The Brainstorm 50: Mystery series for K-12

Several new-ish popular mystery series for K-12.

Lower grade series

Sherlock Sam series by A.J. Low

Sherlock Sam is a little kid in Singapore, who with his robot Watson solves crimes. Our students can readily identify with the Singaporian sleuth, and many have been to Singapore so they can picture the locations mentioned in the books. The author's name is actually a mashup of the names of a husband/wife team who live in Singapore. Currently there are 8 books in the series.

Activity tie-ins:

• Geography/Map activity: Students can trace Sherlock Sam's adventures on a map of Singapore.
• Asian literature: If you're looking for a book by Asian authors, that has Asian main characters or Asian settings, this fits all three of those.
• Singapore study: Reading these you can pick up on a bit of Singaporian culture. Have students compare and contrast their normal life with Sherlock Sam's normal life. What's the same? What's different?

Middle Grade series

Platypus Police Squad series by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

The Platypus Police Squad keeps the streets safe in Kalamazoo. I've never read another mystery series for kids that sounds so much like Dragnet or Law and Order. They take crime fighting seriously, but the crimes they fight are things like illegal sales of synthetic fish, sabotage of amusement parks, and other fictional crime situations in a town populated entirely by animals. Krosoczka is also a gifted artist, so the books are peppered with great illustrations of the animals throughout. There are currently 3 books in this series, with a 4th scheduled to come out next year.

Activity tie-ins:

• Observation skills: Using the clues and the pictures, can students solve the mystery before the two detectives?
• Interpersonal skills: The platypuses in the police squad often have to deal with differences of opinion and conflicts. It's a good opportunity to talk about how to handle differences and conflicts in healthy ways.
• Animals + Mystery=Win: Numerous kids pick this up for the animals on the cover, but end up enjoying the mystery elements. It's a great pick for fans of both.
• "Safe" Mystery: These books do a great job of making completely ridiculous and impossible things seem like serious crimes, like synthetic fish dealing instead of drug dealing, making this a good pick for parents looking for a safe read for kids.

Shakespeare Mysteries series by Deron R. Hicks

Miles Letterford started a highly successful publishing company, still in the hands of the Letterford family to this day. Colophon Letterford's father is the CEO of that company as the eldest in line, but his position has become a bit shaky after some weird accidents have hit the company recently. The family (heavily persuaded by cousin Treemont) has given her father until Christmas Eve to make three successful deals or he will have to step down as CEO. But Colophon's ancestor Miles Letterford didn't just leave the family a company, he also left them a mystery that supposedly leads to family treasure. And the key is supposedly the portrait of Miles that hangs in the family house. Colophon always just thought Miles an egotistical crazy man for insisting the family keep his portrait up, but on Thanksgiving she learns from her adult cousin Julian that it may hold the key to a treasure. Colophon starts putting her head together with cousin Julian on solving the treasure mystery and she puts her brother Case in charge of trying to help her Dad save the company (since Colophon suspect Treemont of sabotaging the latest deals). What follows is a high octane adventure with nary a dull moment, plenty of twists and turns, and this continues in book 2. One of the best new mystery adventure series out there in my opinion because...it is written realistically enough it could feasibly happen! Picture a National Treasure movie that is believable and plausible, and have the treasure revolve around Shakespeare's writings. That's this series.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Current events: After this book was published, someone in Europe really did find a Shakespeare folio. Have students research the real story and compare it to this one.
• Shakespeare: If you're looking for a way to make studying Shakespeare just a bit more exciting, this might be just the ticket.
• History: Colophon and Julian's research skills come in super handy to solve the family mystery. Have students brainstorm real life situations where knowing history can be helpful, and/or have students look further into one of the areas of history mentioned in this book that piqued their interest.
• Exciting Read: The covers of these kind of undersell the story, so I usually have to convince kids that these will be exciting. But once they read the first one, they are usually scrambling for the second. If you're looking for a high interest read to hook readers, this is a good one.

Young Adult/Adult series

Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley

Flavia de Luce is a precocious 11-year-old in a small village in post-WWII Britain. She has a penchant for poisons and chemistry in general, and in order to satisfy her poison fascination in a less criminal fashion, she decides to help solve crimes that happen around her village. Of course, the police don't always appreciate her help (as is true for most private detectives). This series has won several awards, and has been quite popular since added to our library. The books are written for an adult audience but are clean enough for teens. There are currently 8 books in this series.

Activity tie-ins: 

• Post-WWII Britain: Just after the war is a time period largely ignored in fiction. It is an interesting look at Britain as it recovered from the trauma of WWII.
• Chemistry: Flavia always shares interesting little tidbits of chemistry in her books, and it is a powerful reminder that chemists have knowledge they can either use for great good or deadly purposes.
• Psychology/Sociology: If you want a fun assignment for your psychology or sociology class, have them analyze Flavia and her family dynamics. Her father is disconnected, her mother disappeared in an adventure years ago, and her older sisters live to torment her, and the family butler is suffering from PTSD. They are quite interesting to say the least. 

Landry Park series by Bethany Hagen

What if Brontë's Shirley was set in a futuristic dystopian US? You might get something a little like this delicious work. Though it is a dystopia (primarily why this is constantly checked out), a mystery features prominently in both books (the series is complete at 2 books). In the first book, the mystery of who is responsible for the physical assault of a gentry young lady features prominently, and in the second book, a serial killer is threatening any hopes of a future peace resolution.

After the Last War against the Eastern forces, society in the US was arranged around wealth and influence levels. The highest families were called the gentry and ruled the land, then came the working middle class, and then the poor servants. But there's a level below the servants reserved for those who did not help during the Last War, the Rootless. They have no rights, and are relegated to the worst jobs in society, taking care of the nuclear waste from the revolutionary power units developed by Jacob Landry during the Last War. Those power units saved the world from an environmental cataclysm, and Landry has become a name that dominates the heights of gentry circles. Madeline Landry is next in line to inherit Landry Park and the power that entails. Her father and mother are grooming her for the task of taking over Landry Park and producing heirs. That all sounds wonderful, but Madeline would rather be going to university than hunting a husband through the season's balls. But she has little choice in the matter. So it is off to the balls and dinners she goes. This season proves more interesting than most though. It starts with the mysterious assault of Cara Westhoff. A Rootless is blamed and the gentry led by Alexander Landry go on the hunt, but Madeline can tell that Cara is hiding something and firmly believes that the Rootless are being persecuted for a crime they did not commit. As she explores this incident and the injustice being meted out to the Rootless, she starts to see the engrained injustices in society towards the Rootless and starts to question everything Landry Park stands for. The same night of Cara's incident, David Dana, the most eligible bachelor in the US arrives in town. Madeline is sure that David will be just like all the other arrogant and mindless gentry men, but he proves to be a puzzle. A puzzle that gets under Madeline's skin. He seems to share her revolutionary and unpopular assessment of the Rootless' plight, and it sometimes appears as if David might care for her, but then he goes and accompanies Cara on her debut night (a common prelude to engagement). One day, Madeline is out for a walk when she sees David in an unusual outfit and starts following him. Cara happens to see and joins Madeline in the tail. And David leads them both straight to the Rootless leaders for a meeting about a revolution. Madeline and Cara are quickly caught spying, and the horrors of the Rootless' situation are brought more painfully clear. Madeline wants to do something, she knows she should, but how much is she willing to sacrifice for these people? Is she wiling to give up her position and her home? The same question is one that David must wrestle with as he heads off to join the military. And...no, I think you'll just have to read it to find out more.

Activity tie-ins:

• Current Events: Ask students who they think the current "Rootless" are in the world.
• Voice for the Voiceless: Madeline Landry wants to help the Rootless, but she has to weigh the costs. If you were in her shoes, what would you do? How much would you be willing to suffer or give up for a stranger? (This can easily be tied in with biblical themes too.)
• Energy Sources: Madeline's world was turned upside down by an energy crisis. Research some of the alternative energy sources currently being explored. What would be their pros and cons?
• Dystopia/Mystery/Regency Combo: All I have to usually do to sell this book to the teen girls at our school is tell them it is a dystopia in which a girl helps fight for the rights of a group of people and she goes to balls. It's hard not to get hooked in a book that features both a tense dystopia situation and a puzzling mystery and has Regency England elements. Of course, some of the guys will roll their eyes at the romance elements, but it is still a solid story. And it stands out with unique elements in a sea of dystopias available.

Sherlock Holmes graphic novels adapted from the original by Arthur Conan Doyle by Ian Edgington, ill. by I.N.J. Culbard

Holmes is always popular, but even more so after the recent BBC series. So when you combine already popular Sherlock Holmes stories with the irresistible graphic novel format, you have books that are constantly checked out. There are 4 of these adaptations available.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Reluctant readers: Students who never check out anything to read will check out graphic novels (and don't tell them, but the reading level of most graphic novels is just as high as most print books). It is a great way to get reluctant readers actually reading!
• ESL: Graphic novels are also great for second language learners because the pictures help with decoding if vocabulary words are confusing. They are also generally smaller in page numbers and not as daunting for those reading a new language.
• Compare/contrast: Edgington did a pretty good job staying faithful to the original Doyle story, but there are inevitably some differences that allow compare/contrast activities and opportunities to ask readers why they think Edgington chose to make the changes he did.
• Quick Mystery Read: If you're looking for a quick read, graphic novels tend to read quite fast. I see many students pick up graphic novels and read them in one sitting in the library at lunch or after school. Of course, many take them home to read and reread too.

Drew Farthering mysteries by Juliana Deering

Drew Farthering is a young British man in 1930s England with a talent for solving crimes, which he discovers by accident when some people close to him are killed on his estate. Deering manages to pull off a mystery that feels much like the classic series of this time period (Marple, Poirot, Campion, Lord Peter Wimsey, etc.) but also deftly and lightly mixes in elements of Christian faith. And she writes some very good mysteries. She's fooled me in every single one. There are currently 3 books in this series with a 4th to be released next year.

Activity Tie-ins:

• British Mysteries: Farthering and his friends frequently mention the newly released mysteries from Christie and Sayers and others they are reading. This series is bursting with suggestions of several classic series to read. It'll make fans of those new to British mysteries.
• Observation Skills: See if you can pick up on all the clues and solve the mystery before Drew. I'll warn you, Deering writes some very subtle and convincing red herrings into her books.
• 1930s England: If you're studying 1930s England, this book does a good job of helping you understand the culture of that time, including a good dose of Gilbert & Sullivan in book 3.
• Respectful Romantic Relationship: Drew and his fiancé do a fantastic job of having a relationship that is clean and respectful. It is one of the things I loved about this series. They're a great example.
• Christie-ish Book for Those Who've Read all of Christie: The problem with being a fan of the old classic British mystery series is that the authors are dead and gone, and the series are finished (well, except for fan fic and authors who get hired by the estates to continue the series...). This book does an excellent job of replicating the feel of those classic mysteries for those craving more.

The Brainstorm 49: Stand alone mysteries for K-12

I don't know if you've noticed, but stand alone mystery books are a rare breed. Usually, when an author takes all the effort to create a diverting detective character, they like for the detective to get the chance to crack several mysteries. The next Brainstorm will look at some of those fun mystery series, but for today, here's some stand alone mystery books for K-12.

Picture Book Resources

Hermelin: the Detective Mouse by Mini Grey
Hermelin is a mouse. He's a mouse with a talent for typing and noticing details, which makes him a perfect candidate to solve several missing item mysteries that have happened in his apartment complex. The people he's helped are very appreciative, but are they really ready to meet their tiny hero?
For now this is a stand alone, but I would not be at all surprised if this ends up being a series. Hermelin is cute, and the ending sets him up with a partner for future adventures. Warning: This book is not the best choice for a read aloud. It is set up as a feast for the eyes, and has many disparate text boxes. It's lots of fun to look at and read by yourself.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Center: If you're a teacher who likes centers and has students old enough to read to themselves, this book would make a great center with some directional questions.
• Observation skills: Those who are paying close attention may be able to figure out the mysteries just as fast as Hermelin. Challenge readers to really look at the pictures closely and see if they can figure out what happened to the missing items.
• Prediction: Savvy readers will probably be able to predict how the people will react when they finally meet Hermelin, but will they predict the solution to that problem?

The Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base
I've mentioned this picture book before, so I'll just remind you of it. It's my favorite mystery picture book. Also a good choice for poetry units, as the entire book is written in rhyming quatrains.

Chapter Books

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Emily's family is moving again. Her family's quest to live in all 50 States is starting to get a little old. It's the reason Emily usually tries not to make friends in new places. But her new neighbor James is another puzzle enthusiast and the same age, and before Emily realizes it, she's made a friend. She's not too used to this friend thing, and she might struggle with knowing how to be a good friend. Especially when she has to choose between taking time for her friendship or pursuing the next step in what she's sure is Mr. Griswold's next game. Emily's one constant in her past few moves has been her participation in Book Scavenger, a game created by Mr. Griswold where people hide books, solve puzzles to find books, of course read books, and move up the Book Scavenger sleuthing scale. When Emily and James stumble on a strange copy of Edgar Allan Poe's Gold Bug, she's sure it is part of Mr. Griswold's new game he was about to announce when he was mugged the day her family moved to San Francisco. Is she just imagining the puzzles? Will her obsession with the game cost her her friendship with James and him a swatch of hair in his cipher contest at school? Who else is after The Gold Bug and how far are they willing to go to get it?
Fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library and Westing Game are sure to love this. Not only because Emily mentions both books, but because of the ciphers and puzzles and the great big scavenger hunt/mystery involved in the story.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Critical thinking: Mysteries are a great way to give readers some critical thinking exercise. 
• Puzzles: There's several ciphers and puzzles mentioned in the book that can give readers further mental exercise. If they really like the concept, Bertman has actually created a real Book Scavenger game where people can hide and find books. Check out bookscavenger.com
• TCKs: Emily is someone third culture kids can readily identify with. The way she tries to protect herself from further emotional pain from leaving people she cares about, is a common pitfall and can hopefully help TCKs not fall into the same trap.
• Friendships take work!: This is a great book to demonstrate that friendships take work on both sides, and can segue into conversations about how to make and keep friends, how to work out differences with others in healthy ways, and the importance of forgiveness.
• Poe's Gold Bug: This tale of Poe is central to the plot line, so if you want to get kids curious about the poem prior to looking at it, this could be a good way to generate interest.

Peeled by Joan Bauer

Hildy Biddle wants the truth, but the truth is hard to find in the little apple valley of Banesville. Strange things are supposedly going on in the old Ludlow house, a house with a history for dark happenings and unsolved mysteries. Suddenly, more and more people are reporting ghost sightings at the old Ludlow place, painted signs warning about danger keep popping up, and a dead man is found on the property. Fear starts to grip Banesville and property values around the Ludlow place start to plummet. Kids are scared to go outside at recess, and the town starts getting strange visitors that want a glimpse of the haunted Ludlow house. The town's newspaper, The Bee, is making sure citizens are up to date on every single detail...but Hildy Biddle is a reporter herself. She has been interviewing many of the people at the heart of this issue for her own articles in the high school's newspaper, The Core, and she starts to feel like The Bee is exaggerating or even fabricating details for some reason. Why does The Bee want the people to live in fear, and why does its editor threaten to sue the high school for the questions Hildy and the rest of The Core staff are raising?

Things get pretty tense and serious, but with the advice of veteran newspaper man Baker Polton and the encouragement of Ms Minska, cafe owner and WWII survivor, Hildy and her friends decide to fight for their town by searching for the truth that will conquer the fear and lies.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Filtering Media: In today's media saturated world, this book provides a very important lesson of evaluating media sources and not taking them at face value. It's a great opportunity to give students practical ways to evaluate their news sources, and warn them about the dangers of hype. This could easily be tied in with a lesson on how commercials and graphic design are created in ways to affect us in certain ways. A great non-fiction companion for this is Go: a Kidd's guide to graphic design by Chip Kidd.
• Writing, the Power of Words, & Bias: The plot also demonstrates the incredible power written words can have over people. Writers have a great weight of responsibility on their shoulders. This book demonstrates how the written word can be used both for good or evil, and how bias can drastically change the way "facts" are presented.
• Anyone can make a difference: Hildy and her friends are teenagers. Most people would dismiss them from being able to help save the town. Just the small act of printing facts has a profound effect on their town. Have students brainstorm small ways they can make a difference in the world.
• Critical Thinking: Can students figure out what is going on in town before the characters? Who do they trust? Why? Or who do they not trust? Why?
• A "Spooky" (Not Really) Read: This is another good pick for those students who crave "spooky" stories that turn out to have a non-spooky conclusion.

Other Stand Alone Mysteries...

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

A modern classic! And a Newbery winner. What do you mean you haven't read this yet?!

One Came Home by Amy Timberlake

It's a combination of mystery and western with flavors of True Grit and Little House on the Prairie and an interesting side plot involving passenger pigeons back before they were endangered. This one won both a Newbery Honor and Edgar Award.

Love among the Walnuts by Jean Ferris

A bunch of lovable misfits trapped in a tricky, not-so-lovable plot make this lesser-known book both mysterious and sweet all at the same time.

The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place by Julie Berry

A Victorian England darker humor mystery with seven young ladies out to figure out who murdered their headmistress (all the while keeping her death hushed up). This one is not for everyone, but those who like Arsenic and Old Lace should appreciate it (and even find little tips of the hat to that story).

The Brainstorm 48: Books for dark & stormy nights (or afternoons)

It's currently the middle of the rainy season here in Thailand. That means we get daily thunderstorms with torrential rain. The past four evenings the sun has set amidst lightning and thunder. It is currently noon, and the thunder and lightning is at it again (and the rain is trying to flood out any after school events). So inspired by the weather and October's arrival, here are several books great for dark and stormy nights (or mornings, or afternoons) for K-12

Picture Book Resources

I Will Surprise My Friend by Mo Willems
Gerald and Piggie watch Squirrel surprise his friend and decide it would be fun to do the same thing. So they agree to meet at the big rock and surprise each other, but thanks to some great comedic timing Gerald doesn't see Piggie and Piggie doesn't see Gerald. Gerald starts imagining all the horrible things that must be happening for Piggie to be missing. Piggie thinks that Gerald must have got hungry and gone to get lunch. Both decide to get up from their hiding spot to go find/save the other and in the process give each other quite a fright.
From the premise of this book, it should totally not work. You shouldn't be able to plan to scare each other at a designated time and location, but thanks to Willems' impeccable comedic timing, it totally does work and hilarity ensues.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Predictions: This would be a fun book to have children try to predict how it will turn out.
• Psychology: Psych classes can pick apart why people get startled, why Elephant and Piggie's plan shouldn't have worked and why it actually did.
• Writing: Willems' employs a brilliant twist in what seems to be a stupid plot. Discuss why it worked, and have students try to write something similar.
• Pranks vs Surprises: Sometimes surprises are fun, and some times they seem mean. Have students debate what makes the difference? Where is the line? (You can tie this then into discussions of class community and how to keep trust between each other.)
• Stats or Charts/Graphs: There tends to be a correlation between whether or not a person likes surprises and whether they are an introvert or extrovert. Poll the class on both questions, and look at the results in statistics. Is there a correlation in the class?

The Skunk by Mac Barnett, ill. by Patrick McDonnell

A man finds himself followed hither and yon by a skunk. After finally shaking this striped-tailed tail, the man's curiosity starts to get the better of him and positions are reversed.

The illustrations in this are fantastic, and make the story as much as the words. And it features a critter that doesn't appear in picture books as a main character all that much. 

Activity Tie-ins:

• Creative Writing: It is not revealed exactly what the skunk is up to, so readers can extend the story and fill in the gaps.
• Debate or Persuasive Writing: You could have a fun debate or persuasive writing exercise asking students whether the skunk was up to something good or evil, what evidence can they use to back them up? Students could also debate whether the man was foolish or smart to tail the skunk in return. Was he smart or did he put himself in danger? Was this story funny or scary? 
• Stranger Danger: This could be a good chance to talk to students about what to do when followed or approached by a stranger.

Graphic Novel-ish Resource

Curse of the Were-Wiener by Ursula Vernon

This third book in the Dragonbreath series finds Wendell is bitten by a were-weiner from Transylvania during school lunch. Danny and Wendell must destroy the alpha wurst with the help of a sentient potato salad (that made an appearance in bk 1 of the series) and its rat minions before Wendell and other school mates are completely transformed and in the thrall of the alpha wurst.

Activity Tie-ins:

• "Scary" (but not really) Stories: There's this group of readers out there who says they want a scary story to read, but not too scary. This is probably the least scary were-creature story you can find. In fact it's really rather funny. There's no blood or gore, and everyone ends up ok.
• Reluctant Readers or those in need of Hi-Lo books: The Dragonbreath series is great for students who "don't like to read" or are struggling readers. The book is almost a graphic novel, but has some pages of just text. The combination of lots of illustrations and large font also make this a very quick read. And the funny adventures of Danny the dragon and his friend Wendell the iguana appeal to a wide age range.
• Story Tropes: Vernon picks fun at several typical horror story tropes in this book. Have students see if they can identify them, and discuss why authors do things like this.
• Humorous Stories: Students (and adults) crave funny stories. This is a great book if you need to laugh in the midst of those thunderstorms.

Fiction Resources

The Castle Behind Thorns by Merrie Haskell

Sand wakes up to find he's been sleeping in a fireplace. And the fireplace is in the middle of the castle destroyed ages ago in an earthquake that's now surrounded by a hedge of thorns. But as Sand explores his strange new surroundings, he starts to realize that whatever cracked the keep and rent a huge tear in the earth couldn't have been just an earthquake because that's not all that's wrong in the castle. There isn't a single thing that hasn't been broken or destroyed in the entire place from bedding and books torn to pieces to tables and anvils shredded in halves. Also, there isn't a single living thing in the castle. The plants (except for the pesky impenetrable thorn hedge) are all dried up, there isn't a mouse or even a fly making a peep. Sand thinks he's all alone with no way out. Until he can figure out the mysteries of how he got in and how he can get out, Sand decides to fix up some things to make his situation livable. He starts with basics like bedding, a spoon, and something to draw water from the well with. As he moves on strange things start happening in the castle, giving Sand clues as to why he is there and what happened in the past.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Fairy Tales Compare/Contrast: This book is somewhat a retelling of Sleeping Beauty. There are plenty of unique elements and Haskell has definitely made this story her own, but if you look for the Sleeping Beauty-ish parallels you can find them (minus mushy parts, so this is also a good fairy tale option for boys). A good addition to a fairy tale unit. Have students compare and contrast this story with another version of Sleeping Beauty.
• Mystery/Almost Spooky Tales: There's a big mystery as to what is going on in this story. How did Sand end up in the castle, and why is everything broken? There are elements that have the potential to be spooky, but really don't end up scary at all. A good pick for a mystery unit. See if students can figure out what is going on before Sand. And you can also discuss how Haskell kept you interested without revealing the mystery too soon.
• Bitterness & Forgiveness: There's a fantastic message about the dangers of bitterness and importance of forgiveness in this story. Great conversation starter.
• Angels in Bible vs Angels in pop arts: Some angels factor into this story, and provide a good opportunity to compare how angels appear in popular art, literature, etc. and how they are described in the Bible.

Storm Thief by Chris Wooding

Storm Thief is a steam punk dystopia world kept in dystopia by a Chaos Engine (think improbability machine from Hitchhiker but make it non-humorous) that at random times releases probability storms across the island city. The city was evidently created by an ancient people that had amazing technology, but the knowledge of that technology has been lost and the city is pretty much in the Industrial Revolution/Poland pre official WWII (there are ghetto areas of the city) with some unique technology all their own. The probability storms can do anything from rearrange the city streets to give people 3 eyes or change the color of their hair. Also thrown into the mix of issues for the citizens to deal with are things called Revenants which basically turn people into zombies. The two main characters are thieves by necessity and happen on something that changes their lives and ultimately the lives of everyone else on the island. 

Note: There is a fair amount of violence in this, though nothing exceptionally gory. I personally wouldn't hand it to elementary students, but most teenagers should be fine unless they are very sensitive to violence.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Ethics: The main characters of this book steal out of "necessity" though even they differ on what that means. A great discussion starter for an ethics class. Is there a time when stealing is ok? If so, what is the line?
• World Building: This book reminded me of several other book settings or historical settings but managed to come off as fairly unique and it's own story. Ask students to brainstorm some of the possible influences/inspirations Chris Wooding drew on for this setting.
• Zombie Stories That Aren't Too Scary: For the reader who wants a zombie story, but doesn't want blood and guts and gore everywhere, this is a good (and fairly rare) option.
• Responsive Writing: The Chaos Engine frequently wreaks havoc in the world and people of this story. Have students imagine how they would feel knowing at any moment any part of their world could change. Would there be certain parts they'd wish they could keep the Chaos Engine away from, or parts they'd welcome it to change?
• Dystopia World Face-off: This book provides a dystopia setting that is pretty scary to think about living in. Have students compare and contrast this with other dystopia worlds and establish a ranking system of most livable to least livable. In other words, which one would you like to live in the least?

There's lots of other great story night reads out there. You could always grab a Poe, and I love Dickens Our Mutual Friend that has fantastic story crafting and a complex mystery (but it does take quite a few nights to read). And of course, Snoopy frequently crafts stories about dark and stormy nights in Peanuts comics. The next couple of Brainstorms will look at some stand-alone mystery books and mystery series recommendations.

The Brainstorm Vol 47: Books on refugees for K-12

Refugees have been in the news a lot recently, though the plight of such displaced people is nothing new. Here are some great books that can be used in K-12 classrooms to help students understand refugees and the issues surrounding them.

Picture Book Resources

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee
A little clown falls off a passing circus train and a lonely farmer takes care of the little one till his family comes back for him. It's a sweet wordless story about an old man who lets his crustiness crack to a smile in the presence of a little lost boy. They are wonderful companions for a day. And the joy with which the family recovers the little guy is cheering too.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Inconvenience & Compassion: The farmer could have reacted very differently to having his routine interrupted. Have students brainstorm various ways the farmer could have reacted, and then what the farmer got out of being nice to the little clown. 
• Refugees: You can easily tie that last Inconvenience & Compassion discussions into a lesson/discussion about refugees and their host families too. How do they think the little clown felt about being separated from his home and family? How do they think refugees feel about having to leave their home and sometimes friends and family? What were the pros and cons the farmer faced when helping the little clown? What are the pros and cons of helping refugees? 
• What To Do if Lost: This book provides a good opportunity to talk to kids about what they should do if they are ever lost.
• Writing (any Language): Since the book is wordless, it easily lends itself to a writing activity. Have students practice writing dialogue and imagine what the farmer and the little clown said to each other.

How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz

The author tells about how his family were poor refugees when he was young, and how his father brought home a map instead of bread one day. At first he was mad because he was hungry, but soon Uri became enthralled in the map and the different places helped him forget his grumbling tummy and inspired his imagination and creativity.

Shulevitz has an incredible story, which he further fleshes out in a note at the back of the book. The illustrations change to match the mood of the different parts of the story. When he is hungry, the colors are bleak and the details are minimal. When he gets caught up in the map and the countries it depicts, the colors flare and things are drawn somewhat fancifully. 

Activity Tie-ins:

• Geography: Maps helped inspire Uri and distract him from his troubles. This is a good book to use when talking about the benefits of studying geography and maps; Uri's story demonstrates they can go beyond the typical directional usage.
• Poland: If you are studying Poland, this would be a short book to read and introduce a famous Polish person the students may actually have heard of.
• Autobiographies: A nice short book to use when talking about autobiographies or to demonstrate different forms autobiographies can take.
• Caldecott Award: This book won a Caldecott Honor in 2009. If you're talking about art awards or literary awards, you can include this book and/or artist.
• Mood & Art: Shulevitz directly correlates the illustrations and his mood in the story. Students can talk about why he chose the different color schemes and how they can convey emotion in their artwork.
• Refugees: Uri's book highlights some of the very real hardships that refugees face because of their displacement and reasons they have to run away from their homeland. WWII is over, but what wars/conflicts are currently going on causing people to leave home? Uri's dad has trouble finding work, and the family has trouble getting enough food. Though this happened many years ago, how were their problems similar to problems faced by today's refugees? If you want to extend this, have student research ways that will help refugees and still respect them as people.
• WWII: There are lots of good books out there for WWII studies, and this is one of them.
• Life Experience & Future Work: Uri Shulevitz has several published picture books. After reading this book, challenge students to read more of his books and ask them how they think his life experiences have influenced his artwork (he actually answers some of this in the back of this book).
• Map Skills: Have students research where most refugees today are fleeing from and find those places on the map.

Novel in Verse Resource

The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney, ill. by Shane Evans

Amira's life is simple and happy, that is until the Janjaweed attack her family's village, killing her father and many others. Then Amira, her Muma, sister Leila and old friends Amwar and Gamal have to go to the refugee city at Kamal to find safety. Life there is hard and Amira's tongue refuses to work since the attack, but a gift of a red pencil and paper helps Amira's voice find wings and gives her hope for the future.

Pinkney tackles a very heavy current event for middle grade readers, but manages to pull it off. She conveys the horrors and struggles of refugees in Sudan, but in a way that will not traumatize children. The book is written in free verse poetry and saturated with illustrations that help make this book fly by.

Activity Tie-Ins:

• Africa: Modern Africa doesn't show up too often in fiction, but it does in this book. A good tie-in if your class is studying Africa.
• Darfur Genocide: This novel makes the news stories about Sudan and the Janjaweed attacks come alive, but does so tactfully. It would help students better understand what has been/is going on there, and is a bit more fun to read than a boring news article.
• Refugee Cities: Amira provides readers with a first person view of what it is like in a refugee city and what drives people there. Have students discuss if they would like to live in a refugee city, why or why not. If students feel motivated, research ways to meaningfully help those in refugee cities.
• Psychology & Refugees: Many refugees, like Amira, are dealing with past traumas. It's a good opportunity to discuss with Psychology classes how trauma can affect people. Amira deals with it by going mute. How can you best help people like her? You could challenge students to find a way to make people more aware of how best to help people with past trauma in their lives.
• Education: Amira longs to be able to go to school, but her mother's cultural opinion that school isn't for girls is holding her back. Many students complain about having to go to school. Have them imagine what they would feel like in Amira's culture and whether or not they really mean what they say about wishing not to go to school. You can also easily tie this in with Malala and her fight for education rights for girls in her similar culture.

Graphic Novel Resource

Nnewts: Escape from the Lizzarks by Doug TenNapel

Herk is a little Nnewt fry with even littler legs, but that doesn't stop him from going on a big adventure after his town is attacked by Lizzarks. Herk starts off his epic journey by following the wishes of his mother, escaping from town, meeting an ancient Nnewt who helps him find his legs, and eventually finding a new Nnewt town. But he's still being tracked and the Wizzark has his eyes on Herk. This is just book one in a series that is sure to be super popular.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Refugees: Nnewt's town is attacked simply because they are non-scaled. The Lizzarks are scaled (reptile-ish) and are bent on wiping out those who don't have scales (amphibian-ish). Ask students why we'd classify Nnewt as a refugee. Discuss what kinds of things can force people to become refugees. Compare and contrast Nnewts plight with modern real refugees.
• English classes: I've been looking around to see if TenNapel comments on his inspiration for this series. So far I haven't found anything. Some of the patterns of speech come off a bit Shakespearean, not that they are hard to understand, they just seem fancy and formal and Shakespeare-inspired. Also, Nnewt's journey starts to take on elements of other epic journeys in literature. It'd be fun to compare/contrast Nnewt and Odysseus or Pilgrim or others who have gone on epic journeys.
• Empathy: Have students discuss how Nnewt felt about leaving his home and family. Do they think real people feel the same or different when they are in a similar situation?
• Reptiles vs Amphibians: These two orders of Animalia are frequently confused. This book highlights one of the traits that distinguishes the two orders, the presence of scales on reptiles. It would make remembering the differences that much easier, because Nnewt definitely will stick in minds.

Nonfiction Resources

50 Children: One Ordinary American Couple's Extraordinary Rescue Mission into the Heart of Nazi Germany by Steven Pressman

Gil and Eleanor Kraus were two relatively normal upperclass Jews living comfortable lives in Pennsylvania in 1938. They could have easily have lived through WWII in comfort, but when they started hearing about the dangers faced by Jews in Europe these two decided to not just feel sorry for others they decided to do something. Gil was a lawyer in Philadelphia and member of a Jewish group called Brith Sholom. One of the other Brith Sholom members mentioned to him that the group had a camp facility with 25 rooms sitting empty that could easily be used to house Jewish refugees. This set Gil and Eleanor on a journey through several months of mountains of paperwork and a crash course in US Immigration policies, and eventually into the heart of Nazi occupied Europe itself. Thanks to key connections, they were able to understand the process better than numerous other groups at the time and find a way to legally bring in 50 Jewish children out of the dangers of Nazi Austria and Germany. 

Activity Tie-ins:

• Government & Refugee Policies: Many of the Kraus' headaches were caused by government regulations and policies, have students research past and present refugee policies by a few countries. Get your government students to brainstorm some of the things governments have to consider when deciding how many refugees to allow.
• Past vs Present: They say the purpose of studying history is to learn from the past. Reading this, it is staggering how few children were saved during WWII by the United States versus how many died during the Holocaust. The 50 children saved by the Krauses was the largest group of refugees to come to the US during WWII. Today's refugee issues seem startlingly similar, have students compare and contrast WWII refugee issues with present ones and debate whether or not the US learned from the past or not.
• Sacrifice for Strangers: The Krauses went through a lot for these fifty strangers. Ask readers how much they'd be willing to go through to save the lives of fifty people they'd never met.
• WWII: This is a part of WWII history that often doesn't come up, and gives an interesting peek into the inner workings of the U.S. government at home during that time.

Where the Wind Leads by Vinh Chung with Tim Downs

The Chung family was an extremely successful business family in Southern Vietnam. But they were recent immigrants from China, and as such, they were double targets of the communists who took over after the Vietnam war. Firstly, the communists resented them because they had been quite wealthy before their arrival, and secondly, the communists were anti-Chinese. So Vinh Chung's parents decided it would be better to risk escaping Vietnam than staying. They gambled their lives and the lives of their 8 children by hopping into a boat and setting out into the turbulant and pirate-infested waters of Southeast Asia. If the typhoons didn't get the boat people, it was quite likely the pirates would, for refugees were found to be very easy prey. Thankfully for the Chungs, around that time World Vision founder Stan Mooneyham became burdened for the Vietnamese Boat People, and decided to see what World Vision could do to help. Thanks to several miraculous events and the work of World Vision, the Chungs made it to America. But even after landing on American soil they still had numerous cultural and emotional hurdles to overcome.

I think it's very healthy for the cozy citizens to read stories like the Chungs' here, and be reminded of their own blessings and that other human beings out there in the world could be going through some extremely harrowing circumstances, and may even take a huge pay cut in leaving. (The Chung family went from being millionaires in Vietnam to scraping by in America. Their father went from being a COO to working as a factory hand.) This book is quite the eye opener as to the perils many such people faced. It is also a very interesting look at the difference between immigrant children and refugee children in their ability to adjust to a new culture. And the stories of how God worked miracles just to help them survive their boat trip were inspiring. A great read if you want to get inside the mind of a refugee and better understand their experiences. Due to the nature of some of the things the refugees experienced, I'd only recommend this one to High School students or adults. I've highlighted this book before, so I'll keep the tie-ins brief.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Vietnam War: For those doing a unit on the Vietnam War, this provides an insider perspective of the conflict and what it was like to live there during that time period.
• Refugees: This book highlights some of the hidden issues refugees are facing. Have students research what happens to engineers, doctors, professors and successful business men when they are resettled. How many of them are able to practice the profession in which they were successful at home? Also, discuss some of the challenges that refugee children face in adapting to a new culture.
• Refugees in Boats: Those escaping Vietnam are not the only refugees who end up floating around in boats. The stats in this book are horrifying about the survival rates of those who look to escape certain death via boat. Where are people escaping by boat currently, and how many of them are typically surviving today? Again, students can debate whether coutnries have learned from the past or not.
• Autobiographies: If you're looking for good modern autobiographies, add this one to your list.

Escape from North Korea: the Untold Story of Asia's Underground Railroad by Melanie Kirkpatrick

This is an incredibly well-researched, well-written, informative look at the plight of modern North Korean citizens, and their current passageways to freedom. It is one of the most harrowing modern human rights issues of today, but since people aren't escaping North Korea in droves like other countries, it is hardly known. Kirkpatrick explores what is going on inside North Korea, what various refugees do to escape, and how different groups and individuals are working to get those refugees to freedom despite numerous difficulties.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Human Rights Issues: This is a quieter human rights issue, in that it doesn't often make the news. Have students research other human rights issues that numerous people are currently facing, but are not well known. They can also research who is helping and how they themselves can best help.
• International Relations: This book brings up several very interesting international relations issues. It's a good resource to get students interested in international relations and explore careers in this field.
• Refugees: This book has numerous interesting insights into the plights of refugees, it's too many to list here. There's lots of ways this could be used to spark debates, discussions, research, and service projects. Two issues that I had never thought of before were the plights of the children of North Korean refugee women and Chinese men, since they have no official nationality they can't easily be adopted and they are often abandoned. Also, many North Korean refugees are so accustomed to being told what to do they have to learn how to make decisions for themselves and how to have initiative, and they really find freedom overwhelming. It's a problem most Westerners can't even fathom.

Want more resource ideas? Panels just posted several recommendations in an article Empathy by Design: Understanding the Refugee Crisis through Comics.

The Brainstorm Vol 46: Dystopia books for K-12 classrooms

I saw in a BookRiot post this week, that it's Post-Apocalyptic Survival Month. I've had an idea to talk about some atypical Dystopias for some time, and it seems like it is quite fitting right now. So here's three Dystopias that don't fit the typical mold and could be used in K-12 classrooms.

(And if you're curious, here's the link to the post. And no, the post wasn't a list of Dystopia books like I thought it would be, it was much more practical.)

Picture Book Resource

The Numberlys by William Joyce, ill. by Christina Ellis
The Numberlys live in a world where all communication is done with numbers. But one day, five friends start to wonder if there could be more than numbers. Eventually, they develop the alphabet, which brings color (and jellybeans) to their world.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Alphabet: For those working on their letters, this is another book option to help them practice.
• Letters, Words & Meaning: This book not only introduces the alphabet, it also talks about how letters join to form words and words join to form meaning. So it would be a good book to use when talking about the structure of language.
• Linguistics: The Numberlys pretty much invent a whole new language, so this is a good book to use when talking about how languages develop and change, or different types of languages.
• Counting & Number Recognition: Obviously there's numbers in this, and they aren't necessarily always in numerical order, so it's a good book to use to test whether kids actually can recognize their numbers.
• Art, Design & Mood: The artwork in this book has a huge role in setting the mood of the story. It starts off very stark, art deco-influenced, and all in gray scale. As letters enter the world, color starts to infiltrate the pictures. It would be a fantastic book for middle and high school art classes to analyze and discuss why the architecture and color palate was chosen. Also, many of the pages are printed in a non-traditional direction, and art classes could talk about why the illustrator and designers decided to do this.
• Community Improvement: The main characters aren't anyone really special in the society, but they dream up something that helps improve the entire community. Like the Numberlys, students can probably see areas of their communities that need help. Challenge them to think of ways, even small ways to help make their community a better place.

Chapter Book Resources

Sky Jumpers by Peggy Eddleman

WWIII’s green bombs left unexpected side effects on earth, like patches of denser than normal atmosphere called Bomb’s Breath which proves fatal to anyone or anything that breathes it (but is super fun to jump through), and Shadel’s Sickness, a disease that only appeared after the war and is cured with medicine made from a mold that only grew after the war. Cities are now few and far between on the Earth, and all are vigilant against the bandits who prefer to raid cities than grow their own food. 

Hope lives in the city of White Rock, which thanks to the crater formed by a bomb, has a natural wall. Everyone in White Rock is heavily encouraged to invent since another side effect of the green bombs was the scrambling of the electromagnetic field so magnets and electronics from before the war no longer work. Hope always tries really hard to invent something for the yearly festival, but she only seems to be good at failing more miserably than anyone else in town. She despairs of ever being useful, until the unthinkable happens and bandits come to White Rock not for food, but for their precious antibiotics. Hope is one of the few people in town adventurous enough to know of another way out of the city, so she knows it is up to her to escape from the bandits, get over the mountains, and get help from the next town before the bandits start killing people with their guns or the theft of the antibiotics.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Magnets & Electronics: The premise of the book says that all inventions based on magnets and electronics no longer work. Students could start to brainstorm all the things they use everyday that wouldn't work. They should quickly realize how much they rely on these things they don't usually think about. Students could also discuss which new inventions in the book they liked the best and why. Along the same lines, students could be challenged to think of non-electrical way to do something they normally use an electric device for.
• Density: The Bomb's Breath is an important part of the story, and provides an opportunity to talk about the theoretical physics and chemistry about why it works the way it does.
• Antibiotics in History: The discovery of antibiotics for Shadel's Sickness mimics the discovery of penicillin. Students could research how the two are similar and different, and how antibiotics work.
• Inventions: There's a lot of focus on inventing in White Rock. It's a good opportunity to discuss the importance of inventions in real life, and the various ways inventions come about.
• Self-Worth: Hope struggles with feeling unimportant because she isn't good at inventing, and it is one of the things her society values most. It's a good opportunity to talk about where we get our self-worth.
• Values & Ethics: Most Dystopias focus on what a society values for good or evil. It provides a good opportunity to open up discussions with students about their values, how others view those values, and the relationship to philosophy and ethics.
• Problem Solving: White Rock's survival is heavily dependent on the problem solving of it's citizens. Even though Hope isn't good at inventing, she does prove to be a problem solver in others ways. Have students discuss what problem solving skills various characters use and how they themselves use problem solving in their lives.
• Dystopia for Middle Grades: The typical Dystopia has a lot of violence. This one has only one gun shot wound and one injury from a fall.  It is one of my go-to Dystopias for middle grade readers. It's still an exciting and adventurous read, but without the more mature content. And if students like it, there's a second book in the series that is just as fun and safe.

Atlantia by Ally Condie

Rio's world shattered with one simple phrase from her twin sister's mouth. Rio had dreamed of going Above for ages, but only one family member is allowed Above, so Bay's choice seals Rio to Atlantia, the world Below. And beyond Bay's choice, Rio just can't believe that her sister could have done this. Bay made her promise to stay Below with her and then all of a sudden Bay ups and chooses to leave? The secrets in Atlantia seem to only multiply after Bay's departure. Rio is determined to make it Above some other way, even though everyone tells her it is impossible, but as she seeks a way out and some sort of answer to Bay's choice, Rio just stumbles on more and more secrets. From the sister she thought she knew, her mother's mysterious and sudden death, her aloof and odd aunt, the history of the sirens, the current Minister's plans, the origin of Atlantia and the gods, and even the truth about the Above, nothing is as clear as she thought it was. With the help of True, a young man also devastated by the choice of someone to go Above, Rio builds her plans to escape Atlantia and to find some much-needed truths.

For much of the first half of this story, it seems to be mainly about Rio finding a way to escape Atlantia and get Above, but as the secrets start to multiply, the plot gains depth and so many layers it is really hard to write a summary that does it any justice. Condie manages to build a sci-fi futuristic setting that is entirely plausible and interesting. Rio and True are complex, flawed, wounded, but likable characters (and they don't get overly mushy or sappy!). But the two things that make this book stand out among all the YA Dystopias out there are that it is a stand alone novel (yep, no series), and a resolution is reached by...peace talks. Yes, you read that right, violence is not the answer.

Activity Tie-ins:

• Compare & Contrast: Because this book is so atypical for YA Dystopia, it makes a perfect candidate to be compared and contrasted with other more typical ones.
• Paths to Peace: Many Dystopias rally the characters to fight for peace with weapons and forget that sometimes there are less-violent options. Have students discuss or investigate how this works in real life or students could debate which they think is more effective.
• Values & Ethics: Like I mentioned for Sky Jumpers, Dystopias provide a good opportunity to open up discussions with students about personal or societal values, philosophy, and ethics.
• Cleaner Dystopia option: There is still some death and bits of violence in this book, but the language is clean and there's no sexual content. Among the YA options out there, this is one of the cleanest, so if you're on the hunt for a less gritty YA read, this is a good one. And don't be worried that that means students won't like it, because this one is hardly ever on the shelves. It's super popular.