Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

From Goodreads,

"For fans of Old Yeller and Shiloh, Where the Red Fern Grows is a beloved classic that captures the powerful bond between man and man’s best friend. This special edition includes new material, including a note to readers from Newbery Medal winner and Printz Honor winner Clare Vanderpool, a letter from Wilson Rawls to aspiring writers, original jacket artwork, and more.

Billy has long dreamt of owning not one, but two dogs. So when he’s finally able to save up enough money for two pups to call his own—Old Dan and Little Ann—he’s ecstatic. It’s true that times are tough, but together they’ll roam the hills of the Ozarks.

Soon Billy and his hounds become the finest hunting team in the valley. Stories of their great achievements spread throughout the region, and the combination of Old Dan’s brawn, Little Ann’s brains, and Billy’s sheer will seems unbeatable. But tragedy awaits these determined hunters—now friends—and Billy learns that hope can grow out of despair."

Goodreads - Where the Red Fern Grows

Awards and Nominations:

• North Dakota Children's Choice Award (1981)
• Massachusetts Children's Book Award (1987)

Before the coronavirus outbreak and quarantine, I was teaching my 64 5th graders.  We enjoyed our time together with many laughs and teachable moments.  We also had discussions about books.  I had finished reading The Honest Truth in one of my classes.  It was a whole emotional ordeal and I had kids crying.  We discussed it and the dog in the book and its fate.  One of my students said something along the lines of, "If you think that is sad, you should read Where the Red Fern Grows."  He asked if I had read it and I told him I hadn't.  He told me I REALLY needed to read it.  Fast forward into quarantine and I finally sat down to read it. 

Where the Red Fern Grows takes place in Oklahoma with a young boy named Billy.  Billy is dying to have a pair of coon hounds to call his own, but his family doesn't have a lot of money.  He starts saving money to buy his hounds and eventually gets them.  Together Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann chase coons and have many adventures in the woods where he lives.

SPOILER ALERTS ARE TO FOLLOW!!!!  READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

Let me just say that I was 27 years old at the time of reading this and I bawled like a baby for the last 20 pages of the book.  I knew that the dogs died at the end.  I've known the story for years but had never read the book.  As I was nearing the end I knew that the dogs were getting close to dying by some strange accident.  I sobbed as Billy had to cope with losing Old Dan.  He went out and built a box for his dog and dug the hole to bury him.  And then a few days later he had to do it all again.  I cried in the hot mess, nose running, tears streaking down your face way.  Anyone who has ever lost their favorite pet knows EXACTLY what Billy was feeling in those moments.  There were a couple lines from the book that stood out while I was reading the final pages.  It said, 

"I looked at his grave and, with tears in my eyes, I voiced these words: "You were worth it, old friend, and a thousand times over."  In my heart I knew that there in that grave lay a man's best friend."

Y'all, I have never had a quote from a book fit so perfectly in my life.  It has been two and a half years since our family's English Bulldog George passed away.  He passed peacefully in his sleep.  It wasn't a tragic death like Old Dan's and it wasn't from sorrow like Little Ann's.  But this quote fits so perfectly.  I have so many good memories with George.  There are times when it is so hard to talk about him or write about him, and other times I can share a memory and have no problems.  George is buried under an oak tree behind my parent's house.  My dad and I built a cross to mark his grave, and we have since had a stone made to put there.  For just like Billy said, I know that in that grave lay a girl's best friend. 

This book is full of ups and downs.  The end is heart-wrenching and if you don't cry you have never had a pet that you loved dearly.  I can easily see why so many of my students said this book was so good and that I would like it.  It is dated, but it is so fantastic.  I could read it again and would still sit and cry at the end.  I give this 5 stars.  This is a classic that everyone should read.  

Ban This Book by Alan Gratz

From Goodreads,

-Readers, librarians, and all those books that have drawn a challenge have a brand new hero.... Stand up and cheer, book lovers. This one's for you.- --Kathi Appelt, author of the Newbery Honor-winning The Underneath

An inspiring tale of a fourth-grader who fights back when her favorite book is banned from the school library--by starting her own illegal locker library!

It all started the day Amy Anne Ollinger tried to check out her favorite book in the whole world, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, from the school library. That's when Mrs. Jones, the librarian, told her the bad news: her favorite book was banned! All because a classmate's mom thought the book wasn't appropriate for kids to read.

Amy Anne decides to fight back by starting a secret banned books library out of her locker. Soon, she finds herself on the front line of an unexpected battle over book banning, censorship, and who has the right to decide what she and her fellow students can read.

Reminiscent of the classic novel Frindle by Andrew Clements for its inspiring message, Ban This Book is a love letter to the written word and its power to give kids a voice.

-Ban This Book is absolutely brilliant and belongs on the shelves of every library in the multiverse.---Lauren Myracle, author of the bestselling Internet Girls series, the most challenged books of 2009 and 2011

Goodreads - Ban This Book

Awards and Nominations:

• Bluestem Book Award Nominee (2020)

I was recently talking with a friend about books and what book I read as a child that made me really fall in love with reading.  I thought about my elementary years and couldn't think of one.  In sixth grade, my language arts teacher read Shipwreck which was the first book in the Island series.  I really enjoyed the book and looked forward to her reading it to us.  But I think the first book that I read by myself that really made me latch onto reading was A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks.  I think I was in seventh grade and fell in love with his love story novels.  So my question to you is, have you ever stopped to think about what book made you fall in love with reading?  What book had a big impact on your life?

Ban This Book is a moving novel about a quiet girl named Amy Anne who loves the book From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.  Everything is fine in fourth grade until a parent decides that there are books in the library that are completely inappropriate.  These books, including Amy Anne's favorite, is banned from the school library.  Quiet Amy decides that this isn't right or fair and starts the B.B.L.L. or the Banned Book Locker Library.  Soon kids are checking banned books out as they all take a stand to get their favorite books back into the library.  

I have decided that Alan Gratz is probably one of the most amazing humans that exist.  I've read Allies and Resist which are both books about WWII.  I had pegged him as a war and military genre writer, but he surprised me again with this book.  This book had the same vibe as Frindle.  Students decide to rise up against "the man" aka adults.  I use Frindle in my classroom because I can bring in word studies and Greek and Latin roots.  This book would be a wonderful read-aloud to discuss censorship.  The book is full of real books that have been challenged in schools across the country.  I think it is great for kids to have access to all books, but allow the parents to make decisions on what THEIR child reads.  I have friends that only allow their kids to read certain types of books while others let their kids read absolutely anything.  That being said, from a teacher standpoint, I have a slightly different approach to this.  I teach fifth grade and will put just about any book in my library.  However, I do censor what books we read in class or that I read aloud.  If I am reading a book that has cuss words in it then I do change them as I read.  As a teacher, it is a very fine line that we walk with censorship.  You want to make books accessible to kids, but you also don't want parents causing a big stink over a book that you had in your library.  I always tell students if the book makes them uncomfortable or it has something they don't like, to not read it. 

This book is about banned books, and I figure eventually it will get challenged.  It does talk about sex a couple times in the book, but very very briefly and not with much in the detail department.  I think there will absolutely be parents who think this book is "inappropriate" because it gives multiple books that have been challenged or banned for one reason or another.  I think it is opening the door for many kids to find other books that could possibly be their new favorite.  

Favorite quote from Ban This Book:

"I loved the weight of them, the feel of the, especially the hardback books with the clear plastic coating that crinkled and crackled as you opened the book."

I absolutely loved this quote because this was always me as a kid.  I would purposefully check out books that had the plastic coating because I liked the way it sounded as I opened the book and held it while reading.  I'm weird.  I know.  This book exceeded my expectations and I have definitely added Alan Gratz to my list of favorite authors.  I give it 5 big stars and suggest that everyone read this book.  It is just a really good book about finding your voice and empowerment. 

Slam! by Walter Dean Myers

From Goodreads

An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling paperbacks, to coincide with the publication of SUNRISE OVER FALLUJAH in hardcover.

Seventeen-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris can do it all on the basketball court. He's seen ballplayers come and go, and he knows he could be one of the lucky ones. Maybe he'll make it to the top. Or maybe he'll stumble along the way. Slam's grades aren't that hot. And when his teachers jam his troubles in his face, he blows up.

Slam never doubted himself on the court until he found himself going one-on-one with his own future, and he didn't have the ball.

Goodreads - Slam!

Awards and Nominations:

• Coretta Scott King Award for Author (1997)
• South Carolina Book Award for Young Adult Book Award (1999)

I remember being in elementary school, maybe fourth grade, and I asked my Mom if I could play basketball that winter.  The only other sport I attempted was tee-ball when I was in kindergarten.  As soon as I was to move up to machine pitch I was out of the softball game.  That being said, my loving mother kindly informed me that it was a contact sport where I would have to run and there was a possibility of being hit with a ball.  I quickly decided that I did NOT want to play basketball.  Looking back I wish my parents would have pushed me to play a sport.  I think it would have made me more of a "team player".  That being said "Slam!" is all about basketball and all about being a team player and good sport on and off the court.

Slam is just a typical kid growing up on a shady block in New York.  Drug deals go down around him and he knows people that are dealing.  He has been lucky enough to get in at an art magnet school, but it is unfortunately full of white kids.  Slam finds that he doesn't quite fit in, but hopes to if he joins the basketball team.  It seems that everyone has it out for him, and he thinks it is because he is black.  Slam must learn from one of his coaches how to be a team player and a good person on and off the court so that maybe he can get out of the hood and into a good school with a scholarship.

As I mentioned earlier I didn't play sports.  I grew up watching football because that is all my hometown would eat, sleep, or breathe.  So I gradually learned the terms and what thinks meant, even though I never played.  So it is safe to say that I am lacking in the sports interest department.  This entire book is centered around basketball and it is to the point that if you don't understand what a pick is or what a box-and-one is then you are going to be totally lost.  Every time Slam went to practice or to a game I internally groaned and tried to power through it as quickly as I could.  That being said I think there are ways the book could have had the strong basketball theme, but getting across more of a message.  I think the overall plot was weak in this book.  If someone close to Slam would have died, such as his grandma, Ice, Mtisha, or Bianca then it would have had a more emotional pull in the book.  This could have easily been pulled in with the drug dealing that was happening in his neighborhood.  I also think that there should have been more focus on Slam's education.  I think that with him being an African American character many kids reading this book will connect with him.  They will see that he was struggling with school and never really got help, and they will think that life will work out for them too if they just focus on sports and never improve their grades.  I think that Myers had a lot of opportunities to write a character that could be looked up to, but I also feel he wrote a very realistic character who just believes that everything will work out and he can ride a basketball scholarship to fame and fortune.

This book does have a few sexual references.  I'm not entirely sure that a fifth- or sixth-grader would pick up on them, but an upper middle school and high school student absolutely would.  The book is very dated as it brings up HIV/AIDs multiple times and talks about video cameras and VCRs.  In the 90s these were all big things, but in 2020 not so much. 

Overall, this wasn't my type of book.  It is packed with basketball terms and references and I was beyond lost.  I think it could have had a stronger message and plot.  I give it 1 star.  It is on the Coretta Scott King award list so I was going to have to read it sooner or later.  I think boys, especially those who play basketball, would really enjoy this book.  

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

From Goodreads, 

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

Goodreads - The Fault in Our Stars

Awards and Nominations:

• Buxtehuder Bulle (2012)
• The Inky Awards for Silver Inky (2012)
• Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fiction (2012)
• The Inky Awards Shortlist for Silver Inky (2012)
• Premio El Templo de las Mil Puertas for Mejor novela extranjera independiante (2012)
• Odyssey Award (2013)
• Georgia Peach Book Award (2013)
• Audie Award for Teens (2013)
• West Australian Young Readers' Book Award (WAYRBA) for Older Readers (2013)
• Pennsylvania Young Readers' Choice Award for Young Adults (2013)
• Milwaukee County Teen Book Award (2013)
• Indies Choice Book Award for Young Adult (2013)
• Deutscher Jugendileraturpreis for Preis der Jugendjury (2013)
• Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award (2013)
• Dioraphte Jongerenliteratuurprijs for vertaald boek en publieksprijs (2013)
• Alabama Author Award for Young Adult (2013)
• FAB Award Nominee (2014)
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award (2014)
• Soaring Eagle Book Award (2014)
• Lincoln Award (2014)
• Green Mountain Book Award (2014)
• Luisterboek Award (2015)
• Evergreen Teen Book Award (2015)
• California Young Readers Medal for Young Adult (2015)
• Louisiana Teen Readers' Choice (2015)
• Missouri Gateway Readers Award (2015)
• Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for High School (2015)
• Goodreads Nominee for Best of the Best (2018)

I remember the first time I read this book.  I tore through it in less than 24 hours.  I also remember stopping at a very specific point in the book and crying because I knew what was going to happen.  I saw everything that was happening and emotionally broke down.  This was the second time I've read this book.  And while a lot of emotion was still there, and I read it very quickly, I didn't cry.  Upon finishing the book I also rewatched the movie. 

Hazel is just your average teenager, except she has stage IV cancer.  Her lungs don't work like they should, but her parents want her to have a normal life and practically force her to go to support group.  She begrudgingly goes and meets a boy named Augustus Waters.  Augustus, a survivor, lost his leg due to his battle with cancer.  Hazel and Augustus soon become inseparable and bond over Hazel's love of a book that ends in the middle of a sentence.  Augustus decides to use his wish to fly them both to Amsterdam to meet the author and get their questions answered.  On this trip, one of them learns that the other is extremely sick.  

I absolutely loved rereading this book and I am now questioning why I've never put it in my top 5 books.  I'm a huge fan of illness books.  Should that be cancer, a rare disease, or mental illness, I'm a fan of it.  I loved that Hazel talked about all the medical of it, but spoke as a kid explaining it not as a doctor.  I feel like so many illness books talk in medical jargon that takes some exploring and researching to determine what it means.  Hazel told the story from her point of view and she really "dumbed it down" for us.  I also feel like there was so much emotion in Hazel and she had a wonderful character arc from being a pent up frustrated teenager to having fallen in love with Augustus.  His character was a constant throughout the book and he never really wavered from that.  There was one moment where he broke down emotionally, but other than that he kept the same humor and life throughout the book.  I just love that both of these characters were able to find each other and fall in love despite all that they were facing.  

While I had no complaints about the book itself, I did have a complaint about the movie.  We all know that Hazel is on oxygen and struggles to breathe at times.  When she goes up or down stairs her lungs have to work harder to keep up.  In the movie, there is a scene where she wakes up in the middle of the night unable to breathe and screaming for her parents.  Out her door we see a light come on as her parents run down a set of stairs and up a set of stairs to reach her.  Why do they live in a house with so many stairs if she struggles to breathe while climbing them!?  I feel like that is the worst thing you could do to someone on oxygen.  I understand if their fictional family had fictional memories, but they seriously needed a one-story house instead of one with a labyrinth of stairs.  

I have to officially say that this book goes into my top 5.  It is a fast read for me because it is so good, even though I know what is going to happen.  It has a wonderful story and they fall in love which makes everything more "magical".  I give this 5 stars.  I definitely recommend reading the book before watching the movie.