Child-Safety Books

This well written rhyming book provides a non-threatening way to introduce your child to a most frightening subject. It guides the child in a clear and fun manner as to how to act and react during an earthquake. The illustrations are adorable and add a new dimension of understanding for your child to more fully comprehend the movement and vibrations accompanying an earthquake. Very highly recommended!! I look forward to Ms. Givon's next book and hope she continues to tackle difficult subjects for children in a way which helps them to come to terms with life's frightening moments

This is one of Joy Berry's "Survival Series for Kids" books and I have to confess that my son Devon and I like them all. I've had them in storage for years, way before Devon was a twinkle in my eye, or my gal Sara's, and I'm glad I saved them.

In this book Ms. Berry and illustrator Bartholomew, with your help, will teach your child the value of being careful. Your child will learn to be careful around electricity, gas, heat, fire, water, medications and other dangerous things, even clutter. They will learn to be careful at home and at school. He or she will learn not to accept rides from strangers, how to be careful riding a bike and even when swimming. Yes this is a book for a child bigger that a toddler, however my toddler and I like it just fine. Get 'em started early, that's my motto.

Though this book was written over twenty years ago, it still stands up. The excellent comic book type illustrations will keep your child interested as you read along with him or her. And for the life of me I don't know why these books are not easier to get. Joy Berry is good for children, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. If you can get a hold of her books and share them with your child, you'll both be better for it.

This is one of Joy Berry's "Survival Series for Kids" books and I have to confess that my son Devon and I like them all. I've had them in storage for years, way before Devon was a twinkle in my eye, or my gal Sara's, and I'm glad I saved them.

In this book Ms. Berry and illustrator Bartholomew, with your help, will teach your child the value of being prepared. They learn they should know their name, address and phone number and there is a place in the book for them to write them down. They learn that they always need to know where Mom and Dad are and how to contact them. They learn how to contact the proper authorities in case of an emergency and they learn how to deal with emergencies that may happen at home. Yes this is a book for a child bigger that a toddler, however my toddler and I like it just fine. Get 'em started early, that's my motto.

Though this book was written over twenty years ago, it still stands up. The excellent comic book type illustrations will keep your child interested as you read along with him or her. And for the life of me I don't know why these books are not easier to get. Joy Berry is good for children, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. If you can get a hold of her books and share them with your child, you'll both be better for it.

this is a great book. easy to ready and follow. explains the importance of carseats, being quiet and riding in back seats. a great lesson for us all!

Five million teens were reported abused in the year 2000; an estimated 1,200 died from some form of abuse or neglect. These horrifically high numbers indicate this is a self-help book for all teens to use as a guide to get safe, or how to help someone they know get out of an abusive situation, be it sexual, physical, emotional, or plain neglect.
Psychologist and counselor Deanna Pledge clearly defines each type of abuse, including abuse by peers, and follows up with a question and answer section. The next third of the book is about taking action, how and when to tell, who to turn to, and what to expect, while the final chapters focus on healing.
Sensitive topics are handled with delicacy. The language is carefully technical, to be as non-threatening as possible. Statistics combine with personal remarks from teens who have been there to show readers that they are not alone. Writing exercises at the end of each chapter offer outlets for emotion, while affirmations promote well-being.
Above all, Pledge stresses that abuse can happen to anyone, no one deserves to have it happen to him or her, and if it does happen you are not at fault. It is a hopeful book too, in spite of its intense subject matter. Many teens got out of abusive situation, and so can other readers. This book is an excellent start to the healing process and is a valuable resource that should be made available in all secondary school and public libraries.

Written by Ann Goode Cooper and illustrated by Diana Jessee, Zebordee's Caper is an engaging color picture book for children about the importance of safety, and avoiding dangerous activities such as playing with electrical outlets. Following the adventures of a young and playful ant called Zebordee, and many household hazards that challenge him when he wanders outside his safe ant farm, Zebordee's Caper doubles as a useful starting point for a serious parent-child discussion about safety in the home. The text is almost at an intermediate reading level, so parents should read the story aloud to very young children. Zebordee' Caper is a welcome and entertaining addition to any family, school, or community library collection.

Speak is another book that I dove into knowing virtually nothing about it from the start. I knew it was in the "adolescent lit" category and that the narrator spent some time doing some artwork trying to express herself. I was not at all ready for the deeply emotional and heart wrenching story of the novel. This isn't by any means a piece of adolescent "fluff" like the flood of teen books flooding the market in recent years. Rather it is an intense exploration of a teenager struggling with alienation, self-worth, honesty and change. It's about the struggle she goes through in trying to find her voice in the midst of emotional turmoil. With very few exceptions, the main character, Melinda, has gone mute. She speaks only when silence is absolutely unavoidable and even then, her words don't speak her true thoughts. As the title implies, she spends the novel trying to find a way to speak her mind, to find her voice. This book masterfully explores the communication barriers between adolescents and their peers and the adults in their lives.

Writing Style
The first person narrative is fluid and natural. The paragraphs are short. To a large extent, this feels like a journal written by the narrator Melinda. To pull the reader closer to the action, the book is written in the present tense, so we're encountering everything directly alongside Melinda. Melinda is struggling with her voice and with trying to figure out how to communicate her troubles and with whom. As the reader, we are the only one she truly communicates with. But even with us, she holds back. She keeps us at arms length so we don't penetrate her wall and expose her pain and vulnerability. The voice is uniquely teenage and is a good portrayal of the thoughts of a teenage girl ostracized by her friends as she begins her Freshman year.

Two other stylistic things I want to mention. First, I really liked the way the author divided the book up into the four "Marking Periods" of the school year. It was unique and provided for nice markers to break things up. Including Melinda's 'grades' was an intriguing touch that added cool depth. Another stylistic element I enjoyed was that found in the dialogue of the book. Most of the time, Melinda doesn't speak even in lengthy chunks of dialogue. Rather than add tags like "I said nothing" or "I stared silently" or other trite annotations, the author instead lays the dialogue out in a screenplay type format with each speaker's name followed by their line. When Melinda remains silent, the direction simply says "Me: " with no trailing dialogue, indicating silence with stage presence.

Characters
Our main character narrator, Melinda, is troubled. The first sentence of the book tells us she's starting high school. The second sentence tells us she is miserable. The next paragraph lets us know that she has lost all of her friends (one of her old "friends" mouths "I Hate You" to her by the third page). Within the first few pages, she is harassed by teachers and fellow students and miserably clods her way through the halls, searching for an escape. On the second page of the book, she describes the various cliques and groups around the school and then explains that she doesn't fit with any of them. "I am Outcast." she explains. I don't want to spoil too much about the various causes of trouble in her life, though as you read along you will likely figure out most of the problems before they're explicitly described. The portrayal of Melinda is vivid and real. She pulls off of the page effectively. The biggest struggle as a reader is wanting to be able to help her, but not being able to.

The other characters fall into three main groups.

• Those who are outwardly hateful and/or aggressive to Melinda
• Those who are relatively indifferent to Melinda
• Those who are genuine toward Melinda

Most of her previous friends fit into the first category (hateful/aggressive) though a couple seem to fall into the 'indifferent' category. One of her teachers, Mr. Neck, fits in the first category...not just towards Melinda but towards most of the students although it is particularly felt by Melinda. Most of the other teachers and administrators are in the indifferent category. One "friend" that Melinda makes in the book, Heather, wanders between categories, at first seeming genuine towards her but then later needing to break away from the "depressing freak" and make her own new acceptable friends.

Sadly, Melinda's parents generally fall into the "indifferent" category. Most of the time they are inattentive and unavailable. Melinda wants desperately to communicate with them but even the most opportune chances pass her by. Her behavior at home and at school often causes her parents to slip into the first category of behavior where they are angry and emotionally scathing towards her. In a couple of instances, they comment on her needing "professional help", but they never strive to truly help her themselves or to find a way for her to get the help she needs.

Those who are genuine to Melinda include the art teacher Mr. Freeman, her biology lab partner David Petrakis, and an older friend of hers Ivy who slowly comes around and helps befriend her, though Melinda still struggles to acknowledge the friendship from any of these characters.

With Melinda as a narrator, we are held at a distance from some of her thoughts. Similarly, we are held at a distance from most of the characters. We only get at them through Melinda and because of the walls around her, that means we don't get more than skin deep most of the time. Still, the narrative does a good job of portraying depth and feel to these otherwise potentially 2-d characters.

Plot/Style/Pacing
Again, I don't want to spoil the crux of the plot, but I do want to comment that the author took on a very difficult theme and she carried it off very well. Melinda's struggles are very believable. Her movements feel natural rather than contrived as we travel through her high school environment and her life overall. The storytelling and the plot points felt real rather than tools of an author trying to tug at a reader's emotions. The other provides enough clues as to the overall problems that you are able to deduce the situation before it is described, but even then, the situation is shocking when revealed in its entirety. Even when she reveals the problem, Anderson does so tactfully and appropriately instead of looking to shock and awe the audience.

As I read on and found myself nearing the end of the book, my main struggle with the plot was not seeing a good way to get out of it. I wanted Melinda to succeed in finding her voice and overcoming her demons. By the time I was into the third and then the fourth "marking period", I had resigned myself to a "sad" ending where she resigns herself to her troubles and just tries to stagger through. Or if she does find her voice, I didn't see sufficient time to adequately see any benefit in her life as a result. Much to my pleasure, Anderson weaves the story into an intriguing and yet terrifying climax. It definitely wasn't what I was expecting, but I can say I was far from disappointed.

Overall
This book was an easy read and a hard read at the same time. The author did an excellent job of pulling me into the mind of a high school "outcast" and all the emotional baggage that goes with it. In addition to an excellent portrayal of high school and the dramas that go with it, she also managed to effectively give our narrator struggles and trials that really pulled on my emotions and made everything all the more real. And she did so without making any of it feel cheap or contrived. The honesty is absolutely real, which can make it frightening. The author included a note on "censorship" in the back of my edition. I suspect there are parents and teachers who would not want their kids reading this book. To them, I would ask if they actually read the book. There is nothing objectionable in it...no language, no graphic references, nothing. On the contrary, this book serves as a great eye-opener to teenagers that they are not alone in their struggles and their feelings of alienation and separation. And to those going through even deeper struggles like Melinda in the book, this novel can provide hope that they can overcome. I would definitely recommend this book to teenagers, to parents, and to anybody who has survived high school.

****
4 stars

Speak
By: Laura Halse Anderson

Speak is a clever and an ironic title for a story in which the main character chooses not to speak a whole lot. This book is written in first person. This is a great book, and I would recommend it to anyone. Melinda Sordino is a teenage girl in her first year of high school. Instead of being open-minded, she calls herself "the outcast," and one thing she did the summer before her freshman year may be something that she could regret. What she did that summer totally affects her year in high school...she does not have many friend at the beginning.
I loved this book. It is totally worth reading.

This is one of the best books to describe females. Everyone knows that girls are the most confusing objects in this world. Actually, I don't think there is a word to describe female, but after reading this book, you can easily think of many words to describe us. It is truly the best book I have ever read!

I read this book a few years ago in High School English. This was one of the first books I've ever read, and I was really touched by the difficulties that some girls have to face. Many of the women in my life have been molested or raped, and it really helped to be able to see what they might be feeling. It was certainly a good book for a young man in high school to read, I'm sure it was good for the whole class.

SPOILERS BELOW

this book has over 1000 reviews so i think this space can best be utilized by me telling you what i didn't like about the book and why i gave it 3 1/2 stars instead of 5.

it's a great book, i loved the voice of melinda, she was very funny and witty and sounded like she would have been a fun girl to hang out with. it sucked what happened to her, she got raped at a party and called the cops and then everyone freaked on her and decided to hate her for most of her freshman year.

this is where i start to say UNREALISTIC!!!
1- the rapist guy. he was basically portrayed as a psychopath who preyed on freshmen girls and who repeatedly taunted melinda for his own cruel and sick enjoyment. i realize the story is told from melinda's 1st person POV but it's up to the author to find a way around this writing device and still try to present her characters as 3 dimensional people, not soulless bad guys.
2- everyone in school hates melinda because she called the cops at a party. not one person, not even her BEST FRIENDS FROM JUNIOR HIGH ever bothered to sit down with her and ask her why she did it. how convenient.
3- the cliques. the whole heather and the marthas thing was really overdone and none of those girls was really acting like a true martha, i mean blowing off the prom decorations and making heather do it all?? YEAH RIGHT. the whole point of being a martha would be that you enjoy that kind of stuff and do it for fun.
3b- rachelle and the euro kids. wow i never knew syracuse was such an international hot spot. we have a belgian, a swede, a portugese and an egyptian and they all conveniently speak french (well okay at least the belgian has an excuse.)
4- melinda is magically a basketball phenom and tennis champ. okay, we are told she basically just sits around or sleeps all day long, is 13 and already a size 10 (a size large) and you're telling me she's fit enough to make basket after basket after basket? HER ARMS WOULD GET SORE AFTER LIKE THE 10TH SHOT!!! it really insults people who have been practicing for years to be that good at shooting hoops when you write something like that!!!
5- the hidden closet that only melinda know about. NO WAY. if that closet really exists, most of the seniors, half the juniors, the coolest 20% of the sophomores and the hottest 5% of the freshmen know about this room and use it on a daily basis. come on!!!
6- how did she fail basically all her classes except bio and art and still pass the 9th grade???

there's more but i'm gonna stop here. the book was still okay. i think a girl who has been raped or abused would benefit from reading it. the whole symbolism thing was really forced (OKAY WE GET IT MELINDA IS A TREE! GAWD!!!)

the best part was the humor and melinda's voice, i think the author could have spent a bit more time and made the book more true to life, i really would have liked to see the rapist be presented as a flawed human as opposed to a psycho monster.

definitely would recommend to all ages & reading levels. the rape scene is very brief and tastefully done and in my opinion safe for a person of any age to read.

My 9 year old son loved this book! He read the entire book in 2 days. The fact that the boy in the book died as a result of a bicycle accident that may have been prevented if he had worn a helmet, made a huge impact on him. He makes sure he and his brothers always wear their helmets-that alone is worth the price of the book ten-fold!

A helmet,... that's all it would have took to prevent the death of Mick Harte. Phoebe was at soccer practice when she first heard the ambulance sirens. Automatically she knew that something was wrong. Mick Harte Was Here, is about a boy named Mick Harte and how, his death had such an effect on his family and community. In this book, it really sets in on how important it is to wear a helmet when riding your bike. Even if you think you are too cool to do so. Mick, thought that a helmet would make him look like dork. One day when riding to a friends house, from school, Mick accidentally hit's a rock on the sidewalk causing his bike to get just close enough to the street for... well, disaster.

In this book, the authors largest and most important message, was to always wear a helmet while riding your bike. An author's note backs up her message at the end of the book where she gives actual percentages about bicycle accidents. If I were to rate this book, I would give it 5 stars defiantly! It is a fantastic book for families everywhere to read, due to its very important lesson. Another book that I read, and think you will like if this book sounds good to you is Freak The Mighty, which is also a bit sad at the end, but has a good plot and excellent characters.

I am a 6th gader, and I have never been a great reader. I have always been below grade average in reading so this summer when my brother asked to go into the local book store I sighed. When we got to the bookstore my mother learned of the summer reading porgam from the lady working there. When my mother asked if anyone wanted to do the summer reading program both of my siblings rasied their hands, but not me. Anyway my mom yelled at me and there you have it. I was now doing the summer reading program. About a year ago one of my teachers told me to read this book. Of course I never got to it, but i am so glad i finally read it. This book shows the true perspective of Pheobe Harte and the suffering over her bothers bicycle accident. I think I read this book faster than any others, and I would love to have more people read it and see what they think.

I'm a 5th grader and I have read Mick Harte Was Here a least 5 times this is my
6th time and I LOOOOOOVE Mick Harte Was Here. I think that they need to
make a movie about it I recomend you read it. I just had a bike accidend and I hit my head but now I've now realized that Barbra Park's message really means alot!!!

Mick Harte is the protagonist's brother, who died from a bike accident. Phoebe was the sister of Mick Harte, which is the protagonist. Phoebe and Mick got into fights all the time. They fought over a tattoo of pirates from a cereal box one day. Mick made up a story because Phoebe and Mick wrote F-A-R-T in a wet cemented driveway. Mick said a monkey wrote it and he already chased it back to Africa.
Then a terrible thing happened when Phoebe was at soccer practice. She was running and she heard sirens coming her way. She doesn't like sirens at all, they mean bad things happened. Instead she stops running and looks up at the ambulance. The ambulance pulls into the school road and Mick's bike was on the ground and Phoebe realized that Mick probably got hurt. She was hoping it was one of Mick's friends. Then later she found out it was Mick and he died from a head injury. If you like Funny but sad books, here is a great book for those emotions.

THIS TYPE OF BOOK MAKE YOU WANT TO CONTINUE READING IT AND I FOUND IT HARD TO PAUSE AND PUT IT DOWN. MY FAVORITE CHARACTER WAS GERALD BECAUSE HE TOOK GOOD CARE OF HIS SISTER AND HE WAS VERY RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS YOUNG AGE.

If you have reluctant middle school readers, this is the book for you! Just read the first paragraph to them and shut the book. They will scramble to read the rest. Sharon M. Draper is a remarkable writer who puts the reader right in the middle of the story. You can never go wrong with one of her novels!

I have read this book out loud so many times, I have whole passages of it memorized. I am a middle school English teacher in an urban school, and in common with at least one other reviewer of this book, I know that this book has the power to turn kids on to reading. My most reluctant readers and squirmiest students sit in rapt attention at this book and often seek out more of Draper's books on their own. Even if they don't find any more of her books (my resources are limited!) it often makes kids realize that books can have themes that interest them and plots that rival films for pace and drama.
That being said, I am starting to get a guilty conscience about taking the easy route, and turning them on to reading with such a tawdry, superficial, and badly written book. Good and evil are caricatures in this book; the young protagonists are psychologically unrealistic (too mature); the author seems to throw in every issue that ever made it to a daytime talk show (drug use, racism, the foster care system, sexual abuse, teenage drinking, death, suicide); and there are passages in which the sexual abuse is being described that make me very uncomfortable. They are not so much explicit as mildly eroticized, presumably to draw more interest and invite readers to speculate on details (which, believe me, my students do.) In one scene, the abusive step father is alone with the seven-year old daughter who is recovering from chicken pox. He orders her to take off her shirt. As I recall the passage basically goes (sad that I have it memorized!) "she tensed at the touch of his rough fingers as he searched for spots and found every last one." It is possible for a young adult novel to confront sexual abuse without strange, semi-explicit lines like the above and others in the book. I now find myself censoring as I read out loud. If the book had more literary merit, perhaps such details would not grate on me so.

Forged by Fire is about a young boy named Gerald. Gerald lives with his mother who is addicted to drugs. Gerald was left home alone one day. As a toddler, not knowing that what he was doing was wrong, Gerald set the house on fire. Luckily he survived and his mother was put in jail. Meanwhile Gerald was sent to live with his Aunt Queen. Life with Aunt Queen was better. After a few years he reunites with his mother. Later Aunt Queen dies. Well the end has some turns and I will let you find out what happens in the end. I really liked this book. It was so real and tells how people's lives are with drugs. It's a life learning story. I recommend this book to people who like mysteries, life threatening, and realistic stories.

Forged by Fire By Sharon M. Draper is about a boy named Gerald. His mother is a drug addict and would leave him home alone. He finally gets away from the abuse. He gets to live with his loving aunt until she dies. Gerald has to go live with his mom and his new stepdad. Jordan his new stepdad is very angry and abusive but know one knows that Jordan is doing sexual things to Angel. Gerald finds out and cant take it anymore.
This book is a very excellent book. I like it because it has drama and at the same time is sad.
I would recommend this book to all teenagers because all teens like drama.

Fantastic book. A little hard to read at first, due to the nature of the subject, but stick with it and become a better parent.

This is an excellent eye-opening book that proves useful to parents of boys or girls in all ages groups.
Great to keep as a resource.

Piggybacking on the message of his earlier book, "The Gift of Fear," Gavin De Becker's "Protecting the Gift" is an informative look at how we can keep children and teenagers from becoming victims. The author draws on his extensive history as a child abuse victim himself, and his career as a security expert, to give practical advice to concerned parents.

As a concerned parent myself, this book was enlightening and reassuring. It stated the possible risks that might face children and adolescents, and provided some good strategies for dealing with these risks and, more importantly, teaching children to deal with these risks themselves. I felt like I could take much of the advice in this book and apply it directly to my own kids.

I didn't like the fact that so many of the anecdotes in this book were taken directly from "The Gift of Fear," which I read immediately before this book. It felt like the author had cheated, using recycled stories instead of digging up something new to illustrate his points.

In general, though, I found this book much more useful for my specific situation than his previous book.

I love Gavin de Becker's perspective on teaching safety to children. He has some ideas that buck what a lot of parents know to be the norm when teaching safety. For example - if a child is lost he likes to teach them, instead of finding a police officer, to find a mother... that a woman with children is less likely to be a predator, and more likely to stay with the child until their parent is found. Another example is his stand on the whole "never talk to strangers" philosophy. He instead advocates working with your child to learn to assess whether a "stranger" is ok to talk to. He gives great examples and tips

The middle to end of the book gets a little slow going but it is definitely the kind of book you can skip around and go back to at different times.

Keeping our children safe from physical and mental harm is every parents' priority...this book beautifully addresses specific things that every parent can do to safeguard kids. Another book high on my list to protect our children is Bully-Proofing Children: A Practical, Hands-On Guide to Stop Bullying which is all about raising strong, resilient and empowered kids who will not become bullies or victims.