Lesson Plans for Young Adults

Tiger in the Sky

Title: Tiger in the Sky
Author: Shelia Finch
Published: Avon, 1999
Suitable for: (Age/Grade Level) 7-12
Length: 246pp.
Reading Level: 7, Interest Level grades 7-12
Genre: science fiction
Plot:
The future life is too soft. Aliens have given humans the technology to travel the stars in an instant, but only the young can survive the travel. So people of the future borrow spunky kids from the past to help with problems dealing with alien cultures by Yanking them. The Yanked kids are needed to go to Oort One where cute fuzzy alien animals are breeding quickly. When several of these animals get together, electrical equipment starts to go haywire. These "tribble-like" pests are big problems even if they are sort of cute.
Characters:
Nan (real name Shenandoah) is a mixture of Chinese and Native American. She knows martial arts and loves animals. She is taken accidentally when Jerry is sally-ported.
Jerry is a nerd type. He had surgery when he was a young child and his mother over protects him.
Will is a cabin boy from Francis Drake's ship, the Golden Hind in the year 1579.
Discussion Questions:
Why are the people of the future so soft?
How was Jerry Yanked? What lured him?
What ideas did the Yanked kids think of to get rid of the pests?
What animal does Nan ask to be brought to Oort One?
What extinct animal is later brought to Oort One?
Why was Nan taken with Jerry? What did the people of the future tell her about her future?
What did we learn about Will's role on the Golden Hind?
What does Jerry suggest the people of the future do about Will?
Related Activities:
Build a replica of the Golden Hind.
Write a diary that Will might have written on the ship.
Describe a zoo of the future and what extinct animals you might have in it.
It is hinted that Jerry will be a hero in the future. Make the front page of a newspaper with a story about Jerry doing something very heroic.
Related Works: Yanked!, Jurassic Park
Censorship Issues: none

Yanked!

Title: Yanked!
Author: Nancy Kress
Published: Avon, 1999
Suitable for: (Age/Grade Level) 7-12
Length: 246pp.
Reading Level: 7, Interest Level grades 7-12
Need Addressed: Heroism, Responsibility
Genre: science fiction
Plot:
The future life is too soft. The Gift Givers, space traveling-aliens, have given humans the technology to travel the stars in an instant, but only the young can survive the travel. So people of the future borrow spunky kids from the past by Yanking them to help with problems dealing with alien cultures. There are nine steps for a society to reach the technology and thought processes of the Gift Givers. Step one is colonizing their own solar system and that is done. Step two seems to be understanding how to use the gifts the aliens have given them. It is time for step three. A human has figured it out but is killed by the Pannurish before he can pass on his wisdom. Five kids with "grit" are sent to rescue the children of a spaceship and find this missing peice of wisdom.
Characters:
Jason Ramsey is a gifted black athlete but he doesn't have a lot of drive. His coach is on his case about missing practices.
Sharon, a girl who is growing up way too fast because she has to be the mother for her baby neice Tara.
Jofrid, an Icelanic girl from the year 987 who speaks her own mind and has a way with plant medicine.
Robbie, a pickpocket from London of 1810, who likes to gamble.
Sor Spo Gillen, a "perfect" boy from 2337.
Discussion Questions:
What did Robbie take with him that he was told not to?
What did Sharon take with her that she was told not to?
What did Jofrid keep in her pockets?
How does Jason build the Yanked kids into a team?
How are the Yanked kids able to understand each other?
What happens to an adult that uses a sally port?
What does Sharon use on the robot to stop him from using a weapon?
How does Robbie get the information from the Pannurish?
How did the dying captain leave a message for the people of Earth?
Why did Sor want to kill Robbie? Who was hurt?
Related Activities:
Research Iceland of about the time of Lief Erickson. Jofrid is not a typical girl of that time period.
Compare the pickpockets of Oliver Twist to Robbie.
Write a paper on ways Sharon could earn enough money to take care of Tara.
Jason used football to build the kids into a team. Research and discuss how businesses build team spirit.
Related Works: Oliver Twist, Tiger in the Sky, The Game of Worlds
Censorship Issues: Sharon's mother uses some mild bad language. Sor is provoked to violence over Robbie's "selling" of baby Tara.

The Game of Worlds

Title: The Game of Worlds
Author: Roger MacBride Allen
Published: Avon, 1999
Suitable for: (Age/Grade Level) 7-12
Length: 246pp.
Reading Level: 7, Interest Level grades 7-12
Need Addressed: Heroism, Responsibility
Genre: science fiction
Plot:
The future life is too soft. Aliens have given humans the technology to travel the stars in an instant, but only the young can survive the travel. So people of the future borrow spunky kids from the past to help with problems dealing with alien cultures. In the year 2345, Adam from North Carolina in 1999 AD; and Aaron, a Jew from Nazi Germany in 1938; and Roberto, a slave from Brazil in 1883 have skills needed to help those in the future deal with the Devlin, a hostile culture.
Characters:
Adam is a boy from a working class family who is a troublemaker. He has put a cherry bomb in a teachers car and is asked to confess his guilt.
Aaron is a Jew who was Yanked (the term for being brought to the future) a few days after Kristallnacht. He is being chased by a group of German boys.
Roberto is a slave that will be beaten because he wishes to bathe in the sea. He lives in filth and depravity. He longs to run away but is afraid of what retaliation will be done to his family.
Discussion Questions:
What choice did the principal give Adam?
Why did Adam run away from being Yanked and Aaron and Roberto welcome it?
Why did the people of the future need those with "grit?"
Do modern conveniences make us weak?
Why was Roanoke a good name for the crash site?
Who is Least?
What is a Broca Amplifier and why is it needed in the story?
There is an old saying, "It takes one to know one," How does this apply to Adam's suggestions in the negotiations with the Devlin?
What were the Devlin doing with the survivors of the Roanoke crash?
What laws apply to embassies? Do the aliens on Negotiations Island have the same laws as on Earth?
Related Works: Yanked!, Tiger in the Sky
Censorship Issues: none