Bud, Not Buddy (11)

Book cover.

Curtis, C.P. (1999). Bud, not Buddy. New York: Dell Laurel-Leaf.

Imagine all you have fitting into a single suitcase held together by a piece of twine. That all you have is a blanket, some rocks, a few old paper flyers, and not much else. That you pack it all up to go on a Great Depression era journey to find out who you are. And imagine you're only 10 when you do it.

Bud, Not Buddy tells the title character's journey from orphan to sojourner to determine who his father is. Since his father had never been in his life, Bud was left alone at the age of 6 after his mother died unexpectedly. Unsatisfied with life as an orphan and a mistreated foster child, Bud embarks to find out more about his father, all the while adding humor to the story with his ongoing insights on life as told through his guidebook Bud Caldwell's Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar out of Yourself. The rules he lists demonstrate the life journey he's endured as well as the insights he's had into his surroundings, as seen in "Rules and Things #16: If a Grown-up Ever Starts a Sentence by Saying "Haven't You Heard," Get Ready, 'Cause What's About to Come Out of Their Mouth is Gonna Drop You Headfirst into a Boiling Tragedy." 

Grab a copy of the Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award winning Bud, Not Buddy and see what other guidelines he has to make your own life funner*.

*Please note that it is supposed to say funner, as used by Bud in the book! :) 

Blubber (10): Booktalk

Blume, J. (1974). Blubber. New York: Dell Yearling Books. 

Book cover.

What's the one thing you like least about yourself? What if others noticed it too, but didn't just see it--they made fun of you for it as well?

In Blubber, by award-winning children's author Judy Blume, main character Jill Brenner stands by as an overweight girl in her class--Linda--bears the brunt of bullying because of her physical appearance. The torment begins when Linda presents a class report on whales and the antagonist of the story, Wendy, tags her with the nickname Blubber. The bullying continues in the form of negative names, teasing, and even physical aggression, at one point Wendy forcing Linda to say, "My name will always be Blubber." Soon, however, the tables turn unexpectedly towards Jill, showing that bullying can be aimed at anyone and for most any reason. 

How will each of the characters handle it? How would you handle it?

The Devil's Arithmetic (7)

Yolen, J. (1988). The devil's arithmetic. New York: Scholastic Inc. 

Book cover.

Jane Yolen's young adult fiction novel The Devil's Arithmetic chronicles the story of 12 year old Hannah Stern in a flashback plot. The novel begins in modern America at the dinner table of Hannah's relatives, where they are celebrating the Jewish custom of Seder (the dinner marking the beginning of Passover). During the dinner, Hannah is chosen to open the door to welcome the prophet Elijah (another Jewish custom). As she opens the door, the sees not the hallway of the apartment building she and her family are in, but turns around to find unfamiliar surroundings and people she doesn't know. The majority of the remainder of the story is set during the 1940s in Europe, where Hannah, now known as Chaya, struggles between her future and the "present" past in which she finds herself. Hannah gets swept into the action of her new surroundings, being taken to the wedding of her uncle Schmuel with her aunt Gitl. She soon makes new friends on the journey to the wedding, which is in a neighboring village. However, upon arriving in the village, Hannah and the group of wedding guests are taken captive in Nazi trucks, and ultimately arrive at a concentration camp. Although no specific setting is identified, the integral setting of 1940s Nazi occupied Europe is easily distinguished. Hannah then strives to survive in the concentration camp as more and more of her new friends and family die. Ultimately, she realizes the importance of remembering, the key theme of not only the book, but of the holiday she and her family had been celebrating at the story's start.

Clearly, with a strong focus on Jewish culture and traditions as well as the Yiddish language, The Devil's Arithmetic makes for an eye-opening multicultural selection. Even the main character of Hannah is surprised to find that she can absorb what should be unfamiliar language and customs as part of the magic of her time-traveling experience. Because of the presentation of much Yiddish language, the book would make for an excellent presentation on teaching students to be aware of jargon and cultural influences on texts.

The Devil's Arithmetic has received numerous awards. Among numerous others, the book received the Sydney Taylor Award from the Association of Jewish Libraries, the Jewish Book Council Award, and the National Jewish Book Award for Children's Literature in 1989. The book was also made into a film version. Although the content contains some indications of the violence typical of of discussions pertaining to the Holocaust, it is a work that would be powerful for pre-teen and early teen audiences.

Divergent (6)

Roth, V. (2011). Divergent. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.

The Hunger Games trilogy, a series
very similar to the Divergent series.

Two years ago, I flew through Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy. After completing the third book, I felt sad that such a wonderful series was over and wondered if there was anything similar to it in the world of young adult fiction. This past fall, I found that Veronica Roth had written a similar series and became immediately engrossed when I started reading the first book in the series, Divergent.

Book cover.

I've long been a fan of dystopian/post apocalyptic literature (The Giver, Anthem, Fahrenheit 451), which could be the most significant reason that I so thoroughly enjoyed reading the chronological/progressive plot line featured in Divergent. Set in what seems to be a futuristic version of modern society, the world in which the main character/protagonist, Beatrice, lives is divided into 5 factions--factions from which every member of society must choose to live upon turning 16 based on the faction with which their personality and natural aptitude best fits. Beatrice goes from living in the selfless, service oriented Abnegation faction to the Dauntless faction, where she learns to live a life of risk and bravery. Upon switching factions, Beatrice learns that she is "divergent," or that she strongly exhibits the characteristics of multiple factions--which she comes to find out is considered a dangerous thing. Beatrice, or Tris as she comes to be known when she joins Dauntless, soon learns that a conspiracy has been developed to destroy her former faction and she inadvertently becomes a leader of a plot to overthrow the conspiracy. 

The conflict of the book seems to shift throughout the story. At the beginning, it seems that Tris is struggling with trying to fit in by determining the faction in which she truly belongs. Thus, the conflict is man vs. self. However, at some points, Tris battles significantly with other people, making the conflict man vs. man. For instance, some members of her new faction--Dauntless--try to kill her as she becomes a threat to them during a competition to join the faction. Ultimately, it seems to be Tris against the downfall of her society, rendering the conflict man vs. society. 

Next on my reading list...

The intrigue supplied by the story makes it no surprise that Divergent has won several awards. It received the Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Book of 2011 as well as Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. The book has also spent numerous weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List for Young Adult literature. Thankfully, one of the features of the back matter of the text is an excerpt from the sequel to Divergent--Insurgent--which I am most interested in reading.