Walking on Trampolines by Frances Whiting

Lulu, Annabelle, Josh, Duncan, Rose, Harry, Annie, Frank, and Barney – you will feel as though you know all of them after you read Walking on Trampolines, a charming coming of age story by Australian writer Frances Whiting.

My favorite part of this book is the conversational tone; the first person narrative that allows Lulu to speak as if she is sharing a confitory (confidence and story – like the made-up language of Lulu and Annabelle) with the reader.  This book is indeed delightful and quirky (the author’s own descriptor in the end notes). Having taken seven years to write, I did have a sense of separateness to some of the events, but each of the choices made had major impacts later, just like real life. Phrases, images and themes (including adultery, mental health, motherhood and friendship) re-appear throughout the book which begins with a love story, offers subsequent tales of the working world, and moves towards finding a purpose in life.

Overall, Walking on Trampolines is a light and gentle read and received a starred review from Booklist. Read an excerpt yourself. I enthusiastically recommend it for readers who enjoyed titles like The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult or One Plus One by JoJo Moyes.  

Train to Crystal City by Jan Jarboe Russell

Our English teachers and I were excited to learn about the publication of The Train to Crystal City because, per its subtitle, it tells the story of "FDR's Secret Prisoner Exchange Program and America's Only Family Internment Camp During World War II." Our students read, research and discuss When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka so The Train to Crystal City will be an excellent additional resource.   Over several years, we have compiled and shared related teaching and learning resources, including many primary sources.

I expected The Train to Crystal City to tell much of the same story -- it does that and more. Author Russell has focused attention not only on Japanese/Japanese-American internees, but on Latin American, Italian, and German internees as well. Frankly, I was shocked to read the Eiserloh family story -- that family could have been my relatives or their friends.  The immigration dates and ages were eerily similar, including a the profile of a patriarch who worked for a well-respected Fortune 500 company and who enjoyed German music and wrote letters to family still in Europe. Fortunately, my family never experienced life in an internment camp, but I heard stories of how difficult it was to be living in America with a German surname in the 1940's and 50's. For the adults, it meant less social time with friends and worries about relatives in Dresden and nearby German towns.  For the children, it lead to teasing and bullying.

Stressful? Yes, but not like the secret prisoner exchanges which Jan Jarboe Russell investigates and documents. Russell spent years researching The Train to Crystal City and she includes copious footnotes and annotations, although her family stories are very readable.  In its review Booklist describes The Train to Crystal City as "an informative, disturbing, and necessary reminder of the dangers produced by wartime hysteria." Our teachers and students will be using this reference work and drawing parallels to their reading and to today's news headlines where threatening events may lead to fear, prejudice and over-reaction with negative impacts on civil liberties. 

Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward

In Amanda Eyre Ward’s The Same Sky, two narrators memorably tell simultaneous but separate stories. Carla is a young girl living in Honduras who grows up quickly when she becomes responsible for a younger brother and decides to attempt the dangerous journey to Texas to join her mother, an illegal immigrant.  Alice is a co-owner of a barbeque restaurant in Austin.  She lost her own mother at a young age, battled cancer and, along with her husband, Jake, was recently devastated once again when a potential adoption falls through. 

These two stories, full of trials, courage, and sacrifice, are told in alternating chapters.  I was totally engrossed in both, and found the contrast to be extremely effective.  At first, there does not seem to be much in common, but Ward deftly shares the internal struggles, tested faith, and learning that each narrator experiences. The Same Sky is a quick, compelling read with a powerful message relevant to social issues such as undocumented immigrants, poverty and substance abuse. Carla and Alice are not easy to forget. 

I highly recommend The Same Sky and want to also briefly mention several other titles on immigration, survival/resilience and the struggle to fit in: La Linea by Jaramillo (2008); Enrique's Journey by Nazario (2006); Girl in Translation by Kwok (2010); Digging to America by Tyler (2006); Book of Unknown Americans by Henriquez (2014) and several works by Amy Tan, plus Americanah which is our book group selection for next month.   

Screw the Valley

Screw the Valley is indeed a coast-to-coast tour of America's new tech start-up culture as its subtitle promises.  The cities featured in Timothy Sprinkle’s work include New York, Boulder, Austin, Raleigh, Detroit, Las Vegas, and Kansas City.  If you are interested in high-tech or entrepreneurship, give this book a look.

Sprinkle aimed the book at those who are contemplating beginning a business, but students who are choosing a college and/or a career would also find information of interest.

Screw the Valley describes the culture and opportunities with a chapter devoted to each of 7 cities well outside of the famed Silicon Valley. While I can understand the author’s ignoring Seattle and other West Coast locations, I was a little surprised not to see anything about Boston. If your favorite is not included in the book, it might appear in this 2011 Business Journals list of America’s Top 100 High-Tech Centers. That chart is a fascinating look at the number of companies and the percentage of adults with master’s and/or doctoral degrees.

Interested readers and students of human geography should also look at earlier works such as  Who's Your City by Richard Florida (2008), My Start-Up Life by Ben Casnocha (2007) or even The Big Sort by Bill Bishop (2008). A somewhat related and more global perspective is offered in Geography of Thought by Richard Nisbett (2004), The Power of Place by Harm DeBlij (2009) and the fascinating picture book, If the World were a Village by David Smith (2002).