Turtle in Paradise

By: Jennifer L. Holm

Turtle is an 11 year old girl growing up during the depression. Turtle and her single mom often struggle to get by. Turtle is sent to live with family when her mother's live-in housekeeping job does not allow children. Turtle arrives in Key West and is immediately surrounded by family members she has never met before and lots of adventure. 

This is such an enjoyable book.  The plot was fast moving and unpredictable with plenty of twists and turns along the way. In my opinion, the prevalent theme was one of the strongest points of the book. "Don't take what you have for granted, it may be exactly what you have been searching for all along." Historical details are well woven into the book, it was educational without feeling forced at all. The author's notes at the end of the book are quite informative as well.

Jack and the Night Visitors

By; Pat Schories

This story is about a little boy and his dog that are awakened by some visitors.    The visitors want to play and then ask for something to eat.  The little boy goes to the cupboard and feeds his guests some cereal.  The boy tries to capture one of the visitors under a glass jar.  When the others see what he has done they get scared and go back to their spaceship.  Jack the dog sets the visitor free and he returns to his ship and they fly away.

Ball

By; Mary Sullivan

The only word in this book is the word ball.  This book is about a dog that loves to play ball.  From the minute he wakes up he wants to play ball with his owner.  She eventually needs to leave to go to school.  The dog then tries to find others to play ball with him.  When he finds that no one else wants to play he tries to play ball with himself.  He eventually falls asleep and dreams about his ball.  When he wakes up he hears the door and is very happy when his owner is finally home and can play with him.

Wind Flyers

Written by;Angela Johnson

Illustrated by; Loren Long

A boy shares the story about his uncle who becomes a wind flyer for the historic Tuskegee Airmen. His uncle had wanted to fly from the time he was a little boy. He tried to fly at the age of 7 by jumping off the barn and flapping his arms like a bird.  Eventually, his uncle became a Tuskegee Airmen in 1941. This  squadron was made up entirely of African-America men.  The story tells of how his love of flight takes him on a journey from Alabama to the skies of Europe during World War II.

This is a beautiful book.  It is interesting that we never learn the names of uncle and nephew, making it feel like a collective honor for all the men who were part of the original Tuskegee Airmen.  There is minimal text, and it reads very similar to a poem.  The beautiful illustrations help tell the story.  This would be a great book for children to learn about the Tuskegee Airmen or to use during Black History Month as it takes place in a time where rights were not equal for all men.  It is an inspirational book about how to follow your dreams.

Mr. Williams

By; Karen Barbour

This book is full of Karen Barbours memories of the stories she grew up hearing Mr. Williams tell.  Mr. Williams was born in 1929 and grew up duing the time Calvin Coolidge was president, the Great Depression and Martin Luther King Jr.'s birth.  He and his 11 siblings lived in a pine house  in Arcadia, Louisiana.  Their family plowed the feilds and grew cotton, peanuts, sugarcane and other crops.  His stories tell of his life and the farm and also how he was treated by some of  "the white people" he came in contact with.  The ending line gives a wonderful summary to this book, "That's how it was back then, and that was a long time ago."

The illustrations in this book are wonderful and depict the time period very well.  I enjoyed reading about Mr. Williams life and would imagine myself sitting around the table listening to him tell of his childhood.  The back page of the book includes the authors note along with a picture of Mr. Williams.  I think this is a wonderful book to help students really connect with someone who lived in this time period.  I feel that students would reasily relate to J.W. and the way he grew up, the chores he had to do, and how he celebrated Christmas.  It would also be a great book to introduce students to biographies and even encourage students to write stories about their peers.