Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The classic story of the four March girls: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. The March family is poor and Mr. March is away fighting in the Civil War, but they are charitable and value family above material goods. Meg is under a lot of pressure to marry (as she is the oldest) and with the March family's money troubles it is hard for them to ensure her a proper debut. Jo is a gifted writer, while Beth is a talented pianist. Amy, who is partial to dramatics in her demeanor, finds that she is a gifted artist later in life and even studies abroad when she is grown.

Laurie lives next door and is the girls' near constant companion. He even proposes to Jo, who turns him down, and eventually marries Amy after running into during her time abroad.

The March sisters enjoy their fair share of adventures both good and bad, funny and sad from Amy's lime dilemma to ice skating to Meg's attendance of Annie Moffat's debut to Jo's manuscript to Beth's gift from Mr. Laurence to the Pickwick Club.

Meg eventually marries Mr. Brooke, Laurie's tutor, much to Jo's dismay.

Beth contracts scarlet fever from the baby of a family she offered her assistance to, which leaves her weakened. She passes away before novel's end.

Jo moves to New York where she pursues her writing and meets Prof. Bhaer, who encourages her to write what she knows. She rejects Laurie's proposal and eventually marries Prof. Bhaer. She inherits Plumfield, rich Aunt March's estate, and she turns it into a boarding school for boys.

Amy studies art abroad with rich Aunt March and runs into Laurie, which begins their love affair. They marry and have a daughter, whom they name Beth.

Genre: Fiction/Classic

Alcott, L. M. (1962). Little women. New York: Macmillan.

How to Write Your Life Story by Ralph Fletcher

Kids are encouraged to write about the details of their life in this book. The author introduces key terminology such as memoir, biography, autobiography, character, setting, and plot. The text addresses many of those questions kids are sure to ask such as "Don't You have to be Famous to Write Your Life Story?" and "Who will Read My Story?"

The author suggests great ideas for brainstorming such as creating a neighborhood map (an actual map of the neighborhood where your house is located) or a heart map (an emotional map of what matters to you). The text is filled with examples of stories that illustrate the concepts the author is teaching.

There are also interviews with famous authors such as Jack Gantos (of Joey Pigza fame) and Jerry Spinelli (of Maniac Magee fame). Many different forms are presented and special attention is paid to telling both good stories and bad, meaning those stories that are sad, painful, or may not paint you in the best light.

Overall this is a fantastic book on an important topic. This text would be useful in programming for writing programs or clubs. This text would be ideal for 3-5th graders, but the activities can be broken down into simpler tasks or embellished to captivate older audiences making this an essential tool in school age programming. Highly recommended!

Genre: Nonfiction

Fletcher, R. (2007). How to write your life story. New York: Collins.

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge

Kevin Boland is a baseball player, well, make that former baseball player, at least for the better part of the season anyway. Kevin has mono and has taken up writing poetry. He's pretty good at it too! He writes sonnets, sestinas, pantoums, haikus, and elegies. Poetry helps him deal with his mother's death, his loss of identity as he sits out the baseball season, his frustration with friends, and his growing interest in a girl at school.

This entire book is written in blank verse poetry which makes this such a fantastic read as each poem can be read for individual meaning as well as for its advancement of the story.

Teens will enjoy this book for the artistic risks it takes and succeeds.

Genre: Poetry/Realistic Fiction

Koertge, R. (2003). Shakespeare bats cleanup. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press.

Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner

Shakespeare Shapiro is a high school senior trying to sum up his crazy life in a memoir. All the graduating seniors are writing memoirs and a panel of finalists will be chosen to compete for publication! He's your normal teen worried about his perceived coolness, getting a girlfriend, and getting into college. His writing is hip and edgy and he has many fans among his classmates because they can always count on his writing to be over the top in terms of sexual content and raw humor at his and his family's expense.

His best friends drink too much, swear too much, and among their favorite conversation topics is bowel movements. Charlotte is different though. She's usually late, if she makes it to school at all, and she's hesitant to even share the first sentence of her memoir with Shakespeare.

A hilariously funny novel with heart. Teens will bust a gut as they journey through Shakespeare's senior year in high school and won't be able to put this page-turner down until they see him through Prom and graduation.

Genre: Realistic Fiction

Wizner, J. (2007). Spanking Shakespeare. New York: Random House.