Deep Blue

Deep Blue

Jennifer Donnelly

Publish date 2014

Grade 5

Published by Scholastic

Reading Level: HL580 L

 2 starred reviews:

Publisher’s Weekly


”Donnelly (Revolution) opens the four-book Waterfire Saga with a richly imagined novel set in an undersea world of mermaids descended from the lost citizens of Atlantis … It’s just right for readers who have grown up with, but aged out of, The Little Mermaid and the Disney Fairies franchise.”

Booklist

“Best-selling Donnelly (Revolution, 2010) builds an alluring mermaid civilization and history, filled with painterly descriptions of Sera’s underwater palace and its unearthly architecture, her sumptuous wardrobe, and the menagerie of half-human, half-marine animal denizens. There’s also plenty of romantic tension with handsome mermen, strife between merls (that’s girl mermaids) from rival regions, and some powerful female friendships amid the fast-paced plot, filled with wondrous magic. This series opener raises far more questions than it answers, but it lays a promising groundwork for the forthcoming volumes … This series will be a part of your world.”

The book, Deep Blue, by Jennifer Donnelly is about a mermaid, Serfina, who is the daughter of the Queen of Miromara, Isabella. Serfina is bound to be ruler of her people one day. She is also supposed to take part in an arranged marriage to Mahdi. On the eve of her Dokimí, which was when it was supposed to be determined if she could take the crown or not, she had a strange dream that was of an old tale of ancient evil. This is forgotten about as she practices her song spell for her Dokimí. During the ceremony, an assassins arrow wounds Isabella. Serfina escapes the assassins only to discover the truth about the ancient evil. Serfina sets out to find the others who have had the same dream and can help her form a sisterhood to defeat the evil.

Description: Children’s Choice Book

Suggested Delivery: Individual, small group

 Electronic Resources (2):

Deep Blue Trailer

         This is a link to the official book trailer of Deep Blue. It includes a song that was inspired by the book and was produced for it. This can be used for pre reading.

PDF of Deep Blue Discussion

         This is a link to the online PDF from teachingbooks.net. This PDF has Pre reading discussion questions as well as discussion questions in general. This includes all the Common Core State Standards that are used along with the book. This includes information for the second book of the WaterFire Saga as well. This can be used for pre reading, during reading, and after reading.

 Vocabulary:

decorum – etiquette

inscrutable – impossible to understand

scimitar – a short sword with a curved blade

decimated – to kill or destroy

baroque – relating to a period of time in the 17^th and

betrothal – the act of promising to marry someone

proximity – nearness in time or space

alliance – a merging of efforts of two or more groups for mutual benefit

reconcile – restore friendly relationships between two groups

immobilizing – to prevent from moving

           Teaching Suggestions:

·      Use this book to teach about loyalty.

·      Use this book to teach about making choices.

·      Use this book to teach about finding key details.

Pre Reading: As a pre reading activity, read the prologue aloud to the class. Have the students write down any connections or predictions that they may have about the book. The students can then share their information and use it to come up with a class prediction for the book.

During Reading: During reading, have students write a summary of each chapter on a sticky note along with any predictions they might have. This will help students keep track of events and character changes.

After Reading: The students can answer the question, “What can you learn from Serafina’s actions and choices that would have merit in our world?”. This will help students understand how their own actions and choices can have an impact on others. This will also be a text to world and text to self connection.

Writing Activity: Students will write a detailed journal entry related to the theme of the book. The students should state what the theme is and at least five key details or events that occurred that help support the theme. This should also include at least three quotations from the text.

All the Light We Cannot See

All the Light We Cannot See

Anthony Doerr
Publish date May 6^th, 2014

Grade 6

Published by Simon and Schuster

Reading Level: 880L

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize 2015Winner of the Carnegie Award 2015

2 starred reviews:

“If a book’s success can be measured by its ability to move readers and the number of memorable characters it has, Story Prize–winner Doerr’s novel triumphs on both counts. Along the way, he convinces readers that new stories can still be told about this well-trod period, and that war—despite its desperation, cruelty, and harrowing moral choices—cannot negate the pleasures of the world.”

Publishers Weekly

“Shifting among multiple viewpoints but focusing mostly on blind French teenager Marie-Laure and Werner, a brilliant German soldier..., this novel has the physical and emotional heft of a masterpiece. The main protagonists are brave, sensitive, and intellectually curious, and in another time they might have been a couple.... Highly recommended.” —Evelyn Beck, Piedmont Technical Coll., Greenwood, SC

Library Journal

This book, All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr follows two separate people during World War II.

 Marie- Laure lives with her father near Paris, France. Her father is a master for all the locks for the Museum of Natural History. Marie- Laure becomes blind at the age of six. Her father then builds her a very detailed miniature replica of their entire neighborhood. Marie-Laure memorizes these by touching them and can find her way home from anywhere nearby in the neighborhood. When she is twelve, the Nazis take over Paris. Marie-Laure and her father flee to SaInt-Malo to live with her great uncle by the sea. But, with them is they may have the most famous, dangerous, and valuable gem that France has to offer.

Werner is an orphan in a mining town in Germany. He and his younger sister lived together at the orphanage. He begins assembling radios in the orphanage, and listens to it with his sister late at night. Werner becomes very skilled at assembling and fixing radios for local residence that live in the town. When he fixes a radio for a Nazi soldier, he is given the opportunity to attend the Academy for Hitler Youth. He assembles radios faster than all other students and works on special radios that will be used in the future. When he is older he is sent on a special assignment that leads him to Sanit-Malo to track the resistance.

In Saint-Malo during the heart of World War II both Marie-Laure and Werner’s story collide. Both trying to survive the war for very different reasons.

Description: Historical Fiction

Suggested Delivery: Individual, small group

Electronic Resources (2):

Author and Video

         This website is the authors website. This has a very detailed summary of the book. This also has a video about how the author came up with the idea to write the book and all the research he did for the book. This can be used as a pre reading activity. 

Lesson Plan and Activities                   

          This website has lessons for teaching this book. This contains the objective and activities for this book that align with the Common Core State Standards. This will be used as a during reading activity.

 Vocabulary: 
            Rampart – an embankment built around a space for defensive purposes

            Ravine –  a deep narrow steep-sided valley

            Incendiary – capable of catching fire spontaneously

            Discern – detect with the senses

            Spire – a tall tower that forms the superstructure of a building

            Parapet – a low wall along the edge of a roof or balcony

            Bastion – projecting part of a rampart or other fortification

            Façade – the face or front of a building

            Emissary – someone sent on a mission to represent another’s interests

Teaching Suggestions:

·      Use this book to teach about WWII

·      Use this book to teach about how different people view the world

·      Use this book to teach about individual differences

 Reading: Have the students research Anthony Doerr and other books that he has published. Then have students research World War II. Then show students the book trailer.

During Reading: Each student will be keeping a time line of events that occur throughout the book. Since the book jumps between years,

After Reading: Have the students analyze the two main characters, Marie-Laure and Werner. The students can compare the characters from the beginning of the book to the end. Noting any changes the characters may have had and how the events that occurred impacted these characters.

Writing Activity: Have students write an essay with the following information. Describe the setting of Saint-Malo and the circumstances of World War II in Saint-Malo in August of 1944. For how long had the war been raging in Europe at this time? What major events of the war occurred in August of 1944? What statements are on the flyers that drop upon Saint-Malo in the first chapters?

Doerr, A. (2014). All the Light We Cannot See. New York: Simon & Schuster.