tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25022003348819271432024-03-13T08:49:45.188-07:00The Southern BookwormAspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.comBlogger162125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-32489131553774028482022-11-29T12:43:00.000-08:002022-11-29T12:43:30.001-08:00<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLacEVnGAw7M1R9qsVkj0XkyU4QTGNSnOnJDpW_RVFq8bkPZzsoc-KjqaCUqHqgfTHtdi-84gtx-CUvNdVQk-zVwsnf_icsTk0mEogRVJli47FnAo3YGIf9GHNGIQOU61vn0dT6qaa_vbNOwLPcFePE-uIjFLWqYwLyi8pHibv2hVHHb0kJJaXekKY/s500/secret%20library.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="322" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLacEVnGAw7M1R9qsVkj0XkyU4QTGNSnOnJDpW_RVFq8bkPZzsoc-KjqaCUqHqgfTHtdi-84gtx-CUvNdVQk-zVwsnf_icsTk0mEogRVJli47FnAo3YGIf9GHNGIQOU61vn0dT6qaa_vbNOwLPcFePE-uIjFLWqYwLyi8pHibv2hVHHb0kJJaXekKY/s320/secret%20library.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Title: Syria's Secret Library: Reading and Redemption in a Town Under Siege<p></p><p>Author: Mike Thomson</p><p>Genres: non-fiction, libraries, library history</p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Calibri, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">How much do you love books and libraries? Would you scour a blighted neighborhood for books ravaged by war? Would you crawl through a dark hole in the ground to retrieve books for a secret library? Some residents of Daraya, Syria did just that at the start of the Syrian Civil War. (Which shows you how much they love books when many libraries in the US and UK are shut down or have reduced services due to closures and/or budget cuts). Why would they focus on rescuing books during such a tumultuous time? As the residents explained to Mike Thomson, author of Syria's Secret Library, they created the secret library as a sanctuary from the war, as a symbol of resistance against Assad's regime, and as an educational center to replace their lost local schools and museums. The citizens of Daraya that supported the library also wanted to educate themselves for the time when Syria would need to be rebuilt- unfortunately, the civil war is still ongoing and their dreams for reinvigorating their homeland will have to wait.</span><br /> </p>Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-9268611574540235962021-08-29T11:24:00.000-07:002021-08-29T11:24:00.087-07:00The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uN8cyzQnBJh56kOs4HPGHuh_4Lx4aacMcPWsj7LJV0RSFbybqMgVJ9qmrgxuzE0_kxUyFxeqtvB6g5QELzY4RO0snCoaeJquDRvJGycn08ueOu4IoaeRhgzfcCMkifdvHc18ejNb-yw/s277/bad+ass+librarians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="277" data-original-width="182" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7uN8cyzQnBJh56kOs4HPGHuh_4Lx4aacMcPWsj7LJV0RSFbybqMgVJ9qmrgxuzE0_kxUyFxeqtvB6g5QELzY4RO0snCoaeJquDRvJGycn08ueOu4IoaeRhgzfcCMkifdvHc18ejNb-yw/s0/bad+ass+librarians.jpg" width="182" /></a></div><p><br /></p>Title: The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu<p></p><p>Authors: Joshua Hammer</p><p>Genres: history, African history, library history, non-fiction</p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">This book gives new meaning to the phrase, “from here to Timbuktu.”
Yes, Timbuktu is a real place but for many people it’s a fictional place only
ever mentioned in a saying about far journeys to mystical places. Between the 13<sup>th</sup>
and 16<sup>th</sup> centuries, Timbuktu, located in Mali, Africa, was a
thriving, cosmopolitan city inhabited by the intellectuals of western Africa. Unfortunately,
the written knowledge of Timbuktu has been threatened over the centuries by
various invaders and political instability, prompting the Malians to hide their
heritage throughout the country. <i>The Bad-Ass Librarians of</i> <i>Timbuktu</i>
chronicles Abdel Kader Haidara’s decade-long journey to finance and furbish the
Ahmed Baba Institute (one of Timbuktu’s many libraries) with manuscripts only
to have his hard work and the history of Timbuktu threatened by al-Qaeda extremists.
Knowing al-Qaeda’s history of destroying cultural sites and artifacts, Haidara
carefully orchestrated a rescue mission involving 350,000 manuscripts, numerous
metal footlockers, boats, trucks, bribe money, and a network of Malians willing
to rebel quietly against religious extremists.<o:p></o:p></p><p> </p>Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-13300914822498147272021-07-31T12:59:00.001-07:002021-07-31T13:02:58.262-07:00Drama by Raina Telgemeier<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwv5jA_LPsyTgW4O9eZPmu1mmDcH6s6388gikDc-UtPrRLGNPz8XB3WQhOVw-XqvFQhjh9R2qERpuhh8yV08O8QW9wOv-8TQbuB7FkxlpkGU6MUuZSbsc8OWTHTZBG03BPIem7hLVeOk/s381/Cover_of_Drama_%2528graphic_novel%2529_by_Raina_Telgemeier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="381" data-original-width="262" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwv5jA_LPsyTgW4O9eZPmu1mmDcH6s6388gikDc-UtPrRLGNPz8XB3WQhOVw-XqvFQhjh9R2qERpuhh8yV08O8QW9wOv-8TQbuB7FkxlpkGU6MUuZSbsc8OWTHTZBG03BPIem7hLVeOk/s320/Cover_of_Drama_%2528graphic_novel%2529_by_Raina_Telgemeier.jpg" width="220" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Title: <i>Drama</i></div>Author: Raina Telgemeier<p></p><p>Genres: middle grade, graphic novel, challenged book</p><p>What an adorable graphic novel! I checked this out from the library after this book came under fire from a parent in the neighboring school district who claimed it contained "sexually explicit materials."* There are two to three separate scenes/panels that show kissing: a quick, sneaky peck on the cheek and a quick kiss on the lips. One of the characters tells the protagonist (Callie) that he is gay; she is surprised by this information because she was developing a crush on him, but she takes this information and accepts her friend for who he is. Although Callie has two crushes on boys in this book, the romance is not the main plot of the story- Callie focuses on school, her set design for the upcoming play, and spending time with her BFF. </p><p><br /></p><p>*The Bible contains more sexually explicit passages than this graphic novel (i.e., Song of Solomon, parts of Genesis). </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-79096448892760555632020-09-14T08:45:00.000-07:002020-09-14T08:45:34.453-07:00<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9c-XSC_UMbRlySjVD5B8L8f6SlyLk8QCoM6e1A-u-GBguLuRFx3-b4Dksjo8DskcKcxwLExG7LcigEGen8yM2RpGZ-AA4klzaw2CWr2URm0uNc6Gi-sUrz27vsjiBhYw2ceeOF9XfSLs/s700/ballad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="462" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9c-XSC_UMbRlySjVD5B8L8f6SlyLk8QCoM6e1A-u-GBguLuRFx3-b4Dksjo8DskcKcxwLExG7LcigEGen8yM2RpGZ-AA4klzaw2CWr2URm0uNc6Gi-sUrz27vsjiBhYw2ceeOF9XfSLs/s320/ballad.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Title: <i>The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Author: Suzanne Collins</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Genres: YA lit, dystopian literature</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I heard this prequel to the <i>Hunger Games</i> trilogy was written from Coriolanus Snow's perspective I was intrigued. This mode of storytelling from the villain's point of view reminded me of <a href="http://thesouthernbookworm.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-testaments.html">The Testaments</a>. <i>Ballad</i> opens up ten years after the war between Panem and the districts and while the Hunger Games have been implemented as the districts' punishment for the war, the games are nowhere near the glamorous spectacle of the original trilogy. Viewing the Hunger Games is strictly voluntary (and not a lot of people watch), the games are still controversial to some citizens of the Capitol, and the tributes are literally treated like animals, transported from their homes to the Capitol in cattle cars to empty cages in a zoo. The Capitol is still recovering from the war and its citizens are not the vapid, glitzy people we meet in the trilogy. For this tenth version of the Hunger Games, high school students in the Capitol are selected as mentors for the tributes. This is where Coriolanus Snow gets an intimate look and experience with the Hunger Games. He's assigned as the mentor for District 12 and his tributes are Jesup and Lucy Gray. Coriolanus is intrigued by Lucy Gray for various reasons but his incentives to keep Lucy Gray alive center around his needs and goals for the future; Lucy Gray's humanity comes second. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Coriolanus has not turned into the evil President Snow as we know him, but the reader does see inklings of how his trip to the dark side takes place in small increments. The Snow family has fallen on hard times; Coriolanus lives with his cousin and elderly grandmother in their lavish apartment while practically starving, but the family is determined to keep up appearances. Coriolanus has mild trauma from the war (the Capitol was bombed multiple times by the rebels, his parents died during the war), and those war memories keep him determined to better his and his family's situation. While this is noble, this desperation opens him to grooming by the sadistic Dr. Gaul, who likes to genetically engineer the muttations we'll see later in the trilogy (this mentor/mentee relationship doesn't really blossom until the end of the book). Coriolanus is far from blameless though, he is sneaky, arrogant, and selfish, and these traits are enhanced in the last half of the book when he is sent to District 12 (I won't tell you why, that's a major spoiler). Coriolanus has a love/hate relationship with District 12 and we find out why he hates the mockingjays so much in the original trilogy. The mechanics of the jabberjays is further explained and illuminates how the Capitol was able to surreptitiously spy on Katniss and Gale deep in the forest. The pacing is pretty even throughout the book until the last chapter when Coriolanus undergoes some kind of mental breakdown fueled by paranoia and guilt. </div><p></p>Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-49966318676854145822020-03-29T14:33:00.002-07:002020-03-31T05:02:13.217-07:00Inkheart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: <i>Inkheart</i></div>
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Author: Cornelai Funke</div>
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Genre: middle grade fiction, fantasy, books turned into movies, MountTBRChallenge2020</div>
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"Books have to be heavy because the whole world's inside them."</div>
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Have you ever read a book that was so wonderful and lifelike you wish the characters could leap from the page into the real world? Well, this is what happens in <i>Inkheart</i> and although it sounds wonderful to a bookworm, accidentally inviting fictional characters to our world has serious consequences...</div>
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Meggie lives with her father who repairs books for a living; they live a semi-nomadic lifestyle because of Mo's occupation but also for a more sinister reason. When Meggie was three years old, her father was reading aloud to Meggie's mother one night (from a book called <i>Inkheart</i>!) when *BAM* strange men appeared in their living room and Meggie's mother disappeared. That's how Mo discovered his "gift"- he could summon forth fictional characters into our world, but unfortunately, he has no control over who leaves this world and who enters it. After this tragic night, Mo and Meggie were on the run from Capricorn, the most notorious and vicious villain in <i>Inkheart</i>, and his henchmen. Finally, Capricorn catches up to them (no thanks to the fair weather "friend" Dustfinger) and forces Mo to read certain passages from books that will increase Capricorn's material wealth and power. While Dustfinger longs to return to his magical world, Capricorn revels in the wealth and potential power of this world. </div>
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While this is a fantasy and adventure story written for tweens and above, it is also a love letter to books and bookworms that a book nerdy adult would enjoy. I watched the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0494238/?ref_=vp_back" target="_blank">movie</a> a few months ago on Netflix and now that I am teleworking from home and all the local libraries are closed, it was the perfect time to start reading books on my To Be Read pile/bookshelf/mountain. </div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-21532183167034091872020-03-16T17:56:00.000-07:002020-03-16T17:56:32.975-07:00Salt to the Sea<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9scKf5sQdtA-hpXku2BCyxIX6IhbD-zkXnwVWOYR086IPjSd5hB40e5C5Eu7jYXRnuRYCqUDXfUW_-Kx0IDZea2gYnOWcWHUFYqvQ046qL-Nwen1_V-DjPqEO3EZRxsLinX5-F2obKo/s1600/salt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9scKf5sQdtA-hpXku2BCyxIX6IhbD-zkXnwVWOYR086IPjSd5hB40e5C5Eu7jYXRnuRYCqUDXfUW_-Kx0IDZea2gYnOWcWHUFYqvQ046qL-Nwen1_V-DjPqEO3EZRxsLinX5-F2obKo/s320/salt.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Title: Salt to the Sea</div>
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Author: Ruta Sepetys</div>
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Genre: YA fiction, historical fiction</div>
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<i>Salt to the Sea</i> is a YA historical fiction novel based on the sinking of the <i>Wilhelm Gustloff</i> . Never heard of it? Most people haven't since the end of World War II and the rise of communism throughout Europe overshadowed this tragedy. The <i>Wilhelm Gustloff</i>, former cruise liner turned military ship, was transformed from a German navy vessel to a refugee rescue ship. Normal capacity for this ship was around 1,500 but when the refugees boarded her on January 30, 1945, she held close to 10,000 people (a mixture of naval officers and crew, and refugees). When it sunk, close to 9,000 people died, more than the Titanic and Lusitania combined!<br />
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<i>Salt to the Sea</i> is told from the viewpoints of Joana (a Lithuanian nurse), Florian (a mysterious spy), Emilia (a pregnant Polish girl), and Alfred (an arrogant yet germaphobic German soldier, probably a psychopath). Joana is consumed by guilt over her cousin's disappearance and deportation to Siberia, Florian is consumed by revenge, Emilia has a secret, and Alfred is full of himself and Nazi ideology. Joana, Florian, and Emilia meet by accident and grudgingly travel together to Gotenhafen in an effort to secure safe passage to Western Europe and flee the invading Russian army. The perilous journey reveals many secrets and a bit of romance and the atmosphere of the book is tense throughout the text. The sinking of the <i>Wilhelm Gustloff </i>is told in gruesome, but not too graphic detail. You can read more about the disaster at the Smithsonian Magazine website <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/deadliest-disaster-sea-happened-75-years-ago-yet-its-barely-known-why-180974077/" target="_blank">(here)</a> and the Wilhelm Gustloff Museum site <a href="https://www.wilhelmgustloffmuseum.com/introduction.html" target="_blank">(here)</a>. The book also contains the author's research resource list, book discussion questions, interviews with shipwreck divers who have explored the closely guarded wreckage, a journalist who investigated and published a book about the sinking and its aftermath, the curator of the <i>Wilhelm Gustloff </i>online museum, and a <i>Wilhelm Gustloff</i> survivor<br />
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<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-78805473702105497692020-03-01T10:23:00.001-08:002020-03-01T10:23:09.712-08:00The Girl With All The Gifts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: <i>The Girl With All The Gifts</i><br />
Author: M.R. Carey<br />
Genres: dystopian, zombies<br />
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<span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Ten-year-old Melanie lives in a maximum-security prison, not for anything she has done, but for what she is – a hungry (a zombie). Melanie has no memories of her parents or her life before the prison compound. Although Melanie is a curious child, loves Greek mythology, and is the smartest student in the school, Melanie and the other children are not the typical hungry/zombie- they look and behave like normal human children, until they smell a normal human. Once they smell a human an uncontrollable urge to feed comes over them, so the adults at the prison shower themselves in a mixture of chemicals to hide their scent. </span><span class="EOP SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW18666269 BCX0" lang="EN-US" paraeid="{f069a8c5-dd6a-4172-934e-9b55fc420e38}{16}" paraid="524886784" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;" xml:lang="EN-US">
<span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Melanie’s favorite adult is her teacher Miss </span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW18666269 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Justineau</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">; Helen </span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW18666269 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Justineau</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> treats the children kindly, reads lots of books to her class, and makes learning fun. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW18666269 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Helen’shumane</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> treatment of the children concerns Eddie Parks (security guard) and Dr Caldwell (research scientist). We later find out that the children will never use what they learn, the classroom setup is basically a giant psychological experiment by the ruthless Dr. Caldwell to research how these special zombie children learn and live. Dr. Caldwell’s sole purpose in life is to find the mode of transmission and a cure for the hungry disease, and she is willing to kill zombie children to do so. </span><span class="EOP SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW18666269 BCX0" lang="EN-US" paraeid="{86b86561-e728-4f2f-a6f2-e37c5684d2ea}{235}" paraid="1828400950" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;" xml:lang="EN-US">
<span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">As if this clash of personalities and moralities wasn’t enough, the compound is attacked by a mob of hungries one day and Melanie, Helen, Eddie, Dr. Caldwell and Private Gallagher flee from the compound to the English countryside seeking the city of Beacon, the rumored safe zone south of London. While on the run they must protect themselves from hungries and </span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW18666269 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">junkers</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (pillaging and violent humans). This journey is the first time that Melanie has been outside of the compound and her first foray into the outside world. As she fights the urge to feed on her fellow travelers, her lessons with Miss </span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="SpellingError SCXW18666269 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">Justineau</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> take on new meaning. Eventually there is a showdown and our group </span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="ContextualSpellingAndGrammarError SCXW18666269 BCX0" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; background-image: url("data:image/gif; background-position: left bottom; background-repeat: repeat-x; border-bottom: 1px solid transparent; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">finds</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> the answer to the zombie problem but it will change the course of humanity forever. </span><span class="EOP SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW18666269 BCX0" lang="EN-US" paraeid="{174d4f02-e45f-4d9a-b68d-a42faf357214}{120}" paraid="640347101" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;" xml:lang="EN-US">
<span class="TextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">*You can view the trailer for the movie adaptation here: </span><a class="Hyperlink SCXW18666269 BCX0" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/?ref_=vp_back" rel="noreferrer noopener" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; user-select: text;" target="_blank"><span class="TextRun Underlined SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="none" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; color: #0563c1; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: underline; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-ccp-charstyle="Hyperlink" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4547056/?ref_=vp_back</span></span></a><span class="TextRun EmptyTextRun SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"></span><span class="EOP SCXW18666269 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_EmbeddedFont, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></div>
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Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-69534193130027857932020-02-19T19:56:00.001-08:002020-02-19T19:56:29.428-08:00The Fountains of Silence<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2aU5EiOb_1rJDuIPandOdTbQch18ZTwgghmt0IIkKZ0Z5c_hgsKRjo2_cg4VmOa0yKY7Q6dKi-L9oeBz-k7jbxu9qC7tv1dDBEuhyWFWpB0NFJfJeznuCci54Ik7G8J-EVff33fqOaQ/s1600/fountains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1066" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW2aU5EiOb_1rJDuIPandOdTbQch18ZTwgghmt0IIkKZ0Z5c_hgsKRjo2_cg4VmOa0yKY7Q6dKi-L9oeBz-k7jbxu9qC7tv1dDBEuhyWFWpB0NFJfJeznuCci54Ik7G8J-EVff33fqOaQ/s320/fountains.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Title: The Fountains of Silence</div>
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Author: Ruta Sepetys</div>
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Genres: YA fiction, historical fiction</div>
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After reading <i>The Fountains of Silence</i>, I am reminded why Ruta Sepetys is one of my favorite YA authors- she takes a little known part of history and turns it into engaging YA historical fiction:<br />
* the Lithuanian experience in Siberia during World War II (<i><a href="http://rutasepetys.com/books/between-shades-of-gray/" target="_blank">Between Shades of Gray</a></i>)<br />
* 1950s New Orleans (<i><a href="http://rutasepetys.com/books/out-of-the-easy/" target="_blank">Out of the Easy</a></i>)<br />
* World War II refugees (<a href="http://rutasepetys.com/books/salt-to-the-sea/" target="_blank"><i>Salt to the Sea</i></a>)<br />
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In her latest book <i>The Fountains of Silence</i>, Sepetys introduces readers to life under Franco's Spain. While most of us learned about dead dictators (Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot, etc.) in high school and college, life under the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco's Spain was glossed over in American history classes because Franco lived until 1975, the United States constructed trade deals with Spain during Franco's lifetime, and the US and Spanish governments encourages US citizens to spend their tourist dollars in Spain.<br />
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Sepetys skillfully weaves together a budding romance between Daniel, a rich American boy pursuing secret dreams of photography despite his father's disapproval, and Ana, a poor Spanish girl who works in the hotel where Daniel's family is staying. Ana suffers from poverty due to the aftereffects of the Spanish Civil War decades before and the death of her parents (Spanish Republicans) by the Francoist government. Rumors of stolen babies and kidnappings are interlaced with the fear ordinary Spaniards lived with for decades.<br />
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The book contains multiple points of view and excerpts of oral histories from various politicians and ambassadors involved in American dealings in Spain. A glossary of Spanish terms and phrases found throughout the book is included along with an extensive research and recommended reading list.<br />
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You can read more about Francoist Spain and the stolen babies scandal here:<br />
<a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/27/spains-dictator-is-dead-but-his-popularity-lives-on/">https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/27/spains-dictator-is-dead-but-his-popularity-lives-on/</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.npr.org/2018/08/17/639226190/how-spanish-women-were-allegedly-targeted-in-stolen-babies-cases-for-decades">https://www.npr.org/2018/08/17/639226190/how-spanish-women-were-allegedly-targeted-in-stolen-babies-cases-for-decades</a><br />
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<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-80501023928688732342019-12-14T16:14:00.002-08:002019-12-14T16:17:03.427-08:002020 Reading Challenge<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyF1MkJ9yu61ynZ3iERE2C5CpK_nUfY3-vR3t7pzYRrZYnqTkHkpcOrrw5Ai8FgS8ZN0AenfCx5F2G0kY5WfIyVV3IGSjotFZJwMGQTzE71236nKtGnayL4NCa4DvN9sbOmG2UdxZqoc/s1600/reading+pile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1054" data-original-width="1600" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzyF1MkJ9yu61ynZ3iERE2C5CpK_nUfY3-vR3t7pzYRrZYnqTkHkpcOrrw5Ai8FgS8ZN0AenfCx5F2G0kY5WfIyVV3IGSjotFZJwMGQTzE71236nKtGnayL4NCa4DvN9sbOmG2UdxZqoc/s320/reading+pile.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Not my book pile, but it feels like it...</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(<span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #111111; font-family: , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "san francisco" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "ubuntu" , "roboto" , "noto" , "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: nowrap;">Photo by </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/@cristina_gottardi?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="background-color: whitesmoke; box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Cristina Gottardi</a><span style="background-color: whitesmoke; color: #111111; font-family: , "blinkmacsystemfont" , "san francisco" , "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "ubuntu" , "roboto" , "noto" , "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif; white-space: nowrap;"> on </span><a href="https://unsplash.com/s/photos/piles-of-books?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText" style="background-color: whitesmoke; box-sizing: border-box; color: #767676; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "San Francisco", "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Ubuntu, Roboto, Noto, "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration-skip-ink: auto; transition: color 0.1s ease-in-out 0s, opacity 0.1s ease-in-out 0s; white-space: nowrap;">Unsplash</a>)</span></div>
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I normally don't make New Year's resolutions for myself (for a variety of reasons) or participate in reading challenges (too limiting, not enough time, etc.), but this year I want to try a different kind of reading challenge: the <a href="https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2019/10/mount-tbr-reading-challenge-2020.html" target="_blank">MountTBR Challenge.</a></div>
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TBR? That stands for To Be Read and like most book <strike>hoarders</strike> lovers, I have amassed quite a pile books over the past few years. Due to my busy schedule of family, work, school, life, sometimes my bookshelf gets neglected.<strike>..</strike></div>
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My personal goad within the MountTBR Challenge is to complete the Pike's Peak level (12 books). I feel that one book a month from my bookshelf is a realistic goal with my schedule and lifestyle. I will post updates on challenge progress, so stay tuned!<br />
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Interested in participating in a reading challenge for your own? Check out these lists for ideas:<br />
<a href="https://www.girlxoxo.com/the-master-list-of-2020-reading-challenges/?fbclid=IwAR2-6DWdn1r1W5nLHmBEH7UGuS6dzTwOmXAeiTiK7e0QHLM2H-ru__2z_i0">https://www.girlxoxo.com/the-master-list-of-2020-reading-challenges/?fbclid=IwAR2-6DWdn1r1W5nLHmBEH7UGuS6dzTwOmXAeiTiK7e0QHLM2H-ru__2z_i0</a><br />
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<a href="https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/reading-challenge-2020-46857621">https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/reading-challenge-2020-46857621</a>Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-65169647008067069002019-10-27T12:17:00.000-07:002019-10-27T12:17:00.559-07:00The Testaments<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddZHuTRbFyvq-60CAG7m9A7dM9zLsZVTLCQ5gY0o4q1WWBrk-wjldk5TQPXd_8X6reKSNyT1w7j_YOK0l1-apWAx0gtgSk5KjIxqYZnvJV1RraP3jDcWSVf4Lc8SsiU5nnoMgirD4gQc/s1600/testaments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="933" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddZHuTRbFyvq-60CAG7m9A7dM9zLsZVTLCQ5gY0o4q1WWBrk-wjldk5TQPXd_8X6reKSNyT1w7j_YOK0l1-apWAx0gtgSk5KjIxqYZnvJV1RraP3jDcWSVf4Lc8SsiU5nnoMgirD4gQc/s320/testaments.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>The Testaments</i><br />
Author: Margaret Atwood<br />
Genre: dystopian, books on TV, feminist fiction<br />
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<span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">“So peaceful, the streets; so tranquil, so orderly; yet underneath the deceptively placid surfaces, a tremor, like that near a high-voltage power line. We’re stretched thin, all of us; we vibrate; we quiver, we’re always on the alert. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-style: italic; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Reign of terror</span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">, they used to say, but terror does not exactly reign. Instead it paralyzes. Hence the unnatural quiet” (277). </span><span class="EOP SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></div>
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<span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"><i>The Testaments </i>picks up about 16 years after the ending of <i>The Handmaid’s Tale</i>. The story is told from the alternating perspectives of </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Agnes </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">(a girl of indeterminate age raised in Gilead), </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Daisy</span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> (a teen girl raised in Canada), and Aunt Lydia (yes, that Aunt Lydia!). From Aunt Lydia’s secret diary, more details are revealed about the takeover of the United States by the Gilead government and how women were </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">(literally) </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">herded and sent to different parts of this new country to fulfill specific roles. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Since Lydia was a single woman, her experience differs (but is just as horrific) from June/Offred in <i>THT</i>. </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">TV Aunt Lydia, from the Hulu adaptation of the book, is cruel and psychotic, while Book Lydia is more nuanced. Her behavior is driven by an underlying motive which is slowly unveiled as the book progresses. We discover how Aunt Lydia’s personal background transformed her from an everyday citizen (a family court judge, in her case) to one of the most feared Aunts in Gilead: “I needed to revert to the mulish underclass child, the determined drudge, the brainy overachiever, the strategic ladder-climber who’d got me to the social perch from which I’d just been deposed. I needed to work the angles, once I could find out what the angles were. I’d been in tight corners before, I had prevailed. That was my story to myself” (117). </span><span class="EOP SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></div>
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<div class="Paragraph SCXW95218122 BCX0" paraeid="{45dcc9de-fabe-4d52-9469-30aa76a04b6b}{166}" paraid="1136263870" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; background-color: transparent; color: windowtext; overflow-wrap: break-word; padding: 0px; user-select: text; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">Agnes and Jemima </span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">are each affected by parallel events in their lives- events that expose lies from the adults sworn to protect them. These two girls are also interconnected on a more fundamental level (I don’t want to give too much away, so you’ll have to read <i>The Testaments</i> for yourself). From these young girls’ perspectives, the reader learns how young children are indoctrinated into the Gilead ideology early, the expectations of women, and how regimented the social hierarchy of Gilead society is. As with most totalitarian governments</span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US">,</span><span class="TextRun SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-contrast="auto" lang="EN-US" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-kerning: none; font-size: 11pt; font-variant-ligatures: none !important; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;" xml:lang="EN-US"> fear, backbiting, and false accusations are rampant. The rigidity also makes Gilead prone to moral rot (not that it was built on good morals to begin with) and massive political corruption- which eventually contributes to the downfall of Gilead. </span><span class="EOP SCXW95218122 BCX0" data-ccp-props="{"201341983":0,"335559739":160,"335559740":259}" style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent; -webkit-user-drag: none; font-family: Calibri, Calibri_MSFontService, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 19.425px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; user-select: text;"> </span></div>
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Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-28545921941932308152019-07-19T20:11:00.000-07:002019-07-19T20:11:10.384-07:00Game of Thrones Psychology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: <i>Game of Thrones Psychology: The Mind is Dark and Full of Terrors</i><br />
Author: Travis Langley (editor)<br />
Genre: non-fiction, pop culture, psychology<br />
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<i>"We keep reading George R.R. Martin's stories and watching their onscreen depictions because we hope enough and believe enough of the characters will gain enough insight into their own natures and enough understanding of what really matters in time to save their world. Letting ourselves hope and believe in them helps us practice hoping and believing in ourselves and the future before us all" </i>(p.3).</div>
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If you are looking for a book to compliment the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Game of Thrones</i> TV show now that the series has ended, I would like to
recommend <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Game of Thrones Psychology</i>.
This anthology was published in 2016, so if you are one of the few people that
hasn’t watched the final season, this book will give nothing away. Each chapter
is written by a different psychologist who explains a psychological theory, model, or personality trait and then applies to a specific character in the show or to the overall world
of Westeros. Thankfully, the theories and models are explained in layman’s
terms and in short chapters, so a non-psychologist will not be overwhelmed by psychological jargon.
General topics covered include: freedom versus security, safety versus
security, love and marriage, parenting styles, death and mourning, love and
belonging, leadership, sexism, self-esteem, problem solving, self-control, and
story complexity and the brain (the complex nature of the GoT universe makes
you think and is good for you!). Chapters that focus on a psychological trait
within a specific character focus on: greed (ahem, Cersei), psychopathy (Ramsay
Bolton), overcoming abuse (Danerys Targaryen), trauma and posttraumatic growth
(Arya, Sansa, Dany), rape (Sansa), torture (Theon), The Great Mother Archetype
(Cersei versus Dany), phobias (The Hound), serial killers (Ramsay again),
heroism (Jon Snow, The Hound), and self-actualization (Master Aemon). <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-14676563225147205192019-06-11T09:06:00.000-07:002019-06-11T09:06:36.752-07:00Dress<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Title: <i>Dress</i><br />
Author: Anna Harris-Parker<br />
Genre: poetry, Georgia author, Augusta author<br />
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I have a confession to make: as much as I love reading, I have a difficult time finding poetry that speaks to me. That said, one of my friends, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/aharrisparkerpoet/" target="_blank">Anna Harris-Parke</a>r recently published her first book of poems, <i>Dress, </i>and though I don't know a lot about poetry, I attended her release party to support her and the literary community in Augusta.<br />
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The concept and layout of <i>Dress</i> is based on some fashion advice Anna's grandmother gave to her: "Always buy a CCC dress so you can wear it to church, the cemetery, or a cocktail party." (Great advice, right?). Each section features poems that highlight pivotal moments in life: </div>
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Church: faith (loss of faith, search for faith) </div>
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Cemetery: loss (romantic relationships, friendships, death)</div>
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Cocktail: love (meeting The One, weddings, family heritage)</div>
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During the Q&A section of her reading, Anna told the crowd that the poems in this book are a compilation of 10 years' worth of writing. She also encouraged aspiring writers and poets to find the writing method and mindset that works best for them and to be prepared for multiple rejection letters from publishing houses. </div>
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Still intrigued? You can purchase a copy of <i>Dress</i> <a href="https://mainstreetragbookstore.com/product/dress-anna-harris-parker/" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
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Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-69233796577613168482019-05-01T20:41:00.001-07:002019-05-01T20:45:14.768-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZmMe3XJ0JlUGD044OkbAJWIMkDpOaSz1IddvSUljSLxPinqHSYBbNpi0O9NIj80HLtJepuesPMHpBagmyYfP9VXHhGsCYXmf4_D-TE9AMZe_DH6G3WIN2T0EagSzh0lANR_HB2ydYzw/s1600/knife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZZmMe3XJ0JlUGD044OkbAJWIMkDpOaSz1IddvSUljSLxPinqHSYBbNpi0O9NIj80HLtJepuesPMHpBagmyYfP9VXHhGsCYXmf4_D-TE9AMZe_DH6G3WIN2T0EagSzh0lANR_HB2ydYzw/s320/knife.jpg" width="198" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>The Knife of Never Letting Go</i><br />
Author: Patrick Ness<br />
Genre: book club pick, book-to-movie, scifi, dystopian, young adult<br />
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At the beginning of <i>The Knife of Never Letting Go</i>, our protagonist, Todd Hewitt is one month away from his 13th birthday. Thirteenth birthdays are special in Prentisstown since this is when a boy "becomes a man." Becoming a man in Prentisstown is a mysterious process, and since Todd is the youngest resident, he is the last boy to reach manhood.<br />
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By now you're probably wondering when the girls of Prentisstown are considered women. Well, this never happens because there are no women in Prentisstown. They were killed by the Noise germ before Todd was born. Not only is Prentisstown a unique community because all the residents are males, it's also unique because the residents can hear each other's thoughts- they even hear the thoughts of animals (which comes in handy when trying to avoid crocodiles in the nearby swamp). The males of Prentisstown hear each other's thoughts all the time and there is no way to tune out the Noise (and it's invasive, frustrating, and uncomfortable, to say the least).<br />
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While Todd is literally counting the days to adulthood, he makes a startling discovery in the swamp that changes his life forever. His discovery is dangerous, although he doesn't know why at first, and since thoughts are public information in Prentisstown, the older men soon find out about his secret. Todd is sent away from town by his two adoptive fathers who give him a pre-packed backpack full of supplies, his mother's journal, and these vague instructions: "You ain't coming back, Todd... you can't...There's a map...but don't look at it, not till yer well outta town, okay? Just go to the swamp. You'll know what to do from there" (49, 51).<br />
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While running from the Prentisstown residents, Todd finds a girl in the swamp (Viola). Todd learns that Viola has secrets of her own- secrets he can't hear. Todd's worldview is literally expanded in his escape. He was told that Prentisstown was the only settlement on New World; Todd learns this is false. He also learns that the other settlements know more about the true history of Prentisstown than he does- a history he was shielded from for his own protection.<br />
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This was an awesome book- I read 300 pages in a few hours only to find out it ends on a cliffhanger!! This book club pick inspired a lively discussion about power, control, and masculinity. After you read it, let me know what themes stood out to you. Stay tuned for the movie version to be released in 2020 (<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2076822/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1">https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2076822/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1</a>).Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-89730811163246793702019-04-01T20:05:00.000-07:002019-04-01T20:05:39.647-07:00Houdini vs. Rasputin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBfkf3-gLD-sqIzOwowpf9ilcy92431qgBF9UyauUeZ3UhS_gyHPkFg4sfH2PJU2q_sz_KtA0WfVQsjESkzF4AQS8J6mIyZcRAFxq8WYMf9dLzeY4NLfknoZ9hmj58k5cMFX80AOyZ_Q/s1600/HvR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBfkf3-gLD-sqIzOwowpf9ilcy92431qgBF9UyauUeZ3UhS_gyHPkFg4sfH2PJU2q_sz_KtA0WfVQsjESkzF4AQS8J6mIyZcRAFxq8WYMf9dLzeY4NLfknoZ9hmj58k5cMFX80AOyZ_Q/s320/HvR.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>Houdini vs. Rasputin</i></div>
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Author: C. Michael Forsyth</div>
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Genre: historical fiction, historical mystery, adventure</div>
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Another action-packed historical adventure featuring America's most beloved magician- Harry <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-Houdini" target="_blank">Houdini</a>! This book takes place in Russia in the years 1903-1911, about a decade before <a href="http://freedomshammer.com/author.html" target="_blank">C. Michael Forsyth</a>'s other historical fiction novel about Harry Houdini, <i><a href="https://thesouthernbookworm.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2015-07-06T20:20:00-07:00&max-results=7" target="_blank">The Adventure of the Spook House</a></i>. The book opens with Harry escaping from a padlocked train car in Siberia, much to the consternation of the chief of the secret police. The favorable press piques the attention of the Tsar, and soon the Houdinis are performing in front of the royal court. Harry accidentally exposes the Tsarina's spiritual adviser as a fraud, in front of everyone at a dinner party (oops!). Although Harry angers certain members of the royal family over this showdown, the Tsar and Tsarina summon the Houdinis back to Russia eight years later to entertain the royal children. While staying in the royal palace, the Houdinis meet the infamous and creepy <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Grigory-Yefimovich-Rasputin" target="_blank">Rasputin</a>, who holds the royal family in his spiritual sway while engaging in certain distasteful behaviors on the streets. </div>
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Harry is soon recruited by the secret police to catch Rasputin in the act, and Harry's wife, Bess, joins in the investigation, too. And why do the secret police care about a stinky, creepy healer? The more Rasputin hangs around the royal children and the royal family, the more his personal political power and influence grows: "You revealed Monsieur Philippe to be a fraud. We hope that you can do the same for Rasputin. You must break his spell over the Tsarina, or the nation will fall into ruin. Revolution, blood in the streets- and I am being quite literal" (Chapter 10). </div>
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Harry traces Rasputin through the streets of Saint Petersburg and follows Rasputin's past in the Russian countryside. What Harry finds is a mystic and healer with uncontrolled, evil impulses. Rasputin and his henchmen seem to be everywhere and aware of Harry's every move. Harry almost dies during one of his public escape tricks, is almost burned alive in a barn, and is chased by Rasputin himself through the snowy landscape of Siberia. While Harry is creating new escape scenarios to entertain the public and pursuing the evil mystic during a group cleansing ceremony, he meets Lenin and the beginnings of the Bolsheviks, and almost has a run in with a young Stalin. Add in motorcycles, horses, and reindeer (oh my!) and you have an action-packed adventure mystery set in the last days of the Russian empire. </div>
Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-70553851165316308362019-03-16T16:50:00.000-07:002019-03-16T16:50:25.641-07:00Vox<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuO6DyFPvV2-XjphayhCgVrLJ1Snn0QYyOWIJt25ifBSy_hbMySUZesBo2UIjB3FepEU8fNzg-dxQPPQEi7PD6SWxBhEl8mqb3PkBFYs8RDD7nEpAjMyUsVeWtqv0_z1Sg9X6AjhZpAA/s1600/Vox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCuO6DyFPvV2-XjphayhCgVrLJ1Snn0QYyOWIJt25ifBSy_hbMySUZesBo2UIjB3FepEU8fNzg-dxQPPQEi7PD6SWxBhEl8mqb3PkBFYs8RDD7nEpAjMyUsVeWtqv0_z1Sg9X6AjhZpAA/s320/Vox.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>Vox</i></div>
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Author: Christina Dalcher</div>
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Genres: feminist fiction, dystopian, book club pick</div>
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Imagine a world where every word matters...literally. You have a daily limit of 100 words and this limit is monitored through a bracelet locked around your wrist. If you go over your 100-word limit, a painful, electric shock courses through your body. If you continue to speak, each subsequent shock is more painful than the last. So what horrible is this used as a punishment? Being born a female.</div>
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The world of <i>Vox</i> echoes many of the same plot points as <i>The Handmaid's Tale</i>: an extremist religious group takes over the government quickly and shuts down the rights and freedoms of the female population. Birth control is outlawed. Women are forced to leave their jobs and all acts of reading are illegal. In <i>THT</i>, women could't even drive although this is allowed in the <i>Vox </i>universe. Mail can only be delivered to the male head of household (women don't have keys to their own family's mailbox). All passports, reading materials, and electronic devices are taken away from women and locked by their husbands. Recipe books, pens, paper, magnets with words- all gone. The husbands also control the key to the word-counting device on their wives' wrists. Adulterous women are sent to work farms in the western US and their wrist counters are set to zero (they can't talk at all). All women are forced to live with their closest male relative. If a woman has no male relative she is forced into a life of prostitution, serving the desires of the male populace (married and single). LGBTQ individuals are sent to prison camps and never heard from again. When a woman is caught breaking the law, her head is shaved, and she is publicly shamed on national television before she is shipped off to a work camp. Government surveillance of the citizens is amped up in an attempt to catch women trying to subvert the rules through nonverbal forms of communication. Girls' education is focused on math and home economics, "One day my daughter will be expected to shop and run a household, to be a devoted and dutiful wife. You need math for that, but not spellin. Not literature. Not a voice" (2). </div>
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Dr. Jean McClellan silently chafes at these rules but her new world is unexpectedly turned upside down when the US President personally asks for her help in finding a cure for his brother after his brother suffered extensive brain damage in a skiiing accident. Dr. McClellan is a sociolinguist specializing in finding a cure for stroke victims's speech loss in the Wernicke's area of the brain. In exchange for her research time, Dr. McClellan gets to experience bits of her old life: work in the lab, no wrist counter, reading, and use of her laptop. Unfortunately, she and her team have a tight deadline and they are constantly watched by government agents. Of course, the government wants Dr. McClellan's research and cure for more than the president's brother...</div>
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This book started out as five stars for me but I ended up downgrading it to four stars. While I enjoyed the quick plot and short chapters, I felt the ending was rushed and I was very disappointed when a major moment of comeuppance happened off the page. At first all the men in the book are portrayed as weenies or jerks, but eventually a few allies appear in the plot. One of the members of my book club didn't like how the book portrayed only kind of Christian (the controlling, extremist kind) without also including some moderate Christians that were against these new laws. Due to the quick nature of the book, there were some unanswered questions for me:</div>
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A whole nation of men let the government install wrist counters on their wives and there were no protests from the male citizens?</div>
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If nonverbal communication between women was forbidden, what happened to deaf women? In one scene, Dr. McClellan sees two mothers and their toddlers communicating in a made up sign language. The women and children were promptly whisked away, never to be seen again. </div>
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In the Acknowledgments page, the author mentions that she wrote the book in two months. This is an admirable feat since I imagine it's difficult to write a book in any amount of time, but I wonder if the book could have benefited from a bit more editing to answer those questions and add a bit more detail to the plot. </div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-36704786806099473722019-01-14T19:52:00.000-08:002019-01-14T19:52:10.044-08:00Banned/Challenged Books Double Feature**This post originally appeared on a Banned/Challenged Books discussion board for my Children's Literature class**<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqUTd_2HgInE9SM7Hgk4p3xGvIHtpBwbNQpyZX2qoAoy2ktxz_T-L0w4aKx0YeHUaH31oZFM0e46bLN_T7CtPbEypSHGG6-Kxc7UhqRkBdfPuvYpv_BhkkbZXgVJsdCAnaLFHhIt_PcQ/s1600/HabibiCover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXqUTd_2HgInE9SM7Hgk4p3xGvIHtpBwbNQpyZX2qoAoy2ktxz_T-L0w4aKx0YeHUaH31oZFM0e46bLN_T7CtPbEypSHGG6-Kxc7UhqRkBdfPuvYpv_BhkkbZXgVJsdCAnaLFHhIt_PcQ/s1600/HabibiCover.jpg" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>Habibi</i><br />
Author: Craig Thompson<br />
Genre: graphic novel, magical realism, mythology, banned or challenged book<br />
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I just finished reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Habibi</i> and, oh my goodness, I don’t even know where to begin my
review. At 672 pages, there is a lot of material and themes to process. First
off, I would like to mention the positive aspects of the book: the plot is
interwoven with magical realism, Islamic mythology, beautiful Islamic artwork,
and intricate calligraphy (this book contains the prettiest and most ornate
title page I have ever seen). Some aspects of the book that will make some
readers uncomfortable are violence, rape, abuse, full frontal female nudity
(and lots of it), lack of female agency, and male characters that epitomize
“Western culture’s sheik stereotype of Arab men as overly sexualized, brutal,
and greedy rapists” (Miller, 2016). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Habibi</span></i><span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> is told from the
alternating viewpoints of Dodola and Zam who have both experienced various
forms of tragedy and trauma in their young lives. Dodola’s family sold her at
age 9 into marriage to ward off starvation due to drought. Her husband was a
scribe and taught her to read and write. Dodola and her husband were separated
after thieves broke into their house, kidnapped Dodola, and killed her husband.
Dodola and Zam met at the slave market after Dodola found him abandoned and
saved him from the slavers’ swords. After a daring escape through the market
and sewers, they stowaway on a carpet-laden camel that’s part of a desert
caravan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Although they find sanctuary in their ship of the desert,
life is still not easy for Dodola and Zam. Dodola takes care of Zam in a
motherly fashion but soon learns that survival for a woman in the desert
includes treating her body as a commodity. Dodola tries to shield Zam from this
harsh reality but after he discovers her secret, he takes on some “breadwinning
duties” to protect her. Dodola and Zam lived in their desert dwelling for nine
years until Dodola was kidnapped and taken to the sultan’s palace as a prize.
Dodola enters into a bargain with the sultan for her freedom, which the sultan
reneges on at the last minute. Soon Dodola becomes pregnant and grief, guilt,
and worry over Zam consume her during the course of her pregnancy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While Dodola is trapped in the palace walls, Zam’s also
finds survival difficult alone on the abandoned desert boat. He heads to the
nearest town, lives on the streets, and barely survives on menial labor. A
woman from the local hijra community takes him under her wing and introduces
him to their beliefs and lifestyle: “You called me a pervert? Why? Because I
cut off my manhood? I did it to give myself wholly to God. I am not a pervert.
I am an ASCETIC, and my community is my monastery” (Thompson, 2011, p. 328). At
first Zam believes that Nahid and the others are perverts but Zam eventually
becomes a eunuch to quench his carnal desires for women; since Dodola
disappeared he can’t stop thinking about her in a sexual manner. The hijras
earn their money and food by visiting weddings and new mothers and yelling.
Since the hijras are looked upon as freaks, the locals give them food and money
to make them go away. While Nahid became a hijra for spiritual enlightenment,
others become a hijra for more sensual reasons. When Ghaniyah, the biggest wage
earner of the hijras, is brutally attacked and raped, Zam is coerced by the
others to prostitute himself so that the whole community can survive, thus
mirroring Dodola’s survival-by-prostitution. Fortunately, Zam never fulfills
the role of prostitute since his first customer is a human trafficker who
kidnaps Zam and sends him straight to the sultan’s palace- where Dodola is!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Once again, they escape, mirroring their first journey
through the sewers which makes Dodola gravely ill due to the pollution and
disease in the city’s water supply. They are taken in by Noah who “fishes” the
sewers for treasures he can give to his fellow citizens. This is where the book
turned weird for me. Noah started out happy-go-lucky until his water converter
contraption exploded in his home and then he takes a fatalistic tone, “Our
species is destined to consume itself…We’ve poisoned the earth, and we’ve
poisoned ourselves” (Thompson, 2011, p. 505). Eventually, Dodola and Zam
rebuild a life for themselves and save a little girl from the slave market. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I enjoyed the artistry of the book overall but there were
some parts I found confusing. When the story is told from Dodola’s viewpoint,
her time in the sultan’s palace is intertwined with flashbacks from her
childhood, meeting Zam, and living with Zam on the boat. I felt the non-linear
storytelling to be very jarring at first. I was also confused when in time this
story takes place- I assumed it was before the modern era because of the
sultan’s harem, but once Dodola starts walking around Wanatolia, there are
cars, Pepsi signs, and people wearing a mixture of traditional Arabic garments
and modern Western fashion. Also, the environmental aspect seemed to come out
of nowhere and felt out of place with the rest of the themes and content of the
book. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I loved the imagery of the book and I wish there was an
author’s note at the back explaining some of the imagery and suggestions for
further reading. There were lots of references to rivers and water in the beginning
of the book when Dodola and Zam are living in the middle of the desert:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“From the Divine Pen fell
the first drop of ink. And from a drop, a river” (p. 9)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“an ocean of sand” (p.
24)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">·<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Once there had been a
river here…meandering…a muted voice” (p.30-31)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The number 9 was mentioned repeatedly in the book but
when I tried to research the significance of the number 9 in Islam and Islamic
mythology, I really couldn’t find anything, so I don’t know if this has
cultural significance or if the number 9 has personal meaning for the author:
“Zam was twelve when we were torn apart. He was three when we met. He is 9
years younger. We spent nine years together. For nine months, someone else has
grown in my womb” (Thompson, 2011, p.109). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I would reserve my recommendation for this book for
mature teenagers and adults and warn them that is triggering content that some
readers might find disturbing and traumatic if they have suffered past trauma
themselves. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This book has earned mixed reviews which you can read at
the below links. While reading <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Habibi</i>
did any of the concerns listed in these articles come to your mind? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Medium: </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://medium.com/@ndamluji/the-spectre-of-orientalism-in-craig-thompsons-habibi-dde9d499f403">https://medium.com/@ndamluji/the-spectre-of-orientalism-in-craig-thompsons-habibi-dde9d499f403</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
New York Times: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/books/review/habibi-written-and-illustrated-by-craig-thompson-book-review.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/books/review/habibi-written-and-illustrated-by-craig-thompson-book-review.html</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The Humanist: <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://thehumanist.com/arts_entertainment/books/lets-talk-banned-books-craig-thompsons-graphic-novel-habibi-powerful-problematic">https://thehumanist.com/arts_entertainment/books/lets-talk-banned-books-craig-thompsons-graphic-novel-habibi-powerful-problematic</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Recommended Readalikes: <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Desert of Souls</i>
by Howard Andrew Jones. This Tor.com review compares this
fantasy/action/adventure describes this novel <span style="background: white; color: #545353; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">as “Sherlock
Holmes crossed with <em><span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; padding: 0in;">The Arabian Nights</span></em> except Watson has a sword” and
“a cross between Sinbad and Indiana Jones.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Years of Rice
and Salt </span></i>by Kim Stanley Robinson is an alternative historical
fiction novel that looks at how history might have changed if the bubonic
plague in 14<sup>th</sup> century Europe had killed 99% of the European
population and Middle Eastern and Asian civilizations became the superpowers in
the pre-modern and modern eras. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Citations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Charlton, B. (2011). Arabian culture myth as fantasy: an
interview with debut historical fantasist Howard Jones. Retrieve from <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.tor.com/2011/02/18/howard-jones-interview/">https://www.tor.com/2011/02/18/howard-jones-interview/</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Creswell. R. (2011). The graphic novel as orientalist mash-up. Retrieved
from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/books/review/habibi-written-and-illustrated-by-craig-thompson-book-review.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/16/books/review/habibi-written-and-illustrated-by-craig-thompson-book-review.html</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Damluji, N. (2017). The spectre of orientalism in Craig Thompson’s
Habibi. Retrieved from <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://medium.com/@ndamluji/the-spectre-of-orientalism-in-craig-thompsons-habibi-dde9d499f403">https://medium.com/@ndamluji/the-spectre-of-orientalism-in-craig-thompsons-habibi-dde9d499f403</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Jones, H.A. (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
desert of souls</i>. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Miller, M. (2016). Let’s talk about banned books: Craig
Thompson’s graphic novel <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Habibi</i> is
powerful and problematic. Retrieved from<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://thehumanist.com/arts_entertainment/books/lets-talk-banned-books-craig-thompsons-graphic-novel-habibi-powerful-problematic">https://thehumanist.com/arts_entertainment/books/lets-talk-banned-books-craig-thompsons-graphic-novel-habibi-powerful-problematic</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Robinson, K.S. (2003). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The years of rice and salt.</i> New York: Bantam Books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 6.0pt;">
<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thompson, C. (2011). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Habibi</i>.
New York: Pantheon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoY17WLjlqg47khfHmnqZ4cp1wr8iJVChicBe09C5-FuYAclVx5d8bGIsvkJo26crEEM7VPdeLKG3FxXQ676WgeWGZmtH-LJC_G7cP_7CrnBpdjfVCye3dhg4aDdNW86dVwm73q5XoAU/s1600/ThirteenReasonsWhy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="220" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHoY17WLjlqg47khfHmnqZ4cp1wr8iJVChicBe09C5-FuYAclVx5d8bGIsvkJo26crEEM7VPdeLKG3FxXQ676WgeWGZmtH-LJC_G7cP_7CrnBpdjfVCye3dhg4aDdNW86dVwm73q5XoAU/s320/ThirteenReasonsWhy.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Title: <i>Thirteen Reasons Why</i></div>
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Author: Jay Asher</div>
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Genres and Themes: YA, realistic fiction, banned or challenged book, teen suicide</div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The second book I chose for this week
was <i>Thirteen Reasons Why</i>; I remember
this was a controversial book-to-TV adaptation when it was released on Netflix
a year or two ago. I remember from various social media posts that teens seemed
to love the show, but some adults thought it glorified suicide. I never watched
the show since I always try to read the book first, but now that I have read
the book, I don’t think suicide was glorified at all. The book was extremely
well written, I could barely put it down, so now I will have to watch the show
soon and find out for myself if all the fussing was justified. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">There are two protagonists with
intersecting, first person narratives in this book; it sounds confusing but
it’s not. The reader views Clay’s emotional suffering and thoughts along with
Hannah’s even though the events affecting both of them took place at different
times. Hannah’s story arc unfolded over a few years, while the reader views the
world through Clay’s eyes over a few days. Clay, along with his high school, is
grieving the suicide of his major crush and classmate, Hannah Baker, when a
mysterious package arrives on his doorstep: 13 cassette tapes narrated by
Hannah: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“I hope you’re ready, because I’m
about to tell you the story of my life. More specifically, why my life ended.
And if you’re listening to these tapes, you’re one of the reasons why….The
rules are pretty simple. There are only two. Rule number one. You listen. Rule
number two. You pass it on. Hopefully, neither one will be easy for you. When
you’re done listening to all thirteen sides- because there are thirteen sides
to every story-rewind the tapes, put them back in the box, and pass them on to
whoever follows your little tale” (Asher, 2007, p. 8-10). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">So, who contributed to Hannah’s
death?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Justin Foley- Hannah’s first kiss
although Justin started rumors that lied and exaggerated what really happened
between them. (And that’s when Hannah’s reputation problem began. Once Clay
heard the truth about the kiss and the aftermath, he realized, “Her reputation
started in Justin Foley’s imagination” (Asher, 2007, p. 39). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Alex Standall- voted Hannah “Best Ass
in Freshman Class.” Of course, this did not help Hannah’s reputation and
certain male classmates felt the need to capitalize on this. “Every single
event documented here may never have happened had you, Alex, not written my
name on that list. It’s that simple. You needed someone to put down opposite
Jessica’s. And once everyone at school already had a perverted image of me
after Justin’s little number, I was the perfect choice, wasn’t I?” (Asher, 2007,
p. 41). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jessica Davis- Hannah started her
freshman year hanging out with Jessica and the above-mentioned Alex. All three
of them were freshmen and new to the town. But Alex ruined it with his
“special” list and it drove a wedge between Hannah and Jessica because of the
“Hot/Not” designation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Tyler Down- peeping Tom. Hannah and
Courtney Crimsen caught him hanging outside of Hannah’s bedroom window, taking
photographs, and participating in certain other activities.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Courtney Crimsen- Hannah’s
fairweather friend. She helped Hannah with the Peeping Tom issue and then
ignored Hannah for weeks. Courtney has a reputation for being “perfect” but
Hannah saw through Courtney’s façade pretty quickly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Marcus Pooley- asks Hannah out on an
ice cream date and then shows up 30 minutes late because he viewed it as a
joke. Marcus then proceeds to try and feel up Hannah’s leg. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Zach Dempsey- awkwardly attempts to
ask her out immediately after Hannah pushes away Marcus (Zach, seriously needs
to work on his timing). He steals notes from Hannah’s paper bag in their Peer
Communication class. “It’s there that I first started to consider…a word that I
still cannot say” (Asher, 2007, p.161). “My world was collapsing. I needed
those notes. I needed any hope those notes might have offered…You took that
hope away. You decided I didn’t serve to have it” (Asher, 2007, p.165). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Ryan Shaver- editor of the school’s
newspaper. He stole Hannah’s most personal poem and published it in the school
paper. “School hadn’t been a safe haven of mine for a long time. And after your
photo escapade, Tyler, my home was no longer secure. Now, suddenly, even my own
thoughts were being offered up for ridicule” (Asher, 2007, p. 192). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Clay Jensen- Clay is the only person
on this list that was kind to Hannah and treated her like a human being.
Hannah’s quote about his reputation shows how his reputation amongst their
peers was in complete opposition to her reputation: “Most of what I knew was secondhand
information and that’s why I wanted to know him better. Because everything I
heard- and I mean everything!- was good” (Asher, 2007, p. 198). Hannah and Clay
talk for hours at a party, share a kiss, but the events mentioned above
prevented Hannah from enjoying the moment with Clay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Justin Foley (again): While Hannah
was hiding in a bedroom at the party, she hides in a closet and is an auditory
witness to a rape of an unconscious girl by one of Justin’s friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jenny Kurtz- cheerleader who drives
Hannah home from the party or attempts to before her drunken driving takes out
a stop sign. Hannah tries to stop Jenny from driving but is unsuccessful. This
unreported crash ends in tragedy later that night in a two-vehicle crash where
a high school student is killed, and an elderly man injured. Hannah feels tons
of guilt for not attempting to do more to stop the rape and not reporting the
stop sign accident right away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Bryce Walker- has a reputation as a
player and abusive to his many girlfriends. He’s on Hannah’s list because of an
incident involving a hot tube (this scene might be upsetting and triggering for
some people). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Mr. Porter- school guidance
counselor. Hannah goes to him for help about life and Mr. Porter totally screws
it up. Encourages Hannah to “let go” of the fact she was a witness to a crime
(this part exasperated me the most in the book). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">All of these incidents had a snowball
effect on Hannah’s mental and emotional health. Since her parents were busy
with business drama and she had no real friends in this new town, she had no
one to turn to for help. This book also showed how people, events, and actions
are interconnected and that rumors and gossip regarding sexual issues and women
is usually negative, while men benefit from rumors and gossip about their
sexual escapades. There were a few times when Hannah accused someone of “taking
hope away,” “taking my reputation away,” and “you decided I didn’t deserve it”
which points to underlying themes of power and harassment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Hannah tried asking for help through
an anonymous note that served as a class discussion prompt, but that proved
fruitless too. Suicide is still a taboo topic in our society and researchers
still haven’t defined a single cause of suicide. Of course, it doesn’t help when
someone’s suicidal signs or tendencies are dismissed as attention-seeking
behavior. No, it’s a silent cry for help! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Some notable quotes from the text:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“When you hold people up for
ridicule, you have to take responsibility when other people act on it” (p. 53).
(This needs to be plastered all over social media!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“For the longest time, from almost
day one at this school, it seemed that I was the only one who cared about me”
(p. 144). Clay tried to help her in his limited way, but Hannah pushed him
away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“No one knows for certain how much
impact they have on the lives of other people” (p.156). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Before I list my book
recommendations, I want to list the two most important resources of this post:
the phone numbers for the Georgia and national suicide prevention hotlines:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Georgia Crisis and Access Line:
1-800-715-4225<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
1-800-273-8255<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">I found this interesting article
while researching the hotline numbers: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/10/suicide-hotline-national-suicide-prevention-lifeline-what-happens-when-you-call/966151002/">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/10/suicide-hotline-national-suicide-prevention-lifeline-what-happens-when-you-call/966151002/</a></span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Readalikes (descriptions provided by
Epic Reads): <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>The Last Time We Say Goodbye</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> by Cynthia Hand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #161616;">The
Last Time We Say Goodbye follows the story of those left behind when a loved
one commits suicide. This is a gorgeous and heart-wrenching story of
love, loss, and letting go.</span><span style="color: #161616; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When
she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn’t look
at her like she might break down at any moment.</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Now she’s just the girl whose brother killed
himself. And it feels like that’s all she’ll ever be.</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">As Lex starts to put her life back together, she
tries to block out what happened the night Tyler died. But there’s a secret she
hasn’t told anyone-a text Tyler sent, that could have changed everything.Lex’s
brother is gone. But Lex is about to discover that a ghost doesn’t have to be
real to keep you from moving on.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #161616;">It's Kind of a Funny Story</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #161616;"> by Ned
Vizzini<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #161616;">“A remarkably moving tale about the
unexpected road to happiness. Like 13 Reasons Why, this story explores suicide
and the importance of mental health.</span><span style="color: #161616; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is
determined to succeed at life – which means getting into the right high school
to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan’s
Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He
stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.</span><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a
mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a transsexual sex addict, a
girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President
Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Asher, J. (2007). <i>Thirteen reasons why. </i>New York: Penguin.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Dastagir, Alia E. (2018). What
actually happens when you call the suicide prevention lifeline. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/10/suicide-hotline-national-suicide-prevention-lifeline-what-happens-when-you-call/966151002/">https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2018/09/10/suicide-hotline-national-suicide-prevention-lifeline-what-happens-when-you-call/966151002/</a></span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Epic Reads (2017). 13 YA books to
read if you loved Thirteen Reasons Why. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://www.epicreads.com/blog/books-read-after-13-reasons-why/">https://www.epicreads.com/blog/books-read-after-13-reasons-why/</a></span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Hand, C. (2015). <i>The last time we say goodbye</i>. New York: HarperTeen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Vizzini, N. (2007). <i>It’s kind of a funny story</i>. New York:
Disney-Hyperion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-74975039027645875382019-01-11T14:35:00.002-08:002019-01-11T14:35:46.967-08:00Juvenile Nonfiction Double Feature<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
**These reviews were originally posted on a Juvenile Nonfiction discussion board for my Children's Literature class**</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycDNLunhWTxc4dKJPWw6GVw8VsrtqMC-LidHM-J9JAd09mCvAd373dMwT7fFT90HjotpBcbVLg43XFIbqe2kq6gzyV_Z8Rgxe9xXWyB85ec6VaTM2r2DULAGBOOjB7FB5ooOiG_scFsI/s1600/Funny-Bones-Posada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="412" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjycDNLunhWTxc4dKJPWw6GVw8VsrtqMC-LidHM-J9JAd09mCvAd373dMwT7fFT90HjotpBcbVLg43XFIbqe2kq6gzyV_Z8Rgxe9xXWyB85ec6VaTM2r2DULAGBOOjB7FB5ooOiG_scFsI/s320/Funny-Bones-Posada.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras</i></div>
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Author: Duncan Tonatiuh</div>
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Genres: juvenile nonfiction, holidays around the world, read for school, juvenile biography</div>
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<i>Funny Bones: Posada and His Day of the Dead Calaveras</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> is a combination picture book/informational book about the
little known (at least in the US) Mexican artist, Posada. <i>Funny Bones</i> chronicles the life of Posada from budding artist days
as a child, to print shop apprentice and political cartoonist as an adult. His
experiences and talent eventually came together with his prolific creations of
literary calaveras.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The illustrations are folk art in
style, inspired by Posada’s playful skeletons and the book also contains an
author’s note about the Day of the Dead holiday, a glossary and pronunciation
guide of Spanish language terms, a bibliography, art credits, and a list of
museums where visitors can view Posada’s works. Due to the amount of material
in this book, I would recommend this as a readaloud book, if reading to younger
children; older elementary-aged children with an advanced reading level could
handle this on their own. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">On pages 17-31, the author uses
repetition and questions to keep a child’s interest. In this section Tonatiuh’s
illustrations alternate with calavera drawings and questions about the deeper
meaning behind the drawings. At first, I was annoyed that the questions appear
to give away the symbolism and hidden meaning, but then I had to remind myself
that this is a children’s book, and symbolism needs to be explained to children
due to their age, stage of development, and limited life experience. Tonatiuh
is “using a familiar, expected pattern to make children feel comfortable and
ready to face the unfamiliar and unexpected” (Horning, 2010, p. 90). Both the
holiday (Dia de los Muertos) and the concept of death are both unfamiliar to
children. The use of questions in the text also serves multiple purposes: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">add auditory
variety to the text<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">keep little minds
focused on the story<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">lets children try
their growing critical thinking skills<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">gives the adult
reader a quick assessment of the child’s understand of the text (Horning, p.91)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Dia de los Muertos is little known in
much of the United States, but I have noticed in the past few years that sugar
skulls (alfeñiques) are melding more and more with traditional American
Halloween decorations. Dia de los Muertos occurs on November 1-2, right after
Halloween, but it is not a scary holiday like Halloween can be. Although
Halloween can be family-friendly, some people go over the top with the scary
elements such as haunted houses, fantastical creatures, and various bits of
gore. Dia de los Muertos is a holiday dedicated to respectful ancestor worship:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> “People often go to the cemetery
to pray. They weed and repaint the gravestones of their loved ones. They bring
their loved ones’ favorite food and tell stories about them. Sometimes they
hire musicians to play their loved ones’ favorite songs. They have a picnic and
spend the whole day at the cemetery. In some places they spend the entire night
too” (Tonatiuh, 2015, p.36). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Now compare this to how most
Americans view/treat cemeteries:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">We only visit a
cemetery when we have to (a funeral)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Cemeteries are
run by funeral industry professionals (part of the reason why funerals are so
expensive)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Local
government-owned cemeteries are full and budgets are not which has led to a
deterioration in upkeep<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Old, private
family cemeteries become overgrown and eventually forgotten<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Genealogists
wander around cemeteries taking photos of gravestones<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">If someone in the US stayed at a
cemetery all day and night, other people would assume that person is mentally
ill or homeless; that same person would be accused of loitering and escorted
off the premises by the police. If someone painted a gravestone at a US
cemetery, they would be arrested for vandalism; if musicians were hired to sing
and play in a cemetery, everyone involved would be arrested for disturbing the
peace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Readalikes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>A Gift for Abuelita</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> by Nancy
Luenn [picture book] Review from Colours of Us blog: “</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1c1c;">tells the
story of a young girl’s bond with her deceased grandmother. Abuelita taught
Rosita how to braid, make tortillas, and grow chiles. On the Day of the Dead,
Rosita makes a beautiful braid as a gift to her beloved abuelita. With unique
paper pulp illustrations, this is an affectionate picture about loss and the
healing power of remembrance.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1c1c;">Day of the
Dead Crafts: More Than 21 Projects that Celebrate Dia de los Muertos</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1c1c;"> by Kerry
Arquette, Andrea Zocchi, and Jerry Virgil. Instead of learning by reading, kids
can learn by doing! Crafts include calaveras, masks, sugar skulls, altar, and
jewelry. A nice way to tie in a hands-on element to learning about other
cultures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1c1c;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1c1c;">Arquette, K., Zocchi, A., and Virgil, J. (2008). <i>Day of the dead crafts: more than 21
projects that celebrate dia de los muertos</i>. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Horning, K.T. (2010). <i>From
cover to cover: evaluation and reviewing children’s books</i>. New York:
HarperCollins. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1c1c;">Luenn, N. (2004). <i>A
gift for abuelita</i>. New York: Cooper Square Press. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1c1c1c;">Tonatiuh, D. (2015). </span><i>Funny bones: Posada and his day of the dead Calaveras</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">. New York: Harry N. Abrams. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWh_dHZ9vCp3C8iPWwhJmOwKZXVZ4lkYj-CD7jzMHD1dEE65WZ1or5Q1K953R7J2kNpWOEj3d2SprNUKIfgEA8kg39y8QpUBTm8nye2fX4vznp-eVmZ3N0f0CGxaeeQ8pcRSP8yjFwS4/s1600/jmhemmings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="379" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWh_dHZ9vCp3C8iPWwhJmOwKZXVZ4lkYj-CD7jzMHD1dEE65WZ1or5Q1K953R7J2kNpWOEj3d2SprNUKIfgEA8kg39y8QpUBTm8nye2fX4vznp-eVmZ3N0f0CGxaeeQ8pcRSP8yjFwS4/s320/jmhemmings.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>My Names is James Madison Hemmings</i></div>
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Author: Jonah Winter and Terry Widener</div>
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Genres: juvenile nonfiction, juvenile biography, read for school</div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">In the article, “How Nonfiction
Reveals the Nature of Science,” the authors caution against selecting science
books that contain “idealized descriptions of scientists as heroic and larger
than life” (Zarnowski and Turkel, 2013, p. 298). This same advice could also be
used when selecting nonfiction materials related to the Founding Fathers of the
United States, of which Thomas Jefferson was one. Jefferson has been
memorialized as a president and author of our nation’s founding document, <i>The Declaration of Independence</i>. This
memorialization in text and architecture (the Jefferson Memorial) glosses over
the more disturbing details of Jefferson’s life. Like all of us, he was
imperfect, but after reading this book, he could also be viewed as hypocritical
too (or some will argue, a man of his time). In the Author’s Note, Jonah Winter
states that “Jefferson’s life and legacy are full of contradictions” (Winter,
2016, p. 31), which is putting the contradictions in Jefferson’s personal life
and public politics, quite mildly!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">In <i>My Name is James Madison Hemings</i>, we read about Jefferson’s son was
born into slavery due to the slave status of his mother, Sally Hemings. We read
about James’ efforts to reconcile that his master was also his father, and that
he would never receive the same amount of love or education that Jefferson’s
white children and grandchildren received. Although James, his mother, and his
siblings were slaves, they were spared some of the harsher parts of slave life
due to their biological connection to Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson spared the
Hemings family from participating in backbreaking field labor, gave the
Hemmings boys violins, and let the Hemings children learn to read and write, in
a time when it was illegal to educate slaves in any manner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">There is debate nowadays on whether
the relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson was consensual or
not. While this book doesn’t talk about that aspect of the Hemings/Jefferson
relationship, the book tells us that Sally and her children were relocated from
the slaves’ quarters to the dependencies- rooms near a smokehouse and the horse
stables. Moving the Hemings family to the section of Monticello where animals
lived and died was an act of kindness with a double meaning; this relocation could
be interpreted that the Hemings were viewed in a liminal status by Jefferson:
not animals, but not quite human either.
After Jefferson died, his children were freed from the bonds of slavery,
but Sally, their mother, was not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Although the author notes that he
“presented this story in a first-person narrative as historical fiction”
(Winter, 2016, p. 31), the spine label on my library copy says, “J B Hemings”
for Juvenile Biography. If I were to recommend this book to someone, I would
tell them not to be fooled by the slimness of the text. Although the book may
be small in pages, the content within is intense for a children’s book. I would
recommend this for an older elementary child due to the serious content of the
book. The impressionistic art style of the illustrations mirrors James’
uncertainty about his father’s affections and his own place in the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">You can read more about Sally Hemings
and her legacy at the Monticello website.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Readalikes: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 13.5pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Lift Your Light a Little Higher: The Story of
Stephen Bishop: Slave-Explorer</span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> by
Heather Henson. (Synopsis from <i>Kirkus
Reviews</i>): “</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This story whispers of the life of a man most contemporary
American readers should know but don’t. Stephen Bishop, born circa 1821, had
intimate knowledge of Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, where he served as guide for
visitors who traveled far to tour the underground passageways. Despite the ban
against teaching slaves to read, Stephen acquired literacy and wrote his name
on the ceiling of Mammoth Cave by using smoke from a lighted candle. Henson
weaves Bishop’s impressive scientific discoveries of cave life into the sparse
narrative, demonstrating the magnitude of his contributions despite that little
is known of his life or death…A story that recovers an important piece of
African-American history inextricably tied to the history of Mammoth Cave, a
national monument visited by 2 million people each year.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library</span></i> <span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">by
Carole Boston Weatherford.</span> <span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Synopsis from <i>Kirkus Reviews</i>): “<span style="color: #333333;">An eccentric, smart, and quirky bibliophile, Arturo
Schomburg fueled his life with books. This picture book of free verse poems,
lavishly illustrated in oils, opens with stories from Schomburg’s childhood in
Puerto Rico, where he constantly asked why the history of black people had been
left out of all the history books. Answering him, framed, date-stamped panels,
appearing primarily on the right sides of the double-page spreads throughout,
capture the stories of important historical black figures such as Phillis
Wheatley, Frederick Douglass, and Paul Cuffee. The poem “Whitewash” will
surprise some readers; Schomburg objected to the common practice of omitting
from biographies the African heritage of prominent individuals such as
naturalist and ornithologist John James Audubon, French writer Alexandre Dumas,
Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, and German composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
Alongside these, Schomburg’s personal and professional life unfolds in unframed
images. Schomburg worked as a mail clerk with Banker’s Trust; his book-collecting
and library building resulted from his life’s passion, not his vocation. All of
the book’s details paint Schomburg as an admirable, flawed, likable, passionate
man whose lasting legacy, Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black
Culture, opens its doors to all who would learn more about the people its
founder knew had been left out of the written record. A must-read for a deeper
understanding of a well-connected genius who enriched the cultural road map for
African-Americans and books about them.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Kirkus Reviews, (2016, June 28). Lift
your light a little higher. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/heather-henson/lift-your-light-a-little-higher/">https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/heather-henson/lift-your-light-a-little-higher/</a></span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Kirkus Reviews, (2017, May 24).
Schomburg: the man who built a library. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/carole-boston-weatherford/schomburg/">https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/carole-boston-weatherford/schomburg/</a></span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc.
(2018). The Life of Sally Hemings. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><a href="https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/">https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/</a></span></span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Winter, J. and Widener, T. (2016). <i>My name is James Madison Hemmings</i>. New
York: Schwartz & Wade Books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Zarnowski, M. and Turkel, S. (2013).
How nonfiction reveals the nature of science. <i>Children’s Literature in Education </i>44(4), 295-310. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-67674138032226458772019-01-06T09:13:00.000-08:002019-01-06T09:13:00.188-08:00Stella by Starlight and Boxers & Saints<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbbxS8DwHRJHp53FXkifYd8PXx7sNbXfE2HHpS32uXJaZp3oupUbK89Ccun0AVc2ARtpb5-yHTn9T86Q7s_XxLkCEoDKWwZyi3lFVcdd3K4A5O1CtpNCqYquC_Z0CUcCWD7jxfLRXcGM/s1600/Stella+by+Starlight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNbbxS8DwHRJHp53FXkifYd8PXx7sNbXfE2HHpS32uXJaZp3oupUbK89Ccun0AVc2ARtpb5-yHTn9T86Q7s_XxLkCEoDKWwZyi3lFVcdd3K4A5O1CtpNCqYquC_Z0CUcCWD7jxfLRXcGM/s320/Stella+by+Starlight.jpg" width="211" /></a></div>
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**These posts originally appeared on a Historical Fiction for Youth discussion board for my Children's Literature Class**<br />
<br />
Title: <i>Stella by Starlight</i><br />
Author: Sharon M. Draper<br />
Genres and themes: juvenile fiction, historical fiction, regional fiction, southern fiction, female African American protagonist, diverse reads, racism<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Stella lives in the beautiful Blue
Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Unfortunately, the beauty of the surrounding
landscape is marred by a burning cross one night when Stella and, her brother,
Jojo stumble across a secret Klan meeting. It’s 1932 during the heart of the
Jim Crow era and little Stella has not been immune to the racism of the era
(she was slapped in the face when she was five years old for accidentally
bumping into the town’s doctor). She and the rest of the children in the
African American section of Bumblebee, NC, attend a separate school from the
white children. Riverside School is a one-room schoolhouse that often receives
“leftovers” such as raggedy books from the fancier, whites-only school,
Mountain View. Healthcare services are also segregated, which Stella
unfortunately found out during a medical emergency. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Despite the harsh social environment,
Stella loves school even though she is not the best, straight-A student. Stella
loves arithmetic but struggles with writing; she sneaks out of the house every
night to practice her writing skills in private (I think this was Stella’s most
impressive quality- the perseverance and discipline to improve a skill she was
not naturally good at). Fortunately, for little Stella, she receives continual encouragement
about her writing from her teacher, Mrs. Grayson, and her parents: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“You are an
amazing thinker- a gemstone hiding inside a rock…What I’m reading here is
thoughtful and beautiful, just like you are.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“More like tangled,
like my hair” </span></i><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(Draper, 2015, p.101).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">At first Stella doesn’t know how to
accept these compliments but after she is given a typewriter to practice her
writing skills, and the bravery to type out her reactions, thoughts, and
feelings to the events going on around her, we see her confidence bloom into
the first steps of a budding journalist: “…words were starting to make sense.
Bright, perfectly formed ideas smoldered in her mind” (Draper, 2015, p.102). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the most powerful scenes in
the book occurs in Chapter 22, “Their Declaration of Independence,” when
Stella’s father, Mr. Spencer, and Pastor Patton go into town to register to
vote. The town registrar hurls insults at their faces and subjects them to a
timed literacy test and a poll tax, while he lets white people register with
just a signature and a smile. Mr. Pineville tries further voting suppression
tactics (refusing to “grade” their literacy test immediately) until the men and
Stella stage an impromptu sit-in, complete with singing of gospel spirituals.
The men passed the test but the Klan retaliated with terror tactics at the
Spencer home a few days later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Throughout the novel we see Stella
progress from a shy girl with a secret (writing at night) to a strong,
confident journalist in-the-making that manages to save three lives (Hazel
Spencer, Paulette Packard, and her mother). Stella is quite an amazing little
girl and an excellent literary role model for the middle grade reading
audience. My only beef with this book is that I wish the author had written a
scene with Dr. Packard’s reaction to Stella saving Paulette from drowning.
Maybe the author didn’t include this scene because some people never overcome
their racist mindset? What do you guys think?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I was curious as to the tune of the traditional
African American gospel songs/spirituals sprinkled throughout the text. Thanks
to technology I found the titles, lyrics, and video performances online: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Children, Go Where I Send Thee” (p.
51)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” (p. 144)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Get on Board” (p. 197)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Last week, I attended the
Southeastern Library Association Conference and I visited a session titled,
“Tragedy, Healing, and Understanding: Using Library of Congress Primary Sources
with Children and Teens.” This session was geared mostly for school librarians,
but as a parent whose goal is to teach my child respect</span> inclusion of
others, I will probably use this resource with my son. Since the Library of
Congress site can be overwhelming, the Teaching Civil Rights History with
Primary Resources website was created by various departments at the University
of South Carolina to assist teachers and librarians in finding teaching aids<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">:<span style="color: #333333;"> </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://scloccivilrights.com/civil-rights/elementary-school/">https://scloccivilrights.com/civil-rights/elementary-school/</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Readalikes:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">The Other Half of My Heart</span></i></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-color-alt: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;"> by
Sundee T. Frazier: </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #181818;">(Goodreads
review) “</span><span style="background: white;"> When Minerva and Keira
King were born, they made headlines: Keira is black like Mama, but Minni is
white like Daddy. Together the family might look like part of a chessboard row,
but they are first and foremost the close-knit Kings. Then Grandmother Johnson calls,
to invite the twins down South to compete for the title of Miss Black Pearl
Preteen of America. Minni dreads the spotlight, but Keira assures her that
together they'll get through their stay with Grandmother Johnson. But when
grandmother's bias against Keira reveals itself, Keira pulls away from her
twin. Minni has always believed that no matter how different she and Keira are,
they share a deep bond of the heart. Now she'll find out the truth.”</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">New Shoes</span></i><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> by Susan Lynn
Meyer: (Goodreads review) </span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span><span style="background: white;">Set in the South during the time of segregation, this
lushly illustrated picture book brings the civil rights era to life for
contemporary readers as two young girls find an inventive way to foil Jim Crow
laws.</span> <span style="background: white;">When her brother's hand-me-down
shoes don't fit, it is time for Ella Mae to get new ones. She is ecstatic, but
when she and her mother arrive at Mr. Johnson's shoe store, her happiness
quickly turns to dejection. Ella Mae is unable to try on the shoes because of
her skin color. Determined to fight back, Ella Mae and her friend Charlotte
work tirelessly to collect and restore old shoes, wiping, washing, and
polishing them to perfection. The girls then have their very own shoe sale,
giving the other African American members of their community a place to buy shoes
where they can be treated fairly and "try on all the shoes they
want."<span style="color: #181818;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Ballad of America (2012). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Get on board</i>. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="http://www.balladofamerica.com/music/indexes/songs/getonboard/index.htm">http://www.balladofamerica.com/music/indexes/songs/getonboard/index.htm</a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Desmond [Username] (2008, January 16)
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen </i>[Video
file]. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFveRxXfM4">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHFveRxXfM4</a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Draper, S.M. (2015). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Stella by starlight</i>. New York: Atheneum
Books for Young Readers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Frazier, S.T. (2010). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The other half of my heart</i>. New York:
Delacorte Books for Young Readers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Impasse0124 [Username] (2009,
November 28) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Children, go where I send
thee</i> [Video file]. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0y7YN6M0Og">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0y7YN6M0Og</a></span></span><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Meyer, S.L. (2015). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">New shoes</i>. New York: Holiday House.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p>Title: <i> Boxers & Saints</i></o:p></span></div>
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Author: Gene Luen Yang</div>
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Genres and themes: graphic novels, juvenile literature, historical fiction, colonialism, war</div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The main theme between <i>Boxers </i>and <i>Saints</i> is parallelism. The first and obvious sign of parallelism is
the simultaneous release of both volumes and their corresponding artwork:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Each cover features the protagonist
accompanied by his or her supernatural mentor. Our protagonists are teenagers
who have experienced various kinds of tragedy: Four-Girl/Vibiana is the victim
of domestic violence by her grandfather, uncle, and cousin. Bao watched his
father never fully recover mentally from a physical beating. Both Bao and
Four-Girl are warned about the “foreign devils” by an elder:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">“Daughter, we Chinese are not meant
for the foreign devils’ religion. Their beliefs will poison your mind and
destroy your spirit” (<i>Saints</i>, Yang,
2013, p. 74). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">[Master Big Belly to Bao]: “Those
devils have no respect for our ways. They blemish our skies with smoke and build
metal railroads across our dragon lines. They incite the land’s anger” (<i>Boxers</i>, Yang, 2013, p. 85). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Four-Girl’s conversion to
Christianity was a slow process; her visits to the local Catholic priest were a
way for her to eat more snacks, avoid her chores, and escape her abusive
family. When she announces her conversion, her family’s violent reaction forces
her to leave the only home she’s ever known. Bao’s “conversion” to the
mercenary lifestyle occurs after watching his fellow countrymen and women suffer
from the greed of the foreigners and their Chinese converts (referred to as
secondary devils). Four-Girl is assisted on her journey of self-discovery
through visions of Joan of Arc; Bao’s warrior journey is encouraged through
rituals and dreams of Chinese opera gods. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">While these two volumes and plots
shared many characteristics, an interwoven plot, and tragic endings, there a
few slight differences between the two texts. <i>Saints</i> starts off on a negative tone and the panel colors are
muted, almost sepia tone like vintage photographs. <i>Boxers</i> starts off on a positive note (springtime and spring
festivals) and the all the panels are full color illustrations. (Any thoughts
or theories on why the difference in coloring between the two books?). The
sections in <i>Saints </i>are divided by
Four-Girl’s age while the sections in <i>Boxers
</i>are divided up geographical location and year. I believe that Yang created
and released these two volumes simultaneously to show young readers that there
are two sides to every story- even in war. The Christian missionaries and their
disciples thought they were fulfilling God’s work converting the Chinese to
Christianity and taking care of orphans. The non-Christian Chinese viewed their
converted countrymen as traitors to the glory of China, and thought the
missionaries were greedy, rude, and disgusting. It probably didn’t help that
every time Bao met a foreigner, that foreigner was committing some kind of
anthropological no-no (smashing idols, taking food without asking, practicing
bodily harm on another human being, etc.).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">While I was reading <i>Boxers </i>and <i>Saints </i>this week, my 10-yeard old son saw these books and took one
while I was reading it and ended up reading both. He loves to read graphic
novels but my husband and I got a chuckle that I had to wait for my turn to
read a book for my class (Hubby turned to me and said, “I had a feeling this
would happen at some point during this class). My son reads below grade level
so we encourage him to practice reading as much as possible. Thankfully, these
graphic novels aren’t too violent and the few sexual innuendos went over his
head. When he was done, reading them, I asked him what he thought of them:
“They were crazy. Just crazy.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">After my son’s remark I decided to
look for children’s books on the Boxer Rebellion, to supplement the graphic
novel. And I found very little children’s books on this subject. Publishers and
historians- you need to get on to this! A search through the PINES catalog (the
statewide online catalog for public libraries in Georgia) found these titles: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>Fifty-five days of terror: the story of the Boxer Rebellion </i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">by Burt Hirschfield (published in 1964)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>The Boxer Rebellion: anti-foreign terror seizes China, 1900</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> by Irving Werstein (published in 1971)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Recommended Readalikes:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>Persepolis, Volumes 1 &2 </i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">by Marjane Satrapi<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">(From my review on Goodreads): “</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Chronicles the life of Marjane Satrapi
as she grew up during the political unrest in Iran from the late 1970s through
the late 1990s. It's her autobiography in graphic novel form and it gives
Westerners a rare glimpse into a mysterious country and region. As a little
girl, Marji parrots the political slogans and ideologies she hears from the
grownups around her. As a preteen her eyes slowly open to injustice in the
world as she and the other females in Iran are subject to harsher and harsher
rules regarding dress, opposite-sex relationships, and public etiquette.
Marji's parents send her to Europe for her safety and to continue her
education; although Europe is not dangerous, Marji's ethnicity keeps her from
truly fitting in. She returns to Iran but finds that her home country has
changed dramatically under the leadership of religious fundamentalists.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Above the Dreamless Dead: World War I in
Poetry and Comics </span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">–
edited by Chris Duffy (Goodreads synopsis): “As the Great War dragged on and
its catastrophic death toll mounted, a new artistic movement found its feet in
the United Kingdom. The Trench Poets, as they came to be called, were
soldier-poets dispatching their verse from the front lines. Known for its
rejection of war as a romantic or noble enterprise, and its plainspoken
condemnation of the senseless bloodshed of war, Trench Poetry soon became one
of the most significant literary moments of its decade. The marriage of
poetry and comics is a deeply fruitful combination, as evidenced by this
collection. In stark black and white, the words of the Trench Poets find
dramatic expression and reinterpretation through the minds and pens of some of
the greatest cartoonists working today.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Citations:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Duffy. C.
(editor) (2014). <i>Above the dreamless dead:
World War I in poetry and comics</i>. NewYork: First Second. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Hirschfield,
B. (1964). </span><i>Fifty-five
days of terror: the story of the Boxer Rebellion</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">. New York: Julian Messner, Inc. </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Satrapi,
M. (2000). <i>Persepolis</i>. New York:
Pantheon. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Werstein,
I. (1971). </span><i>The Boxer
Rebellion: anti-foreign terror seizes China, 1900</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">. London, UK: Franklin Watts. </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Yang, G.
L. (2013). <i>Boxers</i>. New York: First
Second. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
</span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Yang, G.
L. (2013). <i>Saints</i>. New York: First
Second. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-4407528241579639682018-12-27T19:52:00.002-08:002018-12-27T19:52:45.730-08:00YA Realistic Fiction: Looking for Alaska and Darius & Twig<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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**This originally appeared on a YA Realistic Fiction discussion board for my Children's Literature class**</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfek0eU2XcqD_YxOQnkLTTGyVe0leIUOTQT5T1vk7lgWLt09dcsUQ_aqva-gkdC1vOjX1zBugqR04jconXOmlbTPq5qjjLtgqtOPfSqNdCIv_llhFAG1apoEojf-LkK0NrsbNVcNWqVlw/s1600/looking+for+alaska.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="331" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfek0eU2XcqD_YxOQnkLTTGyVe0leIUOTQT5T1vk7lgWLt09dcsUQ_aqva-gkdC1vOjX1zBugqR04jconXOmlbTPq5qjjLtgqtOPfSqNdCIv_llhFAG1apoEojf-LkK0NrsbNVcNWqVlw/s320/looking+for+alaska.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>Looking for Alaska</i></div>
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Author; John Green</div>
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Genre: young adult, realistic fiction, award winner </div>
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<i>Looking for Alaska </i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">is the
second John Green book I have ever read. (the first was <i>The Fault in Our Stars</i>). When I began this book, I thought to
myself, “I wonder if John Green is going to kill off a character in this book?”
Well, so far, we are two for two. While <i>Looking
</i>isn’t as emotionally gut-wrenching as <i>Fault,</i>
it’s still a pretty sad book. The book itself is divided into two sections:
Before and After and the reader doesn’t find out what exactly Before and After
are referencing until the beginning of the second half of the book. I thought
the book was divided this way because the massive prank the Colonel and Alaska
were plotting against their frenemies. Now that I am a veteran of two John
Green books, I know Before and After mark a great tragedy in the life of Miles
Halter and his boarding school buddies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">When the novel opens, Miles Halter
leaves his boring life behind in Central Florida to attend the Culver Creek
boarding school in Alabama, his dad’s alma mater. He quickly befriends his
roommate The Colonel (birth name: Chip Martin), Takumi, Lara, and the beautiful
Alaska Young: “I stared, stunned partly by the force of the voice emanating
from the petite (but God, curvy) girl and partly by the gigantic stacks of
books that lined her walls…If just one them moved, I thought, the domino effect
could engulf the three of us in an asphyxiating mass of literature” (Green,
2005, p.15). Miles soon earns the ironic nickname of Pudge from The Colonel and
then proceeds to navigate multiple illicit adventures of all kinds with his
friends while keeping up with his studies: smoking, the secret drinking spot,
pre-calc tutoring sessions with Alaska, playing pranks on the weekend kids,
kissing a girl (and other things) for the first time, and pining away for the
girl he could never have- Alaska. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The first half of the book has its
mixture of humorous, snarky, and serious moments. Miles learns that Alaska’s
mother died of aneurism, the Colonel is fiercely protective of his mother who
lives in poverty, Lara is an immigrant from Romania whose parents never took
her seriously until they moved to the United States, and Takumi misses his
grandmother whom he never met. All four of them came to Culver Creek to leave a
dead-end situation (<i>Darius & Twig</i>
feature characters that also dream of leaving their current environment). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The second half of the book
understandably gets darker in tone as Miles and his friends grieve over
Alaska’s senseless death and undergo the grieving process. The Colonel and
Miles take it upon themselves to investigate the last hours of Alaska’s life as
a form of grief therapy. They also want to know if Alaska killed herself
deliberately or if it was, indeed, a freak accident. Unfortunately, the boys
(and the reader) never come up with solid evidence either way. Throughout the
novel, Miles and Alaska had been researching the meaning of the “labyrinth of
suffering” referenced in a Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel (supposedly Simon
Bolivar’s last words). This search intermingles with the religion class Miles
and crew attend and Miles’ affinity for memorizing the last words of famous
people: “People die how they live. And so last words tell me a lot about who
people were, and why they became the sort of people biographies get written
about” (Green, 2005, p.128). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">This book could fit into so many
subcategories of realistic fiction as listed in our lecture notes: humor (for
the first half of the book at least), contemporary realism, school and friends,
coming of age, and social problem (Alaska dies due to drunken driving)
(Carruth, 2018). This book was “challenged but retained at the Marion County
High School in Lebanon, Ky. Planning to use the novel in her senior English
class, the teacher sent home permission slips, so parents would have the option
to keep their child from reading the book. One parent accepted the offer for
her child to leave the room during those lessons. That parent, however, didn’t
want other children discussing it either and filed a challenge against Green’s
novel, igniting an overwhelming show of support for the book from students,
alumni, community members—and even Green himself”</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">(Doyle, 2016).</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">My readalike recommendations
(disclaimer: I have not personally read these): <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>The Beginning of Everything </i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">by Robyn Schneider (synopsis courtesy of Goodreads): “</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Varsity tennis captain Ezra Faulkner was supposed to be
homecoming king, but that was before—before his girlfriend cheated on him,
before a car accident shattered his leg, and before he fell in love with
unpredictable new girl Cassidy Thorpe.</span><span style="color: #181818; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Funny, smart, and including everything from flash mobs to blanket forts
to a poodle who just might be the reincarnation of Jay Gatsby, <em><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Beginning
of Everything</span></em> is a refreshing contemporary twist on the
classic coming-of-age novel—a heart-wrenching story about how difficult it is
to play the part that people expect, and how new beginnings can stem from
abrupt and tragic endings.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">How to Say Goodbye in Robot </span></i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">by Natalie Standiford (synopsis courtesy of Goodreads): “An
amazing, touching story of two friends navigating the dark waters of their
senior year. New to town, Beatrice is expecting her new best friend to be one
of the girls she meets on the first day. But instead, the alphabet conspires to
seat her next to Jonah, aka Ghost Boy, a quiet loner who hasn't made a new
friend since third grade. Something about him, though, gets to Bea, and soon
they form an unexpected friendship. It's not romance, exactly - but it's
definitely love. Still, Bea can't quite dispel Jonah's gloom and doom - and as
she finds out his family history, she understands why. Can Bea help Jonah? Or
is he destined to vanish?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Carruth, D. (2018) <i>Realistic
fiction</i> [Word document] Retrieved from <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27687980/View?ou=1710195">https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27687980/View?ou=1710195</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Doyle, R.P. (2016). <i>Books
challenged or banned in 2016</i>. Retrieved from <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.ila.org/initiatives/banned-books-week/books-challenged-or-banned-in-2016-by-ro">https://www.ila.org/initiatives/banned-books-week/books-challenged-or-banned-in-2016-by-ro</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Green, J. (2005). <i>Looking for Alaska</i>. New York: Dutton
Books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Schneider, R. (2013). <i>The beginning of everything</i>. New York:
HarperCollins. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Standiford, N. (2009). <i>How to say goodbye in robot</i>. New York:
Scholastic Press.</span></div>
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Title: <i>Darius & Twig</i></div>
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Author: Walter Dean Myers</div>
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Genres: young adult, realistic fiction, award winner, sports fiction</div>
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<i>Darius & Twig</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">
chronicles the everyday life of best friends Darius Austin and Manuel “Twig”
Fernandez. Darius dreams of being a writer that changes the world while Twig aspires
to be a great runner. Unfortunately, their environment tries to work against
their dreams- they live in the poor section of Harlem where violence and other
crimes are an everyday occurrence. Darius and Twig also have two nemeses at
their school- Midnight and Tall Boy, opposites to Darius and Twig in almost
every way. Throughout this novel, Darius is struggling with the suggested edits
from the editor of the <i>Delta Review</i>.
As Darius changes throughout the novel, he uses his growing emotional maturity
and awareness of the world to flesh out his short story in more vivid detail.
Darius views this essay as his ticket out of Harlem but his guidance counselor
(and I use that term loosely here. I personally thought his guidance counselor
was too negative) thinks otherwise: “He got right to the bottom line, He said
that right now I wasn’t scholarship material… He said maybe I should drop put
and do my junior year over again” (Myers, 2013, p.4). Darius does not accept
this less-than-encouraging news; with an absent brother, and overworked mother,
and a little brother to care for, Darius wants to change his life for the
better: “The thing was that I needed a scholarship that would get me out of my
house, away from my mom, away from the hood, and most of all, away from the
crap that was going on in my head everyday” (Myers, 2013, p. 6). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">To mentally escape his environment, Darius
envisions himself as a falcon named Fury and some of the chapters open with
segments about Fury’s sky-high view of the world and his hunting escapades. The
little vignettes mirror the emotions Darius experiences within the corresponding
chapter. Between Fury’s “flights” and his own walks around the neighborhood,
Darius knows that he needs to leave Harlem and attend college to better
himself. His greatest fear (and this mentioned multiple times in the novel) is
that “if I didn’t get a scholarship, it would mean taking my place with all the
other guys on the block who look like me. Young, black, dangerous, unless
proven otherwise (Myers, 2013, p. 12). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">While the novel is told from Darius’
point of view, we also learn about Twig’s situation. His family is ruled by his
sleazy uncle who wants to leave the family store to Twig. Twig, like Darius,
does not want to stay in Harlem for the rest of his life. As his best friend, Darius
assists Twig with his training regimen and lives vicariously through Twig’s races:
“Twig had found a real joy in running, had found a pleasure and a freedom that
he didn’t have anywhere else in his life. It was something he could do, a
statement that his body could make to the world” (Myers, 2013, p. 109). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">In our “Realistic Fiction” lecture
notes, we are encouraged to review realistic fiction novels with the following
criteria in mind: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">the plot involves
a common problem that most teens can relate to as part of “an interesting and
believable plot” (Carruth, 2018). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list .5in; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The characters in
realistic fiction should not be perfect children who make no mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The setting
should contribute to the story and written vividly to transport the reader to
another place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The themes of the
novel should not come across as preachy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 10pt;">·<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The dialogue
between characters needs to sound as natural as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Although the ending was more positive
than I expected and wrapped their problems a little too neatly (while reading
this book I had a sense of mild dread that Darius or Twig were going to get
into some kind of trouble with huge consequences), I believe that this book
meets the requirements listed above. Most teens can relate to wanting to leave
a stifling environment and receiving no help for this goal with the adults in
their life. Teens also have best friends that they can share secrets with and
go to bat for, like Darius did when he convinced Twig’s uncle to watch Twig
race. Despite their circumstances, Darius and Twig are considered “good kids”
but they are not perfect- they do end up in a fist fight against Midnight and
his cronies. The negative conditions in Harlem are written vividly but do not
overtake the plot; the boys are never completely hopeless about their
situation, although they sometimes waver about their future choices. I think
perseverance and friendship are the themes of this novel and they are presented
in a believable manner throughout the novel. Once again, because Darius and
Twig are not perfect, their dialogue isn’t perfect either- there is some
swearing (some readers might cringe over the few F-bombs sprinkled throughout
the book). This book also fits into the subgenres of coming of age and sports
novel (I’m still trying to decide whether this book fits into the social
problem novel. What do you guys think?). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Readalikes disclaimer: Since I am not
familiar with YA sports novels, I consulted Listopia on Goodreads for the
following recommendations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>Gym Candy</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> by Carl Deuker (synopsis
from Goodreads):”</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">Runningback Mick Johnson has
dreams: dreams of cutting back, finding the hole, breaking into the open, and
running free with nothing but green grass ahead. He has dreams of winning and
of being the best. But football is a cruel sport. It requires power, grace,
speed, quickness, and knowledge of the game. It takes luck, too. One crazy
bounce can turn a likely victory into sudden defeat. What elite athlete
wouldn’t look for an edge? A way to make him bigger, stronger, faster?</span><span style="color: #181818; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">This novel explores the dark corners of the
heart of a young football player as he struggles for success under the always
glaring—and often unforgiving—stadium lights.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">The Contender</span></i> by Robert Lipsyte (synopsis from
Goodreads): “<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">This is a sports fiction novel that
tells a story of Alfred Brooks, a seventeen-year-old high school drop-out,
living in Harlem, finding his way in the world and in boxing. Alfred learns
that getting to the top is not as important as how you get there, and that
before you can be a champion, you have to be a contender with the will to get
back on your feet after you have been knocked down.</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">”<br />
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<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Carruth, D. (2018) <i>Realistic
fiction</i> [Word document] Retrieved from <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27687980/View?ou=1710195">https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27687980/View?ou=1710195</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Deuker, C. (2007). <i>Gym
candy</i>. New York: HMH Books for Young Readers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Lipsyte, R. (1996). <i>The
contender</i>. New York: HarperCollins. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Myers, W.D. (2013). <i>Darius & twig</i>. New York: Amistad. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-61331514138619761722018-12-21T16:22:00.000-08:002018-12-21T16:22:19.752-08:00Double Feature: A Boy Called Bat & Raymie Nightingale<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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**This originally appeared on a discussion board for my Children's Literature class**</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vGof586TuRcYxffCcblI2AXvMppfe1J_arhRYEKsfv8-6kwFZIDQdxxiHmxONVtR8oRBh8xKiqyn0QFLVhfQ4ewMDmfBNOseUm8oUdmDKLN6jQCSysdAbETHGVhZ6Gf341J3oBGxpK0/s1600/a+boy+called+bat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="455" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_vGof586TuRcYxffCcblI2AXvMppfe1J_arhRYEKsfv8-6kwFZIDQdxxiHmxONVtR8oRBh8xKiqyn0QFLVhfQ4ewMDmfBNOseUm8oUdmDKLN6jQCSysdAbETHGVhZ6Gf341J3oBGxpK0/s320/a+boy+called+bat.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>A Boy Called Bat</i></div>
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Author: Elana K. Arnold</div>
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Genre: juvenile lit, realistic fiction</div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">I ordered
all four books on this list for this week’s readings and fell in love with <i>A Boy Called Bat</i> after flipping through
the book and seeing this illustration:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrQzZWqD5O_WN3u8U7_3Vzx50o9ulGJpbmlcVgQM78iEWqyv0tAOvzck2VB35TCHqqwWrwU_rlx6O68T3DwJyPX-4cBPvVT6CxDAx9j3zVJiZqUC0AeHUeq3lzG7oTq4BbVAvdXhEFS8/s1600/skunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="228" data-original-width="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrrQzZWqD5O_WN3u8U7_3Vzx50o9ulGJpbmlcVgQM78iEWqyv0tAOvzck2VB35TCHqqwWrwU_rlx6O68T3DwJyPX-4cBPvVT6CxDAx9j3zVJiZqUC0AeHUeq3lzG7oTq4BbVAvdXhEFS8/s1600/skunk.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">I’m a sucker
for any kind of animal book so my heart just melted when I saw this drawing. It
also brought back memories of when I visited the local pet store when I was
about 6 or 7 years old; the pet store had some baby skunks for sale and I just
thought they were so cute. Occasionally, my inner child wants a pet skunk, but
I have to remind myself that “keeping a pet skunk as a pet is much more
challenging than keeping a dog or cat. Skunks are not pets by nature” (Arnold,
2017, p.172), as Dr. Dragoo advises to Bat. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i>A Boy Called Bat</i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"> falls under many literary categories and
sub-categories. Not only is the book realistic fiction, but it’s also a part of
the contemporary realistic realm since it is a “story that takes place in
present time and portrays attitudes and mores of the present culture” (Short et
al., 2014, p. 146). The events take place in the present (there are references
to email and latptops) at Bat’s home, his school, his dad’s house, and his
mom’s veterinary practice- all locations that are familiar to most children.
Bat and his sister, Janie, are also part of what Short et al. refers to as an
“alternative family”- their parents are divorced, and Bat and Janie spend
Every-Other-Friday with their dad (a dad who doesn’t seem to keep up with Bat’s
various quirks. For example, Dad calls Bat, Sport, even though Bat doesn’t play
any sports, and Dad makes foods that cause texture issues for Bat). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">While Bat
is thrilled with the baby skunk his mom brought home and researches the best
way he can convince his mom to keep Thor permanently, Bat must negotiate the
everyday hurdles of schoolwork, sibling stress, and making new friends. While
these are everyday occurrences for most children, Bat has a sensory disorder,
or he might even be on the autism spectrum; the book never puts a label to
Bat’s behavior which I think might be more relatable to young readers. Instead
of spotlighting Bat’s disability, the book focuses on his love and care for
Thor and Bat’s desire to make Thor a part of the family.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">My
recommended read-a-likes are <i>Rain Reign</i>
by Ann M. Martin and <i>Seven Days to
Goodbye</i> by Sheri S. Levy. </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">The main
character in <i>Rain Reign</i>, Rose, is a
little girl with high-functioning autistism and is obsesses with homonyms
(hence the title) and prime numbers. Rose lives with her father, who is neither
the best or the worst father in the world, but he does not act kindly towards
Rose's disability. The book starts off with Rose's daily struggles in school to
contain her outbursts and her awkwardness in social situations. Luckily, Rose
has Rain, her dog, and her Uncle Weldon to help her through life and her
father's moods. Unfortunately, Rain becomes lost during a hurricane and it's
weeks before she is reunited with Rose. At the reunion, Rose learns that Rain
had a family before her and Rose takes the hard, brave and unselfish journey to
find Rain's original family</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">. </span><i>Seven
Days to Goodbye </i><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">takes place
during Trina's last week with Sydney as he must be returned to the service dog
organization to find his fur-ever family and a child that will need his
protection. While Trina is happy that she is going on a vacation to the beach
with her family and her best friend, the thought of parting from Sydney makes
her heart ache even though it's for a good cause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">For an additional yet informative
dose of cuteness, here is a video about skunks created by Chris and Martin
Kratt of the TV show, The Wild Kratts. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Citations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Arnold, E.
(2017). <i>A boy called bat</i>. New York:
Walden Pond Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Levy, Sheri
S. (2014). <i>Seven days to goodbye</i>.
Vancouver, WA: Barking Rain Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Martin, Ann
M. (2014). <i>Rain reign</i>. New York:
Feiwel & Friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Short, K.G., Lynch-Brown, C., Tomlinson, C.M. (2014). <i>Essentials of children’s literature</i> (8<sup>th</sup>
ed.). Boston: Pearson. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">S</span>kunked!
(n.d.). In <i>Wild Kratts Wiki</i>. Retrieve from <u><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://wildkratts.wikia.com/wiki/Skunked"><span style="color: blue;">http://wildkratts.wikia.com/wiki/Skunked</span></a></span></u>!<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0SePkK3m_5REJvtar1lpjA7KRcO2_IBs5CSMtYB1sASC4QTIDDQpns9ux3W_-6lQYC09pFBQjghxdKI3OmCwol6tYD7oYOmzJv6gTtnIb3_PSzXqevxA7nvFgrRTCKrg_4clUYyScIg/s1600/raymie_nightingale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="282" data-original-width="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge0SePkK3m_5REJvtar1lpjA7KRcO2_IBs5CSMtYB1sASC4QTIDDQpns9ux3W_-6lQYC09pFBQjghxdKI3OmCwol6tYD7oYOmzJv6gTtnIb3_PSzXqevxA7nvFgrRTCKrg_4clUYyScIg/s1600/raymie_nightingale.jpg" /></a></div>
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Title: <i>Raymie Nightingale</i></div>
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Author: Kate DiCamillo</div>
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Genre: juvenile lit, realistic fiction, takes place in Florida</div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">As a native
Floridian, the setting of <i>Raymie
Nightingale </i>caught my attention; it is set in the fictional town of Lister,
Florida, somewhere in the center of the state, during the summer of 1975. Due
to its semi-serious tone, this book fits into the new realism subcategory of
realistic fiction, a type of fiction that is “less lighthearted than their
predecessors, but they are more truthful and real in portraying the actual
lives of children” (Short et al., 2014, p.150). I would also classify this as
juvenile regional fiction, since a lot of minor characters fit the “eccentric
Southerner” or “eccentric small-town resident” trope (portrayed respectfully
and with good humor by the author). Although there are some humorous
interactions between Raymie, Beverly, and Louisiana, their antics and
adventures are a mask for the serious issue each girl faces in her life:
Raymie’s father unexpectedly deserted the family, Beverly’s mother is
physically abusive, and Louisiana lives in poverty with her grandmother. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">I would
also classify this a coming-of-age story as well. At the beginning of the book,
Raymie enters the Miss Central Florida Tire Pageant in the hopes that “her
father would see her picture in the paper and come home” (DiCamillo, 2016, p.
7). After meeting Louisiana’s grandmother and visiting their home, Raymie comes
to the realization that Louisiana is more deserving of the prize money, should
she win the pageant (Louisiana and her grandmother had their electricity turned
off and “feasted” on tuna sandwiches every night due to their money woes). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">My
read-a-like suggestions are <i>Rocky Road</i>
by Rose Kent and <i>Turtle in Paradise </i>by
Jennifer L. Holm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #181818;">In <i>Rocky </i>Road, Tess Dobson's must deal with her mother’s whim to move to
Schenectady, New York to open an ice cream shop in the middle of winter. Once
Tess gets to Schenectady, she learns that her mother's risk-taking, sloppy
spending, fast talking, and mood swings have a name: bipolar disorder.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white;">Turtle in Paradise </span></i><span style="background: white;">features </span><span style="color: #181818; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Turtle
(so named for her tough emotional exterior), a preteen sent to live with her
aunt, uncle, and cousins in Key West in 1935. Turtle's mother never told her
about her extended family, so she is surprised to learn she has so many
cousins. Unfortunately, in her eyes, they are all boys. In this quiet gem of a
book we get a glimpse of Key West during the Great Depression and before
commercialism and tourism changed the Keys' way of life forever.<br />
</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><span style="color: #181818; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since there was a side
plot of Archie, the missing shelter cat, I would like to share with everyone
that June is Adopt a Shelter Cat month! A few years ago, I created a themed
library display that contained non-fiction and fiction books about cats, and
the local animal shelter sent us flyers to add to the display as well. Of
course, the cat lovers and children loved the display….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">DiCamillo, K. (2016). <i>Raymie Nightingale</i>. Somerville, MA:
Candlewick Press. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Holm, J. L. (2010). <i>Turtle in paradise</i>. New York: Random
House Books for Young Readers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Kent, R. (2010). <i>Rocky road</i>. New York: Knopf Books for Young Readers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Short, K.G., Lynch-Brown, C., Tomlinson, C.M. (2014). <i>Essentials of children’s literature</i> (8<sup>th</sup>
ed.). Boston: Pearson. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-82321939591279103732018-12-18T20:18:00.001-08:002018-12-18T20:18:25.693-08:00Double Feature: The Cruel Prince and The Buried Symbol<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AS4KxVQ2XwlbVI5aRY9gJRmNgwpiyJwuL8wzcZtbQhXmYH_s3pwMfsL9Mt-nZEhVsrUt7RKmLJmhGKzzomkl0QQjgZ1pZTcExbuasbMFeJhvvQSk3s27uWt5w11UjNxg2wWWXOjt-oY/s1600/The+Cruel+Prince.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="406" data-original-width="269" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-AS4KxVQ2XwlbVI5aRY9gJRmNgwpiyJwuL8wzcZtbQhXmYH_s3pwMfsL9Mt-nZEhVsrUt7RKmLJmhGKzzomkl0QQjgZ1pZTcExbuasbMFeJhvvQSk3s27uWt5w11UjNxg2wWWXOjt-oY/s320/The+Cruel+Prince.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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**This post originally appeared on a YA Fantasy Literature discussion board for my Children's Literature class**</div>
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Title: <i>The Cruel Prince</i></div>
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Author: Holly Black</div>
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Genres: YA fiction, fantasy, read for school</div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The Cruel Prince </span></i><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">drew me in
visually with its understated yet beautiful cover but the prologue definitely
peaked my reading interest since it literally starts off with a bang- a
mysterious man kills the parents of Jude, Taryn, and Vivienne in front of them.
Let’s just say that Mystery Man had a very personal connection to their mother…The
rest of the book occurs ten years later as the three girls have come to terms
with Madoc (the mysterious man) and their life in Faerie; Vivienne, Madoc’s
biological daughter, hates him and wants to leave Faerie to live with her
mortal girlfriend. Jude and Taryn are twins but are complete opposites in
personality: Taryn is quiet and loves the spectacle of Faerie parties and
balls; Jude’s goal is to become a Knight (these two remind me of Sansa and Arya
in the <i>Game of Thrones </i>series). Madoc
treats all three girls equally: “The servants are overfond of telling me how
fortunate I am, a bastard daughter of a faithless wife, a human without a drop
of faerie blood, to be treated like a trueborn child of Faerie. They tell Taryn
much the same thing” (Black, 2018, p.10). The Folk view Vivienne more fondly
due to her pure Faerie blood while Taryn and Jude are subjected to constant
scorn and mockery for their mortal status. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">The court intrigue and drama in Faerie is also
reminiscent of <i>Game of Thrones </i>and mortal
world politics. High King Eldred’s six children each have their allies: The
Circle of Grackles (the party animals), Circle of Larks (the art lovers), and
Circle of Falcons (the warriors). Spies from each of these subgroups stay busy
discovering evidence of unsavory plots and creating distractions. Taryn and
Jude have to deal with their own immediate drama: Prince Cardan. Prince Cardan,
known through Faerie for his drunkenness, playboy ways, and cruelty: “This is
how they are. Someone gets in Cardan’s way, and they’re instantly and brutally
punished…I am grateful that Cardan has five more worthy brothers and sisters;
it’s guaranteed that he’ll never sit on the throne. I don’t want to think of
him with more power than he has” (Black, 2018, p.23). (Hello, Prince Joffrey of Westeros!). Prince
Cardan and his entourage take every opportunity to bully the sisters,
especially Jude, who verbally antagonizes them back in return. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Jude uses her past, swordfighting practice, and
chess strategy lessons with Madoc to build up her survival skills; skills she
hopes to use someday as an official warrior in Madoc’s retinue and gain power
to make her untouchable:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">“I was raised by the man who murdered my
parents, reared in a land of monsters. I live with that fear, let it settle
into my bones, and ignore it. If I didn’t pretend to be scared, I would hide
under my owl-down coverlets in Madoc’s estate forever. I would lie there until
there was nothing left of me. I refuse to do that. I will not do that” (Black,
2018, p.31). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">I am going to recommend two sets of readalikes
this week: one for older teens (ages 17-18) and one for younger teens (13-16).
For older teens, I recommend <i>The Song of
Ice and Fire</i> series by George R.R. Martin (AKA <i>Game of Thrones</i>) and <i>The
Dresden Files</i> by Jim Butcher. These are fantasy series for adults but could
also be categorized as YA/Adult crossovers. <i>The
Song of Ice and Fire</i> series takes place in a medieval world called
Westeros. Multiple kingdoms are vying for control of the throne while ignoring
the threat of “whitewalkers” (zombie-like creatures) to the north. This book
contains graphic, mature content, which is why I recommend it for older teens. <i>The Dresden Files</i> is an urban fantasy
that takes place in modern-day Chicago. Harry Dresden is a wizard turned
private detective (even wizards need to eat). Harry lives with two magical pets
and a lecherous, talking skull. He and his rag-tag groups of friends stay busy
saving Chicago and the world from various supernatural-induced catastrophes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">For younger teens, I recommend <i>The Shannara Trilogy</i> by Terry Brooks
(now an MTV series) and anything by Maggie Stiefvater. I have not read The
Shannara Chronicles myself but my husband has watched the TV series, which is
specifically created and marketed to a teenage audience. Maggie Stiefvater has
written about werewolves, water horses, and lots of other magical creatures. I
swoon every time she publishes a new book!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Citations:</span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Beimler, H. and Hewitt Wolfe, R. (Writers).
(2007-2008). The Dresden Files [Television series]. In N. Cage, N. Golightly,
R. Hewitt Wolfe, and D. Simkins (Producers). New York: SciFi Channel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Benioff, D. and Weiss, D.B. (Writers and
Directors). (2011-2018). Game of Thrones [Television series]. In D. Benioff and
D.B. Weiss (Producers). New York: Home Box Office. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Black, H. (2018). <i>The cruel prince. </i>New York: Little, Brown, and Company. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Brooks, T. 1977-1985. London, UK: Orbit Books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Butcher, J. 2000-2014. <i>The Dresden Files</i>, book series. New York: Roc Books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Gough, A. and Millar, M. (Writers). (2016-2017).
The Shannara Chronicles [Television series]. In D. Blocker (Producer). New
York: Viacom Media Networks. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Martin, G.R.R. 1996-2011. <i>Song of Ice and Fire</i>, book series. New York: Bantam. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Title: <i>The Buried Symbol</i></div>
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Author: jeffrey L. Kohanek</div>
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Genre: YA fiction, fantasy, read for school</div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Brock Tannerson is fed up with the futility of
life as an Unchosen after the death of his beloved aunt. “He didn’t want just
any vocation. He wanted to make a difference, to achieve something special. He
wanted to be able to save the next loved one when they needed him” (Kohanek,
2016, p. 43). After stealing enough money to get an illegal rune branded into
his forehead, Brock and his best friend, Tipper, set off the Academy- an elite
school run by the government (the Empire). While on the journey to the Academy,
Brock and Tipper encounter a banshee and a bacabra and Brock has a vision of an
unknown rune which gives him special powers and abilities (which come in handy
later in the book).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Once he arrives at the Academy, Brock realizes
he forgot to research the admissions requirements! Thanks to the help of well
connected, new friend, Brock applies to the Academy through a series of
puzzling evaluation tests; after passing these tests he is admitted to the
Academy and his life changes forever. Brock learns about engineering,
lore/history, fighting, the structure of the government, laws, and the arts of
healing and divination which seem to be his special gifts. Brock learns about
Order, a “life force tied to all living things” (Kohanek, 2016, p.174), which
sounds strangely similar to the force in the Star Wars universe…. As if dealing
with school stress and experiencing love with his first girlfriend wasn’t
enough to keep him busy, Brock also has to contend with a bully. The lost
symbol referred to in the title of the book, refers to some extracurricular
research Brock and his friends discovered after Brock illegally pilfered a book
from the library (originally referred to as a knowledge center). Their research
uncovered a rune for Chaos, another life force, that was used in the past for
destruction, but now the Ministry has erased Chaos from the cultural memory of
Issalia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Although I initially had some misgivings about <i>The Buried Symbol</i> due to the cover (I
thought it looked amateurish and formatting (I know, I know, you can’t just a
book by its cover), the first chapter drew me in. Although this book wasn’t as
well written as <i>The Cruel Prince</i> (I
found a few spelling and grammatical errors in <i>The Lost Symbol</i>), the plot was fast-paced and engaging. I wish
certain background elements had been fleshed out more within the text. For
example, being an Unchosen is a big deal but the ceremony where all the
citizens received the rune that determines the course of their life is barely
mentioned throughout the book. There are a few scenes where Tipper, Brock’s
best friend, experiences discrimination based on his Unchosen status, yet the
author never delves in depth into the hierarchy and classism of this world. Another
thing that bugged me was the way the author described females in the book- they
were either curvy, voluptuous, and beautiful, or they were painfully thin. I
know this book is told from the perspective of a teenage boy, but I found these
initial descriptions of women as superficial and annoying. Even though this is
a fantasy novel, the characters in the book don’t speak as formally as most
characters in fantasy novels do. In fact, they sometimes speak in a Southern
manner. Brock refers to his father as “Pa” and the man in the tavern that was
upset about eating in the same inn as an Unchosen kept using the word “ain’t.” I
don’t know if this was on purpose because of the intended audience or if it’s
just the author’s writing style, but I’m used to a certain formality of
language when reading fantasy novels. Oh, and did anyone notice that the map of
Issalia resembles the continental US? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Kohanek, J. (2016). <i>The buried symbol</i>. No location: Black Rose Printing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-37596456315300361742018-10-14T11:51:00.004-07:002018-10-14T11:52:18.837-07:00Double Feature: Bob and Crenshaw<br />
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<br />
**This post originally appeared on the discussion board for my Children's Literature class**<br />
<br />
Title: <i>Bob</i><br />
Authors: Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead<br />
Genre: juvenile fiction, fantasy<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Bob </span></i><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">takes place in rural, drought-ridden Australia
(exact location never mentioned). Livy and her family are visiting Livy’s
grandmother after their last visit 5 years ago. Poor Livy can’t remember any
details from her last visit, when she was five, so everything is a surprise to
her. The biggest surprise is when she finds Bob living in a closet. At first
Bob thinks he is a zombie, and then a chicken, but as for what Bob IS, Bob
can’t remember where he came from (what is it with the memory stuff around
here?). As you can see from the sepia-toned illustration below, Bob is
definitely NOT a chicken (if he were, he would be a huge chicken!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">As Livy spends more time with Bob, memories of
her last visit return in sudden snatches:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“One chicken was not the other chickens…” (p.3).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“Did I ever bump down those stairs?” (p.6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">“But what I remember about the second floor is
not a big bed with a canopy. I still don’t know what it is, but it is not that”
(p.8).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Little memories like this eventually aid Livy
and Bob in figuring out his identity. Eventually Livy and Bob figure out that
Bob has a special ability: “If Livy’s mom doesn’t see me at all, and a kid like
Danny, who doesn’t know me Livy knows me, sees a chicken, then maybe age is
another clue to my magic” (Mass, 2018, p.100). Bob can also make people forget
about him unless he gives them a “memory aid.” In Livy’s case, her memory aid
is a black chess piece. Every time Livy was physically removed from Bob, she
forgot about him, but once she touched the chess piece she remembered him again
and their quest to find his home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">As an adult reading this, I thought at first
that Bob was an invisible friend or a metaphor for Livy’s soon transition to
teenagerhood (Livy is almost eleven during the events of the book). The drought
is also mentioned several times throughout the book, so I thought that Livy’s
memory was somehow magically tied to the drought. In the end, it’s Bob and his
origins that are connected to the drought. I would classify this book as an
animal fantasy with a touch of mystery. Even though Bob is not an animal in the
traditional sense of the word, he is a creature (from somewhere) and he “experiences
emotions, talks, and has the ability to reason” (Short et al., 2014, p.129). There
are a lot of little clues sprinkled throughout the story that Bob, Livy, and
the reader must use to restore Livy’s memory and assist Bob with his mission of
finding his home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: 12.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Since Bob is not a scary creature, the
mysterious elements are not scary, there are no violent events, and there is a
happy ending, I think this would be a great book to introduce older elementary
children to the fantasy and mystery genres. Since it is not scary, the book
“can be read to very young children who enjoy the exciting but reassuring
adventures in books” (Short et a;, 214, p.129).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
read-alike suggestions are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Magic Tree
House </i>series by Mary Pope Osborne and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raining
Sardines </i>by Enrique Flores-Galbis. In TMH series, siblings Jack and Annie
travel to other lands and times to fulfill magical missions for Merlin and
Morgan le Fay (reimagined here as the librarian of Camelot). Magical elements
are used </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">sparingly, and only for good, while the evildoer is
always stopped in the nick of time. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raining
Sardines</i>, </span><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">the setting is in rural, pre-Castro
Cuba and a bit of magical realism is entwined into the story (hence the title).
Enriquito and Ernestina are best friends with two secrets: they have befriended
the island's wild Paso Fino population and have discovered buried golden
treasure! When the town land baron destroys the mountain, the locals have used
for centuries for crops and hunting, the ponies' way of life is threatened as
well. Enriquito and Ernestina hatch a plan to keep their beloved ponies safe
and use the treasure to help their downtrodden neighbors.</span><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Citations: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Flores-Galbris, E. (2007). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Raining Sardines</i>. New York: Roaring Books Press. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Mass, W., Stead R., Gannon, N. (2018). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bob</i>. New York: Feiwel and Friends. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Osborne, M.P. 1992-2018. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Magic
tree house</i>, book series. New York: Penguin RandomHouse. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Short, K.G., Lynch-Brown, C., Tomlinson, C.M. (2014). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Essentials of children’s literature</i> (8<sup>th</sup>
ed.). Boston: Pearson. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p>Title: <i>Crenshaw</i></o:p></div>
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<o:p>Author: Katherine Applegate</o:p></div>
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<o:p>Genre: juvenile fiction, animal fantasy</o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Crenshaw</i> is told
from the point of view of Jackson, a fifth grader, who unfortunately knows what
sudden illness, financial hardship, and homelessness can do to a family.
Crenshaw first appears to Jackson when Jackson was in the first grade.
Jackson’s family had just lost their home and had to live in their minivan for
fourteen weeks before they could find affordable housing. Crenshaw brought
comfort to Jackson who was mentally burdened by his family’s situation: “In any
case, Crenshaw had excellent timing, He came into my life just when I needed
him to. It was a good time to have a friend, even if he was imaginary”
(Applegate, 2015, p.142). Crenshaw disappeared just as suddenly a few months later
the same day that Jackson met his best friend Marisol. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Jackson has keen observation skills due to his desire to be
an animal scientist when he grows up. Jackson uses these observation skills to
eavesdrop on his parents who refuse to tell Jackson the truth of the situation.
After a few years of hungry bellies and too-small clothes, Jackson recognizes
the signs of more changes and instability: his parents fight more often and his
parents use various coping mechanisms to hide the seriousness of the situation
from Jackson and his sister, Robin. The last straw, in Jackson’s eyes is when
the family sells off most of their possessions in a yard sale in a last-ditch
effort to catch up on their overdue rent. At this point, Crenshaw pops into
Jackson’s life again; he’s big, he’s back, and he’s got catitude! When Jackson
argues with Crenshaw about the reality or unreality of Crenshaw’s appearance,
Crenshaw assigns Jackson a mission: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“Meantime, you get to work.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“…on what, exactly?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“The facts. You need to tell the truth, my friend,”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Which facts? Tell the truth to who?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“To the person who matters most of all” (Applegate, 2015,
79). <o:p></o:p></div>
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I would classify this book as a mixture of realistic fiction
and animal fantasy. Unfortunately, many children will be able to relate to
Jackson’s perilous situation regarding food and shelter. Short et al., defines
the animal fantasy as a genre where “the author will interpret the animal for
the reader in human terms without destroying the animal’s integrity or removing
it from membership in the animal world” (2014, p. 129). The fantasy aspect
comes into play when Crenshaw shows up on the first page in a flashback scene.
Although Crenshaw can walk, talk, take bubble baths, and do handstands, he
still retains feline characteristics and sensibilities (chasing frogs and
moths, referring to the family dog as an odorous beast, purring during times of
contentment, etc). <o:p></o:p></div>
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This book contains themes of adversity (the family’s
experience with homelessness, food insecurity, and lack of money), honesty
(Jackson’s guilt for shoplifting food and his desire for his parents to be
honest with him and Robin), and friendship (Jackson’s friendship with Crenshaw
and Marisol). Crenshaw’s catitude and mild snark adds just enough humor and
amusement to keep the story from being too depressing for young readers. The
story is also more character driven so it would make a great bedtime, readaloud
book or a book that a newly fluent reader could read on their own. <o:p></o:p></div>
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My readalike recommendations are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babe, The Gallant Pig </i>by Dick King-Smith and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charlotte’s Web </i>by E.B. White. Both books contain talking animals
contained in a realistic, human setting. I have only seen the movie version of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babe</i>, but I remember it to be a cute and
wholesome movie, perfect for young children. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charlotte’s Web</i> contains similar themes of adversity (Wilbur needs
to be saved from the chopping block) and friendship (between Charlotte, Wilbur,
and the other farm animals). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Citations: <o:p></o:p></div>
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King-Smith, D. (1983). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Babe,
the gallant pig</i>. London, UK: Gollanz. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Short, K.G., Lynch-Brown, C., Tomlinson, C.M. (2014). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Essentials of children’s literature</i> (8<sup>th</sup>
ed.). Boston: Pearson. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
White, E.B. (1952). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Charlotte’s
web</i>. New York: Harper & Bros. <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-78847640896440055232018-10-03T18:33:00.001-07:002018-10-03T18:33:11.558-07:00Ella Minnow Pea<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrWUO9rXvJoUlPpWHHUucuK-0fHmSBpjGkHzSyp47LXNH8B6sp4i-slszAD12XmHrup3NBTNd9tzJPN3XhXf-IWVgBdIplbt9dNGcBMoryLuKGILQjhWwQ_zeeSFw4O7DpVnVrPiLn_Y/s1600/Ella+Minnow+Pea+book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="304" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrWUO9rXvJoUlPpWHHUucuK-0fHmSBpjGkHzSyp47LXNH8B6sp4i-slszAD12XmHrup3NBTNd9tzJPN3XhXf-IWVgBdIplbt9dNGcBMoryLuKGILQjhWwQ_zeeSFw4O7DpVnVrPiLn_Y/s320/Ella+Minnow+Pea+book+cover.jpg" width="204" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Title: <i>Ella Minnow Pea</i><br />
Author: Mark Dunn<br />
Genre: satire, humorous fiction, book club<br />
<br />
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The events of Ella Minnow Pea take place on the fictional
tiny island nation of Nollop (located off of South Carolina). Due to their
semi-isolation, Nollopians take great pride in educating their citizens and
expounding their feelings and thoughts vociferously through the written word.
Nollop was founded by Nevin Nollop, who the citizens hold in high regard. He is
respected (and worshiped) so much within this island nation that he is the
subject of a statue decorated with tiles that spell out “The quick brown fox
jumps over the lazy dog.” When the letter “z” tile falls off the Nollop statue,
the island council interprets this mini tragedy as a sign from beyond the
grave: Nollop’s grave. The city council believes Nollop’s ghost wants the use
of the letter z banished from all written and verbal communication on the
island. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Losing the letter z isn’t difficult but communication
becomes hampered when D,O, and K, and a lot of other letters fall from the
statue. To keep the banishment of these letters from all communications, severe
punishment is enforced for using forbidden letters: public
humiliation/punishment via stocks or public lashing, banishment, and even
death! Of course, such sudden authoritarian rules changes the idyllic and
peaceful nature of the island. Neighbors turn against neighbors, the library is
closed, the newspaper is shut down, food becomes scarce and is rationed due to
the declining economy, some island citizens immigrate to the United States to
start over, teachers resign since they can’t teach effectively (can’t speak and
teach about past tense without the letter D), and an underground postal service
is created to circumvent the state-sanctioned surveillance. Since communication
is hampered, letters between friends and family become shorter, certain words
are substituted for others (for example: school becomes “learny-place”), and
some people resort to pointing in an effort not to accidentally use a forbidden
letter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The book is told through letters between various characters.
At the beginning of the book, the letters are very verbose, almost reminiscent
of the educated writing styles of the 19<sup>th</sup> century. As the events in
the novel progress, the letters become shorter as writing is hampered and
people self-police the words they use. While this is a satire on
authoritarianism, the book does spotlight the dangers of censorship, unneeded
government surveillance, and the importance of the freedom to communicate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-24447766244645155612018-09-16T07:53:00.001-07:002018-09-16T07:53:38.030-07:00We Are Okay<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVqYZaTiL-PXvFg8G_KNZZLLhzf1A2FQdAknW0tYVAif2O8nGtY1L4WqO-yC5xu5NQmvQOkxKFPzbRQP52WRebYIWZIa7tw-Qo7oks2Q3FntMUIM-lTLQ8ANzfX4L-oLiIGvthkig63A/s1600/we+are+okay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="519" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdVqYZaTiL-PXvFg8G_KNZZLLhzf1A2FQdAknW0tYVAif2O8nGtY1L4WqO-yC5xu5NQmvQOkxKFPzbRQP52WRebYIWZIa7tw-Qo7oks2Q3FntMUIM-lTLQ8ANzfX4L-oLiIGvthkig63A/s320/we+are+okay.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Title: <i>We Are Okay</i><br />
Author: Nina LaCour<br />
Genre: YA fiction, LGBTQ fiction, grief, depression, mental illness<br />
<br />
**The following review was originally posted on a discussion board for my Children's Literature class**<br />
<br />
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My second YA pick for this week’s reading is We Are Okay by
Nina LaCour, a character-driven novel told in chapters that alternate between
the present and flashbacks. Our protagonist, Marin, is a college student hiding
the grief over her grandfather’s passing that occurred unexpectedly two weeks
before her freshman year of college: “I just appeared in the doorway two weeks
after Gramps died. I stepped in- a stunned and feral stranger” (LaCour, 2017,
p.3). Marin has somewhat successfully stifled her grief but it bubbles to the
surface as anxiety attacks (“Slowly it comes…The sound and then faster-the
sight of waves crashing in, pulling back, disappearing into ocean and sky. I
open my eyes. It’s too much” [LaCour, 2017, p.5]) and past depressive episodes
(“No one will know if you stay in bed all day” [LaCour, 2017, p.3]). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Marin has a love for literature-especially literature
containing ghosts; this is probably since her mother died when she was a
toddler and Marin’s mother remains a mysterious yet ghostly presence in Marin’s
mind and identity. Mysterious because Gramps claims that all family photos were
lost. While Marin wrestles with her grief, she must also contend with her
feelings for Mabel, her former best friend who comes to visit Marin over their
respective holiday breaks. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After the initial awkwardness wears off, the two girls
discuss the painting <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Two Fridas</i>
by Frida Kahlo. I felt this section of the book and the girls’ interpretation
of it was a metaphor for Marin’s struggle with grief and the status of Marin
and Mabel’s friendship: “The painting is how she described it, but there’s also
more. Behind the two Fridas are storm clouds, gray-blue and white. ‘I can’t
tell, I say, if the trouble is coming or if it’s passed and already left them’
“(LaCour, 2017, p.95). The conversation then shifts towards possible
explanations of the two Fridas in the painting: self-identity, loss of self,
and emotional connection, all while a literal snowstorm rages outside of their
room (a metaphor within a metaphor?). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK57Hdi-b4EucA1W06pBoo_zIG5j1U8A3vWBgK9vqKIA0Ni_H4Ske1aalReNrgZwL-7DPXwcab59-xaLx5V67yg6AkKVlpmm9lSU2Otmf8VWv8h3NlT_62paG7fnUQ0rN1SLsQp2tursM/s1600/the-two-fridas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="803" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK57Hdi-b4EucA1W06pBoo_zIG5j1U8A3vWBgK9vqKIA0Ni_H4Ske1aalReNrgZwL-7DPXwcab59-xaLx5V67yg6AkKVlpmm9lSU2Otmf8VWv8h3NlT_62paG7fnUQ0rN1SLsQp2tursM/s320/the-two-fridas.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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As the story slowly evolves, the reader finds out that while
Gramps had been acting erratically and hiding a serious physical and mental
illness, Marin and Mabel’s relationship unexpectedly turned from friendship to an
illicit romance. The flashbacks climax with Marin’s discovery of her
grandfather’s shrine to Marin’s dead mother (not everything was lost after all)
and evidence that Gramps committed suicide by walking into the ocean. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The themes of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">We Are
Okay</i> are grief/loss, betrayal, family secrets, teen sexuality, friendship,
mental illness/suicide. There are a few F-bombs sprinkled throughout the text
and the mention of suicide and a sexual encounter makes this a book full of
“sensitive topics.” Although some adults might disapprove of the content within
this book, our lecture notes remind us that “many of our young people face
these issues every day<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. </span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It’s
important that their perspectives are represented and that the collection
reflect the needs and interests of all our users regardless of our personal
views” (Carruth, 2018). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since
the YA I read is either happy fiction or dystopian fiction, I had to consult
the Internet for help in finding read-a-likes for LGBTQ YA fiction that also
centers around grief and loss. Thankfully, the Internet gave a me a few lists:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">100
Must-Read LGBTQIA YA Books<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Latest in Realistic Fiction for Young Adults<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11 YA
Books About Grief and Loss to Make You Think (And Cry) in 2017<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Citations:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Carruth, D. (2018) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Introduction
to materials for youth</i> [Word document] Retrieved from <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27688012/View">https://vsu.view.usg.edu/d2l/le/content/1710195/viewContent/27688012/View</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Doll, J. (2016, November 11). </span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The latest in realistic fiction
for young adults. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/books/review/the-latest-in-realistic-fiction-for-young-adults.html">https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/books/review/the-latest-in-realistic-fiction-for-young-adults.html</a></span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jarema,
K. (2017, March 9). 11 YA books about grief and loss to make you think (and
cry) in 2017. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://www.bustle.com/p/11-ya-books-about-grief-loss-to-make-you-think-cry-in-2017-43211">https://www.bustle.com/p/11-ya-books-about-grief-loss-to-make-you-think-cry-in-2017-43211</a></span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Kahlo, F. (1939). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
two Fridas</i> [Oil painting]. Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Stepanuik, C. (2017, May 11). <span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">100 must-read LGBTQIA YA books. Retrieved from </span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="https://bookriot.com/2017/05/11/100-must-read-lgbtqia-ya-books/">https://bookriot.com/2017/05/11/100-must-read-lgbtqia-ya-books/</a></span></span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2502200334881927143.post-42137418358558835542018-09-09T16:57:00.002-07:002018-09-09T16:57:18.089-07:00March by John Lewis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObu2qn1VfS3zptyD6jcR0XFxnd-CiQrlxIDzs8-ZNa1efY6AgksS-houbsisJzVrR6E1wgUdwz7KkezZkJ2iDQZQQlPiCeKVPy3SrqeV2Z5hcPHnDJjC88I6HHecrtuUwDlFrs1WpaXU/s1600/March+set.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiObu2qn1VfS3zptyD6jcR0XFxnd-CiQrlxIDzs8-ZNa1efY6AgksS-houbsisJzVrR6E1wgUdwz7KkezZkJ2iDQZQQlPiCeKVPy3SrqeV2Z5hcPHnDJjC88I6HHecrtuUwDlFrs1WpaXU/s320/March+set.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Title: <i>March</i><br />
Author: John Lewis<br />
Genre: graphic novel, American history, Southern history, African American history, YA non-fiction, civil rights<br />
<br />
<br />
** The following was originally posted to a discussion board for my Children's Literature class **<br />
<br />
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My first YA pick for this week’s post is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">March</i> by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.
Aside from reading the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Archie and
Veronica</i> comics as a kid, I can count on one hand the number of graphic
novels I have read in my life. It’s one of the few literary genres that doesn’t
appeal to me (the others are poetry and short stories), but I decided to give <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">March</i> a shot because a) I have heard
rave reviews about it and b) like most things outside of one’s comfort zone, I
figured it would be good practice for me to read something in unfamiliar
territory. As a librarian, I need to be aware of the various genres (even the
ones that are not personally appealing) since I will deal with patrons of
various reading levels and reading desires.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Because I am not immersed in the graphic novel world, I was
not aware that March was released in three separate volumes, so I would like to
thank and applaud our classmate that posted a question about this for
clarification. I would also like to thank our professor for allowing us extra
time with this module. We were only required to read volume three, but I went
ahead and checked out all three volumes from the library because a) I can’t
stand reading books out of order (probably due to my Type-A personality) and b)
reading all three volumes would let me experience the events in the graphic
novels in proper context. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Volume 1 explains John Lewis’ childhood in Alabama, his college
years, and how he became involved in local civil rights movements in Nashville.
Volume 2 shows how the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
strategically desegregated department store lunch counters, fast food
restaurants, cafeterias, and movie theaters. Once these places were
successfully desegregated, the SNCC turned its sights on desegregating buses and
swimming pools, and revamping employment practices. During this time, Lewis was
privy to negotiations with RFK and worked with MLK on various projects. Volume
3 is the most intense of the set: it opens with the Birmingham church bombing
that claimed the lives of four little girls. The novel continues with members
of the SNCC traveling throughout the South spearheading voter registration
drives and marches/stand ins at county courthouses. Sprinkled throughout the
various protests and jail times are JFK’s assassination, internal strife with
the SNCC and other African American groups, the Civil Rights Act, betrayal at
the Democratic National Convention, Lewis’ life changing trip to Africa,
Malcolm X’s assassination, and the historic march in Selma. <o:p></o:p></div>
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This graphic novel set was intense, even for me, a grown
woman, but I did learn a few things. The march in Selma was a series of marches
that had to be repeated due to various legal maneuverings. Also, despite all
the hard work in setting up protest lines, marches, and voter registration
drives, “By the end of the month, fewer than 60 people had even allowed into
the courthouse to attempt to register—and every single one of them was
rejected” (Lewis and Aydin, 2016, p.166). My impression was that during these
protests and marches some African Americans were successful in registering to
vote- only because the federal government made the state government cooperate. I
also learned a lot of names that I will need to research later!<o:p></o:p></div>
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The themes in this set of graphic novels are courage, civil
rights, American history, African American history, non-violence, equality,
perseverance, and justice. Due to the triggering content, I would recommend
this book for high schoolers and above (a mature middle schooler might be able
to handle it. That’s up to the patron and his or her parent to decide). There
are swear words and racial slurs scattered throughout the text (used by the
angry mobs in various states against the protestors). There are two to three
references to sex, mostly in volume 3, and there is lots of violence,
individual violence and state-sanctioned violence. Although most high schoolers
are exposed to swearing, sex talk, and, unfortunately, some forms of violence,
Horning recommends that a book reviewer “mention potentially controversial
elements ‘only if they warrant analysis as an important aspect of the work’”
Horning, 2010, 175). <o:p></o:p></div>
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Since I am not an avid graphic novel reader, it’s hard for
me to recommend any read-a-likes. I did read the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Persepolis </i>graphic novel (and watch the movie) for a world history class
during my undergrad degree. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Persepolis</i>
also deals with injustice, among many other themes. Since I lack in the
literary recommendations, I’m also going to recommend an article by the
Huffington Post (cited below), that lists six civil rights museums appropriate
for children and their families, along with the movies <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Selma</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Malcolm X</i>. I
believe these various resources are valuable supplements to one’s education
about the Civil Rights movement. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Citations: <o:p></o:p></div>
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Bower, N., Colson, C., DuVernay, A., Gardner, D., Garnes,
P., Kleiner, J., McCracken, C., McKeown, D., Morales, N., Pitt, B., Winfrey, O.
(Producers), & DuVernay, A. (Director). (2014). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Selma</i> [Motion picture]. United States: Harpo Films. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Holmes, P.L., Kilik, J., Lee, S., Murad, A., Ross, M.,
Sulichin, F., Worth, M. (Producers), & Lee, S. (Director). (1992). <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Malcolm X</i> [Motion picture]. United
States: 40 Acres a Mule Filmworks. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Horning, K.T. (2010). From cover to cover: evaluation and
reviewing children’s books. New York: HarperCollins. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Lewis, J. and Aydin, A. (2016). March. Marietta, GA: Top
Shelf Productions. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Mahoney, M. (2017, December 6). Six civil rights museums
your kids will never forget. Retrieved from <span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/maura-mahoney/six-civil-rights-museums-_b_9351576.html">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/maura-mahoney/six-civil-rights-museums-_b_9351576.html</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Aspasiahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11113445472207977029noreply@blogger.com0