Nim's Island by Wendy Orr is the story of a young girl living on a tropical island with her scientist father, Selkie the Sea Lion, and a Marine Iguana named Fred. Her mother was killed when a tourist boat came too close to a whale she was observing, and ever since she and her father have been living, on their own island. Even though they are isolated they are not completely cut off from the rest of the world, they have solar panels that provide for the use of a satellite dish, a computer, and a cell phone. When Nim's father sets sail, to study plankton, it was only supposed to be a two-day excursion but a storm comes up and disables his boat. Nim is left to fend for herself on the island and hijinks and suspense ensue.

While reading this book I couldn't believe that a father would choose such an isolated life for his child, and then leave her alone on top of that. But they needed to be isolated for the fantasy to work

Nim proves to be a very resourceful girl. She tends to the garden, fishes, cooks her own food and constructs two rafts out of coconuts. All the while she is emailing a person she thinks is a famous male adventurer who wrote her favorite book. I was impressed with the fact that the hero of the book was the young girl. I think this book would be empowering for young girls. It would help them realize that they have the power to control their own lives. It shows them that a man doesn't always have to be their savior. The best part is that her "pen-pal" turns out to be a woman who comes to the island to rescue Nim but ends up being saved by Nim and her coconut rafts.

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Lulu and the Brontosaurus by Judith Viorst. From the very first page of the very first chapter, I loved this book. "There once was a girl named Lulu, and she was a pain. She wasn't a pain in the elbow. She wasn't a pain in the knee. She was a pain - a very big pain - in the b u t t."  This is the story of a spoiled girl who wants a Brontosaurus for her birthday, and she wasn't taking NO for an answer. When her parents fail to heed her cries and tantrums and there is no Brontosaurus, she sets off on her own to get one. Except when she finds him the Brontosaurus had different plans that did not include being Lulu's pet. Through her adventure, she is shown what an unpleasant little girl she has been and by the time she gets back home at the end of the book she has had an attitude adjustment.
This book was written by the same author of, Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I read it to my second-grade class when I wanted to show them the power of being nice. This story felt like a modern day fable. It has a moral message, while at the same time is a fun story. I find that children are often more able to see the poor behavior in others more readily than they can see it in themselves. This book is perfect for that.

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. This is the story of a young Mexican-American girl, named Esperanza, living in Chicago. The story of her family, her neighbors and her childhood is told through a series of vignettes. It is a charming, and moving book. I could see the neighborhood in my mind and I knew exactly what the characters looked like. It made me laugh out loud, and yet was deeply moving in it's honest depiction of the hardships people from her neighborhood faced. It touched on themes of domestic abuse, job frustration, loneliness and isolation. Especially poignant were the chapters where she talked of her feelings as a teenager.  I could feel Esperanza's longing for the day when she would have a house of her own. And yet I felt that as far away as she could possibly get from Mango street, she will never be completely free of it. A piece of her will always be there.

Skeleton Man

 Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac is a reinterpretation of an old Abenaki Indian story. A girl, in the sixth grade, named Molly wakes up one morning to find that her parents are missing. She is taken in by a mysterious man claiming to be her long-lost uncle. She doubts that this man is really her uncle, she's never seen or heard of him before. Unfortunately, none of the adults will listen to her concerns, except, eventually, her "show-tune singing crazy teacher. Her "Uncle's" behavior is very mysterious and she believes that her parents are alive and trying to return to her. She is having dreams that she feels are premonitions and she decides that she alone must unravel the mystery, find out who this person posing as her uncle is and locate her parents.

I was really taken by this story. I could feel the suspense building with each chapter. I enjoyed the fact that it was all told from the perspective of the girl. I could feel her frustration when the adults ignored her protesting. She was going home with this stranger and there would be no discussions about it. I could feel her sense of helplessness. She was just a child and adults have a tendency to disregard children, especially ones with active imaginations.

This story made me think about my own dealings with the children I teach. I try to listen to every child but I am sure that those kids that have reputations as "storytellers" are dismissed more easily. All anyone wants is to be heard, even the children with overactive imaginations. Because we must encourage imagination in children, it is like a muscle the less you use it the weaker it becomes.