We Gon’ be Alright by Jeff Chang

We Gon’ be Alright by Jeff Chang is another new book dealing with race and resegregation.  An award-winning author, Chang is currently executive director of the Institute for Diversity in the Arts at Stanford University. In We Gon’ be Alright, he provides a series of essays dealing with student protest, cultural equity and Asian Americanness, complete with numerous contemporary references to BlackLivesMatter, events like Ferguson, and Trump’s rise. 

Here at school, we are in the midst of preparing for another all day seminar on race and are considering an activity involving a version of the race card project, telling a race story in 6 words.  Chang forcefully argues that “race makes itself known in crisis;” I was struck by that position and by several other possible examples of 6 word stories in his writing:

• Renewed attention to questions of equity;
• Lack of access, representation and power;
• Conspicuous and invisible at [the] same time;
• Zero or one, this or that;
• Implicit bias, stereotype threat … empathy gap;
• Inequity and injustice …. impact real people;
• Away from mutuality… toward [the] undoing [of] democracy;
• Seeing fully … the beginning of community.

Hopefully considering those shortened, yet powerful, statements will prompt discussion. Chang’s ability to inform and educate is evident as he provides important historical context and relies on extensive research and endnotes.  We Gon’ be Alright received a starred review from Kirkus. Additional recent blog posts on books related to race include The Fire This Time and Between the World and Me.

English mysteries ...

Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley
It’s mystery time and Flavia de Luce is back! Called a combination of Eloise and Sherlock Holmes by Boston Globe reviewers, Flavia continues to grow-up in rural Bishop’s Lacey, England with a love of chemistry and an affinity for encountering dead bodies. 

This time, in Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d by Alan Bradley, she sets off to deliver a message and finds Roger Sambridge hanging upside down and dead on the back of his bedroom door. Setting off to impress local Inspector Hewitt, Flavia is determined to solve the mystery and distract herself from her father’s illness, all while sharing numerous wry musings with the readers.  To me, Flavia’s entertaining observations are some of the best moments in Bradley’s award winning books:  

• On monosyllabic: “Why, incidentally, does a word meaning ‘a single syllable’ require a five-syllable word to describe it?”

• On the winter landscape: “‘Rather like Good King Wenceslas, isn’t it?’ I said, ticking off the points on my mittened fingers (which isn’t as easy as it sounds).”  

If you like mysteries, prefer less violence, and are looking for a unique and memorable sleuth, you are sure to enjoy the entire Flavia de Luce series. Highly recommended for all ages, Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew’d received a starred review from Library Journal.

Another gentle mystery set in England is Death of an Avid Reader by Frances Brody. During the 1920’s, private detective Kate Shackleton takes a case to search for the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy, but dying, aristocrat.  As her inquiries continue, a body is found in the local library basement and an itinerant peddler, Umberto, is blamed.

Questions abound: Who was the child’s father? Is the library haunted? What motive was there for the murder?  Will an innocent man be convicted? Kate and her sidekick, ex-policeman Jim Sykes, seek the answers in book six of the series. A good match for fans of Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs or Charles Todd’s Bess Crawford.  Please let us know if you have a mystery to recommend.

Non-Fiction: Language, Words, Freedom of the Press

I have been reading a couple of non-fiction works which have to do with language and freedom of the press – seems appropriate with the presidential debates looming on the horizon.

In Words on the Move, author John McWhorter points out that “one of the hardest things for a human being to shake is that language is something that is, when it is actually something always becoming.” His text provides an intriguing review for linguists and others interested in the topic of why “English won’t – and can’t – sit still,” but his descriptions become increasingly technical for the average reader. McWhorter does attempt to address this, for example, by comparing the mutability of language to the transformation of clouds or by explaining that dafter lead to dawter and eventually to daughter, although it no longer rhymes with laughter. He teaches at Columbia University and more examples from Words on the Move were featured recently on NPR.  McWhorter's work is informative, but even though our AP English students often have an assignment dealing with words and their origins, they are apt to be more engaged by related and shorter selections found in Ben Zimmer’s weekly “Word on the Street” from The Wall Street Journal. Today’s topic: “Captain Boycott and his Legacy.”

Indelible Ink by Richard Kluger is subtitled “The Trials of John Peter Zengler and the Birth of America’s Free Press.” Chronicling events in the 1730’s, this text provides a thoroughly researched and documented history, much like Kluger’s earlier published works.  In fact, he won the Pulitzer Prize for Ashes to Ashes, about the cigarette industry, and was twice a National Book Award finalist (for The Paper and for Simple Justice).  His writing about the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision, Simple Justice, was originally published in 1976 and revised and expanded in 2004; it remains a personal favorite (despite its length) and is a book that definitely impacted me at a young age.  I hope that our students have similar opportunities to reflect on themes detailed in Kluger’s Indelible Ink, including abuse of power, national security, and the need to prove that offending language was “false, malicious, seditious and scandalous.” Indelible Ink received starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly.

September Young Adult Fiction Titles ...

I have been reading some newly available Young Adult Fiction and even though they are from different publishers there was certainly similarities and a great deal of teenage angst over relationships in each.

My favorite was The Last True Love Story by Brendan Kiely.  Normally, I would shy away from a book with “love story” in the title, but this one is not so much about romance as it is about family, belonging, the legacy of Vietnam, coming of age and responsibility, Alzheimer’s, and racial identity.  Sounds like almost too much, but award-winning author Brendan Kiely effectively raises important questions while offering an entertaining travelogue.

The main characters are Teddy Hendrix, his grandfather, Gpa, and his school friend, Corinna.  The three embark on a cross country trip from LA to Ithaca, New York in order to help Gpa more firmly retain his memories of Gma and an earlier time.  Along the way, music and playlists from the 60’s and 70’s are cleverly incorporated into the The Last True Love Story in a very enjoyable way.  One recurring theme in the book is “the point of living is learning how to love” so readers do learn about the courtship between Gpa and Gma, plus flashback to their marriage during the Vietnam war era.  All of which contrasts with the growing attraction between Hendrix and Corrina. She is from Guatemala and struggles with identity both as an adoptee and as a person of color, yet she is able to reach outside herself and help Gpa and Hendrix as they deal with the range of emotions and behaviors associated with Alzheimer’s.  The Last True Love Story received starred reviews from both Kirkus and School Library Journal. Students will find something to relate to in this story, which will definitely encourage discussion and reflection.   

 

In addition, I read a preview of Kids of Appetite by David Arnold.  This title also shares the adventure of a road trip where main characters Victor Benucci and Madeline Falco take off in reaction to his Mom’s decision to remarry and her need to flee an abusive situation. Along the way, Vic and Mad need to confront a murder and plan to disperse his dad’s ashes. The preview of a few chapters was intriguing, but less memorable than expected from the author of Mosquitoland which won numerous awards. Kids of Appetite received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Voya. I am certainly curious to read the entire book which will be available on Tuesday, September 20.  

Finally, I began The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker by Kat Spears.  I have very much enjoyed her other novels, like Breakaway or Sway, but this one was simply too “high school” for me.  The characters, especially Luke Grayson, were rather immature and so very self-centered (and therefore almost caricatures) that it was difficult to feel any empathy for them. Sadly, Luke moves to a new school in an insular community and is subjected to bullying from other students and from adults (like the police chief and principal) who should know better.  Luke receives little, if any, support from his family and no-one except for Roger, who employs him and is a bit of a social outcast, seems willing to listen. I thought that Kat Spears’ earlier works (reviews linked above) were stronger than The Boy Who Killed Grant Parker  and would recommend beginning with those other titles instead.   

Do you have a new Young Adult (YA) title that you have really enjoyed?  Let us know as we have begun booktalking them to classes and want plenty of popular works to be available.  Some past student favorites are shown on this ever-changing Libguide: http://newtrier.libguides.com/independentreadingsophomore212