Books

Text Set Books: // Duke Ellington // By: Andrea Davis Pinkney // Children of the Great Depression // By: Russell Freedman // Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression // by: Kate Lied // Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A National Hero // By: Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen // We Want Jobs: A Story of the Great Depression // by: Robert J. Norrell // Hoping for Rain: The Dust Bowl Adventures of Patty and Earl Buckler // by: Kate Connell

//Duke Ellington //By: Andrea Davis Pinkney

Pub. Date: January 2007 Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children Format: Paperback, 32pp Age Range: 5 to 9 Lexile: 0800L Summary: This story describes the life and achievements of Duke Ellington. It recalls how Duke began playing the piano at a young age, but wanted to quit because he did not enjoy it. One day, when Duke was listening to the radio, he heard a new genre of music, ragtime, and it sparked an interest in the young man. From that point on, Duke began to make his own music, and played night after night in small pool halls and at parties. Duke slowly worked his way to the top, and he and his band finally landed a performance at Carnegie Hall. This was his most popular performance and still lives on in the hearts of jazz lovers everywhere. In my opinion, this story is a perfect way to get students interested in non-fiction books. The story keeps the students attention while incorporating true facts. The vibrant pictures also keep the reader’s attention. They match perfectly with the story, and give the young readers a great idea of the scenes that are being described. I picked this book not only because it met an element of the standard, but because it gives young students a better understanding of this time period. The topic of the great depression can be very boring and hard to follow. By using a book that incorporates entertainment of this time period, the students are gaining a broad idea of the 1930s.

//Children of the Great Depression //by: Russell Freedman Pub. Date: December 2010 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Format: Paperback, 118pp Age Range: 10 to 12 Lexile 1170L <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Summary: //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Children of the Great Depression, //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">is a phenomenal book based on facts and firsthand experiences of the Great Depression. This story is broken into chapters that describe the everyday lives of middle-class children in the 1930s. These children struggled to survive every day, and worked alongside their parents just so they could have a warm meal. Since they had to go to work every day to survive, these children were not able to go to school. They were forced to give up everything just to make ends meet. Although these children did not have easy lives, they managed to make the best out of every situation. They worked when they had to, read when they could, and managed to sneak some time to play games or listen to the radio. These children learned very quickly that they had to be optimistic in order to make it through those tough times. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This book is the perfect depiction of the Great Depression. It incorporates the way children think and answers their most common questions. This book is for the higher-level readers, but is still helpful to the lower levels as well. The pictures are the main focus in this book and they are actual pictures taken from the Depression. They describe the truth about these children and their lives.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Potato: A Tale from the Great Depression //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">by: Kate Lied

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Pub. Date: November 2002 Publisher: National Geographic Society Format: Paperback, 32pp Age Range: 5 to 10 Lexile 660L <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Summary: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This is a story about a family who lived during the Great Depression. It tells of a young couple trying to begin their family, but one day the dad loses his job. The bank then takes their house and they are forced to move and look for work somewhere else. Finally, they hear about a job picking potatoes in Iowa and load up the family so they can begin to work. While in Iowa, they give up everything and live in tents while they work day and night to save money. During the night, they would pick potatoes and store them in burlap sacks so they could trade them for necessities when they returned home. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I chose this story because it is a fictional story that depicts the effects of the Depression on a family. I think it is important that the students have a fictional story to compare to the non-fiction stories. This will give them a better understanding of what really occurred during this time. This story is also included because it meets the needs of the lower level readers. The story is not based on a real family, but the events that occurred are very similar to true events.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Franklin Delano Roosevelt: A National Hero //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">By: Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Pub. Date: February 2007 Publisher: Sterling Publishing Format: Paperback, 128pp Age Range: 10 to 12 Lexile 1110L

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Summary: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This is a biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt. This tells of his childhood surrounded by his family, as well as his marriage, and his four terms as president. He faced daily struggles due to his physical disabilities, but he never let them stand in the way of serving his country. He led the United States through the Great Depression as well as World War II, and quickly became a national hero. This book gives details for all of these topics along with his family history and personal life. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This is the perfect biography for this topic. Franklin Roosevelt was the main icon through this time period, and it was essential for this to be included for the students to read. This book is broken down into chapters of his life, and is geared toward the middle to higher reading levels. The pictures are very descriptive of the topics being discussed, which will aid the lower level readers when completing activities with this book.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">We Want Jobs: A Story of the Great Depression //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">by: Robert J. Norrell

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Pub. Date: January 1993 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Format: Paperback, 48pp Age Range: 10 to 12 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Summary: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">This book tells the story of a steelworker in the 1930s. He, like many others, loses his job and has to struggle to make ends meet. Unlike everyone else in his position, John Waskowitz, decides to try harder. This book takes you through a timeline of his life, and the process he had to go through to get his life back on track. It all begins with the first steps he took after losing his job, to job marches he participated in and the New Deal. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I chose this book because it actually gives the students some insight on what happened after the stock market crashed, and how it affected this one man and his family. This book breaks the steps down and gives them a timeline to work with. This story is more for the middle to high level readers, but is not too difficult for the lower level readers to work with.

//<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Hoping for Rain: The Dust Bowl Adventures of Patty and Earl Buckler //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;"> by: Kate Connell

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Pub. Date: September 2004 Publisher: National Geographic Society Format: Paperback, 40pp Age Range: 8 to 12 <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Summary: //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Hoping for Rain //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">is a story about the Buckler family. During the 1930s, times were very hard, and everyone struggled to survive. In the Great Plains, times were even worse. A horrible drought caused dust storms to blow through the Great Plains, and destroyed all the crops. For the Buckler family, life was very hard. With no crops and no jobs, the oldest son, had to move off to find work in order to provide for the family. This book is full of letters and stories of how the Dust Bowl impacted this family, and the measures they had to take to survive. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">I chose this book to meet the reading levels of all of the students. This book is a timeline of this family, and it gives specific details of the occurrences of the Dust Bowl. The letters and pictures are very helpful for the students to gain an understanding of another aspect of the Great Depression.