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!

Tree Girl

They call Gabriela Tree Gril. Gabi climbs trees to be within reach of the eagles and watch the sun rise into an empty sky. She is at home among the outsretched branches of Guatemalan forests. Then one day from the safety of a tree, Gabi witneses the sights and sounds of an unspeakable massacre. She vows to be Tree Gril no more and joins the hordes of refugees struggling to reach the Mexican border. She has lost her whole family; her entire village has been wiped out. This novel is great for the high school level and allows students the opportunity to learn about a country that is often overlooked.

Podcast from The Boy in Striped Pajamas

An excerpt of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, as read by Ashley.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a story told from the perspective of a nine-year-old boy named Bruno. Bruno and his family live in Berlin until the government promotes his father to Commandant and instructs the family that they will be moving. Bruno’s family moves to a place called “Out-With”, as he pronounces it. Bruno does not like his new home but is intrigued by the people he sees outside his window; all wearing striped pajamas and living inside a fence. Bruno has no idea why these people are there or why they are all wearing striped pajamas, but figures it must be some sort of village. While exploring, Bruno finds the fence and discovers a boy about his age named Shmuel. The two become friends and Shmuel never explains why he is on that side of the fence, other than the fact that the soldiers hate him and his people. Bruno comes to the fence everyday to meet Shmuel and can’t understand why they can’t play together. The story tells of the horrors of the holocaust and innocence of children. The ending will surely touch any reader’s heart.

I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in the Holocaust and would teach it in conjuction with a unit on World War II.

Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy

Disposable People is a powerful awakening on the reality of slavery's existence in our modern world. His investigation of conditions in Mauritania, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan, and India reveals the tragic emergence of a "new slavery," one that is intricately linked to a global economy. Bales explains the difference between this "new slavery" and Trans-Atlantic slavery. I would suggest using excerpts from this book. It is a good book to offer students at the high school level insight into a world that many thought had ended more than a hundred years ago.

To find out more or what you can do, go to the following website,

http://www.freetheslaves.net/

Navajo Code Talkers

Navajo Code Talkers by Nathan Aaseng is a big favorite of mine. I feel that this topic is just lightly brushed over in history classes and the Navajo weren’t given as much credit as they deserved for their sacrifices during World War II. This book is a compelling story of how the young men risked their lives for their country. The book opens with a little bit of background knowledge about the Navajo and their legendary struggle to keep their land, and the reason they shy away from white people. It also goes on to explain how Kit Carson and his crew wanted to stamp the Navajo language out of the people, but years later the US Marines needed them and used the Navajo to create an unbreakable code that the Japanese have yet to unlock. The story also unfolds and shows how they went through the basic training, and how they worked together to create and interpret the code, as well as some of the battle experiences. Some of the neat things for students that this book contains are the pictures. There are sporadically pictures about Navajo Marines working on message or creating codes. This would be a wonderful addition to any classroom in grades 6-8 and it would give kids a better understanding of US history.

A Rumor of War

A Rumor of War by Phillip Caputo is a a personal memoir about the Veitnam War. This is a heartwarming and educational novel about the horrors of what men experienced. Phil starts out by saying in the prologue “This book does not pretend to be history. …. In a general sense, it is simply a story about war, about the things men do in war and the things war does to them.” And so he goes on for 346 pages to talk about his personal struggles, losses, and experiences during our nation’s longest conflict. Caputo was one of the first men to enter the war, and he was also one of the last men to leave. His novel captures so many images and events from the war that it simply blows your mind. When he left school he entered the Marine Corps and was sent directly to Vietnam to fight in the rice paddies. Some of the men he went to training with and got sent over with were among the first to die and that really rattled him. By the end of the novel you can feel the desperation and humiliation radiating out of him which is a very powerful thing.

I would use this novel to teach about the devastation that was faced by many US soldiers at home and over seas. I would use it as a read aloud.