Grades 6-8

Saints of the Church

Book cover: 'Saints of the Church'
Author(s): 
Michael G. Allen
This book is a companion to the Vision series of saint's biographies (also published by Ignatius Press). It is a wonderful help to extending the biographies into a full-blown unit study, if you wish, or just to help enrich the reading. For each of the 17 books covered in Saints of the Church , the author includes:

The Writing on the Hearth

Author(s): 
Cynthia Harnett

England in the mid 1400's, Catholic perspective. Because this book does deal with the subject of witchcraft, I think it's probably appropriate for upper grade school and high school. It would be helpful to be familiar with the life of Saint Joan of Arc first. The story is of a teenage boy named Stephen who dreams of attending Oxford some day. He gets mixed up in a mystery/adventure which threatens to destroy that dream. The story nicely, but subtly shows his intellectual development as he matures. He discovers the importance of study in learning to discern the truth.

Great Moments in Catholic History

Author(s): 
Rev. Edward Lodge Curran
Inviting the reader in with its black and white illustrations on each page, Great Moments in Catholic History presents one hundred exceptional events in the history of the Catholic Church. Originally published in 1938, each page presents a great moment beginning with the Annunciation and ending with Pope Pius XI's 1937 Encyclical letter on Atheistic Communism. At the end of the book there are 500 quiz questions, 5 for each of the 100 historical events, to review the lessons learned.

The Winged Watchman

Book cover: 'The Winged Watchman'
Author(s): 
Hilda Van Stockum
A wonderful intelligent, faith-filled story of courage and hope in the midst of great hardships The story centers around a Catholic family in Holland during the Nazi occupation. There is plenty of excitement as the boys discover and give aid to a downed English pilot and deliver messages for the "underground." Their family "grows" as they take in fugitives and war orphans which brings both hardship and joy.

Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt

Book cover: 'Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt'
Author(s): 
Jean Fritz
This is an interesting biography of one of our nation's most colorful presidents. It was interesting to discover that Teddy Roosevelt (1858-1919) was a rather sickly youth who suffered from asthma. His determination in overcoming his illness and living a full life despite his rather frail body help to make him a man who loved life and tried to live his life to the fullest - especially enjoying the world around him.

Augustus Caesar's World

Author(s): 
Genevieve Foster
We've found "Augustus Caesar's World" by Genevieve Foster to be a wonderful resource. The book covers the period from 44 BC to 14 AD with events and ideas for that time, all over the world. I feel the stories really give my son a great sense of life during this period. The illustrations are outstanding line drawing of characters, maps and especially the time lines. Just wanted to share a great resource.

Switch On!

Cover: 'Switch On!'

This kit is one of a number of kits aimed at giving children hands on experiments with electronics. It includes a battery holder, 2 capacitors, 2 resistors, 1 pot, 2 bipolar transistors, 2 leds, speaker, mike, motor, a variety of switches, 4 "IC's" and a few other parts.

The Legend of Odysseus

Author(s): 
Peter Connolly
The Legend of Odysseus, by British author Peter Connolly, was first published in 1986. It tells the legend of the Trojan War and of the homecoming of Odysseus. The Legend of Odysseus is a wonderful recounting of Homer's classic tales, The Iliad and The Odyessey. The most outstanding feature is the vivid, full-color drawings in every page. This book is suitable for most children, ages 10-16. There are additonal informative pages telling about life in Ancient Greece. My only caution is that it has some questionable pictures in it.

The Good Master

Book cover: 'The Good Master'
Author(s): 
Kate Seredy
The Good Master by Kate Seredy is a timeless tale of the goodness of the land and of the Faith. Set in Hungary before World War I, a young impish girl, Kate, is sent to the country because her father, a widower, cannot control her anymore. When she arrives she is a world class brat but she is tamed by her uncle through discipline and love. She is somewhat fearless and zealous to try everything the farm life has to offer and this leads her and her cousin Jancsi on many humorous farm adventures.

The King's Daughter

Author(s): 
Suzanne Martel
This engaging novel is centered around a young orphan from France, who is married off to a Canadian coureur de bois. The heroine, Jeanne Chatel, is spunky and determined to succeed in the wilds of 17th century Canada. There is considerable Catholic content in the novel. Jeanne is an orphan, and is raised by Catholic nuns in France. She travels to America with Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys, who went on to found schools and chapels, and started the Congregation of Notre Dame in Montreal, Quebec.

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