Wouldn't You Lend A Hand to A Friend?

Number the Stars. 0-440-40327-8. Lois Lowry. 1989. Newbery Award. Ages 9-12. Danish and Jewish families during WWII.

Best friends Annemarie and Ellen live at the time of the German occupation of Denmark during World War II. When the Germans begin to actively relocate the Jews, Ellen’s parents go into hiding and Annemarie’s family pretends that Ellen is their oldest daughter, who really died a few years earlier. Annemarie’s mother takes Ellen and her girls to Uncle Henrik’s house to reunite Ellen with her parents and then smuggle them along with other Jews safely on a fishing boat to Sweden. During their covert operation, Ellen’s father trips and drops an important package that could mean life or death to Uncle Henrik and those in the boat. Because her mother is lame, Annemarie becomes brave and takes the package past the Nazi soldiers to Uncle Henrik’s boat. Because the package is successfully delivered, Ellen and her family escape. At the end of the story, Annemarie awaits her friend’s return to Denmark because the war is finally over.

This would be a great book to start a discussion about friendship and bravery. Children can write about a time when they needed to be brave, perhaps in dealing with a friendship. They could also describe their best friends’ traits and compare them with those of Annemarie and Ellen.

Lowry sets up the story with a believable friendship in her characters. The girls are relatable characters in that they go to school together, are good neighbors and good friends. There is no question that Annemarie will help her friend, even to the point of hiding her Jewish star necklace. Readers are easily able to be sympathetic to the other characters, even ones who are not fully developed, because Lowry shows how the situation they face is not under their control..

In addition to writing an excellent story about true friendship, Lowry does a nice job of placing the setting in a town occupied by Nazis. Readers get a sense of the fear and concern that the Nazi presence brings through the conversations between the girls and Annemarie’s mother.

The themes of bravery and friendship shine through this story about a horrible time in our world’s history, the Holocaust. By writing about a successful escape, she puts a different emphasis on this time that is more appropriate for her younger audience than a more graphic account of the extermination of Jews found in other books. Because of her target audience, Lowry fittingly moves the action quickly after establishing the problem of the relocation of the Jews so that her readers can see a good way to solve this problem.

This book would be appropriate in a Social Studies classroom, used alongside a book like The Book Thief to get a couple of different perspectives of people trying to do what they can to help prevent the extermination of the Jews during the time of the Holocaust. This could be followed up with some actual historic accounts, like The Diary of Anne Frank. This might also be a good book to compare how people helped each other at different points in history; for example, comparing the Johansens’ actions to those who helped African Americans through the Underground Railroad. Finally, students could use this book in a unit on bravery or friendship to review these aspects of their own lives.

What is the truth?

The Golden Compass. 0-440-41832-1. Phillip Pullman. 1995. Ages 12-18. British upper-class Caucasians, religious, gypsies, witches.

Eleven year old Lyra, accompanied by her daemon Pantalimon, leaves the safety of her home at Jordan College and travels north to find her friend Roger whom she believes has been taken by Mrs. Coulter and the General Oblation Board, also known as the Gobblers. Lyra joins a group of gyptians who also want to rescue the kidnapped children before they are used in experiments to separate people’s daemons in order to get rid of Dust. By using an alethiometer, a truth-telling device, Lyra is able to enlist the services of an armored bear, Iorek Byrnison, and figures out how to successfully rescue Roger and the children. Roger, Iorek, and Lyra then travel to the land of the armored bears, where Lyra tricks the king into fighting Iorek . Iorek wins the battle and regains his rightful place as king of the bears. They travel onward to Lord Asriel’s spacious prison right next to the Aurora Borealis, only to find out that he too is conducting experiments with Dust. Lord Asriel separates Roger from his daemon, killing him in the process, and harnesses the energy to open a gateway to another world. The story ends with Lyra following Lord Asriel into the other world with the intent of trying to keep Dust in the world.

This story could spark the imagination of any child, especially those who love fantasy, to think about what their own daemon would look like. The child could draw a picture of the daemon and describe why that animal was chosen. For older children, this may lead to a engaging discussion about how daemons are like the human soul or conscience.

For it is Pullman’s daemons that makes for such a brilliantly crafted characters. Although Lyra is developed as a brave trickster, there are times when she is hesitant and unsure in which Pantalimon gives her advice or takes the first step of bravery. Other characters’ daemons, like those belonging to Farder Coram, Lee Scoresby, and Mrs. Coulter, give a better picture of who the person is on the inside.

Pullman’s creative setting of a world so much like ours that many of the names of places are the same, yet so different from our own because of talking animals, people’s daemons, and the opposite roles of religion and education, helps readers realize that this is a fantasy world, but that many of the problems in the world in the book are problems that can be recognized in our own world; for example, the struggle for power by those in leadership positions and the loss of innocence in the world today.

Pullman presents a number of compelling themes in his tale of Lyra’s journey north. The importance of innocence versus experience is seen in the nature of Lyra’s upbringing and Mrs. Coulter/ the General Oblation Board’s attempt to separate everyone’s daemons to eliminate original sin. The importance of one’s soul is seen in the physical manifestation of the daemons and the roles they play, especially through Pantalimon’s conversations with Lyra. The theme of power is seen through the motives of Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel in their attempts to gain control over Dust. Finally, the theme of leadership is seen in the contrast of bad and good leadership throughout this epic journey: Mrs. Coulter leading the Gobblers, John Faa leading the gyptians, Iorek Byrinson leading the armored bears, and Lyra leading the many groups along the way with the help of her alethiometer.

Although the words good and evil and right and wrong are explicitly left out of this book, a middle school or high school class could discuss what the author’s purpose was in creating this tale. Does he want us to think about these underlying concepts when reading his book? The concept of multiple universes could spark a discussion about the scientific realities of our galaxy and universe. This book could be used in a unit with other science-fiction novels to see many views of what the world could be like. Then students could create and describe their own world.

You could see it in his eyes and feel it in his touch...

The Giver. 0-395-64566-2. Lois Lowry. 1993. Newbery Award. Ages 10-16. Fantasy. Caucasian white middle class.

Jonas lives in a small village where the community is based on peace, order, and “sameness.” People appear to live a perfect and happy existence. Each family is given one boy and one girl. Apologies are commonplace. Younger members care for the elderly until their “release.” At the December Ceremony, each child up to the age of twelve grows one year older and is given more responsibility. During the Ceremony of Twelves, blue-eyed Jonas receives his life assignment as the Receiver of Memory, which changes his life forever.

When he begins receiving memories from the man identified as the Giver, Jonas realizes that his world is not so perfect. He experiences moments of joy, like riding a sled in the snow, and moments of suffering, from a simple sunburn to the difficult pain of war. As he begins to see colors and develop emotions, Jonas understands that a society without color and emotion is not ideal. He learns the truth about his world, that his people have no choices, no true feelings, and no love in their lives.

After realizing that “release” is simply another name for murder, Jonas decides to change his world. He devises a plan with the Giver to escape to Elsewhere on the eve of the December Ceremony to release all the memories to the people themselves. The plan changes when Jonas finds out that his father plans to “release” his family’s foster-child Gabriel, to whom Jonas has become attached. The story ends as Jonas escapes with Gabriel, sledding towards the lights, love and music below.

Young adults who read The Giver can start a lively discussion about the lives of children on our society as compared to the life Jonas leads. They may touch on the concepts of growing up and responsibility and even tough choices one has to make for the good of society.

Lowry does a great job of bringing very relatable characters to life in the Giver and Jonas. The Giver really does have a humanity that no one else in the story has; he worries about Jonas, misses his daughter, and loves the people of his community. Jonas has the inquisitiveness, dependability, and morality that helps readers sympathize and root for him as he is able to and goes against the rules of the community.

I especially like how Lowry contrasted the setting of a seemingly perfect town and society with the underlying ugly truth of release, making it integral to the plot. Only in a town created by people who are trying to take away all that is bad in the world can all the good also be taken away, and sometimes the bad remains. This world of sameness helped made many of Lowry's themes more impactful.

Lowry’s themes are layered throughout the story. The theme of the importance of having emotions and memories is probably the most obvious. Although this idealistic society does not experience pain, suffering and sadness, we see through the Giver’s and Jonas’ eyes that it is not necessarily a better choice than one with the full range of human emotions because you lose all the good emotions and memories too. People need to make choices, learn from their mistakes so that they can find true joy in their lives. Another theme that Lowry shows her readers is the importance of our own society which values the individual rather than the collective. Even in the description of Jonas’ eyes, the reader see Jonas is different from others in his society. Lowry does a wonderful job of developing this character who learns the truth and then questions why his society is so obedient, like in the incident with the plane overhead. Later, through his training, his interactions with his foster brother and finally their escape, Jonas’ individualism shines through. The readers see that being unique is a goal to strive for that helps, not hurts, others. Finally, Jonas makes courageous choices when willingly receives memories of pain and suffering and later when he leaves his community and journeys into the unknown. These are just a few of the many themes that Lowry has infused so well into her writing.

The Giver could be used in a middle school or high school setting to discuss our individualistic society as compared to other society models, like that of Nazi Germany, and the one in The Giver. I could see using this in conjunction with the other book that we read this week, Number the Stars. This could extend in any classroom into a discussion on the advantages of diversity in society and the world. Finally, the fact that Lowry leaves the ending to the reader to interpret could lead to a class discussion about cliffhangers in stories, leading them to develop their own stories with cliffhangers or to write their own ending to the story.

An unforgettable memoir about the people who will now forever be remembered

The Late Homecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. 978-1-56689-208-7. Kao Kalia Yang. 2008. Minnesota Book Awards- Memoir & Creative Nonfiction and Reader’s Choice. Ages 14-up. Non-fiction memoir. Poverty- level Hmong extended family. New American Immigrants.

In this memoir, Kao Kalia Yang tells the exodus of her paternal grandmother and her extended family from their home in Laos to the United States. Yang’s story begins in the jungle of Laos during the aftermath of the Vietnam War. The family flees through the jungle, crosses the dangerous Mekong River, and arrives in Thailand to escape the imminent threat of death by soldiers who intend to kill the Hmong who supported the United States during the “Secret War.” The family spends over six years in Thailand’s Ban Vinai Refugee Camp, during which time the author was born. Her family decides to immigrate to the United State, first moving to a transition camp, where they learn English and go to school, before flying to the United States to settle in California and Minnesota in 1987. The second half of Yang’s account describes her experiences in America. The author writes about the separation of her extended family, her struggle to find her own voice in English, and the challenges that face her immigrant family as they adapt to their new lives in America. Although the adults feel fortunate to be in America, Yang describes the substandard housing, the menial jobs, and the education struggles her family endures. Yang’s recollections end with stories told by her grandmother and her own reflections as she graduates from college and looks forward to sharing not just her family’s, but also her people’s experience, through the words of this book.

Children who read this book could enter a dialogue about the values of different peoples and cultures in the world. Young people could specifically discuss similarities and differences between the American culture and the Hmong culture to develop an appreciation for the strengths and values in both cultures.

The Hmong American experience described in this first-person account by author Kao Kalia Yang can not be replicated by any secondary source or textbook to show the Hmong’s rightful place in the history of the United States. Readers come to feel the fear as the family hides in the jungle from those who would like to eradicate them for supporting the U.S. They also share the heartbreak of this family, separated from one another at many points along the journey. They see in the determination of the grandmother to keep her large family intact. The real settings of the jungle, the refugee camp, the transition camp, and Minneapolis are integral in reflecting the long journey of the family to find a place to call “home.”

Perhaps the best element of this memoir is the interweaving of Hmong culture, beliefs/traditions, and stories give readers a sense of who the Hmong are as a people. Yang shares the Hmong’s value on the collective good through her family’s meetings about when they move and how to be better people in America. Readers begin to understand the Hmong belief in the eternal connections with their families long before and after an individual’s life through description of babies choosing the family and the emphasis on Yang’s mother keeping the cloth given to her by her mother. The very essence of this memoir is to preserve the folklore of Yang’s grandmother because of the Hmong’s oral, not written, tradition.

The theme of searching for a home to call your own resounds in the pages of this novel. While other immigrant experiences may be similar to his people’s journey to America, the Hmong journey is also harder because this is a betrayed, forgotten people without a homeland of their own, who receive little recognition when they arrive in America. Additionally, the themes of the importance of family is pervasive as Yang includes many of the background stories of her extended family: her parents’ unusual courtship, her uncle’s harrowing journey to rejoin them in Thailand, and the pride of her grandmother in bringing so many people into this world. The theme of hope and salvation is present in the story as the family transforms from a hunted people to contained outsiders to free citizens in America.

This book could used in an American Government class during a discussion on the process of immigration into America. Students can also use this in an American or World History class to gain an appreciation for the role of the Hmong people during “The Secret War” within the Vietnam War. It can lead students to understand the devastating effects war can have on entire populations. Alternately, this may encourage a class to find first-generation immigrants in an effort to preserve their stories before the stories are lost. To relate this book to their own lives, students could find their own immigration stories by obtaining photographs, doing research, and writing a mini-memoir of their own families’ journey to America or current location.

Kao Kalia Yang Interview

For those of you who are reading The Late Homecomer, you may be interested to hear what the author has to say about her grandmother and about learning to write. Check it out!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSzQffmBmPI

Also, author Kao Kalia Yang will be making appearance at a number of venues in the coming weeks.  She will be at St. Marks' Episcopal Church this Friday, March 12th, at 10:00 a.m. in the Fontaine Auditorium. She will speak to the Friday Book Group about her memoir that follows a Hmong family from Laos to the refugee camps of Thailand to safety in Minnesota. I have a friend who is a parishioner at St. Marks. She said that guests are welcome. For more information, follow the link:

http://www.ourcathedral.org/

Some things you might not know about Hugo Cabret

I just found this great website with an interview with Brian Selznick. He tells us more about his inspiration for the book  Click and check it out!

Hugo Cabret : A Masterpiece for Kids and Film Buffs

CU: Selznick's Cinematic Approach to Hugo Cabret's story

The Invention of Hugo Cabret. 0-439-81378-6. Brian Selznick. 2007. Caldecott Award. Age 9 -14. Caucasian French youth. Orphans during the Depression.

Hugo Cabret has been the apprentice to his uncle, the caretaker of the clocks in a busy Paris train station, since his father’s untimely death in a museum fire. When Hugo’s uncle disappears, Hugo continues to winding all the stations’ clocks so that his uncle won’t be missed and so he can keep his home inside the walls of the train station. To survive, Hugo steals food. Hugo also steals toy parts to repair an automaton, or mechanical man, which he thinks his father has programmed to write a personal message. After Hugo repairs a mechanical mouse he breaks while stealing, the shopkeeper takes Hugo’s father’s notebook and demands that Hugo work to pay off the debt. Hugo meets Isabelle, the shop owner’s goddaughter, who has the key which starts Hugo’s automaton. Together, they discover that the toy store owner is really Georges Meilies, a magician and famous silent film-maker, whose credits include Hugo’s father’s favorite movie “A Trip to the Moon.” Hugo gets Meilies recognized for his work. However, when the young boy returns to the train station to retrieve Meilies' automaton, he is caught by the stationmaster. Papa Georges gets Hugo released and welcomes the boy into his home. Hugo becomes the magician Professor H. Alcofrisbas, who is created with telling this story.

This is a great book to discuss how pictures or illustrations play an important role in telling a story. Students could experiment by writing an original short story and then replacing some of what they have written with a series of illustrations.

The outstanding literary feature in Brian Selznick’s story is the use of illustrations, photos, and scenes from Mieles’ films interspersed equally with text to keep the fast-paced narrative moving. Readers often have to turn several pages of sequenced illustrations to figure out what happens next to Hugo, the main character in the story. Selznick’s black and white drawings are a unique reflection of the time period, the emotions felt by the different characters, and of the theme of the impact of one man’s silent movies on future generations. The illustrations do not distract, but instead draw the reader in; they are similar to close-ups in a movie and give important clues to solving the mysterious connections between the old man in the toy shop and the drawings in Hugo’s notebook. The theme of magic is also woven throughout the book. Children of all ages can see the magic in the silent films, the magic in making inanimate objects come alive, and the magic in the imagination of the reader as her or she turns the pages to see what happens next.The theme of different kinds of families and relationships brought together through loss is also strong in this graphic novel. Some children will take comfort in seeing that although both Hugo and Isabelle have lost their parents, they do find another adult who cares for them. Children can see the importance about being passionate about something you love through Hugo and his father’s obsession with the automaton and through George Mieles’ real pictures and film shots. The illustrations foreshadow so many elements of the mystery of the automaton and Mieles that they might make the ending too predictable for readers who are attentive to the clues.

This book could easily be used in a middle school of high school classroom to discuss imagination, creativity, and mysteries. It could be the basis for a history discussion on orphans and the Great Depression or a communications discussion about the silent film era. In an art class, students could study Selznick’s use of movement in his illustrations and create their original artwork which focuses on movement. Students could use the book to spur research on early twentieth century mechanical inventions, including kinds of clocks, toys, and of course, the automaton. Finally, it could be fun for students to use this as a starting place to explore the world of magic.