MULTICULTURAL FICTION FOR EIGHTH GRADERS 2000-2001

Themes Response Activities

Bud, Not Buddy Christopher Paul Curtis	Family, love, friendship, loss	Suitcase Project: Bud has a suitcase filled with important things that he takes with him wherever he goes. Create your own suitcase filled with objects special to you. In a letter to a friend, explain why you value these particular objects. Bud creates ABud Caldwell=s Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself@ that he relies on when he gets in a tough spot. Create your own list of rules that help you get through the challenges of a typical day in your life.
A Girl Named Disaster Nancy Farmer	Family, coming of age, self-reliance, cultural customs, power of self-talk	Read a section of Nhamo=s self-talk. Brainstorm typical problems you encounter as a middle school student. Imagine you are in a difficult situation or trying to meet an unusual challenge. Write out a monologue of what you would say to yourself to help you get through the obstacles in this situation.
Tears of a Tiger Sharon Draper	Tragic accident, guilt, loss, friendship	Create a scrapbook for one of the characters in this novel, detailing this year in the lives of the Hazelwood High students.
Children of the River Linda Crew	Challenges facing immigrants, holding onto traditional values, facing the impact of new culture and customs, family, guilt	Critical thinking exercise: How authentic is this novel? Conduct web-based research on the history of Cambodian refugees and their move to the U.S. Read a review critical of Crew=s portrayal of the immigrants. Present your own arguments about the authenticity or lack of authenticity of the novel, including evidence from the novel and your research. Analyze the symbol of the river. What does the river mean to the main character? Everyone has a story related to water. Write a story about yourself, using water as an important element or symbol.
Lupita Manana Patricia Beatty	Emigration, illegal aliens, courage, sacrifice	On a map trace the journey of Lupita and Salvador. Describe how they are changing as a result of events. An opening paragraph or chapter often reveals important information about characters and events which are to follow. The lead can set the tone for the story. Describe what you can tell about Lupita=s character from the opening chapter.
The Brave Robert Lipsyte	Identity, taking control, coming of age, true courage	In this sequel to The Contender, the main character struggles to control his monster, anger. Create a post card, with a picture or collage of New York on one side and a message on the other side in which Sonny writes about his experiences to someone on his reservation or another character in the novel. Use what you know about his character and conflict to create an accurate personal account.
Sang Spell Phyllis Naylor	Renewal, healing, cultural roots, magical realism, community and customs, moral center	Using the novel, create a map of Josh=s journey to find his way. Mark important places in his process of Agoing backward@ in order to move forward. Now construct a map for yourself describing how you would go about learning more about yourself. What are the places you will need to stop and what will you do or learn at each place.