Module 14: Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Book cover image: 

Book Summary: Having already lost her father to the darkness that is the war that plagues South Vietnam, ten-year-old Ha and her family sneak onto a ship toward the United States as the communists take over. She encounters many different people and situations while at sea, and she is nervous to be starting a new life in a new country. A mechanic from Alabama sponsors the family, and Ha’s three brothers quickly take on jobs to support the family as they are all encouraged to learn English as quickly as possible. Miss Washington, their new neighbor, helps Ha learn English and helps console her when necessary. While Ha gets bullied by some boys at school, friends at school, her brothers, and the adults in her life all stand up for her. More importantly, Ha learns to stand up for herself. As the family becomes comfortable in their new life, they come to accept that the father is truly gone, and they remember him fondly as they look forward to the new year and a better future.

APA Reference of Book Lai, T. (2011). Inside out & back again. New York, NY: Harper.

Impressions: I absolutely love reading novels in verse. The imagery, the emotions, and the connections provided are so strong. I have never been starved, lost my country, or lost an immediate family member, so it would seem that I have nothing in common with the young protagonist and her struggling family. However, it is books like this that help me build empathy for those of other cultures who have experienced different things from myself. It is very important for people to read because it creates open minds, and this book definitely did this for me. It helps me appreciate my life and the simple things that I do have.

Professional Review: Long, J. R. (2011). Inside out & back again. The Horn Book Magazine, 87(2), 120.

Recounting events that resemble her own family's 1975 flight from Saigon and first months in the United States, Lai pens a novel in vividly imagined verse. Each brief poem encapsulates a mood and experience of that year. As the Vietnam War nears its end in April, ten-year-old Has "Birthday Wishes" include "Wish Mother would stop / chiding me to stay calm / which makes it worse" and diat "Father [who's missing in action] would come home." Registering for school in Alabama in August, Ha encounters "a woman who / pats my head / while shaking her own. / I step back, / hating pity, / . . . the pity giver / feels better, / never the pity receiver." Such condescension is new to Ha and her brothers, all excellent students, as is being daunted by challenges like the urgent need to master idiosyncratic English. Meanwhile, Brother Vu takes odd jobs; Quang (who once said, "One cannot justify war / unless each side / flaunts its own / blind conviction") repairs cars. Many neighbors and classmates, with their own blind convictions, are cruelly antagonistic, but Ha soon finds allies at school and in English-tutor Ms. Washington. Lai's spare language captures the sensory disorientation of changing cultures as well as a refugee's complex emotions and kaleidoscopic loyalties. That Ms. Washington's son died in Vietnam underlines the disparity between nations' quarrels and their citizens' humanity, suggesting this as a provocative companion to Katherine Paterson's Park's Quest (rev. 7/88). JOANNA RUDGE LONG

Library Uses: An important reason for reading is to help people build empathy and learn more about others who may be different from themselves. Have students reflect on the things that Ha suffered and compare them to what their own problems are. There may be similarities, but there are sure to be many differences. Students will write their problems in an anonymous paper “shoe.” Another student will randomly choose that “shoe” and reflect on whether or not he/she could walk a mile in it.

Module 13: Amulet-Book 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi

Book cover image: 

Book Summary: After a tragic car accident kills their father, Emily, her younger brother, Navin, and their mother move to an old family house in the country. After solving a puzzle in the basement, Emily finds a mysterious amulet and has Navin put it on her. Everything seems okay until their mother goes to investigate noises in the house and is eaten by a creature. Chasing after her, Emily and Navin go through a door and end up in a world where terrifying creatures are trying to kill them. An assistant of their great-grandfather, Silas, leads them to safety, and Silas explains to Emily that she is the new amulet stonekeeper and must use the amulet to protect this land. Using the amulet, Emily, Navin, and their new guide, Miskit, journey to save their mother from death.

APA Reference of Book:  Kibuishi, K. (2008). Amulet: Book 1: The Stonekeeper. New York, NY: Graphix.

Impressions: While the story has very familiar fantasy tropes, this graphic novel was enjoyable. I like the artwork, especially the fact that no two characters look alike. Emily is a serious young teenager who yearns for power to protect her family and friends, and so she is a good heroine and role model for children and young teens. The characters are interesting so far, and I actually can’t wait to read the next graphic novel in the series to see if Emily and Navin are able to work together to save their mother from poison. Seeing what Emily ultimately does with the amulet and what it means for her to have inherited the stonekeeper gift is intriguing to me. I also hope that although Navin does not have a powerful amulet, he will be able to show his true strength in future installments. An older sister to a younger brother myself, I like the sibling dynamic, and I hope that the author continues to use their relationship as a driving force of the overall story.

Professional Review: Teale, W. H., Kim, J., & Boerman-Cornell, W. (2008, 05). Amulet: Book one-the stonekeeper. Book Links, 17, 7.

Grades 4-7. Kibuishi, the creator of the action-packed Daisy Kutter series, sets his sights on a slightly younger crowd here. This first volume in the new Amulet graphic novel series introduces Emily, who has relocated to a strange house in the woods, where she finds a magical amulet left behind by her great grandfather. Soon after, she and her brother engage in a wild adventure to learn the secrets of the amulet and save their mother. Emily is as high-spirited a heroine as you are likely to find, and, propelled by uncluttered visuals, her action-packed adventure sequences move at an exciting clip. However, there are also dark elements in the tale—the gut-wrenching opening in which Emily loses her father in a car accident. the autumnal tones of the animation-like art, and the ambiguous agenda of the amulet itself. Part fantasy (anthropomorphized animals, elves) and part manga (transforming robots, tentacled monsters), this volume has much to appeal to readers, though they may be in for a more emotionally complex read than expected.

Library Uses: Students will create their own comic strip, poster, or book trailer to promote this graphic novel. Include discussions on why graphic novels are important to read. 

Module 12: Rosa by Nikki Giovanni

Book cover image: 

Book Summary: After a day of hard work as a seamstress, Rosa Parks was released from work early to enjoy her day and take care of her sickly mother. She entered the bus and sat in the “neutral” section, where blacks could sit if their seats in the back were full. When the bus driver demanded that Rosa and the few black people to move from their seats to make room for white arrivers, only Rosa refused. She was tired of being pushed around by white people. It was time to make her stand—by sitting down. She allowed the bus driver to call the police and arrest her. Encouraged by Rosa’s stand, a group of women in the Women’s Political Council created bus boycott posters, and they recruited Martin Luther King Jr. to be their peaceful bus boycott leader. A year later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregation on buses was illegal, and we have Rosa Parks to thanks for changing what was unjust in the land.

APA Reference of Book: Giovanni, N., & Collier, B. (2005). Rosa. New York, NY: Henry Holt.

Impressions: I have heard Rosa Park’s story many times and have even read a lot of her autobiography, but I did learn new sides to the story on this read, especially regarding what the Women’s Political Council risked in order to promote the bus boycotts in Montgomery. The illustrations are beautiful, and they present the story’s seriousness. The colors used also are the ones I typically connect with a 1960s television show or music video, so the use of them to present this time period and its unrest is very smart. This is a great book for teaching students about the Civil Rights Movement and about standing up for what is right.

Professional Review: Rochman, H. (2005). Rosa. The Booklist, 101(19), 1797.

Gr. 3-5. Far from the cliché of Rosa Parks as the tired little seamstress, this beautiful picture-book biography shows her as a strong woman, happy at home and at work, and politically aware ("not tired from work, but tired of . . . eating at separate lunch counters and learning at separate schools"). Her refusal to give up her seat on a bus inspires her friend Jo Ann Robinson, president of the Women's Political Council, and the 25 council members to make posters calling for the bus boycott, and they organize a mass meeting where the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. speaks for them. Paired very effectively with Giovanni's passionate, direct words, Colliers large watercolor-and-collage illustrations depict Parks as an inspiring force that radiates golden light, and also as part of a dynamic activist community. In the unforgettable close-up that was used for the cover, Parks sits quietly waiting for the police as a white bus driver demands that she give up her seat. In contrast, the final picture opens out to four pages showing women, men, and children marching for equal rights at the bus boycott and in the years of struggle yet to come. The history comes clear in the astonishing combination of the personal and the political. -Hazel Rochman

Library Uses: This book can be used to begin a thematic reading unit on the Civil Rights Movement. Rosa Park’s actions on the bus created a ripple effect in the movement toward African-American rights in the United States. Students will discuss "What ifs?" and analyze the effects of character actions, such as what would happen if Rosa had not done each of these actions or had not said what she had said? 

Module 11: Sit-In-How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Book cover image: 

Book Summary: Four college students took a seat at Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1960. Martin Luther King Jr.’s peaceful words of “We must meet hate with love” echoed in their heads as they sat in a restaurant and ordered food that they knew would not be served to them because of the prejudice against their skin color in a “Whites only” restaurant. However, no matter how badly they were treated, they refused to give up politely requesting their right to be served food. Soon, many other people, whites included, joined in on this peaceful protest during the restaurant sit-in. By working together for what was right, these students would soon pave the way for integration and rights for all.

APA Reference of Book: Pinkney, A. D., & Pinkney, J. B. (2010). Sit-in: How four friends stood up by sitting down. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company.

Impressions: The style in which this book was written was interesting to me. Important quotations from Martin Luther King Jr. or important ideals that the students fought for were in a much larger, colored text to emphasize the importance of the changes that these students were making for society. The book was written almost like a “food recipe” for creating freedom, peace and equality for all. It is a great book for teaching about the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement, and the timeline presented in the book is helpful to readers in understanding the background information and setting for the historical story.

Professional Review: Rochman, H. (2010). Sit-in: How four friends stood up by sitting down. The Booklist, 106(11), 60.

Grades 2-4. This compelling picture book is based on the historic sit-in 50 years ago by four college students who tried to integrate a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Food-related wordplay adds layers to the free verse, as in the lines about the protesters’ recipe for integration: “Combine black with white / to make sweet justice.” The double-page spreads in watercolor and thick ink lines show both the scene in Woolworth’s and across America as blacks and whites organize sit-ins and watch coverage of protests on TV. Finally, the young people at the counter get what they order, “served to them exactly the way they wanted it––well done.” The recipe metaphors are repetitive, but at the core of the exciting narrative are scenes that show the difficulty of facing hatred: “tougher than any school test.” Closing pages discuss the role of adults, including Ella Baker and then presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and include a detailed civil rights time line, “a final helping” about the historic struggle, and a bibliography. Even young children will grasp the powerful, elemental, and historic story of those who stood up to oppressive authority and changed the world.

Library Uses: This book can be used to continue in a thematic reading unit on the Civil Rights Movement. Students can focus on the character motivations for the sit-ins in the 1960s and create their own reader's theater enactment of civil rights moments.