Annotated Bibliography of Choice Books

Alexie, Sherman. (2007). Flight. New York: Black Cat. 978-0-8021-7037-8

      This book is a science fiction novel that deals with time travel. The main character is a Native American teenager who struggles (in current day) mostly because of his parents’ death. Ever since his parents died, he has been in a countless amount of foster homes. One day, he finally decides to run away. When he does this, he finds himself suddenly waking up in the body of someone else. He does this four times and each time it is someone new and someone who has direct relation with Native American history. Meaning, he finds himself in the body of a white abusive FBI agent, someone on a battlefield, etc. This book speaks well to identity struggle among adolescents and it provides insight into the Native American struggle currently and throughout history.

Bartoletti, Susan C. (2010). The Called Themselves the K.K.K. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 978-0-618-44033-7.

This book is a non-fiction book about the most famous American terrorist group: the Ku Klux Klan. The book provides the history of the civil war and how its remnants created the development of this group. Additionally, it heavily discusses the politics of the time and the repercussions of what it meant to be on the side of the K.K.K and what it meant to not be on their side or what it meant to be a Democrat and what it meant to be a Republican. The book went into great deal about the gruesome acts of the group such as rape, lynching and downright terrorizing anybody or anything that got in the way of their ideals. The book follows the history of the group from the time it started to present day.

Hesse, Karen. (1997). Out of the Dust. New York: Scholastic Inc. 0-590-37125-8.

     This novel is written entirely in verse, therefore falling under the genre of Poetry. The main character in this novel is Billie Jo, a young girl who lives in Oklahoma, trying to survive the Dust Bowl with her family. The theme of this novel is that love prevails in any circumstance. Billie Jo and her father never really got along but they somehow have to in order to survive the death of her mother and her baby brother. This novel successfully combined free verse and rhyme, telling a story of 80 years ago, by using strong imagery.

Lynch, Christopher. (2005). Inexcusable. New York: Ginee Seo Books. 978-0-689-84789-9.

    This novel is in the genre of Contemporary Realistic Fiction. The main character’s name is Keir, he is male and is a senior in high school. The theme of Inexcusable is that one’s mind can be deceiving and can manipulate one to believe things that are not true, so one should be aware of this manipulation and its consequences. The strongest element of this novel was its ability to effectively use a flashback narrative and circular plot type.