Out of My Mind

Draper, Sharon. (2010). Out of My Mind. New York, NY: Athenum.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Awards: New York Times Best Seller List

Lexile Measure: 700L

DRA: 40

AR: 4.3

Sharon Draper Official Website
Out of My Mind Reading Guide

Summary: Melody is an 11 year old who was born with cerebral-palsy. Despite her disability, she is very smart thanks to her photographic memory. Melody can remember and memorize everything she sees and hears, except she's unable to communicate it to others because she can't speak or write. Her doctors and teachers don't think she is capable of learning. Fortunately she is surrounded by group of people that support her and believe in her, her family, her neighbor, and her school aid. When Melody is mainstream to a regular classroom, she is encourage and coached by her support group to enter a school contest using a speech device. She is able to learn all the information to take her team to the finals, but she realizes her classmates and teacher still doubt her capabilities.

Reader Response: Sharon Draper does an extraordinary job giving kids who feel invisible because of their disability a chance to be heard. She describes in fine detail the daily challenges of Melody; her frustration of being babied intellectually, the arguments between her parents, her struggles to dress and eat, and trying to fit in at school. The author gives the reader the opportunity to know and feel what disabled students can go through at school and their personal lives. It is eye opening to read how some teachers in Melody's life made a positive impact in her education like her music teacher, but other teachers made her feel incompetent in class, like Mr. Dimming. This book serves as a mirror to see how we react to people with disabilities.

Other award winning books by Sharon Draper:

El Deafo

Bell, Cece. (2014). El Deafo. New York, NY: Abrams Books.

Author Cece Bell talks about her book El Deafo, video by Abrams Books.

Genre: Fantasy

Format: Graphic Novel

Awards: Newberry Honor Book

Lexile Measure: GN420L

DRA: 40

AR: 2.7

Author's Website

National Association of the Deaf

Cece Bell interview by The Guardian

Summary: Cece lost her hearing at age 4 and needs to wear a strap hearing aid. She is the only deaf kid at her school. Cece doesn't like the look of her hearing aid, she hates the stares she gets from other kids, and most of all she hates when people speak to her slow and loud. Her hearing aid makes Cece feel uncomfortable around others and lowers her self esteem, until one day she discovers her strap hearing aid has special powers. She is able to hear everything her teacher says through her hearing aid that's connected to the small microphone her teacher has to wear. Being able to hear the teacher's private conversations, Cece feels invisible and turns her disability into a superpower. 

Reader Response:  The author, Cece Bell writes her childhood autobiography and living with deafness using the charismatic character, Cece the Bunny. Using speech balloons the author shows what the character is hearing or not hearing in the story. This graphic novel does a great job of teaching students about hearing loss and deafness in a kid friendly way. It is easy to read for low grade level students, but it's content and themes of wanting to fit in and overcoming obstacles relates to all students. The graphic novel can be use to teach students skills in visual literacy. 

Other books by the Cece Bell: 

The Watson's Go to Birmingham 1963

Curtis, Christopher Paul. (1995). The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.

Awards: The Coretta Scott King Award and Newberry Honor Book
Genre: Historical Fiction
Lexlie Measure: 1000L
DRA: 50
AR: 5.5

Summary: 10 year old Kenny lives in Flint, Michigan with his Mom, Dad, his little sister Joetta, and his big brother Byron, who is considered a delinquent. When Byron's behavior starts to get out of control, his parents decide he should spend the summer in the South with his Grandmother. The family decides to take a road trip to visit Grandma in Birmingham Alabama. Their summer vacation of 1963 will change their lives forever as they witness segregation and tragic events in the African-American community.

Reader Response: The first part of the story causes humor when reading about Byron playing with matches and putting chemicals to straighten his hair. It's entertaining reading about Dad's love of his old Bomber car, and Kenny and Joey getting teased for wearing many layers in the winter. Towards the end of the story the plot changes dramatically, it narrates the true events of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham in 1963,  an event that gave reason to the Civil Rights Movement. This book can be read to teach cross curriculum skills, such as reading and events in history.

Author's Official Site

Reading Guide by Marshall George

Other  award winning books by Christopher Paul Curtis:

Wonder Struck

Selznick, Brian. (2011). Wonderstruck. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Awards: New York Times Best Seller Books

Lexile Measure: 830L

DRA: 60

AR: 5.4

Summary: Ben lost his hearing when he was struck by lightning and lost his mother in a car accident. While going through her personal belongings he finds a clue that will lead him to his father, a man he has never known. He decides to take his chances and set off to look for him. Rose is a deaf girl who also set out alone on a desperate search for the mysterious actress she keeps a scrapbook of. Ben's story is set in Minnesota in 1977 and is told entirely by words. Rose's story is set in New Jersey in 1927 and is told entirely in black and white illustrations. This are two separate stories that are set 50 years apart, but interlock and collide with a special connection.

Reader Response: Brain Selznick has definitely created a "wonder" with this story. I enjoyed how Ben's and Roses's stories alternate in each chapter. At first I had hard time connecting both stories, but that only made it more mysterious and engaging. I found myself looking for clues just like Ben and Rose. Reading Wonderstruck I also learned a brief history of The Queens Museum of Art in New York City and its panoramas, the dioramas at the American Museum of Natural History, Natural History Museums, and the Gunflint Lake Region. The story also educates us on the deaf culture and sign language. 

Link to Wonderstruck the Book

Scholastic Wonderstruck Website

Other books by Brian Selznick:

The Nest

Oppel, Kenneth. (2015). The Nest. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction

Awards: ALA Notable Children's Book Award, NYT Editor's Choice,

and Bank Street Children's Book of the Year Selection Title

Author's Official Website

The Nest Reading Group Guide

  

Summary: Steve is about to be a big brother once again, but the doctors say his baby brother, Theodore, won't develop normal. The unexpected news brings fear to the family, specially Steve who already suffers from anxiety, nightmares, and obsessive rituals. In a dream, Steve is visited by what appear to be angels that promise to cure his brother. This puts Steve at ease, until he realizes the angels are really wasp and their plan is to replace Theodore with a new and healthy baby growing in their nest outside Steve's house. Meanwhile, he is also being frighten by a knife grinder that knocks at his door and a Mr. Nobody that calls and never says anything.  Steve has to confront his fears and insecurities to be able to save his brother from being taken by the queen and her army of wasp. 

Reader Response: This book is a real thriller! What I like most about this book it that it kept me on edge the entire time. I had read half of the book and I was still trying to distinguish the villains from the real heroins. The novel is packed with suspense that puzzles the mind: a dissected wasp with nothing inside, a toy phone answered by Steve's sister, a knife grinder that drives around the neighborhood, and a wasp that threatens to eat a baby.

Other books by Kenneth Oppel: