Module 13: Stitches: A Memoir

Small, D. (2009). Stitches: A memoir--. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Summary: David Small recalls childhood memories that revolve around his uncommunicative family and their choice to keep from him the fact that he had throat cancer and needed surgery to remove it. He awakes to having no voice, though this time not by choice. This sets the tone for this exploration of his family history through the perspective of adolescence and the voice that art provided him.

Response: Though quite dark, I found this piece to be interesting and therapeutic in its way of making sense of the past through representations of moments and emotions through images. I found the depiction of perception of David throughout different periods in his life to be telling of his state of mind and his ability to communicate to others. I enjoyed this piece so much because it opens up to a harsh reality that moves towards understanding and closure.

Review:

SMALL, David. Stitches: A Memoir illus. by author. Gr 10 Up

Small is best known for his picture-book illustration. Here he tells the decidedly grim but far from unique story of his own childhood. Many teens will identify with the rigors of growing up in a household of angry silences, selfish parents, feelings of personal weakness, and secret lives. Small shows himself to be an excellent storyteller here, developing the cast of characters as they appeared to him during this period of his life, while ending with the reminder that his parents and brother probably had very different takes on these same events. The title derives from throat surgery Small underwent at 14, which left him, for several years, literally voiceless. Both the visual and rhetorical metaphors throughout will have high appeal to teen sensibilities. The shaded artwork, composed mostly of ink washes, is both evocative and beautifully detailed. A fine example of the growing genre of graphic-novel memoirs.

Goldsmith, F. (2009). Stitches: A Memoir. School Library Journal, 55(9), 193.

Program: Hold a panel of graphic memoir novelists to talk to teens about the particulars of writing and illustrating moments from their past. Encourage teens to raise their own questions and get tips on creating their own graphic novels or paneled illustrations.

Module 12: The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain

Sís, P. (2007). The wall: Growing up behind the Iron Curtain. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Summary: Peter Sis portrays his childhood in Communist Czechoslovakia through the use of illustration and timelines of events through the Cold War. The lack of color save for red flags to represent allegiance and captions set the stark tone of this time period and are juxtaposed by the colorful infiltrations of Western culture through music, art and ideas. The author illustrates his dreams and aspirations through his young life and the struggle to remain true to oneself while satisfying the demands of the government up until the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Response: I was so moved by this piece and thought it was a well-rounded and creative way to discuss livelihoods in the East during this time. Sis does an excellent job of creating visual accompaniments to his changing sentiments of the government as he grows and understands the limitations placed on everyone’s lives. I think that having been influenced by Soviet rule in his young life, that Sis was able to create a book that is relatable to children and communicates the difficulties of that time clearly through text and illustration.

I did a bike tour through the Czech Republic almost 3 years ago and was struck with Sis’ note at the end as to how much the country has changed after Czechoslovakia became free. It was something that I hadn’t thoroughly considered while traveling through the countryside, but the fact that I was able to do it at all spoke to the steps towards freedom that have been gained in the last few decades.

Reviews:

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain

PETER, SÍS. FSG/Foster

Born out of a question posed to Sís (Play, Mozart, Play!) by his children ("Are you a settler, Dad?"), the author pairs his remarkable artistry with journal entries, historical context and period photography to create a powerful account of his childhood in Cold War-era Prague. Dense, finely crosshatched black-and-white drawings of parades and red-flagged houses bear stark captions: "Public displays of loyalty--compulsory. Children are encouraged to report on their families and fellow students. Parents learn to keep their opinions to themselves." Text along the bottom margin reveals young Sís's own experience: "He didn't question what he was being told. Then he found out there were things he wasn't told." The secret police, with tidy suits and pig faces, intrude into every drawing, watching and listening. As Sís grows to manhood, Eastern Europe discovers the Beatles, and the "Prague Spring of 1968" promises liberation and freedom. Instead, Soviet tanks roll in, returning the city to its previous restrictive climate. Sís rebels when possible, and in the book's final spreads, depicts himself in a bicycle, born aloft by wings made from his artwork, flying toward America and freedom, as the Berlin Wall crumbles below. Although some of Sís's other books have their source in his family's history, this one gives the adage "write what you know" biting significance. Younger readers have not yet had a graphic memoir with the power of Maus or Persepolis to call their own, but they do now.

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. (2007). Publishers Weekly, 254(27), 55-56.

Program: Have a program for teens who are encouraged to create artistic personal histories of their own lives. Provide paper and drawing materials and encourage them to think of major milestones in their personal lives as well as the world at large that would be relevant to their lives. Use The Wall and other books as examples.

Module 11: Tito Puente Mambo King- Rey Del Mambo

Brown, M., López, R., & Dominguez, A. (2013). Tito Puente, Mambo King =: Tito Puente, Rey del Mambo. New York, N.Y: Rayo.

 

Summary: Tito Puente grows up in Spanish Harlem loving rhythm, dance and music and is encouraged by his mother and his neighbors to pursue it. He works hard and achieves his dream of being his own band leader as well as making more than 100 albums and working with several Latin American musical artists. Tito’s story is told in beautiful illustrations that convey movement and the text is in English and Spanish.

Response: I loved reading this book and did so multiple times. There was so much to take in from each picture, each so bright with color and energy. I thought that it did a wonderful job to convey the pursuit of rhythm and music that ruled Tito Puente’s life. I enjoyed reading the text in English and Spanish and thought that it was great to have the availability of this story in both languages.

Reviews:

Tito Puente: Mambo King/Rey del Mambo. By Monica Brown. Illus. by Rafael Lopez. Mar. 2013. 32p. Rayo, K-Gr. 3.

"!Tum Tica! !Tum Tica! The dancers twirled, the lights swirled, and the mambo went on and on." Like so many of Brown's biographies, such as Waiting for the Biblioburro (2011) and Side by Side/Lado a lado: The Story of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez/ La historia de Dolores Huerta y Cesar Chavez (2009), Tito's story introduces readers to a vibrant Latino figure. As a baby, Puente made music with pots and pans, and he later grew up to fulfill his dreams as a musician and beloved bandleader. Award-winning illustrator Lopez brings Tito's story to life in vibrant acrylic salsa reds and oranges, which are splashed behind every shake of Tito's hips and wink of his eyes. The swirling, whirling compositions add to the text's rhythmic beat. To continue the rumba after Tito's story has ended, the last page of the book offers a simple melody to play on its own or alongside the book. An author's note (in both English and Spanish) sheds more light on Puente's life.--Angie Zapata

Zapata, A. (2013, March 1). Tito Puente: Mambo King/Rey del Mambo. Booklist, 109(13), 55.

Program: Have an event for Latin American drumming and music for kids where kids and parents are encouraged to participate and learn about the different rhythms that make up the popular music styles.

 

 

Module 10: Show Way

 

Woodson, J., & Talbott, H. (2005). Show way. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons.

Summary: The story follows the lineage through the women in the family of the author who are bought and sold into slavery but who continue to pass down the craft of memory, storytelling and the path to freedom through their quilting techniques. Though the passage through time diminishes the need for freedom pathways, the historical importance and family heritage is maintained.

Response: I found this book to be extremely powerful and moving. I felt that it really resonated with me because the author is the great-granddaughter of the great-granddaughter first depicted in the story. Though some specifics about the family history is lost along the way, the importance of family history and cultural preservation are maintained. It is the story of survival and of understanding of the struggles that came before us and the hopes for future generations. I really enjoyed the mixed media artwork of the book, especially the pages with fabric or thread depicted and thought that it added another dimension to the story. The fabric is unraveled by families being ripped apart and is constantly sewn back together to maintain what history, story and possibility of survival that is left.

Reviews:

 Show Way

JACQUELINE WOODSON, ILLUS. BY HUDSON TALBOTT.

Putnam

This affecting, poetic paper-over-board picture book stands out from the first glance. On the innovative cover, a montage of black-and-white pictures of African-American captives, arranged to resemble a quilt, act as a background to a diamond-shaped die-cut opening that frames the image of an African-American girl holding a lighted candle. Woodson's (Coming on Home Soon) story, both historical and deeply personal, begins as a seven-year-old girl is sold into slavery and taken to a South Carolina plantation "without her ma or pa but with some muslin her ma had given her." There she learns to "sew colored thread into stars and moons and roads that slave children grew up and followed late in the night, a piece of quilt and the true moon leading them." Later, her daughter also stitches quilts that become "a Show Way" to guide captives escaping to freedom. The quilt becomes a metaphor not only for physical freedom but for freedom of expression. Long after emancipation, subsequent generations of women in this family stay connected through quilting, using needle and thread as a means of support and as a creative outlet. Woodson eventually reveals that this is her own lineage, and "[her] words became books that told the stories of many people's Show Ways." Talbott uses the quilt motif in rousing ways, piecing together quotes or news items for a pair of spreads about one generation "walking in a line to change the laws" as well as in softly quilted patterns that tie together the love of a child, a theme throughout this elegantly designed volume. Ages 5-up. (Sept.)

Show Way. (2005). Publishers Weekly, 252(36), 67.

Program: Have a craft activity of creating a quilting square depicting important family information such as lineage and ancestry, cultural contributions, directions or memories. Provides colorful thread, scraps and shapes for cutouts.

Module 9: The Silence of Murder

Mackall, D. D. (2011). The silence of murder. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Summary: Jeremy is an autisitc teenager and a selective mute who has been accused of the murder of the town’s baseball coach. His presence at the scene of the crime and the coach’s blood on his favorite bat lead everyone to believe that he did indeed do it. That is, everyone except his sister Hope. She knows the person that Jeremy is, that it is against his nature to do harm, and will do everything in her power to prove his innocence.

Response: I enjoyed reading this book and was propelled to its finish in order to solve the mystery. I found it interesting to have the story told from Hope’s point of view as the younger and supportive sister to Jeremy. She understands that being his sister makes her different, but it causes her to rise above the immaturity of high school life and drives her to save her brother. I enjoyed that it is not the story of someone who is compelled to snoop into other people’s lives to find out answers, but one who does everything out of love, who gives voice to someone who is voiceless. Hope seeks the truth and in her journey to find it, she find out more about herself and even more about the brother that she knows and loves.

Reviews:

The Silence of Murder.

By Dandi Daley Mackall.

Oct. 2011. 336p. Knopf, Gr. 8-12.

"I have never even once thought there was something 'wrong' with my brother," says 17-year-old Hope Long, but few people share her view. Jeremy, 18, is selectively mute, autistic, and on trial for the murder of a beloved local coach. Wherever their irresponsible alcoholic mother has taken them, Hope has always been Jeremy's advocate, but now, in order to save Jeremy from execution, she must testify to his insanity. Convinced of her brother's innocence, Hope sets out to discover the real murderer. Her investigation leads to the loss of her only friend, a forbidden romance with the sheriff's son, family secrets, and a journey of self-discovery. Hope's first-person narrative pulls readers immediately into the story as she works her way through clues and false leads to the truth. The well-plotted mystery is intriguing, and Hope's determined efforts to solve it have an authentic feel. Secondary characters are a tad one-dimensional, but Hope's compelling voice and the very real sense of danger propel the pace to a solution that will have readers talking.--Lynn Rutan

Rutan, L. (2011, October 1). The Silence of Murder. Booklist, 108(3), 88.

Program: Have a book club discussion about The Silence of Murder. Before the book talk begins, have several jars available and pieces of paper. As that each participant write a pivotal scene or moment from the book that they found pertinent to the mystery or the cohesiveness of the story itself. Have each participant take turns picking a jar and reading the scene described and then discussing its importance.

Module 8: Unwind

Shusterman, N. (2009). Unwind. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Summary: Connor, Risa and Lev are all teenagers who have one thing in common: they are about to be unwound. They live in a world where pregnancies must be carried to full term, but guardians may choose to unwind their children’s physical selves between the ages of thirteen and eighteen and have their parts given out as transplants to people in need. These Undwinds do not die nor do they continue to exist in their previous form. But for Connor, Risa and Lev, heading to the ending of their current lives is only the beginning…

Response: I had this book recommended to me by a Youth Services librarian where I work because she found the idea of the book to be thought provoking. I found it to be just that. The collision of the lives of Connor, Risa and Lev explodes into a vast array of perspectives altered by their coming together and holding onto their lives for as long as possible. I was most touched by Lev’s journey, as someone who is literally born to end, he is reborn into a second life and is able to see that his neatly packaged life is more of a complicated web. I feel that this is a great book to prompt discussion about human lives what the future holds for how we regard it.

(Side note- while I did enjoy the book, I wasn’t as pleased with the mention of skin color occurring only when a character “of color” appeared in the story. If the futuristic designation of white as the skin color sienna, and black as the skin color umber, then it should be mentioned for all characters, not just a given that the central characters will be white by the lack of mention of skin tone).

Reviews:

Unwind NEAL SHUSTERMAN

Shusterman (Everlost) explores one of the most divisive of topics--abortion--in this gripping, brilliantly imagined futuristic thriller. After a civil war waged over abortion has almost destroyed America, completely new laws are in effect. Human life can never be "terminated," but between the ages of 13 and 18, a child can be "unwound" by his parents, an irrevocable decision that leads to every single bit of his body being harvested for medical use. As the novel opens, 16-year-old Connor has secretly discovered his parents' copy of his unwind order, and decides to "kick-AWOL," or run away. Connor's escape inadvertently sweeps up two other Unwinds: a ward of the state who is not quite talented enough to merit her place in a state home any longer, and the 10th son of religious parents, who gave birth to him just to "tithe" him. Beyond his pulse-pounding pace, the cliffhangers and the bombshells, Shusterman has a gift for extrapolating the effects of alien circumstances on ordinary people and everyday behavior. He brings in folklore, medical practices, and slang that reflect the impact of unwinding, creating a dense and believable backdrop. Characters undergo profound changes in a plot that never stops surprising readers. The issues raised could not be more provocative--the sanctity of life, the meaning of being human--while the delivery could hardly be more engrossing or better aimed to teens. Ages 13-up.

Unwind. (2007, November 26). Publishers Weekly, 254(47), 54.

Program: Create a book talk of 3-4 books on social topics in fantasy and science fiction that are aimed for teens. Present an enticing summary for each book while highlighting the issues that are framed.

Module 7: Tua and the Elephant

Harris, R. P., & Yoo, T. (2012). Tua and the elephant. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

Summary: Tua is a young girl who lives with her always-working mother in Chiang Mai, Thailand and helps her community of vendors by running errands across the night market. While running errands, Tua finds a whole in the wall surrounding the market that leads her to the bustling city where she encounters a chained elephant being mistreated and exploited by its handlers. She connects with the elephant, who she names Pohn-Pohn and is determined find her a safe place to live while outwitting the Pohn-Pohn’s previous owners in the process.

Response: I thought this book was an accurate depiction of life for a young girl of this age and it made it all the more engaging. There are many moments where we are keyed into the thought process of Tua who is respectful of adults, but knows the difference between those who are to be respected and those who are conniving such as the elephant’s previous owners. She also demonstrates quick thinking and resolve when her elephant is captured by two fisherman and she makes the ransom by filling plastic bags with strips of paper. She is aware of her own potential and as a young, imaginative person she is not limited to the boundaries of the adult world that would normally prevent her from taking action on behalf of the elephant’s life. I was also quite captured by the descriptions of tastes, smells and colors of the world around her.

Reviews:
Tua and the Elephant

R.P. Harris, illus, by Taeeun Yoo.

Harris's debut, inspired by a trip to the Elephant Nature Park in Thailand, follows nine-year-old Tua and her relationship with an abused elephant, PohnPohn. Tua, whose mother is a hardworking waitress, lives an independent life in Chiang Mai, near a popular night market where she finds--and falls in love with--Pohn-Pohn. The elephant is under the charge of two thieving scoundrels and wordlessly begs Tua to help her escape. As quick-witted and adventurous as she is warmhearted, Tua undergoes hair-raising escapades to keep Pohn-Pohn our of the villains' grasp and find her a sanctuary. Engagingly filled with Thai vocabulary, food, and customs, and peopled by helpful family members, chums, and kind monks, the book maintains a quick, suspenseful pace. The final chapters wrap up the story a little too neatly, however, and border on an infomercial about the sanctuary for abused Asian elephants. Nonetheless, Harris's story, enlivened by Yoo's gently evocative woodcut illustrations in violet and mustard, avoids overt anthropomorphism of Pohn-Pohn while maintaining the sweet connection between elephant and girl. Ages 8-12. Illustrator's agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

Tua and the Elephant. (2012, April 2). Publishers Weekly, 259(14), 58.

Program: Have an event on Thai culture with different tables focusing on several cultural aspects represented in the book: Thai food, theater, market life, and wildlife and elephant endangerment. If possible, have food samples of Thai food, pictures or samples of theater clothing and adornment, and information about wildlife preserves.