My Brother Charlie by Holly Robinson Peete and Ryan Elizabeth Peete (2002)

This book is about Callie and her twin brother Charlie. Charlie was born with autism and is different from other children. You see Charlie's life through Callie's eyes and she realizes that even though her brother is different, he still loves his family in his own unique way.

I loved this book. I am interested in teaching special education and it is nice to find a book that embraces students with special needs. The text is written in a way that students will understand. The illustrations are complimentary to the text and emphasize certain points of the book, which I really liked.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. I could see using it as a free read book. It would help students understand that although their peers have special needs, they still have feelings and express them in a different way than most people. I also think it would be a good book to share with students and parents that have family members with special needs.

Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson (2002)

This book is about a girl that lives with her grandmother because her father is in prison. She makes gifts to bring him on visiting day. Her grandmother explains to her that he will be home one day and they won't always have to go and visit him.

I enjoyed this book. I thought it handled a tough issue in a student friendly way. The text was age appropriate. I also loved the illustrations. They were very colorful and emphasized the mood of the book.

I think this would be a great book to use in the classroom. I think that it would be good to use because there may be students that are in this type of situation and can relate to the main character. This would give them a chance to know that they aren't the only one going through this type of situation.

The Misfits by James Howe (2001)

This book is about the "Gang of Five" working to make a difference in their school. They see themselves as misfits and outcasts and want the teasing and tormenting to stop. In order to get the school's attention, they run as a third party on the student council ticket under the No-Name Party. Although they loose in the election, they all feel like they have made a difference in the school.

I think I would have enjoyed this book more when I was younger. I noticed several grammatical errors and the way it was written seemed extremely juvenile. Although I am critical of the way the book was written, I think that the message about loving who you are is much more important. I thought it was interesting that there were several characters that were homosexual. I had never read a young adult novel that addressed this issue. I think that these characters, along with the others are very relatable to students at this age because most people tend to feel like they are on the outside.

I would like to use this book in my future classroom. Since I do have criticism with the grammatical errors, I may not use it in that particular subject area. I think it would be a good book to read aloud to a class so you can stop and have a discussion at any point. I think it is important to have students talk about the large issues that are presented in this book.

The Giver by Lois Lowry (1993)

This book is about a boy named Jonas that lives in a community of sameness. He has reached the age of Twelve, where he will be placed in his Assignment, his future career. He is Assigned as The Receiver of Memories for the community. As Jonas gains more memories, he begins to see the flaws in the sameness of the community and ends up understanding the power of choice.

I absolutely loved this book! My sister was a huge fan of this book and always tried to talk me into reading it, but I refused because I thought it was going to be about an old man. (Yes, I was judging a book by its cover.) I am glad that we were assigned this book because I have been missing out on some great literature. I loved the story and how a lot of it was open to interpretation.

I would love to use this book in my classroom. I think it addresses a variety of issues and topics that would be good for students to discuss. I have also heard how a lot of students create their own 'ideal' world of sameness to go along with reading the book.

King & King & Family by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland (2004)

This book is about King and King taking their honeymoon. On their honeymoon, King and King see all kinds of animals and animal babies. They begin to dream of a child of their own, and end up adopting a baby girl.

I thought this book was okay. I thought it was sending a great message, but it wasn't executed in the best way. The text didn't seem to flow and the story was choppy. I also thought that the illustrations were too overpowering to the words. Although the illustrations were great, they distracted from the text and were very busy.

I could see where I would use this in my classroom. I think it would be a good book to have out in a free read book shelf. If I had a student that had a specific question about the topic, or if a student is in this type of situation, I think it would be a good idea to read this book out loud to the class. This way, we could talk about the situation with an example to refer to.

The Un-Wedding by Babette Cole (1997)

This book is about Demetrius and Paula and their problem parents. Their parents fight and disagree about everything until Demetrius and Paula suggest holding an un-wedding.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the illustrations were a lot of fun and they fit the humorous tone of the book. I think this book addresses a heavy issue in a lighter way that many students can relate to.

I would definitely use this book in my classroom. Like I mentioned, it covers the heavy topic of divorce in a way that many students could probably relate to. It also emphasizes the message that the children are not the reason for the divorce, but that the parents just don't get along. This book also showed the aftermath of the divorce in a positive light, saying that the children got two of everything. I think this would be a good book to use if you know an individual student is going through a divorce, or even to open up a small group discussion about divorce and how to deal with it.

Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl by Rachel Renee Russell (2010)

This book is about Nikki Maxwell and her experience planning the junior high Halloween dance. She runs into several problems due to her rival, Mackenzie. She also has a few scheduling conflicts and costume changes the night of the dance, but ends up having a blast with her friends and her dream date.

At my age, I didn't really enjoy this book. As an older elementary/junior high student, I probably would have loved this series. I can remember these silly issues that seemed so big at the time that Nikki deals with. One part of the book that I loved were the references to current popular media, such as Justin Beiber. This book was also accompanied by illustrations that helped emphasize certain points in the book. I also liked that the text changed sizes to create more focus on certain emotions.

I don't think I would use this book for an entire classroom since it very much is written towards the pre-teen female crowd. I think this would be a great book to have in a classroom library as an optional read for students interested.