Margin Notes

READ-ALIKE BOOK TALK: REFUGEE BY ALAN GRATZ

Nov
12

As teachers of reading, we know the importance and the power of book talks to increase the volume of our students’ reading. One type of book talk you may want to try is the Read-Alike Book Talk, where you take a book that has been flying off the shelf of your classroom library and share titles that have similar themes or characters or are of a similar genre. The following read-alikes for Refugee by Alan Gratz are a combination of titles written in verse and letter forms, graphic novels, pictures books, and biographies.

Refugee

Refugee by Alan Gratz has been one of the most popular books in classrooms over the past few years. It is a historical (and present day) fiction novel that teaches us about what it was/is like to flee a country, seek refuge, and begin again. The novel tells three stories in three different time periods, all told through the eyes of three children. These children, Josef from Nazi Germany (1938), Isabel from Cuba (1994), and Mahmoud from Syria (2015) remind us to always, always have compassion and kindness for those around us, to not be ignorant, and to stand for what is right.

The Night Diary.jpgThe Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani tells Nisha’s story in India in 1947 when her country separated into India and Pakistan, creating division and violence between Hindus and Muslims as they fled their homes to cross the borders to safety. Nisha is half-Muslim and half-Hindu, leaving her feeling even more confused about where she belongs. When Nisha’s family decides to leave their home and become refugees, Nisha writes about her journey in letters to her mom, who died when she was born.

 

Other Words for Home.jpgOther Words for Home by Jasmine Warga follows Jude and her pregnant mother as they are forced to flee Syria and move to America, leaving her brother and father behind. As Jude adjusts to a new culture while also longing for her home, she realizes, “I am learning how to be sad and happy at the same time.” She is so wise and brave as she begins to find her way to feeling a sense of belonging while also feeling deep fear about her family’s safety back in Syria.

 

Inside Out and Back Again.jpgInside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai is a historical fiction novel in verse that tells 10-year-old Hà’s story as she, along with her mom and brothers, are forced to leave their home in Saigon in 1975 because of the Vietnam War. After traveling by ship and spending time in a refugee camp, her family moves to Alabama to establish a new home. Hà dreams of what her new home will be like, but when she is met with racism, bullying, and constant worry about her father, adjusting to life in America is more difficult than she had hoped.

 

Grenade.jpgGrenade by Alan Gratz is a historical fiction novel that takes place on the island of Okinawa during World War II. When the Americans arrive on Okinawa to fight the Japanese, a group of middle school boys, including Hideki Kaneshiro, are recruited and given two grenades: one to kill an American soldier and one to kill themselves. Ray is an American Marine whose first mission is on Okinawa. When Hideki and Ray meet in the middle of a battle, they have some difficult decisions to make.

 

Sea Prayer.jpgSea Prayer [by Khaled Hosseini] was inspired by the story of Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach safety in Europe in 2015. In the year after Alan’s death, 4,176 others died or went missing attempting that same journey.” This picture book is a letter a father writes to his young son about their home before the war and during their journey to escape the terror that came. He writes of his memories, his fears, his hopes, his promises, his love.

 

White Bird.jpgWhite Bird by R.J. Palacio is a graphic novel about one young Jewish girl being separated from her parents and hidden away by another family during The Holocaust during WWII. This beautiful story reminds readers of the powerful and miraculous nature of kindness and courage.

 

 

Anne Frank.jpgAnne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation beautifully illustrates Anne Frank’s voice and spirit from her diary, which details her experiences and feelings while being hidden away in a secret annex in her father’s business building for two years during The Holocaust.

 

 

 

The Unwanted.jpg

The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees, a non-fiction graphic novel written and illustrated by Don Brown, details facts, timelines, and world politics while also telling of the horrors, the losses, the pain and the hope many Syrian refugees have experiences and continue to experience as they have fled a war zone and tried to find new homes.

 

 

Escape from Syria.jpgEscape from Syria by Samya Kullab, Jackie Roche, and Mike Freiheit is a graphic novel that humanizes the current events in Syria and the realities Syrian refugees are facing today in camps and during resettlement in their new homes. The story is told by Amina as her family is forced to flee Aleppo, seek refuge in Lebanon, and cross the ocean to find a new home in the West.

 

Let me tell you my story.jpgLet Me Tell You My Story: Refugee Stories of Hope, Courage, and Humanity is the compilation of photos and stories collected by a group of photographers, filmmakers, painters, and writers over the course of two years as they documented the flood of refugees coming from the Middle East and Africa to find a new home in the West. This collection is beautiful, haunting, and authentic.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION: BEST FRIENDS BY SHANNON HALE AND LEUYEN PHAM

Oct
22

Best FriendsBest Friends, a graphic novel by Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham, tells Shannon’s story of transitioning from being a “kid” to being a “tween” as she enters middle school: balancing wanting to play and pretend with wanting to be accepted and cool.

Shannon’s story reflects her experiences with anxiety that are unpredictable and often unexplainable. As she grows older and becomes more aware of the world around her, and the possible tragedies it could offer, her anxiety becomes more difficult to understand and control. Thinking back to my own childhood, I could personally relate to her fears of her parents dying and her house burning down, while also battling the very real feelings of fear and irrational coping mechanisms: “Maybe she’s [her mom] okay because I worried. Maybe I need to keep worrying so that she stays safe” (p. 155). I think many students will be able to relate to these feelings too.

Shannon authentically tells her story of growing up and heading into middle school with her experiences of being left out, trying to fit in, what values she compromises for popularity, being preyed on by an older boy, not being ready to “like boys”, and being worried about what it means to say, “No.” One of her childhood coping mechanisms illustrated in this graphic novel is her use of visual art and storytelling as therapy and a way to process her experiences. This allows her the opportunity to try out ways of responding to situations, to fail without repercussions, and possible ways to find her inner truth and power.

As a teacher, Shannon’s story also reminds me of the power of our words. When Shannon tells her teacher that she wants to be a writer when she grows up, her teacher responds, “The evidence would suggest that you already are a writer” (p. 215). This simple, and maybe even unrecognized, encouragement empowers Shannon to stay true to who she is in all parts of her life.

In the author’s notes at the end of the book, Shannon tells her readers that she hopes we have room to make mistakes. This reminds me that whether we are going down a new, unfamiliar road, taking a risk, meeting new people, moving to a new city, or taking on an unexpected surprise, these experiences may be full of fear, but they are also full of possibility and hope.

FAVOURITE YA NOVELS WRITTEN IN FREE VERSE

Oct
03

One trend we have noticed, and also fallen in love with, over the last few years are novels written in free verse. Students are devouring them, and we are too! This is what Pernille Ripp has to say about novels in free verse in her classroom:

“These brilliant books with their impactful, but shorter, text is one of the biggest tools I have in getting students reconnected with reading.  There are a few reasons for this; students who are building up stamina in their reading concentration can stay focused with a faster-paced story, students where “regular” books intimidate them do not feel as overwhelmed due to less text on the page, and finally; the stories are enchanting.”

We are often asked for a list of our favourite novels in verse, so we decided to compile them here for you! As always, you know your readers best, so reading brief summaries of each title will guide you to know which titles to recommend to your readers.

Happy Reading!

TRY THIS TOMORROW: BOOK GRAPHICS

Sep
12

As you are getting to know your students as readers and establishing a reading community within your classrooms, check out Jarrett Lerner’s artwork Kids Need Books of ALL Kinds (https://jarrettlerner.com/2018/12/11/kids-need-books-of-all-kinds/) and Grant Snider’s comic Books Are… (http://www.incidentalcomics.com/2018/06/books-are.html). These two graphics are sure to ignite many conversations around books, what they offer us, and why we need so many different kinds of them!

Here are three possibilities of how to use these in your classroom:

  1. Students could respond to the images in their Writer’s Notebooks and then share their ideas to grow their thinking.
  2. You could share how some of the different books you have read match up with some of the artwork and ask students to think about the same. This could be followed up with the questions:
    1. What did I learn about myself as a reader today?
    2. What did we learn about each other as readers?
  3. You could use Kelly Gallagher’s Say-Mean-Matter Questions to guide students through their written or spoken conversations about the texts:
    1. What does the text say?
    2. What does the text mean?
    3. Why does the text matter?

If you use these in your classroom or have other ideas on how to share them with students, please comment below or tag us on social media!