Park, Linda Sue. Project Mulberry.PARK, Linda Sue. Project Mulberry mulberry, common name for the Moraceae, a family of deciduous or evergreen trees and shrubs, often climbing, mostly of pantropical distribution, and characterized by milky sap. Several genera bear edible fruit, e.g. . Houghton Mifflin Houghton Mifflin Company is a leading educational publisher in the United States. The company's headquarters is located in Boston's Back Bay. It publishes textbooks, instructional technology materials, assessments, reference works, and fiction and non-fiction for both young readers , Clarion A family of application development systems for Windows from SoftVelocity, Inc., Pompano Beach, FL (www.softvelocity.com). Clarion provides a comprehensive set of tools for development, including a screen builder, 4GL and application generator. . 232p. bibliog. c2005.0-618-47786-1. $15.00. J * Seventh-graders Julia and Patrick decide to join an after-school club and work together on a project to be exhibited at the state fair. Julia's mother suggests raising silkworms, as her own grandmother did in Korea. Patrick is excited about this idea, but Julia worries that it's "too Korean"; she wants to fit into her midwestern town, not be different. Julia drags her feet, but Patrick's enthusiasm carries the day, especially when they locate a mulberry tree nearby, a source for the fresh mulberry leaves silkworms need to eat. The tree belongs to an elderly African-American man whom they befriend be·friend tr.v. be·friend·ed, be·friend·ing, be·friends To behave as a friend to. befriend Verb to become a friend to Verb 1. , though Julia suspects her mother harbors racist feelings toward black people. Gradually, Julia becomes more enthusiastic about the project, especially when the worms arrive and begin to grow. Even her pesky little brother turns out to be helpful with them. Patrick struggles with a phobia phobia: see neurosis. phobia Extreme and irrational fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. A phobia is classified as a type of anxiety disorder (a neurosis), since anxiety is its chief symptom. about worms; Julia struggles with her conscience when she realizes that they must kill some worms in order to get the silk thread she wants for part of the project. In the end, Project Mulberry is a success. Simple on the surface, this lively, engaging tale brings up many issues: friendship, racism, sibling relationships, and more. In addition, Park, the Newbery Medal-winning author of A Single Shard A Single Shard is the winner of the 2002 Newbery Medal, awarded for excellence in children's literature. The novel was written by Linda Sue Park, and is set in 12th-century Korea. and other books for young readers, intersperses chapters of "dialog" between herself and Julia, giving the story behind the story: how and why she wrote the book. There is also enough information on silkworms here (including in the Author's Note at the end; Park did hands-on research) for readers to raise their own, if interested. A winning story, and an excellent choice for classroom discussions. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescent and their teachers. *--The asterisk (1) See Asterisk PBX. (2) In programming, the asterisk or "star" symbol (*) means multiplication. For example, 10 * 7 means 10 multiplied by 7. The * is also a key on computer keypads for entering expressions using multiplication. highlights exceptional books. |
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