TEACHING A LITERATURE CLASS - PART 3 I'll just close this series of posts with 2 things - recommended resources and my lists of books. The first resource to share is The Center for Literature. Adam and Missy Andrews have done a spectacular job equipping educators to teach lit discussion using Socratic questions. My kids have taken their online classes over the years, I've sat in many of their talks at the homeschool convention, and I use their wonderful resource Teaching the Classics and Worldview Detective. https://www.centerforlit.com/ The second resource is Not Consumed's Reading Journal. This journal is Christian based and is a series of questions that can be applied to the books of your choice. Each of my students has one and I assign one very short reflection for each day of my assigned reading (not for their free read day). https://store.notconsumed.com/collections/homeschool Before I move to the lists, I just want to leave you with one more thing. I have been homeschooling my 5 children for 17 years now. I have covered a lot of literature curriculum and read a lot of books in those years. I am FAR from knowing everything, but I continue to stretch and grow every day. Give yourself grace to try and grow as well! You don't need to know everything to start this journey! Okay now for my lists- 2023-2024 Elementary Aesop's Fables/Arnold Lobel's Fables Indian in the Cupboard Misty of Chincoteague The Penderwicks Biography of their choice Gone Away Lake Who is Helen Keller Trumpet of the Swan 12 Days of Christmas Picture Books with Activities 2023-2024 High School The Faithful Spy The Taming of the Shrew Sleeping Murder (Agatha Christie) Christmas Carol Biography of their choice The Secret Garden The Humming Room (modern retelling of The Secret Garden for Compare/Contrast) 2024-2025 Elementary King of the Wind Because of Winn Dixie Anybody Here Seen Frenchie? Where the Red Fern Grows Number the Stars Mr. Lemoncello's Library The Witch of Blackbird Pond Biography of their choice 2024-2025 High School Huck Finn Hunger Games The Hound of the Baskervilles Tale of Two Cities Shakespeare or the Illiad Biography of their choice Watership Down The Great Gatsby

THE WARRIOR POET WAY: A GUIDE TO LIVING FREE AND DYING WELL by John Lovell When John Lovell came back from serving five tours as an Army Ranger, he noticed something. The men that he served with were losing their families when they came home. They would cross the ocean, fight for their loved ones, come home, and not be able to successfully integrate back into the society and the families they were fighting for. There were two big problems - (1) the warrior didn't know how to develop the "poet" side that connected with his family in a tender way while still being their strong protector and (2) he now returned to a world that constantly battles against "warrior" type men. What did Lovell do? Well, it took a little time, because he had some figuring out to do himself, but he caught onto something. A balance of both the warrior and the poet was needed. He formed The Warrior Poet Society, a society that was born of being that much needed protecting warrior and the man who can relate to his wife and children. This book shares that journey and what it means to be a Warrior Poet in today's world.

ISRAEL ON HIGH ALERT by Ron Rhodes Before I really dive in and talk about this book I want to remind everyone that this page is not for debating issues. It is solely to give you information about books so you can decide what is a good fit for you or your family! We all have seen the news about the ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. Israel on High Alert dives in and explains the history of Israel and the wars (including the current one) they have fought. Coming from a Biblical foundation, Ron Rhodes walks the reader through Scripture about God's plan for Israel and how these events play into the end times.

A SECRET PRINCESS by Margaret Stohl and Melissa De La Cruz Lauren's Literary Life - a review by my daughter, Lauren A Secret Princess is the combination of three books, The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy. The book tells the story of three friends: Mary Lennox, Sara Crewe, and Cedric Errol. The three meet at the Select Seminary for Young Ladies and Gentlemen, after they are sent there by their families for various reasons. Sara is a target of Headmistress Minchin’s cruelty, and Mary, who has a quick tongue and an imagination that often comes up with mischievous ideas, quickly wins Sara’s friendship as she stands up to the headmistress. Cedric struggles with a leg condition, but the girls befriend him and are determined to take him along on their adventures. When tragedy strikes and fortunes are lost, the teens decide to run away together rather than face servitude to the headmistress and the threat of being sent to relatives in America. The three soon discover that running away is not a grand fairy tale as they face encounters with the police, workhouses, and the feeling of going hungry. However, one of the teenagers has a secret past that leads them to a mansion and a life full of riches – but the mansion holds mysteries of its own, including a secret garden that is waiting to be discovered. LAUREN’S OPINION: A couple years ago I read Jo and Laurie, Margaret Stohl and Melissa De La Cruz’s first book, and absolutely loved their rewritten version of the story of The Little Women. So when I saw The Secret Princess at the book store, I was excited to buy it and read it. However, if you don’t mind me using a baseball analogy, Jo and Laurie hit it out of the park, but The Secret Princess was a strike. I think the authors tried to combine too much into one book. It was anticlimactic, and I found myself confused as many things were not explained or wrapped up in the end of the book. I was very disappointed with the ending. My thought is if you want to meet Mary Lennox, Sara Crewe, and Cedric Errol, go buy the original books. They tell the story much better. HEADS UP: There are two things to be aware of in this book. First: There are a couple uses of d*** throughout the book. Second: There is magic in the book. Mary is visited by a Genie who tells her what her future will hold if she is brave and runs for her destiny. The secret garden is a magical place that grows all sorts of plants and is warm and sunny even when it is cold and rainy around it. In the garden there is also a well in which Mary sees the ghosts of the people she’s lost. It is said that the garden is haunted by the dead lady of the mansion, and the fog in the garden shows Mary the story of what happened there. The magic is not explained in detail.

SWIM TEAM: SMALL WAVES: BIG CHANGES by Johnnie Christmas Even though we are in the season of spring, school is winding down and we are starting to think about summer and summer reading lists. Swim Team is one of my first picks with summer specifically in mind. Swim Team is a graphic novel that covers a myriad of topics: moving, new school, fear of swimming and overcoming, joining a swim team and the dynamics that involves, segregation of pools in our history, healing past hurts/forgiveness etc. When Bree and her father make the move from Brooklyn, NY to Florida, they're in for some BIG changes. One of the biggest changes- when Bree goes to register for her fourth period elective she finds out that all that's available is Swim 101. The problem is Bree can't swim and is AFRAID of swimming. What unfolds is a journey of facing her fears, making friends, getting to know her neighbor, and helping fix a wrong done years ago that killed a friendship. HEADS UP- There are a couple uses of Oh my G**.

TWENTY-ONE STEPS: GUARDING THE TOMB OF THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER by Jeff Gottesfeld. Illustrated by Matt Tavares. Twenty-One Steps is one of my TOP PICKS and is the very moving picture book dedicated to the remembrance of the Unknowns, the soldiers who died on the battlefields and remained "nameless and faceless," and the guards that watch over them.  In 1921 one such unknown was brought home in remembrance of all. He lay in state in the Capitol where many passed by, especially those who had family members that were left behind. He was a way for them to grieve and say goodbye to their sons and fathers. He was buried in Arlington Cemetery in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Over time a few more joined him in the tomb representing the unknowns from other wars. The book goes into the honor that is shown to these men 24/7 by the special group of soldiers that watch over their tomb. They are called Sentinel Guards, and they are an elite group of soldiers whose goal is one thing - perfection. They have stood guard uninterrupted since July 2, 1937 when they first began their post. This book is one of those books that helps us to be grateful for what we have and for the men and women who serve to protect us.

TREE TABLE BOOK by Lois Lowry Sophie Henry Winslow and Sophie Gershowitz are neighbors and best friends. What makes their friendship so unique and different than the typical friendship is that Sophie W. is 11-years old and Sophie G. is 88-years-old. Even though there is a large span of years between them, they both like the same types of things and get along very well together. Life continues on in a typical pattern until.. Sophie G's short term memory starts slipping. Her out of state son is returning soon to take her to be tested for something called dementia. Sophie W is a precocious child, and takes it upon herself to prepare her friend for the testing and in the process prepare herself for what the outcome of this testing may mean. Question number two of the test deals with short term memory. Three words are given to the subject for them to remember. A few minutes are waited and then the subject is to repeat the three words from memory. When Sophie G. fails this part, Sophie W. decides to give her the words and have her associate them with a story from her life to hopefully hold onto them better. The stories that end up coming out are three from Sophie G's childhood in Poland that she has never shared with anyone before. Two that take place during WWII and share persecution her Jewish family endured. This story is very moving story celebrating the gift of friendship and does have the possibility of being a tear jerker. HEADS UP- There are a couple of areas to share. The first has to do with a game the Sophies play. It is an ABC type game where you try and use the letter as many times as you can in a sentence such as "Bill the Bartender from Boston is a Bully." They make up these sentences about people and then pair them up with others in their game to make stories out of them.One of these pairs is a same-sex couple that is attempting to have a child through a surrogate mother. This takes up one small paragraph of the story and is never mentioned again. -11-year-old Sophie uses a profanity one time. It appears as D*** in the text. -There are a couple of crass stories told.

STORY OF THE TITANIC by DK. Illustrated by Steve Noon If you are in Ohio (or near Ohio), you may have heard about the wonderful exhibit at COSI in Columbus featuring the Titanic. In preparation for our upcoming visit, we have been reading some fabulous books about this amazing yet tragic event in history. Over the next couple of weeks, I will share some of our reads. Today's pick is a great picture book by DK. What makes this book such a good one is all the cutaways into the Titanic that are given and the search and find element.  DK pulls back the curtain a bit, and lets kids view passengers and rooms in all three classes of the Titanic. There are certain people from all three plus staff that you somewhat keep tabs on through the journey. In the end, you do find out if they survived the tragedy or not. DK also adds a bit of a "Where's Waldo" type vibe. Included on the top and bottom of each page are pictures of people, places, or events that are happening within the main picture to find. If you have children like mine, this element helps to engage them even more to take in the illustrations on a deeper level as they search. I will include a picture in the comments for you to see. This is one of those books that my daughter kept asking for more of as I broke it up into chunks between some other books. HEADS UP- One tiny heads up! As you are looking into the cutaways of the rooms, you will notice bathrooms. There are a couple of small pictures of people in showers with their buns exposed. They are small, but since you are searching the pictures you most likely will come upon them. We found it a little strange but humourous.

BACK ROADS, COUNTRY TOADS by Devin Scillian. Illustrated by Tim Bowers Okay everyone, it's fishing season, and if you've got a kiddo that likes fishing or toads, I've got a book for you!! When these two toads, Hank and Buckaroo, hear the words "fly-fishing" they know they don't want to miss out! Thank goodness a friendly raccoon helps them navigate the world of "flies" so they don't get hooked themselves! Hmmm, maybe fly-fishing wasn't what they originally thought it would be, but not to be outdone, they figure out a way to get a bit of fly-fishing done...toad style! This book has loads of fun humor to enjoy with these two country toads! I have to take a moment to showcase an Ohio illustrator, Mr. Tim Bowers! His fun portrayal of Hank and Buckaroo help this cute tale come to life. Somewhat reminiscent of the illustrations in the Little Quack series or Bear Wants series, these pictures are quirky and delightful, guaranteed to make kids (and adults) smile.

HEROES by Alan Gratz Just in time for Memorial Day, Alan Gratz's newest book, Heroes, focuses on the attack at Pearl Harbor. Frank and Stanley are best friends whose fathers are both stationed at Pearl Harbor. On December 7 the boys are on the USS Utah enjoying a tour when the unthinkable happens. What they assume at first to be drills and maneuverability practices quickly turns out to be the Japanese attacking the mighty lineup of ships in Battleship Row. They are quickly thrust into the midst of chaos and panic which forces both of them to deal with a battle themselves. Frank deals with intense fear due to an incident in his past where he was bitten by a dog. Stanley is Japanese American, and even though his father is in the US military, he is looked at as part of the enemy. Both will be tested heavily in the days that follow, but through the testing they will both have the opportunity to emerge as HEROES. HEADS UP- There are a couple of profanities.

REZ BALL by Byron Graves The foundational story of Rez Ball is amazing and very moving. Unfortunately, there are a lot of potholes to navigate, so you will want to check out the HEADS UP section. Tre Brun's life is basketball. Living on the Ojibwe Reservation, he knows it is his only ticket out of the lifestyle that so many of his loved ones live. But basketball also haunts him, because he lives under the constant shadow of the memory of his brother, Jaxon. Jaxon was killed in a car accident leaving a gaping hole on the basketball team and in the Rez community. An unstoppable player, Jaxon was on track to leading the Red Lake Indian Reservation team maybe all the way to state. Now a void exists, and the varsity team needs someone strong to help them heal and go the distance. Tre is the next player in line with the most skills, but can he do this when all he sees, all the teams sees, and all the Rez sees is Jaxon? HEADS UP- I think the easiest way to do this is to just bullet point the concerns. -LANGUAGE - This book is HEAVY on language including multiple F-bombs on most pages. I should have added up how many F-words were used, but it is staggering. -DRUG AND ALCOHOL USE are prevalent. I think author Byron Graves probably provides up with a pretty realistic picture of the usage on the reservation. There are lots of parties. Tre participates in some, but he doesn't like the effect they are having on him and how they affect his game. He sits down with the team and gets them all to agree not to party until after the season is over which is unheard-of. -SEXUAL REFERENCES- The girl that Tre falls for is "two-spirited." She is bisexual. The book doesn't spend a lot of time focusing on that issue. At one point he entertains the idea of a sexual encounter with her, but she ends up falling for his best friend which causes some issues. She tells Tre that they are "Friendable" a term she's made up that is like "f***able" but just the friend version.

SPRING READS Needing some fun spring/animal reads? We got you covered! (As I was pulling these books off the shelves my kids were grabbing them up!)