LSSL Book Blog 17-25

Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King (Author A.S. King)

Summary:

King, A. S. (2017). Still life with tornado. New York: Speak.  Sarah lives with her mom and dad.  She was a brother, Bruce who left the house when she was ten.  She is a student who does not want to attend school anymore.  She is an art student and in art class she was asked to draw a picture of any fruit that she wanted.  She selected a pear and was unable to draw the pear.  Sarah began to question her ability as an artist as she was unable to reason with her inability to draw the pear.  Sarah started skipping school and even changed her name unofficially to umbrella.  She become acquainted with her ten-year-old, twenty-four-year-old and forty-year old self.  In all there were four Sarahs that could appear at the same time in the same place.  Her father, her mother and her brother were able to see the four Sarahs.  Sarah became obsessed with coming up with an original idea and tried to find that idea while skipping school.  She talked to ten-year-old Sarah and it was then that Sarah made her recall her trip to Mexico.  In Mexico all seemed well with the family.  She remembered her parents drinking topical drinks and her brother joining them on a trip after a semester in college.  During the trip Bruce tells Sarah that her parents are getting a divorce.  Sarah mentions the divorce to her mother and her mother tells her father of the divorce.  Sarah’s parents are upset and scold Bruce for telling Sarah about the divorce.  Bruce gets upset and takes the wedding bands from the room.  Sarah’s father believes that someone has stole the rings and files a police report.  Bruce returns to the room to learn about the report.  He tells his parents that he has taken the rings because they should not be married.  Their father punches Bruce in the face and knocks out a molar.  Bruce leaves for Oregon.  Sarah has also been hiding a secret.  She had created a head piece in art class that was to be displayed in an art fare.  However, someone steals the piece and the headpiece never made it to the fare.  Sarah feels that Ms. Smith, the art teacher and Vicky the “grand-prize winner” had stolen the piece, because Sarah knew that they were having an affair.  Six years after Bruce leaves, he returns to town.  He meets with Sarah and decide to go see their mom.  During the visit, Chet, Sarah’s dad gets upset.  He starts beating up on the house.  Bruce calls the police and Chet is forced to leave the house.  This is the first time the family has felt peace without fear.

Reflection:

Sara suppressed her feelings and was unable to remember what she and her family had gone through during the trip to Mexico.  This book can read for vicarious experiences.  For me personally, I am able to read autobiographically.  As I was reading the book, I was wondering what had occurred in Mexico and whether something personal had happened to Sarah.  Something personal did happen to Sarah, but I was thinking that maybe she had been sexually abused.  I was a victim.  I suppressed my memory.  It was a sentence my sister made when I was twenty-three that flooded my memory all at once with what had occurred.  I did share my experience with my family, although I never reported it to the authorities.  So, although the book was not exactly about sexual abuse, I was able to relate with how readers read the book.  The following is A.S. King sharing five things to know about the book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8nl0f1IcBY

Moonrise by Sarah Crossan (Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Readers)

Summary:

Crossan, S. (2018). Moonrise. New York: Bloomsbury.  Joseph Moon is 9 years old and lives in Arlington New York.  She has an older brother Ed, his sister, Angela and his alcoholic mother.  Joseph loves his brother and sees him as his best friend.  One day Ed passed the licensure exam and is able to drive legally.  Aunt Karen is so proud of Ed.  Ed somehow convinces Aunt Karen to lend him her car.  Ed takes both Angela, and Joe (Joseph) out for drive.  They come back and to their surprise, Ed takes off in Aunt Karen’s car.  Ed never returns and somehow makes his way to Texas.    One day Ed calls home and tells Joe that he has been arrested for a something he did not do.  His mother walks in and takes the phone from Joe and Ed explains that he has been arrested for murder.  Ed was pulled over by a cop and was asked for his license and registration.  He handed the information to the cop, but was afraid that they would contact Aunt Karen and send him back home.  He decided to flee in the car.  After, he left the car behind he was washing windows at a gas station for tips.  The cops found him and picked him up.  He was charged with murder to his surprise.  Ed had not killed the cop as he had left him behind and alive a few hours before that.  During the interrogation process Ed asks for an attorney, to which the detectives reply that he is on his way.  They asked Ed if he would make a statement seeing as to how his attorney was on the way.  Ed agress and hours and the nights pass by and they are still interrogating him.  They do not feed him or give him water during this time and they do not let him sleep.  He is fatigued and requests his attorney again, to no-avail.  In his exhaustion, he agrees to having killed the cop and signs a confession statement.  As a result he is sentenced to death row.  A few months before his execution day, Joe (Joseph) makes his way to Texas to go visit his brother.  Angela has to work and his mother ran away shortly after Ed was convicted of murder.  His Aunt Karen is upset at Ed and believes he committed the crime and does not want to see or talk to Ed.  Joe visits Ed on a daily basis as he has been granted permission to have daily visits.  During this time, Ed has an attorney that is trying to find a way to fight the execution order.  As the execution date draws near, Angela and Aunt Karen join Joe.  They state of execution was denied and they executed Ed.

Reflection:

Joe loved his brother and believed in his innocence without knowing the entire story.  He was defending Joe, but somewhere had a doubt.  During his visits Joe questioned his reasoning behind his visits.  I think that most people can empathize with Ed.  We live in a world where we will certainly encounter times where we will be treated unfair.  This book can be read vicariously looking at how others deal with losing a loved one.  Not just to the “justice” system, but to death.  Others have been accused of doing things that they have not done.  I think this book opens the reader to vulnerability.  Other books by the author include Two Lives, Two Sisters, One Choice ISBN 978-0062118752; Apple and Rain ISBN 9783641163600

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier (Author Raina Telgemeier)

Summary:

Telgemeier, R., & Lamb, B. (2014). Sisters. New York: Graphix, an imprint of Scholastic. Raina is young.  She desperately wants a sister.  She keeps asking her father and mother for a sister.  After a long wait, her parents Sue and Dennis announce that they are expecting.  She asks her parents if the baby will be a sister.  They inform her that they do not know and that they will have to wait until the baby is born to find out the gender.  The baby finally arrives and to Raina’s delight, she finds that she now has a baby sister named Amara.  Raina is very happy and envisions her and her sister growing up to be best friends.  However, Raina starts finding that having a sister is not all fun and games.  To start with, her baby sister will have to share a room with her.  At nights the baby cries and gets fussy.  During the day when Amara gets hungry, she cries.  Amara gets a little older and Raina things will be better.  Raina is an artist and she attempts to share her supplies with Amara.  Amara takes over her supplies and Raina is a little unhappy.  Amara asks for McDonalds and her mother tells her she has to eat what she has made for food and Amara throws a tantrum.  Things are not as Raina had envisioned, but they do have good days.  One day, they each bought a gold fish and they shared a pet iguana.  Raina’s parents have another announcement.  They are to have another baby.  The family welcomes a healthy baby boy by the name of Will.  Will shares a room with the girls as the family continues to live in a small two-bedroom apartment.  Raina’s parents that she is fourteen and that she will begin a new journey in High School.  Her parents decide that Raina needs privacy and give her their bedroom.  The family unit is restructured.  Her parents move to the living room as they will be sleeping on a pull-out sofa.  Amara and Will share a bedroom and Raina will have her own bedroom.  Amara is unhappy with her parent’s decision and voices her opinion.  As a consolation her parents decide to buy Amara a snake that she has wanted.  The snake only eats live mice, which leads Sue and Amara to return the snake.  On the way to the pet store, the snake escapes and is nowhere to be found.  Two weeks later, the family embarks on a trip to attend a family reunion in Colorado.  On the way to Colorado, the family goes sight seeing and camp out at different locations.  They make their way to Colorado, where they stay with family.  Raina has a cousin that she was excited to see.  When she gets to Colorado, she realizes that she and her cousin have nothing in common.  Amara and Raina do not enjoy the trip, but it is time to return home.  On the way home their van breaks down in the middle of nowhere.  Sue hitchhikes with Will at hand and finds a ride to town.  The girls wait for their mother to return in the van.  During the wait, the girls see that the snake is still in the van.  Raina, despite her fear of snakes captures the snake and places the snake in a bag.  Amara makes a deal with Raina and asks her to consider Amara keeping the snake in return for some batteries for her Walkman.  Raina agrees.  Her mother returns four hours later.  A tow truck carries the van and the family to town.  There they get a bite to eat and they fix the van.  They finally get back on the road.  On the way home, Raina asks her mother about the situation between her parents.  Her mom tells the girls that they needed a summer break from each other and that things would be okay.  Raina decides not to be on the Walkman and to spend time with Amara, which makes Amara happy.

Reflection:    

There is such a thing as sibling rivalry.  I feel that in all sibling relationships we have differences and similarities.  It is an attribute of expressing individuality as a person.  The similarities allow the bonding to occur.  This book can be real autobiographically as we are able to view our journey as a family through someone else’s experience.  The following is trailer of the book https://vimeo.com/127193644.

Samurai Rising the Epic Minamoto Yoshitsune by Pamala S. Turner

Summary:

Turner, P. S., & Hinds, G. (2018). Samurai rising: The epic life of Minamoto Yoshitsune. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Teen.  Minamoto Yoshitsune lived in the 12^th century in Japan.  He was the son of a very famous samurai belonging to the Minamoto clan.  His father’s name was Yoshitomo.  It begins when Yoshitomo, Yoshitsune’s father, invades the palace to kidnap the retired emperor burning and killing everyone in the palace.  The reason he kidnaps the retired emperor is because Yoshitsune’s father assisted the emperor with a political dispute and he assumed that he would get compensated with a lofty title and wealth.  However, that did not occur and he was given the title, Minister of the Stables. Yoshitsune’s father was upset and thus kidnapped the emperor.  A rival samurai leader Taira Kiyomori received the bigger reward.  Kiyomori found out about the kidnapping and began a battle against the Minamoto samurai. 

The battle resulted in hundreds of Minamoto samurai losing their life, including Yoshitsune’s father.  Kiyomori was unsatisfied as he continued in the hunt for all of the Minamoto clan so that they could finish the job.  However, when they got to Yoshitsune and his mother and brothers, Kiyomori spared their life as he found Yoshitsune’s mother beautiful.  Yoshitsune’s two older brothers were sent to the monastery to become monks and when Yoshitsune was old enough, he too was sent to the monastery.  There were rumors all over the land and they made their way to the monastery.  The rumors were about the Minamoto being elite samurai warriors.  There were also rumors about Yoshitsune’s father being murdered so Yoshitsune vowed to take revenge.  Yoshitsune was unaware of the samurai way, but he found a way to teach himself.  In the woods, he would grab sticks and would use them for sword practice.  On his fifteenth birthday he was supposed to become a monk and he ran away to hide in the north.  He selected to go north, because people there did not sympathize with Kiyomori.  He was by accepted the Hiraizumi clan and trained to become a samurai.  He learned archery and sword fighting.  When he turned twenty-one, he took his armor and his weapons and he traveled south to try to get with his brother, Yoritomo.  Yoritomo immediately made Yoshitsune a commander even though he had no experience at war.  Together they went to look for Kiyomori to get their revenge.  However, when they got to their destination, they found the Kiyomori was dead.  They continued with their revenge and attacked the Taira clan.  After a long war they finally defeated the Taira clan.  Yoshitsune became a very famous for his daring attacks, which left Yoritomo jealous of his brother.  Yoshitsune asked his brother, Yoritomo, the commanding officer to be compensated for his bravery, and received nothing.  Yoritomo made Yoshitsune an enemy of the state.  Yoshitsune hid for many years as he had very few allies.  He killed himself and his wife killed herself and the daughter.

Reflection:

We live in an era where many people hire to not get their hands dirty.  I feel that the book depicts a life where the elite managed to get their subordinates to do the dirty work for them.  It is a reflection of local politics, where people gain favors for services.  It also depicts battles among the different political parties.  It is a revolving cycle where the leaders take turns leading.  This book can be read for unconscious delight in that we can enjoy reading about the life of a samurai but it can also be read for vicarious experience just like the local politics.  The following is the trailer to Samurai Rising the Epic Minamoto Yoshitsune https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uP5e35G8WlM.

Losers Bracket by Chris Crutcher (Author Chris Crutcher)

Summary:

Crutcher, C. (2018). Losers bracket. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins.  Annie Boots is seventeen living in Spokane Washington.  She excels in basketball and participates in any sport that is available.  Annie lives with her foster family Jack Howard, Jane Howard and Marvin Howard. Annie’s biological mother is Nancy, her biological father is Rance, her sister is Sheila and her nephew is Frankie.  Annie was taken from Nancy at a young age and has been with the Howard’s for a while.  Annie loves her foster family, but she also loves her biological family.  She participates in the annual city basketball tournament, where she purposely sabotages the first game of the tournament to gain entry into the loser’s bracket.  Going into the loser’s bracket will ensure that she has to play more games even though she is confident that she will win.  The reason she wants to go into the loser’s bracket is so that she might have more chance encounters with Nancy, her biological mother.  When she sees her mother, they interact and hold conversations.  Pop, Jack Howard, is against Annie seeing to talking to her biological family and has instructed her not meet with them.  Against Pop’s rules, Annie continues to find ways to see her biological family.  For Annie, seeing her family is not only to have contact with them because of the love that she has for them, it is also because when she sees her family, she is aware that they are okay.  Annie’s biological family has many issues.  Her sister Sheila was also part of the foster care program, but she was not as lucky as Annie as her foster parents where not as caring.  This caused Sheila to behave like her mother.  Sheila was into drugs and surrounded herself with others that accompanied her with her ways.  Although Annie loved basketball, she joined in other sports activity and one of those activities was swimming. One day during a swim meet, both the Boots and the Howards were in attendance.  A commotion erupted due to Nancy getting belligerent with Annie’s friends.  During the commotion, Frankie, Sheila’s son went missing.  Frankie went missing in excess of three weeks.  Sheila was distraught and ran away from the area.  Later, Marvin, Nancy’s boyfriend admitted to Wiz, a social worker and to Annie that he had taken Frankie.  Wiz, knowing that he was risking his career came up with a plan to re-introduce Frankie where no one would get hurt.  They carried out the plan and reintroduced Frankie.  Sheila wanted Frankie back and the state required she got treatment for her substance abuse.  Sheila was admitted into a rehab center where she later escaped.  The media eventually found out about some aspects of the “plan” that reintroduced Frankie.  As a result, Wiz had to resign.  Wiz was emotionally involved with the case that he and his wife decided to be foster parents to Wiz.  One-night Sheila went into Wiz’s house and abducted her son Frankie.  She took him to the lake and drove the car into a lake.  Fortunately, Annie and her friends found out about Sheila and got to the lake in time to pull both Frankie and Sheila from the car that was already in the water.  Fast forward a year Jane Howard takes in Frankie Boots as a foster kid, Sheila is in jail and Annie is attending community college.  Thanksgiving Day the Boots meet up at a convenience store to have turkey hotdogs.  Everyone attends, Nancy, Rance, Sheila in an orange suit, as she is currently serving time, Frankie, Walter, Yvonne, Sheila’s friend and Annie.

Reflection:  

This book can be read autobiographically.  My brother had a girlfriend her name was Lisa.  They had two children together.  The oldest was a girl who they named Josefa, the second was a boy who they named Amado, after my brother.  My brother and Lisa did not make the relationship work and they separated shortly after Lisa was expecting Amado (J.D.).  When she was ready to deliver, my brother makes his way to visit Lisa in her hometown of Springfield Ohio.  When J.D. was born, she made a statement “Girls with their mommies and boys with their daddies”.  Just like that my brother became a single father.  My brother was and still is a truck driver.  Back in 1997, he was able to be in the truck for months at a time.  As a result, I was J.D.’s caretaker.  I was now J.D.’s mom.  Two years later, social services took Josefa away from Lisa was she was neglected and she was a user.  We live in Texas she lived in Ohio and the paperwork to gain custody had to be filed in every state that the child would need to travel through.  We gained custody of Josefa a year later.  She was four and J.D. was three.  My brother still a truck driver continued working and was out months at a time, so Josefa too became my daughter.  Unmarried with two children of my own.  One of which had been through the foster care system.  My daughter dreamed of her mother visiting.  Once we purchased bus tickets for her to come visit her children, which she never used.  We purchased plane tickets another time with the same result.  What I am saying is that I can totally see that although I love both my children, that my daughter loved her mother beyond measures.  She broke her heart over and over again, but was always hopeful.  She graduated from Texas A & M Kingsville December 2016.  It was also the first visit her mother made since she was four.  Her mother died a year and a half later due to substance abuse.  As you can see, this book was read autobiographically by me.  Other books by Chris Crutcher include Whale Talk ISBN: 9780061771316 and Guys Read the Meat Grinder ISBN: 97800662243517

Rebound by Kwame Alexander (Author Kwame Alexander)

Summary:

Alexander, K., & Anyabwile, D. (2018). Rebound. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  Charlie is twelve years old and has recently lost his father.  He lives at home with mom and goes to school with his best friends Skinny, the basketball player and C.J. the nerd.  He has known C.J. since they were in pre-school and he met Skinny at C.J.’s birthday party.  They have been best friends since.  Charlie’s character has changed since his father’s death.  He is withdrawn and often sad.  In school he has lost the drive to participate.  At home he prefers to read comic books and watch videos on T.V.  His mother still makes him responsible for household chores.  One day he takes a while to get dressed and misses this bus.  He decided to stay home.  This was the first day Charlie skipped school.  One day at school during gym class he was selected to play basketball by the coach even though he was not good.  In the middle of the game, the alarm rang and the game ended.  The alarm followed by sirens and Charlie became ill and threw up all over the floor.  That afternoon, he walks home and finds a note that lets him know there is meatloaf in the oven.  He doesn’t eat what was left for dinner and decides to call both Skinny and C.J.  Skinny was at the park playing basketball and C.J. was out of town in one of her conferences.  Skinny later goes to Charlie’s house with his cousin Ivan to let him know that he found out that Charlie was looking for him and to ask him to hang.  Charlie goes with the boys and during their walk Ivan spots empty bottles in front of old Lady Wilson.  Ivan suggests that they should take the bottles and sell them for ten cents apiece.  Before Charlie could decline, Ivan was already picking up the bottles and yelling at Charlie and Skinny to run.  The boys run towards the convenience store and cash in the bottles.  They buy snacks with the money and each boy retreats home.  When mom returns, she finds snack wrappers and bags in the trash can and the dinner still in the oven.  She questions Charlie on how he acquired the snacks.  Charlie tells his mom that he had taken the bottles from Old Lady Wilson’s house.  Charlie’s mom takes Charlie to Old Lady Wilson’s house and has him confess to what he had done.  Old Lady Wilson was not upset, but asked if he could take the dog for regular walks.  He agreed, but his mother afraid of his change in behavior decided to send him with his grandparents over the summer.  His grandparents lived in Washington D.C.  There he learned how to work and play basketball.  One day his uncle took him to go see the Harlem Globetrotters and, on the way, out he saw his friend Skinny in Washington D.C.  Skinny invited Charlie skating.  Charlie went skating with Skinny and noticed that Ivan was in the vicinity.  That night Ivan got in a fight as he made his way to the rink as he was being followed.  Shots were heard in the rink and Charlie, Skinny and Ivan ran out.  On their way out of the rink Ivan drops his backpack and Charlie picks it up.  The police make their way to the rink and have the boys drop to the ground.  They found Charlie with a backpack that had weed in it.  He was arrested and his grandparents were called.  Charlie had a good conversation with his grandparents and his mother.  Thirty years later his twin boys have graduated from school.  Charlie passed away and had left behind a journal with his wife C.J. to give to the boys on graduation day.  The journal is a diary he works the summer when he was twelve that he spent with his grandparents.

Reflection:

This book can be read for aesthetic experiences and can also be read autobiographically.  We can make associations where many have lost a parent.  I lost my father when I was four.  My mother was widowed at the age of thirty-seven with a 6^th grade education, no driver’s license and seven children.  This allows me to sympathize with Charlie.  I will admit that I sometimes wonder how different our lives would be had my father not die so young.  The following is a book tour for Rebound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U-Tke3pjjU. 

Rabbit and Robot by Andrew Smith (Author Andrew Smith)

Summary:

Smith, A. (2018). Rabbit & Robot. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.  Cager is a mess.  He is an addict on a drug called Woz.  Woz is a drug that is used by just about everyone.  They are especially used by future coders so that they can learn and concentrate or by bonks after they came back from war.  Cager doesn’t go to school nor does he work, so technically, he has no need to take Woz.  However, Cager enjoys it and is an addict.  Billy Hinman is Cager’s best friend.  He is worried about Cager.  One day when they celebrated Cager Messer’s birthday Billy kidnaps Cager.  They offer Woz to Cager, who just won’t say no and as a result ends up compliant and complacent.  Cager is a little off so Billy takes the time to get him into the Tennessee, a transpod that was owned by Cager’s dad.  In the transpod there were about 60 v.4 cogs, which are robots.  The only humans on board were Cager, Billy and Rowen.  They begin their journey and Meg the cog is their all in one service provider.  During the flight the boys the television program Rabbit and Robot.  Cager’s father owned the studio.  The flight was a two-day journey and through the journey they were able to see Rabbit and Robot constantly.  Although the program was ridiculous Cager seemed to enjoy it.  They finally arrive to the Tennessee on the Tennessee.  Tennessee is so big compared to the transpod.  On the Tennessee Cager and Billy went to their rooms.  There Cager begins to have withdrawal symptoms and Billy takes care of him every step of the way.  The Tennessee is loaded with cogs.  There is a valet and a doctor on board to help Cager with any and all of his needs.  Cager visits the infirmary in hops to get some Woz, but there is no Woz in space.  After Cager realizes that there is no Woz, he realizes that he is hungry and makes his way to dinner.  The next morning, they are awakened by Christmas Carolers or cogs singing Christmas Carols.  They later find out that the transpod had left them on the Tennessee.  They have lost all form of communication with earth and no one knows that they are there.  They did advice Cager’s parents of their plan, to no avail.  They were trapped.  The ship suddenly looses control due to gravity and sends the Tennessee upside down.  This releases the animals that are housed in the zoo onboard the Tennessee.  They come across a tiger and a French giraffe.  They came across a visitor ship that had blue people only they were not people at all and they were able to morph themselves into anything they wanted.  They also run into two human girls who had been hiding on the Tennessee.  Meg and Cager became close, but they eventually left leaving behind a code for Cager to use should he want to unlock the lifeboats.  When Meg left Cager was brokenhearted. After a while Cager decides to use the code Meg had left to go back to Meg on Earth. 

Reflection:  This book is fiction and can be read for aesthetic experiences.  It is a futuristic tale of Cager and his adventures.  In the process we can see that the books have some elements of truth.  For example, Woz can be easily mistaken by Adderall as students the world over have taken to the drug to aid in learning and concentration and sometimes our soldiers come home with PTSD. Other books by Andrew Smith include Grasshopper Jungle ISBN: 9780525426035

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green (Author John Green)

Summary:

Green, J. (2017). Turtles all the way down. NY, NY: Dutton Books.  Aza Holmes is a young teenager in high school.  She lives with her mother, who is a widow and they live in Indianapolis.  Aza attends White River High School, where her mother is a ninth-grade math teacher.  Aza has an intrusive imagination that continuously makes it very difficult for her to function on a daily basis.  Her intrusive imagination leads to her worrying about her health to where she has developed callouses on her finger as she cuts her fingers with her nail to the point of bleeding.  This has led to her wearing a bandage on the finger since she was a child.  One day during lunch Daisy Ramirez, Aza’s best friend asks her if she knows Davis Picket.  Aza told Daisy that she did.  Then Daisy told Aza that she had heard in the news that Davis’ father Davis Sr was missing.  They reported that there was a $100,000 reward for information leading to his whereabouts.  Daisy suggested to Aza that they visit Davis Jr. at his home.  She was intrigued and looking for information on Davis Sr.  At the same time Aza remembered Davis Jr. installing cameras outside their home, which she thought was interesting because the news had reported that there was no evidence or leads regarding Davis Sr.’s disappearance because there were no surveillance cameras on the Picket’s premises.  They agree to go to Davis’ house, but decide that it would better to go through the river to be less conspicuous.  Aza and Davis’ house are on the same street and the White River goes through the back of their back yards.  So, the girls cannoned from Aza’s house to Davis’ house.  They began to snoop and found the camera and Aza connects the camera to her phone and begins to down load pictures.  They are startled by a security guard that they see at a distance.  Daisy decides to puncture the canoe so that they can use the canoe taking in water as an excuse for being on the premises.  The security guard takes the girls to Davis and he recognizes Aza.  During the conversation he asks the girls if they were looking for the reward and Aza denies it.  Daisy walks away from Davis and Aza as she recognizes that they need time to reconnect.  While Daisy is walking around, she bumps into the Zoologist, the keeper of a like-lizard creature known as Tuatara, which is more like a living fossil and gives the girls a tour of the dome where the Tuatara lives.  Davis’ father is an eccentric millionaire and even goes as far as writing a will where estate will be left for the Tuatara.  The night comes to an end, but Daisy is not satisfied.  They go back and this time Davis invites them into his house to see movies.  After a while Davis asks Aza to walk with him and he tells her that her that he is aware of the downloaded the pictures and asks if she was had or if she was going to show the pictures to the police.  Aza said no.  Davis goes into a shed and he gets boxes of cereal and opens the box to find cash in the boxes.  He gives Aza $100,000 and told her that his attorney would call her in the morning to arrange the deposit so that there would not be any questions. Aza shows Daisy the money and she freaks out.  After a while Aza started dating Davis.  One of those nights as they were making out Aza begin to think of the microbes and the illnesses that she might have from kissing Davis.  She was having issues with intimacy as her intrusive imagination was always taking over.  One day over an argument Aza tells Daisy of her condition while driving a car.  This leads to a distraction and the girls get into an accident.  Aza is really hurt and is taken to the hospital.  Azas’ intrusive imagination forces Aza to continually think of the microbes that are found in hospitals and as a result has a breakdown.  The psychiatrist changes the meds and Aza goes back to school.  At the end they find the body of Davis’ father and Aza was able to live with her condition.

Reflection:

This book can be read vicariously.  It allows the reader to develop empathy with those who struggle with mental issues.  Everybody has some sort of mental issue.  However, often the driver of the mind is able to apply the brakes to control the action.  However, there are some that cannot control their minds and it is like oxygen fueling a fire creating its own wind.  I think this book is important so that we can understand how mental issues affect people differently.   The link is for the book trailer for Turtles All the Way Down https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3QAPm0FEQHE

Concepcion Gonzalez LSSL 5385 Book Blog 9-16

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Required Reading)

Thomas, A. (2017). The hate u give. New York: Balzer Bray.  The book is about Starr and her inner conflict to come to terms with where she is from and who she is.  Starr was born in the ghetto.  Her dad, Maverick Carter, was a drug dealer and part of the gang King Lords.  Maverick ended up in jail when Starr was eight years old for a crime he did not commit.  He was granted access to leave the gang for taking the rap for the head of the King Lords, King.  Upon Maverick’s release he started working a local grocery story.  The store owner later passes the property and the contents of the store to Maverick.  Maverick works and runs the store and Starr’s mother, Lisa is a nurse and works many shifts at the local clinic.  Starr’s uncle is a detective, Carlos and she has two brothers, Seven and Sakani.  The story begins when Starr is invited to attend a party with Kenya.  Kenya is seven’s sister but not Starr’s sister.  At the party she gets reacquainted with an old friend, Khalil.  Starr and Khalil used to be very good friends as they have known each other since they were kids.  Gangs enter the party and end up shooting a rival gang member.  The commotion forces Khalil to take Starr’s hand and out of the party.  As they were driving a white cop pulls Khalil and Starr over.  Khalil attempts to check on Starr’s welfare.  The cop ends up shooting Khalil in the back three times.  The entire affair sparks up anger in the community as Khalil was unarmed and free of illegal substances.  Starr is from the community but attends a school forty-five minutes away.  There only her brothers and another boy are black.  There is one Asian girl and everyone is white and rich.  As a result, she struggles to find her identity and it makes it difficult for her to speak up and defend Khalil.  Starr even decides to keep the tragedy and her background from her boyfriend, who is white and her friends at school.  She eventually speaks up for Khalil and exposes herself to her boyfriend and friends.  She decides to come forward from the shadows where she had been hiding.  One night, as in many nights, protests and riots erupted in her community and her father’s business was burnt down by King, the head gangster in the King Lords.  The community comes together and decide to “snitch” and as result, King gets arrested.  The family tries to piece their lives back as they begin to clean up and will rebuild the store.  This story resonates with so many on different levels.  I can’t pretend to know how people in black community feel when it comes to seeing their unarmed youth being killed.  I do know that my sister is married to a white man.  They have two sons.  The oldest was a baby and they wanted to take him from her at the Mexico port of entry, because she was supposedly “not the mother”.  Never mind that we are third generation Americans and speak English fluently.  I personally have not experienced anything like that, but my husband has questioned behavior toward me, that I hadn’t previously noticed.  This book can be read for many reasons.  It develops empathy and brings awareness to the violence and the bi-standards that co-exist in a community.  I think for that for many, this book can be read autobiographically where this book justifies and validates the “Black Lives Matters” movement and some can read for vicarious experiences.  The following is the trailer to the movie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MM8OkVT0hw.

#Not your Princess Edited edit by Lisa Cgharleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults)

Leatherdale, M. B., & Charleyboy, L. (2017). #NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American women. Toronto: Annick Press.  The book has a lot of stories from different Native American Women.  One of the stories is about the blanket of shame.  The blanket of shame is a way of living.  The government gives you what you need.  In return you pay with your dignity your respect and your sense of self.  When they leave, they give you a blanket to shield you from the shame.  A shame that should be covered up and not ever exposed.  Another story is about reclaiming the indigenous women’s’ heritage.  This writer explains that for over twenty-five years of her life she was unaware of what it was to be an indigenous woman.  She explains it as if it was a divorce between her and her Ojibway ways.  She begins to explore and research what it means to be an indigenous woman as she is ready for self-reclamation.  In her research she found where indigenous women were characterized with behaviors entrenching within the confines of “Western Americans”.  They were described as being inferior, promiscuous, horse slaves and squaws.  There are stories where the women describe the importance of awareness to the culture and their attire.  For example, a writer describes attire as sacred and symbolic and that we need to stop wearing their style of clothes for Halloween or as costumes.  Another describes her inner conflict and not knowing where she belongs as her father is white and her mother is Native American.  The book is a compilation of indigenous women that have come together to have their story known.  That although they were taking a back seat, that they are ready to emerge and rise to become Native American Women Leaders.  I can associate with being a female because, in our culture, we were told that we were not able to turn the television station to our liking.  The boys would be the ones in charge of what we were going to watch.  We were unable to partake in sports or talk back to the men/boys.  We were meant to be in the kitchen cooking and cleaning.  It was through education that we found our voice and were able to work through the stereotypes that we still see within our culture.  I found this book to be autobiographical for me.  Although, technically I am not American Native, my mother states that we come from Mexican Indigenous people.  I was able to see my story through the eyes of others.  The following is the trailer for the book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hm5UmR7TSs

Grand Theft Horse by G. Neri and Illustrated by Corban Wilkin (Graphic Novels for Teens)

Neri, G., Ruffu, G., & Wilkin, C. (2018). Grand theft horse. New York: Tu Books, an imprint of Lee & Low Books.  The story is about a woman who loved horses.  Her mother is an Indian and her father is white and in the military.  Growing up, Gale always wanted a horse.  When she was fourteen, they moved to Texas and Gale finally was able to get a horse.  The problem was that the horse was wild and she had to tame the horse in order to make it hers.  After months of working with the horse, she was able to tame it.  It was then, that the military family had to make another move.  This time the move was to Europe.  There she took classes in all things Equine.  She later married a military man herself and moved back to the states.  Her marriage and the move to the states was not joyful.  She fell into a deep depression that eventually landed her in a divorce.  It was then that she was determined to have a horse.  She worked hard and eventually bought a horse with other investors, one of which was Clayton, an attorney.  The horse was purchased with the intention of racing the horse.  Gale would train the horse naturally and would ensure that the horse was not injected with steroids and other chemicals.  Eight months later, Clayton and the other associates deemed the horse ready to race.  Against her advice, the horse raced and did not do well.  As a result, Clayton and his associates decided to take charge of the horse’s training.  Clayton was well connected and was able to get a restraining order against Gale.  He was eventually able to get her training license suspended. Thus, they began to inject the horse with steroids and other drugs.  During the training, the horse got a hairline fracture.  Gale was unhappy and eventually “stole” the horse.  She hid the horse and, in the process, proceeded to take legal action against Clayton and his associates.  The outcome was two.  First, Gale regained her training license and second, the order was for her to return the horse.  Gale was obsessed with horses.  She felt that her involvement was helping a horse.  However, through the journey she was able to help many horses and was later recognized as the “horse whisperer”.  The process has brought awareness to the sport and the horses must be drug tested in order to compete.  Although I am not a horse trainer, I think that many can relate to this book.  Often, we start a journey not knowing where or how far the journey is going to take us.  However, the end result may be a positive impact to others.  I was a migrant farm worker growing up.  I can relate to how Cesar Chavez brought awareness on chemicals and pesticides on crops and the impact on the worker.  I can see how this book makes a connection to these types of scenarios.  I feel like this book is read for unconscious delight. Where the reader reads for fun.  I can also see how others read for vicarious experiences to understand the impact of taking a stance on important issues.  Other books with the same topic Stolen Horse ISBN: 9781432832001 or How to Think Like a Horse ISBN: 9781580178358.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour (Printz and/or Printz Honor)

LaCour, N. (2017). We are okay: A novel. New York: Dutton Books.  It is winter break and Marin has nowhere to go.  With the help of the counsellor, she is able to stay at the dorms for winter break.  Her friend Mabel is schedule to visit her for a few days during the break.  While Marin waits for Mabel, she remembers everything that she has been through over the past year.  Marin lived with her grandfather and referred to him as Gramps.  Her mother and grandmother have passed away.  Her father was never in the picture and was never aware of Marin.  Gramps has been raisin Marin by himself.  Marin is a senior and they need to turn in a baby picture for the yearbook.  Marin asks Gramps for a picture, but Gramps tells Marin that no picture of her being a baby exist.  During that time Marin and Mabel attended a party at Tommy’s.  They have a good time and retreat for the night.  One day the girls decide to sneak out of their homes and go to the beach.  Marin brings a bottle of whisky that belonged to Gramps.  That night was the first night the girls were intimate.  The following morning, they return and they continue the relationship throughout the remaining time at home.  Mabel leaves to college a few weeks before Marin.  During Marin’s absence Gramps disappears.  Marin makes her way to Gramps’ room to look for him or check for clues.  When Marin opens the door, she finds many items that belonged to her mother, including pictures of Marin as an infant.  Marin freaks out and runs away to school prematurely.  There she rents a motel week until it is time for her to enter the dorms.  Since her disappearance, Mabel and her parents have been trying to get a hold of Marin to no avail.  Marin does not answer calls or respond to texts.  The first time Marin speaks to Mabel is when she shows up at her dorm during Christmas break to visit.  There is tension in their visit.  Marin is still attracted to Mabel, but finds that Mabel has a boyfriend.  Marin is still holding back from sharing what she has endured and the trauma she felt discovering that her Gramps was missing and that he was living with the dead.  She eventually lets Mabel back into her heart and tells Mabel everything that she had been through.  She and Mabel remain friends.  The day Mabel is to leave back to college is the day Mabel returns to the dorm with her parents.  They all surprised Marin as Ana, Mabel’s mom, Javier, Mabel’s dad and Mabel show up at the dorms.  There Ana tells Marin that she wants to adopt her.  Marin agrees and all suppressed emotions surface.  I feel that Marin endured solitude her entire life.  Although her Gramps was in the picture, he never embraced her emotionally.  She was growing up with Mabel’s parents always in the picture.  In essence, they were always Marin’s family.  This book was mean to be read autobiographically.  Many readers can associate with Marin and Mabel’s journey as they explore beyond the life of High School.  For the most part, most high school love interests disappear as one enters the work force or attend post-secondary schools.  The book has a sense of solitude and despair throughout.  I feel that in that regard many can associate, but I feel that this books finds a way to show how one can learn to let go.  Other books by Nina LaCour are Everything Leads to You ISBN: 9780142422946 or You Know Me Well ISBN: 9781250098641

The Knife of Never Letting Go (Required Reading)

Ness, P., & Ness, P. (2014). The knife of never letting go / With Bonus Short Story. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press.  Todd Hewitt is a young boy that lives in Prentisstown.  Prentisstown is a town in the New World.  The New World is a planet that is far from earth.  There are only men who live in Prentisstown and Todd is the youngest.  According to the mayor and others in town, the women were killed as a result of a germ that was released by the native inhabitants, known as Spackles.  The mayor and the townsmen eliminate the Spackles as they have blamed them for the tragedy and the noise.  Todd is thirteen years old and not yet a man.  He is less than thirty days away from his birthday and his becoming a man.  Todd is an orphan as his mother died as she was infected by the germ and his father later passed away.  Todd has been raised by Cillian and Ben.  One day Ben sends Todd to collect apples from the swamp.  Todd goes to the swamp accompanied by his dog Manchee.  Manchee makes so much noise that Todd gets agitated.  Noise is the thoughts of men and animals.  All men in the New World can hear noise made by the men and animals, however, they are unable to hear the women’s noise.  While collecting apples, Todd encounters an area of no noise.  He can not understand what this no noise is, but he gets spooked and returns home.  On the way home he tries to take a route around the town so that the others do not hear his noise as he has just encountered no noise.  On his way home he is unable to avoid listening to the noise of others.  When he returns, he meets up with Ben, which he then inquires on the apples.  Ben hears Todd’s noise and finds that he has run into no noise and is quickly alarmed. Cillian and Ben have already packed a bag for Todd, which they hand to Todd.  They tell Todd to leave and run and explain that it is no longer safe for him to stay in Prentisstown as the mayor, the sheriff and the townspeople are after him.  Without further explanation Todd obliges.  Todd encounters Aaron on the way out and they both find what the no noise was.  It was a girl by the name of Viola.  Todd helps Viola escape the trenches of Aaron and they run away together.  During this time the mayor and the rest of the men embark on a mission to capture Todd.  Todd and Viola then encounter a town by the name Farbranch.  Farbranch is inhabited by men, women and children.  It is there where Todd finds out that Prentisstown men are not wanted there or anywhere else in the New World.  Todd and Viola continue to run from the mayor and his men.  Everywhere they go, the Mayor and the men kill the people that the encounter along the way without remorse.  They continue on their quest as they can follow Todd due to his noise. Aaron keeps running into them and eventually takes Viola from Todd and almost kills Todd with Todd’s knife. Todd is sick, but he needs to find Viola and runs for days until he finds Viola and takes her from Aaron. It is then when Aaron kills Manchee.  They eventually run into the Mayor, the sheriff and Arron and these encounters occur in cycles multiple times.  The last time Todd encounters Aaron, he realizes that Aaron is the sacrifice who is supposed to die by Todd’s hands.  Todd does not want to kill and Viola does not let Todd kill Aaron as she kills Aaron in his stead.  They run into the city of Haven, where there is supposedly a cure for the noise.  They hope that in Haven they can be safe from the mayor and his men.  When they get to Haven, they run into the sheriff.  They have an altercation and Viola is shot.  Todd takes Viola to Haven to save her life.  There they find that Prentisstown’s mayor, Mr. Prentis has taken over Haven and is now the president.  Todd surrenders to Mr. Prentis as a bargaining chip to save Viola.  This book is reading for unconscious delight.  We can follow the story through a series of books.  I find the plot interesting, I find that there are questions that have not been answered.  Some questions to consider is the importance of capturing Todd when previously people were not followed when they ran away.  The books discuss other inhabitants on the way to the New World, what will occur when they arrive?  The following is a trailer to the book. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPIhj9hVARM. The other books in the series are The New World ISBN: 9780763656492, The Ask and Answer ISBN: 9780606358743 and Monster of Men ISBN: 9780763656652

The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore (Best Fiction for Young Adults)

Moore, D. B. (2019). The stars beneath our feet. New York: Yearling.  Wallace Rachpaul, known as Lolly is a young boy living at the St. Nicholas Houses, known as the projects. Wallace lives with Sue Ellen, his Ma and her girlfriend Yvonne.  Wallace’s father is Benjamin, and he recently lost Jermaine, his brother due to gang violence.  Lolly attends the St. Nicholas community center.  There he works on homework and learns how to Cook. Lolly lives in an area where there are drug dealers and gangs.  Often, there are shoot outs and violence.  His brother was involved with drug dealing and was part of a gang.  Mr. Ali is the director, social worker and psychotherapist.  He talks to Lolly regarding his brother and his recent behavior.  Recently, Lolly has been sad, but he has also been a little angry. Lolly attends regular meetings with Mr. Ali.  At some point, Mr. Ali agrees to let him build in a storage room in the center.  This is great, because Sue Ellen has been asking Lolly to get rid of his buildings in the apartment.  Lolly finds comfort in building or creating buildings and objects with Legos.  Everyday at the community center he completes his homework and then goes into the storage room to work on his Legos.  His Lego projects were his way to cope with what he has just endured.  It is also a way for him to retain serenity in an environment of drugs and gangs.  The building is going great until one day the teacher tells the others of what Lolly had been doing in the closet.  As a result, Rose, makes her way into the storage room and begins building as well.  Rose keeps to one side of the room with no conversations.  Rose is different and everyone knows.  One day during a health fare at the center, Lolly and Rose display one of their creations.  Everyone compliments them on their creation.  One day Lolly and his best friend Vega get jumped by a couple of neighborhood gang members who had been pressuring the boys to join their gang.  This drives Vega to join his cousin with the rival gang.  At the end Vega agrees to not join the gang and Lolly finds a way to hope and to continue to stand his ground.  The book is reading for vicarious experiences.  The books is an example of the pressures that are part of growing up in a impoverished area.  The following is the trailer for The Stars Beneath Our Feet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv20ZnqOr88 .

Between the Lines by Nikki Grimes (Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers)

Grimes, N. (2018). Between the lines. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books.  Darrian is a junior and is thinking about a career as a writer for the New York Times.  He goes and the local librarian to get advice on his career choice.  The librarian advices Darren to find a summer job at the local newspaper and to “study the dailies and to learn about all sorts of writing, including poetry”.  Darren signs up for a poetry class.  Their first assignment is to write a short narrative that would eventually be converted into a poem.  The class does as instructed and they have been assigned the poem for homework.  The students come back the next day, many of which had a difficult time with the poem as they were trying to get their poem to rhyme.  Mr. Ward, the teacher explains to them that poems don’t necessarily have to rhyme.  “A poem…tells a story and paints a picture using words.” said Mr. Ward.  They are to write poems and be ready for open mic on Friday.  Before students prepare for their poem, there is a section that describes their circumstances.  Jenesis Whyte was left in the hospital.  She is black with blue eyes and natural blond hair.  She lives with foster parents and two foster sisters.  At home, the foster sisters are mean and deliberate with ill intended actions.  She resists temptations to avoid being moved as she hopes for a house with a bed and a blanket until the age of eighteen.  Li is Chinese, but her parents do not allow her to learn Mandarin because they want them to be Americans.  Marcel Dixon is a troubled young man.  It began when his father was wrongly arrested.  His father cannot get a decent job as a result and has resorted to drinking.  This has affected Marcel and was recently in a fight.  It was then that was instructed to take Mr. Ward’s class to learn to deal with his issues.  Freddie is a caretaker of her niece, because her sister is a heroin user.  She also takes care of her sister as her mother is a drunk.  Valentina Alvarez is Hispanic and feels the discrimination all over.  She speaks of everyone believing she is an immigrant even though she is an American. Kyle Newton has a heart condition and has a man-made valve.  He takes blood thinners and loves to skate board.  The students have been given a tool and w they share their poems Mr. Ward explains the power of the words within their poems.  In the process the students find that through the journey the poems bring them together sharing in their vulnerability and taking courage to trust one another to help with the self-healing process of their struggling pain.  I feel like this book can be read for multiple reasons.  One can read this book as an unconscious delight.  It is fun it speaks of growth and discovery through relationships and poems.  I also feel that this book can be read autobiographically as many can associate with having a parent in jail and unemployable.  Some students have been raised by aunts, grandparents or friends.  The book is great in bringing to light many issues within one book.  It totally is a book for the reluctant reader.  Other books by Nikki Grimes is Dark Sons ISBN: 9781423102519

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (Required Reading)

Satrapi, M. (2013). The complete Persepolis. St. Albert, AB: SAPL.  Marjane is a little girl growing up in Iran in the 1980s.  She was very into socialism.  Her idols were Che Guevara, Karl Marx and Fidel Castro.  When she was young, she attended co-ed schools.  Then there was a religious revolution and the schools were separated and the girls were made to wear a vails and attend all girl schools.  The boys were sent to all boy’s schools.  The government was micromanaging the schools to ensure that the learning was in compliance with their religious beliefs.  She witnessed a lot of her family members that were tortured and killed by police.  One of her uncles was killed for being a Russian spy.  Her parents were activists and they would protest daily against the religious group in the revolution.  She would always say down with the king, which meant that she wanted the socialist to win.  Marjane was unaware that down with the king meant down with the socialist ways.  In school she was taught that the king was chosen by god.  This is when her father told her the story where her grandpa was the son of the emperor, which made her grandpa a prince.  She thought her parents were conformist but having the conversation with her father made her realize that she was wrong.  Marjane was very vocal and she ended up getting kicked out of schools.  She would always retaliate against the teachers. Her parents decided to send her to Vienna Austria to live with her mother’s friends.  She didn’t stay with her for very long as she was sent to live with nuns.  There she was exposed to different cultures and religions.  She also learned about independence.  Her roommate was German and did not speak French or Iranian.  One Christmas vacation her roommate Lucia invited her to her parent’s home in Germany.  During another Christmas break she stayed at the school.  At one point she was eating in the Television room and got into a fight and was expelled for being belligerent.  She then went to live in a commune.  She had eight roommates that were all male and they were all homosexual.  When she was studying, she met many different groups, such as anarchist.  She ended up going and staying with her friend Julie.  There she found out a lot about sex and drugs.  Julie was open about her promiscuity.  She didn’t have many boyfriends.  The first boyfriend she had ended up being homosexual.  She later found another boyfriend, which she caught cheating.  She returned to Iran, where everything was different from when she left.  She ended up meeting her future husband, which they later divorced.  She found that she didn’t find herself in Iran and returned to Austria.  This book is can be read for a vicarious experience.  It exposes the reader to other cultures and religious beliefs.  Some may read autobiographically as they have experienced war zones in their countries.  Recently, Central Americans have come to the United seeking asylum as the conditions in their country have become unbearable.  The following is the trailer for Persepolis https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qzgQ29vllM.   Other books by Marjane Satrapi include Broderies ISBN: 9780375423055