Babymouse: Puppy Love

1.  Bibliography

Holm, Jennifer L. and Matthew. 2007. Babymouse: Puppy Love. New York, NY: Random House Books for Young Readers.  ISBN 9780375939907.

2.  Plot Summary

Babymouse: Puppy Love is all about the struggles Babymouse has getting a dog and keeping a dog!  Babymouse and the narrator interact about her experiences with her pets.  First, she had 4? 5? fish, next she went through a hamster, ferret, turtle and more all disappearing under her bed.  Her mother refused to spend any more money on pets.  She wanted a dog so bad that one finally got lost on her doorstep.  Babymouse told her mother she would take care of it, feed it, walk it and be responsible for the dog until the owner was found.  Babymouse got true experience of what it is like to have a dog.  Eventually she trains her dog “Buddy”, with the biscuit training method, to be a dog of many tricks!  As soon as she has impressed everyone with Buddy’s skills, the real owner shows up.  It turns out that “Buddy” is actually “Lady” a female dog—whoops.  Babymouse responds to her owner leaving in the sunset with “Lady” by saying “Typical” (Holm, 2007).  

3.  Critical Analysis

Expressive and adorable black, white and pink graphics make this graphic novel.  Babymouse: Puppy Love is full of humor and lessons about life with animals.  The illustrations in this book are detailed, hilarious and consistent.  This combined with the simplicity of using three colors creates the perfect page turner in the Babymouse graphic novels.  The placement of the callouts is spot on, specifically those that are the narrator’s comments.  These are always placed at the top of the box and are straight squares or rectangles.   

When Babymouse interacts with the narrator, you cannot help but laugh.  This type of dialogue adds a depth to the story that allows children to feel that they are truly with Babymouse too.  For example, the narrator asks Babymouse what she will name her hamster to which Babymouse replys “HAMMY!”.  The narrator says, “How creative.” And then Babymouse says, “All right, Smarty-Pants.  What would YOU name him?” and the narrator says, “How about ‘the handsome narrator’?” (Holm, 2007).    

4.  Award & Review Excerpts

“A stray dog gives our unlucky-with-pets heroine the chance to redeem herself, and she trains Buddy with the "biscuit method" -- à la Pavlov -- to sit, fetch, scrub, bake, and even calculate.”. -- Horn Book Magazine Review

5.  Connections

• Invite children to create drawings of animals they would like to have.  Ask that they limit their colors to only three: black, white and one color of thier choice. 
• Other Babymouse graphic novels:

• Holm, Matthew and Jennifer L. 2011. Babymouse: mad scientist. Random House. ISBN 978037596574
• Holm, Matthew and Jennifer L. 2009. Babymouse: Dragonslayer. Random House. ISBN 9780375957123
• Holm, Matthew and Jennifer L. 2007. Babymouse: Skater girl. Random House. ISBN 9780375939891

When You Reach Me

1.  Bibliography

Stead, Rebecca. 2009. When You Reach Me. New York, NY: Random House Children’s Books.  ISBN 978385737425.

2.  Plot Summary

Life in New York City in 1978 has never looked quite the same as the narrator, sixth grade Miranda, makes it out to be.  Miranda spends her days helping her mom train for being on The $20,000 Pyramid, going to school and ‘working’ on her lunch, and trying to figure out why she lost her best friend, Sal.  Miranda has an obsession with learning about time travel and how it works.  The fact that Miranda is an enthusiast of the book A Wrinkle in Time By Madeleine L’Engle adds to the interest the reader has in Miranda’s struggle to understand this.  She has frequent conversations and debates with her acquaintance, Marcus, regarding the subject.  

After receiving a series of strange and elusive notes about saving her friends life, Miranda starts to believe this person knows the future.  She struggles with understanding why the author of the notes is asking for her to write him a letter but continues to describe the details of her life, as requested.  In the end, Marcus has time traveled, he is a crazy man in New York City but saves Sal’s life.  Everything falls together for Miranda and Marcus really does save lives when he reaches her.  

3.  Critical Analysis

The great thing about reading this novel is simplicity.  The idea of time travel and getting messages from a friend who is in one place at two different times is proven simple.  The reader will never second guess the fact that Marcus has been giving Miranda notes and he did in fact save Sal’s life.  The story line is strong and believable.  When listening to the story from Miranda’s point-of-view, it feels realistic.  She is easily likable and her feelings are portrayed clearly.  This creates a bond between the reader and Miranda that makes you believe how she is feeling is the way to feel.  

The setting in When You Reach Me is extremely important and detailed.  Stead refers to specific streets, restaurants and stores.  She is constantly referring back to where things happened.  For example, Stead describes New Year’s Day by saying “The laughing man wasn’t on the corner—maybe he didn’t work holidays.  Belle’s was closed. Everything felt kind of peaceful and sad and deserted” (2009).  This is just one example of many in which the author shows how Miranda feels by describing the world around her.  

Details in this story including Miranda’s favorite book, favorite knot, her hobbies and her friends and acquaintances all tie the mystery of the notes together.  Stead (2009) has tie used much incorporation of detail to make this novel a mysterious fantasy.  Fantasy elements combined with a theme throughout that refers to friendships as a young adult create an interesting and important story line.  The friendships can be dramatic, stressful and sometimes confusing but they always influence the direction that your life heads.  

4.  Award & Review Excerpts

Book Sense Book of the Year Award Winner

IRA Children’s Book Award Winner

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner

Indies’ Choice Book Award Winner

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Award Winner

Massachusetts Children’s Book Award Winner

    Nominated for Black-Eyed Susan Book Award 

    Nominated for Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award

“The '70s New York setting is an honest reverberation of the era; the mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children and adults, are honest bits of humanity no matter in what place or time their souls rest. Just as Miranda rereads L'Engle, children will return to this”. -- Booklist Starred Review

“When she receives a series of enigmatic notes that claim to want to save her life, she comes to believe that they are from someone who knows the future. Miranda spends considerable time observing a raving vagrant who her mother calls "the laughing man" and trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda's mystery and L'Engle's plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics”. -- School Library Journal

“Twelve-year-old Miranda, a latchkey kid whose single mother is a law school dropout, narrates this complex novel, a work of science fiction grounded in the nitty-gritty of Manhattan life in the late 1970s”. -- Publishers Weekly

5.  Connections

• Invite readers to write about where they would travel to if they could travel through time.
• Ask children to read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.  Have them create a brown bag book review over the book to connect the importance of this book to MIranda’s experiences.  
• Other books about time travel:

• Haddix, Margaret Peterson. 2008. Found. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9781416954170.
• Levitin, Sonia. 1999. The Cure. Harcourt. ISBN 0152018271
• Silverthorne, Judith. 2005. The Secret of the Stone House. Coteau Books for Kids. ISBN 1550503251
• Williams, Maiya. 2004. The Golder Hour. Amulet Books. ISBN 0810948230

Speak

1.  Bibliography

Anderson, Laurie Halse. 1999. Speak. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.  ISBN 9780374371524.

2.  Plot Summary

Melinda Sordino is starting high school without any friends because of a terrible secret.  At a party over the summer, Melinda was raped by a popular senior boy.  She called the cops which busted the party but when they showed up she was too afraid to say anything, so she didn’t and still has not.  Everyone knows that she called the cops and are holding it against her.  She watches her ex-friends and classmates closely seemingly desiring to be happy and find her clique.  The story follows Melinda as she tries to find a place in the world, often times ostracizing herself.  She meets an incredible art teacher that helps her build skills artistically and in life.  Finally, Melinda is able to reach out and tell her best friend about the rape and from there, her healing begins.  

3.  Critical Analysis

This is a roller coaster story that immediately engages the reader.  Initially, we do not know what Melinda’s secret is and slowly details about the night of her rape are revealed.  Eventually, when Melinda finally tells someone, you can feel her relief, her transformation beginning and how much pain she is in.  We follow Melinda throughout the entire book and teen readers specifically will feel emotionally connected.  The first-person narration is vital in identifying with Melinda.  When Melinda first interacts with her ex-best friend she describes how she feels saying, “I want to grab her by the neck and shake her and scream at her to stop treating me like dirt.  She didn’t even bother to find out the truth -- what kind of friend is that?” (Anderson 1999).  Even her best friend did not care to find out what really happened and Melinda feels lost this way most of the novel.  Her down-to-earth and realistic responses to her situations draw the reader in.  

The things that Melinda goes through are realistic, although rape is usually an sensitive topic, it is truly plausible.  The rejection from classmates and loner feeling she has could happen to any teenage girl, especially after they find themselves drunk at a party.  Melinda’s only therapy is her art teacher and the art class she uses to find her voice.  The fact that she is able to find herself and speak out about her experience can bring about confidence in the readers that may be experiencing hardship.  

4.  Award & Review Excerpts

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Award Winner

Golden Kite Award Winner

ABC Children’s Booksellers Choices Award Winner

Nominated for National Book Award

Nominated for Edgar Award

Nominated for Michael L. Printz Award

“No one will sit with Melinda on the bus. At school, students call her names and harass her; her best friends from junior high scatter to different cliques and abandon her. Yet Anderson infuses the narrative with a wit that sustains the heroine through her pain and holds readers' empathy”. -- Publishers Weekly Review

“Readers will easily identify with Melinda, a realistic, likable character. Anderson portrays a large suburban high school with a fresh and authentic eyeball the cliques are there, from the jocks, to the Goths, to the "Marthas" (Martha Stewart wanna-bes)”. -- Voice of Youth Advocates Review

“Melinda's voice is distinct, unusual, and very real as she recounts her past and present experiences in bitterly ironic, occasionally even amusing vignettes”. -- Booklist Review

5.  Connections

• Invite students to write in their own personal diaries.  Do not ask that they share them with anyone or do anything except write how they feel daily.  Melinda was only able to speak out when she could do it through writing.
• Incorporate art the same was Melinda’s art teacher did.  Give students one image to draw all year and ask them to perfect it through different mediums.  
• Other books by Laurie Halse Anderson:

• 2005. Prom. Viking. ISBN 0670059749
• 2007. Twisted. Viking. ISBN 97806700661013
• 2009. Wintergirls. Viking. ISBN 9780670011100

• Other fiction books about rape victims and how this trauma affects victims and the people around them:

• Holubitsky, Katherine. 2004. The Hippie House. Orca Book Publishers. ISBN 1551433168. 
• Neufeld, John. 1999. Boy Lie. DK Ink. ISBN 0789426242
• Whitney, Daisy.  2010. The Mockingbirds. Little, Brown. ISBN 9780316090537
• Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2001. Every Time a Rainbow Dies. Harper Collins Publisher. ISBN 0688162452

The Wednesday Wars

1.  Bibliography

Schmidt, Gary D. 2007. The Wednesday Wars. Read by Joel Johnstone. Scholastic, Incorporated. ISBN 9780439925013.

2.  Plot Summary

Holling Hoodhood finds his seventh grade year at Camillo Junior High starting differently than he expected.  All of Holling’s classmates are Catholic or Jewish and they attend religious training on Wednesdays thus leaving him alone with his teacher, Mrs. Baker.  Holling is convinced that Mrs. Baker hates his guts because of what she has him do on their Wednesdays together.  Also, some of his tasks do not go as planned.  Holling feels especially hated after Mrs. Baker assigns him to start reading Shakespeare.  After starting to read Shakespeare, Holling figures out that it is not so bad.  He also starts to see that Mrs. Baker may not hate him so much after all.  Holling handles his stress at school, being a seventh grade boy (including bullies and threats of number 167), and his father’s pressure to inherit their business all during the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement in 1967.  

3.  Critical Analysis

Holling Hoodhood is a typical Presbyterian seventh grader in the 1960s in Long Island.  Pre-teens reading this book can relate to Holling and his crush on a classmate, his love for famous local baseball players, his fear of being hated by his teacher and can learn something from his enjoyment of Shakespeare.  Each of the characters are presented as realistically living in the 1960s and the setting is historically accurate.  Holling and his classmates experience multiple situations that seem to be in the backdrop of the story that set the stage for powerful Civil Rights Movements and the Vietnam War.  
       The theme of The Wednesday Wars is based upon the mis-interpretations we have of people and their reactions to us.  Holling spent many days thinking that his teacher, Mrs. Baker hated his guts when truly she was supporting him and proved to be a great friend.  Mrs. Baker advises Holling on his education, on his crush, his acting career, and even his running.  She has surprises around every corner.  Holling also sees these mis-interpretations in a baseball player, his father and his sister.  

Joel Johnstone does an amazing job at narrating this story.  He creates different tones and brings life to each character.  Without description of who it is, the listener knows who Johnstone is acting as.  His narration of Holling is distinct and perfectly represents a seventh grader who is maturing and experiencing life.  This story is humorous and will catch the interests of even the least likely reader.  

4.  Award & Review Excerpts

Nominated for Newbery Medal

Nominated for California Young Reader Medal

Nominated for Volunteer State Book Award

Nominated for Beehive Young Adults’ Book Award

Won American Library Association Notable Books for Children Award

Won Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books

“Seamlessly, he knits together the story's  themes: the cultural uproar of the '60s, the internal uproar of early adolescence, and the timeless wisdom of Shakespeare's words. Holling's unwavering, distinctive voice offers a gentle, hopeful, moving story of a boy who, with the right help, learns to stretch beyond the limitations of his family, his violent times, and his fear, as he leaps into his future with his eyes and his heart wide open.” -- Booklist Starred Review

“Johnstone's first-person narration perfectly captures Holling's progression from an angst-filled yet innocent boy, to a wiser, self-aware young man. His reading is touching, funny and insightful; he manages to bring the listener back to a time-real or nostalgically re-imagined, at least-when the crack of a bat against a ball in Yankee Stadium or sharing a Coke with a girl at the Woolworth's counter was all any boy could want. This is a lovely, heartfelt novel, read with as much care as the author used to create it.” -- Publishers Weekly

5.  Connections

• Ask children to listen to other audiobooks - shorter and longer than this one.  Present the following discussion questions:

• Did you enjoy listening to a story?
• What did you like or dislike about listening to a story rather than reading it?
• Would you rather listen to someone in person read a story or through an audiobook? What about reading aloud yourself?

• Invite children to write a letter to someone they think may “hate their guts”.  Ask them to consider how they may be mis-interpreting their relationship with this person.  Is it possible the enemy is a friend?

• Present students with a few of Shakespeare’s curses and ask them to create some of their own.  

One Crazy Summer

1.  Bibliography
Williams-Garcia, Rita. 2010. One Crazy Summer. New York, NY: Amistad.  ISBN 9780060760892.

2.  Plot Summary
In 1968, Delphine (11-years-old) and her two younger sisters are sent by their father and grandmother to spend the summer with their estranged mother, Cecile, in Oakland, California.  After traveling from Brooklyn, their mother does not provide a warm welcome to the girls that one may expect.  Cecile is constantly reminding them that she does not want them there.  Each day she gives them money for picking up Chinese food for dinner and they are sent to spend the day at the local Black Panther community center.  The three girls spend the summer learning about the black panthers and their desire to protect black citizens rights.  Delphine also begins to grasp personal and societal problems and inequity.  After a summer with her, Delphine and her sisters begin to understand their mother.  

3.  Critical Analysis
Delphine, Vonetta and Fern are three young girls faced with a maturing experience.  Delphine is a strong, independent girl who feels confident in herself and her responsibility for her little sisters.  They are put in an unfamiliar city with no allies during a political movement in the late 1960s.  Not only are they faced with a cold, uninterested mother but they are forced to handle a group of people (The Black Panthers) that can be intimidating, especially for young girls.  One Crazy Summer gives Delphine’s intuitive personal view of Oakland, California in 1968 including the purpose of the Black Panthers.  

Wililams-Garcia uses appropriate language, behavior and attitudes in all the characters to represent the 1960s and Brooklyn families.  History about the Black Panthers and political turmoil in California is presented clearly and appropriately for the recommended age group.  There is no presentation of research in which the author got her historical information from although most information in this novel is fictional.  The majority of the factual information is basic history.  The Black Panther group at the community center likely represents a fictional group and is a collaboration of stories and histories of different groups.  That being said, it would be beneficial to see some cited sources and recommended readings.  

4.  Award & Review Excerpts

Nominated for Young Hoosier Book Award

 Nominated for Maryland Children’s Book Award

Nominated for Great Lakes’ Great Books Award

Nominated for Rhode Island Children’s Book Award

Won Newberry Honor

“Regimented, responsible, strong-willed Delphine narrates in an unforgettable voice, but each of the sisters emerges as a distinct, memorable character, whose hard-won, tenuous connections with their mother build to an aching, triumphant conclusion. Set during a pivotal moment in African American history, this vibrant novel shows the subtle ways that political movements affect personal lives; but just as memorable is the finely drawn, universal story of children reclaiming a reluctant parent's love”. -- Booklist Starred Review

“Delphine, almost 12, along with her sisters Vonetta and Fern, fly across the country to visit their mother, Cecile, who long ago abandoned the family to pursue her poetry. The girls ache for hugs and kisses but desperately try not to hope too much. Good thing. When they arrive at her green stucco house in poor, mostly-black Oakland, California, their mother constantly mutters ‘didn't want you to come.’”. -- School Library Journal

5.  Connections

• Introduce children to another book about the Black Panthers:
• Van Peebles, Mario. Panther: a pictorial history of the Black Panthers and the story behind the film. 1995. HarperCollins. ISBN 9781557042279

• Ask children to make a list of things that are important to them.  Present the following list of questions:

1. Why is this important to you?
2. Would you do things like the Black Panthers did to stand up for this?
3. How do you feel about Delphine and her poem?

The Earth Dragon Awakes

1.  Bibliography

Yep, Laurence. 2006. The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.  ISBN 9780060275259.

2.  Plot Summary

A tale of hometown heroes and courage, this story revolving around the 1906 San Francisco earthquake is moving – and not just under your feet.  Starting April 17, 1906, the reader follows good friends Henry (8 years old) and Chin (9 years old) through their families’ fight to survival during and after the earthquake.  Henry is from a wealthy neighborhood in which all of the survivors are scrambling to protect their families and their belongings.  Neighbors are gathering as many of their possessions as they can out of their homes and carrying them through the streets on anything with wheels.  Henry’s mother even manages to take some of her umbrella collection out of the house.  Chin’s home is in Chinatown where many Chinese immigrants are simply looking to escape the dangers of the fire.  Each short chapter alternates between Henry and Chin’s stories with occasional interjections about the earthquake itself.  The story ends on April 29, 1906 with the hills of rubble left behind that San Francisco is already starting to attempt to rebuild.    

3.  Critical Analysis

The theme of ordinary men being shown as heroes is highlighted throughout the book.  At the beginning of the story, Henry and Chin express their love of “penny dreadfuls”, stories about Wyatt Earp who lives a life of excitement and adventure.  Through different scenes and trauma of the earthquake, each boy compares his father to Earp and the stories they have read.  The boys realize that their fathers are just as exciting and courageous.  In the final chapter, Henry whispers to Chin “’We don’t have to look far for heroes.  They were right under our noses all this time’” (105). 

This story accurately captures the affects that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake had on the earth, the families and the city.  Yep lends much attention to details about the earthquake itself including aftershocks and fires that broke out afterward.  His research and reliability are impeccable.  There is a detailed afterword about the earthquake, selected readings (including Yep’s interpretation of the most accurate book), other books to read and a list of websites you can find more information on.  The final pages include 6 photos of the chaos in the city.  Yep ties these into the story by including captions that relate the photos to the story. 

4.  Award & Review Excerpts

    Nominated for Sunshine State Young Reader’s Book Award

    Nominated for Texas Bluebonnet Award

   

“Devotees of penny dreadfuls, both boys long for excitement, not their fathers' ordinary routine lives. When the earthquake shakes the city and a firestorm breaks out, Henry and his parents scramble in the chaos and battle the fire, but must ultimately evacuate their home. Ching and his father survive the collapse of their Chinatown tenement, and flee to the ferry through the debris and turmoil”. -- Booklist

“Yep's research is exhaustive. He covers all the most significant repercussions of the event, its aftershocks, and days of devastating fires, and peppers the story with interesting true-to-life anecdotes. The format is a little tedious-one chapter visits Henry's affluent neighborhood, the next ventures to Chin's home in Chinatown, and back again-and the "ordinary heroes" theme is presented a bit heavy-handedly”. -- School Library Journal

5.  Connections

-  Other books about the San Francisco earthquake of 1906:

•   Bronson, William. The Earth Shook, the Sky Burned. 1959. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co. ISBN 9780811850476.

•   Karwoski, Gail. Quake! : a disaster in San Francisco, 1906. 2006. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree. ISBN 9781561453696.

•   Tarshis, Lauren. I survived the San Francisco earthquake, 1906. 2012. Jefferson City, MO: Scholastic. ISBN 9780545206990.

-Ask children to write a story about what they would do if they were in an earthquake.  Invite them to include illustrations to thoroughly think about the consequences such a natural disaster could have. 

-Create a simulaneous earthquake discussion.  Read books about earthquake in general.  Teach children how and why they happen.  After research, pose the question “What is the earthquake?”

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy)

1.  Bibliography

Kerley, Barbara. 2010. The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy). Ill. by Edwin Fotheringham. Scholastic Press. ISBN 9780545125086.

2.  Plot Summary

Susy, Mark Twain’s 13-year-old daughter, used a journal to create her own biography about her father.  Kerley uses this biography to create a kid-friendly story about Mark Twain through the eyes of his daughter.  Susy says she wants the world to know more of Mark Twain than just his humorous side.  Kerley uses her interpretation of Susy’s story combined with journal excerpts on small pages that are titled “journal” and are written in script-like handwriting.  These pages are quotes from Susy and are made even more realistic with the inclusion of her spelling errors.  The story is followed by an author’s note, advice on creating a biography for children, and a timeline of Mark Twain’s life.  

3.  Critical Analysis

The Extraordinary Mark Twain (According to Susy) is based on a subject that could be considered drab - a story about a person writing a biography.  Kerley has turned this into an interesting, humorous and entertaining subject.  Susy has a unique perspective for Twain’s biography including quotes from her journal as a 13-year-old.  Kerley has used information about Twain’s life from multiple sources including the original manuscript of Susy’s biography about her father (the book, Papa, is an alternative source for those that do not have access to the original manuscript), Biography of Mark Twain, and a variety of other books about Mark Twain.  

Edwin Fotheringham created digital illustrations that are humorous, eye-catching and appropriately aligned with the story.  The story starts and ends with Susy using an oversized pen.  This sets the mood for the silly yet informative story the reader will indulge in.  Each page includes curvy lines to represent action or speaking on behalf of the characters of the book that adds whimsy to the illustrations.  The text is written in a large variety of fonts and colors which create a fun reading atmosphere.  All of the quotes are listed in quotation marks and bolded which emphasize Susy’s direct input into the story.  Although this is fun and whimsical, some of the words and fonts are difficult to read at times. 

One of the most fun parts of this book is finding a segment of Susy’s journal on the page you are reading.  Her journal segments are included on smaller pages which add a three-dimensional feel to the book.  Her misspellings and heart-felt writings are amusing and touching.  This is a well-organized and entertaining story about the extraordinary Mark Twain coupled with inviting and unique illustrations.  

4.  Award & Review Excerpts

Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books Award Winner

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year Award Winner

California Book Awards Nominee

Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee

“Adding dynamic flair to the limited palettes of each digitally created scene are curlicues representing words, which emanate wildly from pen tips, pages, and mouths. Author notes about Susy and her father, a time line of Twain's life, and tips for writing an "extraordinary biography" complete this accessible and inventive vision of an American legend.”  -- Publishers Weekly Review

“Though a story about someone writing a book sounds a bit static and it sometimes is Kerley manages to bring Susy and her famous father to life using plenty of household anecdotes. With a restrained palette and a fine sense of line, Fotheringham's stylized, digital illustrations are wonderfully freewheeling, sometimes comical, and as eccentric as Susy's subject.” -- Booklist Review

“The text flawlessly segues into Susy's carefully recorded, sometimes misspelled, details of his character, intimate life, and work routine during his most prolific years. Digitally enhanced illustrations, colored with a Victorian palette and including dynamic, inventive perspectives, tell volumes about the subject by way of Fotheringham's technique of drawing lines that represent Twain's impatience, mirth, smoking habit, love for family and cats, storytelling, pool-playing, and truth-pondering.” -- School Library Journal Review

5.  Connections

• Invite children to use the advice on creating a biography at the end of the book and start a biography about someone in their family.
• As part of a history discussion, ask children to choose other biographies they are interested in reading.  Recommend the following titles:
• Fleming, Candace. 2011. Amelia lost: the life and disappearance of Amelia Earhart. Schwartz & Wade Books. ISBN 9780375841989
• Holzer, Harold. 2011. Father Abraham: Lincoln and his sons. Calkins Creek. ISBN 9781590783030
• Reef, Catherine. 2011. Jane Austen: a life revealed. Clarion Books. ISBN 9780547370217.
• Schroeder, Alan. 2011. Ben Franklin: his wit and wisdom from A to Z. Ill. by John O’Brien. Holiday House. ISBN 9780823419500.
• Read a variety of biographies about Mark Twain and compare the differences in perspectives of life.  Relevant titles include:
• Blitt, Barry. 2011. The adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn. Ill. by Robert Burleigh. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780689830419
• Sonneborn, Liz. 2010. Mark Twain. Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 9781604137286