Mockingbird

 Mockingbird

 http://smallworldreads.blogspot.com/2010/06/book-review-mockingbird.html

Author  

• Kathryn Erskine 

Genre 

• Realistic Fiction/ Young Adult Literature

Grade level(s) appropriateness 

• 5th grade and up

A brief synopsis or review 

•  Caitlin is a ten year old with Asperger's syndrom. She sees the world in black and white but recently the shades of grey are breaking through her world. After the death of her brother, she is trying to make sense of the world in order to be able to find closure.

Theme/skill 

•  closure, autism, Asperger's syndrom, tragedy, growing up, friendships

Noteworthy features or issues with text 

• The point of view of the story being in the voice of a child with autism 

Teaching ideas 

•     For this book, I would have students think about what it means to have closure. Students would discuss their ideas about closure as a whole class.
• Students will be asked to think of projects that they will start at the beginning of the year and after at the end of the year 

Curriculum tie-ins and/or related activities 

• health
• history of other school shootings

Read aloud suitability

•   Yes, can be read aloud. However the topics described in the novel are very difficult topics for students to handle without some guidance from the teacher through group discussions.

Connections to other texts/content areas 

•  books on autism
• books on school shootings 
• books on Asperger's syndrom

Other additional comments

•  I loved the way this book was written. I would recommend it to anyone. One of my favorite books to date.