Description

Heat is about a boy named Michael Arroyo, a Cuban immigrant, who loves to play baseball. Michael lives in the Bronx, New York with his 17 year old brother, alone. They used to live with their dad, but he had recently passed due to a heart attack. The two of them keep this death under wraps to keep from social services separating the two of them. Michael just wants to play baseball but is removed from the team because he lacks his birth certificate. This book continues to dramatize as there is a race against the clock for Michael’s brother to turn 18 and be able to gain legal custody, and questions begin to arise as it is taking a long time to acquire the birth certificate. Friendships are made, and help is obtained by people that Michael never would have expected.

Connection to Genre

Heat is an awesome depiction of the sports genre. It even plays into a sports drama genre that you will often see in Mike Lupica’s books. Mike Lupica writes his books in a third-person point of view, as it truly paints a picture in the reader's head. With all of the characters that are quickly introduced, it makes sense that it is a third-person point of view. With as many twists and turns as this book has, you may be able to put it into a mystery genre, but I don’t think I would cross that line.

Use in the Classroom

 I would use this book in my classroom library without a doubt. I think that if there are almost any students that enjoy sports, this book is a very confident, and exciting read for them. The words used are not too hard, but it is not a predictable book by any means. This would be great to challenge students’s inferential thinking, and really make students read every page to understand what is going on in the story.

Description

The Who Was/Who Is series is about each individual person that is highlighted in each book. An example could be Who Is Shaquille O’Neal. This book takes you through the life of Shaquille O’Neal, with pictures. I would say that these books are really good for kids grades 3-7. These books cover a famous person’s life in great detail, with good word choice for children, and great illustrations to keep readers interested.

Connection to Genre

These books are awesome examples of children’s biographies. Each book goes into great detail about the person that is being talked about. I remember learning a ton from these books, and I hope that these books are still being used a ton. These books provide readers with good illustrations and a vast amount of information regarding their personal life, and what they have done to make themselves famous.

Use in the Classroom

I would use these books in the classroom library, but also during research assignments. All of the information in these books is factual, and I feel as though sometimes these books can get overlooked when research is being done. Instead of browsing through a ton of different websites, you could just open one of these books and get what you need in a much more condensed, reader-friendly way.

Description

Hatchet is about a 13 year old boy that is traveling on a small plane to go and visit his father. Suddenly, the pilot has a heart attack and the plane goes down. Brian survives, but the pilot doesn’t. The only thing that Brian has is a hatchet that his mother had given him right before the plane had left. Brian is faced with many challenges in this novel. He must overcome both mental and physical issues to keep himself alive. This book goes through a whirlwind of emotions and really allows students to imagine the survival senses.

Connection to Genre

Hatchet is a very good example of an adventure novel. This book takes students through the ideas and actions that are needed to survive in the wilderness alone. Hatchet does a good job of using the setting and entering the image of the wilderness into the readers head.

Use in the Classroom

This is a great independent reading book for students age 10+. This book would be great for students that are looking for a thrilling, adventurous reading experience. Having this book in the classroom would be great for students that are looking for a bit of a challenge.

Description

The Giver is a story about a boy, Jonas, who lives in a futuristic community called Sameness. Everyone sees black and white, nobody feels anything, and everyone is given their job at age 12 in Sameness. Jonas is given the high honor job “Reciever of Memory”. Sameness keeps one person in the community alive that holds all memories: colors, emotions, feelings, all of this is kept by one person. However, this person can transmit these memories to other people. Jonas is selected as the new receiver of memory. He is told to go to an old man’s house and they start giving Jonas memories of happiness and great memories. Jonas then realizes that their community is boring and no fun, and goes on an excursion to let everyone in the community feel all things so that life is not boring anymore.

Connection to Genre

The Giver is described as a Dystopian Fiction. I also think that this is a good genre for it because it is about a futuristic society that is also not very friendly. There are very many examples of an unjust society in this read. There are also plenty of points of great imagery. Lois Lowry does an excellent job of painting the newly found memories into readers heads. Simple-ish memories for New Englanders like going sledding, is painted perfectly into readers heads.

Use in the Classroom

This book would be a great addition to almost any classroom library for students grades 6-8. I think that this book would be very good for students that are trying to learn how to write about setting more effectively.

Description

Charlotte’s Web is about a Pig and his relationship with a ton of other farm animals. Wilbur, the pig, was the runt of his litter at his farm. The farmer’s daughter loved him, however. Wilbur is sent to the farmer's brother's house, where he will be slain for Christmas dinner. Wilbur has no friends at the new farm, except for Charlotte. Charlotte is a spider that is able to put very fascinating designs in her web. Charlotte designs a bunch of different words into her web above Wilbur. Wilbur is then recognized by a bunch of people and is then entered into a contest. Charlotte accompanies him and they win the contest. This prevents Wilbur from being slain.

Connection to Genre

Charlotte’s Web is a fantasy fiction. It is determined a fantasy fiction because of all of the animals that are talking. This is a pretty straightforward determination of the genre. I think that this book does a good job for students around the 4th grade age range to learn about giving some things voices that do not normally have voices.

Use in the Classroom

Charlotte’s Web is a perfect book to give as a 3rd or 4th grade class read. This book can be pretty sad at times, this teaches students about empathy. Also, there are plenty of friendships that are made throughout the book, with many different animals. I think that this is important because it shows kiddos that they are able to make connections with almost everyone!

Description

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is a silly book to read to students. This book is about giving a mouse a cookie, and then a ton of different asks from the mouse, then it all circles back to wanting another cookie. The order goes: cookie, milk, straw, napkin, mirror, nail scissors, broom, asks to take a nap, have a story read to him, draw a picture to hang on the refrigerator, looking at the fridge makes him hungry so he asks for a glass of milk, and decides he wants a cookie.

Connection to Genre

Comedic Fiction is the genre I would use to describe If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. This story is pretty funny and will make a lot of people chuckle, especially children. The seemingly never ending cycle makes kids laugh all the time. The author writes this story in second person. I think that this is really smart because it makes the children laugh even more. This makes kids think that giving a mouse a cookie in real life is going to trigger all of the succeeding events.

Use in the Classroom

This would be a fun read aloud books for students in a Kindergarten or First Grade classroom. I think that this is an awesome read aloud book because it can be used to test students memory skills. There are a ton of activities that can be done on paper to test students memory in a fun way.