I have been hearing good things about these two books by Tom Angleberger, and I am glad I finally moved them to the top of my TBR pile for Christmas reading. I laughed all they way through both titles and can’t wait to release these into the classroom. I already had students begging to take them home over Christmas. I’m glad I kept them for myselft because I have a feeling they won’t spend much time on my bookshelf.
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Amulet Books 2010)
Tommy has a problem. Should he or should he not ask Sara to dance at the school Fun Night? Even more important–should he trust the advice of Origami Yoda? Does Origami Yoda really tap into the Force, or is it just a paper finger puppet made by Dwight, arguable the wierdest kid in school?
In order to get to the bottom of this mystery, Tommy creates a case file. Every student who asked Origami Yoda a question writes their story. Both Tommy (the confused) and Harvey (the skeptic) leave comments at the end of each case. My favorite, though, are the drawings by Kellen.
At the end, Tommy may not have an answer as to whether or not Origami Yoda is real, but he and his friends can celebrate Fun Night by doing the Twist!
Darth Paper Strikes Back (Amulet Books 2011)
Just when I thought the story couldn’t get any better, Angleberger comes up with a sequel that surpasses all my expectations. It must have pleased a lot of other readers, too, because it is one of the midde grade winners for the first ever Nerdies Awards!
Darkness threatens to take over McQuarrie Middle School. Dwight (creator of Origami Yoda) has been kicked out of school and Harvey has taken over with Darth Paper (an origami finger puppet of…you guessed it). It is up to Tommy to save Dwight by creating another case file, this time to take to the school board.
Not only do we learn more of Origami Yoda’s amazing powers (count me in as a believer), we learn the power of friendship. I can’t say more without spoilers, so you’ll just have to see for yourself how it all works out.
If you think your life is bad, you should check out the problems Junior faces every day. Junior was born with a medical condition that left him with an oversized head, a lisp, and seizures. Now he is a moving target for every bully on the Spokane Indian Reservation where he lives. His parents, along with most of the other adults, are drunks in a life that seems to have lost all hope. Junior loses it when he gets his “new” science book (the one that had once been issued to his mother) and throws it at his teacher. He then decides to leave the rez and attend the all-white school in the neighboring farm town. His best friend Rowdy–and the rest of the people on the resevation–turn on him for being a traitor, but Junior is determined to create hope out of his desperate life.
Even though this book gives a harsh look at growing up, I laughed my way through it. No matter what life throws at him, Junior can find a way to make it funny. Did I mentiong that Junior is also a cartoonist. His cartoons are scatttered throughout the story? Yeah, they’re funny, too.
Sherman Alexie has created a masterpiece coming-of-age novel with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. It might make a few grownups uncomfortable with its frank look at the life of an adolescent boy who faces more problems than should be allowed in one life, but more than anything else, Junior’s story provides hope. I can’t wait to share it in class.
Celeste’s life used to fit her as comfortably as her favorite outfit–track pants and a hoodie that hid her perfectly round body. But now life is not so comfortable ever since her aunt Doreen secretly entered her in the Miss Husky Peach pageant. What will her classmates say if she’s crowned beauty queen for fat girls? Lively Carson certainly doesn’t need any more reason to insult Celeste. To make matters even worse, Celeste’s best friend Sandra has become friends with Lively and only wants to be friends outside of school. But Celeste has a plan. She will give up chocolate cookies and lose so much weight she’ll be disqualfied from the competition. Watch out for plans that spew (all over the gym teacher’s shoes) and crash (right in the middle of the runway).
I loved Models Don’t Eat Chocolate by Erin Dionne. Actually, I loved Celeste. I loved how she changed from someone who hid behind her hoodie into someone who was unafraid to speak her mind. I don’t know if I could have returned to the Husky Peach pageant after some of the disasters she faced–the bra bombing, the wardrobe malfunction, the peach monstrosity. The transformation of the peach monstrosity (a bridesmaid’s dress for her cousin’s wedding) from “hated uniform to resuce outfit to The Most Treasured Item of Clothing I Will Ever Own for the Rest of My Life” was no less amazing the transformation of Celeste.
Seventy young adult authors tell their stories of being bullied, bullying others, or just standing by in Dear Bully (Harper Teen 2011). If you ever feel you are alone, this collection of essays will assure you that you are not.
Lisa Yee writes of regret for going along with the crowd. RL Stine laughed to deflect the bullies’ attention. Carrie Ryan thanks the girl who showed courage to be her only friend at camp. Lara Zeises is shocked to discover that the bullies who tormented her in school don’t even remember her name now. Many, many of them write of how being different made them a target in school, but now that very difference leads to their success. Their voices echo through the pages with the message, “It will get better.”
Many thanks to the seventy authors who courageously shared their stories and to Megan Kelley Hall and Carrie Jones for editing this volume. If one book is not enough, check out the website Dear Bully, with a new story posted every week. What is your story? What would you say to the people who bully today?
Jennifer Brown has written a powerful, intense, and important novel with Hate List (Little, Brown, and Company 2009). I had to read this in small doses to give myself time to think. Even now that I’m done I find my thoughts returning to Valerie and all she went through. I appreciate that Jennifer Brown takes a challening topic–school violence–and refuses to give easy answers. There are no easy bad guys to blame in this book. Neither are their any completely good guys. All the characters struggle to make sense of the senseless violence and the role they played.
Valerie is dreading returning to school to finish her senior year. She’s not sure if she is a hero or a criminal, and she sure doesn’t know which her classmates will treat her as. Five months earlier, her boyfriend Nick brought a gun to school and started shooting students. Valerie jumped in front of him to stop him and was shot. She also helped him write the Hate List–a list of all the people who bullied them day after day, a list Nick used to choose his targets. Who is to blame for the shocking violence? Who confront the truth of how things really are as the community tries to pick up the pieces?
There are no easy answers given in The Hate List. Valerie is plagued by guilt. Could she have done anything to stop Nick? But she also refuses to see Nick as the monster portrayed in the media. She remembers the good times they had together and the pain they both suffered from bullies in the school. One of those bullies now reaches out to befriend Valerie. Throughout her senior year–and in remembering the past–Valerie struggles to see what is really there, and she learns that none of us fit into neat boxes or labels.
Friendship and betrayal, music and competition. The very things that draw Brooke and Kathryn together as friends may destroy both their friendship and their chances for success. Sara Bennett Wealer has written a pitch perfect novel in Rival (HarperTeen 2011).
Brooke and Kathryn alternate telling the story of how their friendship began and how it fell apart. Brooke is confident and popular and doesn’t seem to mean anything, but her friends don’t seem to understand the biggest part of her–her singing. Kathryn is quiet and shy and unassuming until she sings. Then her high, airy soprano is the only competition for Brooke’s rich alto.
After jealousy and misunderstandings tear their frienship apart, Brooke viciously turns on Kathryn, leaving her a social outcast their senior year. They are forced together every day during their top-notch choir practice, and they are drawn inexorably closer as they both prepare for the Blackmore Music Competition. Only one girl can win.
I could not put this book down once I picked it up. It is one of the best books I’ve read this year. Brooke and Kathryn weave a tangled web through their broken friendship, where everyone is to blame for what goes wrong. I can’t wait to release this title into my classroom.
Lara Zielin strikes just the right balance between faith and skepticism and between humor and thoughtfulness in her debut novel, Donut Days (Speak 2010). I was a little nervous before reading it. Some books that deal with Christian characters and themes come across as too preachy. Others play into the best and worst stereotypes. Donut Days does neither. It presents people of faith with all their complexity and disagreements and humanity.
Emma’s world is falling apart, and she doesn’t know where she fits in anymore. She has never been the perfect preacher’s kid the church expects. At least her younger sister Lizzie fits the mold. Now the church led by her parents is being torn apart by arguments over the role of women in church leadership and her parents won’t tell her anything. Her best friend is no longer speaking to her. The boy (oh yeah, he’s the son of the opposition leaders) she has been friends with has returned from college as a total hottie. The final straw comes when Emma’s parents tell her they won’t pay for any college but a Christian college.
Emma sees only one way out–writing the winning scholarship essay for the local paper about donut camp. Whenever a new Crispy Dream donut franchise opens, people from all over camp out to win prizes while they wait to be the first one served. What she learns and who she meets at Donut Camp might be more than she bargained for.
My favorite part of this book is the characters. Emma is likeable and sarcastic, but by no means perfect. She struggles to sort out her relationships with her parents (who are not perfect, either, but neither are they one-dimensional bad guys), her best friend Natalie (who makes mistakes), and old friend/new love interest Jake. Emman hopes to escape the drama of church at donut camp, but she immediately runs into a group of tattooed, born-again bikers. Bear is incredible and unforgettable. Even the bad guys in the book are treated with compassion. Emma learns that life and people are a lot more complicated and much messier than first appearances reveal.
I can’t wait to release this title to my classoom. I can think of several students who will enjoy it.
This year of middle school can be what you make of it. Don’t sit on the sidelines. Look for opportunities to get involved. Go out for a sport you’ve never tried. Learn to sing or play an instrument. Let the spotlight shine on you in a drama production or the spring talent show. Help your community through volunteering. There’s a place for everyone. Look for yours.
Getting involved is one way to take a stand against bullying. Here are a list of some of the after school opportunities available this year:
Jennings Youth Involvement Team
The Jennings Youth Involvement Team is a community service group at Jennings County Middle School. It gives middle school students the opportunity to participate in a variety of community service projects while developing leadership skills. Some of the annual projects include the building of Christmas Cheer baskets for the Jennings County Coordinating Council, Special Olympics, and a dance for Riley Hospital for Children and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life Walk. The team is made up of eight 7th grade and eight 8th grade students. Members are chosen through an application process and teacher recommendations. Once selected, members may serve for two years of middle school.
Science Club
“It’s the Law.” Science club explores the laws of science and other interesting phenomenon using a new hands-on project each meeting. Science club will start up second semester when they will prepare for the SAE Junior Solar Sprint Car Competition. Guaranteed to be fun and informative. Sponsors for 2011-12 are Mrs. Kelley and Mr. Earl.
Young JCMS Historian
Our “Young JCMS Historian” does many interesting things. We are members of the “Young Indiana Historical Society,” but our interest doesn’t stop there. We are interested in history around the world. Last year we took field trips to the Eiteljorg Museum, the Statehouse, and even visited historical homes in Madison. We have special speakers and a debate or two. We hope to participate in the Indiana Historical Day compettition this year. We meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month, 3:15 – 4:30 in Room 28. Hope to see you this year. Ms. Anderson and Mrs. Franks.
JCMS Technology Club
The Jennings County Middle School Technology Club meets the 1st & 3rd Wednesday of the month from 3:15 until 4:15 p.m. The group learns about different computer programs, instead of playing video games. One of the main goals of the club is to create entries for competition like the AIME Media Fair. The sponsors for this club are Mrs. Doran and Mrs. Martin.
Panther Print
The Panther Print is the Middle School newspaper. It is o pen to both 7th and 8th graders. We have news about school teams, sports teams and events, special events, clubs, trivia questions, puzzles, music, and more. If you like to write, consider joining our staff.
Survivor Book Club
Will you outwit, outlast, OUTREAD? Survivor Book Club is a place for students and their parents (or other adult) to come together to talk about great young adult books and to have fun. We will meet just six times from September through April. Next year’s dates are Sept 22, Oct. 27, Dec. 8, Jan. 26, Feb. 23, and April 26. Each meeting starts at 3:15 and ends at 4:15 in the library. At each meeting we will present four books to choose from. All are great books nominated for the Young Hoosier Book Award. They include contemporary fiction, fantasy, historical fiction and much more.
C.S.I. (Christian Student Involvement)
In C.S.I. students gather to discuss issues surrounding Christianity. The club meetings consist of discussions, chat time, listening to music, playing games, eating food, and possibly some volunteer activities. This club meets from 3:00-4:15 on Thursdays in Mrs. Lane’s room. To attend C.S.I. you must have a completed permission slip on file with the sponsors. The dates will be announced. Sponsors are Mrs. Lane, Mrs. McCormick, and Mrs. Roberts.
Archery Club
The archery club meets twice a week throughout the year. Team members will practice shooting usually at a different site other than the middle school. Members will compete at the county, state, and hopefully at the national level.
Drama Club
Drama is an after-school program for 7th and 8th graders. We produce three shows per year: one in the fall, a spring children’s theater, and in May, a musical. Students audition for the opportunity to act or be a part of the stage crew and work with building sets, painting, lighting and sound equipment.
Student Council
Student council is made up of ten seventh grade students and ten eighth grade students. Members are selected upon completing an application and teacher recommendations. Applications are available in the Main Office on Mrs. Herr’s desk. Turn them in to the mailbox outside Mrs. Thompson’s door. Activities organized by the council include Veteran’s Day program, Red Ribbon Week, Teacher Appreciation Week, and layout design for our student handbook. Sponsors are Mrs. Lane, Mrs. Mattern, Mrs. Shoultz, and Mrs. Thompson.
JCMS Fiddle Club
The JCMS Fiddle Club rehearses and performs old-time fiddle music. It is open to any JCMS student who plays violin, viola, cello, bass, mandolin, banjo, or guitar.
JCMS Math Club
Do you like mathematics? Do you want to do fun activities, solve challenging math problems, and play games with other students? If you said “Yes” to any of those questions, then Math Club is right for you. This club meets twice a month right after school to do just that.
Builders Club
This club focuses on community service and leadership. It is sponsored by Kiwanis International. Some of the activities are a clothing drive for the Jennings County Homeless shelter, collecting Yoplait lids for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, trick-or-treating for canned goods, fundraisers to benefit March of Dimes, Riley Hospital, and the American Cancer Society. For information on Builders Club check out the International website at http://www.buildersclub.org.
I can’t wait to share Schooled (Scholastic 2007) when I get back to school later this month. Gordon Korman takes on bullies, hippies, and irresponsible parents in a story that had me laughing all the way through. The shifting points of view–six major characters and a couple of minor ones share their perspective on the events–have distinctive voices. Here are the main players:
Capricorn Anderson has never seen a television, talked on a cell phone or played a video game. He has lived his entire life with Rain, his grandmother, on a hippie commune called Garland Farm. When Rain falls out of a tree and breaks her hip, he is thrown into the vicious social jungle known as middle school. Not knowing any better, he takes on every challenge thrown at him with seriousness, down to learning the names of all 1100 students at school.
Mrs. Donnelly has a secret–she lived for six years at Garland Farm as a child. She still remembers the shock of entering the real world and takes Cap into her home.
Sophie Donnelly is sixteen and outraged that her mother would bring home a tie-dyed hippie freak to live with them. It is bound to ruin her social life even more than the broken promises from her absent father.
Zach Powers is the rightful lord and king of C Average Middle School as he enters his eighth grade year. Captain of both the football and soccer teams, he leads his friends in the tradition of selecting the biggest loser for the job of eighth grade president. He is furious when his plan to nominate and humilate Cap backfires.
Hugh Winkleman is more thankful than anyone that Cap showed up before the election. If not for Cap, he would be the 8th grade president for sure. Now that Cap is in the spotlight, Hugh can enjoy school without the treath of spitballs and wedgies.
Naomi Erlanger has a crush on Zach, and is more than willing to contribute to Cap’s humiliation. But as Cap remains undisturbed–and clueless–to their bullying, she can’t help but be drawn to his innocence and naivete. Which boy will win her heart in the end?
That’s just the beginning of this incredible story. Throw in a hijacked school bus, bounced checks, and a couple of funerals to round out the story. Don’t forget the tie-dye lessons in the art room or the sing-alongs in the music wing. Fans of Korman’s No More Dead Dogs will definitely enjoy this visit to middle school just as much. Just to make you want more, Here are the opening lines from Capricorn Anderson:
I was thirteen the first time I saw a police officer up close. He was arresting me for driving without a license. At the time, I didnt’ even know what a license was. I wasn’t too clear on what being arrested meant either.
I can guarantee you that no one at C Average Middle School will ever be the same.
Disclosure: I participate in the Amazon Associates Program. If you decide to make a purchase by clicking on the affiliate links, Amazon will pay me a commission. This commission doesn’t cost you any extra. All opinions are my own.
Do you speak Klingon? No worries. Scholastic provides a translation for author Lisa Yee as she describes her new book Warp Speed. Read more about it over at GuysLitWire.
Tommy has a problem. Should he or should he not ask Sara to dance at the school Fun Night? Even more important–should he trust the advice of Origami Yoda? Does Origami Yoda really tap into the Force, or is it just a paper finger puppet made by Dwight, arguable the wierdest kid in school?
Just when I thought the story couldn’t get any better, Angleberger comes up with a sequel that surpasses all my expectations. It must have pleased a lot of other readers, too, because it is one of the midde grade winners for the first ever Nerdies Awards!
