Mysteries and Adventures....why are they so intriguing?

Some will probably disagree with me, but I think there must be something instinctual -- as well as intellectual -- that keeps humans asking the questions --  "why?"  "how did that happen?" and  "who done it?" 

Even when a person only has a tacit understanding of why the question must be answered, a great deal of energy and effort is put forth to find the answer.   In fact, we have a love of the "final answer" (Regis, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?")   Human beings have a desire to know things.  

This is why I think the mystery and adventure genres are so appealing to a wide range of readers.  Individuals may prefer certain types of works (i.e., more murder mystery/less buried treasure), but many readers love to be challenged to find the answers and to search for clues when reading.  

In this way, I wish there were more mystery stories and adventure stories available for young children -- particularly mysteries.   I do think because of the Harry Potter phenomena there has been great gains made in this area and new series are coming out for Intermediate level readers, but they still seem hard to find -- especially if they are also going to stand up to Jago's criteria.  

Are We Being Controlled Today?

In 1984, the citizens did not vote for their leaders; the citizens could not date; people were encouraged to spy on each other and to point out those who acted suspicious, non-conforming, or non-plussed by the rallies, speeches, telecasts, and celebrations put on by the government.   The government had access into the homes of the individuals and could see every move one makes.

In MY world, citizens can vote for their leaders, but they often don't.
Citizens who are heterosexual are legally allowed to date and to wed, but not those who are homosexual.
People are not encouraged to spy on each other.
People are encouraged, but not required to participate in the a party.
The government does not have direct or "live" access into the homes of individuals, but they can "track" us through all of our electronic transactions, etc.

In both worlds:  Fear has been used to control actions.  Laws must be followed or punishment is warranted.  

If I was to answer the question, why I think the author chose to write this novel, I would say that Orwell wrote it as a cautionary tale and to demonize communism.  He wants his readers to see that too much government control is deadly to the human spirit and to any effort towards "progress" or "innovation" or "free thinking society."     Big Brother's mantra is WAR is PEACE FREEDOM is SLAVERY IGNORANCE is STRENGTH.   This is the OPPOSITE of everything Orwell believed to be necessary to live. 

"Sanity is not Statistical"

In our class on-line discussion, Heather asked us about what themes or "connotations"  1984 and Hunger Games evoke.  I certainly would say that 1984 is a cautionary tale of what can happen if people don't stand together and rebel against such types of thought/social control and Hunger Games has a similar message but is more optimistic in that it asserts an individual's commitment to her own ideas and ways of being are sufficient for starting a revolution.

I wanted to title this post with the quote from 1984, because I think it simply denotes the theme that what makes the human mind unique IS its ability to be unpredictable.

I Get It, Even Though It's Killing Me

I was talking with my husband this morning about 1984 and as I was explaining to him why I find this book so challenging, I realized that the brilliance of this book is that Orwell -- with his paragraphs upon paragraphs of detailing the menial tasks and the routines that Winston has to follow on a day to day minute to minute basis -- literally drowns the reader's anticipation that anything is going to happen.   And so, even when there is the slightest change in the scenery -- and introduction of a new character, a new task at work -- it recommits the reader's(my) interests.

I find myself each time thinking, OKAY!  NOW something is going to HAPPEN!  SOMETHING is going to take place that is going to start things a'changing.  But each time, I am left down.   And then more depressed and feeling more oppressed as ever by the weight of this book -- knowing that I still have over 150+ pages to go.   Like I said in my subject line for this post:   I GET IT NOW!  Even though it's killing me to keep reading....  

One passage/exchange I did love that I read, recently was the lunch Winston had with his friend-enemy Smythe (sp?).  Mr. S is working on the 11th edition of the Newspeak Dictionary and I just found it so fascinating how zealous he was in his effort to complete the work and "destroy all words" that would not be needed now or in 2050.  

Given that I am reading this book in 2011, I think it is fascinating that these characters (this government system) believes so completely that they are in control of all things that no new ideas, thoughts, or inventions will take place in the next 70 years.  

As a literacy specialist, and as one who holds the view that literacy is "deitic" (Leu, 2000), I find this idea of controlling thought and language indefinitely, fantastical (truly a fantasy/), and a model example of hubris.  

Am I Glad It's NOT 1984 anymore...

Wow.  I knew this book was challenging to read when I attempted it 20+ years before, but I am amazed at how challenging it still is.   Watson, my man, you are killing me with her complete and utter sense of isolation and powerlessness.    The images in my head as I read barely have any color at all -- only shades of grey.  In fact, I think the best way to describe the "hue" of this book is to describe as the color of mushrooms, of fungus.   And man is this world decaying.  

By the way, I don't know why I am stuck on using the word "man" right now, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that when I read the book the first time (around 1984) "man" was still an okay slang term to use -- almost like an explicative, to REALLY let the audience know how serious I am about what I'm going to say next. 

I'm reading the book on my ipad so I don't have page numbers to refer to, but I can say that I've read about 13% of the book so far and of the few characters I have met, I don't have hope that ANY of them will be as inspiring or as galvanizing as Katniss.     Even President Snow and his mutants seems like minor annoyances, compared to Big Brother and the Thought Police. 

Writing My Own Scene from Persepholis (using the image from p. 136)

time of day:  dusk, night is shortly coming
setting:          city street, deserted and desolate.    The riots have finally ended.
mood:           depressed, oppressed
character:     a middle aged woman, who lost her only son in the riot.
what's happening (plot):  the city is falling apart as the civil war escalates.

What can she do?  In the last six months she has lost everything.  Her husband arrested.   Her relatives fled. And now her son.  Her only son.  Gone.  Bludgened to death by the military police.  She is alone now.  Alone and unprotected.   No one will hear her tears as they fall on her pillow tonight. 

Why use graphics Marjane?

One of the questions Melissa, our presenter, asked us to think about is "WHY do you think the author chose to tell the story this way?"   I have an idea, but I don't know for sure if this is true.   I wonder if a rationale for telling her story this way was due in part because her memory of these events is the most real -- the most vivid -- in pictures from her own mind.   Especially being so young, I wonder if her earliest memories are even wordless pictures....  images like the women shouting (on page 5)... or the police brutality (p. 14).... and it was seeing these events (and wanting to share with the world what she saw) that moved her to tell her story this way.

Getting Lost in the World of Kristina and Bree

I have been reading and re-reading Crank, in order to try and find just the right stanzas or phrases for my choral reading.   And each time I re-enter Kristina's world I get more angry with the judge for letting her go see her father.   Or for her father for even demanding such a visit.   What an idiot.  I am now convinced that Kristina's Dad only demanded this visit to try and gain some sort of control/attention from Kristina's mother. 

And it is this very same goal -- to get attention/to dominate or control another person -- that defines Bree.

It's a fine line here since I also think Kristina wanted more attention -- more attention from her Mom, from her Dad, from boys.... but this attention was connected to a genuine sense of love, affection and appreciation. 
Bree, on the other hand, forces other to notice her through her outrageous, and at times sexually explicit, behavior.

Even though my initial thoughts were to explore my response to Crank based on the theme of being alone -- since Kristina felt alone and certainly pushed people away.  But now I'm thinking what I was really getting at is this slight, yet significant difference between affection and attention.

It reminds me also of the adage that fame is fleeting.....  Am I making sense here? 

I Am Nujood

How does one recover after reading this book?  This book haunts me. I mean no disrespect to the tenants of Islam and the Muslim culture, but I have such a hard time finding any empathy for the adults (parents, neighbors, law makers) who allow this kind of sexual brutality to take place.

I do understand that a Western view of "a quality childhood" is radically different from other cultural expectations for a child/young adult.  In fact, I would agree with some of the criticism that Western cultures have promoted a view of child/adolescent development that inspires a perception of "learned helplessness" and we do our children a disservice because we do not expect them to take equal responsibility for themselves, their family, their community.

HOWEVER!  I cannot condone the practice of child-brides (or child-grooms, although I cannot name a culture that practices such a custom today) simply because a cultural norm is that children must "do their part" to support the family or be an "honorable woman."     I just cannot call this practice anything else other than abuse. Physical abuse.  Mental abuse.  Emotional abuse.

This being said I am amazed at Nujood's fortitude to break away from her husband and his family and go to the court and demand a divorce. 

This, of course, is why I must not remain paralyzed by reading this book.  I have to encourage others to read her story and to learn more about her. 

Speaking of which, I was curious to know what she is doing today so I googled her.  http://www.mytrendingtopics.info/nujood-ali-stories-as-the-youngest-bride/

Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of information about Nujood today.  It sounds as if she could be attending school, but it isn't clear since in this article it also says that the proceeds from the book stopped going to pay for her education because she was not attending...?  

I suppose I worry for her since she lives at home.  Even though the reports say that her family is living in a more upscale home and seem to be prospering, there is no updates on how Nujood herself sees the world -- what she now thinks of marriage, what her hopes and dreams are for herself and for her family.     And what about her older sister?  Or her brother?  Where are they?

Not that I want her to leave Yemen or abandon her family, but I just wonder if she is as happy (if not happier) now than she was before the whole thing happened.  

More Coming Soon!

I have been so busy reading, I haven't been able to sit down and tell you all about what great reading journeys I have been on.   I promise to do so very soon.   Stay tuned!

My More Critically Reflective Response to Parvana's Journey

I loved this book, but I admit I did not stop often to think about my own reading practices and what I was bringing to the text.   In part, I felt like I was simply trying to learn as much as I could about what life was like for people -- particularly the children of Afghanastan -- during the first part of this century.   But in reality, I am sure my "Americanized (and fairly tacit)" conceptualization of the Middle East, its cultures, its people, its religions, and its geography did, in fact, influence what and how I read Parvana's Journey. 

After having our discussion tonight and thinking more critically about the text, I realize that as much as I truly loved this book -- it is only because my own life experiences are so much more privileged and "Westernized" -- that I was able to read this book without sobbing.   My lack of personal experience with such realities as bombs destroying your home, living for days without food or water, afraid that any stranger might kill me or rape me without a second's thought because I am female makes my response to the journey Parvana must undergo quite shallow. 

There is a question on the handout Meghan gave us that says, "Do you ever wish you could be someone else or a different type of person?  Explain."   I would like to be able to say that I could be as brave as Parvana, or Asif, or even Leila but honestly I don't know.... I might be more like Parvana's mother and Leila's grandmother than I care to admit.

Love that Alex Sanchez!

I just finished reading, Boyfriends With Girlfriends, a new novel by Alex Sanchez.   This was a really thoughtful read.  I know Alex always takes great care with creating characters that are complex, but there was such a sweetness and and innocence -- and "rough around the edges" to the characters in BWG that I really appreciated.

I don't mean "rough" as in they were uncouth or obnoxious (although I did find Sergio's bravo a bit obnoxious at times), but "rough" as in 'unfinished' or 'still evolving.'   Clearly this was the major theme in the novel.    The teens were still exploring their own identities -- sexual identities, gender identities, family-role identities.  The fundamental human issue of wanting to "fit" wanting to belong -- and not getting hurt was heavy on every page and yet the book isn't a heavy read.  

I laughed right along with Allie when Lance worked himself into a tizzy about Sergio.
I held my breathe with Kimiko when she read the poem aloud about Allie.
I empathized with Sergio's mom's confusion as she struggled between loving her son and wanting him to be happy.

In all of these moments, Alex once again, helps the reader to explore the additional levels of questions, confusion, and need for communication and acceptance that GLBT teens (and adults) deserve.

I finally got it! A Northern Light IS WORTH IT!

I admit...A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly was a hard one.  It wasn't hard because I didn't understand it, it just didn't evoke a strong emotional response -- like other books I have read lately, such as The Breadwinner Trilogy, The Hunger Games or even others I have read that my students have read recently like Monster or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.  


It wasn't until I got through almost the first 200 pages that I started to feel fully engaged by Mattie and when I read pages 218-221 (the chapter titled malediction, which means "bad speaking, like a curse" pp. 220-2201) that I was FINALLY HOOKED as a reader.


This is a great example of why an adept reader's repertoire of reading practices must include the disposition of perseverance.  Whether the reader is reading expository (informational) texts or narrative texts, the task sometimes requires patience and fortitude as well as remaining attentive to the information/story even if not naturally engaged by some sort of intrinsic motivation to read.


I certainly felt more obligated than interested in reading this book (for almost two-thirds of the reading).   But once I got hooked, it was "hook, line, and sinker."   I even got teary as I read pages 357-358  -- but I won't tell you why!  You'll have to wait and see for yourself.  :-)


It's interesting reading Groenke and Schreff's (pp. 36-37) rationale for why this is a book worthy of whole class instruction.   Even though my appreciation and admiration for Mattie as the story progressed, I am still not sure if I would say without equivocation that "Donnelly's writing is breathtaking.  Mattie's voice rings true to the time and her age." (Criterion 1 review, p. 36).


I do agree with Groenke and Schreff that the lines on p. 191 are heart-wrenching and deeply effected me as a reader.  However, I am still wondering whether or not her voice "rings true."  I certainly believe there are moments -- and again, I would argue that the evidence to support this claim comes more readily from the second half of the book -- but I guess I wasn't sure who Mattie was at the beginning and I didn't immediately believe that her voice/her character "rang true."


On the other hand, like I said, once I fell head over heels INTO the book and the story, I absolutely LOVED making the connections Mattie was making between her own voice/her own life, the lives of the characters in the novels/poetry she was reading, and the lives of those around her (including Grace -- whose life unfolds for us in the letters she gave to Mattie shortly before her death).   At one point when I was reading, there was a line in the story that reminded me of a poem, by Marge Piercy, who was considered a radical feminist poem in the 50s and 60s  -- one of the lesser known beat poets.


I went back to try and find the line and as I was re-reading those last 100 pages, I realized there were many passages that might have caused me to think about a stanza from a Marge Piercy poem, called For Strong Women.  [click here to read the entire poem by Piercy]   I've included one particular passage from A Northern Light alongside the stanza from Marge Piercy's poem:

A Northern Light

For Strong Women by Marge Piercy

…A farmer an put an evener on his team’s yoke to compensate for the weaker horse by shifting some of the lad to the stronger one.  But you can’t put an evener on two people’s hearts or their souls.  I wished I could just up and go to New York City.  I wished I was as strong as Weaver was.  I wished I was as fearless.      But I was not.   (Donnelly, p. 313)

A strong woman is a woman determined            to do something others are determined not to be done.  She is pushing up on the bottom of a lead coffin lid.  She is trying to raise a manhole cover with her head, she is trying to butt her way through a steel wall. Her head hurts.  People waiting for the hole to be made say, hurry, you’re so strong. (M. Piercy, 1989, Circles on the Water:  Selected Poems of Marge Piercy, p. 257) by Marge Piercy

I remember the first time I read Marge Piercy's poetry and I do think it affected me much like Mattie was affected by Elizabeth Baxter's first collection of poetry and by Emily Dickinson's poetry.   The feminist awakening Mattie experiences -- when realizing what it means to own her own destiny, to refuse to give up her own dreams -- As Mattie says, "I wanted books and words, but I wanted someone to hold me too..." (p. 312) this was certainly an internal dilemma I struggled with earlier in life.  I do think young women have moments where they ask themselves what does it mean to be a woman.  Who am I, as a woman?


And, now, of course, I'm hearing Sojourner Truth in my head... "And Ain't I a Woman?"   


It's funny, but through writing this reflection and reconsidering the fact that Groenke and Schreff profile A Northern Light in their chapter where they introduce critical theory, specifically feminist criticism, I think I have FINALLY pinpointed what was bothering me about this book.   It wasn't the fact that Mattie wasn't a real character or that her voice didn't "ring true."   Rather it was because I went into the book expecting Mattie to already have a feminist voice from the start of the novel.   But, that (obviously! "duh, Dr. Jones!") wasn't the case.   Donnelly used the traditional coming of age plot line to illustrate what a young woman in this time period would need to face, confront, and overcome in order to become a self-actualized individual or, as Miss Wilcox would say, "to find her real voice." (pp. 361-362).  

Mud City (Part III of The Breadwinner Trilogy)

Oh my goodness!  If you thought The Breadwinner Part I was a page turner, JUST WAIT until you get to Part III.   Mud City  picks up right at the same place as Parvana's Journey  begins, but Mud City is the story of what happens to Shauzia after Parvana leaves with her father.   

If you thought life was hard for Parvana as her story unfolds in Part I and Part II, wait until you see what Shauzia must face in order to find a way out of Afghanistan to Paris and those "fields of purple flowers."

I found my heart wrenching even tighter than it did when reading Parvana's story because, while Parvana always managed to have some sort of "family" with her as she struggled to reunite with her biological family, Shauzia was very much on her own.    

There are many incidents in the book that I could re-examine to explain to you how they affected me as a reader, but I would like to focus on one specific moment that continue to haunt me.  

The first is an exchange between Mrs. Weera and Shauzia in the refugee camp.    Shauzia is frustrated because Mrs. Weera has kept her so busy, she hasn't been able to find work to make some money:

     "Mrs. Weera! "  Shauzia shouted.  "I need to be paid."
      Mrs Weera came back.  "Which is it?  Want or need?...
      I will not back down this time, Shauzia vowed to herself.  "I told you my plans when I first came  here.  I told you I'd need to earn some money, but you've kept me so busy with your little jobs, I haven't had time to look for real work."
     "I would have thought bringing comfort to your fellow Afghans in a refugee camp would be considered enough real work for a lifetime."
      "A lifetime!"  Shauzia exclaimed in horror.  "You expect me to do this for a lifetime?  I didn't leave Afghanistan just to live in the mud!"   She flung her arms at the mud walls surrounding the Widows' Compound, knowing that on the other side of them in the regular part of the refugee camp were more mud walls.  Maybe the whole world was mud walls now, and she'd never get away from them.    (The Breadwinner Trilogy, Mud City, pp. 313-314). 
     

Undergirding this fight between Shauzia and Mrs. Weeza seems to be the cultural tension between the "rights/priorities of the group" versus the "rights/priorities of the individual."   Shauzia's struggle seems doubly challenging, not only because she is a young female Afghan refugee, but also because she so desperately wants to make her own destiny.    I don't begrudge Mrs. Weeza for her zealousness towards taking care of her fellow Afghan women, but her overbearing righteousness -- and unwillingness to appreciate the dreams of a young Afghan woman who wants to be free -- is frustrating at times.  

The funny thing is I think they are both right.  I think it is right to feel responsible for the others in your community and I also think it is right to want to leave the community to do things for oneself.    I am sure this is my own American values interplaying here, but for Mrs. Weeza to say that this should be Shauzia's LIFE work is taking it too far.   Especially when Shauzia see that kind of life as "a world of walls" that would never end.  

Bug Boy, by Luper (TBF author)

This was a really great book.  I want to be sure to say that first!   Bug Boy was a really engaging story.

I wasn't sure, at first, whether or not I would be able to fully engage with the book.  After all, I didn't even understand the title.   Bug Boy?????   What does a boy who likes bugs have to do with horse racing during the Depression Era???   Furthermore, I have only rode horses a few times in my life and I have spent even less time in a horse barn, tending to the horses.   On the other hand, I did go to Saratoga Springs for the first time last year -- I think it was in April.   Even though I didn't see the race track, we stayed at the historical resort where the actual mineral baths/spa is and I often couldn't help myself but think about these characters at that historical site.

I quickly learned though that the term Bug Boy is a "status title" given to those young boys who were not full-time jockeys, but were just beginning to ride horses in the races.    I also found myself easily engaging with the main character and worrying over how he was going to be able to stay out of trouble -- when trouble seemed to find him in the first 10 pages of the book.   

I have been thinking a lot about the question of whether or not this book would help students become a mature reader, a stage of reading characterized by "including critical reading -- arguing back at the book, syntopical reading, and aesthetic reading" (Knickerbocker & Rycik, 2002, p. 198).

I now have a theory that I'd like to ask others, but I think it might be true that a benefit of historical fiction is that, by the very nature of its textual features, it offers readers many opportunities to develop as critical, syntopical and aesthetic readers.    I would hope that if it was a good story, then the readers would naturally be able to practice their aesthetic reading abilities.  However, when the reader knows that the text is based on true events or that the author took great care to accurately portray a time period, then this easily allows the reader to practice their abilities compare their knowledge based on reading several texts on a similar topic (syntopical reading).   At the same time, if the reader is engaging in the reading practices of a historian -- or at least, one who reads "diversely" (Moon, p. v) the critical reading practices should also be engaged.

What makes a "good" character

I've been thinking a lot about the concept of "character" given our discussion topics for tonight's class and thinking about the characters in The Hunger Games.   Obviously, Katniss is a character which represents individuality, human will to survive (like the mockingjay), but I think it is interesting that Collins shows her character becoming most rebellious, most like a "fire starter" when she is fighting for others -- not for herself.


These qualities of self-sacrifice for others -- other who we "know' or at least somehow "empathize/relate to" -- certainly reflect qualities we value in a democratic society.   


I'd like to say it is a universal human quality, but I'm not sure.   Not when I read other works like I Am Nujood and see how in some cultures it is not only acceptable but celebrated when children are abused, neglected -- particularly when they are female.


I'd love for someone to help me work this through further since I hate posting what feels like such pessimistic responses to what I think are ultimately such empowering and engaging reads.   (sigh)  Okay.  I will not dwell here.  


If anyone else has read Hunger Games, then you know the minute you get to the end of the book you want to start reading the next one.   I felt just as anxious to start re-reading the second book in the series as I did the first time through.  I am thinking now about WHY do certain books pull at a reader's head and heart?  And why does this book pull so?   It's been on the New York Times Best Seller's list for over 100 weeks as of December 2010.   Is it because the reader wants to protect Katniss and all those she loves?   Is it because the individual reader fully embraces the aesthetic response that Rosenblatt (2005, as cited in Wisniewski)  describes?   Is it because our cultural values so heavily embraces these qualities of Katniss?   


I guess the question I am asking is what "reading practices" (Moon,1999, pp. 134-137) are readers heavily relying on when reading this book?    If I use Moon's questions tothink about how I read Hunger Games, I would say...

• Did I read the text as the expression of the author's own ideas and experiences? No.
• Did I read the text as a comment about human nature?  Yes, definitely.
• Did I read the text as evidence of struggles between different groups of people?  Yes, although I didn't spend a lot of  time in my mind trying to make specific "factual" connections to the struggles.   Not sure if this was a limitation in my own reading practice?
• Did I treat characters in the text as human beings, and identify with their experiences?   Yes and no.  I think this is the ambiguousness of Fantasy/Science Fiction.   Unless the reader as able to fully suspend believe (and I am not) then some experiences can still seem true to the "story" but not as naturally identifiable.    This is funny though since other questions Moon poses is did I treat characters merely as devices used to develop ideas in the text?  Did I challenge the validity and acceptability of images in the text? And I certainly didn't think about the fact that these are characters used as devices to develop ideas in a text the first time I read the story (expect for obvious things like the Mockingbird pin, the contrast of most people starving in District 12 and the Capitol having plenty).  But the second time I read the book I did think more about characters like Prim.  Would the story have even happened if Prim wasn't chosen?   At the same time though, neither during the first or second reading did I challenge the validity and acceptability of images in the text. 

I certainly would LOVE to talk to others about this book (and the two other books in the trilogy).  I want to know why they love it as much as I do.   In the meantime, I'm going to keep thinking about this myself.  Maybe I will have more answers by class tonight (or by my next blog post).   

Laurie Halse Anderson

Poem she wrote in response to Speak, called Listen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic1c_MaAMOI&feature=related

Sherman Alexie

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwiQb8OQ6dY


Student author summary video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIClgfqVovs&feature=related

I love YA HATERS video by Jackson A Pierce

I was surfing the web this afternoon looking for some interview on YA literature and I came across this video posted by JacksonAPierce.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC7BRavnPWg


Jackson A Pierce has written  Sisters Red and As You Wish   

Her personal website is http://watchmebe.livejournal.com/

This is a teen review of As You Wish http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-b3Bx_IEmw

Reading Donnelly

I had heard about this book for a few years, but I thought from the cover art that it was going to be a book set in 1770s England.   I had no idea that it had a setting that was so close to home.   Already this makes the work even more interesting since even though I have never been to Moose Lake, we have friends who ride their bikes up there every late summer/early fall and stay at a lodge on the Lake.