New Releases by Carol Otis Hurst

Have you heard the one about Grandpa walking through three feet of snow—uphill both ways—just to get home when he was a kid? Well, you haven't heard it like this! During one sudden and relentless blizzard, lively Walt gets stuck for days in a barn by himself. "Awful!" Meanwhile, shy Fred is trapped in an inn full of people. "Horrible!" They both have to dig their way out. "The worst." "You said it." What a terrible storm! But what a terrific—and funny—story!

In 1864, fifth-grader Charlotte befriends an Irish-American girl at school and tries to understand the prejudices between the Irish and the Yankees in her town of Westfield, Massachusetts. Based on historical events.

In the winter of 1920, everything changed. Frank and his family got a Model T and drove to the Berkshires to try to make a success of a vacation/hunting lodge at Yokum Pond. There are fun adventures and incidents with invited guests and uninvited animal visitors, including the mysterious "horrible huge.” The rural setting and less-than-receptive neighbors fail to deter Frank’s mother from pursuing her fight for suffrage, much to the consternation of her husband and a number of the lodge’s guests, but in the end, she sees Tennessee ratify the amendment and earns a place of reverence in the movement.

In Plymouth Colony in the 1630s, John continually disappoints his father, Governor William Bradford, during a difficult time as the colony faces its first murder and subsequent trial.

Kate and her brother Jesse are not happy when they have to move from Brooklyn to an old house in Massachusetts after the death of their father, but their newly adopted sister from Korea quickly makes friends with a "blue lady" who helps the family find away to stay where they belong.

Eleven-year-old Sarah copes with emotional and economic hardships when her beloved but impulsive father leaves the family and their Massachusetts farm to prospect for gold in California.

Some people collect stamps. Other people collect coins. Carol Otis Hurst's father collected rocks. Nobody ever thought his obsession would amount to anything. They said, "You've got rocks in your head" and "There's no money in rocks." But year after year he kept on collecting, trading, displaying, and labeling his rocks. The Depression forced the family to sell their gas station and their house, but his interest in rocks never wavered. And in the end the science museum he had visited so often realized that a person with rocks in his head was just what was needed. Anyone who has ever felt a little out of step with the world will identify with this true story of a man who followed his heart and his passion.

Etta, a twelve-year-old orphan in nineteenth-century Connecticut, meets a boy living in an abandoned cabin on the New Haven and Northampton Canal and has adventures with him while trying to be reunited with her siblings.

In this valuable resource, Hurst and Otis bring together the methods and philosophy for the extensive use of trade books in the middle school curriculum. Novels, picture books, and non-fiction materials are summarized and extended within the context of themes, literary study, and focus books for discussion and activities in the classroom and library. Eighteen fully developed themes enable educators to bring literature into other areas of the curriculum. In addition, 29 literary works are explored through further activities and discussion, again reaching into many curriculum areas. A section on literary study that includes symbolism, foreshadowing, and flashbacks helps teachers guide students to an analytical level in their reading and writing. Both teachers and students will greatly benefit from this useful resource!

This book presents summaries and activities associated with 15 books to read with kindergarten through second graders that explore social issues central to their lives. Thematic topics include the give and take of friendship; bullies, pests, and teasing; isolation and reaching out across generations; families; and working together. It features comprehensive summaries of the books, a variety of group activities for increasing understanding, questions and topics for prompting good discussions, and lists of thematically-related stories. It also includes general guidelines for using literature in the classroom, facilitating good book discussions, and choosing meaningful related activities. The 15 works discussed are: "Chester's Way" (Kevin Henkes); "Frog and Toad are Friends" (Arnold Lobel); "Rosie and Michael" (Judith Viorst); "Ira Says Goodbye" (Bernard Waber); "A Toad for Tuesday" (Russell Erickson); "Bootsie Barker Bites" (Barbara Bottner); "Ira Sleeps Over" (Bernard Waber); "The Mitten Tree" (Candace Christiansen); "Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch" (Eileen Spinelli); "Julius, the Baby of the World" (Kevin Henkes); "The Relatives Came" (Cynthia Rylant); "Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies" (Ann Turner); "I'll Fix Anthony" (Judith Viorst); "Officer Buckle & Gloria" (Peggy Rathmann); and "Yard Sale" (James Stevenson). (Each section contains resources.) (RS)

Bibliographies, activities, and background information on authors, illustrators, individual picture books, and themes.