Off She Goes Into the Wild Blue Yonder



Amelia Earhart: This Broad Ocean

by

Sarah Stewart Taylor and James Sturm

Taylor and Strum, S.  (2010). Amelia Earhart: this broad ocean . New York:

     Disney Hyperion Books.

Taylor and Strum’s Amelia Earhart was really fun.   I genuinely enjoyed the way the authors combined biography, graphic novel, and historical fiction to tell the story of this amazing aviatrix.  Showing us the real-life Earhart through the eyes of a fictional young girl named Grace builds a bridge with the young readers for whom this book is geared.  It seems that Grace is almost a reflection of Amelia in that they both had a dream:  Grace to be a reporter and Earhart to fly across the Atlantic.  Moreover, Ben Towle’s illustrations make them even look so much alike they could have been related.  The illustrations are very artistic and simple, but there were times I wished they had more color to better depict such a colorful and vibrant heroine.

To the combination of writing styles the authors employed, I should add “inspirational novel” since Amelia Earhart could very easily inspire young readers – male and female alike – to pursue their dreams.  That’s admirably illustrated by the fact that the introduction to the book is written by Eileen Collins – a female astronaut.   This inspirational element in particular makes this a book to recommend to students.

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Reach for the Sky



Skywalkers: Mohawk Ironworkers Build the City by David Weitzman

Weitzman, D. (2010). Skywalkers: Mohawk ironworkers build the city . New York:

      Flash Point.

I motivated to read this book because I was born and raised in the same part of the country where the Mohawks have lived for centuries.  In retrospect, I think my New England schoolteachers were admirably multicultural, because they constantly used the Mohawk and other tribes as points of reference when teaching us about government, sociology, history, etc.  So many of our present-day governmental and cultural practices were inspired by these Native Americans.  I was very glad to see this explained so well in Weitzman’s book for others to read and learn about.

Many years after my high school graduation, I moved to Hawaii, where I found an ironic similarity between the Islanders and the Mohawks.  Both did not have a written language, so they relied on storytellers to orally perpetuate and teach their history to future generations.  But when outsiders arrived on their shores, they were forbidden to continue this practice; so much of their heritage is lost to us forever.  Hopefully books like Skywalkers will teach our youth to be sure this kind of cultural loss never happens again to any people.       

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The Title Says It All



The Horrors of Andersonville: Life and Death Inside a Civil War Prison

by Catherine Gourley

Gourley, C. (2010). The horrors of Andersonville: life and death inside a Civil War prison . Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century Books.

I chose to read Catherine Gourley’s The Horrors of Andersonville: Life and Death Inside a Civil War Prison partially because I’m an American history buff and partially because I was very moved after seeing a play on the same subject – Saul Levitt’s The Andersonville Trial.  With an award-winning Broadway hit as my point of reference, I found Gourley’s book less impressive than the play, but still very moving because of the simple but horrible facts it shared about the worst Confederate prison camp of the Civil War.

As I read The Horrors of Andersonville, some dismal thoughts came to mind.  First, as genuinely terrible as Andersonville was, that seems to be the only Civil War POW camp we hear about; when, there were also Yankee camps for Confederate prisoners that were as bad or worse than Andersonville.  But there are not many Broadway plays or popular books written about them because the North won the war.  And I say that as a born-and-raised Yankee.  It also seems sadly ironic that people always seem to look for a lone scapegoat to blame for the wrongs of a multitude.  So, Andersonville’s commander, Captain Henry Wirz, is the only Confederate hanged after the war for running a camp that was only able feed the Northern POWs the food that was sent to them by a Confederate government that did not have enough food to feed its own troops.

Still, I think Gourley’s book would be a good one for students to read.  It gives a startling honest depiction of atrocities that were just one part of the bloodiest war in U.S. history – because it was the only one where Americans were fighting Americans – so the death toll was therefore doubled.

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The Facts of Life



It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie H. Harris

Harris, R. H. (1994). It’s perfectly normal. Somerville: Candlewick Press.

At the start of this school year, our local newspaper said: 127 girls in our city’s schools were returning to class pregnant (the youngest being only 12); over 40% of those expectant girls also had STDs they contracted while having sex; and a majority of parents are still opposed any kind of sex education in school.

As a dedicated realist, I believe that ignorance is the greatest threat to people today.  Ignorance –whether it’s in our children or in their parents – breeds a long list of subsequent problems, including pregnancy, STDs, bullying, bigotry, etc.  The only way to combat ignorance and its consequences is with education.  To this end, I found Robie H. Harris’ It’s Perfectly Normal to be perfectly wonderful!

It discusses the “facts of life” in a factual way that young people can easily understand, without hedging on controversial points or trying to gloss over basic issues with vague language.  Consequently, I am sure this book will be condemned by religious zealots, helicopter parents, and arch conservatives.  I can only hope this amazingly simple, straightforward text will nonetheless make its way under the table to students everywhere in the hope that the basic truths it expresses so honestly may make an impression on young readers who will become part of planned parenthood instead of becoming a statistic in next year’s newspaper.

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A Ray of Hope



It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living

by Dan Savage

Savage, D. (2011). It gets better: Coming out, overcoming bullying and creating a life worth living . New York: Penguin Group.

While reading Dan Savage’s It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying and Creating a Life Worth Living, two old sayings came to mind.

First, it’s been said that people who fall in love feel that no one has ever loved like they do now.  Sadly, the same thing in reverse can be said of the victims of bullying – they can feel that no one has ever felt as alone and tormented as they do now.  One of the best things about Savage’s book is that it lets gay teenagers know they are not alone.  The essays it contains show young victims know they are part of a human community of other gays who likewise survived bullying; so they can too.

Second, an old truism says that one of the greatest human needs is hope.  If we can cling to some shred of hope, we can survive almost anything, and if we lose all hope, we too are lost.  Sadly, people who commit suicide – including the alarming number of gay teens – do so because they feel hopeless.  Another great thing about Savage’s book is that it holds out to gay teens a ray of hope – a ray that begins with the book’s title and shines through all the pages that follow.  Things will get better.

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Big Things Come in Small Packages



Cool Salsa:  Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States

by L. M. Carlson

Carlson, M. (1994 ). Cool salsa: bilingual poems on growing up Latino in the United States. New York: H. Holt and Co.

L. M. Carlson’s Cool Salsa:  Bilingual Poems on Growing up Latino in the United States was a surprisingly small paperback book of 136 pages, but it had a lot of features I really liked.  The contributing poets should collectively appeal to a broad range of Latino teenage readers since they come from a wide range of geographic backgrounds including:  U.S., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Argentina, Guatemala, Bolivia, Salvador, Chile and Columbia.  It was interesting that some of the poems rhymed, like “Abuelito Who” while other were blank verse, like “Home and Homeland.”  Some of the poems were in English, some were in Spanish, and some, like “El Monstrous” were translated from English into Spanish.

 

One element of Cool Salsa that I especially liked was a glossary at the back that mentioned each poem and gave footnote-style explanations of certain things within each piece that students might need explained.  I think this made the book much more kid-friendly and accessible to teenage readers.  However, I felt my age when I saw a note for “A Puerto Rican Girl’s Sentimental Education” that felt it necessary to explain who Cantinflas was.  I remember, as a little boy, seeing him in movies and marveling at the comedic genius of the man known as Mexico’s Charlie Chaplin.

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What About the Good Kids?



What Have You Lost by Naomi Nye

Nye, N. (1999). What have you lost. New York: Greenwillow Books.



Naomi Nye’s What Have You Lost would be a real surprise for a teenager expecting singsong poems about flowers and rainbows.  The poems have a blank verse grittiness that seems like a poetic version of realistic fiction.  Abbot Cutler’s “Letter to Terry Dobson” and Diana Der-Hovanessian’s “Secret to Life” especially moved me, perhaps in part because they refer to the Maine-N.H. area where I grew up.  The photographs in the book are as stark as the words.

 

The only thing that bothered me about the collection of poems was that they seemed to focus on teenagers who were stressed, lost, etc.  Since this was a collection of poems that could encompass any and all themes, it would have been nice to have also included some works that the classic All-American kids could also relate to.  Wouldn’t it be nice if the teenagers who stay out of trouble, study hard and try to be just good kids could have someone write poems for them that acknowledge their hard work, encourage their efforts and inspire them to continue to stay on the right track.

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An Unbreakable Code



Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II

by Joseph Bruchac

Bruchac, J. (2005). Code talker: A novel about the Navajo Marines of World War II. New York: Dial Books.

I was originally attracted to Joseph Bruchac’s Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II because I had seen a movie on this subject (Windtalkers).  But I enjoyed this book much more.  It’s fascinating to me that after Americans spent so many years trying to suppress the Navajo language, they used this same cultural element so successfully as a code that the Japanese could not break during the war in the pacific.  Talk about historical irony.

Although the story’s hero, Ned Begay, is fictional, he represents the many Navajo Indians who were in some of the bloodiest battles of W.W. II, saving the lives of countless American soldiers just by speaking in their native tongue.  It made me curious if this and/or other American Indian languages are presently taught in any schools that offer non-traditional languages, like ASL.

I think Code Talker is an excellent book for teenagers in many ways.  Besides having a good writing style and exciting settings, it illuminates a heroic Native American culture while inspiring others to take pride in their own heritage.       

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Hindsight is 20-20



The Boy Who Dared by Susan Bartoletti

Bartoletti, S. (2008). The boy who dared. New York: Scholastic Press.

There’s an old truism:  “Hindsight is 20-20.”  It’s so easy to see the right thing to do after the fact.  The trick is to see the truth and act upon it when you’re in the midst of a situation.  But only a few are willing to invest that kind of time, energy or courage.  Helmuth Hubner, the hero of Susan Bartoletti’s The Boy Who Dared, is one of those rare individuals.

I used to wonder how the Germans who followed Hitler could have ever given themselves over to something as horrible as the Nazis.  Bartoletti does an excellent job of showing how Hubner – and most of the German people – could be swept up in the fervor of the times, believing that the Nazis Party was the balm to heal their post-World War I resentment, poverty and humiliation.  But Helmuth has a wisdom and courage beyond his years as he realizes the threat of the Nazis and is willing to take a stand against it.

This same theme is a common one in our own history if you consider events like the Salem Witch Trials, McCarthyism, etc.  And that’s why I think this book is an excellent choice for students.  Last spring, a poll of graduating American high school seniors found that 53% of them had no idea who Hitler was.  As another old truism says: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

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Peanuts vs. Prince Valiant



The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Satrapi, M. (2007). The complete persepolis . New York City:

     Pantheon Books.

When I couldn’t find The Complete Persepolis under Graphic Novels, I went on a treasure hunt and was surprised to find it under Biographies.  But once I read it, I could easily see why Marjane Satrapi’s book could fit appropriately in either category.  To write one’s autobiography in comic-strip form struck me as being both charmingly innocent and wonderfully imaginative.

I initially wondered why the simple drawings were done in black-and-white instead of in colors, but as I progressed, I found this artistic format more appropriate for the stark events she shares from her life growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution.  She uses wit, wisdom and complete candor to share with us how the normal trials of adolescence compared and contrasted with the very abnormal strife in her homeland.

One thing I did not figure out was why she put some of her dialogue in comic book-style bubbles like Peanuts while some of it was in small paragraphs above or below a picture, like the Prince Valiant comic strip.  This duel method of writing didn’t bother me; it just puzzled me.  But overall, it was an excellent book.  I can understand why it has been an international best seller.       

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A Literary Garage Sale



I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President

by Josh Lieb

Lieb, J. (2009). I am a genius of unspeakable evil and i want to be your class president. New York: Razor Bill.

I know one should not judge a book by its cover – or its title – but I just couldn’t help myself with I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President.  With a title like that, I just had to read it.

In some ways, it reminded me of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series; including the layout with double-spacing between paragraphs.   Like Wimpy Kid, the writing could certainly appeal equally to young readers and adults.  The wit was simultaneously down-to-earth and insightful.

But I was especially drawn to the absurd collection of elements all crammed into one book like a literary garage sale.  Chapter titles range in length from one to twenty-four words.  Photographs include authentic pictures like the crash of the Hindenburg to obviously posed shots designed to be pure camp.  There were also: charts, play scripts, and footnotes that were more like melodrama asides.  Chapter 41 consisted of only two words:  “Go away.”  The only book I have ever seen that could beat that kind of brevity is the final chapter of Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, whose final chapter consists of the one word, “Tis.”  I Am a Genius was fun!

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Stealing 101

Heist Society by Ally Carter

Carter, A. (2010). Heist society. New York: Hyperion Books.

A friend of mine is a high school theatre teacher who annually has his students create and perform a pantomime.  Every single year, a large number of students pantomime finding a lost wallet, quickly putting it in their pocket, and then running away.  Almost every week now, I see news broadcasts of large groups of teenagers who go into a store, blatantly steal items right off the shelves, and run out laughing, knowing that the sheer number of their group prevents the victimized store from doing anything to stop them.

Consequently, this frame of reference kept me from enjoying Heist Society by Ally Carter.  It’s ironic, because I’ve always loved books and movies about thieves like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and even found myself rooting for the robbers.  But these were adult thieves.  When I started reading about Kat Bishop, who is an accomplished teenage art thief, I just couldn’t get swept along with the story.  Admittedly, Kat’s recruitment of teenage accomplices was reminiscent of Fagin’s loveable gang of pickpockets; and her protective attitude toward her father had an almost Robin Hood – style nobility about it.  But despite it all, I came away worrying that young readers would find this romanticized portrayal of thievery to be inspirational rather than simply escapist literature.              

 

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Subtle Symbolism



The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Dashner, J. (2009). The maze runner. New York: Delacorte Press.

I read The Maze Runner by James Dashner and found it very captivating.  There were a number of elements of the story that struck me as possibly symbolic for young readers.  Thomas, the protagonist, and the boys around him have no memory of their past, which seems similar to how so many teenagers seem to live in the moment.  The Glade in which they live is surrounded with high walls, which symbolized to me the limitations and restrains that teenagers often find in school, in their parents’ house, etc.  The maze suggested the rules and responsibilities adolescents encounter in school and society at large; and the scary Grievers might represent teachers, police and other authority figures who can punish teenagers who do not follow the right path through the maze of rules and regulations.

I’m not saying that all this was, in fact, what Dashner had in mind when he wrote his book; nor am I saying that this is what young readers should be expected to find in The Maze Runner.  I’m just saying that these symbols came easily to my mind, and I wonder if they might likewise come to mind either directly or subliminally, to teenagers who read this story.

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Pretty Lively Undead



The Forest of Hands and Feet by Carrie Ryan

Ryan, C. (2009). The forest of hands and feet. New York:

     Delacorte Press.

When Twilight launched an international obsession with vampires and werewolves, it seemed like authors, television producers and moviemakers all tried to jump on the bloodsucking bandwagon as they tried to do imitation spin-offs of Stephanie Meyer’s creations.  By contrast, Carrie Ryan is to be commended for using zombies as the focus of her The Forest of Hands and Feet.  While the undead are not her personal creation, they have been used so relatively little for science fiction stories that Ryan was going down a literary road less traveled.

If you think about it, a moldy, walking corpse can hardly capture teenage fantasies as well as an Edward Cullen.  But Ryan more than compensates for this by giving us an exceptionally well-crafted heroine in Mary.  This young lady is at once both vulnerable and courageous; yearning for love as much as she is confused and frightened by it.  The thing I liked best about The Forest of Hands and Feet was the writing style.  Obviously a zombie story is science fiction.  But Carrie Ryan’s storytelling was so good that I could also imagine this book on the romance, mystery and thriller shelves in a library.      

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A Literary Cliche

Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Shusterman, N. (2007). Unwind. New York: Simon & Schuster

     Books for Young Readers.

 

    I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction that envisions a fantasy world that could be true, such as Harry Turtledove’s alternate histories.  That was what attracted me to Neal Shusterman’s Unwind.  I was curious to see how he would depict the United States after a Second Civil War.

     I thought the initial premise was possible.  When one considers the real-life violence that the abortion debate has already fostered in the form of murders of doctors and bombings of pro-life clinics, I could imagine this country going to war over this issue.  But from then on, I simply could not accept the premise upon which the rest of the story is based.  In our present world where simple spankings are considered tantamount to child abuse, why would parents of the near future accept having their children killed for their body parts?  If pro-life advocates oppose killing a child after conception, why would they accept a compromise that allows that same child to be killed after adolescence?

     I was also disappointed that this story once again has teenagers running from adult government agents who are trying to capture them.  This same setting keeps coming up in so many books that it has become a literary cliché.  I enjoyed the writing style and the character depictions in Unwind, but I just couldn’t buy into the story at all.

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