Love in the Time of Global Warming

Penelope, Pen, has lost everything and everyone during a disaster of earthquakes and a tidal wave that destroys her home. She searches for her family in a post-apocalyptic world swarming with giants. Pen embarks on a Homer-esque quest to find her family, but instead finds three misfit friends. Pen and her three new friends battle both literal and metaphorical monsters, and find and explore their sexuality.

Dystopian novels are quite the rage with tweens and teens. For readers who love The Hunger Games and Divergent, Love in the Time of Global Warming will certainly fill that need. Not only is this a wonderful dystopian novel, but also it uses lots of literary metaphors and Pen’s journey almost directly parallels Homer’s Odyssey.

Chapter 2: Adolescent Development

According to Havinghurst’s Theory of Developmental Tasks, adolescents must define their appropriate sex roles (Lesesne pg. 27).

The transgender and bisexual love relationships that evolve throughout the novel will provide an outlet for any reader who feels like they don’t belong, or who are questioning their own sexuality.

Block, F. (2013). Love in the time of global warming. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Co.

Lesesne, T. (2003). Making the match the right book for the right reader at the right time, grades 4-12. Portland, Me.: Stenhouse.

Notes From The Dog

Finn is a fourteen-year-old boy who intends to spend his summer speaking to as few people as possible, and reading as many novels as possible. That is until Johanna moves in next door. She is a 25-year-old currently undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer. Her upbeat personality slowly chips away at Finns shell, and it doesn’t help that his dog Dylan absolutely loves her. Finn and his friend Matthew embark on a plan to raise money so that Johanna can compete in a race. Through this, Finn ultimately loses his initial summer intention and talks to over 100 people, and finds that helping Johanna through her treatment is actually helping him.

This isn’t a depressing, breast cancer novel. It is however a tale of passion for life, and making sure to see the positives everywhere. Gary Paulsen does a wonderful job taking a typically female theme, and making it applicable across all genders.

Chapter 2: Adolescent Development

One of Havinghurst’s Theories of Developmental Tasks is developing healthy relationships with peers. Finn is a loner, but develops a strong and healthy relationship with Johanna. All readers can learn from Finn and Johanna’s relationship, that despite age, health, and any other factor, you can rise above it and learn more about yourself than you ever knew possible.

Paulsen, G. (2009). Notes from the dog. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

The Tequila Worm

Sofia Casas lives in a tight-knit Hispanic neighborhood in McAllen, Texas. From an early age she is ridiculed and called ‘taco head’. She decides to get even with the girl, not by physical means, but academically. She wants to beat her in every subject at school. This work ethic gives Sofia a scholarship to a prestigious, and predominately white, school far away from her family and friends. She has always wanted to see what it was like to live like the wealthy people live. Once at Saint Luke’s Episcopal School, she realizes how important her family and all of the Mexican-American traditions are.

Tweens and teenagers are often egocentric, and forget about the importance of family and tradition. The Tequila Worm shows students that what they’re feeling (wanting to be independent and different from their families), isn’t wrong, and in fact many people feel that way, but in the end, it all comes back to family.

Chapter 8: Reading Aloud

Viola Canales does a wonderful job explaining the details of each and every Hispanic heritage tradition that Sofia and her family practice. This detail makes for an excellent read aloud and gives students the opportunity to soak up and create mental pictures of each and every activity.  

Canales, V. (2005). The tequila worm. New York, NY: Wendy Lamb Books.

Angry Management

 Mr. Nak is the new counselor for an anger management group. He reviews their files, and tell us the story of Sarah Byrnes and Angus Bethune, Montana West, and Marcus James and Matt Miller. Sarah is physically abused by her father. Her mother abandons her leaving her now both physically and mentally scarred. She finds solace with an overweight teen named Angus Bethune. They both help each other fill the voids in their lives. Montana West is an envelope pushing kind of kid. She writes for the school newspaper and soon finds one of her articles under intense scrutiny by the school’s administration. While writing an article on the football team, she falls for Trey Chase. Together they decide to fight back against the school board and get her article published. Marcus James is the only gay, African-American student in his school.  He shows up to school one day with a pink noose around his neck. Angered at the lack of investigation into this hate crime, Matt Miller stands up for Marcus.

Any Chris Crutcher fan will love this novel. All three stories are from previous novels; Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, The Sledding Hill, and Whale Talk. The stories of these characters are harsh and raw, but readers will love finding out more about each of them.

Chapter 9: Booktalking

Connect the Books

This novel is an amazing follow up to reading Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, The Sledding Hill, and Whale Talk. We are introduced to all of the characters in these novels, and Angry Management expands on the stories of each of them. Many readers become invested in the characters of their favorite novels, what better way to follow up, than with more storylines?

Crutcher, C. (2009). Angry management. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books.

Winger

Ryan Dean West is a 14 year old junior in high school. This puts him at an awful disadvantage, especially when it comes to his crush. He is seen as a baby amongst his peers. He also gets stuck boarding in the dormitory for troublemakers. With all of Ryan’s luck, his roommate is the school bully. As Ryan is learning the in’s and out’s of who he is, something unthinkable happens. Ryan must reanalyze everything he’s learned and thought about himself and his life.

If you are a fan of Looking For Alaska by John Green, you will love this book. The similar story of a young but smart high school boy and his quest to find out who he is, will resonate with many teen readers.

Chapter 5: What makes a book “Good”?

Theme

Self discovery is one of the most difficult rights of passage in high school. Many people struggle to find their place and figure out who they are. When you read Winger, you walk alongside Ryan, as he begins his journey to self discovery.

Smith, A. (2013). Winger. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.