Book Club May 23, 2024 -4th Thursday
Under the Java Moon
Author: Heather B. Moore
“Resonating with stories of the best and worst amidst the cruelties of war. Highlights an area less explored in WWII fiction. Excellent historical novel based on a true story will be eagerly consumed by readers interested in the era.” –Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Based on a true story, this gripping WWII novel captures the resilience, hope, and courage of a Dutch family who is separated during the war when the Japanese occupy the Dutch East Indies.
Java Island, 1941
Six-year-old Rita Vischer cowers in her family’s dug-out bomb shelter, listening to the sirens and waiting for a bomb to fall. Her charmed life on Java―living with other Dutch families―had always been peaceful, but when Holland declares war on Japan and the Japanese army invades Indonesia, Rita’s family is forced to relocate to a POW camp, and Rita must help care for her little brother, Georgie.
Mary Vischer is three months pregnant when she enters the Tjideng women’s camp with thousands of other women and children. Her husband, George, is somewhere on the Java Sea with the Dutch Navy, so she must care alone for her young children, Rita and Georgie, and her frail mother. The brutal conditions of the overcrowded camp make starvation, malaria, and dysentery a grim reality. Mary must do everything she can to keep her family alive.
George Vischer survives the bombing of his minesweeper but feels little hope floating on a small dinghy in the Java Sea. Reaching the northern tip of the Thousand Island would be a miracle. Focusing on the love of his life, Mary, and his two children, he battles against the sea and merciless sun. He’ll do whatever it takes to close the divide between him and his family, even if it means risking being captured by the Japanese.
Under the Java Moon highlights a little-known part of WWII history and the impact of war on Indonesia, its people, and the more than 100,000 Dutch men, women, and children who were funneled into prison camps and faced with the ultimate fight for survival.
Dex, the Heart of a Hero
Author: Caralyn Buehner
When a little wiener dog named Dex is teased and taunted by other bigger animals, he desires to be big and strong. So he trains to become a hero for his town. When Dex is called to save a cat that has been the meanest to him, the cat realizes that he has been wrong in teasing Dex. After Dex rescues the cat, the cat decides he too wants to train with Dex and become a hero.
This book is a good example of a fantasy because it involves characters that are not normally able to talk in real life. Dex and the rest of the animals talk and express emotions.
A teacher could use this book in a classroom to show kids that they can be heroes by expressing kindness and being helpful to those that are in need of help, even to those who are not kind to us. A teacher could explain that everyone can be a hero by the way they behave and act towards others.
The plot in this book contains all elements of literature. It contains a problem (Dex being small), and conflict (the other animals teasing Dex for his size), and a resolution (Dex saves the day and the other animals then show him respect).
Media: Oil Paints
The Women
Author: Kristin Hannah
“‘Women can be heroes, too.’ When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances Frankie McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America. The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten.”–
Are You Ready to Play Outside
Author: Mo Willems
Gerald and Piggie are best friends.
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. In Are You Ready to Play Outside?, Piggie can’t wait to go play in the sunshine. But will a rainy day ruin all the fun?
Knuffle Bunny – A Cautionary Tale
Author: Mo Willems
Trixie, Daddy, and Knuffle Bunny take a trip to the neighborhood Laundromat. But the exciting adventure takes a dramatic turn when Trixie realizes somebunny was left behind… Using a combination of muted black-and-white photographs and expressive illustrations, this stunning book tells a brilliantly true-to-life tale about what happens when Daddy’s in charge and things go terribly, hilariously wrong.
There is a Bird on Your Head
Author: Mo Willems
Gerald and Piggie are best friends!
Gerald is careful. Piggie is not.
Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can.
Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. In There Is a Bird On My Head!, Gerald discovers that there is something worse than a bird on your head–two birds on your head! Can Piggie help her best friend?
Knuffle Bunny Too! A Case of Mistaken Identity
Author: Mo Willems
Trixie can’t wait to bring her one-of-a-kind Knuffle Bunny to school and show him off to everyone. But when she gets there, she sees something awful: Sonja has the same bunny. Suddenly, Knuffle Bunny doesn’t seem so one-of-a-kind anymore. Chaos ensues until the bunnies are taken away by Ms. Greengrove. After school, Trixie finally gets her beloved bunny back. But in the middle of the night, Trixie realizes something. She has the wrong bunny Daddy comes to the rescue again as a midnight swap is arranged with the other bunny, the other little girl, and the other daddy. Needless to say, the daddies are not very happy. By the end of the story Trixie has her beloved bunny back, but she has also gained something new: her very first best friend. In the tradition of the Caldecott Honor-winner KNUFFLE BUNNY: A CAUTIONARY TALE, this is another heartfelt, hilarious picture book that children (and their parents) will love.
The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!
Author: Mo Willems
When Pigeon finds a delicious hot dog, he can hardly wait to shove the entire thing in his beak. But . . . then a very sly and hungry duckling enters the scene and wants a bite. Who will be the more clever bird?In this hilarious follow-up to the acclaimed Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! Mo Willems has created another avian adventure that encourages children to share even their most prized processed foods. Mo Willems is a six-time Emmy Award-winning writer and animator for Sesame Street and the head writer of Cartoon Network’s Code Name: Kids Next Door. The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog! is the companion to Mo’s first children’s book, Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! He is also the author of Time to Pee!.
Fallen Sparrow – A Peyton Cote Novel
Author: D.A. Keeley
When U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agent Peyton Cote is called to a mysterious burned-out cabin, she has no idea it will lead her to reconnect with Dr. Sherry Duvall. Their re-acquaintance, however, comes under difficult circumstances–Sherry’s brother is accused of murder, and her father and mother have just died in a murder-suicide. On the home front, single-mom Peyton is waging a different battle–helping son Tommy fight his learning disability. Amidst all this, a man is lurking who has only revenge on his mind, the kind of revenge that could cripple the nation and leave even those close to him as nothing more than fallen sparrows. Praise: ” Keeley’s] tough but compassionate heroine triumphs against the odds.”– Kirkus Reviews “This edgy and emotional thrill ride will captivate readers.”–
Blood on the River! Jamestown, 1607
Author Elisa Carbone
Twelve-year-old Samuel Collier is a lowly commoner on the streets of London. So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the Susan Constant, bound for the New World, he can t believe his good fortune. He s heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he imagined. The lush Virginia shore where they establish the colony of James Town is both beautiful and forbidding, and it s hard to know who s a friend or foe. As he learns the language of the Algonquian Indians and observes Captain Smith s wise diplomacy, Samuel begins to see that he can be whomever he wants to be in this new land.”