Seeing the Blue Between and Class Dismissed!

     Seeing the Blue Between is a neat collection of poetry and advice letters from established poets to young writers.  I was drawn to Kalli Dakos's words of encouragement about finding joy in ordinary moments.  All too often in our hectic days, we never stop to really look at what is moving (or not moving) around us.  Dakos made me chuckle with her observation of watching to see if a dog jumped in a river after a ball.  The dog's hesitation made her think "...at least he doesn't have to worry about a bathing suit", which prompted the title of her next poem, "Dogs Don't Have to Wear Bathing Suits" (Dakos, p. 11-12).  Her poem, "I'd Mark with the Sunshine", was a lovely commentary on why marking with a red pen could be seen as detrimental to a student's ego.  She longs to be rid of the red pen "...because red reminds me of blood that oozes out of cuts...And STOP signs that warn you of danger" (Dakos, p. 13).  Her solution to "mark with the sunshine itself!" signals that she believes in encouraging her students and wants to focus on the positive in their work and not the negative.  

     A few years back, I used Sharon Creech's Love That Dog as a read aloud with my sixth grade class. The books is written in free-verse and the students enjoyed learning about concrete poetry, poetry that takes the shape of its topic.  Douglas Florian's "Bad Poem" and "Whirligig Beetles" fall into that category, with the last line of "Bad Poem" constructed in such a way that the words look like they are falling off a cliff (or in the author's words, "fall off the page") (Florian, p. 28).  "Whirligig Beetles" is written in a circle to show the circuitous motion made by revelers enjoying a skate on a frozen lake or refreshing swim in the summer.  Students like to write without restrictions and seeing examples of concrete poetry can encourage them to take freedom with their written expressions.

     Jack Prelutsky is well-known for incorporating humor into his poems.  He offers excellent advice on creating humorous poems through 4 tips - exaggerate, make the ordinary special, come up with an absurd conclusion, and incorporate a sense of rhythm (Prelutsky, p. 94-96).  "Euphonica Jane" incorporates those pointers to create a comical poem about a girl with a horrible singing voice.  He takes an ordinary singing voice and makes it special by making it "bizarre".  Exaggeration is shown by personifying mannequins so that they "moan with dismay".  The ending is unreal as fish wish they could drown themselves and a tornado begins as Euphonica Jane begins to sing (Prelutsky, p. 97).  Middle school students would still be receptive to silly word play and situations and I can see my students enjoying Prelutsky's work.  Overall, I think Seeing the Blue Between would be a useful book to use in conducting a poetry unit.

     While I did enjoy Class Dismissed!, the situations and themes were a little too old for my middle school students, and I would categorize it more as a book for high school students.  Similar to Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?, the book is structured so that each page represents a high school student's name and his or her thoughts are revealed in free-verse.  I liked the pattern that emerged between some poems that would connect either the poem before it or after it.  For example, in the poem called "Brenda Stewart", I learned that Brenda is arrested for shoplifting.  The next poem, titled "Rosemarie Stewart" is about Brenda's sister.  Rosemarie recounts how even though she is the good girl in the family, "A girl scout without the uniform" (Glenn, p. 51), it is still Brenda who reaps the attention.  "You would think all that is enough to win my parents' love.  But in the theater of our house Brenda holds center stage" (Glenn, p. 51).  Another poem that caught my eye because of its imagery was "Carl Immerman".   He creates a strong metaphor by substituting a wire fence for braces and incorporates humor by wondering, "Ever try to kiss a girl through a wire fence?" (Glenn, p. 79).  While some of the high school poems are dark, covering issues like parent alcoholism, teen pregnancy, and physical abuse, Carl's poem takes a lighthearted look at an issue that affects a lot of teenagers:  braces.  He even uses a tip that Jack Prelutsky discussed in Seeing the Blue Between, which is to use exaggeration.  On the day Carl has his braces removed, he invokes the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. by exclaiming, "Today I am liberated, Free at last, free at last, Great God I'm free at last" (Glenn, p. 79).  In my reflection on Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?, I referred to Carol Clark's idea that poetry can invoke intense memories of the heart with its topics of identity and discovery.  "Sheila Franklin" touched me if for no other reason than it made me recall my own best friend in middle school and how she had a boyfriend before me.  I remember calling her numerous times to talk, only to hear a busy signal at the other end (in the days before call waiting).  Like Sheila in the poem, I too, "...discovered that the time between phone calls lengthened" (Glenn, p. 57).  My friend and I were like Sheila and Shari.  We shared clothes, sandwiches, and paperbacks.  Yet, when the boys came calling after her and not me, I was left holding the memories of times we spent together to fill in the empty space where she once was.  (Note:  That time was temporary and eventually my friend realized that a dependable girlfriend beats a cute boy anyday.  We are still best friends today.  I didn't want to end this reflection on a downer.)   I would keep this book in my classroom library to use selected poems as supplements for a poetry unit, since I think its topics are more age appropriate for a high school audience.

Who Killed Mr. Chippendale?

     One of my favorite novels to teach my 7th graders is Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse.  The main reason is because it's written in free-verse instead of narration, and the students are always intimidated by the book's appearance.  I especially love the initial reaction of the boys, who make typical comments like, "Poetry is stupid" or "This book is for girls because it has poetry".  So you're probably wondering why I look forward to this novel if these are the attitudes I encounter.  It's because of the transformation that occurs when the kids finally GET IT...that moment in the classroom where they finally see the image being created by the words; the looks on their faces when a string of words transports them to their own memory or to understanding what is happening in the poem.  By the time we finish the novel, not all the students are on board with poetry, but at least half of them will say that they really enjoyed the novel.  And to me, that is winning half the battle.
     Robert Chippendale is a high school English teacher who is shot while running around the high school track as he does every morning.  Author Mel Glenn first builds suspense by informing the reader about Mr. Chippendale's morning routine and how after he punches in at work "He will never touch the card again" (Glenn, p. 1).  Before he begins his morning jog, he is accosted on the track by the sexless figure in the red-hooded sweatshirt.  Right away, I wondered if this anonymous character was introduced because he/she would be the trigger person?  After the murder occurs, as I read the reactions of the other characters, I continually wondered if one of those people was the individual in the red-hooded sweatshirt.
     As I mentioned earlier, imagery is very important in poetry.  Because the author is using a limited amount of words, the choice of words used is of utmost significance.  In different poems, Glenn uses strong figurative language to paint a picture for his readers.  In describing crowded hallways, "People bounce off each other like pinballs off bumpers" (Glenn, p. 26) or in depicting one student's gratitude for the deceased teacher after he corrects her college essay, "I soon came to realize he was handing me the keys to my future" (Glenn, p. 52).
     Another aspect of the poetry that I enjoyed was the freedom to play with the form of the writing.  The interview between the detective and guidance counselor is arranged in a playful structure, which allowed me to understand that I was reading not only the questions and answers, but was also seeing their internal thoughts as the questions were being asked and the answers were being given.  My favorite set of poems were the ones narrated by the twin sisters on pages 10-11.  Celia and Delia Campbell each begin their poems identically but by the fifth line, the difference between the two is apparent.  Celia's poem is praiseworthy, while Delia's poem is condemning.  Yet, they are set up in parallel structure and would be identical except for key word substitutions.  In Celia's poem, she says, "I hope no one sees me crying.  I hope his soul goes straight to heaven" (Glenn, p. 10), while her sister's poem counters, "I hope no one sees me laughing.  I hope his soul goes straight to hell" (Glenn, p. 11).
     I really enjoyed Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? and I think it has a place in the classroom.  I feel that students would like this story because kids tend to like mysteries, and this story isn't about an ordinary mystery.  This one is about murder, and that alone would ratchet up the book's appeal.  In a middle school setting, I tend to find that the gorier the material, the more interest it garners.  Only 100 pages in length, it is too short for a literary study, but would do well in supplementing a poetry unit.  In her essay, "Why Teach Poetry?", Carol Clark mentions that students who are reluctant readers might be encouraged to ready shorter passages because they appear more manageable (from personal experience, I've always used this point when promoting Out of the Dust; "Look kids, a page that only has 20 lines!").  Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? is told through free-verse poems that reveal the inner thoughts of Mr. Chippendale's colleagues, students, and neighbors.  With the exception of Angela Falcone, the guidance counselor and ex-girlfriend of Mr. Chippendale, the other characters' thoughts are succinct and usually expressed in one page.  Clark also points out that "understanding poetry demands one pay close attention to the text."  If students learn this strategy, it can be transfered to enhancing their reading comprehension skills in all other disciplines, and not just literature.
     

Flesh and Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy

   I loved reading chapter 6 in the text about using nonfiction books to launch a research project.  My 7th grade students are responsible for writing a biography research paper, and each year they are overwhelmed and shocked by the amount of work it entails.  Christine Carlson's outline of the research approach used at her school sounds ideal for my 6th grade students.  By gently easing them into learning research skills in 6th grade, the 7th grade research project won't seem so daunting.
     As Carlson mentions, it is necessary to "pique students' interest" (Carlson, pg. 109) on the topic they want to explore.  From past experience, I can't emphasize how important it is to have the students do "pre-research" before the actual project starts.  On more than one occasion, I've had students approach me to tell me they can't find enough information on their topic or that they are suddenly bored by their subject.  Unfortunately, this realization usually occurs too far into the timetable to switch topics.  By reading non-fiction material ahead of time, students can get a feel for the subject and determine if it is material on which they want to spend valuable research time.
     I could see using chapters of Flesh and Blood So Cheap as instructional material for guiding the students through the research process.  Students could jigsaw the book - they could be put in groups and each student could be responsible for taking notes on a particular chapter and become an "expert" on that topic.  Then they could share what they learned with the rest of their group and teach them about the topic.
     I really liked the graphics that are used in the book.  This past year, I focused on using BIG FOX reading comprehension strategy for non-fiction.  By remembering this acronym, students looked for bold, italicized words; referred to graphics; distinguished between facts and opinions; and located the topic sentence to find the main point of each paragraph.  When using this strategy, I discovered that students tended to gloss over the the graphics and not really understand the point behind their inclusion.  In this book, graphics serve to emphasize points being made or to give the reader a better visual representation of the setting/time period.
     The Triangle Fire is a tragedy that might capture the students' interest.  I think I would be able to sell it by telling them this fact alone:  "...for ninety years it held the record as new York's deadliest workplace fire.  Only the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center took more lives," (Marrin, pg. 3).  Because I think they would be taken with the tragedy aspect, I would probably begin with the fifth chapter, which depicts the fire.  The earlier chapters, while informative, are detail heavy in describing early immigration, living conditions in Manhattan, the creation of sweatshops, and corruption in Tammany Hall.
     If I were teaching Lyddie, I would like to include chapter 4 of Flesh and Blood So Cheap, because it explains Uprising of Twenty Thousand strike and the formation of the Women's Trade Union League (WTUL).  This organization wanted to "better the lives of working women by helping them organize trade unions" (Marrin, pg. 89).  WTUL gave advice to strikers such as to wear their best clothes on picket lines and never to use the word "scab" if a worker crossed the line (Marrin, pg. 90).  Even wealthy women, originally part of the "Mink Coat Brigade", supported the WTUL because they felt that women should have equality with men and the right to vote.  One of these women was Anne Morgan.  She was the youngest daughter of J.P. Morgan, and she joined WTUL because she believed that workers should be treated decently.  When the strike ended, workers received a pay raise, a 52 hour work week, and most of the shirtwaist makers joined the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU).   I would love for students to read these books and make text to world connections to  today's society.  They only need to look at today's headlines to see Ralph Lauren's controversial decision to have American Olympic team uniforms made in China instead of the United States.  Hopefully, they would gain a deeper meaning of how people and children across the world are still mistreated and forced to work under cheap and unsafe conditions.

Speak

     Melinda has a secret that she won't tell anyone.  This secret is an anchor that weighs her down physically and mentally.  Because of this secret, Melinda enters her freshman year of high school, selectively mute and disregards her physical appearance.  People that she used to be friends with now shun her, and she is outcast in the high school world.  Laurie Halse Anderson drags the reader along this suspenseful journey, dropping little clues here and there about what happened to Melinda.  There was a summer party, cops were called, kids got in trouble, and somehow Melinda was responsible.  High school is the predominant setting for the book and Anderson uses marking periods to break down the story's parts.  It isn't until the end of the third marking period, when Melinda flashes back to that summer night, that the secret is revealed.  Melinda was raped by an older boy at the party.   In shock, Melinda called the police but couldn't speak about what happened.  Partygoers saw Melinda on the phone, cops arrived at the scene to break up the party, and blame was placed on Melinda, even though she was the victim of a crime.
     Originally published in 1999, Speak was a game-changing novel for young adult literature.  It didn't pull any punches examining the post traumatic effects of a young rape victim nor did it sugar coat the impact of how high school kids treat each other.   Melinda habitually bites her lips - "I push my ragged mouth against the mirror.  A thousand bleeding, crusted lips push back" (Anderson, pg. 125) - and acknowledges, "I know my head isn't screwed on straight.  I want to leave, transfer, warp myself to another galaxy.  I want to confess everything, hand over the guilt and mistake and anger to someone else" (Anderson, pg. 51).  Because the student body knows Melinda made the phone call that alerted police to the party, she is ostracized by her peers.  Kids throw food at her in the cafeteria, her former best friend mouths, "I hate you" (Anderson, pg. 5), and she is verbally and physically harassed at the pep rally.  A female student says to her, "My brother got arrested at that party.  He got fired because of the arrest.  I can't believe you did that.  Asshole," (Anderson, pg. 28).  As Melinda sits on the bleachers, this female student jabs her knees into Melinda's back and pulls her hair.  The only place where Melinda finds solace is in an old janitor's closet.   It is her haven and she goes there to avoid classes, lunch, and sometimes, even home.
     What was saddest to me was that Melinda could not confide in her parents.  Anderson portrays the parents as unavailable and detached from their daughter's life.  Melinda relays this information:  "My family has a good system.  We communicate with notes on the kitchen counter.  I write when I need school supplies or a ride to the mall.  They write what time they'll be home from work and if I should thaw anything.  What else is there to say?" (Anderson, pg. 14).  As the Christmas holiday approaches, Melinda reflects, "I bet they'd be divorced by now if I hadn't been born.  I can't believe we have to keep playacting...It's a shame we can't just admit that we have failed family living..." (Anderson, pg. 70).  Her mother is wrapped up in her job running a clothing store and can be cold to Melinda.  Melinda purposely cuts her arm with a paperclip and her mother responds, "I don't have time for this, Melinda," (Anderson, pg. 88).  Her father is also presented as oblivious to her problems.  When the guidance counselor calls them in to discuss Melinda's poor grades, instead of trying to solve the problem, her father engages in finger pointing.  "Well, something is wrong.  What have you done to her?  I had a sweet, loving little girl last year, but as soon as she comes up here, she clams up, skips school, and flushes her grades down the toilet.  I golf with the school board president, you know," (Anderson, pg. 115).  Recently I read If I Stay and the and the contrast between the two female characters was stark.  In If I Stay, the main character, Mia Hall, had a supportive and loving family.  Mia struggled with the decision to end her life, but she had family and friends surrounding her with love.  Her own grandfather whispered that he would accept and understand whatever choice she made.  Melinda had no confidante.  She was all alone.
     Before beginning this reflection, I listened to the NPR interview with Professor Anne Trubek.  She is a professor of English at Oberlin College and she asserts that high schools should stop teaching Catcher in the Rye and replace it with a more contemporary novel.   I have conflicting thoughts on this idea.  Students will become more engaged with reading if there are topical situations they can relate to.  However, I think that educators are sometimes quick to jump the gun and declare that a hot book is indeed a "classic".  Frequently, a book will pop up on the scene and be all the rage among adolescents and teens.  But will it have staying power over the course of seven years?  Fifteen years?  While I can appreciate Professor Trubek's thoughts, I shudder to think that I might teach the Twilight saga because
teens find it desirable since they are interested in the vampire/werewolf love triangle.   One solution would be to pair the "older" classic with a newer classic.  In Speak, Melinda's English class studies The Scarlet Letter.  I wonder if Anderson engaged in a bit of metafiction by choosing that novel.  Both Melinda and Hester Prynne were pariahs in their respective communities and both were consumed by shame, guilt, and anger.  I think there could be fascinating and insightful discussions if students were asked to find parallels between older and newer classics.  Young adults might even discover that certain character traits, conflicts, themes, and moods are timeless and can be integrated into a novel of any time period.  Since I teach younger age students, I would not use Speak in my classroom as part of the curriculum.  However, I would keep a copy in my class library and certainly encourage mature students to read it if they showed an interest.

Where She Went

"Take this sinking boat and point it home

We've still got time
Raise your hopeful voice you have a choice
You've made it now"

"Falling Slowly"
lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
performed by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova


     Where She Went is Gayle Forman's sequel to the love story, If I Stay.  In the first novel, Mia is an aspiring cellist who is involved in a horrific car crash which claims the lives of her family.  While comatose, she hovers between life and death, not sure if she wants to stay behind when it would be so easy to release herself to death.  In the end, it is her musician boyfriend, Adam, who persuades her to stay, whispering her a pledge that he will do whatever it takes to convince her to choose life.  Where She Went picks up their story three years later, and tells how their relationship unfolded from Adam's point of view.
     Adam Wilde has blazed his way into stardom and success.  His band, Shooting Star, has platinum selling albums, won Grammy Awards, and is preparing for a world wide concert tour.  Yet, Adam is miserable.  He snaps at reporters during interviews, he no longer has a rapport with his band, and he is prone to anxiety attacks.  When Mia left for Juilliard three years ago, she walked out of his life.  At first, they bridge the distance through late night cell conversations, texting, and email.  But within a few weeks, Adam notices that Mia is not answering his calls or responding to his texts and emails.  
     Adam falls to pieces during this time period.  He withdraws from the band and begins working a dead end job in a local plant.  After learning that Mia has maintained contact with her best friend, Kim, Adam dully accepts that she has cut him off completely without any explanation.  He begins writing songs and this action proves to be cathartic and productive.  Armed with new material, he meets Shooting Star and plays them the recordings.  This music becomes the backbone of their soon-to-be platinum selling album Collateral Damage.  But once they achieve success like they've never experienced before, Adam begins his downward slide.  He fights with his bandmates and needs medication to sooth his nerves.  On the eve of Shooting Star's tour, he narrates, "And the tour is sixty-seven nights.  It makes me want to grab fistfuls of my hair and yank.  And how do I tell Aldous, how do I tell any of them, that the music, the adrenaline, the love, all the things that mitigate how hard this has become, all of that's gone?  All that's left is this vortex.  And I'm right on the edge of it," (Forman, pg. 26-27).  On the edge of a nervous breakdown, Adam walks around New York City and finds himself outside Carnegie Hall.  And it is there, that he sees Mia, or rather, a poster advertising that she is playing there that night.    He buys a ticket and after the performance, an usher approaches him, requesting his presence backstage.  Mia learned that he was present and wanted to see him.  Adam describes their encounter after three years:  "The floor is spinning, the vortex is calling, and I'm itching for one of my pills, but there's no reaching for one now," (Forman, pg. 52).  Once the shock and initial awkwardness wear off, they decide to spend the night together, with Mia leading Adam on a tour of her favorite city haunts.
     Reading this book reminded me of the 1995 movie Before Sunrise and its 2004 sequel Before Sunset.  The first movie traced the chance encounter between a young American man and a young French woman on an Austrian train.  They spend the night together wandering around Vienna and getting to know each other before they have to go their separate ways the next morning.  The sequel takes place nine years later when they accidentally meet again in France, and spend the day together before the man has to catch a plane back to the United States.  Both films and book share the idea that time is limited for these couples' meetings, which forces them to hold deeply personal and revealing conversations.  At one point in the novel, Adam and Mia are walking on the Brooklyn Bridge and Mia is attempting to explain why she broke contact with him three years ago.  Mia tells Adam that she hated him because he made her stay.  "I still wake up every single morning and for a second I forget that I don't have my family anymore.  It would've been easier to die.  And I couldn't help but think that it would've been so much simpler to go with the rest of them.  But you - you asked me to stay.  You begged me to stay," (Forman, pg. 188-189).  Mia reminds Adam that when he made his promise to her, he swore he would do anything, even if it meant letting her go.  And so she stays, but she blamed him for her choice, because her decision to stay resulted in a painful reality for her.  
     In the first novel, Gayle Forman uses Adam to pull Mia back from the brink of death.  In the sequel, the roles are reversed with Mia helping Adam move away from the black hole he is plunging toward.  In reading about Gayle Forman's background, I came across an interview conducted by author Lauren Oliver.  Forman confesses that she listened to the song "Falling Slowly" continuously while writing If I Stay.  I began this reflection by posting one of the song's verses, because I feel they apply to Where She Went.  Adam is now the sinking boat and he needs Mia to help guide him back to what he once was.  He's made it in the sense that he has found her again and they can reassess their choices for the future.  Adam purposely misses his flight to London to be with Mia.  He is not being constrained by time; it is no longer an enemy.  The book ends with Adam performing at the music festival in London with Mia in attendance.  As he sings, "Won't you, won't you, won't you re-create me", he ends the novel by thinking, "This is our new vow" (Forman, pg. 260).  It is a more positive vow that ends the book than the one that is mentioned at the beginning - "Every morning I wake up and tell myself this:  It's just one day, one twenty-four hour period to get yourself through," (Forman, pg. 3).  
     For my If I Stay reflection, I mentioned that I would use the novel as a book club selection.  I could also see using Where She Went as a book club selection.  Since three is a popular number for a book series, students could keep a notebook of ideas for a third novel.  As with the first novel, it would also be fun to create a playlist to reflect the different moods of the characters at various points in time.  Finally, if it could be arranged, it would be fun to go on a walking tour of Mia's haunts, and duplicate the path Mia and Adam took in reclaiming their relationship.  
     

If I Stay

     I first read this book last summer.  I had bought it at our school's Scholastic Book Fair, partly because I observed a group of 8th grade girls clustered around it.  Typically, I find that to be a sign of a "hot" book.  However, the book sat untouched on my shelf for the rest of the school year and finally it was summer vacation.  I was down the shore, had just put the kids to bed, and began reading.  The novel gripped me so tightly that I wouldn't go to sleep until I finished it.  While reading the novel the second time around didn't bring about any surprises, the story wasn't any less sad or painful to accept.
     In If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Mia is an accomplished 17 year old cellist.  One tragic morning, her world is shattered when she and her family are involved in a horrific car accident.  Her parents and 8 year old brother, Teddy, are killed.  Mia is transported to a trauma hospital where doctors frantically work to repair her injuries, while her extended family and friends sit and wait for updates.  Little do they know that her spirit waits with them, hovering, watching, and observing, while her body lies in a coma.  Mia is faced with the most important decision of her life:  Do I choose to stay when so much has been taken from me?  Mia reflects in one part of the book, "This morning I went for a drive with my family.  And now I am here, as alone as I've ever been.  I am seventeen years old.  This is not how it's supposed to be.  This is not how my life is supposed to turn out.  I'm not sure this is a world I belong in anymore.  I'm not sure that I want to wake up," (Forman, pg. 137).  It is this decision that leads author Kaleb Nation to assert that If I Stay is a non-traditional thriller, because the reader is not sure if the protagonist will survive at the novel's end.  While I can appreciate Nation's hypothesis, I am more inclined to believe that If I Stay is a love story that unfolds through Mia's flashbacks and what she sees presently in the hospital.     
     The Hall parents, while unconventional, are loving and supportive parents.  Former punk rockers, Kat and Denny Hall, at first don't understand Mia's pull toward classical music, but offer their encouragement toward her musical study.  Through Mia's reflections, we learn how they sent her to music camp in the summer and even encouraged her to audition for Juilliard.  Her brother Teddy is nine years younger and the bond between them is very strong.  Mia even acknowledges at one point that while she is his older sister, there are times that she also feels like mother figure to him.  When Mia realizes that Teddy is dead, she recalls how she cut his umbilical cord, she would calm his fussiness by playing lullabies on her cello, she would read him Harry Potter at night.  She is shocked by her parents' death, but the knowledge that Teddy is also gone devastates her.   And while reading these pages proves to be heartwrenching, they also show the tremendous amount of love that existed in this family.  Mia might choose to die because as she puts it, "What would it be like if I stay?  What would it feel like to wake up an orphan?  To stay without them?" (Forman, pg. 137).   She simply can't comprehend life without them.
     When re-reading the book, I found a part that could possibly foreshadow Mia's life or death choice.  One of her earliest flashbacks was to when she had her first symphony recital and was nervous.  Mia's parents give her a pep talk to combat her nerves.  Mia questions, "What if I mess it up?  What if I'm terrible?" to which her mother responds, "I've got news for you, Mia.  There's going to be all kinds of terrible in there, so you won't really stand out."  Her father tells her, "You just work through it.  You just hang in there," (Forman, pg. 22-23).  Jump forward seven years later and her parents' advice still rings true.  She might decide to live and face the terrible and painful truth that her family is gone.  She will need to work through her sorrow and "hang in there" if that is the choice she makes.
     I mentioned earlier that I see this novel more as a love story.  Mia's decision to live is a testament to the love she encounters along her journey and is a final parting gift to the family who has gone.  Her best friend, Kim, sits alongside her hospital bed and talks to her about all the people who have come to the hospital to be with her.  Kim whispers, "I do have a point to all this.  There are like twenty people in that waiting room right now.  Some of them are related to you.  Some of them are not.  But we're all your family.  You still have a family," (Forman, pg. 184.)  Another speech that I found to be extremely moving and that also shows a tremendous amount of love for Mia comes from her grandfather.  He tells her, "It's okay if you want to go.  Everyone wants you to stay.  I want you to stay more than I've ever wanted anything in my life.  But that's what I want and I could see why it might not be what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go.  It's okay if you have to leave us.  It's okay if you want to stop fighting," (Forman, pg. 151-152).  Mia acknowledges that her grandfather's selfless words are a gift because they recognize what she has lost.
     In the end, it is her boyfriend, Adam, who convinces her to live.  Adam, an up and coming musician, pleads with her to stay.  He makes the ultimate sacrifice telling her, "Stay.  There's no word for what happened to you.  But there is something to live for.  And I'm not talking about me.  But I can't wrap my head around the notion of you not getting old, having kids, going to Juilliard, getting to play that cello in front of a huge audience...If you stay, I'll do whatever you want.  I'll quit the band, go with you to New York.  But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too" (Forman, pg. 192-193).  Adam recognizes that if Mia chooses to live, that in order to heal, she may need to build a new life, one that may not include him.  He also offers to sacrifice his own dreams in order to be with her and provide her with the love and support she will need.
     Because music was such an integral part of the story, I had the idea that students could create playlists that reflect the moods of the book.  While the mood is predominantly sorrowful, there are lighthearted moments like recounting Teddy's birth, driving to San Francisco with her grandfather for her audition, and hosting a Labor Day party.  I think this book would initially have greater appeal for girls than boys because of the protagonist and the love story.  I would probably lean toward using the novel as a book club read and hopefully the girls would be able to convince a few boys to give it a try.  Then I could try to sell the sequel, Where She Went, because it is narrated from Adam's point of view, which might make it more of a "guy's book."  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel because I grew to care about these characters and am curious to see where Mia's choice takes her.

La Linea

     Typically, I first show the book cover as the image for my literary posts.  But for La Linea, I felt I needed to show a picture symbolic of what the book really meant to me:  the bond of siblings.
     Miguel is 15 and he is preparing to make the dangerous trek from Mexico to California to reunite with his parents.  However, his family will still not be complete because there is only enough money to pay for him to make the journey.  His 13 year old sister, Elena, will remain behind with their abuelita, grandmother, and wait her turn to also make the trip north.  While excited about crossing, Miguel does have mixed feelings about the separation.  He is very protective of his younger sister, pulling her T-shirt down and scolding her to pick up her jeans so that her revealed skin doesn't attract unwanted attention.  He realizes that it may be years before she can come to the United States too, and while he believes that she is capable of taking care of the family ranch, he wonders if she will be able to succeed in their dying, deserted town.
     Miguel begins his journey and to his horror, discovers that Elena has followed him.  Her presence brings about complications that bring them to south to Guatemala.  A silver lining that emerges from this negative situation is that they befriend Javier, an older gentleman who takes them under his wing.
Javier provides a distraction that enables them to escape from the officials who detoured them to Guatemala.  Javier meets up with the siblings and he schools them in what they need to do in order to make it to the border town where they will meet the coyote, or person to bring them over the border.
     There is a lot of focus on relationships in La Linea.  There is the obvious relationship between Miguel and Elena.  While initially furious with Elena for sneaking along, after they outwit muggers in Guatemala, Miguel reveals, "Whatever we did, we had to do it as brother and sister.  We'd been through too much to separate now.  If Elena went to San Jacinto, I'd go too.  If I went north, I'd take her with me" (Jaramillo, pg. 59).  Miguel's attachment and commitment to bringing Elena north is further revealed later in the story.  He would prefer to sneak aboard again the mata gente, "people killer" freight train, while Elena and Javier want to pay a driver to bring them north.  Miguel tells Elena that he is separating from them and will continue on solo.  He spends a restless night alone, reflecting on what he has told her and begins to question his decision.  "What was our best chance of making it?  Our best chance, I said to myself again and again.  I realized I no longer thought about it as my trip north.  I couldn't stand the thought of Elena going north alone.  I couldn't stand the thought of me going alone, either" (Jaramillo, pg. 83).  Miguel chooses not to hop the mata gente and travel with Javier and Elena, a decision that proves to be fruitful since the freight train later derails, killing hundreds of people.
     Another important relationship that exists is the one between the siblings and Javier.  When Javier was introduced, I wasn't sure if I trusted his character.  I kept waiting for him to swindle the teenagers or cause them harm.  However, Javier acts heroically for them time and again, and in a sense, he fills the role of the father they have never really known.  Javier makes a point of telling Miguel and Elena that they remind him of his son and daughter that he left behind with his wife in El Salvador.  There were times in the novel when I wondered if that was a fabricated story he told them because the truth was too painful to face.  Ann Jaramillo leaves clues in the book that made me doubt his story.  He seems too old to want to make a start in the United States.  She describes him as having "silver hair and deep wrinkles around his mouth and the corner of his eyes" (Jaramillo, pg. 36).  He becomes emotional when Elena transforms her appearance to look more like a boy.  "You look like m'ija Magdalena with your hair like that," (Jaramillo, pg. 65).  Then when they are in the desert, they come across the bodies of a mother and her young child.  Javier speaks to the bodies as though they were his own children.  Since Javier acknowledges that this trip will be his second attempt north, I wondered if his children and wife died during the first attempt north.  Perhaps that is why he was so protective of the siblings, because he wasn't able to save his own.  I found one of the most chilling parts was when he was telling them why they had to disguise Elena from the malicious train gangs.  "They rob, steal, beat people up, and they rape many women," (Jaramillo, pg. 65).  Then he instructs Miguel to take a black marker and write on Elena's chest.  "Write 'Tengo SIDA' in big letters across her chest.  The threat of AIDS might stop some men," (Jaramillo, pg. 66).  Later, as they cross the desert, he tells Elena that Miguel is in charge.  He abandons them in the night, but leaves his water for them to help them survive.
     La Linea would be an interesting book to introduce to my students.   There was a part of the chapter 3 text that I used in my response to From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun that would also apply here.  Barbara Samuels contends, "...literature also helps free us from the stereotypes that we have about those whose backgrounds are different from our own" (Samuels, pg. 48).  I use Francisco Jimenez's memoir, The Circuit, to discuss setting with my 7th graders.  Those who are less mature and worldly tend to make stereotypical comments about Latin American immigrants taking away hard labor jobs, like landscaping, fruit/vegetable picking, or masonry.  Miguel and Elena's story could open their eyes, because they don't know what people go through to come to the United States.   Samuels also states that "Teens need to recognize that there are differences as well as similarities among the people who have a Latino/Latina background" (Samules, pg. 54).  Although most of my students come from a privileged background, I believe they could appreciate the idea of reassembling a family.  All Miguel and Elena wanted was to be reunited with their parents and meet their younger twin sisters.

     Middle school students love stories of adventure and survival and there were plenty of life-or-death moments in this book to choose from; being held up by muggers, hopping the meta gente, or being chased by the militia.  I also think they would be surprised by the ending and the choice that Elena makes, which reminds me of Najmah and Nur's decision at the end of Under the Persimmon Tree.  La Linea would hopefully make students more empathetic to the plights immigrants face in coming to the United States to make a better life for themselves.

Crash

     John "Crash" Coogan is trouble.  Crash earned his nickname as a toddler when knocked over his cousin while wearing a football helmet.  Even though Crash has physically grown and aged since that event, he lacks the maturity that should have come along with the passing of the years.  When reflecting on pushing another student, Penn Webb, he smugly thinks to himself, "I'll tell you it was worth every minute of the three-day in school suspension I got for it, and the one-week grounding when my parents got the letter from the vice-principal" (Spinelli, pg. 89).  Crash is an arrogant 7th grader, and his name is a perfect fit, since he barrels through life without checking to see what damage he's left behind.
   Crash lives with his parents and younger sister, Abby.  Crash's parents both work long hours and it seems like Crash and Abby take care of themselves a lot.  At one point in the book, the family eats dinner together, a fact that does not go unnoticed by the children.  Abby exclaims, "Notice anything?  We all ate a meal together!" to which Crash responds, "Whoopee.  Just like a real family," (Spinelli, pg. 48.)  Shortly afterwards, Crash's grandfather, Scooter, moves in to help take care of the children.  With Scooter, Crash isn't afraid to show a sensitive side.  He narrates that he and Abby snuggle with Scooter at night because they like to hear his made up stories and it is where they both feel safe and secure.  For me, Scooter was an integral part of the story because he made Crash more likable in my eyes. Up till that point,  I didn't really enjoy his disagreeable character very much.    Mocking Penn Webb's clothing "...he gets his clothes at Second Time Around.  It means used.  Like in used clothes.  He wears rags that other people throw away," (Spinelli, pg. 46); reveling in the fact that the vice-principal called him a "loose cannon; refusing to leave the football game because he wanted to run up the score, made him completely obnoxious to me.   Crash is so impressed with himself that he completely neglects to see everything else around him.  The best example of this attitude is the Thanksgiving Day impromptu football game.  During the family game, Crash makes a point to tackle his grandfather hard enough to cause a fumble.  Scooping up the ball, he runs to the other side of the yard and "...spiked the ball in the endzone and did my TD dance..." (Spinelli, pg. 103).  Crash can't pinpoint why he had to tackle Scooter, but later that night he silently watches Scooter sleeping in Abby's bed and realizes, "...he was just about as old as anybody I ever saw" (Spinelli, pg. 106).  Finally, Crash starts to feel remorse for his actions and it is fitting that it was an incident involving Scooter to bring about this change.
     What I've always enjoyed about Jerry Spinelli's writing is his ability to really capture the personality of his characters.  Chapter 31 is his shortest one and it consists of Crash narrating, "Scooter is in the hospital" (Spinelli, pg. 107).  With its brevity, Spinelli captures the worry, guilt, and fear that Crash is feeling.  There is no need to expand on the sentence because the shortness of the thought emphasizes the anxiety Crash experiences.  Thus begins Crash's transformation into realizing what he valued earlier isn't so crucial.  Crash may not be aware of his change, but the reader is.  When his best friend, Mike DeLuca, sprays Penn Webb with an Uzi watergun, Crash walks away.  Crash gives Penn back the essay that Mike stole from him.  Lastly, Crash "lets" Penn win the race off to determine who will be the last spot for the Penn Relay team.   Finally, Crash is learning that winning football games and bullying kids who are "different" aren't the most important things in the world.
     In chapter 2 of the text, Laura Robb mentions using pause points for book discussion.  Pause points are "a place to stop, react, pose questions, and discuss - usually every three to five chapters" (Robb, pg. 30).  Some pause points I could see using with the students would be asking students if the friendship between Crash and Mike Deluca is genuine; if Crash would be a different kid if his parents were home more often instead of at work; what effect does his grandfather, Scooter, have on Crash and why?  It would be important to highlight why Crash and Mike torment Penn and it would be interesting to have the students present scenes from the book as a tableau vivant or "living picture".  Once the students act out the scene, they freeze as characters and one by one, explain what reasoning is going through their minds at that particular moment.  Robb also mentions that in order to have a meaningful book conversation, students can link the title of the book to the story.  In her words she writes, "Connect the title...Explain how the title deepens your understanding of the point an author makes" (Robb, pg. 33).  Typically a crash is a violent or noisy collision that results in breaking an object to pieces.  In conducting an exercise where Penn is examined, I wonder if students would feel that his confidence and self-esteem were crumbling as a result of Crash and Mike's repeated bullying.   An additional writing exercise would be to come up with another scenario Jerry Spinelli could use that would christen the nickname of the main character.
       Typically the sign of a great novel is that it is timeless regardless of publication date.  Crash was originally published in 1996, before cyber-bullying existed.  Sixteen years later, I think that Crash would still resonate with my 6th grade students.  They could still identify with themes like bullying, maturity, and friendship.  Crash is a teachable novel and one that I would encourage my students to read.

Center Field

     Mike Semak seems to have it all.  A popular athlete at Ridgefield High School, he is surrounded by friends, has an adorable girlfriend, and is about to be named starting center fielder for the varsity baseball team.  Math is his favorite subject because "there's always an answer, right or wrong" (Lipsyte, pg. 19).  Mike likes to think that baseball is like math; "You play or you don't" (Lipsyte, pg. 19).  And he thinks that life should be "simple, not complicated" like math and baseball (Lipstyte, pg. 19).  Then Oscar Ramirez arrives and suddenly center field is no longer a sure thing.  Kat Herold starts occupying his thoughts and she isn't even his girlfriend.  Mike and Zack Berger, a cyber savvy student, have a confrontation that further divides the cool kids from the unpopular ones.  In Center Field, Mike discovers that life isn't always so simple and people are not what they appear to be either.
     There are two figures in the novel whom Mike reveres.  One is his baseball coach, Coach Cody, who also serves as the school's vice principal.  The other is Billy Budd, center fielder for the New York Yankees.   Coach Cody represents the tangible hero, someone accessible that Mike can go to for guidance and advice.  Billy Budd is the man that Mike strives to be, constantly thinking to himself, "What would Billy Budd do in this type of situation?"  He refers to his website, even using the "Buddline" to ask him for help in baseball.  As the novel unfolds, Mike discovers that his role models are far from what he believed them to be.  It's a telling sign of Coach Cody's duplicitous nature when he calls Mike to his office under the pretense of discussing his fight with Zack Berger.  At one point he tells Mike, "There are lots of things people don't know about me.  Don't need to know" (Lipsyte, pg. 124).   Mike is confused when Coach Cody gives him instructions to spy on the Cyber Club and dangles center field as the incentive for reporting back on the club's doing.  The coach's actions and requests seem to contradict the moral code that he holds for his baseball players and the rest of the students at the high school.  Coach Cody even buys into the notion of cliques at the school.  "You know, there are basically two kinds of guys in the world, jocks and pukes.  We're jocks.  We want to live by the rules, win fairly, work hard, and be rewarded for it.  The pukes want to rebel and disrupt so they can slide through the chaos" (Lipsyte, pg. 126).  Mike's character shows growth by his uncertainty over his coach's directive.  If he were an immature character, he would just accept his coach's order to spy on the "pukes" and report back to him.  Mike realizes that Coach Cody is toying with him to get what he wants, and begins to question why the coach wants the information so desperately.  Eventually Mike teams up with his nemesis, Zack Berger, and the two unite to reveal Coach Cody's fraudulent identity.
     Another way we see Mike's character grow is when he meets his idol, Billy Budd.  Mike wins a contest to spend a day with Billy Budd at Yankee Stadium.  It is not what Mike has expected.  At the their initial meeting, Billy Budd mistakenly shakes the wrong person's hand and addresses Mike's guest, Zack,  as "Mike"; the public relations man corrects the error, telling Mike, "Billy hasn't had a chance to study the video carefully" (Lipsyte, pg. 233).  Mike pictured himself enjoying the day with his hero, but winds up spending most of the day with public relations people.   Mike's disenchantment grows when he learns that it's a media team who creates the answers for the Buddline web page and not Billy himself.  At day's end, Mike still admires Billy for his athleticism and dedication to the game, but is let down Billy's shallowness.
     Center Field was probably my favorite book so far.  The teen characters in the novel seemed very real to me in terms of their thoughts, dialogue, and actions.  While I didn't always like some of the choices Mike made (dating Lori while pursuing Kat, for example), I enjoyed his character and the growth he showed.  While a main focus is on baseball, Robert Lipsyte provides enough teen romance and drama to make it appealing for both boys and girls.
     Chapter 2 of the textbook focuses on thinking about books on paper.  Laura Robb believes that using notebooks to record ideas, particularly using fast writes, is a beneficial strategy (Robb, pg. 34).   I can envision my students using Center Field to discuss how cliques are presented in this book.  The athletes are given top billing in the school, while the computer kids are labeled "pukes" and looked down upon.  Cliques are present in middle school, and it is a topic that students would have experience with.  Another fast write that could provoke discussion would be heroes versus false idols.  Students could debate what are the true characteristics of a hero and do their idols meet those criteria or is their image based on a facade.  Teens are impressionable, and like Mike, they can discover through book discussion that their heroes might not live up to their expectations.

Monster

     Self-examination.  Soul-searching.  Reflection.  Sixteen year old Steve Harmon stands accused of felony murder and as he experiences his trial, he questions who he is and who he has become.  Is he really the monster that the prosecuting attorney portrayed him as in her opening argument?  Is he a high school kid who is guilty of wanting acceptance by a tougher crowd?  Or is he completely innocent and just in the wrong place at the wrong time?  In Monster, Walter Dean Myers crafts a courtroom drama which plays out as a screenplay that the narrator, Steve, constructs in order to discover who he really is.
     Decision-making is a dominant theme that runs through this book and Steve acknowledges that idea in the beginning.  In the opening pages, Steve writes "The incredible story of how one guy's life was turned around by a few events..." (Myers, pg. 9).  I would try to focus my students on the significance of the choices they make, as small as they may be.  By opting to hang out with thugs like James King and Osvaldo Cruz, Steve opens himself up to the consequences of being linked with these unsavory characters.  A life lesson that I always emphasize with my classes  is that today's decisions will be tomorrow's realities.  Because Steve chose to be with hang with these young men, he might be spending the rest of his life behind bars.
     I don't believe that Steve ever believed that the store owner would die, but I did question whether he truly knew what James King intended to do.  In flashbacks, Myers establishes that he sat with King while he discussed his desire to get money.  "If I had a crew, I could get paid.  All you need is a crew with some heart and a nose for the cash," King says (Myers, pg. 50).  Later in another flashback, King becomes more specific with Steve and even outlines Steve's role in the robbery.  "I got a sure getover.  You know that drugstore got burned out that time?  They got it all fixed up now.  Drugstores always keep some money.  All we need is a lookout.  You down for it?" (Myers, pg. 150).    Myers never lets the reader know Steve's answer, and I wonder why he chose not to.  Through Steve's recollections, it is made known that he was in the drugstore prior to the botched robbery and murder.  So did he give the men a signal as he was supposed to do?  That part is never made clear, and it makes me wonder if he truly played a role in the crime or not.
     Another part of the story I would draw attention to is the style in which it is written.  Recently I read a journal article which focused on how to draw reluctant readers to reading.  One line of thought was to expose students to books which incorporated a different font, like personalized handwriting.  Monster is unique because not only are Steve's inner thoughts reflected through a handwritten journal, but the story is set up as a movie script.  This format, plus the use of sporadic photography, breaks up the amount of text presented on a page and doesn't seem so overwhelming to a struggling reader.
     In chapter 5 of the textbook, Barbara Moss focuses on using tradebooks to complement the curriculum.  While Monster is not a tradebook, I do like one of the points she makes.  While citing another study, Moss agrees that "students are captivated by the most courageous or cruelest of acts, the strangest and the most bizarre natural phenomena, the most terrible or the most wonderful events.  These are staples of the TV shows, books, and films that exploit this prominent characteristic of students' imaginations..." (Moss, pg. 90).  Teenagers are intrigued by high drama and extreme events.  Monster fits that bill with a young man, fighting an uphill battle to prove his innocence in a court of law.  I like the idea of pairing this book up with Myers's memoir, Bad Boy.  I've used his memoir before as a read aloud with my younger students when instructing them on how to expand moments in their lives.  It could make for a good discussion to parallel the chapters where Myers recounts his own difficulties during his teenage years; why did others see him as bad, like the prosecuting attorney saw Steve as a monster?  Monster is a good read for my 7th graders who would be interested in the subject material and who also could appreciate the introspection that Steve's character undergoes.

Under the Persimmon Tree

     A quest for meaning.  In order to find significance in one's life, journeys are started and completed.  Depending on the individual, these explorations will have varied destinations.  In Suzanne Fisher Staples's novel, Under the Persimmon Tree, we meet two protagonists, Najmah and Nusrat, whose stories are intertwined as they discover what their life's meaning is to be.
     Najmah is a young Afghan girl who finds herself alone after tragic events.  The Taliban raid her family's farm and force her father and older brother to leave with them.  Najmah is left to fend for her pregnant mother and to sustain the farm.  Days later, she witnesses another trauma when an airstrike kills her mother and newly born brother.  The episode leaves her shocked and voiceless.  With no one left to trust in her village, she begins a journey to Pakistan in hopes of reuniting with her father and brother in a refugee camp, and ultimately, returning to their homeland.
     Nusrat is an American woman, formerly known as Elaine.  She still feels grief over her sister Margaret's death and then she meets a young Afghan man, Dr. Faiz Ahmed Faiz.  They fall in love and Elaine feels a peace and contentment she hadn't felt since Margaret was alive.  Elaine converts to Islam and changes her name to Nusrat.  After they marry, Faiz feels the need to return to Afghanistan to set up medical clinics.  Nusrat agrees to go with him and it is decided that she will live in Peshawar, Pakistan where the rest of Faiz's family resides.  They relocate and Faiz leaves for Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan.   Nusrat teaches refugee children in the school she establishes in her backyard, but she becomes anxious and unsettled as too much time goes by without word from Faiz.

     Stars were an important image in this book and Najmah's name translates into "star".  Symbolically, stars are used to "light the way" and can provide guidance via a physical journey or an introspective one.  Najmah looks to the stars and recalls the words he father told her, "As long as you know the stars, you will never be lost.  From them you can tell time and distance and you can find your way home" (Staples, pg. 10-11).  After Nusrat and Namjah meet at Nusrat's school, Namjah explains to the older woman about polaris or al-Qutb, "It's the most constant star, and I'm never lost knowing it's there" (Staples, pg. 226).   Not only does Namraj believe the stars will help her find her father and brother, but she also believes they will illuminate her way home as well.  Nusrat also looks to the stars, but for different purposes.  She looks to them and hopes her husband is still alive and will return to her.    She uses them as a way to communicate with her husband.  "If you come out here every evening and look up at the stars, they will tell you where I am and that I am safe," Faiz tells Nusrat before he leaves Afgahnistan (Staples, pg. 220).  Both females search among the stars to find the ones they love.
     At the book's end, Namraj is reunited with her older brother, Nur.   Their significance lies in their determination to return to Afghanistan and reclaim their home.  Nusrat knows that her next destination will be in returning to the United States to make amends with the family she left there.  In a way, I wish the children would have returned with Nusrat, but I understand that their journey would then be unfulfilled.  And they must restore importance to their disrupted life.
     I liked this book because of its multiculturalism.  Most of the information that students have about the Middle East is based upon the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Students may form stereotypes based on one-sided information.  They need to realize the Middle East is not just comprised of the Taliban and terrorists.  In particular, I thought the example of Akhtar and Khalida's family showed great kindness and compassion to Najmah.  At great risk to themselves and their children, they disguised Najmah as a boy and brought her along with them on the road to Pakistan.  They provided her with food, water, and they protected her as if she were one of their own during a battle with explosions and gunfire.  Students may not appreciate or understand the danger Najmah faces, but they can hopefully relate to the goodness that is given to her.  In reading chapter 3 of the textbook, Young Adult Literature in the Clasroom:  Reading It, Teaching It, Loving It, a final thought regarding multiculturalism emerges.  Barbara Samuels contends, "We must help our students become part of the diverse, interconnected world in which they will function as adults.  Using multicultural literature is a way of empowering all students by building their self-esteem and expanding their ability to make contact with those whose experiences are different from their own" (Samuels, pg. 64-65).  This thought reminds me of how I explain Farewell to Manzanar to my 7th grade students.  I always tell them that I don't expect them to understand what it's like to be dragged away from your home and forced to live in barely furnished barracks, eating disgusting food, sharing filthy bathrooms, and essentially living in fear and guilt because you happen to be Japanese.  The point I make with them, however, is this:  If you can understand the unfairness of the situation, and understand the inhumanity of the situation, and understand the indignity that was suffered, then they have made a successful connection with the book, and therefore, the world around them.

     Another important point that the text brings up is in chapter 4, which focuses on engaging readers through historical fiction.  Barbara Illig-Aviles emphasizes using historical fiction because, "It helps them (adolescents) gain a deeper understanding of the effect historical events have on the social, political, and economic issues of the times" (Illig-Aviles, pg. 84).  Undoubtedly, 9/11 has been the event to most shape today's world.   My students from last year have never known a time before 9/11, and for most of their lives, the United States has been involved in military operations in the Middle East.  This situation presents a scenario of "good vs. bad", but as exposed by the reading, not every Afghani or Pakistani is evil.  Our school librarian teaches a literary investigations class, and in recent years she has read The Bread Winner with the 6th grade students to expose them to Afghanistan history and culture.  It's refreshing to see that instead of stereotyping Afghanistan people as terrorists, our students realize that many of them are innocents who are subject to land mines left over from the Russian invasion or who are terrorized by the Taliban.  It is my hope to incorporate a global literary study into my classroom.  Books that focus on different cultures would be read and discussed.  If I can make that happen, then I would definitely use Under the Persimmon Tree as one of the selections.

From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun

     In chapter 3 of Young Adult Literature in the Classroom:  Reading It, Teaching It, Loving It, the claim is made that "...literature also helps free us from the stereotypes that we have about those whose backgrounds are different from our own" (Samuels, pg. 48).  From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun presents a brutally honest story of an African-American male teenager coming to terms with his mother's homosexuality.  From the opening chapters, it's apparent that Melanin is not open to homosexuality.  "The other kind of 'faggy' was the really messed-up kind.  That kind actually wanted to be with other guys the way I get to feeling when Angie comes around.  That kind made me want to puke every time I thought about it-which wasn't a lot" (Woodson, pg. 19).  Melanin is shocked and upset when his mother reveals that she is in love with a white woman.  His reaction is painfully candid and I appreciated that the author, Jacqueline Woodson, didn't pull any punches with his response.  Melanin is accusatory and even throws slurs at his mother, "You're a dyke!...Nobody wants you...That's why my father disappeared and even the ugly guys didn't come back.  Nobody...Please, Mama, be anything.  But please don't be a dyke" (Woodson, pgs. 58-59).  Melanin is humiliated by Mama's revelation and fearful of the neighborhood repercussions that are to come from it.
    Prior to his mom's news, Melanin walks on the beach and reflects on an earlier time when he encountered prejudice from a group of white boys on the same beach.  He recalls how their racist comments made him feel "...stupid (then), dark and ugly.  Alone" (Woodson, pg. 44).  I can imagine that Melanin harbored the same feelings as people who are afraid to unveil their sexuality.  Recently, journalist Anderson Cooper released a statement to the media.  He wrote, "The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."  Cooper put this information out there because he didn't want people to think he was concealing anything from the public.  I think that in sharing her sexuality with her son, Mama wanted to erase the darkness she felt in hiding the truth.  It took a lot of courage for her to share her lifestyle with her son.  After all, she had a choice.  She could have harbored her secret and remained in the dark, which would deny her a happy and comfortable life.
     I felt for Melanin's character because Woodson portrays him as a likable, sensitive kid.  He writes in a journal, collects stamps, is shy about calling a girl...he wasn't drawn as a macho, testosterone raging character.  And I wonder if that characterization was deliberate on her part.  Because if he was a sensitive type, it would seem more in line that he wouldn't have had such a negative reaction to his mom's news.   It was hard to see how the closeness between mother and sun was threatened by Melanin's inner prejudice.  It was hard to read the sections where he rejects his mother and even tells her "Sometimes I hate to think that you're my mother" (Woodson, pg. 72).  It was hard to like Melanin in those parts, even though I knew he was having a realistic reaction to the news.  Another thought I have involves Mama's girlfriend, Kristin.  Woodson chose to make her a white woman and I wonder if Melanin would have reacted so strongly if she was African-American?  It seems like Melanin's humiliation is compounded by the fact that Kristin is white.  He even goes so far to tell his mom, "'Cause she's white and I'm black" when Mama asks him what makes him think she can't love them both (Woodson, pg. 105).
     There are so many parts of this book I want to discuss:  how Melanin's relationship with Angie could be compared to Mama's relationship with Kristin; the demise of his friendship with Sean while Ralphael remains a reliable friend; how Kristin finally breaks through to Melanin when she unveils how she lost her family when she came out to them.  But I feel like this post would never end if I started to look into each of those situations!

     I have so much to say about this book.  I think it is an important book, but I would opt to keep it in my classroom library instead of use it as a read aloud.  From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun is sophisticated in its tone and subject; I don't know if my 6th graders would be mature enough to  comprehend its material.   Nowadays middle school kids have more exposure to homosexuality from television, movies, and novels.  However, as aware as they are, it doesn't always mean they are accepting, and I think of the tragedy that resulted from Tyler Clementi's story.  I do feel it is important to include literature in the classroom that includes homosexuality.  If I were to use a book with my 6th graders that discussed sexual character,  then I would choose The Misfits by James Howe. It was published years ago and it centered around a group of middle school friends who were on the outside looking in.  They band together and decide to run as a ticket for the student council positions.  Their platform is based on the slogan "No Name Calling".  One of the four students is Joe, an openly gay student, and the story is told through shifting point of view.  Since each character gets his/her own chapter, the reader does get to see Joe's perspective on what it's like to be a gay 7th grader.  Hopefully the outcome would be to open their minds to differences and to celebrate what makes each of us individual.

Lyddie

     "A troublemaker, Mr. Marsden?"

     "...I at one time thought of her as one of the best on the floor.  But I am forced, sir, to ask for her dismissal.  It is a matter of moral turpitude."

     Moral what?  What was he saying?  What was he accusing her of?

     "I see," said the agent, as though ass had been explained when nothing, nothing had.   

(Paterson, pg. 167-168)

     Lyddie is a historical fiction novel by Katherine Paterson.  In the segment above, the protagonist, Lyddie Worthen, is fired from working at the Lowell Mill because she protected another girl from the advances of their overseer, Mr. Marsden.  In order to protect himself, the overseer destroys Lyddie's career without giving any concrete examples of her alleged depravity, because he can get away with slandering her character.  This example brought to mind why trade unions were formed in the United States; to maintain and improve working conditions for a company's workers.  In chapter 4 of Young Adult Literature in the Classroom:  Reading It, Teaching It, Loving It, author Barbara A. Illig-Aviles notes that historical fiction helps the reader "appreciate the struggles and acts of personal courage required by people who, although they lived at different times, were essentially the same as we are" (Illig-Aviles, pg. 71).   Lyddie would be a terrific companion piece in a history class where the curriculum studies the history of workers' rights.  Students should be made aware that workers may have turned a blind eye to doing the right thing, because they feared losing a job or getting on the wrong side of a superior.  Students could also connect their learning to modern day situations and evaluate why children are taken advantage of in the workplace (i.e. cheap labor, intimidation).  Exposing students to child labor could be done on a national as well as international level.  

     While analyzing Lyddie's strong character, at times I thought about Junior from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian.  Both characters wanted to better themselves academically and show determination and courage in choosing education.  Junior goes to Rearden High School to get away from the school on the reservation, while Lyddie buys a copy of Oliver Twist to teach herself how to read.  There's a part in Junior's story where he befriends a student at Rearden named Gordy.  Gordy teaches Junior, "And no matter how much you learn, you just keep on learning there is so much more you need to learn" (Alexie, pg. 97).  Like Junior, Lyddie begins her journey with disadvantages.  Where Junior is impoverished and lives on a reservation, Lyddie is poor, uneducated, and has no parental guidance.  Lyddie's character grows from a hardworking farm girl turned factory worker into a young woman who realizes that there is much to be gained from the world.  I liked how Lyddie ends with her decision to go to college in Ohio, instead of her deciding to marry Luke Stevens and become a farmer's wife.  

     I thought Katharine Paterson's research for the book was impressive in its scope.  Not only did she need to be familiar with the history behind the Lowell Mills and the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association, but she had to understand the mechanical workings of a mill and be able to explain it to an average reader.  "Threading the shuttle was, if anything, worse.  Lyddie popped the full bobbin into the shuttle and then as always, put her mouth to the hole and sucked the thread through, pulled it to length, wrapped it quickly on a hook of the temple, dropped the shuttle into the race, and restarted the loom" (Paterson, pg. 110).  Her description of the mill's operations deepened my comprehension of what a typical shift was like for Lyddie and how absurd the working conditions were.  Even though I haven't yet read the assigned work on the Shirtwaist Triangle Fire, I would imagine that both books could be used jointly to teach about unfair working conditions.  I think students would be curious to read about Lyddie's story; a girl their own age forced to work to provide for her family is a compelling read.  When students can relate to characters in historical fiction, those situations have become alive for them and successful connections to literature have been made.

     

The Crossroads

     Bloody Mary.  Alligators in sewers.  A hook-handed murderer who preys on lovestruck teenagers in their cars.  All are examples are urban legends, stories that have been circulated for so long that details metamorphosized into a fantastic tale.  The teller is never even quite sure if the story is true or not since the facts have changed from their original form.  Kids love urban legends and spooky stories; Chris Grabenstein's, The Crossroads, weaves both of those elements into a thrilling novel.
     The Crossroads would be a terrific book to use in the classroom for a variety of reasons.  One of my objectives is to teach students how to write a "hook" or "grabber"- that opening sentence which will capture the audience's attention and not let it go.  Typically, I like using opening lines of novels to provide students with concrete examples.  Grabenstein begins his novel with this line, "Have you ever seen a face hidden in the bark of a tree and known the man trapped inside wanted to hurt you?" (Grabenstein, pg. 1).  That sentence establishes multiple moods of tension, suspense, and mystery.  After reading that sentence, I was hooked into the story's plot and had a hard time putting the book down.  I read the book while folding laundry, stirring dinner on the stove,  and in between watching my daughters at their swim practice.  Additionally, the alternating narration could also be used to instruct point of view.  Seeing the story unfold through the eyes of Zack, Gerda Spratling, Judy, and Billy O'Clair, affords readers the opportunity to understand characters better and to realize their motivations for their actions.  Billy O'Claire's character provides a terrific lesson in internal monologue.  As he struggles with the demon that is sharing his body, the text changes in appearance to reflect his inner thoughts.  "Clint Eberhart, the evil spirit, wasn't with him!  Wasn't inside him!  Billy had to think.  Who else does Eberhart want dead?  He already gave Mee Maw a heart attack.  Now he wants to hunt down this Jennings family.  But what about the rest of the O'Claire clan?  What about me?  And Aidan!  Oh, no.  What about Aidan?  What if he wants to kill my son?" (Grabenstein, pg. 176).  When writing memoirs, I try to encourage students to use internal monologue so that their written work shows evidence of reflection and sophistication.  Seeing internal monologue in print helps them with understanding how to write it and why it is used.
     Finally, I think the book would be useful in teaching reading comprehension skills.  Because our school has a set reading curriculum in place, I envision using this book as a read aloud to teach students inference, prediction, and sequencing.   Students could keep a reading journal to keep track of unfolding clues, predict why the tree is so sacred to Gerda Spratling, and infer from the bus passenger list the true identity of the Rowdy Army Men ghosts.  

     Ghost stories and mysteries are popular because their plots are built around the unknown and kids are usually curious to discover the answers.  The Crossroads would be a great fit for my 6th grade class and is a novel I plan to use next year.