The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, John Boyne, Random House Children's Books, 2006

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas follows nine-year-old Bruno as he moves with his family from Berlin to Auschwitz.  Bruno's father is a commandant in the German army who has been assigned to be in charge of the Auschwitz concentration camp.  Bruno can see the camp from his bedroom window, but since he is so young he doesn't understand what is going on on the other side of the fence.  Bruno wants a friend to play with, so he goes exploring along the fence and finds a little boy his own age, Shmuel.  They meet on their respective sides of the fence almost every day for a year, talking and becoming close friends.  Through it all, the two never occupy the same side of the fence and Bruno never fully understands what is going on the other side.  Shmuel loses his father in the camp and Bruno offers to crawl under a small gap in the fence to help Shmuel find him.  The two wander around the camp until they are corralled into a building by some soldiers.  In the end, it's clear that Bruno and Shmuel have been taken into a gas chamber and killed.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom.  Although the main character is only nine years old, he speaks and thinks very maturely.  The content of the book is mature enough for middle-schoolers but not so mature as to be above their level of understanding.  It deals with WWII and concentration camps, but also with unlikely friendships and equality of all people.  I would use this book with eighth-graders for literature circles and to read as a class since it deals with pretty heavy issues and also has some challenging vocabulary.  I would also have the book in the classroom for individual reading for younger students.

Bud, Not Buddy

Bud, Not Buddy, Christopher Paul Curtis, Yearling, 1999.

            Bud, Not Buddy follows ten-year-old Bud on his journey to find his father. Bud’s mother dies when he is just six. After her death, Bud is thrown into an orphanage and spends much of his life in foster care. After being locked in a shed by one foster family, Bud, armed with a suitcase of flyers about his presumed father and other keepsakes, runs away in search of his family.

            This book deals with issues of family and identity. Bud spends much of his life in the dark about his father and other family members because his mother passed away before she could discuss those issues with him. Though Bud has a strong sense of his literal identity (Bud, not Buddy), he lacks-and desperately desires- a sense of belonging. Over the course of the novel, he begins to learn that family can come from unlikely places. The book also includes undertones of racism and poverty. This novel would fit well with a historical study of the Great Depression, since it takes place during that time period and there are many time-specific markers throughout the story (e.g. Hoovervilles and Pullman porters).

            I think this book is definitely teachable at the middle school level. Bud has many humorous yet insightful thoughts about the world that students will find relatable. The language is simple to understand and the book is only 236 pages long.

Kira-Kira: Seeing the Positive in Everything

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata. Athenium Books for Young Readers; New York, 2004

            Kira-Kira tells the story of a Japanese-American family’s move from the farms of Iowa to the unfamiliar swamps of Southern Georgia after the failure of their Asian grocery store in Iowa. The protagonist is a young girl named Katie who ages as the story progresses. She is the best friend of her older sister, Lynn, and much of the plot focuses on their interactions as they grow and change through maturation. The sisters face unfamiliarity and adversity in Georgia; they are looked down upon because of their ethnicity and because their parents hold lower-class jobs at local poultry plants. While the pressures of adolescence put a strain on Lynn and Katie’s relationship, the most difficult test for the family comes when Lynn is diagnosed with lymphoma, which requires expensive medical treatment. Through financial and emotional hardship associated with her sister’s illness, Katie learns the true meaning of the book’s title, which means “glittering” or “shining.” Even in the worst of times, Katie discovers how to maintain a positive outlook on life.

            The book deals with many important themes and issues. Firstly, the book has a strong racial aspect. There are constant references to Japanese culture, food, and phrases, as well as consistent reminders of the manner in which the Japanese-American characters are outsiders in Georgia. These multicultural components would be very interesting to any students who are Japanese (or possibly of other East Asian descent), but a reader of any ethnicity would find the multicultural elements understandable and enjoyable. A reader unfamiliar with Japanese culture learns quite a bit about it by reading this book. Beyond the racial dimension, the story contains universal themes relating to friendship, coming of age, sisterhood, family issues, and romance. It also contains the terminal illness of Katie’s sibling, a concept that can be difficult to stomach but that is important nonetheless.

            I would recommend this book for any age of middle school readers. There is nothing inappropriate in the book that would make me hesitate to allow students to read it, and it is fairly simple to understand, meaning that even sixth graders could grasp the concepts it presents. I think that it would work better as an individual read than a class read, but it would definitely fit nicely into any multicultural unit that contained an Asian-American component. I think that girls may enjoy this book a bit more than boys because of the heavy emphasis on the relationship between sisters, but I am male and I found this book enjoyable too. Overall, I would definitely recommend this book to be included in a middle school classroom’s library!

"Chinese Cinderella" by Adeline Yen Mah

Chinese Cinderella: The True Story of an Unwanted Daughter, Adeline Yen Mah, Random House, 1999

Chinese Cinderella is an autobiographical novel for younger readers about the childhood of Adeline Yen Mah.  She grew up in China in the 40's and 50's, a time of great political change in China, with the rise to power of Mao Zedong and the Communist Party.  Adeline's birth mother died shortly after Adeline was born, and she grew up with the guilt of having caused her mother's death.  Shortly after, her father remarried and Adeline gained a step-mother and two step-siblings.  Being the youngest of the original children, Adeline was treated miserably by her parents and often also by her siblings and step-siblings.  She found refuge in her Aunt Baba and grandparents, who lived with them, but the refuge was short-lived as Adeline gets sent away to boarding schools.  The story follows Adeline's struggle against her parents' treatment and neglect to find value in herself.

The book is written as an autobiographical account, and contains many Chinese words and headings, which add to the rich multiculturalism of the book.  It is a very sad story at times and you really feel for the young girl during her unfair mistreatment by her family.  Themes that are important to the book are the value of tradition and filial piety over doing what you think is right.  The main resolution rests in finding value in yourself even though others treat you as worthless, and fighting against adversity to succeed.  It contains no inappropriate content.

I would definitely recommend this book for the middle school level.  It is the right reading level to provide a challenge, not too hard nor too easy.  The story is very engaging and interesting.  Although it takes place in China over 50 years ago, I think readers will be able to connect with the story because it is a very empathetic book.  The time and place would offer a good point of background study for learning about China's culture and history.  I think the book would be both enjoyable and informative, a great choice for the middle school.

Losing Is Not an Option: Stories by Rich Wallace

"Like a photograph to keep in an album, or like something slippery that I'd try my best to hold on to."

Written in a very unique way, Losing is Not an Option tells nine stories from the perspective of Ron, an adolescent. Something really cool about this narrative is that it tracks Ron from junior high through his senior year of high school, which gives the reader a strong emotional attachment to him. Progressing through his adolescent years just as any of us would, Ron--a competitive runner--battles friend conflicts, family drama, his first crushes, love, and more, all the while being an athlete. 

This book portrays adolescent life very realistically and accurately, which is something many books targeted at junior high sometimes fail to do. The nine stories featured in this book are just life. There is no middle school fluff. The book demonstrates that Ron goes through hard times and great time, just as any of us do in life. When you're in high school, though, you think that something like losing a friend is the end of the world. And maybe in the moment it is, and that's why each major "event" has its own chapter in the book. After all, what's life if not a bunch of chapters?

One of the most poignant points of the book, for me, is the chapter dealing with the death of Ron's grandfather. Losing a grandparent is a devastating event for many adolescents, especially those who have close relationships with them. Not getting along with his father probably makes Ron even more nostalgic for the closeness he had with his grandfather, as it is a painful reminder of everything he lacks with his own father. Rummaging through his grandfather's old belongings at his house, Ron recognizes that we are shaped by the events that have strong emotional impacts on us. Posing a key question that encapsulates what the book aims to teach, Ron wonders, "How long can a place remain the same? Maybe forever, if you leave it alone. I'll keep the key, but I know I can't go back."

Each event/chapter in this novel affects Ron in one way or another. Ultimately, though, once portions of our lives pass, that chapter remains closed. I loved how the book mirrored that. Highly recommend.

One Crazy Summer, by Rita Williams-Garcia

Set in Oakland, California in 1968--a peak year during the civil rights movement-- the story revolves around three African American sisters, Fern, Vonetta, and Delphine. In search of the mother who abandoned them, the girls travel around the city, having both extremely difficult and extremely joyful experiences with each other along the way. Williams crafts her prose to actually be extremely poetic, but the writing style is not difficult to read whatsoever. That's what's cool about the narrative style of this book--middle schoolers might not pick up on the fact that the narration is actually very poetic, but the fact that it is poetic makes it a very fast read and overall just exquisitely written. Another aspect of this book that made it very enjoyable to read was the fact that although the time period of the story is during the Civil Rights movement, the story is not about the civil rights movement. I think it's important to demonstrate how life was during that time, without including too much information about the timeframe and historical context. It's more about the advancement of the plot and the character development. The sisters are crafted to be extremely multi-faceted and vivid, which also made the story enjoyable and fluid. This is a wonderful book, and I would certainly recommend it.

Wonder by RJ Palacio

Wonder, R.J. Palacio, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2012

August is a young boy with facial anomalies who has been home schooled his whole life, until his parents make a decision to have him attend public school. When he first starts, everyone treats him differently because of the fact that he looks different. He gets ostracized or pitied from students. But, as he lets his guards down and really allows students to see who he is, he creates friendships that help him see who he really is. This novel also takes on different narrations, from August's sister, her boyfriend, her best friend, and August's two friends. When the novel goes into that style, we get to see how August's situation effects all of those around him and how they see him.

This novel deals with issues of acceptance of those who look different than you, but they aren't really. August has many of the same interests and personality traits of those around them. Wonder helps readers see how the way they bully, mock, or ostracize students affects those that they are doing it too. It also discusses how those who have a family member of special needs often acts. How they often feel pushed out of the spotlight and need just as much love as the other child does.

As a whole, I don't think I would use this as a text to teach in my classroom. It is extremely easy to understand and doesn't deal with many difficult themes. Also, if one tried some type of literature circles, I would worry about how the illustrator portrayed August's outward appearance, as we never get a complete sense of it. The changing narrators could easily confuse students who fit the reading level of this text. It's a book that I think students would like and I would have it in my classroom though. It would be good for an independent reading project of some kind though.