The Crossing by Gary Paulsen

I have been a fan of Gary Paulsen since Dogsong and Hatchet were first published in the 1980's.  These novels have been beloved, particularly by boys, for the last thirty years.  I have also enjoyed Paulsen's nonfiction books like Guts and Puppies, Dogs and Blue Northers, so I was excited to see he had written the novel The Crossing because I am looking for books about immigration.

El Paso and Juarez, separated by the Rio Grande

 I found Manny's story compelling.  An orphaned Mexican boy living on the Juarez border is trying to cross the Rio Grande to the Promised Land.  Sergeant Locke's story was equally compelling; as Vietnam veteran, Locke drank nightly to keep the ghosts of dead comrades from haunting him.  Separately, I found these two stories plausible; however, as the two merge together, I began to be a little disappointed in the plot.  I just didn't believe it.

I don't want to give away the ending for those who might be interesting but suffice it to say that even though the novel ends on a hopeful note, I'm just not that optimistic.

Japanese-American Internment

Cynthia Kadohata wrote Weedflower to honor her father's experiences in the Poston, Arizona internment camp during World War II.  While most middle school students know about the Holocaust, very few know about the infringements on civil rights that occurred right here in the United States.  Most, if not all, of the Japanese living on the West Coast were moved to camps in places like Manzanar or Poston.  Those Japanese who immigrated to the United States were often held in higher security facilities than those who were second or third generation.
     In the novel Sumiko is a young girl farming with her family in California when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor.  Sumiko is separated from her grandfather and sent with the rest of her family to Poston.  The conflict in the novel is created partially by the fact that Poston is run by the Bureau of Indian Affairs since it is part of the Hopi reservation.  While this novel paints an interesting portrait of the era, it is not a story that moves along quickly as the plot is a little thin.  Sumiko learns to make friends in the novel and to come to terms with the events that have challenged her family, but these events are not enough to entice me to give this book my highest recommendation.

Butte Camp looking to the Southwest--National Archives

I liked the book; I found its portrayal of the discrimination faced by the Japanese during the war to be sad and, of course, unfair.  However, as my kids say not a lot of "action."  Still, it would be interesting to read this book or a similar one and compare it to the more recent Patriot Act passed after 9/11 when Americans seemed more than wiling to let the government compromise their civil rights in exchange for a greater sense of security.


The National Archives photos of the War Relocation Camps in Arizona provide a nice primary resource to act as a supplement to reading the novel.  The Library of Congress also has a Japanese American Internment lesson plan including oral histories and photographs.  Some of the photos are by famous photographers Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams.

Surviving the Applewhites by Stephanie S. Tolan

I read this one because it mentioned Rhode Island on the back.  Unfortunately, the novel isn't set in my home state, but this was still a fun read.  Jake is a troubled, young man who gets one last chance to stay out of juvie--he can stay with the Applewhites.  This unusual family of home-schooled artists teaches Jake  to find his passion and overcome his "attitude."

Surviving the Applewhites was a Newbery Honor Book and would be best suited to students grades 5-8.

Anything but Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin

The narration of this novel is fascinating...Jason is a 12 year old writer who also happens to be autistic.  While he has trouble making friends in person, he makes friends with a young girl Rebecca through a writing website. Can this internet friendship become a real one?

After by Francine Prose

In the wake of a Columbine-style shooting, students at Central High School find that a tyrannical administration is taking over the school.  As their freedoms slowly erodes away, students begin to question if their "safety" is worth the sacrifice.  While the ending of this novel is very unsatisfactory, the novel does remind us that over-reacting to tragedy can be just as devastating as the tragedy itself.