Oldendick+Review2

APA Citation: Johnson, M. (2011). //The name of the star //. New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons. **ISBN #** 9781455823499

Kentucky Bluegrass Nominee 2013 Grades 9-12

Rory moves from the United States to London to attend a private school while her parents are working at an university in Bristol. She makes friends, learns new things and begins to figure out there is something very abnormal going on. When she arrives in London, peculiar murder scenes are showing up set up just like the Jack the Ripper murders. The only problem is Rory is the one person that has seen the murderer. Rory is now is danger and finds herself in a strange predicament. The adventure begins.

The Name of the Star is a very quick read. The mystery of Jack the Ripper grabs the attention of the reader but the fact we never learn a great deal about him left me missing something. The book would have been a lot better if the author had included more information about Jack the Ripper to feed the reader. The twist in the book of why Rory is the only one who knows will intrigue certain readers but turn others off. If one is looking for a mindless read, then you have found it.

Curriculum Connection: Reading Standards for Literature 6-12 Key Ideas and Details: 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; provide an objective summary of the text.

Genre: Fiction

Developing Content Area Literacy: Strategy 27 Six Thinking Hats pages 193-197 and promoting strategies for independent learning pages 243-245.

Before Text: Students will have to research and find facts on Jack the Ripper to help build the background knowledge. The basic Who? What? Where? When? Why?

During the Text: The students will be given Five Hat questions to use in the independent learning method of journaling.

White Hat: What are we learning about Jack the Ripper? Black Hat: What are the difficulties with find the murder? <span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Yellow Hat: Why is the murder using Jack the Ripper? <span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Red Hat: What effect is this having on students, school, and city? <span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Green Hat: What ways can Jack the Ripper be caught today compared to the original dates of the events?

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">After Text: Share with peers in pair and share. With the information and discussion that has taken place answer the final hat question.

<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Blue Hat: Why did the author choose Jack the Ripper? Was it effective using Jack the Ripper? Support the answer.