This children's book is about a Hispanic (Mexico) girl that has to move to California and is forced to experience hardships through servant-hood. This is a great novel because it cover many subjects. This story is set during the Great Depression of America, and readers will be immersed in the fate of someone to experience culture shock by migrating not only to a new place, but also experience a different way of life that what he/she was used too.
The Outsiders (by S.E. Hinton) 1967
This is a story of friendship, loyalties, and betrayal. Who you trust might mean the difference in life or death? The protagonist must make many choices that will change hid destiny forever. Social issues such as gang violence is a topic. Characters die a violent death, and other topics are explored like depression and anger. Revenge is a central topic that is explored.
The Polar Express (by Chris Van Allsburg) 1985
This story excites the imagination about a little boy trying to make it to the North Pole. Many themes are present here such as friendships, disappointments, and mysticism. There are magic things that happen and can't be explained. The children on the train come from all walks of life. It is a good feeling book and no one dies or is injured. The ending is predictable with all good feelings in the end.
Blackberries in the Dark (by Mavis Jukes) Grades 3 - 5
This is a mirror book. Nine-year-old Austin and the blackberries have come back to the farm, but Grandpa is missing. Austin and his grandmother try to begin new traditions without sacrificing their memories of his grandfather.
The Hundred Penny Box (Sharon Bell Mathis) (Grades 3 - 5)
This is a mirror book. Michael loves his great-great-aunt Dew, even if she can't always remember his name. He especially loves to spend time with her and her beloved hundred penny box, listening to stories about each of the hundred years of her life.
The Friends (by Kazumi Yumoto) 1996
Curious about death, three sixth-grade boys decide to spy on an old man waiting for him to die, but they end up becoming his friends. This is a look into understanding the perspective of older people as well as looking into the mirror of the boys who befriend him.
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Patridge (by Mem Fox)
This story is another book that looks into the life of an older person at the end of his/her life. It also mirrors a boy life in which he questions the world around and him and starts to discover the true meanings of the world around him. I re-told this story on YouTube. This is a good book to teach graphic organizers, recall, social respect, etc, ...
Singing with Momma Lou (by Linda Jacobs) 2002
Nine-year-old Tamika Jordan dreads visiting her grandmother at the nursing home. Momma Lou has Alzheimer's and always forgets who Tamika is. This is another reflection of older people, and uses windows or mirrors, depending on what gender and race the reader may be as the lead in the story is a African-American little girl.
Toning the Sweep (by Angela Johnson) Grades 7 - 12
On a visit to her grandmother Ola, who is dying of cancer in her house in the desert, fourteen-year-old Emmie hears many stories about the past and her family history and comes to a better understanding of relatives both dead and living.
Children of God; an American epic (by Vardis Fisher) 1939
Fisher tells the story of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, who, respectively, founded and preserved the religion of the Latter Day Saints.
Evensong (by Gail Godwin) 1997
Story of a young girl's devotion to her father, the rector of a small Virginia church, and of the hope, dreams, and love that sustain them both in the wake of the betrayal and tragedy that diminished their family faith.
Lane Smith, Grandpa Green (2011, Roaring Book Press)
Louis Sachar, The Card Turner (2010, Random House)
Deb Calleti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart (2004, Simon & Schuster)
Karen Lord the Galaxy GameDeb Calleti, Honey, Baby, Sweetheart (2004, Simon & Schuster)
Joseph Bruchac Rose Eagle.
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