Website Review: Rebuilding Haiti

REBUILDING HAITI is an interactive experience exploring the process of earthquake recovery.

This fascinating nonlinear experience asks users to make choices and learn more about the process of rebuilding Haiti after its devastating earthquake.

Divided into six sections, this informative website would be useful for informational reading activities across the curriculum. Woven into the narrative are photographs and sidebars containing additional information. Along the way, users must make decisions that have consequences.

Librarians will find this resource to provide a good starting point for discussions about the impact of natural disasters and the implications for planning.

To visit the website, go to http://apps.rue89.com/haiti/en/.

Book Review: The Memory of Light

THE MEMORY OF LIGHT by Francisco X. Stork traces the experience of a teen dealing with mental illness.

After a suicide attempt, Vicky ends up in the mental disorders ward at the hospital. Through the help of her peers and a supportive doctor, Vicky gradually learns to understand her depression and takes the first steps toward recovery.

Based on the author’s experience with depression, this work of contemporary fiction provides a realistic and honest view of life with a mental illness including the reactions of family and friends. The first-person perspective includes fascinating insights into Vicky’s thoughts and voyage of self-discovery.

Librarians will find a large audience among young adults seeking realistic fiction and this timely social issue. Fans of Stork will not be disappointed.

The author’s website contains discussion questions and a teacher’s guide.

To learn more about the author, go to http://www.franciscostork.com/.

Published by Levine, an imprint of Scholastic on January 26, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.