En la Clase: Using the novel Morning Girl in the classroom

As many of you may already know, our featured novel for January is Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle.  If the novel is new to you, be sure to check out our Book Review and Educator’s Guide.  In discussing the book through comments here on the blog and our book group meeting, a common theme continues to arise: Hurricane Dancers is a great way to teach an alternative point of view to the commonly presented ‘discovery’ of the Americas.  Sadly, there aren’t many great children’s or young adult books out there that do this.  So, for today’s En la Clase post, I thought I’d share another book that also provides an alternative narrative to the discovery story: Michael Dorris’ Morning Girl. Below, I’ve included a  link to the pdf of our Educator’s Guide on Morning Girl–just scroll to the end of the post.

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Book Review: Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck

Margarita Engle’s Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck is a beautifully written novel in verse, similar in many ways to her earlier book The Surrender Tree (click here for our review).  Here again, Engle brings to life a lesser known period of Caribbean history through three distinct but intertwined stories: that of Quebrado; Naridó and Caucubú; and Ojeda and Talavera.  While many of us are familiar with the history of Christopher Columbus, other stories of the conquest and colonization of the Americas are often overlooked.  This book offers part of that missing perspective.

The Hurricane Dancers Giveaway Winners!!

Thanks so much to all of you who have visited our blog and shared your thoughts with us. Each month we have more readers entered in our drawing!! This month’s five lucky winners are. . . . Molly from Wrapped up in Books, Florence, Blanca, Monica from impressions of a princess, and the Unconventional Teacher!  I’ll be emailing you to find out where you would like us to ship the book, so be on the lookout for that!

Congratulations! Hope you enjoy the book!

Our next give away starts today and runs through January 17th!! This time we’re giving away 5 copies of Estrella’s Quinceañera written by Malín Alegria.  Just comment on any post between now and January 17th and you’re automatically entered in the drawing!

We’ll continue to do a drawing for 5 copies of each book we feature in our book group each month, so keep checking back and sharing with us throughout the year! AND check out the great blogs authored by some of our winners above.  They’ve got great book reviews, editorials, and other writing related to education. I’ve linked to their pages, so all you have to do is click!

Our Next Good Read. . .Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck

Join us January 14th at bookworks from 5:00-7:00 pm to discuss our next book.  We are reading Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle

Recognized with multiple awards and honors, Hurricane Dancers is another excellent novel in verse from Margarita Engle.

Book Giveaway!! Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck

We’re giving away 5 copies of Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck (written by Margarita Engle)–our featured novel for January’s book group meeting!! It’s won both the Pura Belpré Award and the Américas Award! We can’t wait to read it in our book group.  It’s appropriate for ages 12 and up. To be entered in the giveaway, just comment on any post on the blog by December 13th. Everyone who comments between November 15th and December 13th will be entered in the drawing.  It’s a great way to add to your personal teaching library! If your name is chosen, we’ll email you ASAP about mailing the book to you.

Good luck!

The Red Umbrella Giveaway Winners!!

Thanks so much to all of you who have visited our blog and shared your thoughts with us. We continue to have more people entered in our drawing each month!! This month’s five lucky winners are. . . . Daniel, Doris, Monica, Yleana and A.M.B. from The Misfortune of Knowing!  I’ll be emailing you to find out where you would like us to ship the book, so be on the lookout for that!

Congratulations! Hope you enjoy the book!

Our next give away starts today and runs through December 13th!! This time we’re giving away 5 copies of Hurricane Dancers: The First Caribbean Pirate Shipwreck by Margarita Engle.  Just comment on any post between now and Thursday December 13th and you’re automatically entered in the drawing.

We’ll continue to do a drawing for 5 copies of each book we feature in our book group each month, so keep checking back and sharing with us throughout the year!