Chapter Book 11

Author	Phillip Hoose
Title	Claudette Colvin:  Twice Toward Justice
Illustrator	NA
Readability Score	GLE 6.8 Lexile Measure: 1000
Genre	Nonfiction
Subgenre	Biography
Theme	NA
Primary and Secondary Characters	NA
Award(s) date of publication	2009 Newbery Honor Book Robert F. Sibert Award Honor YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist Jane Addams Children’s Book Award, Honor ALA Best Book for Young Adults
Publishing Company	Melanie Kroupa Books
ISBN Number	0-374-31322-9
Brief Summary	Claudette Colvin was an unsung heroine of the Montgomery County Bus Boycott.  Nine months prior to Rosa Parks’ monumental bus ride, fifteen year old Colvin decided to take a stand and refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman.  Unlike Parks’ refusal, Colvin’s was unplanned and inspired solely by her own bravery.  Also unlike Parks’ refusal, Colvin was dragged off the bus by two police officers and eventually shunned by her classmates and community.  After her arrest, Colvin became involved with the NAACP, where she met and became acquaintances with Parks.  However, the NAACP chose not to use Colvin as the spokesperson for their bus boycott because of fear that she would be viewed as an “emotional and uncontrollable” teenager.  However, she was called upon to testify during the bus boycott lawsuit initiated after Parks made the news for refusing to give up her seat.  Even in light of her testimony, Colvin did not receive the same recognition or historical figure label as Parks.
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Description of how you would use book with students	I would use this book with high school students as part of a text set for the Civil Rights Movement.  With Colvin being the age of a typical high school freshman, this book will encourage deep discussions about her actions and the impact those actions had on her life.

Chapter Book 10

Author	Diane McWhorter
Title	A Dream of Freedom: The Civil Rights Movement from 1954 to 1968
Illustrator	NA
Readability Score	GLE 10.5 Lexile Measure: 1220 DRA:  70 Guided Reading:  Z
Genre	Nonfiction
Subgenre	Expository
Theme	NA
Primary and Secondary Characters	NA
Award(s) date of publication	2004
Publishing Company	Scholastic
ISBN Number	0-439-57678-4
Brief Summary	A Dream of Freedom describes several influential events that occurred during the Civil Rights Movement as African Americans journeyed toward obtaining equal rights.  Author Diane McWhorter details the struggles of many African American during this time period. McWhorter describes the beginning of segregation, lynchings, the origins of Jim Crow Laws, Brown Vs. Board of Education, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Little Rock Nine desegregation of Central High School, Sit-Ins at lunch counters by local college students, the Freedom Rides, the Sixteenth Street Church Bombing, and the formation of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.  McWhorter also explains President John F. Kennedy’s impact on the Movement by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 before his assassination.  Chock full of photographs from the era, McWhorter sheds a bright spotlight on a dark period in our nation’s history.
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Description of how you would use book with students	I would use this book with upper middle school students to encourage further research of specific events that occurred throughout the Civil Rights Movement.  Students would select one event that most interests them and complete I Search papers after completing further research based on questions generated about the events.

Chapter Book 9

Author	Siena Cherson Siegel
Title	To Dance: A Ballerina’s Graphic Novel
Illustrator	Mark Siegel
Readability Score	Lexile Measure: 610 L
Genre	Biography
Subgenre	Memoir/Graphic Novel
Theme	This book encourages hard work and determination to accomplish goals and dreams.
Primary and Secondary Characters	Siena, Sienna’s mother, Sienna’s father, Adam, doctor, Mister B, Mrs. Alcalde, Madame Tumkovsky
Award(s) date of publication	2006
Publishing Company	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
ISBN Number	0-689-86747-6
Brief Summary	At the age of six, Sienna was told that she had flat feet.  When Sienna’s mother suggested dance classes to help improve her daughter's feet, the doctor replied that it was no use.  However, Sienna’s mother decided to sign her up for the classes anyway.  Sienna loved attending dance class.  After viewing a performance from famed dancer Maya Plisetskaya, Sienna was convinced that she wanted to become a ballerina herself.  When she was eleven, Sienna auditioned at the School of American Ballet (SAB) and was accepted.  While at SAB, Sienna’s true talent began to emerge as dancing became a permanent fixture in her life.
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Description of how you would use book with students	I would use this book as a mentor text to encourage students to write their own memoirs in a graphic novel format.

Chapter Book 8

Author	Mildred D. Taylor
Title	The Gold Cadillac
Illustrator	NA
Readability Score	Grade level equivalent:  4.2 Lexile Measure: 650 L DRA: 40 Guided Reading: S
Genre	Fiction
Subgenre	Historical Fiction
Theme	This book spotlights the importance of familial bonds.
Primary and Secondary Characters	Lois, Wilma, Daddy, Mother-Dear
Award(s) date of publication	1987
Publishing Company	Puffin Books
ISBN Number	0-14-038963-6
Brief Summary	Lois and her sister Wilma are ecstatic when Daddy pulls up to their house in a brand new gold Cadillac.  The neighbors share the girls’ feelings of excitement and awe.  However, Mother-Dear becomes furious when she learns of Daddy’s new impractical and expensive purchase.  Mother-Dear refuses to ride in the new car and forbids the girls to do so as well.  Yet, when Daddy announces his plans to take the new car down South to Mississippi to visit relatives, Mother-Dear decides that the entire family will accompany him on the journey due to fear for his safety.  Just as Mother-Dear feared, Daddy is pulled over and arrested by a police officer simply for being of color and driving an expensive car in the rural South.
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Description of how you would use book with students	I would use this book in literature circles during a unit on the Civil Rights Movement.

Chapter Book 7

Author	Sharon Creech
Title	Love That Dog
Illustrator	NA
Readability Score	Grade level equivalent:  4.9 Lexile Measure: 1010L DRA: 50 Guided Reading: T
Genre	Poetry
Subgenre	Narrative
Theme	This book emphasizes the power of poetry.
Primary and Secondary Characters	Jack, Miss Stretchberry, Mr. Walter Dean Myers, Sky
Award(s) date of publication	2001
Publishing Company	Harper Trophy
ISBN Number	978-0-06-440959-9
Brief Summary	Jack doesn’t believe that he has the ability to write poetry.  He doesn’t even want to write poetry because it is something that “girls do.”  However, with constant motivation from his teacher, Miss Stretchberry, Jack slowly begins to realize that he can in fact write poetry.  Through his poems, Jack comes to terms with the loss of his dog Sky.
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Description of how you would use book with students	I would use this book at the beginning of a poetry unit to motivate and encourage all students of their ability to write poetry.

Chapter Book 6

Author	Eleanor Estes
Title	The Hundred Dresses
Illustrator	Louis Slobodkin
Readability Score	Grade level equivalent:  5.0 Lexile Measure: 890L DRA: 34 Guided Reading: O
Genre	Fiction
Subgenre	Realistic Fiction
Theme	This book emphasizes the importance of being respectful toward others.
Primary and Secondary Characters	Wanda Petronski, Peggy, Maddie, Miss Mason, old man Svenson, Jake Petronksi, Cecile
Award(s) date of publication	1944 Newbery Honor
Publishing Company	Harcourt Brace & Company
ISBN Number	0-15-237374-8
Brief Summary	Where was Wanda Petronski?  Everyday Maddie and Peggy wait for Wanda before school to “have fun with her.”  It is soon revealed that the girls’ version of “having fun” with Wanda is teasing her daily about the hundred dresses she claims to have lined up in her closet.  The girls find this proclamation shocking due to the fact that Wanda wears the same blue dress to school each day.  Maddie feels slightly uncomfortable with the teasing, but reassures herself of the game’s innocence since Wanda never cried.  After a drawing contest, Maddie and Peggy find out that Wanda in fact does have 100 drawings of dresses.  Wanda is unable to claim her prize since she is again absent.  While the girls are still fawning over Wanda’s beautiful drawings, their teacher Miss Mason receives a letter from Wanda’s father explaining her absence.  Wanda’s family has moved to escape teasing.  This bothers both Maddie and Peggy, so the girls attempt to find a way to make things up to Wanda.
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Description of how you would use book with students	I would use this book as part of a character education unit to focus on the importance of showing respect toward others and to caution students against bullying and being “innocent” bystanders.