Sky High: The True Story of Maggie Gee by Marissa Moss; Illustrated by Carl Angel

Moss, M. (2009). Sky high: The true story of Maggie Gee (C. Angel, Illustrator). Berkeley, CA: Tricycle Press.

Summary: Maggie always dreamed of flying. Like her family, she wanted to create and experience her own life stories and adventures. She is given that opportunity during the outbreak of WWII when she joins the Women Airforce Service Pilots. She has adventures flying as a Chinese American pilot.

Review: This is a beautiful biography picture book of a strong, determined young woman of color.

Diversity: Maggie Gee is Chinese American; she is confused at one point as a Japanese during her time as a pilot.

Suggestions for Teachers: Use this book when you teach biography.

Reading Level:

1. Quantitative: Lexile 740-1010L, ATOS Book Level 4.97-7.03, Flesh-Kincaid 4.51-7.72, 5.42-7.92 RMM
2. Qualitative: This text is moderately complex. It is organized chronologically although there are some flashbacks. Most of the vocabulary is familiar. Students will be able to make meaning of Maggie's story; those who are familiar with a basic understanding of WWII will be able to access this book more easily. The illustrations are beautiful and help describe Maggie's experiences.

Content Areas: Language Arts, Social Studies

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.2
Determine the main idea of a text and explain how it is supported by key details; summarize the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.6
Compare and contrast a firsthand and secondhand account of the same event or topic; describe the differences in focus and the information provided.

Relevant Links: Teaching Books

Subjects/Themes: biography, Chinese American, WWII

Awards: N/A

Series Information: N/A

Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates by Jonah Winter; Illusrated by Raúl Colón

Winter, J. (2005). Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates (R. Colón, Illustrator). New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Summary: This book is a short picture biography of Roberto Clemente from him as a boy growing up without money in Puerto Rico to coming to the United States and making a name for himself in a racist society to his tragic death on an airplane to help earthquake victims.

Review: A beautiful story biography for all of our students who aspire to be baseball players.

Diversity: Clemente is a Black Puerto Rican who endured lots of racism.

Suggestions for Teachers: Use this book to teach biography.

Reading Level:

1. Quantitative: Lexile 800L, ATOS Book Level 2.75-5.14, Flesh-Kincaid 1.98-5.34, 3.53-6.13 RMM
2. Qualitative: This text is slightly complex. It is organized chronologically. Yet, the sentences are written like poetry in stanzas. Vocabulary is largely familiar and contemporary. The colorful illustrations give life to Clemente's story. Knowledge of baseball and Roberto Clemente will help students.

Content Areas: Language Arts

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7
Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.8
Describe the logical connection between particular sentences and paragraphs in a text (e.g., comparison, cause/effect, first/second/third in a sequence).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.9
Compare and contrast the most important points and key details presented in two texts on the same topic.

Relevant Links: Teaching Books

Subjects/Themes: racism, identity, biography, perseverance, acceptance, family

Awards: N/A

Series Information: N/A

Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith by Deborah Heiligman

Heiligman, D. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwins' leap of faith. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.
Summary:  Heiligman chronicles the marriage between Charles Darwin and his wife, first cousin, Emma Woodhouse.  Through Charles' and Emma's diaries and letters, Heiligman captures the beginning of the relationship when Charles is deciding if he is the marrying kind or if his scientific lifestyle will be burdened by marriage.  Over time, we see the true companionship of Emma and Charles as their family grows, faces tragedy and as Charles is beginning to make public his unpopular ideas of evolution.  Throughout it all, Emma, a devout Christian, not only stands by her husband, but holds him up.
Review:  Heiligman's work is a well-researched text.  She captures the Darwins' marriage well and gives backstory to a major figure who has influenced the way we think about our existence.  This isn't an easy read.  Many of my 7th graders struggled with it independently.  I think it could be excerpted well or used as an instructional text in middle or high school.
Suggestions for Teachers:  This text would work well for an interdisciplinary project among high/middle school English, social studies and science teachers.  Students could study the art of research and citing textual evidence in an English class.  They could also analyze the effects of narrative non-fiction.  This text could be compared to an expository text on evolution.  A social studies teacher could have students look at the historical events during Darwin's time through the course of reading this text and anticipate what kind of societal pressure Darwin was facing when publishing his ideas.  Science and social studies classes can look at evolution through a timeline of organisms that have evolved.  They can also examine animal variation and analyze the adaptations animals have made as a result of "survival of the fittest".   Social studies classes could also argue whether or not Charles and Emma's marriage was consistent with the time period.
Reading Level:

1. Quantitative: Lexile 790L, ATOS Book Level 7.0, Readability Grade Level 7.7, Flesh-Kincaid 6.2, RMM 7.2
2. Qualitative:  The text structure is moderately complex; it is told in chronological order.  The connections between ideas are clear.  The photos included in the center of the book help give understanding to the text and help the student keep track of the many children the Darwins had.  Heiligman includes a lot of direct quotations from Emma and Charles' diaries.  Some of the language is spelled differently and the phrasing is different than we use today.  These direct quotes do feel archaic.  However, Heiligman's prose is simple and fairly easy to understand. Heiligman's purpose is moderately complex and she wants to us to understand the marriage behind the man who posed such revolutionary ideas.  There are complex knowledge demands of the reader who will have to use schema of 19th century England to help fully understand the text.  

Content Areas: English, Science, Social Studies

Common Core State Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2
Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.3
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.5
Analyze how a text uses structure to emphasize key points or advance an explanation or analysis.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.6
Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.8
Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author's claims.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.9
Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

Relevant Links: Teaching Books, Scholastic, Deborah Heiligman's website

Subject/Themes: evolution, Darwin, 19th century England, natural selection, research, marriage, relationships

Awards:

2010 National Book Award finalist

2010 Michael L. Printz Honor book (Watch a video of my Printz acceptance speech)

L.A. Times Book Prize Young Adult Literature finalist

First-ever 2010 YALSA excellence in nonfiction award

New York Times Editor’s Choice – Click here to read the entire review.

2010 CCBC Choices List

Oprah’s Book Club 2010 Kids’ Reading List: 12 and Up

Series Information: N/A