Reviews (1)

Kudos to Max.
I love this book ! As a dog lover of mixed breeds for 30 years and a purveyor of fresh children's books too,this book is perfect !The story is charming and the illustrations are whimsical ! Children will apply this story to "bi-peds" (people) too. It is obvious that Joy loves dogs and understands them.Thanks Joy ! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Animals - Dogs    2. Children's Baby - Fiction - General    3. Children's Books/Ages 4-8 Fiction    4. Children: Kindergarten    5. Dogs    6. Fiction    7. Humorous stories    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Preschool Picture Story Books    10. Social Issues - Friendship    11. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    12. Toleration    13. Juvenile Fiction / Animals / Dogs   

Editorial Review

"Monster" is what the prosecutor called 16-year-old Steve Harmon for his supposed role in the fatal shooting of a convenience-store owner. But was Steve really the lookout who gave the "all clear" to the murderer, or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? In this innovative novel by Walter Dean Myers, the reader becomes both juror and witness during the trial of Steve's life. To calm his nerves as he sits in the courtroom, aspiring filmmaker Steve chronicles the proceedings in movie script format.Interspersed throughout his screenplay are journal writings that provide insight into Steve's life before the murder and his feelings about being held in prison during the trial. "They take away your shoelaces and your belt so you can't kill yourself no matter how bad it is. I guess making you live is part of the punishment."Read more

Reviews (606)

Monster is scary, not in a great way
I found that the story was too fast paced for something as dramatic as a 16 year old boy on trial for murder.The settings changed too quickly at the beginning, and I found the plot kind of confusing.The plot though, was believable and realistic, and there was very little profanity, if any.The language was not coated with heavy accents, the closest it got was gangsta talk. The point of view was from Steve Harmon, and there was a fair share of the plot jumping around. The characters were very real, and you could really picture it in your mind.Sadly, I could not say this for much of this book.
Is He Truly A Monster?
I'm not going to say much about the text in the book except that it was well written and well thought out. The format of the book was nicely put, because it is easy to read when the words aren't crammed together on a small page, and I liked how it was written in a script format.
Amazon book review by Karen
Monster by Walter Dean Myers was an excellent book.This book was about Steve Harmon.He was accused of being part of a robbery during which Mr. Nesbit was murdered.The book really puts the reader inside Steve's mind and emotions; the reader really hopes that Steve gets off trial and is let go without any charges.
Read more

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Fiction    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. Law & Crime    7. People & Places - United States - African-American    8. Prisons    9. Self-perception    10. Social Issues - General    11. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    12. Social Issues - Violence    13. Social Situations - Prejudice & Racism    14. Social Situations - Violence    15. Trials (Murder)    16. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Prejudice & Racism    17. Reading Group Guide   

Reviews (9)

Great Gift
I recently gave this book as a shower gift for my niece who adopted a 2 1/2 year old little girl.Everyone at the shower read the entire book and just loved it!Michelle says Austina always brings this book to her during reading time.I will remember this book for future adoptive families.

so affirming to see loving familes who don't look alike
I just received this book as a gift. It's wonderful, filled with sweet messages affirming the value of loving, caring, giving, listening and sharing, and illustrations showing children and care givers who don't look alike sharing day-to-day life moments. I didn't realize how much I miss seeing images of diverse families in books until I read this one. The large photos are appealing even to young children and the text is accessible to a large age range of children with messages a parent won't tire of reading. Differences between family members are not denied but the commonality of the human spirit is honored. This book is appropriate not only for adoptive families (like my own) but step-families, bi-cultural or multicultural families and families where biologically related children don't resemble one or either of their parents. It's a great book for school reading projects too as it promotes positive messages and is inclusive of children who don't look like their caregivers.
Beautifully Written Story
I find this book to be very inspiring.I wish I had A book like this when I was a child.As an adult adoptee, I feel this book touches upon the most important connections we need to make with our children.Thank you, Carrie! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Babies & Toddlers    2. Family - Adoption    3. Juvenile Fiction    4. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    5. Social Issues - Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance   

Reviews (5)

Richie's Picks: AMERICAN BORN CHINESE
A surprising interweaving of Chinese myth and legend, prejudice and self-acceptance, and the coming of age of a first generation American-born boy of Chinese descent, make AMERICAN BORN CHINESE an exceptionally entertaining and thought-provoking graphic novel.
National Book Award Nominee
This book was just nominated for the National Book Award.It is the first graphic novel EVER to be nominated.This is a testimony to Yang's gifts as an artist and especially as a storyteller.
Excellent Graphic Novel!
Three seemingly unconnected stories eventually intertwine in this masterful work about the loss and renewal of identity.Gene Yang deals with the issues of racism and identity with a graceful, seemingly effortless touch that results in an affirming, moving piece of art.Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Chinese Americans    4. Comics & Graphic Novels - General    5. Fiction    6. General    7. Identity    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. People & Places - United States - Asian American    10. Schools    11. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    12. Comics & Graphic Novels / Graphic Novels / General   

Reviews (4)

A Fight for Freedom
This book has a very powerful message to it.This made me think about all the things that I take for granted.With Amari beingfifteen, I can relate to her.Usually you can not find books like this now a days. This book makes me think more about how lucky I am and how there are kids in the world that aren't as fortunate as I am.Sharon knows how to grab the readers attention. My friends and I are not big readers and we thought this book was good, and it is one of the very few books that we can stand to read.Drapers knows how to catch your wondering eye because whenIsaw this book on the amazon website I wanted to read it and I was not really interested in reading any other books.
VEEEEEEEEEEERY Good!
Copper Sun was an exceptional book.I completely fell in love with it.The characters were well developed, the plot wasn't very predictable, and it gave me a sense of awe and wonder when I finished it. The book is under the genre of historical fiction and is about a 15 year old slave girl who was captured and sold into slavery from her native home in Africa.However, this isn't your typical fly-away-to-freedom slavery book.Amari, the maincharacter, was raped and brutally beaten before she escaped to freedom with her white friend and a young boy.Sharon Draper offers two perspectives-that of Amari and of her white comrad Polly.Ironically instead of escaping to the North, they escape to the South where a non-discriminatory fort exists.There all are free and equal which is extremely uncommon during the year 1738.I won't tell anymore-you have to read it for yourself!

Sharon Draper's Newest Won't Disappoint
I bought this book because
Read more

Subjects:  1. African Americans    2. Children's Books - Young Adult    3. Children's Books - Young Adult Fiction    4. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    5. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    6. Fiction    7. General    8. Historical - United States - Colonial    9. Historical Fiction (Young Adult)    10. History    11. Indentured servants    12. Juvenile Fiction    13. People & Places - General    14. People & Places - United States - Asian American    15. Slavery    16. Social Issues - Friendship    17. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    18. South Carolina    19. Juvenile Fiction / People & Places / General   

Editorial Review

The year is 1963, and self-important Byron Watson is the bane of hisyounger brother Kenny's existence. Constantly in trouble for one thing oranother, from straightening his hair into a "conk" to lighting fires to freezinghis lips to the mirror of the new family car, Byron finally pushes his familytoo far. Before this "official juvenile delinquent" can cut school or stealchange one more time, Momma and Dad finally make good on their threat to sendhim to the deep south to spend the summer with his tiny, strict grandmother.Soon the whole family is packed up, ready to make the drive from Flint,Michigan, straight into one of the most chilling moments in America's history:the burning of the Sixteenth Avenue Baptist Church with four little girlsinside.Read more

Reviews (557)

Ali
The Watsons Go To Birmingham was a story about real life things. In the beginning, Byron and Kenny are outside scraping ice off of the Brown Bomber a.k.a. the Watsons car. Then Kenny hears a noise coming from the other side of the car where Byron is. He doesn't go over there because he thinks Byron will trick him, because a few days before Byron and Buphead (Byron's best friend) played a trick on Kenny and hit him in the face with snowballs. When Kenny goes to the other side finally he sees Byron's lips stuck to the mirror. He then ran in to get the family. Daniel (their dad) started laughing because he had never seen anything like that. Daniel and Wilona (their mom) were trying to think of a way to get Byron's lips off of the mirror. Daniel decided to get water so he could pore it on Byron's lips but it just made it. Wilona tells the family to go inside then. When they were all inside Wilona pulled on Byron's lips until they came off. When Kenny was in school he got picked on by Larry Dunn because he had a lazy eye and he was a good reader. One day a new kid named Rufus came to school at Clark. Rufus started getting picked on more than Kenny because Rufus talked different (he had lived in Arkansas) and Rufus didn't have a lot of clothes. Kenny and Rufus became good friends but one day somebody said something about Rufus and Kenny laughed. Since Kenny laughed at him Rufus stopped hanging out with Kenny. They ended up fixing the problem and became friends again. When winter came, Kenny shared his gloves with Rufus for awhile but then decided to act like he had lost them so his mom gave him his other pair of leather gloves and Rufus got the old pair. Then one day, Kenny's gloves went missing and Larry Dunn had gotten a pair of leather gloves instead of cheap plastic ones. Kenny found out that Larry had stolen his gloves so Byron and Buphead beat Larry up. Kenny then got his gloves back. When Byron kept lighting matches in the house Wilona got mad at him and said if he would do it one more time she would do something to him. Then one day, Kenny saw that Byron went into the bathroom and locked the door so he went and looked through the key hole. He saw Byron in there making Kleenex's into parachutes and then lighting matches and burning the parachutes to where they would fall into the toilet. When Wilona came upstairs she smelled smoke and saw Kenny looking through the keyhole so she got Byron out of there and took him downstairs. Then Joey started crying because Mama had gotten out matches and Vaseline. She knew that Mama was going to burn some part of Byron. Joey then got scared and kept getting in front of Byron so Mama couldn't burn him. When she got Joey away she lit a match but Joey ran over and blew out every match that Mama lit. So Byron never got burned. Since their dad only paid for groceries at one time Byron and Kenny thought they were on welfare but then found out they weren't. A few days later Kenny found Byron in a tree behind the grocery store with a full bag and an empty bag of Swedish cream cookies. When Kenny realized what Byron had done it was too late because he couldn't tell on him since he had eaten some of the cookies. A few days later, Byron came home with his hair straightened and permanent red gunk in his hair. Wilona was in shock because she and Daniel had told Byron not to put that stuff in his hair. Wilona knew he had gotten the stuff from Buphead because he was the only other kid with hair like that. Daniel then shaved all Byron's hair off! A few weeks later the Watsons started packing for Birmingham. They were going to Alabama to see Wilona's family. They decided that Byron would stay with Grandma Sands for the whole summer and maybe the school year. The family drove straight through all the way to Alabama. While they were down south the kids went swimming and Kenny almost got pulled under but Byron saved him. Joey went to Sunday school with some friends she had made. Then there was a loud boom. A bomb had gone off at the church. Joey ended up being safe because she had followed Kenny home. Wilona and Daniel decided not to leave Byron in Alabama. When they went home Kenny decided to give his dinosaurs to Rufus and Cody (Rufus's little brother). The Watsons lived there lives like they had before they went to Birmingham. The bombs going off at church made them rethink about there lives and feel good that they had everyone still in their family. I thought that this book was really a good book and I would reccomend it to anyone.

The greatest book in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The book Watsons go to Birmingham 1963 is the coolest book ever.I don`t know anyone who dosen`t like this book.I love this book,it`s soooo funny,except the true part that was sooo sad.My favorite charactor is Byron he`s very funny.I love the part when Byron got his lips stuck on the window of the brown bomber.And dad was making fun of him.When I get a chance I`ll buy the book becauce it is awesome.

The greatest book in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The book Watsons go to Birmingham 1963 is the coolest book ever.I don`t know anyone who dosen`t like this book.I love this book,it`s soooo funny,except the true part that was sooo sad.My favorite charactor is Byron he`s very funny.I love the part when Byron got his lips stuck on the window of the brown bomber.And dad was making fun of him.When I get a chance I`ll buy the book becauce it is awesome. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Afro-Americans    2. Children's 9-12 - Family    3. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    4. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    5. Family - General    6. Family - Multigenerational    7. Family life    8. Fiction    9. Juvenile Fiction    10. People & Places - United States - African-American    11. Prejudices    12. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    13. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / African American   

Editorial Review

In all Mildred D. Taylor's unforgettable novels she recounts "not onlythe joy of growing up in a large and supportive family, but my own feelings ofbeing faced with segregation and bigotry." Her Newbery Medal-winning Read more

Reviews (432)

Confusion
I never quite understood why everyone seemed to love this book so much. I read it, along with my entire grade, in seventh grade, and found the book to be annoying. I was especially annoyed by flawed characters, and a not very impressive writing style.
Very disappointed...
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor was a very disappointing book. There is no particular story; the book starts rising action here and there and down again here and there. There is no specific climax. Basically, it's like there's no story. What I also hated about this book was the ending and the fact that there was no moral in the story. The book was full of cliches from every chaper by chaper. Each chapter was too long( this is not a dumb complaint). Instead of just starting a new chapter, Taylor just skips a line to basically start a new chapter. I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense to you.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Searching for a book to read that Beautifully Infiltrates...Gracefully Relates...Lovingly Displays...Proudly Annunciates...then Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry is the answer. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Afro-Americans    2. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Classics    5. Fiction    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Race relations    8. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    9. Southern States    10. Juvenile Fiction / People & Places / United States   

Editorial Review

This award-winning novel remains a powerful classic of prejudice,love,and survival. In 1942, 11-year-old Phillip Enright lives with his parents on the Dutch island of Curaçao, but when the war moves too close forcomfort, his mother decides to travel with him back to the safety of Virginia. When their boat is torpedoed, however, Phillip is blinded and finds himself adrift on a life raft with an old black man and a cat. They eventually land on a deserted island.Phillip is suspicious of "the large Negro," but soon grows to trust--and ultimately love--the patient and generous Timothy. Dedicated to "Dr. King's Dream," Read more

Reviews (521)

Solid, well-done fiction -a teacher's review
'The Cay' is a wonderful little bit of fiction. It has action, is well-written and contains such themes as overcoming racism, sacrifice and resourcefulness. Its quick-moving plot and easy to read style should make it accessible to almost anyone.
Why this book inspired me
This book inspired me by perservering.The young boy on the island never gave up after he became blind.For example, he asked the elderly man to show him how to survive on the island.This helped me in school because even though something might happen to me I shouldn't give up.

An Excellent Book
The Cay, by Theodore Taylor is an extremely exciting book, which could be read by ages 10 and up because it does not have very hard vocabulary, and it is easy to understand. This book takes place on the island of Curacao in the Caribbean, during World War Two. Philip, who is a preteen lives on Curacao is from Virginia, and lives on the island with his mother, and father. German submarines have surrounded the island and were destroying boats that were trying to get off the island. When Philips mother gets scared that the Germans will attack the island, she wants to get back to the United States with Philip. When their boat leaves, the Germans do not torpedo them...yet. Philip ends up on a raft with an old colored deckhand from the boat. He is old, and is named Timothy, who is from the U.S. Virgin Islands. They keep drifting for around a week and then end up on a, small remote island that is in an area called the "Devils Mouth." Timothy has excellent survival skills. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone who likes, suspenseful exciting books. I think both boys and girls would like this book. Overall a great book that many people would like. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Action & Adventure - General    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    4. Fiction    5. Friendship    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Prejudices    8. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    9. Social Issues - Special Needs    10. Survival    11. Juvenile Fiction / People & Places / Other   

Editorial Review

Wanda Petronski lives way up in shabby Boggins Heights, and she doesn't have any friends. Every day she wears a faded blue dress, which wouldn't be too much of a problem if she didn't tell her schoolmates that she had a hundred dresses at home--all silk, all colors, and velvet, too. This lie--albeit understandable in light of her dress-obsessed circle--precipitates peals of laughter from her peers, and she never hears the end of it. One day, after Wanda has been absent from school for a few days, the teacher receives a note from Wanda's father, a Polish immigrant: "Dear teacher: My Wanda will not come to your school any more. Jake also.Now we move away to big city. No more holler Polack. No more ask why funny name. Plenty of funny names in the big city. Yours truly, Jan Petronski." Read more

Reviews (79)

A good read for any young girl
I read this when I was really young and it had a serious impact on my life and the way I treated others. This is a short book meant for kids who are under 12 years old but it's equally powerful even for adults and carries a strong message. I have met a lot of catty, shallow women and girls in my life (no names here) who should read this book. It has a very good lesson about kindness, not judging others and standing up for what is right. It's a sad story with a bittersweet ending. Though I wished the ending had more closure, the message is still strong and I would not change the story. I think kids will learn a great deal from this story, things like: Don't judge others on how they look or what they have. Be kind to people because you never know when they will be gone. Don't say anything to anyone that you may regret later. Above all, never underestemate people's talent or brains. This story is old but timeless!

THE HUNDRED DRESSES: What is it about?
First off, I want to start with saying that this book is not about lying but the hazards of peer pressure and teasing. Wanda Pertoniski was different and because of this she suffered the indignities of being teased and ostracized from any real normal life. She was an easy target for the more popular and socially acceptable girls of her school. Wanda was quite and reserved, never really stood up for herself. One day she announced to all that heard that she had a hundred of the most beautiful dresses in her closet at home. The reality of it was that while she did have dresses in her closet they were not in actuality real. They were pictures that she had created. To take this as a lie is not properly correct.
The Hundred Dresses
The 100 Dresses
Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Literature - Classics / Contemporary    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 3-4    4. Classics    5. Estes, Eleanor    6. Fiction    7. Friendship    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Polish Americans    10. Science & Technology    11. Social Issues - Friendship    12. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    13. Social Situations - Friendship    14. Social Situations - Prejudice & Racism    15. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Prejudice & Racism   

Reviews (1)

INCANTATION
The burning of Jewish books in the town square is the first portent that life for sixteen-year-old Estrella is going to change.Set in Spain during the Middle Ages, the story is about secrets and self-knowledge.Estrella's family are Conversos, who practice Judaism in secret at home and in a church where all of the congregation plus the priest are like themselves.As the persecution of Jews draws ever closer to Estrella's own family, she is told about their secret, given a ring to buy herself safe passage to Amsterdam if need be, and taught the rudiments of kabbalah by her learned grandfather.This unlikely act is undoubtedly a gesture toward the current popularity of kabbalah and it does little to mar the credibility of the plot, consisting only of a few "kabbalistic" customs like wearing a red thread and learning the names of the ten gates of Paradise.More central to the story is Estrella/Esther's development from a carefree girl to a young woman fated to pass on her family's heritage virtually alone. As in other of Hoffman's books, nature and magic are intertwined.Estrella's mother is a dyer and a healer; her grandfather is a surgeon and a scholar.The witchcraft of which they are accused is practical magic, the kind that works not through the supernatural but through knowledge heightened by insight.Throughout the book, Estrella's mother teaches her about the natural world and how humans use it for good or evil. At the conclusion, after some horrific scenes of torture and burnings, she flees, having learned that "a Jew can never be attached to a place...We cannot have roots in the earth of any country, only in the garden that we carry inside us."This is a somber message for the teens of today and it is offset by other conflicts that they may find more appealing: the true nature of a false friend, and rivalry over a boy friend.Admirers of Alice Hoffman will enjoy her evocative writing style but Incantation is one of her lesser works.For teens and adults.Reviewed by Linda R. Silver ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)    3. Fiction    4. Girls & Women    5. Historical - Europe    6. Historical Fiction (Young Adult)    7. Identity    8. Juvenile Fiction    9. Legends, Myths, & Fables - General    10. Marranos    11. Prejudices    12. Religious - General    13. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    14. Juvenile Fiction / Girls & Women   

Editorial Review

It is 1924, and a small Vermont town finds itself under siege--by the KuKlux Klan. Using free verse, Newbery Medal-winning author Karen Hesse (

Reviews (97)

Witness by Karen Hesse
The white-hooded knights of the fiery cross have been the subject of a lot of research, some focusing on the influence of religion, socialism, and Christian Socialism in the group and in government. Much of the work expresses worries of a future filled with religious persecution and totalitarianism. Those worries have relevance to the enormous size and scope of government in the USA and its growing police state.
A good read
This is a really good book.As I was reading this book I felt as if I was in the Vermont town. It showed me that not everyone agreed with the ku klux klan and that they sometimes they had to had to join even though they really didn't agree.

A lyrical book with much depth = this one!
While the Ku-Klux-Klan swarmed around the small town in Vermont in 1924, Leonora Sutter and Esther Hirsh and their families were focusing on staying alive. Witness is a book that puts the lives of these two girls as well as the nine other characters in the book into perspective. Leonora Sutter and her family are African Americans and Esther and her father are Jewish. These two characters have the greatest impact on the perspective of those against the Klan at that time. The book puts across a point of view from the different characters that you wouldn't usually think of. It is a very well written book and has many memorable characteristics to it.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    2. Children: Grades 4-6    3. Fiction    4. Juvenile Fiction    5. Ku Klux Klan    6. Prejudices    7. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    8. Vermont    9. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / General   

Editorial Review

Maniac Magee is a folk story about a boy, a very excitable boy. One that can outrun dogs, hit a home run off the best pitcher in the neighborhood, tie a knot no one can undo. "Kid's gotta be a maniac," is what the folks in Two Mills say. It's also the story of how this boy, Jeffrey Lionel "Maniac" Magee, confronts racism in a small town, tries to find a home where there is none and attempts to soothe tensions between rival factions on the tough side of town. Presented as a folk tale, it's the stuff of storytelling. "The history of a kid," says Jerry Spinelli, "is one part fact, two parts legend, and three parts snowball." And for this kid, four parts of fun. Read more

Reviews (650)

ManiacMageeBy Brett Iott & Abdoleraman
The story of Maniac Magee starts when his parents die in a trolly accident. Then he is forced to live with his aunt and uncle who hate each other. He leaves thim and runs until he sees this girl on the side walk with a suitcase. The town she lives in is a segregated town. His jumps around between people to live with until he ends back up were he started.
Maniac Magee
Maniac Magee
Maniac Magee
Maniac Magee
Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Literature - Classics / Contemporary    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Fiction    3. Children: Grades 4-6    4. Classics    5. Fiction    6. Heroes    7. Juvenile Fiction    8. Orphans    9. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    10. Sports    11. Sports & Recreation - General    12. Juvenile Fiction / Classics   

Editorial Review

T. J. Jones is black, Japanese, and white; his given name is The Tao(honest!), and he's the son of a woman who abandoned him when she got heavilyinto crack and crank. As a child he was full of rage, but now as a senior inhigh school he's pretty much overcome all that. With the help of a goodtherapist and his decent, loving, ex-hippie adoptive parents, he's not onlyfairly even-keeled, he has turned out to be smart and funny. Read more

Reviews (70)

It takes a book this good for people to want to censor it.
Chris Crutcher, Whale Talk (Dell, 2001)
The best book
Whale Talk is a very interesting book, even though it is boring in the beginning and I almost brought the book back and almost picked another book to read but I decided not to and I'm glad I didn't because this is a great book. Its about a colored boy named T.J who was adopted because his mother did drugs and he was adopted to a mother who is a lawyer and he also has a dad and they are both very nice and they always wanted a kid but never could have one. T.J likes to swim, so he gets people together to make a swim team and a reason why he is doing this is because he wants him and the other people on his team to have there own letter jackets, because in there school you cant where a letter jacket unless you earned it by doing a sport or activity. So T.J gets a swim team together and the people on his swim team are people who dot really fit in with other people at school but they all get to know each other and become friends.
Great Book.
Whale Talk is about a teenager named T.J. Jones. He has a very hard and unhappy childhood, his mother leaves him and someone adopts him. The parents that adopted him are very nice and kind. His dad looks like a crazy biker, but is actually a soft-hearted man, especially when it comes to kids. His mom is a lawyer and helps T.J. alot. The storyline is basically T.J. trying to start a swimming team. He tries to gain more members and it the end he gets a swim team filled with misfits. They work hard and get to know each other good. The book ends with a surprising chapter, and it teaches T.J. a big lesson.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 12-Up - Fiction - General    2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)    3. Fiction    4. High schools    5. Juvenile Fiction    6. School & Education    7. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    8. High schools    9. Sports & Recreation - Water Sports    10. Swimming    11. Juvenile Fiction / Social Situations / Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance    12. Social Situations - Physical & Emotional Abuse    13. Social Situations - Prejudice & Racism   

Reviews (6)

Riveting Story of Diversity
This is a companion book to the documentary about the Paper Clip project started at Whitwell Middle School outside of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the late 1990s.What began as a class to teach diversity to a mostly white southern group of schoolchildren evolved into a project of collecting 6 million paper clips (the clips are historically tied to the Holocaust) to represent the Jews who perished during that dark period.This book is a wonderful story that shows what can be accomplished when children are determined and how a relatively small idea can grow into something significant that can affect millions of people.This one is highly recommended for children of all ages.

Deserves 10 stars
I happened upon a review and ordered the book. When it arrived, I read it with a lump in my throat and my eyes tearing up.My 72 year old mother and I were driving to another town when I started telling her about it.I couldn't get that damn lump out of my throat and pretty soon my voice started quivering and I started crying. She just reached over and held my hand as I got my composure back.I was done, though, I told her she had to read it.She did. Afterward, she took it to one of her clubs and shared it.It's just a 10 minute read, but it sure provides plenty of emotion. I am so glad I happened upon it. A glorious story. Thank you.

The power of a symbol.
Those of us who are horrified by the murderous actions of the Nazis during the Holocaust pray that such a terrible event will never happen again.It is heartening to know that there are a number of middle school children in Whitwell, Tennessee who did their share to raise the consciousness of people from all over the world.Whitwell, a small town of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants with a population of only 1,600, is now internationally famous for its "Paper Clip Project."
Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - History - General    2. Children's Books/Ages 9-12 Nonfiction    3. Children: Grades 3-4    4. Ethnic relations    5. History - Holocaust    6. Holocaust    7. Holocaust memorials    8. Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)    9. Juvenile Nonfiction    10. Juvenile literature    11. Religion - Judaism    12. Social Issues - Prejudice & Racism    13. Study and teaching (Elementary    14. Study and teaching (Elementary)    15. Tennesee    16. Whitwell    17. Whitwell (Tenn.)    18. Jewish studies