Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Mockingjay


Title: Mockingjay
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series Reading #3


In the third and final book of the Hunger Games series the districts of Panem have finally rebelled. District 12 has been destroyed and Katniss and Peeta have been separated. While Peeta has been captured by the capitol, Katniss, her family, Gale, and Haymitch reside in the infamous district 13. Katniss has become the nation’s mockingjay, the symbol for rebellion and revolution. Without giving too much away, readers will not be disappointed by the final book in the series. Though I must admit the book got off to a slow start, Collins had me absolutely hooked by the middle. I couldn’t put the book down because I knew I had to figure out how the story ended! The ending to the series surprised me. I must commend Collins for keeping me on my toes in each book. The series is truly wonderful. 

As with the first two books, I would recommend this book to middle school students and up. I think a lot of great classroom discussions and projects can come from reading this series particularly if paired with the social studies and/or science curriculum. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, the best part of the series is that it appeals to such a wide variety of people. Whether you’re young, old, a man, a woman, a teacher, a student, chances are you will find some character in this series that you relate to and some part of the story that you love. Whether it’s the games themselves, the survival element, the love story, the futuristic setting, you name it, and this series has it all. This is a definite must read for those who have yet to pick it up.

A Bad Case of the Stripes

Title: A Bad Case of the Stripes 
Author: David Shannon 
Sci-Fi/Fantasy #3 


A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon is about a young girl named Camilla Cream who wakes up one day with stripes on her skin. After being examined by a doctor, Camilla goes to school. As she finds out, her condition is much worse than she thought! During the Pledge of Allegiance her stripes turn into red, white, and blue with stars. Camilla is sent home and a whole host of specialists visit her but no one is able to pinpoint the source of the problem. In the end, Camilla finds out she is sick because she is denying the truth. She loves lima beans but won’t admit it in front of people at school. It takes a special old lady to remind Camilla to always be true to herself.

I personally really enjoyed this book. The illustrations were very colorful and intriguing, I loved looking at the wacky images of Camilla David Shannon created. I also enjoyed the underlying message the book had. It is important to remind children to remain true to themselves no matter what. They shouldn’t change for anyone and should aim to please themselves above all else. This is a difficult concept for students to learn that I thought was presented in a funny way. There are many fun follow up activities I can see being used with this book. I would recommend it to teachers for their classroom library.