In this classic novel from 1949 readers will be transported to an era of war, civil conflict, and revolution during a world of totalitarian oppression and terror. Follow Winston Smith, a member of the Party and an employee of the State, during his experiences as a conspiring rebel and his membership in The Brotherhood. George Orwell provides the language and ideas that feed ongoing concerns about privacy, individualism, and freedom of thought as he describes Winston's involvement in the resistance, and the ultimate surrender of Winston's personal thoughts and feelings to the Party.
Interlaced themes include family, stealing, and change in this Newbery Medal Wining tale, A Single Shard. The story follows an orphan boy living in a twelfth-century Korean potter’s village. Since an early age, Tree-ear has lived under a bridge, content with the company of his older friend, Crane-man. But one-day Tree-ear watches Min creating beautiful pottery and dreams of becoming a potter himself. Soon Tree-ear begins an apprenticeship with Min that culminates in the boy taking a journey to the king’s court to show his master’s pottery. This
Science fiction meets fantasy when Meg’s physicist father disappears while doing work for the government, and she must go on an adventure through time and space to save him. Traveling in the fifth dimension with her brother Charles Wallace, and a new friend, Calvin, the three children are guided by a mysterious trio of women who give them the tools they need to fight the powers of evil that are holding Meg’s father captive. Students will be able to explore with the characters the concepts of good and evil
Sid Fleischman recounts his journey to becoming a writer. The twists and turns on his path lead to unexpected career changes, with becoming a writer being one of them. While growing up during the Great Depression, he decided to become a magician and taught himself by reading library books about the subject. He was stationed on a cruiser during World War II, wrote for a newspaper, became a screenplay writer, and he finally became an author of children’s books. In the book, he provides pointers for those aspiring to become writers themselves, even though this was not a thought he had wh
The use of character development and the use of foreshadowing in written works are explored in Breath, the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlin in medieval Germany. The author presents an explanation for the events of June 26, 1284, through the eyes of Salz, a young boy afflicted with cystic fibrosis. The town of Hamlin is infested with rats, and the animals and people are getting sick and dying. Salz tries to figure out why the people are getting sick by applying logical thinking strategies he is learning from his education with Pater Frederi
Bud, Not Buddy, a Newberry Medal Winner, is a dynamic story about the experiences of a young African American boy growing up in Michigan during the Great Depression. Students will venture into the story’s plot as Bud shares his insights on life and learning as he meets and interacts with many different people suffering the effects of the Depression. Bud’s mother has been dead for several years, and he has been living in orphanages and foster homes since her death. Now ten years old, Bud runs away to try to find the man he believes to be his father, a bandleader w