Module 5 The First Part Last and Locked Down

The First Part Last

Johnson, Angela. First Part Last. 1^st ed. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2003. Print.

In The First Part Last, Bobby, a sixteen year old boy chooses to raise his and his girlfriend Nina’s baby instead of giving it up for adoption as previously planned. We first learn of what it is like in him life for a high school student to raise a baby in the urban city—commuting to a baby sitter and the commuting to school—all along Bobby being in awe with his little girl Feather. Told in two timelines of “then” and “now” of before Feather’s birth and his girlfriend’s eclampsia due to her pregnancy which leaves her in a permanent coma. Johnson is very aware in her writing of the push and pull of Bobby’s former life and the weight that he has taken on with parenthood. In the end Bobby chooses that he needs to leave the city and moves to Heaven, Ohio to live with his brother and his own two children; by changing his surroundings he hopes to be able to give Feather and him a better future and a chance to start over together.

I enjoyed this book because it dealt with the main character making a difficult decision every day – whether he would be a good father despite all of the odds stacked against him and his child. I was surprised at how stringent the mother is with him, but in light of her divorce and the divorce of her other son combined with the circumstances surrounding Feather and Bobby it is understandable, however very distant even callous. I think it’s an important book for children to read so that they have a better idea of what true parenthood is like so that the consequences of underage and premarital sex is better conveyed.

I think this story would be good for a booklist for expecting mothers and fathers in the high school setting. It is a delicate subject so it can’t be suggested lightly, but in the right light I think it can be very helpful and empowering.

Review:

,. Booklist 01 Sep 2003: . Web. 21 February 2011.

Gr. 6-12. Bobby, the teenage artist and single-parent dad in Johnson's Coretta Scott King Award winner, Heaven (1998), tells his story here. At 16, he's scared to be raising his baby, Feather, but he's totally devoted to caring for her, even as she keeps him up all night, and he knows that his college plans are on hold. In short chapters alternating between "now"and "then,"he talks about the baby that now fills his life, and he remembers the pregnancy of his beloved girlfriend, Nia. Yes, the teens'parents were right. The couple should have used birth control; adoption could have meant freedom. But when Nia suffers irreversible postpartum brain damage, Bobby takes their newborn baby home. There's no romanticizing. The exhaustion is real, and Bobby gets in trouble with the police and nearly messes up everything. But from the first page, readers feel the physical reality of Bobby's new world: what it's like to hold Feather on his stomach, smell her skin, touch her clenched fists, feel her shiver, and kiss the top of her curly head. Johnson makes poetry with the simplest words in short, spare sentences that teens will read again and again. The great cover photo shows the strong African American teen holding his tiny baby in his arms.

Lockdown

Myers, Walter Dean. Lockdown. 1st ed. New York, NY: Amistad, 2010. Print.

Lockdown is a story about the young man Reese who has been in juvenile prison for twenty two months and is given the chance to participate in a work program at an assisted living center. While trying to keep a low profile, deal with a cantankerous resident, stick up for the small guy on their block and worry about his sister Reese hopes to get out four months early for good behavior. In the end this doesn’t happen but Reese does find that getting out is a completely different goal as to learning how to stay out of prison and not only does he learn a great deal from the resident but he even makes a new friend who helps him adjust his viewpoint on people and dire situations. Reese finishes his sentence, comes home to support his little sister, keep away from the crime running rampant in the inner city and even continues his job at the assisted living center.

The reason why I like this book is not only is the ending lacking in a simple walk through a park but that the prison guards each have personalities – some more likable than others. Myers attention to detail and character development brings us through a roller coaster of emotion and events to come out with a realistic optimism of not a perfect happy ending but instead a fulfilling living – day by day.

I think this would be a good book to use to discuss government and the prison system combined with human nature. In a classroom setting of assigned reading this story would lose the concern that it would be viewed as singling out individuals.

Review:

,. “Lockdown.” Booklist 01 Dec 2009: . Web. 21 Feb 2011.

Grades 7-10. Myers takes readers inside the walls of a juvenile corrections facility in this gritty novel. Fourteen-year-old Reese is in the second year of his sentence for stealing prescription pads and selling them to a neighborhood dealer. He fears that his life is headed in a direction that will inevitably lead him “upstate,” to the kind of prison you don’t leave. His determination to claw his way out of the downward spiral is tested when he stands up to defend a weaker boy, and the resulting recriminations only seem to reinforce the impossibility of escaping a hopeless future. Reese’s first-person narration rings with authenticity as he confronts the limits of his ability to describe his feelings, struggling to maintain faith in himself; Myers’ storytelling skills ensure that the messages he offers are never heavy-handed. The question of how to escape the cycle of violence and crime plaguing inner-city youth is treated with a resolution that suggests hope, but doesn’t guarantee it. A thoughtful book that could resonate with teens on a dangerous path.

Module 4: Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! and The Midwife’s Apprentice.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!

Schlitz, Laura Amy. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies: Vocies from a Medieval Village. 1st ed. Cambridge MA: Candlewick Press, 2007. Print.

Laura Amy Schiltz’s book depicts medieval life for children in dramatic format to be performed by elementary school students. Her book is very accurate in its depiction of medieval life and each story includes footnotes to lend more background to the cultural and social climate. Inspired by her own school’s student of the middle ages she decided to write the soliloquies and dual parts to allow all of seventeen children of each class to have a center stage moment. Drawing from all walks of life Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Shows a kaleidoscope of character, events and interactions brings a unique experience; In this way there is not actual plot summary to be shared, but instead more like a snapshot of one day on a medieval manor. I enjoy the honesty of each part, how they are told without guile but perhaps with a twist as most of us do not share our most intimate feelings so openly. I also enjoy and would recommend it on the different type of format as well as its intercalary historic passages that are still written as a child would understand without being patronizing.

This book could be used as an example for children to write their own dramatic parts or to perform the passages given in a library or school setting. Because of the number of passages many children can have the opportunity to perform.

Review:

Phelan, Carolyn. "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies: Voices from a Medieval Village Review." Booklist 01 Aug 2007: 69. Web. 14 Feb 2011.

Carolyn Phelan wrote in the Booklist review: “Grades 5-8. The author of A Drowned Maiden’s Hair: A Melodrama (2006), Schlitz turns to a completely different kind of storytelling here. Using a series of interconnected monologues and dialogues featuring young people living in and around an English manor in 1255, she offers first-person character sketches that build upon each other to create a finer understanding of medieval life. The book was inspired by the necessity of creating a play suitable for a classroom where “no one wanted a small part.” Each of the 23 characters (between 10 and 15 years old) has a distinct personality and a societal role revealed not by recitation of facts but by revelation of memories, intentions, and attitudes. Sometimes in prose and more often in one of several verse forms, the writing varies nicely from one entry to the next. Historical notes appear in the vertical margins, and some double-page spreads carry short essays on topics related to individual narratives, such as falconry, the Crusades, and Jews in medieval society. Although often the characters’ specific concerns are very much of their time, their outlooks and emotional states will be familiar to young people today. Reminiscent of medieval art, Byrd’s lively ink drawings, tinted with watercolors, are a handsome addition to this well-designed book. This unusually fine collection of related monologues and dialogues promises to be a rewarding choice for performance or for reading aloud in the classroom.”

The Midwife’s Apprentice

Cushman, Karen. The Midwife's Apprentice. 1st ed. New York NY: Clarion Books, 1995. Print.

The Midwife’s Apprentice is the story of a beggar girl who by chance becomes the village’s midwife’s helper. Not only does the book accurately depict the society, social structure and medicinal understand of the time but also Cushman shows the development and blossoming of a girl to womanhood as she learns more about herself and the world around her than she thought capable. The entire story is one long metamorphosis from Beetle to Alyce, from child to young adult, from creature to human. Cushman’s understanding of real medieval times – full of disease, filth, fear and folly – engage the reader to enter the time period fully and paints the characters with such simplicity that they seem to pop off the page. I enjoyed the story not just because I enjoy historical fiction but because Cushman shows Alyce as such a realistic character with faults and failures, even cowardice at times that readers can identify with her and her problems easily.

One use for the book could be as an example with other material on how life takes us on a journey but our choices to not give up are what matter most. It could prompt an essay about disappointment and help children look at what society deems “failure” in a more positive light – that mistakes are to be learned from. It could also be used to show children how learning comes in all sorts of circumstances – be it through books or experience and to encourage children to find new things to discover and learn.

Review:

. "The Midwife’s Apprentice." Booklist 15 Mar 1995: . Web. 14 Feb 2011.

A Booklist reviewer wrote “Gr. 7-12. Like Cushman's 1994 Newbery Honor Book, Catherine, Called Birdy, this novel is about a strong, young woman in medieval England who finds her own way home. Of course, it's a feminist story for the 1990s, but there's no anachronism. This is a world, like Chaucer's, that's neither sweet nor fair; it's rough, dangerous, primitive, and raucous. Cushman writes with a sharp simplicity and a pulsing beat. From the first page you're caught by the spirit of the homeless, nameless waif, somewhere around 12 years old, "unwashed, unnourished, unloved, and unlovely," trying to keep warm in a dung heap. She gets the village midwife, Jane Sharp, to take her in, befriends a cat, names herself Alyce, and learns something about delivering babies. When she fails, she runs away, but she picks herself up again and returns to work and independence. Only the episode about her caring for a homeless child seems contrived. The characters are drawn with zest and affection but no false reverence. The midwife is tough and greedy ("she did her job with energy and some skill, but without care, compassion, or joy"), her method somewhere between superstition, herbal lore, common sense, and bumbling; yet she's the one who finally helps Alyce to be brave. Kids will like this short, fast-paced narrative about a hero who discovers that she's not ugly or stupid or alone.”

Module 3: Owl Moon and Flotsam

Owl Moon

Yolen, Jane, and John Schoenherr. Owl moon. NY NY: Philomel, 1987. Print.

Owl Moon is the story of a daughter and father searching the woods to sight owls and spend some quality time together. The story is told in poetry format emphasizing the silence of the winter snow scene and the whisper of not only wings but growing up as the main character is although nameless we find that this is a sort of family rite of passage. The watercolor pictures set the stage of a winter wonderland and the hushed landscape.

I liked this book because it was about quite understatement – the story and drawings were simple and yet profound that it had the ability to transport the reader into the author’s memories. I think that this book would be a helpful prompt for a winter poetry section inside the library as well as in the classroom. After reading this and several other books students could be assigned to connect their own experiences through prose.

Review:

Amazon.com Reviews, . "Owl Moon." Amazon.com. Amazon.com Inc, 07 Feb 2011. Web. 7 Feb 2011. .

Among the greatest charms of children is their ability to view a simple activity as a magical adventure. Such as a walk in the woods late at night. Jane Yolen captures this wonderment in a book whose charm rises from its simplicity. "It was late one winter night, long past my bedtime, when Pa and I went owling." The two walked through the woods with nothing but hope and each other in a journey that will fascinate many a child. John Schoenherr's illustrations help bring richness to the countryside adventure. The book won the 1988 Caldecott Medal.

Flotsam

Wiesner, David. Flotsam. 1st ed. NY NY: Clarion, 2006. Print.

Once again David Wiesner shows how text is not always necessary in his story told completely through illustrations. A young boy is visiting the beach with his parents when he finds an old underwater camera washed ashore. Once taking several pictures of his own he then has the film developed to find not only scenes of underwater whimsy and the secret life of fish but also a picture of children holding their own pictures in succession. Fully outfitted for the science of the beach he uses his microscope to find that these pictures within pictures reach back to a bygone era. Once taking his own picture he returns the camera to the ocean where the story follows its journey to another beach and another curious young occupant.

I think this story would make a good prompt for a student picture book and showing the difficulty of telling a story without words. One book could contain only the illustrations while another could have the addition of text thereby encouraging creativity.

Review:

Engberg, Gillian. "Wiesner, David. Flotsam." Booklist 102.22 (2006): 76. Web. 7 Feb 2011. .

“As in his Caldecott Medal Book Tuesday 0 (1991), Wiesner offers another exceptional, wordless picture book that finds wild magic in quiet, everyday settings. At the seaside, a boy holds a magnifying glass up to a flailing hermit crab; binoculars and a microscope lay nearby. The array of lenses signals the shifting viewpoints to come, and in the following panels, the boy discovers an old-fashioned camera, film intact. A trip to the photo store produces astonishing pictures: an octopus in an armchair holding story hour in a deep-sea parlor; tiny, green alien tourists peering at sea horses. There are portraits of children around the world and through the ages, each child holding another child's photo. After snapping his own image, the boy returns the camera to the sea, where it's carried on a journey to another child. Children may initially puzzle, along with the boy, over the mechanics of the camera and the connections between the photographed portraits. When closely observed, however, the masterful watercolors and ingeniously layered perspectives create a clear narrative, and viewers will eagerly fill in the story's wordless spaces with their own imagined story lines. Like Chris Van Allsburg's books and Wiesner's previous works, this visual wonder invites us to rethink how and what we see, out in the world and in our mind's eye.”