This Year's Silver Birch Award Winner! |
| Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch 186 pgs Lida is an 8 year old Ukrainian girl who is captured by the Nazis and separated from her sister Larissa. As she is taken from everything familiar and forced to work in a labour camp making bombs for the war, Lida nonetheless sustains the hope that she will one day be reunited with her sister. A book with diverse appeal to both boys and girls - and this year the Silver Birch readers' choice! |
Thursday 16 May 2013
Tuesday 14 May 2013
 |
| A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park 128 pg This short and thought provoking story describes two characters at two different times in history. In the frame story, set in 2008, eleven year old Nya travels two hours from her village in southern Sudan twice a day to fetch water for her family. The alternating story is in 1985, of Salva, also eleven years old and a refugee from his town in war-torn Sudan. A simple but powerful glimpse into the lives of children forced to face famine, abandonment and hardship. Grade 5 |
Thursday 9 May 2013
 |
| Congratulations to all Silver Birch Readers! This was a record year at Balmy Beach for participation in our OLA Silver Birch Reading Program. With nearly 50 participants (tripling past years) and 34 of them qualifying to vote, it has been an enormous success. To qualify, students had to read at least 5 of the 10 selected titles on the Silver Birch Fiction 2013 list. We had great enthusiasm for the books and great discussions. At our school, two titles tied for first place: Missing and The Grave Robber's Apprentice. Stay tuned to hear the results for all of Ontario from Harbourfront mid-May. |
 |
| The Bomb: The Race to Build and Steal the World's most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin 272 pages For history readers, but not for the faint of heart. A fascinating and engrossing account of the historical details of the conception, creation and implementation of the atomic bomb. With photo footage of details and key players, and the added emphasis of historical validity, this book will capture and hold readers throughout its fast-paced account. The subject makes for a "Young Adult" or "Teen" designation, but it will appeal to a younger audience- ensure some debriefing after reading. Minimum- Grade 6 |
 |
Hold Fast
by Blue Balliett
320 pages
With the sudden and inexplicable disappearance of her father, Early, her mom and her brother are forced from their home and into a shelter in downtown Chicago. It is only with courage and resourcefulness that Early can help her family to survive when all hope seems lost.
Grade 5.
|
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)