TAHS Knight Reads
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • What Are You Reading?
  • Contact

Invasion

1/23/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Invasion by Walter Dean Myers is marketed as a prequel to his books Fallen Angels (Vietnam War) and Sunrise Over Fallujah (Gulf War).

Josiah Wedgewood and Marcus Perry​ both grew up in Bedford, VA and have know each other their entire lives.  Josiah is white and Marcus is black.  Both face fear and death in the D-Day invasion of Normandy, but in very different capacities.

Thirty-four Virginia National Guard soldiers from the town of Bedford were part of D-Day. Nineteen of them were killed during the first day of the invasion, and four more died during the rest of the Normandy campaign. The town and the "Bedford Boys" had proportionately suffered the greatest losses of the campaign, thus inspiring the United States Congress to establish the D-Day memorial in Bedford, Virginia.
Author and Book Awards
If you are interested in more information about the Bedford Boys, the invasion of Normandy, or the roles blacks filled in the U.S. military, check out these books which are part of the Turner Ashby Library collection:
Nonfiction:
  • The Bedford Boys: One American Town's D-Day Sacrifice by Alex Kershaw (940.54/Ker)
  • The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights by Steve Sheinkin (940.54/She)
  • Freedom Flyers: The Tuskegee Airmen of World War II by J. Todd Moye (940.54/Moy)
  • Omaha Beach on D-Day by Jean David Morvan (GRA 940.54/Mor)
  • Normandy, a Graphic History of D-Day: The Allied Invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe by Wayne Vansant (GRA 940.54/Van)
  • Omaha Beach: D-Day, June 6, 1944 by Joseph Balkoski (940.54/Bal)
0 Comments

Scythe

1/11/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Two teens must learn the “art of killing” in this Printz Honor–winning book, the first in a chilling new series from Neal Shusterman, author of the New York Times bestselling Unwind dystology.

A world with no hunger, no disease, no war, no misery: humanity has conquered all those things, and has even conquered death. Now Scythes are the only ones who can end life—and they are commanded to do so, in order to keep the size of the population under control.  

Citra and Rowan are chosen to apprentice to a scythe—a role that neither wants. These teens must master the “art” of taking life, knowing that the consequence of failure could mean losing their own. Citra and Rowan learn that a perfect world comes only with a heavy price.
Awards and Honors
  • ALA Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book
    ALA/YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults – Top Ten
Book trailer
You might also enjoy the following dystopian novel sfrom the Turner Ashby High School Library:
  • Metaltown by Kristen Simmons
  • The Matched Trilogy by Allyson Condi
0 Comments

The Journey of Little Charlie (National Book Award Finalist)

1/9/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Twelve-year-old Charlie is down on his luck: His sharecropper father just died and Cap'n Buck -- the most fearsome man in Possum Moan, South Carolina -- has come to collect a debt. Fearing for his life, Charlie strikes a deal with Cap'n Buck and agrees to track down some folks accused of stealing from the cap'n and his boss. It's not too bad of a bargain for Charlie... until he comes face-to-face with the fugitives and discovers their true identities. Torn between his guilty conscience and his survival instinct, Charlie needs to figure out his next move -- and soon. It's only a matter of time before Cap'n Buck catches on.
Author introduction to book
If you are interested in other books about runaway slaves and the Underground Railroad, try these books from the Turner Ashby Library collection:
Fiction:
  • Taking Liberty: The Story of Oney Judge, George Washington's Runaway Slave by Ann Rinaldi
  • The Underground Railroad;: A Novel by Colson Whitehead
  • Underground Man by Milton Meltzer
  • Steal Away Home by Lois Ruby
  • Stealing Freedom by Elisa Carbone.
0 Comments

Dry

12/19/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dry by Neal Shursterman and his son Jarrod Shusterman is a frightening possibility drawn from current news as the drought in West continues to result in devastating fires.  Imagine that you turn on the faucet in your kitchen one day and nothing comes out.  It is what the media dubs the Tap-Out.  How long will people and communities survive without water?  How long will it be before neighbors turn on one another for precious supplies?  How long will it take for governmental emergency agencies to respond?  Will they be able to meet the needs of such a large part of the population?  In this situation, four teens set out to find a safe haven until the emergency ends.
Author Interview
Awards for Shusterman's books
  •  2018 Kirkus Reviews -- Starred Review for his book Dry
  • 2017 Michael L. Printz Honor Book Award for his book Scythe 
  • 2015 National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book Challenger Deep.
  •  2010 Virginia Readers Choice Award High School Winner)for his book Unwind
Other survival books from the Turner Ashby High School Library you might enjoy:
  • Survival in the Storm : The Dust Bowl Diary of Grace Edwards by Katlelan Janke
  • Far North by Will Hobbs
  • Overboard by Terry Lynn Johnson
  • Avalanche by Terry Lynn Johnson
0 Comments

The Marrow Thieves

11/15/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
"Poisoning your own drinking water,
changing the air so much the earth shook and melted and crumbled,
harvesting a race for medicine."
 (pg. 47)
This is the world in which Frenchie is trying to survive in The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline,  After his father had gone with the Council to the Southern Metropolitan City, hopeful of enacting some change, and their mom passed, it was just Frenchie and his older brother Mitch evading the Recruiters, truancy officers seeking Indigenous people to place in their new version of residential schools.  Seems that, though all were highly impacted by the stresses of water shortages, climatic shifts and conflict, non-Indigenous people lost the ability to dream and sought out Indigenous Peoples for their bone marrow as a source for that ability.  What actually happened in the schools, though, was the stuff of rumours and nightmares.

While the environmental degradation alone could result in the dystopia of The Marrow Thieves, it is but a fraction of the agony of the world Cherie Dimaline has created.  It is a world that has gone beyond decline and into catastrophic collapse.  The heinous racism against Indigenous Peoples coupled with the carnage perpetrated against them is terrifying but not unfamiliar.  By telling this story in a dystopian world set decades into the future, Cherie Dimaline tells much more about the past.  Still, within that horror, there is a wisdom of self and others, a pocket of compassion and understanding that might be the only hope.
​
"...running only works of you're moving towards something, not away. Otherwise, you'll never get anywhere." (pg. 217)
Awards:
  • 2018 American Indian Youth Literature Award Honor book
  • 2018 Canada Reads Selection
  • #8 of the 2018 CCRSB Teen Reader’s Choice Award
  • 2017 Globe and Mail Best Book
  • 2017 Kirkus Prize winner for Young People's Literature
  •  2017 Governor General's Literary Awards (Canadian)
Book Trailer
If you enjoy books about Indigenous Peoples and the environment, try these other books from the TAHS Library.
Fiction:
  • Killer of Enemies series by  Joseph Bruchac​
Non-fiction:
  • Brother Eagle, Sister Sky : A Message From Chief Seattle by Chief Seatle and Susan Jeffers (J 970.004/Sea)
0 Comments

Meet the sky

10/23/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Meet the Sky by McCall Hoyle is a thrilling fight for survival against the fury of a major hurricane ravaging the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Having grown up on the coast of North Carolina near the Pamilco Sound, I have vivid memories of the storms that devastated the area during hurricane seasons.

​Sophie and her family are struggling even before the hurricane comes their way.  It all started with the accident. The one that caused Sophie’s dad to walk out of her life and left Sophie’s older sister, Meredith, barely able to walk.  All Sophie wants now is to plan for the future—keep the family business running, get accepted to veterinary school, and protect her mom and sister from another disaster. But when a hurricane forms off the coast of North Carolina’s Outer Banks and heads right toward their island, Sophie realizes nature is one thing she can’t control.

​After she gets separated from her family during the evacuation, Sophie finds herself trapped on the island with the last person she’d have chosen—the reckless and wild Finn Sanders, who broke her heart freshman year. As they struggle to find safety, Sophie learns that Finn has suffered his own heartbreak; but instead of playing it safe, Finn’s become the kind of guy who goes surfing in the eye of the hurricane. He may be the perfect person to remind Sophie how to embrace life again, but only if their newfound friendship can survive the storm.

If you are interested in stories of people struggling against nature, you might like to try these books available in the TAHS Library collection:

Fiction
  • Hurricane by Janice A. Thompson
  • Hurricane Boy by Laura Roach Dargon
  • Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
  • City of the Dead by T. Neill Anderson
  • Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale
Nonfiction
  • Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans by Don Brown (GRA 976/Bro)
  • Heroes of Hurricane Katrina (Ten True Tales) by Allan Zullo (976/Zul)
  • Last Bus Out by Beck McDowell (976.3/McD)
  • The Storm of the Century : Tragedy, Heroism, Survival, and the Epic True Sory of America's Deadliest Natural Disaster : the Great Gulf Hurricane of 1900 by Al Roker (976.4/Rok)
  • A Weekend in September bu John Edwards (Galveston Hurricane of 1900) (976.4/Wee)
0 Comments

Towers Falling

4/30/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes, award-winning author of Ninth Ward, was written as a way to help middle school age and older students to understand the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. 

When her fifth-grade teacher hints that a series of lessons about home and community will culminate with one big answer about two tall towers once visible outside their classroom window, Dèja can't help but feel confused. She sets off on a journey of discovery, with new friends Ben and Sabeen by her side. But just as she gets closer to answering big questions about who she is, what America means, and how communities can grow (and heal), she uncovers new questions, too. Like, why does Pop get so angry when she brings up anything about the towers?

Awards: 
    • 2017 CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 
    • 2017 Notable Books for a Global Society

      If you are interested in learning more about the 9/11 tragedy, try the following books available in the TAHS library:

      Fiction
      • Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel by Jonathan Safran Foer
      • One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury
      Nonfiction:
      • The Red Bandana by Tom Rinaldi
      0 Comments

      survivor Diaries

      3/2/2018

      0 Comments

       
      Picture
      Picture
      Overboard! and Avalanche are the first two books in Terry Lynn Johnson's Survivors Diaries series.   With years of hands-on experience and training in remote areas, survival expert Terry Lynn Johnson creates on-the-edge-of-your-seat storytelling featuring the real skills that kids need to survive a disaster. 

      If you enjoy books about adventure and survival, you might also like the following fiction books from the Turner Ashby library:
      • Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
      • Wild Man Island by Will Hobbs
      • Far North by Will Hobbs
      • Frozen Stiff by Sherry Shahan
      • Nation by Terry Pratchett
        • ​2009 Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature Honor Book
      • Red Midnight by Ben Mikaelsen
      • Trapped by Michael Northrop
      0 Comments

      Ten True Tales Series

      2/26/2018

      0 Comments

       
      Picture
      Picture
      Picture
      Picture
      Picture
      Picture
      Picture
      Picture
      The 10 True Tales series by Allan Zullo including the titles above and more are short, easy to read nonfiction books.  The author uses memoirs, diaries, biographies, battle reports, and military files to research his subjects.  He uses real names, dates, and places to write factual versions of his subjects heroism, dramatizing certain scenes and recreating some dialogue.
      0 Comments

      Close to shore

      12/6/2017

      0 Comments

       
      Picture
      Close to Shore: The Terrifying Shark Attacks of 1916 by Michael Capuzzo may not be a book for everyone; but, if you are a fan of Shark Week and Jaws, you will probably enjoy this book.  In fact, in 1974 Peter Benchley modeled his great white shark in Jaws on the one that terrorized the New Jersey shore in 1916 killing three men and one twelve-year-old boy and maiming another boy.

      If you are interested in the science of sharks, there is plenty of information.  If not, you could skim those parts and concentrate on the accounts of the attacks.  I should not admit this, but that was how I read Moby Dick in college.  I didn't really care about the marine biology of whales.  One thing I will say is that Capuzzo manages to develop the shark as a true main character in the narrative parts of the story.

      We also have a number of other books in the TA library about sharks and shark attacks including the following:

      Fiction
      • Jaws by Peter Benchley
      Nonfiction
      • Shark by Miranda MacQuitty (597.3/Mac)
      • Shark Attacks: Their Causes and Avoidance by Thomas B. Allen (597.3/All)
      0 Comments
      <<Previous

        Author

        I am a former high school English teacher and now a high school librarian.

        Archives

        January 2019
        December 2018
        November 2018
        October 2018
        September 2018
        May 2018
        April 2018
        March 2018
        February 2018
        January 2018
        December 2017
        November 2017
        October 2017
        September 2017
        August 2017
        June 2017
        May 2017
        December 2016
        October 2016
        June 2016
        April 2016
        March 2016
        February 2016
        November 2015
        October 2015
        September 2015
        June 2015
        May 2015
        April 2015
        October 2014
        June 2014
        April 2014
        February 2014
        December 2013
        November 2013
        September 2013
        August 2013
        November 2012
        October 2012
        September 2012
        April 2012
        February 2012
        November 2011
        February 2011

        RSS Feed

        Categories

        All
        1960s
        Adoption
        Adventure/Survival
        Afghanistan War
        Alex Award
        Alternate/Alternative History
        Animal Stories
        Autism
        Bullying
        Child Abuse
        Child Labor
        Christian Fiction
        Civil Rights
        Civil War
        Climate Change
        Coretta Scott King Book Award
        Cuba
        Domestic Violence
        Drought
        Dystopian
        Elections
        Epidemics
        Espionage
        Eugenics
        Excellence In Nonfiction Award
        Extrasensory Perception
        Fantasy
        Foster Care
        Genetic Engineering
        Genocide
        Graphic Novels
        Historical Fiction
        Holocaust
        Hunting
        Immigrant Experience
        Integration
        Iraq War
        John Newbery Award
        Juvenile Justice
        Labor Camps
        Labor Strikes
        Laura Ingalls Wilder Award
        Margaret A. Edwards Award
        Medical Experimentation
        Medicine
        Mental Health
        Michael L. Printz Award
        Mildred L. Batcheider Award
        Motorcycle Racing
        Music
        Mystery
        National Book Award
        Native American
        Nature's Fury
        Nonfiction
        Nuclear Weapons
        Pacifism
        Pakistan
        Paranormal Fiction
        Persons With Disabilities
        Post-apocalyptic
        Psychological Fiction
        Race Relations
        Rantasy
        Refugees
        Resistance To Government
        Robert F. Silbert Award
        Romance
        Schneider Family Book Award
        Schools
        School Violence
        Shipwrecks
        Slavery
        Soccer
        Southern Fiction
        Syria
        Teens' Top Ten
        Terrorism
        Top Ten Best Fiction
        Top Ten Graphic Novels...Teens
        Top Ten Popular Paperbacks YA
        Top Ten Quick Picks...YA
        Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
        Tsunsmi
        Virginia Readers' Choice (HS)
        Virginia Settings
        Westerns
        William Morris Award
        Women At War
        World War I
        World War II
        Yugoslav War

      Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.