Betsill's Book Nook

Module 4: Poetry Across the Curriculum-Biographical Fred Korematsu Speaks Up Bibliography Atkins, L., & Yogi, S. (2017). Fred Korematsu speaks up (Y. Houlette, Illus.). Heyday. ISBN: 9781597143684 Summary A middle grade book that tells the story of Fred Korematsu who spoke up for all Americans when Japanese Americans were being detained during WWII in internment camps with no cause or trial. The book opens with a call to action for readers to speak up when something isn’t right, then a table of contents. Each chapter begins with a poem narrating a portion of Korematsu’s life; the poems are paired with illustrations by Yutaka Houlette. Following each poem is a section of non-fiction writing that explains what was happening in the United States during this time with photographs, newspaper clippings or cartoons, a timeline, and vocabulary. Backmatter includes steps young readers can take to fight for justice like Korematsu, along with acknowledgments, source notes, bibliography,...

Module 4: Poetry Across the Curriculum-Social Studies   The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep: Voices from the Donner Party Bibliography Wolf, A. (2020). The snow fell three graves deep: voices from the Donner party . Candlewick Press. ISBN: 9780763663247. Summary An historical fiction retelling of the tragedy of the Donner party in 1846 uses 8 different “voices” to give different perspectives of the story. Each voice is from a member of the Donner party, except for the narrator, who is Hunger. Readers are guided from the onset of the journey in Illinois through the times of abundance and scarcity to California, where the journey ends. Readers get to know the main participants of the journey through the narration. Most voices are written in verse, but Hunger is written in prose. The book opens with a table of contents, a map of the Donner party trail, the voices, a recreated advertisement, a prologue by hunger, the novel, and the notes on backmatter. The novel is divided into s...

 Module 4: Poetry Across the Curriculum-Science The Tree That Time Built: A celebration of nature, science, and imagination. Bibliography Hoberman, M. A., & Winston, L. (2009). The tree that time built: A celebration of nature, science, and imagination . Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. ISBN: 9781402225178 Summary A middle grade book that beautifully blends poetry with science. The first page of the book is about the audio CD, as this copy comes with a CD that has 39 minutes of track. Then follows a table of contents. An introduction is provided explaining the intertwining of the thought process of naturalists and the thought process of poets. The content then begins. This book is an anthology of poems that are divided into nine sections-each a part of science, for example our beginning, dinosaurs, insects, and the connectedness of humans and animals. At the bottom of select poems are commentary that discuss the connection of the poem to the topic at hand. The book closes with ...

Name that Seed! By Heidi Bee Roemer  

Module 3: New Poetry Book   Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds artwork by Jason Griffin Bibliography Reynolds, J. (2022). Ain’t burned all the bright ( J. Griffin, Illus.). atheneum, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. ISBN 978154439467 Summary Created during the Covid-19 pandemic, this book is an inside view of what life was like during this exceptional time. The poem spans the entirety of a moleskin notebook, with words sparsely sprinkled on each page. The pages are unnumbered, but it looks like it is a few hundred pages, some with words and some only with art. The poem is divided into three sections called Breath One, Breath Two, and Breath Three-a message in themselves of the protests that took place during 2020. At the end of the book is a brief dialogue between the author and the artist who collaborated on the project which gives insight into how they created it. A noteworthy piece of information discussed is that Reynolds gave G...

  Module 3: Verse Novel   Shout: A Poetry Memoir by Laurie Halse Anderson Bibliography Halse Anderson, L. (2019). Shout: A poetry memoir . Viking, an Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. ISBN 9780670012107 Summary Shout is a memoir in the form of a novel in verse. The dedication page sets the tone for this memoir with a simple, yet powerful “for the survivors” inscribed on the page. Next, we read an introduction and prelude which gives insight into why this memoir was written, the emotions behind it, and that it will provide Anderson’s life story. The novel is divided into three sections, followed by a postlude called “my why,” sexual violence and mental health resources for readers, and acknowledgments. The resources for readers are a considerate addition that not only gives contact information, but a brief description of each resource. Analysis Shout , like Speak , is not a read for the fainthearted as Anderson bravely and boldly describes her life during the seve...

  Module 3: Poetic Form-Found Poetry   Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself by Monica Edinger & Lesley Younge   Bibliography Edinger, M., & Younge, L. (2023). Nearer my freedom: The interesting life of Olaudah Equiano by himself . Zest Books. ISBN 9781728450988 Summary Nearer My Freedom is a novel in verse using found poems from Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography entitled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African. The book opens with a table of contents; this is especially helpful because of the amount of back matter. Following the table of contents is an “About This Book” section which gives readers a brief overview of the life of Olaudah Equiano, an explanation of how this found verse book was created using Equiano’s autobiography, and a quick note about vocabulary changes that make the text more suitable for contemporary readers.  There is a brief prologue in verse, th...