My Teacher is an Alien By: Bruce Coville- Science Fiction

WORDLE
Please click the link to view the image: title="Wordle: My Teacher is an Alien"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/699348/My_Teacher_is_an_Alien"
alt="Wordle: My Teacher is an Alien"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

Attack of the Evil Elvises By: Dan Greenburg Illustrated by: Macky Pamintuan- Science Fiction (Chapter)

Attack of the Evil Elvises By: Dan Greenburg
Illustrated by: Macky Pamintuan- Science Fiction (Chapter)

This book was about Aliens from out of space that can turn into humans if they have to. The characters (Ploo, Lek, and Klatu) in the book take their spaceship to Las Vegas, and when they get there they noticed that there were a whole bunch of people who looked alike. All of the people looked like Elvis and the aliens now humans could not understand why all of these people looked like Elvis impersonators. The impersonators were having a convention in Las Vegas when the aliens decided to go there. The aliens knew that these were just not any regular old impersonators; they thought there was something up with the Elvises. So the aliens decided to figure out what was going on. They would spy on the Elvises day and night and they finally figured it out. The Elvises had a evil plan of taking over the world. Of course Ploo, Klatu, and Lek were not going to allow them to take over the world. So they did everything they could to distract the Elvises to make them change their plans; and it worked.

You could use this book in the classroom by placing it in the class library. The book is a little long to have it as a class reading, and all of your students are not going to be on the same reading level. However, on that note you could use this as a small group reading book. You can have multiple copies in the class and have the students read this book that is on this reading level. While these students are reading this book, the other students who are on the same reading level can be reading another multiple copied book.

Behold the Dragons! By: Gail Gibbons- Folklare

Behold the Dragons! By: Gail Gibbons- Folklare

For this book I did a voicethread, which can be seen at (http://voicethread.com/share/414419/). Please forgive me for putting fantasy on the voicethread; however, I could not go back and change it because I can not do voice on my computer. I used a computer at the school (Aversboro).

Martin's BIG Words The life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.- Biography

WORDLE: Please click the link to view the image.




title="Wordle: Untitled"> src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/681146/Untitled"
alt="Wordle: Untitled"
style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

The Hatseller and the Monkeys By: Baba Wague Diakite- Multicultural

The Hatseller and the Monkeys By: Baba Wague Diakite
Multicultural

This book was about a man name BaMusa who had a happy life selling hats. The hat selling business was past on from generation to generation and BaMusa loved it; he would make the hats by hand out of rice. Once he makes the hats he piles them all on top of his head and walk through the town singing and selling hats. Everyone in the town knows BaMusa and the kids love to walk and sing with him. One day BaMusa was getting ready to go to a great festival in a neighboring town to sell his hats. BaMusa woke up that morning and was so excited he forgot to eat breakfast, so on the way to the festival BaMusa got really tired and he decided to rest under a shade mango tree. While BaMusa was resting the monkeys that were in the tree took all of his hats and were playing with them. When BaMusa woke up all of his hats were gone so he thought someone had stole them from him. He began to panic and then he heard the monkeys in the tree. BaMusa was doing things to get the monkeys to throw is hats down, but the monkeys only did what he did. Finally he got all of his hats back and he continued to the neighboring town to the festival.

The way you could use this book in the classroom is when talking about family traditions. Many students have family traditions and with the diverse background the students have in the classes now, there are going to be a variety of traditions. Also, depending on what grade you use this book for you can talk about things that is past down from generation to generation; things such as jewelry, clothes, and etc. Of course this book could also go in the classroom library or in students reading center bags.

Babymouse Puppy Love By: Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm- Graphic Novel

Babymouse Puppy Love By: Jennifer L. Holm
And Matthew Holm- Graphic Novel

This was a really funny graphic novel. I did not think I was going to really like reading a graphic novel because all I could think about is Pokemon books and things like that. However, this book really caught my interest. This book was about a little mouse who really liked pets. The mouse started out with a fish and the fish ran away, so he got another fish and that fish ran away too. So the mouse would go by the pet store everyday and look at the pets. The mouse had so many pets like turtles, birds, and etc and all of the pets escaped. All of the pets the mouse got from the pet store escaped from him and were all under the mouse bed. One day the mouse wanted to get a dog, but Babymouse mother told him that getting a dog would be a big responsibility. Babymouse know that he would have to take care of the dog, but his mother was not sure Babymouse was ready for a dog because what had happen to all of the other pets. Babymouse never did get the dog, and he never found the animals under the bed. Babymouse mother decided to stop buying Babymouse pets and Babymouse would just go look at pets in the pet store and not buy them.

This was a really cute book; however, it was a little long so I would not suggest this as a read aloud unless you read a few pages each day. This book could be use to teach students responsibility because Babymouse was not responsible when taking care of all of his pets. This book could also be used in a book flood, because I know some students would find this book interesting to read.

The Yellow Star The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark By: Carmen Agra Deedy Illustrated by: Henri Sorensen- Historical

The Yellow Star The Legend of King Christian X of Denmark
By: Carmen Agra Deedy Illustrated by: Henri Sorensen
Historical

The book starts off by talking about the city of Denmark and how all of the people were Danes. The king would ride along the streets of Denmark every morning without any bodyguards or weapons. Everyone in the city loved the king. Then one day war was spreading across Europe and King Christian could do nothing to stop it. The Nazi soldiers gathered at the Danish border and after the Nazi’s arrived the Danish people experienced food shortage, curfews, and a new flag. Once the king seen the new flag he sent a soldier to remove the flag. Upon discovering the flag was missing, the Nazi officer demanded that the king find out who took it down. The king told the officer that he sent a man to take it down, and the officer stated that a replacement flag would be placed on the palace again; however, no flag was every hung there again. After this the king thought the battle was won between the Danish people and the Nazi’s; however, the war was far from over. A few days letter the Nazi’s sent out papers saying that “All Jews must sew onto their clothes a yellow Star which must be visible at all times”. The king was outraged and the people were frightened because they had heard terrible stories in some places once Jews wore the yellow star. The stories they heard were the Jews would be taken away never to be seen again. So the king knew he needed to do something and act fast to save his people because he knew the Danish people really counted on him. One night the king decided that he would have his tailor to sew a yellow star on his clothes also. So all of the people in Denmark wore this star and once again the city of Denmark lived only Dane people, the Nazi’s could not get rid of them all.

How this book could be used in the classroom is during a social studies lesson when you are teaching students about Hitler and the Nazi’s. Also, you can use this book to talk about privilege with students. Like the video when the teacher tells the students who have blue eyes that they get to do special stuff for that day. She told them that they were the smarter students and they were first in everything they did during that day; however, the next day she switched the groups. She told the students that she made a mistake and the students with brown eyes were the smarter ones and privilege ones. Then after this experiment she talked to the students about privilege and how the experiment made them feel. I think this video was called Brown eyed Blue eyed. You can also talk with students about treating others how you want to be treated.

Cleopatra By: Janeen R. Adil- Biography

Cleopatra By: Janeen R. Adil- Biography

This book was about the life of Cleopatra and how she became the queen of Egypt; however, most of her life still remains a mystery. Once Cleopatra father died Cleopatra and her younger brother ruled Egypt; however Cleopatra brother wanted all of the power so Cleopatra left Egypt fearing for her life and went to Syria. In Syria Cleopatra gathered an army to fight against her brother for the throne of Egypt. Cleopatra met Roman emperor Caesar when he came to Egypt to stop the war between Cleopatra and her brother. Rome wanted Egypt’s riches and Cleopatra needed Caesar’s help. War broke out between Caesar and Cleopatra’s brother and her brother died, so Cleopatra gained total controlled Egypt. Cleopatra had a son and many say it was by Caesar, and then Caesar dies. Cleopatra then meets Mark Anthony and they fall in love with each other and had three children. Octavian wanted Anthony’s power so he turned people against Cleopatra. Octavian declared war on Egypt and Cleopatra and Anthony fled to Alexandria. Octavian captured Alexandria and Cleopatra did not want to go back to Egypt as a prisoner so she killed her self.

A way that this book could be used in the classroom is as a read aloud. It is important to do read alouds no matter what grade the students are in, and the students might find this to be an interesting story to listen to because her life is still a mystery. This book could also be used in literacy centers for students, or this book could be a part of the classroom library.

The Man Who Tricked a Ghost By: Laurence Yep Pictures by: Isadore Seltzer- Multicultural

The Man Who tricked a Ghost by: Laurence Yep
Pictures by: Isadore Seltzer- Multicultural

This was a really funny book. The book was about a man name Sung who was not scared of anything. He would have picnics in graveyards and take naps in haunted houses. One day he went to visit his friend and stayed for a very long time. It was dark when Sung decided to leave and his friend told him that he should stay the night because many people have vanished traveling on the road Sung needed to travel in order to get home late at night; however, Sung was not scared. When Sung was traveling on the road a ghost jumped out at him. The ghost asked Sung who he was and Sung flipped the question on the ghost and asked the ghost the same question. The ghost told Sung that he was a ghost and Sung told the ghost that he (Sung) was also a ghost. Sung told the ghost they must be cousins. The ghost followed Sung all the way back to his town and on the way there Sung asked the ghost different things about being a ghost. The ghost told Sung never let anyone spit on you because you can not change your form once someone spits on you. When Sung and the ghost arrived in Sung’s town that is when Sung tricked the ghost. Sung tricked the ghost into turning into a ram and when he did Sung spat on the ghost, so the ghost could not change his form. Sung sold the ram for 1,500 copper coins.

This book could be read to students to teach them not to be scared of things. Also, you could use this book to teach students about the Chinese culture. This book was one of the first ghost stories to appear in print in China.

Birmingham, 1963 By: Carole Boston Weatherford- Historical

Birmingham, 1963 by: Carole Boston Weatherford-
Historical
This book was about when the main character (a little girl) turned 10 years old. She talked about all the things that happened in her life when she turned 10 such as: missing school to march with other children, she listened to Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, and most importantly the day the church in Birmingham was bombed and claimed the lives of 4 young girls. The main character talks about how many people where hurt doing that bombing and how the church looked afterwards. The main characters family was outraged and she just wished she was 9 again. When she turned 10 there was no birthday cake with candles, just cinders and ash. The ending on the book had a picture of the 4 girls that died in the bombing and a little excerpt about each girl.

I really enjoyed reading this book because the pictures were amazing. The pictures were not drawn that look like they were actual portraits from that time. The pictures gave you a real life feeling and it made you feel like you were there a part of the action. The pictures seem to be pictures that were taken by someone and collected.

The way you could use this book in the classroom is when you are doing a lesson on equal rights and what happen doing the time period of segregation. This book can give the students incite on the things African American children went through doing this time period, because the main character was only 10 years old. Also, this book could be a part of a book flood. You can add this book to the classroom library and allow students to read it on their own time.

Emma And The Silk Train: Historial Literature Written By:Julie Lawson Illustration by: Paul Mombourquette

Emma

Who is brave, determined.

Who is sister of Charlie.

Who loves silk.

Who feels happy.

Who needs silk.

Who fears being alone.

Who would like to see silk trains.

Who is a resident of New York.

By: PJ- student at Aversboro Elem. 5th grade

Anansi a tale from the Ashanti The Spider- Multicultural By: Gerald McDermott

Anansi a tale from the Ashanti The Spider
By: Gerald McDermott- Multicultural Literature

This book was a really great book on how families work together and also one could relate this book to team work. Anansi was a spider who had six sons and all of his sons had special powers. Anansi left home one day and he went really, really far away. Anansi got lost and his son See Trouble seen his father was in trouble so he told his others brothers. All of Anansi sons went out looking for him. The spiders found Anansi because Anansi son Road Builder built a road to reach their father and when they found Anansi a fish had eaten him, so his son River Drinker drank all of the water out of the river. Anansi son Game Skinner split the fish in half and once he did a Falcon came through and took Anansi into the sky. So Anansi son Stone Thrower threw a stone and hit the Falcon and Anansi fell through the sky. Anansi son Cushion seen him falling and ran to help his father. Anansi came down on Cushion, and the spider family was very happy. Anansi felt like his sons deserved a gift, so he asked Nyame to help him decide on which son to give a gift. Nyame and Anansi could not decide which son to give the gift to, so Nyame put the moon in the sky for everyone to use. I think this would be a good book to talk about family roles with students. Everyone has a role in their family however; some student’s roles are different from others. You could also teach the students how to work as a team, all of the spiders in the book worked together to accomplish one goal and that was to save their father. I really enjoyed reading this book.

Jack, Skinny Bones, and the Golden Pancakes: Folk Literature Written by: M.C. Helldorfer Illstrations by: Elise Primavera

Jack, Skinny Bones, and the Golden Pancakes: Folk Literature
Written by: M.C. Helldorfer Illustrations by: Elise Primavera

This book was about a child that was left in the desert and a dog found him and carried him home. The dog was owned by an old lady named Granny Trick who was mean, and when the dog found the little boy he was really trying to run away; however, he found the boy so he decided to go back home. Granny Trick was mean to the dog and the boy but the dog would not leave the little boy and once the little boy got older the dog was too old to run away, so the little boy would not leave the dog. Although Granny Trick was mean to them she would not let them leave. The devil came one day and tried to offer her a deal, the deal was she would have to give the devil the little boy and the dog. Granny Trick said no, however the little boy had a plan of his own. The next day the devil came the little boy gave the devil pancakes that were made with hot mustard and when the devil said “WATER, WATER” a flood came and swept Granny Trick and the devil out of the house. So in the end the little boy and the dog never saw Granny Trick or the devil again.
When I first read this book, I had no clue what was going on; so I had to read the book again. After reading the book again I noticed that it was not as bad as I thought it was in the beginning. The book was actually funny. So a way I would use this book in my class is as a read aloud. In my opinion this book really did not have a strong message, and if any thing I would say the message was treat others how you want to be treated. I would spark a conversation with the students about how they would feel if the things that happened in the book to the little boy happened to them. I would just talk to the students about treating everyone nicely so people will like you as a person.

Martin Bridge In High Gear- Science Fiction Written by: Jessica Scott Kerrin Illustrated by: Joseph Kelly (Chapter Book)

Martin Bridge In High Gear- Science Fiction Written by: Jessica Scott Kerrin Illustrated by: Joseph Kelly (Chapter Book)

When I read this book I thought it would be a good book to incorporate into the classroom. This was a chapter book but the two chapters that were in the book were topics that pertained to students in elementary school.
The first chapter was about a yearly science fair that is held at Martin’s (main character) school. The teacher put the students into groups and the students had to decide on a theme for their project. All of the students in the group except one was helping out with the project and doing their fair share. The student that did not help the other student’s name was Gibson, he would come late to every meeting and he didn’t help the students clean the beach; which was what their whole project was about. So the other students were really mad, and they decided they would let the teacher know what was going on in the group. The teachers told the students they should talk to Gibson about the situation and see if he starts to carry his own weight. So the students did but that did not seem to help. At the end of the project the students had 20 tickets to share among all of the group members. The students decided on who they thought did the most work and that student got the most tickets. The students put their names on the tickets and the teacher gathered the tickets and placed them in a hat. The group gave Gibson one ticket because he did not work as hard as the other students. When the teacher pulled the name for the prize for the most hard work Gibson received the prize. Gibson’s group was really upset because they knew he did not deserve to win the prize, however they gave him a ticket so he had just as much of a chance at winning as the other students did. This chapter could be used to teach students responsibility. I never liked working in groups because I always felt like I did all the work.
The second chapter was about how Martin got a new bike and he rode it once and someone stole it from him. After his bike was stolen he was upset, however, he found a place where they take old recycle bicycles and rebuild them. So Martin decided he would help out in the shop every Saturday so he could rebuild his own bicycle. He helped make his own bike so it was more special to him. While working in the shop Martin learned some new things about bikes and he felt his bike was important to him because he helped make it. So a lesson that could be learned from this is sometimes it is good to work for things you want instead of your parents buying you things all the time; you never know the things you can learn from working to buy something you want really bad.

Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons: Non- Fiction

Thanksgiving Day by Gail Gibbons: Non- Fiction

This book was a little wordy. It was not a bad book but it was not my favorite. The book was about Thanksgiving and where it all comes from. I think this book is important because every student do not celebrate Thanksgiving so for the students who do not celebrate it they can learn from this book. They can learn were the whole concepts of Thanksgiving comes from and what many families do on Thanksgiving. Students that do not celebrate Thanksgiving they can tell the class the things they do celebrate and students who does celebrate Thanksgiving can tell the other students the things they eat or do for this special day. The book talks about the pilgrims and how they came to America and why they were so thankful. The author tells the readers how the pilgrims learned how to hunt, plant corn, beans, and pumpkins and who taught them. Also, the author talks about a little girl that celebrate Thanksgiving and the things her and her family eat and do on that day. The book was very informative; however I believe students should read this book on their own because it is too long to read aloud. Maybe this book could be in a reading center; so if students do want to learn more about Thanksgiving it is there for them.

Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson: Fiction (Chapter Book)

Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson: Fiction (Chapter Book)

I really loved reading this book. The book reminded me of my best friend and I relationship, because when my best friend and I was in the 9th grade she had to move away and we both were really upset about the situation. We prayed and prayed that her mom would change her mind about moving, but her mom did not change her mind. So we both felt like Margaret did in the book, we felt like God did not answer our prayers.

In this book Margaret and Maizon are best friends and they live a couple houses down from each other. They attend the same elementary school and they have been friends for about 6 years. The two may not be family, but they feel like sisters. The two are not so much alike but they get along well and they do everything together. One summer Maizon takes a test that will allow her to go to school in Connecticut. Maizon grandmother tells her that this is a really good school and her grandmother wanted Maizon to get the best education. All summer long Margaret was praying that Maizon did not get into the school because she did not want her best friend to move away. Margaret felt like everything was being taken away from her because during that summer her father died from cancer, so she did not want Maizon to be taken from her too. Towards the end of the summer Maizon gets her acceptance letter because she passes the test and instead of Margaret being happy she was upset and sad. Maizon goes to this school in Connecticut and Margaret does not hear anything from her for a few months; then Margaret gets a call from Maizon. Maizon was really upset and she told Margaret she wanted to come home, and she did not like the school. Maizon comes back home and Margaret was happy to have her best friend back. Maizon tells Margaret all about her experience in Connecticut and their friendship goes back the way it was before Maizon left.

I like this book because you can use this book in the classroom in many ways. You can teach students about friendship, what to do after losing someone in their family, and how to make other friends. In the book Margaret lost her father to cancer, her best friend moved away, and none of the other students really liked her in school because she was friends with Maizon. Students can learn about the importance of friendship from this book because the two girls told each other everything. The two girls did everything together and when Margaret lost her father Maizon was there to comfort her. Students can learn how to be a true friend from Maizon and Margaret’s relationship.

Cinderella Rap

The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale Retold by: Angela Elwell Hunt Illustrations by: Tim Jonke

The Tale of Three Trees: A Traditional Folktale

Retold by Angela Elwell Hunt Illustrations by: Tim Jonke

I really enjoyed reading this book. The book was about three little trees that sat on top of a hill and they told the readers what they wanted to be when they grew up. One tree wanted to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. The second tree wanted to be a strong sailing ship. And the third tree wanted to stay and live on the mountaintop and grow so tall that when people stop to look at it they would raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. However, year’s later three woodcutters climbed the mountain and cut down the three growing trees. The first tree was turned into a feed box for animals; the second tree was made into a small ship; and the third was confused when the woodcutter cut it into strong beams and left it in a lumberyard. However in the end all of the trees where made into something for God. The first tree was made into a manger; the second into a boat that many travelers traveled in; and the third was made into the cross that Jesus carried through the town and was nailed to. So all of the trees where made into something that God wanted them to be made into, and they all thought it was better than what they wanted to be when they grew up.

I think it would be a little hard to use this book in the classroom because every student does not believe in God. I do not think it would be a good idea to incorporate this into a lesson because some parents may get very angry that you are teaching their child about God, if that is not what they believe in. Maybe you can talk about a creator in general instead of God, because most religion believes in some higher being; and incorporate having dreams and aspirations to be something when you grow up.

The illustrations were also great. Tim Jonke painted all of the pictures and the painting brings a sense of depth and wonder to this classic tale. Each painting looks like it was painted by the famous guy who use to come on television.

Cinderella- Fairy Tale by: Barbara mcClintock

Cinderella by: Barbara McClintock

Fairy Tale

This book was mostly like the other Cinderella books, with the exceptions of some parts. I really like the illustration in the book, because the illustration went along with the text; and with children’s books that is an important part of the book, because you do not want the text and illustration to contradict each other. The illustrations where very colorful and the pictures gave all of the characters distinct features. The story was about a little girl name Cinderella who was having a wonderful life until her mother died and her father remarried another woman. Her stepmother started off being really nice, and then she began to be very mean to Cinderella. Her stepmother had three daughters and all four of them would not treat Cinderella like a human. Cinderella was never allowed to go anywhere or do anything because they made her clean up all the time. One day Cinderella went to the ball, without her stepmother or sisters knowing about it. She had to leave the ball before 12am, because all of her clothes would turn back into the dirty rags that she wore before her fairy godmother changed them. The Prince fell in love with Cinderella; however, Cinderella ran off at 12am and lost one slipper. All the girls in the town were fitted for the shoe because the Prince was going to marry the girl who could fit the glass slipper. Cinderella could fit the shoe, so she and the Prince got married. The part in the story that always makes me laugh is when Cinderella gets fitted for the slipper and she can wear it. After that happen her stepsisters are shocked, and then they start being nice to her, because before they were really mean to her and they just used her to cook and clean for them. You can use this in the classroom when you are teaching students about morals and values. Students can learn from this book, teach others how you would like to be treated.

The Story of Jackie Robinson, Bravest Man in Baseball- Biography (Chapter Book)

The Story of Jackie Robinson Bravest Man in Baseball

Biography

This chapter book was a really good book. I have heard a lot about Jackie Robinson’s life story but I didn’t know as much stuff about him as I do now. I didn’t know that he was an all around good athlete. Jackie Robinson played football, basketball, baseball, and he ran track. When I read this in the book I was really surprised because you rarely find anyone who can play all of these sports and they are good at all of them.

The book talked about Jackie Robinson’s life and all the different struggles he had to overcome as an African American athlete. Jackie Robinson played baseball when American was still really segregated so people would always talk bad (especially fans) about him because of the color of his skin. When Jackie first started playing baseball he could not just go straight to an “white” baseball team because people was not having that, so Jackie had to start off playing for “black” teams such as the Kansas City Monarchs so people could see how good of a player he was. So Branch Rickey knew all about Jackie and he wanted to sign him to the Royals, but he needed Jackie to agree first to play for the Monarchs. After playing a short season with Kansas City Jackie was signed to the Montreal Royals. The fans and players did not like an African American playing on their team, so they would make racist comments to Jackie to try to make him quiet. However, that just made Jackie much stronger. After the fans and players on the team seem that Jackie was not backing down and that he was a really good player, they started to accept Jackie. Jackie leads the teams to many wins and World Series championships. Jackie got married to Rachel in 1946 and they had three children together. In 1947 Jackie was named the Rookie of the Year and at age 36 he retired from baseball. But not only was Jackie an athlete he also served in the U.S. Army during World War II. And after he retired from baseball he became heavily involved in the NAACP and other humanitarian activities he always felt like he needed to help the African American race as a whole. Jackie died at age 53.

The book had some illustrations but they really were not good illustrations. Maybe because this is a really old book, but the illustrations didn’t tell you anything about the words that were on that page, so the text and the pictures didn’t match. The illustrations were all in black and white so I really didn’t get any feeling from the pictures, and many times I just looked right over them. However, overall this was a really good book. It is a really easy read and I am sure students who are very interested in sports would enjoy reading this book.

The Watson's Go to Birmingham- 1963 (Chapter Book)- Historical Fiction

The Watson’s Go to Birmingham- 1963- Historical Fiction

This book was a really awesome book! I got this book on Jan. 21 and I was finish on Jan.23. Once I started reading this book I just could not stop. I was up really late reading this book, and I finally told myself that I needed to go to sleep and that I could read more tomorrow. At first I didn’t know if I wanted to read this book because it was the longest out of the four books, and I felt like I was not going to be able to read it within a week (I think I read a little slow). However, when the author Christopher Curtis writes in this book he actually make you feel like you are there or at least you can visualize it in your mind, so I didn’t want to put the book down. He uses really descriptive words to get his point across and I really like that. When reading this book in some spots I found myself laughing and smiling and in others spots I found myself feeling sad. Curtis really knows how to make his readers feel how the characters are feeling. I really like the way the Curtis named the chapters, because I found myself reading and trying to find out where the name of the chapter was in the text. I became really curious to know what that particular chapter was going to be about, because sometimes the names of the chapters were very funny. It is really hard for me to decide on a favorite part in the book because I liked the whole book, but if I have to choose one part it would have to be chapter 5. This chapter was when Byron got caught playing with matches again and momma was going to burn him. I was really laughing when I read this chapter. Joey the little sister was always trying to keep Bryon out of trouble but he always seemed to find trouble somewhere.

I can relate to Kenny a little bit, but not a whole lot because I was not the middle child. However, I am the youngest child of five children and my sister that is right over me used to bully me all the time. She never wanted me to hang out with her and her friends because I was younger than her, and I guess she did not think I was cool enough for her and her friends. So my mom would make me go where ever she went and my sister hated that. My sister would try to pick fights with me, so I would tell my mom that I would rather stay at home. But now my sister and I relationship is totally different. It is like we did a complete 360 because now my sister wants to hang out with me all the time, which is funny because she is 24 and I am 20. However, just like Bryon and Kenny at the end of the book became closer to each other that is exactly how my sister and I are. I really enjoyed this book, and I am glad I chose this book to read. After reading this book by this author it makes me want to read Curtis other book “Bud, Not Buddy”.