Books for Adolences

7/29/2019 Books for Adolences

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2004 INTERNATIONAL READING ASSOCIATION (pp. 346359)

R E V I E W SBooks for adolescents Professional materials Classroom materials Briefly noted

Books for adolescentsJames Blasingame

Blasingame teaches at Arizona State University. Books for

review in this column should be sent to James Blasingame,

English Education, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,

Arizona State University, PO Box 870302, Tempe, AZ 85287-

0302, USA. Comments about the column may be sent by

e-mail to [email protected].

J O UR N AL O F A D OL E SC E NT & A D UL T L I T E RA C Y 4 8 : 4 D E CE M B E R 2 0 04 / JA N UA R Y 2 0 05346

In this months column we feature Janet Tashjians

sequel to the very popular young adult novel The

Gospel According to Larry(2001, Henry Holt; re-

viewed in the April 2002 column), and converse

with her about that book, Vote for Larry. Larry,

whose real name is Josh Swenson, runs for the

presidency of the United States against John Kerry

and George Bush. When you read about his plat-

form, you may wish he were actually on the ticket.

Weve been looking at an innovative series

of books and materials from Townsend Press, the

Bluford Series. Reviews of some of the early

books in the series have appeared in various

issues of Volumes 46 and 47 of theJournal of

Adolescent & Adult Literacy. Refer to the indexes

for more information. These high-interest novels

are set among the students at fictitious Bluford

High School in California, named for the first

African American astronaut. Neal Lester reviewsthe Bluford Series teachers guide in this issues

Professional Materials column (see p. 354) and

James Blasingame reviews the latest offering in

the series, Brothers in Arms, by the author of some

of the other Bluford novels, Paul Langan (this

time coauthoring with Ben Alirez). The story

follows 16-year-old Martin Luna as he transfers

to Bluford from Zamora High after a gang-related

shooting results in the death of his younger

brother. Martin has problems, many not of his

own making, and he will meet people at Bluford

who can help or harm him.

High school sophomore Jasmine Lester

weighs in on The Beastby Walter Dean Myers. Its

the story of Anthony Witherspoon (a.k.a. Spoon),

an inner-city teenager who navigates the strong

currents of life in his old neighborhood after hehas become a successful student-athlete at an ex-

clusive boarding school. In a similar story, a

young protagonist is transplanted from a danger-

ous environment into a privileged one where he

struggles to maintain his loyalties. Please welcome

new reviewer Rhea Spears as she reviews Brother

Hood, the latest offering from successful young

adult author Janet McDonald.

Veteran reviewer Heather Hoyt takes a look

at a poetry collection edited by Paul Janeczko,Blushing: Expressions of Love in Poems & Letters.

Its an honest look at the many sides and side ef-

fects of love and romance. New reviewer Colleen

Pearson joins us with her review ofNobody Was

Here; 7th Grade in the Life of Me, Penelope, a

chronicle of the disillusioning experiences of

Penelope B. Schwartzbaum, who finds life in mid-

dle school rife with ugliness and confusion.

doi:10.1598/JAAL.48.4.7


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Penelopes life is not as hard as that of Heidi

Klenk, however, who relates her experiences in

Escape to West Berlin, at the height of the Cold

War. We welcome new reviewer Cortney

Milanovich as she takes a look at Heidis danger-

ous flight. We hope you enjoy our reviews.

The BeastReviewed by Jasmine Lester, Desert Vista High School,

Phoenix, Arizona, USA.

Walter Dean Myerss The Beastfocuses on 17-

year-old Anthony Spoon Witherspoons transi-

tion from the streets of Harlem to an exclusive

Connecticut boarding school. At first it manifests

in the sudden change of environment: the loss ofthe Harlem streets and the loss of familiar

friends. Then its seen in the change in Spoon too.

After spending months at the school, Spoon is

looking forward to returning home to Harlem on

his break. When he arrives, however, things are

not the same. Everything has changed, from the

friends he used to hang out with to his girlfriend,

Gabi. He realizes his interest in her is dwindling

as her once lively personality becomes tired and

sad because her mother is sick. When he has a

run-in with Chanelle, a girl from the prep school,over the break, hes almost sure his interest in

Gabi is not what it used to be. Myers uses Spoons

relationship with Gabi to represent his feelings

for his home in Harlem, where he would not have

much of a chance of going to a good college.

Chanelle, on the other hand, represents the

school and the potential benefits it holds such as

the possibility of obtaining a scholarship to col-

lege. The book is centered on Spoons actions that

sometimes lead him closer to home and some-

times farther away. When he finds Gabi high on

drugs in a house with other people who are high,

he describes them as being prey for the beast.

The way Myers develops the beast, it is the force

pulling Spoon away from the safety of his life.

Overall, The Beastis an OK book. It has

small parts that may spark teens interest and

make them eager to read more such as the rea-

sons why Gabi does

drugs, but these events

are not main events in

the story. The book is

slow moving and a little

boring, but it does getthe message across.

Walter Dean Myers.

2003. New York:

Scholastic Press. 170

pp. ISBN 0-439-36841-

3. US$11.87.

Vote forLarryReviewed by James Blasingame,Department of English,

Arizona State University,

Tempe, Arizona, USA.

As good as The Gospel

According to Larry(2001,

Henry Holt) was, Janet Tashjian really hits full

stride (a dead sprint, actually) with Vote for Larry;

consider the first book to be the appetizer and the

sequel to be the main course. What starts out as a

sort of wacky Walt Disneyish what if the kids

were in charge? story starts making the kinds ofpolitical points that would make Michael Moore

envious and the founding fathers nod in agree-

ment. Vote for Larrys idealism, its contagion, and

the way the campaign is attacked by the powers

that be are reminiscent of the old Jimmy Stewart

movie Mr. Smith Goes to Washingtonand will

have the reader in the same sort of cheering-out-

loud emotional state by the books powerful fi-

nale. Idealism and hope turn to disillusionment

and disappointment, but in the end, optimismand hope for a better world return.

In The Gospel According to Larry, Larry (real

name Josh Swenson), the quintessential nerdish

everyman, maintains an anonymous website on

which he delivers sermons about the evils of

materialism and its consequences in our con-

sumer economy. When political activist/rock star

Bono and U2 perform at Larry-Fest and millions

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J O UR N AL O F A D OL E SC E NT & A D UL T L I T E RA C Y 4 8 : 4 D E CE M B E R 2 0 04 / JA N UA R Y 2 0 05 347

Jacket photograph CSA

Plastock/Photonica. Jacket design

by David Caplan fromVote for

Larryby Janet Tashjian. Used by

permission of the publisher,

Henry Holt.


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of people jump on the Larry bandwagon, Josh is

overwhelmed and dying to let Beth, the friend he

has secretly loved all his life, know that he, Josh,

and the new cult hero, Larry, are one and the

same. (Can you say, Clark Kent and Lois Lane?

Or maybe Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.)After Josh is outed as Larry by the obsessed inves-

tigative reporter Betagold, he finds that Beth is

not so much impressed as angry and that his new

role in a celebrity-obsessed society is not very

much fun. The first book ends in Josh/Larrys

pseudocide (in which you fake your own death

but leave some room for doubt).

After a period of roaming the country with

fake identities and a fugitive lifestyle, Josh is

found out by Beth, who kidnaps him and bringshim home to face the music, but also to exploit

his Larry celebrity status by having him run for

state representative and fight the good fight for

some good causes. Thats not enough for Josh/

Larry, who decides to run for president and actu-

ally gets the 28th Amendment to the Constitution

passed, lowering the presidential age requirement

from 35 to 18.

Where the first book took on rampant con-

sumerism and the manipulation of the public

mind by advertising, the second book turns a

cynical eye on what lies even deeper, the power

wielded by corporations and how it plays out in

manipulation of the U.S. political system. Many

chapters begin with a page of the sticky notes

with which Josh plasters his wall as he organizes

his thoughts about whats wrong with America

and how to fix it:40% of U.S. homeless men are

veterans,40% of the American workforce earn

wages below the poverty level,Enron had 881

offshore subsidiaries paying no taxes (p. 120).These arent curious statistics about the

warped buying trends of American suburbanites

with too much discretionary income; these are

frightening facts about the warped relationship be-

tween the American people and their government.

Not only is Joshs attempt to address this in a grass-

roots movement that mobilizes the huge voting

block between 18 and 24 admirable, but Tashjian

also makes us believe its within the realm of possi-

bility. If people in that age bracket can be motivat-

ed to take back control of their own government,

then why not people of all ages? As Josh says,

Only 39 percent of registered voters bothered to vote in

the 2002 midterm elections [thats not 39% of

Americans 18 and older but 39% ofregisteredvoters];

about half17 percentvoted Republican. The media

called the event a mandate of the people. Since when is

17 percent a mandate of anything? This small percent-

age of the American population decided who now con-

trols our House and Senate.... News flashdecisions

are made by the people who show up! (pp. 9293)

Along the way sobering events take place,resembling events from past presidential cam-

paigns and reminding the reader that the grasp

the two parties have on the U.S. political system is

exceeded only by the grasp that corporations

(and their money) have on the parties. Like Ralph

Nader, Josh is not allowed into debates that would

give him national publicity, but when he does get

the support of both the Reform and Green

Parties, his new percentage of support mandates

his participation. When Josh soundly defeats

John Kerry and George Bush in the one and only

debate (taped, not live, and held in an empty au-

ditorium),technical difficulties prevent the

taped program from airing. Leave it to Joshs

campaign manager and stepfather, the former

corporate adman turned hippie house painter,

Peter, to tape the whole thing secretly and turn

the tape over to CNN.

All in all this is a great book and great read-

ing for a presidential election year. The lack of

graphic violence or explicit sex makes it suitable

for an all-class read, too. Who knows, maybe

someone in your English class will be the one to

get a petition going for a 28th Amendment!

Janet Tashjian. 2004. New York: Henry Holt. 224 pp.

ISBN 0-8050-7201-2. US$16.95.

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R E V I E W S


Nobody Was Here; 7thGrade in the Life of Me,PenelopeReviewed by Colleen Pearson, Arizona State University

College of Education, Tempe, Arizona, USA.

In 1981 Penelope Schwartzbaum begins seventh

grade at Elston Preparatory School and is imme-

diately overwhelmed. The workload is heavy, the

teachers are openly trying to weed out students,

and suddenly her friends are all talking about col-

lege. It seems like everything is different than it

was in elementary school, even if most of the

people are the same. Penelope is confused about

the social changes happening around her, includ-

ing her new feeling that she and her best friend,Stacy, dont seem to fit anymore. The more

popular girls pressure Penelope and others who

attended Elston Elementary together to sign a

pledge saying they will not befriend any of the

students who have come from other elementary

schools. Before Penelope makes up her mind,

Stacy decides for the two of them.

Issues at home compound Penelopes trou-

bles with friends and school when she suspects

that her mother is having an affair. Penelope has a

difficult time concentrating in her classes, she gets

farther behind, and, as if that isnt enough, the

school administrators have found out about the

pledge against the new kids and are demanding

that students come forward or face consequences.

Penelopes behavior gets stranger, and she begins

to act out. Soon, graffiti begins to show up all

over the school making statements against the

pledge and also about some of Penelopes friends.

The girls in her group want to find out who is go-

ing against them. Penelope watches as the groupof girls cruelly gang up on Tillie, one of their

own, when they find out she has confessed to the

administration about the pledge. The girls are

convinced Tillie must also be the graffiti artist.

Penelope feels terrible but cannot stop herself

from participating in the confrontation.

Eventually, Penelope gets caught and sus-

pended for being the graffiti artist when she

writes Penelope B. Schwartzbaum was hereon

her desk during an algebra test she is failing.

During her week of suspension she finally comes

out of her fog and begins to be honest with her-

self about how shes been feeling. When she re-

turns to school she develops a deeper friendshipwith Cass, a smart and creative new kid, and

Tillie, the girl who had been wrongly accused of

writing Penelopes graffiti. With two new friends

with whom she feels safe and comfortable, she

begins to come out of her shell and explore who

she wants to be. She also finds out that, while her

parents marriage isnt perfect, her mother is not

having an affair.

The writer effectively creates an increasingly

distant and unhappy perspective as Penelope dis-appears farther and farther inside herself. Upper

elementary and middle school students, especially

females, would identify well with the pressure to

fit in while also trying to have their own voice and

learn who they are. The characters are well devel-

oped, and the 1980s New York City setting adds

subtle flavor to the story. Overall, the book is intel-

ligently written and successfully serves an audi-

ence of sixth to eighth graders, primarily females.Alison Pollet. 2004. New York: Orchard Press. 218 pp.

ISBN 0-439-58394-2. US$15.95.

Blushing: Expressions ofLove in Poems & LettersReviewed by Heather M. Hoyt, Arizona State University,


This collection of love poems and letters intro-

duces adolescent readers to the complexities of

love. The title, Blushing, indicates the first flush of

love, when we realize someone has changed ourlives; however, editor Paul B. Janeczko wants

readers to discover the realities beyond that mo-

ment. Janeczkos book presents not only the glo-

ries of love but also shades of frustration, fond

memories, and the deepening of relationships.

The selections are organized according to the fol-

lowing stages: the beginning of love, being in

love, feeling alone in love, the end of love, and


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R E V I E W S


I N T E R V I E W W I T H J A N E T TA S H J I A N

James Blasingame corresponded with Janet Tashjian by e-mail about her latest book, Vote for Larry.

James: In both of the Larry books you open and close with you, Janet Tashjian, the author, meeting with

Larry, your protagonist, as if he were real (Im not saying he isnt, by the way), which is a neat trick forhelping the reader into the story. How did you come upon that technique? Do you and Larry truly

meet somehow in your psyche? How much of Larry is you?

Janet: I like to push the narrative envelope with each of my books. Im interested in the form as well as the

content of a novel. With Gospel(2001, Henry Holt), I knew I wanted to use several postmodern

techniques, mainly blurring the line between fiction and nonfiction. So I put myself in the book, then

other real people like Bono. Both books were so much fun to write. Larry is one of my favorite

characters to hang out with. We are a lot alikevery hyperactive and hyperfocusedbut I cant hold

a candle to his idealism and discipline!

James: You people your books with a lot of socially conscious characters: Bono and U2; the whole mass of

people at Larry-Fest; Janine (who impresses Larry when they first meet in the used record store whereshe refuses to talk on Mondays to combat the barrage of words that assault us each day); Beth and

Simon, who have a whole three-ring binder of accomplishments; and the new Peter, who wears an

earring and paints houses instead of working in advertising. So many of your characters refuse to live

the unexamined life. Do you typically hang out with people who try to live their lives with intention

rather than living according to the whims of the powers that be, overt or covert?

Janet: Most of the people I know live their lives with great intention and purpose. They are all very active in

politics and social change; two of my friends and I made an ad for moveon.org that came in runner-

up in their Internet ad campaign. It might be because we grew up in the 1960s or it might be that

were witnessing another wave of activism. Most of the teens I know are also politically active; theyre

much more interesting kids than those concerned only with their own lives.

James: Right now we are looking forward to the presidential election in November of 2004 as you answer

these questions in July. This interview will be published in December, right after the election. Are you

brave enough to predict any change in the percentage of young people who vote this time around?

Janet: My fingers are crossed for this election; I cant remember a time when there was more at stake. Im

also very hopeful that more teens will vote. Theres been a huge push this year from Rock the Vote to

Declare Yourself to Citizen Change. After the last election, its imperative that everyone who can vote,

does.

James: One important plot premise in both books is the idea that a person shouldnt be owned by his or her

possessions, so Josh/Larry proposes getting your worldly possessions down to 75. How many

possessions do you have?

Janet: I dont know how many possessions I have, but its more than 75. That being said, Ive been an

antimaterialist for years. I dont own a lot of stuff and I hate going shopping (except for books or

music). Im embarrassed by our consumer culture; its so bereft of any kind of meaning. I love that so

many kids are fighting branding in their schools and refusing to be treated as a consumer first, a

human second. We have so much more to offer the world than our spending power.


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remembering love. Each stage opens with a loveletter and follows with a variety of poems, classic

and contemporary.

Young readers are invited to share the in-

tense feelings triggered by love in its various man-

ifestations. The poetry of men and women from

different historical periods and nationalities illus-

trates the shared human responses to love, re-

gardless of ones time and place. The classic voices

of William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe,and Ben Jonson blend with the later voices of

John Keats, Sir Walter Scott, and Thomas Hardy.

Famous women like Anne Bradstreet, Elizabeth

Barrett Browning, and Emily Dickinson add

womens perspectives to the collection. More re-

cent poets, such as Maya Angelou, Pablo Neruda,

and Naomi Shihab Nye, enrich the book with

their individual voices. The mystic voice of Rumi

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I N T E R V I E W W I T H J A N E T TA S H J I A N ( c o n t i n u e d )

James: When Beth and Simon fling their challenge at Larry and he is considering getting back into the

changing-the-world business, Larry wonders, Was this my destiny, my vocation? Or was I just

trying to impress a girl? (pp. 3031). This is a funny line, but it also seems to represent how teenagers

vacillate between idealism and practicality. Is this something you have experienced/observed

firsthand?

Janet: I think we all vacillate between idealism and pragmatism. Everyone wants the world to be a better

place; the difficult part is doing something about it. Im always interested in the opposing forces at

work in people; we all have ulterior motives. As a novelist, its fun to explore them through a

characters choices.

James: How do you address such serious issues and yet do it in such a humorous way?

Janet: I like to deal with serious subjects in my novelsconsumerism, dating violence, special needs,

votingbut without humor, theyd just be didactic, not entertaining. Tucking those issues into an

interesting storyline with strong characters makes for much more enjoyable reading. Im big onhumor in the books I read, too; I love black comedies and satire. I devoured [Kurt] Vonnegut growing

up. Funny is big for me. And sitting at my desk alone, making myself laugh? It is, hands down, the

best part of the job.

James: Beth and Joshs love strays away from the platonic in the second book. What did that decision involve?

(On your part, not theirs.)

Janet: When I did school visits for Gospel, everyone wanted to know about Josh and Beths relationship.

Many readers considered the book a love story. I knew Beth would figure prominently in the sequel,

and after all the interest in their relationship, I decided to take it to the next level. (Besides, after all

those years of being in love, I thought Josh deserved a break.) But I had to throw in Janine, too; I

didnt want to make it too easy for him.

James: Any advice for young writers?

Janet: Yes, write every day, even for a few minutes. Write what matters to you, not what you have to do for

school. Find other people who like to write and form a group that will give you deadlines (bring five

pages next Monday) and feedback (only constructive and gentle criticism allowed). Read good books

and study what the writer was trying to achieve. And dont give up! As I tell Larry in Gospel, The best

person to tell your story is you. Its a line I stand behind completely.


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is also heard, contributing to the spiritual aspect

of love.

Janeczkos introduction presents his reasons

for selecting and organizing the poems, providing

a map for each of the sections. He emphasizes the

importance of exploring the nuances and stages of

love in order to understand how it affects our dai-

ly lives. By drawing selections from different time

periods and cultures, Janeczko illustrates that love

is part of all human communities; by reading love

literature, we can reflect on other peoples experi-

ences in order to understand our own.

Blushingis an accessible and enjoyable col-

lection of love poems and letters for adolescent

readers, ages 12 and up. Readers will be drawn to

the passionate emotions voiced in each of the sec-

tions, while learning the ways in which love adds

both fulfillment and frustration to our lives. This

balanced approach is useful, as it shows young

readers that they are not alone in these experi-

ences. While the collection contains a range of

poets, most are mainstream English and

American male writers. However, the familiarity

of these mainstream names may be an added at-

traction for some readers. If young men can get

past the feminine pink cover, they will enjoy it asmuch as young women readers.

Paul B. Janeczko (Ed.). 2004. New York: Orchard

Books. 98 pp. ISBN 0-439-53056-3. US$15.95.

Brothers in ArmsReviewed by James Blasingame, Department of English,

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.

In the latest offering from the Bluford Series, Paul

Langan and his coauthor, Ben Alirez, send anothernew student to Bluford, but this time from just

across town. When his little brother is killed by

mistake in a drive-by shooting, Martin Luna and

his mother move to escape from the dangerous

lifestyle Martin has adopted. Living in a rough

neighborhood, with no father figure, Martin has

looked to gang life for what is missing, and indeed

his circle of friends call themselves a family.

As the novel opens, younger gangster

wannabes are hanging out with Frankie, a 19-

year-old deeply in trouble in many ways. When a

suspicious vehicle pulls up, Martin suspects the en-

suing shooting has probably been precipitated by

something Frankie did to someone else. Tragically,Huero, Martins elementary-age brother who idol-

izes him, sees the car first and rides his bike direct-

ly into the danger zone in an attempt to warn

Martin. Huero gets the bullet probably meant for

Frankie.

Mrs. Luna is devastated, but she is also deter-

mined that she wont lose her remaining son.

Although he isnt particularly attached to his pres-

ent high school, Zamora High, Martin doesnt

want to move,but when he comes home from a

night of gang initiation to find their apartment

empty, he relents. Martin is in trouble from his

first day at Bluford High in their new neighbor-

hood. He refuses to take the taunts and insults

(physical as well as verbal) thrown at him by

tough guy, star athlete, and school darling Steve

Morris and finds the majority of people are on

Steves side. The school authorities regard Martin

as the new troublemaker, a gang member from a

bad neighborhood, and refuse to consider that

Steve Morris may be the problem.

Sometimes it only takes one or two people

believing in someone to turn that persons whole

life around. For Martin these people turn out to

be a strong-willed young woman named Vicky

and a teacher named Mr. Mitchell. The answer to

Martins problems are not simple, but the strength

to solve them resides in his own heart and soul.

The novels ending is somewhat surprising.

In two separate climactic points, Martin takes an

unpredictable stance that the reader will find ad-mirable. The Bluford Series typically presents

young people in tough situations and follows

them as they solve their own problems. Brothers

in Armsis no different. Many readers will recog-

nize the troubles that Martin faces as the same

ones they face or that people they know face, and

they will appreciate how the book treats these

problems with respect.

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Teachers who are interested in this series of

books should take a look at the Townsend Press

website, www.townsendpress.com, for some re-

markable deals on books and resources, especially

if you have a rather small budget for buying pa-

perback novels.You may find you can do morethan you imagined.

Paul Langan and Ben Alirez. 2004. West Berlin, NJ:

Townsend Press. 152 pp. ISBN 1-59194-017-6.

US$4.95 (US$1.00 for teachers and libraries).

Brother HoodReviewed by Rhea Spears, English Department, Chandler

High School, Chandler, Arizona, USA.

When students walk into my classroom at the be-

ginning of the school year, I often know nothingabout the baggage they bring with them. It may

involve personal, family, relationship, or cultural

issues; it may be a combination of problems with

which these teenagers are dealing. Well-known

young adult author Janet McDonald exhibits a

good understanding of exactly that kind of bag-

gage in her novel Brother Hood, about a teenager

who finds himself in the middle of several issues

in two different locations.

During the week, Nathaniel Nate Whitelysports a dress shirt, dress slacks, and a blazer with

the crest of Fletcher School, a prestigious

preparatory school in upstate New York. On his

occasional visits to his Harlem home, he quickly

changes into baggy jeans, a bomber jacket, and a

do-rag underneath a slightly askew cap. The dis-

parity between the two sets of clothes extends to

the vastly different cultures of which Nate is chal-

lenged to be a part.

When Nate was in seventh grade, he was se-lected by a Columbia University program that of-

fered academically gifted public school children

the opportunity to attend a private preparatory

school. Growing up in Harlem, Nate and his

brother Eli were raised to look out for their fami-

ly, their friends, and their neighborhood. Because

of the pride Nate holds for his community, he is

forced to defend his background to his fellow stu-

dents at Fletcher who were raised with more priv-

ileges. To make matters worse, Nates brother and

his gangstafriends have not followed the same

academic path: Conversely, they make their living

from the streets. This threatens to thwart Nates

success at Fletcher and his future.Focusing on issues to which all readers

whether teenage or adultcan relate, Janet

McDonalds tersely written story will have the

reader pulling for the 16-year-old protagonist

from the very beginning. Everyone can recall a

time when friends, family, or classmates have

chosen alternate paths.Also, the reader will revisit

times in his or her life when there were struggles

with a sense of belonging and the challenges asso-

ciated with branching out to reach his or her po-

tential, even if it means turning away from that

which is familiar. In addition, McDonald shows

personal growth in her characters, but she does

this while the adults watch and learn from the pe-

riphery. Brother Hooduses all the personal, fami-

ly, relationship, and cultural issues to teach

compassion, understanding, and tolerance.

Although Janet McDonald drops clues as to the

possible outcome, she leaves readers with an end-

ing that meets their needs and expectations.

Janet McDonald. 2004. New York: Frances FosterBooks, an imprint of Farrar Straus Giroux. 176 pp.

ISBN 0-374-30995-7. US$16.00.

Escape to West BerlinReviewed by Cortney Milanovich, Arizona State University,


As a high school teacher whose students are sepa-

rated from their family and friends for long peri-

ods of time, I am finding it easier to relate to my

students feelings after reading Escape to WestBerlin. Many of my students live in the United

States temporarily in order that their lives be better

than those of their family in Mexico or other de-

veloping countries and can draw interesting paral-

lels between their lives and the life of Heidi Klenk.

Heidi, just turned 13, is experiencing a range of

emotions because of her familys impending

choice about defecting to West Berlin during the

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early 1960s. Students who experience crossing U.S.

borders, leaving friends, loved ones, and family

members behind in search of a better life, will defi-

nitely be able to relate to Heidis plight.

As the story opens, Heidi attempts to talk

her parents into letting her travel alone to hergrandparents collective farm that is five hours

outside of Berlin. Because of her age and the im-

pending birth of her sibling, her parents deny her

request while at the same time talking in hushed

tones about things with which they do not want

to burden Heidi. Heidis curiosity is piqued

when she overhears parts of their hushed conver-

sations until her parents finally break the news

that they are planning their escape to West Berlin

so that they can have a better life in a capitalist

society. Their explanations of and feelings about

their government-controlled situation are realis-

tic and help the reader to feel the frustration,

dread, loss, and exhilaration of their flight.

Heidi loves her home in East Berlin and

wants desperately to be treated like the teenager she

is becoming but struggles internally with her desire

to grow up and to be carefree in a Cold Wartorn

world.Heidi has to overcome her fears of leaving

behind her beloved friends and valuables

in addition to her recently acquired fear of the

waterin order to escape to West Berlin.

Maurine F. Dahlberg provides a sympathetic

character with whom students will easily identify

and describes events that teachers can correlate to

problems of the past and present. Heidis emo-

tions are true, believable, and complex, allowing

readers to put themselves in her place as a 13-

year-old leaving behind everything she knows

and loves so that she and her family can have a

better life.

By the end of the book, the reader feels an

enormous sense of pride for Heidis accomplish-

ments as well as a sense of hope about her future,knowing that she will never take her life for

granted and that she will be able to share her

story with her newborn sibling. Dahlberg leaves

the reader with a sense that mourning for and

burying the past are just as important as watching

the future grow from its seeds.Maurine F. Dahlberg. 2004. New York: Farrar Straus

Giroux. 179 pp. ISBN 0-374-30959-0. US$16.00.

R E V I E W S


Professional materialsMaterials for review should be sent to Rebecca Stewart,

Reviews Editor, at the International Reading Association,

800 Barksdale Road, Newark, DE 19711-3269, USA.

Teachers Guide to theBluford SeriesReviewed by Neal A. Lester, Department of English, Arizona

State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.

All good teachers continually seek new and differ-

ent ways to enhance their classroom instruction,

ways to make their teaching more exciting to them

and learning more exciting for their students.Assuming that teachers are clear about what to

teach and about the what,who, where, when, and

why dimensions of those texts, others suggestions

on how to present texts and ideas within texts are

almost always welcome. Particularly in cases of

texts that deal with sophisticated, complicated,

real-life issues such as race, class, gender, sexuality,

and violence, for instance, veteran teachers might

doi:10.1598/JAAL.48.4.8


10/14

turn to Eliza A. Comodromoss Teachers Guide to

the Bluford Series.

Comodromoss Guidecovers the first 7 of the

10 young adult novels that constitute the Bluford

[High School] Series:Anne Schraffs five novels,

Lost and Found, A Matter of Trust, Secrets in theShadows, Someone to Love Me, and Until We Meet

Again; and Paul Langans two novels, The Bullyand

The Gun. A second guide is forthcoming to cover

Langans three new books, Blood Is Thicker,

Summer of Secrets, and, with Ben Alirez, Brothers in

Arms(reviewed in this months Books for

Adolescents column). The guide is a valuable re-

source for secondary school educators integrating

any or all of these texts with their middle and high

school literature curriculum. Just as the novels

themselves are accessible and easy to read,

Comodromoss Guideis accessible and easy to use.

Its four-part organizationIntroduction: To the

Teacher, Writing Skills Handouts, Activities to

Accompany Each Book, and Answers to the

Activitiesis sensible and clear.

Section I reminds teachers that the most im-

portant goal of reading these booksand by exten-

sion, any bookis to get students to read and to

enjoy what they read. Even if they are not the

strongest writers or the most skilled critical thinkers,

students can realize the pleasure and excitement of

reading. This section also encourages teachers to use

ideas as directly presented or to choose and modify

the suggested activities and exercises as they see fit

for their own personal instruction.

Section II provides substantial direction in

getting students to focus on writing and critical

thinking as natural and rewarding extensions of

reading, not just with these books but with any

literature text. Beginning with exercises that givestudents practice in picking out main and sup-

porting ideas in single paragraphs, the section

ultimately guides students toward thinking and

writing about ideas in the longer traditional five-

paragraph essay. All of the components of good

writing about ideas in any text are emphasized

and explained through appropriate handouts and

exercisesidentifying topic sentences and perti-

nent supporting ideas, organizing ideas within

and between paragraphs, providing transitions

within and between ideas and paragraphs, writ-

ing introductions and conclusions, revising and

rewriting, and proofreading. Certainly, this sec-

tion on writing as process and product will serveany instructor in classes where students engage in

essay writing across the curriculum.

The third section focuses specifically on the

content of the seven young adult novels. Ac-

companying each novel are clear and concise

summaries of plots and basic character identifica-

tions, details that are fundamental to any student

discussion and subsequent writing about the

books. Each book comes with vocabulary-

building and reading comprehension exercises,passage identifications, short and long essay as-

signments, and suggestions for small-group

activities. The broad range and diversity of

activitieswriting letters to characters about is-

sues or relationships in the books, writing reviews

of the books, sending postcards as a character to

another character, completing character or idea

diagramsare sure to move students beyond

plot-centered thinking and writing and to engage

them in deeper critical thinking and analysis.

Because even the most seasoned teachers

forget minute textual details and answers to their

own questions as they focus on the larger picture

of presenting texts comprehensively, the fourth

section of the Guideis a handy Answers Key to

the short answer and discussion questions.

The benefits of using this guide are many.

Including such varied activities will ensure mean-

ingful thinking, talking, and writing about the

ideas in these novels and other literature texts.

The range of activities will encourage group idea

exchanges and allow for individual students cre-

ative expression, all working to encourage stu-

dents to enjoy what they read.

One concern about the Guidefor some in-

structors of advanced literature students might be

the somewhat restrictive paradigm of the five-

paragraph essay with its three supporting points

R E V I E W S



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of development. While this model offers a frame

and security for beginning and timid writers, it

may well hinder the creative energies of and un-

duly frustrate those young writers and thinkers

who know that ideas need not be mechanically

limited to this structure. For young writers, itmay also create a false and inadequate sense of

what constitutes a well-developed argument and

a well-developed essay.

It is interesting, though not surprising, that

the guide itself seems sanitized of the social is-

sues presented in the novels. None of the discus-

sion or writing activities deal with the issues of

sexuality, violence, and race that make these nov-

els interesting and relevant to young adult read-

ers. For instance, even though the covers of allseven books present images of African American

characters, there is nothing about race or culture

in any of the activities. In fact, there seems an ef-

fort to erase race from the text as indicated by the

second line of the Introduction: To the Teacher,

The novels focus on the lives of a group of ur-

ban high school students and their families.

While there is mention of the African American

astronaut, Guion Bluford, for whom the high

school in the novels and the book series itself is

named, nothing clarifies that the main characters

in the novels are African American. Certainly

nothing about the success of reading or teaching

these books is predicated upon focusing only on

the characters ethnicity; however, instructors and

students need not shy away from acknowledging

and discussing African American cultural influ-

ences in speech, language, and character names,

for example. Cultural specificity need not lead to

stereotyping or essentializing and can serve as an

indication that honesty about difference and oth-ers experiences can better help all readers under-

stand what poet Maya Angelou has articulated

about human difference: that we are all more

alike than we are unalike. Putting the books with-

in age-appropriate social contexts need not be of-

fensive to students or risky for teachers. Rather,

honest discussions about the sometimes sensitive

issues of race, class, gender, sexuality, and vio-

lence would reinforce the relevance of these

books to students own real-life experiences.Eliza A. Comodromos. 2001. West Berlin, NJ:

Townsend Press. 264 pp. ISBN 0-944210-10-4.

US$3.00

Literacy in America:Historic Journey andContemporary SolutionsReviewed by Joseph E. Zimmer, St. Bonaventure University,

St. Bonaventure, New York, USA. Coeditor of the History of

Reading News, the newsletter of the History of Reading

Special Interest Group of the International Reading

Association.

Literacy in Americais a social history of literacyinstruction in America from 1620 to the present

by Edward Gordon and Elaine Gordon. The

scope of the book is very large, but the authors

did an admirable job breaking down 400 years

into reasonable and logical parts. These parts

were further segmented into chapters that exam-

ined what was happening in literacy instruction

regionally. For example, Part I: Literacy and

Religion in Colonial America (16201789) is bro-

ken into three chapters, the first dealing with New

England, the second with the Middle Colonies,and the third with the Southern Colonies.With

this organization, readers can not only see the

general types of literacy instruction available in

the colonies, but they can also see regional differ-

ences in the value of literacy instruction.

The strength of Part I of the text is in how it

completely contextualizes public schooling for

the readers.As I was reading this section, I was re-

minded that literacy instruction has a long histo-

ry prior to the advent of public schooling in theUnited States and that public schooling is a rela-

tively recent phenomenon. For the New England

Puritans and many other early colonists, literacy

was crucial for religious purposes, and parents

were obligated to educate their children in litera-

cy, sometimes by colonial laws. To illustrate the

importance of literacy in Colonial America, the

end of chapter 1 states, One day each year, most

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Americans gather around the family table to re-

member the Pilgrims and give them thanks for

Americas bounty. Perhaps we should also thank

them for planting and nurturing the first impor-

tant sprouts of American literacy(p. 29).

Part II: Literacy in the Young Republic(17901860) presents some brief and very touch-

ing biographies of beloved literacy educators who

taught in Dame schools and early common

schools. Building on the knowledge they gained

from self-education rooted in reading the works

of European educators, these teachers are depict-

ed as entrepreneurs who frequently moved from

town to town setting up schools and teaching

children seasonally.

Moving west, Part III: Literacy and theFrontier Experience (17901900) depicts the

heroic teachers who set up one-room schools in

the Midwest and traveled from family to family in

the West to provide literacy education.

One of the most impressive parts of the

book is Part IV: Literacy Outside the Mainstream

(16201900), which provides a well-documented

history of literacy among Native Americans and

African Americans in the colonies and in the

young nation as a whole. This section providesfirsthand accounts and brief biographies of peo-

ple who struggled against incredible odds to de-

velop literacy among these populations.

While still well documented, the weakest

section of the book is Part V: Literacy in the

Modern Age (1870), which seems to have been

added to the end of the book to connect the his-

tory in previous parts to the modern age. I believe

the authors do a good job of tracing the develop-

ment of the concept of functional literacy, but

this section of the text seems a bit rushed. The

book ends with a statement of the need for im-

proved education in upper level literacy skills to

meet the demands of the modern workplace.

Overall, I was impressed with this book. The

first four parts are extremely accessible to the

novice historian of literacy, yet documented

enough, especially with primary sources, to enter-

tain even seasoned literacy history fans. One of

the powers of this social history is that readers canget a glimpse, no matter how fleeting and brief, of

what daily life may have been like in a Dame

school or in a one-room school. Toward the mid-

dle of the book there is a very touching story

about a frontier schoolteacher in a one-room

school who wrote in her diary that she had volun-

teered to bathe and dress the body of one of her

students who had died in a diphtheria epidemic

(p. 151). Stories such as these really put modern

teaching difficulties into stark perspective.

One of the clear messages of the text is the

need to remember the primary role of parents in

the literacy education of their children. Until very

recently, in historical terms, parents were consid-

ered responsible for the literacy of their children.

The authors justifiably imply throughout the text

that public schooling has reduced the responsibil-

ities of parents as literacy teachers.

Social histories like the example in this book

introduce us to previously unheralded heroes of

ordinary teaching who took the works ofRousseau, Pestalozzi, and Lancaster and applied

them to students in colonial and frontier

America. Its very important for novice teachers

to read the stories not only of the giants who

came before them but also of the thousands of

beloved teachers who paved the way for later lit-

eracy educators in the United States.

I would recommend this text for all college

professors of literacy, as a text for any course deal-

ing with the history of reading and literacy, andentirelyor in excerptfor beginning teachers.

Edward E. Gordon and Elaine H. Gordon. 2003. New

York: Praeger. 330 pp. ISBN 0-275-97864-8.

US$24.95.

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Differentiated Instruction

in the English Classroom:

Content, Process, Product

and AssessmentReviewed by Barbara K. Strassman, The College of NewJersey, Ewing, New Jersey, USA.

Your schools curriculum states that students will

read classic texts such as A Separate Peaceby John

Knowles (2003, Scribner). As you pull out your

file on this novel, you can already hear the moans

and groans from your third- and fifth-period

classes. Before even opening the book, most of

the students will complain that it is awful and

most will dislike the thought of writing an essay,even though you give a choice of topics. How will

you ever engage your studentsamong whom

you have three students with disabilities as well as

four ESL students who have just been added to

your roster?

Differentiated Instruction in the English

Classroom: Content, Process, Product and

Assessmentby Barbara King-Shaver and Alyce

Hunter addresses exactly these concerns. The

book provides an excellent operational definitionof differentiated instruction as well as many ex-

amples from the middle and high school level

English curricula.The authors do not shy away

from the issues teachers face such as grading,

state-mandated tests, and classroom management.

Through specific examples King-Shaver and

Hunter clearly demonstrate that differentiated in-

struction has the potential to reach all learners.

It [differentiated instruction] should focus teaching

and learning around commonly accepted and tested

goals and objectivesthe requirements of high-stakes

testing. In addition, differentiated instruction has the

power to unite levels of readiness, interests, and learn-

ing profiles with appropriate yet individualized and

differentiated content, process, product, and/orassessment to foster student success on these goals,

these tests, and in all learning. (p. 39)

The first part of the book answers basic

questions about differentiated instruction such as

what it is and how it works in an English class.

Each chapter is supported with examples from

the authors school districts curriculum, giving

the reader models of how to differentiate the con-

tent (what students are to learn), the process

(how students will learn that content), and theproduct (how students will demonstrate that they

have learned). For example, a class might be

studying Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

(1993, Bantam) for which each student is re-

quired to independently do a report on the book.

While all students are working on the same con-

tent and by the same process, the product can be

individualized to engage and motivate each stu-

dent, thereby enabling every learner to show mas-

tery of the content. Thus, the reports on Anne

Frank: The Diary of a Young Girlcould range

from a written paper giving a historical analysis

of the book to an oral presentation of poetry cre-

ated by children in the concentration camps.

In the second part of the book the authors

list popular teaching strategies such as flexible

grouping, learning contracts, or literature circles.

Each strategy is annotated, showing how it could

R E V I E W S


Classroom materialsJeanne McGlinn

Materials for review should be sent to Jeanne McGlinn,

University of North CarolinaAsheville, One University

Heights, Asheville, NC 28804, USA. Comments about the

column may be sent to [email protected].

doi:10.1598/JAAL.48.4.9


14/14

be put into practice in middle or high school

English classes that employ differentiated instruc-

tion. For example, the authors use the jigsaw

strategy in the study of Shakespeares Hamlet. In

this case, the class is divided into teams to discuss

the characters in the play. Team members are as-signed to expert or breakout groups, each of

which is asked to study a different character in

the play. Students are assigned to expert groups

based on their capability, motivation, or experi-

ence. The most advanced expert group is given

the most challenging character, Hamlet.While

the expert groups are all doing the same assign-

ment, a character study, the work or content is

differentiated because some characters are more

easily studied than others.When the teams recon-

vene, members present the character explored intheir respective expert groups. In this activity, all

students in the class engage in the same process

and product while given content commensurate

with their individual abilities.

The authors also provide several case stud-

ies of how teachers use a differentiated approach

in units as diverse as Shakespeares Romeo and

Julietand Chinua Achebes Things Fall Apart

(Anchor, 1994). Teachers can create a student-

centered classroom in which student differencesand needs are clearly identified and lessons are

planned based on individual readiness, interests,

and learning styles (p. 25) by looking at issues of

how to manage the curriculum content goals,

planning and record keeping, diversification of

teachinglearning strategies, and individualiza-

tion of assignments. In the case study on Arthur

Millers The Crucible(Penguin, 2003), one teacher

set up six learning stations to differentiate the

processes by which her students would study the

play and the products they would use to demon-strate their knowledge. All students had to com-

plete three designated stations and then choose

one additional station. The stations varied from

writing a poem or paragraph using specified vo-

cabulary from the play to assuming the persona

of one of the plays characters when writing a let-

ter to explain his or her actions.

The authors relate differentiated instructionto broad educational philosophies, theories, and

practices. Teachers will be able to see how differ-

entiation is not a teaching formula but rather a

philosophy about the teachinglearning process

that invites creativity and respects the diversity of

the individuals (both students and teachers) who

make up the societies living in respective classes.

Differentiated instruction, like Gardners theory

of multiple intelligences, constructivist activities,

balanced literacy practices, or a brain-based per-

spective charge[s] and challenge[s] the teacher to

find and adapt content, process, product, and as-

sessment to fit the unique and diverse needs of

each learner. Employing differentiation strategies

and activities helps teachers answer this charge

and challenge(p. 129). For example, in the case

study ofThe Crucible, learning stations enabled

students to link the play to their respective

knowledge bases, interests, and learning styles.

Such structures acknowledge that meaning and

learning are unique due to individual studentvariables and are keys to a brain-based learning

approach.

This short book is a primer on differentiat-

ed instruction as well as an in-depth discussion

on how to implement differentiation in English

classes. English teachers, as well as all teachers

seeking to more actively engage their students in

learning, will find this book useful as they work

to enable all learners to achieve their maximum

potential.Barbara King-Shaver and Alyce Hunter. 2003.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. 136 pp. ISBN 0-325-

00577-X. US$13.60.

R E V I E W S

Books for Adolences

Documents

Transcript of Books for Adolences