Go Ask Alice (4-25-13)

 

Go ask Alice. (1998). New York, NY: Aladdin Paperbacks.

Genre: Presented as a Non-Fiction Diary (The origin of the book is sometimes challenged, and publishers have listed the book as fiction.)

Age: 12 and up (I would suggest an older audience due to the graphic nature of drug experiences, some sexual violence, and language.)

Summary: This real life diary chronicles the life of a struggling young teen as she faces the horrors of a life entangled with drugs. This diary will take the reader through the initial drug exposure of someone and the downward spiral that follows.

Reflection: The cover illustration is a prime example of the dark nature of this book and what it entails. The shadowed, half-hidden face is exemplary of what the main girl in the story becomes. Although this book could possibly be challenged by parents or teachers, it is a detailed account of the horrible life that drugs bring. This narrative writing tells a devastating and eye-opening story about a girl that gets caught up in drugs and her life spirals out of control as a consequence. The format is written chronologically as a diary in which the anonymous author tells about her daily happenings before drugs, while on them, and life after. The theme in this story is overwhelming and the editors even plainly noted the purpose of the book in the pages leading up to the diary’s beginning.

“Go Ask Alice” is based on the actual diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user. It is not a definitive statement on the middle-class, teenage drug world. It does not offer any solutions. It is, however, a highly personal and specific chronicle. As such, as hope it will provide insights into the increasingly complicated world in which we live.”

The reader may draw many conclusions from this story, but will almost definitely be outraged at the availability of drugs and angry at the amount of devastation to a person’s life caused by drugs.

I would recommend this book to any young adult, because I think that hearing a first-person account of how drugs can be so enticing and then ruin your life would be eye-opening for many teenagers.

I would ask the students to keep a diary as well about how they are feeling after certain sections of the book. I would also ask students to write questions they would like to ask the main girl in the story and what they would like to tell her. It would be a great way to let the students know about local resources to help people who are in trouble and battling with these same issues.

Book Talk: Runaround (4-13-13)

 

Hemphill, H. (2007). Runaround. Asheville, N.C: Front Street. 

Have you even been in love? If not, would you like to be? You will fall in love with the eleven-year-old main character, Sassy, who is ready for love herself. Except there is a problem… she’s not sure how to get a boy to like her! Read along and laugh, cry, and be thoroughly embarrassed with Sassy as she tries her best to find the kind of love she reads about (secretly) in her favorite “Love Confessions” magazines. Without a mother to ask her questions to, Sassy enlists the help of those around her. Ms. Dallas, the baby-sitter, Lula her older sister, and her father have their own (and very different) ways of teaching Sassy about love, but nothing prepares her for the whirlwind that is Boon Chisholm. With his older-than-her charms, reputation around town, and flirty demeanor, she’s sure to find what she’s looking for. Or won’t she? Although this novel is set in the 1960’s, in the heart of Kentucky, nothing about love and life has changed. Anybody who reads this is sure to relate to the loveable, yet tomboyish Sassy, who is on her quest for love. Sassy finally gets the nerve to tell Boon how she feels…

“Finally, she drew a heart on clean paper and wrote in a clear, solid hand. ST + BC Forever. Do you feel the same?”

Will Sassy find true love?

Read Helen Hemphill’s Runaround to find out the answer, along with discovering  all of the bumps in the road of finding your first love, growing up, and discovering what all the fuss is about.  

The Skin I'm In (4-1-13)

Flake, S. (1998). The skin I'm in. New York: Jump at the Sun/Hyperion Books for Children. 

Genre: Multicultural

Age: 10 and up (Young Adult Chapter Book) 

Summary: In this eye-opening tale about a 13-year-old girl named Maleeka, readers are taken through a journey of a young girl who is ashamed of the color of her skin and her homemade clothes. Maleeka is getting along just fine by trading homework for pretty clothes with the mean-talking Charlese, but things get stirred up when a new teacher comes into town and joins the staff. Ms. Saunders, in her fancy outfits, takes the school by surprise when she puts hope into the minds of many students at McClenton Middle School, including Maleeka Madison. Ms. Saunders has a rare skin condition that the middle schoolers love to make fun of, but her struggle with self-esteem and new-found confidence is an inspiration for girls like Maleeka.

Reflection: This multicultural tale of a young girl named Maleeka was both heart-breaking and inspiring. The young African American girl has skin darker than most girls of her race and she struggles to find peace with this and the loss of her father. Maleeka is the protagonist in the story, because it is from her first person narrative point of view, we learn about her struggle within. The story is even written with a tone and language specific to her. For example: On page 16, it says, “When the second bell rings, I run to Miss Saunders’s class like somebody set my shoes on fire. It don’t help none. Soon as I walk in, I know I’m in trouble. Everybody’s got their head down and they’re writing. Miss Saunders nods for me to take out paper and get to my seat. ‘What does your face say to the world?’ is written on the blackboard. I laugh, only it comes out like a sneeze through my nose.” Although there are other types of conflict in the story, the main conflict is person vs. self, because Maleeka is struggling to find a confidence in herself she never knew she had. She is becoming more comfortable with the way she looks and finding things she is good at, such as writing. For example, on page 119, Maleeka comes to a profound realization, “Some of us is the wrong color. Some is the wrong size or got the wrong face. But that doesn’t make us wrong people, now does it?”  This reminds me of myself in middle and high school. (Text-to-Self Connection) Although I did not struggle with color identity, I was always worried about how I looked and how I fit in. I worried all the time about what people thought and I never realized that I had many special talents that made me different from my classmates. I think many students in middle and high school could relate to this main character and her struggle. As a teacher, it would be interesting to ask students what they imagine Maleeka is doing with her life now or ask them how Ms. Saunders got so many students to believe in themselves and how she was different from the rest of the staff at the middle school. I would recommend this to many students at this age, because it gives them the opportunity to see the world from a difference perspective and learn that although we all have differences, we are more alike than we know. 

My favorite quote from the whole book is when Maleeka writes in her diary and shows the reader the changes that are happening within her mind. 

Dear Diary:

Remember the acorn.  Even when you don't see it growing, it's pushing past the dirt.  Reaching for the sun.  Growing Stronger.

-Maleeka

Both Sides of Time (3-24-13)

Cooney, C. B. (1995). Both sides of time. New York: Delacorte Press.

Age: 12 and up

Genre: Modern Fantasy

Summary: Annie Lockwood is girl who wants true romance. She wants the kind of romance she isn’t able to find in the year 1995, with her current boyfriend Sean. Lost in her thoughts and hopes, she visits an old mansion that is about to be torn down and is whisked away to another time. In the year 1895, Annie experiences true romance, gets caught up in a murder mystery, and finds out what it’s like to be adored, courted, and loved by a man all at the same time. All the while, back in 1995, her family needs her desperately, with big changes on the horizon for her mom and dad.

Reflection: I was swept away in this suspenseful, romance novel. Although the bittersweet love story was enough to keep the reader intrigued, Caroline B. Cooney added the phenomenon of time travel to make this fantasy book a must-read.  I have read many different Caroline B. Cooney books, but somehow missed this time traveling series in my young adult years. The main character, Annie Lockwood, is a relatable character for students in middle and high school. Students at this age are beginning to truly experience relationships for the first time, and many girls yearn for the type of romance they read about in books and see in movies.

The captivating plot draws the reader in with the romance of Annie Lockwood and Strat, but continues to add suspense to the story with the murder of a servant in Strat’s family mansion. The setting of this part of the story is integral to the plot, because the courting of woman, the expectations of a gentleman, and the money-first view of marriage was prevalent during this time period.  Annie wouldn’t have likely found this type of romance had she traveled to the future, because Annie alluded to the fact that romance is somewhat pitiful in the current century. The author truly helps the reader know and understand a few of the characters through their thoughts and actions, although the story was told in a third-person-sympathetic (or limited) omniscient point of view.

The cliffhanger of an ending leaves the reader on the edge of their seats wondering where Annie will travel next. The rest of the series should be an easy and necessary read. I would definitely recommend this book to a young adult who loves mystery, suspense, time travel, and romance!

With students, using the Mark My Word comprehension strategy, I would point out the words “forthwith”, “precariously”, and “reproachful” and challenge the students to use them at least once throughout the week.

Here are some great questions as ask students after reading this book:

Would you rather live in 1895 or 1995? Why?

What do you think the consequences would have been if Annie stayed in 1895?

After reading the last paragraph of the book, to what point in time do you think Annie will travel? 

Read the other captivating stories in The Time Travelers series: Out of Time, For All Time and Prisoner of Time