In Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech, Sal Hiddle is thirteen when she and her father move from the home Sal loves in Bybanks, Kentucky, to a small house in the town of Euclid, Ohio. They move so that Sal’s father John can be closer to a red-haired woman named Margaret. Sal believes her father is romantically involved with Margaret, but she later discovers that is not the case.Sal is the only child of John and Sugar. One April morning, Sugar announces that she’s going on a trip alone. She is apparently struggling with personal issues, including the fact that she is unable to have more children, and the journey seems to be one of self-discovery. Sugar is in Idaho when the bus she is riding runs off a cliff, killing everyone on board except Margaret. John visits Margaret in the hospital when he goes to Idaho to tend to Sugar’s burial and discovers Margaret was seated next to Sugar when the wreck occurred. It’s because John feels a connection to Sugar that he moves with Sal to Ohio.

Once in Ohio, Sal becomes friends with a girl in her class named Phoebe Winterbottom. Phoebe lives with her older sister and her parents in Margaret’s neighborhood. Soon after the friendship between Phoebe and Sal becomes solid, Phoebe’s mother disappears. Sal commiserates with Phoebe’s loss, having suffered when Sugar left home. Phoebe’s mother is gone only a few days when she returns with the grown son she’d given up for adoption. Phoebe’s story has a happy ending, a stark contrast to Sal’s own story.

Soon after Phoebe’s situation is resolved, Sal’s paternal grandparents, Gram and Gramps Hiddle, arrive to take her to Idaho. They plan their trip to stop at the places Sugar had visited and intend to arrive at Sugar’s grave on her birthday. As they set out on their trip, Gram and Gramps suggest Sal entertain them by telling a story. She begins the story of her friendship with Phoebe, intertwining her own memories along the way. Pieces of Phoebe’s story prompt memories of Sal’s life and she pours it all out to her grandparents. Meanwhile, Sal and her grandparents have some adventures of their own. Gram is snake bit while swimming and they spend a couple of days in a hospital. As they continue their trip, Gram becomes increasingly ill and the trip is halted when she becomes so sick that she has to be hospitalized again. Gramps, realizing that it’s important to Sal to reach her mother’s grave on Sugar’s birthday, hands over the keys to the car and Sal sets out on the last few hours of the journey alone.

She reaches the spot where the bus went off the cliff and, though she still doesn’t really understand the reason for Sugar’s trip, comes to terms with her life. She is picked up by the police but upon hearing her story, simply drive her back to the hospital and return the car to Gramps. There, Sal discovers that Gram has died.

The stay in Ohio is fairly brief and Sal returns to her beloved farm in Bybanks, Kentucky, with her father. They are joined by Gramps.

Read more from the Study Guide 

https://quizlet.com/260883208/dear-america-i-thought-my-soul-would-rise-and-fly-questions-study-set-flash-cards/

https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plans/teaching-content/i-thought-my-soul-would-rise-and-fly-discussion-guide/

Death Mountain:

https://prezi.com/0pgky0g4jw_w/the-cay-vs-death-mountain/
https://prezi.com/gkhwxx-hcnsb/death-mountain-bysherry-shahan/

https://www.fictiondb.com/author/sherry-shahan~death-mountain~222288~b.htm

Becoming Ben Franklin:

https://prezi.com/xc4aqg1gsu-l/benjamin-franklin/

https://www.audible.com/t2/title?cvo_campaign=250471929&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI-9OJ9ubp2QIVQ0wNCh2d-AXIEAAYASAAEgIhx_D_BwE&Matchtype=b&asin=B004VA8ZVQ&cvosrc=ppc.google.%2Bbenjamin+%2Bfranklin+%2Bbook&cvo_crid=205621215748&source_code=GO1GBSH09091690EI
Farewell to Manzar:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/manzanar/section1/

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/f/farewell-to-manzanar/book-summary 

https://prezi.com/c8ubk8f8aqal/farewell-to-manzanar-photo-essay/

An unforgettable heroine narrates Holm's extraordinary debut novel set in Washington State in 1899. Twelve-year-old tomboy May Amelia Jackson, the youngest of seven children and the only girl in a Finnish immigrant family, lives in the wilderness along the Nasel River: ""I have so many brothers, more than any girl should have. My secret birthday wish is to get a sister."" Holm's uncanny ability to give each of the siblings--and a wide range of adults--a distinctive character while maintaining May Amelia's spunky narrative voice, gives the novel its immediacy and potency. Through May Amelia's travels, readers witness the diverse ways of life in the expanding West: peaceful relations with the Chinook Indians, the plight of a widow barmaid, the taboos around her brother's interest in an Irish girl, the dangers posed by the neighboring logging camp, her aunt's life in the nearby boomtown of Astoria, Ore., as well as the rhythms of the seasons. The sometimes gruesome realities of the Jacksons' lives are tempered by May's strength of character and her bond to her favorite brother, Wilbert. Readers will fall in love with May Amelia's spirited nature; when she saves her brothers from a cougar, she tells them, ""I reckon it's a Darn Good Thing I'm not a Proper Young Lady or you'd be a cougar's supper right about now."" This novel is not to be missed. Ages 9-up. (June)

Published in 2007, Roland Smith's Elephant Run is a riveting story that is notable for its realistic setting, interesting and well-developed characters, and intricate plot. The steamy jungles of Burma come alive, and its native inhabitants carve small villages out of an environment in which ferocious tigers and enormous elephants make their natural homes. Elephants known to be dangerous are identified by an iron bell around their necks, so that villagers will know to get out of the way when the behemoths meander by. For the most part, however, these usually gentle creatures work side by side with their skilled mahouts, moving logs and helping to build the trappings of civilization. The characters, especially Nick and Mya, are multidimensional; Nick begins the narrative as a callow, physically pampered city boy, but emerges as a hardy youth capable of surviving in the unforgiving land almost as well as any native. Intelligent, athletic Mya chafes at cultural traditions that prevent women from becoming mahouts. The plot itself is suspenseful and action-packed, and includes audacious disguises, a desperate and ingenious rescue plot, a terrifying flight through the jungle on elephant back, and a secret hiding place built into the old plantation house. The fast-moving pace of the story along with its ample substance make this book an ideal choice for reluctant readers.

Elephant Run is especially valuable in the canon of young adult literature because of its historical accuracy and its examination of the effects of colonization and forced occupation upon native populations. The people of Burma, as represented especially by the mahouts in the narrative, have long existed under the rule of British imperialism, and their allegiances are torn when the Japanese arrive, promising to free the Burmese from their oppressors. When they discover that life under the notoriously brutal regime of the Japanese military is even worse, the victims find themselves victimized yet again; loyalties are constantly changing, and it is impossible to tell who can be trusted. It is notable that, even as he depicts the horrific treatment meted out upon prisoners of war and the native Burmese alike by the Japanese occupation forces, the author refuses to stereotype. Japanese commanders Sergeant Sonji and Colonel Nagayoshi, who exhibit glimpses of tortured humanity, are pawns within a barbaric system of shifting power, where mistakes are not tolerated, and the consequence of failure is death. 

The town of Ch’ulp’o is famous for its pottery. The clay in the region allows potters to glaze their pots a beautiful, highly prized gray-green color called celadon. In his free time, Tree-ear likes to hide in the bushes and watch Min, an old master potter, make pots grow on his pottery wheel. Min is a perfectionist who typically forms and discards far more pots than he keeps. As a result, he is not only the best but also one of the slowest potters in the village.

One day Tree-ear finds the potter away from home. Tree-ear sneaks into the yard to look more closely at several of Min’s creations. The delicate pieces—a duck formed to pour water from its bill, a large jug shaped like a melon, and a plain rectangular box that hides several other boxes inside it—amaze him. When Tree-ear drops and breaks a piece of the box, he offers to pay for the broken pottery with nine days of work.

Tree-ear secretly hopes that Min will teach him to become a potter, but Min makes him cut firewood to stoke the village kiln instead. This is a difficult job, blistering Tree-ear’s hands and straining his muscles. At the end of each day, Tree-ear is exhausted. Lucky for him, he has Crane-man to treat his blisters, tell him stories, and provide him with small meals of scavenged food at the end of each day.

After his nine days of work are finished, Tree-ear returns to Min and offers to work for him permanently, even though Min refuses to pay any money for the work. He hopes that Min will teach him to make pots, but Min sends Tree-ear to the clay pits outside town to cut clay and bring it home. Tree-ear finds the job difficult. However, the new job has a positive side. Min’s kindly wife provides him a midday meal of rice, fish, and cabbage—far better food than Tree-ear normally earns scavenging.

At first, Tree-ear is thrilled with himself for earning his lunch, but soon he grows worried. Crane-man has always shared everything with him, and now Tree-ear gets a meal every midday which he cannot carry home. He soon solves this problem by bringing his own bowl for Min’s wife to fill. He eats half of the food and hides the other half to take home to Crane-man in the evening. Tree-ear is used to eating very little, and it fills him with satisfaction to help the old beggar eat so well.

After Tree-ear collects enough clay, he learns to drain it at a nearby stream, thus making purified clay and glazes. Rather than explain how to do each job, Min barks orders and leaves Tree-ear to figure out how to fulfill them. Tree-ear works by experimentation and by watching other potters. Min responds to mistakes with criticism, but he never rewards good work with praise.

By eavesdropping on other potters, Tree-ear learns that Min is struggling to earn a living because his perfectionism makes him so slow. What he needs is a royal commission, a contract to produce pottery for the king’s household. This position is well-paid and extremely honorable. It is the dream of many potters, but Min pursues it with more drive than anyone else in town.

From long habit as a scavenger, Tree-ear is observant. He notices before anyone else that a certain potter, Kang, has developed a new technique to make beautiful inlaid patterns on his pots. It is a great innovation, but Kang is a poor potter whose work is sloppy. Tree-ear observes the man working in secret and realizes that this new technique will draw attention. He wants to tell Min about it, but he does not know if it is right to give his master another man’s secrets. He asks Crane-man, who advises against telling Min, at least until Kang makes his innovation public.

Min’s wife continues to give Tree-ear his lunch every day, and she soon realizes that he is hiding half of his food to take home. Every afternoon she surreptitiously refills his bowl so that he will have a full meal to take with him. This means that Tree-ear gets to eat half of a meal with Crane-man every night, in addition to the half meal he eats at midday. He realizes that Min’s wife would probably give him a whole extra meal every day if he ate all of his food at midday, but he is too proud to find out.

In addition to working hard for Min, Tree-ear does many small tasks for Min’s wife, hoping that this is adequate thanks for the extra food she gives him. He rarely speaks to her, but the two of them develop an affection for each other. When winter arrives, she gives him a beautiful warm jacket and pair of pants that she originally made for her son, who died when he was Tree-ear’s size. Tree-ear is thankful, but he cannot bear wearing such wonderful clothes when Crane-man has none. He gives Crane-man the jacket and keeps the pants for himself.

Word arrives in town that an emissary of the king is going to visit Ch’ulp’o to award royal commissions to the best of the potters. Everyone in town begins working to ready their best pieces. When the emissary, Kim, arrives, everyone sets up..

 

“Broken Chain” centers on first love and troublesome brothers. In preparing his bike for his first date with Sandra, Alfonso breaks the chain. Although his brother Ernie will not change his plans to help Alfonso, he does come through in time so that Alfonso can use Ernie’s bike for his date. At least Alfonso can “ride” Sandra on his handlebars. The story ends with her hands on his, and “it felt like love.”

“Baseball in April” also focuses on two brothers, Jesse and Michael, nine and ten years old, respectively, who hope to play Little League Baseball. Not making the cut, they join the Hobos, the leftovers, but only Jesse stays with the team. Despite their best efforts, the Hobos lose all their games. One day, only four boys show up for practice. Jesse fails to show up the following day and feels guilty, worried that a sole teammate will find himself on the bench, waiting.

In “Two Dreamers,” a boy and his grandfather think about speculating in real estate. Hector’s grandfather Luis is inspired by his son-in-law’s ability to buy and sell a house with enough profit to buy a brand-new car and to build a brick fence around his house. Unsupported by his wife, Luis and nine-year-old Hector inspect a house, and his grandfather persuades Hector to call the agent to learn the price. When it is far more money than anticipated, and because Hector’s grandmother almost catches them, Luis and Hector gratefully escape to mow the yard—two “hardworking guys” who still have dreams.

In “Barbie,” owning a real Barbie is Veronica’s dream. A Christmas ago, she received an imitation Barbie, and this Christmas there was no doll at all until Uncle Rudy surprises her with a real Barbie. Ecstatic, she takes her doll to play with her friend Martha, but when Martha tries to switch Barbies, Veronica leaves. On the way home, Veronica realizes that Barbie’s head is missing and spends hours searching for it. Heartbroken, she goes to bed, cradling both of her “Barbies.”