Copper Sun

Copper Sun by Sharon Draper is a book told from the perspective of a 15 year old African girl named Amari. When pale strangers enter her village, broughten there by a neighboring tribe, the village welcomes them and celebrates as is the custom. Confusion strikes when these pale people begin murdering those who are unfit and capturing the strongest villagers. While her whole family is slaughtered, Amari is beaten, whipped, and taken aboard a ship. Amari realizes she will never return to Africa. Cramped, beaten, and raped aboard the ship Amari is forced to witness horrors she could have never imagined. Once in America, she is sold to a plantation owner as a present for his son's 16th birthday. Survival and escape are the only things Amari dreams of, along with the other slaves on the plantation.

I could not put this book down once I started reading it. It is heart wrenching and vivid with details. The book gives the perpestive of the slave trade through a young girls eyes, which would captivate any reader and hold their attention. I would use this in conjuction with a unit on slavery. The students could read this to get true insight as to what a slave had to endure while serving their master. I recommend everyone puts this on their summer reading list!

We are All Born Free

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assemble on December 10, 1948. It was developed as a result of the horrors of World War II. Its purpose was to state and protect the rights of all people around the world.

We are all Born Free: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Pictures celebrates each declaration with amazing illustrations by a number of artists. This book has many educational opportunities for a variety of levels. Just some topic ideas include, World War II, Holocaust, human rights violations, Cold War, etc. The possibilities are truly endless.

Brothers in Hope: the Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan

Brothers in Hope: the Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan is a picture book dedicated to telling the true story of young Garang, who was about 8 years old when his Sudanese village was brutally attacked and his family torn apart. Author, Mary Williams, and illustrator R. Gregory Christie take you on Garang's story both in powerful words and beautiful illustrations.
This picture book is a great book to bridge the gap of your struggling readers with your more advanced readers.

A Diary of an Iraqi Girl

Diary of an Iraqi Girl offers great insight into the personal life of a young girl during the invasion of the United States. It provides a personal account of life in Iraq and how the US's invasion affected daily life for those living in Iraq during the time.
Perfect for many different interdisciplinary activities. Because her blog is public, students have the opportunity to interact with Hadia, providing an authentic audience for writing assignments! English dream right?? Social Studies could use bits and pieces of her diary in a unit on terrorism to provide insight to how life was affected by the US in Iraq.

Why?

Nikolai Popov's, wordless, thought provoking tale about a frog who sits peacefully on a rock smelling a flower and a mouse who aggressively snatches the flower away. The absurdity of aggression and the inevitable consequences of the violence that occurs, teaches ys the ugliness of war and that there are no winners.

Perfect to discuss any historical moment of war. Some that come to mind, World War II, Cold War, War on Terrorism, etc. Perfect for younger grade levels as well as high schoolers. Great writing assignments come to mind especially since this book is wordless.

Number the Stars

The Novel Number the Stars by Lois Lowry is set in Copenhagen, Denmark in the year 1943. The novel follows the life of Annemarie Johansen and her best friend, Ellen Rosen (who is Jewish). The girls are about ten years old and constantly remember how life was before the war. In 1943, life is much harder in Copenhagen. The soldiers are filled with Nazi soldiers and there are food shortages.

The Jews living in Denmark discover through the work of the resistance movement that they are going to be "relocated." To help protect the Rosen's, the Johansen's allow Ellen to live with them and pose as their deceased daughter. They also help Ellen's parents escape.

The Johansen's know it isn't safe for them to stay at their home long, so they go to visit their uncle. This is part of the plan to help the Rosen's (and other Jews) escape to Sweden. During this time, Annemarie must go on a dangerous mission to help save the life of her best friend.

When using Number the Stars in the classroom, the link between the reality of WWII and the novel are quite accurate. I think student's would benefit from this novel by understanding that it was not just the Jews in Germany that were targeted by the Nazi's.

I think this novel could be used to discuss human rights violations, as well as discrimination. There are many ways to integrate this novel into an English or Social Studies classroom. The novel is a 5.1 grade level, but I think it would interest students in higher grades as well.

Teaching ideas for the novel!