Module 7: After Tupac & D Foster

Book Summary


Set in the mid-nineties, in a neighborhood in Queens, New York, After Tupac & D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson is a realistic fiction book about three 12-year-old friends. The main character acts as the narrator detailing the time in her life when she and best friend, Neeka, met D, a foster child who just wandered into their neighborhood one day. The girls bond over their love for rapper Tupac Shakur, analyzing his song lyrics and following him in the news as the book is set during the final tumultuous years of Tupac’s life until his tragic death. Although they feel an instant connection with D, Neeka and the narrator don’t know much about her life. D is deep and philosophical, but doesn’t share much about herself until the day her biological mother shows up and takes D back. The girls promise to stay friends forever, but eventually Neeka and the narrator loose touch with D. There is also a sub plot about D's brother, a gay man who is in jail because he was framed for the murder of another gay man.

My Impressions


I like how the author portrayed the characters’ interest in Tupac. I felt like I could really relate to that feeling of connection to a famous artist through their songs. This book also brought me back to Tupac’s time, because I was definitely listening to his music since my older brother and sister were into him. I especially remember the last couple of years of his life, which were chronicled in the book, and his tragic death. That was really sad.

This book was a sweet trip back to early adolescence and the friendships of that time. I like how strong the girls’ relationship with each other is. It doesn't have a happy ending since the girls eventually lose touch with D, but I appreciate that because it is more realistic and makes their longing for her more powerful. It's a feeling I can relate to in my life, having had friends move away and being the friend who moved away.

Professional Review

Gillian Engberg (Booklist, Feb. 1, 2008 (Vol. 104, No. 11))
The summer before D Foster’s real mama came and took her away, Tupac wasn’t dead yet. From this first line in her quiet, powerful novel, Woodson cycles backward through the events that lead to dual tragedies: a friend’s departure and a hero’s death. In a close-knit African American neighborhood in Queens, New York, the unnamed narrator lives across from her best friend, Neeka. Then D Foster wanders onto the block, and the three 11-year-old girls quickly become inseparable. Because readers know from the start where the plot is headed, the characters and the community form the focus here. A subplot about Neeka’s older brother, a gay man serving prison time after being framed for a hate crime, sometimes threatens to overwhelm the girls’ story. But Woodson balances the plotlines with subtle details, authentic language, and rich development. Beautifully capturing the girls’ passage from childhood to adolescence, this is a memorable, affecting novel about the sustaining power of love and friendship and each girl’s developing faith in her own Big Purpose. Grades 6-9
(PUBLISHER: G. P. Putnam's Sons (New York:), PUBLISHED: c2008.)

Engberg, G. (2008). [Review of the book After Tupac & D Foster by J. Woodson]. Booklist, 104(11). Retrieved from www.clcd.com

Ideas for Librarians

This book can be used in conjunction with some of Tupac Shakur’s lyrics and writings (Rated G versions, of course). We could explore some of the connections between the girls’ discussions of their “Big Purpose” and some of the themes of Shakur’s songs.

References

Woodson, J. (2008). After Tupac & D Foster. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Module 6: Mr. Lincoln's Way

Book Summary

Mr. Lincoln's Way by Patricia Polacco is about a principal of an elementary school who is caring, understanding, involved, and everything you would want a principal to be. All of the students in the school love Mr. Lincoln, especially when he plays with them out on the playground at recess! However there is one boy who has not been so positively inspired by Mr. Lincoln. He is the school bully, "Mean Gene," and he's learned to be racist because of his racist father. However, Mr. Lincoln does not give up on Eugene. He manages to find something Eugene is interested in and uses this as a way to connect to Eugene and find out what the root of his problem is. Eugene misses spending time with his grandfather and has learned to be hateful from his father. Mr. Lincoln is able to get through to Eugene, teach him about tolerating differences, and find a way to get his grandfather, a more positive role model, back in his life.

My Impressions

In typical Polacco fashion, this book explores difficult topics in a gentle way. Mr. Lincoln, one of the main characters, is the type of adult Polacco puts in many of her stories, the kind of perfect adult role model who is everything for children: caring, observant, intuitive, wise, and abundantly understanding. It shows that many times bullying comes from the bully's own pain, and that well-trained, sufficiently staffed schools are crucial for children, especially when it comes to the crisis of rampant bullying occurring in schools. 

Professional Review

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 14))
Mr. Lincoln, the African-American school principal is considered "just plain cool" and is loved by all the students-except Eugene Esterhause. "Mean Gene" is a bully who uses racial epithets he has learned from his bigoted father. Mr. Lincoln is determined to reach Eugene and affect a change in his thinking and behavior. When he discovers that Eugene has learned a great deal about nature from his kind grandfather, he enlists Eugene's help in managing the school's new atrium. They become deeply involved with the birds, especially a pair of mallards that have nested there. Along the way, Mr. Lincoln tries to teach the troubled child about acceptance and respect of all his "little birds," both feathered and human. When the ducklings hatch, Eugene and Mr. Lincoln lead them safely to the pond where their parents await. Polacco ("Betty Doll", p. 264, etc.) is a master at telling moving stories that gently teach lessons of kindness, compassion, and love. This newest work is only slightly less successful. It is certainly visually appealing, with colorful, expressive illustrations that beautifully enhance the text. Personalities and changing moods are vividly presented in Polacco's signature style. The story, however, seems a bit contrived and derivative. It's a little of "Make Way for Ducklings" meets "To Sir with Love". In fact, endpapers that show a grown Gene Esterhause, now a teacher, indicating there might be more to the story as indeed the flap copy reveals that Polacco based her setting on a school where the ducks and atrium do exist. With that in mind, it is still a sweet story about learning to respect oneself and others, and is well worth the reader's attention. 2001, Philomel, $16.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 6 to 9. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
(PUBLISHER: Philomel Books (New York:), PUBLISHED: c2001.)

[Review of the book Mr. Lincoln’s Way, by P. Polacco]. (2001). Kirkus Reviews, 69(14). Retrieved from www.clcd.com

Ideas for Librarians


Adapted from http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/linclon/linclon.html


Have Storytime participants draw a picture of a bird of any color, size, shape, or kind. Next to the bird, have each participant write his or her name and list the characteristics that he or she feels make him or her unique. For example, have each child list his or her hobbies, dreams, religious preferences, heritage, nationality, or any information they wish to share with one another. When the drawings are complete, create a library atrium by decorating a wall or bulletin board with the drawings of the birds. Allow time for participants to share their drawings and characteristics with each other.

References

Polacco, P. (2001). Mr. Lincoln's Way. New York: Philomel Books

Polacco, P. (n.d.). Activity ideas: Mr. Lincoln's Way activity ideas, "Mr. Lincoln's Way" [Author Website]. Retrieved from http://www.patriciapolacco.com/books/linclon/linclon.html

Module 5: In Darkness

In Darkness, by Nick Lake, is amazing. 

This module was about the "other" awards (not Newbery or Caldecott). In Darkness won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2013. "The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association."


Book Summary

Shorty lives in the densely populated and severly neglected part of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, called Site Soley (Cite Soleil), where residents live in extreme poverty. We meet our main character while he is stuck under the rubble of a hospital destroyed by the 2010 earthquake. He was in that hospital recovering from a gun shot wound as Shorty is a member of a street gang, one of the only options for the youth of Site Soley. We journey in and out of memories with Shorty, learning about his family, his past, and his views on life, while every other chapter takes place from the perspective of Toussaint L'Ouverture, leading the slave rebellion and Haitian Revolution that began in 1791. In the novel, we meet L'Overture from the very Vodou ceremony at Bois Caiman where the slave rebellion really started in history. Through these juxtaposed chapters is an obvious but unspoken connection between Shorty and L'Ouverture.

My Impressions

This book is part historical fiction mixed with magical realism, and it is done brilliantly. While mildly confused at first, once I realized what the author was doing in crafting the novel to alternate from Shorty and then L'Ouverture's perspectives, it served to enhance the book even more. There is a lot of alternating in Lake's story. There are words and phrases in Haitian Creole and Site Soley slang, many not offering an explicit English translation. Lake, a white British man, takes care to not portray Vodou in the racist ways it is typically misrepresented in Western media.

This was a book that I could not put down. While disturbing at times due to the graphic violence, it is certainly not gratuitous and makes the book such a compelling read. It is an important book to read in order to get a glimpse of what it can be like to live in extreme poverty in one of the most dangerous slums in the world, in one of the poorest, most neglected countries in the world. Add to that a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

Professional Review

Shorty, 15, is in a Haitian hospital with a bullet in his arm when the walls fall down during an earthquake. As he waits for help, drinking blood to try to quench his thirst, he remembers how he got to the hospital and the haunting gang violence he witnessed in the slums: his beloved twin sister was taken; his father was chopped to pieces. His mother loved freedom-fighter Aristide, but his father did not. Shorty’s present-day narrative switches back and forth with an historical plotline set in the eighteenth century, when Touissant L’Ouverture, a former slave, led Haiti in the fight for freedom, calling for justice, not vengeance, in the struggle to emancipate the slaves. The constantly shifting narratives, large cast of characters, and cultural detail may overwhelm some readers, and the unspeakable brutality is not for the fainthearted. But older readers, especially those who have seen the devastating footage of Haiti s recent earthquake, will want to read about the grim, contemporary drama and the inspiring history. Grades 10-12
(PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury (New York:), PUBLISHED: 2012.)

Rochman, H. (2012). [Review of the book In darkness, by N. Lake]. Booklist, 108(9). Retrieved from http://www.clcd.com




Ideas for Librarians


This book could be used for a book club discussion with older teenagers. We could have two meetings to discuss the book, one before reading to get the kids prepared--there are violent and disturbing things that take place in this book--and then one after reading. I would give the kids a set of questions/prompts to guide them through their reading and I would establish a blog or some kind of internet venue where I could check in with the group, and the kids could post questions or comments during reading. At the post-reading discussion I would also give the participants resources if they are interested to find out more information, such as information about the country of Haiti, Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian Revolution, the 2010 earthquake and its ongoing aftermath, information about how to help Haitians and/or teens living in poverty either abroad or in our very own community, and the author's website address and links to interviews and/or articles with the author or about the book.


References

Lake, N. (2012). In darkness. New York: Bloomsbury.

Module 4: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

If you were like me as a child, a "lazy reader," you watched the movie The Secret of NIMH and loved it, but you never bothered to read the book it was based of off... until now! 

Module 4 was about the Newbery Award. In 1972, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, by Robert C. O'Brien and illustrated by Zena Bernstein, won the Newbery. Named for 18th-century British bookseller John Newbery, this American Library Association (ALA) award, the first official award for children's literature in the world, is awarded "to encourage original creative work in the field of books for children. To emphasize to the public that contributions to the literature for children deserve similar recognition to poetry, plays, or novels. To give those librarians, who make it their life work to serve children's reading interests, an opportunity to encourage good writing in this field" ("About the Newbery medal," para. 3).

Book Summary

Mrs. Frisby, a field mouse, is a widow with three young children, one very sickly. The family, who during the winter lives in a brick on a farm, must move to their warm-weather home before the farmer plows the land, which their winter home is on. However, it is too risky for Timmy, the youngest who has been very ill. Mrs. Frisby risks her life on several occasions figuring out how to move her family to safety in time. Eventually she enlists the help of the rats, the mysterious farm neighbors who live under the rose bush.

My Impressions

I love this book. When I was little, my siblings and I watched the movie a lot, but it wasn't until taking this class (I am now in my 30s) that I actually read the book. So, now I love the book and have deemed it one of my favorites.

Mrs. Fisby is considered a fantasy and science fiction book, but since the fantastical elements are animals--they talk and do things humans do (not to mention the rats' laboratory-generated ability to read)--it doesn't feel like what I usually think of when I think of fantasy and sci-fi books. Perhaps this is where I have limited myself in my reading life. I tend to think of fantasy and sci-fi as books as books like Twilight (which, in all honesty, I have not read [yet!] and I'm not here to pass judgement on the series made wildly popular by teen girls), with vampires or aliens--supernatural beings, and stories about outer space to which I can't relate. Turns out that fantasy and sci-fi are big umbrella genres, with subgenres I actually do like (many that I probably read as a child without explicitly knowing [or caring] about the genre) and books that I would like now if I gave them the chance. So, what I'm trying to say here is thank you, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and Robert C. O'Brien for showing me that I'm a jerk and a dummy for having brushed off fantasy and sci-fi for so long!

The book is such a good adventure story. I really like how there are several heroes. The rats are heroes and I like that they are portrayed in a positive way. Usually in stories with rats they are portrayed as the villains. The main protagonist of the book is a single mom, Mrs. Frisby. The choice to have a single-mom protagonist is a feminist statement in the simple fact that even though the widowed Mrs. Frisby seeks help, in doing so she actively participates in solving her family's problem and ends up helping the rats, too. Also, the rats are not depicted as typical heroes saving the helpless little lady (she's little, but not helpless!). Subtle political elements like this can enhance the message of a story more than if they were explicitly stated. However, the prominent rat characters are all male; the wives and female rats (who also possess special abilities) are mentioned, but they are mostly in their homes, focused on the domestic (albeit not unimportant) duties.

Another, more known political subplot in this book is the issue of animal testing. O'Brien (nom de plume of Robert Conly) was a National Geographic reporter in the 1960s where it is assumed that he could have had access to the work of a particular scientist from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), John B. Calhoun, who at the time had been conducting experiments on rodents to test the effects of population density. Calhoun thinks his work had an influence on Conly's (O'Brien) book, but Conly remained silent about there ever being any connection (Ramsden & Adams, 2008, 41-44). It is also interesting to note that the animal rights movement started gaining momentum in the 70s, when Mrs. Frisby was published (1971) (Finsen & Finsen, 1994). Regardless of how the plot came to O'Brien and whether he was intentional about it or not, I still think it was brilliant to clandestinely weave political issues into the story.

Professional Review

(Click on book review image for a clearer view.)

Ideas for Librarians


Use this book as part of a theme on collaboration, teamwork, working together, socialism! (j/k... am I?). 

References

Burns, M. M. (1971). [Review of the book Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH, by R. C. O'Brien]. The Horn Book Magazine, 47(4), 385.

Finsen, L., & Finsen, S. (1994). The animal rights movement in America: From compassion to respect. Woodbridge, CT: Twayne Publishers.

O'Brien, R. C. (1971). Mrs. Frisby and the rats of NIMH. New York, NY: Atheneum

Ramsden, E., & Adams, J. (2009). Escaping the laboratory: The rodent experiments of John B. Calhoun & their cultural influence. Journal of Social History, 42(3), 761-792.