Module 3: Criss Cross

Lynne Rae Perkins

Criss Cross reminds me of a tween-friendly and pure version of Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. It is the end of the school year for a handful of young teenagers who are embarking on a commonplace, uneventful summer in a small town during the 1960's. Young boys and girls' paths cross, listen to radio shows, suntan, relax, wonder and admire the opposite sex, reflect and learn from each other, simply think, and simply be. This book highlights and hones in on individual moments and thoughts uniquely drawn out and intricately explored.

Impact on me
This book made me want to start it over again just to figure out if I missed what the meaning of the book was. The sentence on the front describes how I felt perfectly, "She wished something would happen." It is ironic because nothing actually happened in the story, yet everything happened all at the same time. I honestly would recommend this book to everyone just to have a conversation with them about the book and ask what type of emotions and thoughts it gave them. Criss Cross definitely took me back to the days of my adolescence before I was on the clock working for money and planning for the rest of my life. When everything in life was pure and simple.

Reviews
In keeping with Perkins’s almost Zen-like tone, such flubbed opportunities are viewed as unfortunate but not tragic. “Maybe it was another time that their moments would meet.” Like a lazy summer day, the novel induces that exhilarating feeling that one has all the
time in the world.
Heppermann, C. M. (2005). Criss Cross. Horn Book Magazine, 81(5), 585.

Through narrative that has the flow of stream-of-consciousness writing but is more controlled and poetic...Part love story, part coming-of-age tale, this book artfully expresses universal emotions of adolescence.
Criss Cross. (2005). Publishers Weekly, 252(43), 58.

In the Library
The librarian can assign this to students in the school's book club or even reading and creative writing classes. The post-reading discussion that this book would generate would be absolutely enlightening for all involved. Questions to discuss could be: How do people make connections with others? Is there one true love for all of us? or are there various people scattered around the world? What moments define an individual? Another idea for students who have read this book is to set up a scrapbook year-round in the library that students can write their thoughts in regarding the topics of the book, students can answer the questoins above, create art work and sketches relating to the book, etc.

Perkins, L. R. (2005). Criss Cross. New York : Greenwillow Books

Module 3: The First Part Last

Angela Johnson

The novel alternates the time periods of 16 year old Bobby's life before the novel starts, now, and his life after the novel starts, then. Nia, told him she was pregnant on his birthday, leaving the two lovers confused, overwhelmed and not knowing what the fate of their baby will be. Even so, during Nia's pregnancy, the couple shares heart-warming and happy moments up until Nia is put in a coma due to a traumatic complication at the very end of her pregnancy. Now, Bobby raises his daughter, Feather, while juggling school and struggling to balance teenage life with his new role as a single father. Bobby goes through ups and downs, but ultimately decides to raise his daughter in a place outside the city, Heaven, Ohio.

Impact on me
I was absolutely blown away by the creativity, grit, despair, triumph, and happiness that this tiny book offered. The phenomenal writing style allowed me to read this book in one sitting wondering what would happen to Nia, the mother, since she was not in any of the "now" story, but was such a caring, loving person in the "then" story. I thought that the characters of Nia and Bobby were well-developed and extremely relatable to teens from any socio-economic background. This viewpoint of a teenage father was a tale I have not read about or seen in a movie. Angela Johnson portrayed Bobby with a perfect balance of maturity, immaturity, responsbiility and irresponsibility. Brilliant!

Reviews
Johnson does a good job portraying most of the hardship of being a teenage parent, such as still being young and having to take care of yourself as well as the baby, but she leaves out one critical detail. She does not mention how Bobby gets the money to buy the baby food and diapers. The author does, however, do a good job showing the issues Bobby has concerning responsibility such as when Bobby gets tired of having to take care of his baby and leaves it with the babysitter for too long. This shows that it is very hard for Bobby to deal with the responsibility. I would recommend this book to teens, both boys and girls, because it shows them how hard it is to raise a baby. Because many teenagers can relate to Bobby in that they perceive life the same way he does, the readers will know that if they do not act responsibly and stay away from sex before marriage, this could happen to them.
Blasingame, J., & Lester, N. A. (2004). The First Part Last (Book). Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 47(5), 429-432.

...From the first page, readers feel the physical reality of Bobby’s new world: what it’s like to hold Feather on his stomach, smell her skin, touch her clenched fists, feel her shiver, and kiss the top of her curly head. Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again. The great cover photo shows the strong African American teen holding his tiny baby in his arms.
Rochman, H. (2003). The First Part Last (Book). Booklist, 100(1), 122.

In this award-winning prequel to Heaven, sixteen-year-old Bobby takes on the responsibility of raising his daughter, Feather.
Hinton-Johnson, K., & Dickinson, G. K. (2005). The First Part Last. Library Media Connection, 23(7), 45.

In the Library
To make sure that young adults are drawn to this book, I feel that the librarian or even selected students should make Book Mosaics to put on the walls of the library. Book Masiacs are big posters that have any number of squares on them, could be 8, could be 20. These squares contain diverse snapshots from The First Part Last: imagined images, a thought-provoking quote, the book's theme, a character sketch, anything he creator wants to add! The end result will create a type of art work that will garner positive attention and rightfully shows the various scenes in the book. Additionaly, I definitely feel a booktalk would be a great time for students to discuss teen pregnancy, growing up too fast and how to deal with tough stuff. Sharing their thoughts and opinions, as well as hearing others is important, especially during middle school and high school years.

Johnson, A (2003). The First Part Last. New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Module 2: The Wreck of the Zephyr

Written and Illustrated by
Chris Van Allsburg

After a visitor to a small fishing village sees remnants of a sailboat away from any waves at the edge of a cliff, an old man tells him that people say the waves were too high one day for the ship, but offers another story of how this occured. Years ago, a boy who was a talented sailor sails his sailboat, the Zephyr, is knocked unconcious by the stormy sea and is washed up onto unknown shores. Amazingly, the boy then sees sailboats sailing above the waves in the air. A sailor then tried to teach the boy to sail above the waves after he pleaded, but the boy did not do it until later that night after the sailor was fast asleep. The boy sailed through the wind to his village when the Zephyr crashed into the ground. As a result, the boy's leg was broken and on top of that, the villagers called him a crazy liar. The old man then limped with his cane toward the harbor.

Impact on me
This is the first book throughout my summer reading schedule that I have not connected with. The illustrations, while breathtaking, did not spark my imagination, perhaps because of the somber color scheme that Allsburg created. I was not interested in the overall story and found myself re-reading each page a couple of times because I could not pay close attention to the words.

Reviews
Rich design and a subtle use of color conjure the changing aspects of light as they support a haunting story of a boy touched by magic who momentarily became the greatest sailor ever.
Jones, T. N. (1983). The Wreck of the Zephyr (Book Review). School Library Journal, 29(9), 33.

If the story is less successful than its predecessors, the full color pastel illustrations more than make up for any deficiencies. To the voluptuous forms and rich design which mark his black-and-white work.. van Allsburg has added colors which conjure the changing aspects of sunlight, moonlight, shadow and storm on water and air.
French, J. (1983). The Wreck of the Zephyr (Book Review). School Library Journal, 29(9), 67.

In a library
This book can be used for students in grades 2-8 and would probably appealto the male students more since the main characters are males. This book could be used in conjunction with a lesson from a science teacher about the ocean, weather or even gravity. The librarian can read it to students and students can recall their learned facts and discuss why the actual wreck of the Zephyr could not be possible. As an alternative idea, after the librarian reads a class the Zephyr, students brainstorm other possible "impossibilities" (such as a bicycle peddling through the air or a bus driving on the ocean floor) in groups or individually and discuss with the class or even create their own book. This mini-lesson provides an enjoyable way to achieve a higher level of Bloom's (to create).

Allsburg, C. V. (1983). The Wreck of the Zephyr. Boston : Houghton Mifflin.

Module 2: The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Brian Selznick
The book created a realistic world in the streets of Paris where dreams are still alive and real, and by the way, happen. Hugo Cabret amazingly keeps the cogs and wheels of a Paris train station’s clocks running as his Uncle has previously abandoned him. Hugo’s beloved and deceased father has left him with the knowledge of the inner-workings of machinery and the desire to fix an automata, a wind-up mechanical figure, that the father discovered in the attic of a museum. Hugo embarks on his destiny the day he is caught stealing a wind-up mouse from an old man who runs a toy boy by the train station. Hugo and the old man’s goddaughter, Isabelle, are thrown into the twist of fate as they encounter many discoveries that lead to the ultimate secret at the end of the tunnel. The old man turns out to be the actual film-maker, magician and ultimate dreamer, Georges Méliès. His work is unearthed and celebrated thanks to Hugo and Isabelle who later all live together with Georges Méliès and his wife in what seems like a magical fairy tale.

Impact on me:
This book was truly a spectacular surprise. I found this book to follow a totally unpredictable medium of a story that I had not seen before. I have read my fair share of graphic novels and picture books, but Selznick certainly took a chance by including both of these aspects separately from the black and white text. I enjoyed how the pictures in the story always took up two pages and was never accompanied by any text (aside from signs, etc. in the pictures). The pages where I kept flipping to view the progress of the scene were particularly exciting and I found myself a little sad when the actual text came back into the novel. That sadness ended the moment I read three or four words and I was back into the progression of the story. What a precious gem this was! I have not seen the award-winning movie yet and cannot wait to see how the movie fairs to this incredible Caldecott medaled book.

Reviews
While the bookmaking is spectacular, and the binding secure but generous enough to allow the pictures to flow easily across the gutter, The Invention of Hugo Cabret is foremost good storytelling, with a sincerity and verbal ease reminiscent of Andrew Clements (a frequent Selznick collaborator) and themes of secrets, dreams, and
invention that play lightly but resonantly throughout. At one point, Hugo watches in awe as Isabelle blithely picks the lock on a door. “How did you learn to do that?” he asks. “Books,” she answers.
R., S. S. (2007). The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Horn Book Magazine, 83(2), 173.

With deft foreshadowing, sensitively wrought characters, and heart-pounding suspense, tbe author engineers the elements of his eomplex plot: speeding trains, clocks, footsteps, dreams, and movies-especially those by Georges Melies, the French pioneer of science-fiction cinema.Movie stills are cleveHy interspersed. Selzniek's art ranges from evocative, shadowy spreads of Parisian streets to penetrating character close-ups. Leaving much to ponder about loss, time, family, and the creative impulse, tbe book closes with a waning moon, a diminishing square, and informative credits. This is a masterful narrative tbat readers can literally manipulate.
Lukehart, W. (2007). The Invention of Hugo Cabret. School Library Journal, 53(3), 218.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a very emotional book . I thought that I was going to cry at times. This book is very touching , because seeing a 10-year old
child live alone and have so much responsibility makes me wonder what I would
do if I was that child. I learned that even though life is tough, you will make it
through and you will have a happy ending.
KadaKia, R. (2011). The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Creative Kids, 29(4), 9.


In the Library
The librarian can read this to 4th-5th graders and have it on display for 6-9th graders. This book could be used as an introduction to the different genres of graphic novels, picture books, young adult novels. Students can decide what their favorite genre of the book was and check out another book with that particular genre. This will help patrons expand their book choices.

Selznick, B (2007). The Invention of Hugo Cabret. New York : Scholastic Press

Module 1: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Written by Judi Barrett
and Drawn by Ron Barrett

This children's classic finds a young girl and boy listening to their Grandpa tell a bedtime story about a town called Chewandswallow, only it was not so ordinary. Here, food fell from the sky three times a day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Life was excellent for all those who lived in ChewandSwallow until things got bad. The "weather" began to bring bigger and bigger amounts of food until the residents were forced to flee for their own safety, never to return in fear of what happened to their home. The children fell asleep right after the story and woke up to a snowy day, which reminded them of mashed potatoes.

Impact on myself
I can definitely understand why they made a movie in the name of this book! I thoroughly enjoyed the creativity that this classic offered. What a wonderful world where imagination takes the center stage. I found it extremely clever that everything in reality was black and white, while everything fictional was in color. This certainly complemented the story's agenda to take the reader to an imaginary, yet believable world. Maybe this book could be under the genre of Science Fiction. :)

Reviews
In the town of Chewandswallow, the citizens enoy the bounties of the skies, and open-roofed restaurants allow diners to catch their dinner. Unfortunatelv, the weather takes a tnrn lor tlie worse, and there is no choice hut to flee from the fiitling food. The detailed pen-and-ink illustrations begin in black and white, but as the tale progresses, colors join the black line details. A savory story to share over and over again.
Gallagher, G. (2006). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. School Library Journal, 52(7), 45.

A Saturday pancake breakfast inspires Grandpa to tell a story: in the tiny town of Chewandswallow everything is usually except the weather, which brings food from the sky three times a day. In case readers cannot imagine this situation through words alone, the line and watercolor cartoons complete the pictures: eggs, sunny side up, hand on trees, soda drizzles, a molded jello sets in the west, and so on. The townspeople think this is a fine way to live until undesirable food begins to fall. The Chewandswallow Digest carries the headline “Spaghetti Ties Up Town!” and “Traffic Snarled on Lower Intestine Street.” The people begin to leave for another settlement, where they make temporary houses out of stale bread and live “normal” lives, buying food at the supermarket. This is enough to make readers throw up, but perhaps it is just the taste.
Jenks, C. K., & Gerhardt, L. N. (1978). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Book Review). School Library Journal, 25(1), 102.

In a Library
I fully recommend this book to elementary students from kindergarten thru third grade. The library could host a contest to elicit excitement about this phenomenal book. Elementary students can submit self-created art for two categories: a typical meal at Chewandswallow or the meals becoming "too much of a good thing." I would suggest one winner per category for each grade level at the school. Another contest to encourage the upper elementary grades to read this book (grades 4-5) could be to write short poems about the theme of "man v. nature" from the book to encourage deeper reading and analysis.

Barrett, J., & Barrett, R. (1978). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. New York: Atheneum.

Module 1: Old Yeller

by Fred Gipson

True to the title, this book is about the tale of a wonderful "yeller" (in color and the sound of the dog's barking/yelling) dog that enters Travis' life by stealing all of the fresh meat the family has. This creates hostility from out main character, Travis, toward the dog as he is in charge of the well-being of his mama and his little brother, Arliss since his father for a period of time to earn money for the family. Even so, Arliss loved the dog and Travis is forced to put up with the old yeller dog. Soon though, Travis find Old Yeller to be an incomparable companion after as the dog helps Travis to scare off raccoons from feasting on the family's corn throughout the night, helping to handle the rambuctious mule, Jumper, and keeping angry, blood-thirsty hogs at bay while Travis branded them, among other things. After Old Yeller had saved Travis' mama's life, he was exposed to hydrophobia and Travis had to shoot his beloved friend point blank. The book ended with hope as Travis, who had considerably grown as a person, admires Old Yeller's pup steal some cornbread from his mama. And perhaps the cycle continues.

Impact on myself
What a well-told story! This book had incredible foreshadowing. I loved how Travis told us on the first page that he would have to shoot his dog, yet continued the short story anyway. This book truly showed me the tiring aspects of farm life, yet the absolutely happiness it provides. Aside from how inspiring and wonderful Old Yeller was, this book was truly about Travis finding himself and becoming a man. After hearing how Travis handled the travesty, his father told him that he "couldn't ask any more of a grown man. (156)" I can not get enough of stories that show children leaving childhood into the rocky and scary streets of adulthood. It made me think back to when I began to lose my innocence and realize that being an adult was full of hard things. Travis reminded me of the stoic Jim Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird because he never wanted to show emotion and always act like a man. I loved how this book was in first person so that the audience could witness all of Travis' inner conflicts.

Reviews
In this 1957 Newbery Honor winner, 14-year-old Travis is the “man of the house” while his father is away. He desperately wants a horse, and so when a big stray dog shows up, Travis has no use for him. But over time, the dog, Old Yeller, saves Travis’ life and the lives of his mother and brother and becomes Travis’ best friend. But an outbreak of hydrophobia threatens Old Yeller’s life and their friendship. The recording begins and ends with guitar and fiddle music, reminiscent of the frontier. Narrator James adopts a slight southern accent, appropriate to the Texas hill country setting. He reads slowly and carefully and in earnest tones, clearly reflective of Travis—a simple, hardworking boy. This heartwarming story
about the love between a boy and his dog is recommended to a new generation of listeners unfamiliar with the classic tale.
Rich, A. (2010). Old Yeller. Booklist, 106(21), 73.

When Pa goes with the cattle drive to Abilene, Travis becomes the man of the family, responsible for tending the corn, the livestock, and taking care of Ma and little brother. His chores are soon shared by a stray cattle dog, who proves his worth time and again by protecting the family from one hazard after another. Travis learns about making hard decisions when he must shoot his dog after Yeller is exposed to rabies.
Tynan, L. (1990). Old Yeller (Book). Library Journal, 115(2), 125-126.

In a Library
Students in grades 4-8 would enjoy and benefit from reading this book. The unique writing style appeals to the middle school age students (and perhaps even students in the lower grades in high school) because of the young adult themes throughout the story. Librarians in elementary, middle, and high school could advertise this book at the same time that new "animal" books become popular in order to remind students of a similar and a classic pet story.

Gipson, F.(1956). Old Yeller. New York: HarperCollins.