Make a Splash @ Your Library
Make a Splash @ Your Library
Recommended Reading for Tweens
Compiled by Joanna Axelrod and Anna Hartman
[pic] Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry
Summary: Newberry winning book
Relates how Mafatu, a young Polynesian boy whose name means Stout Heart, overcomes his terrible fear of the sea and proves his courage to himself and his people.
Activity: Talk about fears and phobias.
[pic]The Big Splash by Jack D. Ferraiolo
Summary: Matt, a hard-boiled private detective and student at Franklin Middle School, is summoned to the lunchroom table of Vinnie Biggs, a Sydney Greenstreet-like seventh grader who's taken over all illegal activities at school-trafficking stolen exams and candy, forging doctor's notes and hall passes, and gambling on school sports teams. Against his better judgment, Matt accepts an assignment from Vinnie, to get back a good luck charm from Nicole Finnegan, AKA Nicky Fingers, a gorgeous redhead and once the fastest hit kid in school. Nicky's weapon of choice? Squirt gun. If you got "popped" with Nikki's water gun down the front of your pants, you could count on hearing a humiliating chant of "PEE-PEE PANTS, PEE-PEE PANTS." Right away, you became an Out. "Once you were in the Outs, you were there for good . . . The ridicule was brutal and inescapable." This year, Nikki's gone straight, and when she herself gets popped, Joey "the Hyena" Renoni is fingered as the source. Joey swears he didn't do it. Who did? That's what Matt's got to figure out and it's no open and shut case.
Activity: Kids can make charts of the suspects, evidence, and possible motives, because this is not the easiest mystery to solve. They can also compare their school social hierarchy with the way things are done at Franklin.
[pic]The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse
Summary: After a plane crash off the coast of Cuba, a four-year-old survives, nurtured by dolphins. At adolescence, the girl is "rescued" by the Coast Guard and turned over to a scientist who has a government grant to study the part language acquisition plays in socialization. Mila, the otherworldly "dolphin girl," is enthusiastic to please, learning to speak words and write her thoughts on a computer, but gradually she understands that she is a prisoner "in the net of humans." She begins to lose ground, regressing physically, begging to be returned to the sea. Hesse's skill is in making readers believe in this wise, intuitive feral child. Mila's longing for the sea and her dolphin family is so achingly palpable that her return is equally believable. Her story is told in her own perfectly sustained voice: the clear and simple, but profound and poetic language of a "foreigner" with a keen mind and resonant spirit but limited vocabulary. Readers, engrossed, will follow the intriguing device of changing typeface that indicates Mila's evolution-flowing script, to chunky bold, to standard size, and back-reflecting changes within her character. Deceptively easy in format, this is a complex and demanding book. Evoking a Selkie myth, it is a reminder that the link between humankind and nature is mysterious and ignored at our peril. This powerful exploration of how we become human and how the soul endures is a song of beauty and sorrow, haunting and unforgettable. Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT, School Library Journal, 1996
Activity: Literature Circle activities
[pic]Swimming Upstream: Middle School Poems by Kristine O'Connell George
Summary: Middle school, with all its trials, tribulations, and triumphs, is portrayed humorously and poignantly through the eyes of one girl. Some of the more mundane topics include a locker that won't open, being late to homeroom, carrying around a large piece of wood as a hall pass, and deciding where to sit in the lunchroom. The book also delves into significant issues, from making new friends and a first crush to teasing, gossip, and a bully who may not be so tough after all. The selections are short, mostly filling less than a page, and get to the heart of the matter quickly. The emotions range from confusion, loneliness, and fear to being nervous and tongue-tied. Amid all the angst and trauma are light moments of "chaperones/(someone else's parents!)/bobbing offbeat" at the school dance or a troublesome musical instrument, "after much practice/flute still suffers severe case/of laryngitis." Students will relate to this voice navigating "upstream," while they try to find their own place in the middle-school wilderness. Kristen Oravec, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Strongsville, OH School Library Journal, 2002
Activity: Have tweens write their own poem about their school life.
[pic]Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick
Summary: “Before I tell you about the biggest fish in the sea and how it tried to kill me and then ended up saving my life, first you got to know about the leaky boat, ‘cause it all began right there.” Now that is one great first sentence and it pulls you right into one glorious book. On the last day of school, 12-year-old Skiff Beaman comes home to find dad's fishing boat, the Mary Rose, sunk at the dock, with just the top of the cabin showing. Dad's no help. Since Skiff's mom died, Dad spends his time lying on the TV couch, sucking on his beer and staring at the cobwebs on the ceiling. Skiff’s nemesis, that miserable rotten rich kid, Tyler Croft, taunts him: "Good riddance. That wasn't a boat-it was an outhouse." Undaunted, Skiff raises the boat himself, and when he learns it will take $5,000 dollars to fix the engine, he gets to work setting lobster traps. There's a big fish in this story-a bluefin tuna that Skiff goes after. This is a realistic, gritty, heartstopping, testosterone-filled survival story that will make your readers look twice at the next tunafish sandwich they eat.
Activity: Discussion questions and activities
[pic]Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
Summary: Karana is a teenager living with her Native American tribe on an island off the California coast. When the Russians come to take over the island and bring the tribe to the mainland, Karana's brother is left behind. She jumps off the ship and swims ashore to live with him until he is eaten by a pack of wild dogs. She is left to fend for herself until the Russians return and bring her to California.
Activity: This book is based on the true story of the Lone Woman of San Nicholas Island. It is a fantastic jumping-off point for explorations into Chumash culture and history, visits to the graveyard where the woman is buried, and Santa Barbara history.
[pic]Surf Mules by G. Neri
Summary: When Logan goes searching for the Perfect Monster Wave, he doesn’t expect his former best friend to be killed by it. Add to this a deadbeat dad who bankrupted his family and the possibility of college going down the drain, and Logan is suddenly in a tailspin.
So when small-time dealer Broza offers Logan and his dropout pal, Z-boy, a summer job that could make them rich, it seems his problems might be solved. But between Z-boy’s constant screwups, a band of Nazi surfers out for blood, and a mysterious stranger on their tail, Logan is starting to have some serious doubts about hauling contraband across country, and hopes just to make it home alive.
[pic]Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan
Summary: In this series, tweens follow the mythological adventures of Percy Jackson, a 12-year-old demigod. When Percy discovers that he is the son of a mortal woman and Poseidon, the God of the Sea, he is sent to a summer camp for other demigods like himself and he joins his friends in a quest to prevent a war among the gods.
Activity: This teacher’s guide includes activities
[pic]Grim Grotto (Series of Unfortunate Events series) by Lemony Snicket
Summary: This 11th book in the Series of Unfortunate Events series follows the Baudelaire orphans as they attempt to reach a very important VFD meeting. They must first travel in a rattletrap submarine to the Gorgonian Grotto, a dangerous underwater cave, in search of the sugar bowl.
Activity:
(online activities)
Make a Splash - Social/Environmental Consciousness
[pic]Flush by Carl Hiaasen
Summary: Noah’s father is spending Father’s Day in jail for sinking The Coral Queen, a casino boat. When Noah visits his dad, Paine, he finds out that Paine is certain that the owner, Dusty Muleman, is dumping sewage into the water and polluting it. Noah believes his dad and hatches a plan that will sink Muleman once and for all. He gains a some supporters along the way: Lice Peeking, a disgruntled former employee; Shelly, Lice’s girlfriend and Dusty’s ex-girl friend, and Abbey, Noah’s little sister who will bite anyone that will get in her way. Along the way, a mysterious man who looks like a pirate shows up to defend Noah and Abby from Dusty’s bully son, Jasper Jr. Flush is a fun story about standing up for what’s right, even if that means a little bit of civil disobedience. (Melissa Bowman, Melissa.Bowman@pisd.edu, Armstrong Middle School, Lone Star Book Award nominee, 2006-2007)
Activity: Have tweens bring in newspaper articles dealing with environmental issues and discuss what they could do to help.
[pic]Shadows in the Water by Kathryn Lasky
Summary: From the author of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, this book follows the adventures of the Starbucks twins who use their telepathic powers, and the aid of some endangered dolphins, to help their father catch a gang dumping toxic waste in the Florida Keys.
[pic]The Cay by Theodore Taylor
Summary: This award-winning novel remains a powerful classic of prejudice, love, and survival. In 1942, 11-year-old Phillip Enright lives with his parents on the Dutch island of Curaçao, but when the war moves too close for comfort, his mother decides to travel with him back to the safety of Virginia. When their boat is torpedoed, however, Phillip is blinded and finds himself adrift on a life raft with an old black man and a cat. They eventually land on a deserted island. Phillip is suspicious of "the large Negro," but soon grows to trust--and ultimately love--the patient and generous Timothy. Dedicated to "Dr. King's Dream," The Cay has a clear message that friendship is colorblind; it is also a terrific adventure story of a young, newly blinded man learning to survive on an uninhabited island. review
Activity: Ask tweens to imagine that they were stranded on a deserted island. What are the 3 things they would want to have with them?
[pic] Sign of the dragon : a novel by Richard Trout
Summary: While in China, Chris, Heather, R.O., and Natalie kayak on a Class IV river, discover a link between animal exports, the illegal dinosaur bone trade, and corrupt officials, and encounter panda poachers.
Activity: Talk about endangered animals and what can be done to protect these animals. Check out the San Diego Zoo for information about conservation.
Make a Splash: People Who Have Changed Our World
[pic]Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women by Catherine Thimmesh
Summary: An outstanding collective biography of women and girls who changed the world with their inventions. Thimmesh surveys unique and creative ideas that were both born of necessity or were simply a product of ingenuity and hard work. Included are Bette Nesmith Graham, who invented Liquid Paper, known more commonly as "white-out," and Ann Moore, who emulated the way African mothers carried their babies to create the Snugli. While working for NASA, Jeanne Lee Crews invented the "space bumper" that protects spacecraft and astronauts. The last few individuals highlighted utilized their creativity at a fairly young age. Becky Schroeder was 10 when she invented Glo-sheet paper, which enables people to write in the dark. She became the youngest female to receive a U.S. patent. The book also encourages young women to start inventing themselves and offers a list of organizations with postal and Internet addresses to help them get started. Colorful collage artwork shows the women and their creations and adds vibrancy and lightness to the text.
Carol Fazioli, formerly at The Brearley School, New York City
Activity: Challenge the tweens to come up with a creative invention of their own – it can be completely unique or an improvement upon something that already exists.
[pic]Larry Page and Sergey Brin: The Google Guys by Gail Stewart
Summary: A brief biography of Larry Page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of the Google Internet Search Engine.
[pic]Mark Zuckerberg: Facebook Creator by Adam Woog
Summary: Presents the biography of Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg, covering his upbringing, interest in computers, early success in programming, and his launching and maintaining of the popular social networking site.
[pic]Brainstorm! The Stories of Twenty American Kid Inventors by
Tom Tucker
Summary: Brainstorm features young inventors from colonial to modern times and includes women and minorities. The ideas range from a safety device for power looms to the Popsicle, invented by an 11-year-old boy in 1905. Many inventors in this book started their careers as children and some held patents while still in their teens. Others did not receive their first patent until they were older and were able to raise the money necessary to fund the patenting process. The last chapter explains that process and gives advice on ways to save money on searches. Black-and-white photographs and pen-and-ink drawings show the inventor and/or their inventions. A useful book for encouraging self-expression and the creative process. Margaret M. Hagel, Norfolk Public Library System, VA School Library Journal
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