tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64293163428074107802024-03-26T08:44:22.321-05:00BOOK COMMERCIALSI started this blog for my former students (now teachers) who were interested in finding out what I have been reading. The reviews that follow are designed for teachers. They include the citation of the book, the first few opening lines, a brief summary of the book, a recommendation, and information about whether or not the book is likely to be challenged.
In the summer of 2018 I began migrating this blog to bookcommercials@wordpress.com. You can find new stuff there. Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.comBlogger256125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-30536200942294631812018-04-10T18:43:00.000-05:002018-04-10T18:43:38.699-05:00Three Elementary Level Chapter Books <br />
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lin,
Grace<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2008) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Year of the Rat. </i>New York: Little Brown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Happy Year of the Rat!” Dad said
as he toasted us with his glass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
clinking noises filled the air as the adults knocked glasses of wine against
the kids’ cups of juice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As in her previous novel in the series,
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Year of the Dog</i>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lin uses short episodic chapters to tell the
story of Pacy. Pacy is afraid of losing her best friend (Melody may have to
move away) and is excited to explore her dream of one day becoming an author
and illustrator and at the same time plagued by doubts. Lin includes regular
small sketches in the margins as we go, which may help young readers continue
to picture the story throughout the chapter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are some minor themes in this
story – how friendship can survive separation, the importance of family, and so
on, but maybe not enough here to fully warrant an in-class study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would, however, make a great read-aloud
for second and third grade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Lin,
Grace (2012)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dumpling Days</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little Brown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Pink, pink, pink,” I said over
Ki-Ki to Mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lissy, Ki-Ki, and I were
sitting next to each other on an airplane, and we were wearing the same hot-ink
overall dresses, the color of the neon donut sign in the food court back in the
airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Why did it have to be pink?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Pacy and her family are going to
Taiwan for a month, to visit relative that Pacy has never met<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pacy is more than a little nervous about the
food, the fact that she doesn’t speak the language, and is worried that her artistic
talent may be disappearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Like the other books in this series,
there is no climactic battle against hordes of aliens nor a family crisis that
tears the main character’s world apart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rather, these are the sorts of everyday challenges and problems that
many elementary school kids have to deal with (and a few they do not – like accidentally
eating chicken feet).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I think that
is why so many second and third graders like Grace Lin’s books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a calmness to them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As in previous books, the text is
broken up with pictures and the story is broken up with the tales her father
and other relatives tell.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would
also make a good read aloud book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Alexander,
Lloyd (1970) </span><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Marvelous Misadventures
of Sebastian</i><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">New York:</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Puffin</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“From his perch on the window
ledge of the musician’s quarters, high under the East Wing Roof, Sebastian’’s
quick ears caught the drum of hoofbeats.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Sebastian, who lives in a vaguely medieval
world of uncertain historical period, gets fired from the Baron’s orchestra and
takes to the road where he loses his violin, meets a princess, and ends up as a
clown in a theater troupe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I can’t
say this book made me laugh out loud, it certainly had me grinning a lot of the
time. Sebastian doesn’t take anything to seriously as he careens from one
situation to the next. and along the way, his missteps just might save the
kingdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This book is not a classic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was published in 1970 and won a National
Book Award, and my guess is that you haven’t heard of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Lloyd Alexander is an excellent writer,
and some young reaer might enjoy a simple and funny story without supercharged
mutants battling cyborg aliens with the fate of the galaxy at stake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For that reason, this one might be worth
picking up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is nothing objectionable in
this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would apply to some third,
foruth, and fifth graders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-84701763669729244022018-03-27T11:22:00.000-05:002018-03-27T11:22:03.817-05:00Five Realistic YA Novels With Female Protagonists:Ranging from Excellent to Downright Bad<br />
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><b>A quick note: </b>one of my students who follows this blog convinced her roommate tot alk to me about ways to improve this site. I ave been too busy reading and reviewing to give it much thought. This student, however has some really smart and basic suggestions. So stay tuned for a much better look.</span></div>
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<b>Five Realistic YA Novels With Female Protagonists:Ranging from Excellent to Downright Bad</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Bauer,
Joan (1999) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Backwater</i>. New York:
Penguin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Opening
Lines:</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">“I knelt in the snow in front of
my great-great-great-great-grandfather’s gravestone, took my bristle brush and
cleaned the surface the surface, working the bristles deep into each engraved
letter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Smith,
Amber (2016) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Way I Used to Be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Simon and Shuster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I don’t know a lot of
things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know why I didn’t hear
the door click shut.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why I didn’t lock
the damn door to begin with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or why I
didn’t register that something was wrong—so mercilessly wrong – when I felt the
mattress shift under his weight.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rock,
Peter (2016) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Klickitat. </i>New York:
Amulet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It all started when I noticed
the way my sister was walking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
late in the afternoon and I was upstairs in my bedroom, watching her out the
window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d wedged myself between my
bookcase and the wall so they both pressed against me, holding me tight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Below, outside, at the edge of our backyard,
I saw Audra.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Beaufrand,
M.J. (2016) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Useless Bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amulet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
line:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Our dog learned obedience from a
murdered man.” <br /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sones, Sonya (2016) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saving Red</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Harper<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Why am I out here in the middle
of the fricking night wandering the streets of Santa Monica looking for homeless
people when I could be lying in bed watching videos of babies eating lemons and
soldiers reuniting with their dogs?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Because I need four more hours of community service this semester.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And I need them by tomorrow morning.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>What makes a realistic YA book
good?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a hard question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is much easier to identify things that
make a realistic YA fiction book bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Here we will take a look at both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Joan Bauer’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Backwater </i>is a good book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ivy
Breedlove is a teenager who, it is expected, will become a lawyer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s what all Breedloves become – well except
for her crazy Aunt Josephine, who lives on the side of a mountain, deep in the
wilderness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ivy would rather be a
historian, and because of the argumentative nature of the Breedloves, Ivy would
love to be able to interview her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But even
if Ivy climbs the mountain, will her hermit of an aunt be willing to talk to her?
Ivy hires a rather unconventional guide and sets out on a journey full of surprises.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What makes this book work is that it
has at its core a good solid story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One
of the things a good solid story does is it lets the reader fall into it and
get lost in it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bauer’s writing style
first of all serves to carry the reader on that journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He prose is also beautiful in places, but it
primarily serves the story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">There
also has to be relatable truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
case of this book, when readers get inside Ivy’s struggle to get her dad to see
her as something other than a failed potential lawyer, many of those readers
can either connect with that feeling personally or see how it played out in the
life of a friend.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This would be a great book for
middle school language arts, though it could also be a good optional book for
middle school history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing
in this book that parents are likely to object to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Amber Smith’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Way I Used to Be </i>is much more complicated. It is a much harder
book to read, a much harder book to use in any capacity in a school, and at the
same time, it is a book that has a much greater potential payoff, provided
readers are willing to stick with it to the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Eden is a broken kid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she was in middle school, she was raped
by her brother Caelen’s friend from high school<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She knows she should tell someone, but doesn’t because she is in shock,
then is ashamed that she didn’t tell someone right way (and afraid they won’t
believe her) and so she keeps it to herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She is hurting, and starts a lunch hour book club to try to escape from
the noise of the cafeteria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The reader
can see the way her pain is eating away at her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The summer after Freshman year she gets contacts and starts
smoking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When school starts she ditches
her friend Steven (who stood by her when no one else seemed to).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She drops band.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is told in first person, and even
Ivy’s language changes, as she starts using the f word constantly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And she starts having sex with a kid named
Josh, yet making sure that she doesn’t get too emotionally close to him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The next
school year her relationship with Josh falls apart, Edy and her friend Mara
spend more and more time and effort on finding ways to buy alcohol and
cigarettes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And Edy spends more and more
time sleeping with guys she doesn’t know and eventually starts getting high
too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I have two daughters, and as I was
reading, at this point, my papa-sense started going off like crazy and it
became harder and harder to read about Ivy’s self-destructive path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was particularly hard to watch as Edy’s
friends, boyfriends, parents, keep trying to build relationships with her and
she keeps sabotaging them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But throughout
the book, there is a sense in which her experience rings true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edy’s self-destruction finally hits bottom
well past three-quarters of the way through the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And although it was hard to read, it was also
important, it seemed to me, to read about the deep swath of destruction that
swirled out from the original violent act of rape.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In the end, Edy hits bottom and finally
tells her story and there is community, redemption, and even some justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it is such a hard road to get there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be a good book for some high school
seniors to read, but it is certainly not the right choice for everybody at that
time. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I am still trying to figure out why
I didn’t like Peter Rock’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Klickitat</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rock has won an Alex Award for his adult novel
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My Abandonment </i>which I haven’t
read.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps that novel works
better.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one seems pretentious,
deliberately obscure, and inconclusive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Klickitat</i>
tells the story of Vivian, a young girls who has anxiety attacks that are
revealed by pressure (though she does not seem to be autistic, which I usually associate
with this condition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vivians’s parents
seem to be disconnected from their children’s lives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vivian’ sister Audra has met a buy named
Henry whom she intends to run away with to live a purer life in the woods
(though at the moment, they are living together in the crawl space under a house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vivian maybe has a crush on Henry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Vivian has a notebook in her bedroom who
someone keeps writing nearly incomprehensible poetry in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for klickitat novel" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444680933l/26240655.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The book, at its best, can be ethereal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At its worst though, it seems artsy, in the
sense that it is trying very hard to seem like art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is like it is hinting at meaning that is not
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The messages in the notebook are
a good example of this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They carry some
sort of meaning, but nothing that really helps Vivian.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is like reading lines of abstract poetry
without any context.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the book goes
on, I became more and more convinced that everyone who writes notes in this
book is allergic to making any kind of applicable point. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The truth is, it reminds me of both the
worst literary fiction of the 1990s and the kind of rocks songs that you
thought were profound when you were in high school, but now listen to again and
realize that, although they sound profound, they aren’t actually saying anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And actually, I find this terrifying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of the things I love about children’s
books is that children tend to demand a coherent story that comes to some sort
of a conclusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Children have little
patience for pretention. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am praying
that this sort of book does not proliferate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I suppose there may be something school students out there who might
love this book, but I cannot recommend it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Similarly M. J. Beaufrand’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Useless Bay </i>(2016) seemed like an
intriguing premise that didn’t deliver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Set of Whidbey Island, off the coast of Washington State, this book
tells the story of the Gray quintuplets and their dog who regularly serve as an
informal search-and-rescue team.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a
boy is reported missing, the Gray’s search turns up a body, but not that of the
missing boy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Soon the quints are in the
middle of a complicated mystery with multiple suspects and lots of danger.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sounds good?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><img alt="Image result for Useless bay novel" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/63/c9/9a/63c99a7dadbc2dad725031ec07cfa3c7.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are some problems,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t get to know the Quints
well enough to really care for them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is also some mystical magical realism thrown in which doesn’t add
to the mystery, but rather seems like it is out of place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The magical realism is not internally
consistent, nor does it make much sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know that magical realism is magical, but it also has to fit into the
story in a way that makes sense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Magic
has a kind of weird logic to it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this
book, that logic was very hard to follow. The story moves well, I will give it
that. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ending is quite gripping.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the ending is not particularly satisfying.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This book, like all YA literature in
the last five years, has it’s fair share of vulgar language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are a couple of cheap shots at
different populations, including one at people of faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mom was firmly anti-religious because of all
of the people of faith who gathered around her with casseroles when she was a
new mother of quintuplets and promised to help…if only she would repent and
admit she’d been a whore to get herself knocked up to begin with.” (52)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have no doubt that there are people who
would say such things in the world, and that this is the mother’s
interpretation, but even so, it seems an unfair stereotype.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sonya
Sones’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Saving Red</i>, on the other hand,
works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While on a service project helping
to count homeless people. Molly sees a girl who seems about her own age and
later makes it her project to reunite that kid with her family by
Christmas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aided by a boy she met at the
amusement park who rapidly becomes both a friend and something more, Molly
begins to find out more about the girl, whose name is Red.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She finds out that Red is not so easy to
help, that Red might not want to be reunited with her family, and that Red has
schizophrenia and hears voices that tell her what to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><img alt="Image result for Saving Red" src="https://bi.hcpdts.com/page/750/EwIaWqDxBJPJUu7rJh2VzSKTpid81MN3OmFop+kl0wpS7vB3CidS!pxvgzMNfZ1nRiJTw0coSw6po!WgF19IVfzxflD0V5DsKau4H!UvX3dgWMZOxO7nbASp+W5SBQKW/u34+1F!EVWH7ngw7NLVXIcKIKW2pmYA+Gl!w8rbMsYH!BRIAG5OUet9tcq9F2XjffXkZsjELHH1dotzfe59Az2sqgtHyOdw1TsDgaLLp+wGWsW1OYzkgsRAdZgmVYczu" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
is a book about a kid trying to learn about homelessness and trying to do the
right thing, but realizing that homelessness, like most important issues, is
far more complicated than she thought.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Red
learns that people care about her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
is not a perfect book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Molly is partly
able to help Red because she herself comes from an affluent family and his
resources that not every kid would have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But she learns.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She makes a
difference for Red, but doesn’t solve her problem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the fact that Molly meets a nice boy who
cares about her counterpoints the fact that Red, because of her homelessness
and disability is unlikely to have such a relationship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suspect that, if this bok gets reviewed, critics
will skewer it for oversimplifying the problem of homelessness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
it is a good and entertaining story (told using poems, by the way, though five
minutes into the book you will hardly notice that is the case) and the middle
school and high school students who read it will enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The story is coherent, the characters
likable, and its portrayal of life is real, at least to some people’s
experiences. This one is worth buying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-10529436844866566882018-03-14T13:16:00.000-05:002018-03-14T13:16:25.778-05:00Graphic Novels to Teach Math With!<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">Yang, Gene Luen; Holmes, Mike (2016) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Secret Coders 2: Paths and Portals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></i>New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for Secret Coders 2 Paths and Portals" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1444637823l/25688979.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">Opening Panels:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for Secret Coders 2 Paths and Portals" height="640" src="https://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/interiors-images/9781626720763.IN02.jpg" width="451" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The Coders are
back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hopper, Eni, and Josh now discover
that Mr. Bee, the grumpy janitor from the first book, was once a teacher at the
school, and he begins to teach them while at the same time, they begin to dig
into some of the suspicious doings that the dean of the school (and his pet
rugby team) seem involved in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the
dean captures one of the janitor’s robots, and then the janitor himself, the
secret coders need to decide if it is worth unleashing chaos to set the janitor
free.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There is a lot of
learning in this book, but Yang embeds the instruction into the stories so
completely that many students won’t even notice they are learning coding, geometry,
and even how to write letters in mandarin Chinese. Yang takes his time with
both character development and plot development probably because he knows he
will have many books in the series to develop these aspects more fully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>What makes this
such a great book for a math classroom library is that the math stuff is solid,
but deeply embedded in the experiences of the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book goes a long way toward helping students
see the answer to the perennial questions, “What are we going to use this stuff
for?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;">Holmes’s artistic style seems
drawn from Saturday morning cartoons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The characters are drawn in part like caricatures, but there is enough realism
built in that a student can get lost in the world of the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you teach math or coding, you need this
book now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Yang, Gene Luen; Holmes, Mike (2017) <i>Secret Coders 3: Secrets and Sequences</i>. New York: First Second. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for secret coders secrets and sequences" 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" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> This is what
happens when I do more writing than review writing. I end up with more wonderful Secret Coders
Books to review. In this one, Principal
Dean kidnaps Hoppers Mom and the kids follow, eventually ending up in the lair
of Dr. One Zero, a former pupil of their janitor-mentor, Mr. Bee. Dr. One Zero imprisons them and steals their flying
turtle to use its laser to draw out Mr. Bee from hiding and at the same time
destroy their school. Along the way, the Coders have to learn use their newfound
skills at writing ifelse statements to trick a robotic cat into destroying their
cell door and program a flock of robotic birds to intercept Dr. One Zero’s
craft and foil his plans. Unfortunately,
after rescuing Hoppers Mom, they return to school to find that Dr. One Zero has
become the new principal of their school.
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Math. Geometrey.
Coding. Problem-solving. Fun.
Buy this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Shiga, Jason (2017) <i>Demon 2. </i>New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> What does a story
about a guy who, when he dies, possesses the body of the nearest person to him,
have to do with teaching math? When the main character, Jimmy Yee has a
mission, to get revenge on the drunk driver that killed his family, and when he
uses math to do it. Jimmy is a former
actuary who can cube two digit numbers in his head, and so evading the
mysterious government agency that is after him, escaping capture, and getting
to his goal is mostly a matter of logic and math. Although the story is certainly grisly, it
may be amazing way to teach the value of logic in problem-solving, if you can
get past the carnage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> So here are the
rules, which Jimmy Yee figures out as he goes (and so does the reader). 1.
Jimmy possesses the body of whomever is nearest to him when he
dies. 2. The possessions do not ross
species, so he cannot possess the bodies of animals. 3. The possessions occurs somewhere between a
speed of mach 10 and instantaneously. 4. He does not gain or loses his own mental
skills when he transfers. He gains some physical
skill if he possesses a bodybuilder, but not all. 5. He possesses
the body of whatever person’s head is closest to his own. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> But when Jimmy
breaks into prison to complete his mission, he finds out his daughter is still
alive and has the same abilities that he does, and that both of them are
surrounded by hundreds of agents. Can
Jimmy figure out a way to escape the trap?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Jason Shinga
draws the characters in this graphic novel with big, often round heads that are
reminiscent of Charles Schultz’s peanuts characters. This stylized drawing approach minimizes the
reality of the story that Jimmy is racking up a pretty massive body count. Shinga also uses the convention of drawing
Jimmy’s face on whatever person he has possessed so that it is easy to keep
track of when Jimmy makes the jump.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> In an age of
violence, school shootings, and indifference to death and suffering, this book
seems to be more a part of the problem than the solution. The fact that Jimmy is being hunted by people
who want to use his abilities for nefarious ends, and the fact that those
people try to use his daughter to blackmail him, and the way that he uses logic
to get out of trap after trap, makes this book one that may win you over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Given the
violence and several occasional vulgarities, this book would be best for high
school and the teacher should preview it before putting it in her or his
classroom. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-50929148546226714682018-03-07T17:40:00.000-06:002018-03-07T17:40:05.109-06:00New Trade Books for Kids Who Love History (and the teachers that teach them)<br />
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<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Fleming, Candace (2014) </span><i style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Family Romanov:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of Imperial Russia<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">New York:</span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Schwartz and Wade.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening line:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“On the night or February 12, 1903, a long line of carriages make its way through the Imperial Gates of St. Petersburg’s Winter palace.”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>There are moments in history when everything turns upside down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Tsar Nicholas and his wife, Empress Alexandra began their rule of Russia, they were following a long line of predecessors into what seemed a predictable reign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alexandra bore three daughters and, after much waiting, a son, Alexei, who would turn out to suffer greatly from hemophilia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then follows wartime troubles and Alexei suffers from more bouts of hemophilia-induced internal bleeding and the pain that accompanies it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Tsar and Tsarina eventually put their trust in a peasant mystic named Rasputin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rasputin, many allege, not only brings about the downfall of the Tsar, but would be indirectly responsible for Nicholas’s abdication of the throne, and eventually the death of his whole family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Fleming carefully unwinds the narrative, paying attention not only to the Royal family, but to the peasants as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She paints Nicholas and Alexandra as partly naïve, party disinterested monarchs who more than anything want to escape the burdens of leadership and raise their family without interruption.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a tragic moment in history and it is fascinating to see it unfold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Strong fourth and fifth grade readers could make sense of most of this, but it is probably ideal for middle school and high school readers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book does cover the murder of the royal family in a matter of fact way and makes vague references to Rasputin’s <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>womanizing, but there is little here that could offend or trouble parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Haskins, James (1977) <i>Barbara Jordan</i>. New York: Dial Press.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Quote: “If there are any patriots left, I am one.” --Barbara Jordan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> One thing history can do is remind us that things were not always the way they are now. Somehow in the last forty years, the word politician became a bad word. When Barbara Jordan became one of the first black women elected to US Congress,that was not so much the case. Jordan was skilled at the art of compromise, of crossing the isle and finding the common ground of justice and helping the American people that let the legislature get things done. She was organized and passionate, feisty and a good friend, principled and a good bridge-builder. This book chronicles her hard work in law school, her hard work running for office, and her phenomenally hard work once she was in office. This biography is not only an interesting portrayal of Barbara Jordan, but also a fascinating portrait of a time in our country's istory when compromise across the aisle was the ay we got things done. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">And she did all this as a black woman running for office in Texas. Texas at the time seemed to have a very different sort of identity than it does now. Although the biography probably skews in the direction of being overly positive toward her life, it does not omit the criticism of her being an Uncle Tom, or forgetting her people. It acknowledges those criticisms and offers her response, then lets the readers decide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I stumbled upon this book because it was a Coretta Scott King Award winner. Although I believe it is out of print, websites like ABE.com can be relied on to have a used copy usually for under six dollars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Moss, Marissa (2017) </span><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Kate Warne: Pinkerton Detective</i><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">.</span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Creston Books.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines: <span> </span>“Kate read the newspaper advertisement for the third time: <span> </span>Wanted: Detective. <span> </span>Must be observant, determined, fearless, and willing to travel. <span> </span>Pinkerton Agency 353 Michigan Ave. <span> </span>Chicago. <span> </span>She had no experience at all, but the job called to her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Okay, yes, this is a picture book, but it is a wonderful one. <span> </span>Moss tells the story of Kate Warne, the first woman detective in America. <span> </span>Moss describes how Warne convinced Allan Pinkerton to hire her, even though he had never hired a female agent before. <span> </span>She describes Warne’s first case, a theft of $40,000 from a locked pouch in a safe. <span> </span>Warne took on a disguise, befriended the suspect’s wife and found out where the money was hidden. <span> </span>An extensive author’s note at the end of the book fills in some details including how Warne served in the Secret Service, how she died, and where she is buried.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">April Chu’s illustrations do a lot to bring the reader into the dusty sepia-toned world of Chicago in 1856. <span> </span>Moss’s writing engaged the reader in the story, but also makes sure they will be interested in the history of it as well. <span> </span>And extensive author’s note at the end will fill in some of the gaps for the interested reader.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I was going to say that this would be a great picture book for kids interested in history or detectives or law enforcement. <span> </span>But as I think about it, this is the sort of book that might take a kid who doesn’t yet realize they are interested in these areas and start an interest that could make a huge difference. <span> </span>I suppose the book is probably targeted at first through third grade – but I would use it up through middle school and high school as a way of getting students interested in a topic. <span> </span>Check this one out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-57951980630783371572018-02-21T14:29:00.001-06:002018-02-21T14:29:41.446-06:00Good Graphic Novels for Humans and Trolls of all Sorts of Ages<br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Orchard,
Eric (2016)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Bera the One-Headed Troll<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>New
York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for Bera the One-Headed Troll" 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" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Opening Panels:</span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for Bera the One-Headed Troll" height="400" src="https://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/interiors-images/9781626721067.IN02.jpg" width="310" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I teach in a college where our
mascot is the Troll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are the only
college with such a mascot in North America.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So I am a little defensive when it comes to trolls who generally get a
bad rap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not so in this graphic novel. Bera
is a kind and compassionate troll and when a baby appears in a tiny boat on the
edge of her island, she saves it from the sirens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before long she sets out on a journey to
return the baby to its people, and she must elude a witch, a giant, and many
other obstacles to keep the baby safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not only is this a fun book for
third grade and up, it also teaches kids to be careful who they trust<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At several points, Bera things she has found
someone who will care for the baby as she does.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In several of those cases, she is wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>But Bera is a good troll.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fine example of what a troll should
be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Trinity alumni in particular may
want to pick this one up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Weing, Drew (2016) <i>The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo. </i>New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Opening Lines: </span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo" height="444" src="http://www.drewweing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/margocolor001-1A.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Charles is a small bookish kid who is always writing things in his notebook. He wants to be a reporter someday, and so when his family moves to the big city, Charles begins writing a blog. He views the city as a dangerous place, with high crime rates and danger of being mugged lurking around every corner. When he discovers that he actually has a monster in his closet, he is even more scared. Eventually a kid he meets gives him a card that says Margo Maloo, Monster Mediator. He calls the number and Margo arrives through hi bedroom window, finds an old access panel in the back of his closet, and leads him down a shaft where she finds the Troll that has been living in Charles’s basement. The troll (whose name is Marcus) was trying to scare away Charles’s family because he was afraid they would mess with his stuffed animal collection. Soon Charles and the troll are getting along pretty well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> As the story goes on, Charles starts going along on Margo’s missions, sort of as her sidekick. It becomes apparent that she really is a mediator, solving conflicts by getting the two sides to talk together and works something out. There are still plenty of challenges and dangerous situations though, and Charles begins to learn that the city is not a place he should be scared of, but is in fact fascination, both in terms of the human community and the monster community.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Bottom line, this book is a lot of fun. Ideal for third grade and up. I suppose some parents might object to a book with monsters in it, but if they read the book, I think they would change their minds. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Knisley, Lucy (2016) <i>Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride. </i>New York: First Second.</span></div>
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Opening lines: "Of all the unfamiliar roles in which I have found myself as an adult, this has been one of the strangest. Despite hundreds of years of traditions and expectations, familiar rituals and ancient promises... A year ago I couldn't have even imagined myself as a bride."</div>
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Lucy Knisley writes really interesting memoirs in graphic novel form. Her previous graphic novel, <i>Relish</i>, looked at her life in terms of food. This book looks at how difficult it is to fight societal expectations and family expectations and make your wedding your own. She manages though, and gets her wedding dress with pockets, her (relatively simple) wedding, and all without permanently alienating her mom, fiance, friends, or anyone else. Along the way we find out the story of her relationship with John, her struggles with dating, and plenty of self-deprecating stories that make us smile.</div>
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There are interesting themes here including the importance of thinking critically about sociatal traditions before buying into them, how marriage is based on more than perfect appearance, and how humor can diffuse tension among others. </div>
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This book would be good for high school and up, though teachers should be aware that Knisley references some same-sex dating that she did along the way and occasionally mentioned her support of same-sex marriage. This is not a major part of the book and would likely not even raise an eyebrow of the average high school student, but parents may be cautious or offended. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Hale, Shannon; Pham, LeUyen (2017) <i>Real Friends: A True Story about Cool Kids and Crybabies </i>New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Opening Line: “When I was little, I didn’t worry about friends.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">When Shannon goes to kindergarten she meets Adrienne and they become best friends. But when Adrienne moves away, Shannon is alone. She meets Tammy, but it isn’t the same. Adrienne moves back, but befriends Jan, who is cool. And at that point, Shannon starts down the difficult road of trying to find and maintain friends in the difficult world of elementary school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> This is a remarkably honest book and the reader shares in Shannon’s triumphs and sorrows. Pham’s illustrations use amazingly evocative facial expression to let the reader get inside the heads of Shannon and her friends (and enemies). We also get to see what Shannon dreams of, including the stories of castles and knights she envisions writing some day, the scenarios he is pretending in her mind when she plays with her friends, and the image of Jesus comforting her when no one else will. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> This would be an excellent book for third graders and up, particularly in teaching social skills and providing comfort for kids who are stuck on the outside of friends groups they wish they were in. It is certainly directed at a female audience. There is nothing here that could cause any objection that I can see. I am guessing every teacher can think of at least one kid who needs this book. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-23948985155757502802018-02-10T17:12:00.002-06:002018-02-10T17:12:42.373-06:00Books that will make you scream at me, "Why didn't you tell me about this book sooner?!"<br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Gidwitz,
Adam (2016)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Inquisitor’s Tale<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>New
York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dutton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The king is ready for war.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Louis
of France is not yet 30, and already he is the greatest king in Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He loves his subjects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He loves God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And his armies have never been defeated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This
war, though, is different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">E
is not fighting another army.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He
is not fighting another kind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">He
is fighting three children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And
their dog.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This
is a hard book to describe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is
wonderful, but any summary will make it seem less than wonderful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And so I am tempted to not summarize it, but
you need to understand what it is like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
will try.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My apologies for not doing
this splendid book the justice it deserves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We
hear the story as travelers tell it to each other in the dining room of an inn
in France in 1242.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A\t first the story
seems like it might be exaggerated, but gradually it becomes clearer and
clearer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeanne is a peasant girl whose
life is saved by her dog which is then martyred but returns as a mysterious
ghostly hound. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jeanne herself has
visions of the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jacob is a Jewish
boy whose entire community was destroyed by the King’s soldiers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He discovers that he can heal any wound.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>William is a moor from Africa who was raised
by monks and has remarkable physical strength.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The three kids find themselves travelling together and soon draw the ire
of the king by trying to prevent a public burning of books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the story, the three kids grow closer
together, the king unleashes his army, and the kids work several miracles in
the service of justice and mercy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">I
know nobody reads a book because it contains important themes, but this one
looks at making space for differing religious perspectives, contains a serious
exploration of why God lets bad things happen, and also addresses themes of
redemption and forgiveness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are
some beautiful passages of dialogue which utterly fail to answer any of the questions
these themes raise. And that is what makes this book ring authentic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“There
are some people in this world who have magic in them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these people, it turns out, are
children” says the inquisitor who has been following the children with the intent
to turn them over to the authorities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A
few pages later, reflecting on their mostly unsuccessful attempt to save books
form being burned publically by the king, Jacob says, “We saved five
books.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How many worlds did we save?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This
book contains an excellent story that will make you think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is nothing here that would cause the
book tobe challenged.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think it could
work as a read-aloud in fourth or fifth grade and as a book to be studied in middle
school or even high school.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless,
you need to read it right away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No sense
in waiting any longer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go get a hold of
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Zentner,
Jeff (2016) <i>The Serpent King</i>. New York: Crown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines: “There were things Dillard Wayne
Early Jr. dreaded more than the start of school in Forrestville High. Not many, but a few. Thinking about the future was one of them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Dill’s dad is a former snake-handling
preacher who is in jail for distributing pornography and because of this, Dill
is an outcast among his fellow students.
Fortunately he has two friends who are also outcasts. Lydia plans to be a fashion designer in New
York, and because of this, her fellow students in Forrestville High look down
on her for not being like them. Dill’s
other friend is Travis, who loves fantasy novels and wears a cloak and carries
a staff with him. Each one of these high school students have dreams, secrets,
and fears and they all care for each other.
One reason I love this sotry is that it is an excellent depiction of
what real healthy friendship looks like.
(Of course you will also encounter bullying, injustice, physical abuse,
intolerance, horrible parents, awesome parents, and all the stuff that goes
along with being a teenager. This story
slowly grabs hold of you and then becomes irresistible. Parts of it make you want to yell at the
book. Other parts of it will leave you
smiling to yourself. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> This book is for high school
students. There is some vulgar language
here, a reference to masturbation, and senseless violence. There is also real love, transformation, and
redemption. There is hopelessness and
hope. One of my favorite quotes from the
book is this one, “And if you are going to live, you might as well do painful,
brave, and beautiful things.” (327)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> If you buy this, and if you read it,
you will be glad you did. </span><br />
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<o:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Lathan,
Jennifer (2017) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Dreamland Burning</i>. New
York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little Brown.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><o:p><a data-cthref="/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwifmMSxiJnZAhVC6oMKHTVmB3wQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodreads.com%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F24382227-dreamland-burning&psig=AOvVaw1iPpZ4zisAYDr1X5h37rUB&ust=1518273661479385" data-ved="2ahUKEwifmMSxiJnZAhVC6oMKHTVmB3wQjRx6BAgAEAY" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwifmMSxiJnZAhVC6oMKHTVmB3wQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodreads.com%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F24382227-dreamland-burning&psig=AOvVaw1iPpZ4zisAYDr1X5h37rUB&ust=1518273661479385" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="Image result for Dreamland Burning" height="475" id="irc_mi" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481804644l/24382227.jpg" style="margin-top: 17px;" width="316" /></a></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening
Lines;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Nobody walks in Tulsa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least not to get anywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oil built our houses, paved our streets, and
turned us from a cow town stop on the Firsco Railroad into the heart of Route 66.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My ninth grade Oklahoma History teacher joked
that around these parts, walking is sacrilege.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Real Tulsan’s drive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> “But today my car is totaled and I have
a one o’clock appointment with the district attorney at the county
courthouse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I walked.”<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Rowan is about to begin her summer
internship. When the workers renovating her family’s carriage hours discover a
body (and leave the worksite immediately, fearing the authorities will
investigate their immigration status) Rowan is the one who calls the
police.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She starts to wonder whose body
it is and how it came to be hidden in her carriage house.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From there this excellent novel splits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We follow one story concerning Will Tillman,
a white teenager growing up in Tusa in 1921 who inadvertently sets in motion a
chain of events that will lead to a race riot that he will try desperately to
prevent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rowan’s story continues as she
finds out more about the body and also navigates race relations in today’s
world as a mixed-race daughter of professional, upper middle-class
parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After Rowan witnesses a car
versus pedestrian accident that seems racially motivated, the two stories come
together in an incredibly powerful conclusion.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This story has enough going on in it
thematically and is well-written enough that would be a good book for a high
school English class to pair with something like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To Kill a Mockingbird</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
would also make a fine addition to a classroom library.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And you would really enjoy reading this one.
At the very least, put it on your summer reading list. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman";">
</span> </span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Balliet,
Blue (2013) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hold Fast.</i> New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Scholastic.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"></span> </div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><o:p><a data-cthref="/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiJwpukpZvZAhXI34MKHcnEDdEQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodreads.com%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F15815410-hold-fast&psig=AOvVaw0wRKp3yBfHdUbXhFOjLbil&ust=1518350158381961" data-ved="2ahUKEwiJwpukpZvZAhXI34MKHcnEDdEQjRx6BAgAEAY" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiJwpukpZvZAhXI34MKHcnEDdEQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goodreads.com%2Fbook%2Fshow%2F15815410-hold-fast&psig=AOvVaw0wRKp3yBfHdUbXhFOjLbil&ust=1518350158381961" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="Image result for Blue Balliett Hold Fast" height="475" id="irc_mi" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1350417114l/15815410.jpg" style="margin-top: 17px;" width="312" /></a></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening
Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“It was the bitterest, meanest,
darkest, coldest winter in anyone’s memory, even in one of the most forgotten
neighborhoods in Chicago.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Warning:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a really good book, but you are going
to have to be patient.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a long
wait for the payoff.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Things get desperate
quickly and for a long time the mystery doesn’t get solved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found that frustrating when I first read
the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is not until the last third
of the book that things start to come together, but when they do it is worth
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And then it is totally
satisfying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The story is about a family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Summer and Dash are the parents, and Early (a
girl) and Jubilation (a boy) are the kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Dash disappears abruptly from his life, gone without a trace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thugs break into their house, threaten them
and ransack the place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Summer, Early,
and Jubilee go on the run and soon find themselves in a homeless shelter and
also find out that the FBI is looking for their dad, and that Early may hold
the key to finding him,.This is not just a mystery of a missing dad and an
unknown crime – the book also explores the second mystery of why there are
thousands of homeless people suffering lives of crushing desperation and at the
same time, thousands of foreclosed buildings sitting empty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Balliet’s writing is, as usual],
filled with clues and cyphers, and evey now and then an amazing quote that will
really grab you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One quote that grabbed my
attention was this one: “Reading is a tool no one can take away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A million bad things may happen in life and
it’ll still be with you, like a flashlight that never needs a battery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Reading can offer a crack of light on the
blackest of nights.” (p 166).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This one is probably best suited to
high school, though advanced middle school readers could also read it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would work as a read-aloud, but I think is
best suited to be part of your classroom library. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: small;"> </span></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small; line-height: 107%;"><br />
<o:p><span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Gansworth,
Eric (2013) <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If I Ever Get Out Of Here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>New York:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Scholastic</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a data-cthref="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiV5-Tju5zZAhUnzoMKHfjiDuEQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsmithsonianapa.org%2Fbookdragon%2Fif-i-ever-get-out-of-here-by-eric-gansworth%2F&psig=AOvVaw2bTMdUJBJPZDBPDMAobTY_&ust=1518390550159972" data-ved="2ahUKEwiV5-Tju5zZAhUnzoMKHfjiDuEQjRx6BAgAEAY" href="http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiV5-Tju5zZAhUnzoMKHfjiDuEQjRx6BAgAEAY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsmithsonianapa.org%2Fbookdragon%2Fif-i-ever-get-out-of-here-by-eric-gansworth%2F&psig=AOvVaw2bTMdUJBJPZDBPDMAobTY_&ust=1518390550159972" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="Image result for If i Ever Get Out of Here book" height="508" id="irc_mi" src="http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2015/02/If-I-Ever-Get-Out-of-Here-by-Eric-Gansworth-on-BookDragon.jpg" style="margin-top: 0px;" width="336" /></a></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Opening
Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>“Cut it off,” I yelled.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“Shut
up, or my dad will hear you,” Carson Mastick said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He’s not that drunk yet, and I’m gonna have
a hard enough time explaining how you came down looking like a different kid
than the one that went upstairs.” For ten minutes he had been farting around, waving the scissors like a magic wand. Now he yanked the long tail of hair from my neck and touched the scissors an inch from the collar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Lewis Blake has grown up on the reservation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>High school has been torture to him so
far.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nobody ever talks to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids bully him, and his family is so poor
they have a hole in the roof of their kitchen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then he meets George Haddonfield, who is a new kid, and what’s more,
George lives on the base – his dad is a soldier and his Mom is from
Germany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They hit it off, bonding mostly
over music, especially the Beatles and Paul McCartney and Wings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>George invites Lewis over and Lewis is
impr3essed with how nice George’s family is, but Lewis can never reciprocate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He likes in a ramshackle dwelling on the
reservation, his mom works long hours cleaning other people’s houses and never
has any energy to clean her own, and his Uncle Albert who Lewis shares a
bedroom is a little, well, off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has
other things to worry about too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>George
is getting friendly with a girl, what if he gets a girlfriend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And on top of all that, Lewis gets bullied
constantly by Evan Rediger, whose father is so rich and powerful that no one
will listen to Lewis when he reports what he is going through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This is a book that is remarkably
real to some kid’s high school experience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has some vulgar words in it and some honest conversations about difficult
topics. It is also a book that shows what real friendship is like and a book in
which the bullies and the corrupt do not always win in the end.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is also a book that says a lot about
poverty and what it is like to be an outcast because of your culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would be an excellent book for your
classroom library (though you would want to read it first).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could also be a fantastic read aloud or
better still, a book to be studied in class.</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">
</span></o:p> </span> </div>
</div>
<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-12533629908217061592018-02-05T15:05:00.001-06:002018-02-05T15:20:07.444-06:00Sports Books About More Than Just Sports<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Feinstein,
John<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(2017)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Backfield
Boys<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>New York<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">: </i>Farrar Straus Giroux, 2017.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for Backfield Boys" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51BMlIAAA5L.jpg" /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Opening Lines:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom Jefferson was staring into the rapidly
setting sun, hands on hips, wondering what to do next.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just a game of touch football on a
November afternoon, but he didn’t want to lose to the private school kids. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tom
“Bull’s Eye” Jefferson and Jason “White Lightning” Roddin have grown up in New
York City as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>friends since the early
grades, partly based on their common love of football.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tom is an excellent quarterback and Jason a
remarkably fast wide receiver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When they
both get recruited to attend a prep school in the south that is known for its
alumni who went on to play pro ball, they leap at the chance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when they get to the school they find it
a much different place than they imagined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
trouble starts when Tom is assigned to be a wide receiver and Jason is assigned
to train with the quarterbacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When
they bring up the mistake with the coaches, they are met with stubborn
belligerence and punishment for questioning authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had signed up to room together but find
that they have been assigned other roommates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Based on some of the comments from the coaches, they begin to wonder
whether the problem might be that Tom is African-American and Jason is
Jewish.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Tom
and Jason enlist the help of some new friends, including Jason’s roommate who,
despite his stereotypical name Billy-Bob, is eager to help fight the
discrimination; and also two local reporters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>With the reporters’ encouragement, Tom and Jason start to find out more
about the school they are attending, including some interesting connections
between the founder of the school and David Duke of the Ku Klux Klan.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">While
author John Feinstein is known for skillfully weaving together sports and
mystery, this book proves he can also tackle social justice issues in realistic
and inspiring ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This book models
critical questioning and engages readers in thinking about social justice
issues ranging from the prevalence of concussions in football to racist
responses to interracial dating and systemic discrimination and how to combat
it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Feinstein includes a bit of civil
rights history, religious discrimination, and even some presidential politics
in the mix as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The final product is
a highly engaging sports mystery that will get readers thinking about civil
disobedience and working for justice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">This would work best for middle school and high school. Excellent book.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">(Note, this review was originally written for the ALAN Review and appears on their webpage)</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Crutcher,
Chris (1995) </span><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Ironman. </i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">New York:</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">HarperCollins.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<img alt="Image result for Chris Crutcher Iron Man" src="http://www.chriscrutcher.com/uploads/1/0/9/8/1098293/3005005.jpg" /><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Opening
Lines: October 10. Dear Larry [King], At 4:30 each morning I waken to your
voice. I lie transfixed until five –
when I haul my aching body out of the sack for another in a series of infinite
workouts – listening to the wise men and loons of yesterdays airways deliver opinions
on everything from the hole in the ozone to antidepressants (Dick Cavett and
Patty Duke swear by them; Scientologists swear at them) to racism (You smell
out racial prejudice like my dad smells out democrats) to the most effective methods
to forever rid oneself of fat globules and cellulite (there aren’t any) to the whereabouts
of Elvis (Jeffrey Dahmer ate him).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> This may be the best book I read in
2017. Bo is an angry triathlete. He became a triathlete when an argument with
the track coach cased him to quit track.
His anger keeps getting him in trouble at school and he is close to being
kicked out forever His last chance is to
take an after-school anger management class taught by Mr. Nak, an Asian transplant
of a teacher form Texas – kind of a Japanese-American Cowboy. In the anger management class, Bo meets a
girl named Shelly, who is training for American Gladiator. He also meets a collection of misfits who
seem ready to disagree about anything with the slightest provocation. There is lots in here about bigotry, generalizations,
fear of what is different and learning to get along – but the most important
part of the story is just that it is a really good story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The
main conflict in the story really gets rolling when we realize that Bo’s Dad is
trying to sabotage his chances of completing and Ironman run. And, like most of Crutcher’s work, this book
is not afraid to dig into some pretty deep territory. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">At
one point in the book, Mr Nak has confronted Bo’s father and ends up explaining
that he works with high school kids partly because, when he was drinking one
night, he was driving his kids home and he flipped the car, killing his kids. Bo’s father responds <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">“’So you figure you can
pay for your sins working with other people’s children? That’s admirable, but…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nak’s smile is humorless ‘You
don’t pay for that kind of sin, sir. You
beg the universe to teach you the quality of mercy, is what you do, so you can
get from one day to the next.’”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Of
course, that quote doesn’t mean much when you don’t know the whole story behind
it, so you may just have to take my word for it. <i>Ironman</i>is
a powerful book about anger, friendship, romance, letting go, and triumphing. You should read it. <i> <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">It
would be a great book to study in high school, or to add to a high school
library. But it is important to know
that there are some references to sex, though no explicit description, and that
there are some vulgar words, though they are used sparingly. I would argue, however, that the strong message
of the book offsets those less savory aspects of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bauer, Joan
(2016) <i>Soar</i>. New York: Viking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Opening
lines: “I am probably twelve years
old. That’s what the doctors think. I could have been born anywhere, but it was most
likely Indianapolis, Indiana – at least, that’s where I decided I was born,
because that was where I was found.
Specifically I was found at Computer Partners Ltd. In the snack room,
right by the coffee pot.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> In the times we are living in, there
is a lot of excellent YA Literature that is giving us a chance to see into the
lives of those who are victims of injustice, those whose lives are derailed by
war, refugee status, misunderstanding, and struggle. But sometimes we need a story about baseball
and hope. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Jerimiah
was abandoned as a baby in an IT company breakroom. He was found by a socially awkward computer
programmer who eventually adopted him.
As he grew, his heart began to fail.
He received a heart transplant, but has to avoid too much exertion until
his body fully accepts the heart.
Jerimiah’s favorite thing in the world is baseball. So when Walt needs to take a temporary
assignment in Hillcrest, Ohio, and when Jerimiah finds out that the town is
obsessed with baseball, her persuades Walt to take him along. Jerimiah dreams of managing a middle school
team. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> When they arrive, he makes fast
friends with Franny. Who lives next door, and soon finds out that Hillcrest’s
baseball program is being dismantled because of a steroids scandal. Will
Jerimiah give up on his dream or find a way to bring baseball back, the way it
is supposed to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> This is a great baseball book. It is also a great story about a kid
overcoming physical challenges. But in
this story, baseball doesn’t serve as a path to glory and victory so much as it
is a path to community and restoration.
It reminds me of Jason Reynold’s <i>Ghost</i>
in that way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This
would make an amazing middle school read-aloud, or it could be studied as part
of a sports unit. It also would be a
decent book to read aloud to a phys ed class in ten minute bits while they are
stretching out in the beginning of class.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Nothing
offensive here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sakai, Stan
(1987) <i>Usagi Yojimbo: Book 2 Samurai. </i>Seattle:
Fantagraphics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sakai, Stan
(1989) <i>Usagi Yojimbo, Book 5</i>. Seattle: Fantagraphics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for usagi Yojimbo: Book 5" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51r1inq7NUL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Opening panels:: This is from page 3, the first dialogue, just after Usagi duels against a rhino.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Usagi is a
rabbit who trains with a discredited Sensai (who is an anthropomorphic lion)
and becomes a samurai, then when the feudal lord he works for is killed, Usagi becomes
a masterless samurai or Ronin who wanders the countryside writing wrongs and
fighting corruption, bullying, and evil. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Usagi is an
honorable rabbit, avoiding violence whenever possible, but fighting for the
poor and against those who are dishonorable.
Part of the joy of these books, though, is that Sakai has crafted a
world which is a wonderful place to spend time in. It is detailed, often
beautiful, and besides the anthropomorphic animals who live within an feudal Japanese
culture and seem to be the dominant life form, there are also these cute little
tiny brontosauruses that pop up everywhere (sort of like rabbits do in our
world).<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Sakai also
has a delightful sense of humor. In book
5, Usagi encounters Lone Goat and Kid, a clear reference to the classic series
of comics about Lone Wolf and Cub. Throughout
the books I found myself chuckling when Usagi beats incredible odds against
him, usually through cleverness and hard earned skill, and those who have done
wrong to others, get what is coming to them.
It is nice to spend some time in a world where justice prevails and the
little guy comes out on top.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Plus, there
is something awesome about a rabbit in samurai armor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And yes,
you are right. This book is maybe a
stretch in terms of being related to sports.
But I would encourage you to read it and correct me if I am wrong, but
Usagi’s system of honor looks to me an awful lot like good sportsmanship. These books could be read by a middle school
phys ed class and would lead to a great discussion of sportsmanship that goes
beyond the usual lip service it receives. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">These books would be ideal for
fourth grade and up. These is some violence
here, but nothing gory. In a couple of
the stories, Usagi does drink Saki (wine), but never to excess and he seems to
usually prefer tea. Sometimes the bad
guys are shown to be drunk, but the story dose not dwell on it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-19419553492377598462018-01-31T12:14:00.002-06:002018-01-31T12:15:43.221-06:00Thrillers! Exciting books for upper elementary, middle school, and high school.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Shusterman, Neal (2018) Thunderhead. New York: Simon and Schuster<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines: “Peach velvet with embroidered baby-blue trim. Honorable Scythe Brahms loved his robe. True the velvet became uncomfortably hot in the summer months, but it was something he had grown accustomed to in his sixty-three years as a scythe.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">The story begun in <i>Scythe</i> continues in this long-awaited sequel which has, if anything, more twists and turns than the original. The characters from <i>Scythe</i> are back. Citra (Alias Scythe Anastacia) is working with Scythe Curie to attack the flaws of the scythe system from within. Rowan has become Scythe Lucifer, donning an illegal black robe and gleaning scythes who are abusing their powers – gleaning them in such a way that they cannot be restored. And the Thunderhead, the artificial intelligence that serves humanity, has taken a young man named Greyson and used him first to save Scythe Curie and Scythe Anastacia from an attempted assassination. The Thunderhead then designated Greyson as Unsavory, eventually taking him off the grid. Giving him a new identity, and using him as an agent, though when his human handler is gleaned, Greyson must decide on his own what is the right thing to do. The entire book comes to an amazing climax on an artificial island where the Scythes are meeting and where the villain shows his hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> This book is breathtakingly thrilling, partly because we are so connected to the characters and partly because of the theme that runs through the entire books (which my student Molly first identified for me) that the protagonists tend to be caught between two mentors and their ideals, <i>Thunderhead</i> plays with that idea a bit, as Rowan and Greyson are deprived of their mentors and Citra is increasingly learning to think without her mentor’s advice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> There is nothing in this book that would offend any reasonable person. Strong middle school readers could certainly read it, but it is probably best for high school students.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> Look, this is a phenomenally good YA book. If you only buy one YA book this year, this should probably be it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Scieszka, Jon, Ed. (2011) <i>Guys Read: Thriller</i>. New York: HarperCollins.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /></span><img alt="Image result for Guys Read Thriller" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1302544995l/10451590.jpg" /><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines (As this is a collection of short stories, I will give you a collection of opening lines):<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">“The psychics are having a huge argument,” said Paul’s dad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">“Or what if there was a wish machine on your wall?” Ray said, snatching the bag of generic-brand chips off Benny’s mattress and pushing a grubby hand inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">There was just one question I had to ask myself. How could I have ended up dangling from a flagpole, twelve stories above a street in North London, with an armed maniac walking toward me, a rabid dog snapping at my fingertips, and the world’s worst detective clinging to my ankles?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">The ghost boy is trying to talk to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">When you show up at your best friend’s house to walk to school in the morning, the last thing you expect to hear is “Jeremy is missing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">This entry in the <i>Guys Read</i> series lives up to the high quality of other books in the series. Here you get a wide variety of different stories that will grab your readers’ attentions. In M.T. Anderson’s “The Old, Dead Nuisance”, young Paul has to follow his dad around while his dad produces a reality show about haunted houses. Paul doesn’t believe all the malarkey until one night he meets and old ghost with a secret. In Anthony Horowitz’s “The Double Eagle,” a kid has to stop his inept older brother from being framed for a crime. And Patrick Carman’s “Ghost Glasses” tells what happens when a kid orders some novelty glasses from the back of an old comic book and finds out they actually work. And that is only three of the stories. There are ten of them and not a snoozer in the bunch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">This book would be ideal for fourth grade and up. Though the series is called <i>Guys Read</i>, there is no reason why girls could not enjoy it as well, though there are precious few girl characters. I found nothing here that I could imagine anyone objecting to. This would be great for your classroom library. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Shusterman, Neal (1997) <i>The Dark Side of Nowhere </i>New York: Simon and Schuster.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines: “Ethan died of a burst appendix. That’s what we were told, and we had no reason to doubt it. “<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> Equal parts thriller, science fiction, and horror, this novel form Neal Shusterman introduces us to Jason, a normal kid in a normal sleepy little town. When a new girl moves to his school and they begin talking, he gradually begins to discover that everything he has been brought up believing may be false. The inhabitants of the old site of the town maybe didn’t die of a mysterious plague. There are people hiw age who don’t need special shots every month to keep from getting the plague. And maybe his parents aren’t the happy couple they seem to be, but possibly something far more sinister and perhaps not from this world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> This story suits middle school and high school well as it seems to fit with a time in life when young readers are beginning to question a lot of what they have been taught and eventually have to decide whether they are going to stand up for what they understand to be right. There is nothing in this book that would cause a reasonable person to challenge it. That said, there may not be enough here thematically for this to work well as a book to be studied in class. But as an addition to one’s classroom library, it would be a fine choice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Shusterman, Neal (2005) <i>Red Rider’s Hood. </i>New York: Dutton.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines: “It’s a jungle out there. Buildings grow all around you out of the cracking pavement, blocking out the day light, making you forget the sun is out there at all. Those buildings can’t block out the moonlight, though. Nothing can block that out. Trust me, I know.“<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">This is the first of Shusterman’s dark fusion series that I read and I have to admit, as soon as I figured out that he was trying to create a serious suspense story out of a folk tale, I thought the idea what pretty lame. But what might seem like a writing exercise turns out to be a pretty exciting story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">So in an this adaptation of the Red Riding Hood Story, Red Rider is a sixteen year old guy with a red Mustang that is the fastest car in his neighborhood. When some neighborhood kids steal his car and some money he was bringing his grandmother, and is hit on the head, knocking him out, Red stumbles into a much larger conflict. It turns out that the local gang is a front for a growing nest of werewolves and Red’s Grandma may hold the key to fighting them. When Red infiltrates the gang, he needs to decide whether he wants to fight to defeat the Wolves, or join them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">This book might be an interesting way for students to study story structure, by contrasting the elements of the original folk tale with what Shusterman does with it. Other than the horror aspect of the book, there isn’t much here that would cause it to be challenged, so it would be fine for your classroom library or the school library as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Stiefvater, Maggie (2016) <i>The Raven King. </i>New York: Scholastic. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines: “Richard Gansey III had forgotten how many times he had been told he was destined for greatness.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Every now and then I really like to start a series on the third or fourth books, just to see how well the writer welcomes me in, despite the fact that I do not know the characters and the situation. I did this with Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle. <i>The Raven King</i> is the fourth book in the series and it did a credible job of catching me up to the plot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Gansey and his friends Ronan, Adam, and Noah all attend an expensive private school. Gansey has been searching for years for a place where the ley lines of the world’s magnetic field converge. Blue has grown up in a family full of small time psychics. When she was in an abandoned church, she heard Gansey’s voice speak to her out of thin air. Now the friends are getting close to discovering the place where the line between the worlds is thin. They are also close to discovering the truth about murder, a ghost, family, friendship, obsession, physical abuse, fraud, and evil. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">This is a gripping story. Like any really good novel, we also learn a lot about the characters, ourselves, and humanity. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">This book is best for high school. It has some vulgar language in it. But it would be a good book for your classroom library. And a good choice for those readers who like realistic fantasy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-60559359918701637242018-01-22T14:38:00.003-06:002018-01-22T14:40:22.625-06:00Books to make students chuckle, laugh, or guffaw. <div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Renner, Benjamin (2017) <i>The Big
Bad Fox</i> New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Opening lines:
Well, it is a graphic novel, and has more images than words, so here are
the opening panels (which are not framed panels but more sort of round blobs of
color). Panel 1, a woods with tall trees
and undergrowth and a hold in the side of a slight hill. Panel 2:
A fox’s head emerges from the burrow.
His eyelids are half open. He is either
sleepy or shifty. Panel 3, he stretches
and says “Gnnn…” Panel 4 his body slumps
and he breathes heavily, as if stretching has worn him out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> The fox’s life is
hard enough to start with. His attempts
to steal a chicken or two for dinner are continually foiled by the farm’s guard
dog or the chickens themselves, who have started taking self-defense
classes. Then the huge wolf in the
woods, who the fox wants to be like, threatens and bullies him into stealing
some eggs and raising the chicks so they can have chickens to eat. When the little chicks imprint upon the fox,
deciding that he is their mom, the fox’s life becomes exponentially more complicated. Equal parts slapstick, comedy of errors,
cringe humor and touching story, this
book is silly enough to make third graders laugh out loud, and serious enough
to give middle school students something to think about. Highly suitable fr your classroom library, this
book could also become part of a 5<sup>th</sup> or 6<sup>th</sup> grade’s
language arts curriculum. It is a good ,
funny story with some interesting themes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Scieszka,
Jon, Ed. (2010) <i>Guys Read: Funny Business. </i>New York: HarperCollins<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines: (Since these are short stories, I’ll
treat you to a series of opeing lines form different stories)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> --Ernest was a nerd, but it was
fourth grade: we are all nerds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> --Between peeling off his nightshirt
and pulling on his school uniform, Will examined himself from head to hairiline.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> --I have four brothers. That’s five boys altogether all living in a
small house, which is a recipe for major property damage at the very least. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> --Dwight Howtzler is an idiot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">--One
night in the fall of fifth grade, my dad finally got fed up with me and decided
it was time to make me a man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">--My
younger brother, Patrick, is a normal, functioning adult.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">--My
gramps, Papa Red, has been living with us for a year now and is straight-up
nuts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">--This
all started because I wouldn’t take out the trash. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When
I was looking up opening lines for the above section, I started rereading the
opening page of one of these stories and ended up rereading the whole
thing. Because although this collection
is meant to group together funny stories, they are also stories that are
interesting, gripping, well0-written, sometimes exhilarating, and almost always
delightful. Adam Rex’s story “Will” is
about a kid going to a school for superheroes even though he doesn’t appear to
have any special talents or powers, and of course, he is the one who must face
the inevitable peril. Kate DiCmillo and
Jon Sciszka’s “Your Question for Author Here” gives us the letters of a kid who
is forced to write to an author for an assignment, and the clever, sarcastic, manipulative,
and ultimately encouraging responses from that author. Paul Fieg’s “My Parents Gave my Bedroom to a
Biker” is self-explanatory, but no less funny for it. I laughed out loud at several points in
reading this book, but found myself grinning almost constantly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Good-humored
readers from fourth grade and up will enjoy this, girls as well as boys. I didn’t notice anything in here likely to
draw any challenges from parents. It
would probably work best as a classroom library sort of book. There are themes here to be sure, but books
whose main focus is humor do not tend to help up well to classroom study. Buy this one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Yorinks, Arthur; Lamb, Braden; Paroline, Shelli (2017) <i>Making Scents. </i>New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Opening
Lines: The first panel shows a boy’s
hand writing on notebook paper the words, “First I was born…” The inset panel shows a man carrying a baby
into the woods. On the next page, in
four panels, the man leaves the child in a hollow in the base of a tree, then
walks away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Mickey’s mom and
dad raise bloodhounds and provide them to police and other people who need to
hunt for someone or something. Mickey is
raised alongside their dogs, who thinks of as brothers and sisters, and is
taught to use his nose much as the bloodhounds do. When he is old enough for school, he is at
first ridiculed for his tendency to go around on all fours and use his nose to
find things. His parents advocate for
him and soon he is showing off his talents in an all-school assembly. Even as he is gaining the respect of his
peers, however, they are killed in a car crash, and soon Mickey is sent away
from his dog brothers and sisters to his dog-hating aunt and uncle who live in
the city. They hope to teach him to
behave as an ordinary child. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> This graphic
novel is illustrated in a kind of 1950s style that reminds me of Margaret Bloy
Graham’s illustrations of picture books like <i>Harry, The Dirty Dog, </i>or P.D. Eastham’s illustrations of <i>Are You My Mother? </i>and the like<i>.. </i>Though
some of the story is serious, Mickey’s dog habits in the context of a very
conventional school are funny and should cause second and third grad readers
and up to find humor in them. This is a
fun and sometimes silly book that is unlikely to cause any challenges. Good for your classroom library and a special
hit with kids who are dog lovers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Lawrence, Mike (2017) <i>Star
Scouts</i> New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">The first panel is a two-page spread of a spaceship in orbit of a planet. A narration box says “QDS Pumpernickel, Deli class destroyer. Low Zirdon orbit.” One inset panel shows a close up of the ship
with a single speech balloon coming from what looks to be the bridge. “Mabel! You’re going to be late!” The other inset panel is a still closer
view. Two speech balloons. The first asks, “Have you finished your scout
homework yet?” The second responds, “Almost
done! Be there in a minute!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> In this
colorfully rendered graphic novels, Mabel is a space alien who accidentally
teleports Avani, an earth girl who is having a hard time in a new school, up to
her spaceship (Mabel was trying for a newt, but accidentally nudged the
controls). They become friends, and then
Mabel asks Avani if she wants to join her Star Scouts Troop. The next thing Avani knows, she and the other
scouts are embroiled in a competition to figure out which troop is the best at
a variety of space-based events. What follows resembles a Disney kids comedy
with hijinks and goofiness galore, and, of course, in the end, the plucky
youngsters show they can compete with the rest of them through a combination of
teamwork and good sportsmanship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">This one is best for younger
elementary readers, maybe second through fourth or fifth. It would be a good one for a classroom
library. Nothing offensive here. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Renner, Benjamin (2017) <i>The Big Bad Fox</i> New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Opening lines: Well, it is a graphic noel, and has more images than words, so here are the opening panels (which are not framed panels but more sort of round blobs of color). Panel 1, a woods with tall trees and undergrowth and a hold in the side of a slight hill. Panel 2: A fox’s head emerges from the burrow. His eyelids are half open. He is either sleepy or shifty. Panel 3, he stretches and says “Gnnn…” Panel 4 his body slumps and he breathes heavily, as if stretching has worn him out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> The fox’s life is hard enough to start with. His attempts to steal a chicken or two for dinner are continually foiled by the farm’s guard dog or the chickens themselves, who have started taking self-defense classes. Then the huge wolf in the woods, who the fox wants to be like, threatens and bullies him into stealing some eggs and raising the chicks so they can have chickens to eat. When the little chicks imprint upon the fox, deciding that he is their mom, the fox’s life becomes exponentially more complicated. Equal parts slapstick, comedy of errors, cringe humor and touching story, this book is silly enough to make third graders laugh out loud, and serious enough to give middle school students something to think about. Highly suitable fr your classroom library, this book could also become part of a 5<sup>th</sup> or 6<sup>th</sup> grade’s language arts curriculum. It is a good , funny story with some interesting themes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Scieszka, Jon, Ed. (2010) <i>Guys Read: Funny Business. </i>New York: HarperCollins<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines: (Since these are short stories, I’ll treat you to a series of opeing lines form different stories)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> --Ernest was a nerd, but it was fourth grade: we are all nerds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> --Between peeling off his nightshirt and pulling on his school uniform, Will examined himself from head to hairiline.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> --I have four brothers. That’s five boys altogether all living in a small house, which is a recipe for major property damage at the very least.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> --Dwight Howtzler is an idiot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">--One night in the fall of fifth grade, my dad finally got fed up with me and decided it was time to make me a man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">--My younger brother, Patrick, is a normal, functioning adult.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">--My gramps, Papa Red, has been living with us for a year now and is straight-up nuts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">--This all started because I wouldn’t take out the trash.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">When I was looking up opening lines for the above section, I started rereading the opening page of one of these stories and ended up rereading the whole thing. Because although this collection is meant to group together funny stories, they are also stories that are interesting, gripping, well0-written, sometimes exhilarating, and almost always delightful. Adam Rex’s story “Will” is about a kid going to a school for superheroes even though he doesn’t appear to have any special talents or powers, and of course, he is the one who must face the inevitable peril. Kate DiCmillo and Jon Sciszka’s “Your Question for Author Here” gives us the letters of a kid who is forced to write to an author for an assignment, and the clever, sarcastic, manipulative, and ultimately encouraging responses from that author. Paul Fieg’s “My Parents Gave my Bedroom to a Biker” is self-explanatory, but no less funny for it. I laughed out loud at several points in reading this book, but found myself grinning almost constantly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Good-humored readers from fourth grade and up will enjoy this, girls as well as boys. I didn’t notice anything in here likely to draw any challenges from parents. It would probably work best as a classroom library sort of book. There are themes here to be sure, but books whose main focus is humor do not tend to help up well to classroom study. Buy this one. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Yorinks, Arthur; Lamb, Braden; Paroline, Shelli (2017) <i>Making Scents. </i>New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Opening Lines: The first panel shows a boy’s hand writing on notebook paper the words, “First I was born…” The inset panel shows a man carrying a baby into the woods. On the next page, in four panels, the man leaves the child in a hollow in the base of a tree, then walks away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Mickey’s mom and dad raise bloodhounds and provide them to police and other people who need to hunt for someone or something. Mickey is raised alongside their dogs, who thinks of as brothers and sisters, and is taught to use his nose much as the bloodhounds do. When he is old enough for school, he is at first ridiculed for his tendency to go around on all fours and use his nose to find things. His parents advocate for him and soon he is showing off his talents in an all-school assembly. Even as he is gaining the respect of his peers, however, they are killed in a car crash, and soon Mickey is sent away from his dog brothers and sisters to his dog-hating aunt and uncle who live in the city. They hope to teach him to behave as an ordinary child. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> This graphic novel is illustrated in a kind of 1950s style that reminds me of Margaret Bloy Graham’s illustrations of picture books like <i>Harry, The Dirty Dog, </i>or P.D. Eastham’s illustrations of <i>Are You My Mother? </i>and the like<i>.. </i>Though some of the story is serious, Mickey’s dog habits in the context of a very conventional school are funny and should cause second and third grad readers and up to find humor in them. This is a fun and sometimes silly book that is unlikely to cause any challenges. Good for your classroom library and a special hit with kids who are dog lovers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Lawrence, Mike (2017) <i>Star Scouts</i> New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening Lines: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">The first panel is a two-page spread of a spaceship in orbit of a planet. A narration box says “QDS Pumpernickel, Deli class destroyer. Low Zirdon orbit.” One inset panel shows a close up of the ship with a single speech balloon coming from what looks to be the bridge. “Mabel! You’re going to be late!” The other inset panel is a still closer view. Two speech balloons. The first asks, “Have you finished your scout homework yet?” The second responds, “Almost done! Be there in a minute!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> In this colorfully rendered graphic novels, Mabel is a space alien who accidentally teleports Avani, an earth girl who is having a hard time in a new school, up to her spaceship (Mabel was trying for a newt, but accidentally nudged the controls). They become friends, and then Mabel asks Avani if she wants to join her Star Scouts Troop. The next thing Avani knows, she and the other scouts are embroiled in a competition to figure out which troop is the best at a variety of space-based events. What follows resembles a Disney kids comedy with hijinks and goofiness galore, and, of course, in the end, the plucky youngsters show they can compete with the rest of them through a combination of teamwork and good sportsmanship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">This one is best for younger elementary readers, maybe second through fourth or fifth. It would be a good one for a classroom library. Nothing offensive here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Riordan, Rick (2015) <i>Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer</i> Los Angeles: Disney Hyperion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Opening Lines: “Yeah, I know. You guys are going to read about how I died in agony, and you’re going to be like, ‘Wow! That sounds cool, Magnus. Can I die in agony too?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> No. Just no.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> This is the first book in Rick Riordan’s Norse mythology series. And he somehow manages to write about the Norse gods in a way that is faithful to the original source material (Come on, am I the only one who has read Snorri Sturluson’s <i>Edda</i> ) bu is also funny most of the time. The main character, Magnus, is living on the streets of Boston when the book opens. Though he is a street kid, he has a pretty good sense of humor. But when he gets attacked by a fire demon and finds out that two of his street friends are actually and elf and a dwarf and then gets killed and wakes up in a luxury hotel that is Valhalla, he does so with irreverent humor. Don’t get me wrong, he is a likable character and as the story goes on, he reveals himself to be loyal, compassionate, strong of heart, and occasionally funny. There were parts in this book where I laughed out loud. The context between Blitz and the master forger is one example. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> While Magnus is the main character, a secondary character named Samirah al-Abbas is a high school student and a Valkyrie (one of Odin’s Choosers of the Dead). The dynamic is similar to the Percy Jackson books. Like Annabeth, she is not on every page, but when she is, she is amazing and dynamic and fun to read about. This may be enough to draw female fans of Annabeth into the series as well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"> I did not notice anything in this book that would cause anyone to challenges it (other than the fact that it is fantasy literature.) It is perhaps best for fifth grade and up (at 497 pages, it is a big book, which could be rather daunting to less-accomplished readers.) This book is funny and exciting. Visit your independent bookstore and buy it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-5926707284895815012018-01-15T15:57:00.002-06:002018-01-15T16:38:26.479-06:00Excellent Adventure-based Graphic Novels: Delilah Dirk, The Nameless City, Pandemonium, and Spill ZoneCliff, Tony (2016) <i>Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling. </i>New York: First Second.<br />
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First Lines: "My name is Erdemoglu Selim. I was once a lieutenant in the Turkish Janissary Army. I abandoned that life, however, for this one. The sort of life where I had been tasked with creating a distraction."<br />
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This is the second book in a delightful series. In this one, Delilah (adventurer, skilled swordswoman, righter-of-wrongs) discovers a British officer spying for the French and must go to London to expose him. While there she returns to her childhood home and, as Alexandra Nichols, must deal with her mother who wants her to resume her identity as an English gentlewoman. There are themes of identity and expectation, but what will grab the attention of your readers is the rollicking adventure storyline and the clear and exciting way that Tony Cliff shows fight sequences and depicts intrigue so that the reader is rarely confused.<br />
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This could be ideal for fourth-graders and up. There is almost nothing that is offensive, except a reference on page 64, where a character identifies someone who is acting foolish with a term normally reserved for donkeys and posteriors. This book would be an excellent addition to your classroom library.<br />
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Hicks, Faith Erin(2016) <i>The Nameless City </i>New York: First Second<br />
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Opening lines: "...on the 34th day of our journey down the River of Lives, we came to the great City, Daidu. But something was amiss, for the City was not called Daidu by those we spoke to at the gates."<br />
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Kaidu is the son of Adren, the general of the conquering armies that have taken control of the Nameless City. In the City he meets a street urchin named Rat. She shows him how to run across the rooftops. As a city person, she hates the conquering Dao armies. Kaidu has seen the scorn the soldiers have for the people of the city. Kaidu and Rat develop an unlikely friendship and together help to convince the various leaders of the city to meet for peace talks.<br />
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That summary doesn't do justice to what is an amazing experience. Hicks has built a fascinating world and the illustrations invite us into that world. The details are magnificent, the characters interesting, and the story believable. I can imagine walking in her city.<br />
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There is some violence in this story, but nothing excessive. This would be excellent as a classroom library book for about fourth grade and older. It might also be worth undertaking as a language arts text. Excellent stuff.<br />
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Hicks, Faith Erin (2017) <i>The Nameless City: The Stone Heart. </i>New York: First Second.<br />
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Opening Lines: "On our eighth day in the Nameless City, my travelling companion happened upon some of his people, far from their homelands. They had travelled miles to buy and sell in the City. It was a common story, repeated many we spoke to. The Nameless City is different from many cities we passed through in our journey down the River of Life. The City does not have a single population. Rather it is filled with many different people from many different nations. I had to ask: Who does the city belong to? Who are its rightful people?"<br />
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The story of the Nameless City continues in this second volume. We learn that Rat's parents were killed by the Dao, Kaidu's people. We also learn that Kaidu's dad, the general, is working on a peace plan in which the city would be governed by a city council, with every tribe having a seat, to break the cycle of invasion and subjugation. As the peace plan gets closer though, it becomes clear that the enemies of peace -- those who wish to hold on to power, are willing to go to great lengths to ensure that the peace plan is never realized -- and those great lengths will change everything for Rat and Kaidu and present them with their greatest challenge ever. This is a wonderful story of sudden twists and turns punctuated by moments of great beauty.<br />
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You need to read this, seriously. It is one of the finest graphic novels stories I have read in a long time. Good for fourth or fifth grade and older. Great for your classroom library. Especially good for English or History classes. (Obviously this is a work of fiction -- but it raises some interesting questions of tribal conflict and democratic governments -- when it isn't moving at breakneck speed toward the next plot twist.) I loved this book.<br />
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Wooding, Chris; Diaz, Cassandra (2012) <i> Pandemonium</i>. New York: Scholastic.<br />
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Opening Lines: "Let's play skullball! And it's a great catch by Seifer Tombchewer, captain of the home team!"<br />
<br />
Okay, I'll admit, when I saw the cover and read the first couple of lines, I figured this was going to be another run-of-the -mill manga-style vampire story. Turns out, every assumption I made was wrong. The story begins when Siefer (pictured on the cover), son of the chief of a little town in the middle of nowhere is kidnapped and taken to the great city. It turns out his is a dead ringer for the prince of the realm, who is missing. Siefer's job is to act as a decoy and rule in his stead until the Prince is found and the culprits captured. But Siefer knows nothing of how to govern, and nothing of magic, which the prince is known for. throw in the fact that the Prince is engaged to be married and his fiancee is coming for a vist soon, and add a girl is age who comes to the castle to plead her case and ends up teaching him how to do magic and you have a story that is not only engaging, but actually quite funny at times.<br />
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This is the first book in a series, and like the first Harry Potter book, there is not a ton here in terms of teachable themes, but it is a book that your students will enjoy. I am going to guess middle school and up with this one, mostly because the romantic intrigues might fly over the heads of younger kids. Well worth getting a hold of.<br />
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Westerfeld, Scott; Puvilland, Alex (2017) <i>Spill Zone</i>. New York: First Second<br />
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<img alt="Image result for Spill Zone Westerfeld" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yXFKQeouL._SX355_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /><br />
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Opening Lines: "Whenever I go in planning to shoot, I always come out with more pictures of the playground. A hundred years ago, Victorians thought that cameras captured glimpses of the spirit world. They thought the fugitive wisps of light in their photos meant something. But frankly, they just had shitty cameras back then. It doesn't matter what I shoot with, digital, infrared, even old school chemical film, nothing ever shows up on the swing. People think there is something hidden in the Spill, fairies in those wisps of light. They're wrong. The spill zone shows everything. My guess is Hell does too. "<br />
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Addison lives with her little sister, Lexi ever since the Spill that claimed her parents' lives. No one quite knows what the Spill was -- nanotech gone bad, aliens, extra-dimensional invaders, all they know is that within the Spill site, things get really weird. Addie makes her living sneaking into the Spill Zone and taking pictures of the weird and frightening creatures there. When a customer offers her a fortune -- enough to get her and Lexi away from the Spill Zone forever -- to retrieve an artifact from a hospital within the Zone, Addie agrees. But the law keeps getting closer to figuring out that she is the one sneaking in there, and the artifact has some disturbing properties on its own. And of course, there are the creatures within the Zone. For Addie to get in and out one more time will not be easy.<br />
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Westerfeld and Puvilland have crafted a convincing and frightening world and a gripping and entertaining story. There isn't much thematically here for a literature class, but it would be a good addition to a high school classroom library. Lexi has a doll who has been animated by the Spill that is rather disconcerting, and the rest of the story is also frightening from time to time. There is also some sparing use of vulgar words, but there is nothing here any worse than a typical Steven King novel.<br />
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It was a good story. I am looking forward to the sequel. If you like your adventure stories with a touch of horror, you should pick this one up.<br />
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<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-64983070141572969122018-01-04T13:39:00.001-06:002018-01-04T13:39:19.400-06:00Five Excellent Books that Can Help you Get Students Excited about Science. <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Holm, Jennifer L. (2014) <i>The
Fourteenth Goldfish </i>New York: Yearling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening Lines: “When I
was in preschool, I had a teacher named Starlily. She wore rainbow tie-died dresses and was
always bringing in cookies that were made with granola and flax and had no
taste.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Okay, so the story is maybe a bit far-fetched. Ellie is a sixth-grader who gets a call to
pick up her grandfather from the police.
She knows her grandfather is a scientist/genetic inventor who experiments
with jellyfish. She eventually finds out
that he has invented a genetic formula that has regressed his body to that of a
sixth grader. He has retained his
crankiness, old man fashion sense, and passion for science. At first Ellie finds him annoying and embarrassing,
but eventually he ignites an interest in science in her, which eventually grows
to a passion, and she helps him to consider some of the ethical implications of
his research. Throw in a boy classmate
who joins them, mostly to spend time with Ellie, which leads to a budding first
romance and you have got a story that will grab middle grade students and may
even get them to love science (real science – which doesn’t necessarily
translate to what we teach in school I am afraid.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nothing objectionable here that I noticed. Should be great for fourth through seventh
grades or so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Heiligman,
Deborah (2009) <i>Charles and Emma: The Darwin’s Leap of Faith. </i>New
York: Henry Holt and Company<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines: “In the summer of 1838, in his
rented rooms on Great Marlborough Street, London, Charles Darwin drew a line
down the middle of a piece of scrap paper.
He had been back in England for almost two years, after a monumental
voyage around the world. He was in his
late twenties. It was time to
decide. Across the top of the left-hand
side he wrote <i>Marry</i>. On the right he wrote <i>Not Marry. </i>And in the
middle: <i>This is the question.”<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> In the world we live in, Charles
Darwin is the father of evolutionary theory which some people hold equal to atheism. In the world and time that Charles Darwin
lived in, however, things were not so clear cut. Like everyone else in his time, Darwin was
raised attending church and living in a society rooted in Christian ethics and
understandings. When he began to think about
evolution, he questioned and doubted the Christian understanding of how the
world began and how God maintains it.
However, this belief system was not easily dismissed by Darwin. One reason he struggled with belief in God his
whole life and never fully settled the question was his wife Mary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Yet this is not a book with an axe
to grind. It is a carefully researched
and well- written book about a remarkably strong marriage and the evolving
thought of a very thoughtful couple. I did not know that Darwin studied
theology at University and intended to become a country parson before his interest
in science took over. In 1836, for example, Darwin published a
letter in a South African newspaper arguing for increased funding for
missionaries. Two years later he notes
in his journal that while he remains a strong believer, he is beginning to question
the literal interpretation of the book of Genesis. Before he married Emma, Darwin asked his
father if he should discuss his doubts with his fiancé. Darwin’s father counselled him against such
an action. Darwin talked to her about it
anyway. When Emma’ sister Fanny died,
Emma became more devout. As they grew
older together, the death of several of their children and Charles’s own
illness continued to drive Emma deeper into belief and caused Charles to
question more deeply – but until his death, he continually was searching for
ways that he could share the depth of Emma’s belief. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Heiligman doesn’t slouch in
describing the development of Charles’s understanding of the the way the
animals of the world interact and change over time. And in the end, the book does not try to
argue either side of this debate, but perhaps to argue that the debate itself
is an unfair reading of what Darwin himself was thinking. It may help students who struggle with this
question themselves to understand that it is not always necessary to have a
clear answer to all such mysteries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> This book is ideal for high school
students. There is nothing objectionable
here, though teachers should recognize that this is a sensitive issue for some
parents. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Koch,
Falynn (2017) <i>Science Comics: Bats:
Learning to Fly. </i>New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><img alt="Image result for Science Comics Bats Learning to fly" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-qRe-fdRL._SX351_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines: Hoo!/ Ugh./ I hate to admit it…
but I think I’m lost. Little brown
bat. Myotis lucifugus./ I’m glad y’all
could make it out for this special nighttime hike. The national park only does this a few times
each year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> This graphic novel is one of the
latest in a series. Some of the earlier
books in the series seemed to be struggling to figure out how the graphic novel
format could be effectively utilized to explain science. With this book, the series seems to have
found its fee. There is a single
narrative through-line about a little brown bat and a teenaged girl who
initially is not so interested in what the ranger has to day, but when the bat
gets close to the group and one of the panicked humans swats it, the girl
decides to help the bat in any way she can.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
woven through the narrative is plenty of explanation and exposition about
nearly every aspect of a bat’s life. There
is plenty here to interest students from third grade up. This is an excellent book for your classroom
library. It would work as an in-class
text as well, though I am not aware of any elementary curriculum that divest
that deeply into the biology of a single creature. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Loux,
Matthew (2017) <i>The Time Museum </i>New York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><img alt="Image result for The Time Museum" height="400" src="https://images.macmillan.com/folio-assets/macmillan_us_frontbookcovers_1000H/9781596438491.jpg" width="285" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Opening
Lines: Image of time travelers working
on building a machine outside of tier time travelling vessel/ Image of a
triceratops herd stampeding. Time traveler: I wonder if they know somehow…/ Man in
sunglasses and trenchcoat: Unless you
wish to remain and ask, I suggest you finish your work!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Delia is a science nerd. Her thorough report on the life cycle of the
dung beetle puts her class to sleep, including the teacher. When he best friend deserts her for a cooler
friend at the beginning of the summer and she finds out she and her family are
going to visit her eccentric uncle, she takes it in stride. When it turns out that her uncle s the
curator of the Earth Time Museum, that he is himself a time traveler form the
future, and that he is offering her a chance to do a summer internship with the
museum, she is overjoyed. When she finds
out that she will have to compete with other science students of the position,
and that most of them are from the future and seem to know much more than she
does, she is close to despairing. The
contests begin and she soon finds herself making decisions that may save the
museum or doom it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> This isn’t hard science and, in
fact, the reader will learn little about science at all from this graphic
novel, but a consistent theme throughout the book is that scientific thinking, passion
for science, and problem-solving ability
is more important than memorized facts, a concept that might be very encouraging
to some young science students. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> There is nothing in this graphic novel
that reasonable parents would find objectionable. It would be best for fourth grade and up. It
is a lot of fun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Benjamin,
Ali (2015) <i>The Thing about Jellyfish: </i>New
York: Little Brown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><img alt="Image result for The Thing About Jellyfish" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51WLo5tAs3L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Opening lines: “A jellyfish, if you
watch it long enough, begins to look like a heart beating. It doesn’t matter what kind: The Blood-red Atolla with its flashing siren
lights, the frilly flower hat variety, or the near transparent moon jelly,
Aurelia aurita. It’s their pulse, the
way they contract swiftly, then release.
Like a ghost heart—a heart you can see right through, right into some
other world where everything you ever lost has gone to hide.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Suzy Swanson’s friend Franny Jackson
drowned a few months ago. Suzy is trying
to piece her life together. Jellyfish
may hold the key she thinks. That is
really all I can tell you. You are just
going to have to read it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> This book is a kind of exploration
of how a kid looks and the world and science.
It is also kind of a mystery story … and kind of a treatise on
friendship … and kind of a moving narrative about grief. It is a nerd story in
the best sense of the term. It is about
a kid who is different, persistent, and who cares about things that really
matter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Garamond",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This
is a really good one. You should read
it. I t is about grief and so I suppose
a parent might object to it on the grounds that it is morbid – but I have not
heard of any such objections. It would
be best for fifth grade and up Check it
out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-12862586089381200272018-01-02T11:38:00.000-06:002018-01-02T11:38:03.944-06:00Top Five Books of 20172017 was a great year for some really exciting books, but because of a back injury toward the end of the year, I have a huge pile of books I have read but have not been able to review yet. I will be getting to those in the next couple of weeks. For now, though, here are the top five books I reviewed in 2017: (Remember these are books I read in 2017 --but not all were published in that year.)<br />
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1.<br />
Anderson, M.T.,Offerman, Andrea (2017) <i>Yvain: The Knight of the Lion. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.</i><br />
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<img alt="Image result for Yvain" src="https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/51833377?wid=520&hei=520&fmt=pjpeg" /><br />
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For English teachers, this is an excellent graphic novel to introduce anything that touches on King Arthur. Though Arthur only makes a cameo or two in the book, it captures the excitement of a knight with a pet lion fighting against evil magic, a dragon, and enemies -- but also concerns itself with the relationship between Sir Yvain and the queen whose husband he killed in battle. It is a relationship with intense hate and, eventually, deep love as well. Ideal for late middle school and high school.<br />
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2.<br />
Pratchett, Terry (2015) <i>The Shepherd's Crown</i> New York: Harper.<br />
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Terry Pratchett's fantasy series are not exactly Young Adult fiction. They are written for an open audience that might include everyone from middle school through adulthood. My friend Kris introduced me to the Tiffany Aching series and I continue to love them.<br />
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Tiffany Aching serves two villages as their wise woman/witch, even though she herself is very young. Though she faces remarkable challenges, she alwasy seems to come out on top, partly because she has been adopted by a group of utterly unpredictable and savagely loyal allies, the Wee Free men -- eight inch tall, hard-drinking, tough-as-nails-and-about-as-bright celtic creatures. The story is great, the writing is exceptional, and these are excellent books.<br />
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Some parents might objcet to the existnce of witches in this book -- but the witches Pratchett depicts are more on the order of wise woment in the village than they are the horrid, evil,toad-sacrificing women from other corners of the children's ltierature world. Worth reading.<br />
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3.<br />
Shusterman, Neal (2016) <i>Scythe </i>New York: Simon and Schuster.<br />
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This is my favorite book that I read this year. Schusterman is excellent at world-building and has created a utopian future where a benign computer called the Thunderhead protects humans and regenerates them through healing nanites such that they need never die. Unfortuantly, since the planet cannot sustain a growing population, the Thunderhead creates an independent group of humans, the Scythes, to randomly glean people and keep the population under control. When a group of scythes starts flaunting the rules and gleaning people for the joy of killing them and watching them panic, two teenaged apprentice sythes find themselves on opposite sides of escalating conflict. Masterfully written and utterly gripping,-- this is the sort of book that you (and your students) can't wait to loan out. Upper middle school and high school. Nothing here any reasonable person would object to. Good stuff.<br />
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4.<br />
J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series<br />
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<img alt="Image result for the harry potter series" height="227" src="https://nadinebrandes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/harry-potter-series.jpg" width="320" /><br />
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I reread it this year. Harry and his friends still completely captivate me and have me on the edge of my seat. This is a world worth revisiting.<br />
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For first time readers, it is worth noting that while the first couple of books are ideal for a forth or fifth grade audience, later books become much more dark, scary, and sometime violent. In our family, we read them all out loud to our kids to slow things down. I recomment this approach.<br />
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Busby, Cylin; Busby, John (2008) <i>The Year we Disappeared </i>New York: Bloomsbury.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for the year we disappeared" src="https://media.bloomsbury.com/rep/bj/9781599908076.jpg" /><br />
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This also was not written specifically as a YA book, but it is an amazing true story that high school students would find utterly captivating. John Busby, a police officer in a Massachusetts seaside town, was driving to work one night when another car pulled alongside him and fired a shotgun through his window, blowing off his lower jaw. The book tells the story of how he evaded the other car, got help, eventually recovered, determined who had shot at him and that they were still after him, and decided to take his family into hiding. <br />
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High school students would love this book. It will grab and hold their attention throughout. Obviously it is violent and sometiems scary -- but ultimately the message of Busvy's recovery is that he has to let go of hate. <br />
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<i><br /></i>Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-74343716675622036272017-11-10T14:24:00.000-06:002017-11-10T15:15:45.937-06:00Five Novels Suitable for Use in English Language Arts Class (some more than others)Reynods, Jason (2016)<i> Ghost</i>. New York: Atheneum.<br />
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Opening lines: "Check this out. This dude named Andres Dahl holds the world record for blowing up the most balloons...with his nose. Yeah. That's true. Not sure how he found out that was some special talent, and I can't even imagine how much snot must be in those balloons, but hey, it's a thing and Andrew's the best at it."<br />
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Castle Crenshaw's voice sounds upbeat and sarcastic, but a couple of pages after the opening lines above, we find out that one night years ago, Castle's dad had been drinking and when Castle's mom fought back against the usual physical abuse, Castle's dad grabbed a pistol Castle and his mom ran for it, and Castle's dad got arrested and taken to jail. The story, however, takes place years later and opens as Castle stands looking through a chain link fence at tryouts for an all-city track team. On a whim, he walks over and challenges one of the kids to a race. Though the coach is angry about the interruption, he gives Castle one chance. When Castle ties the kid, the coach convinces Castle to give the team a try, though Castle isn't very enthusiastic about it.<br />
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And of course, it doesn't go smoothly. Castle, who takes on the nickname Ghost, is fast but insecure, can be a hard worker, but is inconsistent, and is embarassed by his tennis shoes so he shoplifts a better pair. He is nearly kicked off the team several times, and yet it is clear to the reader that Ghost has found a home.<br />
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One of the things I love most about this book was Coach Brody. He is a tough guy who cares about the kids on his team and is willing to push, encourage, cajole, and challenge them to get them to commit to something and experience what being excellent at something can do for them. Ghost finds out that, though Coach Brody drives a cab to pay the rent, he is a former Olympic team member. Ghost also finds out that his fellow team members, who he initially doesn't think much of, have their own stories and eventually become people he cares for.<br />
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My daughter is a runner and loved this book. I am not a runner and I loved this book. I would be best for maybe fourth grade at least through middle school (my daughter read it last year, when she was an eighth grader). There is nothing in here that I could imagine would be challenged, unless someone objects to the authentic depiction of poverty and injustice and the ability for kids who have been through a lot to still be able to challenge themselves..<br />
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If you teach English Language Arts (or Phys Ed, for that matter) , you need this for your classroom library. Seriously. You might also think about using it for literature circles or incorporating it in a unit.<br />
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Meloy, Colin; Ellis, Carson (2011) <i>Wildwood</i>. New York: Harpercollins.<br />
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Opening line: "How five crows managed to lift a twenty-pound baby boy into the air was beyond Prue, but that was certainly the least of her worries."<br />
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I have always loved books that take me to other worlds. Narnia, Middle Earth, Xanth, Barsoom, and other worlds fascinated me when I was younger. J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series introduced the idea of another world that coexisted in the same space as ours. Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series extended that idea. Now along comes Colin Meloy (Lead singer and songwriter of the band The Decemberists) who introduces us to the Wildwood. The Wildwood is just outside of St. Johns, a neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Usually the Wildwood stays separate from our world, with people coincidentally choosing never to go there and thinking nothing of it, but some people are able to penetrate the barrier.<br />
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Prue and her classmate Curtis, chasing a murder of crows who have abducted Prue's baby brother Mac, find themselves in the Wildwood, a land of coyote soldiers, human bureaucrats, owl kings, and many other animal factions which seem to have trouble working together. Prue escapes the evil Dowager Empress and finds her way out of the Wildwood, but she also learns something about her parents and her past. She decides to return to the Wildwood, even though that idea of doing so scares her.<br />
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Prue and Curtis find themselves desperately fighting to stop the Dowager Empress before she sacrifices Mac, reawakens the Magical Ivy, and destroys the Wildwood (and maybe the whole world). But to do that they will have to unite the bandits, the mystics, and the bird kingdom.<br />
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This is a world you can immerse yourself in. The protagonists are likable and bad guys fun to dislike. Other than the fact it is fantasy, there is nothing here I could imagine anyone objecting to. This novel would work well for fifth grade and up, though the fact that this first volume in the series weighs in at over 540 pages may give less experienced readers pause (and delight the readers you cannot recommend books to fast enough). This would be good for your classroom library.<br />
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Lu, Marie ((2011) <i>Legend</i> New York: Penguin.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for legend marie lu" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/27/Legend_Marie_Lu_Book_cover.jpg" /><br />
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Opening lines: "My mother thinks I am dead. Obviously I'm not dead, but it's safer for her to think so. At least once a month I see my wanted poster flashed on the JumboTrons scattered throughout Downtown Los Angeles."<br />
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Day cannot be captured. He strikes against the California Republic, destroying military weapons, stealing money, and always escaping before anyone even sees him. Also, he never kills. Then when an attempt to steal medicine for his family goes wrong, he throws a knife at a soldier, who later dies. That soldier's sister, June Iparis, the only person to ever get a perfect score in her trials (sort of comprehensive standardized tests), is assigned to find him.<br />
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This dystopian novel includes themes of deception versus truth, power inequity, and loyalty to family versus the state,. It also explores some interesting ideas of bioethics. Told in alternating voices of Day and June, it is primarily an adventure book, but, like many of the better dystopian novels, digs into some serious ideas worth discussing.<br />
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This book would work best for high school, both in your classroom library, but also potentially as part of a dystopian literature unit. There is nothing here particularly objectionable beyond some non-extreme violence and romance.<br />
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Conoghan, Brian (2016) <i>The Bombs that Brought Us Together</i>. New York: Bloomsbury.<br />
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Opening lines: "It was hard to remain silent. I tried. I really did, but my breathing kept getting louder as I gasped for clean air. My body was trembling, adding noise to the silence."<br />
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Charlie Law is fourteen years old and lives in Little Town. His new friend, Pavel, is a refugee from Old Country. Little Town is under threat from Old Country that wants to take it over. When Old Country invades Little Town, Charlie finds himself in need of food for his family and medicine for his asthmatic mom. He ends up beholden to the Big Man, the head of a black market criminal enterprise. Charlie must make a series of decisions which have difficult consequences, and he really has little choice in how he makes those decisions. Life as a refugee in a bombed out city ruled by an egomaniacal thug is not fun. Neither is this book (but of course, it isn't trying to be).<br />
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This would seem at first glance like a good choice for teachers who might want to help their students explore the plight of refugees. Honestly,though, it has some significant flaws. Though Charlie and Pav refer to themselves as friends, I didn't see much evidence of any real friendship there. After wading through a lot of darkness, violence, vulgarity, tension, and despair, we get to see justice (sort of), friendship (somewhat), and the beginnings of a romance between Charlie and Erin F. (someday), win out.<br />
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And there is a part of me that really believes that high school students should not just be reading happily-ever-after books, but I worry that it would be hard for students to identify or even care for Charlie. I also wonder if many of them would be interested in it.<br />
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Although Charlie himself is between middle school and high school, I see this more as a high school book. I am not sure why I think that, though. Middle school students could handle the vocabulary. There is some vulgarity in the book though it tends to be kind of obscure slangy references to pubic hair or terms like "butthole". I am not sure I would fight for this one, though.<br />
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This one would be okay for your classroom library, but I don't think it is something that you absolutely must get a hold of.<br />
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Clark, Kristin Elizabeth. (2016) <i>Jess, Chunk, and the Road Trip to Infinity.</i> New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for jess chunk and the road trip to infinity" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1458092506l/27414371.jpg" /><br />
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Opening line: "Something about my mom's new age music makes me want to stab myself in the eye."<br />
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Within the last couple of years, it seems like the Young Adult Literature market has been flooded with books dealing with aspects of LGBTQ life. Like all other topics for books, some of these are quite good. Many of them are not as worthwhile as others. This one well worth the read.<br />
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Jess is going on a road trip from her mother's house in California to Chicago where her dad is getting married. Since the last time she saw her dad, she was a boy named Jeremy, Jess is worried about this trip so she is bringing along Chunk. Chunk was her best friend when she was a guy, and he seems to accepted her change without much fanfare. As they head west, though, Jess's increased anxiety about how people perceive her, causes her to think that everything is about her. When Chunk takes a detour to meet Annabelle, a girl he met through a Star Trek chat room, Jess is irritated by Chunks lack of attention to Jess.<br />
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While the story is told through Jess's voice, the message comes through loud and clear. Jess thinks the story is about her bravery in revealing her transformation to her father. This is what I expected, a book about Jess finding herself and discovering the courage she needs to make a successful transition and Chunk and Annabelle accepting it as well. It is actually about her eventual realization that the world doesn't revolve around her. That sets this one apart from others I have read.<br />
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This would be ideal for high school readers. While there is no graphic sex or anything like that in the book, expect it to be challenged as it does feature a romance involving a trans person (though only at the very end).<br />
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<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-4315414340531563742017-10-10T13:23:00.002-05:002017-10-10T13:26:29.201-05:00For Middle School and High School History Classes: One graphic novel and three conventional novels. <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Falkner,
Matt (2014) <i>Gaijin: American Prisoner of War </i>New York: Disney
Hyperion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Opening
lines: Sunday, December 7. 1941. It’s Koji Miyamoto’s 13<sup>th</sup>
birthday. // “Koji – why don’t you turn on the radio while we do the
dishes.” “Sure thing, Ma,” / “How about
I wash and you dry.” “Okay.” / “Hi-Yo,
Silver!” “Swell, the Lone Ranger!” <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> This graphic novel follows the life
of 13-year-old Koji Kiyamoto. Koji lives
in San Francisco with his mom. His
Japanese father is overseas. When Pearl
Harbor is bombed, Koji starts being bullied at school, then the authorities
confiscate the radio, and then finally, Koji and his mom get a letter that he
is being taken to a relocation camp. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">After Koji runs afoul of a gang of boys who ridicule him and call
him gaijin (Japanese for foreigner) because of his mixed-race ancestry and gets
in a fight, the camp commander assigns him to be an assistant to Mr. Asai, a
Japanese man who fixes things in the camp.
When Koji accompanies Mr. Asai to his house on a day pass, they find
that the couple renting Mr. Asai’s house have taken it over, broken into his
storage room, and stolen and sold his stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Later, though, Koji’s affection for Mr. Asai is tested when the
gang peer-pressures him into throwing a dirt clod at Mr. Asai. And the bottom line of this graphic novel is
that it is as much about Koji growing up and grappling with divided loyalties
as it is about the way the United States handles (or mishandled) the treatment
of Japanese –American citizens. Koji is also worried that his mom is spending
time with the American guards at the camp and is being unfaithful to his
father. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">In an afterward, Matt Faulkner tells the story of a great aunt of
his who fell in love with a Japanese man, married, moved to Japan, then, an
earthquake in Tokyo caused them to move
back to Boston. After the bombing of
Pearl Harbor, they got a letter saying that her husband and children would be
taken to an internment camp. Though
Faulkner’s aunt (who was Irish –American) was not required to be interred, she
chose to go to the camp with her family.
This became the basis for Faulkner’s graphic novel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Generally, this is a good book.
The drawing is strong, though the caricature-like style that Faulkner
employs at times made it hard for me to fully invest myself in the main
character. Also, the lettering is
clearly typeset, which makes the voice of the novel seem stilted and
sterile. Some readers may take offences
at the repeated use of the term “Jap” to refer to Japanese American characters
in the book. Overall, though, the story
realizes important questions we still struggle with today, including, what it
means to be an American, including how we treat those who look different from
us, and what it is like to be an outsider. Faulkner’s book teases these ideas
out over a variety of narrative turns.
The ending seems a bit rushed, but is still satisfying. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">This would be a good acquisition for a classroom library and might also work well as a supplemental book for classes studying the Japanese iInternment Camps in World War Two. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Moss,
Marissa (2012) <i>A Soldier’s Story: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a
Civil War Hero<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Opening
lines: “Just a minute there,” the
recruiter stops me as I lean over to dip the pen in ink. “You can’t enlist.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> I freeze. Can he tell?
I’m wearing a shirt, vest, and trousers as usual. My curly hair cut short except for a lock
that insists on falling over my forehead.
I brush it away nervously and meet the man’s eyes. I’ve been passing for nearly three years now,
but every new encounter still brings with is the same fear. I take nothing for granted. The key thing, I remind myself is not to reveal
anything, to act as normal as possible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> “I beg your pardon,” I say as if I
haven’t heard him clearly. I keep my
voice calm and low, pushing down the panic that’s building up inside me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> “I know you love your country,” the
man says kindly. “but you need to grow up a bit before you join the army.” He looks at my peachy cheeks, free of any
sign of a whisker. “We aren’t taking
sixteen-year-olds.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Eventually, though, Sarah Edmonds,
AKA “Frank Thompson” joins the Union Army. As she marches off the war we begin to slowly
learn about her early life with an abusive father in Canada. We find out what drove her from home and prompted
her to disguise herself as a boy. We find
out about how she kept herself alive by doing odd jobs and eventually becoming
a book salesman, and we find out why she wanted to enlist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Frank is affable and funny and a
hard worker. As we follow Frank through
serving as a soldier, mail deliverer, spy, and nurse, we get to know the other
soldiers, experience some of the important battles of the civil war, learn
about daily life for soldiers, and most of all become more and more invested in
Frank’s life. At several points, she is
almost discovered to be a woman. She
also falls in love with her fellow soldiers more than once and must hide her
feelings. In this book readers will find
adventure, history, and some interesting ideas and themes to think about. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> While teachers will want to know that
the book contains some mild and very occasional vulgar language, they should
also know that it is a gripping book that will engage readers deeply. It would probably work best for high school
students, but skilled and adventurous middle school readers might want to give
it a try as well. Though some boys
eschew books with female narrators, they might want to give this one a
try. The descriptions of battles and spy
missions are enough to hold the attention of action/adventure addicts. Moss
includes excellent supplemental materials including biographies of generals, a
civil war timeline, bibliographies, and an explanation of who the real Sarah
Edmonds was. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Excellent for your classroom library
or for use in conjunction with a unit on the American Civil War. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Bradley,
Kimberly Brubaker (2015) <i>The War that
Saved my Life. </i>New York: Dial<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">Opening
Lines: “Ada! Get back from that window!” Mam’s voice, shouting. Mam’s arm, grabbing mine. Yanking me so I toppled off my chair and fell
hard on the floor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> “I
was only saying hello to Stephen White.”
I knew better than to talk back, but sometimes my mouth was faster than
my brain. I’d become a fighter, that
summer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Mam smacked me. Hard.
My head snapped back against the chair leg and for a moment I saw stars.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It is 1939 in London. Ada
is ten years old. Ada has a club
foot. Because her mother is ashamed of
this physical difference, she abuses Ada physically and emotionally. Ada is never to go outside and always to stay
away from windows. Ada’s younger brother
Jamie, who is 6, is allowed to leave the house and play with his friends in the
streets. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">When World War Two breaks out, and London is threatened with
bombings, the government orders that children be evacuated to the country. Mam intends to send Jamie to the country, but
keep Ada in London, since Ada is an embarrassment. Instead, Ada and Jamie both escape and are
sent to the country. Once they arrive,
all the other children are claimed, but not them. Jamie and Ada are dirty, poorly dressed, and
lack manners. Eventually the woman
coordinating the resettlement in the town sends them to live with Miss Smith
who lives on the edge of town. Miss
Smith is not excited about taking them in.
It turns out that Susan Smith lived in the little cottage with her best
friend Becky, and since Becky has died, Miss Smith has been in a state of grief
and depression. At first, Ada and Jamie
take care of the cooking and cleaning, and Susan seldom leaves her bedroom. Eventually, though, she begins to take a hand
in the kid’s upbringing. Ada, who has never
known what it is like to walk without pain, learns the joy of riding a
horse. Miss Smith remembers what it is
like to care for another person and slowly they begin to build a new life as a
kind of family – but the war, bombing, Mam, and other conflicts threaten. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">And like many great books, the summary of this book does not
convey what it is like to read it. This
book is delightful, and soon the reader is drawn into the little English town
and is rooting so hard for Ada and Susan that the book becomes all
encompassing. I would say it will have
you turning pages faster and faster to find out what is going to happen, except
the writing is so good that it will slow you down so you can enjoy it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It would be a excellent book for a middle school or high school History
class to be able to personalize the war and help student to understand what it
was like for non-combatants at the time. It is also well-written enough that it
would be an excellent addition to a middle school or high school English/Language
Arts class. And it would make a splendid
read-aloud book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">It may be worth mentioning that there are very subtle yet clear
implications that Susan and Becker were lovers, however, if the teacher does
not focus on this, the majority of high school or middle school students will
fail to make the connection. Still,
teachers should be aware of this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">And what a splendid ending.
Look, you should buy this and read it yourself if you do nothing else. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Moss, Marissa (2016) </span><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Mira’s
Diary: California Dreaming. </i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Berkeley: Creston.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening lines: “July
10. Usually I start a brand new journal
with a brand new postcard, a picture of where I’ll travel to next. But this time I’m starting with a drawing of
what’s right in front of me, because it’s pretty spectacular. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> “Much better than
looking right next to me, at my oh-so-furious brother. We’re finally doing something fun, taking a
ride on the giant Ferris wheel in London and he looks ready to kill me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> This is part of
an ongoing series in which Mira travels through time, trying to find her mother
(and defeat the mysterious watcher who is working against them.). In this one,
Mira must journey back to San Francisco just after the great earthquake. She gets a job as an entertainment reporter
and rubs shoulders with Mark Twain, finds her mother, another time traveler,
and the watcher. Along the way she is
continually orienting herself based on her knowledge of both modern and historical
San Francisco. Her knowledge of history
helps her out more than once. The book
does a nice job of showing that history happens in neighborhoods and cities
where people carry out their regular day-to-day lives. There is also a strong freedom-of-speech,
anti-censorship theme. There is also the beginning of a romance happening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> While this book
is perhaps not as gripping as Moss’s <i>A
Soldier’s Story, </i>it seems like a good way to engage late elementary or middle
school students in beginning to think aobut their world from a historical
perspective. I have not read the other books in the series, but suspect they
also would serve this purpose well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-23538188014072658322017-09-18T13:28:00.000-05:002017-09-18T13:29:48.664-05:004 New Graphic Novels for English/Language Arts: Ban Hatke's Mighty Jack and the Goblin King; George O'Connor's Artemis; Adam Rapp and Mike Cavallaro's Decelerate Blue; and Margaret Atwood's Angel CatbirdHatke, Ben (2017) <i>Mighty Jack and the Goblin King. </i>New York: First Second<br />
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Opening lines:<br />
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Well, here's the whole page. It makes more sense with the images: (This is actually the second page. The first page doesn't have any words. It is the image of a hand ...oh, just order it already.)<br />
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This Review, Short Version: Buy this right away.<br />
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Long Version:<br />
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My favorite books take me so far into other worlds that I get lost in them for a while. Ben Hatke has been doing this to me since I read his first Zita the Spacegirl book. I am not sure how he does it, but I think it involves taking kids from earth who are so real I feel like they live on my block, putting them into very differnt fantasy worlds, and then filling those fantasy worlds with so much activity and such interesting characters that you are drawn in.<br />
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In the Narnia books, the Pevensie children discover they are actually kinds and queens in the world they fall into. Harry Potter discovers he is actually The Boy Who Lived. Percy Jackson finds out that he is the son of the sea god Posiedon. In <i>Mighty Jack and The Goblin King</i>, Jack and his friends are in constant danger not because they are prophesied to inherit the kingdom, or bcause there is a powerful wizard out to get them, but because they are in the way, don't kow the rules, or are just hanging out in a very dangerous place. This is another element that grabs the reader. <br />
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Right The story. Well, at the end of Hatke's first book, <i>Mighty Jack</i>, a giant creature had kidnapped Jack's autistic sister Maddy and Jacka nd his friend Lily had followed them through a gateway. <i> Goblin King</i> opens as Jack and Lily emerge into the world where Maddy has been taken. Immeidately they are in trouble. Jack fights, and bareley defeats a giant knight, then Lily falls off a bridge and lands on something hard. Jack has no choice but to continue after Maddy. Lily ends up being rescued and nursed back to health by a stquad of goblins.Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-57035670460800292202017-08-30T10:16:00.003-05:002017-08-30T10:28:46.431-05:00Two New Picture Books that could be helpful for teaching history at any age: The true story of Winnie the Pooh and something about goblins too. Mattick, Lindsay; Blackall, Sophie (2015) <i>Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World's Most Famous Bear. </i>New York: Little, Brown, and Company.<br />
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Opening lines: "Could you tell me a story?" asked Cole. <br />
"It's awfully late." It was long past dark and time to be asleep. "What kind of story?"<br />
"You know, a true story. One about a bear." We cuddled up close.<br />
"I'll do my best," I said.<br />
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And with that, we fall into two separate stories. The first is about a veterinarian named Harry Colebourne who lives in Winnepeg. Harry is called up to fight for Canada in the First World War. While riding a troop train to a training base, Harry gets off at a station and encounters a trapper who has a bear cub with him. Harry buys the bear and takes it with him to a staging base in England. The bear, named Winnepeg, or Winnie for short, serves as a mascot for his unit. When it becomes clear that his unit will be shipped to fight on the continent, Harry drives in to London and donates his bear to the London Zoo and tearfully says goodbye. As the book puts it, that is where one story ends and another begins. Some years later, a young schoolboy named Christopher Robin Milne becomes quite taken by the bear and loves visiting him in the zoo. That bear becomes part of the basis for the beloved children's book character Winnie the Pooh. <br />
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There are a couple of things that make this book stand out as a picture book (and explain why it was honored by a Caldecott Medal). First of all, the images, which straddle the line between realism and cartoon, give us a remarkably clear sense of the bond between the bear and the soldiers. A section in the back of the book contains annotated black and white photographs from that period so that children can see images of the bear and the soldiers (and the bear with Christopher Robin) and the similarity between those photographs and some of the images in the book connect the story even more deeply with history.<br />
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Secondly, by telling two separate stories, the book does an amazing job of helping young children get the sense of how history can link together more than one generation (particularly when one picture in the back reveals that the author of the book is Harry's great-granddaughter.) For kindergarteners and first graders beginning to learn history, the book provides this veracity and the sense that old photos and documents contain fascinating narratives -- and that there is more to the stories of those who go to war than just fighting.<br />
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The book would be ideal for first grade and second, but could also be useful for introducing concepts of historical research and analysis to middle grades and high school kids.<br />
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Hatke, Ben (2016) <i>Nobody Likes a Goblin. </i>New York: First Second.<br />
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Opening Lines: "Deep in a dungeon the bats were sleeping soundly, / and Goblin woke to a new day./ He lit the torches. He fed the rats. He gnawed an old boot for breakfast, and he thought about the day ahead."<br />
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In this picture book by Ben Hatke, (which seems to have been a character study for his recently released graphic novel <i>Mighty Jack and the Goblin King</i>)<i> </i>Goblin likes to pass his time with his friend Skeleton. Then a group of adventurers storm the dungeon and take everything, treasure, Goblin's furnishings, and even Skeleton. Goblin sets out to find his friend. Along the way he meets a hill troll who was raided by the adventurers who took his goose (which he calls his Honk-honk). Goblin tells the troll he will get the Honk-honk back. When Goblin enters human territory, he is met by fear, horror, anger, aggression, shouts of "Filthy Goblin!" and villagers carrying pitchforks and frying pans menacingly.<br />
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Goblin finds Skeleton and flees from the adventurers. He hides in a cave, feeling that nobody likes a goblin. Then he finds more goblins in the cave and they scare the adventurers away, taking their stuff (and some human friends) to start a new community. (The Troll gets his Honk-honk back.)<br />
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It struck me that though this is a fine picture book for kindergarten and first grade, it might also be useful for middle school or high school history classes. The way Hatke draws the adventurers, they are clearly what we could traditionally think of as protagonists, heroes, or good guys. In fantasy novels, such adventurers frequently defeat goblins, trolls, and other creatures and take treasure or whatever else they need from them. We accept this narrative as it is told to us -- assuming the treasure is ill-gotten gain and that the creatures are dangerous and somehow in the wrong. This story turns that around though, and presents the story from the perspective of the group that is usually thought of as the bad guys -- in much the same way that Howard Zinn's <i>History of American Empire </i>looks at history from the perspective of those who lost the battle, the war, or the negotiations.<br />
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I don't mean to suggest that Hitler's actions were justifiable, or that we need to understand that there are two sides to the Armenian or Rwandan genocides -- clearly within the sweep of history there are those who act from a morally reprehensible view of the world. At the same time, though, our students are taught to automatically accept their own history as being righteous and justifiable. This book may offer a way for students to reconsider those positions -- but it does so in a way that is disconnected from our world. Thus in-class conversations might be possible without the interference of deeply held and unquestioned contextualized political presuppositions. <br />
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The art work, as in everything else Ben Hatke does, is beautiful. Hatke illustrates things with enough detail to make settings and characters real enough that we can sympathize with them, yet also keeps the layouts simple enough that the reader can follow the story effortlessly. History teachers might think of having a look at this one. <br />
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<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-51465093871494992762017-08-23T11:17:00.003-05:002017-08-23T11:41:02.922-05:00A bombing in Israel, A dying boy's last year, and an ancient Indian epic--all of them dealing with religion and faith with varying degrees of successFaith and religion are generally topics that we avoid talking about for fear of offending anyone. Yet in a world where religious extremists use their faith as an excuse for violence, and where it is sometimes hard to see past the glare of media stereotypes to see the good people of faith fighting for social justice, some sensible discussion of religion could make a difference. This is particulalry true for high school students who are trying to figure out their place in the world. I recently read three books, all appropriate for high school level readers, that deal with religion in very different ways and offer food for thought without being aggressive or evangelical. All three are worth a read, though I reccommend some more highly than others. <br />
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Baxter, Jack; Faudem, Joshua; Shadmi, Koren (2015) <i>Mike's place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv. </i>New York: First Second.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for Mike's Place graphic novel" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/516gg2MYDLL._SX351_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /><br />
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Opening lines (sort of) (see below): <br />
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<img alt="Image result for Mike's Place graphic novel" src="http://www.bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/mikes_place_page10.jpg" height="640" width="451" /><br />
Mike's place is a bar in Tel Aviv that is known for being a warm, cozy, hospitable place. It features live music, an upbeat atmosphere, and welcomes everyone, whether local or stranger, Israeli or Palestinian, regardless of politics. When US filmmaker Jack's plans to make a documentary about the trial of a Palestinian accused of masterminding terrorist attacks fall through completely, a walk at night and a chat with Mike's Place owner and bartender Gal lead Jack to decide to make a documentary about this apparently neutral ground in the middle of the religious tension in this part of the world. But as we get to know the family of workers, regulars, and visitors that form Jack's Place, we also see glimpses of the suicide bombers who are planning to destroy the bar.<br />
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And though this is a graphic novel telling of a true story of the days leading up to a real bombing and the pain, grief, havoc, and eventually rebirth that followed, it raises a series of interesting questions about the brokenness of humans and about the grace that sometimes comes to them. Here there is romance, betrayal, friendship, music, and violence -- and the amazing part of it is that the graphic novel format allows us to be right in the middle of Mike's Place and the lives of its inhabitants. When the bomb blast comes, it is not a shock -- the reader has been expecting it -- but it hurts all the same. We know these people. <br />
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After the blood and ambulances and hospital stays; after the injuries, deaths, and recoveries; after the grief and sorrow and post-traumatic stress, when the community of Mike's Place begins to rebuild, there is a sense of renewal and redemption and restoration of grace (while at the same time, there is a certainty that this sort of thing will happen again.) <br />
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Each section begins with a quote from the Qur'an which argues for unity, friendship, non-violence and hope. (For example, section 2 begins with "Truly those who believe, and the Jews and the Christians, and the Sabaeans -- whoever believes in God and the Last Day and performs virtuous deeds -- surely their reward is with their sustainer and no fear shall come upon them, neither shall they grieve.") Such quotations hang on through the images of the warmth inside the bar, the darkness outside of it, the joy and happiness of the Mike's Place crew, and the straight-faced isolation of the bombers-in-training. There is also a theme of seeking God, though it is very subtle. French waitress Dominique goes to a fortune teller seeking divine wisdom to figure out which of her lovers she should stay with. Filmmaker Jack calls home to his wife in the US every night, then goes for long walks in the falling dark, at one point buying a good luck charm from a shopkeeper. Cameraman Joshua and his girlfriend seek meaning in each other, but don't seem to be finding it. And most of all, the patrons at Mike's Place seem to seek a world that is calm, rational, joyful, unified by something, and not caught in the grip of hate. <br />
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The book contains a smattering of vulgar language, implications of people sleeping with each other, at least once cheating on a committed relationship, and there is some violence --but the way the book opens up discussions of what we should do when religions are in conflict with each other would seem to outweigh the negative aspects and make it a good choice for high school students. In any case, it is well worth checking out. <br />
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Crutcher, Chris (2007) <i>Deadline</i>. New York: HarperCollins.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for deadline chris crutcher" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51UTeHgYZnL.jpg" /><br />
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Opening line: "My plan was to focus my senior year on information I could use after graduation when I set out for Planet Earth from the Pluto that is Trout, Idaho, population 943."<br />
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That's how this novel begins. But as Ben is about to begin his senior year, he finds out that he has an illness that will kill him in a year unless he starts immediately on a course of treatment that will be painful, leave him spending most of his remaining year in a hospital bed, and only has a small chance of being effective. So Ben refuses treatment, swears the doctor to secrecy, and decides to make the most of his remaining year. He goes out for football and makes the team because of his speed and daring. He asks the girl he likes if she will go out with him and eventually ends up with a girlfriend. He decides to help the town drunk get sober. He takes on his narrow- minded history teacher by proposing a project where he will try to get one of the streets in his hometown renamed as Martin Luther King Drive, despite the townspeople's extreme lack of interest in such a change. And all along he keeps his secret from his parents, his girlfriend, his brother, school authorities, and everyone.<br />
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As his relationship with his girlfriend grows, though, and as his teamwork with his brother on the football field seems to be leading them to double scholarships, Ben feels more and more like he wants to tell someone, but now so much time has passed that if he does tell anyone, they will feel betrayed.<br />
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And here is the most interesting part of this very gripping novel. Ben has visions where he is talking to someone he calls Hey Soos (think Mexican pronunciation of Jesus). Hey Soos appears in his dreams and they talk about right and wrong. Hey Soos seems a lot more real than Ben's biblical image of Jesus, and at first Ben assumes Hey Soos is his own subconscious. Later he isn't so sure. Yet because the question is not settled and because Hey Soos doesn't seem to be a religious figure, Crutcher is able to bring in some religious-moral perspective without all the baggage that usually goes along with it. And because the main character is facing his own death, he listens to that advice in a way that is different from how most high school students might listen.<br />
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Crutcher's work is frequently challenged and occasionally banned. I am not sure why. There are some vulgar words from time to time and a character in the book has had a child outside of marriage, but the book combines authenticity with the very real and complicated ethical dilemmas that high school students need to deal with, I suggest that <i>Deadline</i> belongs on every high school teacher's shelf (if not on every student's desk as part of a unit). Best book I have read in a long time. Buy it.<br />
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<br />
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Arni, Samhita; Chitrakar, Moyna (2011) <i>Sita's Ramayana</i>. Toronto: Groundwood.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for Sita's Ramayana" height="640" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91MkMIP%2BAiL.jpg" width="478" /><br />
<br />
Opening lines: "For a thousand years the Dandaka forest slept. // Until one day the daughter of the earth came. At her touch the flowers, creepers, and trees of the Dandaka awoke from their long sleep. The forest watched her with great interest. She was no hermit's wife -- beautifully dressed in priceless silks and ornaments, worth a king's ransom."<br />
<br />
The Ramayana is apparently a great legend of ancient India. It involves a princess and her brother and honor and right and wrong and I really wanted to like it. It seems like a great story, and I applaud the publisher, Groundwood, for bringing this ancient story to light -- but I couldn't get through it. The story is told in graphic novel form (sort of) and in spite of the way the book preserves the language of the original and the beautiful art inspired by the art of India, I don't think it works very well as a graphic novel. <br />
<br />
There were several reasons for this. First was the lettering. I'll admit I have a preference for hand-lettered graphic novels. Part of the reason for my preference for hand lettering is probably tradition. the first comic books that I read were hand lettered, with some words emboldened to indicate emphasis -- but more than that, it was like the hand lettering captured the voice of the story. This is certainly true with modern hand-lettered graphic novels. <i>Sita's Ramayana </i>uses typeset lettering in a sans serif font. The lettering seems artificial and lifeless and doesn't convey the depth of the passion of the story. In fact, as times words of intensity seem humorous because of the way the print looks so bland and emotionally level on the page.<br />
<br />
Second, Chitrakar's illustrations, while an excellent example of the Patua scroll painting tradition, do not convey the story in such a way that supports the words as much as it could. Consider this illustration:<br />
<br />
<img alt="Image result for Sita's Ramayana" src="http://archive.tehelka.com/channels/Web_Specials/2011/October/24/images/Ramayana_HRspread2_ZOOM.jpg" height="455" width="640" /><br />
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The words may be too small to read, but just look at the panels. What is happening here is that Surpanaka, princess of Lanka (on the right) has transformed herself into a beautiful woman to win the love of Lakshmana (the fellow on the left). Lakshmana, however, realizes that she is a demoness, and in the second panel, cuts off her nose. She flees back to Lanka in the fourth panel and persuades her brother Ravana, king of Lanka to avenge this insult. Unfortunately, the panels do not to a very good job of conveying this action. In the second panel, the thin stick that looks like a baton in Lakshmana's right hand, is actually a sword. In the third panel, the red color on Surpanka is meant to indicate that her nose has been cut off. There is no indication of movement (which could be accomplished by a two-panel series showing the sword at the beginning of its arc and at the end.) So while the illustrations are beautiful, they do little to convey action and passion in ways that the words cannot.<br />
<br />
Perhaps I do not know how to read this type of art. That is a fair criticism, but if that is so, I doubt many other readers will know the secrets either. For me, at least, the magic of the graphic novel's integration of word and action through image and panel never quite get off the ground. So much so, that honestly, I did not make it to the end. <br />
<br />
Having said that, I have no doubt that this rendition would help newcomers to the story to be able to picture what is going on, and as such might be worthy of a classroom library for students who are interested in reading this ancient tale.<br />
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<br />Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-37843029448655302017-08-01T14:53:00.001-05:002017-08-01T14:53:26.089-05:00Best book ever for teaching with graphic novels!So there is this amazing new book that just came out. Um, well, I really think it is the best book ever for using graphic novels to teach middle school and high school across all subject areas. But, um, this is sort of awkward. I was one of the people who wrote it.<br />
<br />
So I am a bit sheepish about touting it, and I certainly can't review my own book. So I'll give you the details and then a couple of quotes from the back and that will have to do. Aw shucks. Now I am all embarrassed. <br />
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Boerman-Cornell, William; Kim, Jung; Manderino, Michael (2017) <em>Graphic Novels in High School and Middle School Classrooms. </em>Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield,<br />
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<a data-ved="0ahUKEwiRibaJ3LbVAhWCVT4KHfDOBYwQjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiRibaJ3LbVAhWCVT4KHfDOBYwQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FGraphic-Novels-School-Middle-Classrooms%2Fdp%2F1475828349&psig=AFQjCNGQHxiruBwKImDEtGJDGgQJLVZKWA&ust=1501700389942194" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="Image result for Boerman-Cornell, Kim, Manderino" height="499" id="irc_mi" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41JX%2BCEN33L._SX317_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" style="margin-top: 5px;" width="319" /></a><br />
<br />
"As we write this introduction, refugees are seeking asylum in a Europe that doesn't seem to want them. Police officers have been accused of beating and killing African Americans in a cycle of fear and violence that sometimes has the officers in the sights of snipers. Undocumented immigrants in the United States suffer exploitation and bigotry. Americas national policies seem ruled by obstructionism, extremism, and people talking past each other. News and information are increasingly difficult to verify and trust. Globally the nations of the world seem unable to stem the tide of climate change. Human trafficking and income equality make us wonder where justice is.<br />
<br />
"Given all these challenges that face our children, why are we writing a book about how to use overgrown comic books in the classroom? What can graphic novels offer a world plagued by inequity, injustice, and despair."<br />
<br />
Quotes from the back of the book:<br />
<br />
"An essential book for explaining clearly the richness of visual literacy, how many layers of meaning can be packed into the magical combination of words and pictures."<br />
--Marissa Moss, award-winning author of <em>Nurse, Soldier, Spy,</em> author and illustrator of the Amelia's Notebook series, and owner of Creston Books Publishing.<br />
<br />
"I don't know anyone who has spent as much time thinking critically about the place of the graphic novel in the classroom than these authors. This book tackles not only the question of how to incorporate graphic novels in the classroom but also the more fascinating questions of why the medium is so powerful. This is the first book that should be picked up by any teacher thinking of building a curriculum that includes graphic novels."<br />
--Ben Hatke, award-winning graphic novelist and creator of <em>Zita the Spacegirl, Mighty Jack, </em>and <em>Little Robot.</em><br />
<br />
"The authors ask an important question: Can graphic novels change the world? And then they show us how, in fact, they can. The chapters in this book highlight the value of this format in guiding students' reading, writing, and thinking. They clearly and expertly discuss the ways graphic novels can be used to teach a wide range of skills and strategies that students need, both inside and outside the classroom."<br />
--Doug Fisher, author, speaker, and literacy researcher, San Diego State University.<br />
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Other Quotes:<br />
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"This book has been remarkably useful for us as we have redesigned the required curriculum of the Xavier Institute to include more graphic novels.. I enjoyed reading it. Particularly the parts about physics and biology."<br />
--Dr. Henry McCoy, Dean of Instruction, The Xavier Institute (formerly Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.)<br />
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"I was skeptical at first. I had never read a graphic novel. But our students like the format and it seems a good way to get at the foundational ideas that underlie many of our courses. Now if only someone would write a graphic novel about herbology."<br />
--Neville Longbottom, Headmaster, Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry.<br />
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"I found myself quite taken by the parts about inquiry learning. The authors have convinced me that a book like this will help teachers encourage independent thinking, group problem-solving, and intrinsic motivation." <br />
--Nicholas Benedict, founder of the Mysterious Benedict Society<br />
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<br />
So there you have it. The book is available through the Rowman and Littlefield website, through Amazon, and if you go to your local independent bookstore, they can order you a copy too.<br />
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Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-81580535067024329242017-07-05T13:46:00.004-05:002017-07-05T13:46:39.711-05:00Heroes return (Black Widow and Harry Potter) but these books are not the perfect experience<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Stohl, Margaret (2016) <i>Black
Widow: Forever Red</i>. New York: Marvel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for black widow forever red" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51sEccH2utL._SX329_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening Lines: Natasha
Romanoff hated pierogies – but more than that, she hated lies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Lying she was fine with.
Lying was a necessity, a tool of tradecraft. It was being lied to that she hated, even if
it was how she had been raised.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Everything Ivan used to say was a lie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Ever since I first bought comic books at Argus Used Books Shop in
Grand Rapids, Michigan, there have been novelizations of the Marvel
Superheroes. I remember reading some of
them, and remember some being good and some being not so good. What seemed to make a difference often was
whether the writer of the novelization seemed to have read at least as many of
the comics as I had. If they hadn’t, the
book was usually missing some important links or characterization, or some
aspect of the main character’s personality, or even about the world they lived
in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Recently, Marvel has upped the ante. They have managed to get some real giants of
adolescent and YA literature to craft stories about their heroes (now household
words after the terrifically popular series of Marvel movies. Eoin Colfer has written about Iron Man,
Shannon Hale about Squirrel Girl, and Margaret Stohl about Black Widow. These are not graphic novels, they are regular text novels containing brand new stories. And
sometimes it works. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">I am not sure what to tell you about Margaret Stohl’s <i>Black Widow, Forever Red</i>. Stohl has done her homework and the storyline
seems to fit well with the character. The
story has Natasha Romanoff (The Black Widow) shepherding two teenagers. Ava is a homeless kid living in New York who
was exposed to a strange experimental machine when she was a young child and
seems to have gained reflexes, strategy, and tradecraft similar to what the Black
Widow has. Alex is living a comfortable suburban
life, raised by a single mom. But it
turns out that he seems to have black widow-like reflexes too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">And while the book is a fun action-adventure sort of a novel, if
it has a problem, here it is—you don’t buy this book to read about the two
junior widow kids. You want to read
about Natasha. This book spends at least
as much time on the two kids and often they seem to be the central focus of the
book. Their story is interesting, and
the budding romance between them will also hold readers’ attentions – but it is
supposed to be a story about Natasha. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Not much in the way of themes here – other than a kind of “Who am
I” theme that draws connections between Black Widow and the kids throughout the
book . There is certainly violence, a bit of vulgar language (though not much)
and some suggested sexual intimacy between Alex and Ava, but nothing very
explicit. This would be a good one for a
7<sup>th</sup> through 12<sup>th</sup> grade classroom library, but I cannot imagine
any class actually studying it and getting much out of it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Rowling, J.K.; Tiffany, John; and Thorne, Jack (2016) <i>Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. </i>New York:
Arthur Levine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for harry potter and the cursed child cover" src="https://pm1.narvii.com/5899/e10f72bbc0c4fd7e2626e0c547567369919c18fa_hq.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening Lines: King’s
Cross. A busy and crowded station. Full of people trying to go somewhere. Amongst the hustle and bustle, two large
cages rattle on top of two laden trolleys.
They’re being pushed by two boys, James Potter and Albus Potter. Their mother, Ginny follows after. A thirty-seven year old man, Harry, has his
daughter Lily on his shoulders. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">ALBUS: Dad, he keeps saying
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Harry: James, give it a
rest. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Of course, this is the latest in the Harry Potter saga – or is
it. Presumably written by John Tiffany
and Jack Thorne with editorial oversight by J.K. Rowling, the story follows the
children of the heroes of the first seven books. Specifically we meet Harry’s son Albus, who
gets sorted into Slytherin house, and Draco Malfoy’s son Scorpius, who meets
Albus and forms a sort of friendship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">I have talked to several other Harry Potter fans about this,
including my own daughter, and though they all have read it, they all have some
reservations. The first reservation I
inevitably hear may be the easier of the two to dismiss. They will inevitably say the writing just doesn’t sound
like Rowling’s. I detected several spell
names which seemed to be theatrical puns rather than the Latinate incantations
that Rowling prefers And certainly our heroes, now recast as middle
aged parents, seem to lack the energy and sharpness they had in the first seven
books. But we might respond that it
doesn’t sound like Rowling because it probably wasn’t her that wrote it. This seems like a purist’s complaint. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">The second complaint is harder to articulate, but I would argue is
a more serious flaw of the book. The
relationship between Albus and Scorpio is ambiguous. Are they really good friends, or is there a
homosexual attraction between the two?
The book stops short of clarifying this, perhaps preferring that the
reader decide for him or herself. When I
read it though, this ambiguity seemed to mess up both possibilities. Their relationship seems a bit too hysterical
to be a strong platonic friendship, but it seems too reserved to really be a
gay relationship. This wouldn’t be such
a big deal except that so much of the theme and the plot hang on their relationship. So it is very hard for the reader to see that
motivations spring from a deep platonic relationship (as they did between
Harry, Ron and Hermione, at least until Ron and Hermione became an item in the
sixth book) because the relationship being shown doesn’t seem to be
platonic. But it also doesn’t seem to
work as a gay relationship because without that relationship being able to
develop in any real way, it too lacks depth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">None of this need concern teachers who are afraid of the book
being challenged. It is all open for
interpretation and nothing is clear. But
that makes it a hard book to read.
Perhaps it is clearer in the stage production. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">At any rate, though it is certainly an imperfect book, Harry
Potter fans will want to read it. It
might be a good addition to a high school language arts class library. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-91647520547296346722017-06-30T14:52:00.001-05:002017-07-03T07:23:26.067-05:00Two Very Different YA Novels -- from Kara Thomas and Eoin ColferThomas, Kara (2017) <i>Little Monsters </i>New York: Random House.<br />
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<img alt="Image result for Little Monsters Kara Thomas" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1475850088l/32320750.jpg" /><br />
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Opening lines: <br />
"They fire off a round of texts at me at five minutes after midnight:<br />
<i>We're coming.</i><br />
<i> Get ready.</i><br />
They're not threats, but my friends have a way of making even the simplest demands feel like ultimatums."<br />
<br />
Bailey is in a car with Cliff Grosso when he gets a DUI and loses his scholarship and because she is not very popular, everyone blames her for ruining Cliff's life. Then one night Bailey leaves a party and Cliff leaves right after she does. Bailey never makes it home. <br />
<br />
This is the set-up for <i>Little Monsters. </i>The novel is told through alternating chapters narrated by Kacey, her friend Jade, and sections of Bailey's diary. This is a murder mystery so well-plotted that it will keep the reader rivited to the end -- if the reader can stand to hang in there that long. This book is well titled. Kacey moves through a world of jaded, cynical, unhappy girls. They are cynical about school, family, their community, each other, and the future. And Kacey is not much different. She sums it up this way: "There is no such thing as best friends.... Everyone is only out to protect themselves." The epilogue contains a grain of hope, but make no mistake, this is a world of monsters.<br />
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So what is wrong with that? Aren't books supposed to tell the truth? To be authentic? High school girls can be pretty monstrous. Aren't there some girls out there who would jump at a chance to read a book that shows them the world as they understand it? A book that shows unflinchingly the worst of what humans can be to each other? Don't we sometimes read to know that we are not alone? Isn't the world like this sometimes?<br />
<br />
Yes, all those things are true. And yes, high school students use vulgar language, engage in under-aged drinking, cut themselves, have sex, talk about each other as if they were no more than the sum of their attractiveness or unattractiveness to others, and betray their friends. <br />
<br />
But I don't relish spending time with such people. I certainly don't mind books that show the pain of being a human, but I also read to know that all worlds have some degree of hope in them -- that there is always the chance things will get better. And honestly, at the end, there is some hope to be found, but it comes so late and there is so little hope that at that point, the book had worn me down and I didn't want to spend any more time in this world.<br />
<br />
Lurie Anderson's now classic novel <i>Speak</i> certainly paints a dark picture of life for high school girls -- but there is a moment in that book where the main character returns to a bathroom stall where she has written something truthful and negative about the boy who date-raped her, and finds the stall wall covered with affirmations and corroborations of what she wrote. That moment is one in the book where there is a lot of hope that eventually the truth might come out. I do not find such a moment in this book except at the very end, and then it is muted.<br />
<br />
It may be the result of my overly optimistic nature, and I can think of some students who might like this book, so if this sounds like a book you would enjoy, you might want to pick it up. I would have a hard time recommending it, though. It could be used to prompt an interesting discussion in language arts about what makes a book worthwhile, and whether it is necessary for books to offer hope.<br />
<br />
It is clearly written for a high school audience. The vulgar language might easily lead it to be challenged, however, so I would encourage teachers to read it before putting it in your classroom library.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Colfer, Eoin (2014) <i>The Hangman’s Revolution. </i>Los Angeles: Hyperion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<img alt="Image result for The Hangman's Revolution" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1406731264l/18453186.jpg" /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Opening lines:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"Boxite Youth Academy, Present Day London. New Albion. 115 (Boxite Calender)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">London Town.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once there had been a magic about the city. Just hearing the name conjured images of Dickens's young trickster Dodger or of Sherlock holmes in Baker Street putting his mind to a three-pipe problem, or of any one of a thousand tales of adventure and derring-do that were woven through London'</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">s magnificient avenues and shadowy network of backstreets and alleys. For centuries, people had journeyed from across the world to England's capital to see where thier favorite stories were set, or perhaps to make thier fortune, or maybe to simply stand and gaze at the wonders of Trafalger Square of Big Ben.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Not anymore. The days of magic were long gone."</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Cevron Savano, 17 year old FBI agent, and Riley, 19<sup>th</sup>
century London native and budding stage magician, are back in this sequel to
<i>The Reluctant Assassin</i>. In this second
book of the WARP series, Chevie returns to the 21<sup>st</sup> century to find
that everything has changed. The world
is now run by a dictator named Colonel Box and Chevie is now one of his
soldiers, about to be interrogated under submission of treason. There is a part of her brain, though, that
knows that something is wrong and eventually she escapes to Riley’s London,
where the two of them hope to stop Colonel Box before he can seize control of
the world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">There are no important themes here (though the book will set you
thinking), and no profound character development. This is a wonderful, rollicking action/adventure ride
with plenty of surprises, explosions, trips through the London sewers,
temporary allies, anachronistic weapons like tanks, zodiac boats, and cruise missiles
in the London of 1899, chase scenes, near escapes, moments when all appears
lost, unlikely love interests, and victories of bravery, subterfuge, and
cleverness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I like that Colfer has included both a male and a female
protagonist and suspect that male and female students will like this one. Other than violence, there is nothing
objectionable here. This book seems
suitable for students in grades four and up. If you want a fun thrill ride of a
book, I recommend this one. It might be an interesting diversion for a physics or science class as the discussion of time travel is complex and brings up some interesting questions -- but for a language arts class-- there isn't much going on here thematically.</span></div>
Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-6210792844057027892017-05-23T13:36:00.001-05:002017-05-23T13:38:29.178-05:00Three Graphic Novels: a Crafty Cat, a Missing Mom, and a Lonely Outcast Saved by Jane Eyre and a Wild Fox<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Britt, Fany; Arsenault, Isabelle (2012) <i>Jane, The Fox, and Me. Toronto: </i>Groundwood Books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<img alt="Image result for Jane, The Fox, and Me" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/518wOLF0u0L._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening lines: “There was no possibility of hiding anywhere today. Not in the halls at school or out in the schoolyard, or even in the far stairway, the one leading to art class that smells like sour milk. They were everywhere, just like their insults scribbled on the walls.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">So begins the story of Helene, drawn in this graphic novel as an average kid, but apparently the bullying and abuse and insults on the walls that proclaim that she is overweight and smells and say, “Don’t talk to Helene, she has no friends now.” Helene escapes from the horrible loneliness of the drab grey schoolyard by imagining herself to be Jane Eyre. When she is able to plunge into her book, she lives in a world of vibrant color and peace. Strangely, at school, where she feels so lonely, she is constantly surrounded by people. In the world of her book, she often seems to be the only person there, but it is a world of great beauty and tranquility. Where there are other people in the world of Jane Eyre, they are people who understand her and connect with her. Forced to go to camp with her schoolmates, Helene endures more insults and humiliation. She sees a fox (one of the few creatures (or objects) in her world with color. Even that is driven from her by her classmates. And just when I think the story will end in desperation and existential angst, Helene and some other outcast girls discover what generations of nerds before her have discovered, that there are other people somewhere around you who don’t care about clawing their way up the popularity hill – and that those people make the best friends. Here is hope. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">This book is splendid. It would be ideal for middle school and would be a good one to study as a class.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Harper, Charise Mercicle (2017) <i>The Amazing Crafty Cat</i> New
York: First Second.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for The Amazing Crafty Cat" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51DFZ3Uh4FL._SX357_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening lines: “In this
house, in this room, Crafty Cat adds the last piece of tape. Purrfect!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">In times of stress, like when she drops her birthday treat on the ground,
young Birdy transforms into the amazing Crafty Cat. Anyway, that is the idea of this book that is
probably ideal for second and third grade.
Like Babymouse, Birdy lives in her imagination sometimes and as a
result, real life is rather annoying most of the time. This book is funny sometimes
and actually includes some instructions for crafts. The story isn’t much, but I expect that, for
some of the intended audience, that will not matter much. The artwork is pretty simplistic which will
make it easy for graphic novel beginners to follow, but may not grab young
students’ attentions as much as teachers might like. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Tolstikova, Dasha (2015) <i>A
Year without Mom. </i>Toronto: Groundwood Books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for A Year without Mom" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51-EjhdOczL._SX381_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening lines: “Once, when
I was very small, I bit my mom’s finger.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">12 year old Dasha is growing up in Soviet Russia. When her Mother
goes to the US to study advertising.
Dasha must live with relatives.
She has to survive physics (which apparently 12 year olds study in
Russia), survive her first crush (Petya – though it turns out he like Katya). While it is a fascinating book in terms of learning
to see cultural differences and understandings, it also has an odd, inconclusive
ending and includes a fair amount of smoking, drinking, and kids wanting to
talk like adults. It also has some
wonderful page turns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> It is as hard to
figure out what age level this book is intended for as it is to figure out what
format it is. It isn’t exactly a graphic
novel (all the lettering is typeset, there are few panel division, and sometimes
the text appears as a picture book/sometimes as word balloons.) I think it might work for a high school literature
class, perhaps as part of a classroom library.
Not sure it could stand up to real study, though. Might be worth checking out (especially if
you like to support smaller presses like Groundwood) but I would advise
teachers to read it before using it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-34373850654623434432017-04-21T11:16:00.003-05:002017-04-21T11:16:27.818-05:00Amazing Historical Graphic Novel about an African American Unit that Fought in World War Two and a Controversial Graphic Novel about Identity, Adolescence, Despair, and Perhaps Hope. <div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">20 April 2017<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Brooks, Max; White, Caanan
(2014) <i>The Harlem Hellfighters</i>. New York: Broadway Books. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for the harlem hellfighters book" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61OLUcMRkZL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Opening lines: “They used
to call it the ‘Great War.’ But I’ll be
damned if I would tell you what was so great about it. They also called it ‘The War to End all Wars’
cause they figured it was so big and awful that the world’d just have to come
to its senses and make damn sure we never fought another one ever again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> So begins the
graphic novel <i>The Harlem Hellfighters. </i>This book brings to light the forgotten story
of the 368<sup>th</sup> regiment, an African-American unit that fought in
France during World War Two. They spent
more time in combat than any other unit fighting for America. Though they fought in trenches on the front
lines, they never retreated or lost any ground to the enemy. Not a single soldier of the 368<sup>th</sup>
was ever captured. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Here is the whole
story of the regiment, of their enlistments in Harlem, New York, of their training
in South Carolina, where often the civilians in the neighboring towns seemed
more hostile than the Germans that the 368<sup>th</sup> would eventually fight,
of the difficult journey to the European theater across submarine infested
waters, and finally of their fight in the trenches of France. We see them changed form a collection of
teachers, porters, farmers, musicians, workers, and students to a unified
fighting force. We also see them facing
prejudice and harassment from white soldiers in their own army and dealing with
that sometimes with patience, sometimes with anger and revenge. This account
gives us not only the triumphs of the 368<sup>th</sup>, but also the moments
when they fought with each other, made wrong decisions, and let each other
down. It seems an honest and moving
portrayal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> The artwork
reminds me of Dave Gibbon’s work on the Watchmen. The style is realistic, yet dramatic and rendered
mainly in line and shadow. It
effectively conveys the horror of war, the heroism of the men who fought in it,
and the hectic pace of battle. The
artwork and the words make for a gripping story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> The artwork and
text would be accessible for student readers in fifth grade and older, though
there is some vulgar language and minor sexual innuendo that may be an issue in
some school contexts. As always, I would
encourage teachers to read the book before putting it in their classroom
library or using it in a unit about World War Two. I would encourage History teachers and
English teachers especially to read it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Tamiki, Mariko; Tamiki Jillian (2008) <i>Skim</i> Toronto: Groundwood Press<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for Skim Tamaki" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Skim_bookcover.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Opening Lines: “I am Kimberly
Keiko Cameron (AKA Skim). My best
friend: Lisa Soor. My cat: Sumo.
Interests: Wicca, tarot cards,
astrology, (me=Aquarius = very unpredictable). Philosophy. Favorite color: Red. Year: 1993.”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Skim is in high
school, and, like many high school kids, she is desperately trying to figure
out who she is, who her friends are, and how this life thing is supposed to
work anyway. In the first few pages of
this graphic novel, Kim and her friend Lisa are excited to be going to their
first meeting with a wiccan coven. Skim
has been building a collection of items that she has read a necessary to be a
wiccan. When they go to the wiccan
circle, however, they find a group of what seem like hippies talking about the
power of nature. Skim seems disillusioned
but continues thinking about witchcraft.
A day or two later, after she has snuck away to the outer edge of school
property to smoke, she meets her favorite teacher, Ms Archer. After they have a long talk, Skim starts to
focus on Ms. Archer and comes to believe that Ms. Archer likes her in a
romantic way. Eventually they share a
kiss. Meanwhile, the school is reeling from the suicide of a popular boy who had
just broken up with his girlfriend. Skim
goes to visit Ms Archer and is rebuffed.
Skim and Lisa go on a double date with two boys. All of this is a realistic portrayal of the
confusion of trying to negotiate identity and relationships in high school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> The art is both beautiful
and ugly. Tamiki’s drawings are sometimes
blindingly full of white space, sometimes shrouded in shadow. She draws Lisa and Skim in a way that
highlights their awkwardness and shows how hard they are trying to be something
other than what they are sometimes. The
style of drawing owes a bit to classic Japanese art, but in a way that hints at
it without clobbering you over the head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Sometimes I talk
with my students about how children’s literature can serve as a mirror – showing
us how the world really is, as a lamp – showing us how the world ought to be,
or sometimes serving as a door – letting us into another world (I got these
ideas from M.H. Abrams and Junko Yokota). This book probably falls nearest to the
analogy of a mirror. It is an authentic portrayal
of the path that some high school kids walk.
This book has the potential to connect with such students who may believe
that most adolescent or YA literature portrays a world unlike the one they live
in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Having said that, as a teacher, I really had a hard tiem reading aobut a relationship between a teacher and a student, even such a short-lived on as is depicted here. While it may be a mirror book, and while it is certainly true that such things happen, the inapporapriateness of the power differential and the moral wrongness of such a thing is soemthing that is hard for me to read aobut, particularly when the relationship is shown to be unfortunate and painful, but not really wrong in anay way. I unserdstand that it is authentic mirroring, but I guess I was looking for the book to be a bit of a lamp in that moment. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Furthermore, that
authenticity may prove difficult for parents and administration to
swallow. This book contains references
to sex acts, the inappropriate relationship between a teacher and student, lesbian
impulses, drinking and smoking, witchcraft, and suicide. It would very much
depend on your school context, but teachers considering using this graphic
novels should anticipate parental and/or administrative challenges. The Tamikis’ more recent graphic novel, <i>This One Summer</i> deals with similar
themes of identity, frustration, and perhaps hope (or at least survival) but in
a way that might be less likely to be challenges (though only slightly
so). I cannot imagine using <i>Skim</i> anywhere but high school or college
and would encourage the teacher to consider carefully whether the thematic value of the book outweighs the extreme reaction
that parents, administrators, and likely students would have. In short, if you want to use this book, know what youare getting into. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-28975962613288289182017-04-12T09:36:00.001-05:002017-04-12T09:36:17.359-05:00Two picture books: One good for art class. One not good for teaching English grammar. <div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Steptoe, Javaka (2016) <i>Radiant
Child: The Story of Young Artist
Jean-Michel Basquiat. </i>New York: Little Brown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for radiant child the story of young artist jean-michel basquiat" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/615dU1rZmtL.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Opening Lines: “Somewhere
in Brooklyn, between hearts that thump, double-dutch, and hopscotch and salty
mouths that slurp sweet ice, a little boy dreams of being a famous artist.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Of course, it isn’t the text
that makes this picture book wonderful (though the text is both artfully and
poetically written), but it is the images.
Steptoe does a brilliant job using the same media that Basquiat used. Pages in this book appear to be paintings on
wooden walls that make use of charcoal, objects, and collage techniques. Somehow the images manage to welcome you into
another world while simultaneously reminding you that you are looking at an
illustration painted on old boards (or, on one specific page, a painting of a
painting of Basquiat and his mother looking at the painting Guernica in a
museum)..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> And the bottom
line is, these images are beautiful to look at.
In both the street scenes and the scenes set inside the Basquiats’
apartment there is so much light and energy and life. One two-page spread shows Basquiat in his
early 20s walking the streets of New York with an art kit in one hand, burshes
in the other and canvases tucked under his arm.
There is activity in the background with people dancing on the side
walk, walking, and playing music. There
is a fancy yellow sports car by the curb, and muted blues and reds, and browns
and blacks – so much to look at. And yet
our eyes are drawn to Basquiat’s face with his wide-eyed grin and his eyebrows
raised as if he were drinking in all the action, noise, and beauty of the city.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> This book would
be great for elementary school classroom libraries and any art classroom from
elementary through high school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Bell, Cece (2015) <i>I Yam a
Donkey. </i>Boston: Clarion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for i yam a donkey" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51mfETvl%2BKL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Opening lines: “I yam a
donkey!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">“What
did you say? ‘I yam a donkey’? The proper way to say that is ‘I am a donkey.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">“You
is a donkey too? You is a funny-looking
donkey.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> So begins the
silliness of this picture book by Cece Bell (author of the graphic novel <i>El Deafo. </i>) In the book, a goofy and arguably not
terribly bright donkey continues this discussion of confusion with a
bespectacled yam who is trying very hard to teach the donkey proper
grammar. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Maybe that makes
it sound like this would be a greeat
book to teach young students proper grammar.
Um, I would love to be proven wrong, but I am not convinced that is a
good idea. The donkey persists in its
confusion and the yam continues his prescriptivist rant until the end when the donkey
pronounces “Oh! You is lunch” and
devours the yam and several of his vegetable friends. Clearly knowing good grammar did not help the
veggies evade their end, and incorrect grammar did not stop the donkey from
triumphing. So the message regarding
grammar is mixed at best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> But in terms of
silliness, this book is a winner. When I
was reading it silently to myself I could imagine the laughter and squeals of
pre-k through first graders as they read each new incorrect interpretation of
the donkey. Cece Bell is nothing if not
good at inducing giggles. This picture
book is a lot of fun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif;"> Incidentally, the
entire book is told with word balloons making it useful perhaps for teaching
little kids how to read graphic novels.
There are no real panel divisions, though. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-35365153297900011482017-04-03T12:42:00.002-05:002017-04-03T12:42:20.092-05:00Three Novels from 2008 good for Language Arts (and one for PE)<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Supplee, Suzanne (2008) </span><i style="font-family: Garamond, serif;">Artichoke’s
Heart</i><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">.</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">New York:</span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Dutton,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for Artichoke's Heart novel" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/513-cP5jVLL.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening Lines: Mother spent
$700 on a treadmill “from Santa” that I will <i>never</i> use. I won’t walk
three blocks when I actually <i>want </i>to
get somewhere, much less run three miles on a strip of black rubber only to end
up where I started out in the first place. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> I didn’t like
this book when I started it. It is a
novel about a fat girl and it is set in the south and a lot of the scenes take
place in a beauty salon and it just seemed from the start like I knew where it
was going and I was never going to care about the main character. It turns out I was completely wrong. I ended up liking the book a great deal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif;">Rosemary Goode is
16 and she is fat. She has always been
fat and she expects she always will be fat, in spite of her mom’s nagging and
her well-intentioned Aunt Mary’s meddling.
But when her mom puts her in an experimental counselling program and
Kyle Cox, a boy at school, is nice to her, Rosemary decides she wants to lose
weight.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">The novel then
needs to walk a very tricky line between emphasizing the idea that Rosemary’s sense
of self-worth is not just predicated on her appearance, even though the plot
and the other characters might be emphasizing exactly that. It doesn’t help that Rosemary’s mom owns a
hair solon and gossip and snide remarks are part of the world Rosemary moves
through. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">What makes the
book work, oddly, is Kyle, Rosemary’s love interest. His relationship with Rosemary is real and
moving. He sees in her something she
doesn’t see in herself. He asks her
out. He brings her flowers, and he seems
to care about her as a person. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Rosemary also
becomes friends with KayKay, a nice athletic girl who is being shunned by the
popular kids. Now that she has friends,
a counsellor, and a boy who seems to like her, Rosemary drops from 210 pounds
to 165 and eventually to 158. Yet somehow
she always has to fight the desire to eat more than she should, and always she
is insecure about her appearance. Together,
she and KayKay learn to ignore the toxic popular girls and Rosemary learns to trust
in Kyle’s love for her (rather than convincing herself, it is part of some kind
of practical joke. Rosemary grows strong
enough that she can cope with her mom developing cancer and can even be civil
to her meddling aunt. In the end, this
book leave Rosemary in a place where she (and the reader) have hope for the
future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">This would be a
good book for upper middle school or lower high school readers. There are some occasional vulgar words, but
nothing that might cause the book to be challenged. The novel might be good for
a Phys Ed Classroom studying body image. And would also fit well in an English
classroom library. Well worth reading.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">McMann, Lisa (2008) <i>Wake</i>. New York:
Simon Pulse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for wake novel" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/68/Wake_by_lisa_mcmann.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening lines: Janie
Hannigan’s Math Book slips form her fingers.
She grips the edge of the table in the school library. Everything goes black and silent. She sighs and rests her head on the
table. Tries to pull herself out of it
but fails miserably. She’s too tired
today. Too hungry. She really doesn’t have time for this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Jamie’s problem
is that if people fall asleep in the same room she is in, she enters their dreams. This
makes her privy to all sorts of secrets she would rather not know and it makes
it hard for her to carry on a regular life. Sleepovers are fraught with danger. She can’t study in the library at school because
students like to sleep there, and she learns to drive around town in such a way
that she doesn’t go near houses where she knows that particularly powerful
dreams might cause her to black out. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">When she meets Cabel and finds
out about his horrific dreams (which seem inspired by physical abuse against
him by his father), she finds him to be a compassionate, caring, really nice
boy. He seems to like her too and she
thinks that maybe she can confide in him.
Then she helps an older woman at work resolve a troubling and incomplete
dream by going inside the dream and helping the woman change it. Her life is finally looking up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Then she finds out that Cabel goes
to parties every weekend, is apparently sleeping with a cheerleader, and seems
to be a drug dealer. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">It turns out that some of
these things are lies, that Cabel is involved in something really important and
dangerous, and that Janie’s abilities may hold the key to finding out the
truth. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: garamond, serif; text-indent: 0.5in;">Interesting idea. Intriguing characters. Good plot.
The only problem is the language.
I understand the need to write like students talk, and the need to
connect with students in a way that seems relevant and real world enough to
grab their attention. And maybe there
are some students who really talk like this, but the amount of vulgar language
and sexual innuendo guarantees that this book will be challenged. And that is a shame because most of that
language is utterly superfluous to the character and the story. Because of that, it would be hard to use this
story in a class, or even have it in your classroom library without some sort
of disclaimer on the book.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Zarr, Sara (2008) <i>Sweethearts</i>
New York: Little Brown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<img alt="Image result for Sweethearts novel" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348736919i/3989341._UX200_.jpg" /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Opening Lines: A Dripping
faucet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Crumbs and a pink
stain on the counter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> Half of a
skin-black banana that smells as old as it looks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> If I look at
these things and at nothing else, concentrate on them and stay still, and don’t
make any noise, this will be over soon and I can go home without Cameron’s dad
ever knowing I am here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> He is yelling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">When Jennifer was
younger, everyone in her school called her Fatifer. Cameron was the only person in the world who
she thought understood her. Then one day
when she was at his house, Cameron’s father verbally abused and threatened them
in a particularly disturbing way. They
escaped the house together. Shortly
after that, Jennifer found out that Cameron had died. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;">Now years later, Jennifer
is at a new school in a new place and she has reinvented herself as the new,
thin, funny, social, perfect girl Jenna.
Jenna has a boyfriend (Ethan) and some good friends who she laughs
with. But when Cameron shows up and she
finds out that he isn’t dead, her life turns upside down. She starts to wonder whether she really loves
Ethan, finds herself trying to advise her friend who likes Cameron about how to
get to know him, and wonders why her mother told her that Cameron died in the
first place. Finding out that Cameron is
homeless only complicates matters. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif;"> There are some interesting
themes in this book, but nothing that I think would hold up to studying it in
English class. It might make an interesting
addition for a high school classroom library, though. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6429316342807410780.post-73485807390907791892017-04-01T07:37:00.000-05:002017-04-01T07:37:02.523-05:00Hamilton Creator Miranda to Write Picture Book about President Trump<br />
<br />
Every so often I use this space to pass along information from the children's publishing world. <br />
<br />
I have been emailing back and forth with a couple of publishers about a research piece I am writing about celebrities writing picture books. Everyone from Jamie Lee Curtis to Spike Lee, has penned a picture book in the last couple of years. I have been trying to look at how their writing process differs from conventional authors (especially in terms of how much support the publishing company provides). Anyway, I was talking with the editor of a small children's press out of Bakersfield,, California called Sloof Books. They recently published a picture book by noted actor John Lithgow and have been in talks with country singer Trisha Yearwood. When I was interviewing the Editor-in- Chief of the company she mentioned that they had recently signed the creator of the Musical <em>Hamilton, </em>Lin Manuel Miranda, to write a parody of a picture book to be titled <em>Max and the Wild Trumpus</em>.<br />
<br />
Patterned after the classic picture book <em>Where the Wild Things Are</em>, Miranda's book tells the story of what happened the night after Max wore his wolf suit and traveled to the island of the beasts and had a wild rumpus. It turns out that the following night, after making mischief of one sort or another, Max's mom sends him to the land of the Wild Trumpus.<br />
<br />
My editor friend, April, says that Miranda got the idea when he saw this picture of former president Obama and the first lady reading <em>Where the Wild Things Are:</em><br />
<a data-ved="0ahUKEwjNmvaZnILTAhVGLyYKHQJ9A9gQjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjNmvaZnILTAhVGLyYKHQJ9A9gQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.pinterest.com%2Fpin%2F538250592939478846%2F&bvm=bv.151325232,d.eWE&psig=AFQjCNHGY8MMsu91reD9owLn_Be3W_iYYw&ust=1491100394996937" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="Image result for Donald Trump and where the wild things are" height="300" id="irc_mi" src="https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/80/c4/d2/80c4d2cbfcc565937ff0e26f4b2e53d5.jpg" style="margin-top: 166px;" width="400" /></a><br />
<br />
Miranda thought how unlikely it would be that President Trump would ever read children's books out loud. Mirada had also been reading about President Trump's intention to cut all federal funding for libraries and was wondering what he could do about it. April says that the book was partly a way of working off his frustration, but adds that all proceeds from the book will go to help the libraries that Mirada suspects may close because of the cuts.<br />
<br />
After much pleading, April agreed to send me a short except of the book. She cautions that this is in a very early draft stage and so it is likely this verse will not even be in the final book. But here it is, straight from her email:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">And when Max came to the place where
the wild Trumpus lived, he was a little bit scared. The Trumpus looked angry and had scary teeth.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";"></span><br />
<a data-ved="0ahUKEwi2wb6KpILTAhVE7yYKHfQAC-cQjRwIBw" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi2wb6KpILTAhVE7yYKHfQAC-cQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DMHOGhQ8Xsl0&psig=AFQjCNFfozeal5atFJCFdL9OltgnyHLBTQ&ust=1491102111380297" id="irc_mil" jsaction="mousedown:irc.rl;keydown:irc.rlk;irc.il;" style="border-image: none; border: 0px currentColor;"><img alt="Image result for Trump Monster" height="360" id="irc_mi" src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MHOGhQ8Xsl0/hqdefault.jpg" style="margin-top: 74px;" width="480" /></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">The wild Trumpus combed his terrible hair and roared his terrible words and pushed his terrible lips together and rolled his
terrible eyes and showed his tiny claws.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">"You Loser!" said the Terrible Trumpus. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">"I will build a wall with haste </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic;">to keep immigrants in their place</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Century Gothic;">all friendly laws I'll soon erase</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">destroy libraries so there is not a trace </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">and force you to eat t</span><span style="font-family: "century gothic";">oxic waste," </span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10.35pt -0.25pt;">
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">till Max said “BE STILL!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">and
tamed the Trumpus with the magic trick </span><span style="font-family: "century gothic";">of staring into his yellow eyes without blinking once<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and said </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10.35pt -0.25pt;">
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">"SHUT UP YOU BIG BULLY! BE NICE TO ALL PEOPLE!"</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin: 0in 36.75pt 4.85pt -0.25pt;">
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";">And the wild Trumpus was frightened and called Max the most wild thing of all.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 149%; margin: 0in 36.75pt 4.85pt -0.25pt;">
<span style="font-family: "century gothic";"></span> </div>
<em>Where the Wild Things Are</em> was originally written by the late Maurice Sendak who died in 2012. April Sloof says that she and Miranda met personally with the grandchildren of Sendak and they gave their blessing of the project. No word yet who will illustrate.<br />
<br />
The book is due out this May.Bill Boerman-Cornellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13966223630067485391noreply@blogger.com0