Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Passport Reading Journeys Library for Reading Specialists in Williamsburg-James City County


These are books in the Passport Reading Journeys Library for reading specialists at Lafayette High School, Warhill High School, and Jamestown High School. Which of the following books have you read? Which ones would you recommend?





Published in 1968 by Paul Zindel
First Harper Trophy Edition, 2005
Published in 1990 by Laurel Leaf
Author: Caroline B. Cooney

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Passport Reading Journeys Library for Reading Specialists in Williamsburg-James City County


These are books in the Passport Reading Journeys Library for reading specialists at Lafayette High School, Warhill High School, and Jamestown High School. Which of the following books have you read? Which ones would you recommend?


Published in 2005 by Random House
Author: Caroline B. Clooney 
Published in 2006 by Tom Doherty Associates
Author: Elizabeth Haydon
                                                                                                                                                               
Published in 1997 by HarperCollins
Authors: 15 Distinguished Authors
Published in 2006 by Puffin Books
Author: Ellen Klages


Passport Reading Journeys Library for Reading Specialists in Williamsburg-James City County


These are books in the Passport Reading Journeys Library for reading specialists at Lafayette High School, Warhill High School, and Jamestown High School. Which of the following books have you read? Which ones would you recommend?


Published in 2006 by Puffin Books
Author: Richard Peck



Published in 2005 by Puffin Books
Author: K. L. Going



Published in 1994 by Harper Trophy
Author: Sharon Creech
Published in 1967 by Harper Trophy
Author: Robert Lipsyte


Passport Reading Journeys Library for Reading Specialists in Williamsburg-James City County


These are books in the Passport Reading Journeys Library for reading specialists at Lafayette High School, Warhill High School, and Jamestown High School. Which of the following books have you read? Which ones would you recommend?


Published in 1981 by  Random House
Author Walter Dean Myers
Published in 1999 by Amistad and Harper Teen
Author: Walter Dean Myers


Published in 2005 by Disney
Hyperion Books
Author: Rick Jordan
Published in 1990 by Harper Trophy
Author: Avi

Passport Reading Journeys Library for Reading Specialists in Williamsburg-James City County


These are books in the Passport Reading Journeys Library for reading specialists at Lafayette High School, Warhill High School, and Jamestown High School. Which of the following books have you read? Which ones would you recommend?

                                                                             
Published in 2000 by Alfred A. Knopf
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Published in 1977 by Harper Trophy
Author: Betsy Byars

Published in 1988 by Harper Trophy
Author: Walter Dean Myers
   

Published in 2002 by Harper Trophy
Author: Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl by Jerry Spinnelli


Published in 2000 by Alfred A. Knopf
Realistic Fiction

Conformity versus nonconformity. This is the major theme of Jerry Spinelli's book Stargirl. How far should a person go to "fit in" with the crowd? Should individuals sacrifice their deeply held beliefs and who they really are just to accepted by the group? And is it even possible to please everyone anyway? These questions and more are at the heart of Spinelli's novel. I absolutely loved this book and believe everyone could relate to it in one way or another because we all want to feel like we belong, especially when we are in high school. But is sacrificing who we really are just to be accepted by the crowd really worth the cost?

Spinelli's novel is told from the first-person point of view of Leo Borlock, an eleventh-grade student at Mica Area High School (MAHS) in Arizona. In the first chapter, "Porcupine Necktie," Leo describes his fascination with his Uncle Pete's necktie and how he becomes the owner of it. It's not like any other tie he has seen, and he is crazy about it. When he was twelve, his family moved from Pennsylvania to Arizona, and his uncle gave him the tie as a going away present. Because he was so crazy about it, he begins to collect porcupine ties; however, two years later, he still has only one porcupine tie in his collection.

Leo's mother sends a regular feature article about Leo to be published in the local newspaper. The last line of the article reads: "As a hobby, Leo Borlock collects porcupine neckties. One day, he comes home to find a package on his front doorstep that has a tag that reads "Happy Birthday!" When he opens the gift-wrapped package with a yellow ribbon, he finds a porcupine necktie inside. Needless to say, the tie is rather unusual, and the author of the gift is anonymous.

This short introduction to the novel  foreshadows events to come. Leo remarks, "At the time I simply considered the episode a mystery. It did not occur to me that I was being watched. We were all being watched" (2). This is a great introduction to the book because Leo's fascination with his uncle's unusual tie becomes symbolic of his later fascination with Stargirl.

Leo meets Stargirl at school. Her real name is Susan Caraway, but she has a habit of changing her name whenever she feels she has outgrown her old one. Although she dresses flamboyantly, carries a large bag with a sunflower on it, and carries around a ukulele strapped to her back, her behavior seems even more bizarre. She sings "Happy Birthday" to students in the lunchroom everyday, even people she doesn't know; she puts a vase with a flower in it on her desk in every class, a ritual she repeats every day. She cheers for both teams at football and basketball games, attends strangers' funerals, and even carries a pet rat around on her shoulder. She seems to know details of the lives of everyone around her. How does she do it?

The students at MAHS don't know what to think about Stargirl. At first, students think she is crazy and avoid her, but when her crazy antics seems to help the school's basketball team develop a winning streak, students begin to experience incredible school spirit. Hillari Kimble become jealous of Stargirl and tries to turn everyone against her. Dori Dilson is the only friend who stands by her; meanwhile, Leo is developing a crush on Stargirl and can't seem to get her out of his mind.

Although the novel seems realistic on one level, as far as student behavior goes, I couldn't help but think as I read this book that this was not going to turn out well in the end. Stargirl is likable, funny, interesting, and brave; she doesn't care what anyone thinks about her. These are all qualities to be admired, but I kept asking myself, what would happen if someone actually behaved this way in school? I had to keep reading just to find out what was going to happen!

This book is well-written and easy to read.  It's the kind of book you can't put down once you turn the first page. I highly recommend Stargirl for both teenagers and adults! I can't wait to read more of Spinelli's books.

Jerry Spinelli's Official Website
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Saturday, April 12, 2014

Stitches: A Memoir by David Small


Published in 2009 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Biography

David Small's graphic novel Stitches: A Memoir is one of the most depressing books I have ever read. Not one character in the entire book has any redeeming qualities. I'm sorry that David Small had such a horrible childhood growing up in Detroit, a city that, to me, also symbolizes a life of decay and hopelessness. My father was born and raised in Detroit, and it sickens me to see what has happened to that once thriving city. I lived there for a VERY short time when I was a young child and am thankful my parents decided to leave when the crime rate began to escalate and the schools and neighborhoods really began to deteriorate. We moved when we began to hear gunshots in our neighborhood on a regular basis.

The mother, the father, the grandparents, the doctors, the nurse, and even the psychiatrist that was characterized as the rabbit with his ticking time piece from Alice in Wonderland were all characters that I did not relate to in the least. I did not connect with them and wouldn't want to.

I also didn't appreciate the image of the crucifix hanging on the wall at his grandmother's house and the way Christ is portrayed speaking to him from the cross, "He was a durn little fool!" If this family had had even a mustard seed of faith in their lives, things might have been totally different. I don't understand why Small included this scene in his book at all. Christ and the crucifix had absolutely nothing to do with his misery. What was that about?

Small's memoir is sad, depressing, and left me feeling a sense of hopelessness, and I would never want to make my students feel this way. I am thankful there is hope in the world, but I certainly didn't find it in this book. I believe books should speak to the heart; they should touch the heart; they should inspire; they should teach. Life is hard enough. This book didn't do any of these things. I'm sorry to say that this book makes me dislike graphic novels even more than I did before. On the back of Small's book, Jules Feiffer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist has this to say:
David Small presents us with a profound and moving gift of graphic literature that has the look of a movie and reads like a poem. . . . We know that we are in the hands of a master."
A profound and moving gift of graphic literature? A master of what? I'm sorry. I just didn't find this book at all moving. I don't know if this graphic novel accurately portrays the author's childhood, but it made me feel sorry for him and his family. I hope one day he finds peace and joy in his life or has found it, and I hope he doesn't follow in his grandmother's footsteps by ending up in an insane asylum.

David Small, I recommend that you read Christ's actual words from the Bible, not words that you put it his mouth yourself. There you will find hope. Look them up. Christ's words are written in red, and I promise you, he won't call you "a durn fool."