Module 9--The Medusa Plot by Gordon Korman

Source: http://ramblingsofawannabescribe.blogspot.com/2011/07/marvelous-middle-grade-monday-medusa.html

Summary:
Simultaneously around the world, seven members of the Cahill clan are mysteriously kidnapped.  Several men attempt to kidnap Amy and Dan from their school bus, but Amy and Dan fight them off.  Soon, an unusual cell phone is dropped into their yard.  They are told by a mysterious man called Vesper 1 to follow his instructions or a member of the Cahills would die.  Soon, Amy and Dan are on their way to Italy because Vesper 1 wants a specific painting, The Medusa.  They work with other Cahill members and friends (Hamilton, Jonah, Sinead, and Ian) to successfully find and steal The Medusa painting.  Then, it is snatched from them on the street.  They are then chased and crash, losing the cell phone charger.  This is where Evan, Amy's boyfriend, comes into the book because he knows about the unusual cell phone that is used by intelligence agencies.  They break into the cell phone factory to get a charger, causing the factory to explode.  Amy and Dan's former nanny, Nellie is shot in the arm as punishment when Amy and Dan have difficulty meeting demands.  She becomes ill when the bullet remains in her arm, but the Cahill hostages are given some basic supplies to surgically remove it.  Meanwhile, Amy and Dan determine The Medusa painting is being sought because it is a map for the underground tunnels beneath the Colosseum in Rome.  They find and keep a rare book while in the tunnel. The ending is left open because Vesper 1 does not release the Cahill hostages as promised.  

APA Reference: 

Korman, G. (2011). The 39 clues: Cahills vs. Vespers book 1: The Medusa plot.  New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. 
My Impressions: 

I enjoyed it, but was disappointed by the ending because, unlike most mysteries, it was not neatly tied up.  I think this is a fantastic series that is not too violent, but would capture even some reluctant readers.  I especially loved the use of real geography and a real painting.  That would help create a fun cross-curricular tie-in.  I appreciated that the author avoided gender bias and included many different characters in the book.  The variety of characters added a lot of interest and opportunities for humor.  There were parts that were suspenseful, parts that were funny, and the plot moved along quickly.  Certainly, those are all great components to have in youth literature. 

Professional Reviews: 


The 39 Clues crew return to the well for this opener to a new series, Cahills versus Vespers. The Cahills, of course, are the world's most powerful family you never knew existed, and their family tree is a who's who of the past half-millennium. The Vespers are their secret, centuries-old rival, and now pop up to kidnap Cahills for some sureto-be-diabolical reason. Dan and Amy, two years after solving the massive global puzzle of the 39 Clues, jump back into action to help save their relations and take down the villainous Vespers. Sure, it is as much a multiplatform marketing ploy (with collectible cards and an immersive online presence to swallow up chunks of fans' spare time) as a book series, but that doesn't take away from what it is at its core: a lean, easy-to-like thrill ride with guaranteed crowd-pleasing elements like secret societies, art heists, and heroes with unlimited cash and connections to fuel their around-the-world intrigue. Like the first series, a new author for each volume ensures lickety-split rollouts.

Chipman, I. (2011). [Review of The 39 clues: Cahills vs. Vespers book 1: The Medusa plot, by G. Korman]. Booklist, 108(5), 74. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com

Gr 5-7-- This subseries starring Amy and Dan Cahill starts off with a bang. Powerful members of their family are being kidnapped all around the world. The only attempt gone wrong was when the siblings managed to outsmart and outfight their enemies due to new techniques they learned to keep themselves safe. Soon, they discover that the Vespers, an ancient family with a long-standing feud against theirs, have taken their loved ones and will start killing them if their demands are not met. Amy and Dan realize that the clue hunt is starting all over again, but with much more at stake. A bit of background information is included for those new to the series, but nothing that slows the pace. Familiar characters and situations are intermingled with new dangers. Impossible tasks are asked of the siblings, but they are not alone this time as they are receiving help from other branches of the family working together. Action, adventure, and danger abound. And, of course, a cliff-hanger ending will leave readers stunned and wanting more. Without a doubt, if the first "39 Clues" series had kids racing to finish the books, this one is a must-purchase.

Siegert, M. (2012). [Review of The 39 clues: Cahills vs. Vespers book 1: The Medusa plot, by G. Korman].  School Library Journal, 58(4), 166-167.  Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com

Library Uses:  

Research Rome:  Students research Italy using online databases and print sources to plan a seven-day sightseeing trip.  They decide on landmarks to visit and follow a budget.  Then, they write a narrative or diary to describe their imaginary trip.  Variations of this project could be repeated to coincide with other volumes in the 39 Clues Vesper vs. Cahills series.

Module 8--Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Source: http://www.booksofwonder.com/prodinfo.asp?number=241387

Summary: 
 Meggie and her father Mo, a book repairman, move around a lot.  Unbeknownst to Meggie, her father read aloud from a book called Inkheart when she was very young.  He caused a character named Dustfinger to escape from the book and Meggie's mother to enter into it.  When Dustfinger shows up one day, Mo decides they must escape because the evil Capricorn, a character in Inkheart, might find them.  They flee to Aunt Elinor's large house filled with her collection of books.  They soon discover Dustfinger is a traitor to them and has given them up to Capricorn's men.  On various occasions Meggie, Mo, and Elinor are captured and held prisoner in Capricorn's Village.  During their trials and tribulations with Capricorn, Meggie discovers she also has the same power to read characters out of books.  Among other characters Meggie's mother and a young boy are read back out of the book.  Meggie, Mo, Meggie's mother, and Aunt Elinor avenge Capricorn, killing him and torching the entire village.  Some characters are read back into the book as well as the author himself.  In the end, Dustfinger steals the last copy of Inkheart and it is assumed he will use it to get read back into the book (his true desire).  Meggie and both parents live happily together.  Aunt Elinor returns back to her house with another prisoner from Capricorn's Village to restore her book collection that was burned by Capricorn's men. 

APA Reference:

Funke, C. (2003). Inkheart.  New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc.

My Impressions:
This book never ended.  At least, it seemed that way.  I am not a fan of the fantasy genre.  My boyfriend dragged me to the last two Harry Potter movies and I fell asleep through those after spending the first 30 minutes of each frustrated and confused by the plot.  It was as if my brain was incapable of comprehending what was happening.  I felt exactly the same way with Inkheart.  I had a very hard time understanding what was going on.  The summary above was written with great difficulty.  Despite reading the whole book, I am still not entirely sure what happened.  This is not to say the book was without merit.  I would recommend it to young fantasy fans.  The 528 pages I trudged through would thrill many fantasy-minded students.   The length of the book is reminiscent of those thick Harry Potter novels.  I can just see the proud smile of accomplishment from a student just finished with Inkheart.  Additionally, I found the interaction between Meggie and Mo a sweet father-daughter combination.  The connection to other book characters (Tinkerbell, for one)  would be a fun element for students.  Overall, this is a well-written fantasy book that I would be confident in adding to a school library collection. 

Professional Reviews:

Who hasn't dreamed of it — characters leaping from the pages of a book to interact with the reader? Or, better yet, the reader transported — quite literally — into the make-believe world of a novel? In this tale of adventure and fantasy by the author of The Thief Lord (rev. 11 /02), twelve-year-old Meggie and her father Mo live in a house overflowing with "small piles of books, tall piles of books, books thick and thin, books old and new." But it's one particular book that brings a stranger named Dustfinger to their house one rainy spring night. Meggie learns that many years earlier, while Mo was reading aloud a novel called Inkheart, his voice somehow brought many of its characters — including Dustfinger and the evil despot Capricorn — "slipping out of their story like a bookmark forgotten by some reader between the pages." Now Dustfinger (who longs to return to his fictional origins) wants Mo to read him back into the book, while Capricorn (who likes it here just fine) wants Mo to use his powere to read gold and riches out of stories such as Treasure Island and summon a malevolent, immortal character called the Shadow from the pages of Inkheart. Thanks to Harry P., kids may not be scared off by this volume's heft, though they may wish the pacing wasn't quite so leisurely — even the novel's many chases and hostage-takings are related in a deliberate fashion. But bibliophiles will delight in a story that celebrates books (each chapter begins with a literary passage ranging from Shakespeare to Sendak), and the conclusion is especially satisfying.

Sieruta, P. D. (2004). [Review of the book Inkheart, by C. Funke]. Horn Book Magazine, 80(1), 81-82.  Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

Gr. 5-8.  Mo used to love to read to his daughter Meggie--until he found that had the power to "read" characters both in and out of books.  Some of the most wicked creatures from books end up coming to life in his "real" world, and Meggie's mother ends up stuck inside a book.  This elaborate fantasy tale of magical beings and high adventure is also a tribute to the power of books. 

[Review of the book Inkheart, by C. Funke]. (2004). Book Links, 13(5), 35.Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Library Uses:  

Fantasy Book Club:  Recruit students who are diehard Harry Potter fans to read the Inkheart series then meet a few times to compare the two series, create book trailers and determine a new fantasy series to read for the next semester. 

Module 7--Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

Source: http://www.readerkidz.com/2010/12/12/books-for-every-celebration-in-a-childs-life/

Summary: 
Caitlin is a fifth grader with Asperger’s so she sees the world in black and white and does not understand emotions very well.  Her older brother, who helped her deal with social skills, was killed in a school shooting.  This is the second tragedy for Caitline because her mother had previously passed away from cancer.  Like the rest of the small town, she is looking for closure and decides to find it by finishing her brother’s Eagle Scout project, building a cedar chest, with her dad.   Ultimately, she finds her own meaning of friendship, closure, finesse, and empathy with the help of her counselor, Mrs. Brooks.

APA Reference: 

Erskine, K. (2010). Mockingbird. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

My Impressions:

 

I was fascinated by Caitlin's perspective and the way Erskine completely engrossed readers into Caitlin's world.  I have had one student that had Asperger's and I made a lot of connections to the way the student thought and acted.  Caitlin's narration demonstrates over and over how so many gray situations--figurative language and emotional reactions, especially--confuse and frustrate a person with Asperger's.  I felt the school shooting was a clever way to display Caitlin's understanding and misunderstanding of tragic events.  It added interest as you first tried to understand what happened to her brother and, second, wanted to see how Caitlin processed the situation.  I found the ending a little too neatly wrapped up.  Caitlin learned the concept of empathy and other abstract concepts quickly, perhaps too quickly for a person with Asperger's. 

Professional Reviews:

Gr 4-6-- From inside Caitlin's head, readers see the very personal aftermath of a middle school shooting that took the life of the older brother she adored. Caitlin is a bright fifth grader and a gifted artist. She also has Asperger's syndrome, and her brother, Devon, was the one who helped her interpret the world. Now she has only her father, a widower who is grieving anew and whose ability to relate to his daughter is limited. A compassionate school counselor works with her, trying to teach her the social skills that are so difficult for her. Through her own efforts and her therapy sessions, she begins to come to terms with her loss and makes her first, tentative steps toward friendship. Caitlin's thought processes, including her own brand of logic, are made remarkably clear. The longer readers spend in the child's world, the more understandable her entirely literal and dispassionate interpretations are. Marred slightly by the portrayal of Devon as a perfect being, this is nonetheless a valuable book. After getting to know Caitlin, young people's tendencies to label those around them as either "normal" or "weird" will seem as simplistic and inadequate a system as it truly is.

Brautigam, F. (2010). [Review of the book Mockingbird, by K. Erskine]. School Library Journal, 56(4), 154-156.  Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com

This heartbreaking story is delivered in the straightforward, often funny voice of a fifth-grade girl with Asperger's syndrome, who is frustrated by her inability to put herself in someone else's shoes. Caitlin's counselor, Mrs. Brook, tries to teach her how to empathize, but Caitlin is used to depending on her big brother Devon for guidance on such matters. Tragically, Devon has been killed in a school shooting. Caitlin, her dad and her schoolmates try to cope, and it is the deep grief they all share that ultimately helps Caitlin get to empathy. As readers celebrate this milestone with Caitlin, they realize that they too have been developing empathy by walking a while in her shoes, experiencing the distinctive way that she sees and interacts with the world. Erskine draws directly and indirectly on To Kill a Mockingbird and riffs on its central theme: The destruction of an innocent is perhaps both the deepest kind of psychosocial wound a community can face and its greatest opportunity for psychological and spiritual growth. (Fiction. 8-12)

[Review of the book Mockingbird, by K. Erskine]. (2010)  Kirkus Reviews, 78(5), 198. Retrieved from http://www.kirkusreviews.com  

Library Uses:  

• After students read To Kill a Mockingbird in reading class, display books that include To Kill a Mockingbird in the plot such as Mockingbird and Jellicoe Road.
• Suggest it as a read aloud for a teacher who has a student with Asperger’s or is otherwise "different" in their classroom.  Create discussion questions that will help classmates make conclusions about how a person with Asperger's thinks and how they might want to be treated. 

Module 7--Faith, Hope, and Ivy June by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Source: http://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2009/08/faith-hope-and-ivy-june-by-phyllis.html

Summary: 

Ivy June and Catherine were selected to be the ambassadors of their schools for an exchange program.  Each girl stayed with the other girl and her family for two weeks.  In many ways, the girls are very different. Catherine is from the city of Lexington and wealthy.  She lives with younger twin siblings, her mother (who is frequently ill) and father.  They also have a maid.  Ivy June lives in the remote country without indoor plumbing and with her grandparents because Ivy June does not fit in her mom and dad's tiny house with all her siblings.  The girls each keep a journal to record the stereotypes they held and differences and commonalities they encounter.    At first, the feel uncomfortable in each other's presence, but begin to trust each other.  In the end, the two girls become close friends that stick by each other when Catherine's mom has heart surgery and Ivy June's grandfather gets trapped in a mine.  They stay in touch even after the student exchange is over.  Ivy June's grandfather retires from mining and Catherine's mother recovers from surgery. 

APA Reference:


Naylor, P.R. (2009). Faith, hope, and Ivy June. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.



My Impressions: 

I thought this was a wholesome, but interesting book.  What a great combination!  The concept of the book sets a good stage to bring up prejudices about other socioeconomic classes.  The writing allows prejudices to be suggested because of the honest narration and diary entries from the two main characters.  I, too, learned quite a bit about Ivy June and her poor lifestyle and connections to cave mining.  I have never met a cave miner and had not thought about all the dangers they face daily and the fear a family might go through on a daily basis when their loved one works in the mine.  Those details were my favorite aspect of the book.  I had not realized until I finished reading the book that Phyllis Reynolds Naylor also wrote the Shiloh series.  I was excited about this connection because it would be a great way to gain more interest for this book during a book talk. 

Professional Reviews: 

In this delightful story we are invited into the lives of two seventh-grade girls from Kentucky.  Ivy June Moslcy and Catherinc Combs have been chosen to take part in a student exchange program.
The girls take turns leaving their homes to live and attend school with the other. Although it seems as if the girls will have nothing in common, they develop a good relationship. Ivy June leaves her Appalachian home to visit Catherine and her close-knit family's large home with indoor plumbing. She blossoms in the new setting. A few weeks later Catherine visits Ivy June and her family and learns to live without phone reception, without running water, and in crowded living conditions. The girls' bond is cemented when Catherine's mother has to undergo heart surgery, and Catherine is unable to be there. Ivy June supports Catherine during this frightening experience. A few days later, when Ivy June's beloved grandfather is trapped in a coal mine, Catherine extends her stay in Thunder Creek to be there during Ivy June's time of need. They discover that the most important things they have in common are the love of family amid the power of love, faith, and hope. Recommended.

Glantz, S. (2009). [Review of the book Faith, hope, and Ivy June, by P. R. Naylor].   Library Media Connection, 28(2), 73. Retrieved from http://www.librarymedia connection.com

Newbery Medalist Naylor's (Shiloh) reflective, resonant novel shapes credible portraits of two Kentucky girls participating in a seventh-grade exchange program. Since her parents' house is too cramped, outspoken Ivy June lives nearby with her bighearted grandparents in a remote mountain hollow, with no indoor bathroom or phone. More reserved Catherine attends private school in Lexington, where she shares a rambling home with her family. In thoughtful, articulate journal entries interspersed with third-person chapters, the girls, who spend two weeks together with each family, share their initial expectations and subsequent impressions ("if Mammaw ever saw the stuff they put on our plates, she'd give it to a dog," Ivy June writes about the cafeteria food). The bond between the girls strengthens when they simultaneously experience traumatic events (Ivy June's coal miner grandfather becomes trapped underground; Catherine's mother undergoes emergency heart surgery). Leaving the hollow, Catherine responds to a comment that she'll have a lot to tell when she arrives home: "To tell it's one thing.… To be here--that's something else." Naylor's deft storytelling effortlessly transports readers to her Kentucky settings--and into two unexpectedly similar lives. Age 9-12.

[Review of the book Faith, hope, and Ivy June, by P. R. Naylor].   (2009).  Publishers Weekly, 256(24), 49-50.  Retrieved from http://www.publishersweekly.com

Library Uses:  


Gain interest in this book by setting up a pen pal exchange program (either through e-mail or through snail mail) with a school different from yours.   Have the students in the pen pal club from both schools read Faith, Hope, and Ivy June then write about the book as well as their own lives.