Module 7: You Never Heard of Willie Mays?!

Summary:

This is a biography of Willie Mays.  It begins with young Willie listening to a Yankees a game.  His hero is Joe Dimaggio and he dreams to play for the Yankees.  The book explains how Willie learns to play with his father, but is more or less a natural at the game.  He is recruited by  a team in the National Negro League and gets to explore the United States travelling with the Birmingham Barons.  Eventually, the color barrier is broken and Willie Mays becomes a Giant.  The book covers some of his most important plays, like “The Throw” and “The Catch” that change perceptions. 

APA Reference:

Winter, J. (2013). You never heard of Willie Mays?! NY: Schwarz and Wade.

Impression:

I really enjoyed this book.  The story is told in vernacular speech and is accompanied by beautiful illustrations.  Particularly special are the two radio broadcast that are the actual words spoken over the air.  This book has become a favorite in our house. 

Professional Review:

Winter and Widener, who previously teamed up on Steel Town, return with a stellar companion to Winter's equally superb YouNever Heard of Sandy Koufax?! Like its predecessor, this profile of Hall of Famer Mays immediately grabs attention with its lenticular cover; however, it's Mays's on-the-field feats that cement his place in baseball lore, especially that unbelievable catch during the 1954 World Series. Growing up in Birmingham, Ala., Mays "was the kid all the other kids wanted on their team." Before long, his talent is recognized and, at age 15, he got his start in the Negro Leagues. "Suddenly, this teenage kid was makin' mote money than his pop," writes Winter in the colloquial voice of a practiced raconteur. "And when, the year after that, the major leagues ended their stupid rule barrin' black guys, there was a ray of hope that one day Willie might play in the majors, like Joe DiMaggio." Widener's smoky, smudgy acrylics project the determination and dedication that took Mays from industrial, segregated Birmingham to the national stage. A must-have for baseball fans. 

You never heard of willie mays?!. (2012).  Publishers Weekly, 259(49), 73-74.

Library Use:

This book would be great for introducing the idea of credible websites.  In the back of the book, Winter lists the websites he used for information.  I would visit  a few of the website with the students and examine how we know it is a credible source.  Then the students could search for more information on Willie Mays and evaluate the credibility of the websites they found. 

Module 6: Brothers at Bat

Summary:

This is the true story of the Accera family, consisting of 16 children.  The 12 sons are all baseball players and travel around playing together.  The country is facing tough times during the 1930s, but baseball is a source of joy for many, including the Accera family.  The brothers traveled the East Coast and often drew large crowds.  When the 1940s arrived, and the country was thrust into war, six of the brothers went to serve the country.  All six return and continue to play ball.  The games come to an end in the early 1950s.

APA Reference:

Vernick, A., & Salerno, S. (2012). Brothers at bat: The true story of an amazing all-brother baseball team.

Impression:

This book was a warm story about being a family.  The Acceras stick together through thick and thin.  It was a happy story, even with a few small tragedies thrown in, and the illustrations added to the feel of it.  They had a nostalgic feel, and reflected the postitvity of the post war era. 

Professional Review:

Here's a fun and true story to start out the baseball season. Vernick relates the history of the Acerra family's 16 children, consisting of 12 boys who formed their own semiprofessional baseball team in Long Branch, NJ, during the 1930s. Their dad was their coach and biggest fan. The team is honored in the Baseball Hall of Fame for being the all-time longest-playing all-brotherteam in baseball history. The author exhibits good humor by pointing out individual boys' distinguishing characteristics such as Charlie, the slow runner who "hit a ball nearly out of the park, but only made it to second." There is a retro feel to Salerno's illustrations done in black crayon, gouache, watercolor, and pastel, with digital color added. Shades of green, blue, and turquoise augment the outdoor scenes. Readers will laugh out loud as they spot one brother out the bedroom window at night running with toilet paper in hand to their three-seater outhouse. This story sends out positive vibes of a family who sticks together, yet couples the tale with sorrowful times as well. A delight not to miss.

Christolon, B. (2012). Brothers at bat: the true story of an amazing all-brother baseball team.  School Library Journal., 58(4), 153.

Library Use:

This book would be a fun read aloud to introduce non-fiction.  It would also be a nice read in the spring as many students are beginning to practice and play ball.  It also would be a good book for viewing illustrations and learning to analyze the images. 

Module 6: Esperanza Rising

Summary:

This story follows a family just after the Mexican Revolution.  Esperanza has grown up in a wealthy family on ranch.  Unfortunately, her father is killed while working on their ranch and her evil uncle wants to take over the family.  Her mother has the choice of marrying him or taking Esperanza and fleeing. They begin the journey to the Unites States with a few of their loyal servants.  Esperanza’s grandmother must be left behind.  Once the family makes it to the US they find work on a farm.  Esperanza quickly learns how mistreated the Mexican people are and her mother falls ill.  Esperanza believes that if she can get her grandmother to the US, that their lives will improve.  She begins to save for her grandmothers trip.  She discovers her money is stolen and she’s sure Miguel(one of the loyal servants) took it to look for work up north.  Soon, Miguel shows back up with a surprise – he didn’t go to look for work, he went to get Esperanza’s grandmother.  Esperanza feels hopeful and begins to dream of learning English, having a family, and having a home. 

APA Reference:

Ryan, P. (2000). Esperanza rising. New York: Scholastic Press.

Impression:

This book felt like reading Cinderella only in reverse order.  I liked watching Esperanza grow and change as a character.  The message about the ideas of family and hard work were pleasant, but somewhat predictable.  I felt like the message regarding immigration was well presented and appropriate for the targeted age group.

Professional Review:

“At times Esperanza Rising, although it takes place in Depression-era Mexico and the United States instead of Victorian England, seems a dead ringer for Frances Hodgson Burnett's A Little Princess. Both are dramatic riches-to-rags stories about girls forced to trade fancy dolls and dresses for hard work and ill-fitting hand-me-downs after their beloved fathers die. Thirteen-year-old Esperanza even possesses a touch of Sara Crewe's romantic spirit. The daughter of an affluent Mexican rancher, she had been taught by her father to believe that the "land is alive," that she could lie down beneath the arbors in her family's vineyards, press her ear to the ground, and hear a heart beat. Yet can this still hold true for Esperanza when she no longer reigns as queen of the harvest but labors in the fields of a foreign country, picking grapes on someone else's land for pennies an hour? The transition does net come easily for her, and thus her story ultimately diverges from The Little Princess's fairytale script to become a poignant look at the realities of immigration. Political as well as personal history inform the sometimes florid narrative (loosely based, we are told in an afterword, on the experiences of the author's grandmother). Esperanza's struggles begin amidst class unrest in post-revolutionary Mexico and intersect with labor strikes in the United States, which serve to illustrate the time period's prevailing hostility toward people of Mexican descent. In one of the more glaring injustices she witnesses, striking workers, who were born American citizens and have never set foot on Mexican soil, are loaded onto buses for deportation. Through it all, Esperanza is transformed from a sheltered aristocrat into someone who can take care of herself and others. Although her material wealth is not restored in the end, the way it is for Sara Crewe, she is rich in family, friends, and esperanza — the Spanish word for hope.”

~~~~~~~~

By Christine M. Heppermann

Hepperman, C.M. (2001).  Esperanza rising. Horn Book Magazine, 77(1), 96.

Library Use:

This book could be used in a few ways but I would pair it with research into current events that are related.  Since my campus is in South Texas, the topic of immigration is relevant and important to students here.   They could use the databases to search for articles regarding immigration, deportation, migrant workers rights and the like. 

Module 5: Hunger Games

Summary:

Katniss Everdeen is a teen responsible for supplying her family with food.  She lives with her mother and younger sister in District 12 of a dystopia.  She is friends with another teen, Gale, who helps her and hunt and is also responsible for feeding his family. In their society, one boy and one girls is chosen as tributes each year to fight other tributes to death in a televised survival match.  When Prim, Katniss’ sister is selected as a tribute, Katniss boldly volunteers to take her place.  Her “partner” in the Games is Peeta, the son of a baker.  The two are taken to the capital to begin the process of preparing for the games.  They have stylist to dress them and a previous competitor to coach them.  Peeta reveals during an interview that he has a huge crush on Katniss.  The two separate at the start of the games.  Each finds an ally and goes through with the battle.  When Katniss’ ally, Rue is killed, she is saddened and provides her with a sort of last rites.  A surprise announcement is made in the arena that two tributes from the same district can survive.  Katniss goes looking for Peeta.  He is hurts but has used his cake decorating skills to camouflage himself.  Katniss nurses him back to health and plays up the romance so they can get gifts from sponsors. When Peeta is better they have to defeat the remaining tribute so they can go home.  They think they have won until the announcer says that they have reversed the rule for two to survive.  Peeta and Katniss decide to commit suicide together and of course the decision is quickly reversed before they can hurt themselves.   Katniss eventually learns that Peeta does love her and Peeta figures out that she was only acting. 

APA Reference:

Collins, S. (2012). Hunger games. Milano: Mondadori.

Impression:

 This book was captivating.  I think I read it in one sitting!  I admired Katniss for her devotion to family and found Peeta sweet and endearing. I thought the premise of the book was unusual.  Dystopian novels are popular and often very similar.  But the Hunger Games was different.  I would not want my child to read this until about 8^th grade because it is an intense book with some “heavy” ideas.  Is it murder if you think you are only going to survive this way? Is it ever ok to take a life, yours or someone elses? 

Professional Review:

Suzanne Collins’s brilliantly plotted and perfectly paced new novel, “The Hunger Games,” is set much farther in the future but grapples with many of the same questions. Collins, the author of “The Underland Chronicles,” a well-regarded fantasy series, has now written a futuristic novel every bit as good and as allegorically rich as Scott Westerfeld’s “Uglies” books.

“The Hunger Games” begins long after the human population has been decimated byclimate change and the wars that followed. Now North America is the nation of Panem, a country with 12 fenced-in districts that all work to feed the enormously wealthy and technologically advanced capital. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, the poorest of them all. Her father died mining in the Seam years ago, and now her family survives thanks to her mother’s knowledge of herbal medicine and Katniss’s own illegal hunting and gathering outside the district’s fence.

The archetype of the girl survivalist is familiar — she’s tough and resourceful, but kind and sentimental. We are put on notice that Katniss is something different in Chapter 1, when she describes a lynx who followed her around while she hunted. In many books, that lynx would be Katniss’s best friend. But not this one: “I finally had to kill the lynx because he scared off game. I almost regretted it because he wasn’t bad company. But I got a decent price for his pelt.”

Long ago in Panem, there was a District 13. The district revolted, and the Capital demolished it and killed all its inhabitants. To commemorate the event — and to remind the districts of its power — the Capital organizes the annual hunger games. First comes the reaping: one boy and one girl are chosen from each district to attend the games. Then the games themselves: a fight to the death among 24 teenage competitors in a sprawling environment controlled by sadistic game masters.The event is watched by the whole nation on live TV.

The winner — and there can be only one — returns to his or her home district triumphant and rich.

When the reaping comes to District 12, Katniss isn’t chosen — but her little sister is. In a harrowing moment, Katniss sacrifices herself to the games instead. She’s certain this is a death sentence — no one from the underfinanced and under­nourished District 12 has won in decades. But as the games begin, Katniss’s intelligence and accumulated knowledge about edible plants and hunting become an advantage over the better-fed, stronger kids with wealthy patrons who can send them medicine or weapons.

As the contest progresses, Katniss develops a relationship with the boy from her district. But not even she seems to know whether her feelings are real or faked for the omnipresent cameras.

The concept of the book isn’t particu­larly original — a nearly identical premise is explored in “Battle Royale,” a won­drously gruesome Japanese novel that has been spun off into a popular manga series.

Nor is there anything spectacular about the writing — the words describe the action and little else. But the considerable strength of the novel comes in Collins’s convincingly detailed world-building and her memorably complex and fascinating heroine. In fact, by not calling attention to itself, the text disappears in the way a good font does: nothing stands between Katniss and the reader, between Panem and America.

This makes for an exhilarating narrative and a future we can fear and believe in, but it also allows us to see the similarities between Katniss’s world and ours. American luxury, after all, depends on someone else’s poverty. Most people in Panem live at subsistence levels, working to feed the cavernous hungers of the Capital’s citizens. Collins sometimes fails to exploit the rich allegorical potential here in favor of crisp plotting, but it’s hard to fault a novel for being too engrossing.

Green, J. (2008, November 9). Scary new world. The New York Times, p. BR30. Retrieved July 20, 2015, from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/books/review/Green-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Library Use:

In the library this could be used as a genre introduction.  Typically teens enjoy dystopian novels and this book ( and series) does a great job of presenting a nice demonstration of dystopia.