A. LaFaye's Blog: Word Wanderings Rest Stop - Posts Tagged "reconstruction"
Summers almost here, it’s time for swimming, exploring, and reading! Make room for reading adventures in your summer plans.
Here are a few options from the A. LaFaye bookshelf:
Teaching Guides for many titles are available at www.alafaye.com
WORTH
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Gr. 3-7. LaFaye's novel is one of the first to tell the Orphan Train story from the viewpoint of a kid displaced by a newcomer. Even worse than the pain that 11-year-old Nate felt when his leg was crushed in an accident is rejection by his pa, who takes in young John Worth to pick up Nate's work on their small farm. Nate's angry first-person narrative is brutally honest, and, at first, he is bitterly resentful of John, an orphan who lost his family in a New York City tenement fire: "Just 'cause he lost his father didn't mean he had a right to mine." Through Nate's narrative comes a sense of the grueling daily work, the family struggle to try to hold on to the land and avoid failure. In addition, there's some late-nineteenth-century history about the local wars between cattle ranchers (who want grazing land) and farmers (who need room for crops), and in an exciting climax, Nate and John ride together to warn the farmers and prevent the fence-cutters from causing a cattle stampede. Only an awkward metaphor about the Greek myths seems patched on. The short, spare novel doesn't need the heavy heroic parallels; it tells its own story of darkness and courage. A great choice for American history classes. Hazel Rochman
Worth
Pretty Omens
In an effort to tip the cosmic scales in her favor, Cass Anne fills her days with small kindnesses for her unsuspecting neighbors. When she begins to receive omens of bad things to come, folks are certain the devil is using the child. Cass Anne isn’t to be believed and it is only after tragedy strikes that the town is forced to see that omens can be a thing of beauty and a young girl can be an instrument of grace. With Pretty Omens, A. LaFaye has crafted a mesmerizing novel-in-verse inspired by the epic tradition and the myth of Cassandra that will transport you to a small Virginia mountain community where an ordinary girl becomes a hero. In LaFaye’s strong, fast-paced novel-in-verse, the voices of her characters ring true, the language dazzles, drawing the reader into Cass Anne’s story of love and redemption, religious intolerance, and belief.—Paul Janeczko, author of Firefly, July, Publisher’s Weekly Book of 2014. http://anchorandplumepress.com/2015/0...
Pretty Omens
Walking Home to Rosie Lee (An IRA Teachers Choice Selection)
Young Gabe’s is a story of heartache and jubilation. He’s a child slave freed after the Civil War and he sets off to reunite himself with his mother who was sold before the war's end. “Come morning, the folks take to the road again, singing songs, telling stories and dream-talking of the lives they’re gonna live in freedom. And I follow, keeping my eyes open for my mama. Days pass into weeks and one gray evening as Mr. Dark laid down his coat, I see a woman with a yellow scarf ‘round her neck as bright as a star. I run up to grab her hand, saying, Mama?” Gabe's odyssey in search for his mother has an epic American quality, and Keith Shepherd’s illustrations—influenced deeply by the narrative work of Thomas Hart Benton—fervently portray the struggle in Gabe’s heroic quest.
"Black folks still have so many stories to tell in our journey. When I first read Alexandria's manuscript I'm not ashamed to say I got choked up. I'm amazed there's never been anything done before that told such a heart wrenching segment of Reconstruction in America." –McBookworld 40% off for classroom sets preordered now. http://www.cincopuntos.com/products_d...
Walking Home to Rosie Lee
Water Steps
Every time she comes near water, Kyna feels the sinister pull of the depths trying to draw her down to a watery grave. Even the calm water in the bathtub reminds her of the torrential storm that took the lives of her sailing family when she was only a baby. But Kyna’s adopted parents love nothing more than to swim and splash about in the lakes and streams, or even the local pool. When they decide to spend the summer at a beach house on Lake Champlain Kyna is convinced that they’re trying to teach her something about water that she’s not ready to learn. Little does she know that the water will reveal far more than she could ever have imagined. Middle school students will enjoy this spellbinding tale about breaking free of the things that hold us down. The rich vocabulary makes this an excellent choice to pair with the book for vocabulary enrichment.–Lisa Hubler, Memorial Junior High School for SLJ http://milkweed.org/shop/product/128/
Water Steps
Other Titles by A. LaFaye
Shelf Life (edited by Gary Paulsen)Shelf Life: Stories by the Book
Stella Stands AloneStella Stands Alone
The KeeningThe Keening
The Year of the Sawdust ManThe Year of the Sawdust Man
Nissa’s PlaceNissa's Place
Follow A. LaFaye
Twitter
@artlafaye
Facebook
alafayeauthor
The Web
www.alafaye.com
Goodreads
A. LaFaye
She’s available for school visits in person and via Skype
Her e-mail is a@alafaye.com
Teaching Guides for many titles are available at www.alafaye.com
WORTH
From Booklist*Starred Review* Gr. 3-7. LaFaye's novel is one of the first to tell the Orphan Train story from the viewpoint of a kid displaced by a newcomer. Even worse than the pain that 11-year-old Nate felt when his leg was crushed in an accident is rejection by his pa, who takes in young John Worth to pick up Nate's work on their small farm. Nate's angry first-person narrative is brutally honest, and, at first, he is bitterly resentful of John, an orphan who lost his family in a New York City tenement fire: "Just 'cause he lost his father didn't mean he had a right to mine." Through Nate's narrative comes a sense of the grueling daily work, the family struggle to try to hold on to the land and avoid failure. In addition, there's some late-nineteenth-century history about the local wars between cattle ranchers (who want grazing land) and farmers (who need room for crops), and in an exciting climax, Nate and John ride together to warn the farmers and prevent the fence-cutters from causing a cattle stampede. Only an awkward metaphor about the Greek myths seems patched on. The short, spare novel doesn't need the heavy heroic parallels; it tells its own story of darkness and courage. A great choice for American history classes. Hazel Rochman
Worth
Pretty Omens
In an effort to tip the cosmic scales in her favor, Cass Anne fills her days with small kindnesses for her unsuspecting neighbors. When she begins to receive omens of bad things to come, folks are certain the devil is using the child. Cass Anne isn’t to be believed and it is only after tragedy strikes that the town is forced to see that omens can be a thing of beauty and a young girl can be an instrument of grace. With Pretty Omens, A. LaFaye has crafted a mesmerizing novel-in-verse inspired by the epic tradition and the myth of Cassandra that will transport you to a small Virginia mountain community where an ordinary girl becomes a hero. In LaFaye’s strong, fast-paced novel-in-verse, the voices of her characters ring true, the language dazzles, drawing the reader into Cass Anne’s story of love and redemption, religious intolerance, and belief.—Paul Janeczko, author of Firefly, July, Publisher’s Weekly Book of 2014. http://anchorandplumepress.com/2015/0...Pretty Omens
Walking Home to Rosie Lee (An IRA Teachers Choice Selection)
Young Gabe’s is a story of heartache and jubilation. He’s a child slave freed after the Civil War and he sets off to reunite himself with his mother who was sold before the war's end. “Come morning, the folks take to the road again, singing songs, telling stories and dream-talking of the lives they’re gonna live in freedom. And I follow, keeping my eyes open for my mama. Days pass into weeks and one gray evening as Mr. Dark laid down his coat, I see a woman with a yellow scarf ‘round her neck as bright as a star. I run up to grab her hand, saying, Mama?” Gabe's odyssey in search for his mother has an epic American quality, and Keith Shepherd’s illustrations—influenced deeply by the narrative work of Thomas Hart Benton—fervently portray the struggle in Gabe’s heroic quest."Black folks still have so many stories to tell in our journey. When I first read Alexandria's manuscript I'm not ashamed to say I got choked up. I'm amazed there's never been anything done before that told such a heart wrenching segment of Reconstruction in America." –McBookworld 40% off for classroom sets preordered now. http://www.cincopuntos.com/products_d...
Walking Home to Rosie Lee
Water Steps
Every time she comes near water, Kyna feels the sinister pull of the depths trying to draw her down to a watery grave. Even the calm water in the bathtub reminds her of the torrential storm that took the lives of her sailing family when she was only a baby. But Kyna’s adopted parents love nothing more than to swim and splash about in the lakes and streams, or even the local pool. When they decide to spend the summer at a beach house on Lake Champlain Kyna is convinced that they’re trying to teach her something about water that she’s not ready to learn. Little does she know that the water will reveal far more than she could ever have imagined. Middle school students will enjoy this spellbinding tale about breaking free of the things that hold us down. The rich vocabulary makes this an excellent choice to pair with the book for vocabulary enrichment.–Lisa Hubler, Memorial Junior High School for SLJ http://milkweed.org/shop/product/128/Water Steps
Other Titles by A. LaFaye
Shelf Life (edited by Gary Paulsen)Shelf Life: Stories by the Book
Stella Stands AloneStella Stands Alone
The KeeningThe Keening
The Year of the Sawdust ManThe Year of the Sawdust Man
Nissa’s PlaceNissa's PlaceFollow A. LaFaye
@artlafaye
alafayeauthor
The Web
www.alafaye.com
Goodreads
A. LaFaye
She’s available for school visits in person and via Skype
Her e-mail is a@alafaye.com
Word Wanderings Rest Stop
A few words on writing and wandering and where the two weave together.
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