with making difficult survival decisions.

Earthquake Terror is a suspenseful family adventure story which portrays how a family bond can strengthen when faced with disaster and survival.

Does this synopsis have you interested in this book? It should, it's really a GREAT book. I have totally had this book in the back of my mind for years. It even shocked me when I read it, and that's been years ago. I read this book when I was student teaching. I was surprised at how it kept me on the edge of my seat wanting to keep reading. I had forgotten the title, but this needs to be a definite addition to my classroom library!

I forgot about this really good book

2010-07-22T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it's more like reading the main character's journal. She's dealing with the problem that her dad lost his job. Lots of us can connect with that lately. The problem is that her parents have to sell their beautiful house she loves. She deals with all of the typical problems that all youngsters deal with when they have to move. I did when I was young. It's hard! So how does she deal with everything? Does it get better? Read it and find out!

Oh yeah, it's also a Bluestem book.

I've been reading about dogs lately

2010-07-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

First I read Hachiko Waits. When I picked up that book from the library, I also picked up 5 other books. One was Kenny and the Dragon. The others were How to Steal a Dog, The Great Wide Sea, The Boy Who Dared, and The Year of the Dog.

A nice story about a young girl who in 4th or 5th grade thinks she needs to "find herself" because it's the year of the dog. Supposedly, the year of the dog means that it's good luck and it helps you find out what you're good at.

This story helps a Tawaiian-American girl figure out who she is. It goes through a year of her life, and her experiences in school and at home. It was another Bluestem book nominee. I think a lot of girls will like this book and can understand and connect with the things that happen.

Like the last 3 books I've read, I didn't want to put it down. It's a fast read, you learn a lot about her family and the stories that have been told through the generations of things that help make this family who they are today.

I think it is always important to expose children to literature that lets them see what it might be like to be in another culture or nationality. This book does that.

Enjoy!

This will tear at your heart strings

2010-07-21T10:50:00.001-07:00

An adorable dog with such loyality and love for his owner. Hachiko Waits is a timeless story, which is evident since its true historical setting is 1924. What I didn't know before reading this book, was that it is historical fiction. It's based on a true story. This dog was famous in Japan.

This was another good read that I didn't want to put down. This is one reason I enjoy children's literature; I can read a large volume of books over the summer, which then some of the best are either purchased for my classroom library, or they turn into classroom read alouds. This one is possibly going to be both; a read aloud and a purchase.

What was surprising to me was that while doing some images research, that this book and historical information has been turned into a movie staring Richard Gere. I don't think this was ever released into theaters in my area, but it is for sale from Amazon.

And here is an image of the statue that was built because of Hachiko's loyality and determination to find his owner.

New Reads

2010-07-21T10:02:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to read the books from the 2011 Rebecca Caudill book list, but Illinois has a new book award: The Blue Stem awards. I really like that there is a focus for students in grades 3-5. Some of the Caudill books are way too advanced for this level reader, unless I read them aloud to my students. I've found some good books on the new Bluestem list.

Here is a link to the Bluestem 2011 list.

I've recently read Kenny & the Dragon.

This book is written by the author of the Spiderwick Cronicles, which I've never read, but many kids enjoy. Anyway, this book is about a cute, litte rabbit who is quite unliked by his classmates because he loves to read and knows a lot about non-fiction things. He'd rather have a book than play sports.

This book is set back in the times of kings. It is a small town that thinks dragons are bad. As I was reading, I thought the first chapter was quite comical. The narrator doesn't understand how you can be "upon time" like you can be upon a horse or upon a farm, so he feels he can't start the book with the traditional fairy tale beginning Once upon a time.

Also having seen the original St. George and the Dragon sculpture, this reminded me a lot of that. I know the author was probably connecting to that, but I think that might have been written more for the adult reader.

I enjoyed this book, it was a fast read. I loved the pencil illustrations that helped extend the story for the reader. I thought this might be a class read aloud, but I've recently found one I think I like a bit better. Stay tuned, that will be my next blog post!

A Definite Read Aloud

2010-07-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

Each year, I struggle to find a really good book with a strong, yet low drama queen, main character. I think I've found it. It's A Friendship for Today.

This book has a strong, female character. She's a black girl who is one of 5 students that go to a white school as soon as segregation ends. She works hard to keep up and fight the sterotypes they had in the south in the 1950's. You know that teacher who segregated the students by their eye color? Well that happens in this book. It has a lot of lessons to teach students, and all people alike.

If you picked one book from this list, so far, this would be the one!

2011 Rebecca Caudill Reads...so far

2010-07-09T11:53:00.000-07:00

This summer's reading seems to be off to a slower start. Not to mention the fact that it's getting harder and harder just to walk into the library and pick up a few. A lot of kids have gotten the same idea I have; read the Rebecca Caudill books over the summer.

Well so far, these have been what I've read.

I seem to enjoy more books that have boys as the main character. I'm trying to push myself to find a really solid book with a female main character. I've found that and I'll tell you a bit more about it in my next post!

It's really hard to pick from the 2010 list

2010-07-09T11:43:00.000-07:00

I am finding it really hard to pick my favorites from the 2010 books that I read.

I did enjoy Emma Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree. Good story about friends with a hint of drama and dangerous escapades wrapped in.

Something about Georgie had really good lessons about tollerance and acceptance. I might have to add that to my read alouds this year at school.

Shooting the Moon was a pretty fast read and gave some insight to what families in the military experienced during the Vietnam War.

The books that I felt topped my list were White Giraffe, The Motzart Question, and The Home of the Brave.

I enjoyed White Giraffe because the setting was far different than many other books I've read. It took me to Africa. It was just different and not what I expected. My favorite animals are giraffes so I was curious just by the title.

Motzart was just short and really interesting. I recommended it to a 5th grade teacher at our school who does an extensive unit on concentration camps and World War II.

Finally, The Home of the Brave hooked me within the first 50 pages that I had to put the novel down because I needed to start reading it differently. I had to start reading it like a teacher who was writing a novel study. It was that good that I realized that this would be a book I was going to use to teach with. My copy is now marked with notes, questions, and thoughts. Many who I read this to and read it with did enjoy it too. This book, I DEFINITELY recommend!

Select any of these books and you should definitely enjoy.

Good Reads from the 2010 Rebecca Caudill Lists

2010-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

My summer reading lists are usually based on the next year's Rebecca Caudill lists. Last summer I read all of these books.

My Favorite of the 2009 books

2010-07-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

I think that my favorite books were The Green Glass Sea and The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

I think that I really learned a lot of history from The Green Glass Sea. I even wrote to the author and she was kind enough to write back and answer my questions.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret was just a good, but really long, story. It made you route for the underdog. You wanted this boy to finish his invention.

I would definitely recommend any of these books but the two I've briefly mentioned were my favorites.

My 2009 Rebecca Caudill Reads

2010-07-09T11:28:00.001-07:00

Read, read, and read somemore

2009-07-08T13:13:00.001-07:00

Recently, I read this book, A Small White Scar. It was a reasonably fast read, it wasn't really what I expected. I thought it would be more about how the main character, Wil got this scar. It wasn't as much about that though. It was more about the history of Wil and his twin brother. It was a bit sad though when Wil talked about the relationship with his father. Wil becomes the caretaker for his twin brother. Now are you thinking, why does he need to care for his twin brother? Well that's because the brother is a special needs brother. He was taken with some childhood illiness and has diminished mental capacity. He actually reminded me of an autistic child, but he's not autistic.

Set in the past, it was a trip through the desert, through the rushing river, on and off horseback, and there were snakes involved. Not my favortie animal to see, hear, or read about, but it was interesting enough to keep me reading.

I think this is definetly a book boys will enjoy. I think good readers from 5th grade or older will enjoy this book.

Rating
2 of 4 stars. This was not one of my favorites of what I've read so far. I will predict that this will not win the Rebecca Caudil award

One good read

2009-06-16T05:00:00.001-07:00

This isn't what I just finished reading, but I do have to admit that it was one great read. It was short, about 80 pages, some pictures included, but it was worthwhile. This book was about a new journalist that gets sent to France to interview a world-famous violinist. She gets told, "what ever you do, don't ask the Motzart question." Not knowing what the "Motzart question" was, she gets there and says to him, "Well since I can't ask the Motzart questions, what should we talk about." That leads him to tell his life story. He explains everything to this young-green journalist and she gets the story that every journalist could ever wish for, his exclusive explaination of the "Motzart question."

This was a great book for young people because it keeps the Holocaust memories right there so that our new generations learn about it and never let it happen again.

While reading this book, the author did a fantastic job of having you fall into the book. It was if I was sitting off in the corner listening to his whole story. I could have easily been that reporter sitting there listening as the musician explains how he began playing the violin, how he disobeyed his parents, how he helped his parents (Holocaust survivors) reunite with another survivor who was in the same concentration camp with them.

It was a heartwarming story, it was a bit of Holocaust history I was unaware of, it was wonderful. So far, this has been my favorite book I've read on the Rebecca Caudill list. I would vote for this as the winner.

Read it and enjoy!

I hope this will motivate others to read

2009-06-11T12:30:00.000-07:00

As a reading specialist, I find that I don't read enough. I've actually called myself, "The non-reading, Reading Specialist." Lately that isn't me. I've decided that I want to try to read all the 2010 Rebecca Caudill nominees. This link actually shows all the book covers.

So as I keep crossing them off my list, I'll give you a short synopsis of the book and my opinion. I don't think I've come across the winner yet, but if I do I'll definitely note that.

Enjoy, read, and give my your feedback and opinions of the books too!

Another new blog all about books

2009-06-07T12:42:00.001-07:00

This blog is going to be dedicated to books. The books I read, enjoy, and even not enjoy. I'd love to hear what you think about these books if you've read them too.