Cover to Cover Treasures

Title: The Lions of Little Rock Author: Kristin Levine  Copyright: 2012  Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York  Guided Reading Level: W     Genre: Historical Fiction Summary:  This relatively new novel is spectacular!  Once I started reading, I couldn't put the novel down - it was breathtaking.  From the start of the novel, the heart-felt story is pretty much a flashback to the past.  I am a huge fan of history, but not what happened historically during the time period of this novel, as it's focus is during the late 1950s in Little Rock, Arkansas, when the school systems were closing to try to prevent desegregation.  This is known as the Lost Year .  Friendship is a key theme in this novel as the novel focuses on a detailed friendship between an incredibly quiet young girl named Marlee, and an outgoing young girl named Liz.  After getting used to the budding friendship between Marlee and Liz, we find out t...

Title:  America Is Under Attack: September 11, 2001 : The Day the Towers Fell.  Author: Don Brown Copyright: Jacket Illustration, 2011 Publisher: Roaring Brook Press, New York Reading Level: Lexile: 840 Genre: Nonfiction Summary:  As the Common Core has started to focus more on English Language Arts and Mathematics compared to Science, Social Studies, and the Arts, it is always a wonderful idea to incorporate some of those less focused on subjects in one that students spend a lot of time on!  This is a prime example of one way to incorporate some Social Studies into English Language Arts.  Author Don Brown provides an age-appropriate book for Elementary students to read about a historical day that ended up changing America.  The book provides appropriate descriptions of the terrible events of 9/11 in the form of a heart-filled story - while first-responders, other heroes, the survivors and the victims - are a main focus, and not th...