Category: Middle Grade Nonfiction

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Digging for Troy: From Homer to Hisarlik

Digging for Troy: From Homer to Hisarlik by Jill Rubalcaba, Eric H. Cline, and illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen is an overview of the search for the city of Troy that is the centerpiece of Homer’s The Iliad. Was there really a city named Troy that was kept under siege by the Greeks? Was there really a Trojan Horse with Greek soldiers inside? The answers may surprise you. 

Rubalcaba and Cline start their “Introduction” with a quick summary of the search for Troy at a place called Hisarlik, an ancient ruin in what today is Turkey. Started by egotistical amateur Heinrich Schliemann in 1870, the excavation was taken over by trained archaeologists and has continued sporadically until the present.

The first chapter, titled “The Legend”, is a retelling of the story of Troy based on a compilation of ancient texts. It is arguably the best chapter in the book. Students of history looking for a clear, succinct and sometimes humorous summary will find this chapter helpful.

The rest of the book gives an inside look into the field of archaeology and how it has evolved since the 1800’s. Schliemann, the rich amateur archaeologist, started digging destructively with a pickaxe because he was in search of fame and fortune. In contrast, the modern archaeologist Manfred Korfmann used magnetic imaging techniques to discover walls that were still buried underground. Did you know that archaeologists “dig” cultures that were messy because it gives them a lot of trash to explore for clues to ancient civilizations? Middle school is a time to start exploring potential career interests, and the text reveals not only the process, but also the pitfalls archaeologists may encounter when trying to reconstruct the past, including disagreements with colleagues.

Digging for Troy is a good source of background information for students studying Ancient Greece as well as a revealing look into the field of archaeology. It was nominated for Cybils awards in the MG/YA nonfiction category.

Reading level: Ages 8 and up
School & Library Binding: 74 pages
Publisher: Charlesbridge Pub Inc (February 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1580893260
ISBN-13: 978-1580893268

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Books Together.

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Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners

Author and historian Marc Aronson has been having a stellar year, with two books nominated for Cybils awards in the MG/YA nonfiction category. He wrote Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert, an account of the copper miners who were trapped underground for over two months after a mine collapse in August of 2010.  He also co-authored Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science with his wife.

In Trapped, Aronson captures the reader’s attention with a brief eye-witness account of the mine collapse. He then delves into the geological history of the site, as well as a bit of the social conditions that led to the miners working the mine at the time of the collapse. What follows is a play-by-play of the events both below and above the surface as people from all over the world rush to try to rescue the trapped men in time. The book is sprinkled with photographs of the actual rescue, as well as detailed illustrations of the mine and the drilling operations.

Reading this account you realize how very many things had to come together and go right for the rescue to succeed. If the miners had not organized as a group and planned the food distribution, they may have all starved before help arrived. If one of the drills had missed finding the shelter, if this, if that, if… Even though you know the outcome, so much is riding on every step succeeding that you are still on the edge of your seat.

If you read nothing else, look at “How I Wrote This Book”, starting on page 108. Aronson points out that when researching a recent event there aren’t any books to encapsulate the story. You need to be able to use the Internet effectively and he has some highly useful tips for doing so.

Trapped is an inspiring story of how much can be accomplished when people all work together towards one goal. It is also a study in how to research and write about a current event. Both journeys make it a worthwhile read.

Cybils Notes: Although the background information was meant to be enriching, sometimes it seemed to get in the way of the story. Once the author gets to the main story, it moves along quickly and succinctly, only wobbling occasionally.

Hardcover: 144 pages
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (August 30, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416913971
ISBN-13: 978-1416913979

Nonfiction Monday is a blogging celebration of nonfiction books for kids. We invite you to join us. For more information and a schedule, stop by the new Nonfiction Monday blog to see who is hosting each week.

This week’s post is at Playing By The Book.

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Scorpions: Armored Stingers

Scorpions: Armored Stingers by Sandra Markle is part of the Arachnid World series. This book gives an overview of scorpion biology as well as compares scorpions to other arachnids.

Why am I reviewing it? First of all, because it has been nominated for a Cybils award in the MG/YA nonfiction category. Secondly, here in the Sonoran Desert region of Arizona we have quite a few different kinds of scorpions. Many people who move to the area have questions about scorpions and often when people don’t have facts they create stories or myths to fill in for what they don’t know. Scorpions goes a long way to dispel the myths.

Sandra Markle often uses a technique she calls “faction,” where she develops a character  and uses fiction-style techniques in her nonfiction books. Her Hip-Pocket Papa is an example. In this book and others in the Arachnid World series, however, she uses a more traditional nonfiction format.

Most of the pages contain a “Scorpion Fact” in a short sidebar, such as what happens if a scorpling (young scorpion) loses a leg. This captures the interest of a young reader thumbing through the book. Soon he or she is reading the text to find out more.

I always appreciate books with hands-on activities to reinforce learning. Markle has included an activity in the back matter to investigate a human’s sense of touch as it compares to the senses of a scorpion.

Cybils Notes:  The photographs in this book are rather blah, although I do recognize that photographing a creature with a painful sting is not always an easy task. On page 21 it is implied that a scorpion’s stinger will keep a meerkat from eating it. In fact meerkats regularly eat scorpions and are quite adept at avoiding the stingers.

You might not think much about scorpions if none are found where you live. If scorpions are a part of your environment, however, having a book like this is helpful for understanding them. Recommended for budding arachnologists or to accompany a unit on arachnids.

Review of another book in this series:

Orb Weavers: Hungry Spinners by Sandra Markle

Reading level: Ages 9-12
School & Library Binding: 48 pages
Publisher: Lerner Pub Group (T) (March 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761350373
ISBN-13: 978-0761350378

Stem Friday is at NC Teacher Stuff today. Click through for links to more excellent STEM books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to the new STEM Friday blog for more information.

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Garbage: Investigate What Happens When You Throw it Out

Garbage: Investigate What Happens When You Throw It Out with 25 Projects (Build It Yourself series) by Donna Latham is packed full of hands-on activities that are sure to open your eyes to the immense issue of trash and the need for recycling. It has been nominated for a Cybils award in the MG/YA nonfiction category.

Some of the facts about garbage are staggering. According to Latham, Americans generate 260 million tons of garbage per year, which is enough to cover the state of Texas, twice. The average family produces 6,600 pounds of waste, sufficient to fill a three-bedroom house. (Too bad she didn’t include the figures she used to calculate those comparisons. It could have been a cool math activity).

Not everything that goes into the garbage can has to go there, however. Vegetable food waste can be composted in a compost heap or worm bin. A discarded household item may be reused for other purposes, such as converting an old door into a workbench, or may be sold or donated to someone else who may have a use for it. Recycling keeps even more trash out of the landfills. I love the idea of making junk mail into paper bead necklaces (pp. 82-83). What about the sailboat made out of reused plastic bottles?

Because this is STEM Friday, where’s the science? Many of the activities, such as “Break It Down” (pp. 40-41), “Simulate Water Pollution” (pp. 44-45), and “Compare Cleaners” (pp. 56-57) are already science experiments. Many of the others have potential to be science experiments or even full-blown science fair projects with a little thought. For example, “Grow an Avocado Plant” (pp. 72-23) can be made onto a science experiment if you grow several pits at a time under varied the growing conditions, perhaps testing whether certain water pollutants adversely effect growth.

Cybils Notes: I actually pulled this book out for review earlier and then returned it because I thought some of the activities were not completely safe as presented. For example, sorting trash to see what is in there is a fine idea (pp. 24-25), but there’s no suggestion to wear protective gloves (depending on the source of the trash) or even to wash your hands afterwards (any used cat litter in there?). At first glance Trash Running (page 3) sounds like a perfect way to combine exercise and environmental awareness, but after finding a bloody syringe in my curbside recycling bin once (someone tossed it there from the street), I think grabbing random trash while running could be extremely hazardous. What if there’s a syringe or piece of broken glass or poisonous spider in that paper wad you pick up? Do you want your children handling something like that, carrying it with them and potentially falling on it? Trash pick up should be done slowly, carefully and with attention fully on the task at hand.

But let’s not throw the book out altogether. To be fair, trash running is an activity that is being promoted by outside organizations, Latham is just passing the idea on. Many of the activities are safe and enlightening. The book would be a useful resource to accompany a lesson on the environment (say for Earth Day) or even a unit on earth science. With 25 activities to chose from, you are sure to find one that fits your needs.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: Nomad Press (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1936313472
ISBN-13: 978-1936313471

Stem Friday is at Growing With Science today. Click through for links to more excellent STEM books.

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to the new STEM Friday blog for more information.