Creating Motivated Readers, One Video at a Time
When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park Sun-hee and her older brother Tae-yul are proud of their Korean heritage. Yet they live their lives under Japanese occupation. All students must read and write in Japanese and no one can fly the Korean flag. Hardest of all is when the Japanese Emperor forces all Koreans to take Japanese names. Sun-hee and Tae-yul become Keoko and Nobuo. Korea is torn apart by their Japanese invaders during World ...
Matched by Ally Condie Cassia Reyes is a model student, daughter, and citizen. How could she not be when the Society has everything planned and functioning perfectly? All of her needs are met: food, shelter, education, career training, and even her future husband are selected by officials who know what is best for each individual by studying statistical data and probable odds. She even knows when she will die, on her 80th birthday, just...
The Natural by Bernard Malamud The book follows Roy Hobbs, a baseball prodigy whose career is sidetracked when he is shot by a socio-pathic serial killer. This story concerns itself with his attempts to return to baseball later in life, when he plays for the New York Knights with his legendary bat ‘Wonderboy.. Nineteen-year-old Roy Hobbs, a country bumpkin with a great pitching arm, is on his way to Chicago to try out for the Chic...
Nothing but the Truth by Avi Ninth-grader Philip Malloy was suspended from school for humming along to the Star-Spangled Banner in his homeroom, causing what his teacher, Margaret Narwin, called “a disturbance.” This small incident soon ignited a firestorm of debate on that national stage. Was he standing up for his patriotic ideals, only to be squelched by the school system? Was Ms. Narwin simply trying to be a good teacher? Or cou...
Start of a New Dan – Elise Leonard Series About Elise Leonard: Elise was a successful teacher of inner-city kids for over 20 years before starting her writing career. She now lives in Florida. About This Book: START OF A NEW DAN is the first book of the Junkyard Dan series. Details: Published: 2008. All the books in this series are 100 pages (+/-). Contains approximately 10,500 words. ISBN: 978-0-9815694-0-6. All books are Lexile ...
The Name of the Star (Shades of London) by Maureen Johnson The day that Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London to start a new life at boarding school is also the day a series of brutal murders breaks out over the city, killings mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper spree of more than a century ago. Soon “Rippermania” takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Ror...
Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff The story of the mutiny is told from the eyes of sailor Rodger Byam. He tells his story even as he is being dragged back to England to be put on trial for a crime he had no part in. Through Rodger we learn of Captain Bligh whose mission was to attempt to gather produce and trees for transplant. We learn of Bligh’s inability to lead his men and his violent tendencies. The crew spends six months ...
Murder on the Iditarod Trail by Sue Henry The Iditarod, sometimes called “The Last Great Race,” takes mushers, (dog sled racers), and their dog teams over 1150 miles of some of Alaska’s roughest, most majestic terrain – jagged mountain ranges, iced-over areas of Norton Sound, frozen rivers, dense forests, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coastline. This year’s race has a major impediment to arriving at the finish line in...
Money for Nothing – Elise Leonard Series About Elise Leonard: Elise was a successful teacher of inner-city kids for over 20 years before starting her writing career. She now lives in Florida. About This Book: MONEY FOR NOTHING is the sixth book of the Junkyard Dan series. Details: Published: 2008. All the books in this series are 100 pages (+/-). Contains approximately 10,400 words. ISBN: 978-0-9815694-5-1. All books are Lexile 1 ...
Moonlight Becomes You by Mary Higgins Clark High-profile fashion photographer Maggie Holloway is reunited with her fondly remembered estranged stepmother, Nuala Moore, after a reunion party in Manhattan. Nuala, a lonely widow, invites Maggie to visit her in Newport, Rhode Island, an offer she happily accepts. Nuala plans a dinner for a group of friends in order for them to meet her stepdaughter. But tragedy strikes – when Maggie arriv...
