Module 10: One Crazy Summer

Citation
Williams-Garcia, R.  (2010).  One Crazy Summer.  New York: Scholastic.

Summary
Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern live with their father and Big Ma in Brooklyn.  During the summer of 1968, their father decides that the girls should visit their mother, Cecile, in Oakland, CA.  Cecile left the family seven years earlier, just after seven-year-old Fern had been born.  Hardly a figure of nurturing motherhood, poet Cecile bars the girls from her kitchen and sends them to get Chinese food for supper or to have breakfast at the People's Center.  Run by the Black Panthers, the People's Center provides a day camp for children where Delphine and her sisters spend most of their vacation and learn about justice, injustice, assertiveness, and revolution.  Furthermore, Cecile, known as Nzila (Inzilla to the girls, at first!) has a connection to this much-vilified group of militants.  Though the unrest and political climate of 1968 play an indispensable role in the novel's action, the primary plot centers around the unconventional relationship of the girls to their mysterious mother and their attempt to connect.

Impression
Williams-Garcia skillfully endears readers to her three young heroines.  Personally, I could find many elements of Delphine's character with which I could personally identify.  However, one of the most fascinating aspects of this book lies in the characterization of Cecile.  At first, the girls want to go home; I, too, wanted to be far away from this unpleasant person in the first half of the book.  As the story progresses, however, I find myself drawn to Nzila with compassion and sympathy.  While Williams-Garcia does not let Cecile off the hook as a mother, she very convincingly portrays a young woman who fell in over her head by having three daughters before she could rightly care for herself.  By the story's conclusion, I wanted to hug her, too.

In addition, I have been prompted by this book to research more about the Black Panthers and their role in the Civil Rights movement.  After my preliminary findings, I would be hard pressed to say that its founder, Huey Newton, aspired to the same moral high road that Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., pursued (whatever their personal indiscretions); he seems to have had little compunction against inflicting physical harm to attain a political end.  However, the Black Panthers' insistent demand for justice and firm commitment to empowering African-American people and communities has made a lasting mark in American society for the better.
  
Review
Engberg, G. (2010).  One crazy summer [book review].  Booklist, 106(11), 61.  Retrieved from Children's Literature Comprehensive Database
Starred Review* Eleven-year-old Delphine has only a few fragmented memories of her mother, Cecile, a poet who wrote verses on walls and cereal boxes, played smoky jazz records, and abandoned the family in Brooklyn after giving birth to her third daughter. In the summer of 1968, Delphine’s father decides that seeing Cecile is “something whose time had come,” and Delphine boards a plane with her sisters to Cecile’s home in Oakland. What they find there is far from their California dreams of Disneyland and movie stars. “No one told y’all to come out here,” Cecile says. “No one wants you out here making a mess, stopping my work.” Like the rest of her life, Cecile’s work is a mystery conducted behind the doors of the kitchen that she forbids her daughters to enter. For meals, Cecile sends the girls to a Chinese restaurant or to the local, Black Panther–run community center, where Cecile is known as Sister Inzilla and where the girls begin to attend youth programs. Regimented, responsible, strong-willed Delphine narrates in an unforgettable voice, but each of the sisters emerges as a distinct, memorable character, whose hard-won, tenuous connections with their mother build to an aching, triumphant conclusion. Set during a pivotal moment in African American history, this vibrant novel shows the subtle ways that political movements affect personal lives; but just as memorable is the finely drawn, universal story of children reclaiming a reluctant parent’s love. Grades 4-7

Ideas for Use
Without a doubt, I would use this book in a middle school book display concerning Civil Rights, social justice, or the 1960's, mixed with nonfiction offerings.  I would also use this book in studying the different approaches that King, Malcom X, Cesar Chavez, and the Black Panthers (among others) pursued in extending the boundaries of democratic ideals in America.  

Module 9: The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery

Citation
Springer, N.  (2006).  The Case of the Missing Marquess: An Enola Holmes Mystery.  New York: Philomel.

Summary
Enola Holmes, much younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock, faces the mysterious disappearance of her mother on her birthday.  The chauvinistic Holmes brothers, long estranged from the artistic, ciper-loving Mrs. Holmes, arrive at their ancestral home ready to make Enola into a proper Victorian young lady and to pack her off to finishing school.  Though hurt by their attitude, Enola makes her own clever escape and divines from her mother's cryptic birthday gifts a wish to provide her daughter with a certain amount of freedom and independence foreign to most Victorian females.  In the process, she solves the mystery of a pampered young boy's disappearance from his estate.  Far from being a passive heroine, intelligent, sensitive, and observant Enola -- "alone" spelled backwards -- carves out her own feminine identity with spirit and aplomb despite the limits of Victorian society's expectations for upper-class women.

Impressions
Oh, how I love this book and cannot wait to read others in the series!  I have long been a fan of Sherlock, regardless of his disparaging comments about the female intellect and capacity for reason.  I have also enjoyed Agatha Christie's Miss Marple books, in particular.  The puzzle of mysteries and challenge of teasing them out excites me as a reader, as it has since I picked up my first Nancy Drew in first grade.  Far from buying Sherlock's perspective, I contend that the often highly-intuitive abilities of women bring a lot to the mystery-solving table.  Nancy Springer's invention of Enola Holmes gives brilliant voice to gender roles in Victorian society, challenges the stuffy Mycroft and Sherlock, and provides readers with a spunky, yet vulnerable character who deciphers her mother's puzzles and her own inner workings.

Review
Gray, A., et al.  (2006).  The case of the missing marquess: an Enola Holmes mystery [book review].  School Library Journal, 52(2), 137-138.  Retrieved from Children's Literature Comprehensive Database
Gr 4-8-- In what is hopefully the start of an exciting new series, Missing Marquess features the intriguing, much younger sister of Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes. Enola was a late-life baby, causing something of a scandal in society. Her rather vague mother is a 64-year-old widow who disappears on Enola's 14th birthday. It takes the girl a short time to realize that her mother left her some ciphers that indicate why she went away and how she is faring. The teen reluctantly enlists the services of her adult brothers, who quickly determine that Lady Holmes has been padding the household accounts for years. When they decide that their sister belongs at a boarding school, Enola escapes and heads for London dressed as a widow. There she is able to solve a mystery involving the disappearance of young Viscount Tewksbury. She decides to stay in the city, adopting a number of disguises, and become a "Perditorian," or finder of lost things or people. Springer focuses a great deal on the restrictions placed on Victorian females by showing how unusual Enola's bravery and common sense are, even as she often struggles with conventional reactions. She wants her brothers' affection, or indeed anyone's, but knows that a socially accepted life will strictly limit her freedom and learning. Enola's loneliness, intelligence, sense of humor, and sheer pluck make her an extremely appealing heroine who hopefully will one day find the affection for which she so desperately longs.

Suggestions for use
This would be an excellent book to use in late elementary classrooms and libraries.  One use of the book would be to incorporate Enola's capacity for writing and solving ciphers into an interdisciplinary lesson: students read the book as a class and then devise their own code or cipher.  Then, students exchange these ciphers with each other and attempt to solve the codes.  Perhaps the Navajo Code Talkers could be an added dimension to this lesson as part of an integrated unit.

Module 8: The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Before formally reviewing my selection for this week, I would like to say that I also took this as an opportunity to read Twilight.  I was torn between giving yet more attention to what I believe is an understandably popular but comparatively weak work of fiction and reviewing one of the other, wonderful books I had the privilege to read this week.  I chose the latter.


Citation
Pearson, M.  (2008).  The Adoration of Jenna Fox.  New York: Henry Holt and Company.

Summary

In this futuristic novel, Jenna Fox has survived a terrible car wreck in which two of her friends died.  At the age of 17, she has moved to small-town California from her lifetime home in Boston, a fact her parents explain away by telling her she needs a quieter place to recover after being in a coma for over a year.  Jenna's father heads up a biotech firm; with her grandmother's help, Jenna discovers that her miraculous survival has everything to do with her father's business, much to her horror.  Only 10% of her brain actually survived the wreck; the rest of her has been reconstructed -- minus two inches of height.  Jenna struggles with the implications of this survival, the presence (or absence) of a soul, parental expectations, new friends, and fear of being discovered by the government's agency concerning bioethics.

Impressions
Author Mary Pearson has written a fascinating, thoughtful, and challenging book.  Her depiction of Jenna, her parents, and her grandmother rings true despite its futuristic setting.  Set in the middle of the 21st century, her liberties with time and science are not unfathomable, rendering the book all the more believable.  Nanobots are currently a hot issue in biotechnology; characters discuss past controversies regarding the over-prescription of antibiotics, drug-resistant pathogens, and the money and influence of pharmaceutical companies which prompted, around the turn of the millennium, the establishment of the Federal Sciences Ethics Board (FSEB).

I sincerely enjoyed this book and its exploration of the subjects involved.  Jenna's complex boyfriend, Ethan, helps weave a strain of Thoreau throughout the novel -- exploring what it means to "suck the marrow out of life."  Jenna's earthy grandmother, Lily, provides a foil to her loving, but perfection-oriented parents, Matthew and Claire; one of the conclusions of the book is that "Faith and science...are two sides of the same coin, separated by an expanse so small, but wide enough that one side can't see the other.  They don't even know they're connected.  Father and Lily were two sides of the same coin, I've decided, and maybe I am the space in between" (p. 263).  Pearson has attempted to plumb foreseeable questions raised by biomedical developments, but in doing so, she skillfully communicates the humanity (no matter what percent) and complexity of her characters.

Review
Gallagher, G.  (2008).  The adoration of Jenna Fox [book review].  Library Media Connection, 27(3), 79.  Retrieved from Children's Literature Comprehensive Database
Jenna Fox wakes up from a coma and finds she has lost a year of her life. Her memories of her life before the accident are barely a whisper and she has to learn how to be Jenna Fox all over again. Her mother gives her video recordings to watch, one for each year of her life, and it is clear that Jenna has been her parents’ whole world. As she gets stronger, she senses that something is very wrong. Readers will be on the edge of their seats as, through this first-person narrative, Jenna unravels her own mysteries. The California setting is brilliantly created as a future that has enough connection to present-day issues and events that it makes readers believe it all just might be possible. The questions raised surrounding bioethics, what makes us human, and the potential direction of science and medicine lend themselves perfectly to classroom discussions in both science and civics. Jenna’s voice will appeal to all readers, even those who don’t typically read science fiction. The book’s Web site has a trailer to share with reluctant readers which, along with the beautiful cover, should have them hooked. Highly Recommended. 2008, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, 272pp., $16.95 hc. Ages 12 to 18.

Suggestion for use
As someone who would like to see literature used across the curriculum, this would be a fabulous book to read for a biology class.  Were I a secondary librarian, I would promote this book among biology teachers as an excellent discussion starter regarding bioethics.  Even more ideally, English teachers and biology teachers could collaborate upon a unit regarding this book.  In groups, students could research nanobots, drug-resistant streptococcal bacteria, stem cells, transplantation, drug companies, etc. and provide short presentations to their biology classes regarding these issues while reading this book in English classes.  Teachers could lead discussions prompting students to think about the possible implications or future effects of these current issues in relationship to the plot of The Adoration of Jenna Fox.

Module 7: As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth

Citation

Perkins, L.  (2010).  As Easy as Falling off the Face of the Earth.  New York: Greenwillow.

Summary

On the way to a summer camp, Ry misses his train in the middle of Montana.  His grandfather, taking care of the dogs at home, has fallen into a sinkhole in Wisconsin.  His parents are sailing around the Caribbean.  Ry walks to the nearest town and meets Del, a middle-aged jack-of-all-trades.  Ry and Del embark on a cross-country and international adventure to find Ry's family.  The story culminates when Ry and Del sail to St. Jeroen, Del injures himself riding a windmill, and Ry must make the last leg of the trip to find his parents alone.

Impressions

I had very high expectations for this story after reading Lynne Rae Perkins' Criss Cross.  Despite moments of brilliance, such as when Del and Ry hitch a ride with escaped elderly Carl in an Oldsmobile, this story somehow misses its mark for me.  I would not say that it lacks a plot, but the plot rambles along with "an unusually large number of things going wrong."  I liked the book, but I did not feel a strong kinship with the characters.  In retrospect, they have grown on me.  However, the illustrations of this book, so well-integrated into Criss Cross, seemed to break its flow rather than to enhance it. 

Review

Chipman, I.  (2010).  As easy as falling of the face of the earth [book review].  Booklist, 106(16), 45.  Retrieved from Children's Literature Comprehensive Database

Starred Review* Sixteen-year-old Ry opens a letter en route to a summer program informing him that camp has been canceled because “a statistically improbable number of things have gone wrong.“ He hops off the train in Montana to figure out what to do, and his own series of improbable misfortunes begins—the train moves on without him (but with all his stuff), leaving him alone with a dying cell phone in the precise middle of nowhere. Oh, and one of his shoes just floated off down a river. He befriends a man named Del, who figures there’s nothing he can’t fix (when it comes to other people’s problems, anyway). They set off on a cross-country road trip to get Ry back home and then, due to any number of minor and major catastrophes, to an island in the Caribbean. Ever-placid Del and milquetoast Ry make for affable traveling companions, but the real pleasure is Perkins’ relentlessly entertaining writing. She dabbles just on the clever side of intruding on the narrative, and she infuses her prose with more personality than many could squeeze out of an entire cast. The knock against her Newbery-winning Criss Cross (2006) was a lack of plot, and although a lot of things happen here, it would be a stretch to call this leisurely novel plot-driven. The point is that it doesn’t matter, and wallowing in the wry humor, small but potent truths, and cheerful implausibility is an absolute delight. Grades 8-11

Suggestions for Use

I could see this book as being one part of an interdisciplinary unit.  The travels would be interesting and fun to map out as a class.  This could lead to discussion about traveling, internally and externally.  How do Del and Ry change on their trip?  What trips have students made that changed them or gave them a new perspective?  Why?

Module 7: The Other Half of My Heart

Citation
Frazier, S.  (2010).  The Other Half of My Heart.  New York: Delacorte Press.
 
Summary
The daughters of an African-American mother and white father, Minni and Keira are twin sisters from Port Townsend, WA.  However, shy, animal-loving Minni's skin is light enough to pass as white; outgoing, athletic Keira's skin is dark, like her mother's.  After an opportunity arises for the girls to compete in the Black Pearl competition in North Carolina, they have the opportunity to visit their African-American grandmother and discover their identity beyond the color of their skin.

Impressions
I sincerely enjoyed this book and its characterization of Minni, Keira, their parents, their socially conscious grandmother, and Ms. Oliphant, her neighbor.  Frazier's sensitive exploration of race, family, and belonging prompts the reader to consider these issues, beginning with a scene in which the girls choose dresses for the competition: Minni is encouraged to make herself at home in the dress shop, but the owner scolds Keira for doing the same thing.  They begin to fear that their different skin color will divide them not only socially, but also personally.  Frazier's depiction of Ms. Oliphant makes me want to sit down at her table for hot chocolate. 

Review

Cruze, K.  (2010).  The other half of my heart [book review].  Booklist, 106(22), 55.  Retrieved from EBSCOhost

Starred Review* The idea of being a twin has built-in appeal—a sibling who has almost identical experiences of the world can be an instant BFF. That ideal informs the lives of sisters Minni and Keira, but the differences between the biracial siblings may be vaster than they’d like to think, because Minni’s coloring is white like their father’s, while Keira’s is black like their mother’s. During the summer when the girls turn 11, awareness of how they’re perceived is driven home when a storekeeper in their home state of Washington has a widely disparate reaction to the girls’ browsing through fancy dresses. Later, when the girls visit their prickly maternal grandmother in North Carolina and compete in a beauty contest for African Americans, Minni feels she is the focus of skeptical attention. Not only does Frazier raise questions worth pondering but her ability to round out each character, looking past easy explanations for attitude, is impressive. She also leavens the whole with easy humor and builds suspense over the pageant itself. Will the talented and outgoing Keira win the prize? Will Minni be able to overcome her shyness and shine? A novel with a great deal of heart indeed, from the winner of the John Steptoe New Talent Award for Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It (2007). Grades 4-6

Suggestions for Use

Upon considering this novel, I began to think of other books which explore this concept.  Puddin' Head Wilson came to mind, as did Zora and Me, which I recently read for this class.  I also enjoyed The Green Book recently -- a Bluebonnet selection for 2012-2013.  Because it explores the concept of race from 2010, I think that this book would be a great fifth grade introduction to the Civil Rights struggle.   Minni and Keira visited Raleigh's African American Museum of History and Civil Rights.  Perhaps students could be encouraged to research, identify, visit, and report upon local landmarks for their town's own civil rights historic places.