Molly Levite Griffis

Young John Alan navigates life without his mother living in a new town at the beginning of World War II. I found this a good book, well researched and written with a deft touch. What I liked best about this was the way John Alan carefully makes decisions about his own behavior and then acts upon what he decided. At the beginning of the book he is afraid to make friends for fear of accidentally telling someone the truth about his mother. He decides to be a bad person, so nobody will want to be friends with him. Further along, he feels it may be safe to return to being a good person. This sounds very contrived as I write it out here, but it was written so well I had no problem believing in this character and rooting for him and the friends he made.… (meer)

Five Two, Five Blue by Molly Levite Griffis

This book is about a little girl using an old timey telephone. It tells about how they used to use the telephone. Instead of everyone knowing the telephone numbers a lady called Central would push the numbers for you. It tells about what the little girl asks Central for a more exciting number. Central teaches her a lesson that all number are magical.

I think this book is interesting because it is about the old telephone system. I don’t know how many children would be interested in the book however.

I would use this book when I am talking about inventors. I would use this with second and third graders. I would read this book about telephones from long ago and ask the students to compare it to telephones of today.… (meer)

This is the story of a 5th grader named Rachel. She lives in Apache, Oklahoma during the time of WWII. Rachel, along with the rest of the children of the world at this time, is very much obsessed with the radio show Captain Midnight. Rachel and her friend Paul set out to find the traitors of their own town.

I read this book twice in my K-12 lifetime. Once in 5th grade and again in 7th. Each time I enjoyed it. It is a great book for children and adults alike.

In the classroom, we could research more about WWII and do an entire unit on it. Also, the kids could tell everyone about their favorite shows.… (meer)