Would You by Marthe Jocelyn and Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer by John Grisham: Reviews

In Would You by Marthe Jocelyn, a Sequoyah Award nominee for high school, Natalie and her friends play an endless game of “Would you rather…” – “Would you rather lose all of your hair or all of your teeth?” They also engage in pool hopping, finding swimming pools in backyards and taking a quick dip before being caught by the owners. They work summer jobs, and bicycle around town. All of that changes when Natalie’s older sister Claire is hit by a car.


Natalie and her friends are likeable, believable characters. They are not the coolest kids in school and they aren’t troubled. This novel takes the reader inside a normal family in crisis. It also allows us to see how an average girl reacts to extraordinary circumstances.

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer is John Grisham’s first attempt at young adult literature. Although only 13, Theo Boones is something of a legal expert. The child or lawyers, he has been raised around the courthouse and is very knowledgeable about the legal system. He even provides free legal advice for students in his class at school.

In this novel, Theo is excited about being able to watch the proceedings of a murder trial. This is, by far, the most sensational trial Theo has ever been able to witness. During the proceedings, Theo becomes privy to information about the murder that is not known by the attorneys or the judge. He has to determine how to protect his source without letting a cold-blooded killer go free.

This book will grow on you. Initially, I felt that the legal information might be boring to young readers, but soon the characters, particularly Theo, and the murder trial will catch your attention and keep you reading.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth: A Review

I'd never have believed that I'd love a dystopian action/adventure/love story with zombies, but I did! The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (Delacorte, 2009) is set in a future world where things have gone terribly wrong. Mary lives in a small village surround by the Forest of Hands and Teeth. The forest is populated by thee Unconsecrated whose constant hunger for human flesh leaves them futilely shaking the fences around the village and moaning. The Unconsecrated are a constant threat. If one of them bites you, infection will course through your body causing illness, death, and return as one of them. Society survives in this village because of the Sisterhood, who makes all rules, and the Guardians, who patrol the fence line and ensure that the boundary is maintained.


Mary has reached the marrying age and is hoping that Travis will ask for her, but marriage in her village is about civic responsibility, not love. Instead of Travis, it is his brother Harry who asks for Mary. She never has a chance to tell him whether she will accept since her mother becomes infected by the Unconsecrated. Mary believes her mother has intentionally allowed this to happen so that she can join her husband who was lost to the forest some time ago. Mary finds herself alone when her mother becomes Unconsecrated and her brother refuses to take her in. She is forced to go to live with the Sisterhood.

Mary’s independent spirit and her faith that there is still a world outside the village lead her into a number of difficult situations. Will she be able to survive? Will she be able to be with Travis? Will the Unconsecrated once and for all eliminate civilization? The Forest of Hands and Teeth keeps you turning the pages to find out.

Paper Daughter by Jeanette Ingold (A Review)

In the summer before her senior year, Maggie Chen decides to take advantage of her opportunity at an internship with the Seattle Herald. Her father, a journalist, has been recently killed by a hit-and-run driver, and Maggie knows how proud he was that she was selected for the internship. She is fortunate enough after only a few days on the job to be involved in a potentially huge story about corruption at city hall involving a local builder.


In addition to her summer job, Maggie is doing her best to help her mother, an English professor, with duties around the house. While cleaning out her father’s office, she finds mysterious notes which, along with clues from his past, lead her to believe that her father may not have been who he said. The mystery of her father and the corruption at city hall seem to be related. Could he have been involved in illegal activities? Did that cause his death?

A secondary story about Fai-yi Li and his sister begins slowly, with their illegal immigration to America, but builds as he begins to become part of the new culture and falls in love. The reader is left to puzzle about how his tale relates to the main story of Maggie. All of the pieces come together nicely, however, in the end.

Maggie is a well-developed character and many teens will relate to her search for her own identity. Fascinating details about Chinese culture also enliven the story. This book will be a hit for readers who enjoy a good mystery.

Sources of Light (A Review)

In Sources of Light, Margaret McMullan revisits a tumultuous time in American history – the south in the early 1960s. Some might say that the Civil Rights movement and the struggle for racial equality that are the center events of this novel are not relevant in our modern world. They should consider recent events such as United States Congressmen being spat upon and the target of racial epithets hurled by an angry mob on the steps of the U.S. Capitol or the President of the United States being shouted at and called a liar during a State of the Union address. The bigotry and ignorance of Mississippi in the 1960s seem to be alive and well in society today.


McMullan deals with these volatile topics in a skilled and insightful manner. Samantha and her mother move to Jackson, Mississippi just before Sam begins high school as a ninth grader. Sam’s father, who is from Jackson, has been killed in action in Viet Nam, and her mother feels it’s important for Sam to be near her remaining family, his parents. Neither Sam nor her mother is used to the open prejudice that exists in the community. Both of them find themselves engaging in activities that would stamp them as outcasts if it weren’t for Sam’s father’s reputation.

Sam and her mother both fall in love, but the relationships are thwarted by the social upheaval in the community. When Sam’s mother’s boyfriend teaches her to take photographs, she begins to see the world in a different light. Her photography sets her apart from the events taking place in the community and allows her to see them more clearly.

McMullan creates likeable and believable characters and imbues the novel with a true feeling of life in the South during this period. The reader is able to understand how civil rights divided not only communities, but also families. The novel deals with conflicts both large (civil rights) and small (Sam typical adolescent angst – wanting to be accepted by the “in” crowd but not wanting to compromise who she is).

There are some minor problems with flow in this story. Great leaps in time take place with little explanation. There are also some instances of characters acting without realistic motivation. Sam’s mother will only allow her to attend the well-chaperoned school dance with the older and handsome Stone McLemore if she returns home with her mother at the end of the evening, yet she allows Sam to go stargazing with Stone a short time later, totally unchaperoned. It also seems odd that a high school student has only one teacher. These flaws do not detract from the story as a whole, nor do they decrease the appeal of this novel.

War Games: A Novel Based on a True Story

War Games by Audrey and Akila Couloumbis is the story of Petros, an ordinary 12-year-old boy growing up in Greece in the 1940s. Petros, his brother, and his friends, marvel at the heroic exploits of their cousin who is fighting first the Italians, then the Germans. They engage in small acts of bravery, believing they are supporting Greece in its war efforts. The war becomes only too real when the Germans invade Petros’ small home town, and the glamour and glory of war are quickly replaced by fear.


The Couloumbises impart a true feeling for daily life in occupied Greece. The characters, both Greek and German, and fully developed. The novel is based on childhood experiences of Akila Couloumbis and the novel has an air of memoir.

The Compound

What would happen if your self-made billionaire father was obsessed with nuclear war? Eli Yanakakas finds the answer to this question in a tense, page-turner by S.A. Bodeen. Fifteen-year-old Eli has spent the past six years living in “the compound” with his parents and his two sisters. On his ninth birthday the family fled to underground safety ton escape impending nuclear attack, only part of the family, Eli’s twin Eddy and his grandmother, didn’t make it. Eli is haunted by his guilt about Eddy not making it to the compound. He is also disturbed by his growing sense that his father, Rex, is lying about the world outside. The father’s activities and plans, including the Supplements, begin to lead the reader to believe that the father may not just be lying, he may be insane. Does Rex Yanakakas have ulterior motives for brining his family to the compound or is he actually saving them from a horrible death from radiation? If he is, in fact, insane, can Eli save his family?

Bodeen’s detailed description of this alternate world is mesmerizing. The characters are fully developed and become more likeable as we get to know them. Some content maybe a bit shocking for younger readers, but the novel is recommended for grades 7 and up. It should appeal to both boys and girls. The Compound would be a great choice for any reader who loves thrillers.

And the Winner Is

There were a slew of fabulous books for children and young adults published last year. Two of my favorites recently won ALA awards.


When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead won the Newbery Medal. This is a wonderful mystery dealing with time, friendship, and the challenges of growing up. Sixth-grader Miranda has to unravel a series of mysterious events, and she takes us along for a thrilling journey.

Libba Bray’s Going Bovine won the Michael L. Printz Award. Going Bovine is difficult to describe in a few sentences. Our hero, Cameron, is a 16-year-old with mad cow disease. He engages in a quest to save himself and the world with the help of Gonzo, a hypochondriacal dwarf; Balder, a Norse warrior who disguises himself as a garden gnome; and Dulcie, a pink-haired angel in fishnets and combat boots. Their adventures take them across the country, and, along the way, they meet a variety of bizarre characters. Will they save the world, or is the whole journey a figment of Cameron’s fevered brain? This hilarious book will keep the reader turning the pages to find out.

 

Jumping into the Digital Pool

I am about half way through This Book Is Overdue: How Librarians and Cybrarians Can Save Us All by Marilyn Johnson.  I highly recommend it to anyone interested in libraries and librarians.  In chapter one, Johnson says, "The walls of the library have grown porous now and in some cases are merely virtual, as librarians have come out from behind their desks to servce as active enablers in the digital age" (p. 10).

Do you feel as if you are an "active enabler in the digital age"?  Are you helping students, teachers, patrons, friends, and family understand, navigate, and maximize the capabilities of the digital world around them?  When was the last time you checked out the different options for accessing a real-world audience for student work?  Do you actively engage in social networking? 

Librarians have to enable themselves so that they can enable their comminuties.  The first step in doing so it to dive into the great digital pool.  Come on it! The water's fine.

Image by Klaus Nahr.

What Does "21st Century" Really Mean?

I was working with some great guys from the K20 Center's Alternative Education program last week, and one of them asked a really profound question. Do you think they became obsessed with 20th century education at the turn of the last century? "21st Century" has become a such an overused expression that it risks being watered down until it means nothing. Every grant application we were reading was discussing the importance of providing a 21st century education or teaching 21st century skills. How many of the writers of those grants really know what that means? What does it mean?
For some people, "21st century" has become a synonym for "modern". In education circles, however, 21st century should mean a specific set of skills and disposition described in such documents as The Framework for 21st Century Learning from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills or the Standards for the 21st Century Learner from the American Association of School Librarians. These new standards shift learning from a teacher-centered proposition to student-centered, project-driven, collaborative, and global learning. Technology is an important tool for this type of learning, but it is not the focus. It is important that the educational community agrees that when we say “21st century,” we’re describing the skills we will focus on so that our students are prepared for life after school.

Breaking the Google Habit

A study by Alison Head and Michael Eisenberg shows some unexpected research behaviors by college students. This study involved 2,318 survey responses from college students at six different institutions. It found that they usually began a research project by looking at course readings, but their number one go-to-resource was Google. These students were likely to use the databases provided by their colleges, but they were not likely to consult a librarian for assistance.

Although there are some differences between the research habits of college and K-12 students, I think some of the findings would be the same for public schools. In my experience as a school librarian, the first stop for students doing research was to hit Google. For some students, this was their only stop!

Somewhere along the way, we are failing to help students understand that there sometimes better ways to address a research topic. A student doing research on John Steinbeck would be much better served by starting with Contemporary Authors. They could then find a biography about the author. Both of these sources would give them reliable facts about Steinbeck. Google could then be used to find some nifty tidbits, such as primary source documents, to add to their paper.

So, how do we break students of the Google habit? I don't have the answer to that one. If you do, please post below.

Revisiting the Four Freedoms

The awesome blog, Free Technology for Teachers, posted some wonderful links yesterday to resources for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech.  This was Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address to Congress.  The focus of the speech, as you might imagine, was the threats to the U.S. from outside its borders and the war that was raging in Europe.  Roosevelt discussed the need for more defense spending, which would require tax increases, and stated that American's should "put patriotism ahead of pocketbooks" (Roosevelt, p. 5). 

He also discussed the roots of the unrest in the world, saying, 

"Certainly this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about the social and economic problems which are the root cause of the social revolution which is today a supreme factor in the world.
For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
Jobs for those who can work.
Security for those who need it.
The ending of special privilege for the few.
The preservation of civil liberties for all.
The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.
These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations." (Roosevelt, pp. 4-5)

Have we lost sight of these expectations in the "unbelievable complexity" of our modern world? 

He ended his speech with the "four freedoms".  These are what he called "the essential human freedoms" that every person in the world should be able to expect.  They are freedom of speech and religion and freedom from want and fear.  It seems to me that the first two freedoms are non-existent in many of the countries in the world involved in conflicts today.  They have been threatened in recent years in the U.S.  Hate crimes have been on the rise in some regions.  The political and social climate, which has been referred to as bearing a lack of civility, has been, in fact, an attack on freedom of speech.  When town hall meetings end in shouting matches and the President of the United States is called a liar on the floor of Congress, this is not a lack of civility; it is an open attack on free speech.

It is the last two, however, that truly give me pause.  Do we have freedom from want in America?  I don't think we do.  A story in the Tulsa World today about school closings due to the incredibly cold weather referred to the fact that 60 students in one middle school had no coats.  The Oklahoma Kids Count Factbook for 2009 reports that "almost two hundred thousand (196,160) Oklahoma children live in
poverty. Each year, nearly thirteen thousand (12,911) children are abused or neglected." (p. 6)

Poverty isn't, of course, isolated to Oklahoma.  We see video almost nightly on the national news about businesses closing, unemployed adults who cannot find jobs, families who have plummeted from middle class to poverty.  What has America's reaction been to these tragic events?  Some have rolled up their sleeves and worked to help alleviate pain and suffering in their local communities.  Others, however, protest government programs that would help the disenfranchised.  They are much more concerned about keeping every penny they have than they are about helping the less fortunate in our midst.  They are putting their pocketbooks before their Christian ideals if not before patriotism.

I believe it is time that we look at FDRs four freedoms again.  The "conflicts" in which we find ourselves embroiled are based, for the most part, in the lack of these basic freedoms for the people of those nations.  We also need to remember that charity begins at home.  We need to admit that most of the people needing assistance in this country today, particularly the children, find themselves in the position they are in at no fault of their own.  We need to actually embrace the "Christian values" that are so often espoused.

Another Great Book

The Evolution or Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly is another wonderful children's/young adult book. (It is listed as grades 5 to 8 or ages 10 and up.) Calpurnia Virginia Tate, known as Callie Vee, is a 12-year-old who believes herself to be a budding scientist. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she is the one who studies insects, observes the world, and befriends her grandfather in his "laboratory". Unfortunately, Callie's mother and society in general in 1899 Texas have other plans for her. She is expected to learn to cook and do needlework, when she is only interested in studying nature.


The story is told with humor and tenderness. The reader feels Callie's frustrations and roots for her victories. This is a completely satisfying book.

Hitting a Moving Target

Education in the 21st century amounts to attempting to hit a moving target.  In January 2007, Scott McLeod released a video (an edit of Karl Fisch's video) called Did You Know?  In it, he stated that the top 20 jobs in 2010 would be things that didn't exist in 2004.  An article in the Sunday Daily Oklahoman confirmed that this was true in Oklahoma.  "As a new decade begins, Oklahomans are toiling at jobs that weren’t around 10 years ago, and adapting to modifications to others that have evolved significantly along with advances in technology."  So how do we educate students for jobs that we can't even imagine?  The answer is really very simple...we give them the skills necessary to be life-long learners!

A great number of those skills fall under the loose heading of "information literacy" - how to locate, evaluate, and apply relevant information.  Who teachers information literacy in your school?  In the average public school, the answer is the library media specialist.  There are several problems, however, with this scenario.

First, in Oklahoma during the last school year, 45% of schools did not have a full-time library media specialist.  Even if a school does have a full-time person in this position, he or she is responsible for teaching information literacy skills to the entire student body.  In addition to doing this, of course, he or she is also creating a love for reading; introducing students to new books; buying materials for the library media center, processing and shelving them; circulating materials; collaborating with teachers and providing resources for them; doing public relations for the library (and often the school); and accomplishing a myriad of other duties.

To prepare students for a future that is changing as I write, we must ensure that they are digitally literate.  In order to do this, we must ensure that all schools have a certified library media specialist who can provide the leadership to meet this goal.  Teachers must also, however, be willing to work with the library media specialist and to reinforce information literacy in their daily lessons. 

Ensuring that our students are prepared for the 21st century is a tough job, but it is one we can achieve if we all work together.