We've Got a Job by Cynthia Levinson

Levinson, C. (2012). We've got a job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March. Atlanta, GA: Peachtree Publishers.

Almost 4000 African American children stepped up in a historic way to help the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham, and many of that number were jailed for their efforts.  The young people who participated in the Birmingham Children’s March were able to push along changes with the repeal of Birmingham’s Segregation Ordinances taking place just two months later.  Of course, segregation, prejudice, and issues of race did not disappear, but the actions of these young people drew national attention to the issues.  The account of this pivotal moment in history  is focused on four of those who marched and were jailed as well as the influential adults on both sides of the conflict. 

            

The author interviewed participants in the Children’s March and focuses on their remembrances to depict the events.  The story is simultaneously personal and universal.  The narrative is interspersed with black and white photographs, and many pages feature sidebars on highlighted topics.  Although the chapters and sections have clear and frequent headings that would allow readers to browse through, the compelling descriptions and flow of the text demand a thorough, linear reading. 

            

An afterword allows readers to learn more about the later lives of the four activists featured in the book. The volume is appended by a timeline, map, and thorough notes and documentation of the account allowing readers opportunities for further exploration of this topic.

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

Wein, E. (2012). Code name Verity. New York: Hyperion.

Set in Nazi-occupied France in 1943, “Queenie,” a captured spy is forced to write a confession that encompasses all her knowledge about Allied war efforts.  The result is a novel, scribbled on hotel stationery, recipe cards, and other scavenged paper, which chronicles the wartime friendship that develops between the narrator and Maddie, a Women’s Auxiliary Air Force radio operator turned Air Transport Auxiliary pilot.  Verity scatters just enough details about airplane factories and airstrips to pacify her jailers and torturers, but the real revelations have much less to do with war secrets and much more with true friendship, cowardice, and bravery.

            

The characters in the novel are portrayed with such complexity that readers will relate to Maddie and Queenie even though the historical setting and the dangerous situations in which they find themselves will be far removed from readers.  Queenie proclaims herself a coward in the first sentence of the novel, but so many of her actions and thoughts recorded in her confession make it clear that she has bravely endured hardships and danger and has only been forced into this cowardly act of confessing when she is out of time and opportunity.  Even in torturous conditions, she exhibits some of the same boldness and humor that characterize her early friendship with Maddie.  Queenie’s captor the Nazi officer von Linden could easily become the representation of evil, a Nazi everyman that readers should judge to have no redeeming qualities, but Wein presents him as multi-faceted, with an interest in literature and enough leniency to allow Queenie to tell her story though still a manipulative and cruel villain.  He may never be likable, but he is also not flat.

            

Maddie’s love of flying and her exploits as a pilot allow Wein, who is herself a pilot, to provide significant exposition on types of planes and the mechanics of flying.  These passages can become perhaps too descriptive but the author’s passion for the topic does shine through.  The story is peppered with facts and information about life in Great Britain leading up to and during the war.  Under the guise of confessing all she knows about the war efforts, Queenie is able to communicate to modern readers quite a bit of information about the history of the setting.  Life on a Royal Air Force air field, the Battle of Britain, and the role of women in the war are thoroughly detailed.  Readers may sometimes pause to wonder how she is allowed to write such a personal story by her captors, but ultimately the story is so compelling that suspension of disbelief may not be difficult for readers.

Paper Towns by John Green

Green, J. (2008). Paper towns. New York: Dutton Books.

 As children, neighbors Quentin Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman discover a dead body in the local park, and their friendship is never the same.  Quentin spends the next nine years watching and loving the mysterious Margo from afar.  One Wednesday night near the end of their senior year, Margo reappears in Q’s life, recruiting him to join her on an all night prank adventure.  The next morning as Q begins to wonder what comes next for their relationship, Margo disappears.  This isn’t the first time that Margo has taken off for a few days on an adventure, but when Q discovers a trail of clues she leaves behind, he is certain that he is meant to follow the clues and find her.

            

Reader’s familiar with Green’s Looking for Alaska will find something familiar in this novel.  A reserved, slightly nerdy teenage boy who’s hopelessly entranced by a charming, free-spirited girl will likely remind readers of Miles and Alaska, and there are definite similarities in the dynamics between the two sets of characters.  While Miles finds Alaska fascinating because her attitudes and behaviors are so dissimilar from anything he’s known prior to meeting her, Q grows up next door to Margo and shares in some of those early experiences that shape her, but she still presents a puzzle to Q as her boldness and adventurous spirit are so different from his natural reserve.  Margo’s character is larger than life, and readers may believe Q’s early descriptions of her exploits to be exaggerated, but as the story unfolds, it seems her gift for scheming and thrill-seeking are true.  The other characters in the story especially Q’s two best friends Ben and Radar provide humor and a dose of logic and practicality when Q becomes increasingly absorbed with Margo’s disappearance.  Just as authentically drawn are Q’s parents, therapists who love and support Q but also often see him as they want him to be rather than as he truly is.  This cast of believable characters also seems to emphasize Margo’s dramatic personality.

            

The mystery of Margo’s disappearance is compelling and readers will follow Q’s emotional journey through highs and lows as he follows the clues and searches for her.  Although Q never loses sight of finding out what has happened to Margo, along the way he is just as interested in what the clues tell him about the kind of person that Margo is.  As he searches for her, he comes closer and closer to understanding the person behind the façade she presents to the world.  The mystery story is part of a larger search for identity.  Margo and Q use several different metaphors throughout the book to describe the inner life that represents true personhood, none of which ever completely seem to fit, but by the end of the book, Q is satisfied by what he is able to learn and understand about Margo as well as himself.  While readers may be hoping for a happier conclusion, the resolution of the story fits with the overall tone of the book and provides the answers that those drawn to the mystery of the story will require.

            

Literary allusions are peppered throughout the novel with the most focus on Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass,” which serves as one of Margo’s clues, but fans of the classics will also appreciate the references to the poetry of T.S. Eliot and Emily Dickinson as well as Moby Dick.  Connecting his characters and readers to other literary works is something that Green is able to do in such a way that communicates a clear appreciation and brings a sense of significance of classic literature to his contemporary work.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. New York: Katherine Tegen Books.

Set in Chicago sometime in the future, the novel depicts a society that is divided into five factions that value different traits:  Abnegation whose members practice selflessness, Amity known for their peacefulness, Candor who quest for truth, Dauntless who exhibit bravery and daring, and the Erudite who seek knowledge and understanding.  There are also the factionless who are forced to live on the fringes of society.  At sixteen, Beatrice who has been raised in Abnegation, takes the aptitude test that will help her determine which faction she will choose to join.  Her results are inconclusive, and she learns that she is a rare Divergent, someone who possesses an affinity for multiple factions.  Beatrice is warned to keep this information a secret as claiming Divergence could be dangerous.  She chooses to join the Dauntless faction, where she discovers a conspiracy to overthrow the city’s leadership and seize power.  Beatrice’s loyalty to her faction is tested, and she is forced to accept and rely upon all the traits that make her Divergent in order to do the right thing.

            

Roth creates a world that is both recognizable and completely foreign to readers.  Beatrice and other characters in the story must face pressures and influences from family and society while trying to develop a sense of self and choose a path for the future.  The highly regimented faction system may not be a reality, but young readers may feel similar constraints placed on them by peer groups, teachers, or socioeconomic factors.  The depictions of life within the factions show both members who thrive living within the narrow confines of their faction’s defining trait and those who are out of sync or alienated.  There is little room for individuality except for the factionless.  For teens who are often struggling to find a balance between fitting in and autonomy, the society of Divergent could provide some valuable perspective.

            

In addition to the societal issues addressed in the novel, through Beatrice’s training and initiation in Dauntless, readers are exposed to a world of aggression, combat, and survival.  Like other popular dystopian and fantasy novels, the characters find themselves in situations where they must rely on their own strength, skill, and cunning to survive.  While this world of weapons and tactics may not be a part of reality for today’s young adults, these scenarios demonstrate important lessons about strength and strength of character while also providing an escape into a world where characters experience situations and trials that are far removed from the lives of readers.

            

The relationships explored in the novel are another element that will likely be appealing to readers.  Beatrice finds herself making friends with a variety of characters who are very different from her, and the first person narration conveys how these relationships help her to grow out of the sheltered life of her old faction to understand the world more.  The developing love story between Beatrice and her instructor Four is described with emotion and authenticity that will resonate with readers.

            

As with many fantasy and dystopian novels, the main character faces harsh realities and impossible dilemmas, and the overall tone can be read as bleak or dark.  Since this is the first book in a trilogy, there is no bright happy ending to wrap up the story.  The characters face external dangers and villains as well as internal fears and personal grief, and some readers may be depressed by the tragedies and conflicts, but many readers will respond to the complex heroes of Beatrice and Four and find a connection to this story.

The First Part Last by Angela Johnson

Johnson, A. (2003). The first part last. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.  

Bobby is a teenage father living in New York City.  He tells his story of life with his newborn daughter Feather and the countless ways that his life is transformed by her existence.  The responsibility of caring for a child at such a young age while still balancing school, family, friends, and decisions about the future is daunting, but Bobby is determined to make the right decisions for his daughter and their future together.

            The novel begins just a few days after Bobby brings Feather home from the hospital.  The chapters alternate between the first few months of her life and flashback descriptions that begin with the day that Bobby’s girlfriend Nia tells him of her pregnancy.  The two timelines blend to create a story that keeps the reader engaged.  Although it’s obvious in one sense where the “Then” chapters are leading since the reader knows from the “Now” story line that Bobby is raising Feather with support but little direct assistance from his parents, it becomes clear early in the novel that both timelines are building towards a climax that the reader may not expect.  The narrative style is episodic in nature, describing key events that lead to future consequences as well as conversations, interactions, or reflections that are representative of the relationships among the characters.  

            Bobby’s narrative voice seems authentic, conveying the fear and confusion alongside his determination and love for his daughter.  He is frank about the realities he faces in raising a child alone, conveying both the resentment he secretly feels about losing his own childhood and the tender devotion and amazement he feels at Feather’s existence.  The novel reads a bit like poetry.  The language is sparse in places but very powerful and descriptive.

            There is foreshadowing leading up to the conclusions of both timelines that connect then and now into one linear story, but Bobby’s final decision about his and Feather’s future may still seem shocking or even unrealistic to readers, especially after the realistic way that Bobby has been portrayed throughout most of the book.  Eve with this slightly incongruous ending, the result  

is a powerful novel.

Where Things Come Back

I enjoyed Where Things Come Back so much that I decided to make it the subject of my book trailer assignment for this class.  One of the requirements was to incorporate spoken narration as well as text.  I hate the sound of my recorded voice so much, I seriously considered hiring someone to do it.  In the end, it's my voice saying "Welcome to Lily, Arkansas."