Estela's Swap-Alexis O'Neil

This short story is one that has a way of warming the heart. Estela, a young girl who is attending her first swap meet with her father at the market place, is trying hard to sell her music box to be able to afford dancing lessons. As she continues to watch her father sell various things to customers, she herself tries to barter with people and convince them to buy her music box. In the end however, a neighboring woman who is working on a skirt and making flowers has her booth blown away by the wind. As Estela seeks to help her, she realizes her need to give the woman her music box so she can continue making her flowers to make money and keep her booth going. At the end of the story, the woman brings Estela the skirt she had been working on.

This book would be a great use of multi-cultural literature to allow students to experience stories based off of Hispanic culture. This would also be a positive resource in encouraging students to be kind and giving with the things that they have, providing evidence with the story as to the effects of doing so.

Multi-Cultural/International

The Giver- Lois Lowry

Growing up in a society in which life is the same in almost every respect, where people are numb to the effects of "real life," young Jonas' eyes are gradually opened to the truth about the world he and the people he loves are living in. After being given the responsibility of the community receiver, Jonas begins to meet with the giver, an old man who is able to pass on the memories, feelings, etc. that are being and have been experienced but not exposed within the society. The relationship that develops between Jonas and the giver is a sweet one that continues to grow throughout the book as they both experience the memories and see things differently than others within the community. After being enlightened and realizing what it means to be released and desiring to put an end to it, Jonas desires to experience and travel to elsewhere.

This story would be a great one for implementing into the classroom because of the undertones that it provides. Through analyzing the society and the effects of sameness and uniformity within, students will be able to compare the lifestyles of characters within the story to his/her own life and the world we live in. This could also be a great book used in discussing how texts compare based on genre.

Fantasy/Science Fiction

The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963-Christopher Paul Curtis

This historical fiction novel about a witty family living in Michigan who decides to travel down south to Birmingham, Alabama in order to try and solve some familial issues with the oldest brother Byron. Byron and Kenny seem to always be at each others throats throughout the book. During the time that the family is down in Birmingham, the civil rights movement was taking place and while the family was there, they witness a few tragic events that affect the family and the stories narrator, young Kenny Watson. Throughout the story, Kenny continues to see a strange being he calls the wool pooh that seems to always be bringing him down. After the summer had passed, its evident that there was so much growth in each of the characters, even resulting in a reconciled relationship between Kenny and Byron.

This book would be a good text to implement within the classroom in talking about the civil rights movement and the history taking place at that time. Helping students to see history from a different perspective, depicted through a unique style of fictional story. This could even be used in talking about the importance of family and how, even through hard times we must seek to restore relationships.

Historical Fiction

Sleeping Beauty- Christine San Jose

After looking through a number of classic fairy tales, the story of sleeping beauty won my affections. However, this version of the story was a little different from the original text I grew up reading. This story, creatively inspired with mice characters, depicts the story of sleeping beauty in an animated way-different from other stories of the same content.

This book could be implemented into the classroom during a lesson on fairy tales, fables, myths, etc. This may be a story that students who normally don't like the typical fairy tale editions may better enjoy. I felt that the way Dr. Wiseman had us choose three different types of fairy tale stories was a good way to diversify the classroom discussion and even help us in understanding the differences among similar writing styles.

Traditional/Folk