Allison Mckee Books by Allison Mckee

Female Latinx Protagonist

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This Newberry award winning book is a dystopian middle grade novel that features the main character, Petra Peña. This novel focuses on the importance of storytelling in an epic adventure and I think could be a lend itself to many writing projects. I also choose this because it's one of my daughter's favorite books and she always recommends it to others!

Indian American Female, Health issues,.

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

A Novel in verse about an Indian American girl who has to deal with the sudden news of her mother's cancer diagnosis along with keeping up with her family's cultural expectations. She is the only Indian American student in her class, and feels the pull of making her parents proud and fitting in at school.

This is a great book for students who are dealing with family health problems and being culturally different from other students.

Non Fiction

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This novel tells 3 different stories of kids who are refugees in their personal struggles. They are all from different countries and have their own personal experiences and tragedies. This book has a lot of "adventure" and action while also explaining what a refugee is and what they experience.

LGBTQ, changing family dynamics.

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This novel is about a girl whose family is changing. Izzy's father comes out as trans and she deals with a lot of new attention. She wrestles with how people on the outside will view this and how it will affect her family dynamic. I think many students may at some point feel embarrassed or worried how their families look, so it could feel relatable.

Bi -racial and being proud of your identity

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This novel is a great representation for students of what it's like to navigate the feelings and experiences of being biracial. Sicily Jordan, the main character moves to a new school and learns to lean into her identify of being Black and Panamanian. This book address hair struggles, and the power of journaling. This book could be a great introduction for student journals.

Japanese Historical Fiction

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This is an adventurous tale set in 1841 about a Japanese teen, Manjiro, who survives a fishing shipwreck. This is based on a true story and highlights the struggle of coming back to Japan after living in America and treated like an outsider. This book seems fascinating to me could be really engaging for students. Keeping Historical fiction

Muslim, Religious Pride

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This book is about a boy named Muhammad who receives a special rug to pray on for his Birthday. I choose this book as it's a great one to show and learn about different religions and how others may feel with that religion especially living in America. This opens the conversation to talk about being respectful for all cultural practices.

Black Bravery

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This is a very relatable book for kids to read about being brave. The main character is about a boy Jabari who works up the courage to jump off the diving board at the pool. This book is unfortunately written by a white woman but shows representation in an easy and joyful way.

Historical Fiction

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This the story of Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor. This is another book that could work in well with Social Studies lessons and lots of activities about the government. I will always have a soft spot for RBJ, but Sonia deserves to have recognition and is a role model for many minorities!

Love is Love

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This adorable picture book talks about two worms who fall in love and want to get married. They question the traditions that have always been done and "cultural norms". They choose their own path and ways to define their love but keep things so simple by never mentioning gender. I read this book in a 1st grade classroom and the students had a lot of questions, which is a great start to this topic!

Historical Fiction, Mexican Activist

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This book tells the story of Cesar Chavez and his life as he organized unions and rights for migrant farm workers. This would be a great companion book to A Seed in the Sun to teach students about Chavez who is a great civil rights activist.

Verse novel about body image and family dynamics

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This is a verse novel that tackles some tough topics regarding body image, and a difficult mother daughter relationship This book discusses therapy, finding people you trust, and learning to love the body you are in. I like that this book shows that sometimes the people in your family can hurt you, and not every parental relationship is great.

A LBGTQ Graphic Novel about finding your identity

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This is a graphic novel that does a shakeup of a fairytale where the Prince is the one who gets to wear the beautiful dresses. The book a great story about friendship and gives a great representation of not your typical heteronormative male.

Graphic Novel representing deaf "superhero"

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This is a graphic novel about a girl who is deaf and is starting a new school where everyone is hearing as opposed to her previous school where everyone was deaf. She feels lonely and self-conscious about her hearing device and uses her newfound "hearing abilities" as her superpower. I think it's important that the author is hearing impaired and able to tell this story from an honest and accurate perspective. My grandparents were deaf and attended a deaf school, so this book hits close to home for me!

Historical Fiction - Mexican Workers rights

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This is a poetry/ verse novel book on topic that might not be well known to students. It tells the story of Lula, a Mexican girl who gets involved in a farm workers strike when her family is working on a grape farm in California. This is based on historical events and is an empowering story of resistance. This book could be integrated into a lot of different social studies lessons, and I don't think this topic gets taught enough!

Healing a families divorce through art.

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

This book tells the story of Emily using art as a therapeutic tool to deal with her parents' divorce. I think this book is a great example to talk about the hard topic of divorce and healthy coping skills that can be used for other tough periods. This has a lot of opportunities for activities to learn about different artists as Emily is inspired by Picasso's sadness.

Importance of words

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:00:26 UTC

I choose this book because shares the beauty of words, as Donavan likes to keep track of all the ones he learns. This is a great chapter book for younger readers who are past pictures books and ready to move on to chapter books.

J.D. and the Great Barber Battle (J.D. the Kid Barber)

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:17:08 UTC

This book tells the story of J.D. and his barber "business". I choose this book because it's a series that could be a great option for older students who are not quite ready for middle grade novels but want something a bit more entertaining than Frog and Toad.

Middle Grade Novels

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:27:58 UTC

Vietnamese Immigration

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 02:39:59 UTC

In this Verse novel, Hà and her family immigrate from Vietnam to Alabama. I choose this book because it shows how other countries even ones that are dealing with war can still feel like home and feel better than living in a strange US country.

Graphic novels | Novel in Verse

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 04:42:36 UTC

Diverse backgrounds collaborating together

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 14:12:29 UTC

Kids from different backgrounds come together for the elite middle school track team. This is an engaging series that tells the story of kids working together as a team and overcoming personal obstacles. This offers a variety of perspectives and upbringings that different students can relate to.

Picture Books

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-04 14:24:53 UTC

Easy Chapter Books

mckeeall1 — 2024-08-05 02:57:59 UTC