Island of the Blue Dolphins, By Scot O'Dell
     This book begins by introducing the people who live on the Island of the Blue Dolphins in the village of Ghalas-at. Karana, also known as Won-a-pa-lei, is gathering food with her brother, Ramo, when a large ship comes to the island. The ship belongs to the northern Aleut people who want to hunt for otter. They make a deal with Karana's father, the chief about compensation. Before the Aleut leave, they go back on their part of the deal and this causes a battle that kills Karana's father and many others on both sides. Eventually, the tribe decides it would be safer for them to move to another place for fear of the Aleuts. They depart in ships during a storm. Karana wants to go get her brother who is not on the ship yet, so she dives into the water to swim where he is. The ship leaves them behind and they are alone on the island. The wild dogs on the island kills Ramo the next day and Karana is truly by herself. The story recounts her survival tactics and how her hope to be saved diminishes as does her fear of the Aleut return. The Aleuts do return and she meets and befriends a woman who was with them without the men knowing she is there. However, her new friend leaves and she feels alone. She tames and befriends many animals on the island which help her not feel as lonely. Another ship comes to look for her, but she misses this ship and is once again alone. However, after a few seasons pass, the ship comes again. The book ends when these people take her with them to where they are going. She takes the dog and birds that she has tamed. They inform her that her people drowned in a storm long ago. There is an author's note in the end that describes the real historical figure upon which Karana is based. This book has won the Newbery Award.
     This book would be most appropriate for third and fourth-grade students. It would also be great to have in the classroom library or as a read-aloud every week. What makes the story even more interesting is that it has a true historical basis. Because of this, students could extend the story by writing their own historical fiction based on mysterious historical events. For example, after students learn about the lost city of Roanoke, they could see how O'Dell took facts to create his story and do a similar process to write what happened to the people who lived in this village. This allows students to connect more deeply with history instead of just having them memorize facts. This also teaches them how to research appropriately. This story is also a fantastic demonstration of grit, an important character trait for anyone to have. Karana never froze in panic, but rather, she persevered even when she was injured, cold, or tired. She was never guaranteed that she would ever see people again or be reunited with her people, but she still made herself survive. Sometimes, she even surpassed surviving by creating recreation and a life for herself on the island. She is a fantastic example of perseverance in trials and making the best of her circumstances.

The War that Saved My Life, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
       In this book set in World War II-era London, Ada and her younger brother, Jamie, are abused by their hostile mother, whom they call "Mam." Mam allows Jamie to go to school but does not allow Ada to leave the apartment. Mam is ashamed of Ada due to Ada's clubfoot and does not want anyone else seeing her. She always verbally and physically puts Ada down by calling her names and not allowing her to walk. When the time came for the children to be evacuated from London due to the impending German threat, Mam allowed Jamie to go with the other children but forced Ada to stay. Ada finally got the courage to disobey Mam and ran away with her brother since she taught herself to walk enough to move. The children arrived in Kent, where two siblings were put into the care of the reluctant Susan Smith. Eventually, Susan came to love the children and the children loved Susan as well. The trio faced many trials like when the injured soldiers from Dunkirk overwhelmed the small village or when they had to go into the bomb shelter every night because of the German air raids. However, Ada comes out of her shell and heals emotionally through the support of the kind people in the village, Susan, and a pony named Butter. At the end of the book, Mam comes to take the children since she found out leaving them with Susan will cost her reoccurring payments nineteen shillings. At home, Ada stands up to her mother and her mother admits that she does not want them at all. That night, an air raid threatens Ada, Jamie, and Mam. The two siblings make it to a bomb shelter just in time. When they wake up, they are greeted by Susan who came to rescue them. When they get back to Kent, they see that Susan's house was destroyed by a German bomb and would have killed Susan had she been home. The people of Kent are delighted to see that Susan, Ada, and Jamie were not in the rubble and rejoice that they are alive. Susan says that the young boy and girl rescued her from dying and Ada says that Susan had done the same. This book has won the Newbery Honor Award.
       This book would be most appropriate for fifth and sixth grade. It has some more mature content that would not be appropriate for younger elementary students. For example, Ada tries to help a soldier and goes to get someone for him. When she comes back, this soldier had died and Ada is devastated. Additionally, the effects that Mam has on Ada are extremely intense. Ada believes that the clubfoot is her fault and believes Mam's lies for a while. I would love to have this book in my library for the students to read freely. Additionally, the students could write an essay or do a project after reading the book that is based on the title. They could explain if and how the war saved the life of Ada. They could also delve deeper and explain how the war may have saved Susan or Jamie as well. This book also contains many facts about World War II that even I did not know before. This book would be great for students to read as they study this war. After reading this book and studying the war, it would be a fun project idea for students to write creatively. The students could write from the perspective of a German or Polish boy or girl with a different scenario and use historical facts to explain how the war may have saved their life. This encourages students' creativity and gives them an opportunity to personalize history. Additionally, they have to know the facts of the war well in order to write the story.

Merci Suárez Changes Gears, by Meg Medina

            This book follows a young girl named Merci Suárez as she begins sixth grade. Merci lives in Florida with her father, mother, brother, grandparents, aunt, cousins, and her cat, Tuerto. She is not the most popular girl in school like her classmate Edna, and she wishes that she could fit in with the rest of the sixth-grade girls. However, she feels self-conscious about her appearance and about her family not being as wealthy as everyone else at her private school. Throughout the book, Merci’s strong, determined personality leads her into trouble like when she injures a classmate after trying to prove to him that she can hit any type of pitch he throws. In addition to the stress at school, Merci experiences stress at home from her family. She is upset at having to babysit her cousins instead of having fun with her friends. Additionally, she wishes that her family would not treat her like a child. She also notices that her grandfather, Lolo, acts differently than before. Normally, Lolo is the one person in the world who seems to truly understand Merci, but he starts forgetting people and events, has a bad fall even though he has ridden a bike all his life, and he wanders away when he should know to stay. Merci does not know at first what is happening to him, and she misses the way he used to be. However, Merci discovers that her whole family, Lolo included, knew that he has Alzheimer’s disease and decided not to tell her. This temporarily breaks Merci’s trust in her family and her heart. After Lolo has an angry outburst at Abuela, Merci begins to feel embarrassed at what her friends may think of him when they come over to her house. However, Merci soon realizes that her friends love spending time with her and her family. She realizes that all her friends think their own family is odd in some way. At the end of the book, Merci experiences change as Edna no longer is the most liked girl at school, her brother is going away to college the next year, and Lolo’s condition continues to worsen. Merci decides to embrace both positive and negative change because she is capable of adapting to any new situation. This book won the Newberry Medal, and Meg Medina has won the Pura Belpré Award.

            This book is most appropriate for fifth and sixth graders. It would be a fantastic book for the whole class to read and to have in my classroom library for students to read freely. Because this book deals with a variety of difficult yet common topics for students this age, it would be a great way to start conversation in the classroom. For example, students could discuss the pressures of fitting in socially, the importance of family and friends, and the difficulty of change. Additionally, students could present projects that deeply analyze these topics and allow students to connect their experiences with Merci’s. They could create dioramas or other artistic representations of their favorite parts of the book. Then, they could present to the class why they chose that scene and why it stood out to them. I would love for students to analyze and discuss Merci’s conclusion about change. She concludes that since change brings good along with sadness, she should welcome it. This conclusion would also be a great writing prompt for students to agree or disagree with Merci and then add their own thoughts about the nature of change. This topic is incredibly relevant for students at this age because sixth grade is a time of change and transition out of childhood. Students could also write about ways they relate and do not relate with Merci and her experiences. This gives students the opportunity to discuss what they read in a more private way and allows them to discover more about themselves by using this book to spark introspection. This book invites readers to think about their personal connections to the text because it is realistic fiction and Merci is about the same age as the sixth-grade students reading the book.