The story is told in the voice of the first son, Beverly, changes to the second son Madison and then moves to another slave, Peter. It tells the story of Master Jefferson living in the big house and Mama (Sally Hemings) and their children who live in the choice slave quarter, Mulberry Row.

Sally Hemings gets the best for her children and she assures them (and us, the reader) that this is not altogether slavery. Slavery is a runaway slave being whipped once he’s caught. Mama makes her young children watch such a whipping so they understand the privilege under which they live.

Are the children recognized as the Master’s children? In ways. Jefferson gives the oldest son, Beverly, a violin to play and each of the boys learns to play it. Two of them are good players, and in time there will be another violin. But for the most part, the children are an embarrassing secret—a secret that everyone on the plantation knows, yet it is unspoken. These are Jefferson’s invisible children.

Mama is promised freedom for her children when they each turn 21. Three are so fair-skinned, they plan to “pass” or enter into white society. What does one have to do in order to pass? Give up one’s past entirely. Keep the secret of who they are and absolutely never tell a soul, never look back, and never visit their people who are black slaves.

Mama pushes her children who can “pass” to observe, learn, and enact the manners of white society. It’s essential for their future lives and for keeping their secret.

What does it mean that Thomas Jefferson famously wrote, in the Declaration of Independence, “all men are created equal.” Yet he keeps slaves. Every night Mama beds with the master, yet she is his slave.

If the 360-page book is daunting, listen to Adenrele Ojo’s exquisite reading [Listening Library]. http://www.randomhouse.com/book/213798/jeffersons-sons-by-kimberly-brubaker-bradley

Find out more at http://www.monticello.org/ where the author did a good deal of her research. At the end she describes how she used this resource, what is fact, what is her speculation.

Patricia Hruby Powell (www.talesforallages.com) is a nationally touring speaker, dancer, storyteller, librarian and children’s book author.

“Witches: The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem” by Rosalyn Schanzer (National Geographic 2011) is the non-fiction story of the witch-hunt that began with the mysterious illness of two cousins, Betty Parris, eight, and Abigail Williams, twelve.

American Puritans of the 17^th century believed the natural world was subject to forces from the “Invisible” world. Books had been written by “respectable men” about the terrifying effects of witchcraft. The fears generated by this belief moved the colonial government to create laws that made practicing witchcraft punishable by death.

So when two girls began having twitching “fits” that became so violent their bodies contorted into grotesque postures, the doctors diagnosed them as being bewitched. So, the girls began accusing neighbors of being the witches who tormented them.

Midwives and the homeless—the vulnerable of the community because they were without family—were first to be accused of casting spells. Officials of the church and community tried, accused, and hung a few “witches”. Crowds gathered to witness these grisly town-center affairs.

More become afflicted with the twitching fits, which meant more accusations of witchcraft were made. People pointed their fingers at others to save themselves from accusation, until twenty “witches” were executed and in their wake hundreds of lives were ruined.

If you were accused as a witch, you were required to pay your prison fees. If you were found guilty, your family was shunned and their property confiscated. So even years after the hysteria had died down, the families of the accused were without homes and livelihoods.

The compact volume with its black and white scratch-board illustrations accented in red, rendered by the author is attractive. We’ll be seeing more books in this trim size.

Whereas “Witches” is an older middle grade book, “Wicked Girls: a Novel of the Salem Witch Trials” by Stephanie Hemphill (Balzer & Bray 2010) is teen fiction written in free verse. Hemphill’s characters are the actual historic people. She is able to speculate as to why the girls sought attention, bringing another fascinating element to this seductive, dark, topic.

Patricia Hruby Powell (www.talesforallages.com) is a nationally touring speaker, dancer, storyteller, librarian and children’s book author.

Ben wakes up. So it was a dream? The written story begins in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota in 1977. Through the wall, Ben, who is deaf in one ear, hears his aunt and uncle talk about selling his Mom’s house at the other end of the property. After all, his mom had died. But sell his house? What about his stuff? All he has with him is a box of bird skeletons and found odds and ends.

Even though a storm is brewing Ben runs to the house where he lived with his mom.

Turn the page and we’re back to exquisitely rendered drawings of a young girl in New Jersey, 1927. She’s making a scrapbook of the actress Lillian Mayhew. The girl runs outside into an urban setting.

Turn another page and we return to the written story—Ben’s story, which parallels the story of the girl—Rose, who we realize is deaf. It’s storming in both stories, which heightens the mystery. Where are Rose’s parents? Who is Ben’s father? At the moment that Ben finds a clue in his mother’s closet, he blacks out.

Ben wakes up in a hospital bed, now completely deaf. Was the house struck by lightning? He dreams of wolves again. This time they’re running down the streets of New York City.

In both stories—the pictorial and the written—each child, separated by fifty years, is running away to New York. Ben enters the American Museum of Natural History. Is it the same place that’s depicted on Rose’s post card? Is Rose seeing the same dinosaur skeleton that Ben just passed?

The two stories converge in a surprising manner, leaving the reader feeling rather ebullient. Rose and Ben’s realistic connection is more than satisfying. This is no fantasy. And the wolves were more than a dream.

“Wonderstruck” is not a graphic novel with multiple frames per page, but it is sequential art. And wow—what art. The excellent movie, “Hugo,” is taken from Selznick’s first such book, “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” (Scholastic 2007), a Caldecott Medal winner. Both books and movie are “must-sees.”

See the trailer and listen to the author speak of the creating process. http://www.amazon.com/Wonderstruck-Brian-Selznick/dp/0545027896

The book alternates between the harrowing days at the end of her life with the story of how she became Amelia Earhart, America’s darling and the renowned female pilot in the new aviation age. We discover how Amelia was a phenomenon of publicity—the result of George Putnam’s skill at publicizing her charm, enthusiasm and determination, then marrying her.

Amelia was neither careful nor the most skilled woman aviator. On her first Atlantic flight, for which she gained much publicity, Amelia made decisions but did not actually pilot the plane. In a woman’s aviation cross-country race, Amelia in the fastest plane, finished third. An airplane manufacturer would not even sell her the aircraft she most wanted because she was not skilled enough to pilot it.

We discover that Amelia’s character was, in part, built on her father’s decline into severe alcoholism. That she was a combination of tomboy and fashion maverick. That she was fiercely independent and publishing magnate George Putnam courted her for years before she agreed to marry him.

As you read about the early years of aviation, you’re amazed at how frequently the equipment fails, fuel leaks or fires start on the wings. Early flight is not an activity for the faint hearted. Amelia was courageous to the point of being fool-hearty. For her final ill-fated flight, she was still learning to fly her Electra and hadn’t learned to use her radio equipment, which was her undoing.

It is heartbreaking to discover that amateur short wave radio operators heard Amelia’s pleas for help as she was apparently downed in the Pacific, probably floating on the sea. A housewife from Texas never reported to the authorities her radio-contact with Amelia, figuring the authorities had it under control. A teenager in Florida could not convince the authorities of her hearing Amelia calling for help. A teenager in Wyoming rushed to the authorities to report his findings, which were reported to the scout ship Itasca—to no avail.

This well-researched and suspenseful story is one reason we continue to care about the charming daring Amelia Earhart.

“Amelia Lost” just won the Golden Kite Award for non fiction books. The prestigious Golden Kite, awarded by the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), is judged by peers in the field of children’s literature. Congratulations, Candy!

Patricia Hruby Powell (www.talesforallages.com) is a nationally touring speaker, dancer, storyteller, librarian and children’s book author. Her picture book in verse, Joséphine, about Josephine Baker and published by Chronicle Books will be released in fall 2013.

She started with “Professor Puffendorf’s Secret Potion,” a book by Robin Tzannes and Korky Paul (Checkerboard Press 1992). The students read the book and asked if they could see the movie.

Ms. Hughes said, “Sure.”

But there was no movie. So the girls asked if they could make their own movie.

Ms. Hughes, being the kind of great teacher she is, said, “Sure. You need to write your own parts.”

But first, since the story is set in a science laboratory, the class brainstormed ideas of what might be invented. Ms. Hughes gave her students dry markers and they wrote right on the formica desk tops. Very cool.

There just happen to be three characters in the book and three students in the class, so it was not too difficult to divide up the roles.

Cast

Professor Puffendorf, the protagonist – Geneva

Slag, the antagonist – Chevelle

Chip, the hamster – Anya

The girls knew the story well and could ad lib the story with lines and action. And they could switch roles for various takes.

Ms. Hughes brought in some big white shirts that looked like lab coats. The girls felt they looked a lot more hip, unbuttoned, so Ms. Hughes shrugged and said “Well, okay.” It was their production, after all.

Ms. Hughes filmed them with her flip camera (which she’d won at a teacher raffle the previous year). The girls reviewed their work as it played on the computer and noted that the flapping white shirts looked wrong. So they buttoned up the oversized shirts so they’d look more like lab coats.

They were able to watch their performance, self-correct, re-dramatize and improve their roles and do take two. It looked pretty good.

They entered titles, characters, and cast members for their production on the computer, and printed them out. These, they held up to the camera for the credits.

Three. Roll em–the complete drama of “Professor Puffendorf’s Secret Potion” self-directed by self-observation by the actors, with a new dramatic ending. Cut.

Next, they get to invite a friend to come watch their production which Ms. Hughes had transferred to a DVD.

There are plenty of other stories that you could enact and film. We’d all love to hear what books you think might work for this project. Or simply what book-centered projects you’re working on in your classroom. You don’t have to be a teacher to contact me. I’d love to hear from students. Or parents.

Now this is cool:  Illinois children’s author James Kennedy has started the 90 Second Newbery Film Festival. This is what you do. Make a video that compresses the story of a Newbery award-winning book into 90 seconds or less. Submit it to the film festival. The films have been shown at the New York Public Library, the Chicago Public Library and next, to be shown in Portland, Oregon. Watch the films and find out more, here.  http://jameskennedy.com/90-second-newbery/

Above: James and friend read his book. And to the right: his book: Order of the Odd Fish.

The next day, Will, ten, goes with Mama and his sister Elinor, four, to the animal shelter. They take home all four dogs and one cat. Papa didn’t want animals. Papa, who is a college literature professor, left to “find some magic” and write a book.

Mama’s behavior seems authentic when she slips and says to the kids, Papa is flawed. A week later when Elinor repeats this pearl of wisdom, Mama covers her face with her hands and says, “Oh, Lord.”

Mama is preoccupied. She hasn’t hugged the kids since Papa left, but the four dogs and even the cat supply plenty of hugs and licks. The animals speak to each other, sharing their wisdom about what is going on in the house. Only Elinor, the youngest, and visiting Gran, the oldest, understand what the animals discuss. At first. It’s done matter-of-factly—that is, the animals are not overly cute, but simply intuitive and wise.

The dogs–Grace (greyhound), Bitty (terrier), Neo (Great Pyrenees), and Bryn (the alpha mutt) eavesdrop and gather information to help the reader understand what is happening. We’re all surprised when Lula the cat speaks. There are other surprises, but I’ll only say it ends believably and happily and is perfect for reading to the whole family, perhaps right after dinner.

“Saint Louis Armstrong Beach,” by Brenda Wood (Nancy Paulsen-Penguin 2011) is the title and the name of the sixth grade protagonist—a budding musician. He earns money playing his clarinet  on the street in New Orleans. As Hurricane Katrina approaches, no one is much concerned. They’ve weathered hundreds of hurricanes. Saint Louis is detained in the city by his love of a dog named Shadow.

Once you get to this point in the story, you won’t be able to put it down. So this one, I’d advise you read fast and on your own, perhaps, in bed and if necessary, under the covers with a flashlight.

TEACHERS: What cool things are you doing in your classroom? Please let me know at phpowell@talesforallages.com New on blog will be interesting class events starting with the fifth grade class of Kathy Hughes, Speech Pathologist, at Franklin Middle and Carrie Busey Elementary in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

Patricia Hruby Powell (www.talesforallages.com) is a nationally touring speaker, dancer, storyteller, librarian and children’s book author. Please sign up for the blog. Comment. Share it.

Andrej, twelve, is a “Rom” or Gypsy boy traveling through war-torn WWII Europe with his brother Tomas, nine. They guard a mysterious bundle, traveling under cover of night.

Andrej’s father had told him, it’s not our war, it’s the “gadje” war, don’t worry. Yet for some reason the Nazis hated Gypsies. So, the story is told from a point of innocence—not just the innocence of a child, but from a culture outside of the warring culture. Andrej remembers his uncle saying, We gypsies are wildcat people. The earth and sky belong to us.

The brothers, escaping the Nazis, find a small zoo in a bombed out town. The caged animals are in need of hope, as are the boys. The animals communicate, but rather than being sentimentalized, they are cantankerous and seem true to their wild behavior.

The animals are dangerous, but don’t they deserve to be freed? Young Tomas’s major concern is the unfairness of life and his proposed solutions are childish. Andrej who is leaving childhood behind, thinks, “Sometimes…being courageous was the least safe thing in the world.” But to overcome your fear is what living is.

The embittered lioness accuses Andrej of being responsible for the war. Andrej tells the lioness, “Every war is everyone’s war.” “Every life is everyone’s battle.”

The boar accuses Andrej that he, as a human, would kill a lioness to take her cub back to civilization to make it a pet. But it will grow up to become a lion. Then what? The lion gets caged, then abandoned in wartime. “You persecute the creatures you fear.”

Both the human and animal characters explore profound ideas. Life is a battle fought alone. Why does war happen? Because humans WANT something. And nothing is more important than that wanting.

Andrea Offerman’s cover art has the animals looking at you imploringly, as if asking, can you be the one? And you, the reader, want to be the one–who will help.

Patricia Hruby Powell (www.talesforallages.com) is a nationally touring speaker, dancer, storyteller, librarian and children’s book author.

In the graphic novel, “Around the World” (Candlewick 2010), Matt Phelan tells the story of three such adventurers who take up the quest. If you’ve resisted graphic novels, resist no longer. Phelan’s art is captivating and dramatic without being bombastic.

Thomas Stevens, the first of the three adventurers, is a former miner who sets out in 1884 on a high wheeler—an early bicycle with an immense front wheel. The bicycle was evolving as Stevens took his ride just as a four-wheeler driven by a gasoline engine was being born. Yep, the automobile. So you get some interesting history along with Stevens’ ride, which ended in 1886. This was no eighty day trek. Stevens didn’t use hot air balloons or camels as did Phileas Fogg. How did Stevens cross the oceans? Well, he took a steamship for those bits.

Next comes Nellie Bly, girl reporter, who sets out in 1889, backed by her newspaper, the “New York World”. By steamship, train, horse and carriage, Nellie races against time, gaining publicity along the way. She meets Jules Verne in France, has scheduling set backs, is threatened to be outdone by a surprise competitor, gains more supporters and fame, and circumvents the globe in seventy two days. Nellie becomes a celebrity—the first in the media-driven modern world.

In 1895 retired sea captain, Joshua Slocum, rebuilds a trashed vessel and sets out from Fairhaven, Massachusetts. His wife declines to accompany him, so he sails solo. In his thirty-six foot craft, Slocum navigates by the stars, weathers horrendous storms, a tsunami, hallucinations brought on by tainted food, the horrific conditions around Cape Horn, and finally he anchors back home at Fairhaven after three years on the high seas.

Phelan delves into the depth of his characters with such deft strokes of his pen that you feel his characters’ emotions.

“Reading” these three remarkable journeys is a grand adventure. If you love it the way I do, you might also try Matt Phelan’s “The Storm in the Barn” (Candlewick 2009). If you’re a teacher or the parent of a reluctant reader, consider graphic novels or “sequential art” as a bridge toward reading. To read graphic novels requires concentration and can teach the skill of inference.

At Matt’s website you can see the trailers for the books which shows much more of the art. Check it out.

http://www.mattphelan.com/ATW.html

So begins “Inside Out and Back Again” by Thanhha Lai (Harper 2011), winner of the National Book Award for Young People. Written in prose poems, it is succinct and fast-paced. 

Years ago, Hà’s father disappeared, undoubtedly taken by the North Vietnamese. But on this day, when the capitol is in chaos, her mother manages to escape with Hà and her three brothers to an overcrowded refugee boat at the river. They drift to the sea without being apprehended by the enemy, but no one arrives to rescue them. Finally, after days of hunger and dehydration on the open seas, an American ship rescues them.

In spite of speaking no English, the family starts over again in Alabama with the help of their sponsor who Hà calls “our cowboy”. He wears a cowboy hat, boots, but has no horse–a sore disappointment to Hà. But he’s kind, although his wife isn’t. Neither are the neighbors. They throw eggs, then a brick through the window.

The cowboy encourages the family to join the Baptist church in order to be accepted by the community. Mother says one religion is like another, so they all get baptized, attend church, but continue to chant before their Buddhist altar at home. Why not.

Unable to speak English at school, Hà is considered stupid. When her tormentor, Pink Boy, cannot multiply 18 x 42, Hà marches to the board and makes the calculation in five easy strokes. This of course makes life even worse for Hà. Not only do they taunt her with ha-ha-ha, but Pink Boy and gang corner her, ready to attack.

Having anticipated this, Hà’s big brother approaches on a motorcycle as planned. Saved. By this time, Hà has befriended a red-haired girl and a boy the “color of coconut shell”. Wise Mrs. Washington, a neighbor and retired teacher tutors Hà in more than just English.

Sparely written, this autobiographical story of assimilation is a must-read.

Patricia Hruby Powell (www.talesforallages.com) is a nationally touring speaker, dancer, storyteller, librarian and children’s book author. Joséphine, a picture book biography of the African American dancer, Josephine Baker, will be published by Chronicle Books and available fall 2013.

In the tenements of New York City, 1893, 13 year-old Danish immigrant Maks desperately needs his eight cent profit to help cover his family’s rent and food. Bruno, leader of the cruel Plug Ugly gang, attacks Maks and attempts to rob him. A homeless girl, Willa, defends Maks with her club. Now the gang threatens to get them both.

Maks and Willa manage to get to Maks’ home where he discovers his oldest sister, Emma, has been accused of stealing a gold watch at the glamorous new Waldorf Hotel where she works as a maid. She’s imprisoned in what they call the Tombs, awaiting trial. His parents are distraught. His mother barely comprehends what is going on in this new country.

Another sister, Agnes is coughing, due to the “wasting disease” or tuberculosis. Still, she goes to work at the shoe factory daily with her father and takes night classes so she might one day become a secretary. But now the shoe factory is threatening to close down. Maks’ three little brothers still go to school.

At this point, most readers are saying, Next to this, I have no problems. Maybe we read such books so we can put our own problems in perspective. This is the immigrant experience in late nineteenth century and Avi sets you smack dab in the center of the sounds and sights of historic New York.

Eccentric lawyer Bartleby Donck directs Maks to search for clues to his sister’s innocence. But will Bartleby, who also has the wasting disease, survive to help Maks? You start to feel you’re reading a Charles Dickens novel, which is cool.

Because this is a middle grade novel, you’re pretty sure it’s going to turn out okay, for which I am extremely grateful. You care so much for this warm tight-knit family who are trying to find freedom in America, but as Maks’ mother says, Here, more tears are shed.