Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award 2018 - 2019 BOOK REVIEWS & DISCUSSION QUESTIONS Vermont Department of Libraries Montpelier, VT https://bit.ly/2m5EyfP Table of Contents About This Guide 1 Abdul-Jabbar & Obstfeld: Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court 2 Applegate: Wishtree 4 Bartok: The Wonderling 6 Bowling: Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus 8 Bunker: Felix Yz 11 Cartaya: The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora 13 Cheng: See You in the Cosmos 15 Dee: Halfway Normal 18 Emerson: Last Day on Mars 20 Glaser: The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street 23 Gratz: Ban This Book 25 Gratz: Refugee 27 Holm: I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups 30 Harris: The Magic Misfits 32 Holt: Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel 34 Jamieson: All’s Faire in Middle School 37 Johnson: Falcon Wild 39 Korman: Restart 42 Lambert: Family Game Night and Other Catastrophes 44 Lawrence: Star Scouts 46 McGovern: Chester and Gus 48 Moore: The Stars Beneath Our Feet 50 Mosier: Train I Ride 52 Perez: The First Rule of Punk 55 Pla: The Someday Birds 57 Reynolds: Patina 60 Sandler: The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked and Found 63 Sloan: Short 65 Sonnenblick: The Secret Sheriff of Sixth Grade 67 Wolk: Beyond the Bright Sea 69 Generic Questions 71 About This Guide This guide was compiled by members of the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Reading Committee. Our intent is to provide a booklet that will support the use of the Dorothy’s List program in schools and libraries. For the guide to be most effective, we strongly suggest that the librarian or teacher supervising the program read all the books on the list. Many public libraries will have the new list by the summer, which means you can get a head start before the school year begins. No synopsis can possibly take the place of reading a book; however, we recognize that reading and remembering the details of 30 books can be a challenge. It is hoped that the reviews will jog your memory! Since many Dorothy’s List readers choose and read books on their own, the intent of the questions is to promote discussion among readers of Dorothy’s List books. This dialogue can take place between student/adult, student/student or in small groups of readers. Most, but not all, of the questions were written to promote critical thinking and to seek opinions, not “right” answers. None of the questions was designed for purposes of assessment. The generic questions at the end of the booklet can be used in discussions in which readers have read different books. They are taken from Susan Zimmerman's book, 7 Keys to Comprehension: How to Help Your Kids Read It and Get It! (Three Rivers Press, 2003. ISBN 0-7615-1549-6). Author websites, if available, are found at the end of the reviews. Some reviews include additional relevant websites. If the author does not have a website, check the website of the publisher of the book. Their author biographies are usually easy to access and often quite informative. Compilers: • Annie Brabazon, Grand Isle School • Melissa Curtis, Pawlet, Vermont • Charles H. Farrell IV, Grand Isle School • Sacha Krawczyk, Fletcher Memorial Library (Ludlow) • Carole Oglesby, Malletts Bay School (Colchester) • Hannah Peacock- Committee Chair, Burnham Memorial Library (Colchester) • Rebecca Rupp, Swanton, Vermont • Nicole Westbom, Kellogg-Hubbard Library (Montpelier) 1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Raymond Obstfeld BECOMING KAREEM: GROWING UP ON AND OFF THE COURT Little, Brown, 2017. ISBN: ISBN 978-0316555388. $17.99, 304 pages. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar describes how he became one of the top basketball players of all time: from his childhood, through the influence of his many coaches and mentors, to the historical events that helped shape his life. This book goes far beyond a sports hero autobiography, intertwining civil rights history with issues of identity and what it means to be successful. While the tone of the work is understated and contemplative, the memoir contains powerful ideas for reflection and discussion about racism, politics, identity, and religion. Curriculum Connections Language Arts: • Kareem realized early on that there were coaches - or mentors - in his life outside of basketball who could teach him things that sports never could. Who are some of your coaches, and what have they taught you? Write about someone in your own life who has acted as a coach/mentor, or who has helped you develop as a person. • In 4th grade, Kareem found his "superpower": his aptitude for sports. Describe your own superpowers. Social Studies: • Explore the history of social and political activism and sports. From athletic fields to Olympic villages, many athletes have used their voices to draw attention to social and political causes. One place to start is at: https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/sport/gallery/social-activism-in-sports/index.html • Watch Kareem’s discussion about Becoming Kareem with The Daily Show Trevor Noah, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K66m2dCnNLo. In what ways does Kareem compare his own travails as a socially engaged athlete to those of football player Colin Kaepernick. How effective have these and other athletes been at addressing societal ills such as racism? Physical Education: • Shoot some hoops! Work with your physical education department to organize a Kareem- inspired class, doing basketball drills, and having a scrimmage. Discussion Questions: 2 • Discuss the long struggle for civil rights in the United States as it's explored in Becoming Kareem: Growing Up On and Off the Court. How did activists and celebrities like Kareem, Muhammad Ali, and James Baldwin contribute to the national conversation about race relations in the 1960s and beyond? • Why have many African-Americans like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar chosen to change their names and often their religion as they become more socially conscious? Why did Kareem connect so deeply with the teachings of Islam? • Why do you think the title is “Becoming Kareem”? How does Kareem become more than - or different from - who he was before? • Choose one of Kareem’s life coaches, and imagine they were coaching you. What advice do you think they would give you? Author Website: http://becomingkareem.com/ If you loved this title, you may like: -Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem. Streetball Crew: Sasquatch in the Paint. Disney-Hyperion, 2013. -Alexander, Kwame. Crossover. HMH Books, 2014. -Lupica, Mike. Fast Break. Philomel Books, 2015. -Maraniss, Andrew. Strong Inside (Young Readers Edition): The True Story of How Perry Wallace Broke College Basketball's Color Line. Philomel Books, 2016. -Zuckerman, Gregory. Rising Above: How 11 Athletes Overcame Challenges in Their Youth to Become Stars. Philomel Books, 2016 3 Katherine Applegate WISHTREE Feiwel & Friends, 2017. ISBN: 978-1250143037. $16.99, 211 pages. Trees don’t just talk to anyone – they’re introverts at heart – but when they share their stories, they’re wise, wonderful, and funny. Red, the narrator of Wishtree, is a majestic red oak who acts as unofficial guardian of the neighborhood. To the local birds and animals, Red offers shelter, food, and advice; and especially enjoys conversations with Bongo, the crow. Red also has a special relationship with human neighbors: each year on the first of May, people attach ribbons, strips of cloth, and scraps of paper to the tree, each representing a wish. Red’s life isn’t trouble-free. The owner of the property on which Red grows threatens to cut the tree down, complaining of the annual clean-up of wish debris. And then there’s Samar, daughter of the new Muslim family in the neighborhood, who faces rejection and prejudice, and wishes for a friend. Curriculum Connections Science: • Research the characteristics of a red oak tree. Why did the author select this species of tree to be the main character of the book? How did the author use personification to create Red? How would the character have changed if the wishtree were a birch, or a pine or a poison sumac? • Research the animals who are characters in the book. Based on the population range of the various animals, can we identify the probable location or setting of the book? Writing: • This book offers a unique writing point of view. It is rare to have a tree as the narrator of the story. Write a paragraph or two from a unique point of view. Challenge yourself. Write a narrative about a cellphone or a pencil or a lunchbox. Art: • Create a mixed media wish collage. Glue leaves, twigs, and seeds to a backing and then include your personal wishes among the natural adornments. • Create your own wishtree! Attach your wishes to its branches. 4 Discussion Questions: • What wish would you make on the wishtree? • Why does Francesca want to cut down the tree? • Why does the boy carve “leave” on the wishtree? • Why does the wishtree decide to talk to the children? • On page 126, Red states, “I wanted to make a difference, just a little difference, before I left this lovely world.” How does Red make a difference? Do you share Red’s thoughts? How can you make a difference? Author’s Website & Social Media: For information on National Wish Day and a Teacher’s Guide to Wishtree: https://wishtreebook.com Katherine Applegate’s Twitter address: https://twitter.com/kaaauthor If you liked this, you’ll like: -Applegate, Katherine. The One and Only Ivan. HarperCollins, 2012. -Brown, Peter. The Wild Robot. Little, Brown, 2016. -Perkins, Lynne Rae. Nuts to You. Greenwillow, 2014. -Levy, Dana Alison. The Misadventures of the Family Fletcher. Delacorte, 2014. 5 Mira Bartok THE WONDERLING Candlewick, 2017. ISBN: 978-0763691219. $16.99, 464 pages.