Posts Tagged fiction

STEM Tuesday All About Conservation– Book List

Scientists have said that we are experiencing the 6th great mass extinction in the history of our planet. WOW, that’s scary, especially for kids! But, thankfully, we have many people of all backgrounds, from scientists to kids in elementary schools, focusing attention to conservation. So, this month we not only celebrate Earth Day, but books that highlight  the science of conservation and how readers can help preserve our environment.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgWhale Quest: Working Together to Save Endangered Species by Karen Romano Young
Young readers will discover how threats to whale populations are being addressed by cetologists, researchers, and citizen scientists.

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgThe Park Scientists: Gila Monsters, Geysers, and Grizzly Bears in America’s Own Backyard by Mary Kay Carson
In this Scientists in the Field title readers will meet the scientists who call the National Parks their laboratory as they study grizzly bears, cactus, and fireflies.

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Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and Zoo Scientists to the Rescue by Patricia Newman and Annie Crawley
This author/photographer duo’s titles bring conservation to life for young readers. Plastic, Ahoy! [Green Earth Book Award] investigates ocean conservation and the serious problem of plastic waste. Zoo Scientists to the Rescue introduces readers to the behind-the-scenes conservation that is going on in our nation’s zoos.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgEyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Heaedlines by Paul Fleischman
Newbery Medal author Paul Fleischman takes readers behind the environmental headlines in this title to explain the concepts that drive events and attitudes about the environment–politics, money, denial, history, psychology, activism. It’s all here in an easy-to-understand format that Fleischman hopes will spur readers to act .

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgBack from the Brink: Saving Animals From Extinction by Nancy Castaldo
In her latest title, Castaldo demonstrates through stories of seven species that we all can join together to make a difference and rescue wildlife from the brink of extinction.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgUltimate Oceanpedia: The Most Complete Ocean Resource Ever  by Christine Wilson
As the title suggests, this book is chock full of information for any budding marine biologist. Readers will travel through all parts of the ocean to understand how it affects our world.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgGeoengineering Earths Climate: Re-setting the Thermostat by Jennifer Swanson Even if we all agree that the Earth is warming, we probably won’t all agree on what might fix it. This book offers readers a solution.

 

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Bee conservation books, including The Hive Scientists: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe by Loree Griffin Burns and The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle
These two titles offer insight into pollinator conservation, which is so important to our plants and our food security.

And for good measure we’ve tossed in a couple of great eco-fiction titles too!

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgForest World by Margarita Engle
A beautiful verse novel from Poet Laureate Margarita Engle about a Cuban-American boy’s first trip to Cuba. He meets a sister he doesn’t know he has. The two children create a fake butterfly to their cryptozoologist mother will come to visit, but their message is intercepted by poachers. Engle creates a wonderful story of family and they jungle they love.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgSaving Wonder by Mary Knight
Set in the Appalachian Mountains, Saving Wonder tells the story of Curley Hines, who must speak out against Big Coal to save his mountain. Green Earth Book Award

 

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgEndangered by Eliot Schrefer
A compelling tale of a young girl who must save herself and bonobos from a violent coup. Schrefer introduces readers to a wonderful ape sanctuary  in the Congo threatened by revolutionaries.

 

As always we welcome your additional book suggestions and comments about how you are using these books with children. To date, we’ve featured books on the following themes:  zoology, science in fiction, exploration, wild and wacky science, and field work. Click on our STEM Tuesday link to read these past posts.

STEM Tuesday book lists prepared by:

Nancy Castaldo has written books about our planet for over 20 years including her 2016 title, THE STORY OF SEEDS: From Mendel’s Garden to Your Plate, and How There’s More of Less To Eat Around The World, which earned the Green Earth Book Award and other honors. Nancy’s research has taken her all over the world from the Galapagos to Russia. She enjoys sharing her adventures, research, and writing tips. She strives to inform, inspire, and educate her readers. Nancy also serves as the Regional Advisor of the Eastern NY SCBWI region. Her 2018 title is BACK FROM THE BRINK: Saving Animals from Extinction. www.nancycastaldo.com

Patricia Newman writes middle-grade nonfiction that inspires kids to seek connections between science, literacy, and the environment. The recipient of  a Sibert Honor Award for Sea Otter Heroes and the Green Earth Book Award for Plastic, Ahoy!, her books have received starred reviews, been honored as Junior Library Guild Selections, and included on Bank Street College’s Best Books lists. During author visits, she demonstrates how her writing skills give a voice to our beleaguered environment. Visit her at www.patriciamnewman.com.

Check back every Tuesday of every month:

  • Week 1:  STEM Tuesday Themed Book Lists
  • Week 2:  STEM Tuesday in the Classroom
  • Week 3:  STEM Tuesday Crafts and Resources
  • Week 4:  STEM Tuesday Author Interviews and Giveaways

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The Hard Stuff

Have you ever read a book that haunts you? Follows you around like an eager puppy, sticks to you like a cobweb? Do you find yourself thinking about the story while you work or drive or do laundry? Do you see the characters in the grocery store, on the street, at the gas station?

I love books like that, the ones that weave themselves into the fabric of my life and force me to turn the words over in my head until I’ve looked at them from every possible angle.

Wendelin Van Draanen’s latest book, Wild Bird, is my current sticky cobweb.

The main character, Wren, has experienced the trauma of moving to a new city and finding her life and family utterly unfamiliar. What happens next is a spiral brought on by bad decisions and desperation, right to rock bottom. Whisked away to eight weeks of desert survivalist camp, Wren must decide who she wants to be and how she wants to live. Her journey is both heart breaking and inspiring and I held my breath for her until the very last page.

Van Draanen takes the difficult topic of drug addiction and presents it without preaching or passing moral judgments. She simply and beautifully givers us a story of struggle.

Which got me thinking.

With empathy and fearlessness, middle grade authors regularly wade into the troubling issues kids face in today’s complex world. These authors reflect the challenges a child might be experiencing or offer a window into the struggles of classmates and friends, all while telling a compelling story. This is no small feat.

I can’t possibly cover them all but here are some of my current favorites:

 

The Seventh Wish, by Kate Messner

While this novel has some fantastical elements (wish granting fish, for example), it deals with the heroin crisis currently all too familiar in many parts of the country

 

 

 

 

Pax, by Sara Pennypacker

This poetic story, told from the perspective of a boy and his pet fox, illustrates the ravages of war to human and animal kind with a subtle and deft hand.

 

 

 

 

OCDaniel, by Wesley King

Edgar Award winning author King offers the story of an ‘eccentric thirteen-year-old social oddity’ who desperately wants to fit in. When Daniel gets caught up in solving a mystery, he illustrates just how he might learn to survive and thrive with behavior seen as outside of ‘normal’.

 

 

 

Kat Greene Comes Clean, by Melissa Roske

Kat Greene struggles to manage her mother’s worsening OCD, a job well above the pay grade of a child. This novel deftly illustrates the importance and courage of asking for help when a situation goes too far.

 

 

 

 

George, by Alex Gino

This transgender narrative, written for and about kids, shows a child’s journey from despair to courage. It is at once funny and inspiring.

 

 

 

STEM Tuesday Science in Fiction Books– In the Classroom

We’ve taken a few of the titles from last week’s book list – Science in Fiction Books – and found some fantastic ways to use them in the classroom. There are lots of links and places for teachers, students, and parents to go from here!  Have fun!

The Reinvention of Edison Thomas   by Jacqueline Houtman

Science comes easily to Eddy (Edison) Thomas. Social relationships? Not so much. On her website, Houtman shares a number of classroom activities which will prod middle-grade readers toward deeper discovery and understanding. Here are a couple.  See more cross-curricular classroom activities here. 

Design an experiment to test Fact Number 28 (p. 73): Listening to slow music can lower your heart rate, while music with a faster tempo can increase your heart rate. Who would be your subjects? How would you measure heart rate? What other factors might affect your experiment? How would you make sure that you are only measuring the effect of the music?

Find out how the special effects in your favorite science fiction or fantasy movie were done. (Many DVDs come with special feature discs that explain how the effects were achieved, or you can use the Internet.) How have special effects in movies changed in the last 10 years? 30 years? 50 years? How did they do special effects before there were computers and computer animation?

Eye of the Storm  by Kate Messner

A summer at science camp turns into a life-or-death situation for Jaden and her new friends Risha and Alex in this thrilling science-packed middle-grade novel.  Teachers can find a thorough Eye of the Storm Discussion Guide on author Kate Messner’s website as well as a link to a gallery of Eye of the Storm Resources on Pinterest. 

Is there a Placid Meadows in your state?  Use data from the national weather service to look at where tornados or super storms have occurred in your state in the past year. Map locations and decide if there is a spot that, like the fictional Placid Meadows, seems immune from such disasters. Or, is there a “tornado alley” or path that seems to attract severe weather time and time again?

Using gripping fiction like  Eye of the Storm in conjunction with nonfiction books about climate change and super storms can add a personal element to research and discussion of these topics.

The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson

Truly a story of discovery, this novel takes readers along with Angel, the 11-year-old main character, on a journey in which she’ll find out things about herself and about the universe that she never believed possible.

The National Children’s Book and Literacy Alliance (NCBLA) has created a wonderful teacher’s resource for The Same Stuff as Stars here.  (Scroll past the resources for one of Paterson’s other books, but tuck those away for another day!)

As Angel learns more about the constellations, teachers and parents can help young readers do the same with websites such as KidsAstronomy.com and NASA Kids Club.

The Great Hibernation by Tara Dairman

Every great story and every great scientific discovery have started with the same question:  “What if?” So, what if every adult in the whole town of St. Polonius fell asleep and the children were left to run the town?

There’s so much fun to be had with a story that mixes science and problem-solving with  politics and mystery.

The Investigative Process and Premise –  Scientists begin their investigative process by asking questions.  Authors create a premise before drafting a novel. They are both asking and answering the “What if” question. Take a look at the books your class had read this year. What is the “what if” question posed by the author. Now, take a look the science topics you’ve discussed this year. What questions did the scientists ask for their investigations?  Now ask your students the following questions:   Can your science topics lead to new fictional story ideas?  Can fiction stories lead you to further investigate a science topic?

What is hibernation? Using the unexpected hibernation of the adults in St. Polonius to launch a study of real hibernation. Which animals hibernate and why? Where and when do animals hibernate?  Use facts found at How Stuff Works  to chart your findings on graphs or maps.

Add to the list!  If you have a classroom activity to accompany a sciencey-fiction book you’ve read, post it in the comments below. We love sharing your ideas!

Michelle Houts is the author of ten books for young readers. Her Lucy’s Lab series is another example of science-filled fiction. Find Lucy’s Pinterest page with classroom activities and experiments here.