Titles and Descriptions - Y

Year of Impossible Goodbyes
Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading 4-12
You Asked for It!: Strange But True Answers to 99 Wacky Questions
The Young Actors Series
The Young Man and the Sea

Year of Impossible Goodbyes (Print-Fiction). Choi, Sook Nyul. Dell Publishing Co., Inc. (ULS), 1991. 169 p. ISBN 0-440-40759-1 ($7.99 pbk.).

This is a fictionalized history of life in Korea under occupation, first by Japanese, and then by Russian armies. Ten-year-old Sookan and her family live in constant fear of army officers whose harsh treatment of young students at the school and of workers in the local sock factory is inhumane. In their attempt to break the spirit of the Koreans, the Japanese soldiers destroy the ancient tree treasured by Sookan’s grandfather and ship slower factory workers to the frontline to serve as prostitutes. Although the Russians who follow are not cruel, their suppression of freedom necessitates a dangerous escape to American-controlled South Korea.
Suggested Use: Grade 8; Social, Cultural, and Historical Context
Initiative: Multicultural Content and Perspectives

Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading 4-12 (Print-Non-Fiction). Allen, Janet. Stenhouse Publishers (PPL), 2000. 304 p. ISBN 1-57110-319-8 ($35.95 pbk.).

This book outlines approaches and strategies for teachers to help all learners find competence and confidence in their own paths to lifelong literacy. The methods are in some respects “messy” in that the author provides a path rather than a program. The book addresses the need for a balance of read-aloud, shared, guided, and independent reading; assessment that informs instruction; and reading that provides a model for writing. Appendices include graphic organizers and assessment templates that support instruction.

Although the book may be used by both Elementary and Secondary Level school teachers, the examples cited generally refer to Middle Level students.
Suggested Use: Grade 6; Grade 7; Grade 8; Grade 9; Teacher Reference
Other Use: English Language Arts: Grades K to 5

You Asked for It!: Strange But True Answers to 99 Wacky Questions (Print-Non-Fiction). Meikle, Marg. Scholastic Canada Ltd. (SCH), 2000. 151 p. ISBN 0-439-98723-7 ($6.99 pbk.).

(CAN) Meikle provides the answers to 99 student questions about animals, customs, weather, the human body, holidays, inventions, superstitions, and other weird answers about words. You Asked for It: Strange But True Answers to 99 Wacky Questions is the sequel to the Silver Birch Award winner Funny You Should Ask (also annotated in this bibliography). The index and the websites of interest at the end of the book will help students find information.
Suggested Use: Grade 8; Communicative Context

The Young Actors Series (Print-Anthology). Please refer to the title: Great Scenes and Monologues for Children Ages 7-14.

The Young Man and the Sea (Print-Fiction). Philbrick, Rodman. Scholastic Inc. (SCH), 2004. 192 p. ISBN 0-439-36829-4 ($22.99 hdc.). ISBN 0-439-36830-8 ($8.99 pbk.).

Skiff has lost his mother, and since her death, his fisherman father cannot cope. Twelve-year-old Skiff repairs their damaged boat and then single-handedly tries to harpoon a giant tuna to raise money for a new motor for his father’s fishing boat. The fish literally and symbolically captures Skiff’s hope for a better life. Skiff can hear his mother’s voice speaking to him when he struggles to bring the tuna back to shore. This is an excellent sea adventure that is full of suspense and has a dramatic climax.

The Young Man and the Sea would make a great read-aloud to help students appreciate the struggles of the life of a fisherman.
Suggested Use: Grade 6; Personal and Philosophical Context