Does My Head Look Big In This?

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abdel-Fattah, Randa. 2008. Does My Head Look Big In This? New York: Scholastic  ISBN 978-0439922333

2.  PLOT SUMMARY

Amal is your typical 11th grader in most ways.  She likes shopping and boys and her friends.  But when she decided to wear the hijab full time and further explore her Muslim faith she must deal with preconceived notions and prejudices. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Amal is a wonderfully developed character.  Abdel-Fattah has done an excellent job of showing the dynamic between Amal and her family.  The characters interact with each other in a way that is positive and loving and a direct contrast to the issues which she faces from her school.  Further, Abdel-Fattah manages to give information about the Muslim faith without coming across as preachy or boring.  She also manages to point out differences in cultures and home life of Muslims who share a faith, but not everything. 

Amal is forced to examine her own belief system while interacting with the beliefs of others who do not fully understand what it means to her to wear the hijab.  Along the way she makes many typical teenage mistakes such as lying to her parents and unfairly judging others while not wanting to be judged herself.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(s)

School Library Journal- While the novel deals with a number of serious issues, it is extremely funny and entertaining, and never preachy or forced.

Booklist-*Starred Review* - Without heavy preaching, the issues of faith and culture are part of the story, from fasting at Ramadan to refusing sex before marriage. More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere.

 

(starred) "Determined to prove she's strong enough to 'wear a badge of my faith,' Amal faces ostracism and ridicule as she dons her hijab with both good humor and trepidation. . . .

 

(starred) "Using a winning mix of humor and sensitivity, Abdel-Fattah ably demonstrates that her heroine is, at heart, a teen like any other. This debut should speak to anyone who has felt like an outsider for any reason." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

 

Winner - Australian Book Industry Awards 2006 - Australian Book of the Year for Older Children

Notable Book - Selected as a Notable Book by the Children's Book Council 2006

Long listed for the UK Galaxy Book Awards 2006

Short listed for the Grampian Children’s Book Awards UK 2006

5.  CONNECTIONS

Visit the authors website: http://www.randaabdelfattah.com/novel.asp?ID=6&title=Does%20My%20Head%20Look%20Big%20In%20This

Read other books by Randa Abdel-Fattah
Explore works by Arab Americans such as Naomi Shihab Nye

Learn about different kinds of head scarves worn by Muslim women at http://www.cbc.ca/news/interactives/who-muslimheadscarves/

Amal is Australian.  Explore Australia via the internet.  How might Amal's experience have been different if she was American?

 

The First Part Last

A. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Johnson, Angela. 2003. The First Part Last. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4424-0343-7
B. PLOT SUMMARY
Bobby is a single father to a beautiful baby girl.  Instead of shooting hoops with his friends he is sitting up at night with a newborn.  His life has changed forever.  How did he get here and where does he go from here?  He wants to do what's right.  But what is that? 

C. CRITICAL ANALYSIS (INCLUDING CULTURAL MARKERS)
Angela Johnson has a gift for giving voice to young African Americans.  Set in the inner city, Bobby and Nia face a choice that many young people will have to face before they are ready.  Do we keep the baby or give her up for adoption?  How do we know?  The reader is transported into Bobby's world of art, school, family, and diapers.  But where is Nia in all of this?  Told in both present tense and through the wonderfully well done use of flashbacks, Johnson manages to tell the story of two young people in love and the life they created. 

Cultural markers used throughout the book provides for a wonderfully authentic experience.  Language choices reflect the education level, age, and location of the characters.  Family dynamics play out in real time with true to life interaction.  There are no false moments where the reader is sure everyone will live happily ever after.  Johnson manages to weave reality, hope, and uncertainty into each page.
D. REVIEW EXCERPTS AND AWARDS

U.S. News and World Report Johnson has carved a niche writing realistically about young people's issues.

SLJ, starred review Brief, poetic, and absolutely riveting.

Publishers Weekly, starred review Readers will only clamor for more.

Booklist, starred review Poetry

 

ALA Michael L. Printz Award,

Abraham Lincoln Book Award Master List (IL),

ALA Best Books For Young Adults

ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers

Alabama Author's Award

Booklist Editors' Choice

CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book

Charlotte Award Suggested Reading List (NY)

Coretta Scott King Award (ALA)

Florida Teens Read Master List

Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee (NJ)

Gateway Readers Award Nominee (MO)

Georgia Peach Book Award Master List

Green Mountain Book Award Master List (VT)

Gryphon Award for Children's Literature

Iowa Teen Award Master List

IRA Young Adults' Choices

Rosie Award Nominee (IN)

Sequoyah Young Adult Master List (OK)

South Carolina Book Award Nominee

Volunteer State Book Award Master List (TN)

YARP Award Master List (SD)

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E. CONNECTIONS

Look for these other books for young adults by Angels Johnson:

Songs of Faith (1998)

Heaven (1998)

The Other Side, The Shorter Poems (1998)

Toning the Sweep (1993)

Gone From Home: Short Takes (2001)

Humming Whispers (1995)

On The Fringe

Running Back to Ludie (2002)

A Cool Moonlight (2003)

Have students explore teen pregnancy statistics at http://www.cdc.gov/TeenPregnancy/AboutTeenPreg.htm

Language Arts Connections:
Everyone has goals.  How would these goals and life dreams change if you suddenly had to care for an infant?

Health Education Connection:
Use in conjunction with your states sex education curriculum.

Art Connection:
Bobby is an artist.  His preferred method is spray paint.  This is commonly called "tagging".  Have students create a "tag" design.

Looking for Alaska

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Green, John. 2005. Looking for Alaska. New York: Penguin. ISBN 0-525-47506-0

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Miles is obsessed with famous last words and bored with life.  He goes out to find the "Great Perhaps".  Along the way he meets Alaska, who like her name is full of wild unknown.  How much can one person change another persons life?

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Looking for Alaska is divided into two parts: before and after.  The chapters are a countdown to and from Alaska's death and the questions it presents.  This book is definetely not for children and should be read by a more mature teen audience.  The novel contains acts of smoking, drinking, profanity and sexual content.  However, the characters are well developed even if Miles is reminiscent of Holden Caufield in The Catcher in the Rye.  Green presents the death/possible suicide of Alaska as an unanswered question that the other characters are left to unravel.  This is much how death occurs in life.  The living are left to sort out the reasons for death.  The fact that the answer is unkown and the characters that remain have to find meaning makes the novel a more satisfying and rewarding read.  The setting is ripe for the type of activities which the characters engage in as it presents minimal adult supervision.  Overall, a well written novel.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Winner, 2006 Michael L. Printz Award
Finalist, 2005 Los Angeles Times Book Prize
2006 Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults
2006 Teens’ Top 10 Award
2006 Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
A Booklist Editor’s Choice Pick
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Selection
Borders Original Voices Selection

“Green…has a writer’s voice, so self-assured and honest that one is startled to learn that this novel is his first. The anticipated favorable comparisons to Holden Caufield are richly deserved in this highly recommended addition to young adult literature.”
-VOYA
“Like Phineas in John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace,” Green draws Alaska so lovingly, in self-loathing darkness as well as energetic light, that readers mourn her loss along with her friends.”
-School Library Journal, Starred Review
“The spirit of Holden Caulfield lives on.”
-KLIATT

 

5. CONNECTIONS
Other works by John Green:
An Abundance of Katherines
Paper Towns
The Fault in Our Stars
Will Grayson, Will Grayson

visit the authors website: http://johngreenbooks.com/
Investigate a famous person's last words
Ask students to write their own obituary and include and explain their last words.

What my mother doesn't know

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sones, Sonya. 2001. What My Mother Doesn't Know. New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN 9780689855535

2. PLOT SUMMARY
What My Mother Doesn't Know is a novel in verse told from the perspective of 15 year old Sophie.  Sophie is a typical boy crazy teenage girl.  Sones writes as if Sophie is having a conversation with the reader and presents the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence in a way that is easily read and comprehended.  Sophie struggles with dating, friends, and her parents constant fighting until she finally finds herself drawn to the school social outcast.

3.  CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sones writing is simple and easy to understand.  Her honest and direct assessment of the confusion of adolescence is an emotional journey from start to finish.  Sophie is a likable and well developed character that struggles with understanding the difference between love and lust.  The plot of this free verse novel progresses through a series of short poems which show how a teenage girls mind works. 

Sones tackles topics of friendship and family with the same ease as those of young love.  The presented group dynamic between Sophie and her two best friends shows the struggle for acceptance that peer pressure puts on young people. 

The language selection of the novel helps to support the narrative in that it sounds and feels like the words are being spoken by a 15 year old girl.  Further, Sones uses emotion to connect the reader to the work.  Throughout, the verse the reader is presented with anger, shame, heartache, love, lust, happiness, surprise and confusion.

This book is a wonderful choice when discussing any number of topics including love, lust, peer pressure, family dynamics, friendship, and perspective. 

4.  REVIEW EXCERPT(s)
Winner of the Iowa Teen Book Award (2005–2006)
Michigan Thumbs Up Award Honor Book (2002)
Chosen an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2002)
Chosen an American Library Association Top Ten Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2002)
Named a Booklist Editor's Choice (2001)
Named a Texas Lone Star State Reading List Choice (2003–2004)

5. CONNECTIONS
*Have students write from their perspective about a week in their life.
*Have students write in free verse
*Research Sonya Sones
*Have the class each create a free verse poem on the same topic to explore perspective. 
*Other books in free verse:
Sones, Sonya. What My Girlfriend Doesn't Know. ISBN  978-0689876028
Chaltas, Thalia. Becuase I am Furniture. ISBN 0670062987