Life of Pi

Title:  Life of Pi (Online-Chapter book) 

Author/Illustrator:  Yann Martel 

APA Citation:  Martel, Y. (2001). Life of Pi: A novel. New York, NY: Harcourt. 

Lexile Score:  830L (Ages 14 and up) 

Target Audience: I agree that this book would be appropriate for anyone 14 and older.  Some of the plot and literary concepts are targeted to an older audience. 

Summary: This book tells the story of a zookeeper's son, who finds himself stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean sharing a rescue boat with a Bengal Tiger, a hyena, a gorilla, and a zebra.  As the story progressed the reader was taken on an unbelievable adventure of the boy's struggle to survive. 

Evaluation: 

	4	3	2	1
Theme/Moral	The theme/moral of the story was worthwhile and provided a non-biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was worthwhile but portrayed a somewhat biased message for the reader.	Theme of the story was somewhat worthwhile, but portrayed a biased message for the reader.	Theme/moral of the story was not worthwhile and portrayed a biased message for the reader.
Characterization	Characters in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Characters in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Characters in the story were relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Illustrations	Illustrations in the story were relatable and did not portray typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were relatable but some characteristics portrayed typical stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were somewhat relatable, however portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.	Illustrations in the story were not relatable and portrayed characteristics  typical of stereotypes.
Multicultural Aspects	Story provided accurate representations of  several cultures.	Story provided accurate representations of more than one culture.	Story provided accurate representation of only one culture.	Story did not provide accurate representations of  the culture discussed.
Historical Value	The story's historical references were accurate and did not convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were accurate, did convey some biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were somewhat accurate, and did convey a biased opinion of the event depicted.	The story's historical references were not accurate, and conveyed a biased opinion of the event depicted.
Self and Social Identities	This book positively counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book attempts to counteracts stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book does not reinforce stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.	This book reinforces stereotypical messages based on gender, color, economic status, family structure, and/or abilities.
Language	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, and used alternatives to generic terms.	This book did not contain any "loaded" words, but did use some generic terms.	This book did not contain "loaded" words, however, consistently used generic terms.	This book did contain "loaded words, and consistently used generic terms.
Overall Rating	I would use this book in my future classroom and recommend it to other teachers.	I would try to use this book in my future classroom and might recommend it to other teachers.	If the occasion arose, I might read this book, but probably would not recommend it.	I would not use or recommend this book.

Overall Score: 29/32 

Literary Elements: Imagery, Simile, metaphor, alliteration, repetition 

Social Justice Elements:  Overcoming obstacles, Determination, Perseverance, Coming of age 

Sample Lesson:  If I were to do a lesson with this book, I would probably have the students create a diary or a series of letters to retell Pi's adventure.  I, also, might give the students the opportunity to compare and contrast the movie and the novel of the Life of Pi.  Often times the movie is drastically different than the novel, so I would be interested in what variations they noticed and why the director may have made those choices.