Honesty and Principle -- finding both in Middle School Reading

January’s Character Trait is Honesty and our IB Trait is Principled

Fiction—read how honesty and being principled are ideas in these stories

Hoot by Carl Hiasson 8th grader Roy finds himself standing up to a not so smart bully and drawn to a wild kid named Mullet Fingers who is trying to save  Burrow Owls from being plowed under in a construction project. A funny story about animal rights, the environment and doing the right thing.

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon In Chicago 1968, Sam Childs has to choose between living by his parents principles of non-violence and his older brother’s new membership in the Black Panthers after seeing a friend beaten up by a police officer. GREAT READ

Waiting for Normal by Leslie Connor 12 y.o. Addie’s mother and step-father have divorced. However, step father is the more stable parent. Addie finds herself navigating her own kind of normal as “Mommers” struggles with several not doing right by her daughter. Tough but immensely rich story

Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix Three young women live through trying to bring positive change to the Triangle Shirtwaist Co. before fire strikes in 1911. Only one of them lives to tell their tale. A suspenseful historical read by a fantastic author.

Old Turtle and the Broken Truth by  Douglas Wood A story of legend, myth, questions of life. When truth falls to earth and breaks will people find it…if they do, will they try to hoard it or share it? Do we recognize truth in our own lives and world?

Non-Fiction—find honesty and/or being principled in these true stories

Bono (from the People in the News series) by David Schaffer Biography of Bono—lead singer/lyricist for U2. Not your run-of-the-mill-rock star.

Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic Zlata leads a charmed life until war comes to her city of Sarejeavo, Yugoslavia. Zlata journals her way through over a year of war.

Chicken Soup for the Soul of America Edited by Jack Canfield Full of true stories about how individuals and groups of people participated in positive, inspirational and helpful recovery after 9/11 attacks

A Picture Book of Sojourner Truth by David Adler Lovely biography in picture book format of a woman born into slavery but strong enough to survive and teach others why it’s wrong.

Migrant Mother: How a Photograph Define the Great Depression by Don Nardo Can taking photographs be a form of truth? If so, what do these photographs of migrant mothers teach us that we need to know?