Roll With It

Bibliography

Sumner, J. (2019). Roll with it. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 

Plot Summary

Ellie moves with her mother from Tennessee to Oklahoma in order to help care for her grandfather who has dementia. Not only will she have to adjust to being the new girl, but she’ll have to be the new girl in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy. But after finding close friends, she might have to figure out a way to convince her mom to stay. 

Critical Analysis

Ellie refuses to let her cerebral palsy (CP) define her. Yes, she uses a wheelchair but that isn’t who she is. She’s an aspiring young baker with a killer mini-golf game. But back in Tennessee, she didn’t have any close friends and an aide was required to be with her to help her use the restroom and get around. When her grandfather’s dementia begins negatively affecting life for her grandfather, her mother decides that when they go for the winter holidays, they will stay to help out until summer. This provides a new start for Ellie, one she’s nervous about but looking forward to nonetheless. 

There are three types of cerebral palsy described in the novel. Rita is an extreme case of CP - “She had CP and some other stuff too - she drooled and wore a bib and couldn’t talk much. But she seemed to understand what was going on. She would follow us with her eye on the playground from her motorized wheelchair in the shade” (pg 159). Emma Claire “...only has a limp, and can still play soccer. I tell her she’s got a ‘touch of CP’ and I’ve got the whole bucketful” (pg. 7). Ellie seems to be in the middle where she doesn’t have motor movement in her legs and at the beginning of the book is declared seizure free. 

Ellie puts on a brave face when it comes to her CP. She wants to be independent and is angry when her mother agrees to allow her to have an aide at her new school. However, the school is equipped to support Ellie’s needs, so after the first day, she is no longer required to have that aide. Her true emotions come to the surface when her mother begins looking into finding a care facility for her grandfather. “‘Is that what you’ll do to me, then, if I get to be too much for you to handle? Do you have a file of ‘homes’ for me, too?’ There. I’ve said it. The thing I’ve never even let myself wonder until now, because Mom would never do that. Except I never thought she’d put Grandpa in a home, and here we are” (pg 157-158).

Her friendship with aspiring singer, dancer, actor Coralee and analytical Bert give Ellie a chance to belong. She finds a deep friendship with the two other kids. The move turns out to be one of the best things to happen to her despite how inaccessible the school is described to be for her. 

Review Excerpt(s)

“An honest, emotionally rich take on disability, family, and growing up.” —Kirkus Reviews 

“A heartfelt and humorous glimpse into the life of a girl with cerebral palsy who is determined to make her mark on a world that often perceives her as limited because of her disability. . . . The challenges faced by youth like Ellie are underrepresented in children’s literature; highly recommended for middle grade collections.” -- School Library Journal

“Ellie takes on life head first, and her first-person, present-tense narrative reveals a feisty, dynamic character surrounded by well-rounded characters just as appealing as she is. The plot moves swiftly, and it's refreshing that the story's focus is less on Ellie's disability and more on her gradual ability to learn how to ‘roll with’ the situations that life throws one's way.” -- Booklist

Connections 

-Activities

• Ellie writes letters to chefs in her spare time as a way to reflect on her baking and life. Write your own letter to whoever inspires you. 

• P.E. classes can demonstrate different physical therapy exercise, possibly even using some described in the book. 

• Provide background on cerebral palsy and how it affects everyone differently. 

• Accessibility is an issue for Ellie at her new school. Handicap parking is taken up by non-handicap people, the teachers are unprepared to adjust their classrooms for her and it’s a tight fit when desks are shoved to make room for her. Learn about ways a school could be more accessible for those in wheelchairs or with cerebral palsy. Then go around your own campus to see how well equipped the school is. If there is more than one floor, is there an elevator? If stairs go up to the school entrance, is there a ramp? Are there handicap bathrooms? 

• Use the discussion questions provided by the author on her website to help steer conversation in the classroom. 

• Read alikes: 

• The Chance to Fly by Ali Stroker and Stacy Davidowitz which is about a Broadway musical obsessed girl, Nat, who happens to be in a wheelchair and moves to a new town. 

• Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper which is about a girl with an extreme case of cerebral palsy joining her school quiz team after receiving assistive technology that allows her to communicate with others.

George

 

Bibliography

Gino, A. (2015). George. Scholastic
. 

Plot Summary

When George’s teacher announces that the class play will be Charlotte’s Web, she knows that the part of Charlotte is meant for her. But everyone sees George as a boy. How can she let those closest to her know her truth?

Critical Analysis

What an important novel for elementary and middle grade children struggling with their gender identity! The fact that this has been the most challenged book for the past three years proves a disservice to youths that are struggling with their gender identity. 

At the beginning of the novel, Melissa returns home and flips through her secret stash of fashion and other traditionally female style magazines. She imagines what it would be like to have a group of friends, wear a bikini, and tells people that her name is Melissa. 

Throughout the novel, Melissa keeps her thoughts and feelings to herself. Melissa is constantly bullied by Rick and Jeff. The entire world sees her as George, a 10 year old boy. The casting of Charlotte in Charlotte’s Web acts as a catalyst for her self-acceptance, and why she decides to tell her best friend Kelly later on in the plot. 

Melissa and Kelly practice their lines constantly. Melissa has them down so well, she doesn't even need the script at times. But when she tries out for Charlotte, she isn’t taken seriously. “‘You know I can’t very well cast you as Charlotte. I have too many girls who want the part. Besides, imagine how confused people would be.’” (pg. 70). When Kelly gets the lead role of Charlotte, the two hatch a plan that will allow Melissa to enjoy the spotlight just once. 

Acceptance is a rather large theme throughout the book. Melissa fears that her mother and older brother won’t accept her as she is. She’s afraid of how Kelly will react. But at some point, she gets the courage to tell her best friend that she’s a girl. And her reaction is not what Melissa was expecting! She accepts Melissa for who she is. 

A fight between Melissa and one of her bullies, Jeff, brings her to the principal’s office. On the wall behind the principal’s desk is a rainbow flag with a sign that says “SUPPORT SAFE SPACES FOR GAY, LESBIAN, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER YOUTH" (pg 125). At the sight of the term transgender, she wonders if she could find a safe space to speak with other girls like her. This small act of representation contributes to Melissa’s confidence to tell those closest to her. 

The fight and sign combined most likely contribute to Melissa telling her mother that she is a girl and not gay, as her mother suspects. Her mother laughs at the revelation and tells her, “...you’re only ten years old. You don’t know how you’ll feel in a years.’“ (129). This is a blow to Melissa who only wants her mother, one of the people she trusts most in the world, to see her and not George. 

One of the sweetest, most heartening scenes is when Melissa tells her older brother Scott. It takes a little bit of time for him to process the information. HIs reaction is that of understanding, even going as far to say that Melissa didn’t make a very good boy. “Scott snuck glances her way too, but where Mom’s eyes were filled with concern and confusion, Scott looked at George as if his sibling made sense to him for the first time. George had never been gladder to have an older brother” (142). 

Both Melissa’s mother and brother assume that Melissa is gay. It is much harder for her mother to accept the fact that she is a girl. What her mother needs is more time to process. Eventually, her mother tells Melissa that she thinks it would be good for them both to speak to someone, and that they will take baby steps with her transition. 

The final chapter of the book allows Melissa to be Melissa. She and Kelly plan her outfit for their day out with her uncle who only knows Melissa. She’s able to be herself out in the world. “A wave of warmth filled Melissa from deep in her belly and out to her fingers and toes. She put her arm around Kelly. Kelly held her camera at arm’s length and took pictures of the two girls’ grinning faces” (194). 

*Author Alex Gino has advised to refer to the main character as Melissa rather than her dead name despite the title of the novel being George. 

Review Excerpt(s)

Stonewall Book Award, Children’s (2016) 

California Book Award, Juvenile (Gold) (2015) 

"A required purchase for any collection that serves a middle grade population." -- School Library Journal

 "[A] sensitive, insightful portrayal of a transgender child coming to terms with gender identity." -- Booklist

Connections 

-Activities

• Explain what it means to be transgender to better help younger audiences understand what the main character is struggling with. 

• Discuss the concept of dead names. 

• Explain what it means to be an ally and who displays qualities of an ally for the main character. 

• Compare Melissa in the first chapter to the last chapter. How has her character changed from the first chapter when the world sees her as George to the final chapter where she is able to freely be herself. 

• Display is prominently during Banned Books Week as it has been the number banned book from 2018-2020. Begin a conversation about whether or not it should be challenged as much as it is. 

• Use it as a book club choice either in a GSA or faculty book club in an effort to better understand students that may be transgender or silently struggling. 

• Make a prediction about Melissa’s future now that the people closest to her are beginning to see her as Melissa. 

• 
  

Hope Nation

 

Bibliography

Thomas, A., Reynolds, J., Yoon, N., & Lu, M. (2018). Hope nation: YA authors share personal moments of inspiration (R. Brock, Ed.). Penguin Books.

Plot Summary

This collection of short stories, personal narratives, and essays from acclaimed young adult authors share themes of hope, resilience, and bravery when facing challenges. 

Critical Analysis

Author’s from all walks of life come together to share their own personal stories that relate to hope. Published after the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, the world was in the midst of upheaval. Nic Stone shared her reaction in her narrative Always, “What the results of the 2016 presidential election said to me personally was You are not safe” (pg 230). The end of her narrative revealed a shared love of Harry Potter and the idea that there are connections we can have with people that are not like ourselves. 

The representation within this collection of stories is vast from LGBTQ+, Black, Latinx, Asian, Muslim, etc. Each person shares an experience where their background has helped shaped who they are or their reactions to an event in their life. Atia Abawi, for example, dreamed of becoming a foreign correspondent but was deterred when her AP Journalism teacher stomped on her dream. She adjusted her major in college for a new dream but eventually found her way to  becoming the foreign correspondent she always dreamed of.    

Nicole Yoon, a Jamaican American (black), writes about her marriage to a Korean American man. She notes the racism they face from his family because of the color of his skin. “Aside from his parents, there are some other challenges to being an interracial couple… When I put a jar of kimchi into my grocery cart at our favorite Korean grocery store, Korean people stare. When he picks up a can of ackee at the Jamaican store, Jamaican people stare. We get the occasional snide remark from both sides. When we have oysters at our favorite date-night spot, white people stare. One of our white friends jokingly says that this is because my husband and I are two different kinds of nonwhite” (100-101).  

Each story is uniquely told in the author’s voice. The stories can be read individually or the reader can binge on the hope conveyed in each experience. 

Hope Nation emphasizes the idea that we have a diverse nation with a plethora of cultures and experiences. When the world looms undaunting, we can come together to provide hope and courage with the power of words and stories. 

Review Excerpt(s)

A 2019 Texas Topaz Reading List Selection

A Junior Library Guild Selection

"This amazing outpouring of strength and honesty offers inspirational personal accounts for every reader who wonders what to do when everything seems impossible." --Booklist

Connections 

-Activities

• Use the novel as a mentor text for students to develop their own stories of hope, resilience, or acceptance.

• Many of the stories reference the election of the forty-fifth president of the United States. How did the election and some of the events that happened after his election influence some of the selections provided? 

• We by David Levithan 

• Nobody Remembers the Names of People Who Build Walls by Jeff Zentner

• Always by Nic Stone

• Research different rebellions - Tiananmen Square, May 1968 student revolt in France, Kent State, etc. - and how they affected history. 

• Before starting the book, have students write their own definitions of the term “hope”. After reading the book, students can look at their initial definition and revise as needed. Display the definitions in the hallway or library. 

• Using Always by Nic Stone, have students track the bolded words. What significance do the bolded words have? 

• Watch some of Atai Abawi’s television reports before reading her story. Have students discuss their thoughts on her reporting skills. Share some of her accolades. Then share her narrative. 

• How did Mr. W impact Abawi’s life plan? 

• Explain the importance of family for Atai Abawi. 

• Choose two selections from the novel. Have students make connections across texts. 

Pair with Fresh Ink: An Anthology edited by Lamar Giles.

Hurricane Child

 

Bibliography

Callender, K. (2018). Hurricane child. Scholastic. 

Plot Summary

One year and three months ago, Caroline’s mother left her and her father. Bullied at school and hated by her teacher, Caroline has made it her mission to find her mother. Then a new girl arrives at school and Caroline thinks that maybe she has found a friend and someone new to confide in. 

Critical Analysis

Hurricane Child follows Caroline who was born during a hurricane and whose mother has left her. She is bullied incessantly at school not only by other students but by her teacher as well. “Seeing that I’m the littlest girl with the darkest skin and the thickest hair in the whole Catholic school, Missus Wilhelmina doesn’t like me- no, not at all. I get a smacking on my bum for everything…” (pg 10) 

The setting is unique as it takes place within the Virgin Islands. “Water Island is supposed to be a part of the United States Virgin Islands, but we were never sainted like Saint Thomas or Saint John or Saint Croix, and so everyone forgets we exist.” (pg 45) In order to go to school, Caroline has to take a water or safari taxi. Her father often forgets to give her money.

Colorism is addressed in this book, particularly with Missus Wilhelmina. “Missus Wilhelmina had a white great-great-great-grandpa from Saint Martin that she likes to talk about all the time because he made her clear-skinned. Missus Wilhelmina says that Saint Thomas and Saint John and Saint Croix...and all the other islands in the Caribbean are no good, seeing they’re filled with so many black people. In class, she says that the Caribbean is almost as bad as Africa itself” (pg 9). Wilhelmina goes as far as to tell Caroline that it will be hard for her to find someone to marry because of how dark her skin is. The character of Missus Wilhelmina establishes the idea that the lighter color skin you have, the more superior or sought out you are. This is an antiquated idea and harms children like Caroline. 

When a new girl appears at her school, everyone flocks to her. It’s not often that there is a new schoolmate. Kalinda is from Barbados. They moved to the island because her deaf father was having trouble finding work. Encouraged by the belief that Kalinda can see the spirits that she can, Caroline gets the courage to speak with Kalinda. The two develop a deep friendship. They’re together so much they get a blended name like Carolinda. When Caroline finally asks Kalinda if she sees the spirits, the two discuss sending Caroline to the spirit world in three months, but Kalinda is upset at the idea of helping Caroline with this. Guilty, Caroline writes the other girl a note confessing her true feelings. “I love you, Kalinda, and I wish that we could one day be married and live together for the rest of our lives. I would love to wake up and see you in the morning, and lie down for bed at night and have you be the last thing I see before I close my eyes” (pg 119). But the note is intercepted at school by the bullies, and Kalinda’s reaction is not what Caroline was expecting. There was foreshadowing to Kalinda’s reaction when she first brought Caroline home and they saw two female tourists. Eventually, Kalinda admits to having the same feelings but has to move back to Barbados. 

Throughout the novel, Caroline is processing her grief over losing her mother. For a while, they received postcards from her mother’s travels, but they slowly stopped. She has a plan to find her mother. At some point, with Kalinda’s help and the help of her school administrator, she finds her mother...on the same island she’s been attending school on. After learning of her husband’s affair that resulted in a child, she attempted  taking her own life. When her stay at the hospital was done, her mother chose not to return. “‘I’ve thought of coming to see you countless time,’ she says, ‘but I worried for myself - for my own health, worried that coming back would trigger something - and I worried about you too.’” (pg 184). 

Callender has provided readers with a dense middle grade novel that opens up the conversation about skin tone, mental health, abandonment, and LGBTQ+ representation within what some readers may consider an exotic setting. 

Review Excerpt(s)

Stonewall Book Award - Mike Morgan & Larry Romans Children’s Young Adult Literature Award 2019

Lambda Literary Award LGBTQ Children’s/Young Adult 2019

Whippoorwill Award 2019

 "Lush descriptions bring the Caribbean environment to vivid life...An excellent and nuanced coming-of-age tale." -- School Library Journal

Connections 

-Activities

• Show a map of the Virgin Islands to students and ask which region they believe it belongs to. 

• Math can compare the distances between the five islands or of the land. 

• Social study the different aspects that make up the islands such as the history, government, people, etc. 

• Research Topic: Colorism in Film 

• Read the picture book or share the Netflix read aloud provided by the Netflix Jr. channel on YouTube of Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o. A comparison can be made with Sulwe and Caroline as they both have such dark skin and experience something magical. 

• Share information about pronouns and representation. The author, Kacen Callender, is a demiboy and uses the pronouns they/them. Express the importance of identity. 

• The multiple themes and topics touched upon within this book offer up an opportunity for a Socratic seminar. 

• Caroline and Kalinda both witnessed something traumatic in their youth and believe that is when they lost their childhood. When do you believe childhood is left behind?  

• Kalinda’s father had a dream that he couldn’t follow after a disease took his hearing. “‘That seems like a most difficult thing to do. Finding a dream alone is hard. I’ve spent many days wondering what my dream should be. But I’m not sure I have any dreams yet. Maybe my dream is to find a dream. Find something to live for. Can you imagine, doing all that work to find something to live for, and then being forced to find another dream at the end of it all?’” (pg. 85) What is your dream for your life? If you had to change dreams, how do you imagine you would do that? 

• Share this novel in a presentation or display of LGBTQ+ reads

• Have students respond with their thoughts after Caroline sees her mother. The scene is an emotional one and students may have strong opinions ore emotions of their own.

Stargazing

Bibliography

Wang, J. (2019). Stargazing. First Second. 

Plot Summary

Christine makes an unexpected friend in Moon who is her complete opposite. Moon is carefree and shares a lot of Christine’s interest. But Moon also has visions of celestial beings? 

Critical Analysis

Christine was not expecting to find a friendship with Moon. Moon is loud and expressive and loves music which is almost the opposite of Christine. The two bond over music and decide to do a dance routine at the school talent show. 

Both girls are Chinese, but Christine feels the pressure to be the “perfect” Chinese daughter. She plays the violin, takes Chinese class to learn the language, and takes an after school math class when she gets a 73 on a math test. Moon joins in on one Chinese class and leaves midway through, wears nail polish, and is a vegan Buddhist. She loves Moon for how she embraces herself. And it’s obvious that the friendship isn’t one-sided. Moon cherishes her friendship with Christine just as much, if not more, which is shown when she waits to watch a music video with Christine and looks towards Christine’s house on the morning of her surgery.

When Christine gets so busy with the after-school math tutoring and Chinese school, Moon seems to get close to another girl and Christine gets jealous. She lets her emotions get the better of her and leaves Moon’s sketchbook out for everyone to see at a birthday party. Ashamed of what she has done, Christine cannot face Moon when it’s revealed that Moon has a brain tumor. The brain tumor has caused seizures that Moon told no one about because she thought she was seeing celestial beings. 

The two girls make up, and even though Moon cannot perform at the school talent show, Christine has a jacket made for her and performs the song with other friends in tribute to Moon. This is a cute story about how opposites attract in friendship and that you don’t have to be perfect. 

The afterward is an interesting read because Jen Wang was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was six. Instead of having the main character experience seizures and the surgery, Wang chose for Christine to be the main character in this graphic novel, the friend of the character who experiences the diagnosis. This book was a way for the author to express how lonely she felt - it seems that the character of Moon was based on the author more than the main character of Christine. This is a good author’s craft move to analyze. 

Some Chinese, and possibly Korean, characters are inserted in areas where the music is being played. This helps reflect the girls background and their love of k-pop (Korean pop) music. At the beginning of the book, Christine seems to be performing at their Chinese church since all of the characters that appear seem to be Chinese. When they’re waiting for news of Moon’s surgery, her father takes her for desert, his favorite dessert when he lived in Taiwan, shaved ice with cream, fruit, and syrup.  

Review Excerpt(s)

Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature 2020

“Relying on a muted palette and careful linework, Eisner Award winner Wang has crafted an understated, poignant tale of the joy and turmoil of budding friendship.” - School Library Journal

“It is so very rare and refreshing to see diversity within the Asian American community authentically portrayed; Wang allows each character complete ownership of their identity, freeing their truths, and in the process, allowing readers to do the same.” - Kirkus Reviews

Connections 

-Activities

• The first four pages have no text to them. Use the first four pages in a lesson on reading graphic novels. Cut up the panels on the page for students to arrange how they think it might be in the book. 

• Since the first four pages don’t have text, have the students make inferences about the main character based on what we see in those pages 

• Christine judges Moon before actually getting to know her. How does this end up backfiring on Christine? 

• Introduce students to K-pop! Popular K-pop bands students may know are BTS and Blackpink. Or have students that are familiar with that genre of music explain what it is and share their favorite k-pop artists. 

• Include this novel as an option in a realistic fiction book club study or graphic novel study. 

Compare Stargazing to Raina Telgemeier’s Smile. Both are graphic novels about the author’s real life experiences, but Wang’s novel is semi-autobiographical while Telegemeir’s graphic novel is considered a memoir or autobiography.

The Boy in the Garden

 Bibliography

Say, A. (2010). The boy in the garden. Houghton Mifflin. 

Plot Summary

A young boy has a realistic dream based on a bronze crane statue and a story his mother read to him. 

Critical Analysis

In order to give the reader background knowledge, author and illustrator Allen Say provides the story of The Grateful Crane. It is a Japanese fairy tale that inspires Jiro’s dream later on in the story. 

Say is a talented illustrator. The images done in watercolor provide lots of detail, and each character from the father to Jiro to the mysterious Crane Woman have original facial features. Mr. Ozu can barely be seen on the page when Jiro is woken up, interestingly enough. Japanese architecture is expressed when Jiro gazes out the window at the intricate garden, when Mr. Ozu and Jiro’s father watch him try to sneak up on the crane, and with the cottage Jiro finds. 

When Jiro stumbles upon the cottage, he is convinced it is the same one from the story his mother has told him. There he finds a small kimono that fits him perfectly, and he is able to tie the “obi” behind his back on his own. 

The fantastical dream he has revolves around trying to take care of the Crane Woman so that she doesn’t have to weave. It seems that Jiro wants to be older than what he is as he likens himself to his father going out to work in the morning to find the firewood to keep them warm and then knowing that he has to feed the woman. He is insistent that she not weave because he doesn’t want her to turn back into a crane and pluck her feathers. He wants to take care of her the way the woodcutter from the original story did not. 

The end of the story makes it seem as though the bronze crane was the real crane woman with the father saying, “‘You know, son, for a moment that crane looked real.’” And Jiro smiles after his father states that it is a fine statue. 

This was a beautiful story that weaved Japanese fairy tales and a little boy's imagination together with detailed watercolor illustrations as visual support. 

Review Excerpt(s)

"Say is at the height of his artistic achievement in this tale of a little boy named Jiro and the powerful impact that a story has on him....This is a beautiful, moving, quietly mysterious read, ripe with possibilities for interpretation and contemplation."—Kirkus Reviews 

Carefully chosen words mesh seamlessly with dramatic and effective paintings, bringing both energy and tranquility to carry the story to its thought-provoking ending. - School Library Journal 

Connections 

-Activities

• Journal Entry Idea: Describe a fairy tale or story that a grown up in your life used to tell you that you believed in. Why did you believe in it? 

• Compare the story of The Grateful Crane to that of Rumpelstiltskin. What similarities and differences do they have with one another? 

• The left pages have text and the right pages have the watercolor drawing. Block out the text and have students come up with their own story based on the illustrations. 

• Students can debate on whether what Jiro experienced was a dream or real. 

• Journal Entry: Why do you think Jiro was insistent that the Crane Woman not go into the other room to weave? 

• Journal Entry: Why do you think the author pointed out the specific date - January 3rd - at the beginning of the story? How is the New Year significant? 

• Cause and Effect: Jiro was caught trying to sneak up after the crane but was caught by his father and Mr. Ozu. After that, he found the woodcutter’s cottage. How are the two events related?