It's Monday - So Many Books Loved

  Visit Kellee and Ricki at UnleashingReaders and 

  

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts to see what they and others have been reading! Your TBR lists will grow! Happy Reading! 

          

       I wrote about Billy Collins's latest poetry collection, Whale Day, last Friday.

        

         I've read some fabulous books this year & in past years but it has been rare to mark so many passages that I loved with sticky notes and to have tears in more than a few places. That happened while reading Jeff Zentner's new book, In The Wild Light. There have lately been other touching books about small towns in the south. Zentner brings the poignant need, the pain, and the hidden layers to his story with so much tension I worried constantly about Cash Pruitt, an almost-junior kid who mows lawns for any money he can earn, who has lost his mother at 13 to opioid addiction, is taken in by his Mamaw and Papaw. The love he receives from them permeates the story which Zentner lets Cash tell with courage and honesty and always pain. He watches out for his one friend, a young woman named Delaney whose life is filled with saving her mother from dying, also from addiction. Her persistence in learning everything about everything brings her to a special discovery and attention worldwide, a breakthrough, a new strain of penicillin. It also brings her to a full-ride scholarship to an eastern prep school. She tells them she will only go if her friend Cash gets an invite, too. Cash waffles between his love of his home, nature, the nearby river, and his need to take care of Delaney. 

       Thus begins the story of this boy who goes away from home, leaving Papaw who suffers from emphysema, taking a new step into whatever his life could be. There is the element of new friends, not perfect, but along with Delaney, part of Cash's story as he tries so hard to do what is right, for everyone. He needs a language class and signs up for Introduction to Poetry, another wonder of a layer in this journey with the introduction of a teacher who sees beyond Cash's self-deprecation, encourages the poetry when Cash tells about the first class: "She explains we'll be analyzing poems to understand how poetic language functions, to understand metaphor and subtext. I have a vision of myself taking apart my Chevy engine with Papaw, but instead of setting out combustion-blackened pistons and connecting rods on a greasy tarp, we'll be laying out words and phrases." And with poetry, they do so much more.

        There is sweetness found from the new friends as page by page Zentner deepens their relationships and small alarming moments with Cash's roommate, a spoiled jerk. But that is only a tiny part of the story. Cash and his love and loyalty to family, to home, is the story. Poetry inside Cash and slowly outside is an added prize. Upon reading his first book of poems: "Something happens. A slow daybreak inside me, the first rays of a new sun peeking over the gray horizon." Much later in a poetry reading, Cash says "Listening to her read feels like standing in the river–any moment you could be swept away." And from a poem by Cash: "Why is feeling so terrifying/that we try to stop it?/Feeling is a thing that's ours only."

         My hope is that many young adults have the pleasure to read this book and connect with the feelings shown, learn from them, and choose to find a book of poetry. It is a special, special story.

           Thanks to Candlewick Press for this new early chapter book by Chitra Soundar, out mid-September with the 1st US edition.

           The emotions are familiar and some traditions from Indian culture differ, but it all ends with a loving welcome to a new baby. Sona and her best friend, Elephant, have quite a few conversations about this new baby. I enjoyed that Soundar let the stuffie, Elephant, talk. It didn't seem like pretend at all! After the baby comes home and Sona tiptoes in to see it, she falls in love. Back in her room, Elephant says, "Tell me about the baby again." And she does! One chapter's title reads "Sharing is Caring" but young Sona does NOT care, does NOT want a new baby in the house. And she doesn't want to share a baby dress that had been hers! She wants to remain the baby. 

          Jen Khatun's illustrations bring the family surrounding Sona to life in pencil sketches. Three generations live together except for one grandmother, mother Amma's mother. I loved that certain important phrases were included, like at the end of this "caring" chapter, Sona gets excited because Appa (her dad) has invited her to suggest a name for the new baby. He says "Iyalvadhu karvel", is their family motto. "Always help as best you can." The ending includes an important and special naming ceremony. As the story rises to this end, readers will love the importance placed on the choice of names, and perhaps they'll wonder about their own? Sona finally knows being a "big sister" is a new best thing. There is a brief glossary at the end that gives some new words to learn, too! For a short book, this story is full of new things for kids unfamiliar with this culture and the usual things in every family, busy-ness with a new baby and children wondering how things will change.

         A colleague at the used bookstore where I volunteer gave me this book, knowing how I am always interested in World War II history, fiction or non. 

         This biography by Mona Golabek and Lee Cohen is based on the story of Mona's mother Lisa Jura who escaped from Vienna during the ever-alarming takeover of by the Nazis. Lisa was a Jewish musical prodigy, taught by a respected teacher and also her mother. It's hard to imagine the heartbreak of parents (and children) when they were sent to London on the Kindertransport, yet that is what happened to Lisa at fourteen. There was only one seat available, thus she, the middle sister, was sent. 

        The story begins really after a temporary home in the country when Lisa moves to Willesden Lane Orphanage back in London. Her musical career is saved, but only after a factory job and some big challenges, including living through the bombings, loss of friends, so much work that it is difficult to believe the hardships and resilience of people during that time. The power of music is the thread that overshadows the sadness as Lisa plays for her fellow evacuees in the home and finally wins a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. It was lovely to get to know all the others at this home and that Lisa meets during her work, too. Well-researched and the authors add more information at the back about what happened in the future to everyone after the war. I enjoyed it very much, especially that it is based on real lives. It's heartbreaking, poignant, but also inspiring.  

         Wow, this book surprised me because it's true. A family has bought a small piece of land in the northern tundra of Alaska, for summer vacations and to make some money fishing salmon! They fly 4,000 miles to get there (more than one flight, etc.) It's told by one of the girls of the family who will have her first chance on the fishing crew this particular summer. She tells the story, but the mother, Robbi, illustrated it while the father, Matthew, wrote the text. The story is of the first day getting ready to go out, up at 2:30am fishing time (according to the fish report), a hard and fast rule for those licensees. This added information is at the back but the story itself focuses on the hard work by the crew, what they do, and the needed help of females and young kids, this time a girl, like Alden. She does her part, even drives a load of fish to the pick-up point. No roads, no running water, no plumbing, no electricity except solar. There's much to enjoy and fascinate in the picture book. I bet it will be a big surprise when to read aloud to a group about summer like few others. Also, there is a small part about the Alaskan natives who have fished this river in Alaska for centuries. They are in the summer village of Egegik and this family is across the river at what is called Coffee Point. (Be sure to look these two names up. The pictures and information are fascinating! Enjoy the book!

         A young girl has immigrated from Colombia, misses her father and her friends, but still is excited for her first day in school. It's a snow day and the sad picture of her crying shows the emotion so well. She's prepared and now–snow! That "thousand white butterflies" soon gets her out of the house when she sees a new girl playing outside. They meet, make snow angels and build a snowman. She has a friend! With Spanish words peppered throughout (and a glossary at the back if needed), the text shows the difficulty when one is new and doesn't even understand the new language. The two authors met at a writing workshop and the story of their collaboration is told in the author's note. Simple, full-page, colorful illustrations bring the story to us with all the emotions felt by a young girl. It's a great introduction to immigrants' feelings for reading to a class. 

         This is a tough one to share. I believe it is Floyd Cooper's last book. He passed away this recent July. Here is his obituary from Publisher's Weekly. Earlier this year you may remember Unspeakable - The Tulsa Race Massacre which his illustrations also brought us to know about this tragic and little-known piece of history. Try to find others of his books. Each one's story is made even more beautiful with Cooper's paintings.

         A Day for Rememberin' tells the story of the first memorial day celebration. As the book shows, there is controversy about this but Leah Henderson lays out her argument for this date, May 1, 1865, being THE one. She lets a young boy tell the story, excited to be going to the celebration (and missing school) of those Union soldiers whose lives were lost fighting to end slavery. Those who were there built the memorial from an old race track that was in Charlotte, SC, previously used as a prison by the Confederates. "Eli dresses up in his best clothes, Mama gathers the mayflowers, Papa straightens his hat, and together they join the crowds filling the streets of Charleston, South Carolina, with bouquets, crosses, and wreaths. Abolitionists, missionaries, teachers, military officers, and a sea of faces Black, Brown, and White, they march as one and sing for all those who gave their lives fighting for freedom during the Civil War." There are original photos and more history as this special day, first named Decoration Day, was made official as Memorial Day in 1971. It's a beautiful book!

What's Next:

I'm nearly through with my next #MustRead book, Superman Smashes the Klan, am also reading Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (perhaps more for adults but I believe older YA would enjoy it, too). Then, I have Black Boy Joy by Kwame Mbalia from the library - finally! 

Happy Reading!