Blizzard

Bibliography:
Murphy, Jim. Blizzard! the Storm That Changed America. New York: Scholastic, 2000. Print.


Plot Summary:
This nonfictional story written by Jim Murphy begins on March 12, 1888.  This is a story about how many states from Virgina to Maine experienced the worst blizzard for three days and nights of harsh winds and snow.Thousands of people were trapped at home and work and many people died as they tried to survive the storm that changed America. There was more than 40 to 50 inches of snow. Winds broke powerlines, and blocked buildings. Transportation was shut down and many cities became ghost town. Many trains were derailed during this storm.This natural disaster was the worst  storm of its time. The book shows how prices went up and it documents through newspaper articles, illustrations, and memoirs from business owners.

Critical Analysis:
This book is well written. The descriptions leading to the storm are very detailed. As you read the story you are drawn in instantly as you begin to anticipate what will occur to hundreds of people.The  narrative is told through the eyes of the survivors and victims. Life was changed forever because of this storm. The National Weather Service was formed and weather forecasting was no longer the job for the Army. Weather forecasting became monitored for 24 hours and there were no days off which may have helped some of the people prepare for the storm. Power lines were now placed underground instead of up in the air and many cities now had to create an emergency plan. The book has many illustrations and captions about the events that took place.

Reviews:

Kirkus Review
In the same format as his Newberry Honor title "The Great Fire(1995), Murphy brings the blizzard of 1888 to life. He shows how military weather monitoring practices, housing and employment conditions and politics regarding waste management, transportation monopolies and utilities regulation, all contributed to- and were subsequently affected by-the disaster.

Connections:

1. Students can read the informatioon about one person's experience during the blizzard. Have the students write what the person was doing before the blizzard.
2. Students can create a timeline of events of the historic events.
3. Listen to the audio version and compare it  to the written text.
4. Choose several illustrations from the story and retell it and write an expository poem. 

Heart and Soul

Bibliography:
Nelson, Kadir, and Martha Rago. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. New York: Balzer + Bray, 2011. Print


Plot Summary:
This Coretta Scott King Honor and Winner Book is an incredible book of hope, courage, and determination of the human spirit.Nelson tells the struggle of African-Americans in America through a fictional narrator. This story details in chapters showing how African-Americans worked hard and endured discrimination, hardships , but managed in some instances to triumph in wicked and evil injustices that were in place only to keep them in an inferior position. Heart and Soul begins with a prologue in which the narrator admits she is ashamed of her past of being a slave. The narrator  goes on to tell the story of slavery,abolition,reconstruction,westward expansion, the great migration and ends with an epilogue in which the narrator describes participating by walking her 100 yr old legs in an election in which Barack Obama, the first time an African -American, won the Democratic nomination for president of the yet to be United States of America.

Critical Analysis:
Heart and Soul is wonderfully written book and it looks like a picture book but this nonfiction book is so much more. It has wonderfully illustrated pictures that show the emotion on the faces of the men, women, and children who are depicted in the narrator's memoryThe illustrations are so detailed with the rich brown hues that it causes you to try to read their expression to self- reflect how you would feel if it were you living during this time period.I read the book with pride and came away feeling inspired about the accomplishments that were made in spite of all of the broken promises and vile behavior of so many people who felt that African-americans were nothing. This book will have you cheering with emotion and angered with feelings of pain for the victims who suffered at the hands of many  selfish evil people. Slavery was ugly and so was the Jim Crow years that came after it and lasted for many years.

Review Excerpts:

Kirkus Review
In an undertaking even more ambitious than the multiple-award winning We are the Ship(2008), Nelson tells the story of African -Americans and their often central place in American history.


Connections:
1. This book can be used to discuss modern discrimination against other groups of people in the world today. Students can study other cultures such as the Chinese, Irish, and Latino or Afro-latino groups.
2. Students can study geography of the journey and the different countries in Africa who participated in the slave trade.

Lincoln Tells a joke: How Laughter saved the President(and the country)

Krull, Kathleen, Paul Brewer, and Stacy Innerst. Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President (and the Country). Boston [Mass.: Harcourt Children's /Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010. Print.


Plot Summary
The biography begins by telling all the reasons why Lincoln was sad growing up. He had a rough childhood and grew up very poor. However Lincoln loved to make fun of himself and read jokes to his family and friends.  His story is told in sequence and details his life but it uses humor to describe how Lincoln coped with life's disappointments. The story shows how Lincoln used humor as a young boy every day. He even used humor as he did chores. The story shows how  laughter and humor helped him make it through the loss of many of his loved ones like his mother, sister and two of his sons He always looked for the opportunity to write. The book used many one-liners and nonsense poems to paint a more humanistic portrait of a great president who tried to remain positive in spite of his circumstances. In the book Lincoln states " My father taught me how to work, but not love it, and he later said " I'd rather read,tell stories, crack jokes,talk,laugh".

Critical Analysis:

This is an easy read aloud for students. The words are easy to read and illustrations are funny and colorful.This book could show others how in the midst of  overwhelming obstacles and problems one can still keep their sanity and work through it. The book shows the character of Abraham Lincoln in an engaging way that the reader can relate too. The author writes from Abraham Lincolns point of view which adds more to the way I view him. Most people have respected Abraham Lincoln for his contributions to the history of America but this book will make you laugh and like him even more.

Review Excerpts:

Kirkus Reviews

Not many biographies of the 16th U.S. president begin "Poor Abraham Lincoln." This one does and goes on to list the reasons why the man's life was "hardly fun," but then it gets right to the titular theme: "But Lincoln had his own way of dealing with life. Not many people remember it today. It was all about laughing." (In a lovely acrylic painting of the famous Lincoln log cabin, an escaping plume of "HaHaHaHas" mirrors the chimney smoke.) ....

School Library Journal

The legends that endure about Lincoln are many: his log-cabin childhood, his honesty, his eloquence. What is less often discussed is how he used humor to diffuse tense political situations, disarm critics , and undo the stressess of running the country. His  love of words in general and jokes and humor more specifically, helped him throughout his life when things were difficult, uncomfortable and down right dire....

Connections:
1.This book could be used for President's Day studies or the Civil War.
2. It could also be used in middle or high school as a quick read to build a discussion and brainstorm the culture of America at this time in history.