We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March
by Cynthia Levinson
Friday, August 12, 2016
Saturday, July 30, 2016
Facts of Life: Stories
Facts of Life: Stories by Gary Soto
Bibliographic
Information:
Soto, G. (2008). Facts of life: Stories. New York, NY: Graphia. ISBN 9780547577340
Summary:
Meet ten Hispanic
youth all personally unique, especially in their stories. Each teen encounters
troubling situations that make them question the boundaries of childhood. It is
through these situations that they grow and come to know themselves. With which
young adult will you connect and grow – Mickey, Ana, Rachael, or Ryan – to name
a few?
Critical Analysis:
Gary Soto has
crafted ten unique stories with which young adults in today’s society can
easily relate. Soto has managed in a matter of pages to create intimate stories
that make the reader wanting more. All of his characters are immediately
likeable and the plots are engaging.
One of the
beauties of Soto’s collection is that reluctant readers may pick and choose the
stories they would like to enjoy without feeling the daunting pressure to read
the entire book; however, it is very likely that Soto’s writing style and
characters will grab the reader and encourage him/her to read each and every
one.
In his work,
Soto takes troubling typical teen topics and makes them accessible to his
audience through his voice and humor. Each time you read Soto’s short stories,
you’ll find something new that you may have missed the first reading through.
Since his stories contain both male and female protagonists, all readers will
be drawn to Gary Soto’s work. Be sure to pick up this collection of short
stories for you’re certain to meet a new friend or two along the way.
Creative Activity:
Facts of Life:
Your Story
After reading
Soto’s short story collection, Facts of
Life reflect on a situation in which you have encountered a difficult situation
or a troubling topic. Find a character in Gary Soto’s collection that could
connect with your story. Craft your story with Soto’s writing style in mind. Share
your story with others.
Faithful Friend
After you have
written your story and identified a character from Gary Soto’s collection,
write your new friend a letter explaining how you would have handled their situation
in Facts of Life. Would you have done
the same thing or taken the same course of action as Soto’s characters? Or
would you have taken a different path? Why or why not? Be sure to explain this
in your letter to your faithful friend. Remember just as you should not judge
them for their actions or choices, Soto’s characters will not judge you.
Related Resources:
Collect and display other collections of
short stories by Gary Soto, such as:
-
Baseball in April by Gary
Soto
Soto, G. (2000). Baseball in april. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN
9780152025670
-
Local News by Gary Soto
Soto, G. (2003). Local news. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN
9780152046958
*After readers have felt success with
Soto’s short stories, be sure to introduce your readers to his longer, lengthier
novels.*
Visit Gary Soto’s Webpage – www.garysoto.com
“Gary Soto, the Art of Not Writing for
Children, and the Public Shame Theater”
Bird, E. (2015). Gary soto, the art of
not writing for children, and the public shame theater.
Retrieved from http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/2015/06/03/gary-soto-the-art-of
not-writing-for-children-and-the-public-shame-theater/#_
-
Read
this interesting article concerning Gary Soto and the big toymaker Mattel and
how this experience changed him. Soto states that he is no longer willing to
write for young adults. The author makes a great point… How might things be
different had this happened now?
Published Review:
Kirkus Review states that the stories in Facts of Life are
“distinct, clearly drawn and
immediate.”
Kirkus Review. (2008).
Facts of life: stories. Retrieved from
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/gary-soto/facts-of-life/
Be sure to pick up a copy of Facts of Life: Stories... there's certainly something here for every reader!
~ Mandy :)
*image borrowed from www.barnesandnoble.com
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham
Children’s March
by Cynthia
Levinson
Bibliographic
Information:
Levinson, C. (2015). We’ve got a job: The 1963 birmingham children’s march. Atlanta, GA:
Peachtree Publishers. ISBN 9781561458448
Summary:
We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s
March follows the stories of four youth during the May 1963 protests held in
Birmingham, AL. Meet Audrey Faye Hendricks, Washington Booker III, James W.
Stewart, and Arnetta Streeter as they travel this tough journey and encounter punitive
protests, strict segregation, audacious arrests, and promising people of the
time, including Martin Luther King, Jr. Their stories are ones you won’t forget.
Critical Analysis:
Cynthia
Levinson’s immediate lack of color and focus on black and white illustrations
make the reader’s initial contact with this book powerful and engaging. Within
the 180 pages, photographs dominate some page layouts, while other page layouts
are dominated by text. This makes this book unique in that although it may
initially appear as a children’s picture book, it certainly is not given the
subject matter and amount of in depth text. In this case, this nonfiction piece
demands both text and illustrations through photographs in order to accurately
show and tell this historical event. They both add credibility.
Levinson’s lack
of color also helps appeal to the historical accuracy of this informational
text. The organization of the book is in timeline format following the stories
of four children directly affected by the 1963 Children’s March. It is evident
that much research and time was put into planning and creating this nonfiction
work. When considering the elements that make an excellent nonfiction work,
Levinson’s book completes them all. Levinson’s work is engaging and accurate in
both illustrations and language, appropriately organized (chronologically) and
documented, clear in presentation, contains specific supportive structures (an index, abbreviation guide, maps, and
factual sidebars), and interests young readers. This work is a beautiful
example of the possibilities of nonfiction for our young adult readers. It is
no wonder that We’ve Got a Job was a
finalist for the 2013 Orbis Pictus Honor Books.
Creative Activity:
Conscientious
Consideration
Imagine if you
were Audrey Faye Hendricks, Washington Booker III, James W. Stewart, or Arnetta
Streeter living in today’s society. How would you/they view the current race
relations in the United States? Consider several important recent events
including those of the five deaths of the Dallas police officers, the events in
Ferguson, MO, and the case of Trayvon Martin in Florida. Have our race
relations changed in the United States since 1963? Why or why not? What can we
learn from these resilient, courageous youth of 1963?
Graffiti Wall
As you
encounter important details and thought provoking pieces in We’ve Got a Job, post your ideas on the
graffiti wall. You may wish to add additional information regarding the
historical happenings in the 1960s and the influential leaders. This wall is meant
to be a reflection of your learning and knowledge on the topic. Be creative…
think graffiti!
Related Resources:
Courage Has No Color:
The True Story of the Triple Nickles,
America’s First Black Paratroopers
by Tanya Lee
Stone
Stone, T.L. (2013). Courage has no color: The true story of the triple nickles, america’s
first
black
paratroopers. New York,
NY: Candlewick Press. ISBN 9780763665487
-
Another
beautiful black and white nonfiction piece that demonstrates the breakdown of
America’s segregated society and celebrates the courage of the oppressed. Readers who enjoyed We’ve Got a Job, will also enjoy the
history of America’s first black paratroopers who fought in World War II
against the Japanese.
The Watsons Go To Birmingham
by Christopher
Paul Curtis
Curtis, C. P. (2013). The watsons go to birmingham. New York,
NY: Random House. ISBN 9780385382946
-
A
fictional account of what it was like to be a young African American child
during 1963 America. This proves to be a good connection to We’ve Got a Job and can allow a reader
to act as a detective to uncover whether the trials and tribulations the
Watson’s encountered are factual for the time.
“How the Children of Birmingham Changed
the Civil-Rights Movement” by Lottie Joiner
Joiner, L. (2013). How the children of
birmingham changed the civil-rights movement. The
Daily Beast.com. Retrieved from http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/05/02/how-the-children-of
birmingham-changed-the-civil-rights-movement.html
-
Share
and discuss this article explaining the significance of the Children’s March.
What connections and findings are factual in comparison to the information
presented in Levinson’s We’ve Got a Job?
Video – Birmingham and the Children’s March provided by PBS.org
-
http://www.pbs.org/video/2365002209/
View this video regarding the Children’s
March.
Published Reviews:
Publishers
Weekly remarks that We’ve Got a Job contains
“powerful period
photos and topical sidebars [that] heighten the story’s impact.”
Publishers
Weekly. (2012). We’ve got a job: The 1963 birmingham children’s march.
Retrieved from
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56145-627-7
Kirkus Review states that We’ve Got a Job is
“a moving record of
young people rising at a pivotal historical moment.”
Kirkus Review. (2012).
We’ve got a job. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book
reviews/cynthia-y-levinson/weve-got-job-1963-birmingham-childrens-march/
Take a trip back
in history with four courageous youth!
~ Mandy
*cover image borrowed from www.barnesandnoble.com
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
How I Live Now
How
I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Bibliographic Information:
Rosoff,
M. (2004). How i live now. New York,
NY: Wendy Lamb Books. ISBN 9780449819609
Summary:
Elizabeth, also known as Daisy, lives alone with her
father in a personal world already full of turmoil and hurt. Things cannot seem
to get worse… That is until Daisy finds out that her father’s girlfriend is
pregnant and has no intention of keeping Daisy around. During her ninth summer,
Daisy is sent to England to live with her unfamiliar Aunt Penn and cousins. Times
that seem to be somewhat comforting, peaceful, and intimate quickly turn her
world once again upside-down as The Occupation take control. Will Daisy and her
cousins make it through alive? Will Daisy find the peace she longs for again?
Will she make it home?
Critical
Analysis:
Meg Rosoff’s style and language immediately pull the
reader in as Daisy introduces her story and sets the stage. Rosoff’s writing is
straight forward and to the point, yet still containing the necessary details
to create a realistic setting and events. She frequently utilizes capital
letters to draw the reader’s attention to particularly important pieces and
even CAPITALIZES all of the letters to stress importance and emotion.
Interestingly enough in the first section of her novel, quotation marks are
completely omitted from the writing, while in the second half after the end of
the war, people besides Daisy begin to speak in quotations. This is an
interesting technique that highlights Rosoff’s unique writing style.
While Rosoff’s chapters are typically short and to
the point, the reader will find him or herself wanting to read just one more.
This is critical to keep this fast paced novel moving forward and to keeping
the reader engaged. Even though these chapters seem short, there is certainly
no lack of detail as Rosoff describes the travels of the cousins, the events of
the war, the horrific aftermath, and the final reunion of the family in this
fantastic fiction work. The Occupation is never truly revealed to the reader,
as one is left to imagine the enemy that is attacking their world. This
omission of specifics leaves the possibilities of The Occupation completely
open to the reader’s interpretation, which adds credit to it being a fantastic
fictional work.
It is no wonder that Meg Rosoff earned the Printz
Award for this first work. Her writing is compelling, embracing, and thrilling.
How I Live Now is a beautiful piece
that any young teen reader can connect with and enjoy.
Creative
Activity:
War Effects
Research other real World Wars. Learn about the
effects on the children. How did these children survive? Daisy contended that
it was important to keep moving in order to stay safe. In Leon Leyson’s novel The Boy in the Wooden Box, Leon tried to
remain invisible. What can we learn from the resilience of these children?
What’s in a Name?
Similar to John Green’s Looking for Alaska, Daisy does not like the name her father gives
her at birth – Elizabeth. She feels that it is fit for a queen. So, instead she
requests that others call her Daisy. Why is this significant? Flowers seem to
show some symbolism through out the novel. What other names that could be
considered symbols would be fitting for the characters in Meg Rosoff’s novel?
Why?
If you could change your name to represent a symbol
of you, what would you name yourself? Why?
Related
Resources:
The Fifth Wave
by Rick Yancey
Yancey,
R. (2015). The fifth wave. New York,
NY: Penguin Young Readers. ISBN 9780142425831
-
Another beautiful novel of a war torn
society over taken by the unknown. Readers who enjoyed How I Live Now, will certainly enjoy Yancey’s The Fifth Wave.
The Boy on the Wooden Box by
Leon Leyson
Leyson,
L. (2013). The boy on the wooden box: How
the impossible became possible … on
schindler’s list. New
York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN
9781442497825
-
There are many parallels between
Daisy’s story and Leon’s story in The Boy
on the Wooden Box. Both stories are of survival in the most desperate
times. Readers who enjoyed either will certainly love the other story of kid
survival.
Published
Reviews:
The Guardian remarks that How I Live Now is “an impressive novel
about war, survival, and teenage love.”
The Guardian. (2013). How i live now by meg rosoff –
review. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/nov/01/review-how-i-live-now-meg-rosoff
Kirkus Review states that How
I Live Now “offers a keen perspective on human courage and resilience.”
Kirkus Review. (2004). How i live now. Retrieved
from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/meg-rosoff/how-i-live-now/
Be sure to check out How I Live Now!
~ Mandy
*book cover image borrowed from www.barnesandnoble.com*
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