LM_NET: Library Media Networking
Subject: HIT: SEC: good read#4
EDU Mon Aug 31 13:16:44 1998
I'm going to guess here....mostly male students?? Try anything by Gary
Paulson- start with Hatchet- group read and discuss.
Ask him to read Wringer. I also like anything by Will Hobbs.
Two books that have been popular with our sixth graders are
Drive-By (by Ewing) and Freak the Mighty (by Philbrick). They are
both entertaining and teach valuable life lessons. Drive By is
geared more for 6-8, though. Freak the Mighty can be enjoyed by all
ages.
I would suggest:
Go Ask Alice
The Outsiders
Freak the Mighty
My all time favorite for all age kids is Frindle by Clements. An easy read
for the challenged but a great story of success.
The works of Gary Paulson might fill the bill. They are good and often
aimed at the reluctant reader. Check the ALA website for some of their
lists. If I remember correctly, the address is www.ala.org
One book that reluctant readers often like is Deathwatch, by Rob
White. Does your husband know yet if these students are ABLE to read?
Seems as though so often those who never learned how are the ones in trouble
in school.
Night of the Twister by Ivy Ruckman
Trapped in Death Cave by Bill Wallace
*****
Here are a few of the titles that went over big with our 5th graders
this past year plus a few that might be of interest.
Frindle by Andrew Clements
Running out of time by Haddix
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Slake's Limbo by ?
Mick Harte was here by Barbara Park
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Viorst has a couple that are longer and may or may not hit the mark:
Bad Girls
Bad, Badder, Baddest
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
You might also try some of the YA recommended sites that have been
posted in the past week. Dale Copps also has a bunch at his site:
http://www.wcsu.k12.vt.us/~wardsboro/lists.htm#Lists
Our high-risk girls love Detour for Emmy by Marilyn Reynolds. Emmy is a
bright teenager from semi-functional family who struggles to complete
school after becoming pregnant and giving birth. There's a companion
book, Too Soon for Jeff, about a teenage father; it's not in high demand
at our school, but the boys who read it seem to pass it around.
Send No Blessings, by Naylor?, is about a teenage girl's efforts not to
get caught in the trap of early marriage & lots of babies even though she
gradually realizes that her mother sees each child as a blessing.
Walter Dean Myers and S.E. Hinton are also good authors for high-risk
students. Myers is a black author who writes both for middle and high
school; many of his books have inner-city settings. Hinton wrote The
Outsiders as a teenager twenty years ago; it's a young adult paperback
bestseller and one of the most frequently "lost" books in our library.
authors:
Walter Dean Meyer
Gary Paulsen
Bruce Brooks
My favorite which I have read over and over to 7th graders:
Jay Bennett's SING ME A DEATH SONG
My kids in transition room love Deathwatch by White and anything by Hinton.
I think it speaks to them, unfortunately. My boys (all are boys for the
past few years) also like Paulsen and have read all 3 Hatchet books.
Hatchet, The River and Brian's Winter. They have also responded well to
books on tape because their skills are so low.
Best wishes. These kids have a special place in my heart.
Try Gary Paulsen's The Hatchet, the sequel (THE RIVER), and Brian's Winter
(it's like he didn't get rescued in the first book). Also, his The Rifle
is pretty good.
Larnette Snow They're all pretty easy reads and I liked them.
There's a movie based on The Hatched but I can't remember the title, but I
thought it was good too.
**********************
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*
Diane R. Chen, Library Media Specialist
Hickman Elementary School
3125 Ironwood Drive Nashville, TN 37214
Telephone: 615 885-8956
ChenD@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send email to
listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
3) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv
For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 12:16:27 -0600
From: Diane Chen <ChenD@TEN-NASH.TEN.K12.TN.US>
Subject: HIT: SEC: good read#5
Here is a resource you should be aware of:
http://www.wcsu.k12.vt.us/~wardsboro/lists.htm#Lists
I am constantly adding new lists from LM_NET suggestions.
-Dale
***********************
Tell your husband to try books by Marilyn Reynolds--Detour for Emmy is about
a teenage mother; Beyond Dreams is a collection of six or so short stories
about students at a school like your husband's and one even is about
reading; Baby Help, Telling, and Too Soon for Jeff are other titles that
come to mind. They are very realistic and have been popular at our school.
I also recommend Tears for a Tiger by Sharon Draper (she has a new one
called Forged by Fire but I haven't read it yet). Tears is about friends'
reactions to the death of a basketball player in a drunk driving accident.
Members of the YALSA panel on reluctant readers at ALA this summer were T.
A. Barron (fantasy), Caroline B. Cooney, Virginia Euwer Wolff, and Chris
Crutcher. All of them are excellent writers (and speakers) and popular ones
too.
I also recommend anything by Lois Duncan or Jay Bennett. And I would
include nonfiction on whatever topics they might be interested in--sports,
cars, music, movies, famous people, etc.
You might look for this book for suggestions:
Books That Build Character by William Kilpatrick and Gregory and Suzanne M.
Wolfe. Touchstone, 1994. ISBN 0-671-88423-9
It includes several chapters about using literature in character education, but
is mostly an annotated bibliography. The books suggested are divided by genre
and age range.
LEROY AND THE OLD MAN by W. E. Butterworth (an Alabama author) would
probably be a good choice here. Briefly: After Leroy witnesses a murder in
Chicago. his mother sends him to the Gulf Coast (Pass Christian? Biloxi?
can't recall) to live with his grandfather. Leroy sees the old man, a
fisherman who makes deliveries to New Orleans markets and restaurants, as
hopelessly out of sync with the real world. A man of great integrity,
respected by all, the grandfather helps Leroy grow to meet his
responsibilities and face the decision about returning to Chicago to testify
in the trial. It's a good book. Also, Butterworth's wife, a Viennese who
lived through WWII as a young adult, has an interesting non-fiction fiction
book about that era that might fit in with their world history units. I
can't recall the exact title...perhaps it is: After the Waltz has Ended...
if you are interested, let me know and I'll get it for you.
I recommend books by Will Hobbs. The readers will identify with his
teenage characters. Some of the books are adventures. His Beardance books
feature a troubled Native American boy who learns there is life after doing
stupid stuff, taking responsibility and suffering the consequences.
I also recommend Out of Nowhere, by Sebestyen. This one is about a teenage
boy who does not conveniently fit into his mother's life. She willingly
abandons him to please her new boyfriend. The story is about how he finds
himself while learning to care for some other social misfits. It's a
really good book that moves well and is not difficult to read.
Another good one is Slake's Limbo. Ack, can't recall the author. This one
is about a young teenager who is so tormented at school and so ignored at
home that he takes up residence in the sewers of New York. He actually
learns to survive rather well there.
These books should appeal to at-risk teenagers.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*
Diane R. Chen, Library Media Specialist
Hickman Elementary School
3125 Ironwood Drive Nashville, TN 37214
Telephone: 615 885-8956
ChenD@ten-nash.ten.k12.tn.us
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=
To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST), Send email to
listserv@listserv.syr.edu In the message write EITHER:
1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST
3) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv
For LM_NET Help & Archives see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
LM_NET
Archive Home