Fletcher Middle School

Celebrate

Literacy Week,

10 Ways

 to Raise

 a Reader!

BLACK HISTORY MONTH RECOMMENDED READING LIST 2012

JUST READ FLORIDA website

Middle School (Grades 6-8)

• The Legend of Buddy Bush, Sheila P. Moses

• Days of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue, Julius Lester

• Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl, Tonya Bolden

• Dark Sons, Nikki Grimes

• The Road to Paris, Nikki Grimes

• Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, Ben Carson

• Days of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack

• Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson

• The Battle of Jericho, Sharon Draper

• The Red Rose Box, Brenda Woods

• The Land, Mildred Taylor

• Miracle’s Boys, Jacqueline Woodson

• Let It Shine! Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters, Andrea Davis Pinkney

• Francie, Karen English

• Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African American Whalers, Patricia C. & Frederick L. McKissack

• Now is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom, Walter Dean Myers

• The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King

• Forged by Fire, Sharon M. Draper

• Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York’s African Burial Ground, Joyce Hansen and Gary McGowan

• I See the Rhythm, Toyomi Igus

• The Other Side: Shorter Poems, Angela Johnson

• Toning the Sweep, Angela Johnson

• Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack

• Soujourner Truth: Ain’t I a Woman?, Patricia C. and Frederick L. McKissack

• Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World, Mildred Pitts Walter

• Let the Circle Be Unbroken, Mildred D. Taylor

• Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir, Eloise Greenfield and Lessie Jones Little

• Andrew Young: Young Man With a Mission, James Haskins

• The Way a Door Closes, Hope Anita Smith

• The Skin I’m In, Sharon Flake

• Another Way to Dance, Martha Southgate

• Elijah of Buxton, Christopher Paul Curtis

• Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali, Charles R. Smith, Jr.

• We are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball, Kadir Nelson

• Keeping the Night Watch, Hope Anita Smith

• Maizon at Blue Hill, Jacqueline Woodson

• My People, Langston Hughes, illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr.

• 1001 Things People Should Know about African American History, Jeffrey C. Steward

DCPS Superintendent's Books of the Months

August & September 2010

Touching Spirit Bear

by

Ben Mikaelsen

Award Winner!

2004 Sunshine State Young Reader's Award for Best Book Grades 6 - 8

Best chapters to pique interest: Chapters 1, 16, and 17

• Summary

Cole Matthews is angry. Angry, defiant, smug -- in short, a bully. His anger has taken him too far this time, though. After beating up a ninth-grade classmate to the point of brain damage, Cole is facing a prison sentence. But then a Tlingit Indian parole officer named Garvey enters his life, offering an alternative called Circle Justice, based on Native American traditions, in which victim, offender, and community all work together to find a healing solution. Privately, Cole sneers at the concept, but he's no fool -- if it gets him out of prison, he'll do anything. Ultimately, Cole ends up banished for one year to a remote Alaskan island, where his arrogance sets him directly in the path of a mysterious, legendary white bear. Mauled almost to death, Cole awaits his fate and begins the transition from anger to humility.

• Character Trait for August - Responsibility: Living a Life of Character

Responsibility is the trait of being accountable to someone for something; taking charge of one's conduct. A student may demonstrate that he/she is responsible by completing work or assignments at home or school without force or punishment.

• Character Trait for September - Respect for Authority, Life, Liberty, and Personal Property

Respect for authority, life, liberty, and personal property means taking someone's feelings, needs, thoughts, ideas, wishes, possessions, and preferences into consideration. We might also say it means taking all these seriously and giving them worth and value. Respect can be shown through behavior and it can also be felt.

• Sequel

Ghost of Spirit Bear

• Check out these websites and discover even more...

Author Website -- Ben Mikaelsen http://www.benmikaelsen.com/

December 2010

Bird

by

Angela Johnson

• Summary

An open-ended, interconnected narrative in three voices. Bird, 13, has run away from Cleveland to rural Alabama, trying to find her stepfather, Cecil, and bring him home. Ethan, who turns out to be Cecil's nephew, is adjusting to the freedom that a heart transplant affords him. Jay is grieving for his brother, whose death provided the necessary heart. Bird hides out in a shed on Ethan's family's farm, convinced that Cecil will come because she'd seen Ethan in the man's photographs. She soon gets lonely. Conveniently, Ethan, who has been socially isolated by his illness, is anxious to befriend her. Jay knows about Ethan but cannot bring himself to approach the younger boy. Persuaded by his best friend to "borrow" an elderly neighbor's car, Jay winds up under house arrest, but sneaks out and encounters Bird himself. The owner of the stolen car, Mrs. Pritchard, offers Bird refuge at her house, providing her comfort through good food and a patient, nonjudgmental ear. Johnson reveals the inner thoughts of these characters, as they move around one another, occasionally touching, but preoccupied with their individual problems. Readers see how small kindnesses can ease the grip of grief and how large gestures -- the literal giving of a heart -- can rebound to the giver's credit. Much is left unresolved by the conclusion of the book, but the many truths about human emotion and interaction are exposed for readers' examination.

• Character Trait for December – Kindness: The practice or quality of being kind; the tendency to be sympathetic and compassionate. Children demonstrate kindness by being friendly, generous, warm-hearted, sympathetic, charitable, understanding, considerate, and agreeable.

January 2011

Hot, Sour, Salty, Sweet

by

Sherri Smith

• Summary

According to Ana Shen's social studies teacher in Los Angeles, CA, she has a "marvelously biracial, multicultural family." However, Ana's Chinese American and Louisiana African American heritage do not always blend easily, particularly when all her grandparents are together for her eighth grade graduation. After the water main bursts during the graduation ceremony, Ana invites Jamie Tabata, the cutest boy in school, to her house for a home-cooked meal. Conflicts arise during the four hours in which the family has to prepare the meal. Eventually, Ana learns the value of family and her unique heritage in the blending of the hot, sour, salty, and sweet flavors.

• Topics

Korean War and military service for Asian and African Americans; self-esteem; importance of education; tension/rivalry of grandparents to control children and grandchildren; architecture; painting murals; and trumpet and New Orleans jazz.

• Character Trait for January – Racial, Ethnic, and Religious Tolerance

  February 2011

Cages

by

Peg Kehret

         Written by one of our most popular authors, this is an interesting story of a young teen, Kit, who makes a momentary decision to shoplight as a frustrated and angry reaction to being hurt by her family and peer relationships. She is caught, lies, and, finally, confesses.  Of course, Kit has to make restitution for the cost and serve community hours, which she does at an animal shelter. Ashamed and embarrassed, Kit resorts to lies and half truths to prevent her friends from discovering her secret. Every area of her life is affected by the shoplifting, including her family's financial and relationship problems as well as her academic quest for a college scholarship. 

           However, while working at the shelter with the animals in their cages, Kit learns how to release her own frustrations with life and people. She learns to accept the idea that she may not be able to control situations and other people but she is responsible for her attitude and reactions to them. With the help and support of the adults at the shelter and her speech/ drama teacher, her personal self-esteem, friendships, and family relationships are all greatly impacted!

March 2011

Tangerine

by

Edward Bloor

• Summary

Paul Fisher is in seventh grade when his family moves to Florida from Texas. Paul is legally blind. Paul's eyesight was damaged in a mysterious accident when he was five, and he wears "Coke-bottle" glasses, but he has clearer vision than the rest of his family and most of the people in Lake Windsor Downs. He doesn't mind the glasses, because with them he can see. He sees that his parents' constant praise of his brother, Erik, the football star, is to cover up something that is terribly wrong. But no one listens to Paul. Until his family moves to Tangerine. Tangerine is like another planet, where weird is normal. Lightning strikes the same time every day. Underground fires burn for years. A sinkhole swallows a local school. And Paul the geek finds himself adopted into the toughest group around -- the soccer team of his middle school. Suddenly the blind can see, geeks can be cool, and maybe a twelve-year-old boy can finally face up to his terrifying older brother. The move to Tangerine, Florida, might just open the eyes of everyone in the Fisher family.

• Character Trait for March - Honesty

Truthfulness, sincerity, or fankness; freedom from deceit or fraud.

Children exhibt honesty when they:

• don't lie
• tell the truth, even when it is difficult
• do what they say they will do
• build a good reputation
• stand by their family and friends

April 2011

Joey Pigza Loses Control

by

Jack Gantos