Three Cups of Tea

Can you imagine being stranded high in the mountains, with friends and family far away?  Mountain climber Greg Mortenson spent a winter in a remote village in Pakistan, dependent on the care and generosity of a small band of villagers who have lived the same simple lifestyle for generations.  Greg is astounded by the village children's idea of school - squatting in the cold, drawing and writing in the dirt with a stick for a pencil, and taught occasionally by an itinerant teacher.  He vows to return to Pakistan and build a school, a vow which seems impossible to keep when his first appeals for help in the United States are answered by only one contribution. 

If you would like to participate in an MVM book group to read the fascinating story of Greg's determination to keep his promise, join our Three Cups of Tea bookgroup.  We will meet early some evening in January to kick off the book group, use this blog to communicate our thoughts about the book, and reconvene at the end of our reading.  We'll celebrate with tea, of course.  Email Nancy Kane at nancy.kane@bhrsd.org or call me at school if you would like to participate.

Rules

Catherine is very tired of trying to explain everything in the world to her younger brother David, who is autistic.  She's even more tired of having to explain David to everyone she meets.  When a new family moves in next door, with a girl her age, Catherine thinks she may have found the friend she's been looking for.  Davdi's needs dominate family life.  Catherine has no interest in going to therapy visits with David until she develops a friendship with a boy in a wheelchair who uses a keyboard to communicate. 

Weedflower

Sumiko and her younger brother, Tak Tak, are Japanese-American children who live with their aunt, uncle and two cousins on a flower farm in California. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, all Japanese-Americans are rounded up and sent to internment camps because the U. S. government fears that some among them might be spies with loyalties to Japan. Sumiko and her family find themselves living with thousands of others, in crude quarters in the blistering hot desert of Arizona in a camp which borders a reservation for Native Americans. As the days turn into weeks and months, Sumiko's dream of one day owning her own flower shop seems to be crumbling into the dusty dirt beneath her feet.

How to Steal a Dog

When Georgina's family winds up living in their car because the family can't pay to rent an apartment, this brave-hearted girl takes responsibility for her younger brother after school, sometimes spending hours sitting in their parked car, waiting for her mother. Despite her unwashed hair and wrinkled clothes, Georgina never tells her friends or her teachers that she is homeless. A Missing Animal poster gives her the perfect idea for earning their rent money: finding a lost animal and claiming the reward. In their small town, however, there are not many lost animals, nor people rich enough to offer large rewards. In desperation, Georgina decides to steal a well-loved dog whom she has befriended, certain that the owner will immediately offer a large reward.

Out of Patience

The tiny town of Patience, Kansas, is so small, that every kid in town is on the baseball team - all 9 of them. Jake longs for excitement and adventure, and vows he will be the first young man of the Waters family to finally get out of Patience. When his father, a plumber, announces that he wants to put Patience on the map by opening the American Toilet Museum, Jake can't get of Patience fast enough.

Abby Takes a Stand

Travel back in time to Nashville, Tennessee in 1960 - a town in which restaurants and businesses were segregated and African Americans were denied many opportunities because of their race. Abby eagerly awaits her turn to ride on the merry-go-round at Harvey's store, only to be turned away and humiliated when the manager informs her that the merry-go-round is only for white children. Abby's experience and subsequent involvement in civil rights protests bring this turbulent period of our history to life.

Paint the Wind

Maya has lived a very sheltered life with her grandmother hovering around her and directing her life. Her past is kept secret and Maya soon learns that any questions she is brave enough to ask will not be answered. Her life takes a dramatic turn when her grandmother dies and his lawyer tells Maya that she has another family in the wilds of Wyoming. A family and a past which her grandmother has kept hidden from her.

Castle Corona

Two peasant children, a brother and sister, find a mysterious pouch. Orphaned and alone, they are tired of living with a cruel master. Meanwhile, up in the castle on the hill outside of town, the King, the Queen, and their three children. They were tired and bored of being the king and the queen and the royal children. What do you suppose will happen when the peasant children bring the mysterious pouch to the castle? Will they show it to the royal family? Does it contain their money? Can they sell the pouch and make their fortune? Will they be taken prisoner or made into servants? Will they have fun, or be scared out of their wits?

Found!

Can you imagine an airplane full of babies? All strapped into their seats - bewildered, tired, hungry, some of them crying. This airplane had neither pilot not copilot. No flight crew. No parents. Just babies. And Josh and David just found out they were together, as babies, on that plane.

Massachusetts Children's Book Awards 2010

Here is the list for 2009-2010.

Berkshire Hills Regional School District