Book recommendation

seeker ↓

Tue, May 14 2024, 1:30 am

I hope teacher's room isn't too limited of an audience for this question.

I'm looking for a book to use for reading comprehension practice that meets the following descriptions:

1. Approximately 6th grade reading level.
2. Jewish content - looking to appeal to kids who don't relate well to secular literature.
3. Preferably nonfiction.
4. Gender neutral (it's for boys so while I don't want to limit to "boyish" books they also won't be interested in feminine topics.)
5. Each chapter can stand alone, book does not need to be read cover to cover in order to appreciate (a book of short stories would be fine but I also find many biographies are able to be read this way.)
6. Not too lofty or moralistic (I'm not going to learn much from the rumor that Rav Gadol never ate anything from Monday to Thursday and learned all night instead of sleeping.)

I find that 6th grade ish level to be a hard sweet spot to hit in frum literature. Higher level books are often loaded down with overly sophisticated vocabulary and sentence structures (I'm a fan of sophistication but many go overboard) and the lower level ones are too simplistic so the students aren't really building skills by reading them.

They also often feel redundant to me - I find the boys like biographies but how many different ways are there to say "he learned a ton and loved mitzvos and also sometimes spooky miracles happened." Sorry to be so cynical, the truth is there is a lot to learn from biographies and they do have some distinctive features, but my point is that I'm looking for something a little more broadening - can be a biography but only if there's more to it. And at that magic level that's neither too simplistic nor too unapproachable for a 6th grade level.

amother

Nasturtium

Tue, May 14 2024, 1:43 am

Not a teacher, but my son loved this book - a bridge in time. I believe it was a 5/6 grade level.
It kept him interested and had historical things aswell.

After reading it he was very interested in learning more about the history of the Brooklyn bridge.
Look into it, perhaps it will work for what you need.

amother

Obsidian

Tue, May 14 2024, 1:49 am

amother Nasturtium wrote:

Was just going to say this!!!
There are new jewish books american historical fiction5-6 grade reading level...
Brooklyn bridge
Canal

amother

Pistachio

Tue, May 14 2024, 2:09 am

I personally prefer books because the kids are able to get more into the characters and more excited about it.
I did The Adopted Princess (Marcus Lehman) and Family for a While (Miriam Kosman) when teaching that age both books with a lot of literary value albeit very different styles, I was teaching girls though.

Can you do O Henry? We did his short stories in 6th grade and really enjoyed them.
Ransom of Red Chief, The Last Leaf

One more suggestion Friend or Foe (Michael Morpurgo) which is WWII historical fiction, the content was good, reading level might be a little low, lots of good discussion though.

↑ seeker ↓

Tue, May 14 2024, 2:22 am

Thanks. Due to time constraints, a novel or long story really won't work. It needs to be pieces that can be covered in stand-alone sessions or maybe spread over 2-3 lessons, but not a full book.

I love O. Henry but this is a yeshivish audience that really has a hard time relating to non-Jewish literature.

↑ seeker

Tue, May 14 2024, 8:54 pm

Bumping in the hope of more suggestions. Having a hard time finding the right level, I wish I had time to spend like an hour in a bookstore sampling everything...

Boys have expressed a request for more war/drama in their literature. G-d knows we've had plenty of war and drama in our history so I would think it pretty easy to find it in print. I looked at Menucha publisher's website which lets you sort by grade level and I see some things that look good ("escape from ____" series would probably appeal) but they're too long - I have limited time so I need short stories.

amother

Lightyellow

Tue, May 14 2024, 9:12 pm

amother DarkYellow wrote:

Flying with Daniel?
Boy protagonist, fiction, has some exciting elements in the beginning when he catches a hijacker (but I don’t think that much excitement throughout), I think each chapter can stand alone…

I'd think this book is long out of print! As much as it was one of my childhood favorites. Also, I think it's probably more middle grade than middle school level.

To the original question: I recommend the book The Hidden Hand by Yaakov Astor. Each chapter focuses on an event in history and shows hashgacha pratis and how we can look back and see how things unfolded for our benefit. IIRC, the author actually used to teach middle school age boys and this book grew out of his language arts lessons. I remember one chapter about the hidden miracles of D-Day. (This specific chapter was originally published in the Jewish Observer and he mentioned how he taught it and how fascinated the boys were by it etc.) I remember another one about Dunkirk, so there are at least 2 chapters about war history. Probably more, but it's been some time since I've read the book and I don't recall all of the chapter topics.

It's written well but not on too sophisticated of a level. I'd think it would be perfect for grades 6-8 in a yeshiva type school.
ETA I just looked it up, because now that I'm remembering it, I'm sort of curious to reread it. Apparently he wrote a couple of books with a similar title, including one about the Holocaust. The one I'm referring to, that grew out of his language arts classes, is his first one with a subtitle about "divine providence in 20th century events." I can't speak to his other books, just this one.