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READING STYLE GUIDE

Young Naturalist

1/22/2019

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The Bug Girl: Maria Merian’s Scientific Vision 
​by Sarah Glenn Marsh ill Filippo Vanzo

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The Bug Girl: Maria Merian's Scientific Vision by Sarah Glenn Marsh introduces readers to a girl who began her life's work at a young age.
Marsh chronicles Maria's early interest in butterflies: observing the winged insects' life cycle, experimenting with their eating preferences, and documenting her findings with drawings.   By the time she was thirteen years old she had disproved the prevailing notion of spontaneous generation. An impressive accomplishment!
Maria Merian's fascination with insects and other forms of life continued throughout her life. In her later years she continued her research, traveling to Suriname ​with her daughter.
The narrative introduces the scientific terms spontaneous generation and metamorphosis. An Author's Note adds historical context, referencing Galileo, Peter the Great, and the role of women in seventeen century Europe.
Combining scientific curiosity with detailed artistic illustration, Merian was one of the first female naturalists. Her work serves an inspiration for those who study nature as well as those who enjoy realistic compositions.
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Flilppo Vanzo's illustrations feature close-ups that highlight young Maria's face filled with wonder. 
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An added bonus: Reproductions of some of Merian's engraved, hand-colored plates can be found on the inside front and back covers. Her work is exquisite in its meticulous detail and artistic rendering.

Try This

Observe butterflies in nature. These videos are helpful as you can press pause at any time to observe butterflies closely. Choose one of these fascinating insects and create your own butterfly illustration. Try drawing on your own or use a tutorial video for step by step instructions.

Young Entomologists

Meet Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly, a fictional character with a fascination for butterflies. Pair this with the charming picture book Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian and a the more detailed in-depth nonfiction The Girl Who Drew Butterflies.
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Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: February 1, 2019  Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company ISBN: 978-0374300289
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Finding Your Voice

1/18/2019

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"the story of a girl who lost her voice and wrote herself a new one"
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For two decades Laurie Halse Anderson has been speaking out, giving voice to teens who have experienced horrific trauma. Speak has brought the shame and humiliation experienced by rape victims out of the dark recesses of suppressed memory. Acknowledging the suffering, the rage. Initiating the first steps to healing.
In my early years as a youth librarian, Speak was constantly requested, always checked out. The story is as relevant to a fourteen-year-year-old girl from a small Texas town in 2000 as it is to a teen living in urban New York in 2019.
Now Anderson has added two companion books to her YA classic: a graphic novel and a personal memoir. Together these three make a significant contribution to the canon of important literature for young adults.
Here’s the beauty of these books: you can read them in any order. Maybe you discovered Speak long ago and recently learned that there was a graphic novel version of the story that spoke so poignantly to teens. Maybe you see a shiny new book titled Shout with an intriguing cover and now seek for other books by the author. Doesn't matter which book you read first, the order will be just right for you. No matter who you are or where you come from, the journey through pain and anger to triumph over tragedy can be found within these pages,

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Speak
by Laurie Halse Anderson

It all started in 1999. Laurie Halse Anderson published her first book: a ground-breaking young adult novel chronicling the story of fifteen-year-old Melinda Sordino. Beginning her freshman year, this young student is ostracized by her former friends and classmates. She is singled out at a school pep rally for calling the police at a summer party.
What Melinda cannot say is that she was raped at that party. School becomes unbearable. She is constantly confronted with the shame and agony of that night, as the boy who raped her is a student at her school. Shunned by her friends, 
Melinda's life has deteriorated to the point where she seldom speaks. Art class is her refuge. Creating becomes a means of safely expressing herself. With the encouragement of Mr. Freeman, her art teacher, she is able to face the reality of her sexual assault. She begins to acknowledge her hurt, finally confronts her attacker, and eventually finds the courage to speak up and speak out.
Speak earned the distinguished honor of being named a finalist for the 1999 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.
​Copy accessed from public library
Pub date: October 22, 1999   Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux  ISBN:  978-0374371524
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Speak: The Graphic Novel
​by Laurie Halse Anderson ill by Emily Carroll
Publishing a graphic novel version of Speak is both an obvious choice and a brilliant decision. This visceral narrative translates to striking visual imagery.
Anderson chooses to update the original story, including references to cell phones and Instagram. This gives the narrative a fresh, contemporary vibe. Her Author's Note serves as an introduction. A helpful list of organizations which support victims of sexual assault contains descriptions and contact information can be found in the back matter.
​Emily Carroll eschews the traditional panel strip format, opting for a mix of full page images, spaces defined by diagonal lines, and boxes outlined in bold black. She uses Mel's facial expressions and body language to tell the story. Close-ups of a hand or part of a face provide sharp focal points. ​The excruciatingly raw self-portraits are painful to view. At times her face is mutilated, often distorted, even erased as Mel reveals her self-loathing. Most illustrations are rendered in multiple shades of gray. Intense scenes are a violent study in black, the anger exploding on a page that a rigid panel box cannot contain.
​Copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: February 6, 2018   Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)  ISBN:  978-0374300289
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Shout
by Laurie Halse Anderson

Told primarily in verse, this memoir covers a wide range of events and emotions. Part One shares moments from Laurie’s difficult and conflicted childhood, her rape at age thirteen and subsequent reliance on drugs to mask the anguish, the slow ascent from depression during tenth grade, her year as a foreign exchange student in Denmark, and her foray into writing for teens. Part Two explores the publication of Speak and the impact it has had on her and a world-wide audience. Part Three returns to recurring symbols and themes: trees, blood, family, and stories. She acknowledges her parents’ personal troubles, but is willing to maintain a relationship with each. What a generous heart!
I loved the little glimpses into her extraordinary life. Some of my favorite poetic snapshots include her year in Denmark, her dream or more aptly described as her nightmare that was the genesis for Speak, and Laurie's heartwarming meeting with Walter Dean Myers.
While Shout is an apt name, some poems feel like they should be read sotto voce. These verses are the inner longings of the wounded yet resilient spirit that resides in many, far too many of us.
Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: March 12, 2019  Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers  ISBN:  978-0670012107

Bonus: Additional Resources

Since my early draft of this post, a twentieth anniversary edition of Speak​ has been released. It includes a new introduction by Ashley C. Ford as well as an afterword by Jason Reynolds. This edition also features an updated Q&A, resource list, an essay, and poem by Anderson. I look forward to reading this updated edition.
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I’ve Talked With Teenage Boys About Sexual Assault for 20 Years.
​This Is What They Still Don’t Know

 Laurie Halse Anderson Time January 15, 2019
Laurie reads "Me,Too" from Shout.
Laurie reads "Listen" from the 20th edition of Speak.
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River Crossing

1/14/2019

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Under Water by J. L. Powers

"The eye crosses the river."
If I wanted it, I would make it happen, no matter how hard or seemingly impossible.
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After the death of her beloved grandmother, seventeen-year-old Khosi and her nine-year-old sister Zi must face the world alone. Her aunt, accusing Khosi of witchcraft, has stripped the girls’ family home of its contents. They have only mattresses, a cracked plastic chair, and an ancient T.V.
Working as a sangoma, a traditional Zulu healer, Khosi abandons her studies in order to support herself and her sister. This should have been her last year of school prior to university. She wanted to study nursing, practicing modern medicine along with traditional healing.
Circumstances impel her to break the two promises she made to her grandmother: that she would complete her schooling and that she would not get seriously involved with her longtime boyfriend, Little Man.
Tensions rise when her boyfriend becomes enmeshed in the local tsotsi's (gangster) taxi war and the body of a murdered Somali shop owner is left on her property. Destitute, pregnant with Little Man's child, her home destroyed by fire, Khosi knows that she must take her sister and flee.
One of the fascinating aspects of this novel is Khosi's intimate and ongoing relationship with amadlozi (ancestors). They remain near, influence her decisions, and are essential to her work as a sangoma. They come and go. Sometimes they are close, advising her. At other times they are silent, leaving Khosi to puzzle things out.
"What do you suppose Gogo is doing right now on the other side?" Zi asks.
I shake my head. I don't have to suppose. I already know. "She and the other amadlozi are sitting around gossiping about the funeral," I say. "Gogo is laughing about how many people came for a free meal, people who never visited when she was alive."
Zi shakes her head. "That isn't funny,"
...
​"The things that matter to us when we are alive are not so important when we are dead," I say. "Gogo is glad they had a good meal. And she's touched by how many of them brought money to give to us."

Like her plan to blend traditional healing with modern medicine, Khosi's belief system is an intricate mix of Zulu worship and Christianity. A goat is sacrificed for her deceased grandmother's cleansing ritual. A Catholic priest speaks at the funeral. She uses a cell phone and watches T.V. but cooks on a wood-burning stove.
The world of the Zulu may be unfamiliar, but the heart of the story is universal. Khosi’s constant struggle with what she wants versus the reality of her life, her sense of  right, and her willingness to do hard things make her a compelling character. A miraculous healing brought me to tears. The heart-pounding escape from the gang will leave readers breathless.
Under Water is a tale of terror, violence, desperation, survival, fear, faith, and tremendous love. A moving story, impossible to forget or put aside.
Powers includes an Author's Note and a very helpful reference character list as well as a glossary of Zulu words and idioms. 
The world is my ocean. I will find my way in it.

Getting Acquainted with South Africa

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Introduce students to the history and culture of South Africa and the Zulu People. These resources may serve as a starting point for further exploration.
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Disclosure: I have limited knowledge of South African life, past or present. I can't speak to the authenticity of the experiences described in this novel. I can only address my personal reactions to this incredible work of fiction.
Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: March 19, 2019    Publisher: ​Cinco Puntos Press    ISBN: 978-1947627048
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Show of Hands

1/11/2019

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Hands Up! by Breanna J. McDaniel ill Shane W. Evans

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Breanna J. McDaniel takes an expression laden with negative connotations and turns it inside out and right-side up. Each page is filled with positive, self-affirming actions with Hands Up!
Meet a little charmer as she lifts her tiny hands to the sun, plays peek-a-boo, and helps get ready for the day. Time passes. Now school age, she reaches up for a book high on the shelf, jumps to grab the basketball, and raises her arms in worshipful praise. There are moments when hands are extended to help her when she falls. The book concludes with a tribute to the power of raising consciousness through hands holding signs of peaceful protest.
​We begin small, but we grow big. 
Together we are mighty.
High fives all around, hands up!
Shane W, Evans' illustrations burst with vitality. The cheerful pastel color palette features sunshiny yellow, often as a diagonal ray. There are clever touches: her cat lapping up the spilled juice, the cat and its shadow leap together. When extra effort is expended: reaching for an object on the table or attempting to shoot the basketball, a tiny pink tongue peeks out between lips. Often the characters' eyes are closed. Emphasis is on the mouth. Evans lets expressive lips tell the story.
Words and images combine to acknowledge the power of uplifted hands to aspire, rejoice, and help. An optimistic interpretation of the phrase Hands Up!
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Dynamic Duo

Together Diggs and Evans have created picture books joyfully celebrating children of color. 
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Raise Your Hands. Raise Your Voice.

There is something soul-satisfying about raising hands and voices with a positive message. Energize your day with music.
Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: January 22, 2019  Publisher: Dial Books  ISBN:  978-0525552314
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Groundbreaker. History Maker.

1/4/2019

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Fearless Mary:
The True Adventures of Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver

by Tami Charles ill Claire Almon

No task was too small, no task was too dangerous.
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Mary Fields was a stagecoach driver in Montana during the 1890's. Her story is fascinating.
This former slave defied racial, gender, and age-related prejudice, serving as a mail carrier to Saint Peter's Mission. She successfully took on what was considered "man's work."
Being "first" is hard. Not everyone likes the idea of a woman driving a stagecoach.
Tami Charles weaves together incidents from
Field's life to create a compelling tale: protecting mail from thieves, unleashing her trained eagle on would-be marauders, standing guard overnight to save her cargo from a pack of wolves. Remarkably, during her eight years of mail delivery she never lost a horse or a package.
Claire Almon's bold illustrations give Mary stature and girth.  This is not the bearing of a weak or submissive woman. Wearing men's trousers and a hat, she stands boldly before her employer. Her over-sized pet eagle soars across the pages, continuing to present-day mail delivery. This thematic image is symbolic of her influence.  Mary's groundbreaking work opened opportunities for other women to drive stagecoaches and deliver mail. She exemplified the qualities of hard work and resourcefulness.  
Fearless Mary: The True Adventures of Mary Fields, American Stagecoach Driver inspires all to break barriers and overcome prejudices. Add this picture book to the cannon of children's books featuring significant women of color. 

Meet Mary Fields

Mary Fields, also known as Stagecoach Mary, is a dynamic individual. While much of her life is unknown, a few documents survive which chronicle her personal history.
Charles limits the book's narrative to Fields’ years as a contract driver. She softens her portrayal of Mary, referring to her rifle as an "iron weapon." It is seen only in shadow on her back.
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Photos and biographical information History Stories website.
Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: January 1, 2019    Publisher: ​Albert Whitman & Company    ISBN: 978-0807523056​
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Picture This: Three Cultural Snapshots

1/1/2019

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"​one of the reasons I pick up the camera - to find understanding"
Isabel Quintero 
Meet three women: one an important modern artist and two fictional characters. They share a passion for photography.  Each uses a camera to tell stories and explore "the many angles to truth" Quintero.  ​Each uses the lens of her unique cultural heritage to bring relevance and importance to her work.

From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon

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Twinkle feels that she is a "nobody." Ignored by her parents, she longs to be noticed at school. An opportunity to shine comes when Twinkle is asked to direct a movie for the local arts festival. 
Film geek Sahil has offered to help produce her filmmaking debut. They brainstorm an imaginative story concept, turning the classic Dracula into a gender-reversal version. But Sahil clearly wants more than just a business relationship.
Twinkle has an ongoing crush on Sahil's athletic superstar twin brother Neil. When she begins receiving anonymous emails from a secret admirer, Twinkle assumes (hopes) that the sender is Neil.
Menon uses a series of imaginary emails that Twinkle sends to famous women of filmdom in this story of finding where one's heart lies.
Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.
Pub date: May 22, 2018    Publisher: ​Simon Pulse    ISBN: 978-1481495400

Rain is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith

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​Fourteen-year-old Cassidy Rain Berghoff, still mourning the death of her best friend, agrees to photograph the local newspaper's story of this summer's Indian Camp, organized by her Aunt Georgia. Prominent members of this mostly white Kansas community protest the use of public funds for Indian Camp.
Rain's heritage includes Muscogee Creek-Cherokee, Scots-Irish and Irish-German-Ojibway.  Her mother refers to the loving, close-knit family as her "patchwork tribe." 
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After introductory pages detailing her friend's  tragic death, readers follow Rain's  chronological description of nine days: June 26 to July 4.  Smith begins each chapter with a journal excerpt which gives the narrative intimacy and poignancy.
​​Rain uses her camera to help her face the world after her heartbreaking loss, acknowledge her heritage, and bring closure and peace to her heart.
Book accessed from public library
Pub date: June 19, 2001    Publisher: ​HarperCollins    ISBN: 978-0688173975

Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide
​by Isabel Quintero ill Zeke Peña

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Quintero and Peña employ a mixed media approach to this biographical graphic novel illuminating the life and work of  Graciela Iturbide.  The pastiche of eloquent text, artfully arranged sequential panels, and photographs blend together seamlessly.
Quintero's glorious text is rich with layers of meaning. Peña's realistic line drawings combined with black and white photographs and artful panel and page design provide a stellar reading experience. This biography is much more than a chronology.  It is a celebration of art, creation, and culture. 
"I photograph and exist in the in-between: those spaces where unknown worlds, real and imagined intersect."
Published copy
​Pub date: March 6, 2018    Publisher: ​Harry N. Abrams    ISBN: 978-1947440005
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    Barbara Moon

    I like talking about books and  interesting ideas. I like thinking about how books affect my life. Not particularly interested in giving out stars or in rating books. 

    Audio Publishers Association
    2013, - present  Audies judge 
    American Library Association Book Awards and Lists 
    ​2017 YALSA Award Nominating Committee
    2016 Excellence in Nonfiction 
    2014 Margaret Edwards Award
    2012 Odyssey Awards.  
    2009, 2010, 2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens.

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