The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau

The Testing
By Joelle Charbonneau
Lexile 830 L (Appropriate for: Middle School, High School)
ISBN: 978-0547959108
Review by Elizabeth Blye:


There is something special about The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau. This book was published in 2013, and should be read by anyone who loved The Hunger Games series. Both series fit into the dystopian genre of books and are centered around a female protagonist who question the idea of winning at any cost. While they have many similarities, The Testing series proved itself to be a  standout from The Hunger Games and other dystopian texts. At the beginning of the first book, Cia Vale, who lives in post-war United States, is chosen to become a Testing candidate. She seeks to show her classmates, her father, and herself that she is worthy of this title and can become a future leader of the United Commonwealth. Her father tells her to be careful who she trusts. She questions the truth of his warning, but it something she keeps with her as she faces the testing.  Cia is a strong female character that young adults can easily relate to. Violence and other sensitive issues are a part of Cia’s story as she learns to face her fears and realizes how much is at stake during The Testing. This book deserves 5 stars!


Learning Activity (Middle/High School STEM):

• There are many stem activities that could be done in correlation with this book related to Botany, Engineering, First Aid, Green Technology, Orienteering, and Psychology (Test Anxiety). 
• There are some great ideas on : http://www.stemread.com/thetesting/
• It might be interesting to use this toward the spring of the school year when students are preparing for standardized testing. Logic puzzles or even other breakout games could be used to challenge students and help them discuss the way that they felt related to this 

Learning standard:

1. AASL: 
1. Standard 2: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations and create new knowledge.
2. EMPIRE STATE INFORMATION FLUENCY CONTINUUM:
1. STANDARD 1: USING INQUIRY TO BUILD UNDERSTANDING AND CREATE NEW KNOWLEDGE: “I am a thinker.”
1.  Actively participates in an experience that introduces a topic, problem or question and captures observations, questions and reflections by writing, speaking with others or drawing. 
2. Uses sources to acquire background information and brainstorms ideas for further inquiry.
3. ISTE: 
1. Innovative Designer: Students use a variety of technologies within a design process to identify and solve problems by creating new, useful or imaginative solutions.
1. 4a: Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
2. Creative Communicator: Students communicate clearly and express themselves creatively for a variety of purposes using the platforms, tools, styles, formats and digital media appropriate to their goals.
1. 6a: Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.

Objective:

• (Affective) Students will consider Cia´s feelings during the testing and journal two strategies for testing or high stress situations that they would employ that show critical thinking about high stress situations.
• (Affective) Students will express increased confidence for handling anxiety provoking situations through journal writ
• (Affective) Students will express the understanding that failure is a jumping point for success in their journal response
• (Cognitive) Students will use background knowledge and an understanding of the engineering design process to solve a series of logic puzzles
• (Psychomotor) By the end of the period, students will successfully complete a series of logic puzzles by using critical thinking skills

Outcome:
Students will develop coping strategies for anxiety provoking situations.
Students will understand engineering design method and how it applies to problem solving

How Tia Lola ended up starting over, by Julia Alvarez

Alvarez, Julia. How Tia Lola ended up starting over. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2013.
Lexile Level: 830L

Selling Tool: Follow the link for a short slide presentation:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DdwIUiG--rgtz5Us1IMtJ72g7qUK4dsvwiAZqNULIMw/edit#slide=id.p

Learning Activity:

While reading: Tia Lola is from the Dominican Republic, and she shares many common phrases in Spanish when she is talking with her nieces and nephews. Create a glossary with the Spanish words and phrases that Tia Lola uses. Look up the words in an English-Spanish dictionary.

Post-reading activity: Opening a Bed and Breakfast is a lot of work. Help Tia Lola and the children come up with a menu. You will be serving your guests breakfast every day.

Extended activity: Translate your menu into Spanish! Use an English-Spanish dictionary to learn the names of the foods on your menu.

The following relate to the “while reading” activity above. The other two activities are enrichment activities that afford additional learning opportunities not listed here.

Learning Standard	CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.5.4.C Consult reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation and determine or clarify the precise meaning of key words and phrases.
Learning Goal	Students will use a dictionary to learn the Spanish words and phrases in the book.
Learning Outcome	Students will create a glossary with the definitions of the Spanish words and phrases found in the book.
Learning Objective	Students will locate Spanish words and phrases from How Tia Lola Ended Up Starting over and create a glossary of those terms.

Call it courage, by Armstrong Sperry

Sperry, Armstrong. Call it courage. Santa Barabara CA: Simon and Shuster Books for Young Readers, 2015.
Lexile Level: 830L

Awards: John Newberry Medal in 1941

Note: After reading this book, I’m unsure that I would actively promote it, as I found it to contain racial stereotyping that may have been common in 1940, but I do not consider to be appropriate today. The inhabitants of the island on which Mafatu lands are called “black eaters of men.” While there is a history of fear of cannibalism in the Pacific Islands by some cultures, it is a racially fueled fear and it should not be perpetuated. I see a need for an updated retelling of this classic legend. 

Selling Tool:
Book Review

Call it Courage is an epic tale of adventure and bravery centering on a little boy named Mafatu. Growing up on the Polynesian island of Hikueru, Mafatu is teased by the other children for his fear or the sea. When he was just a baby, his mother died when her boat was overtaken in a storm, and the last thing she managed to do was to save Mafatu from a similar fate. Mafatu is tired of being a disappointment to his father, and decides one day to leave the island.

When he sets off in a small boat with his trusty canine companion, Uri, and trailed by a friendly albatross named Kivi, he doesn’t have any idea what kind of challenges he will soon face. Landing upon a small island several days’ journey from home, he has to find the courage within to build shelter, find food, and keep himself alive. With each new obstacle, Mafatu must dig deeper and deeper to find the will to survive. Will he always be Mafatu, the one who was afraid?

It is easy to see why this story is a legend. If you tried to think of the most horrifying things that could happen to a boy trying to survive alone in a strange land, this is what happens to Mafatu in Call it Courage. Armstrong Sperry’s writing style is easy to digest, despite the fact that this book was written more than 75 years ago. The story of this young, want-to-be-warrior speeds along from one danger to the next, and will keep you on your toes.

Learning Activity:

 Oceanographer for a Day 

Mafatu has some close encounters with a lot of marine life during his sojourn.

“Here the water was cool and green. The sunlight filtered from above in long, oblique bands. Painted fishes fled before him. He saw a giant pahua, a clam shell, five feet across and taller than hi: its open lips waiting to snap shut upon fish or man. Green fronds waved gently as if in some submarine wind. A shadow moved above the boy’s head and he glanced upward in alarm: only a sand shark cruising harmlessly…. An eel, like a cold waving ribbon, touched his leg and was gone.” (Sperry, p75)

Using the technology tool, Biteslide, create an internet poster about marine life. You should focus on one, multicellular organism. Be sure to include information about its habitat, food sources, and any adaptive qualities it might have. Your finished Biteslide should include text, an embedded video, and photos, as well as links that you found helpful in your research.


Learning Standard:
 5 Organisms maintain a dynamic equilibrium that sustains life.  5.1 Compare the way a variety of living specimens carry out basic life functions and maintain dynamic equilibrium. o 5.1a Animals and plants have a great variety of body plans and internal structures that contribute to their ability to maintain a balanced condition. (https://www.ixl.com/standards/newyork/science/grade-5)

Learning Goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of sea life.

Learning Outcome: Students will engage in internet research and demonstrate their knowledge of a multicellular ocean organism.

Learning Objective: Students will design an interactive online poster using the technology tool Biteslide.com that demonstrates their knowledge of a multicellular organism’s habitat, food sources and adaptive qualities.

Mysteries for Reluctant Readers Book Talk

This book talk is intended for reluctant readers aged 10-14.

The books featured in this talk are:

Garber, Stephanie. Caraval. Flatiron Books, 2017.

I chose Caraval primarily because I think this kind of high-concept novel is an easier sell to reluctant readers. A girl must navigate a mysterious amusement park full of riddles and traps in order to rescue her sister. Like, Strange, the Dreamer, the writing is vivid and paints quite the picture, while still allowing the story to move freely. There is also a romantic sub-plot, a will they or won't they story, that is well executed and helps to drove the novel forward while simultaneously giving the reader reasons to invest in the characters.

Pastis, Stephan. Timmy Failure: Mistakes Were Made. Candlewick Press, 2013.

I chose Timmy Failure because it tackles mystery from a completely different angle. Whereas the other two books both utilize magical elements to fuel their mysteres, Timmy Failure tells the story of a real life mystery through the eyes of a wildly imaginative child. Timmy puts a fun, dramatic spin on what would otherwise be a fairly mundane story, leaving you wondering just how much of the information that he gives you is accurate, and how much was concocted inside of his mind. The illustrations in the book match the humor of the writing, with plenty of sight gags that reward the observant reader, encouraging them to get invested in the reading experience.

Taylor, Laini. Strange, the Dreamer. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017.

I chose Strange, the Dreamer for this book talk because it does an excellent job of establishing the mystery right off the bat, while dropping several breadcrumbs that give the reader some ideas of what might be happening, encouraging them to continue reading to see if they were correct. The initial mystery, that of the missing city, is solved within the first third of the book, but this ends up creating more questions than it answers, as a new point of view character is introduced, with the two characters clearly placed on a collision course. The writing in this book is very descriptive, but not overly dry or needles, as often happens in fantasy novels. Instead, it shapes the world without bogging down the pacing, making it an ideal choice for reluctant readers.

The Book Talk Itself:

The script:

A great mystery can draw you in, keep you guessing, and entertain you with twists and turns that you may have never seen coming. If you sometimes find it difficult to get invested enough in a book to want to read it all the way through, then these three novels are worthy of your consideration.

Strange, the Dreamer tells the story of Lazlo Strange, an orphan who grows up in a monastery, recounting tales of a distant, mystical city named Weep that seems to have disappeared without a trace. Except, the city is not called Weep. Lazlo is sure it had another name, but it seems to have magically vanished. Lazlo's fascination with the city drives him to the monastery's library, where he uncovers records of travellers from Weep visiting his hometown, as well as adventurers who attempted to cross the desert to reach Weep, only to perish on the journey. Lazlo comes to realize that there are no records referring to Weep in the past two hundred years, and begins to dream of making the trek across the desert himself, in order to investigate. Then, one fateful day, visitors from Weep arrive at the monastery to ask the monks to travel with them to Weep in orer to aid them.

*Passage from Strange, the Dreamer*

I chose Strange, the Dreamer because it does an excellent job of establishing the mystery right off the bat, while dropping several breadcrumbs that give the reader some ideas of what might be happening, encouraging them to continue reading to see if they were correct. The writing in this book is very descriptive, but not overly dry or needless, as often happens in fantasy novels. Instead, it shapes the magic-infused world without bogging down the pacing, making it an ideal choice for reluctant readers. Speaking of magically-infused worlds...

Caraval is a magical, memorable event that occurs annually, in which participants play a game of mystery and intrigue, while simultaneously questioning how much of their experience is real, and how much is illusion. Scarlett and Donatella, sisters from a troubled home, are invited to participate in Caraval by a man named Legend, the creator of the event. Though they are forbidden to attend by their father, the sisters run away from home only a week before Scarlett's wedding in order to attend. Unfortunately for them, Legend kidnaps Donatella, offering her as the prize to the winner of this year's Caraval. It is now up to Scarlett to follow the clues, solve the riddles, and figure out who she can trust, in order to win the game and rescue her sister.

*Passage from Caraval*

Like, Strange, the Dreamer, the writing in Caraval is vivid and paints quite the picture, while still allowing the story to move freely. There is also a romantic sub-plot, a will they or won't they story, that is well executed and helps to drove the novel forward while simultaneously giving the reader reasons to invest in the characters. But maybe this kind of fantasy novel isn't to your liking. Well then here's something a bit more humorous...

Timmy Failure is a graphic novel about a young boy, Timmy, and his business partner/polar bear, Total. Together, they run a detective agency called Total Failure, Inc., solving mysteries for those in their community. Their primary competition is Corrina Corrina, a rival detective and Timmy's archnemesis, whose agency utilizes the latest and greatest technologies, thanks to her wealthy father. When Timmy's mother's Segway, dubbed the Failuremobile, goes missing, it's up to Timmy and Total to solve the case!

*Passage from Timmy Failure*

Timmy Failure tackles a mystery from a completely different angle. Whereas the other two books both utilize magical elements to fuel their mysteres, Timmy Failure tells the story of a real life mystery through the eyes of a wildly imaginative child. In this way, Timmy puts a fun, dramatic spin on what would otherwise be a fairly mundane story, leaving you wondering just how much of the information that he gives you is accurate, and how much was concocted inside of his mind. The illustrations in the book are silly and fun, matching the humor of the writing, with plenty of sight gags that reward the observant reader, encouraging them to get invested in the reading experience.

All three of these novels are excellent choices for anyone who has difficulty committing to the idea of reading a book front to back. These books will keep you engaged, dying to find out if your ideas about the mystery were right. They will also keep you entertained throughout, with characters that are worth getting invested in, and stories that will leave you wanting more, which is good, since they are all the first book in their respective book series.