April Grades 5-6 Book Discussion: Paper Wishes

For April's Book Club, we read Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban. Cadence, Grace, Lily, Michaela and Sophia were present. This is some of what we discussed.

We first looked at a Paper Wishes classroom guide provided by Macmillan in order to get some historical context on the book that we just read: http://www.loissepahban.com/pdf/PaperWishes-Classroom-Guide.pdf
 

What is Manami’s life like on the island when the story opens?

-it was peaceful and she liked going down to the beach

-she loved her dog and hanging out with her dog
-Yujiin

Manami compares her “not normal” morning to her “normal” morning. What is the difference between the two?

-she wakes up and goes to school in her normal. The not normal is that her grandfather is too sad about the dog and he doesn't take her anywhere.

What details in the story tell you how the islanders feel about Manzanar?

-they want to go back home
-they were miserable and depressed 
-her grandfather didn't want to do anything because he was depressed

What details in the story show you how the family feels about Ron’s arrival? 

-they want him to go back to college because they are concerned that once he is at the camp, he'll have to stay
-they are glad to have him with them but concerned about his safety

What is the author trying to show when Manami goes out to save her mother’s garden?

-she is trying to show that she is excited about the garden
-the garden represents their home because they brought the bulbs and seeds from home. They all work to protect it from the rain.

How does Manami decide to use the paper Miss Rosalie gives her?

-she paints and draws pictures
-and she writes to her dog and sends them in the wind

What do you think happened to the paper wishes Manami sends into the air?

-they got to the other dogs
-they went into the ocean
-they went up to space
-they got stuck in trees

How would you describe the relationship between Manami and Ron? 

-good
-he always tells her the secrets, the things that her family and grandfather won't tell her
-Manami trusts Ron more than anyone in her family
-Manami is sad when she finds out Ron's secret

Describe Mother’s garden in October. Was the garden ultimately successful?

-Manami spent so much time keeping the garden

Why does Grandfather think Manami is ready for a new dog?

-she really misses her old dog
-because she's still not talking
-the garden showed them that she is responsible

How does Manami respond to the bus driver when he tells her no dogs are allowed on the bus?

-she screams "no..no...no!" 
-because she found her voice again

Did you like how the story ended without a “and they lived happily ever after?” We don’t know what happens to the family when they arrive at the next internment camp. Do you think that they are now equipped to do well there after their experiences at Manzanar?

-no because it's a story. Things would not have ended up well.
-I was expecting a real ending to the story with her finding the dog 


How would you rate this book, with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst?

-3+
-4
-5 (lots of details, months as chapters). It was peaceful and I liked the way it was presented.
-almost a 4
-3 1/2


We will meet on Wednesday, May 17 at 3:00 p.m. in order to discuss The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.

 
"Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the Forest, Xan, is kind. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna’s thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge--with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth’s surface. And the woman with the Tiger’s heart is on the prowl . . ."-amazon.com


Please register and pick up your copy of the book at the Circulation Desk!

May Grades 5-6 Book Suggestions

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Regan Barnhill

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the Forest, Xan, is kind. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon. Xan rescues the children and delivers them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey.

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary child with extraordinary magic. Xan decides she must raise this girl, whom she calls Luna, as her own. As Luna’s thirteenth birthday approaches, her magic begins to emerge--with dangerous consequences. Meanwhile, a young man from the Protectorate is determined to free his people by killing the witch. Deadly birds with uncertain intentions flock nearby. A volcano, quiet for centuries, rumbles just beneath the earth’s surface. And the woman with the Tiger’s heart is on the prowl . . .

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place—he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him.
Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?

Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson

Everyone knows there are different kinds of teachers. The boring ones, the mean ones, the ones who try too hard, the ones who stopped trying long ago. The ones you'll never remember, and the ones you want to forget. Ms. Bixby is none of these. She's the sort of teacher who makes you feel like school is somehow worthwhile. Who recognizes something in you that sometimes you don't even see in yourself. Who you never want to disappoint. What Ms. Bixby is, is one-of-a-kind.

Topher, Brand, and Steve know this better than anyone. And so when Ms. Bixby unexpectedly announces that she won't be able to finish the school year, they come up with a risky plan, more of a quest, really, to give Ms. Bixby the last day she deserves. Through the three very different stories they tell, we begin to understand what Ms. Bixby means to each of them—and what the three of them mean to each other.

March Grades 5-6 Book Club: The Birchbark House

For March's Book Club discussion, we read The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich. Cadence, Lily, Michaela and Sophia were present. This is what we talked about, with question help from Multnomah County Library's website.

Has anyone here read any of the Little House on the Prairie books? Well, this book takes place at the same time, and in the same part of the country, but instead of telling you about the white settlers like Laura Ingalls and her family, you see the same slice of history through the eyes of an Ojibwa Indian girl - Omakayas.

Spoiler alert! Some of the questions contain key elements of the plot. Do not read if you don't want to know what happens!

-Lily shared with us all the parts that made her cry.

-Lily is drawing parallels between Little House and Birchbark House.

Think about how changing weather affects the events in the book, including the move from a house made of birchbark to a winter cabin. What yearly events take place in different seasons for Omakayas and her Ojibwa tribe? How does the weather dictate what you do at different times of the year?

-You can't have picnics or swim in winter.
-In summer, they had corn and berries. For winter, they hunted and foraged in advance for their food.
-They tapped trees for sap, which they use throughout the year  

The Ojibwa harvest wild rice in the fall and maple syrup in the spring. The author carefully describes these and other foods that the Ojibwa eat. Which meal described in this book would you like best? Describe it and tell how the food was gathered and prepared.

-I wouldn't like any of them. If I had to pick one, it would be corn.
-Corn
-Any meat

Throughout the story, Grandma and Migwam (Deydey) tell stories about the Ojibwa people. At one point, the narrator explains that grandma tells the tale "Nanabozho and Muskrat Make an Earth" in order to teach a lesson to the children, not just to entertain them. In the past, how have stories helped you to better understand something about life?

-The Bible
-The Bible

At one point, Omakayas encounters two bear cubs and their mother in the wild; luckily, Omakayas is not harmed. What is Omakayas's attitude toward the bears? Why? How does that attitude change or grow through the rest of the novel?

-She was calm and didn't freak out
-Relaxed
-She wasn't afraid of them and found them to be her friends


We ended early today.


We will meet on Wednesday, April 12 at 3:00 p.m. in order to discuss Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban. 

"Near the start of World War II, young Manami, her parents, and Grandfather are evacuated from their home and sent to Manzanar, an ugly, dreary internment camp in the desert for Japanese-American citizens."

Please be sure to register for Book Club and pick up your copy of the book at the Circulation Desk.

April Grades 5-6 Book Suggestions

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens is a normal boy, except that he has been raised by ghosts and other denizens of the graveyard.

Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John David Anderson

Loving their gifted teacher, three boys are dismayed when the teacher falls ill and leaves for the rest of the school year, a situation that compels them to share their stories while cutting class and journeying across town together on a fateful day.

Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban

Near the start of World War II, young Manami, her parents, and Grandfather are evacuated from their home and sent to Manzanar, an ugly, dreary internment camp in the desert for Japanese-American citizens.

February Grades 5-6 Book Club: The Illuminated Adventures of Flora & Ulysses

For February's Book Club, we read Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo. Here's a bit of what we discussed, based on Candlewick Press discussion topics.



What’s in a name? This book includes funny names, literary names, rhyming names, and superhero names. Which character do you think has the most fun-sounding name? What, if anything, can a name tell us about a character? 


The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto! is Flora’s favorite comic book. It includes special bonus comics at the back of each issue including Terrible Things Can Happen to You! and The Criminal Element Is Among Us. Throughout the story, Flora refers to many of the life skills and themes that appear in her comics. One lesson is CPR. One theme is that “impossible things happened all the time” (page 21). What other things does Flora learn from her comics? Name some of your favorite sayings or lessons from her comic books. 



Let’s talk about superheroes. What makes Ulysses a superhero? Are there special requirements for being a superhero? Are there special things that all superheroes seem to have? 


Flora describes herself as “a natural-born cynic” (page 6). What do you think that means? Dr. Meescham says that “Cynics are people who are afraid to believe” (page 129). Do you agree with her description? What things does Flora do that show she is a cynic? What things show that Flora is not a cynic?  


The graphic-novel interludes show Ulysses flying at the Giant Do-Nut (pages 103–104), his vanquishing of Mr. Klaus the cat (pages 132–133), his cheering up Flora and proving his superpowers (page 153), and his escape from Flora’s mother (pages 202–203). Does Ulysses believe he can fly when he first tries to? What details about his flying are captured in the pictures?  


How does Dr. Meescham support Flora, Ulysses, and Mr. Buckman? What do Dr. Meescham’s stories tell you about her? 


What is the funniest scene in the book for you? Describe it. 


On page 135, we hear the promise “I will always turn back toward you.” It is repeated many times throughout the story. What do you think it means?  


Describe the relationship between Flora and William Spiver. In what ways are they the same? In what ways are they different? 


Flora and Ulysses are both lost and trying to find home. Where do they end up? How does each one figure out how to get home? 


On page 216, a miracle is said to occur and William Spiver is able to see again. What do you think happens? 



Imagine this story told only as a comic book. How do you think it would be different? 



There are many quirky characters in the story. Whom do you like best and why? 


Throughout the story, Flora and her mother are at odds. How does this change in the end? What do we learn about Flora’s mother that we didn’t know? 


What would you like to see happen next for Ulysses and Flora?

We will be reading The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich. 

"Omakayas, a seven-year-old Native American girl of the Ojibwa tribe, lives through the joys of summer and the perils of winter on an island in Lake Superior in 1847." -summary We will be meeting on Wednesday, March 8 in order to discuss this book. Please pick up your copy and be sure to register at the Circulation Desk.

March Grades 5-6 Book Suggestions

The Birchbark House by Louise Erdrich

Nineteenth-century American pioneer life was introduced to thousands of young readers by Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved Little House books. With The Birchbark House, award-winning author Louise Erdrich's first novel for young readers, this same slice of history is seen through the eyes of the spirited, 7-year-old Ojibwa girl Omakayas, or Little Frog, so named because her first step was a hop. The sole survivor of a smallpox epidemic on Spirit Island, Omakayas, then only a baby girl, was rescued by a fearless woman named Tallow and welcomed into an Ojibwa family on Lake Superior's Madeline Island, the Island of the Golden-Breasted Woodpecker. We follow Omakayas and her adopted family through a cycle of four seasons in 1847, including the winter, when a historically documented outbreak of smallpox overtook the island.

Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar

Magic blends with reality in a stunning coming-of-age novel about a girl, a grandfather, wanderlust, and reclaiming your roots. Things are only impossible if you stop to think about them. . . . While her friends are spending their summers having pool parties and sleepovers, twelve-year-old Carolina -- Carol -- is spending hers in the middle of the New Mexico desert, helping her parents move the grandfather she's never met into a home for people with dementia. At first, Carol avoids prickly Grandpa Serge. But as the summer wears on and the heat bears down, Carol finds herself drawn to him, fascinated by the crazy stories he tells her about a healing tree, a green-glass lake, and the bees that will bring back the rain and end a hundred years of drought. As the thin line between magic and reality starts to blur, Carol must decide for herself what is possible -- and what it means to be true to her roots. 

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours' walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya's in an astonishing and moving way.

January Grades 5-6 Book Discussion: Mountain Dog

For January's Book Club, we read Mountain Dog by Margarita Engle. Cadence and Lily were present. This is some of what we discussed.


Why was Tony sent away from Los Angeles to live with his great-uncle, a stranger, in the Sierra Nevada? 

-His mom was a dog fighter.
-She got sent to jail.


Is Tony happy about leaving Los Angeles?

-A little bit, because he's happy to get away from his mom.
-He thinks his uncle is cool.
-His uncle is a forest ranger who saves people and he's got a cool dog. 
 

Why does Tony have a hard time with math? 


-Because he had to count the bets and so has bad feelings about math.



Tony has a hard time trusting anyone. Who do you think is the first he trusts?

-Gabe.
-Gabe.
-He comes to trust Tio.


Why does Tony resist Gracie's efforts at becoming friends?

-Because she's annoying and talkative. 
-At the beginning, he might feel that he's not worthy of having friends.


What do you think is most important to Gabe?

-Having his Leo and Tio.
-His job of rescuing people.

 
Tell me about Tony's nightmares. Why doesn't he tell Tio about them? 

-Because Tio might keep him forever and at the beginning, he just wants to go home, back to normal, even though he doesn't really like his life in Los Angeles.



Would you volunteer to hide yourself in the woods so a search dog could find you?

-No
-No, because of bears, bats and badgers 
 

What happened when Tony himself got lost in the woods? Why did it happen, even though he knew the best rules for staying safe in the woods?

-He got lost because he was thinking about how he was such a disappointment to Tio.  


What does Tony's mom do that makes him angry? Does he finally reconcile himself to who his mother really is?

-She keeps getting into fights at prison. Often, she doesn't accept Tony when he comes to visit.
-He comes to terms with who is mother is.

 
Does Tony find happiness? 

-Yes, because he gets his own dog.
-Yes.


Did you like the way the story was told, in free verse?

-Gabe's chapters are too short. 



Did you like that the story alternated between Tony's perspective and Gabe's?  

-Yes because you want to see the two points of view.
-I think that it's nice to see how people (or animals) react to the same situation very differently.


How would you rate this book, with 5 being the best and 1 being the worst?

-5, a solid 5. It is one of my favorite books.
-4 because I wouldn't read it again but I would recommend it to others. It was a really good book. I liked the type of structure (sequencing and description).

In February, we will read Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo. We will meet on February 8 at 3:00 p.m.

"Rescuing a squirrel after an accident involving a vacuum cleaner, comic-reading cynic Flora Belle Buckman is astonished when the squirrel, Ulysses, demonstrates astonishing powers of strength and flight after being revived."-summary
Copies of the book will be available at the Circulation Desk several days after January's book club. Please be sure to register for the club while picking up your book.