After Tupac and D Foster

Title: After Tupac and D Foster
Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Summary: The story of Neeka, an 11 year-old African American girl whose life is permanantly altered by a friend, D Foster, who enters her life and leaves shortly after. The two who have had very different childhoods, Neeka is from a strong community in Queens while D has been bouncing from foster homes her whole life, end up finding commonality in many things, including their love for rapper Tupac Shakur.

Opinion: “Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.”     “For every dark night, there's a brighter day", Tupac, was and still is considered to be one of the greatest urban lyricist of recent generations. However, like many great artists, his life was tragically ended short. Being a large fan of Hip-Hop, I could not help but absolutly love this story. It not only went through the struggles, trials, and tribulations of adolescents, but also the struggle trials and tribulations of Black progress in the 90's. Woodson does a masterful job in relating the fictional tale with actual events happening in the United States, making the story relatable to anyone growing up in the mid-90's (Me :-) ). 
Tupac Shakur was one of those figures who divided America into two mutually uncomprehending groups -- those who loved him and found personal meaning in his work, and those who dismissed him as just another posing thug who reaped what he sowed. This division is the premise of Woodson's work. It is clear that back then and still today, there is a division in the perspective of black culture. While people within the culture state the difficulty of social movement due to oppressive forces found throughout society, the other feels that Black culture is complacent due to their own culture, a culture that lowly prioritizes education and hard work. 
I loved this book and made me open my eyes about black culture. After reading, I could not help but feel mixed emotions wondering if more can be done to promote this groups growth.

The Giver

Title: The Giver
Author: Lois Lowry

Summary: This controversial 1993 Newberry winner depicts the story of a quaint, sheltered, village that has very traditional ideals. These ideals come into debate when the main character Jonas is asked to learn the history of the village and even venture into the outside world.

Opinion: After reading The Giver (for my third time) I could not help but notice that my stomach was all twisted up. I, a person who takes a particular interest to history, cannot help but notice some similar parables to modern day history. One is the assignment of jobs, not necessarily based on ones qualifications, but rather on the societies need reminds me of several communistic societies of past. Also just the idea of a world with no history leaves many interpretation. History is learned in order to learn and repeat successes or stray away from failures. But if people of control were to hide this knowledge, one would never know how to make progress and mistakes would continue (this reminds me of the holocaust denial of Germany up until recently). The story also mirrored history with the use of Eugenics. The controversial process of Eugenics has been used in the past (Sparta) in order to create a healthier society.
The story has incredible symbolism with its black and white vs. color. This use helps create a sense of both safety and danger throughout the story. When I read this I could not help but notice the similarity to a movie directed by M. Night Shyamalan entitled The Village http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oB55bv4B8LQ
For those of you who haven't seen the movie, don't. It is quite terrible. But the comparison can be made, (especially once the awful twist of the movie is revealed.)
In all, this was an incredible book and a terrific display of a good science fiction novel. I would recommend it to anyone that may be interested in a somewhat controversial, dark, and twisted tale. 

Rapunzel

Title: Rapunzel
By: Paul Zelinsky

Summary: This classic fairytale redone, depicts the story of a beautiful girl who is locked away in a tower by an evil witch. She is forced to remain there until a young prince comes by and vows to free her.

Opinion: Upon a thorough read and deep reflection on the story, I cannot believe how ridiculous fairy tales can be. First off, the parents of Rupenzel make a deal with the witch to just give her away on her birth, just to satisfy Rupunzel's mom's pregnant cravings. I hear that those cravings can be outrageous, but I doubt any good parent would just give away their kid for some good food. (I know my mom wouldn't... or at least I hope so :-).) Second, the idea for a man's perfect woman to be some girl who is locked away at all times appears to fit the old saying, "keep your women barefoot and pregnant". Sad to say that this story seems to reaffirm that model.
With that being said, the illustrations are marvelous. They have such a realistic feel it appears that you are looking at photographs. The prose is also phenomenal making it an easy read for children. It is clear that Zelinsky took one of Grimm's classic tales and adapted it to make it his own.

The Stupids Die

Title: The Stupids Die
Written by: Harry Allard
Illustrations by: James Marshall

Summary: The story depicts the Stupid family, which you may guess, is not the typical family. In this volume of the series, the Stupids face tackle the issue of death. Once the lights are turned off in the home, the Stupids face emptiness. The only logical explanation for the Stupids is that they are all dead. However, once the lights return the Stupids believe that they are in heaven.

Opinion: While the book can be considered controversial due to the name of the family and to what appears to be the overall pointlessness to the story, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The zaniness is comparable to the Amelia Bedelia  series and seems to be all in good fun. The story is outrageous enough to keep students turning pages (eating dinner with your feet is considered "good" manners) and the pictures are filled with enough humor to encourage children to really explore the illustrations in depth.
The literary elements of the story were used in line to help create the humor. The seemingly normal nuclear family, in the normal suburban home were perfectly played to create such mayhem. (The story wouldn't have been as funny if it was some irregular setting or irregular characters). While most of my classmates disliked The Stupids, I am all for them. Never dull or didactic, they will have you rolling on the floor with laughter! DUH!

The Higher Power of Lucky

Title: The Higher Power of Lucky
Author: Susan Patron
Illustrator: Matt Phelan


Summary: The Higher Power of Lucky is about a 10 year-old girl named Lucky's search for meaning of the higher power. Lucky's search is fueled by the death of her mother and her seemingly unstable relationship with her stepmother Brigitte.

My Opinion: Great use of literary elements in novels come seemingly so few and far between. Who would have thought that a novel written for children would posses marvelous use of all the elements. Lucky took me on a tear-jerking (Boys don't cry... or so I thought) journey that made myself wonder, why? Upon further review, it is the reality that was caused by the literary elements. For example, Lucky's character was one of the most dynamic I have seen in a long time. The reader followed the path of a grieving child's acceptance of her mother's death and her new life. (It is incredible that such a touch difficult process could be so tastefully done in such a short amount of writing). Lucky was believable from her mannerisms, her physical description, and the various relationships she possessed throughout the story.
The setting was also fantastic. The desert sand and the small town gave an eerie feeling of isolation. A feeling of an impossible escape, which ironically was one of Lucky's ultimate goals. It was strange to see the contrast however between Lucky's relationship with the desert and what we would expect. Lucky felt comfortable with the desert because it was her home. Her sandy skin blended right in and felt that she could live there forever. Which made me just realize maybe that is why she wanted to escape into the desert. So no one could find her. So she could share her feelings of harshness and isolation with her surroundings.
I loved this story right down to the core. I would recommend it to people of all ages. It was the best book that I have had the pleasure to read in a long time.

My Friend Rabbit

 Title: My Friend Rabbit
Author: Eric Rohmann

Summary: When Mouse lets his best friend Rabiit borrow his brand-new toy airplane, hilarity ensues. Rabbit throws the plane into a tree and needs the help of the rest of the animal kingdom in order to help get the plane down.

Rabbit probably needs to be a bit more careful!

My Opinion: This great story of friendship uses the power of illustration to help teach most of the the story. The paintings in the story are both fun and lively and help tell a story beyond the story. While text may say one thing, character expressions are showing another. With text being written on less then half of the pages, it is clear that this story is written for a younger audience. With that determined, the book spreads a wonderful message about the importance of sticking beside your friends, even if it might be easier not to. It also discusses the idea that results may not always mirror intentions. Both are deep lessons that if kids can grasp at an early age, they will be much better off.

The Man Who Walked Between The Towers

Title: The Man Who Walked Between The Towers
Author: Mordicai Gerstein

Summary: The Man Who Walked Between The Towers is a retelling of an actual event that took place in 1974. Phillipe Pettite, tightrope walker extraordinaire, looked up into the skyline of New York and decided it would be his ultimate dream to perform on a wire suspended between the roofs of the World Trade Center. Pettite with the help of his friends accomplished the dream with the help of some friends and was arrested immediately after the performance. He was sentenced to perform for children in New York's Central Park.

My Opinion: When the towers first appeared in the book, I got that feeling. You know that gut wrenching feeling you get when you are reminded of 9/11. I immediately flipped to the inside cover of the book and was astonished that it had been written after the attack. But I quickly dove back in because of how beautiful the illustrations were. I felt a sense of pride seeing the building sky over the rest of the skyline once again. The story was so outrageously great, that I thought it was fictional until after I read the inside cover once I completed the book. It carried out the normal life of a childrens' book until the last two pages when it snapped from the story of Phillipe Pettite, to showing that the towers were no more. It did not explain why they were gone, just simply that they were. But it also stated how there memory will live on. I feel that this book is an incredibly great resource. Social Studies teachers from grades K-12 could use this book to stir up a civil conversation of what happened that day. The paintings and writing were really tasteful and I urge people of all ages to give this book a read. If not to learn something, to remember.