Vive La Paris

Vive La Paris is written by Esmé Raji Codell. Esmé also wrote Sahara Special which is about these same classmates. I absolutely triple enjoyed this book. I say triple because it was 1) a fun and serious read, 2) the characters learned something new, and 3) the persistence of one of the main characters to not use violence in retaliation.
This book has so much in it and yet I don't feel like it is too crowded. The author gives us inter generational relationships, the Holocaust, bullying, piano lessons, a book club (yeah!) and being black in urban Chicago. The story is told through the first person, fifth grader Paris McCray, and her take on things is very humorous but we also experience her lack of knowledge and innocence which creates an uncomfortable situation. I would like to hear from young readers how they viewed or reacted to Paris' ignorance and subsequent realization of her Jewish friend's experience.
Click here to check out Esmé's web site and blog.

The Janitor's Boy by Andrew Clements

The Janitor's Boy is Jack. The book is about Jack. Jack's dad is the janitor at his school but Jack doesn't like that and leaves gum under the desks. He gets caught and then gets detention. I love how Jack has a great sense of smell. And when Jack met Eddie in the tunnel, I thought it was cool that Eddie was living there. Eddie is a kid that ran away from his dad. His dad was in a war and now was acting weird. Eddie didn't want to live with his dad until his dad got better.

This book review was written by Thomas, grade 5.

The Surrender Tree

This book won a 2009 Newbery Honor and Pura Belpre Author Award. This book is a different book than usual for a Newbery award. This story is told through poems. In beautiful verse Margarita Engle gives readers a look into the Cuban wars for independence through the perspective of a slave healer, and a lieutenant they refer to as Lieutenant Death and José, Rosa's husband. Rosa, who was born a slave, learns the healing arts from her mother and uses plants in the jungle to heal rebel fighters while Cuba battles Spain for independence. This historical fiction novel makes me want to learn more of Cuba's history. At the end of the book there is an author's note, historical note, chronology, and list of books to check out on Cuba and Rosa, who is a real person.