Fire from the Rock

(Originally posted by Ms. Moeller)

Fire from the Rock is a historical fiction novel that weaves a fantastic story and supplies information about the fight to desegregate American schools. This is the story of the Little Rock Nine. The main character, Sylvia Patterson, is a typical high school student concerned with friends, boys, and music. She is also a strong willed girl who needs to make difficult choices. Although this book is fiction, the incidents are based on reality. Sylvia is chosen to be one of the few black students to go to the all white Central High School. Her choice is not an easy one as many white people in the community are against desegregation.

I’ve read several other young adult books written about this period in Ireland’s history, and know that it was a horrible time resulting in many people leaving Ireland to come to the United States.  This book, however, had lots of action and suspense up until the end of the book.  Another good example of great historical fiction!

Shift is a good name for this novel for three reasons: 1) It involves two teenagers who bike across the United States. 2) It shifts from bike trip (present) to college (future). 3) One of the characters could be considered “Shifty.” When Chris and Win graduate from college they decide to take bike (pedal) across the United States. Along this bike trip, Win leaves Chris. Chris continues on his own and returns in time for his first day of college. Suddenly the FBI is talking to Chris about Win’s location. Win has not been in contact with anyone, and his family is worried. Shift is a mystery in the sense that the reader must read and figure out what happened to Win and how Chris is involved. It is also a story of friendship, family, and most importantly adventure. The book also follows the teenagers bike adventure across the United States.

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

This is an intelligent, funny, thought-provoking book for intelligent female adolescents. Frankie Landau-Banks, a tenth grader, has blossomed over the summer. She has gone from a geeky looking girl to a gorgeous teen and has gained the attention of Matthew, a popular senior. As the school year progresses, Frankie becomes more engaged with Matthew and his friends while keeping her best friend Trish. They all go to a high school boarding school which has its traditions. Without looking for trouble, Frankie has uncovered a secret boys group which Matt is involved. Trying to prove herself worthy of him and his group, Frankie pulls some incredible pranks.

This is an enjoyable read with wonderful vocabulary. Use context clues, but keep a dictionary handy. Read to learn more about relationships, friendships, and thoughtful pranks.

This book begins when Ling is 9 years old and it’s based on actual experiences from the author’s own life.  Chairman Mao Zedong, leader of China, launched the Cultural Revolution in the 1960’s as a way to gain power by eliminating differences in classes of people, especially the wealthier classes–called the bourgeoisie–who were the doctors, lawyers, professors and others.  Since Ling’s parents were both medical doctors, her family was under suspicion, especially because they had been in contact with doctors from the United States.

When party leader Comrade Li takes over a room in their home as his own apartment, things become very uncomfortable for Ling’s family and their friends.  Their homes are ransacked, valuables are taken, and some doctors disappear from the hospital.  And it’s all done in obediance to their leader, Chairman Mao.  These incidents are frightening for everyone but especially for Ling who had grown up very protected and privileged.  Within a couple years they are forced to live with limited food, fuel and freedom.

The action in the book took place in the years 1972-76 but I can’t help but make comparisons with what happened with the Nazis in Germany in the early 1940’s.  And, unfortunately, similar things are most likely happening in our world right now.  Why can’t we figure these things out?

Anne Sullivan had her own difficult life as a child and problems with her eyes which eventually brought her to the Perkins School for the Blind. From there she was recommended to the Keller family as someone who could help them with their daughter, Helen. This book gives a day-to-day look at what that first month with Helen must have been like as Anne introduces  to communication and language.  Helen’s wild out-of-control behavior at the start would be too much for most people to deal with, but Anne’s patience with Helen, and her courage standing up to Helen’s very permissive parents, helped lead to the miracle of teaching Helen to communicate.

How do you teach about words without using words or sounds?  It’s all pretty amazing!

So now here’s Elephant Run about World War II with the Japanese threatening to invade Burma. Nick, 14-years-old, was living with his mother in London, but the Germans were bombing London and it was decided that Nick would be safer living with his dad on the family teak plantation in Burma. [Teak is a type of tropical hardwood and Burma is now called Myanmar.]

As soon as Nick arrived at the plantation, called Hawk’s Nest, Nick’s dad wasn’t around much and Nick could sense that something was wrong. And while out exploring a little on his first day there, trying to find out what was going on, Nick had a run-in with Hannibal, one of the elephants that are used on the plantation to harvest lumber. Because of the imminent danger, Nick’s dad was determined to get Nick and Mya, the daughter of one of the plantation workers, out of Burma to safety. And then the adventure begins!

Because Burma had been under British rule, some of the native Burmese people sided with the invading Japanese and turning against Nick’s father. He was taken prisoner by the Japanese and Hawk’s Nest became a headquarters building for the Japanese. Now what has going to happen to Nick, the loyal people in the village, and the elephants, including Hannibal, that had worked so hard for the plantation.  Burmese people were forced to work on airstrips and railways for the Japanese, as were the British prisoners-of-war (just like the movie!) but they were forced to live in horrible, and very unhealthy, living conditions.
Lots of twists and turns and surprises that kept me reading to the end. Again, I learned more about a time and place in history than I knew before, and it made the events in the “River Kwai” make even more sense. World War II truly was a “world” war when we realize just how many countries were affected by events during and after the war.

The main characters are 6th grader Amedeo who has just moved to St. Malo, Florida, with his mother, and moved to a house next door to Mrs. Zender, an eccentric, elderly, formerly well-to-do opera singer, who was in the process of selling her things so she could move into a retirement home. Mrs. Wilcox, with the help of her son, 6th grader William, has been hired to inventory, sell, and dispose of Mrs. Zender’s things. Amedeo has a secret wish to gain fame by discovering something big, and as he’s helping William and Mrs. Wilcox, that might just happen!

So many times when I read a historical fiction book, I learn about something I never knew before or knew very little about. In this case the issue concerned something the Nazis did during their rise to power in Germany. In order to maintain the purity of the Aryan race, Hitler determined that all Modern Art, which they called Degenerate Art, was a bad influence on Germans, especially if the artists were Jewish, and that the art should be destroyed or at least removed from museums. These artists included name like Marc Chagall, Max Ernst, and Paul Klee. Many times the paintings were stolen and after the war were recovered and returned to the rightful owners. And that’s the issue that comes up in this book.

Through a few too many coincidences, members of Amedeo’s family and members of Mrs. Zender’s family are connected by the issue of Degenerate Art from Germany, but that way that the author develops the story makes it very compelling to read to the end.

The vocabulary is very complex, as are the references to cultural items or historical events, so that’s what I mean when I say that you have to do a little work to read this. As with most of Konigsburg’s books, the reader needs to be ready for a challenge and open to learning things along the way.

In this fictional account, 18-year-old Perce Blackborow happened to be in Buenos Aires when Shackleton was hiring his crew for the trip south.  Needing a job and wanting some adventure, Perce decided to hide out on the ship until they were on their way and too far out to bring him back.  So now he had to prove himself to be a contributing member of the crew and worth the space and supplies he would require.

While this is a fiction story, it is based on the actual Shackleton expedition and many of the people who made up the crew, including the real Perce Blackborow.  A few months into the journey, the ship encountered the first sighting of pack ice that would slow their journey, and that would be just the beginning of 2 years of desperate attempts to survive the cold and almost certain death.

I started reading this on the first Friday of spring break and I just had to keep reading until I finished it.  It’s so amazing what people are able to go through under the worst of conditions.  It’s a good thing no one is depending on me to do any world explorations, but I really enjoy reading about them.  And, BTW, we also have several non-fiction books on the same topic.

His quest to come up with just the right statement leads him to try to explain some other mysteries in his life, like why his father never came home from fighting in Vietnam. Since it’s 1977, most soldiers from Vietnam should have come home unless they were POWs (prisoners of war) or MIA (missing in action). So maybe that’s the explanation! He doesn’t get any answers from his family because it’s a subject too painful for his mother to talk about. But how about his grandmother, JeeBee (Grandmother Bernadette)? Maybe she can help him out.

Readers interested in space and also readers interested in life after the Vietnam War will like this book. It’s a fast read but deep enough to help the reader feel Theo’s frustration and his mother’s sadness.