Double Duty Tuesday No. 2

It's the third Tuesday of the month, so it's time for...

Here's the Double part of the Double Duty post. Today is also time for our weekly Teacher Book Talk hosted by Kathleen of Kidpeople Classroom. 

The book I've chosen to talk about this week is part of the cadre of books for our county's annual English Festival for grs. 7/8. Each year we (the teachers whose students participate) meet to select six books for our student participants to read. The books we choose are challenging, unique, popular, part of a series, made into a movie, various genre, modern classic, timely... any, all, or none of the above criteria. These are the six books our students will be reading for this year's event:

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

House Arrest by K.A. Holt

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Borden Murders by Sarah Miller

AND

Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms doesn’t think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town’s residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can’t help but feel stuck—and helpless—in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs. The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn’t even know she had... Amazon.com

I could NOT put this book down until I finished it! The characters are memorable, inspiring, and so life-like that the plot jumps off the page to enfold you. As a child of the 60's I remember the historical figures mentioned in the story, and I can recall many of the civil rights landmark events. This is firsthand history for me. The questions posed in the novel are just as poignant and just as pertinent today: Am I prejudiced? Why? This, in my opinion, is a must-read for middle schoolers and would serve as a great read aloud/discussion starter. I plan on reading it aloud to my sixth graders while my seventh graders will be reading it in Literature Circles in preparation for the County English Festival.

Be sure to stop by Kathleen's blog, Kidpeople Classroom, to see what she is sharing for this week's Teacher Book Talk and what other teachers might have shared as well. Perhaps you'll post a Book Talk of your own.

Please tell me you have one of these at home, a pile of teachery things that you brought home to do over the summer? I am doing, but instead of getting smaller and me getting to the bottom, it is getting larger (with all those new things).

I have lived in my area all of my life, nearly sixty years (eeek!) but I have never been to Fairport Harbor, only 30 miles west of my home. What a quaint little city right on Lake Erie and the lighthouse... awesome!

And as always, I end with my fuzz girls. 

Lulubelle is such a stinker. She looks so sweet and innocent, ready to help me sort lego blocks for coding activities, but don't look away because she becomes a thief, stealing those blocks to bat around the dining room.

Poor Miss Daisy, my senior lady! She came down with a summer cold (and we know how miserable that can be) and was sniffing, sneezing, and coughing. After a trip to the doctor and some medicine she was resting in MY new chair, recuperating from the ordeal. Do you know how silly a cat sounds when it meows with a stuffy nose?

Be sure to stop over at Forever in 5th Grade to read more Show and Tell Tuesday posts. It's a great way to keep up with what's happening in the bloggy world of teaching!