Hidden Figures: Young Readers' Edition, by Margot Lee Shetterly -- Day 36

Margot Lee Shetterly’s Hidden Figures: Young Readers’ Edition explores some of the history of women in computing and events within the nascent National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but most dramatically and importantly the historic role of black women at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory’s West Campus. It tells the true story of four pioneering “computers” (humans who used calculating machines) who by their wits, will and sheer mathematical skill, made their mark on a world that excluded African Americans, and certainly women, from many roles. Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden, early on, were pleased to be hired as computers because “for ambitious young women with mathematical minds, there wasn’t a better job in the world.” Their paths were rough, however, as they faced discrimination at every turn; they knew they had to prove themselves doubly well. Against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement, these women showed extraordinary determination as they advanced in their professions and made game-changing contributions in the international space race dominating the public’s attention. Ages 8-12.

Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moons, by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London, illustrated by Thomas Locker -- Day 35

Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back: A Native American Year of Moons opens with a sketch of the patchwork of scales on Old Turtle’s back. Grandfather explains: “There are always thirteen on Old Turtle’s back and there are always thirteen moons in each year. Many people do not know this. They do not know, as we Abenaki know, that each moon has its own name and every moon has its own stories.” For readers not familiar with Native American beliefs and legends, this book presents the opportunity for a wonderful stretch of understanding, bringing a year of seasons into a beautiful, palpable, evocative fabric of the natural world. Scholar and storyteller Joseph Bruchac and poet Jonathan London explain in an accompanying note that Native American nations may use several names for the same moon “because so many things happen in the natural world at that time.” Choosing just one moon from each of thirteen tribal nations provides a moving glimpse of the ways one can observe the world. Readers are invited by the expressive poems and artist Thomas Locker’s striking landscapes to contemplate the Northern Cheyenne's “Moon of the Popping Trees” and a dozen others. The implied value of connecting with and respecting the rhythms of the natural world presents an important challenge to a society too prone to overlooking deep and enduring environmental concerns. Ages 4 up.


Related resources may be found at: TeachingBooks.net

Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women, by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Carlyn Beccia -- Day 34

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women has been loved by generation upon generation of readers. The March family’s life in New England during the Civil War is unadorned but dignified. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy are distinctive personalities, engaging in all the dreams, despair, pranks and laughter that betide most siblings. The girls are loyal to each other and to their parents, becoming essential to the welfare of the family when their father goes off to serve as a chaplain in the war. What many readers of this classic may not know is that author Louisa May Alcott took inspiration for her classic novel from her personal experience during the Civil War. Driven by her concern about the realities and import of the conflict, Alcott traveled to Washington, D.C., to serve as a nurse.  While inexperienced, she resolutely cared for sick and wounded soldiers, writing letters home that captured her observations and feelings. Alcott contracted typhoid in the hospital and had to return to her family. The reception of her first published work – Hospital Sketches, based on her war letters – encouraged her to introduce a vivid realism to her future writing. She set Little Women during the war and was clearly able to understand the hardships of those participating on the front as well as those keeping home fires burning. Kathleen Krull’s biographical picture book Louisa May’s Battle: How the Civil War Led to Little Women, illustrated by Carlyn Beccia, recounts this intriguing literary history for young readers. Ages 6 up.


Related resources may be found at: TeachingBooks.net

Wonder, by R. J. Palacio -- Day 33

The novel Wonder by author R. J. Palacio is, simply put, wonderful. It’s emotional, funny, and very, very inspiring. In fact, the book has inspired the Choose Kind movement, engaging kids and adults in thinking about the power of being kind in the world. What makes this book so affecting? It is beautifully written; the dialogue rings true and the characters are memorable. On the first page, the fifth-grade protagonist introduces himself: “My name is August, by the way. I won’t describe what I look like. Whatever you’re thinking, it’s probably worse.” Readers learn that Auggie was born with a severe facial deformity, and though he considers himself an ordinary kid in most ways, he has to deal every day with the fact of his extraordinary face. Homeschooled until now, Auggie faces the daunting prospect of entering public school in fifth grade. When we join Auggie on his journey, we experience how hard it is for his classmates to move beyond his face. As Auggie’s story unfolds, successive chapters in the voices of his sister and a few classmates bring different points of view, allowing readers themselves to grow in understanding. One chapter highlights a passage from Saint-Exupéry’s The Little Prince: “It is only with one’s heart that one can see clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” Ultimately, this is a story of community, compassion, empathy and friendship, orbiting around Auggie’s extraordinary courage. Ages 9 up. 


Related resources may be found at: TeachingBooks.net