Fiction: Survival Stories

My favorite childhood pastime was playing in the acre of woods behind our house and pretending to survive in the wilderness. I dug up the roots of Queen Anne's Lace for wild carrot soup, gathered goldenrod for seasoning, and baked mud dishes in the sun. Of course, now I know that I would have become violently ill if I had actually eaten the roots of Queen Anne's Lace. While I like to think I would survive in the wilderness, I realize I still only have the knowledge of a six-year-old digging up poisonous wild carrots.

Perhaps this lack of knowledge is what fueled my interest in survival stories. I wanted to believe that reading these stories would teach me survival skills. So this week I'm recommending two fictional survival stories that provide survival tips for other adventurous readers.  

Hatchet by Gary Paulson: Grades 6-9

Summary: A pilot is flying thirteen-year-old Brian in a private plane to visit Brian's father when the pilot has a heart attack and dies. The plane crashes in the middle of the Canadian wilderness, and Brian is left alone with nothing but the hatchet his mother gave him.

Hatchet is a nerve-wracking story, which is why I’ve read it more than once. Survival stories always evoke feelings of anxiety; the reader needs to know if characters manage to build a fire before nightfall or catch a fish before they starve. Brian’s story has this anxiety and sense of danger, as he has to survive a tornado and animal attacks (Canadian moose are surprisingly combative).

While I still don’t think I could build a fire or fish, I gained a vague sense of how to do them through Hatchet. I also like that Hatchet focuses on the emotional trauma of being lost in the wilderness in addition to the physical trauma.

One necessary survival step shown in the book occurs when Brian says that “the most important rule of survival” is that “feeling sorry for yourself didn’t work.” This is an important rule according to Alderleaf Wilderness College, as the college's first survival step is to make a plan and to avoid panicking. If a person creates a plan, this creates a logical series of steps to accomplish rather than panicking over the enormous task of general survival.  
 

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George: Grades 5-8

Summary: Teenage Sam Gribley is tired of living in New York City, so he runs away to his grandfather’s abandoned farm in the mountains. There, Sam “sets up house in a huge hollowed-out tree, with a falcon and weasel for companions and his wits as his tool for survival.”



Drawing of Sam in the book.

While My Side of the Mountain is a survival story, it’s different from Hatchet. Sam chooses to live in the wilderness, which means the book focuses more on the beauty of nature than the dangers. While Sam does deal with natural disasters such as blizzards, the reader is aware that Sam can walk off the mountain at any moment and go back to civilization. Because of this, Sam’s story more like a realistic version of the survival game I played in my woods, rather than a nerve-wracking story like Hatchet.

Sam has to learn basic survival skills, though, which allows the readers to learn along with him. In fact, an accompanying survival handbook for My Side of the Mountain came out a decade ago. Both the My Side of the Mountain book and handbook cover the basic skills that Alderleaf Wilderness College lists, such as making a clear plan, building a shelter, and finding fresh water. These skills may seem simple, but if people never learn them they may discover their lack of knowledge too late.


 

My last two book recommendations also include survival strategies.

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell: Grades 6-8

Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George: Grades 5-8

Historical Fiction: Alcatraz and Fever Epidemics

"The past is another country - a very different world - and historical readers want to see, smell and touch what it was like living there."
― Sara Sheridan

Historical fiction and nonfiction give readers a glimpse into “a very different world.” While the lives of the characters may be fictional, the genre still provides insight into the lifestyles and major events of different time periods. The following historical fiction books are engaging reads and provide insightful glimpses into different worlds.

Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko: Grades 5-8

Summary: In 1935, 12 year old Moose moves to Alcatraz Island with his family, as his father has a new job as the prison electrician. Moose struggles to adjust to life on a prison island and a new school. His transition is made harder by the fact that he can’t play baseball (his favorite sport) because he has to care for his autistic sister.  

I have visited Alcatraz, and this book captures the feel of the prison and shows life as a prison worker’s kid. I hadn’t realized there were children on Alcatraz before I read this book. But workers (doctors, prison guards, etc.) lived with their families on Alcatraz in "three-story apartment buildings, a handful of cottages or converted military housing" (CNN article). The inmates were separated from the workers' children, but as shown in the title of Al Capone Does My Shirts, the inmates had an indirect influence on the Alcatraz children. While the children didn’t have direct contact with the prisoners, the children were always aware of the prisoners. For instance, in the book children are only allowed to play on a small section of the island far away from the prison wards.

Modern day view of Alcatraz.

In addition to the book’s portrayal of Alcatraz, the book also captures what it’s like growing up and transitioning to a new school. Moose wants to play baseball and fit in with the boys at school. How Moose conquers these problems is encouraging for people who have moved into a new environment (even if they didn’t have to take a boat to school from a notorious prison).

 

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson: Grades 5-9

Summary: Mattie is 16 years old when the yellow fever epidemic of 1793 hits Philadelphia. When Mattie’s mother falls ill, she makes Mattie flee the city with Mattie's grandfather. Mattie must then find a way to survive the spreading sickness and panic before returning to rescue her mother in the city.

I think it’s hard in today’s world of modern medicine to imagine the horror and panic of an epidemic wiping out thousands of people in mere months. We have scares like the Ebola crisis, but Ebola killed a small number of people compared to diseases like malaria or yellow fever. Fever 1793 manages to capture the panic that results from an epidemic and includes multiple historical facts. For example, when Mattie returns to the city she finds African Americans caring for the sick. Benjamin Rush, a founding father and a doctor, believed African Americans couldn’t contract the disease and therefore asked them to volunteer (read more here). While this may make Rush sound prejudiced, Rush was actually an prominent abolitionist (short biography here).

Benjamin Rush.

But even though Fever 1793’s plot centers around the yellow fever epidemic, there is still a focus on growing up and family (similar to Al Capone Does My Shirts). Teenage Mattie wants independence from her mother, and during the epidemic Mattie gains this independence and turns into a capable adult (while still coming to realize that she appreciates and loves her mother). The book therefore provides a look at both a major historical event and a character establishing independence while still maintaining parental relationships.

I included a list of other historical fiction books below.

 

The Midwife’s Apprentice (Medieval England) by Karen Cushman: Grades 5-7    

Crispin: The Cross of Lead (14^th century England) by Avi: Grades 4-7

The Witch of Blackbird Pond (America in 1687) by Elizabeth George Speare: Grades 5-8

Johnny Tremain (American Revolution) by Esther Hoskins Forbes: Grades 5-7

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (Great Depression) by Mildred D. Taylor: Grades 5-7

Out of the Dust (Great Depression) by Karen Hesse: Grades 5 and up

            *Out of the Dust is written in free-verse poetry rather than novel form.

 

Fantasy Books Featuring Dragons

“Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a  telescope.”                                                                                                               

 ~Dr. Seuss

This Dr. Seuss quote argues that fantasy is necessary and relevant. People sometimes dismiss fantasy as not being real literature, but fantasy looks imaginatively at real-life elements “through the wrong end of a telescope.” For instance, Harry Potter features topics of racism, war, and friendship in a world of wizards and witches. With Dr. Suess’ quote in mind, I chose to feature two fantasy books this week that include real life topics, such as friendship, feminism, or growing up. Each book's plot also revolves around a dragon.

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede: Grades 5-7

Summary: Princess Cimorene, tired of her boring life as a princess, runs off to work as a cook and general assistant for a powerful dragon. But knights keep interrupting Cimorene’s work by coming to rescue her, and wizards are hatching an evil plot against Cimorene’s dragon employer, so the teen must use her wit to thwart both the knights and wizards.

Dealing with Dragons takes the usual fantasy tropes and twists them into something new. Everyone knows that the knight in shining armor rescues the damsel in distress from the evil dragon, but what happens when the dragon is good and the princess doesn’t want to be rescued?

Another reason I picked this book is because Dealing with Dragons has a strong female heroine who is smart and practical (not many princesses learn how to cook, sew, and read Latin). Cimerone's behavior is also admirable when she confronts the wizards and knights, as she isn't rude to them when they keep turning up on her doorstep. My favorite description of Cimorene is by Alexis in a blog post for Children’s Books and Reviews (which also provides an excellent review and summary).

Alexis says Cimorene is a feminist role model because she shows young readers “that being an admirable woman isn’t [emphasis added] just about pushing boundaries and not letting ‘the Man’ put you in a box.  It’s also about conducting yourself with grace and dignity, caring for and respecting others, and generally behaving like an honorable human being.” In other words, Cimorene may not let knights and wizards tell her what to do, but she is still treats both them and herself with respect. For example, Cimorene refuses to go away with the knights when they turn up to rescue her, but she politely redirects them to other princesses who wish for knights to rescue them.

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville: Grades 5-7

Summary: When a magic shop appears near Jeremy Thatcher’s route home from school, he goes in and purchases a strange stone. When the stone turns out be a dragon’s egg and hatches in his bedroom, Jeremy must care for the baby dragon until it’s big enough to return to the magical realm of dragons.

Bruce Coville is great at creating worlds that seem ordinary until a magical element is introduced. The result is that Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher inspires readers’ imagination by allowing readers to imagine fantastical creatures existing in an ordinary world like theirs.

Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher also provides examples of coping with realistic life problems similar to ones in our everyday lives, rather than problems like preventing wizards from harming a dragon employer (though Dealing with Dragons’ characters demonstrate demonstrate admirable behavior when dealing with magical problems, such as Princess Cimerone’s loyalty and feminism). In Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher, however, Jeremy is dealing with relatable problems at school, such as the girl who won’t leave him alone or the art teacher who picks on him. While Jeremy is raising his dragon, though, Jeremy learns valuable lessons about caring for others and is able to resolve his problems at school. For example, when his art teacher scolds him for drawing a dragon instead of a still-life, Jeremy uses his newfound altruism and realizes that his teacher is jealous of Jeremy's drawing abilities and doesn't actually hate him.

Below, I have included other book recommendations to complete this post on dragon-featuring fantasy books.

Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George (grades 5 and up)

Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke (grades 2-5)

How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell (grades 3-7)

Funny Books with Plenty of Pictures

"Humor is the oxygen of children's literature. There's a lot of competition for children's time, but even kids who hate to read want to read a funny book."

~Sid Fleischman 

The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex: Grades 3-5

 

 Summary: After aliens known as the Boov invade earth, an 11 year old girl named Gratuity reluctantly partners with a renegade Boov (J.Lo) in order to rescue Gratuity’s mother. But when other alien invaders arrive, J.Lo and Gratuity have to work together to save the world.

 

I have read this book twice, which is one of the highest endorsements I can give. My younger sisters and their friends also liked the book when I recommended it to them. The True Meaning of Smekday is funny, charming, and there are drawings that create context for the reader (reading a description about aliens isn’t the same as seeing a picture, such as the picture of Gratuity and J.Lo on the right).

 

There are also subtle issues of diversity in the book, as Gratuity and J.Lo must overcome their differences and work together to rescue both Gratuity’s mom and the world. Gratuity is also a biracial character, which creates a wider representation of diversity than usual in a children’s book.

 

The True Meaning of Smekday is also the inspiration for the 2015 movie Home, though the movie’s plot is a little different from the book’s plot.

 
 

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dave Pilkey: Grades 2-5

 

Summary: The Adventures of Captain Underpants follows the adventures of best friends Harold Hutchins and George Beard after they hypnotize their mean principal (Mr. Krupp) into believing he’s a superhero called Captain Underpants. When the hypnotized Principal Krupp runs off to catch villains, George and Harold must dehypnotize their principal and safely return him to school before they find themselves in trouble.

 

I love recommending this series because the Captain Underpants books are humorous, easy to read, and have pictures on every page. I’ve found that sometimes it’s best to give reluctant readers books with short text and pictures, as it makes the books seem less daunting. My older brother isn’t a reader, but he read every single one of these books when we were kids (probably because the books have whoopee cushion jokes). The first book in the Captain Underpants set was also turned into a movie this year.

 

On a side note, I read that this book is frequently challenged or banned. Dave Pilkey wrote a blog response for Huffington Post about the banning of his book, and the title is aptly named “My Book Makes Kids Laugh, and It was Banned Anyways.” One of the main points Pilkey makes is that kids and adults are amused by different things, which I think is the case with these books (to read more about Pilkey's response, click here). I’m not sure if I’d find the Captain Underpants series funny now, but I thought the books were hilarious when I was 8.

 

   

My other recommendations are:

 

Babymouse series by Jennifer and Matthew Holm (grades 4-6)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid series by Jeff Kinney (grades 5-8)

 

 

Blog Introduction

 

"I have a passion for teaching kids to become readers, to become comfortable with a book, not daunted. Books shouldn't be daunting, they should be funny, exciting and wonderful; and learning to be a reader gives a terrific advantage."
                                                                                                                 ~Roald Dahl

 

I chose to create this blog for my college non-fiction writing course because I spent my childhood with a book in my hands, but my youngest sisters would rather watch Netflix. Because of this, I spent the last few summers dragging them to our local library and piling books into their arms in a desperate attempt of making them read. In the process, I rediscovered favorite books from my childhood and discovered new books to add to my growing list of recommendations.

The result of our library trips? My younger sisters started reading, as I finally realized that the universal rule for encouraging kids to read for fun is to cater to their interests. At first, I gave them books I liked, but they didn't enjoy them. So after I gave them a few failed books, I started organizing books into categories for them. My youngest sister used to believe that along with Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, unicorns and dragons were real, so I gave her books from the fantasy genre. My other sister loves cats, so I picked out books with mice as the central characters.

Therefore, my purpose for this blog is to share the children's book recommendations that I created during my trial and error period of convincing my siblings to read. My hope is that these recommendations will be useful for either someone else trying to teach a love of reading or someone looking for another good book to read.