Book Review - Keeper of the Lost Cities

Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The protagonist of this story is twelve-year-old Sophie Foster, a telepathic elf who being raised by a human family. She is an outcast in the human world, but finds belonging in the elven world when she is finally located by an elven family that is seeking her whereabouts. This novel combines fantasy and adventure, reminiscent of the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson novels. I found myself crying (of course!) at some moments as well as cheering on the heroine as she makes discoveries about who she really is.

Although this novel is being marketed toward 8-12 year olds, I think that it has an appeal for the teen reader. In fact, I often found myself thinking that Sophie Foster, although only twelve, had characteristics that were atypically mature for a tween.

I would definitely recommend it to my middle school readers looking for an engaging story with themes of loyalty, bravery, and friendship. Oh, and another plus? It is the first book in a series! I love that!

Across Five Aprils - English 8

Combining a love for the Lord, literature, and history is a great way to get students to engage in the study of literature. Add grammar and writing and it is even better!

In my 8th grade English class, we have been studying the novel Across Five Aprils  by Irene Hunt. I have been using this novel to teach not just the plot, character, setting, and theme of the novel, but also to teach about the Civil War, the presidency of Lincoln, the ideas of amnesty and emancipation, writing, researching, vocabulary, sentence structure.... The list goes on! Teaching in a Christian school adds umbrella of teaching everything from a Biblical worldview, seeing everything from the lens of the Word.

As we bring the study of this novel to a close, my students will be designing and creating a project display board - as they take on the role of Literary Curator to analyze and demonstrate their understanding of the novel and its historical context, incorporating, of course, a Biblical worldview. I can't wait to see what they create!

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - English 7

For the past six weeks, we have been studying the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. My students have been tackling such difficult topics as segregation, Jim Crow Laws, and racism is 1930's Mississippi.

Using pictures to introduce this unit, we looked at photographs from the 1930s - found online at the Library of Congress website! This was a great resource for photographs to introduce this historical time period in a concrete and visual way. Students then studied these photographs, sketching them and writing what they observed about history from them.

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/fsa2000001258/PP/

During these several weeks that we have been studying this novel, my students have learned so much about history through literature. I love the connections that they are making between literature and their own lives. We have also been making connections between the literature and our Biblical worldview. One of the many ways that we have done this is through the study of Biblical passages and the application of those passages to the choices that the characters are making. For example, after the Logan children dig a ditch to waylay the white children's school bus, we discussed the idea of revenge as instructed through the Bible. We have further made connections between the friendship of Stacey Logan and T.J. Avery and what the Bible instructs us on friendship.

Combining a love of the Lord, literature, and history is one of my favorite ways to get my students to engage in their study of literature.