Tales from Outer Suburbia

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Tan, Shaun. 2006. TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA. New York: Arthur A. Levine Books. ISBN 9780545055871

PLOT SUMMARY

In this short story collection, Shaun Tan teaches us what really happens in suburbia through clever text and oddly eclectic artwork. Each of the fifteen stories deals with an occurrence in suburbia and how the suburbanites react (or are so oblivious that they don’t even notice when, say, stick figures invade the neighborhood).  The stories involve a strange cast of characters, but ultimately teach lessons about life and those around us.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Most striking is Tan’s beautiful artwork which accompanies each tale.  It may be hard to decide if it’s the artwork or the text that creates the power behind this work, as they fuse together so perfectly.  With no specific setting, beyond the suburban area, the reader can muse that this may be his or her town that is being described.  Certainly a distant cry from realism, the book is down-to-earth enough that it may cause the reader to pay a bit more attention to the neighborhood. Between foreign exchange students who are actually miniscule aliens and a large water buffalo who gives the best guidance, fans may be surprised to find how much they learn about the world from these short tales. TALES FROM OUTER SUBURBIA is a true delight to read and one that should be enjoyed time and time again.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Australian Book Industry Award for Illustrated Book of the Year (2009)

World Fantasy Award Nominee for Best Collection (2009)

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “While somewhat hard to place due to the unusual nature of the piece, this book is a small treasure, or, rather, a collection of treasures.”

BOOKLIST: “The thoughtful and engaged reader will take from these stories an experience as deep and profound as with anything he or she has ever read.”

CONNECTIONS

Certainly Shaun Tan’s other works deserve a read:

Tan, Shaun. THE ARRIVAL. ISBN 978-0439895293

Tan, Shaun. LOST AND FOUND. ISBN 978-054229241

And for a little insight into the world and the art of the author, check out:

Tan,Shaun. BIRD KING AND OTHER SKETCHES. ISBN 978-1848770508

When You Reach Me

 

Unabridged version: 5 cds
Single reader: Cynthia Holloway

Sound quality: Very clear reading with appropriate volume.  There is no background noise or static.
Reading:  Holloway uses multiple voices for multiple characters, but remains consistent throughout the reading.

Listening: The listening experience was engaging and interesting. The reading remained enjoyable from the beginning to the end, with no lulls in between. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stead, Rebecca. 2010.WHEN YOU REACH ME. New York: Yearling. ISBN 978-0375850868.

PLOT SUMMARY

Miranda is a sixth-grader whose life has suddenly become very confusing. Her best friend doesn’t want to see her after he is attacked on the street, and then these notes start showing up. Each note is more confusing than the last, and as Miranda starts to figure things out, she still can’t understand what’s happening. All she knows is that if things work out correctly, two lives will be saved.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The novel describes life in 1979 New York in such a way that readers can easily imagine the surroundings.  In the same way, Miranda’s words and her take on life is like eavesdropping on a conversation.  You’re not involved, but you feel like you are.  Miranda’s conflicts are reminiscent of friendships in middle school, allowing readers to connect to her and the challenges life presents.  And behind it all, a bizarre mystery is unfolding.  The reader has the pleasure to have just as many clues as Miranda, which makes the ending truly an eye-opening surprise.The audio version provided a feeling of ‘a good friend telling a story’ whereas the text version felt a bit less personal.  A combination of audio and text would allow the greatest connection to the story.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Newbery Medal winner

Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Books

Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “This unusual, thought-provoking mystery will appeal to several types of readers.
BOOKLIST: “The '70s New York setting is an honest reverberation of the era; the mental gymnastics required of readers are invigorating; and the characters, children and adults, are honest bits of humanity no matter in what place or time their souls rest.”

CONNECTIONS

Readers would be interested in reading the book Miranda was obsessed with:

L’Engle, Madeline. A WRINKLE IN TIME. ISBN 978-0374386160

Other Rebecca Stead books:

Stead, Rebecca. FIRST LIGHT. ISBN 978-0440422228

Stead, Rebecca. LIAR & SPY. ISBN 978-0385737432

The Fault in Our Stars

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Green, John. 2012.THE FAULT IN OUR STARS. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 978-0-525-47881-2.

PLOT SUMMARY

Hazel Lancaster has battled for cancer for years, and knows that ultimately, she is described as having a terminal diagnosis.  Her life has become predictable in the ordinary day-to-day struggles that having nearly non-working lungs present.  Predictable until she meets Augustus Waters at a cancer support group.  Together, Augustus and Hazel navigate the struggles of life with cancer and understanding the mark that each of us make simply by being alive.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Even after finishing the book, I can’t help but wonder how Hazel is doing and wish I could become true friends with her. John Green’s characters became real in his most recent work and are every bit John Greenish as they can be.  Fans of the author are awarded with Green’s typical high-level vocabulary and sardonic teenage quips, but this book is far more realistic than any other work.  Despite my limited experience with cancer, readers will understand the struggles the characters face trying to prolong the days they have on Earth.

 

Set in ‘anywhere USA’, readers are able to supplement the setting as anywhere that the reader holds close.  More than anything, readers stop realizing their reading a book and feel as though they have an up close look at two lovers who are fighting a battler much bigger than themselves. Undoubtedly THE FAULT IN OUR STARS is a book that stays with the reader, long after the last page has been read.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Voice of Youth Advocates: “Purchase for small and large libraries alike, though several copies may be wise considering both Green's popularity, and the potential of this book to become a classic.”
BOOKLIST: “Green shows his readers what it is like to live with cancer, sometimes no more than a breath or a heartbeat away from death. But it is life that Green spiritedly celebrates here, even while acknowledging its pain. In its every aspect, this novel is a triumph.”

CONNECTIONS

Readers who enjoyed Green’s stylistic writing can check out his other novels:

Green, John. PAPER TOWNS. ISBN 978-0142414934

Green, John. LOOKING FOR ALASKA. ISBN 978-0142402511
Green, John. AN ABUNDANCE OF KATHERINES. ISBN 978-0142410707

Readers who are interested in reading other fiction about young adults with cancer:

Andrews, Jesse. ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL.ISBN 9781419701764                                          
Castrovilla, Selene. THE GIRL NEXT  DOOR. ISBN 9781934813157                                                             
Crutcher, Chris. DEADLINE.ISBN 0060850892                                                                                                                                                                                                           

 

 

 

The Green Glass Sea

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Klages, Ellen. 2006. THE GREEN GLASS SEA. New York: The Penguin Group.  ISBN 0-670-06134-4

PLOT SUMMARY

Dewey Kerrigan and Suze Gordon live in Los Alamos, a town in New Mexico that doesn’t officially exist in 1943. With an entire city hiding in the mountains of New Mexico, life is more than confusing for Suze and Dewey.  Both Dewey and Suze have parents working on the Manhattan Project, though it is only know at the time as “the gadget”.  The girls are outcasts in the small community, though they together couldn’t be more different.  Although the girls initially dislike each other, the uncertainty of life in Los Alamos proves that nothing can be predicted in such confusing times.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book provides a perfect window into life in Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project.  The girls, though set almost seventy years ago, feel alive and real.  Their feelings of isolation, fear, friendship, and confusion are timeless emotions.  Suze and Dewey are certainly girls from their time though, with phrases like “oh my stars and garters” and “she knew her onions” seamlessly creating the feeling of 1940s Americana.  Los Alamos is described in such a way that a reader could almost walk down the streets to the PX to get an ice-cold Coke in a green bottle.    

The girls learn about friendship and loss, two themes that have not lost their relevance in all these years. Modern day teens will recognize the confusion of knowing something bigger than them is happening, without having all the details.  And the readers will realize that friendship can occur between the most unlikely of people.  Ellen Klages provides background information and books for further reading about the Manhattan Project.  In the end, Klages has created a timeless novel, in a time where actions taken had much larger consequences than anyone could imagine.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

Winner, 2007 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

Winner, 2007 Judy Lopez Memorial Award for Children's Literature

Winner, 2007 New Mexico State Book Award (YA)


Publishers Weekly: “Klages makes an impressive debut with an ambitious, meticulously researched novel set during WWII. Writing from the points of view of two displaced children, she successfully recreates life at Los Alamos Camp, where scientists and mathematicians converge with their families to construct and test the first nuclear bomb.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Many readers will know as little about the true nature of the project as the girls do, so the gradual revelation of facts is especially effective, while those who already know about Los Alamos's historical significance will experience the story in a different, but equally powerful, way.”

CONNECTIONS

The Manhattan Project is probably not well known amongst most readers, so a discussion about the atomic bomb, Hiroshima, and the guilt felt by Mrs. Gordon and other members of the project should be explored.

Follow up with Dewey and Suze in:

Klages, Ellen. RED SAND, WHITE MENACE. ISBN 978-067-006235-5

Other books:

Hersey, John. HIROSHIMA. ISBN 978-0679721031  

Zindel, Paul. THE GADGET. ISBN 978-0440229513

Between Shades of Gray

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sepetys, Ruta. 2011. BETWEEN SHADES OF GRAY. New York: The Penguin Group.  ISBN 978-0-399-25412-3

PLOT SUMMARY

Lina is a fifteen-year-old Lithuanian girl whose family is rounded up by Soviet officers and forced into labor camps, ultimately ending up in Siberia.  Lina relies on her drawing abilities to leave drawing that she hopes will find their way to her father and allow him a trail to find them.  Together with her little brother and her mother, Lina struggles to survive in the cold of Siberia’s winter, under the orders of Josef Stalin. 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is one of those reads that stays in one’s mind long after the book is finished.  Beautifully written, it is a hauntingly sad story, which shows that in the most desperate times, hope remains.  Set in 1939, the author does an excellent job of providing details about life at that time in Europe during Stalin’s rule. Even though the book was set over seventy years ago, it is easy for the reader to connect with Lina. She is a sympathetic character whose struggles are timeless. 

The plot of this book is brutal and honest, in a way that this type of book has to be.  To sugar coat the events would be to minimize the events that truly occurred to millions of people under Stalin’s rule.  One element of this book that helped to maximize understanding with young adults it that foreign agencies, like the NKVD are described, so that those without background knowledge can still understand the book’s events.  The setting is described in such a way that the reader can feel themself begin to shudder with the cold of the Siberian winter.  Ruta Sepetys writes a story that blends plot, setting, and theme together in a smooth story about losing everything but the will to survive.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

School Library Journal Best Books of the Year winner

Publishers Weekly: “The narrative skillfully conveys the deprivation and brutality of conditions, especially the cramped train ride, unrelenting hunger, fears about family members' safety, impossible choices, punishing weather, and constant threats facing Lina, her mother, and her younger brother."

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Moving, edifying, and quietly beautiful, Sepetys's well-researched novel is an exquisite look at a devastating atrocity.”
BOOKLIST: “Sepetys, the daughter of a Lithuanian refugee, estimates that the Baltic States lost more than one-third of their populations during the Russian genocide. Though many continue to deny this happened, Sepetys' beautifully written and deeply felt novel proves the reality is otherwise. Hers is an important book that deserves the widest possible readership.”

CONNECTIONS

This book will draw up a lot of discussion regarding the events surrounding Stalin’s rule in Europe.  Parallels can be drawn between Hitler’s rule and the atrocities faced during his rule.

Marrin, Albert. STALIN: RUSSIA’S MAN OF STEEL. ISBN 978-1893103092

Sharenow, Robert. THE BERLIN BOXING CLUB. ISBN   978-0061579684

Yelchin, Eugene. BREAKING STALIN’S NOSE. ISBN 978-0805092165

The Loud Silence of Francine Green

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cushman, Karen. 2006. THE LOUD SILENCE OF FRANCINE GREEN. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 978-0-618-50455-8

Five CDs- Unabridged version

Read by Anaka Shockley, adult female reader with an ability to read with a child’s voice

The sound quality was very clear. The reader had a very pristine voice, without background noise, or any type of static.  She did an excellent job with differentiating between characters with vocal clarity.   There were no background effects on this audio book. Any sound effects needed in the book was done by the reader.The listening experience was very enjoyable.  The storytelling was very lively and kept the listener interested throughout the entire story.  It was easy to discern between characters and each person’s voice was consistent throughout the entire reading.On a whole, the audio reading and the book were both enjoyable throughout.  The author did an excellent job of making the reader feel as though it truly was 1949, a time when America was on edge about so many things.

PLOT SUMMARY

Francine Green is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Hollywood in 1949. She dreams of being a movie star, attending soirees with the dreamy Montgomery Clift, and even sees her life as scenes in a movie.  But what Francine is best at is keeping her mouth shut and staying out of trouble. And that works until Sophie Bowman starts school at All Saints School for Girls and Francine learns that some people seem to stir trouble up wherever they go. Francine and Sophie struggle with the confusion of the Cold War, Catholic indoctrination, and what free speech really means. And above all else, In the end, the question is, does Francine really want to be heard?

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This book was a true delight to read.  It is set in 1949, a time in America where people are suspicious and steal reeling from WWII.  Francine Green is an honest character who the reader learns to love and to root for. Sophie Bowman is very much the same. The reader can see the flaws of the characters, but they remain endearing. The time period was done exceptionally well, right down to the slang the teenagers used. By no means does a modern teenager pronounce that a boy is “drooly,” but that’s what the girls said.   The time period was present throughout the book, but it did not feel contrived or overdone. It was pervasive in the details, in a way that added to the feeling of the time period.  Cushman provides further reading for post-war America. She also describes America during McCarthyism and proves that research was done in the making of this book.   

Overall, the power behind this book is not the time period, or even the basic plot, but the overarching themes of friendship, learning to have a voice, and to stand up for what is right.  These are not themes that go away with the passing of time.  Just as in 1949, society is quick to condemn groups of people for actions of just a few. Modern readers will be able to connect the fear and prejudice that is found in our society today, just as Francine describes those emotions in 1949.

REVIEW EXCERPTS

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Cushman creates another introspective female character who is planted firmly in her time and who grows in courage, self-awareness, and conviction.”
BOOKLIST: “Readers will skip over unknown cultural references (My heart pounded like a Gene Krupa drum solo ) and savor the story of friends and family tensions, the sly humor, and the questions about patriotism, activism, and freedom, which bring the novel right into today's most polarizing controversies. Sure to provoke lively class discussion, this will easily absorb independent readers in search of a rich, satisfying story about early adolescence.”

CONNECTIONS
This book can bring in a lot of discussion about rights, McCarthyism, the Cold War, and so much more. Teachers or book leaders should be prepared for difficult questions and in-depth discussion.

Other books about life in America during the 1940s-1950s:
Levine, Ellen. CATCH A TIGER BY THE TOE. ISBN 978-0670884612

Klages, Ellen. THE GREEN GLASS SEA. ISBN 978-0142411490

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fleming, Candace. 2011.AMELIA LOST: THE LIFE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF AMELIA EARHART. New York: Random House Children’s Books. ISBN 978-0-375-94598-4

PLOT SUMMARY
The disappearance of Amelia Earhart has become a legend that stands the test of time. In Fleming’s book, she attempts to separate the legend from the facts surrounding Amelia’s life and her fateful last flight. Despite the reader knowing that Amelia met her demise on her attempt to fly around the world, the book adds suspense and Fleming uses her storyteller flare to add even more life to this legendary heroine.  Alternate chapters between Earhart’s life and events after her plane is lost create a nice flow for the novel and keep the reader engaged.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The book is designed so that the reader travels back in forth into the events before Earhart’s last flight and the life she led beforehand.  Cleverly shaded, a young reader could easily recognize that gray pages are filled with information from after Earhart’s crash, whereas the white pages are part of her life before her final flight.  Each page has a captioned black and white photo which provides visuals for the information presented on the page or information about a timely matter that readers may not know about. The details provided are presented in a way that neither condescends nor water-downs the information. Fleming presents Earhart in a very honest light, detailing the fact that many of the myths surrounding Amelia were created by the famous flyer herself.  As Earhart once admitted, “I must continue to be a heroine in the public eye, otherwise flying opportunities will stop rolling in.” Another credit to this book is the extra elements included within the work. There are maps detailing Amelia’s flights, as well as memorabilia regarding Amelia and life in the mid-1930s.  This book creates an opportunity for someone with even limited knowledge of early aviation to understand all that transpired.

Clearly a well-researched and thought out book, AMELIA LOST includes details from Earhart’s life that goes well beyond the classical stories of Amelia’s tomboy shenanigans and her push for women’s liberation.  This book delves into information that is more than just surface level, which allows the reader to feel as though he is in the cockpit with the famous aviatrix. Any information included that could not be verified was included with a disclaimer that the fact may be faulty. The table of contents is labeled with a date range, so a reader can easily navigate based on the time frame. In addition, a bibliography, source notes, picture credits, and further research areas create a credible biographical frame for the legendary Amelia Earhart. With attractive layouts and unique page design, this book is very inviting. Ultimately, this is a fitting book for such a legendary lady.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
BOOKLIST review: " Drawing on her training as a historian and her considerable writing talents, Fleming (The Great and Only Barnum, 2009) offers a fresh look at this famous aviatrix. Employing dual narratives straightforward biographical chapters alternating with a chilling recounting of Earhart's final flight and the search that followed Fleming seeks to uncover the history in the hype, pointing out numerous examples in which Earhart took an active role in mythologizing her own life.”

Publishers Weekly review: “This honest depiction of Earhart's professional and personal life forms a complete portrait of a complex woman, making her final doomed flight (and a reproduction of a teenager's notebook transcription of what may have been Earhart's last radio transmission) all the more affecting.”

5. CONNECTIONS
There is plenty of information available about Amelia Earhart. Young readers can discover what it feels like to fly through videos online or even a flight in a private airplane.  There are also games available that follow information found in the book: http://www.shockwave.com/gamelanding/unsolved-mystery-club-amelia-earhart.jsp .

Szabo,Corinne. SKY PIONEER: A PHOTOBIOGRAPHY OF AMELIA EARHART. ISBN 9781426300448

Jerome, Kate Boehm. WHO WAS AMELIA EARHART? ISBN 9780448428567