Accompanying+Titles

The non-canonical titles included in this text set will be featured on this section of the wiki. Below, you can find a summary of each title and the purpose that it serves within the text set. Each title's relevance to our canonical text will be expressed within the summary. To begin, click any of the links to jump to another section of the page.

Graphic Novel: //Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif//



Summary: //Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief// was originally a novel written by Rick Riordan and was adapted into a graphic novel by Robert Venditti. The graphic novel follows the journey of young Percy Jackson as he discovers that he is a demi-god, the son of a mortal woman and Greek god Poseidon. Percy is accused of stealing Zeus' lightning bolt and is sent on a quest to find the true thief. Percy is joined on his epic quest by his best friend, Grover Underwood the satyr and Annabeth one of Athena's daughters. During this epic journey Percy and his friends are attacked by not-so mythical creatures as well as Greek gods. This exciting journey brings to mind questions such as: What is a hero? Do you have to be a god to be a hero? What is it to be brave? Should we always listen to authorities? Is it safe to follow directions blindly? //Of Mice and Men// and //Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief// both question what it is to be a hero. The correlating heroes try to expand and make readers think critically about the topic of heroism and what a hero truly is.

Free Choice Book- //Little Brother//



Summary: //Little Brother// is a fictional novel written by Cory Doctorow. The book tells the story of Marcus Yallow, a high school gamer who runs around and plays quirky live-action games with his friends. The central plot of the story takes place rather quickly, with the bombing of a main bridge in Marcus' home-town of San Francisco. As this occurrs, Marcus and his friends are in the middle of playing a secretive game while cutting class, and are suddenly taken hostage by a government agency called the Department of Homeland Security. They arrive at a remote location, and are immediately separated, questioned, and treated like terrorists. //Little Brother// brings many essential questions into place for readers, such as: Should we always abide by our government? When do we need to stand up and fight? And, does a kid have any chance at making a difference? All of these questions, and more, are answered by reading //Little Brother//. Connection: //Little Brother// connects to //Of Mice and Men// because of the correlating hero aspect of both novels. Marcus is a hero in a completely different way than George, but they are both still heroes. The reading of //Little Brother// with //Of Mice and Men// expands one's view of what a hero actually is.

Nonfiction Title: //When I Was a Soldier// by Valerie Zenatti (Translated by Adriana Hunter)



Summary: What is it like to be a young woman in a war? At a time when Israel is in the news every day and politics in the Middle East are as complex as ever before, this story of one girl's experience in the Israeli national army is both topical and fascinating. Valerie begins her story as she finishes her exams, breaks up with her boyfriend, and leaves for service with the Israeli army. Nothing has prepared her for the strict routines, grueling marches, poor food, lack of sleep and privacy, or crushing of initiative that she now faces. But this harsh life has excitement, too, such as working in a spy center near Jerusalem and listening in on Jordanian pilots. Offering a glimpse into the life of a typical Israeli teen, even as it lays bare the relentless nature of war, Valerie's story is one young readers will have a hard time forgetting. (Description from Amazon.com). This book challenges readers to imagine what it would be like to step into this role. In many ways, Valerie's story is one with which many can relate. Her adolescence is familiar to young adults across the globe, though many have not had to serve a compulsory sentence in the military. In the context of heroism, it is not that Valerie accomplishes a great feat against great odds, but that she thrives within the situation and grows in character from the experience. The definition of a hero is, as the adage goes for beauty, "in the eye of the beholder."

Picture Book Selections:

//Boys of Steel// by Marc Tyler Nobleman, Ilustr. Ross Macdonald



Nobleman portrays teenaged Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster as outcasts who found solace in the world of pulp magazines and comics. Their peers did not understand their fascination with tales of musclemen and detectives with gadgets, and their teachers deemed the stories that they loved to write and illustrate "trash." Despite these obstacles, the two friends continued writing and illustrating, and in 1934, Siegel had an avalanche of ideas about a new type of hero that he then shared with Shuster, who drew the first concept illustrations of Superman. It took another four years, however, before the superhero would make his public debut in Action Comics #1. MacDonald's illustrations are a tribute to 1930s pulp art, from the lines of the characters outlined in brown to the washes of yellow in the background. While the layout remains primarily in picture-book format, comic-book elements appear sporadically, such as with phrases separated from the rest of the text and placed in oval bubbles. One spread also uses panels to depict Siegel's thoughts as he conceptualized Superman. The story ends with the young men successfully landing a publisher. The afterword fills in more of the details, including Siegel and Shuster's long-running battle with DC Comics for a greater share of the profits, how their Jewish background affected Superman during World War II, and their final years. //Boys of Steel// is a solid introduction to the history of Superman's creation, especially for children who find an outlet in storytelling and art.—//Kim T. Ha, Elkridge Branch Library, MD// Connection: This book encourages students to think about how superheros are made. Are the superheros that are illustrated on the page heroes or those that created them? //Boys of Steel// encourages students to look beyond the typical hero and into who created them and why they choose to make them that way.

//Heroes// by Ken Mochizuki, Ilustr. Dom Lee



When Donnie plays war with his friends, he must represent the enemy-"because I looked like them." He hates always being the bad guy and wishes he could prove that his father and uncle both fought bravely in the U.S. army. They, however, are reluctant to come to his aid: "You kids should be playing something else besides war," says his dad. Once again Mochizuki and Lee adroitly focus kids' attention on a pervasive social problem by giving it an individual face; they make their points in an age-appropriate fashion, neither trivializing the issues nor condescending to their audience. Mochizuki captures his protagonist's hurt, confusion and pride-emotions capably matched by Lee's atmospheric artwork. Produced with the same technique here as in the earlier book-images scratched out of beeswax on paper-his burnished paintings exude the patina of age and the glint of hard-won experience. Connection:George and Lenny are different than the other men that they work with, Lenny especially. Donnie is different from his friends as well and because of this he is treated differently and made to play the enemy when he and his friends play war. Donnie connects with both Georg and Lenny. Donnie and Lenny are both different and treated differently because of this. Donnie and George are both stubborn and prideful.

//Madeline's Rescue// by Ludwig Bemelmans



It took Ludwig Bemelmans years to think of Madeline's next adventure after the 1939 original [|//Madeline//], but he did it, and the result was //Madeline's Rescue//, winner of the 1954 Caldecott Medal. One day on a walk through Paris (a "twelve little girls in two straight lines" kind of walk), Madeline slips and falls off a bridge right into the Seine. Everyone feared she would be dead, "But for a dog / That kept its head," saving her from a "watery grave." What choice do Madeline and the girls have but to take the heroic pooch home, feed her biscuits, milk, and beef, and name her Genevieve? Sadly, when Lord Cucuface gets wind of the new dog, he decrees that no dogs will be allowed in the "old house in Paris that was covered with vines," and kicks Genevieve out on the street. Madeline vows vengeance, and the girls scour Paris looking for the pup: "They went looking high / and low / And every place a dog might go. / In every place they called her name / But no one answered to the same." As we've come to expect from Bemelmans, all's well that ends well chez Clavel, and young readers will be tickled by this heartwarming, quirky dog story with a surprise finale. -- Karin Snelson Connection: This book encourages students to stretch their concept of what a hero really is. In this story the hero happens to be a dog that saves Madeline when she falls in the Seine. This encourages students to look fro heroes in the most surprising places and hopefully they will be surprised at what they find.

//Radio Rescue// by Lynne Barasch



Back in 1923, a long-distance telephone call took hours to place, and overseas calls weren't possible at all. But a new invention, called wireless radio, permitted instant communication over long distances. A young boy, itching to get involved, buys a secondhand receiver and earphones, and studies hard to learn Morse code so that he can pass the test to qualify as an amateur radio operator and get his own station: 2AZK. Its fun talking with people all over the world just by tapping on his telegraph key (and readers can tap along - there's Morse code to follow in the pictures). Then one night he picks up a distress signal from Florida -- family stranded in flood -- and uses his skill for something more important. Based on the author's father's experiences as a young ham operator in the 1920s, Radio Rescue is an exciting story of a moment in technological history. Connection: In //Radio Rescue// the hero is a young boy who takes his hobby and uses it to save a family stranded in a flood. This encourages students to see that heroes come in all shapes and sizes. They might be surprised that a young boy was able to save a family and hopefully see that they things they do do have an impact on who they might become.

Young Adult Novel: //The Hunger Games// by Suzanne Collins



Summary: Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used to be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, "The Hunger Games." The rule: kill or be killed. Only one can survive. When Kat's sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place. Connection to //Of Mice and Men:// Both novels star an unlikely hero as the main character of the novel. They don't have a cape or superpowers, all they have is courage and strength to get through any obstacle that comes their way.