Islandborn

Title: Islandborn
Genre: Historical Fiction
Author: Junot Diaz
Major Awards: Pura Belpre Award
Age Group: 7 - 10 Year olds


Summary:
Islandborn is about a young girl named Camillo who is from a place she calls, “the Island” (a small island in the Domincan republic.  One day at school Camillas teacher asks the cass to go home and draw a picture of where they are from. This upsets camilla because she moved away from the Island when she was just a baby so she doesn't remember it. She goes around and asks her family about the Island, its history, and asks them to help her get a mental picture of the place. As she goes from person to person they all have great things to say besides one, Mr.Mir. Mir.mir tells camilla about a scary monster that once came and tried to take over the town. Then, he tells her that the heros, who know one knows, saved the town and got rid of the mean monster. Once she goes home she starts on her drawing of her hometown. It starts as a page, then goes to more pages, and eventually becomes a whole book. The next day Camilla is so excited and as everyone walks around to look at others hers becomes so popular that the whole class is looking at it! Camillas home town drawing of her Island of the Dominican and its history becomes the favorite in the class.

I would love to use this book in my classroom! It has such a great message that no matter  where you move or travel to where you from will always be apart of you. Also, it shows that even if we personally don't remember anything from our hometown there are always people around us who can share their memories. This book is also very easy to read and comprehend which would be great for elementary students. In addition, it has beautiful, colorful, detailed pictures which i feel that students would love.

I think this book would be best for students in grades first through fifth. It has very simple, easy to read words as well as vibrant pictures which i feel would appeal to younger children. Also, it is easy to comprehend and would be easy for younger students to read and enjoy. In addition, it has a great message about always remembering who we are and learning the history of where we came from.

If I were to use this book in my classroom I would do the same lesson that Camillas teacher did. I would have my students draw a picture of where they are from and any important history that they can discover. I would also have them write about their hometown and discuss the history and different aspects of their drawing. Then I would have them each share and write about different things they learned.

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