Social Studies
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Social Studies > sociology > social issues
Social Studies > sociology > social issues > violence
Armageddon Summer
Fourteen-year-old Marina and 16-year-old Jed accompany their parents' religious cult, the Believers, to the top of a mountain to await the end of the world. The book is narrated in three "voices"--Marina, Jed, and objective accounts such as the newspaper
| Author: Yolen, Jane & Coville, Bruce |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Big Mouth and Ugly Girl
In this engrossing 266-page book, Matt, age 17, is falsely accused of trying to blow up his high school. His friends desert him, but a girl who calls herself "Ugly Girl" befriends him, and together they weather public opinion, the police, parents, teache
| Author: Oates, Joyce Carol |
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Just One Flick of the Finger
Young Jack brings his father's gun to school hoping to scare a bully, but events take an unexpected and violent turn.
| Author: Lorbiecki, Marybeth |
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More Choices: Stories for Adult New Readers
These three stories fit with George Ella Lyon's collection Choices, but were not included in the original collection because some readers found them too controversial. Our readers found them powerful and moving, addressing life situations that m
| Author: Lyon, George Ella |
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Night the Bells Rang, The
This short novel (76 pages), told from the point of view of a farm boy, tells the story of Mason's struggles with a bully, and of his growing up. Although the book has the feel of a reminiscence, the emotions are complex and the characters ring true.
| Author: Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie |
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Nightjohn
An escaped slave returns to the South to teach others how to read. This 92-page book is very bleak, and the violence is quite graphic.
| Author: Paulsen, Gary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard
On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one year old University of Wyoming student named Matthew Shepard, was beaten, tied to a fence and left to die. The book is a collection of 68 poems from various perspectives concerning this crime.
| Author: Newman, Leslea |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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On the Wings of Peace
This is a collection of illustrations and various types of text, all provided by noted authors and illustrators, that focus on issues related to peace. Many cultures are represented among characters and in illustrations.
| Author: Hamanaka, Sheila (comp.) |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
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Real Time
A gripping story told in real time (hence the title)from the viewpoints of several characters involved in the bombing of an Israeli bus.
| Author: Kass, Pnina Moed |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Rite of Passage
The book is set in Harlem in the late 1940s. Protagonist Johnny Gibbs, 15, is a model child and student until he learns that he is a foster child who must go to live with another family. Johnny feels betrayed and reacts by running away. What follows pu
| Author: Wright, Richard |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Shattered
This collection contains twelve stories about the impact of war on children and teenagers, some fictional, some personal experiences. A trailer with historical background crawls across the bottom of the page. Biographies of the authors are included.
| Author: Armstrong, Jennifer (ed.) |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Soldier's Heart
15-year-old Charley Goddard lies about his age to enlist in the Civil War. This book chronicles his war experiences (some very graphic) with the First Minnesota Volunteers. At the end of the book we learn a bit about how the War affected Charley's mind a
| Author: Paulsen, Gary |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Speak
This compelling story recounts Melinda's freshman year in high school. She is an outcast because she called the police to an end-of-the-summer party. Her reasons for doing this and her gradual emotional acceptance and psychological healing are the focus o
Tree Girl
Based on true experiences that were shared with the author, Gabriela, a Guatemalan girl who loves to climb trees, escapes a massacre, eventually reaching a refugee camp where she is reunited with her little sister, both of whom must overcome the trauma an
Under the Sun
After his father sends him and his mother to relatives outside Sarajevo to escape the perils of the war in the former Yugoslavia, 13-year-old Ehmet must find the way through land mines, burned villages, and hostile bands of armed men to his grandparents i
| Author: Dorros, Arthur |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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War and the Pity of War
This large collection of powerful poems and very moving illustrations on war ranges over time and place and level of difficulty. The editor includes an index of writers, and index of poems, and an introduction thate gives his reasons for selecting partic
| Author: Philip, Neil |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | social studies
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Well, The
Set in Mississippi in the early 1900's, African American David Logan and his family share their well with blacks and whites in their community which leads to racial violence.
Why War Is Never A Good Idea
This beautifully illustrated poetic essay uses images of water and earth to communicate the destructiveness of war. Dscribes war as a "something which has grown old, but not wise as it destroys beautiful things and nice people."
| Author: Walker, Alice |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Widow's Broom, The
A widow helps a witch recover from a fall, and in gratitude the witch leaves behind her broom to help the woman do her work. Suspicious neighbors try to burn the broom, but in the end the broom settles in with the woman.
| Author: Van Allsburg, Chris |
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Wreath for Emmett Till, A
Told in a poetic form known as heroic crown sonnets, the thoughtfully illustrated poem causes the reader to experience the murder of 14 year old Emmett Till in Mississippi. The author provides an introduction to the poetic form, biographical information
| Author: Nelson, Marilyn |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
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Social Studies > sociology > social issues > violence > child abuse
Dog Lost
An eleven-year old boy and pit bull terrier become best of friends. In an angry rage, the father throws the dog out into the street and the dog is forced to survive. Eventually the boy and his dog are reunited but not before the dog becomes a local hero
| Author: Lee, Ingrid |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading
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Finding Fish
This is the autobiography of Antwone Fisher (basis for a movie made by Denzel Washington). Antwone's childhood was filled with emotional and physical abuse. He found a way to overcome this difficult beginning.
I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This
A moving story of the friendship between two motherless 12-year-old girls--one black and one white--presents issues of racial prejudice, poverty, and child abuse.
| Author: Woodson, Jacqueline |
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Midwife's Apprentice, The
This award-winning novel, set in 14th century England, tells the story of Brat/Beetle/Alyce, a "homeless waif who became the midwife's apprentice-a person with a name and a place in the world" (book jacket).
| Author: Cushman, Karen |
HSE Descriptors:
science | social studies
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Sold
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a village in Nepal. Her stepfather sells her into sexual slavery and her life of prostitution begins in a large city in India. The book is written in short paragraphs, sentences, and phrases
| Author: McCormick, Patricia |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies | language arts - reading
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Stitches: A Memoir
An autobiographical graphic novel that profoundly describes the author's disturbing and often horrific childhood. This is a riveting and groundbreaking work by children's book illustrator David Small.
| Author: Small, David |
HSE Descriptors:
language arts - reading | language arts - writing
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What Jamie Saw
The power and lyricism of this remarkable book is evident in the opening sentence. "When Jamie saw him throw the baby, saw Van throw the little baby, saw Van throw his little sister Nin, when Jamie saw Van throw his baby sister Nin, then they moved." Jam
Social Studies > sociology > social issues > violence > domestic abuse
Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet
A collection of 49 poems, these vignettes of Appalachian life are funny, sad, moving, and silly. Not all of them are of great quality; teachers may want to pick and choose among them. The poem (on pg. 50) on abuse is powerful and likely to provoke good
| Author: Carson, Jo |
HSE Descriptors:
social studies
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Social Studies > sociology > social issues > violence > riots
smoky night
1
| Author: bunting, eve |
HSE Descriptors:
literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts | literature and arts
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