Their Eyes Were Watching God and Teen Read Week

What books are part of your middle or high school list? For today, I thought I would focus on an author who has written several classics read by many middle and high school students.  I did not read Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Did you?

Library ISBN: 978-0-7660-3164-7

This is a heated story of love and passion. Written in 1937, this story of Janie Crawford, a resourceful and independent African-American woman, who searches for herself through her relationships with men. The main characters, Janie and Tea Cake, were modeled after Zora and Percival McGuire Punter, a man whom Zora loved. Percival wanted Zora to give up her writing career, but she would not do that, and instead went to the Caribbean, and wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God.

The book on the left is a reader's guide to that particular title. A plot summary and analysis as well as character studies of some of the major and minor characters in the book are included. In addition to all of this, primary and secondary themes are also discussed.

As far as biographies of Zora Neale Hurston, this middle-school biography describes her life as an anthropologist. She studied African-American culture in the South and collected stories and folklore and gave these stories life and made them widely known as a writer.

Posted by Pam

Happy Birthday Dorothea Lange

Dorothea Lange was an influential American photographer and photojournalist. Lange is best known for her Depression-era work, which gave a face to the widespread human suffering that was taking place across the country at that time. Lange's work during this period, in addition to her later work, would profoundly influence the development of documentary photography.


Written by Laura Baskes Litwin, this middle school title is great for budding photographers and those interested in learning more about this influential photographer, who lived from 1895 until 1965.

Review: Reader's Guide to Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis

"These excellent books analyze works of literature, describe the cultural context in which they are set, and provide biographical information...." begins the School Library Journal book review (August 2010) of:


A Reader's Guide to Gary Soto's Taking Sides, written by Jen Jones;
A Reader's Guide to Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Laura Baskes Litwin;
A Reader's Guide to Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, written by Heather Lee Schroeder.

Today would have been Dorothea Lange's birthday

Dorothea Lange A Life in Pictures
Author: Laura Baskes Litwin
ISBN-13: 978-0-7660-2697-1

Publication Year: 2007
Interest Level: Grades 6-up
Page Count: 128

Dorothea Lange was an influential American photographer and photojournalist. Lange is best known for her Depression-era work, which gave a face to the widespread human suffering that was taking place across the country at that time. Lange's work during this period, in addition to her later work, would profoundly influence the development of documentary photography.