Illustrated Novel

Author Guest Post: “Brother and Sister Team Co-Author a Children’s Fiction Series Filled with Adventure, Fun, and SEL Opportunities” by Tara Mesalik MacMahon, Author of Closet of Dreams, with Teacher’s Guide Author Sandra Bennett, M. Ed.

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“Brother and Sister Team Co-Author a Children’s Fiction Series Filled with Adventure, Fun, and SEL Opportunities”

Hi. I’m Tara Mesalik MacMahon, Closet of Dreams co-author with my brother Mark Ukra.  Mark is a HarperCollins author and I’m a James Hearst Poetry Prize winning poet. Most recently we teamed to pen Closet of Dreams, the first book in this children’s book series, The Adventures of Child and Gamma.

We based Closet of Dreams on our own childhood “Closet of Dreams,” where the make-believe world of Child, Gamma and their amazing animal friends came to life. Mark was “Child,” a nine-year old orphan boy who dreams big, and I was “Gamma,” his grandmother, once a pitcher in the American Women’s Baseball League, and with whom Child lives. The book transports readers into Child and Gamma’s fantastical adventures, and as Gamma always says, “when your fears disappear, your dreams appear!”

Though little in good writing comes easily, Mark and I quickly realized the adventures of this cast of characters had a lot more to offer than just a fun read. Closet of Dreams, (and we foresee the entire series), is filled with SEL and other learning opportunities.

So, to better reach the classroom, or homeschool, or counselors—we connected with educators, Sandra Bennett, M. Ed., and Myles Bennett, BA. Ed. to create an educator’s guide for the book. They even took the extra leap and also created a companion Closet of Dreams Workbook with fifty downloadable pdf worksheets.

I’ve asked Sandra Bennett to join me for this article and she agreed to answer some questions about our Educator’s Guide and share her views on the value of these guides in general.

T: Hi Sandy, thanks for being here. Sandy’s a 25-year veteran Master elementary school teacher, now teaching 4th grade at Dan D. Rogers Elementary School in Dallas, Texas.  She has a M. Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from Texas Tech University.

S: Thanks for including me in this incredible project, Tara.

T: My pleasure, Sandy, and it’s my brother’s and my great luck to work with you and Myles. My first question is: You’ve been an elementary school teacher for a long time, a star reading and writing teacher, Texas Education Agency Master Teacher, the highest designation, and therefore a very good person to ask: what made you think Closet of Dreams would be a good book for the classroom and candidate for a companion educator’s guide and workbook?

S: While reading the book, I recognized many social-emotional learning connections that could be made in the classroom.  SEL is so important for our elementary students.  We have morning meetings that focus on SEL, but I am always looking for ways to make those connections for kids in relation to their academic subjects, as well.

T: Could you elaborate on the kinds of SEL connections you found in Closet of Dreams?

S: The most obvious topic would be bullying.  The main character, Child, is bullied by a group of kids.  The action begins on the first page, so the kids jump right into it. Additionally, Child has to identify his emotional support structures when he feels alone or afraid. This provides an excellent chance for students to reflect on people in their own lives who can be counted on in times of stress.  Empathy is also threaded through this novel, as well. The more students are presented with these SEL concepts, the deeper the internalization, creating a lasting impact.

T: “Emotional support structures” for kids–that’s so important, and empathy, too, as SEL concepts. Could you also share here a bit about character identification? With which characters in Closest of Dreams did your students most identify?

S: I think students identified with the main character, Child, who is bullied by a group of peers.  Most kids have experienced some form of uncomfortable interaction with their peers by mid-elementary school.  Some experiences may not be as intense, but they can learn from the way Child handles himself in his situation.

At the end of the book, Child feels empathetic toward Eddie (the bully).  I think this presents an opportunity for those conversations that consider why people treat others badly. Young readers get a glimpse of what Eddie may go through at home and how that contributes to his actions.

Gamma and Randi (Child’s best friend) are strong supporters of Child, especially as he loses confidence in himself.  I think it’s important for kids to see examples of that support so that they can recognize those relationships in their own lives. Everyone wants a friend like Randi, but it’s also just as important for kids to examine their own contributions to their relationships with others.

T: I believe the ending of the book surprised even my brother Mark and me, this scene with Child and Eddie, where the bullied consoles the bullier—Mark and I both learned a lot from that moment. And your Closet of Dreams Workbook certainly does a thoughtful job probing into so many of the SEL aspects of the book. But the workbook offers other types of learning opportunities as well. Could you talk about those with some specifics, what they are and why you selected them?

S: As a reading and writing teacher, I wanted to choose some standards that elementary students should be practicing.  Some worksheet topics are cause and effect, vocabulary, and inference.  There are many short writing exercises, as well, where students are asked to provide the evidence for their answers.  I’ve also included reflection pages that are more SEL-based, but still provide students with writing exercises.  There is at least one worksheet per chapter.

T: Sandy, would you like to share anything else with the “Unleashing Readers” audience?

S: I am so excited to be a part of this Closet of Dreams project. It was so much fun creating activities that engage students and allow them to show off their creativity. After I’d finished the project, I still had all of these ideas swirling around in my head, so I decided to create the downloadable worksheets.  The worksheets allow flexibility for individual students, small groups, or whole class instruction. As a teacher, I know that there are so many ways to use books like this in the classroom.

T: Thanks again, Sandy. The workbook and educator’s guide take Closet of Dreams learning possibilities to a new level. We’re so grateful to you and Myles.

And to readers here, I hope you have an opportunity to check-out Closet of Dreams and the companion Teacher’s Guide and Workbook.

And please stay tuned for Book II in the series with companion Bennett and Bennett educator’s guide and workbook. In this second exciting adventure, Child, Gamma, and their animal friends race to rescue Starr, a magical baby elephant in Botswana.

Published March 2024 by BookLogix

About the Book: In Closet of Dreams (March 2024), the debut title in “The Adventures of Child and Gamma” chapter book series, brother and sister co-authors Mark Ukra and Tara Mesalik MacMahon tell young readers, “When your fears disappear, your dreams appear!”

An aspiring pitcher with a mean fastball, nine-year-old Child wants nothing more than to be on his local little league team. But the team is dwindling and to make matters worse, Child has a gang of bullies targeting him. He confides in his grandmother, Gamma, and she sends him to the Closet of Dreams, a place she invented for Child so that he’d have a safe place to go when he gets scared.

A star-pitcher back in her day, Gamma now works at the Kids Park where retired circus animals spend their days. When Child sees his animal friends have hidden talents, he turns to them for help. Can Child put his fears aside and save his team?

In this charming chapter book, readers will delight in a magical story of friendship and talking animals. The authors were inspired by their own childhood’s “closet of dreams,” where the make-believe world of Child and Gamma originally came to life.

About the Authors: Co-authors Mark Ukra (Child) and Tara Mesalik MacMahon (Gamma) are brother and sister and lifelong best friends. Mark is the author of The Ultimate Tea Diet (HarperCollins), and Tara is a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet and award-winning author of Barefoot Up the Mountain (Open Country Press). Her poems appear widely in literary journals and anthologies, including those from Red Hen Press, Nimrod International Journal, Poet Lore, Jabberwock Review, among many others.

Mark and Tara based Closet of Dreams upon their own childhood Closet of Dreams, where the make-believe world of Child and Gamma came to life. Mark was “Child”; Tara was “Gamma.” Book II is already in the works, where Child and his friends race to rescue Starr, a magical baby elephant in Botswana. Learn more at: www.childandgamma.com.

Thank you, Tara and Sandra, for shining a light on the uses for Closet of Dreams in the classroom!

Educators’ Guide for The Puppets of Spelhorst by Kate DiCamillo

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The Puppets of Spelhorst
Author: Kate DiCamillo
Illustrator: Julie Morstad
Published: October 10th, 2023 by Candlewick Press

Summary: From master storyteller Kate DiCamillo comes an original fairy tale—with enchanting illustrations by Julie Morstad—in which five puppets confront circumstances beyond their control with patience, cunning, and high spirits.

Shut up in a trunk by a taciturn old sea captain with a secret, five friends—a king, a wolf, a girl, a boy, and an owl—bicker, boast, and comfort one another in the dark. Individually, they dream of song and light, freedom and flight, purpose and glory, but they all agree they are part of a larger story, bound each to each by chance, bonded by the heart’s mysteries. When at last their shared fate arrives, landing them on a mantel in a blue room in the home of two little girls, the truth is more astonishing than any of them could have imagined. A beloved author of modern classics draws on her most moving themes with humor, heart, and wisdom in the first of the Norendy Tales, a projected trio of novellas linked by place and mood, each illustrated in black and white by a different virtuoso illustrator. A magical and beautifully packaged gift volume designed to be read aloud and shared, The Puppets of Spelhorst is a tale that soothes and strengthens us on our journey, leading us through whatever dark forest we find ourselves in.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation and Discussion Questions: 

Please view and enjoy The Puppets of Spelhorst educators’ guide I created for Candlewick Press:

You can also access the educators’ guide here.

You can learn more about The Puppets of Spelhorst on Candlewick’s page.

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Pigeon Private Detectives #1: The Case of the Missing Tarts by Christee Curran-Bauer

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Pigeon Private Detectives #1: The Case of the Missing Tarts
Author: Christee Curran-Bauer
Published August 29th, 2023 by Union Square & Co.

Summary: The Pigeon Detectives are looking forward to devouring a delectable platter of jam tarts—until the tasty treats are stolen from right under their beaks! With tummies grumbling, the PPD are on the hunt for clues, but can the detectives recover the tarts in time before they are all eaten—or worse—stale? As the list of suspects grows longer, our heroes wonder if they’ll ever catch the thief jam-handed.

Pigeon Private Detectives: The Case of the Missing Tarts, Christee Curran-Bauer’s author-illustrator debut, pokes fun at detective procedurals with kid-friendly humor!

Praise: 

“[W]ith a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor and plenty of puns. The narrative, told through a mix of comic book–style panels and prose, is brought to life with crisp-lined cartoons with mostly pastel tones and a bit of film noir thrown in when the mood is right. An enjoyable homage to the dramatic mystery.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Readers will flock to Curran-Bauer’s lighthearted mystery. A glossary defining detective terms and a fact sheet conclude.” —Publishers Weekly

“Full of clues and coos, The Case of the Missing Tarts is a delightful and delicious detective tale!” –John Patrick Green, author of the InvestiGators series

About the Author: Christee Curran-Bauerhas a BFA from Pratt Institute in communications design/illustration, and is a proud member of The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Christee is a Jersey girl currently living in Virginia Beach with her family and spoiled French bulldog. She invites you to visit her at christeewithadoublee.blogspot.com and on Twitter at @ChristeeDoubleE.

Review: This book is going to be a great ladder between early readers and longer chapter books as it is an introduction to pages with a bit longer text but it is mixed with paneled pages. This aspect, combined with the cartoon-esque illustrations, is going to lend itself to finding so many readers. Oh, and everyone loves a mystery, and this series is off to a great start with its first case. I also was a fan of the three pigeons, their different personalities, job focuses, and sense of style.

Tools for Navigation: The mystery of this text lends itself directly to predicting. Readers can look at clues and make guesses right along side the Pigeon Private Detectives! Also, the book takes the reader through 6 steps of an investigation which could lead directly to activities and could even be compared to the scientific method. OH! And with so much baking in the book–a baking cross-curricular activity would fit right in.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Follow the investigative steps with the Pigeon Private Detectives. Did you predict who the culprit was? If so, what clues did you use? If not, what tricked you and what did you miss?

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Read This If You Love: Mysteries, animal chapter books

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**Thank you to Jenny at Union Square for providing a copy for review!**

Author Guest Post: “What is it Like to be a Dog?” by Dr. John Bradshaw, Author of A First Guide to Dogs: Understanding Your Very Best Friend

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“What is it Like to be a Dog?”

My middle-schooler grandkids love their superheroes. Posters of their favorites adorn their bedroom walls, their T-shirts feature costumed crusaders extolling their superpowers. Yet few parents realize that the family dog has his or her own set of superpowers, not so flashy as those of their two-legged fictional counterparts, but, in their own way, just as enthralling. If only more people would take the time to wonder, “what is it like to be a dog?” (or, indeed, any other animal).

Imaginary worlds are the very stuff of childhood, and nowadays we have the knowledge to stretch children’s imaginations to include the worlds of animals as well as humans and their ilk. Over the past hundred years or so, science has revealed just how many differences there are between reality as we know it, and the many parallel but distinctive realities inhabited by other animals. The family dog is probably the most accessible example, but any animal could serve, whether the family cat, a small furry, or even a bird perched on a wire outside an apartment window. Any one of these could lead to valuable insights into how the animals around us live in their own worlds.

Dogs make great subjects for such flights of fancy, and not only because they’re so familiar to us. Their version of the family home overlaps with ours a lot – otherwise we’d find them difficult to live with, and vice versa – but there are also many intriguing differences that I reveal in my book for middle-graders, “A First Guide To Dogs”. Dogs can hear high-pitched sounds that we can’t, they’re red-green color-blind and permanently long-sighted, their sense of smell is thousands of times better than ours, and they have a whole other “nose” that sits between their actual nose and the roof of their mouths, that helps them to decode – and perhaps store – the individual smells of other dogs. Indeed, dogs’ social lives revolve around these smells, hence the care with which they choose a place to pee, and their obsession with sniffing underneath each other’s tails.

It’s not only the physical world that must seem different to a dog. Their minds work differently too, even though their brains are laid out in a similar way to ours. Scientists are still arguing about whether dogs are aware of themselves to the same extent that we are (probably not so much), but we are now sure that their sense of time is different to ours. Dogs live much more in the here-and-now than we do, having only a limited perception of the past and even less of a grasp of the future. This has profound implications for the way they interpret our actions. Most pertinently, they seem unable to understand that whenever we leave the home, they should expect us to return. Left home alone, many dogs fear they have been abandoned for good, raising their stress levels sky-high. A simple training regime can overcome this, but too few owners understand the necessity.

Dogs’ lives can also provide great lessons for thinking about what “well-being” really means. Hold on, surely everyone loves their dog, right? But that’s no guarantee that dogs will always get the happiness they deserve. The problems come when dogs get treated as if they were just little people, not animals with their own priorities. How would middle-schoolers feel if their parents ripped their screens out of their hands every time they saw a message from a friend? Yet that’s exactly what dogs must experience when they’re yanked away from every interesting smell by the leash tightening around their neck.

Dogs – and other animals – can provide a springboard for amazing journeys into other worlds, now that science has given us so much insight into their minds and how they interpret their surroundings. Thinking about dogs, especially, can give us a close-to-home stimulus for the imagination, whether the focus of the class is science, or ethics, even creative writing.

Published June 13th, 2023 by Penguin Workshop

About the Book: Featuring fun illustrations (by Clare Elsom) and easy how-tos from animal expert Dr. John Bradshaw!

Uncovering the secret lives of pets, Dr. John Bradshaw invites young readers to learn more about their closest companions: their dogs! Told from the point of view of Rusty the Terrier, this lively, illustrated book gives kids a front-seat view to the everyday lives of dogs, sharing lessons and growing children into the best pet owners they can be.

★ “Perceptive and engaging—essential reading for anyone seeking greater understanding of their four-legged best friends.” — Kirkus, starred review

About the Author: John Bradshaw is the director of the Anthrozoology Institute at the University of Bristol in the U.K. He has studied the behavior of domestic cats and dogs for more than 25 years.

Thank you, John, for this fun look into the minds of dogs!

Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold by Mark Leiknes

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Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold
Author: Mark Leiknes
Published September 13th, 2022 by Union Square Kids

Summary: Comics artist Mark Leiknes delivers a laugh-out-loud story set in a fantastic world of dragons, rock creatures, and golden loungewear.

The Quest Kids are ready for their first real quest. This time, they won’t oversleep, they won’t be put off by a little rain, and they won’t accidentally burn down the village that hired them. All they have to do is find the Golden-Fleeced Rage Beast, shave it, and make a really nice golden tracksuit to appease a furious dragon. Simple, right?

Meet the Quest Kids crew: Gil, a wizard (well, wizard in training . . . the beard isn’t his); Terra, a 700-year-old elf kid; Boulder, a rock troll who is more of a cook than a fighter; Ash, a flatulent pig-dog-maybe-lizard hybrid; and, Ned, the intrepid and overly optimistic leader with his own personal quest to find his missing parents. With humor, magic, mystery, and at least one acid swamp filled with skeletal alligators, Quest Kids and the Dragon Pants of Gold is a richly illustrated saga of fantasy friendship for readers from all kingdoms!

Praise: “Young readers dipping their toes into fantasy realms will find plenty to enjoy here….The illustrations bounce along as quickly as the text, making this a bubbly read, one that quickly grabs attention and doesn’t require much hand-holding…. A rip-roaring good time.” — Kirkus Reviews

About the Author: Mark Leiknes lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with his wife and three kids. He produced a nationally syndicated comic strip (Cow & Boy) for eight years and now he writes and illustrates books for kids. Mark studied graphic design in college and honed his comedic chops studying improv and sketch comedy at the acclaimed Groundlings School. Visit him online at markleiknes.com.

Review: This book is perfect for readers of highly illustrated novels, like Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries, that want to move into a more fantasy book but keep the illustrations and the humor. The book has parts that will make the reader laugh out loud but also is filled with magic, an epic quest, and likeable characters. It is a wonderful addition to middle grade classroom, school, and public libraries!

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Quest Kids follows a hero’s journey, albeit in a ridiculously silly way, so it would be a great introduction to this concept because the book is so engaging to its readers.

Discussion Questions: 

  • How did the author use comics and prose together to tell the story?
  • Each character had a specific purpose in the book/quest. For each character, determine what their purpose was.
  • What do the quest kids show us about failure?
  • How does the dragon show us that you cannot judge a person by first impressions?
  • Many of the character reveals something within the book. What was the most surprising reveal?
  • How is this quest different than they expected when they began it?

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Read This If You Love: Highly illustrated novels but want to read some more fantasy and keep the humor1

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**Thank you to Union Square for providing a copy for review!**

Author Guest Post: “Understand the Rules, Then Forget Them” by Erin Entrada Kelly, Author of Surely Surely Marisol Rainey

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“Understand the Rules, Then Forget Them”

I run a kids book club at my local library. It’s for ages eight to twelve. Each month, we read and discuss a middle grade book then complete a related activity. After we read The Year I Flew Away by Marie Arnold, we created a mural inspired by Haitian art. For Jennifer L. Holm’s The Lion of Mars, one of the students crafted a clay astronaut. To celebrate Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, we excavated bugs.

One afternoon, as we prepared to discuss Dan Santat’s The Aquanaut, I pulled paper and pencils out of my bag. One of the young readers, Anthony, wrinkled his nose.

“Oh, no,” he said. “We’re not gonna write, are we?”

As a lifelong writer, it’s difficult for me to imagine not wanting to write. But over the years I have come to accept a disappointing reality: A lot of kids really hate writing. For them, it feels like work.

“I’m not good at it,” Anthony said. With a tilted whine to his voice, he added: “I haaaate writing.”

While it’s true that some young people hate writing, will forever hate writing, and will instead excel in some other trade or craft, it’s my mission, as a lifelong wordsmith, to make them hate it a little less.

One of the ways to do that is to eliminate all the qualities about writing that feel like work. Anything that shackles them. Anything that limits their imagination. When our goal is to simply create something, without worrying whether it’s grammatically correct or good or even readable, we are suddenly free to make mistakes. And if there’s one thing I know about young people—they don’t like making mistakes. It’s the mistakes that often prevent them from trying. It’s the mistakes that make them think they’re not good at something.

What if we limit the possibility of error? What if we create simply for the joy of creating?

Here are a few things I’ve done with students.

  • Toss the rules. Give students a writing prompt and encourage them to respond however they want. Tell them not to worry about any rules of grammar or spelling. They won’t be graded on either. In fact, they won’t be graded at all. It will be a ten-minute writing sprint and that’s it. Afterward, give them the freedom of choice: They can keep what they wrote, share it with a friend, or toss it in the trash.
  • Encourage storythinking. When you read books together, stop at the end of each chapter and ask them what they think will happen next. If too many students answer at once, take differing answers from two or three students then take a poll with the rest of the class. If you want to incorporate writing, ask your students to write one or two sentences with their predictions. They don’t need to show their predictions to anyone if they don’t want to.
  • Encourage storytelling. When you finish reading a chapter or a book, ask them how they would have written it to make it more interesting. I ask my book club these questions all the time. Their answer is almost always the same: “More dragons.” In their opinion, dragons always make things more interesting. If your students say “more dragons,” your instinct may be similar to mine—you’ll find yourself explaining why dragons aren’t logical in a story like Charlotte’s Web. But instead of launching into your logical explanation, why not embrace all their ideas? That’s what I did with my book club, and they were immediately engaged, firing off one idea after another, until they reached the end of their own story. For me, the importance of the moment wasn’t to force them to think critically about Charlotte’s Web. It was to get them excited about stories and all the possibilities they offer.

To develop a love of writing, we must develop a love of creativity, a love of storytelling, and an appreciation of how words create stories. Rules, logic, grammar, spelling—all of these sound like work. Because they are work. They serve a purpose, certainly, but they also confine us.

There are times when it’s okay to prioritize creativity above all else, and let the work come later. As grown-ups, we often forget that.

Published August 9th, 2022 by Greenwillow Books

About the Book: Everyone loves sports . . . except Marisol! The stand-alone companion to Newbery Medal winner and New York Times-bestselling Erin Entrada Kelly’s Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey is an irresistible and humorous story about friendship, family, and fitting in. Fans of Clementine, Billy Miller Makes a Wish, and Ramona the Pest will find a new friend in Marisol.

Marisol Rainey’s two least-favorite things are radishes and gym class. She avoids radishes with very little trouble, but gym is another story–especially when Coach Decker announces that they will be learning to play kickball.

There are so many things that can go wrong in kickball. What if Marisol tries to kick the ball . . . but falls down? What if she tries to catch the ball and gets smacked in the nose? What if she’s the worst kickballer in the history of kickball? Marisol and her best friend Jada decide to get help from the most unlikely–and most annoying–athlete in the world: Marisol’s big brother, Oz.

Told in short chapters with illustrations by the author on almost every page, Erin Entrada Kelly’s stand-alone companion novel to Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey celebrates the small but mighty Marisol, the joys of friendship, the power of being different, and the triumph of persevering.

About the Author: New York Times–bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly was awarded the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space. She grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and now lives in Delaware. She is a professor of children’s literature in the graduate fiction and publishing programs at Rosemont College, where she earned her MFA, and is on the faculty at Hamline University. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Philippines Free Press Literary Award for Short Fiction and the Pushcart Prize. Erin Entrada Kelly’s debut novel, Blackbird Fly, was a Kirkus Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an ALSC Notable Book, and an Asian/Pacific American Literature Honor Book. She is also the author of The Land of Forgotten Girls, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature; You Go First, a Spring 2018 Indie Next Pick; Lalani of the Distant Sea, an Indie Next Pick; and Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey which she also illustrated.

Thank you, Erin, for this reminder to allow kids to write freely!

Guest Post: Classroom Uses for Jo Jo Makoons by Dawn Quigley, Length of a String by Elissa Brent Weissman, Melissa by Alex Gino, and Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

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One of the assignments during my Spring Children’s Literature course at UCF was creating a mini-teaching guide for the books we read for book clubs. We started with picture books for practice then students created them in their book clubs each week.

Today, I am happy to share the classroom uses and discussion questions found by my UCF Elementary Education students about these realistic fiction books.

Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-be Best Friend
Author: Dawn Quigley
Illustrator: Tara Audibert
Published May 11th, 2021 by Heartdrum

Summary: Hello/Boozhoo—meet Jo Jo Makoons, a spunky young Ojibwe girl who loves who she is.

Jo Jo Makoons Azure is a spirited seven-year-old who moves through the world a little differently than anyone else on her Ojibwe reservation. It always seems like her mom, her kokum (grandma), and her teacher have a lot to learn—about how good Jo Jo is at cleaning up, what makes a good rhyme, and what it means to be friendly.

Even though Jo Jo loves her #1 best friend Mimi (who is a cat), she’s worried that she needs to figure out how to make more friends. Because Fern, her best friend at school, may not want to be friends anymore…

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book can be used in the classroom as a tool to show the students that it’s important not to assume what another student is thinking. It is always best to vocalize concerns

Discussion Questions: 

  • Describe what a reservation is according to the book?
  • Why did Kokum (grandma) move in with Jo Jo and her mom?
  • In what ways are cats and balloons different?
  • Why did Jo Jo Makoons cut the toes out of her socks? What did she do with them?
  • What happens when Jo Jo takes Mimi to school?
  • What did the new girl, Susan do when she saw Mimi in the classroom?  How did JoJo feel about Susan’s reaction?
  • What are some ways you may relate to Jo Jo?
  • Has anybody ever felt like they might lose their best friend? Why?
  • How do Jo Jo’s classmates help her see that they are friends at the end of the story.
  • What does it mean to be a good friend to you?
  • What are some positive traits we could learn from Jo Jo?
  • In the Book Jo Jo cut out the toes in her socks. Why did she do this?
  • Why do you feel that Jo Jo felt left out at school?
  • Why was it so important for Jo Jo to bring MiMi to school with her?
  • What ways could JoJo have approached her classmates at lunch before getting upset about eating alone?
  • Why do you feel it’s important for Jo Jo and her family to learn and know the language of her Ojibwe tribe?
  • What could JoJo have done better for her original rhyme to make it better?
  • Like Jo Jo if you had to bring your best friend to class with you, who would it be and why?
  • How did you feel about the nickname Jo Jo made for Chuck?
  • Why do you think Jo Jo thought the Gym teacher’s name was Jim?

Recommended For: 

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The Length of a String
Author: Elissa Brent Weissman
Published May 1st, 2018 by Dial Books

Summary: Imani is adopted, and she’s ready to search for her birthparents. But when she discovers the diary her Jewish great-grandmother wrote chronicling her escape from Holocaust-era Europe, Imani begins to see family in a new way.

Imani knows exactly what she wants as her big bat mitzvah gift: to meet her birthparents. She loves her family and her Jewish community in Baltimore, but she has always wondered where she came from, especially since she’s black and almost everyone she knows is white. When her mom’s grandmother–Imani’s great-grandma Anna–passes away, Imani discovers an old diary among her books. It’s Anna’s diary from 1941, the year she was twelve–the year she fled Nazi-occupied Luxembourg alone, sent by her parents to seek refuge in Brooklyn. Written as a series of letters to the twin sister she had to leave behind, Anna’s diary records her journey to America and her new life with an adopted family. Anna’s diary and Imani’s birthparent search intertwine to tell the story of two girls, each searching for family and identity in her own time and in her own way.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Use this book to discuss and learn about History-World War II/Holocaust, the Jewish faith, and adoption.

This book is educational because it discusses the Holocaust from the point of view of someone who experienced it. It also has an engaging story line that makes readers want to read more to find out what will happen. This book would be very useful when teaching about the Holocaust.

Discussion Questions: 

  • How do you think Imani felt when she started to read about Anna’s life in her diary?
  • Think of a time you felt out of place and write about how that made you feel.
  • Why do you think Imani’s mom cries so much?
  • Have you ever felt a special connection with someone in you family?
  • If you were Imani, would you continue to look for your birth parents?
  • Suppose you wrote a diary about something that you want people/family in the future to know. What would it be about and why?
  • What are some special celebrations that you do with your family?
  • If you were Imani’s friend, what advice would you give her as she goes through this journey?
  • What is something you have that is special that you think you will give to someone in the future?
  • Why do you think people living around Imani insensitive questions?

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Melissa
Author: Alex Gino
Published August 25th, 2018 by Scholastic

Summary: When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she’s not a boy. She knows she’s a girl.

George thinks she’ll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte’s Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can’t even try out for the part . . . because she’s a boy.

With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte — but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This story is a good teachable book where certain themes can be brought up and talked about within the classroom setting. Where students can ask questions that may push boundaries but can be answered in a professional setting. This novel would be useful in the classroom to teach and promote gender diversity. This book would also be great as a classroom library so that students who may be facing these issues will have something relatable to read.

Discussion Questions: 

  • Identify some ways Melissa being trans affected their life.
  • Think about a moment when someone in the book was bullied. What could have been done differently?
  • Why do you think Melissa was so scared to tell her parents about who she is?
  • What does it mean to be an Ally?
  • Describe two ways someone else helped Melissa.
  • Describe Melissa’s disposition throughout the book. How did it change?
  • Do you think that it was a good idea to talk to a therapist about the issues between Melissa and her mom?
  • Write about a time you felt scared to tell someone the truth.
  • If you were in Melissa’s class what would you do to make her feel welcome?
  • Sketch a scene from the book. Why did you pick that scene?
  • Why do you think the author chose to use the pronoun “she” when describing or referring to George?  Does this make a difference to the way you feel about the character?
  • How do you think George feels having to keep this big secret inside?  (Use text evidence to support your claims.)  Have you had to keep a secret about yourself — how does this make you feel?  Without revealing the secret (unless you feel comfortable), share or write about this experience and how you were affected.
  • George eventually reveals her secret to those she cares about.  How does this make her feel?  (Use text evidence to support your claims.)  What are some consequences of “hiding” vs. “being yourself”?
  • What do you think it takes to “be yourself”? What are some pros and cons of being who you are?  What are some other examples of “being yourself” that might be scary for kid?
  • Share or write about a time where you had to be brave enough to be who you are.  What made you finally do it, and what effects did the experience have on your life?
  • People reacted differently to George’s revelation. Discuss how they differed and possible reasons why (try to think about this from the person’s point of view).  How do you think you would react if you were each of these individuals?
    1. Classmates
    2. George’s mom and big brother
    3. School teacher/principal
    4. George’s best friend Kelly
    5. Kelly’s dad and uncle
  • Discuss diversity, acceptance/tolerance, prejudice, bullying, compassion, etc.  Come up with real-life examples. What are some way your classroom/school/family/community could be more accepting of those who might be different from you?
  • Towards the end of the book, the author switches to the name Melissa when referring to George.  Why do you think they chose to do that?
  • How does Melissa feel in the first few chapters of the book?
  • How does Melissa feel at the end of the book?
  • Why did Ms.Udell not let Melissa play Charlotte?
  • Have you ever felt lost or scared to tell the truth? If so, how did that make you feel?
  • If Melissa was in your class, what are some ways you could make her feel welcomed?
  • Name a few things that Melissa had to struggle with, because she wanted to be trans.

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Merci Suárez Changes Gears
Author: Meg Medina
Published September 11th, 2018 by Candlewick Press

Summary: Thoughtful, strong-willed sixth-grader Merci Suarez navigates difficult changes with friends, family, and everyone in between in a resonant new novel from Meg Medina.

Merci Suarez knew that sixth grade would be different, but she had no idea just how different. For starters, Merci has never been like the other kids at her private school in Florida, because she and her older brother, Roli, are scholarship students. They don’t have a big house or a fancy boat, and they have to do extra community service to make up for their free tuition. So when bossy Edna Santos sets her sights on the new boy who happens to be Merci’s school-assigned Sunshine Buddy, Merci becomes the target of Edna’s jealousy. Things aren’t going well at home, either: Merci’s grandfather and most trusted ally, Lolo, has been acting strangely lately — forgetting important things, falling from his bike, and getting angry over nothing. No one in her family will tell Merci what’s going on, so she’s left to her own worries, while also feeling all on her own at school. In a coming-of-age tale full of humor and wisdom, award-winning author Meg Medina gets to the heart of the confusion and constant change that defines middle school — and the steadfast connection that defines family.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book would be useful in a classroom for teachers to expose a lot of topics to students such as bullying, family relations, and relatable school interactions like wanting to play sports or friendships and grades. As well as students that are nervous about their 6th grade year or also starting sixth grade read about someone going through the same things as them.

Discussion Questions: 

  • What do you think caused Lolo to pick up the wrong twins?
  • Why do you think Merci and Edna are not friends?
  • Why do you think Edna is worried about appearances and mercy is not?
  • After their first interaction, do you think Merci will end up enjoying Michael as a sunshine buddy?
  • If you were a new kid would you want a sunshine buddy? Would you want to be a sunshine buddy? Why or why not?
  • Do you think Merci handled her situations maturely? Why or why not ?
  • Why did Merci’s parents hide Lolo’s conditions from her ?
  • How would you describe Merci’s relationship with her grandfather?
  • Do you think Merci’s culture made her feel different from her peers at school ? Why or Why not ?
  • How would you handle being falsely accused of something you didn’t do like Merci when edna destroyed the mask ?

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