While reading Unwind I think the thing that stands out the most (for me) is the different characters. I can tell how I feel about a character each time their chapter comes up. I like Connor and Risa--but for some reason I detest Lev. I find this interesting because in a moral sense Connor and Risa are the "bad guys" of the three and Lev is the "good guy". In dystopia books though we--the readers--love the characters that stand up against their society and are the outlaws. We see in countless times: Tris (Divergent), Katniss (The Hunger Games), Hannah (Delirium), Thomas (The Maze Runner), Cassia (Matched), Tally (Uglies), Jonas (The Giver), Wanda (The Host--my favorite book of all time). I could list off more but then we would be here all day . . . and I want to save some info for my presentation. All go against what is expected of them from society because they do not agree with what is going on, or they are forced to go against society because they are different. We, as readers, are used to liking and rooting for the character that goes against the social norms and what is expected of them. This is the authors point. They are trying to get their readers to see how corrupt the society they have created is and by doing this, see how our society is corrupt and give us the strength to disagree. Dystopia novels are satirical and what I remember from my satire class is that satire is a big "what if . . ." for Unwind it is, What if we could abort children after they were born? We then see the chaos that goes behind it.
I think students are attracted and enjoy Dystopia novels because the protagonists are seen as heroes, even though they go against the adults. This is every kids dream, to break the rules and it be right. Dystopia novels do that--Unwind definitely does that.
So far I would give this book a B+, we'll see what happens in the second half.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Saturday, October 22, 2016
All American Boys
This book mesmerized me the same way the video we watched in class where the authors discussed the book. I felt like I was there and I was all in. I wanted to read every word and know what was going on. I had no other option. I had been inveloped by the story. Tears would prick the edges of my eyes while I was reading (similar to when I was watching the video). I started to see my life for what it is, a place a can simply sit back and relax. I have no worries, no serious worries that matter. Both the book and the video made me think critically about my white privilege. It is easy to feel guilty, but that doesn't do anything. Instead I would say these authors make me want to take action. I don't just want to stand idly by and let these racial injustices keep occurring. The best way I can do that is in my classroom. To teach my students about the racial injustices and not let it me a topic I shy away from in fear--similar to the teachers and coach in the book who say leave that stuff at the door. I will not leave it at the door because that is not where it will get fixed. Ignoring the problem doesn't do anything. It helps no one. It doesn't help me, my family, my community, my students, our world. This book brings up these issues and parallels two young boys to evoke emotion. They are not adults. They are not different. The only thing that makes them different is the color of their skin, and because of this they have two extremely different life situations and lives in general.
JP brought up something in class on Thursday as Chris and I were walking out. He said how if it was a female where a short skirt people would be talking about what she was wearing. But because Rashad was a male we were standing up for the fact that it doesn't matter what he's wearing. I disagree with this. I think people still think that because of the way African Americans dress they are asking to get shot. They think that the fact they dress "hood" is a way of them asking for it. I definitely do not agree with this, but I think it is the case. There is a hierarchy: white male, white female, black male, black female. Because of this I think white girls are seen as more pure and innocent then black males when something bad happens to them. Society will be more willing to get on what an African American male wears then a white female. I am not saying that females are not degraded because this is definitely not the case. But I don't think that in this instance you can compare a white female to an African American male because that is not what the book is about. It is not bringing in women--this is not the place to bring in that information. Other books, yes. Eleanor and Park? Yes. Gabi a Girl in Pieces? Yes. The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian? Yes. Not this book. This is about something I see as almost bigger and a bigger issue at the moment. That may not be right, but that is my opinion.
There are so many sections of this back that I know I can teach. I can't teach the whole book because of the language and sexual references, but there are sections I know I can pull out of it and teach to my class. Have a day where we don't read the book but go over sections of the book, compare it to history and what is going on today. The book references parts of history and I think it would be interesting to go into detail about those instances and then compare it to the book and now. I would obviously have to be cautious while doing this but I also think it is imperative that we don't shield our students from this information. I also got Andrew to read the book and watch the video because I think he could teach this book and it would be really successful.
This book interests teens because it is about young boys. It is talking about current issues that are so prevalent and that isn't being talked about. Like Jason said in the interview we watched, kids don't want to talk about this issues. They see it in front of them, but they are not willing to talk about it. They don't want to face the reality of it. But it is so important to talk about because (also like Jason said) they are not going to be the ones that change things, we are. Our students are. They need to learn about it. They need to read this book and have a pit in their stomachs and have this need to change things, because we need to change things. It starts with our students and it starts with us. We must take action. This book brings that need to take action out of its readers because it is so powerful.
My rating for this book is an A+
JP brought up something in class on Thursday as Chris and I were walking out. He said how if it was a female where a short skirt people would be talking about what she was wearing. But because Rashad was a male we were standing up for the fact that it doesn't matter what he's wearing. I disagree with this. I think people still think that because of the way African Americans dress they are asking to get shot. They think that the fact they dress "hood" is a way of them asking for it. I definitely do not agree with this, but I think it is the case. There is a hierarchy: white male, white female, black male, black female. Because of this I think white girls are seen as more pure and innocent then black males when something bad happens to them. Society will be more willing to get on what an African American male wears then a white female. I am not saying that females are not degraded because this is definitely not the case. But I don't think that in this instance you can compare a white female to an African American male because that is not what the book is about. It is not bringing in women--this is not the place to bring in that information. Other books, yes. Eleanor and Park? Yes. Gabi a Girl in Pieces? Yes. The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian? Yes. Not this book. This is about something I see as almost bigger and a bigger issue at the moment. That may not be right, but that is my opinion.
There are so many sections of this back that I know I can teach. I can't teach the whole book because of the language and sexual references, but there are sections I know I can pull out of it and teach to my class. Have a day where we don't read the book but go over sections of the book, compare it to history and what is going on today. The book references parts of history and I think it would be interesting to go into detail about those instances and then compare it to the book and now. I would obviously have to be cautious while doing this but I also think it is imperative that we don't shield our students from this information. I also got Andrew to read the book and watch the video because I think he could teach this book and it would be really successful.
This book interests teens because it is about young boys. It is talking about current issues that are so prevalent and that isn't being talked about. Like Jason said in the interview we watched, kids don't want to talk about this issues. They see it in front of them, but they are not willing to talk about it. They don't want to face the reality of it. But it is so important to talk about because (also like Jason said) they are not going to be the ones that change things, we are. Our students are. They need to learn about it. They need to read this book and have a pit in their stomachs and have this need to change things, because we need to change things. It starts with our students and it starts with us. We must take action. This book brings that need to take action out of its readers because it is so powerful.
My rating for this book is an A+
Sunday, October 16, 2016
The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian
I loved this book. I think Alexie is brilliant with what he did with his novel The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian. He was able to have a novel that is incredibly satirical and that interests young adults. They laugh and find it humorous, and maybe think deeper about what Alexie is trying to say. Junior goes through constant character development. Trying to understand who he is and where he fits in. The biggest scene for the novel was the basketball against his old high school (the second game). After Junior's team wins he has a realization that I think was huge to the plot overall and shows that the book is a satire--he starts to think about how yes, his team won . . . but his team would always win. They had scholarships for college. Their parents had money. But his peers that he won against don't have that, this was the one thing they had. Junior analyzes that one game and it really speaks for the book as a whole and what he's been noticing. I was going to say that the book doesn't bring up strong women but then I realized that was wrong--it doesn't bring up young white strong women. Junior's mom, grandma, and sister were all strong women, things just didn't always go right for them.
This book is great for adolescents. I think they would really respond to the humor and the problems that go on in the novel. All students go through struggles of trying to figure out how they are, but what Alexie does that is unique is also critique racism and peoples views on Native Americans. He does it in a way though that could be dangerous if students believe the stereotypes and instead of learning from it start to believe the stereotypes. I think this book would be great to teach 8th graders (because they are about to go into high school and are around the same age as Junior) or 9/10th grade. This book is good for younger students but still has enough touchy subjects that a high school student or older middle school student should read. The teacher would need to make sure they touch on Native American history and make sure students see the satirical aspects of the novel and don't take it only at face value. But I do think it would be an important book to teach.
My rating for this book is an A.
This book is great for adolescents. I think they would really respond to the humor and the problems that go on in the novel. All students go through struggles of trying to figure out how they are, but what Alexie does that is unique is also critique racism and peoples views on Native Americans. He does it in a way though that could be dangerous if students believe the stereotypes and instead of learning from it start to believe the stereotypes. I think this book would be great to teach 8th graders (because they are about to go into high school and are around the same age as Junior) or 9/10th grade. This book is good for younger students but still has enough touchy subjects that a high school student or older middle school student should read. The teacher would need to make sure they touch on Native American history and make sure students see the satirical aspects of the novel and don't take it only at face value. But I do think it would be an important book to teach.
My rating for this book is an A.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Gabi a Girl in Pieces
Gabi a Girl in Pieces was a very interesting book. It wasn't like anything I have ever read. Mostly in the fact that it discussed almost all of the "don't talk about" issues. Sex, drugs, LGBTQ, weight, teen-pregnancy, culture. All things that may come up in a book, but not all together. Even though these are all taboo topics, it still went together. It felt genuine and worked well with the book. At times I felt like the author forgot parts about the character until they brought it back near the end, but I think that was because there was so many things the author was trying to cover. It was a good book but it wasn't my absolute favorite book ever. It felt like the author was trying to be shocking and add a lot of riskay topics but it got to the point where it was a bit much. I really enjoyed the narration of Gabi. She was hilarious and her words were written in such a genuine journal entry that I could picture her saying it out loud. It was awesome! I loved her narration and would find myself laughing at some things she said simply because of how it was said.
I think this book does a really good job of relating to teens. It brought me back to when I was in High School and realizing that students in my grade were having sex, seemingly similar to Gabi. I was shocked that it was happening everywhere but I was also curious. Not as, I guess you could say, adventurous as Gabi was in that field but I was still curious about it. I couldn't believe it was a thing. It felt almost like Gabi was a sophomore or junior in high school though instead of a senior because of all these things she was discovering. It felt like she had been living under a rock until her senior year, or until Cindy got prego. I think teens want to read about all of these taboo subjects so they would be fascinated by this book. It is all the things they are told not to do, think about, worry about, or know about all in one book and I think teens would absolutely devour it! It is a book that I think all high school students would want to read. The seemingly "naughty" and "innocent" students a like because they would all be curious.
My grade for this book is a B.
I think this book does a really good job of relating to teens. It brought me back to when I was in High School and realizing that students in my grade were having sex, seemingly similar to Gabi. I was shocked that it was happening everywhere but I was also curious. Not as, I guess you could say, adventurous as Gabi was in that field but I was still curious about it. I couldn't believe it was a thing. It felt almost like Gabi was a sophomore or junior in high school though instead of a senior because of all these things she was discovering. It felt like she had been living under a rock until her senior year, or until Cindy got prego. I think teens want to read about all of these taboo subjects so they would be fascinated by this book. It is all the things they are told not to do, think about, worry about, or know about all in one book and I think teens would absolutely devour it! It is a book that I think all high school students would want to read. The seemingly "naughty" and "innocent" students a like because they would all be curious.
My grade for this book is a B.
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
American Born Chinese
Initially, I planned on having this book be one of the blogs I skipped. But after reading it there was no way I could skip writing this blog. When I had heard of graphic novels being taught a part of me thought it was ridiculous. Ok all of me. I couldn't figure out why students would be interested in reading a graphic novel--then I realized I was thinking of myself; I would not be interested in reading a graphic novel. When I was working at the middle school though I found that middle school students would love to have a graphic novel as their book to read. I saw this in two ways. The first was in Mrs. Gutierrez's (the teacher I follow relentlessly) intervention class. This is a class of five or six students who have had problems with reading or writing in the past (whether in class, testing, or both) and Mrs. Gutierrez gives them extra help with reading and comprehension. In this class a girl had finished reading all of the Maximum Ride books and was now reading the graphic novel versions of them. All of the other students wanted to look at the graphic novels and in the end made one young boy I paid special attention to want to read Maximum Ride. This is a boy who has an English teacher that is not preparing him well in the slightest. He must read a book and write a half page on what is going on . . . that is it. The teacher isn't reading the same book--the students get to read what they want--so she doesn't know if he is actually understanding what is going on at all. Graphic novels was a way to get the students interested in reading and see that reading can be fun. Another instance in Mrs. Gutierrez's class that I saw that graphic novels would be useful was when she read the picture book Voices in the Park by Anthony Browne. In this book every page is filled with little details that even Mrs. Gutierrez had never noticed, and she has read this book many many times (she taught it when she taught elementary school and now the two years of middle school). The book also has four points of views and explains the same story but from a different characters point of view. And the kids LOVED it! They were raising their hands constantly, wanting to share what they had found in the pictures. They didn't even know that they were learning but they were. This showed me that graphic novels can get students excited to learn and excited to be involved. The graphic novel American Born Chinese I think would be perfect for middle school students. There are some inappropriate aspects to the book but I don't think they are bad enough to make it so I could not teach it--middle school students are not oblivious and are at that age where they are noticing the opposite sex.
I loved how there were three parts of the story and how throughout you had no idea where they came together. For me, when I first started reading I thought the section with the cousin was so obnoxious! I kept thinking "ok there has to be a point to this. This is far to offensive" but I realized this was planned. I think that story was showing how Jin thought people saw him. Even the monkey story had to do with Jin. The stories showed great character development. I think this would be a great text for seventh graders in my Identity unit. Jin is struggling with this idea of identity, both being in middle school and being a Chinese American. But I think all students could relate to this graphic novel--and they would be engaged and want to read it.
I am not going to touch on this much since I discussed it above but I think the fact that it is a graphic novel will appeal to adolescents. They will be intrigued by both the story and the pictures. Even though they may want adults to see them as adults and goof off about "little kid things" I know they would love this graphic novel. I also think it appeals to adolescents in what it talks about. A first crush. How to act on a first date. Wanting to be what you think people want but then realizing that's not who you are. These are all things middle school students face but in a unique twist. There are so many things I could have students do with this. Create their own graphic novel line for their life, acting out a scene from one of the sections that I assign, creating a video thing for the story and what it says. So many options! I'm so excited to start planning!
My rating: A
I loved how there were three parts of the story and how throughout you had no idea where they came together. For me, when I first started reading I thought the section with the cousin was so obnoxious! I kept thinking "ok there has to be a point to this. This is far to offensive" but I realized this was planned. I think that story was showing how Jin thought people saw him. Even the monkey story had to do with Jin. The stories showed great character development. I think this would be a great text for seventh graders in my Identity unit. Jin is struggling with this idea of identity, both being in middle school and being a Chinese American. But I think all students could relate to this graphic novel--and they would be engaged and want to read it.
I am not going to touch on this much since I discussed it above but I think the fact that it is a graphic novel will appeal to adolescents. They will be intrigued by both the story and the pictures. Even though they may want adults to see them as adults and goof off about "little kid things" I know they would love this graphic novel. I also think it appeals to adolescents in what it talks about. A first crush. How to act on a first date. Wanting to be what you think people want but then realizing that's not who you are. These are all things middle school students face but in a unique twist. There are so many things I could have students do with this. Create their own graphic novel line for their life, acting out a scene from one of the sections that I assign, creating a video thing for the story and what it says. So many options! I'm so excited to start planning!
My rating: A
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