March is Women's History Month

Use the following links to find out more information about Women's History Month.

* The National Women’s History Project
* Women’s History Month – Library of Congress
* History Channel – Women’s History Month
* Smithsonian Magazine – Women’s History Month

Book Review

Surviving the Angel of Death: the Story of a Mengele Twin in Aushwitz by Eva Mozes Kor

Eva and her twin sister Miriam are just 10 years old when things in their Romanian town start to change. They are the youngest daughters of the only Jewish family in town. They work hard and do well for themselves. Eva and Miriam are the only twins in their town; they have a lot of friends and are happy. That changes when Germany starts to invade and take over, when Hitler decides that Jewish people are terrible and should not be allowed to live. Eva’s family is put on a train and sent to Aushwitz. The last time that they see their family is on the train platform. They do not know where their parents are sent, but they are chosen for a special assignment. They are twins, they are chosen by Dr. Mengele for his experiments. Find out what he does to them and how they survived.

Ms. Grabinski's Travel Brochure

Use the following links to assist in your research on a specific place.

Michigan
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108228.html

http://www.michigan.gov/

http://www.50states.com/michigan.htm

http://www.michigan.org/

California
http://www.50states.com/californ.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108187.html

http://www.ca.gov/

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/

Mexico
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mx.html

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/35749.htm

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107779.html

http://www.visitmexico.com/wb2/Visitmexico/Visi_Home

Endangered Species Project

Use the following links to find information about endangered species.

* Arkive.org

* World Wildlife Fund

* US Fish and Wildlife Service – Endangered Species

* KidsPlanet.org

* Animal Planet – Endangered Species

* San Diego Zoo – Animal Bytes Use the search box to find the specific animal.

* Animals – National Geographic

Don't forget to use:
World Book Online Encyclopedia (see your teacher for the user name and password.)

Book Review

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

Cheyenne is very sick – she has pneumonia. She is waiting in the car while Danielle, her stepmother, gets her medication from the pharmacy. She convinced Danielle to leave the keys in the car so she can stay warm. She is sleeping in the backseat when someone jumps in the car and takes off. He is stealing the car and she is in it. He doesn’t realize that she is the car until she starts screaming at him. He panics and doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t want her to identify him. She tells him to let her go – she can’t identify him – she is blind. He doesn’t know what to do. He takes her back to his home; he is going to let her go later – at night so no one sees them. That is until his father finds out that she is the daughter of the president of Nike. Cheyenne is being held for ransom. She is very sick and blind. How will she survive?

This was a very fast paced adventure on how you can survive. Highly recommend.

Book Review

The Ghost of Crutchfield Hall by Mary Downing Hahn

Florence is an orphan in London. She does not have any family willing to take her in so she is sent to live in an orphanage. She is not happy there, but at least she has friends that care about her. One day a letter arrives saying that a long lost uncle will take her. She is sent to live with these strangers in the country – Crutchfield Hall. She is excited because she has two cousins, also orphans; that live there. She will have people to play with. When she gets there she realizes things aren’t as nice as they seem. Her cousin Sophia died in a tragic accident about a year ago and her brother is very ill. He does not come out of his room. Florence starts to feel as if someone is watching her, mocking her. This person follows her around and she is not sure who it is. Then she realizes that it is Sophia – Sophia wants revenge for what happened to her. She is going to use Florence to get that revenge.

Find out if Florence is strong enough to stop her! This is a classic Hahn ghost story. Great, quick read.

Book Review

The Popularity Papers by Amy Ignatow
Lydia and Julie have been best friends forever. They always have each other and have done well. Things are different now, they will be moving on to Junior High next year and they are determined to be popular. Their mission for the year is to research, observe, and record everything that the most popular kids do in school. They will also experiment and try to copy what these girls do to see if it makes them popular. As you can imagine things do not always work out the way they want. One experiment results in a bald spot! As the year goes on, their friendship is tested. People do not always do the right thing. Will popularity break up this friendship? Find out!

This was a great, fun story. The characters make you laugh and cringe at the same time! It was definitely a good read. If you liked the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, you may like this!

Westbury and the Underground Railroad

Follow these links for information about Westbury and the Underground Railroad.


Village of Westbury – History

New York Times Article

Long Island and the Underground Railroad

Underground Railroad and New York City

Quakers and the Underground Railroad

Escape Routes out of NYC

National Geographic – Underground Railroad