Poetry

The two books that I read this week for poetry was Iggy Peck, Architect written by Andrea Beaty and illustrated by David Roberts, and Where the Sidewalk Ends written/illustrated by Shel Silverstein.

Iggy Peck is a fun and creative books that uses a rhyming scheme to tell the story of a second grader with an architectural gift. Since he was two Iggy has creating building and models out of any material he can find; Unfortunately, his second-grade teacher refuses to talk about building as she had a traumatic experience and demands that he tears down his chalk castle.  However, Iggy's skill is just what Miss. Leila Greer needs after a school field trip goes awry. Overall this book is a very fun story about creativity and artistic gifts in kids. I use it in my classroom to talk about imagination and creativity, and how important it is to think outside the box when looking at creating with materials. The illustrations are a perfect supplement to the creative and unique story. they are in an antique-like sketch style that flows nicely with the poetry layout. The end pages and the background of some of the pages are the gridded drafting paper, allowing a discussion on an important architectural material.

For the anthology book, I reread the beloved classic of Shel Silverstein. Like many others, my earliest memory of reading or working with poetry in school was reading (and memorizing) his poems and not much else. However, it is easy to remember why it is so used and loved, the poems are catchy, creative, funny, and relatable yet fantastical, all accompanied by line sketches. The poems range from all subjects, from finding a brother box, to getting eaten by a boa constrictor, and even about the somberness of the 25th of Christmas. They also range in all a lengths, so just a few lines to a full page or two, I think that by mixing in the lengths it adds to randomness charm of the anthology as well and let students who are overwhelmed by lots of text still have an entry point to the genre. The book's silliness and charm is so inviting to readers of all ages, it is no surprise that even after 44 years it is still going strong.

Historical Fiction

For this week I read The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, and As Fast as Words Could Fly, written by Pamela M. Tuck and illustrated by Eric Velasquez. 

The War That Saved My Life follows young Ada during the start of World War II. It is a beautiful and inspiring story that does an excellent job tying in the history of the era. It gives a personalized view of what it was like as children in London and how they were sent away in droves, waiting for someone to take them in, as well as what it was like living on tightening rations. As a history major, I have had my fair share of WWII lessons and facts, but I was so thrilled to see things incorporated in that I had never heard or thought about before. For instance, I knew from the dates that London was not bombed right away when the war started, yet, reading it from a personal perspective, it gives so much more weight to the fact it was over a year of waiting. It was also fascinating reading about the blackout hours, something that was important in their daily life and routing, and yet is rarely mentioned when discussing the war. Overall I think the book did an excellent job giving a personalized view of the war and life in that era, it would without a doubt hook readers interest. 

As Fast as Words Could Fly follow Mason Steele in his town of Greenville North Carolina. Mason helps his father by writing letters about the movement of the local civil rights group; the group shows their appreciation by gifting him a typewriter to help him with his letters. Soon, Mason's father tells Mason and his two brothers that they will be attending a new school, a previously all-white school that is noticeably against the supreme court's desegregation decision. Mason is treated very differently from his white peers, but he keeps his chin up and begins to excel in his new school, specifically in his typing class. Mason continues to practice his typing, and even become the fastest in the school, qualifying him the in typing tournament. Again, Mason is the only black child there, yet he doesn't let that slow him down. This book does a great job at showing what life was like for blacks and other non-whites in the 60's. I think it excels in that fact that it shows it realistically; what Mason's father saw a victory (desegregating the schools) that was far from changing the environment and attitudes of those involved. Mason continued to be discriminated against and they had to rely on groups like the SCLC, the Youth Corps, and the Department of Education for support. I think this book also makes kids realize that when we think of civil rights stories, they automatically assume that it helped bring the two sides together. I feel like many times the endings of civil rights stories climax in a "Remember the Titans"-esque way, with both sides beautifully coming together, with minds being opened and souls being changed. Yet, it is stories like Mason that was much more accurate; the fact that he won his tournament and no one clapped, cheered, or even seemed to acknowledge his victory. This fits much more accurately with the time, and I think it's important for students to learn that that era was marked by small victories like a typing tournament, but was often not acknowledged by all sides. 

Contemporary Realistic Fiction

The two books that I read in the CRF genre are In Plain Sight, written by Richard Jackson and Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, and The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

In Plain Sight is a charming book about a little girl, Sophie, and her grandfather. Every day she comes home from school and goes up to his room where he shares something he has lost. Sophie searches high and low until she is able to find it in plain sight. At the start of the book, I was expecting the story to be some sort of comment on the health and memory of the grandpa, perhaps a hint towards dementia. instead, I was happy to see that it instead hints that the grandfather is purposely hiding his items to carry on the game with Sophie. Pickney's beautiful watercolor paintings give hints that the grandpa is in on the game, namely his winks and the back flapjacket's illustration. In Plain Sight is not a social issue or coming of age story, it is a simple, heartwarming, and beautiful story about a young girl and her relationship with her elderly grandfather. It is very touching to see their game of hide and seek play out.

The Fault in Our Stars is a CRF novel that uses the theme of relationships and romance to drive the story forward. In the simplest terms, it is a book about two teenagers falling in love. While this is a common theme in many YA books it adds in beautiful layers about childhood and adult cancer, family relationships, as well as a love of literature and representation in literature. When I first read this book in 2012 it was a fast and emotional read. I was caught up in the sadness (which I do not do well with, by the way; it is very rare for me to read any books that are known to make you cry), but as I'm rereading it I'm finding that it is the relationships away from Agustus that help Hazel along her way. I find that I'm touched more by her relationships with her parents, her friend, and her author idol that are a catalyst for her journey into her next stage of life. Maybe this is due to the fact that I'm not the intended teenage audience anymore, or perhaps since I'm doing a slower read through it, but whatever the cause is I'm happy that I've found some new layers and depth to a beautifully told story.