YA Literature Books 9-16
Bibliography:
Garden, N. (1982). Annie on my mind. NY: FSG.
Summary:
The protagonist, Eliza Winthrop, Liza for short, attended a private school at Foster Academy in a wealthy neighborhood in Brooklyn Heights. At the beginning of the story we are introduced to Annie, as Liza is writing her a letter explaining how she dearly misses Annie, and the reader then realizes that Liza is in college. Liza takes the reader back to a flashback moment a year ago when both Annie and Liza were 17 year old seniors in high school.
Annie and Liza, met at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Annie was singing outside when Liza was caught breathless of Annie’s beautiful singing voice. The two strangers entered the museum together and walked through each room of the museum. Annie comes off as a quirky girl who likes to act out and curtsey to the artwork, while Liza is the complete opposite, with a very reserved and sheltered personality. When the girls part ways they exchange phone numbers.
At Foster Academy, Liza is not only a star student, but also the student body president. She dreams of being accepted at MIT, where she hopes to study architecture. At school the next day Liza is called to Mrs. Poindexter, the principal's office, for not reporting to an adult that girl’s were piercing their ears in the bathroom. Mrs. Poindexter accuses Liza of breaking one of the “Reporting Rules,” and amidst the prestigious school record, Foster Academy is struggling to keep its school afloat with lack of money. As student body president, Liza has put the campaign to save the school in jeopardy. It is a serious matter and the principal decided that they would hold a student council meeting to decide Liza’s fate. After the meeting, Mrs. Poindexter decides to suspend Liza and Sally, the girl who was piercing ears in the girl’s bathroom for a few days. Liza is furious at the outcome and is outraged due to the fact that she hadn’t committed any particular crime or harm to anyone.
During Liza’s suspension, her relationship with Annie grows. Annie is invited over to Liza’s house for dinner, and she gets along well with Liza’s family. Annie’s family is from Italy and they do not have the means to live in a nice part of town, Annie is humiliated after Liza sees where she resides, but nonetheless it does not affect their blossoming relationship. Through out Liza’s suspension, she visits Annie frequently after school and they travel throughout the city such as the ferry, the botanical garden, and Connie Island to explore together. Annie and Liza’s relationship becomes more than just a friendship, they start to hold hands and show affectionate towards one another. As both girls are exploring the sexual orientation, they both come to realize that they are gay, and are ready to plunge into a special relationship.The two girls start to find the physical attraction they feel towards each other difficult to cope with. They go so far, but always pull back. This causes friction between them causing a fight and a small rift between Annie and Liza.
Over Spring break, Ms. Stevenson asks Liza to look after her cats and the house for a few days and this provides a blessing for Liza and Annie. Finally, the two girls have somewhere where they can act themselves. Together in the house, Annie and Liza's relationship hits new levels. Every morning they have breakfast together and plan their futures. Their conversations are sometimes tinged with sadness. They not only know they may not have much longer together, but are still struggling to physically consummate their relationship. As the girls explore Ms Stevenson and Ms. Widmer’s house they come across a bookcase that is full of literature on homosexuality. Annie and Liza come to the realization that Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stephenson are just like them.
On their final day upon the return of Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stephenson, one of the administrators at Liza’s school discovers what appears to be Annie and Liza having an intimate moment in the bedroom, and brings it to the attention of Liza’s family. Liza is forced to confesses that she and Annie are in love. Mrs. Poindexter is notified and gets a disciplinary committee together at Foster Academy, because she wants Liza expelled for her distasteful actions. Liza is heartbroken and embarrassed by the exploitation of her love affair with Annie. The committee and school board members who were in charge of deciding the disciplinary action of Liza, decided that Liza can continue to study at Foster Academy, and continue to serve as student body president. They conclude that her sexual orientation does not describe any actions that need to be punished, and if anything her parents can take the necessary actions to prevent further sexual encounters of Liza and Annie, especially since it occurred off campus.
However, for Ms. Widmer and Ms. Stevenson, their outcome is not so fair. The school board committee decides that the teachers are lesbians and this discovery lead to Annie and Liza to become intimate with one another. The two teachers are fired because Mrs. Poindexter accuses the teachers to be influencers of inappropriate relationships. Despite this falling out, both teachers offer their support to Liza once they learn about her relationship with Annie. Even with that support though, the strain of the disciplinary hearing for Liza, causes her to break things off with Annie. Liza has a very difficult time sharing with her family her true self and blames Annie for this devastating discovery.
After graduating from high school, Liza goes to MIT and Annie goes to the University of California, Berkeley. They’re separated by about three thousand miles. While at college, Liza spends some time ruminating on her relationship with Annie. Ultimately, she accepts her sexual orientation and the next time she sees Annie, they get back together.
Commentary:
This novel is a Young Adult Novel that is a required read for this course.
Annie on My Mind is structured as a frame narrative. The main story is framed by Liza’s internal monologues. Annie has written her many letters, and Liza is trying to work through composing a response. In the frame narrative, Liza is unable to write to Annie, until she decides to call her over the winter break. It’s through that phone call that they decide to give their relationship another try, and the book ends on a high note for both Liza and Annie.
Liza is the main protagonist in the story, as she narrates the events of the story, the reader has insight into her thoughts and feelings throughout the novel. Liza is a very relatable character discovering her sexual orientation. She comes from a wealthy, conservative, structured family in New York City, and has high ambitions of becoming an architect and attending MIT. She is not overly popular at school, but is academically very strong and is admired by others for her strengths of standing up to the principal and fighting for what is fair. Her attitudes and feelings of uncertainty about her sexual orientation are very obvious throughout the novel. However, once she is forced to claim what she was doing in bed with Annie, it allows her to become free of the lies that were binding her.
The overall plot of the novel, if fairly structured and very relevant to young adult readers. Liza speaks in both first person and third person to portray the flashbacks she has of her time with Annie. Throughout the novel, Liza is debating whether to contact Annie or not, as she receives many letters of endearment from Annie who is at school in California. Liza is very conflicted with whether or not to be in contact with Annie, but in the end can not resist a life without Annie. Therefore calling her on the phone to apologize for the way that things ended with them in New York City.
The settings of the novel are all very realistic. There are many scenes throughout New York such as James Coney Island, The Metropolitan museum, the Botanical Gardens, and even the Ferry between NY and NJ. The reader also sees that Liza’s private school shows how Liza was brought up in a privileged neighborhood, while Annie, whose family immigrated from Italy to the United States, lives in an undesired part of New York City. The two girls have very different personalities but are highly attracted to one another.
One of the main problems that occur to the characters is their secretive love for one another. Both girls know that they are gay, but have not had the courage to expoit thier true selves to their families or communities. This secret affair causes many rifts between the girls, and especially when they are caught in an intimate setting, forcing Liza to fess up about her deep love for Annie to her parents. Liza is very conflicted thinking that it is wrong for her to love Annie and ends up breaking up with Annie.
Half way through the story, Liza relates a story by Plato. Plato wrote that everyone used to be attached to another person called “their other half,” which could have been the same sex or the opposite sex. One day, the human race upset the Gods and so the Gods split each person apart. Since then it is said that the role of each human is to find his or her other half. Liza is very taken by this story, not only believing that Annie is her other half, but that it proves that it is ok to be gay. This prominent theme throughout the novel suggestions that the characters are coming into their own, and discovering their true selves as they are, and accepting who they love whether society agrees with it or not. The author takes a realistic view of love. According to the story, finding the right person is not all romantic games. In fact, she suggests it is that mindset that can often destroy a person.
Connections:
* Present the book trailer for Annie On My Mind, for students to get background knowledge on the novel in order to engage the students before the book is read. Allow students to make predictions about the novel such as the characters, problems/conflicts, and possible solutions.
*Invite a class discussion on the following questions. This may lead to students wanting to do research on laws of gay marriage and sexual orientation. Allow students to work in pairs to come up with an argumentative essay that takes a stance on gay marriage and how our goverment is accomodating it’s laws. Students can share their essay compositions with the class.
- How has society's views of homosexuality changed since the book was published in 1982? How would Foster's school deal with the incident today?
*Encourage students to read other books that incorporate themes of the LGBTQ community. Allow students to compare and contrast the characters and the changes that they overcome throughout the novel. Students can create venn diagrams using apps or technology to present the information to the class.
- Albertalli, B. Simon vs. the homo sapiens agenda.
- Levithan, D. Boy Meets Boy.
Bibliography:
Gephart, D. (2016). Lily and Dunkin. NY: Deacorte.
Summary:
This novel is told by both Tim (otherwise known as Lily), and Norbert (nicknamed Dunkin for his love of Dunkin’ Doughnuts), they are the two main characters who narrate the story in alternating points of view. Tim,who prefers to be called Lily, is a transgender boy who wishes he was a girl. Lily’s mother accepts Lily and the changes that he wants to go through to become who he feels comfortable being. His father on the other hand, has a very difficult time accepting Lily and at times is embarrassed when he dresses like a girl, wears nailpolish, and makeup out in public. Dunkin is the new kid in town from New Jersey. He is extraordinarily tall, lives in his grandmother’s house with his mom, and dearly misses his dad who he believes was left behind in New Jersey. Dunkin takes two medications to help him cope with his bipolar disorder, his mother trusts him taking his medicine on his own as he is entering eighth grade, reminding him of what happened the last time he stopped taking his medicine...putting him in the hospital.
As Dunkin is on his way home from Dunkin Doughnuts, he sees Lily all dressed up in red dress helping his father unload the groceries from the car. Dunkin thinks Lily is beautiful with his bright, long blonde hair and blue eyes, not knowing that she is a he. When Lily and Dunkin meet again, Lily is sitting in a special tree he calls, “Bob,” named after his Grandfather Bob, who accepted him when he was just a young boy, for who he is. Dunkin sees Lily in the tree and they introduce themselves to one another, not knowing that they will be attending the same school.
When Dunkin arrives to his first day of school, he is greeted by the popular jocks and is quickly accepted by the boys on the basketball team. However, Lily dreads the first day of school, knowing that the same jocks will continue to make fun of him, bully him, and belittle his existence. Dunkin sees the horrible treatment that his “new friends” are treating Lily at his locker, but can’t seem to defend his new friend from the jocks. When lunch time rolls around, Dunkin intends to sit with Lily and his friend Dare, but is invited by the basketball jocks to join them. Not wanting to stir up any trouble Dunkin, ditches Lily and his friend, not knowing that it would infuriate Lily. At lunch the jocks through food at Lily, call him names, but Dunkin turns his head ignoring the cruel treatment.
Lily constantly struggles with his identity and thinks about ways that he can come out to the public. He continues to dress like a boy at school, knowing that the bullies will only treat him worse if they had the opportunity to see him dressed like a girl, but when he is at home, he enjoys wearing his mother’s clothes. Lily persuades his parents to purchase hormone injections to stop his puberty from occurring. Lily’s father refuses and simply can not bare the thought of “Tim” transforming into a girl. Lily’s mother understands Lily’s reasoning and asks for him to give his father time to warm up to the idea.
Dunkin is asked to try out for the basketball team, even though is very unathletic. He asks his grandmother, who is famous for her workout videos, to help him get in shape for basketball tryouts. Dunkin decides that he will reduce his medication intake in order to help himself have a clearer mind for tryouts. Dunkin struggles with his mental illness and has flashbacks to times where his father would expose a roller coaster of emotions. Meanwhile, his mother seems very sad, and depressed without his father present, but Dunkin doesn’t feel such emotions of sadness towards his father’s absence.
When Dunkin makes the boys eighth grade basketball team he is ecstatic! When he arrives home his bright light is crushed quickly. He starts talking and pacing really fast to his mother and grandmother about the tryouts and how all of his hard work had paid off, his mother can quickly detect that Dunkin is acting unusually hyper, and over exaggerated. She concludes that Dunkin has been lying to her about taking his medication appropriately and takes him to a doctor. Once in the doctor's office, Dunkin denies that he has skipped taking medicine, but when the doctor asks for a blood test, Dunkin realizes that he will be more careful with his medication.
When Halloween roles around Dunkin dresses up with the basketball jocks on the team and trick-Or-treats through the neighborhood with them. Lily dresses up as a mermaid wig, makeup and heels in tact. When Dunkin sees Lily, he knows that he needs to distract the jocks from seeing Lily dressed up in a female costume so he trips his teammates, and saves Lily from harassment. This gesture shows Lily that he does care for him, and wants to protect him any way that he can.
Lily and the jocks can see that Dunkin’s personality is changing rapidly, he paces quickly, talks very fast, and at times is seen talking over his left shoulder to somebody. Dunkin feels that he has been playing faster, and is able to think clearer without his medication, he does not notice the changes in personality that everyone around him sees. He can not focus in class, sit still, or think clearly. At one of the away basketball teams, Dunkin is so out of it that he shoots the basketball in the completely wrong basket scoring for the other team. His teammates are furious. Dunkin is benched and embarrassed, but his thoughts race back to his memories of his dad, and a close friend named Fin. Luckily his team is able to come back, and win the game.
Meanwhile, Lily’s mother finds a hormone therapist for Lily to see, forcing his negative father to come along to the visit. Lily is ecstatic and is thrilled that his mother sees how depressed he is about hiding his true identity. The therapist speaks to Lily’s father, and the reader can see that after the therapist speaks with Lily’s father, he has a change of heart, and supports the hormone injections.
Following a few weeks without taking his medication appropriately, during a home basketball game, Dunkin is so out of his element that when the coach allows him to play, Dunkin starts to runs in circles on the court, and yell at himself, and talking over his left shoulder. Dunkin see the police handcuff him and wakes up in a hospital. Dunkin is devastated and mortified that the whole school, his mother, and his grandmother saw him unravel on the court. Dunkin stays in the hospital until he is stable enough to return home. In the psychiatric ward Dunkin’s doctor asks who he's been talking to, and if Dunkin remembers why his father is not with him in Florida? Dunkin faces his fears and opens up about how his father committed suicide from his illness. This release and acceptance that his father is gone, helps Dunkin cope and become aware of his reality.
Lily discovers that the town will be cutting down his beautiful “Bob” tree by the library, where he sits to reflect and read. His letter that he wrote to the mayor is ignored and the tree cutters are ready to chop down the beautiful tree to make room for a park. Lily decides that the only way to protect the tree is to sit up in the branches until the workers go home. Lily skips school, but is later accompanied by his whole family, including his dad. Dunkin walks by that night, and Lily invites him up in the tree. Dunkin confesses to Lily about his dad and his mental illness, while Lily confides in Dunkin about his gender change, and why Dunkin had seen him in a red dress. The two friends learn that their friendship is stronger than ever.
Dunkin decides that Lily is his real friend. He doesn’t care what the other boys think of him. Lily still isn’t ready to come out to her classmates, but she feels more supported now than ever before. Both friends attend the school dance, and prove to everyone that they are stronger than ever, Lily even dresses to her preference as a girl, with the utmost support of her father.
Commentary:
This novel is a Young Adult Novel that is a required read for this course.
The protagonists in this novel are Dunkin and Lily. Gephart creatively infuses these two very different characters, by exploiting both of their perspectives in an eighth grade environment. The realistic antagonists, such as the basketball jocks, are intertwined around judgements and society views of metal illnesses and transgender people.
Gephart sympathetically contrasts the physical awkwardness, uncertainty, and longings of these two characters during a few tightly-plotted months, building to a crescendo of revelation.The plot is well developed and had a unique twist with the perspective of not one, but two characters. Both characters, Lily and Dunkin sought for acceptance for who they are. For example, Lily wanted acceptance from his father to support him in his transformation into a female, and Duncan’s acceptance of his mental illness. Both characters experience misguided attempts to please others before themselves and made decisions that were self inflicting.The challenges that both of these characters faced can be of great relevance to teens and preteens who are struggling with the same internal struggles. Overall, I thought that Donna Gephart managed to balance both characters well, and the literary expression of presenting the story as the inner dialogue of each character works to the story’s advantage.
A major theme that is portrayed throughout this novel is being true to yourself. As both characters have big changes in their lives to overcome, they struggle letting the public see who they really are. As both characters evolve throughout the story though, the reader starts to see a positive light that both characters are comfortable in their own skin. They prevail and aspire to be who they want to be, and take pride in their individuality.
Connections:
*Play this audio of the author Donna Gephart, describing the story and the connections that it has to her personal life. This would be a great closing activity for students to listen to after reading the novel. Students can then write a reaction or a blog post of a book review for this novel.
*Encourage students to further pursue readings on similar topics and characters that undergo difficult changes with their bodies written by the same author: Donna Gephart. Students can create journal entries on the books that they read by writing summaries and ways that Donna’s books differ from one another.
- How to Survive Middle School. By Donna Gephart
- Death by Toilet Paper. By Donna Gephart
- Oliva Bean, Trivia Queen. Donna Gephart
*After reading the novel, show students the “Trevor Project” website. Encourage students to create posters that encourage pride in the LGBTQ community.
Bibliography:
Harris, R. (2009) It’s perfectly normal. Boston,MA: Candlewick Press.
Summary:
This book contains information and facts on changing bodies, growing up, sex, and sexual health. There are twenty-nine chapters that are categorized by “What is Sex,” “Our Bodies,” “Puberty,” “Familes and Babies,” “Decisions,” and “Staying Healthy.” Each part of the book embodies facts and information on the specific topic, including girls, boys, gays, and lesbians. The perspective of the book is very unbiased, and provides answers to difficult questions that kids may ask. The book describes all stages of life starting from when you are a young child, going through puberty, young adult, and even old adult age changes.
It’s perfectly Normal starts off by providing insight into sex by providing the definitions of sex, such as sex as a gender, sex as reproduction, and how sex can be a desire. It continues to further provide information on sexual intercourse between straight, lesbian,gay, bisexual, and transgender people. The diverse facts on the various sexual orientations provides for people of all preferences to find themselves represented in the book. Many of the proper vocabulary terms that are used in the informational text, provide the origin of the word, or the latin meaning to help young readers understand a deeper definition of such words.
In Part II of the book, it complies a section about the human body. It provides a full spread page of illustrations that encompasses all body types, skin colors, nationalities, and genders. The pages following discuss the outside and inside of the female sex organs as well as the male sex organs. There are many diagrams that help illustrate the body parts and thier functions as sex organs.
Part III of the text encompasses facts and information on puberty. This section mentions the changes, messages, and ongoing process of puberty. Females and males are represented separately, by being compared and contrasted. Continuing with the topic of puberty, the book mentions how the body overcomes drastic changes slowly, and the care that the body needs such as cleanliness. Part III wraps up with how it is perfectly normal to have changing feelings for the opposite sex, as well as masterbation.
Part IV of the text provides knowledge on the many unique kinds of families, how to take care of babies and kids, how genes and chromosomes are formed to create your individual DNA, how people show affection who care for one another by cuddling, kissing, touching, and sexual intercourse, and the process of a pregnancy. This section provides a cartoon page examines the process of birthing a baby step by step.
Part V focuses on decisions that are made in order to plan ahead such as postponement, abstinence, and birth control. Illustrations provide examples of birth control for both females and males. Abortions and the laws that abide by birth control are also mentioned to inform young readers, by encompassing supreme court decisions and dates of these decisions.
Part VI includes how you can stay healthy not only physically but mentally as well. Texting, messaging, E-mailing, and being online are all mentioned, and instruct advise as to what my seem fun, creepy, and dangerous while using a cell phone or social media sites. Sexual abuse is also mentioined in this section, as well as sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and AIDS, and responsible choices that should be made as you are changing from a child to a young adult.
Commentary:
This book is a Young Adult Novel that is a required read for this course.
This text provides insightful information that kids need in order to feel that the changes that they are going through are okay. Puberty can be a difficult and scary time, but what better way to present this content, than in a book. It is a great guide for parents to lead discussions, allows kids to ask the scary concerning questions, and produces pure facts and unbiased information that is honest, reliable, and accurate.
The illustrations that are embedded in this text, such as diagrams, cartoon-like frames that give insight to birth, the stages that the egg and sperm have, and many side bar conversations between the bee and bird cartoons that creates a childlike tone. Overall the illustrations were quite bright, and colorful, giving this difficult topic a sense of positivity.
The information that is provided can be considered accurate based off the authenticity of the sources that were provided in the back of the book. There are many credible sources that are listed and can be seen as professionals of these topics such as doctors, therapists, pediatricians, school administrators, professors,psychologists and many more reputable professions that provide true pieces of information.
Overall, I found this book very insightful, aaccuate, and refreshingly open about puberty, reproduction, birth control, STD’s, HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, gender, and safe Internet practices. At times these topics can be seen as very sensitive and distasteful to write about, but Harris and Emberley encompass and portray an optimistic creative way.
Connections:
* This text can be a great read for students who are interested in learning about sex and puberty as well as the changes that thier bodies encoutner. Possibly with parent permission (due to this book being on the “banned booklist” in some libraries) teachers can encourage teens and preteens to take an interest in learning about the normal changes that transpire.
* If students enjoyed It’s Perfectly Normal, encourage them to read other books written by the same author that embrace other touchy topics. Students can compare the content that is provided, and create posters that include diagrams of the changes that preteens go through. Students can share their findings through mini presentations.
It's So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families. By Harris, Robie
What's in There?: All About Before You Were Born. By Harris, Robie
It's Not the Stork!: A Book About Girls, Boys, Babies, Bodies, Families and Friends. By Harris, Robie
Bibliography:
Sandler, M. (2017). The whydah a pirate ship feared, wrecked & found. NY: CandleWick Press.
Summary:
This book is written in a unique perspective as it follows the treasure and the history of the Whydah. Throughout the book the author is able to provide background information that sets the stage as well as concludes the story to modern day.
The Whydah was originally a slave ship that was built “state of the art” for its time. The ship which was 102 feet long and boasted 18 cannons, was named after an African slave port. In 1717 the ship was captained by Lawrence Prince, who was known as ruthless when it came to his treatment of slaves. Being a slave ship, the Whydah traveled between West Africa, the Carribean, and England. The author then proceeds to give a brief history of slavery and its origin. To elaborate the “dehumanizing” establishment he gives an account from a slave who was a Ghana native, Quobna Ottobah Cugoano.
Sam Bellamy is introduced as a “dashing” young man who becomes friends with Paul Grieves Williams. Williams comes from a well-off family but is eager to create his own wealth, as does Sam. The two seek out Spanish treasure but are unsuccessful and embarrassed. At the same time Sam meets Maria Hallett, who later has his child. After undergoing the defeat of unsuccessfully finding Spanish treasure Sam and Paul go off to raid ships to encounter wealth, hence the pirate lifestyle is born. They go on to meet Benjamin Hornigold a famous pirate and join him and Oliver LeBous. Together they sail the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. One day the crew see British merchant ships, and want to pursue but Captain Hornigold does not approve, which causes unrest amongst the crew. They go on to capture and recover the booty of various ships along with new recruits. As the small fleet grows they are able to improve their ships and strategically force other merchant ships to surrender. LeBous grows tired of being in the younger Hornigold’s shadow and departs from the crew. While in the Windward Passage Hornigold sees the Whydah in the distance and determines its characteristics to be ideal for the purpose of piracy. They are successful in taking The Whydah and make structural changes to improve its speed and capacity.
The author then discusses the code of pirates and the order in which they operate. Their democratic organization and freedom is what makes them unique. It is a distinct lifestyle that at the time is looked down upon from the outside but from the inside is considered honorable.
Bellamy leaves Williams and heads to Cape Cod. Here he encounters the "Perfect Storm". The storm involves howling 80 mph winds and deafening thunder. After being led by a "knowledgeable" captain, the Whydah crashes into a sandbar where it meets it end.
Cape Cod is a renowned ocean graveyard for ships. The history of the US coast guard can be found here, originally the Life Saving Service. The importance of maps in the early years of exploration can not be understated. Cyprian Southack was a great mapmaker for his time.
Only two on the Whydah survive the crash leaving the large treasure behind. Southack was then designated to recover the lost treasure. While supposedly unsuccessful in finding the treasure, legends of the Southack hiding treasure were told.
The remainder of the story discusses the modern-day recovery efforts by Barry Clifford and crew. The search for the Whydah with the use of state-of-the-art technology is what made all the difference in comparison with search efforts of the past. Through his efforts Clifford is able to uncover the treasure along with the actual bell of The Whydah Gally.
Commentary:
This novel is a Young Adult Novel that is from the “Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults” list.
The characters in this historical nonfiction book vary amongst time periods but share the commonality of the sea and their interest in treasure. Ranging from 1715 to 1984, the characters begin with Paulsgrave Williams and a young Sam Bellamy who capture the Whydah to Barry Clifford modern-day explorer who uncovers the treasure. Paulsgrave Williams and Sam Bellamy have common interests of acquiring wealth, it is with this bond that the gentlemen begin to chase their dreams and become pirates. After their success, Williams goes on to live a peaceful quiet life, while Bellamy does not survive the wreck of the Whydah. Barry Clifford leads the recovery efforts to uncover artifacts from the Whydah via his ship Vast Explorer. The characters in this story are all portrayed accurately. the evidence found by Clifford gives great descriptions of the pirates, their attire, and weaponry.
The setting takes place primarily in the Cape Cod region of the United States. The turbulent waters caused many ships to wreck leading to the perfect setting for a sunken ship with treasure. While at sea, the story covers areas from Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Great Britain, to the Northeast coast of the United States. The time period of the story varies from the 1700s to modern-day as the Whydah and the treasure is followed through time.
Later in the story the author uses many illustrations to capture the reader's attention and bring the story to life with pictures from the actual recovery of the Whydah. These pictures serve many purposes: showing the authenticity of the treasure found, the scientific processes used to restore the treasure, and actual photos of divers at the sea floor. The finding of the treasure not only makes for a good story but it authenticates the pirates, their lifestyle and that their stories are extraordinarily true. As Martin W. Sandler writes, “Marine archaeologists have uncovered artifacts in its wreck that have changed our entire notion of who the pirates were and how they lived”.Other earlier illustrations include early maps made by Cyprian Southack.
Martin Sandler includes source notes organized by chapters that make references to other authors and books. The book also contains: a bibliography that he incorporates in his non-fiction piece, photography credits, and an acknowledgement statement that credits others involved in the creation of this work.
Connections:
* Students can create a timeline of events from 1715 to 1984 depicting the different pirates and their oceanographers discoveries to show changes over time. Students can use a powerpoint presentation, prezi, or other application to complete the assignment, but must use the information presented in the book.
*Students can create a 3D model of the Whydah labeling its parts and functions. Students can create the model digitally on the computer, or create the model from clay or other substances. Students must label the parts and so research on the ship as it is mentioned in the book.
* The teacher can show this short clip of the oceanographers capturing their findings on the Whydah deep in the ocean. Students can connect what that learned in the book to what is being displayed in the clip. https://youtu.be/nryeHnZUfAk
Bibliography:
King, A.S. (2010). Please ignore vera dietz. New York: Random House.
Summary:
High school senior Vera Dietz discloses early on, at the start of the novel, that she has lost her best friend, and neighbor for as long as she can remember, Charlie Kahn after he had allegedly set the mall’s pet store on fire. Vera is the narrator and protagonist of the story, at times she speaks of the present, and at other times she has flashbacks of the events that lead up to Charlie’s death. Along with school, Vera has a full time job as a pizza delivery girl for the Pagoda Pizza shop. Her father is a single parent after her mother ran off with a podiatrist to Las Vegas when Vera was 12. She remembers her mother, but does not think kindly of her, as she tore her family apart, leaving a giant empty whole in her life. Her mother was never present and Vera could tell that she only married her father because Vera was conceived when her mother was only 17. Vera’s dad, Ken, is a recovering alcoholic. He shares that alcoholism runs in his family, and warns Vera of the family curse.
Vera and Charlie have a deep past together and the two have been inseparable friends since childhood. They have built a treehouse together, hung out at the Master Oak tree, spent summers playing Uno, and could talk to each other about anything. Charlie confides in Vera, and vise versa. Vera is fully aware of Charlie’s abusive father who takes his anger and frustration out on his mother, whileVera struggles with an absent mother and overbearing father. Although Charlie comes from a tough household, he sees Vera as more than a friend. As Vera thinks about the past, she recalls a sweet moment on Valentine’s Day where Charlie had bought flowers, but what Vera thought was a date, turned out to be a flop. Charlie didn’t have enough courage to open up and disperse his feelings for Vera.
As the story continues, and Vera tries to cope with the lost of her, what she thought was her best friend, she turns to binge drinking. Vera convinces herself that it is not an addiction, but only used to numb out the negative events occurring in her life. Vera harbors a lot of anger and resentment toward Charlie for leaving so soon, and the way that their friendship slowly crumbled towards the end of Charlie’s life. When Vera goes on her binge drinking rages, she has hallucinations of Charlie haunting her, telling her to clear his name of the fire incident. Vera seems to be aware of Charlie’s innocence, but does not find the courage to speak up...yet.
As Vera and Charlie grow up together, it is apparent that Vera doesn’t have a lot of friends except for Charlie and she prefers it that way, as she enters high school she likes being “invisible.” When the two reach high school, however, things begin to change. Charlie starts smoking more and getting detention. He slowly hangs out with a group of new friends, the “Detentionheads” as Vera calls them, that includes the manipulative, compulsive lying Jenny Flick. Charlie quickly falls for Jenny, as he later shares, because Vera was, “too good for him,” and Jenny was just an average, okay girl that he knew he was more his league. Jenny quickly realizes how close Vera and Charlie are, and to Vera’s dismay, Jenny targets Vera, by feeding lies about her to Charlie, and unfortunately Charlie believes them. This is the start of the separation between the friendship of Charlie and Vera.
Charlie narrates small snippets throughout the novel. He explains that he has made some bad choices, one in specific is how he has been selling his used underwear to a local pervert named John.Charlie recognizes that he has some of the same issues and problems as his abusive father, concluding that he is not worthy of dating Vera. Charlie reveals that he loved Vera, and regrets everything that happened, but says he had to push her away to “save Vera from myself.” Charlie thought he could never be as “classy” as Vera, which led to feelings of helplessness and anger. After rumors spread that Charlie’s dad is a “wife beater,” Charlie deliberately hurts Vera thinking she is the one spreading the rumors, informing students at school that her mother was a stripper. Vera is crushed that their relationship is demolished by one foul lie.
As Vera has a flashback of the night of the fire, she recalls Charlie calling her late at night, warning her of Jenny’s plot to torch the animal shelter in the mall, and even pursue killing him. Although Vera disregards this as a lie, she shows up to the mall anyways and sees Jenny pouring gasoline all over the pet shop. Vera is furious at the inhumane actions of Jenny. Vera would volunteer at the pet shop once a week since her mother vanished from her life. It is evident that amidst the break up between Charlie and Jenny, Jenny plans to frame Charlie for the fire as a punishment for dumping her. Vera, quickly calls Charlie, telling him what she has seen, Charlie tells her that she will find an explanation for everything hidden in their secret spot. Vera, goes to the Master Oak Tree, and discovers a small box filled with letters, and napkins with written notes on them.
The next morning, Charlie’s body is laying in his front yard. Everyone suspects that he had been pushed from a car, and had died of either alcohol poisoning, or suffocating on his own vomit from drinking. Vera is devastated, and the flashback of the night Charlie dies ends. Vera learns that Charlie and Jenny had been making videos together to sell to John the pervert, but Charlie wanted to stop. He broke up with Jenny, who vowed revenge. Vera and her father take the evidence to the police. After revealing the truth about her best friend Charlie, Vera finally achieves closure with Charlie’s death and her mother’s abandonment and grows in her relationship with her father. They are able to bond on this dramatic time in Vera’s life. She tells Ken, her father, that he more than filled the void left by their mother, saying, “The void was inside her. When she left, she took it with her.” After stopping by the police station, Vera and Ken take a spontaneous road trip to celebrate their new feelings of freedom. Vera exults that she has changed from “invisible Vera Dietz to invincible Vera Dietz.”
Commentary:
This novel is a Young Adult Novel that is a required read for the author A.S. King.
Vera Dietz, is the main narrator of this novel. She is a realistic high school senior, exploring who she is and who she wants to become. Her father, Ken, is very controlling and only wants the best for Vera, leading her away from all of the bad decisions that he had once made when he was her age. Ken also has small narration parts in the novel, adding flow charts of decisions. His input adds a bit of humor, and includes an adult perspective of his daughter and her experiences. Vera Dietz is a very relatable character who struggles with juggling a life, school, and work. She has a great work ethic, but constantly looks in the past. The reader is taken back to many flashbooks in the novel, to fill in the gaps of what lead up to Charlie, her best friend’s death. This book constitutes almost as a mystery, as I was intrigued to find out what caused their relationship to crack, as well as the reason for Charlie’s death. Charlie also has small narration samples in the novel, as he shares his feelings and truths to the events leading up to his death. This allows the reader to see multiple perspectives of the situations that occur.
The plot was written well, and I enjoyed reading to find out about what lead to Charlie’s death. The reader knew he had died, as the novel opens with a funeral, but not until the end do you know why. A.S. King writes about a very complicated storyline, with very real, vulnerable characters who are experiencing real pain and loss, but in the end overcome a dreadful experience with hope. The plot is infused with various narrative devices such as dreams, supposed conversations and seeing hallucinations of Charlie, practicing her vocabulary class complex words, and her dad's explanatory flow charts.
A theme that is very prevalent in this novel is about coming of age and dealing with life as it comes. Vera is hit with not one, but two devastating losses in her life. At school she is seen as invisible and flys below everyone’s radar. However, when her mother walks out on her family, and her best friend ditches her for his girlfriend and later dies, adds up to a big stack of depression. Vera ends up struggling with alcohol abuse, and difficult decisions to reveal the truth of Charlie’s death, but deals with all these problems in a very adult like manner. She takes the hits that life throws at her, but does not get knocked down. She is a strong, individual, young lady who behaves responsibly and takes ownership of telling the truth even though it hurts her.
Connections:
*Using the flashback moments in the novel, introduce students to this form of writing, and how it adds to the novel’s plot and climax. Have students write a different ending to the novel and share why the decided to change the ending. Allow students to share their essays with the class.
*Have students write a letter to Vera as if they were Charlie, her best friend. Students should include text evidence of the content of the letter to resemble an event from the story, or an encounter that occurred between Charlie and Vera. Students can switch letters with someone in the class and then write back to the letter as if they were Vera. Students will get a good idea of multiple perspectives of characters.
*Using the vocabulary terms that Vera practices in her homework assignments, pick 5-6 words for students to define and re-write in sentences of their own using context from the novel. Students can be invited to share their sentences with the class, and the teacher can prompt to students what context clues helped them determine the meaning of the words.
Bibliography:
Smith, A. (2014). 100 sideways miles. NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Summary:
Finn Easton and his best friend, Cade Hernandez, are juniors at Burnt Creek High School in San Francisquito, California. Finn, in his quirky ways, measures time in miles as opposed to hours, because it takes the earth to travel around the sun at 20 miles per second, so in about four seconds, the earth travels about 100 miles. When Finn was seven, he and his mother were involved in a freak accident, when a dead horse falls from a knackery truck driving over a bridge and hits them. Finn is left with periodic epileptic seizures, drastically large scars on his back from surgery, but survived. However, his mother was unfortunately killed. In Finn's calculations, in the time it took for the horse to fall on him and his mother, it fell 100 sideways miles. Finn’s father is a famous writer, who ends up with a best selling book called The Lazarus Door, that includes identical elements and features about Finn, in his novel which tells the story of a boy with epilepsy and an obvious scar, who longs to be normal in a world where winged aliens invade the Earth and try to eat people. Finn feels as if he is trapped by his father’s book, and desperately wants to ver away from the character that was portrayed after him.
Finn lives with his biological dad, stepmother, and step sister. Finn is an ordinary teen, even though he doesn’t feel so ordinary. Cade and Finn look a lot alike and many people think they are brothers. They are both tall and bony with blonde hair. Cade and Finn have been friends since they were 10 years-old, and their friendship is undeniably strong. Cade is aware of Finn’s seizures, and since it is unsafe for Finn to drive, Cade drives Finn to school everyday.
One day, Finn meets a beautiful girl named Julia Bishop who transferred to his high school late in the year. He learned that she lived in his neighborhood. When Finn’s parents leave for a weekend, Cade stays over at Finn’s house while they are gone to take care of Finn. Finn and Cade swim in the pool, but as Cade leaves the house for a shift at the Pizza Store, Finn has an epoleptic seizure at the front door of his house. Julia comes to Finn’s aid, when she suddenly saw him on a walk around the neighborhood. Finn was mortified, when he became conscious of his surroundings. This encounter with Julia helped her understand Finn’s complicated health issues. Later that night, the gang Cade, Finn, Julia, and Cade’s girlfriend Monica, all go to a house party. Finn and Julia have some alone time, and are able to get to know each other better. Cade in all his glory gets black out drunk, and causes the host of the house party an awful mess to clean up.
As Finn and Julia spend more time together, it is apparent that Finn is falling in love with Julia. One day Julia and Finn take a small road trip to the canyon to explore the dam. Finn is so nervous because he has never been alone with a beautiful girl before. Julia opens up to Finn, and tells him the real reason why she came to San Francisquito. Her boyfriend back home in Chicago had raped her and her parents wanted her to get away from all the notoriety at her old school. Finn finds himself wanting to protect Julia and be a better person for her, as they come closer in their relationship.
Julia tells Finn that she has a surprise for him for his birthday. He is to come over at midnight the night before and stand near her bedroom windows so that he will have his surprise as early as possible on his birthday. Finn's thoughts turn to sex and how he is not really prepared for it and how Julia seems so mature that she is probably more experienced than he is. Finn thinks that he can get some condoms from Cade so he'll be saved from the embarrassment of asking for them at the store. When Julia takes Finn home later, his mother asks Julia if she would like to come to Finn's birthday and she happily accepts. When midnight rolls around on Finn’s birthday, he is exasperated with emotions, as Julia puts on a shadow play for him at her bedroom window. The shadows include a boy that resembles Finn and the events in his life, the ending is a sweet message from Julia expressing her love for him. Finn kisses Julia for the first time, and their relationship is officially sealed.
Cade, Julia and Finn go on another overnight camping trip in the desert. They end up in a deserted plot of land that had been originally planned as a subdivision called Lake Aberdeen. The night is full of magical, memorable moments for Finn and Julia. Towards the end of the trip, Julia tells Finn, that she will be moving back to Chicago. Finn is devastated. As Finn sees Julia off, he later becomes depressed, and locks himself in his room for a few days, until he goes on a trip to Oklahoma with Cade to visit a college that they are interested in attending. On their travels on the road in Oklahoma, Finn and Cade are caught in a horrific thunderstorm. They see the van in front of them veer off the road and down into a ditch with rushing water. Finn dives in after the van in efforts to save anyone in the vehicle. Finn takes ahold of a small boy and saves his life by pulling him to shore. Shortly after reaching the shoreline, Finn has a seizure and blacks out.
Both Cade and Finn are heros in the small town of Oklahoma for both saving individuals in the car accident. After the heroic events that unfold, in an attempt to cheer Finn up, Cade drives them the way to Illinois to visit Julia. The union of Finn and Julia completes Finn, and they continue to see each other a few times before school starts in the fall. When the boys return home, Finn feels free from his father’s book, and continues on the right path to his individuality.
Commentary:
This novel is a Young Adult Novel that is a required author read (Andrew Smith).
As Finn goes from present day to flashbacks in the story, he still maintains the first person narrative point of view. The reader is only able to understand Finn’s thoughts and feelings, but it is enough to understand the surrounding characters as well. Finn is a well developed character who strives to be normal. His struggles with his seizures and coming of age are all part of this novel. Finn’s imperfections make him a relatable high schooler who experiences close friendships, relationships, and changing family dynamics. The supporting characters such as Julia Bishop, and Cade Hernandez, help develop a sense of belonging for Finn.
The author also keeps the language authentic to the age and gender of the characters. Finn and Cade are high school students so the language is relevant to their lives and their age.The language is raw sometimes but it does reflect the way boys talk to each other at that age. Plus, the author shows the familiarity between Finn and Cade in these types of interactions. This dialogue shows up in humor throughout the book, too, especially between Finn and Cade.
The plot of this novel unfolds using a series of events. Finn is the center of this novel and how he views the world is very unique and raw. The author Andrew Smith
The theme of Finding Your Way is important in "100 Sideways Miles." Because the main characters are teenagers, it is not unusual that they should be searching to find out who they are as people and what direction they want their lives to take them. The author uses Finn to represent this concept the most thoroughly because Finn feels that he lives in his father's popular book. Finn seems to put his life on hold waiting for his father to write another book so he knows how his story will turn out. During the course of the book, though, Finn discovers more about himself through his epilepsy and his friendships with Cade and Julia. Finn thinks that his college experience has already been mapped out too but on the way for a campus visit, he and Cade rescue a boy and an old man from a van submerged in a flooded river. This experience alters both of the boys and they know that their life choices belong to them so they abandon the college visit and drive to Chicago to see Julia instead.
Connections:
* Allow students to rewrite a different ending to the novel. Students must change the outcome for the main character Finn, and supporting character Cade, and the climax of the novel as they involve themselves in a rescue attempt. Students can rewrite the ending in a shared google document by collaborating in small groups. Students can share their essays, and explain the decisions that they made on the new ending.
* Students can create a book trailer for this novel that exploits all the reasons why other students their age would enjoy this novel without giving any spoilers. Students can reenact some of their favorite scenes, show a plot diagram, or give reasons as to why this novel is an interesting read.
* Students can create a Prezi presentation that incorporates the story elements of the novel. Students must use complete sentences, images, and quotes from the novel. Students can be encouraged to share their presentations to the class and graded with a rubric template.
Bibliography:
LaCour, N. (2017). We are okay. NY:Dutton Books.
Summary:
Marin is a freshman attending college in New York. The month long winter vacation has arrived, but Marin has no family to go home to. Her roommate Hannah says her goodbyes, but lingers as she shows a worried expression leaving Marin alone in an empty college dorm. Marin now finds the dorm building strangely quiet with all her fellow classmates missing. Marin lost her mother when she was very young to a surfing accident, and never knew her father. Her only family she ever knew was her grandfather who ended up raising her all alone. Her grandfather just recently passed away late in the summer before she started college. Marin seems very lonely and depressed as she eats ramen noodles and attempts to keep her mind busy by listening to audio books, and reading books on solitude.
The next day her best friend from high school Mabel is coming in to town to visit her from California. It seems as though Mabel and Marin had a falling out after her grandfather's passing. Mabel had sent text messages to Marin after the grandfather had passed, but Marin never responded to them. Marin and Mabel have been out of touch for four months, and neither of them attempted to keep in touch as they entered college. When Marin greets Mabel into her dorm building they seem to be very awkward towards one another, Marin is careful not to touch her hand while reaching for the suitcase, and Mabel even asks if it’s okay that she is here to visit. The two girls start small talk conversations about their professors, classes, and roommates.
Marin has flashbacks of her time living with “Gramps,” and spending time on the beach with her high school friends. Marin describes her living conditions with her gramps, she occupied the front bedroom, while Gramps lived in the back two rooms. They shared a living room, dining room, and kitchen. He never came into Marin’s room, and she had never entered his. They spent much time together in “the in-between rooms.” Gramps gave Marin a lot of privacy and wasn’t much of a parent figure in regards to curfew, rules, and, sharing memories that he has of her mother.
Back in the present time, Marin proposes that they visit the local shopping district to go sightseeing and stretch their legs around town, and Mabel agrees to this plan. Mabel nervously asks Marin to come home with her to spend Christmas with her family back in California. She explains that her family wants Marin to continue this tradition beyond this individual instance, by coming to Mabel’s house for future breaks as well. Seeing Marin’s hesitation, Mabel offers that Marin come for this Christmas as a trial run to see if it’s okay. Marin apologetically refuses. The tension between the two girls rises as Mabel’s plan doesn’t fall into place. Marin knows that Mabel is only looking after her, but she knows that it will be too difficult to return back to California, without seeing her Gramps. Marin revels in her thoughts how her grandfather had died from drowning in the ocean, and how she had discovered things about him that made her perception of him change from positive to negative.
Mabel confesses that she has met a boy named Jacob, and that she really likes him. Marin seems heartbroken, as the two girls had become romantically involved with one another the summer before they went off to college. Marin asks tough questions wondering if Mabel told Jacob about their romantic attraction, and Mabel explains that Jacob knows everything, and still loves her anyways. Marin’s thoughts race of the past, and she seems devastated knowing that Mabel has moved on, and she feels as though there is too much distance has gotten between them.
Mabel and Marin, go downtown to eat dinner at a small local diner. Mabel encourages Marin to re-think her request to join her and her family for the Christmas holidays. The girls purchase gifts at a small pottery shop Marin gets a job offer from the owner. As the girls head home a winter storm is brewing outside the dorm building window. Mabel falls asleep, and Marin goes to the dorm’s kitchen where she makes quesadillas that she brings back to her bedroom to share with Mabel. They eat, mostly in silence. Soon the power goes out and the winter storm is coming down stronger. The girls power down their cell phones for emergency use only. Luckily the grounds keeper for the campus, Tommy, comes to save the girls. He takes them to his small cottage, and the girls warm up by the burning fireplace.
As the girls are nestled in the cottage, Marin has a flashback to the summer before her Gramps passed away. She remembers a night on the beach with Mabel, the two seek some alcohol and stay up all night. Mabel and Marin show their physical attraction for one another and become very intimate. The next morning, Marin walks into her home as Gramps discovers the missing alcohol. He expresses how disappointed he was in her and she feels awful for her bad decisions. Gramps also talk about love with Marin and how he writes love letters to a woman named Birdie. He tells Marin that without Birdie he would be lost. Marin wasn’t sure if Gramps was being empathetic to her relationship with Mabel, or judging her for her choices with Mabel.
Mabel finds herself holding Marin’s hand as they sleep in Tommy’s cottage. Mabel asks where Marin went between fleeing home and coming to live in her new college dorm after Gramps passed away. Marin finally exposes the truth about the situation, and admits that she stayed in a motel until school started. Marin never had a proper burial or funeral for Gramps and Mabel expresses how strange she thought it was that Marin just went up and left without saying goodbye or reaching out for help. Marin lets out all her emotions and shares that she discovered that her Gramps wasn’t truthful about Birdie and made her up. Marin feels that she wasn’t enough company for her Gramps to embrace and love because it seemed that they lived separate secret lives. Mabel apologizes for interrogating her about the situation, and the girls fall asleep in each others embrace.
Marin has another flashback to the day that Gramps passed away. She came back from a walk on the beach and couldn't find her Gramps. She checked all the rooms in the house and uncovered a secret room that held photos, clothes, and mementos of her mother Clair. She is devastated, angry, and emotionally distrubed that her grandfather would hide all of her mother’s belongings from her. She would ask her grandfather for pictures of her mother, and he denied that he had any. When the police arrived at her house to help find Gramps who turns up missing, she wants the officers to take her out of the house. At the police station they tell her that pedestrians had seen her grandfather walk into the ocean and disappear. Marin was so devastated about her grandfather’s secret room, that she decided to escape San Francisco and head to New York. Marin felt that her grandfather was a stranger for keeping all these secrets from her, and positions of her mother that she was deprived of. Marin begins to spill out her heart to Mabel about her Gramps and the truth for her leaving town so suddenly and abruptly.
On Mabel’s last night, Marin wants to go back with Mabel and her family for the winter break but knows that she is not mentaly ready to tackle seeing Gramps house and leftover belongings. The next morning when Mabel leaves for California, Marin feels content and free that she finally revealed the truth about her Grandfather. As Marin goes back to keeping herself occupied, a taxi pulls up to her dorm building. To Marin’s surprise, its Mabel and her parents, they unload the taxi of suitcases and presents. Marin is in shock, and thrilled that they all came to stay with her for Christmas. Mabel’s family cooks dinner, sets up a Christmas tree, and creates a home for the holidays for Marin. Mabel’s mother, Ana, asks Marin if she would like to permanently be apart of their family. Marin takes a while to respond as she deciphers what say, until she breaks down and says yes. As Ana hugs her, Marin feels as if she is in her mother's warm arms.
Commentary:
This novel is a Young Adult Novel that is a required read for this course. It came from the “Printz Honor” awards list.
Marin is the protagonist and the narrator of the novel. Marin is a highly self-conscious young adult adjusting to many new changes in her life. Marin has no living family, or close friends around her to support her through her transition into college. She fears the judgment of others such as her deceased Grandfather, college roommate, and her best friend Marbel. Marin struggles with many challenges such as loss, anxiety, feeling of acceptance, and isolation. She embraces her new life but wishes to forget the past leaving her hometown of San Francisco behind. She has many flashbacks throughout the novel in a sequential order of the summer of her senior year leading up to her grandfather’s death and her escape to New York. The flashbacks are dated by the last couple of months, and allows the reader to understand why she left so abruptly, and the reason for leaving her best friend in the dark about where she is. As Marin overcomes her challenges, while her friend Marbel comes to visit, she vents and finally feels a relief from her haunting past.
There was a lack of connection and communication between Gramps and Marin that led to them both living fairly separate lives, allowing Gramps to maintain a façade of mental
wellness. The main conflict for Marin is the lies that her grandfather fed her about a fake pen pal named “Birdie,” a hidden room that held all of her deceased mother’s belongings, and his sudden death that occured in the ocean leaving her alone in the world. Marin feels complete betrayal by the one blood relative who cared for her, her entire life. However, by the novel’s close, Marin finds meaning in Gramps’s deceit; she decides to interpret his lies as done for a well-meaning reason, told with Marin in mind. This reversal of opinions by Marin signals the maturation that she has undergone.
The setting of this novel takes place mostly in Marin’s dorm room that is empty, dim, and isolated from the rest of the world. It is a symbol that resembles the loneliness that Marin endures from the loss of her grandfather, and the safehouse that she created in her college dorm away from her devastating past.
The novel We Are Okay, explores the theme of sexuality, as it challenges heteronormative standards of romance. One major plot line of LaCour’s novel involves the past romantic relationship between the two best friends, Marin and Mabel. At the time of their initial romance, Marin feared the disapproval of those who might learn of their activities, specifically Gramps and Sister Josephine, a teacher from her high school. Marin and Mabel shared a different kind of love, one somewhat prohibited in Marin’s mind, because of their shared gender. LaCour depicts Marin and Mabel’s relationship as one that continues to be amicable despite the ending of their romance. Mabel and Marin obviously care a lot about each other, especially by the fact that Mabel comes to visit Marin across the country despite being ignored by her for so many months. Mabel’s coming to New York was the event that finally allowed for Marin to face the tragedy and grief she experienced and wanted to ignore.
Overall, I enjoyed LaCour’s novel and her writing style. The organization of the novel was interesting and relevant to the plot of the story as LaCour incorporated many flashbacks into the past of Marin’s background. LaCour established a brilliant, engaging plot, that kept me wanting to find out the end resolution for Marin.
Connections:
* Invite students to read other novels written by Nina LaCour. Students can do an author’s study on this newly established author, and research her background, inspiration, and awards that she has received for her writing accomplishments.
- You Know Me Well By Nina LaCour
- Everything Leads to You By Nina LaCour
- The Disenchantments By Nina LaCour
- Hold Still By Nina LaCour
* Allow students to do a study on mental illnesses in the United States, based on the supporting character in the novel. Students can create a public service announcement, by creating a short film of themselves stating facts and information that they found. Allow students to share their short films to the class.
* Students will create a youtube video that gives a book review on We Are Okay by Nina LaCour. Students will need to discuss the characters, setting, problem, climax, and solution as well as the overall quality of the book and its plot. This can be done in small groups of 4 or 5 students.
Bibliography:
Reynolds, J. (2017) Long way down. NY: Simon & Schuster.
Summary:
Fifteen-year-old Will Holloman decided to tell the story of what happened to him immediately following his older brother Shawn’s death. Someone shot Shawn while he was on the way back from the store to buy a special cream for his mother’s eczema. Will is convinced he knows who did it, and is ready to get revenge and follow the “rules” of the neighborhood: no snitching, no crying, and get revenge on whoever killed your loved one. Will was very close to his big brother, and looked up to Shawn and his grown up lifestyle.
Will’s mother is full of grief and devastated that her son is gone, which makes Will believe that he has to be the man of the house, and take control of the situation. Will searches his brother’s side of the room in the middle drawer that is crookedly placed. Will finds his brother’s gun, places it in his waistband, and heads out of the apartment to the elevator. Will planned to shoot Carlson Riggs, a member of the Dark Suns gang, who he believed killed Shawn.
As the elevator proceeded to the lower level, a familiar man walked in, it was Buck, an older friend to Shawn who had given him the gun and taught him how to use it. Buck was killed, but somehow visible to Will in the elevator. Buck and Will talk about the gun and what he's going to do with it. Will explains the whole traumatic event about his brother, and is ready for blood. Buck laughs and tells Will that he doesn’t know how to use a gun, and he definitely doesn’t have it in him to carry out the deadly deed.
As soon as their conversation comes to an end, the elevator stops on floor number 6 and his old friend Dani, steps in. At first he does not recognize her until she explains who she is, and how they were childhood friends. At eight years old, Dani and Will were playing on the monkey bars when all of a sudden gunshots were fired in their direction. Dani was shot and killed. Will quickly realizes that everyone on the elevator had passed away but were visible on the elevator as ghosts. Dani asks why Will is carrying a gun and he explains the story again of how Shawn was shot and he is getting revenge.
The elevator stops again on floor number 5. Uncle Mark walked in grabbing Will’s shirt and shoving him against the elevator wall, Will is shocked and can’t react fast enough. Uncle Mark was killed in a shooting spree, on the corner where he would sell drugs to collect money to pay for a video camera. Uncle Mark is furious at Will for thinking that he can go through with the plot to kill Riggs. He also claims that Will can’t go through with the killing and he plays out the scene with Will waiting for him to fill in the final scene where he shoots Riggs. Uncle Mark was right, because Will can’t even say the word, “shoot.”
As the elevator fills with smoke, it stops again on floor number 4 and in walks Mikey Holloman, Will’s father. Will has no memories of his father, only the memories that his brother Shawn would share with him about their dad. Will’s dad was killed as he was making a phone call to their mom, when all of a sudden a man with a gun came up behind him wanting to know if he knew of a man named, “Gee.” No one knows what Mr. Holloman’s response was, because he was shot at the scene. Mr. Holloman tells Will the true story of how he was killed, and that he was trying to get revenge for Uncle Mark, but ended up killing an innocent man, thinking he was the killer. Then Will’s dad embraced him, grabbed the gun out of Will’s waistband, and held the gun to Will’s head. Will flipped out, crying out in desperation, hoping someone on the elevator would save him, but no one responded to his cries, and Will learned a valuable lesson. What it feels like to have a gun held to your head. Will is infuriated at his father for cocking the loaded gun to his head.
The elevator stops again on floor number 3. In walks a stranger that Will has no recollection of ever meeting. It is Frick, the boy who killed Buck. They greet each other in a friendly manner as if there is no beef between them. Buck explains that Shawn followed the rules and killed Frick with one bullet in order to get revenge for his death, and that is why Shawn has one bullet missing from his gun. Frick pulls out a cigarette and begins to smoke, fogging up the elevator again.
Just like clockwork, the elevator stops again on floor number 2, and Shawn walks in wearing the exact same outfit he wore the day he was shot. Jeans, a white shirt, a long gold chain, and blood stains seeping on his shirt that resembled the bullet holes from his murderer. Everyone greeted Shawn with smiling faces, hugs, and laughter. Will was surprised when Shawn was finally done saying hello to everyone, and ignored him. Shawn just looked and stared at Will. Will started asking questions like, “Am I doing the right thing? Do you know if Riggs is the one that killed him? What should he do? Is he handling this issue correctly?” Will’s thoughts are running a thousand miles per second and yet, Shawn, his only brother, is just staring at him. Will finally turns away, and is ready to burst with tears and ignoring the rule of not crying, when all of a sudden Shawn starts to cry. The two brothers look and cry at each other until the elevator comes to a stop, opens its doors, lets all the smoke out with all the ghosts inside, and Shawn asks, “You coming,” to Will as he is the last one to exit the elevator.
Commentary:
This novel is a Young Adult Novel that is a required read for this course. This book is on the “Quick Picks” list for Young adult readers.
Jason Reynolds wrote Long Way Down in Will’s first person point of view. This establishes a personalized tone and style. The overall concept of the novel is that Will is telling the reader the story of what happened to him, following his older brother’s Shawn’s death. This perspective allows the reader to see into Will’s mind as will shares his insights and observations. Reynolds uses a casual, carefree, frank language in place of Will’s narration and dialogue to demonstrate Will’s youthfulness as well as his background from a not so well established neighborhood in the inner city. Will’s use of slang, unconventional grammar and syntax, reveals a lot of contextual information about Will’s upbringing. I thought that Jason Reynolds did an excellent job with the authentic character building of Will. His personality, worries, and fears were expressed brilliantly through repetition, and verse writing rather than novel writing.
Each chapter emulates a short, often one-page poem. The chapters all add up to make a full, comprehensive story. This unique way of writing a story will help engage readers, as Reynolds creates an intriguing plot that becomes a mystery. The reader will want to find out what Will, will decide at the end of the elevator ride, kill or not to kill. Reynolds also splits the novel up into sections based on the floors that the elevator stops on. The beginning of the novel introduces Will as he explains the events surrounding Shawn’s death. Then, once Will enters the elevator with the gun that he intends to use to kill Riggs, Reynolds begins counting down the floors as section dividers. Each time the doors to the elevator opens the reader is introduced to a new character that interacts with Will. All of these characters are presently deceased people who are relevant in Will’s life. Reynolds labels these sections by numbers in descending order, seven through two.
Reynolds creates each verse to create a visually appealing symbol. For example when Will and his brother Shawn are reunited at the end of the book, and Will is asking Shawn if he is doing the right thing, the word “right” is written over and over in the shape of a question mark. When characters are speaking to each other back and forth, Reynolds puts one character’s dialog on one side of the page, and the other character’s response on the opposite side. The conversation can stand on its own, while still making it clear who speaks each line.
Reynolds also includes a series of flashbacks, which allows the main character Will to reflect on these memories from his past. In the beginning of the novel, Will narrates the events of Shawn’s death as a flashback. Another instance of a flashback is when Will enters the elevator and the people he encounters, often lead him to recall memories of their time together. This structure integrates past timelines into the present one that occurs in the elevator. Will often narrates these flashbacks, then jumps right back to the present day, with little need for transitions. All of these flashbacks gives the plot more substance and relevance. It gives the reader insight into Will’s characterization.
The theme, repeating mistakes, emphasizes the repetitive nature of shootings, violence, and deaths in Will’s neighborhood. The Rules are what drives this cycle. The third Rule states, “if someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them.” This expectation leads people to behave violently more frequently. Once one person is murdered, another person is sent out of personal obligation as a vigilante to then murder the killer. In turn, this person becomes the new killer, which will draw a new person to follow in the same steps. This cycle can be clearly visualized when Will is encountered by ghosts of individuals who have previously been killed in shootings in their neighborhood.
Overall, I found this verse novel to be a great read! I think any young adult reader who struggles with reading, or wants a different take to verse novels will highly enjoy this book. It’s Newbery Honor says it all, and I would definitely recommend this book to readers who are interested in an exciting thriller verse novel, with many twists and turns.
Connections:
* Use this novel as an introduction to verse novels. Point out the writing style, use of dialog, action, and the use of multiple characters. Allow students to create a short verse summary of the novel, and allow them to share their summaries in verse format.
* Introduce other verse novels to students and encourage them to read other authors that create brilliant stories from simple or complex verses. Allow the students to choose one novel from the list to compare its elements to Long Way Down. Students can create their comparisons in essay format, venn diagrams, or in any technology application.
- The Crossover. By Kwame Alexander
- The Realm of Possibility.By David Levithan
- Street Love. By Walter Dean Myers
- Crank. By Ellen Hopkins
* This verse novel has a very controversial topic such as gun control that evolves throughout the theme of violence. Ask students to create an argumentative text that takes a stance on gun control. Students can refer to the novel and quote the murders that occur to be realistic murders to help build their case. Invite students to share their essays to the class. Students can even make a poster visual that resembles their opinion on this matter.
