LibGuides: Resources to Meet Standards: Grade 9-10

KAS Standard: RL.9-10.1 CITE RELEVANT AND THOROUGH TEXTUAL EVIDENCE to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.

AASL Standards:

IV.A.3: Learners act on an information need by: making critical choices about information sources to use.

IV.B.3.: Learners gather information appropriate to the task by: systematically questioning and assessing the validity and accuracy of information.

Remember Us by Jacqueline Woodson
ISBN: 9780399545474

Publication Date: 2025-05-06

In this Walter Award-winning novel, National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson brings readers a powerful story that delves deeply into life's burning questions about time and memory and what we take with us into the future. It seems like Sage's whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade. As house after house burns down, her Bushwick neighborhood gets referred to as "The Matchbox" in the local newspaper. And while Sage prefers to spend her time shooting hoops with the guys, she's also trying to figure out her place inside the circle of girls she's known since childhood--a group that each day feels further and further away from her. But it's also the summer of Freddy, a new kid who truly gets Sage. Together, they reckon with the pain of missing the things that get left behind as time moves on, savor what's good in the present, and buoy each other up in the face of destruction. And when the future comes, it is Sage's memories of the past that show her the way forward.

1. After one of the neighborhood fires, Freddy turns to Sage and tells her, "We gotta remember the once was." From the setting and the plot, what can you infer that Freddy means by the words "once was"?

2. For context, read about the Bronx fires in the link below. How do the families persevere and support each other through these "planned" tragedies? What are the effects of the fires?

Bronx Fires article

KAS Standard: RL.9-10.2 Determine a THEME OR CENTRAL IDEA of a text and analyze in detail its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details.

AASL Standards:

I.B.3.: Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes: generating products that illustrate learning.

IV.B.4.: Learners gather information appropriate to the task by: organizing information by priority, topic, or other systematic scheme.

IV.D.3.: Learners select and organize information for a variety of audiences by: openly communicating curation processes for others to use, interpret, and validate.

War Games by Alan Gratz
ISBN: 9781338736106

Publication Date: 2025-10-07

In 1936 Berlin, nothing is what it seems... Evie Harris can't believe her luck: She's competing in the Olympics, along with fellow American athletes like Jesse Owens. True, there's something creepy about Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler, who watches over the games with his Nazi henchmen. But Evie's just here to win a gold medal in gymnastics. Until she discovers a horrible secret. Behind all the Olympic fanfare, the Nazis have Berlin in an iron grip of terror and violence--and war is brewing. When Evie becomes embroiled in a mysterious plot to help steal Nazi gold, she must navigate the city's darkest corners and hidden passageways, never knowing who she can trust. With lives on the line and her family's future at stake, Evie has to choose between following her Olympic dreams and standing up to evil... before it's too late.

1. In an interview with the publisher, author Alan Gratz mentions that his initial theme for the book is
"all that glitters is not gold." Working with a partner, make a chart of characters and events, and record how this theme develops through the novel. Which characters believe the "glitter" of 1936 Berlin? What events cause them to see beyond the facade? By the end of the novel, what do the characters realize is "gold" and what is worthless and/or destructive? Support your answers with page number references.

2. Using the chart you made in prompt #1 above, write three paragraphs analyzing one character from your chart. Include how that character's views of Berlin, the games, and the Nazis changed from the beginning of the book to the end; include the events and other characters that shaped your chosen character's transformation from being impressed with initial appearances to developing a realistic view of what was going on behind the scenes at the 1936 Olympic Games.

KAS Standard: RL.9-10.3 Analyze how COMPLEX CHARACTERS develop over the course of a text, interact with other characters and advance the plot or develop themes.

AASL Standards:

I.A.2.: Learners display curiosity and initiative by: recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning.

I.D.2.: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by: engaging in sustained inquiry.

IV.B.3.: Learners gather information appropriate to the task by: systematically questioning and assessing the validity and accuracy of information.

Rez Ball by Byron Graves
ISBN: 9780063160378

Publication Date: 2023-09-12

This compelling debut novel by new talent Byron Graves tells the relatable, high-stakes story of a young athlete determined to play like the hero his Ojibwe community needs him to be. These days, Tre Brun is happiest when he is playing basketball on the Red Lake Reservation high school team--even though he can't help but be constantly gut-punched with memories of his big brother, Jaxon, who died in an accident. When Jaxon's former teammates on the varsity team offer to take Tre under their wing, he sees this as his shot to represent his Ojibwe rez all the way to their first state championship. This is the first step toward his dream of playing in the NBA, no matter how much the odds are stacked against him. But stepping into his brother's shoes as a star player means that Tre can't mess up. Not on the court, not at school, and not with his new friend, gamer Khiana, who he is definitely not falling in love with. After decades of rez teams almost making it, Tre needs to take his team to state. Because if he can live up to Jaxon's dreams, their story isn't over yet.
Caution: One review mentions that the book contains a lot of swearing; this may offend some readers.

1. Tre carries the emotional burdens of grief and family/community/tribal expectations. He's conscious of living up to his potential and these expectations. Find evidence in the book, citing page numbers, of instances when Tre realizes his potential.

2. Jaxon, Tre's older brother, remains an important character in the novel even though Jaxon is deceased. How does Jaxon motivate other characters and influence the plot of the novel?

KAS Standard: RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific WORD CHOICES on meaning and TONE.

AASL Standards:

I.D.4.: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by: using reflection to guide informed decisions.

V.A.3.: Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by: engaging in inquiry-based processes for personal growth.

Bright Red Fruit by Safia Elhillo
ISBN: 9780593381236

Publication Date: 2025-03-25

Bad girl. No matter how hard Samira tries, she can't shake her reputation. She's never gotten the benefit of the doubt--not from her mother or the aunties who watch her like a hawk. Samira is determined to have a perfect summer filled with fun parties, exploring DC, and growing as a poet--until a scandalous rumor has her grounded and unable to leave her house. When Samira turns to a poetry forum for solace, she catches the eye of an older, charismatic poet named Horus. For the first time, Samira feels wanted. But soon she's keeping a bigger secret than ever before--one that that could prove her reputation and jeopardize her place in her community.
Caution: The plot of the book includes an attempted sexual assault.

1. Use Gale Resources to read the myth of Demeter and Persephone. Why do you think the author chose to name her novel "Bright Red Fruit"? How does the novel's title reinforce the idea of a mother-daughter relationship that is negatively impacted by a male outsider?

2. At the end of the book, Samira belongs to several "sisterhoods" of women united by either blood relationships or by experiences. What are the sisterhoods to which Samira belongs? How has each of these sisterhoods helped her establish her identity? What contributions can she make to each sisterhood?

KAS Standard: RL.9-10.5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to STRUCTURE A TEXT, ORDER EVENTS within it and MANIPULATE TIME create such effects as mystery, tension or surprise.

AASL Standards:

I.D.4.: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by: using reflection to guide informed decisions.

IV.D.1.: Learners select and organize information for a variety of audiences by: performing ongoing analysis of and reflection on the quality, usefulness, and accuracy of curated resources.

Artifice by Sharon Cameron
ISBN: 9781338813951

Publication Date: 2023-11-07

Isa de Smit was raised in the vibrant, glittering world of her parents' small art gallery in Amsterdam, a hub of beauty, creativity, and expression, until the Nazi occupation wiped the color from her city's palette. The "degenerate" art of the Gallery de Smit is confiscated, the artists in hiding or deported, her best friend, Truus, fled to join the shadowy Dutch resistance. And masterpiece by masterpiece, the Nazis are buying and stealing her country's heritage, feeding the Third Reich's ravenous appetite for culture and art. So when the unpaid taxes threaten her beloved but empty gallery, Isa decides to make the Nazis pay. She sells them a fake--a Rembrandt copy drawn by her talented father--a sale that sets Isa perilously close to the second most hated class of people in Amsterdam: the collaborators. Isa sells her beautiful forgery to none other than Hitler himself, and on the way to the auction, discovers that Truus is part of a resistance ring to smuggle Jewish babies out of Amsterdam. But Truus cannot save more children without money. A lot of money. And Isa thinks she knows how to get it. One more forgery, a copy of an exquisite Vermeer, and the Nazis will pay for the rescue of the very children they are trying annihilate. To make the sale, though, Isa will need to learn the art of a master forger, before the children can be deported, and before she can be outed as a collaborator. And she finds an unlikely source to help her do it: the young Nazi soldier, a blackmailer and thief of Dutch art, who now says he wants to desert the German army. Yet, worth is not always seen from the surface, and a fake can be difficult to spot. Both in art, and in people. Based on the true stories of Han Van Meegeren, a master art forger who sold fakes to Hermann Goering, and Johann van Hulst, credited with saving 600 Jewish children from death in Amsterdam, Sharon Cameron weaves a gorgeously evocative thriller, simmering with twists, that looks for the forgotten color of beauty, even in an ugly world.

1. Early in the book, Isa waits nervously for Nazi officials to purchase her fake art masterpieces. How does the author use setting, dialog, and Isa's thoughts to create tension in the story?

2. Use Gale Resources to research Han Van Meegeren, Johann van Hul, or Johannes Vermeer. What were the contributions of each of these men to the efforts to deceive Nazi art collectors?

KAS Standard RL.9-10.6 Analyze a particular author’s PERSPECTIVE OR CULTURAL EXPERIENCE reflected in a work of literature by drawing on a wide reading of world literature.

AASL Standards:

I.D.4.: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by: using reflection to guide informed decisions.

Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
ISBN: 9781250766588

Publication Date: 2023-05-02

Perry Firekeeper-Birch has always known who she is - the laidback twin, the troublemaker, the best fisher on Sugar Island. Her aspirations won't ever take her far from home, and she wouldn't have it any other way. But as the rising number of missing Indigenous women starts circling closer to home, as her family becomes embroiled in a high-profile murder investigation, and as greedy grave robbers seek to profit off of what belongs to her Anishinaabe tribe, Perry begins to question everything. In order to reclaim this inheritance for her people, Perry has no choice but to take matters into her own hands. She can only count on her friends and allies, including her overachieving twin and a charming new boy in town with unwavering morals. Old rivalries, sister secrets, and botched heists cannot - will not - stop her from uncovering the mystery before the ancestors and missing women are lost forever. Sometimes, the truth shouldn't stay buried.

1. Consider the companion plot lines of returning Native American remains and artifacts to their rightful place and the disappearance of Indigenous women. How does the author develop both of these plot lines? How do they become the motivation behind Perry's actions? How are the two plot lines similar?

2. Injustice is a common theme. Injustice toward community, women, tribes, tribal history, etc. Which instance of injustice interested you the most, and why? If you were in Perry's shoes, what would you have done to correct the injustice?

KAS Standard RL.9-10.10 By the end of the year, flexibly use a variety of comprehension strategies, (see below), to read, comprehend, and analyze GRADE-LEVEL APPROPRIATE, COMPLEX LITERARY TEXTS independently and proficiently.

(i.e., questioning, monitoring, visualizing, inferencing, summarizing, synthesizing, using prior knowledge, determining importance)

AASL Standards:

I.A.1.: Learners display curiosity and initiative by: formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.

I.D.2.: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by: engaging in sustained inquiry.

II.D.2. Learners demonstrate empathy and equity in knowledge building within the global learning community by: demonstrating interest in other perspectives during learning activities.

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley
ISBN: 9781250766571

Publication Date: 2021-03-16

Eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. She dreams of a fresh start at college, but when family tragedy strikes, Daunis puts her future on hold to look after her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi's hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, she senses the dashing hockey star is hiding something. Everything comes to light when Daunis witnesses a shocking murder, thrusting her into an FBI investigation of a lethal new drug. Reluctantly, Daunis agrees to go undercover, drawing on her knowledge of chemistry and Ojibwe traditional medicine to track down the source. But the search for truth is more complicated than Daunis imagined, exposing secrets and old scars. At the same time, she grows concerned with an investigation that seems more focused on punishing the offenders than protecting the victims. Now, as the deceptions--and deaths--keep growing, Daunis must learn what it means to be a strong Anishinaabe kwe (Ojibwe woman) and how far she'll go for her community, even if it tears apart the only world she's ever known.
Caution: Gun violence, multiple murders, substance abuse, sexual assault (not explicit).

1. What did you learn about Daunis' culture from reading this book? What surprised you about what you learned?

2. Family is important for all of the characters in the novel. Draw a visual representation of the family connections between and among the different characters. How is Daunis both supported and betrayed by family members, including those who are not related by blood, such as members of her Native community?

KAS Standard RI.9-10.2 Determine CENTRAL IDEAS of a text and analyze in detail their development over the course of the text, including how they emerge and are shaped and refined by specific details.

AASL Standards

I.D.2.: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by: engaging in sustained inquiry.

V.C.1.: Learners engage with the learning community by: expressing curiosity about a topic of personal interest or curricular relevance.

Future Tense by Martha Brockenbrough
ISBN: 9781250765925

Publication Date: 2024-03-19

Human history has always been shaped by technology, but AI is like no technology that has come before it. Unlike the wheel, combustion engines, or electricity, AI does the thing that humans do best: think. While AI hasn't reproduced the marvelously complex human brain, it has been able to accomplish astonishing things. AI has defeated our players at games like chess, Go, and Jeopardy!. It's learned to recognize objects and speech. It can create art and music. It's even allowed grieving people to feel as though they were talking with their dead loved ones. On the flip side, it's put innocent people in jail, manipulated the emotions of social media users, and tricked people into believing untrue things. In this non-fiction book for teens, acclaimed author and teacher Martha Brockenbrough guides readers through the development of this world-changing technology, exploring how AI has touched every corner of our world, including education, healthcare, work, politics, war, international relations, and even romance. This is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand how artificial intelligence got here, how to make the best use of it, and how we can expect it to transform our lives.

1. According to the author, what are some of the ways in which AI has changed students' school experience? What specifics are mentioned? Are there others that you've experienced that are not mentioned?

2. What is the evolution of AI? According to the author, how can we harness the power of AI while limiting its harmful potential?

KAS Standard RI.9-10.6 Determine an author’s POINT OF VIEW, PERSPECTIVE and PURPOSE in a text, and analyze how an author uses RHETORIC to advance that point of view or purpose.

AASL Standards:

I.A.2.: Learners display curiosity and initiative by: recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning

I.D.4.: Learners participate in an ongoing inquiry-based process by: using reflection to guide informed decisions.

V.A.2.: Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by: Reflecting and questioning assumptions and possible misconceptions.

A Greater Goal by Elizabeth Rusch
ISBN: 9780063220904

Publication Date: 2024-07-09

More than 250 women have played on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, and most contributed to the battle for equal pay. This narrative nonfiction book by the award-winning author and journalist Elizabeth Rusch traces the evolution of that fight, bringing this important rights issue in sports and in our culture to the attention of young readers. Features extensive back matter. With the passage of Title IX in 1972, the doors opened for young women to play sports at a higher level. But for the women on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, being able to compete at an international level didn't mean fair treatment and fair compensation. From economy-class airplane seats and inadequate lodging to minimal marketing and slashed wages, the women representing the United States at the Olympics, the World Cup, and other tournaments had reason to be fed up. They were expected to--and did--win, but they weren't compensated for their talent and dedication. With the help of their union and in collaboration with the men's team, they secured an equitable contract in 2022 that ultimately benefited both national teams as well as athletes of the future. Elizabeth Rusch's A Greater Goal chronicles how members of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team fought to receive fair treatment and equal pay despite the intense pushback they received from U.S. Soccer, the governing body of soccer in the United States. With a narrative that includes player profiles and vignettes framed from team member perspectives, A Greater Goal illuminates the work, support, and grit needed to be treated with equality in a world that often undervalues the contributions of women. Features extensive back matter, including a, call to action, additional resources, and an index.

1. What are some of the inequities between the ways U.S. Soccer treats the men's and women's teams? Why do you think the author chose to write about this topic? What is the double meaning in the title "A Greater Goal"?

2. What are your feelings about the women's soccer teams' treatment after you've read this book? Are there other sports in which women are less compensated than men, and what are they? How can this book serve as a blueprint for sports pay equity?