The Hobbit Glog

This is beautiful too:
http://rheeter.edu.glogster.com/the-hobbit/

The Diary of Anne Frank Glog

Look at this beautiful idea for a book review:
http://kaitlinjadeee.edu.glogster.com/diary-of-anne-frank-5982/?

Alex is camping in the upper peninsula not far from Lake Superior when an electromagnetic pulse flashes across the sky destroying all electronic devices.
This is a suspenseful tale of danger, terror, and surprises.  There is a touching romance between some of the survivors.   Billions are killed, the coasts are burning, and people need to reorganize themselves.  Who can you trust when it is every man for themself?  In the country the amish and some farms can still function.  Cars no longer work except for the rare mechanical one.

What was Alex doing in a wilderness park in the first place?  She meets other survivors and forms a loose family group.  Tom is a soldier with experience overseas, knowledge of EMP explosions, and weapons.  Ellie is 8 years old with a faithful dog.  They notice some people are changed by the EMP and others have enhanced senses.  Some become zombies. Alex can smell things.  Dogs like her, even wild ones.   This is a haunting epic that will have two sequels.  Survival in a shattered world presents terrifying challenges that will keep you guessing.

Review: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705390602/Book-review-Ashes-powerful-but-chilling.html
To date I did not find any teacher's guides or reader's guides.  This is very new.  Please comment if you find a good guide.  This is good reading for October if you like scary stories.

The Young Man and the Sea

The Young Man and the Sea by Rodman Philbrick is a wonderful adventure has elements of realistic fiction in it.  Skiff Beaman is really on his own.  His mom has passed away and his dad is lost in grief on the couch.  Skiff has to take care of both of them.  He has guts.  He wants to repair the family fishing boat.
There are kindly neighbors and people in town who want to help him.  Soon he is catching lobster and crabs and earning some money.

There are also a bully in town, Tyler who torments Skiff.  He steals Skiff's traps, cuts the bait bags off of others and generally does whatever he can to be mean.  Skiff gets a grapple on a line to try to find his traps.
It is hard work.  Then he hears about what a blue fin tuna could bring in if by some miracle he can catch one.  The real suspense begins.  The income from a tuna would solve lots of problems including repair the family fishing boat.  Will it happen?  Will Tyler spoil this effort?  Read and find out.

Review, literature circle activities, and teacher's guide:
http://www.state.lib.la.us/empowerlibrary/YOUNG%20MAN%20AND%20THE%20SEA.pdf

KidsReads.com: http://www.kidsreads.com/reviews/0439368294.asp

Literature Guide from Scholastic:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/clubs/pdfs/youngman_t.pdf

Angel

Max and Fang are going off in different directions.  Fang organizes a new group from contacts he has made through his blog.  These are all kids with special enhancements.  Max is hurt and confused by loosing her close friend and first boyfriend.

She has yet to really accept Dylan who was created out of her DNA to be her soul mate.  Now that leaves lots of questions of who, why and for what?  She knows she must blend her group with Fangs if they are to successfully accomplish anything.  Max has grown up a lot and invites more participation. Angel encourages her and volunteers to go undercover to find out things about the Doomsday Group.

In the end the two groups go off to Paris to investigate a Doomsday Group public gathering.   They penetrate the tunnels below Paris and Angel gets kidnapped.  This books ends on a cliff hanger as it continues the saga.  This is a fun read for both boys and girls.

Maximum Ride web site: http://www.jamespatterson.com/books_max.php
Newsletter: http://www.hachettebookgroup.com/features/maxride/index.html
Review of the book: http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/books/3859526-421/review-angel-by-james-patterson.html
Review by teens: http://firesidebookchat.podbean.com/2011/06/02/maximum-ride-the-angel-experiment-by-james-patterson-a-book-review-by-manny-part-1/

Teachers's webquest that can be adapted to this book: http://teacherweb.com/CA/StMichaelSchool/MrsCalhoun/ap10.aspx
Teacher's ideas: http://www.max-dan-wiz.com/page/educators-1

Maximum Ride

The next series of three books by James Patterson are a continuation of the earlier page turner novels with the same cast of avian humans.  The Final Warning takes the main characters on an adventure to save the planet.  The quest takes the flock to Antarctica where they learn how global warming is changing climate.  Very soon the flock must fight for survival in more ways than one.  Romantic feelings awakened in Max continue to develop.  There is much for discussion.  The book sets up the stage for the next two novels Max and then Fang.   Enjoy!


Review by Teenreads.com:
http://www.teenreads.com/reviews/031615556X.asp


Guide for Teachers:  http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:WfkX80qz6-MJ:www.hachettebookgroup.com/_assets/guides/EG_9780316067959.pdf+maximumride+guides&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShqhbIV0A1EL2tceOUymBIL9LYj5tt0sqTN_Y4T1_LqQju2Oerh0kUN4LGHDwiAkJRmBpquMdllJPvP3pwP7ktbW5XnrQc8QDFJd4tLv3B7rAEwWRLuwtl9I_35NqDB4oUhXBNH&sig=AHIEtbR9Ov0sBt6AXuFnK4CchUUlcR8NsQ&pli=1


Maximum Ride Study Guides:
http://www.scuc.txed.net/webpages/tgay/english_2.cfm?subpage=30190


Official Maximum Ride web site guides for several of the books:
http://www.max-dan-wiz.com/page/educators-1


Fang's Blog: http://maximumride.blogspot.com/


Other links:
Wikipedia Review: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximum_Ride


A movie will be coming in 2013: 
http://www.reelzchannel.com/movie/273882/maximum-ride/

The Missing Series

Adventure and science fiction combined in  Found (book 1) will keep you reading as this mystery unfolds.  Two friends Jonah and Chip discover they each are getting mysterious messages. "You are one of the missing." The notes keep coming.  With  the help of Jonah's sister they begin to ask questions and discover a plot so vast it reaches from the past into the future.  They are not sure just who to trust or should they believe what they are being told?  Can they investigate enough before they get into trouble?  This is a tale of adopted kids, technology and time travel.  Middle school students will enjoy this book.

Other books in this series include Sabotaged and Sent which are pictured in this blog.

Authors Web site: Margaret Peterson Haddix
Fantastic Fiction site: http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/margaret-peterson-haddix/


Useful links:
A short biography: http://www.kidsreads.com/authors/au-haddix-margaret.asp
In her own words the author tells about herself:
http://www.haddixbooks.com/bio.html
Wikipedia review:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Peterson_Haddix
BBC review of the series of books:
http://agentqueryconnect.com/index.php?/topic/86-review-of-the-missing-series-by-margaret-peterson-haddix/
A ThinkQuest site created by middle school students with a variety of information including questions and answers students ask the author:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J0113300/

Literature and study guides:
Web Junction site with discussion questions and extension activities:
http://oh.webjunction.org/ohctrofound
LitPlans: http://litplans.com/authors/Margaret_Peterson_Haddix.html