When thinking of ways to market reading to boys. The Percy Jackson series came to my mind.  My youngest son VeSean is 11 and all the boys in his class this year have been racing to see who can finish reading the whole series first.  Since the Percy Jackson series is pertaining to Greek Mythology, I thought it would be great if a library were to draw boys into the library by doing a Greek Mythology week.  During this week I would have the following activities planned.

1.       Set up a Greek Mythology table with;

•       Percy Jackson books
  
•       Nonfiction Greek Mythology books
  
•       Pictures of Greek Mythology armor and accessories
  

2.        Invite a guest speaker

•      History and Greek Mythology Professor Mr. J.W. Wicket from Coleman    (College (who is also a private Musician)
  
•       Circulate a flyer in library and at the local schools and programs that would say;
  

Contents of Flyer
Children in grades 4th through 6th grade and their parents are invited to learn about the mysteries of Greek Mythology with a short magic show included.  Children who are fans of the “Percy Jackson Series”, by Rick Riordan will have the opportunity to get a free copy of one of the books in the series, while supplies last at the beginning and end of the program.  Children can look forward to trying on real Greek armor!!!
The following are the pictures of the Greek accessories and Percy Jackson books for the display table!

Ancient Greece, by Sean Price: A Complete Resource Filled with Background Information, Cross-Curricular Activities and Games, Library and Internet Li with Poster
Bring the rich culture of ancient Greece into your library (and stimulate reading) with engaging activities and games that involve critical thinking.  This book is filled with easy to read Greek Myths in comic book format. Your youth males can become experts on Ancient Greece as they play a polis strategy game, argue a case in an Athenian trial, map out historic sites along the Aegean coast, enact a scene from Antigone, try-on Golden Age fashions, and many more exciting things, with a full-color map of ancient Greece.
Publisher: Scholastic (September 2000)
Language: English
Grades: 5th and up
ISBN-10: 0439059194
ISBN-13: 978-0439059190
Greek Mythology Web-link for teachers
View Inside the book Ancient Greece below!

About the Author:  Sean Price Over the years, Mr. Price wrote and edited for Scholastic News. He currently writes for educational magazines and books from his home in Charlotte, North Carolina. (No picture online for this author)

Greek Myth: 15 Mini-Books of Classic Stories,
by Sherry Girard (No Author Information found)
Adorable Reproducible Patterns With Engaging Writing Prompts.Invite students to create meaningful responses to literature with these engaging, hands-on art and writing projects. This book is filled with easy to read Greek Myths in comic book format.


Classroom Tip: Teachers can use these mini-books to activate prior knowledge of Greek Mythology stories that may have been introduced in previous grades. Students can enjoy coloring the illustrations too! Librarians can make copies of illustrations for students to color in library and take home!  Inside the book it starts off with a "How to use this book" page which helps students and teachers get the most out of the materials.  Mythology Resources page gives book titles for teachers and students to refer to.
Grades: Grades 4 - 8
Level(s): Intermediate, Middle School
ISBN (Digital Book): 9780545181334
ISBN (Physical Book): 9780439215619
Publisher: Scholastic

A Child's Introduction to Greek Mythology: The Stories of the Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, Monsters, and Other Mythical Creature, by Heather Alexander
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Incorporated, 2011
ISBN 157912867X
Age Group: 9-12 years old

Award-winning series explores the fascinating world of Greek mythology from the myth of Narcissus to Odysseus versus the Cyclopes. Includes a Gods and Goddesses Family Tree Poster, Stickers, and Temporary Tattoos Packed with action, adventure.   The book is organized into two main parts. The first section introduces the gods and goddesses, from Apollo to Hades, as well as nymphs, satyrs, centaurs, and the mortal descendents of Zeus, such as Hercules and Midas. Part two is about the myths: Pandora's Box, Prometheus' Discovery of Fire, the Trojan Horse and many more. Sidebars feature word definitions and fun facts, as well as games and projects. Meredith Hamilton's charming illustrations add vibrant color to intrigue any reader.
About the Author: Heather Alexander
Ms. Alexander has written several books for children and young adults including the previous title in this series.  She served as vice president and editorial director at Parachute Press, where she edited four young-adult series, three middle-grade series and several nonfiction titles.  She currently lives in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.

    I liked the idea of pairing fiction and nonfiction literature together to bring alive a particular culture as we learned in our readings this week.   Shirin Yim Bridges provides an excellent example of fiction works about real princesses around the world who overcome the boundaries of their culture.  In contrast, Patricia McCormick produced great nonfiction works for young people.  Her title; “Sold” is a depiction of a tragic experience a young girl endures when she is sold into slavery by her own family, and how she overcomes and lives to tell her story. These texts are designed for grades 6 and up. Each text is full of photos and paintings of that time period and brings the native cultures to life. Teachers and students can use this text together to foster an awareness of women’s rights and how women around the world of all different cultures have fought to be free.

Nur Jahan of India (The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses),
by Shirin Yim Bridges
Combining the romance and enchantment of princesses joined with the drive of female empowerment, Nur Jahan a young girl living in the palace of Mogul India, hidden by veils, came to rule all of Mogul India at a young age.  This book titled, “Nur Jahan of India (The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses) tells a story of how she introduced efficiencies, stimulated trade, and made possible a great pinnacle of the arts. She rode elephants to war, hunted tigers, commanded a nation from behind a curtain, and succeeded at many other achievements that women were not encouraged to participate in. The book includes a section with pictures of the types of clothes Nur Jahan wore, the foods she ate, and why she is remembered today.
Publication Date: 10/1/2010            Reading Level: Age 9 and Up

"Feminism is about the empowerment of girls and women." (Shirin Yim Bridges)
This series, "The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses," published in 2010 and aimed at girls ages 9 to 13, includes the histories of six princesses and their individual struggles to free themselves from the boundaries of their cultures and restrictions placed on women: Hatshepsut of Egypt, Artemisia of Caria, Sorghaghtani of Mongolia, Qutlugh Terkan Khatun of Kirman, Isabella of Castile and Nur Jahan of India.These illustrated books include sidebars on geography and facts about the dress, customs and food of the time.

About the Author:  Shirin Yim Bridges is a successful author of many titles and won one of Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of 2002 and was the winner of the 2003 Ezra Jack Keats award; Her book titled, "The Umbrella Queen", was named one of the Best Children's Books of 2008 by TIME magazine; the forthcoming Mary Wrightly So Politely; and The Thinking Girl's Treasury of Real Princesses. All her books are about young girls who manage to employ themselves and step outside of their expected guidelines set up by their cultures and succeeded at unpredictable task. Shirin currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has lived in many countries around the world, and reflects this in her writing. Some of the places she has lived includes; Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and England. She was educated in the United States and now nests in California.
Bridges created real stories of princesses around the world because of her young nieces love for Disney fictional princess stories like Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast.  She wanted her niece and other young girls to know that there are real princesses in the world that go through real life trials and some of them break the mold they were born in and make a difference by changing the way their cultures view princesses and women in general.
Learn more about Ms. Bridges at the website below;
http://www.goosebottombooks.com

Sold, by Patricia McCormick
Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut in the mountains of Nepal. Though her family is very poor, her life is full of simple pleasures until the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops and she must leave home and take a job to support her family. Her step-father introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope.  But she soon learns the unthinkable truth:  she has been sold into prostitution.   This book is not the story of the struggles of princesses but it focuses on the topic of feminism and the struggles women go through to get free from constrains of their culture.
Publication date: April 2008     Publisher: Hyperion Book CH    ISBN 0786851724

About the author:
Patricia McCormick is a journalist and author of fiction for young adults. She was born in 1956.

• Education: Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

• Awards: Quill Award for Young adult/teen

• Nominations: National Book Award for Young People's Literature

 
Other Books by Patricia McCormick

Sue Macy.
National Geographic.  (Middle grade/young adult; ages 10 and up)
“Let me tell you what I think of bicycling,” Susan B. Anthony said in 1896. “I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world.” She did an awesome job sharing the interrelated stories of women’s rights and women’s cycling, The illustrations in this book are actual photographs and cycling posters from the 1800's. “Wheels”is an account of another way women fought to express their rights in our society. When teaching about women s rights in history or sparking interest in the hidden science facts of bicycling, teachers can use this book to get young girls and boys to understand how bicycling changed lives. 

 About the Author: Bill Haduch
Haduch is a husband, father, musician, bicyclist, electrician, handyman, backpacker, skyscraper window-washer, canoeist, newspaper reporter, skier, corporate science writer, welder, advertising & public relations executive, cook, school assembly speaker, British sports car enthusiast, magazine writer, brewer, community volunteer, entrepreneur and children's author.

Teaching your child or students to be aware of global warming? This special book discusses the changes in our environment that affect our planet. Lynas does an awesome job summarizing scientific research on climate change.  This book is excellent for science teachers who are assigning readings on global warming or class research projects.  Students who love science and who are interested in finding out about global warming or climate control levels would love the way this text breaks down every Celsius.



This book can be used for grades 5th-12th. 

Paperback: 336 pages

Publisher: National Geographic (October 7, 2008)

Language: English
Lexile Level : not listed

ISBN-10: 1426203853

ISBN-13: 978-1426203855

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Lynas

Is a talented British Author, along with being a environmental activist and journalist who has a passion for researching climate changes. Read his article published in 2012, called "In defense of nuclear power"

Visit his website at: http://www.marklynas.org/






Other books by this author include:

* The Carbon Calculator

*High Tide

Cool website: A world to win the future without global capitalism.

http://www.aworldtowin.net/reviews/sixdegrees.html

During World War II many people starved around the world.  As the war came to an end the government wanted to figure out how to rehabilitate individuals who had been underfed.  It became clear that in order to teach democracy these individuals would need to get their health and strength back in order for them to function at a healthy mental level.  Scientist where asked to do a study on hunger and they chose 30 volunteers who would be subjected to hunger for a period of 1 year.   Tucker tells the story of the heroic events that took place during the long dreadful year.  One volunteer, who is labeled as subject number 20, had a particularly challenging time.  His drive, determination, will to live and need to be seen as a war hero is the only things that kept him alive. 

Tucker shares the tools subject number 20 used to sustain his mental strength and what extremes he went through to try and get out of the experiment.  During the beginning of the experiment he chopped wood logs in half and repeated over and over, “I can do this”, “I can do this”!  He chopped wood during the times everyone else was eating so that he would not have to endure the smells of food or see the food.  Tucker shares that 3 months to the end of the experiment subject 20 started trying to hurt his self in an effort to get kicked out of the experiment due to injury.  I commend him for going nine years. One of the tirades he tried was dropping his car on his hand but the injury did not prove bad enough to go home.

Tucker provides tons of contexts for the experiment, describing other medical experiments, including those conducted by Joseph Mengele in Auschwitz and by the Japanese on prisoners of war.  The Japanese experiments have gotten less attention than German ones due to the fact that the U.S. agreed to give the Japanese immunity from prosecution in exchange for the knowledge they gained.  I find that unexcitable!  The thing that sets this experiment apart from others is that the men chose to participate and were informed of all the dangers. These men, where chosen from over 200 applicants and were deeply committed to the cause of peace and service to humanity. They did not believe that they could in good conscience go to war, but they wanted to do something to show their support.

The mental effects of starvation proved to be very interesting because it turns out that we will eat anything and do anything to survive when we are hungry.  It is a scary thought. This book is very interesting and shocking at the same time. It was a quick read.  I think that history teachers could do a book talk in their class to make the students aware of the challenges in reference to starvation that were faced in World War II.  A book talk would be the best way because this book brings up a lot of questions and debate regarding the ethics of the experiment.

Tucker, T. (2006). The great starvation experiment: the heroic men who starved so that millions could live. New York: Free Press

Todd Tucker received a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Notre Dame and served as an officer with the U.S. Navy's nuclear submarine force. He is the author of Notre Dame Game Day (Diamond Communications, 2000) and Notre Dame vs. the Klan (Loyola Press, 2004). He has written for several national magazines, including TWA Ambassador, The Rotarian and Inside Sports. He lives in Valparaiso, Indiana, with his family. Visit his Web site at www.ToddTuckerBooks.com.

References
http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Todd-Tucker/27849582

Age Range: 9 and up 
Grade Level: 4 - 7
Lexile Measure: 1160L 
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks (February 1, 1997)
Language: English

Haskins, J. (1995). Black eagles: African Americans in aviation. New York: Scholastic.

Black Eagles by James Haskins, gives a wonderful account of the history behind, Africa American aviation pilots during World War II and after the war.  Mr. Haskins does a wonderful job with giving the reader a look into the 1920’s when African Americans were not allowed to fly.  He highlights the special achievements of Black pilots.  I enjoyed reading this book and my 11 year old was fascinated to learn that there where black pilots during that time period.  I think this is a wonderful book for a teacher to use during black history month for grades 5-8th.

About the Author:  James Haskins

Born:  September 19, 1941

Location:  Demopolis, Alabama

Occupation:  Nonfiction writer

Genres:  Children’s literature, biographies, Young adult literature

Other nonfiction titles by this Author:

·      Lena Horne

·      Count Your Way Series

·      The story of Stevie Wonder