Matt McDonough's E-Reader's Notebook

Dahl, R. (1959).  The Landlady . New York, NY:  The New Yorker .  Reading level: Grades 6-12. Themes: Dark humor, Fear, Manipulation, Mothering, Secrecy.  Summary: In this short story, Dahl's macabre tale chronicles the final day of seventeen-year-old Billy Weaver, who is traveling from London to Bath for business. He arrives at 9 p.m. and is looking for lodging for the night before he has to report to work tomorrow. He stumbles upon a bed and breakfast that looks welcoming from the outside and more comfortable than a hotel. After weighing his options, he is drawn in by the notion of a bed and breakfast, rings to bell, and is immediately greeted by a middle aged woman. With a cheaper rate than The Bell and Dragon pub and boarding house, Billy is enticed to stay. Billy is welcomed by the  peculiar woman, who has the room ready for unexpected guests. Billy is told to sign the guest book, but only notices two other names in the records, Christopher Mulholl...

Collier, J.L. and Collier, C. (1974).  My Brother Sam is Dead . New York, NY: Scholastic. Reading level: Grades 6-12. Themes: War, Family, Courage, Coming of Age. Summary: With the Revolutionary War on the horizon, Sam Meeker returns home from Yale to his family's tavern in Redding, Connecticut a recently converted believer in the Patriot cause. Sam's parents are loyal to the crown, and his younger brother, Tim, looks up to him. Narrated from Tim's point of view, the Colliers take readers on a gut-wrenching portrayal of a family at odds during war. Sam takes his father's gun and runs away from home as Tim fights emotions split between his brother's yearning for an independent nation and his father's loyalist views. With rebel soldiers looking for local militia and arms, Tim visits Sam's hideout looking for the gun. They return to their parents, but it's the start of a summer filled with chaos. With Sam enlisted with the minuteman army, an a tri...

Ellis, D. (2012).  My Name is Parvana . Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books. Reading level: Grades 6-12 Themes: Truth, Fear, Perseverance, Power of the mind vs. Authority, Survival, Freedom Summary: The final book of "The Breadwinner" series, Ellis writes of the recurring main character Parvana, an Afghani girl living under Taliban rule in the original trilogy. Now 15 years old in an Afghanistan no longer ruled by the Taliban but still victim to the regime's violence, Parvana is being detained at an American military base because she is a terrorist suspect. She was brought into custody because she was found in the ruins of a bombed school, but refuses to speak.  As Parvana suffers through harsh interrogation, the book flips between past and present. Flashbacks include Parvana's memories of her widowed mother building a school amid oppressive circumstances in tribute to Parvana's late little sister. She reflects on her older sister Noori, who used Parvan...