March Grades 5-6 Book Club: Grenade

For March's Book Club, we read Grenade by Alan Gratz. Anthony, Claire, Lillian, Maida, and Reagan were present. This is some of what we talked about, based on questions from Scholastic.com.


1. Did you like the beginning of the book, with action-packed, dramatic introductions to Hideki and Ray?

-I liked the part where the Japanese soldier threw a grenade and it bounced back on him.
-And it exploded him.
-I liked it because it didn't take a long time to get to the action
-I liked it because there were two characters who were on different sides



2. Did you like Hideki and Ray when you were first introduced to them? What's the first word that comes to mind to describe your first impression of each young man? 

-Hideki=wimp. Ray=wimp
-I liked Ray better.
-Hideki=young. Ray=wimp
-same
-Ray=abused. 



3. Have you read other WWII books? If so, did they take place in the "Pacific theater" of the war? 

No one could remember a Pacific-area WWII book that they had read.


4. Did you like Ray's fellow soldiers? If so, who was your favorite and why?

-Sgt. Meredith
-Big John
-Big John
-Big John: he understood Ray



5. What about Hideki? Did you have a favorite character that he crossed paths with?

-His sister
-His sister
-Big John (the Bear Man)



6. Did you think that this book was overly violent or that it accurately depicted what war is like?

-accurately depicted
-there was the perfect amount of death
-I felt like I was there


7. Were you surprised by Ray's death? Was it strange to you that one of the main characters/one of the narrators was killed halfway through the book?

-no, I saw it coming
-I was surprised
-seeing Sgt. Meredith die set it up


8. Who did you think was worse: the Americans or the Japanese? Do you think that Hideki made the right decision in the end?

-the Japanese
-they were equally bad
-why can't they just be friends and have peace


9. What do you think of war after reading this book? Are there right or wrong answers?

-sad. Very very sad
-they are both people just trying to live


10. At the end of the book, the war is still raging. Do you know what happened to end WWII? Do you think that Hideki and his sister make it through alive?

-yes
-they were taken to America
-they're dead


Rate this book from 1-5, with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best:


-One 3
-Three 4s
-Two 5

For April's Book Club, we will be reading Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Kaz's crew is the only thing that might stand between the world and destruction--if they don't kill each other first.


We will be meeting on Wednesday, April 17 at 3:00 p.m. Please be sure to pick up your copy and register for book club (each month) at the Circulation Desk!


We will be meeting at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, April 17. Don't forget: this is vacation week! Please be sure to pick up a copy of the book and to register for Book Club at the Circulation Desk.

April Grades 5-6 Book Club Suggestions

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. 


Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Prosper is the only unexceptional Redding in his old and storied family history-that is, until he discovers the demon living inside him. Turns out Prosper's great-great-great-great-great-something grandfather made-and then broke-a contract with a malefactor, a demon who exchanges fortune for eternal servitude. And, weirdly enough, eight-hundred-year-old Alastor isn't exactly the forgiving type.

The fiend has reawakened with one purpose--to destroy the family whose success he ensured and who then betrayed him. 

Mockingbird by Katherine Erskine

Caitlin has Asperger's. The world according to her is black and white; anything in between is confusing. Before, when things got confusing, Caitlin went to her older brother, Devon, for help. But Devon was killed in a school shooting, and Caitlin's dad is so distraught that he is just not helpful. Caitlin wants everything to go back to the way things were, but she doesn't know how to do that. Then she comes across the word closure--and she realizes this is what she needs. And in her search for it, Caitlin discovers that the world may not be so black and white after all.

Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty

A brave and unusual girl named Serafina lives secretly in the basement of the grand Biltmore Estate amidst the splendor of the Gilded Age. Serafina's pa, the estate's maintenance man, has warned her to keep herself hidden from the fancy folk who live on the floors above, but when children at the estate start disappearing, Serafina and her friend Braeden Vanderbilt must work together to solve a dark and dangerous mystery.

March Grades 5-6 Book Club Suggestions

Rise of the Wolf by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Nic may have escaped enslavement in the mines outside of Rome, but his troubles are far from over. The Praetor War -- the battle to destroy Rome from within -- is in full force, and Nic is caught in the crossfire. The secretive Praetors are determined to unlock a powerful amulet -- one sure to bring the empire to its knees. Worse, the Praetors believe Nic holds the key to finding this amulet, and they will stop at nothing to steal it, even if that means harming the people Nic holds most dear.

When the Praetors capture Nic's mother, Nic knows he must do anything to save her. He challenges the Praetors to a chariot race. If he wins, they will release his mother. But if he loses, he must hand over a magic that will certainly bring about the end of Rome -- as well as his own life. Can Nic once again harness his magic and gather the strength to defeat his enemies? Or will he lose his mother and bear witness to Rome's destruction?

Refugee by Alan Gratz

Although separated by continents and decades, Josef, a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl trying to escape the riots and unrest plaguing her country in 1994; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015 whose homeland is torn apart by violence and destruction, embark on harrowing journeys in search of refuge, discovering shocking connections that tie their stories together.


Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk

Growing up in the shadows cast by two world wars, Annabelle has lived a mostly quiet, steady life in her small Pennsylvania town. Until the day new student Betty Glengarry walks into her class. Betty quickly reveals herself to be cruel and manipulative, and while her bullying seems isolated at first, things quickly escalate, and reclusive World War I veteran Toby becomes a target of her attacks. While others have always seen Toby’s strangeness, Annabelle knows only kindness. She will soon need to find the courage to stand as a lone voice of justice as tensions mount.