1. White, E. B. Charlotte’s Web

Hui Hua Li

Libr 264 Assignment #5

Professor: Penny Peck

Genre(s)/Subject(s): Science Fiction, Historical Fiction Mystery, Adolescent Issues, Magic and Supernatural, Friends and Friendship

Brief Plot Description: Mibs is excited for the coming of her birthday because she is going to have savvy, a magical power that the Beaumont family members possess once they are at the age of 13. Unfortunately, two days before Mibs’ birthday, her father gets hurt in a serious car accident and is in a coma at Salina Hospital. As Mibs believes her savvy can wake up her father, she took a bus with her brothers and the preacher’s kids to the hospital. However, their bus takes a wrong turn that leads to the beginning of an adventure where she discovers her real savvy is being able to listen to the talk of tattoos and read other’s minds. Mibs finally wakes her father up with her savvy.

Brief Plot Description: Milo is a schoolboy who always feels bored with his life. One afternoon, he unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth. Milo drives his toy car through the tollbooth to the land of the Kingdom of Wisdom. During his adventure, he gets lost in the Doldrums, but is saved by a watchdog named Tock. Milo and Tock learn that the two capital cities of the Kingdom of Wisdom, Dictionopolis and Digitopolis, are at war because the two rulers of the capital cities disagree between the importance of words and numbers. The two princesses Rhyme and Reason are banished to the Castle in the Air. Milo, Tock, and Humbug set off to rescue the two princesses, but they have to fight with demons and overcome some obstacles along their journey. Finally, the two princesses are rescued by them and the Kingdom of Wisdom returns to harmony.

Brief Plot Description: On a road trip from Ohio to Idaho, Sal shares the story of her friend Phoebe with her grandparents. As the mystery of the disappearance of Phoebe’s mother is unveiled, readers can find the similarities between Sal’s story and her sadness over the death of her mother.

15. Fitzhugh, Louise. Harriet, the Spy. Harper & Row, 1964. 298pages. Tr. $7.19 ISBN 9780385327831

Brief Plot Description: Eleven-year-old girl Harriet dreams of being a writer. She has an unusual habit of spying on others and writing notes about them on her notebook. One day, she loses her notebook and it is read by her classmates. Her awful notes about her classmates enrage everyone in the class. Harriet is isolated from the class and her classmates create a plan to exact revenge on her. At first, Harriet does not care about her classmates’ hostile attitudes toward her, and insists on writing her notes. A letter from Ole Golly Waldenstein makes Harriet realize that what she did was wrong. By the end of the story, with her writing and observation skills, Harriet is selected to be the editor and she befriends her classmates again.

16. Yelchin, Eugene. Breaking Stalin’s Nose. Holt and Company, 2011. 140 pages. Tr. $7.19 ISBN 9780805092165

Brief Plot Description: This story takes place during Stalin's reign of the Soviet Union. Sasha Zaichik, a ten-year-old boy, is looking forward to becoming a Soviet Young Pioneer just like his father. Despite being a devoted communist, Sasha’s father is arrested by the State Security officers as an enemy of the people. Sasha becomes homeless and his aunt refuses to let him stay at her home. The school is going to hold a Pioneers rally, but Sasha accidently breaks off the plastic nose of Stalin’s statue. His classmate Four-Eye Finkelstein confesses the crime on behalf of Sasha in order for him to be able to be locked up to see his parents in prison. The teacher Nina Petrovna is arrested too because the nose is found in her desk. Sasha starts to examine his beliefs and decides he does not want to be a Pioneer anymore.

Books Similar in Style, Content, Theme, or Characters: The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Silent Thunder: A Civil War Story by Andrea Davis Pinkney, Soon Be Free by Lois Ruby

17. DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie. Candlewick Press, 2000. 182pages. Tr. $4.06 ISBN 97807633644321

Brief Plot Description: Living in a broken family, Opal Buloni moves with his father, a preacher, to Naomi, Florida from Watley in the summer. He saves a dog in the Winn-Dixie grocery store and claims it as his dog when the manager is going to send it to the pound. Opal brings the dog home and names it Winn-Dixie. Because of the Winn-Dixie, Opal starts to make friends with other people in his community. He gets to know the librarian, Miss Franny Block ,and Otis, the owner of the pet shop through getting along with them.

Brief Plot Description: Fascinated by ancient Egypt, Melanie and April read all the books about ancient Egypt at the library. The two girls and Melanie’s brother begin to build an Egyptian temple on a vacant yard located behind the Professor’s curios store. They start to play Egypt games there and later more kids join in on their Egypt games. However, they have to stop playing the game because murder cases are happening around the neighborhood. The Professor is suspected to be the murderer, but he proves his innocence by saving April from danger when she is attacked by the murderer.

Books Similar in Style, Content, Theme, or Characters: The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright, Lily’s Ghosts by Laura Ruby, The Ghost’s Grave by Peg Kehret

19. Lai, Thanhha. Inside Out &Back Again. Harper, 2011. 262pages. Tr. $14.00 ISBN 9780061962783

Brief Plot Description: In this verse novel, Hà and her family flee to Alabama from Saigon, Vietnam because of the Vietnam War. Hà’s father is a soldier who is captured when he leaves home on a navy mission. Hà and her family have to endure the hardship as refugees in a new country and maintain hope in order to confront difficulties. Hà and her family always pray for the return of their father, but sadly, they find out that he is dead.

20. Konigsburg, E. L. From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.Atheneum, 1968. 162pages. Tr. $14.95 ISBN 0689853548

Brief Plot Description: This story is about a girl named Claudia, who runs away from home to have an adventure with her brother Jamie. They choose the destination for their adventure to be the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. While living at the Metropolitan Museum, they try to solve the mystery of an angel statue that is sold by Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler at the auction for $225. They want to find out whether the statue is the work of Michelangelo or not, and they need to find the answer from the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

Brief Plot Description: This is a sad romantic story about Jesse Aaron and Leslie Burke. Jesse gets to know more about Leslie after Leslie beats him in the school race. They become good friends and build a secret kingdom called Terabithia in the woods where they spend time together as king and queen. However, a tragedy occurs, changing everything. Leslie dies in an accident, and Jesse needs to find the strength to go through all the pain and fear.

Brief Plot Description: During the Great Depression, ten-year old orphan Bud is adopted by the Amoses, a stereotypical abusive family. Bud is tortured by a twelve-year old boy named Todd, the son of the Amoses. Bud’s mother died when he was six years old. Convinced Herman E. Calloway is his father based on fliers left by his father that show Herman E. Calloway and his jazz band, the Dusky Devastators of the Depression, Budd sets off on a journey to find his father.

Genre(s)/Subject(s): Historical Fiction, African Americans, Music, Depressions, Runaways, Adoption and Foster Care, Parents
Reading Level: Ages 8-12
Awards: Newbery Medal (2000), Rebecca Caudill Young Reader's Book Award Nominee (2002), Grand Canyon Reader Award for Teen Book (2002), Nene Award (2002), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (2001)
Books Similar in Style, Content, Theme, or Characters: Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine, The Black Canary by Jane Louise Curry, The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton
Programming/Lesson Ideas: After reading the story, children can have a Bud’s Suitcase project to design Bud’s suitcase with paper, pictures, poetry and more. Here is the example of the project: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/244883298460338285/
Personal Thoughts: The novel is compelling and touching, which weaves the historical event of the Great Depression and the story of an African American boy seeking his father together. It reveals how much people suffered during the hard times of the Great Depression, especially African Americans. Bud is a heroic character who is courageous, persistent, and disciplined. The mystery of the fliers attracts readers to keep reading to the end. I also find the metaphor of names quite meaningful. Bud is always called Buddy by people intentionally which is a dog’s name, but Bud’s mother tells Bud that his name is a “flower-in-waiting, a fist of love waiting to unfold and be seen by the world” (p.42).
23. Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998. 148pages. Tr. $9.50 ISBN 0142401102

Brief Plot Description: This novel tells several stories encompassing Joey and his sister, Mary Alice, and their memories of spending summer vacations with their gruff grandmother in rural Illinois during the Depression. They fly from Chicago to visit their grandmother in rural Illinois every summer from 1929-1934.

Personal Thoughts: This humorous story can bring back children’s memories of spending time with their grandparents. Grandparents play an important role in influencing their grandchildren’s values, but the grandmother in the novel has no good influence on her grandchildren. However, if readers take the historical background of the Great Depression into account, it is not hard to understand why the grandmother acts out like this. The gruff grandmother in the novel is a typical character reflecting life in a small town in the Depression era.

Brief Plot Description: A boy named Billy is longing to own a pair of coonhounds, so when he reads an advertisement selling a pair of dogs for $50, he works several jobs to buy these two dogs with his savings from work. Billy trains his dogs to hunt raccoons, and they soon become Billy’s inseparable companions. They win the hunting competition and catch the “ghost coon”, but Old Dan and Little Ann die after their struggle with the mountain lion.

Brief Plot Description: Although Danny Walker is the fastest and best passer on the basketball court, he is cut from the local travel team, the Vikings because he is too small. His father Richie Walker, a former NBA player, decides to help his son to start a new travel team, the Warriors. When Danny’s father is injured in a car accident, Danny takes his father’s role to be the coach of the Warriors and leads the team to win against the Vikings.