Sam and CY students & staff are reading…

It’s Broken

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Who would like this book? Teachers and students who are studying medieval times, writers interested in working with poetry and/or multiple voices, and potential directors looking for a production for a class.

Why? Laura Schlitz was motivated to write this book so that students could each have an important role in a production about medieval life. She wrote 22 monologues, each from the point of view of a young person in a medieval town. As the monologues proceed, the reader gets a fuller and fuller view of the life of the town because the individual narrators know each other and refer to each other. The result is a very satisfying dramatic experience that also gives the reader a rich view of the historical context of the lives of the narrators. She adds historical notes at strategic places throughout the monologues and manages to share lots of information in a welcoming, conversational style. The illustrations, by Robert Byrd, complement the text with watercolors that reflect a medieval style. It’s not surprising that this book won the prestigious Newberry Award for 2008. If you’re studying medieval times, don’t miss it!

The details: 85 p. 2007

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Who would like this book? If you like softball or have an interest in the impact of World War II in rural Oregon (specifically, prejudice against the Japanese), definitely read this book.

Why? In the spring of 1949, two sixth-grade girls’ softball teams are to compete in the 50th annual “Bat 6.” The traditional annual game pits the team from Bear Creek Ridge Grade School against the team from Barlow Road Grade School. Bear Creek’s star player, Aki Mikami, has just returned to the community with her family after their internment in the Japanese camps during World War II. Shazaam, the star of the Barlow Road team, is also new to the community. She is as sullen and disturbed as Aki is cheerful and polite, and we find that Shazaam’s father, a ne’er-do-well by some accounts, was killed in the Pearl Harbor bombing. Virginia Euwer Wolff relates this background and the subsequent action through the 21 voices of the girls on the teams. Though these multiple voices can sometimes be confusing (I kept flipping back to the team rosters as I started reading), they fall into place once the story takes center stage. The multiple voices would be great as a read-aloud, and also as a good focus for writers to discuss their craft as it pertains to point of view and a character’s voice. The novel is also great for discussion of issues; prejudice, friendship, and responsibility are fruitfully explored in this historical novel. It had special meaning to me because I grew up in Portland not far from these communities. When I was in 3rd grade, my best friend was Japanese. It was not until many years later that I discovered that her family had been interned during WWII. By the early 1960s, everyone had seemed to agree to pretend that the internment had never happened. I’m thankful for books such as this one to bring the issue to our consciousness for discussion and reflection to insure that it does not happen again.

The details: 228 p. 1998

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Here’s a place for you to share about books that relate to your writing AND to post your writing. Submit your posts to Sam at arnold@4j.lane.edu.

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