By now most teachers are in the midst of their summer vacations, getting doctor’s appointments done, taking family vacations, and catching up on their summer reading. Over the past few months, I have attended several professional development workshops, participated in a writing conference, and volunteered at a Scholastic Books warehouse sale, collecting book recommendations along the way.
My first recommendation, a book I read a couple of summers ago myself, is a Cosumnes River College Bookstore recommendation, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. The book is 390 pages of studies that show children today are losing touch with nature as electronics and nervous parenting take over their lives. The writer offers suggestions to combat this trend in schools, the community, and at home. The book gets bogged down at times, and, since its revision was in 2008, some of the information can seem dated, but the message still resonates. Louv, a journalist, writes in a narrative style, which makes all that information easier to digest.
Second is a book recommended to me by Elk Grove Unified School District program specialist LaRae Blomquist, Reading Non-Fiction: Notice and Note Stances, Signposts, and Strategies by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst. This book guided my teaching of reading and writing informational text to intervention English students this past school year. It’s not perfect. I cringed when I saw the authors cited Wikipedia as part of their research, but the strategies are awesome, especially in this era of fake news and disinformation. I borrowed the companion book, Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading, from another English teacher and plan to tackle it this summer.
As for movies, find a theater that is showing “The Biggest Little Farm,” rated PG. I watched it in an art-house theater in downtown Sacramento but also saw it offered by Delta Airlines in flight for free. Of course, everything looks better on a large screen as opposed to the back of the reclined airline chair in front of you. “The Biggest Little Farm” is a documentary about director John Chester and his wife Molly as they transform a barren parcel of land into a thriving farm about an hour and a half outside of Los Angeles. They weren’t farmers before they bought the land and they faced a steep learning curve. The amazing cinematography gives an up-close look at nature in action.
Here are other recommendations I picked up this past spring. Disclaimer: I haven’t read them all yet, but I do have a stack sitting on my vacation apartment’s table at this moment.
Middle-Grade Books That Address Controversial Topics (compiled by novelist Aida Salazar)
- Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes: A 12-year-boy is shot by police and his ghost deals with the aftermath. Rhodes is an African-American writer.
- Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender: Written by a Carribean-American author and set in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The protagonist is born during a hurricane which, according to local lore, means she is cursed.
- Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams: Genesis is a 13-year-old girl who keeps a list of the things she hates about herself, a result of the prejudice she faces. Williams is an African-American novelist.
- S. I Miss You by Jen Petro Roy: In this novel, a middle school girl growing up in a strict Catholic family questions her own sexuality.
- The Moon Within by Aida Salazar: In this book Salazar, a Latinx writer, follows a girl’s story as she deals with her own changing body, a crush on a boy, and her best friend’s sexuality.
- Gaby Lost and Found by Angela Cervantes: Gaby is a sixth-grader trying to live a “normal” life after her mother is deported.
- Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee: Dee writes about an eighth-grade girl who realizes she has a crush on another girl at school.
- George by Alex Gino: Gino, an activist for LGBTQIA communities, writes about a transgender girl who wants to try out for a part in the school play “Charlotte’s Web,” but hits a roadblock when a teacher says she is not the correct gender for the part.
- Sunny Side Up by Jennifer and Matthew Holm: The protagonist is sent to her grandfather in Florida while the family deals with her teenage brother’s substance abuse issues. This is a graphic novel.
- The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore: Moore, an African-American writer, tells the story of a 12-year-old boy living in Harlem with his mother. His older brother was killed in a gang shooting and the gangs are trying to recruit him.
- The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Shane W. Evans: A child is forced from her Sudanese village and into a refugee camp.
Books that Address Immigration and Issues from War-Torn Countries (compiled by the Muslim American Society-Social Services Foundation)
- Escape from Aleppo by N.H. Senzai: A Syrian girl escaping the war is separated from her family during a bombing and must find her own way out. Senzai lives in the San Francisco Bay area.
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: Hosseini, an Afghan-American writer, tells the story of Amir’s life in Afghanistan in the 1970s and 1980s and subsequent move to the San Francisco Bay area. The book includes violent scenes.
- A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah: Beah writes about his own experiences as a child soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone, circa 1990s.
- Malala’s Magic Pencil by Malala Yousafzai: The author tells her own story about her wish in Pakistan for a magic pencil to change things. This is a picture book.
- Brave by Svetlana Chmakova: Born in Russia, the author and her family emigrated to Canada when she was 16 years old. This middle-grade book addresses bullying.
- I See the Sun in Afghanistan by Dedie King and illustrated by Judith Inglese: This picture book depicts a day in the life of a girl living in Afghanistan.
- Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez: This book is available in both Spanish and English. Alvarez, on her website, says she got the idea for the book when she was working in Vermont translating in schools for children of Mexican migrant workers. She took the title from the name of a Homeland Security raid on workplaces that employed undocumented immigrants. The operation was named “Return to Sender.”
- Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa: This novel about a Palestinian family forced from their village into a refugee camp and the effects this has on future generations is by a Palestinian-American writer.
- Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai: This middle-grade novel is about a family who flees the Taliban in Afghanistan.
- The Ulysses Syndrome: The Immigrant Syndrome with Chronic and Multiple Stress by Joseba Achotegul: An informational text on the mental health concerns of immigrants forced to leave their homeland. Recommended for school staff working with students who came from war-torn countries.
Books for Reluctant Readers (compiled by Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District librarian S. Roberts)
- Rebound by Kwame Alexander: A prequel to the novel The Crossover, this book focuses on the father of The Crossover’s protagonists and his childhood. Alexander is an African-American writer. This middle-grade book is written in verse.
- Solo by Kwame Alexander with Mary Rand Hess: This is the story of a 17-year-old growing up with a drug-addicted father. In this case, his father’s problems show up in the tabloids because he’s a former rock star trying to make a comeback.
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds: Reynolds uses free verse to tell the story of a young man who wants to get revenge for his brother’s murder. Then he meets the ghosts. This is a young adult novel.
- Bluford Series: The Bluford series is a collection of 21 short novels (less than 200 pages) written by several authors about an inner-city high school in Southern California. Each novel focuses on the students who attend the high school and the problems they encounter. The books are intended to be high interest for reluctant readers. Townsend Press publishes these novels, but they are available through Scholastic Books.
- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas: Thomas is the author of The Hate U Give. The protagonist in this young adult novel faces problems at school and lives in a struggling neighborhood. Nevertheless, she is the daughter of a rap star, now deceased, and has some talent of her own.