Our Eleanor by Candace Fleming (ISBN 978-0689865442)

A biography of Eleanor Roosevelt was a logical follow-up to Dead End in Norvelt. I think I have a new hero. Although decidedly not perfect, Eleanor Roosevelt was astonishingly brave, compassionate, and tireless--in a time when women were often not taken seriously. I've read that Hilary Clinton has seen her as a role model, and I understand why--the parallels are striking. For instance, both women were criticized for having too much influence on the president's policies. Both women felt that government had an important role to play in American society. Both women had well-liked husbands that were philanderers, although you can bet that FDR was never publicly censured for his behavior. This bio is a little hard to follow in that it doesn't follow a strictly chronological, but rather thematic, order. I kept it propped open on the dining table, and read a few pages whenever I was sitting down to eat. There are photographs on every page, copies of newspaper articles, quotes from others about Eleanor, as well as quotes from her own autobiographies. Highly recommended for older readers. I'd like to find a shorter book for Wilson students.  It is balm to my soul to read about a person who wasn't afraid to get in and help people. 

Teaching With Poverty in Mind by Eric Jensen  (ISBN-13: 978-1416608844 )
This book was much more of a slog (read that as more clinical and academic) than A Framework for Understanding Poverty . It definitely begins with that "deficit model" that Payne speaks of, describing how living in poverty can make changes in the brain that hampers students' success in school. This can be pretty depressing, but the second half of the book describes the most powerful research-based interventions that schools can make. Written for administrators, the emphasis on improving teachers and recruiting "better" teachers is a little off-putting. However, there is much to validate things we are already striving for at Wilson. The emphasis on brain research may be valuable in moving people from blame to understanding, so that we can respond to kids' behavior in more ways than punitive consequences--as we are doing with our new homework policy.

Glory Be by Augusta Scattergood (ISBN-13: 978-0545331807)
I have to admit that I rolled my eyes when I saw the promo for this book on the Scholastic Book Fair commercial DVD. "Oh puh-leeze," I thought, "not another southern girl coming-of-age novel!" Glory is even, like Opal in Because of Winn-Dixie the motherless child of a preacher. But the commercial sold this book short,  probably because Scholastic has a tendency to sell their audience short, always. Glory Be is actually another civil-rights story, from the perspective of a white girl who's been sheltered enough to never think about how the black people who are part of her everyday life are treated differently than herself. At the beginning, she's less worried about injustice than the fact that it's Mississippi-summer HOT, the pool has been closed until further notice, people are being mean to her new friend from up North, and no one seems to be thinking about her birthday for gosh sakes. But Glory is fearless once she feels that people she knows are suffering (albeit partly because she just doesn't understand the possible consequences of challenging the status quo.) What makes this book special is that this is so realistic--exactly the level that an eleven-year-old would think about things. Also, there is a hero librarian! This book would make a great companion to Christopher Paul Curtis' The Watsons Go to Birmingham--kids could get both sides of the story without teacher-analysis getting in the way. 

Me, Jane by Patrick McDonnell (ISBN-13: 978-0316045469)
Another NH Ladybug nominee. Introduction to the life of Jane Goodall. Not a biography, exactly, though there is a biographical note in the back. I liked the retro-looking woodcuts mixed in with McDonnell's watercolors and views of Jane's own early sketches. Nice creamy-thick paper. Might not "read" well for a large audience.

Citizen Scientists by Loree Griffin Burns (ISBN-13: 978-0805090628)
Non-fiction describing several real participatory science projects (the Audabon bird count is one example,) that kids can get involved in. The book includes lists of equipment needed to successfully participate in the work, addresses to contact the organizations running the studies, and more science resources. I love the introduction, which makes that case that kids are ideally suited to do science. I'll be trying to get this at Wilson.

The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley (ISBN-13: 978-0689844614-print book; audiobook by Listening Library, available through Audible.)
I listened to this one for a project back in library school, and I've been thinking about it ever since. The voice-actor who narrates the audiobook has a beautiful, lilting, and extremely understandable Irish accent. It's fantasy, my favorite genre, and the selchie (seal-folk) legend is at the heart of the story. I've been obsessed with this folk tale since I read Shulamith Oppenheim's The Selchie's Seed when I was in middle school. I listened to this while working on an art project and it was perfect.