Reading YA Lit at Freedom School

In case you haven't heard about the Children's Defense Fund, or the Freedom School initiative, check out their website and get educated. Freedom Schools is a wonderful summer/after-school program that has one main goal: "to help readers and nonreaders fall in love with books: the stories, the characters, the pictures, the ideas, and the values—and to give nonreaders an overwhelming desire to read, which is a basic step toward reading." The program also aims to provide safe spaces where youth can go after school and during the summer to celebrate literacy and citizenship. Personally, I think the program serves as a very necessary counterstory to the popular discourse surrounding minority youth as readers--"Black kids don't read," "Black kids are lazy," "Black kids don't have books at home, or role-models who read." Blah, blah, blah. These are dangerous lies, and the Freedom Schools serves to poke some crater-sized holes in these lies, showing that Black kids are indeed engaged, skilled readers who are passionate about books!

I had the incredible honor of being a part of the Knoxville Freedom School this summer. I met some incredible youth, some incredible adults, and read some incredible young adult literature. Every year, a committee of bad-asses meets at the Haley Farm in Clinton, TN, to read and read and read and read and select books for Freedom School (sounds like my kind of retreat). The committee wants Freedom School participants to read whole novels (not excerpted texts), and they want Freedom School kids to read literature that affirms the non-White identities and cultures of Freedom School participants--predominantly Black youth.

The Freedom School kids in grades 6-8 (called Level III scholars) read six young adult novels during the six-week program.

The first novel the Level III scholars read was Sharon G. Flake’s (2007) Begging for Change. In this book, due to a turf war, 13-year-old Raspberry Hill’s mother has been beaten with a metal pipe, and lies in a hospital. Raspberry’s father is an alcoholic and a drug addict. No wonder Raspberry decides to steal money from her well-off friend, Zora, even if it is Zora and her father, Dr. Mitchell, who treat Raspberry and her mother like family. But Raspberry’s stealing doesn’t stop there, and soon she’s lost the trust of people she cares about most. When her own father steals from her, Raspberry begins to wonder if she’s any different from him. As Raspberry mother tells her and other thugs on the street, “To be better, you gotta want better.” Ultimately, Raspberry must do some hard soul-searching to decide who she’s going to be and what “better” looks like for her.





Next, the scholars read Joseph by Shelia P. Moses (2008). This young adult novel tells the story of fourteen-year-old Joseph Flood, who is a victim of his mother’s chronic drug abuse. Spending all of the child support money sent by Joseph’s dad, who is away fighting in Iraq, Joseph’s mother lands the two in a homeless shelter. Joseph has the opportunity to go live with his mother’s sister in the suburbs, where he can attend a good school and join the tennis team. But Joseph doesn’t want to leave his mother—who will look out for her? Who will take care of her? Joseph must navigate the slippery slope between loyalty to family and self as he scrapes out a stable future for himself.

For week three, the scholars read another Sharon G. Flake (2005) novel, Bang! This young adult novel depicts the violence that mars some impoverished urban neighborhoods, and the constant state of terror its residents live in as a result. Mann, the main character, has just seen his little brother, Joseph, shot to death on the front porch of their house—an innocent victim, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mann’s mother and father are grieving in their own ways, none of which are helpful to Mann, who has started smoking weed with his best friend, Kee-Lee, and skipping school. When Mann’s father decides Joseph got shot because he was “too soft,” he abandons Mann and Kee-Lee miles from town and tells them to find their own way back home. Mann’s journey back to self-hood is fraught with violence, disappointment, mistakes, and regrets, but Mann ultimately decides what kind of man he is going to be, and what it might take for Black men to stop killing one another.



Week four, Level III scholars read Phillip Hoose’s (2009) National Book Award-winning Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. This nonfictional work gives voice to the fifteen-year-old girl who refused to give up her seat to a White woman on a segregated bus nine months before Rosa Parks did. But instead of being celebrated, like Rosa Parks was, Claudette found herself shunned by her classmates and ignored by the black leaders of Montgomery, Alabama. Why was Claudette shunned and ignored? Why didn’t she get the credit for jumpstarting the Civil Rights Movement? What did Rosa Parks have that Claudette didn’t? This book answers these questions and elucidates a little-known piece of American history.

For week five, scholars read Sharon Draper’s Coretta Scott King Book Award-winning young adult novel, Copper Sun, which I've written about here.

Finally, for the last week of Freedom School, the Level III scholars read David Colbert’s (2009) young adult biography, Michelle Obama: An American Story. This rich biographical portrait traces Michelle Obama’s life from her ancestors who were slaves on a rice plantation in South Carolina, to her working-class, Southside Chicago childhood, to her rise as one of the most influential women living today. Unique to this biographical telling, Colbert contextualizes Michelle Obama's life story within larger movements in African American history: slavery, freedom, the Reconstruction era, the Civil Rights movement, and finally, her own era.

These are all good reads, and if you're looking to add some African-American YA lit to your classroom library or curriculum, I highly suggest all these titles. Sharon Flake, especially, proved popular with the Freedom School kids--her writing is gritty and real, and doesn't back down from honestly portraying the violence and terror and chaos that defines the lives of too many urban youth.

For the Love of Animals

Despite a shelf filled with close to 100 YA novels I have yet to read, in one of my recent trips to the bookstore I picked up Kenneth Oppel’s Half Brother (Harper Collins). Set in Canada in the 1970s, the story revolves around a thirteen-year-old named Ben who becomes the big brother to a chimp named Zan. Ben’s father is a famous behavioral scientist and wants to see if a chimp can learn human language. So, Ben’s mother takes baby Zan from his mother (this is heart-wrenching) and brings him home to begin their research. When the funding for Project Zan is pulled, Ben’s father sells Zan to a university in the Southwest United States to prevent the chimp from winding up being used in medical testing. However, this new arrangement quickly seems not as promised: the director uses chains and leashes to move the chimps; a cattle prod scares the chimps into submission; and Zan winds up with a missing tooth.

On a trip to visit, Ben and his mother find out that Zan is being sold (along with several other chimps) to a medical testing facility—one with a horrible reputation. Rather than let this happen, they steal Zan and take him back to Canada. Yet, realistically, what can they do with a growing chimp who was raised to think he was part human? This is the question that they ultimately must answer. It is also the question at the heart of the novel. Even if their research wasn’t “harmful” and was only meant to help us communicate with chimps, harm was inevitable. [As an educational researcher, this question of harm is something I must always consider.]

I really liked the novel. While at times I felt the voice, dialogue, and thoughts did not match a thirteen-year-old male, I would need to get feedback from a male teenage reader to ultimately decide.



Like Ginny Rorby’s Hurt Go Happy, this novel asks readers to think about why and how we use animals for testing—whether that testing is to create shampoo or cure cancer. After reading either or both of these novels, teachers could have students complete research projects that center on issues of animal rights.Students could learn about how to be a compassionate consumer and how animals are used in labs and for experimentation (warning: some videos are disturbing).

The Humane Society of the US has a wealth of information on chimpanzees and other animals used in research.

Bones Tell Stories

I may have missed my calling in life because if I had it to do all over again, I might have tried to be a forensic anthropologist. "Suuuurrrreeee, Susan," you're probably saying. "Riiiiigggghhhht." That would mean I would actually have to stomach the sight of blood or worse, decomposing flesh. And I might actually have to touch a dead body. Ok, you're right. That wouldn't be for me. I have a hard time cleaning up cat vomit.

So I guess I'll just have to stick with reading books about forensic anthropologists. See, maybe this is all about that adolescent who is still stuck inside me, because teens LOVE murder mysteries! And forensic anthropology is all about solving some murder mysteries. It's about storytelling, too--about listening to the stories bones tell and being the voice for voiceless victims.

If you're looking for some good young adult novels (or books teens will pick up and consider reading) about forensic anthropology, consider Alane Ferguson's forensic mystery series that begins with The Christopher Killer. The series follows teen-aged Cammie Mahoney as she assists her coroner-father in solving murders in their Colorado town. Cammie, who wants to be a forensic scientist when she grows up, is attracted by the science of forensics, and she--and readers--will learn a lot about the field as they read. Check out Alane Ferguson's interactive website here: http://www.alaneferguson.com/

You might also want to check out Jefferson Bass's novel, Carved in Bone, or other books based on the work of famous UT forensic anthropologist David Bass and the Body Farm, located on the UT campus.

Carved in Bone is a fun story, especially if you live in or near Knoxville or the Great Smokies. Dr. Brockton (we can assume is Dr. Bass) is called in by the Cooke County sheriff's office to help solve the case of Leena Bonds, a woman discovered preserved in Russell's Cave. Her murder involves lots of colorful locals, though, who would prefer the truth about her death not get out. Lots of local flavor and history here (maybe a little too stereotypical for my tastes), and a good mystery story to boot. Readers will learn more about how forensic anthropology is done. Perfectly fine for the upper middle school and high school classroom.

A more sombre read is Clea Koff's nonfiction account of her UN-sponsored missions to Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo to unearth physical evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Here's the editorial review from Booklist:

"Any title containing the words mass graves portends some tough reading, and Koff's unblinking, direct memoir is not lacking in ghastliness. One of her aims, however, is to contrast her interior reactions to her work of exhuming and examining the victims of the Balkan and Rwandan massacres of the early 1990s with the meticulous professionalism needed to conduct it. Koff's observation that "when I analyze human remains I am interested, not repulsed" is shown in her objective descriptive writing about particular victims' physical characteristics and traumas. Away from the grave or autopsy table, however, Koff allows glimpses of the mental effort her professionalism requires by relating her numerous nightmares and manifestations of stress. She accepts this burden out of a deeply idealistic motivation--her hope that her career in forensic anthropology will reduce human rights violations in the world. Koff also writes about incidents of her field experiences such as privations, the dangers of gunfire and mines, and the interpersonal relations with her colleagues and UN guards."

This is a much grimmer, darker read without all the fictional cushions. Still suitable for older, mature adolescent readers, especially those adolescents who--like Koff--want to make a difference in the world.

Also, consider this fun book series for the classroom: the Bones books, based on the Fox TV show by the same name. The investigative crime show drama is inspired by real-life forensic anthropologist and best-selling novelist Kathy Reichs (the Temperance Brennan novels).

Last but not least, these CSI books were hugely popular when I taught middle school. Might make a good addition to your classroom library shelves if you're trying to motivate reluctant readers.

Monsters for Halloween

Lisa talked a bit about this book in an earlier post, explaining that it scared the bejezus out of her when she read it. I second that emotion. I'm the type who has to leave the room when commercials about scary movies come on TV. And recently, there's lots of scary movie commercials on TV. There's that weird "Case 39" movie with Renee Z., and Wes Craven's got a new one out, "My Soul to Take." Don't ask me what any of these are about--like I said, I leave the room when the commercials come on. All I have to hear is the creepy music, or see claws, or heads spinning, or children saying things like, "I see dead people," and I'm outta there.

So WHY? Why would I subject myself to Monstrumologist, a bona-fide horror YA story if ever I've read one? I guess because the cover's so cool. I mean, just look at it. And the title's cool. I mean, do "monstrumologists" even exist? Is that a real word? And then Rick Yancey is coming to Knoxville in March, to a middle school where I'm doing some research with some bad-ass teachers who use YAL every day to motivate the life-long love of reading in the adolescents they teach. So I figure I better be familiar with his oeuvre (although I've yet to read his Alfred Kropp series, or his books for adults. But I will, before March. I promise).

There are certainly monsters in this one--monsters so scary you hope to GODDESS they are just fiction. But what's scary about this one, too, is the humans--humans who are so ambitious and driven by their hunger for knowledge (and bloodlust) they will do anything to satisfy that hunger. The lines between right and wrong blur here--or, at least, they do when the scientist and the serial killer start trying to rationalize their madness.

But there's also the stuff of great YA fiction here: Will Henry, the orphan-monster-apprentice, who longs for his dead parents, for connection, to anyone--even if it's a mad scientist who must bear the weight of his own emotionally absent father's misdeeds--is the clear(er) conscience, the lone light in the underground tunnels of human darkness. He comes off clean and true, and you'll find yourself rooting for him and hoping he's got your back when the anthro-popo show up.

I think sophisticated readers will appreciate all the allusions in this one--this book is a literary scavenger hunt in its own right. I could also see teachers pairing this with Frankenstein and/or using the book in a small-group literature circles activity (perhaps with Nancy Farmer's House of the Scorpion and Pearson's Adoration of Jenna Fox, or even some of Darwin's works) and focusing on the theme of "humans playing God."

Get it, and read it, but don't put this in the "by the bed" stack. You'll want to read this one in broad daylight, with all the lights on.

Stolen

Patty Hearst.
Elizabeth Smart.
Natalie Holloway.

Their names conjure up images of young females kidnapped and not always returned. Lucy Christopher’s Stolen (2009, Chicken House Publishing) brought these stories to mind from the moment I started reading.

It has been a while since I have sat down and read a book in one day—not even a whole day at that (and that book was Catching Fire). From the first line, I was sucked in reading with sweaty palms and heart palpitations. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN.

Here’s part of the first two pages:
You saw me before I saw you. I’m sure of it. In the airport, that day in August, you had that look in your eye, as though you wanted something from me, as though you’d wanted it for a long time. No one had ever looked at me like that before, with that kind of intensity. It unsettled me, surprised me I guess. Those blue, blue eyes, icy blue, looking back at me like I could warm them up. They’re pretty powerful, you know, those eyes, pretty beautiful too. Surely I’m not the first girl to be frozen up by them.
You blinked quickly when I looked at you, and turned away, as if you were nervous…as if you felt guilty that you’d just been checking out some random girl in an airport. But I wasn’t random, was I? And it was a good act. I fell for it. It’s funny, but I always thought I could trust blue eyes. I thought they were safe somehow. All the good guys have baby blues. The dark eyes are for the villains…the Grim Reaper, the Joker, werewolves. All dark.
I’d been arguing with my parents. Mum hadn’t been happy about the dirty jeans I’d chosen for the flight, and Dad was just grumpy from lack of sleep. So, seeing you … I guess it was a welcome diversion from that. Is that how you’d planned it; wait until my parents had a go at me before you approached? I knew, even then, that you’d been watching me for a long time. There was a strange sort of familiarity about you. I’d seen you before … somewhere … but who were you? My eyes kept flitting back to your face.
You’d been with me since London. I’d seen you in the check-in line with your small carry-on bag of clothing. I’d seen you on the plane. And now, here you were, in Bangkok airport, sitting in the coffee shop where I was about to order coffee.
I ordered the coffee. I waited for it to be made. I fumbled with my money. I didn’t look back, but I knew you were still watching. It probably sounds weird, but I could just feel it. The tiny hairs on my neck bristled every time you blinked.
The cashier held onto the coffee cup until I had my money ready. Stan, his name badge said; strange I can remember that.
“We don’t take British coins,” Stan said, after he’d watched me count them out. “Don’t you have a note?”
“I used it in London.”
Stan shook his head and pulled the coffee back towards him. “There’s a cash machine next to duty free.”
I felt someone move up behind me. I turned.

**********************
What happens after this? Even if you didn’t know the premise of the book, by this point as female, you know deep down. The narrator, Gemma, gets “taken” by a man she meets in the coffee shop in the Bangkok airport.

Christopher wrote this debut novel as part of her doctoral program in the UK; I am impressed with it both in terms of content, writing, and genre. It was the winner of the 2010 Branford Boase Award and was short-listed for the CBCA Award.

The novel is, in essence, a letter to Gemma’s captor, a man named Ty who has been watching (stalking?) her since she was ten.

I think all young females should read this book to see just how easily it can happen (I am a grown adult and it scared the shit out of me!). We learn how he was able to get her out of a crowded airport in one country and to another. We see how the Stockholm Syndrome happens. We can also see how a “bad” person can have good qualities [earlier this year I wrote about Elizabeth Scott’s Living Dead Girl; the kidnapper in that novel, Ray, has no redeeming qualities].

To watch an interview

Pitch Black

PITCH BLACK: DON”T BE SKERD by Youme Landowne and Anthony Horton is one of the most powerful graphic novels I have come across of late. Not only could it be used as a stand-alone text in secondary classrooms, but it is a natural for a supplemental text in a range of units. The novel tells the story of how Youme and Anthony met and provides a brief, but powerful and shocking glimpse into the world of the homeless (and the homeless that live under New York City’s subways.



The drawings--all in black and white with some comic-book style--are beautiful yet sad and will haunt you. Youme and Anthony seemed to capture the breadth and depth of life for our country's forgotten citizens.



I don’t want to give too much of the plot away, but if you want to know more, you can see an interview with Youme and read a New York Times Story. The graphic novel was selected as one of YALSA’s Top Ten Best Graphic Novels for Teens in 2008.

What I love about this graphic novel is the range of teaching possibilities, from the “traditional” (i.e., New Critical analysis), to new literacies, to critical literacy, to visual literacy, and on and on.

This past summer, in my advanced YA literature course, I used Latrobe and Drury’s Critical Approaches to Young Adult Literature (2009, Neal-Schuman) which provides a range of approaches teachers can take when studying YA literature. When thinking about Pitch Black, some clear directions emerge. For example, teachers could start with reader response techniques and then move to a close reading of the text (I particularly think that studying the role of conflict, setting, tone, and theme apply here).

Likewise, teachers could study the novel in terms of the moral development of those that impacted Anthony. Using Gilligan’s “Caring and Connectedness Perspective” teachers could ask students about the extent to which others (and Anthony) recognized the interdependence of humankind, condemned exploitation and violence while making decisions (p. 35). Teachers could also try the sociological lens and look at social content, the reader, the author, and the text (p. 156).


I would also suggest using Root’s (1996) notion “border crossings” with it . . . and, of course, Marxist, race, and critical race theories apply as well.

Incarceron

I have found myself becoming obsessed with dystopic, big brother-esque, totalitarian YA Lit recently.  (Please see my last blog on The Line for a great example.)  Incarceron turned out to be no exception to this trend.  And, yes, I am still judging books by their covers.  That is how teenagers choose books, so, if I want to know what they are reading, I have to choose like they do.  Look at this cover.

It is hard to pass this cover up.  So...I did not, and I bought it without even knowing what it was about.  It turned out to be a good choice.

As I am not a blurb writer (and never will be), here is the blurb on the inside cover:

"Incarceron is a prison unlike any other:  Its inmates live not only in cells, but also in metal forests, dilapidated cities, and unbounded wilderness.  The prison has been sealed for centuries, and only one man, legend says, has ever escaped.  Finn, a seventeen-year old prisoner, can't remember his childhood and believes he came from Outside Incarceron.  He's going to escape, even though most inmates don't believe that Outside even exists.  And then Finn finds a crystal key, and through it, a girl named Claudia.  Claudia claims to live Outside - her father is the Warden of Incarceron and she's doomed to an arranged marriage.  If she helps Finn escape, she will need his help in return.  But they don't realize that there is more to Incarceron than meets the eye.  Escape will take their greatest courage and cost far more than they know.  Because Incarceron is alive."

If that does not give you chills, then I do not know what will. 

The book is wonderfully written.  It flashes back and forth between Finn's world of Incarceron and the Outside world of Claudia.  There is never a dull moment between the two, either.  This book has so many twists and turns, and it constantly leaves you guessing, which, of course, forces you to keep reading.  This should explain to you why I am writing this blog at 4 in the morning.

However, it has so many more merits to it than just "edge of your seat" fiction.  The main character of Claudia is a powerful female protagonist.  She is quite intelligent and very "take charge" in the most dire of situations.  She also is forced to resolve some serious ethical dilemmas regarding the bonds between family and what is just.

An important evaluation of every YA text that I read is to determine what is its classical alternative currently used in secondary schools.  In a standards driven system of education, we find ourselves constantly defending YA Lit to every colleague, principal, and supervisor in the school system.  As with my last blog, which connected The Line to Brave New World or 1984, Incarceron has several connections to the current "canon".  The connection that stands out most is 2001: A Space Odyssey.  In both stories, an artificially intelligent machine is making decisions based on what it thinks is right for humanity, as well as what is necessary to preserve itself.  Both texts lend themselves to great class discussions regarding universal themes, including what is the place of technology in today's society, is the innate nature of man so evil that machines are necessary to keep man in check, and what will lead to the destruction of humanity: man himself or the technology man creates?  Another "canonical" link can be made to Lord of the Flies.  Inside Incarceron, humanity has deteriorated to every man for himself, even within the small communities that have been created.  Thus, a great conversation can be had regarding the state of man.  Does man desire civilization or savagery, order or chaos?  What about reason versus impulse?

Some great connections can also be made to prominent popular culture movies, such as The Matrix or Escape from New York/L.A.  For those interested in language and mythology, the book relies heavily on Greek and Roman mythology, including the use of Latin throughout the text.

There is only one problem with the text.  As usual with every book I seem to choose, this is not the end of the story.  Once again, I read the last page of a book, only to find a note about the release of a sequel, which is Sapphique, scheduled for release in December of this year.  However, do not worry, my fine YA fan friends, this book has already been released in the U.K.!  Apparently, Incarceron was released in the United States this year and in the U.K. in 2007.  Sapphique came out in 2008 in the U.K.  For £4.49, you can order the book from the U.K.'s Amazon.com.  I am seriously contemplating this, and I probably will.

The author, Catherine Fisher, is a prominent fantasy writer and has won several awards for her work.  Incarceron won The Times Children's Book of the Year award.  Incarceron is already set to be a big budget motion picture, as Fox 2000 won a bidding war for the right to produce both Incarceron and its sequel, Sapphique.