El Deafo by Cece Bell

From Goodreads,

"Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! In this funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful--and very awkward--hearing aid.

The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear--sometimes things she shouldn't--but also isolates her from her classmates. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend, someone who appreciates her as she is. After some trouble, she is finally able to harness the power of the Phonic Ear and become "El Deafo, Listener for All." And more importantly, declare a place for herself in the world and find the friend she's longed for."

Goodreads - El Deafo

Awards:

• Newberry Honor (2015)
• Charlotte Huck Honor Book (2015)
• Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12) (2015)
• Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award (2016)
• Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for Grades 3-6 (2016)

This book is a graphic novel that tells the childhood tell of Cece Bell.  This memoir is about how she felt different because she couldn't hear.  The reader quickly learns what happened to Cece for her to lose her hearing, and how she managed to handle being deaf.  Throughout the book Cece also struggles to make and keep friends.  This is a profoundly moving book.

A student recommended this book to me, so I took the time and money and ordered the book.  I finally sat down one weekend to read it.  Needless to say, I read this book in about 2-3 hours.  This book is written in a graphic novel format, which makes it a fairly quick read.  I loved how honest and pure this book was about life without hearing.  The book mentions that many people talk slow or talk extremely loud because they think it will help the hearing impaired person understand better, when in all reality, it is easier if you just talk normally.  This book had lots of interesting tidbits about the hearing impaired that I wasn't aware of.  But most importantly, this book painted a vivid picture of what life is like when you are hearing impaired.  Cece struggled to make and keep friends because she was hearing impaired.  I think that many kids, even those who aren't hearing impaired, can relate to this because they have been in a similar situation before.  I just felt like this book was very raw and relatable.  I expect that students will truly enjoy this book.

The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that it said the word "he**" and it mentioned teachers making questionable choices such as smoking in the teacher's lounge and leaving children unattended.  It also mentioned hearing the teacher's going to the bathroom.  I may find it inappropriate, but most students would find it comical to know what the teacher is doing at all times when they aren't in the classroom.

I give this book 5 stars.  I hope that some of my other students will pick up this book and give it a chance, especially since it is a graphic novel, and students consider graphic novels "quick reads".  

The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers

From Goodreads,

"Longing to be one of the popular girls in her new town, Kammie Summers has fallen into a well during a (fake) initiation into their club. Now Kammie’s trapped in the dark, counting the hours, waiting to be rescued. (The Girls have gone for help, haven’t they?)

As hours pass, Kammie’s real-life predicament mixes with memories of the best and worst moments of her life so far, including the awful reasons her family moved to this new town in the first place. And as she begins to feel hungry and thirsty and light-headed, Kammie starts to imagine she has company, including a French-speaking coyote and goats that just might be zombies.

Karen Rivers has created a unique narrator with an authentic, sympathetic, sharp, funny voice who will have readers laughing and crying and laugh-crying over the course of physically and emotionally suspenseful, utterly believable events."

Goodreads - The Girl in the Well is Me

This book is about a girl that is trying to fit in after her dad disrupts life for the family.  Kammie wants to fit in with "The Girls" at her new school, but they tell her she must go through initiation first.  She proceeds to try to fit in with these girls, and does everything they say, until she falls into a well.  They quickly abandon her and she has to hope and pray that someone will rescue her.

The idea of someone being stuck in a well made me think of the baby Jessica ordeal that happened back in the 80s.  It is a very unique setting for a book to take place.  However, there wasn't a whole lot that I really enjoyed about this book.  I did come across a quote that I really liked.  It says, "He says that it doesn't matter what you listen to, as long as it moves you inside, that it's not about being cool or doing what everyone else is doing, it's about what makes you feel.  He says that music is poetry that has a tune that you hear with your soul."  I love music and can name a wide variety of songs that hold some sort of significance in my life.  So many people just listen to music to be listening, when really there is a message in most songs.  This quote was probably the most exciting thing in the entire book.  I connected with it on a personal level because of my love for music.

This book has ridiculously long chapters.  They just kept going and going.  And Kammie just kept rambling and rambling in these chapters.  I understand that this was done so that we understood that time seemed to stretch on and on, and that she was lonely and was thinking of anything and everything she could think of.  I dislike long chapters because they don't hold my attention and they seem to stretch on for a lifetime.  This book put me to sleep because of the dragging on and rambling.  I'm afraid that my 4th graders will find this book dull and exhausting, much like I did.

This book just wasn't interesting enough for me, and it seemed to drag on.  I give this book 2 stars.  I wasn't a fan of the imaginary creatures and the ongoing dull thoughts that were going through Kammie's head.  I expect my students to say the same thing about it just going on and on.  I don't think they will find it very intriguing and interesting once they get into the book.  I will try to update once I get a review from a student.

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes

From Goodreads,

"From award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes, a powerful novel set fifteen years after the 9/11 attacks.

When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Deja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?

Award-winning author Jewell Parker Rhodes tells a powerful story about young people who weren't alive to witness this defining moment in history, but begin to realize how much it colors their every day."

Goodreads - Towers Falling

This book follows 5th grade student, Deja, who is trying to fit in at a new school, while trying to hide her home life.  Her father is always coughing and upset about something, and deep down it bothers Deja how her life is.  At school she makes two new friends, Ben and Sabeen, who along with the rest of the class, go on a journey to learn about the Twin Towers and what happened on 9/11.

This book would be a wonderful piece to use while teaching and discussing the Twin Towers.  The students today weren't even born when 9/11 happened, and they honestly believe that it has had no impact on their lives.  I like how this book addressed how students today feel that 9/11 doesn't affect them.  The truth is that all of us have some sort of connection back to 9/11.  For example, my connection is that the events eventually led to the deployment of soldiers, which in turn impacted my life when my Dad and brother were deployed.  I think it is important for students to learn about 9/11 and what happened.  I also liked how this book addressed the racism that now takes place because of 9/11.  I think it is important for everyone to know that first off racism is not okay, and second blanket racism is not okay.  Blaming all whites or blacks or muslims or whoever because of the actions of a few is ridiculous and not okay.  This generation has the power to turn things around and learn to love each other for who they are and not for their religion or the color of their skin or anything else.

This book had many excellent teaching points, but it was unfortunately slow.  The book seemed to carry on and the ending became more and more clear.  I felt like the ending was supposed to be an unexpected ending, but it was very much obvious from the wheezing, coughing, and PTSD that her father was experiencing.

This book has a lot of teachable material and would be excellent to use in a middle school classroom.  I give this book 3 stars.  I will update this review as soon as I get some feedback from one of my students.

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

From Goodreads,

"In the tradition of Out of My Mind, Wonder, and Mockingbird, this is an intensely moving middle grade novel about being an outsider, coping with loss, and discovering the true meaning of family. 

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life... until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief. Her journey to find a fascinatingly diverse and fully believable surrogate family is a joy and a revelation to read."

Goodreads - Counting by 7s

Awards:

• BEA Buzz Book for Middle Grade (2013)
• An E.B. White Read Aloud Honor Book (2014)
• Children's Literature Council Excellence in Middle Grade Fiction (2014)

A co-worker of mine read this book last year and she told me I had to read it.  She bragged and bragged about this book.  She told me she would let me borrow the book as soon as one of her students returned it.  Needless to say, I don't think they ever returned the book.  I got tired of waiting and just ordered the book myself.  I finally got around to reading it a few months after it arrived in my Scholastic book box.  I'm glad I read it, and I'm hoping that one of my students enjoys it as much as I did. 

This book starts out with a tragic accident where Willow's parents are both killed in a car accident.  The book then jumps back and gives us more backstory to what happened and what led everyone to the position they were in on the evening of the accident.  Willow is quickly shuffled to a new home, a new life, and a new family.  Throughout the book we observe Willow going through the motions and through small bits of depression.   Everyone in this book made changes and everyone had to adjust to a new family, new friends, a new home, and a new way of life.

There was a quote  that really stayed with me, even after I had finished the book.  It was, "All reality is a blender where hopes and dreams are mixed with fear and despair.  Only in cartoons and fairy tales and greeting cards do endings have glitter."  I love this quote because it is such a great analogy for life.  Life is full of emotions and they are always all mixed together.  Things also don't turn out like you had planned.  I myself always want things to be glittery and perfect in the end, but that isn't always possible.  I really think that Willow was trying to get across the fact that she doesn't feel just sad that she lost her parents, but she has multiple feelings from what has happened.  I think I took this quote personally because I like for everything to be in its own little tidy box.  My happiness in one box, sadness in another, and so on and so on.  This isn't reality, much like things can't always end with glitter.

I also like how there was a strong message that you can't dwell on what has happened, but instead you have to live life.  Willow could have mourned and mourned, but she didn't.  She collected herself and started a healing process to move on from what had happened.  I believe that Willow's love for plants was a metaphor in the book.  While her parents were alive she was thriving, healthy, and happy, just like her plants were.  After the accident Willow had to learn how to move on and start living life.  She wasn't able to start doing this until she planted new plants and started growing as a person.  The plant was symbolic of her growing up and moving on.  I really feel like this message ties back in with the quote I mentioned above.  Willow knew that reality was all her feelings mixed together, much like the different plant varieties she invested in.

I also enjoyed the ripple effect in this book.  One event happened that changed the course of lives for several people.  This would be a wonderful teaching point.  One person's action can impact the lives of many.  Students don't realize how their actions affect other people, and I think this would be the perfect example to look at how many different lives were changed based on one person's actions.  Along with this ripple effect, I enjoyed seeing Willow impact and help shape the people around her, like Dell or Quang-ha.  I love books that have multiple messages in them, and this was definitely one of them.

Something I wasn't a fan of in this book was the change of narrators in the middle of a chapter.  I often couldn't tell who was talking and it got confusing at times.  I think that students would have a hard time keeping up with who was talking in each section of the chapter.  It would have been better to have short choppy chapters that had one solid narrator throughout it, than to change narrators in the middle of the chapter.  I have a few students who are looking forward to reading this book, and I'm hoping they will be able to keep the chapters and narrators straight.

I enjoyed this book and I'm hoping a few of my 4th graders will enjoy it too.  I give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars.  I would have given it 5 stars, but the narrator situation bumped it down a half a star.  This would be a good read for educators and older students.  I'm not sure how much my 4th graders will enjoy it, but I'm looking forward to the discussions that can take place.