After Tupac and D Foster

 

Woodson, J.  (2009). After Tupac and D Foster. Grand Haven, Mi: Brilliance Audio.

This was the audio book that I chose to listen to during our YA literature class.

Tupac was a gansta'.  D Foster was a girl who lived near us for a summer.  There were three of us then.  We did everything together. Me and Neeka and D.  Tupac Shakur sang songs that D could understand.  She was more in tune with him.  Then Neeka's brother gets sent to jail on a trumped up charge. 
During that summer we all turned thirteen, and things started to change for us.  Crazy things.  D wanted us to have some of the same experiences that she did and she wanted to feel like part of a family like we did.  We were bonding and then Tupac was shot.  We were surprised when he came back stronger that before.  Then he was shot again; this time he couldn't come back.  The world was all wrong.  We were still there for each other.  Then D's momma came and took her away from us.

This was the first audio book I listened to start to finish.  I decided that I am not an aural learner.  I kept falling asleep and couldn't decide where it happened.  I had to buy the book and read along with the voice.  I loved the genuine African-American lingo that emanates from the CD's.  During this class we had to listen to at least one audio book.  I had been meaning to read this book before but never found the time.  A must read for anyone who found a friend then lost them sooner than they wanted to.  It brought back times in my life when my best friends left to live somewhere else.

Holes

 

Sachar, L. (1998). Holes. New York: Dell Yearling. 

 Newbery Award Winner.

Stanley Yelnats (that's Stanley spelled backward) is framed for a crime he didn't commit.  He is sent to a juvenile camp where he has to dig a hole five feet around and five feet deep everyday.  At the camp, Camp Green Lake, he meets a young boy named Zero.  Zero offers to help Stanley dig his holes if he teaches him to read.  A very mean warden, Ms. Walker, didn't like any of the campers.  She was constantly badgering them to report to her anything that they found while digging.  She was assisted at the camp by Mr. Sir and Mr. Pendanski. 

The story keeps reverting back to the past and events that may have had something to do with what was happening in the present, but you really don't know until the end of the book what it all had to do with things.  In the past, there was a teacher, Katherine Barlow, who was accused of having an affair with a black man, Sam.  The local bad boy had a crush on the teacher and was shocked that she preferred Sam to him.  After Sam was killed, Katherine turned outlaw, Kissing Kate Barlow.  

This story is a good book for young readers.  The plot is easy to follow and the wording is not confusing.  I liked the humor of the author when he named the boy, Stanley Yelnats, the last name is the first name spelled backwards.  The knowledge that we gain is that Stanley and Zero had ancestors in common and were destined to meet.

April and Emse: Tooth Fairies

Graham, Bob. (2010).  April and Esme: Tooth Fairies. Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

April and Esme are  young fairies.  Their parents have been tooth fairies since they were just a little older than the two young girls.  They live in a very small house in a very large field next to a very congested highway.  The house has teeth hanging from the ceiling, all those collected by April and Esme's parents.  The action begins the day that they get their first assignment to rescue a tooth.  Their parents are worried that they have not had enough training and will be seen or caught.  They also have to cross that very busy highway to get there, but fairies fly so that shouldn't be a problem.  They also have to carry a large coin to put in place of the tooth.  They set out on their mission.
When they get there, they come across their most dangerous problem.  The tooth has been placed in a glass of water beside the boy's bed.  It is a good thing that one of the little fairies can swim.  They almost get caught in their actions by the boy, but get away unnoticed.  They make it safely back home to the joy of their parents and they lived happily ever after.

Stories like this are delightful to read to young children.  The pictures are beautiful and the tale is just right for Pre-K thru 1st grade.  After reading to the first grade students, I allowed the teacher to take it to the classroom for the students to enjoy.

Bridge to Terabithia

Paterson, K.  (1987).  Bridge to Terabithia.  New York: Harper Trophy by Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.

I have listed this book with my Challenged Book List.  (Death)

Exposition:  Jesse Aarons lives with his family of 4 sisters and his parents on a small farm outside of town with no neighbors nearby until the Burke family moves in the house down the road.  Leslie Burke is a girl and at their first meeting Jesse doesn’t seem to like her.

Conflict:  Leslie wins the race that Jesse was determined to win.  He tries to hate her but she wins him over by sheer determination. The pair is picked on by the older, bigger kids and try to stick together. After school one day, they cross a dry creek bed on a rope to investigate what was on the other side.  It becomes their new kingdom, “Terabithia” where Jesse and Leslie become the rulers.  Almost everything in the kingdom is formed in Leslie’s mind.  Every day after school they swing into their own little world where they are in charge and they can leave the outside world and all their troubles behind.

Rising Action: The story begins to build when many days of rain fills the creek to overflowing.  Leslie is not afraid to go across on the rope but Jesse is terrified.  He decides not to go one Saturday morning and when his teacher, Miss Edmonds, calls to ask if he can go to the Smithsonian Museum.  He asks his sleeping mother if he can go and she agrees.  He has a wonderful time seeing the exhibits and returns home to find that his family has been frantically searching for him all day. 

Falling Action:  Leslie went to “Terabithia” without him and fell into the creek and drowned.  He can’t comprehend that she is gone and doesn’t believe it either.  His parents go to visit the Burke family with all of their relatives there and he crumbles, yelling and screaming at them that she isn’t dead.  He feels so bad that he left her behind when he could have asked her to go along. 

Resolution: Leslie’s family decides to move away because of her death.  They do not blame Jesse for anything that happened to Leslie but Jesse feels he must apologize to them for not being there for her. They are grateful for his friendship to her because she didn’t make friends easily.  He then allows his sister, May Belle, to go to “Terabithia” with him.

Bridge to Terabithia is a John Newbery Medal winner and has also been on the most challenged book list. 

Mockingjay

Collins, S.  (2010).  Mockingjay.  New York: Scholastic, Inc.

This book has been on the Bestseller List of New York Times Children's Books.

              

The third book in this series was by far the most violent of them all.  Katniss wakes up from her injuries and worries about Peeta.  Did he survive?  Then she discovers he is held prisoner by President Snow. She also finds she has been brought to District 13, the district that had been deserted years ago.  Many who had run away from their districts found their way here.  District 13 is trying to overthrow the capital.  They need a champion to get the other districts to follow along with their plan.  They had intended to use Peeta but he was captured by the Capital.  They ask Katniss to be the Mockingjay, their face of hope.  She will only do it if those who were captured would be rescued and she would get to kill President Snow.  There was a successful mission to rescue Peeta and the others, but Peeta has been tortured for too long and at the first sight of Katniss, he tried to strangle her.  Over time he gets a little better but she never knows if she can trust him.  He convinces them that he is okay to go along with the mission to get President Snow.  When they get to the capital, they discover that they have been set up in a trap.  Only five of the thirteen get out to go on, Katniss, Gale, Peeta, Cressida and Pollux.  They decide to go on in different directions.  She gets within a block of the President's mansion when she notices a barricade which is full of children.  At first she believes that they are going to be let into the mansion to get them out of the cold but suddenly realizes they are for Snow's protection.  Then the parachutes come.  The children think they contain something really good so they scramble for them.  The first ones explode, killing or hurting children.  A fire starts to burn her and she drifts into oblivion.   The rebels are victorious but Katniss realizes that President Coin has gotten her way after all.  When she is to kill Snow she shoots Coin instead.   She did it for Prim, her sister. 

I have a love hate relationship with this book.  I hated that so many people had to lose their lives for the race to figure out what was really happening to them.  I love that Katniss and Peeta eventually resolve their differences and have children, there is no mention of marriage.  I also hate that maybe this could be the fate of the world, not just North America, unless the nuclear war threats are destroyed.  I had a feeling of nostalgia when Kat and Gale would go into the woods to hunt.  I lived near a wooded area and we spent a lot of time there.

After reading the first two books in this series, I was definitely anxious to read this one.  I knew something big was happening at the end of the second book and wanted to know what was happening and how it was to come to be.   My love story playing out.

Hunger Games

Collins, S.  (2008).  The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press.

In a futuristic North America, lies a small nation of Panem.  Included in this nation are 12 districts and a Capitol.  The capitol is the ruler of all the outlying districts and they are harsh to their people.  Each year one boy and one girl from each district are forced to compete in the annual Hunger Games.  They can be only twelve but only as old as eighteen to compete.  This is not a fun type of game; they fight to the death.  There can be only one survivor.
Katniss Everdeen is only sixteen years old when her sister's name is drawn out of the drum, so she valiantly steps forward to take her place.  The other from the district is Peeta Mellark. 

Katniss is fairly competent with a bow and arrow.  She manages to acquire one when the girl from District 1 is killed by tracker jackets (a deadly mutant bee).  She teams up with Rue, a tribute from District 11.  They destroy the food supply of the Careers.  Then Rue is discovered and killed.  Katniss is heartbroken and shows her devotion to Rue when they pick her up.  She later finds Peeta, injured, and tries to heal him.  Together they prey on the sympathy of the Districts and Haymitch sends medicine for Peeta.  Katniss has to go to the Cornucopia to pick up what is needed for his recovery.  She is almost killed by  Clove, one of the Career players, but Rue's partner from her district, Thresh, helps her out by crushing Clove's skull.  There are only four players remaining now, Katniss, Peeta, Foxface, and Cato.  The thrilling conclusion is just that.

It is a must read for all adventuresome teens and middle school students.  I couldn't put it down from the get go.

Hunger Games has been on the New York Times bestseller list for more than two years.

Expositon:  Hunger Games is the story of a futuristic place called Panem.  The main characters Katniss Everdeen, her hunting friend Gale, and Peeta Mellark. They live in District 12 aka The Seam, where the inhabitants exist by sheer determination.  The government makes it virtually impossible for anyone in the districts to get ahead.  Those that have money are in high positions.

Conflict:  Each year two people (boy and girl) are chosen from each district to compete in the Hunger Games in a ceremony called the "Reaping".  There are 24 contestants in all.  There can only be one survivor in each game.

Rising Action:  At the onset of the games, 11 people are killed.  Katniss is fortunate enough to have picked up a backpack that has things to keep her from freezing at night.  She knows how to sleep in the trees so that helps to protect her.  Being alone is good but she teams up with Rue from another district.  She and Rue destroy the food stash of the District 1 and 2 competitors but Rue is caught and killed.  Katniss has to kill or be killed.  There is an announcement that two from the same district can compete together and win as a team.

Climax:  Katniss searches for Peeta, not knowing if he is even still alive.  The last time she saw him he was warning her to run away because Cato was returning to the scene of the bee attack.

Falling Action:  After finding Peeta, she has to heal him before they can go on.  They hide out in a cave and are given gifts from the sponsor to keep them alive.  They end up winning as a team but then the announcement is recinded.  Two people cannot win the games.  They go back to the lake where their backpack is waiting for them.  One must die.

Resolution:  They decide to eat poison berries to end both their lives and the officials decide to allow them both to live. 

Literary Elements:

• Cosmic Irony - Katniss and Peeta are in a situation that neither would have chosen had it not been for the unlucky draw.
• Imagery - Description of scenery, the mutated bees, the mockingjay (how Rue and Katniss communicated with each other) you could almost hear it while reading.
• Point of view - third person limited omniscient - We only know what is going on with Katniss through the entire story.

Chains

Anderson, L.H.  (2008). Chains.  New York: Antheneum Books for Young Readers.

Isabel was the daughter of Dinah and Cuffe, a slave couple.  Her father was sold away from the family and Isabel, Ruth and their mother were owned  by Miss Mary Finch.  Her mamma had just died and it was just Isabel and her sister Ruth.  Ruth was kind of simple, didn't talk much, but Isabel was well learned.  Miss Mary had taught her how to read and they were supposed to be free when she died.  Miss Mary's nephew was the sole survivor of Miss Mary's family.  He would not believe that the girls were to go free.  He sold them to a couple who lived in New York.

New York was humming with talk of the War.  Many Americans were rebelling against King George and England in an attempt to break free of his rule. Isabel and Ruth were placed into the cellar with the potatoes. 

The trait that I chose was  “References to well-known events or people or other clues through which the reader can place the happenings in their correct historic framework.” The part that caught my attention was the plot by the Loyalists and Major Hickey to assassinate General Washington (p.89-90).  I was relieved that the attempt failed.   I felt that Ms. Anderson’s rendition of the battles that took place in New York during the Revolutionary War through the eyes of a young slave girl was very authentic.  It made me see a new side to the war that ripped the United States away from the rule of England and King George.  I was so touched by Isabel and her fight to free herself and her “brother” Curzon on their way to free her sister Ruth.  The pain she went through trying to gain that one ounce of self-preservation had me crying, steaming, angry, and hopeful.  If I could have reached through time I would have tried to help the poor girl, just like Lady Seymour did.  I am so glad that she got away and saved Curzon, too.

I would suggest this book to middle school and young adult readers because of the historical value and incidents that lead to some of the main conflicts against General Washington.