Module 10: Looking for Alaska

by John Green

Miles, who is a fan of famous people's last words, leaves his mother and father before his junior year of high school to attend Culver Creek boarding school in Alabama. He goes in search of the "Great Perhaps," which are some of the last words of François Rabelais. There, he instantly falls into an intelligent, rebellious and entertaining group of friends including Chip, or the Colonel as he is called, Takumi and a beautiful and original girl named Alaska Young. The group enjoys smoking cigarettes, reading, and pranking the "Weekday Warriors," who are the priveleged students at school that go to their rich houses on the weekends. Miles, or Pudge as he is later called, has a crush on Alaska, but she is dating a kind boy in college. Alaska reveals her dark past where she watched her mother have a brain aneurism and die instead of calling 911 when she was eight years old. Her father has forgiven her, but she still feels the emotional pain and guilt. One night, Alaska receives a phone call and leaves her friends immediately in a car before dying in a car accident. This book is divided into the life of Miles Before the death of Alaska Young and After the death of Alaska young. Miles and his friends never discover if it was a car accident or suicide, but they honor her memory by fulfilling the group of friend's one last planned prank. Miles remembers Alaska fondly and has learned to forgive is a crucial lesson.

Impact on me
Throughout the novel, and we assume Alask'a life, her favorite novel lead her to continually ponder the question "How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?" This question is alluded to throughout the novel and after Alaska's death, Miles concludes that the way out of the "labyrinth" is forgiveness. Forgiveness seems very basic and small, but based on the novel and based on real-life, forgiveness is complicated and can be very hard to follow through with. I liked the main characters and given the fact that they are at boarding school that is far away from home, it was believable that they were so smart, independent, well-read and mature. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and am so impressed with the sentences, ideas and general writing style of the author, John Green. I will certainly read more works from him.

Reviews
When 16-year-old Miles Halter arrives at boarding school, he is immediately taken under the wing of his scheming, acerbic roommate, Chip, and the beautiful, brainy, and reckless Alaska Young. The story of this trio's light and dark escapades brims with humor, insight, and intelligence as well as a good deal of emotional pain with which these true friends attempt to cope.
Looking for Alaska. (2005). School Library Journal, 51,82.

Girls will cry and boys will find love, lust, loss and longing in Alaska's vanilla-and-cigarettes scent.
Looking For Alaska. (2005). Kirkus Reviews, 73(5), 287.

Looking for Alaska will haunt readers with its memorable characters, its literary and philosophical questions about life and death that so fascinate teens, and its ultimate affirmation of a life fully lived.
Glantz, S., & Scordato, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska. Library Media Connection, 24(3), 66-67.

In the Library
This is a great book to use in classrooms learning about philosophy and religion because the book deals with issues surrounding these subjects. A fun and engaging idea to advertise the book in the library is to blow up a book cover of the book and hang the poster on the wall with post-its notes readily available by the giant book cover. Students can write various things on the post-its: what they learned, who their favorite character was and why, memorable quotes, their favorite parts of the book, their own answer to Alaska's question, "How will we ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?" and anything else they would like to add. The eventual post-its covering the giant book cover on the wall will be a learning tool, extremely interesting to read, and garner attention for the book for other students to read and enjoy.

Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska. New York: Dutton Books.

Module 10: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie writes letters to someone he feels that he can be honest with, though the reader never knows who the recipient of the letters is, nor Charlie's real name since he uses different names for everyone in his letters. The letters begin as Charlie, after learning his friend Michael committed suicide, ponders the complexities of his current teenage life and his internal feelings. Charlie begins high school very lonely, but soon makes friends who Sam, a girl whom Charlie likes, and Patrick, two seniors who happen to be step-siblings. The two encourage Charlie to be himself and to not feel self-conscious and awkward all the time. Another way that Charlie grows is through a school teacher that gives him plenty of books to read that Charlie reflects on throughout the novel. Charlie's letters show random occurences in high school including dating his first girlfriend (who he wishes was Sam, but is not), experimenting with drugs, losing the trust and friendship of Sam and Patrick, as well as later falling into a weird panic/depression after having sex with Sam. As a result, he goes to a mental hospital where he realizes that his favorite person in the world, Aunt Helen, molested him. Charlie learns a lot from his first year of high school and believes the next year will be better for him.

Impact on me
I really enjoyed hearing the tales of Charlie's accounts of high school because he is so intelligent and emotional. As a freshman high school teacher, however, I did not quite view Charlie as a realistic, public school, run-of-the-mill freshman. I could barely see him as a freshman in college. Though, it is obvious that Charlie is more gifted than those of his age based on the books he reads in the novel and his observations and analysis of them. I sort of understand why this book was banned. Obviously, the book refers to drugs, sex, homosexuality, suicide, and has vulgar language, but many young adult novels do these days. Also, these are topics that are discussed in high school and also seen in most teenage television shows. I enjoyed the book, but I did not find it absolutely unique to other books with similar themes and similar narrators. I believe most teenagers would agree with Charlie's quote on the very first page of the novel: "I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I am still trying to figure out how that could be."

Reviews
Charlie begins high school and is welcomed into a close circle of friends who see him through his first kiss, his first cigarette, and his first relationship.
Squicciarini, S. A., & Person, S. (2008). The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Voice Of Youth Advocates, 31(2), 107.

Charlie develops from an observant wallflower into his own man of action, and, with the help of a therapist, he begins to face the sexual abuse he had experienced as a child. This report on his life will engage teen readers for years to come.Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
Goldsmith, F. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower (Book Review) (Undetermined). School Library Journal, 45(6), 126.

Teen books may not be able to compete with the visuals of The Matrix, but they do provide a few hours of what teens may need most: time to think. And there's nothing bleak about that.
Spitz, D. (1999). The perks of being a wallflower (Book Review) (Undetermined). Time, 154(3), 79.

In the Library
This is a book that I absolutely would want to have a book discussion about. I want to know how student readers view the issues in the novel, how they relate it to their own life and school, what they have had to deal with in their life and how they cope with it all. I believe this book creates a unique opportunity to discuss their feelings so that they do not feel alone and do not commit suicide like Michael does at the beginning of the novel and like so many other teenagers. Another idea is to create a book mosaic for this book. I have written of this idea from The First Part Last, but I will repeat the idea and instructions. 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 Perks of Being a Wallflower: imagined images, a thought-provoking quote, the book's theme, a character sketch, anything the 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. The Perks of Being a Wallflower seems to draw an artsy crowd-I would love to see what magnificent Book Mosaics are created using this book!

Chbosky, S. (1999). The Perks of Being a Wallflower. New York:Pocket Books.

Module 9: Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs

by Alan Katz
Illustrated by David Catrow

Old favorite songs like "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," which is where the title is drawn from, are created into new words and meanings using the same sing-along rhyme. For example, the tune of "Rockabye Baby" is turned into "Sock in the gravy, Glove in the soup, Tie in the meat loap and here's a scoop." Every new title of a "silly dilly song" has "to the tune of" in parantheses underneath so that the reader knows how to read the 'new' song.

Impact on me
I definitely found this book to be entertaining! I did have to read several of the songs again and again to match up the words with the tune. I believe this is one of those books that parents and teachers should read before they read it to their children and students so that the reader can get the tune just right. The illustrations that accompanied each new song were very funny and colorful. I enjoyed reading this unique and creative book.

Reviews
This hilarious collection goes straight to the heart of playground humor...The watercolor illustrations are equally entertaining, with exaggerated features and situations giving them a cartoon look. "Go Go Go to Bed" depicts an exhausted mom slumped in a chair with toys and a child literally bouncing off the ceiling above her. There's something here to tickle most funny bones.
Marino, J. (2001). Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs (Book Review). School Library Journal, 47(4), 132.

Well-known songs, including ″Oh Susannah″ and ″Row Row Row Your Boat,″ are presented with new words and titles, such as ″I'm So Carsick″ and ″Go Go Go to Bed.″
Peterson, L. (2001). Take me out of the bathtub and other silly dilly songs (Book Review) (Undetermined). Booklist, 97(21), 2016.

In the Library
After the librarian reads this book to students, students can think of a song that they know and create their own words that create a brand new song with the same rhyme scheme and tune. This is a high-level skill that students will find very fun! They can also draw a picture to go with their newly created song. Another fun idea to accompany this book is to read this to students in the library while learning about poetry in their classroom. This would be a great lesson to remind students that we use poetry in our everyday life, like songs they have heard their entire lives. Students can then discuss how they easily memorized these songs and discuss skills to memorize other things, like dates, important people and facts.

Katz, A., & Catrow, D. (2001). Take Me Out of the Bathtub and Other Silly Dilly Songs. New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books.

Module 9: Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath

by Stephanie Hemphill

Stephanie Hemphill, the author, uses self-written poems to chronicle and display the life of Sylvia Plath. The poems begin at the birth and early childhood of Sylvia, written from the point of view of her parents, then grand-parents. The poems follow her through secondary school, then under-graduate work at Smith, her depression and individuality and a suicide attempt. Sylvia then travels to Cambridge on a Fullbright scholarship, marries the poet, Ted Hughes, moves back to America, then back to London. She eventually has two children, seperates from Ted after she discovers his affair with Assia, writes her most famous poems, and kills herself. Every poem in this story is followed by the real life inspiration for the poem, such as actual quotes by the person the poem is written in the viewpoint of, statistics, and other various, factual information.

Impact on me
The poems clearly reflected the real life events of Sylvia Plath's life and the real perspectives of those she encountered in life and was very close to. This verse novel interested me to immerse myself in the life of Sylvia Plath and learn everything about her! I read her poems, I read ever biography online I could and watched the movie Sylvia, where Gwenyth Paltrow portaryed Sylvia Plath. What an interesting and sad life this novel clearly and artfully showed me. I absolutely loved this novel. Since the audience is for young adults and young adults traditionally have a fascination with suicide, I worry that this verse novel and the life of Sylvia Plath in general glorifies suicide since Sylvia Plath became famous after she stuck her head in an oven. Everyone aroudn Sylvia was devestated by her suicide and it impacted many, many lives, so I hope that a suicidal teen never reads this!

Reviews
"Who are, you, Sylvia Plath?" begins the first of more than 150 poems comprising this fictionalized biography, the genre-bending follow-up to Stephanie Hemphill's award-winning YA novel-in-verse, Things' Left Unsaid (2005). Told from the perspectives of Plath's friends, relatives and acquaintances, these poems deftly unfurl a narrative of her life from birth to just beyond her premature death, all the while directing readers to Plath's work with the aid of factual footnotes accompanying each piece.
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. (2007). Kirkus Reviews, 75(23), 9.

Hemphill's searing, insightful poems paint a scintillating portrait of Plath, tracing the events of her turbulent life from her birth in 1932 to her suicide in 1963. Written in various voices, the verses convey perceptions of those who knew her well, impressions of less-intimate acquaintances, and-in offerings penned "in the style" of particular Plath poems-Plath's own perspective. A dynamic introduction to an American icon.
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. (2007). School Library Journal, 53,75.

Hemphill ambitiously undertakes a fictionalized portrait of Sylvia Plath in poems, many of them inspired by Plath's own works...Hemphill's innovative portrait may not shed any new light on this tragic figure, but it could well act as a catalyst to introducing Plath to a new generation.
Your Own Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. (2007). Publishers Weekly, 254(12), 64.

In the Library
This verse novel provides an excellent introduction and lesson supplement for poetry! The librarian can chose to read 2-3 poems for Sylvia Plath and discuss the imagery, tone, style, rhyme, or whatever the students would like to discuss. Students could take this discussion a step farther and write their own poetry or just mimic the style of Sylvia Plath's poems that have been discussed. Another idea to get more students in the school involved is to have a contest. Volunteer students will create a picture (paint, draw, etc.) that directly relates to one of Sylvia Plath's poems. The best three pictures can then be displayed in the library. Students can guess what poem each pictures represents. The first student to guess correctly could win a prize!

Hemphill, S. (2007). Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse Portrait of Sylvia Plath. New York : Alfred A. Knopf.

Module 8: The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse

by Bruce Hale

Chet Gecko-private eye, a lizard who attends an elementary school with various other animals, is asked by Shirley to find her brother, Billy, who went missing. In exchange for a stinkbug pie, Chet agrees to take on the case and eventually teams up with Natalie, a bird, who helps him. Chet, and later Natalie, encounter many adventures that lead them to discover that Herman, a Gila monster, has enlisted Billy to help him steal the school statue after creating a diversion by letting out a large number of bugs. Luckily, Chet Gecko discovers their plan and stops them.

Impact on me
The dialogue and thoughts of the main character, Chet Gecko, were pretty funny. I wonder how an "ages to 8 to 12" (the text on the book of the book) student would view the witty word choice of the author, Bruce Hale. This book was by far my least favorite of the mystery books that I read. The "mystery" was just too silly and boring for me. Like the review from Knight (below) says, the adult characters were all very mean, especially the teachers! Being a kind teacher myself, I found this to be offensive because teachers work very hard for all of their students. This book did not show the good and caring qualities of teachers. This book is a part of a series, so obviously it is very successful; I just did not enjoy it.

Reviews
The clever dialogue is filled with the kind of sarcastic similes that would have made Mickey Spillane proud. ("Brick snorted and giggled, a sound like two owls in a blender.") Even for satire, however, the book is often over the top. Adult characters are uniformly unattractive-gleefully cruel teachers, a sloppy coach, and a feline principal who sharpens his claws on the curtains.
Knight, E. E. (2000). The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse (Book Review) (Undetermined). School Library Journal, 46(8), 155.

The mystery is slight and its construction is haphazard, getting submerged under the trappings of the story; the trappings, however, are zesty and entertaining. The combination of school details, animal classmates, and homage to Raymond Chandler is glib but broadly and sustainedly humorous; Hale capably plays the elements
against one another to increase the amusement value (Chet gets out of a sticky situation by dropping his tail), and the deadpan monosyllabic style is wittily effective.
Stevenson, D. (2000). The chameleon wore chartreuse (Book Review) (Undetermined). Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books, 53(10), 357.

In the Library
The sentences found in this book were very creative and playful. Students could write down three of their favorite sentences on sentence strips to put up in the library. Students can then see good writing on the wall and use these as examples in their own writing. The sentence strips would also make great advertisements for the series itself. This book also has various characters with different personalities. Students can draw and paint these characters and write quotes about them on the same paper. This would be a great lesson in characterization and again, provides a great visual to advertise the series in the library.

Hale, B. (2000). The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse. San Diego, CA:Harcourt.

Module 8: The Dollhouse Murders

by Betty Ren Wright

Amy is fed up with being the sister sitter for, LouAnn who is mentally handicapped. She runs away to Aunt Clare, who is staying at her grandparents' old country house cleaning the place up in order to sell it. Aunt Clare tells Amy she can stay there for a little while to take some time away from her sister, LouAnn. When Aunt Clare and Amy are in the attic, Amy spots a dollhouse that is an exact replica of the house they are in. Aunt Clare was given the dollhouse at the age of fifteen by her grandmother. Amy finds the dollhouse fascinating and shows her friend, Ellen, the house who is equally amazed. But soon, Amy begins to suspect that the dollhouse is haunted because the dolls (who are the doll version of her five year old father, Aunt Clare and their grandparents, who fostered the children when their parents died) move by themselves and even cry. Amy and Ellen discover that her great-grandparents were murdered and believes the dolls are trying to tell them the truth. The grandmother doll eventually throws mini-books off the shelf in a desperate attempt before she is murdered. This leads Amy, Aunt Clare and even LouAnn to find the exact real-life book with a letter inserted revealing the murderer from so many years before. The murdered turns out to be their gardener, Reuben and Aunt Clare is relieved because she thought the murderer was her ex-fiance and has been living with the guilt of this her entire life. She is not relieved and can build a happy life.

Impact on me
This was just a random book that I picked out and I did not have many expectations for since it was under the elementary mystery choices. I was so impressed and finished this book in one day! The writing was phenomenal, consisting of suspense (which honestly really did give me a few scares!) and the emotions of Amy as she contemplated the burden of taking care of her mentally handicapped sister. I would recommend this book to my high school students! It was so well-written with no obvious foreshadowing and a great plot mixed in with a great mystery.

Reviews
The combination of a beautiful fascinating dollhouse, dark family secrets, ghostly events, danger and suspense are sufficient to make this a likely choice for escape reading.
Harris, K., & Gerhardt, L. N. (1983). The Dollhouse Murders (Book Review). School Library Journal, 30(3), 84.

The attic is always a great place to look for nuggets of one’s family history, but when 12-year old Amy explores her great-grandparents’ attic, she uncovers clues to a chilling family secret.
Children's audio/video reviews. (1999). Publishers Weekly, 246(19), 34.

In the library
After reading this book, students can discuss the pace and frequency of the suspense scenes as well as the clues to solving the mystery of the murders. With the librarians help, the students can write these discussed stylistic devices down and put them on a posterboard in the library near the Mystery section. When other student patrons are in the mystery section or have read a mystery book, they can compare the posterboard notes with their own thoughts of mystery books or books they will read or are reading. Students can take this idea further and write their own mystery stories using the style, pacing, suspense tactics, foreshadowing and clues they learned from reading and discussing The Dollhouse Murders. Students can then share their mystery stories with one another in order to discuss the students' own mystery stylistic styles.

Wright, B. R. (1983). The Dollhouse Murders. New York : Holiday House.

Module 7: Charles and Emma

by Deborah Heiligman

Charles Darwin, the naturalist made famous for providing the proof of evolution and natural selection, makes a list highlighting the pros and cons of being married. He decides there are more positives on his list and married his first cousin, Emma Darwin. Their relationship and marriage turns out to be more than he could have predicted, they are two people that are completely in love. Their opinions only differ on one key issue, religion. Emma is devoted to God, prays constantly, believes in heaven and believes in God above all else. Throughout her life, she tries to convince Charles of God's presence, but he simply can not believe based on his scientific evidence. The couple gives birth to ten children, though three end up dying. Two children pass away as infants and their third is the ten year old, Annie. This was the couple's favorite child and her death absolutely crushes them; Charles and Emma hardly ever speak of Annie for the rest of their life. Charles suffers of illness throughout his entire life and works on his research throughout his pains. Emma is his constant nurse and Charles dies in Emma's arms.

Impact on me
This book blew me away! I did not know that a non-fiction work filled with research and direct quotes could be so romantic and so magical. The love between Charles and Emma was so palpable based on Heiligman's writing that I found myself giddy during the days that I spent reading this book. Heiligman's personal questions based on the questions of faith for Charles Darwin left me wondering if Charles did believe in God a little bit with obvious doubts. Perhaps the world will never know what his private thoughts and oral conversations with Emma really did consist of in the matters of faith, religion and God. This book also provided a supplemented viewpoint on evolution and how this concept was founded.

Reviews
With great empathy and humor, Heiligman’s lively narrative examines the life and legacy of Darwin through the unique lens of his domestic life, an inspired choice that helps us understand that for all the impact his theory would have on the world, nowhere did its consequences resonate so loudly as within the walls of his own home.
Hunt, J. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith. Horn Book Magazine, 85(1), 115.

She shows how Darwin's love for his intelligent, steadfast, and deeply religious cousin was an important factor in his scientific work-pushing him to document his theory of natural selection for decades before publishing it with great trepidation. Just as the pair embodied a marriage of science and religion, this book weaves together the chronicle of the development of a major scientific theory with a story of true love. Published for young adults, this title will be equally interesting to adults drawn to revisit Darwin on his 200th birthday.
Heath, E. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith. School Library Journal, 55(1), 127.

This nonfiction account provides a new perspective on the scientist and his life. Focusing often on Darwin's wife, Emma--who took an opposite stance from his on religion and the afterlife--these stories offer a sensitive and personal glimpse into the man, his lingering illnesses and his sincere devotion to his eight children and beloved wife.
Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith. (2010). Christian Century, 127(25), 26.

In the library
Charles and Emma would be a wonderful book to read and discuss when the science classroom's teach the controversial (and much talked about in public schools)creationism and evolution. Charles and Emma hits both of these topics with an unbiased point of view that could get biased and/or learning students to really think about the implications and evidence given for both lessons. This book can also be references as students write research papers which must include sources and minimal direct quotations. This book is an excellent and engaging example for students to read and to reference when writing research papers, and even short answer questions used for standardized tests.

Heiligman, D. (2009). Charles and Emma New York : Henry Holt and Co.

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