middle grade Archives - Page 299 of 363

Kat Greene Comes Clean
by Melissa Roske (Author)

Booktalk: Kat Greene lives in New York City and attends fifth grade in the very progressive Village Humanity School. At the moment she has three major problems–dealing with her boy-crazy best friend, partnering with the overzealous Sam in the class production of Harriet the Spy, and coping with her mother’s preoccupation with cleanliness, a symptom of her worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder.

With nowhere to turn, Kat reaches out to the free-spirited psychologist, Olympia, at her new-age private school in New York’s Greenwich Village. Olympia encourages Kat to be honest. Eventually, Kat realizes that sometimes asking for help is the best way to clean up life’s messes.

Snippet: Sometimes it’s the little things that get to me. Like an electric toothbrush. Mom’s got one in her hand–but it’s not for teeth. She’s using it on the kitchen floor. As if this is normal. As if this makes sense. I want to sneak back into my room and start the day over, but I can’t. Mom’s already spotted me. “Look, Kit-Kat,” she says, holding up the toothbrush. “The bristles are perfect for cleaning in between the floor tiles. I got the tip from Good Housekeeping. Cool, huh?”

That’s not the word I’d use.

The Empire State Building (American Places: from Vision to Reality)
by Meish Goldish (Author)

Booktalk: In 1930, anyone walking down Fifth Avenue in the middle of New York City would have seen an incredible sight. A forest of giant steel beams rose hundreds of feet into the sky. Thousands of men stood on the beams cutting, drilling, and hammering. The workers were constructing the Empire State Building–?the tallest skyscraper the world had ever seen.

Snippet: Before the late 1800s, most buildings were supported by wooden or stone walls. However, these materials weren’t strong enough to support buildings higher than ten stories. In 1855, a process was invented to make steel that was extremely strong and inexpensive. This steel could be used to make beams and columns that supported very tall buildings.

It’s STEM Friday! (STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)