Eunice by Eileen McNamara

EUNICE by Eileen McNamara, subtitled “The Kennedy Who Changed the World,” was an eye-opening read which I think our students, particularly those who need to write about someone who made a difference, will appreciate.  As the publisher notes, Eunice Kennedy Shriver was “a woman both ahead of her time and out of step with it: the visionary founder of the Special Olympics, a devout Catholic in a secular age, and a formidable woman whose impact on American society was longer lasting than that of any of the Kennedy men.”  It was interesting to read the many details about her childhood and adolescence, the influence that her sister Rosemary’s disability likely had on Shriver’s future actions, and the global magnitude of the changes she made as a determined activist.  One estimate was that the Special Olympics, after 50 years of operation, had served more than 4.9 million athletes from 172 countries with more than a million coaches and volunteers. McNamara, an award-winning journalist from The Boston Globe, describes Shriver’s “compassion as the engine that propelled her to fight for the forgotten.” 

To learn more about an extremely influential woman, read EUNICE, a compelling biography which received starred reviews from Kirkus and Library Journal.  Added NOTE: Author Eileen McNamara will be speaking Thursday, April 26th (7:00pm to 8:15pm) at the Glencoe Public Library, 320 Park Avenue for a program in partnership with The Bookstall. 

Anatomy of Innocence and Racial Profiling

Every year, we have students who study The Innocence Project and wrongful convictions.  They and others will certainly be interested in the soon-to-be-released ANATOMY OF INNOCENCE edited by Laura Caldwell, founder/director of Life After Innocence at Loyola University Chicago School of Law and by and Leslie S. Klinger, best-selling author.  This text features the stories, fascinating in themselves, of 15 exonerated individuals, all written with the help of prominent mystery and thriller writers like Sara Paretsky. For example, Phil Margolin relates the story of Bill Dillon, a Floridian wrongfully convicted of murder who spent more than two and a half decades in prison, only to be released after acting as his own lawyer.

Each chapter seems to focus on an aspect of criminal justice (e.g., arrest, trial, appeal, eventual freedom).  One is written by John Mankiewicz and deals with Jerry Miller, imprisoned in Illinois for a quarter of a century. This chapter points out how corrupt the Chicago police force was, working to convict a man whose palm print and blood type did not match evidence found at the scene. Connections to Chicago are plentiful since other Illinois exonerees like Juan Rivera and David Bates are profiled.  New Trier grad Scott Turow wrote the introduction and ANATOMY OF INNOCENCE also contains a previously unpublished essay by Arthur Miller discussing guilt and innocence.  Starred review from Kirkus.

Just today, a teacher and I also talked with a student about how incarceration rates vary by race. A new book, RACIAL PROFILING by Alison Behnke, deals with that topic and much more. Chapter headings are (1) Prejudice and Privilege; (2) Historic Inequality; (3) Contemporary Inequality; (4) Criminal Justice and Injustice; (5) Counterterrorism and Islamophobia and (6) Calls for Change.  Although only 160 pages, this text contains a glossary, notes, bibliography and sources for further information, including books, documentaries and websites. It will provide a comprehensive entry point for many research projects. RACIAL PROFILING received starred reviews from Kirkus and from School Library Journal who called this book a “mandatory addition to teen collections.”

PIECING ME TOGETHER by Renee Watson

PIECING ME TOGETHER by Renee Watson is a must-read book in my opinion and I do not say that very often.  I kept wishing that our students could meet the main character, Jade, and have a frank conversation with her. Reading her thoughts in PIECING ME TOGETHER will prompt much discussion about racial and class stereotypes, about the nature of friendship, and empathy for others and their history.  Jade is a talented artist and high school student at [she says] “the best private school in Portland, which means it’s mostly white, which means it’s expensive.”

Jade is often torn between her neighborhood friend, Lee Lee, and a new schoolmate, Sam, neither of whom can fully appreciate the other’s world.  At times, Jade struggles with self-acceptance, perseverance, and forging a relationship with a mentor, Maxine, a young black woman from a more affluent background.  Jade has to learn to speak up for herself; even telling Maxine, “sometimes you make me feel like you’ve come to fix me; only, I don’t feel broken.”  

PIECING ME TOGETHER would be a great book group for teachers/students and mentors/mentees like those at Link Unlimited in Chicago to read and discuss together. Similarly, art teachers could incorporate a unit featuring the collages of Romare Bearden or art by Mickalene Thomas, both of whom are mentioned in PIECING ME TOGETHER.   If you wish to start reading an excerpt or see more well-deserved praise for Renee Watson’s novel, check out the publisher’s site. PIECING ME TOGETHER received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

New Trier’s All School Seminar Day is coming next Tuesday and some of my colleagues will be talking about diverse books.  Here are the images and titles of a few that are due to be published in 2017. We will publish reviews and more suggestions soon.  

American Street by Ibi Zoboi; The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera; When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon; The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas; A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi; Allegedly by Tiffany D. Jackson; Flame in the Mist by Renée Adieh.