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It Takes a Village to Raise a Monster: Horror about Surviving Adolescence by June Pulliam

10/31/2018

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"June was one of the first people I met when I arrived at LSU." I wrote that line four years ago when June was one of the first guest contributors to Dr Bickmore's YA Wednesday. June is a scholar who focuses on Adolescent Literature, Horror Literature, and Zombie Studies. I find this to be a fascinating combination. Her previous contribution was also a Halloween edition and was titled: The Monsters between the Book Covers: Halloween Treats as YA Novels. I hope you check it out. The introduction provides a bit more about her scholarly work. It has been ten years since we met and her knowledge in this area certainly surpasses me and, honestly, it scares me a little bit. Enjoy!

It Takes a Village to Raise a Monster: Horror about Surviving Adolescence by June Pulliam

The monstrosity of children and teens is a common trope of the horror genre. The Children of the Corn (1984) are possessed to murder adults by the ancient deity known as He Who Walks Behind the Rows; Damien of The Omen (1976) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968) are the anti-Christ; and Rhoda of The Bad Seed (1956) is just plain evil; while Tony Rivers of I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) fulfills the experts prophecies about troubled male youth after an unethical psychiatrist regresses the boy back to an atavistic form that is more bestial than human. But, there are also many works of horror that represent teens as endangered by adults, who cannot or will not protect them from harm, and even want to kill them.  Not surprisingly, these teens fight back, which in some cases only confirms adults’ worst fears about the inherent monstrosity of the younger generation. 
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This Halloween, I have three suggested titles that fit this description: Stephen King’s Carrie (1974), M. R. Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts (2014), and Simon Clark’s Blood Crazy (1995). In spite of the age of some, all are easily available today, and would be of interest to teens who want something different.

Carrie, Stephen King (1974)

Although it was published over 40 years ago, Stephen King’s novel Carrie is still an accurate representation of the experience of being the bullied and slut-shamed girl in high school (minus the protagonist’s telekinetic abilities). Carrie, who is described as “the sacrificial goat, the constant butt, believer in left-handed monkey wrenches, perpetual foul-up,” is the most bullied girl in Chamberlain, Maine. Carrie’s outsider status is due mostly to her mother’s religious mania. It’s bad enough that Margaret constantly tells her neighbors that they are backsliding and hell-bound due to their comparative secularism. Margaret also raises Carrie in a way that makes it difficult for her to fit in with her peers.
Carrie is teased by her peers on the first day of school after she naively prays before eating lunch. Also, Margaret makes Carrie wear skirts that are too long or plain to be fashionable, and prohibits her from wearing bright colors, especially red, which Margaret describes as the color of sin, and Carrie must make a special effort to have a passing understanding of popular culture as there is no television or popular magazines in the house, and Carrie can only listen to popular music on the radio when her mother is not home. Even mirrors are forbidden in the White household, and Carrie is allowed only the most rudimentary grooming products, so as a teen, she is a “frog among swans” with her greasy, lifeless hair and acne.
But worst of all, Carrie is not safe at school or at home, where she faces verbal and physical abuse of some sort from everyone, including her mother. At home, Margaret routinely locks Carrie in the closet for hours to “repent for her sins” after the slightest disobedience or beats her. At school, the bullying she endures ranges from name calling to being tripped in the aisles and having her books knocked out of her hands by other kids. The emotional harm done to Carrie by her mother and peers is compounded by the location of the story, the small town of Chamberlain, Maine, and prevailing attitudes about bullying and child abuse at the time.
Chamberlain is so small that she cannot escape her tormentors by simply changing schools. Also, in the 1970s, neighbors rarely intervened in suspected cases of child abuse, believing that a parent’s disciplinary practices were none of their business, and school administrators were not trained to spot the signs of abuse and had little knowledge of the lasting harm it does. Bullying too was mostly ignored in the 1970s, when experts still believed that it was best for children to sort out their own problems by confronting their bullies, not realizing or caring that this is not an option for many victims.
So Carrie’s resulting anger on Prom Night after her peers’ play the most cruel joke on her yet is not surprising. Carrie’s telekinetic abilities, that are unknown to her peers, or even fully to Carrie until her sixteenth year, give her the ability to translate this anger into violence—and she literally burns the town to the ground before the exertion required to use her mind to move matter to this degree is so stressful on her heart that she dies.
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King's novel vs de Palma's film

King’s novel is superior to Brian de Palma’s 1976 film of it, which the novel’s paramaterial. Carrie’s story is not written as one, fluid account related in the first-person or by an omniscient narrator. Instead, King tells the story of Carrie in retrospect, after various experts and journalists have investigated the event and weighed in about the event. A combination of scientists and experts in the paranormal agree that Carrie’s powers were a one-off, and so the world is safe after her death. Their conclusion is typical of stereotypical horror of the time, where the monster is always vanquished. However, Carrie’s last pages resist narrative closure in the form of a poorly spelled letter from an Appalachian woman describing her infant to her sister. The child shows signs of being telekinetic, a trait she has inherited from her female relaitves, as the letter’s writer makes reference to a grandmother who had the same ability, though she did not use her powers to kill anyone. Because this girl lives in a part of the United States that is underserved by medical and scientific experts, it is possible that she might develop her telekinetic abilities before anyone who could understand their dangers might intervene. 
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​Carrie’s story is still relevant today, in a time when we are more aware of the effects of bullying and do more to intervene after the results have become more deadly for the victims and their peers. Many bullied teens turn their pain inward and self-harm or even commit suicide, while in some extreme but bloody outliers, bullied boys decide to bring guns to school to kill their peers.  Women rarely become mass shooters according to FBI statistics (Beckett 2014; Berkowitz 2018). Too, women’s anger is still that most unfeminine of emotions. Girls and women are punished in myriad ways just for verbally expressing their anger, and horror is full of women and female monsters (Godzilla, or the creature in Alien, for example) whose monstrosity is their anger.

The Girl with All the Gifts, M. R. Carey (2014)

The Girl with All the Gifts is a retelling of the zombie apocalypse along George Romero’s (Night of the Living Dead, 1968) and Richard Matheson’s (I Am Legend, 1945) pandemic models. However, the zombie in this case is not a devolved form of our species who have been turned into mindless consumers (of flesh), but a post-human creature whose emergence is a positive evolutionary leap, though it still brings about the fall of civilization and the death of most of the human race.
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In The Girl with All the Gifts, most humans have become infected with a fungus that turns them into mindless fiends whose strongest drive is to consume human flesh. Just the smell of human saliva can provoke one infected, or “hungries” as they are called, into a feeding frenzy. Anyone bitten by a hungry but not killed will also turn into a hungry, although one does not resurrect as a hungry after dying from natural causes. A team of scientists led by Dr. Caroline Caldwell are holed up in a bunker with a set of special captive hungries, those who were born to mothers who were infected during their pregnancy, and who have matured as human children do and seem capable of learning. The early adolescent hungries are taken from their cells every day in restraints and placed in a classroom to be taught by Miss Justineau so that the head scientist can determine which hungries are the smartest and then euthanize them and dissect their brains in order to find a vaccine for the remaining number of the living who are uninfected.

The precocious Melanie is Dr. Caldwell’s next target as she is much more intelligent than most humans. She can effortlessly memorize complex facts such as the chemical composition of a compound, and she is also able to understand the Greek mythology that Miss Justineau teaches the class and use it to inspire a story of herself as a modern-day Pandora, as well as a new type of being who transcends biological categories in order to save her beloved teacher from other hungries. Miss Justineau, the only human character in the story who cares about her charges, is so moved by Melanie’s story that she touches the girl on the head, which prompts the guards to sweep into her classroom and haul her away for punishment, and then take Melanie to the lab for dissection.
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Before this can happen, a group of hungries breach the compound’s peremiter and break into the lab. In the ensuing mayhem, Miss Justineau is able to allow Melanie to escape. Caldwell, Justineau, and a few of the soldiers also escape, and meet up with Melanie on the road, who saves them from a few stray hungries. Realizing that they need Melanie’s intelligence to help them survive, Caldwell agrees to let the girl travel with them and the group gives her a degree of trust after they realize that Melanie is unique in her ability to resist her powerful drive to eat her companions. In this way, Melanie is rather like Stephenie Meyer’s Bella Swan who, after Edward finally turns her into vampire, possess the super-vampire ability to resist her innate bloodlust, something that her companions took decades to master.
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Melanie is unique as a post-apocalyptic survivor. Instead of the usual heavily-armed white man who is able to fend for himself amidst the ensuing chaos of the zombie apocalypse, Melanie is a post-human young woman of color, a blending of several categories of Otherness. Perhaps this is what makes her uniquely able to survive in this new world. Like other hungries, Melanie has a human form, since the zombies in The Girl with All the Gifts are not undead, or reanimated corpses in various states of decomposition. Too though, Melanie’s ability to control her urge to feed off of humans has allowed her to view them as something more than a meal. In this way, Melanie is post-human, a newer version of the old model who transcends the binary categories on which human civilization was founded including gender, race, age, and species, to name a few.

The novel ends with Melanie and Miss Justineau in a sort of parent/child, teacher/student relationship, but it is not clear who fills each role, since Melanie must parent Justineau sometimes to protect her from uncontrolled hungries. Also, while Miss Justineau is now teaching the group of child hungries that she and the rest of the crew discovered before all but herself were killed, she does so behind a protective plastic shield while Melanie disciplines her fellow hungries so that they are amenable to being taught. In this way, The Girl with All the Gifts reimagines our present world, with its political and environmental stability that make it appear to be on the brink of calamity just when young people are ready to take over from their elders. Perhaps the end of the old world as the elders see it is the beginning of one where the social structures that have caused these calamities in the first place will be eliminated in favor of something more sustainable and egalitarian.

Blood Crazy, Simon Clark, (1995)

This is an old novel, and certainly not as genre-defining as King’s Carrie, but it’s one of the best works of horror that I have ever read about teens, and it’s still available to read as a Kindle book. Blood Crazy is a sort of post-apocalyptic Lord of the Flies. On an otherwise uneventful Saturday, Nick Aten observes that one of those events that cleave time into “BC/AD” occurred: Something changes the brains of everyone over 21 so that they now view all young people as enemy species who must be killed. A world-wide murderous rampage ensues where many of the young are murdered by adults, and the remaining young people hide and protect their younger siblings. Because civilization collapses overnight, each new day is a challenge for finding food and potable water and safe shelter.  Nick falls in with a group of youth who have sheltered in a compound that they have secured and provisioned. All is comfortable for a few weeks before Tug Slater, bully extraordinaire, and his droogs, seize control.

With little to keep his worst impulses in check, Slater is in a better position to terrorize other members of the compound, who are only allowed to stay and be fed if they prove useful or amusing. Slater, a Negan (The Walking Dead) wanna-be, forces many of the teen girls to be part of his harem, and finds inventive ways of tormenting those who annoy him. One girl, whom Slater dislikes due to her love for her dog, is forced to play “carry the can,” a game where the unlucky participant has an IED strapped to her neck and must find the key to remove it before it explodes. When Slater straps an IED to the girl’s dog and deliberately does not give her enough time to save her companion, she opts to embrace her dog so they will die together.  Unable to fight Slater alone, Nick escapes the compound to brave the ruined landscape and roving bands of transformed adults to locate survivors and possibly answers about what has happened to his species overnight.

Clark’s infected/affected adults bent on murdering the young externalize an ugly reality that all young people have probably felt to some degree—that some adults might want to kill them. As well, Blood Crazy is like some of today’s best YA dystopian fiction in its depiction of teens shouldering responsibilities that even most adults would find too challenging. But Nick and other of the good teen characters in this novel rise to the occasion perhaps because they are so young—their lack of experience makes it difficult for them to understand the possible dangers, a condition that makes it easier to do a serious but unfamiliar task.

Finally, like Carey’s The Girl with All the Gifts, Blood Crazy has a hopeful ending. After making what is essentially a hero’s journey, Nick returns to the compound in a better position to liberate it of Tug’s tyranny, making their small world safe for the other inhabitants and his infant son he has fathered with his girlfriend. Whether or not this small community can survive remains to be seen, but it is run on the principles of communitarianism and egalitarianism that will prevent the creation of social hierarchies that create winners and losers with unequal access to resources. 
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June Pulliam works in the English Department at LSU she can be contacted at ​jpullia@lsu.edu

Until next week.
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Fantastic Nonfiction YA! VOYA 2018 Nonfiction Winners by Judith Hayn

10/24/2018

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For as long I have been working in higher education, Judy Hayn has been giving me sound advice and opportunities to flourish. I am thrilled to turn this week's blog over to Judy's capable hands. Judy talks about her experience reading nonfiction for VOYA. I have to say, if you are not reading your share of nonfiction YA, you need to give it a try. Remember, there are some of our students who don't take readily to fiction, but might be waiting for us to guide them to some nonfiction choices about topics that interest them.

Fantastic Nonfiction YA! VOYA 2018 Nonfiction Winners by Judith Hayn

As a long-time reviewer for VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates), “the library magazine serving those who serve young adults,” I was excited to be asked to participate as a member of their 2017 Nonfiction Honor Award Committee.  Joining public school media specialists, teen and children’s librarians, high school teachers, and former educators, our group chose selections suitable for middle school/junior high readers in grades five through eight. 

I learned so much from this knowledgeable, collegial, opinionated, and dedicated group.  For example, the information at the end of a nonfiction book is back matter and ought to be stellar!  We searched through definitions, guidelines, and directions to identify a definition we could use.  Most of us liked this Celebrate Science blog post: "Behind the Books: The Nonfiction Family Tree". 

Seventeen winners are featured in VOYA’s August 2018 issue.  You have to be a member to access the entire article, but your library may subscribe to the journal through http://subscriptions@voyamagazine.com .
 
Each of us had a bias and that showed in our choices.  My background is in the humanities, so some of the technical options were not as entertaining for me, but I learned what to expect from a good nonfiction book in the sciences.  
​However, my favorite winner is literary in scope.  Nikki Grimes’.  One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissancefeatures the works of poets of that era.  She uses the “golden shovel” technique by creating her own poems using the original words from the classics as her last lines or words. 

​The artwork by contemporary African American young adult/children’s artists adds emotional impact.  Language arts teachers should grab this multiple award winner whether teaching the Harlem Renaissance or not, powerful and inspirational tool.
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I am a fan of biographies, and several resonated with me.  Martha Brokenbrough’s Alexander Hamilton: Revolutionary plays on the current popularity of the controversial firebrand.  Featuring impeccable research, the book for older middlers is filled with illustrations, subheadings and quotes, along with rich back matter.

I also love sports stories, but even in you don’t, you will get caught up in Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football Team by the popular, prolific Steve Sheinkin. Thorpe, a phenomenal athlete, set records and helped his coach “Pop” Warner create modern football before he was stripped of his Olympic Medals.  Sheinkin doesn’t negate the horrific practices at Indian boarding schools--part of our tragic history of native peoples.
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Deborah Noyes takes a look at Harry Houdini’s role in the history of the spiritualism movement in The Magicians and the Spirits.  She examines Houdini’s efforts to expose the abundant fraudulent practices involved.  The layout of this book grabs the reader with its unique approach.

 My graduate assistant read Deborah Heiligman’s Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers for this blog. Daneele Dickerson says the story grabs readers and immerses them into the brothers’ close relationship. It’s filled with emotion, based on the actual letters written between famous artist, Vincent Van Gogh and his brother. The book creates a perfect balance between non-fiction and storytelling.
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Sports journalist Tom Rinaldi ​in The Red Bandanna, presents an unusual subject, a book about one ordinary guy caught up in extraordinary events. Welles Crowther’s father gave him a red bandanna when he was a boy, and it became his signature, even as he went to his job at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and then disappeared. Eight months later his mother found survivor stories linked to red bandanna man. Crowther became an unlikely hero through horrific circumstances.

In another life. I taught social studies and language arts in tandem to seventh and eighth graders, and I have not lost my love of history.  Heather E. Schwartz unveiled the detention of thirty African American girls in 1963 in Locked Up for Freedom: Civil Rights Protestors at the Leesburg Stockade.  The discrimination the young women fought against through their teen activism followed by their subsequent arrest is a little-known incident in the Civil Rights Movement; black-and-white photos add to the power of the text.​
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The work of Jacob Riis is familiar to me but not to contemporary young teens. Michael Burgan’s Exposing Hidden Worlds: How Jacob Riis’ Photos Became Tools for Social Reform captures the impact of the images the photographer published ground-breaking photojournalism that led to improvement in New York’s slums over a hundred years ago.  The stars of this book are the reproduced black-and-white photos of the misery Riis documented.
           
Informational books remain favorites with young teens, and popular actress Mayim Blayik wrote Girling Up: How to Be Strong, Smart and Spectacular for young girls.  “Girling up” is her terms for the transition to young womanhood.  Told in a conversational style, Blayik relies on factual information coupled with common sense advice.  A daughter of a friend, thirteen at the time, claimed that she learned a lot about growing up from the book.
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Another book for young female adolescents is Reshma Saujani’s Girls Who Code: Learn to Code and Change the World.  The author knows her stuff from the fundamentals of computer operations to intricate coding projects.  The ultimate focus of her work, however, is on the empowerment of young women as they dream of entering the burgeoning world of computer science.

Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees by Mary Beth Leatherdale and illustrator Eleanor Shakespeare is the story of five different teens over several decades who risk their lives to escape horrific living conditions.  The mixed-media, collage-focused illustrations provide the backdrop that fits the needs of younger middle school readers.
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A thoughtful, yet scary, informational selection called Eyes and Spies: How You’re Tracked and Why You Should Know by Tanya Lloyd Kyi  will have you updating your security settings after realizing the multiple dangers that reside in our cyber worlds.  She leads teens through real-life scenarios to show how technology tracks data from their online lives—a must for the young who believe themselves invulnerable and private when living through social media.

​Simon Winchester’s When the Sky Breaks: Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and the Worst Weather in the World. The photos are powerful and mesmerizing.  As a Midwesterner, I went back in time with the recounting of the Joplin, MO, tornado that destroyed much of that town. Winchester outlines the history of meteorology, ties weather events to history, and also examines climate change. 
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Three science-focused books round out the selections.  Karen Romano Young’s ​Whale Quest: Working Together to Save Endangered Species examines the history of the whale through their exploitation to their role as communicators.  Alex Mihailidis and Jan Andrysek in New Hands, New Life: Robots, Prostheses and Innovation features the physically disabled whose lives change through cutting-edge technology.  HP Newquest in From Here to There: The Story of How We Transport Ourselves and Everything Else traces transportation’s cultural connections with historical influences.  All three books rely on vibrant photographs and illustrations.
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The last nonfiction honor book defies prosaic categorization.  Alison Deering and Bob Lentz created Sandwiches!: More Than You’ve Ever Wanted to Know about Making and Eating America’s Favorite Food, a fun-filled collection of unpredictable recipes prepared from top to bottom, along with timelines and factoids.

Most of the winners are currently featured on author websites as they represent their most recent work.  VOYA loved the way the group worked together and appointed us to the 2019 Nonfiction Honor List Committee for this year.  Books arrive daily when the hurricanes and other natural events documented by Winchester don’t delay the process!
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Until next week.
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Confronting Rape Culture with Powerful YA Texts.

10/17/2018

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On October 4, 2018 Kelly Roberts wrote a piece for The Conversation that was, in part, a way to react to the Kavanaugh hearings through a robust YA novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson. Most people in the field of YA scholarship know the book and its constant impact in classrooms and among individual readers for nearly twenty years. I have personally witnessed Ms. Anderson, not only sign books for the obligatory 30 to 60 minutes but she stays and listens to the intimate stories and concerns that readers of the book want to share with her for as long as it takes. She looks them in the eye, she hugs them if they need it, and she believes them.
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I have learned a great deal from watching Laurie on several occasions. Most recently, as she presented at the 2018 Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature last June at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, I observed her take a long lunch with one of my graduate students who need the personal touch that Laurie frequently provides.  I believe, as professor Joan Kaywell claims, that books can save lives. Maybe not every book with every kid, but those of us who work with adolescents and promote Young Adult literature have watched too many kids completely embrace a book.
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Many of the students that enter our middle and high school classroom feel alone. Some are struggling with difficult situations that they don’t know how to talk about but feel that they should talk to someone. Adults in schools need to be better listeners. Those of us in Language Arts Classrooms should book talk more, should provide more reading options, and should worry less about constant assessment and, instead, promote more about authentic student engagement.

What I want to emphasize is that Laurie is not sounding this clarion call alone. There are a large number of YA authors who are also addressing the concerns raised by the #metoo movement and by the troubling reactions to the Kavanaugh hearings.

Let’s be clear, the novelists I will highlight here were writing about rape culture and the issues surrounding it before the Kavanaugh hearings. The statistics about the number of female and male adolescents who are raped is well established and you can read more about this on the RAINN webpage and other similar sources. What the hearings taught us is that males in power say they want to believe, but never quite find it plausible if it means that one of their colleagues might be culpable.
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I love the novel Speak, but I want to acknowledge that Anderson is not alone in writing fiction that depicts this ongoing problem. The novels I highlight below were all written before the hearings, but in the recent past. Nevertheless, they could be read as if they are responding to the emotional issues of recent events. Indeed, they are not. Instead, these authors are writing about the issue of rape and consent based on their own experience or the experiences of people close to them. Are we listening? Do we believe?

Wrecked by Maria Padian

​This book first came to my attention a couple of years ago (Thanks Trevor Ingerson). I wrote about Wrecked as a result and included an interview with the author. This is a powerful text that deals with the aftermath of an abuse that takes place on a college campus. It is amazing that the types of parties and social interactions described in this book and others like it resemble the reports of Kavanough’s accusers. If you like Speak, then you should look for the opportunity to read Wrecked. It should be prominently displayed in classroom and school libraries.
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Tradition by Brendan Kiely

Brendan Keily is a shining star in the field of YA literature. His co-authored book, All American Boys, with Jason Reynolds has been one of the more important books to be published in recent years. The issues that surrounds #blacklivesmatter and police shootings is not simple. It is quite complex. Working together, these two authors show a spirit of collaboration between a white and a black author who work together to shine a light on the issue of police brutality. By retelling an event through alternating points of view they demonstrate how emotionally fraught the issue can be.

Kiely followed that novel with The Last True Love Story, a novel about the relationship between a boy and his aging grandfather who is suffering from dementia. It is built around the metaphor of an Odyssey, as, together, the two characters attempt a journey home.

His most recent novel, Tradition, takes on rape culture on a college campus. It is another tour de force. In this book, both Jamie and Jules must confront the negative traditions and cultures that pervade the campus. Kiely does not shy away from difficult subjects. Instead he works to carefully craft a narrative that has believable characters in complex situations. Again, this is a novel that should be on your “to be read” list.
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Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

​For my weekend pick last Friday I selected Blood Water Paint. I keep recommending this book to everyone I talk to though out my day. I was stopped cold by both the beauty and the sorrow of this book. I was unaware of the historical events surrounding the life of Artemisia Gentileschi. In part I wrote in my annotation the following:

…this is a beautiful historical verse novel. The pages ran before my eyes as I was swept away by the narrative.  McCullough does a wonderful job of creating a strong character who draws her inspiration from two biblical characters, who have both been the subjects of Renaissance paintings, Judith and Susanna. You can find the paints of this remarkable painter by following this link.  

This novel demonstrates that the story of male abuse is not new. Artemisia’s trial against her attacker took place in 1611. It is lamentable that her success has not carried on through the centuries. Is it any wonder that women stay silent? This novel made the longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Frankly, I was pulling for it to make the short list, but alas it didn’t happen. Pick this one for your book group. The conversations will be rewarding.
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The Music of What Happens by Bill Konigsberg

​This last novel will be out in January. I was luckily enough to receive an advanced readers copy from Bill  when he was in Las Vegas for the 2018 Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature as a keynote speaker. I have included this book as a reminder that boys are also victimized by sexual predators. Konigsberg does a great job showing how difficult it is for a victim to share his trauma. He knows his mother and his new boyfriend care deeply about him. Nevertheless, his embarrassment and uncertainty about his role in the event causes him great concern and he hesitates. Bill's books resonant with teens. They provide strong narratives that engage readers. His books, from Out of the Pocket to The Porcupine of Truth , deserve a place on your shelves and his latest, The Music of What Happens, will be no exception. 
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The name Laurie Hales Anderson carries weight throughout the YA community and on social media. I hope that as we move forward we strive to include more voices. Bill Konisberg, Joy McCullough, Maria Padian, and Brandon Kiely are four strong voices that write about his issue. They are not the only ones. A quick search on Google or by browsing through lists on GoodReads will provide many more novels that explore the topic.
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One thing is certain. Adolescents need to know that we care, that we will listen, and that we will believe them. Just maybe, the vicarious experiences provided by reading one of these novels will help them feel less alone. They might find the courage to resolve a problem or gain the tools to avoid a problematic encounter in the future.
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Until next week.
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World at War: Exploring the Many Facets of WWII Through Young Adult and Middle Grade Literature by Marshall George

10/10/2018

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The first time I meet this week's guest contributor he was checking names at the entrance of an ALAN Workshop.  Marshall won't remember, I was a graduate student and was just learning about ALAN. He was already contributing to the field in major ways. He had written a state of the research piece for English Education (George, M. (2004). Furthering the Cause: The Study and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. English Education, 37(1), 80-84. ). Over the years we kept having conversations, presented together, overlapped our service on CEE (now ELATE), and now we are both focusing more and more on YA literature. He has been a steady supporter of the blog and has contributed twice before. George, M. (2016, March, 16). What is in a Name? Adolescent Literature? Young Adult Literature? Does it Matter?.
George, M. (June 27, 2017) 
The Sometimes-Forgotten Genres in Literature Written for Adolescents and Young Adults: Short Stories, Essays, and Poetry. 
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I love the approach he is writing about this time. We both seem to return to YA books that deal with history and can readily be used in cross-curricular contexts. In this particular post, he is focusing on YA books that deal with War, specifically WWII. Some of the books he mentions I know and love. The others will be added to my reading list. Thanks Marshall.

World at War: Exploring the Many Facets of WWII Through Young Adult and Middle Grade Literature by Marshall George

​In the early 1990s, I had the amazing experience of teaching at an international school in Brazil for three years. The opportunities that the experience afforded me were numerous.  I learned to look at the world in a very different way and through a different lens than I had before. I am now a fluent speaker of Portuguese-being multilingual impacts the way you view people and culture. In fact, my understanding of culture, language, and society evolved like you would not believe (if you are monolingual)! However, that is not the focus of this blog, so let me get to that…
 
While I was hired as a teacher of English Language Arts at the international school, at the end of my first year when the following year’s schedule was being developed, the leadership in the school realized that there was a group of seniors who needed various courses to graduate- some needed an additional course in English, others needed an American history course, and two needed a humanities/fine arts course (most students were getting two diplomas- an American one and a Brazilian one). There were not enough teachers to fill each of these needs in separate classes. Having taken an interdisciplinary course in my undergraduate program (it was one of my favorite elective courses), I volunteered to develop an “American Studies” class that would explore various periods of American history by examining the literature, music, and art from each era. Based on student engagement and feedback (and the fact that all were able to graduate thanks to the creative course offering), the class was deemed a huge success. I repeated a version of the course the following year with an 8th grade social studies class (one must be quite flexible when teaching in relatively small international schools). 
​In the 25 years since I taught those high school and middle school American studies classes, I have come to believe strongly in the potential of interdisciplinary curriculum planning and teaching at all levels- middle school, high school, undergraduate education, teacher preparation, even doctoral studies. While there are opportunities to utilize literature in all content areas, I think some of the most common and perhaps easiest connections are in the field of social studies education and I wrote about this almost 20 years ago.
 
I am drawn to historical fiction and there is an ever-widening body of literature written for adolescents and young adults that explores various periods in both world and national history. I spend a lot of time in middle and high schools in New York City and have the opportunity to observe students in their classes as well as during their independent reading time. While I have not engaged in any sort of systematic study of their interests, I have observed that they often have a real interest in World War II. After speaking with a number of social studies teachers, I have had my observations confirmed by many of them. Like many young people today, I have always been fascinated by the complexities of World War II and will often choose to read works of literature that focus on that conflict. In fact, as I reviewed the Excel file where I have recorded every work of adolescent/young adult literature I have read since January of 2000, I found that I have read over 50 books that were set during World War II. In a Washington Post column a few years ago, Valerie Strauss argued that it is very important to teach young people about World War II and suggested six rules to adhere to when doing so. It’s an interesting read and makes a good case. I would argue now, perhaps more than ever, we need to look to our past to guide us as we move into a future in an ever-changing world.
I think teachers at multiple grade levels and in both social studies and English have multiple opportunities to incorporate literature into their courses. Readers of this blog do not have to be convinced that adolescent/young adult literature can and should play an important part in the learning experiences of our young people. One of my favorite instructional strategies is the book club, as described by Taffy Raphael, Laura Pardo and Kathy Highfield. Alternatively, students can be given the option of reading independently or with a book buddy. Some teachers prefer whole class texts rather than text sets or independent reading. Whatever the approach, I encourage teachers of English language arts and social studies to consider utilizing works of literature written for adolescents and young adults as they explore the many facets of World War II.
 
Following are brief summaries of some of my favorite WWII books. I considered many different ways of organizing this list. I thought of using a thematic approach, but found that each of the books addressed so many different themes it was hard to categorize them that way. I considered creating a high school list and a middle school list, but I struggle against pigeon holing books by level (though I did note publishers’ recommended reading ages to make suggestions as to whether the books are marketed to young adult or middle grade readers, or both). I landed on organizing the list around the primary setting of the books. World War II was indeed a war that spanned the globe. I have not read WWII books set in Africa, the Middle East or Australia and would welcome suggestions in the comment section of this blog. 

War in Continental Europe

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepyts (YA)
 
This fascinating novel is told from four points of view: a Lithuanian nurse, Joana; a young orphaned Polish girl, Emilia; a Prussian boy Florian, and a German soldier Alfred. This multinational cast of characters provides insight into the final months of the war in Europe, especially during Operation Hannibal, the evacuation of German soldiers and citizens when the Red Army was approaching Germany. Readers learn of a little-known WWII incident, the sinking of the Gustloff, a German ship evacuating German soldiers and civilians.
 
Orphan, Monster, Spy by Matt Killeen (YA)
 
Sarah is an orphaned 15-year-old Jewish girl who speaks numerous languages and looks like an Aryan. After her mother is shot by the Germans, she meets an unlikely ally, a British spy acting as a Nazi official. Sarah joins him in his spying endeavors, posing as his 13-year old daughter attending an elite school for Nazi youth. Her task is to foil a classmate’s father’s efforts to build a superweapon that could win the war for the Nazis. 
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​Code Name Verity  and Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (MG)
 
Code Name Verity is the story of a friendship between a British female pilot, Maddie, and a female spy, “Verity.”  When their plane crashes in Germany, “Verity” is arrested by the Gestapo. Through her interrogations she cleverly tells her story without giving away the information that the Nazis want.
 
Rose Under Fire tells the story of another female pilot who is captured by the Nazis and is sent to Ravensbruck, the notorious concentration camp for women. She survives the horrors of the camp and witnesses the trials against Nazi war criminals after the war.
 
These two books feature incredibly strong women who survive because of their bravery, their commitment, and their sheer will to live. 
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​Under a War-Torn Sky and A Troubled Peace by L.M. Elliott (MG)
 
These companion books provide an important glimpse into France during and after the German occupation. The first, Under a War-Torn Sky, chronicles the war experience of a young pilot who is shot down behind enemy lines in France. In his dangerous attempt to avoid capture by the Germans, Henry Forester is helped by the French resistance. Henry comes to truly understand the importance of the work done by these brave men and women.
 
In the second book, A Troubled Peace, Henry has escaped Germany and returned to his home in Virginia. Unable to adapt to his “regular life,” Henry returns to post-war France to see what happened to the women and men who had helped him escape. There, he discovers the chaos that has been left by the ravages of war.  
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​Genevieve’s War by Patricia Riley Giff (MG)
 
Despite the war that is overtaking Europe, Genevieve does not want to leave her grandmother’s farm in Alsace to return to New York. When the Nazis overtake Alsace, she and her grandmother are forced to board a Nazi soldier. At the same time, they hide a fugitive in their attic, risking their lives to protect their friend. This book provides a clear picture of life in occupied France during the war. 
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The Holocaust

​The Once, Then, Now Series by Morris Gleitzman (MG/YA)
 
In the first book, readers meet Felix, a young boy who is confused by what is happening to him and his family in Nazi Occupied Poland. Soldiers are burning books, beating and shooting people, and violently taking them away from their families.  Despite witnessing all of these horrors, Felix never loses hope.
 
In the second book, Felix and his friend Zelda escape a prison train that is taking them to a Nazi death camp. Both children have lost their parents, who were murdered by the Nazis. Felix and Zelda struggle to survive in war torn, Nazi occupied Poland. Their entire life is focused on survival- avoiding being turned in by citizens eager for a reward, being shot, or starving.
 
When the third book opens in Australia, Felix is a grandfather who has struggled his whole adult life to bury the painful memories of his childhood. When his granddaughter, Zelda, comes to spend time with him and faces relentless bullying, his memories come rushing back.  
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​The Book Thief by Marcus Zuzak (YA)
 
Set in 1939 Germany, this is a story told by “Death” about Liesel Meminger, who has lost her mother and brother and is taught to read by her foster father. As her reading improves, Liesel steals books from Nazi book burnings and from the mayor’s home. The book examines the atrocities of the war as Liesel lives in a village outside Munich during the bombardment of the city and the experiences of a Jewish man hidden in the basement of her home.
 
My Mother’s Secret: A Novel Based on A True Holocaust Story by J.L. Witterick (YA)
 
Franciszka and her daughter provide shelter in their tiny home to two Jewish families who are hiding from the Nazis after the invasion of Poland. They also hide a defecting German soldier in their attic. Told from four different perspectives (though all in the same home) this novel provides great insight into the horror of living in Nazi occupied Europe and how citizens resisted and fought against the evil regime.
 
The Lost Childhood by Yehuda Nir (MG/YA)
 
This memoir provides a first-hand account of the author, who was nine years old when the Nazis invaded Poland. His father was executed, but the rest of the family was able to use their looks and language skills to pass as non-Jewish Poles to avoid being sent to the Nazi death camps like most of their family and friends. Nirs’ family’s life was not easy either, as they had to work for Germans. The horrors of life inside Nazi occupied Poland are explicitly told in this compelling memoir. 
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​Tropical Secrets: Holocaust Refugee in Cuba by Margarita Engle (MG)
 
Many people are not aware that European Jews sought asylum in Cuba when the Nazi regime rose to power and began invading countries across Europe. After being refused asylum in New York, young Daniel, who had narrowly escaped Nazi Germany, was granted entry into Cuba instead. Told in narrative verse, Daniel’s story is a common one to refugees who live in fear of being returned to their oppressors by German spies among the fellow refugees.
 
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne  (MG)
 
Bruno’s father gets a promotion to commandant of Auschwitz and the family has to move from Berlin to the country. Lonely and board, Bruno makes friends with a little boy, Shmuel, who lives on the other side of the fence. Bruno does not understand the horrific reality of what is going on at this camp that his father commands. This devastating story provides a unique view of the juxtapositions that existed in the world of the Nazis. 
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The Pacific Theater

Prisoners of the Empire Series by Graham Salisbury (MG)
 
This series of books explores war in the Pacific Theater starting with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7, 1941. Book 1, Under the Blood Red Sun, traces the experiences of a Japanese-American boy (Tomi) and his family in Hawaii during and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His father and grandfather are interred in American concentration camps and Tomi and his mother must endure painful discrimination. Book 2, House of the Red Fish, continues Tomi’s story as he and his mother face increasing challenges as his former friends and neighbors see him as the enemy. Book 3 Eyes of the Emperor focuses on another Hawaiian of Japanese descent, Eddy, who is serving in the American armed forces. The Army uses Eddy and other Japanese-Americans in unthinkable ways. Nevertheless, Eddie endures as he wants to prove his loyalty to his country-America. Book 4 Hunt for the Bamboo Rat, chronicles the experiences of a Japanese-American recruit, Zenji, who is fluent in both Japanese and English. Once in the Army, Zenji is sent undercover to the Philippines to spy on the Japanese. When captured, Zenji is brutally tortured by the Japanese. He eventually escapes, but spends months in the brutal tropical jungle. 
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​Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II by Joseph Bruchac (MG/HS)
 
Based on actual historical events, this fictional story of Ned Begay exposes the fascinating and previously classified story of WWII when The US government utilized the native language skills of Navajo soldier to transmit coded messages for their commanders and troops. Ned, who had been taught at a boarding school that his native language was inferior to English, had the opportunity to become a code talker despite previously being rejected from serving in the military. Ned and his fellow code talkers were sent to Iwo Jima, where they participated in the battles there and on Okinawa. The code talkers were crucial to the war effort-without them, the war may have never been won by the Allies.
 
When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park. (MG)
 
Because the Japanese occupied Korea during WWII, Sun-hee and her brother are forced to study and speak Japanese in school. They are forbidden from using their native Korean language. Koreans were expected to fight on the Japanese side in the war. Sun-hee (whose Japanese name is Keoko) is shocked when her brother enlists in the Japanese army. Her uncle is part of the Korean resistance so the family appears to be divided. Keoko does not realize that her brother becomes a kamikaze as a way of protecting the family.
 
Incommunicado by Randall Platt (MG)
 
“Jewels” is a 12-year-old girl living in Oregon when the Japanese attack the United States. She and her mother work for Mr. Kaye, a kind Japanese-American who allows them to live in one of his beach cabins in return for their cleaning services. After the attack, the town turns against Mr. Kaye, sure that he is a spy for the Japanese. Jewels goes to great lengths to protect her friend as he is treated badly by the townspeople and is under investigation by the FBI.
 
When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka (MG/HS)
 
An entire Japanese-American family’s life is turned upside down when the US government considers them to be enemy aliens. The father is arrested for treason, while the rest of the family is sent to an internment camp in the Utah desert. The racism and xenophobia of American citizens during the WWII era has great impact on the children in this story (all of the characters remain nameless throughout) who suffered greatly for four years of internment.

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The British and American Home Front

​The War That Saved My Life series by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (MG)
 
This two-book series tells the story of a young English girl with  a club foot, Ada, who struggles to survive in war torn England. In the first book The War That Saved My Life. Ada lives under tragic circumstances, mistreated and abused by her mother. When Ada’s brother is evacuated from London to live in the relative safety of the country, she runs away as well. Ada connects with her foster mother and her life improves greatly, despite the dangers of living in Wartime England. In the second book, The War I Finally Won, Ada has successful surgery that repairs her foot and allows her to lead a relatively regular life (regular despite black out, rationing, air raid warnings). Ada loses her birth mother in a bombing of London, but gains a friend in a Jewish German girl who is living in England during the war. 
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On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck  (MG)
 
Davey’s brother Bill flies B-17s in the war in Europe. He and his family at home certainly have it easier than Bill does, but the air raid drills, rationing, and rubber and paper scrap drives brings the war home to them in a different way. Waiting for word about Bill’s safety is especially hard for Davey and his parents. Indeed, life on the home front is a challenge for everyone in times of war.
 
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith (MG/YA)
 
Women on the homefront made great contributions to the war. Ida Mae Jones, a young small-town farm girl tried to do her part by collecting silk stockings for the cause, but wanted to do so much more. Having learned to fly crop dusting planes, she was a gifted pilot and wanted to join WASP, a semi-military unit of women pilots. However, because she was African-American, she was not allowed to join. Because she had light colored skin she managed to join WASP anyway and began flight training. Overcoming discrimination and fear of being discovered, Ida Mae bravely makes important contributions to the war effort.
 
Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights  by Steve Sheinkin (MG/YA)
 
This work of nonfiction tells the fascinating story of a huge explosion that killed more than 300 sailors on the docks of the Navy base at Port Chicago, CA. After the explosion, more than 200 African American soldiers refused to go back to work on the docks until the unsafe and unfair conditions were rectified. Of those, fifty men were charged with mutiny. The brave men faced prison or even execution for their actions, but they believed that they had to take a stand against the prejudice, discrimination, and injustices facing black sailors who were risking their lives for their country. 
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Alternative Ending to the War

​We know that the allies won the war, but what if that had not? While various authors and screenwriters have explored this possibility, Ryan Graudin has done so for young adult readers.
 
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
 
What if Hitler had triumphed? In this fantastical series, readers get to consider what would have happened in this nightmare scenario. Living in 1956, where the world is split between the German Third Reich and the Japanese Empire, a survivor of horrific medical experimentation, Yael, is able to “skinshift.” That means that she can assume any female role and agrees to become Adele Wolfe to help the resistance movement in their plot to finally kill Hitler. Yael participates in The Axis Games, an annual motorcycle race that commemorates the Great Axis Victory. Hitler will be at the victory celebration so Yael must win the race … and kill Hitler at the vVctor’s Ball. This fast paced and innovative novel will interest most young adults and may foster critical conversations about the outcome of the war.
 
Blood for Blood by Ryan Graudin
 
Yael’s story continues in this sequel. After Yael’s assassination attempt fails, she ends up in an SS prison but manages to escape. She continues in her quest to kill Hitler. The sequel is equally fast paced and full of unexpected twists and turns. 
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Marshall A. George
Hunter College of the City University of New York
Marshall can be reached at: mg2003@hunter.cuny.edu

​
Until next week.
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Reading and Discussing "I Crawl through It" in a YA Literature Class.

10/1/2018

1 Comment

 
I wish everyone knew Sharon Kane. When I was just new academic, Sharon was always around to offer advice and to validate my efforts. Over the years she has been one of the great supporters of the blog and has been a constant presence at the ALAN Workshop and any YA conferences that I have managed to get off the ground. Her earlier blog posts cover a range of topics and they can be found here (a post about waiting for award winners), here (YA about Ada Lovelace), here (about revisiting awards), and here (about space and time in YA literature). This post focuses on how her students respond to A. S. King's wonderful novel, I Crawl Through It and, as an added bonus, King's response to her Skype visit with the class.

Reading and Discussing I Crawl through It in a YA literature Class.

When I, Sharon, met my Young Adult Literature class for the first time this semester, we watched a book trailer for I Crawl Through It, by A.S. King, and I assigned the novel as a whole class read for the following week, promising something extraordinary. I also assigned the article “Who’s Afraid of A.S. King?".  

​During our second class meeting, before I even had a chance to read students’ responses, we talked with the author via a videoconference. Amy Sarig King fielded many questions, and gave my students even more to think about regarding standardized testing; the ongoing trauma of intruder drills and safety threats; creativity; mental illness; the intelligence and emotional depth of adolescents; surrealism; and more. Here are samples from notes students wrote in the thank you card we sent her:
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-I admire how you handled the issue of PTSD, and I think the book ended perfectly for this subject.

-I’ve never read a book where I could relate so much to so many characters (good and bad).

-I’m sure I can say for everyone that we loved seeing a glimpse into your beautiful twisted mind.

-I will take your advice about characters telling me what to write when completing my novel.

-I wish my religious Latina mother had read this book when I was a teenager.

-Thank you for paving the way for female YA authors.

-Thank you … for acknowledging the silenced voices of black and Latino kids.  
​I couldn’t wait to get home to read the responses students had written after reading the book, but before meeting the author. Their reflections provided evidence that I Crawl through It is a novel that makes readers work—hard. Yet these undergraduates were inspired to describe the writing as “graceful and eloquent,” and were stimulated to write creatively themselves. Taylor, for example, in her poem “I Went through It,” wrote verses narrated by characters that made me feel I knew them better; Drew’s “To Cope (Or is it Nope?”) was a list poem that made me shudder, and want better for the teens I love.  Taking my cue from them, I have written the following “found poem” using words from my students’ work/play. Below mine, you can find some of the poems my students produced.

I Am a Helicopter Reader
by Sharon Kane

​This book is one that scares you at first,
And makes you wonder what exactly you have picked up to read.
It gives the reader an illusion of understanding without really understanding anything at all.
Each character presented in a raw and uncut manner…
Brilliant. Relatable.
Maybe it is just too much obscurity for me.
What is the deal with the Bush Man?
We are all damaged.
The importance of a name in connection to a person’s identity is so strong
                 that it is odd
                when a person disassociates from it. 
How quickly things can escalate………
Trauma. Trauma. Trauma.
Reset. Reset. Reset.
I thought I would hate it.
A book can make you more tolerant!
It was like a puzzle.
I spent hours walking to and from classes,
               unpacking each and every aspect of the story.
I refuse to be afraid of A.S. King.
I am completely an A.S. King fan.
I Crawl through It could begin a conversation about mental health.
Hug. Love. See pain. Offer beauty.
Stay right side out.
The book that was made to confuse….
I enjoyed the ride. 

I Went through It
by Taylor Woods

​“Blowing up isn't always external. It's not always easy to hear or see. Synapses fire every day in my brain. Thinking is just like exploding until it eventually scars you and you can't interact with people anymore. It's like one big, final detonation.”
― A.S. King, I Crawl Through It
 
Stanzi
 
I too, lost someone.
Not the lost that never
comes back.
 
It’s where
you don’t know
if they’ll ever come back.
But they can.
 
To my sister,
 
I regretted
the things I said,
and didn't say.
 
Not hugging you enough,
not telling you I love you,
enough.
 
Telling you to go away,
too many times.
 
Telling you not to hug me
Anymore.
 
To my sister,
I am sorry.
 
I am glad you’re back.
 
Gustav
 
We’ve all wanted
to
go away, fly away.
 
Maybe in an
invisible helicopter,
that took 9 months
to build.
 
Or a drive
you took at 1am.
 
Or a bottle of pills,
one by one
into your palm.
 
Did you get to where
you wanted to go?
 
Or do you wish,
beg,
to come back.
 
China
 
I didn’t swallow
myself to hide from the world.
 
I didn’t become my stomach
or colon.
 
I stayed right side out.
 
Instead,
I covered myself with
long hair
and long sleeves.
 
I didn’t dare
look in the eyes
of those I loved.
 
Because if I looked at those
I love,
they would know.
I was defeated.
 
I could never tell them.
 
Lansdale
 
I could never lie,
the way Lansdale did.
 
It was the only language she knew,
and all I know, is to tell the truth.
 
Even if it hurt.
Even if it meant losing.
 
I could never lie,
the way Lansdale did.
 
The Bush Man
 
I don’t know why,
The Bush Man
wanted kisses
For his letters.
 
I gave love,
for acceptance.
 
Maybe that’s why.
 
To be accepted.

"Open to Interpretation"
​by Anthony Mirarcki

Outline another day in red
As I realize this is now beyond my control
All I wanted was to feel
Other than the emptiness
That you were so eager to leave on my shoulders
It’s kind of ironic, but nothing
Is the heaviest burden I’ve ever held
And I don’t mean to seem masochistic
But I can’t help but run back to you
I always run back to you
It’s like I’ve been burned so bad
That I can’t even feel
So I hold on despite the damage
Until it all becomes too real
Do you find me pathetic?
I’m stuck in the turbulence of love
I’m not even sure was there to begin with
So I watch as all I have created
In my mind comes crashing down
All around me
And leaves me trapped and surrounded
By the wreckage of what was never there
And I offer to you all I have left
It’s not much use to you
But it means even less to me
And again I find myself running back to you

To Cope (Or is it Nope?)
by Chrisitian "Drew" Seymour

to cope is to escape from where you are;
     to read a novel about aliens
     to write a story where you're the hero
     to use your imagination in ways inconceivable
     to build an invisible helicopter.
to cope is to protect yourself from hurt, to build a giant wall;
     to limit who you interact with
     to only connect and befriend online
     to carry around a safety blanket
     to always wear a lab coat.
to cope is to never say anything, especially something that could alienate you;
     to keep your mouth shut, to never participate
     to always just not and smile, and never show your brain
     to go along with the crowd, to always be a follower
     to swallow your tongue and swallow your words and yourself.
to cope is to live in a world that you yourself dictate;
     to be the leader, the boss, and not let others define you
     to be the bully, using your words and your brute, to put others in their place
     to limit your world so that you will have set your limits
     to lie, about yourself and your world, to affect the real world.

I Crawl Through the Circle
by Jocelyn Lyon

​Everything will repeat in the end.
This cycle comes full circle, again.
Let’s go back to the world and its meaning,
The problem is all around us
but you’re not believing.
 
Empathy should be basic human decency,
you should know that rape
is still a possibility.
Reality will always be there in the end.
This cycle comes full circle, again.
REACT. FESTER. REPEAT.
An Unpredictable Ball of Nerves
cannot face their own baggage.
Therefore, their problems will remain captive.
You cannot teach your child what you do not know.
This cycle comes full circle, again.
 
On National Television, a respected pastor
groped a young woman.
He reached and grabbed her
side breast,
he held her there while she remained uncomfortable.
She runs from the stage
embarrassed.
But the viewers only notice how she’s dressed.
Reality is slapping you across the face.
Your daughter saw it on the news and felt it too.
If it were her, would you
feel more disgraced?
Would you speak up to challenge his hand or refrain?
 
Everything will repeat in the end.
This cycle comes full circle, again.
​Amy, my students could not have had a better experience to welcome them into the community of authors, teens,  teachers, librarians, parents, professors, and others who love YA Literature.  Thank you for your very special gift.  

Amy's Two Cents about the Experience

When I saw on Twitter that Sharon was reading I Crawl Through It as her FIRST (!!!) book in her YAL class, I had to offer a Skype visit...because to me, that's a pretty gutsy move. My time with Sharon's class was profound for me. I often forget exact references in my books because I write several per year and this book was written years ago. A student asked me about a particular paragraph in the book and I couldn't really answer it. And then another student gave me the page number. It was great to revisit the paragraph in real time, in front of the class, and find the reason I wrote that part. I read it aloud and said, "Look at that last line! That's the reason for this scene!" And then we studied that line: "No blood is real blood unless someone cares," and we talked about what it means within the scope of the book and also through the lens of our culture and what students live through daily in modern-day American high schools. For that moment alone, this Skype visit pretty much changed me. It taught me a bit about why I write what I do, and it allowed me to share that with university students who are essentially filling up their own basket of why they do what they do.
​

Need more A. S. King?

Back to Steve: I hope you are reading A. S. King. These books are great. Not just great YA, great literature that speak to the tradition of surrealism and the absurd that has always been on the edge of great literature. Think Swift or Fielding. Think Bret Harte and Ambrose Bierce. Think Kurt Vonnegut and Robert Coover or Julio Cortazar, Jorge Louis Borges, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Isabel Allende. Okay, it is clear I am a fan. If you are reading Andrew Smith and Shaun David Hutchinson and ignoring A. S. King, you are missing the boat. All of the writers mentioned are fun to read, but it is fair warning to tell you that you better have your irony senors and your creative imagination at the ready.

Until next week.
1 Comment
    Dr. Gretchen Rumohr
    Chief Curator
    Gretchen Rumohr is a professor of English and department chair at Aquinas College, where she teaches writing and language arts methods.   She is also a Co-Director of the UNLV Summit on the Research and Teaching of Young Adult Literature. She lives with her four girls and a five-pound Yorkshire Terrier in west Michigan.

    Dr. Steve Bickmore
    ​Creator and Curator

    Dr. Bickmore is a Professor of English Education at UNLV. He is a scholar of Young Adult Literature and past editor of The ALAN Review and a past president of ALAN. He is a available for speaking engagements at schools, conferences, book festivals, and parent organizations. More information can be found on the Contact page and the About page.

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