2007
Nutmeg
Teen
Book
Award
CT’s Teen Choice Award
Mortal Engines
AR: 6.6
Lexile:990
Philip Reeve
In the distant future, when cities move
about and consume smaller towns, a
fifteen-year-old apprentice is pushed out of
London by the man he most admires and
must seek answers in the perilous OutCountry, aided by one girl and the memory
of another.
Curriculum Connections:
•Robotics
•Future Civilization
•Darwinism
•Flight
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Scholastic Great Britain
http://www.scholastic.co.uk/zone/book_philip-reeve.htm
Philip Reeve Star Chat
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/contact/starchat/preeve.shtml
Rhode Island Teen Book Award Discussion Module (Questions and Activities)
http://www.yourlibrary.ws/ya_webpage/ritba/ritba06/mortalengines.htm
Scholastic UK Book Guide including synopsis, discussion questions, lesson ideas
http://www.scholastic.co.nz/Resources/Notes/MortalEngines.doc
Predator’s Gold (Sequel) Chapter One
http://www.harperteen.com/global_scripts/product_catalog/book_xml.asp?isbn=0060
721960&tc=cx
Read Alikes: Airborn by Kenneth Oppel, True Sight by David Stahler, Singing the
Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman, The Kiln by Jennifer Anderson
Activities: Old Tech bulletin board/display, Future Trends Debate, Darwin lesson,
Nuclear Bomb study, Hiroshima, Contemporary Issues . . .
Jumpman Rule # 1:
Don’t Touch Anything
AR: 4.5
Lexile: n/a
James Valentine
When a defective time-jumping device strands
Theodore, a teen from the distant future, in
the twenty-first century, he is helped by two
high schoolers--Jules, who is having time
problems of his own, and Gen, an old friend
Jules was about to ask out.
Curriculum Connections
•Time/Space Continuum
•Time Travel
•Future Civilization
•Science Trends
•Disease Control
Useful links (to be added to Webjunction)
James Valentine’s Website
http://www.jamesvalentine.net/
SimonSays (Description, Awards, Excerpt)
http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?sid=33&pid=489679
Einstein’s Big Idea
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/einstein/
American Museum of Natural History
http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/einstein/
Read Alikes: Stravaganza City of Stars by Mary Hoffman, Brainboy and the
Deathmaster, Singing the Dogstar Blues by Alison Goodman, Heir Apparent by
Vivian Vande Velde, The Supernaturalist by Eoin Colfer, The Time Machine by HG
Wells
Activities: Video Game Design, Propose a Jump Site, Einstein Activities . . .
Airborn
AR: 5.1
Lexile: 760
Kenneth Oppel
Matt, a young cabin boy aboard an airship,
and Kate, a wealthy young girl traveling with
her chaperone, team up to search for the
existence of mysterious winged creatures
reportedly living hundreds of feet above the
Earth's surface.
Curriculum Connections
•Alternate Past
•Flight
•Species detection
•Scientific Identification
•Pirates
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Rhode Island Teen Book Award Discussion Module (Awards, Questions, Read
Alikes)
http://www.yourlibrary.ws/ya_webpage/ritba/ritba06/airborn.htm
Kenneth Oppel
http://www.kennethoppel.ca/
Unit on Airborn (Word Document with worksheets, activities, rubrics and more!)
http://www.kennethoppel.ca/novel%20studies/airborn%20novel%20study.doc
Read Alikes: Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve, Year of the Hangman by Gary
Blackwood, Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins, The Xanadu Adventure by
Lloyd Alexander, The Coral Coffin by Michael Dahl
Activities: Design an airship, look up new species, draw a map of the island, foods
with mango. . .
Vampire High
AR: 4.0
Lexile: 620
Douglas Rees
When his family moves from California to
New Sodom, Massachusetts and Cody
enters Vlad Dracul Magnet School, many
things seem strange, from the dark-haired,
pale-skinned, supernaturally strong
students to Charon, the wolf who guides
him around campus on the first day.
Curriculum Connections
•Vampires – horror stories
•Mystery
•School story
•Self-identity
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
From Random House
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385731171
Louisiana Young Readers Choice Award Nominee
http://www.state.lib.la.us/empowerlibrary/2006%206-8%20Vampire%20High.pdf
Gothic Fantasy and Suspense for Teens and Tweens
http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/horrorteens.htm
Booktalks Quick and Simple
http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/rees_vampire.htm
Douglas Rees
http://www.douglasrees.com/
Read Alikes: Cirque du Freak Series, Vampire Plagues Series, Buddha Boy by
Kathe Koja, Dangerous Girls by RL Stine, Charlie Bone Series,
Activities: Water Polo or Game, Vampire Mythology, Build a mini-city
Under the Same Sky
AR: 4.8
Lexile: 750
Cynthia DeFelice
While trying to earn money for a motor bike,
fourteen-year-old Joe Pederson becomes
involved with the Mexicans who work on his
family's farm and develops a better
relationship with his father.
Curriculum Connections
•Migrant Workers/Illegal Immigrants
•Farm life
•New York state
•Coming of age
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Cynthia DeFelice
http://www.cynthiadefelice.com/
Booktalks Quick and Simple
http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/defelice_under.htm
Cynthia DeFelice About the Author
http://www.fsgkidsbooks.com/authordetails.asp?ID=DeFelice
William Allan White Discussion Guide
http://www.emporia.edu/libsv/wawbookaward/curriculumguides/cg05-06.htm#grade6
Read Alikes: Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan, The Circuit : Stories from the
Life of a Migrant Child by Francisco Jimenez, Breaking Through by Francisco
Jiménez
Activities: Setting financial goals, Migrant workers in CT, x-treme sports - motocross,
immigration in the news
Mississippi Trial, 1955
AR: 5.5
Lexile: 870
Chris Crowe
In Mississippi in 1955, a sixteen-year-old
finds himself at odds with his grandfather
over issues surrounding the kidnapping
and murder of a fourteen-year-old African
American from Chicago.
Curriculum Connections
•Emmett Till (1941-1955)
•Racism
•Civil Rights
•American history
•Mississippi
•Trial
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Read
Alikes
http://english.byu.edu/Novelinks/reading%20strategies/Mississippi%20Trial,%2019
Monster
55/NCTE%20Indianapolis%202004.pdf
by Walter
Chris Crowe
Dean
Myers,
http://www.chriscrowe.com/
The
PhotoStory of Emmett Till story
Legend of
Buddy
http://www.panopt.com/photogra/withers/fulewtill12.html
Bush by
Lots of Activities at BYU Novellinks
Sheila P.
Moses,
http://english.byu.edu/Novelinks/Novel%20Pages/Mississippi%20Trial%201955.ht
Roll of
m
Thunder
State Library of Louisiana Center for the Book
Hear My
Cry by
http://www.state.lib.la.us/la_dyn_templ.cfm?doc_id=417
Mildred
Booktalks Quick and Simple
Taylor,
Storm
http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/crowe_mississippi.htm
Warriors
A Crime That’s So Unjust Interview with Crowe
by Elisa
Carbone
http://www.zinkle.com/p/articles/mi_qa4063/is_200304/ai_n9183635
PowerPoint from NCTE
Milkweed
AR: 6.0
Lexile: 510
Jerry Spinelli
Captures the hardships and cruelty of life
in the ghettos of Warsaw during the Nazi
occupation of World War II, through the
eyes of a Jewish orphan who must use
all his wits and courage to survive
unimaginable events and circumstances.
Curriculum Connections
•Holocaust
•World War II
•Gypsies
•Nazi Life
•Orphans
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Random House
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375813740&vi
ew=tg
Random House Teacher Guide
http://www.randomhouse.com/teachers/pdf/milkweed.pdf
TeacherVision Interview
http://www.teachervision.fen.com/page/26381.html
Chapter Discussion Questions and More
http://www.roberthjackson.org/documents/MilkweedTeachersguide.pdf
About the Author from KidsRead
http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-spinelli-jerry.asp
Read Alikes: Torn Thread by Anne Isaacs, Daniel’s Story by Carol Matas, Shadow of
the Wall by Christina Laird, Run, Boy, Run by Uri Orlev,
Activities: Survival, Orphans, Holocaust read alikes, Identity, Grateful For. . ., Name
symbolism
For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Despite the horrors of World War II, a
French teenager pursues her dream of
becoming an opera singer, which takes
her to places where she gains
information about what the Nazis are
doing--information that the French
Resistance needs.
Curriculum Connections:
•World War II
•Spying – Espionage
•Opera
•France
AR: 4.0
Lexile: n/a
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Random House Reader’s Guide
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385729611&view=rg
Bookclubs with discussion questions
http://www.bookclubs.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780440418313&view=rg
Great Guide from South Caroline Junior Book Award
http://www.scasl.net/bkawards/JBA%20ACTIVITY%20GUIDES%202005_2006.doc
Discussion Questions
http://homepage.mac.com/crowleyvt/dcfaward/dcf/pages/2005/DCF%20BookTalks.pd
f
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
http://www.kimberlybrubakerbradley.com/index.htm
Read Alikes: The Enemy by James Riordan, A Pocket Full of Seeds by Marilyn
Sachs, The Good Liar by Gregory MacGuire, Resistance by Janet Graber
Activities: Secret codes, Listen to opera, Dealing with trauma
Say Yes
AR: 3.6
Lexile: 510
Audrey Couloumbis
In her efforts to hang on following the
disappearance of her stepmother, Casey
resorts to anything including robbery.
Curriculum Connections
•Teen life
•Family problems
•Survival
•Ethical choices
•Friendship
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Audrey Couloumbis Homepage
http://www.audreycouloumbis.com/
Say Yes Discussion Questions
http://www.audreycouloumbis.com/yes_book_students.shtml
About the Author
http://www.chronogram.com/issue/2005/08/bookshelf/
Read Alikes: Crossing Montana by Laura Torres, Zero at the Bone by Michael
Cadnum, Missing Matthew by Kristyn Dunnion, In the Key of Do by Carole
Frechette, Following Fake Man by Barbara Ware Holmes
Activities: Stranger Danger, Police Guest Speaker, Foster Care in CT
Inventing Elliot
AR: 5.1
Lexile: n/a
Graham Gardner
Elliot, a victim of bullying, invents a
calmer, cooler self when he changes
schools in the middle of freshman year,
but soon attracts the wrong kind of
attention from the Guardians who
"maintain order" at the new school.
Curriculum Connections
•Bullying
•Self-identity
•Cliques
•School
•Family Issues
Useful links to be added to Webjunction
Graham Gardner
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blast/writing/profiles/wprofile_ggardner.shtml
Author Profile
http://www.heinemann.co.uk/authors/gardener.doc
Good to Read .org
http://goodtoread.org/books.cgi/initial/I/inventing-elliot
Richie’s Picks
http://www.richiespicks.com/users/stories/picks/inventing_elliot.html
Booktalks Quick and Simple
http://nancykeane.com/booktalks/gardner_inventing.htm
Read Alikes: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, Sleep Rough Tonight by Ian
Bone, Hit Squad by James Heneghan, Buddha Boy by Kathe Koja, Plague Year
by Stephanie Tolan
Activities: Bullying Policies, Identity/, “Mob Mentality,” Sister School Exchange,
Makeover
http://www.ellingtonschools.org/emslibrary/nutmegteen.htm