Forged By Fire

Forged by Fire was written by Sharon Draper. It was published by Simon Pulse in 1998. This book was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award in 1998. This book is a realistic fiction story about a young boy named Gerald. the main theme of this story is having the courage to be who you are. The main character in this story is Gerald, and details the events in his life from the time he is three. As a three year old, Gerald is left home alone while his mother goes out to buy drugs. He starts playing with a lighter and sets the house on fire. He wakes up in the hospital, and his aunt becomes his legal guardian. From that moment on, his Aunt Queen becomes his parent. When Gerald is six, his mother gets let out of prison, has remarried, and given birth to his sister named Angel. Gerald's mother wants him to come live with her. At first he and his aunt refuse, but after his aunt dies, Gerald is forced to move in with them. Over time, Gerald's step-father begins to abuse both Gerald's mother, and his sister. Gerald tries to protect his sister. His mother refuses to believe anything is happening. In an attempt to protect his sister, Gerald sets fire to the apartment, and accidentally kills his step-father.

The Game of Silence

The Game of Silence was written by Louise Erdrich. It was published by Harper Collins in 2006. This chapter book is a historical fiction story written from the perspective of a Native American girl. It won the Scott O'Dell Award in 2006. The main theme of this story is change. The story is intended for children in middle school or high school. The main character of this story is Omakayas, or Little Frog, a young girl from the Ojibwe tribe. She enjoys her routines. The tribe builds birchbark houses in the summer, go to the ricing camps in the fall to harvest and feast, and move to their cozy cedar log cabins near the town of LaPointe before the first snows. But these pleasant routines are interrupted by the appearance of the white man asking them to leave and move west. Omakayas doesn't want to go, and she realizes that she took her quiet life for granted. This book is great for middle school and is a great way to teach about Native American culture.

The Thief Lord

The Thief Lord was written by Cornelia Funke and illustrated by Christian Birmingham. It was published by The Chicken House in May of 2010 in English. This chapter book is a fantasy novel translated from German. It was awarded the Mildred Batchhelder Award in 2003. The theme of this book is a bit muddled, but it seems like family is very important. The main characters of this story are Prosper and Bo, who are brothers. They escape from their aunt and uncle, after their mother's death, and run to Venice. There they meet up with a band of orphaned children living in an abandoned theater named the Stella. These children are led by an older boy named Scipio, who calls himself the Thief Lord. They boys get into perilous adventures with these orphans. Their aunt and uncle hire a detective named Victor to find them. Victor attempts to get them back but is tied up and captured. He escapes, but he promises not to reveal where they are to their aunt and uncle. The orphans find out about a magical wing, that once affixed to a magical merry go round can make them older or younger. The merry go round gets broken leaving an evil man a young child and Scipio an adult. This book is fascinating if a bit too broken, but it is a very culturally rich story that would be great for teaching about literature from another country.

Peace, Locomotion

Peace, Locomotion was written by Jacqueline Woodson. It was published by Putnam Juvenile in 2009. This chapter book is a realistic fiction story. The main theme of this story is dealing with change. It was written for children in middle and high school. The mian character of this story is Lonnie Collins Motion, or Locomotion, as he calls himself. His parents died during a fire in December, and afterwards he and his sister are separated by the foster care system. He deems himself the rememberer so he writes letters to his sister as a chronological story about their lives. He lives with his foster family, Miss Edna and her son Rodney. Miss Edna also has a son Jenkins, who is fighting in a war. Throughout the book Lonnie learns interesting things about himself from his teachers, friends, and family. One day Miss Edna gets the news that her son Jenkins has been hurt. He comes home, but he is missing a leg and has a lot of emotional trauma from the war. Lonnie takes it upon himself to help Jenkins through this struggle. While he helps Jenkins recover Lonnie matures and starts learning about family, and what it means to him. This book is excellent for middle school children, because it teaches the value of family, and that change is inevitable. it's how you deal with change that defines you.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

The Very Hungry Caterpillar was written  by Eric Carle and illustrated by Eric Carle. This picture flap book was published by Hamilton Hamish Children's Books in 1994. This book is an easy reader designed for children from 5 years and up. The theme of this book is teaching counting using the days of the week and identifying different foods.The main character is a caterpillar who eats his way through the book until he forms a cocoon and turns into a butterfly. This book is a great supplement to a science unit about life cycles.

Peter Rabbit: Rainbow Shapes and Colors

Peter Rabbit: Rainbow Shapes and Colors was based on the work of Beatrix Potter.  This board book was published by the Penguin Group in 2006. The theme of this book is identifying colors and shapes. The main character of this book is Peter Rabbit. He explores different colors and shapes and ties them in with different animals and plants. This is great teaching tool for Pre-K and Kindergarten. It helps with color and shape differentiation.

Five Little Honeybees

Five Little Honeybees was designed by Arlene LeFabre and illustrated by James Croft. This board book was published by Piggy Toes Press in 2009. This board book was designed for children ages 2 and up. The theme of this book is learning how to count. Each bumblebee disappears until only one bee is left. The bees are pop-ups which engage the children in the story. This book is a great way to teach number recognition.

Copycat Faces

Copycat Faces was written by Deborah Chancellor and the senior art editor was Sonia Whillock. This picture book was published by DK Publishing in 1999. This book is an easy reader for early childhood. The theme of this book is discerning between emotions and facial expressions. The main characters of this book are the children making the faces. The expressions are described in detail, telling about what each face is doing. This is a great tool for pre-K children to help them discerne the feelings of their classmates.

James and the Giant Peach

James and the Giant Peach was written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. This chapter book is a fantasy novel written for children from ages 8 and up. The book was published by Puffin and reissued in 2011. The main theme of this book is friendship can be found anywhere. The main character of this book is James Henry Trotter. He lives with his two aunts, after his parents were killed, who are incredibly horrible to him. One day he meets a man who gives him a bag of magical crystals, which he accidently spills on his aunts' withered peach tree. When that tree starts growing a single peach, it grows bigger and bigger. When James climbs into the peach it rolls away and into the sea. While inside the peach he discovers that he is sharing his new-found home with gargantuan insects. He befriends them and they become like a new family to him. This book is another really great story for students transitioning from picture books to chapter books.

The Magic Thief

The Magic Thief was written by Sarah Prineas and illustrated by Antonio Javier Caparo. The book was published by Harper Collins in 2009. This book is a fantasy novel, a chapter book written for children from 10 years old and up. Them main theme of The Magic Thief is the push/ pull of wills, and the development of trust between Nevery, the wizard, and Conn, the thief turned wizard apprentice. Conn grows up as a pickpocket in the streets of Wellmet, and one day he picks the pocket of Nevery, stealing his Locus Magicalius, a magical stone, that should have killed Conn just by touching it. Nevery takes Conn on asx a servant, but Conn's increasing skill and knowledge of magic elevates him to the wizard's apprentice. In order to become a wizard apprentice, Conn has to find a stone of his own within thirty days. While doing that he has to help Nevery find out why the magic off Wellmet is being drained. This book is a great story to capture the minds of students transitioning from picture books to chapter books.