Books, Reading, Libraries, and Learning Blog

REVIEW OF ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Chokshi, Roshani . 2018. ARU SHAH AND THE END OF TIME. New York, NY: Disney Hyperion, an imprint of Disney Book Group. ISBN 9781368023566.   B. PLOT SUMMARY Aru Shah is a 12-year-old girl who lives with her mother in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture in Atlanta, Georgia. She lights a magic lamp (“diya”) that awakens a demon known as “the Sleeper” from inside of the lamp. The Sleeper causes everything where it goes to become frozen in time. Because the Sleeper has awakened, another creature (in the form of a pigeon) named Subala appears to help Aru. Aru discovers that she is a Pandava, and her mission is to stop the Sleeper. Subala tells Aru that she must find her sibling, another Pandava, to help her in their mission to stop the Sleeper. The Sleeper is trying to reach the God of Destruction who will destroy the world. After passing through a magic door, Aru and Subala find Aru’s Pandava sibling, Mini. She is

  REVIEW OF A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW   A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Lin, Grace. 2019. A BIG BED FOR LITTLE SNOW . New York City, NY: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers. ISBN 9780316478366.   B. PLOT SUMMARY At the beginning of the winter season, a boy named Little Snow gets a new bed made for him by his mother. She reminds him that it is for sleeping on, not for jumping on. He agrees to sleep on the bed, not jump on it. That night, after his mother left from tucking him in, Little Snow started jumping on his bed. When he heard his mother coming back, he lay down and pretended he hadn’t been doing anything. The next morning, after he had woken up, he decided to jump on his bed some more. When he heard his mother coming, he laid back down and pretended he hadn’t been jumping on his bed. That winter, Little Snow enjoyed jumping on his bed whenever his mother was not around. One time when he was jumping on his bed, when he landed on it he made a rip in it. Whenever he jumped on

REVIEW OF WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER   A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Lin, Grace. 2016. WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hatchette Book Group, Inc. ISBN 9780316125925.   B. PLOT SUMMARY Pinmei lives with her grandmother, Amah, in a hut on a mountain in China. One day the Emperor’s soldiers come to the hut, set fire to the hut, and take Amah away. Pinmei and her friend Yishan try to figure out how to rescue Amah. Along the way they meet Lady Meng who agrees to accompany them. Together they go to the City of Bright Moonlight in search of a way to rescue Amah. When they arrive in the city they go immediately to the king of the city, King KaiJae. They find out that he is being held captive by the Emperor. King KaiJae is unable to help them rescue Amah. All he can do is help them get away from the Emperor. Later, Lady Meng leaves them to seek her husband. Pinmei and Yishan continue on their way. They believe that if they can give the Lu

REVIEW OF GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Say, Allen. 1993. GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0395570352.   B. PLOT SUMMARY The author’s grandfather set out from Japan as a young man to see the world. In American, he liked California best. He returned to Japan and married his childhood sweetheart. They moved to San Francisco Bay in California and had a daughter. After a number of years, he moved back to Japan with his wife and daughter. The daughter ended up marrying a local Japanese man. As a young boy, the author often visited his grandfather. When the author was nearly grown, he went to California.           C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS) This picture book is an autobiographical story of Allen Say’s family history on his mother’s side of the family. This book also qualifies as historical nonfiction. The title page shows an origami ship. The ship represents the ships that Allen Say’s grandfather used as he jo

REVIEW OF HOW I BECAME A GHOST: A CHOCTAW TRAIL OF TEARS STORY   A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Tingle, Tim. 2013. HOW I BECAME A GHOST: A CHOCTAW TRAIL OF TEARS STORY. Oklahoma City, OK: The Roadrunner Press. ISBN 9781937054557.   B. PLOT SUMMARY Isaac is a ten year old Choctaw boy living in Choctaw Nation in Mississippi in 1830. The story begins with the news that Isaac, his family, and entire community must relocate due to a recently signed treaty with the U.S. government. Isaac begins seeing visions and hearing auditory hallucinations. It appears that they are images of what will happen in the future. One night the white people that live nearby come to Isaac’s community and burn all the homes and buildings to the ground. Isaac and his family barely escape with their lives. The Choctaw people make their way to a nearby swamp. They make shelter for themselves. They hunt, fish, and gather plants to feed themselves. Winter arrives. Many people in the community become ill and die. Isaac

REVIEW OF FRY BREAD: A NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY STORY   A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Maillard, Kevin N. 2019. Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal. FRY BREAD: A NATIVE AMERICAN FAMILY STORY. New York City, NY: Roaring Brook Press, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership. ISBN 9781626727465.   B. PLOT SUMMARY Fry bread connects the Native American community in a variety of ways: as food; time together as family and friends; art; history; geography; nations and tribes; and as generations stretching from the eldest to the youngest.   C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS) The author explains how fry bread connects the Native American community. The author shows fry bread’s connections within the scope of Native American families and communities. The author starts the book with descriptions of how one’s senses process the various aspects of fry bread: its creation from raw ingredients to the shapes, textures, sounds, colors, and flavors. The author d

REVIEW OF RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME   A. BIBLIOGRAPHY Smith, Cynthia L. 2001. RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME. New York, NY: Heartdrum, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 9780380733002.   B. PLOT SUMMARY Cassidy Rain Berghoff and Galen Owen have been best friends since second grade, but now their relationship has become closer. They spend New Year’s Eve together, Afterward, Galen heads home, but he never gets there. Crossing a road, he doesn’t see the oncoming car. The driver doesn’t see Galen until it’s too late. Cassidy finds out that her best friend is dead on the morning of the next day, her 14 th birthday. She spends the next few months avoiding her friends and other people. She basically walls herself off from social and emotional contacts with the world. It’s her way of coping with the loss of her best friend. Years earlier, her mother had died; and now her first love has died, too. The combined emotional impact causes her to withdraw from life. Finally, she