An American Plague

plagueIt’s 1793, and there’s an invisible killer roaming the streets of Philadelphia. The city’s residents are fleeing in fear. This killer has a name–yellow fever–but everything else about it is a mystery. Its cause is unknown and there is no cure. This powerful dramatic account by award-winning author Jim Murphy traces the devastating course of the epidemic. An American Plague offers a fascinating glimpse into the conditions in American cities at the time of our nation’s birth while drawing thought-provoking parallels to modern-day epidemics.

How To Read and Interpret Poetry

The Ideal companion for students of poetry. Understand what you read and write about it with confidence plus: sample essay on Robert Frost Poem. The basics of reading poetry with fully explained poems an in depth discussion of all current types of criticism followed by a poem and sample critical responses. A sample poem in drafts to illustrate the poetic process. A helpful glossary of terms. A bibliography for further reading.

Secrets of a Civil War Submarine: Solving the Mysteries of the H. L. Hunley

On February 17, 1864, the H.L. Hunley made history as the first submarine to sink a ship in battle. Soldiers on the shore waited patiently after seeing the submarine’s return signal. But after several days, the ship had failed to return. What had gone wrong? In 1995, after over 130 years of searching, the H.L. Hunley was finally found buried off the coast of South Carolina.

The Newbery And Caldecott Awards

Each year, the Newbery and Caldecott Awards are awarded by the American Library Association to the most distinguished children’s books published the previous year.With up-to-date annotations for all the medal and honor books since the inception of the awards (Newbery in 1922 and Caldecott in 1938), librarians and teachers everywhere have come to rely on this indispensable guide for quick-reference, collection and curriculum development, and readers’ advisory. Fully indexed by title and author/illustrator, the 2007 edition includes background on the awards and photos of the new medalists and their books.New to the 2007 edition is a feature essay by author, Booklinks founder, and former children’s book editor for Booklist, Barbara Elleman, “The John Newbery Medal: The First Decade”.The Newbery and Caldecott Awards 2007 will help you introduce children to oustanding literature and illustration and support your own literature selections from the criteria used for these celebrated awards.For all those professionals committed to introducing literature to young people, “The Newbery Caldecott Awards, 2007 Edition” is the indispensable guide.

Bronx Masquerade

When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class, some of his classmates clamor to read their poems aloud too. Soon they’re having weekly poetry sessions and, one by one, the eighteen students are opening up and taking on the risky challenge of self-revelation. There’s Lupe Alvarin, desperate to have a baby so she will feel loved. Raynard Patterson, hiding a secret behind his silence. Porscha Johnson, needing an outlet for her anger after her mother OD’s. Through the poetry they share and narratives in which they reveal their most intimate thoughts about themselves and one another, their words and lives show what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade.

Black Potatoes: The Story Of The Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850

In 1845, a disaster struck Ireland. Overnight, a mysterious blight attacked the potato crops, turning the potatoes black and destroying the only real food of nearly six million people. Over the next five years, the blight attacked again and again. These years are known today as the Great Irish Famine, a time when one million people died from starvation and disease and two million more fled their homeland. Black Potatoes is the compelling story of men, women, and children who defied landlords and searched empty fields for scraps of harvested vegetables and edible weeds to eat, who walked several miles each day to hard-labor jobs for meager wages and to reach soup kitchens, and who committed crimes just to be sent to jail, where they were assured of a meal. It”s the story of children and adults who suffered from starvation, disease, and the loss of family and friends, as well as those who died. Illustrated with black and white engravings, it”s also the story of the heroes among the Irish people and how they held on to hope.

Looking For Alaska (Printz Award Winner)

Miles “Pudge” Halter is abandoning his safe-okay, boring-life. Fascinated by the last words of famous people, Pudge leaves for boarding school to seek what a dying Rabelais called the “Great Perhaps.”
Pudge becomes encircled by friends whose lives are everything but safe and boring. Their nucleus is razor-sharp, sexy, and self-destructive Alaska, who has perfected the arts of pranking and evading school rules. Pudge falls impossibly in love. When tragedy strikes the close-knit group, it is only in coming face-to-face with death that Pudge discovers the value of living and loving unconditionally.
John Green’s stunning debut marks the arrival of a stand-out new voice in young adult fiction.

How I Live Now (Michael L Printz Award Book (Awards))

“Every war has turning points and every person too.”

Fifteen-year-old Daisy is sent from Manhattan to England to visit her aunt and cousins she’s never met: three boys near her age, and their little sister. Her aunt goes away on business soon after Daisy arrives. The next day bombs go off as London is attacked and occupied by an unnamed enemy.

As power fails, and systems fail, the farm becomes more isolated. Despite the war, it’s a kind of Eden, with no adults in charge and no rules, a place where Daisy’s uncanny bond with her cousins grows into something rare and extraordinary. But the war is everywhere, and Daisy and her cousins must lead each other into a world that is unknown in the scariest, most elemental way.

A riveting and astonishing story.

Black And White (Caldecott Medal Book)

blackFour stories are told simultaneously, with each double-page spread divided into quadrants. The stories do not necessarily take place at the same moment in time, but are they really one story?