Happy Birthday, Harry

It's a great summer to be a Harry Potter fan.  The characters have been with us for twenty years, and today, July 31, marks another birthday for Harry Potter.

With all of the new books I am enjoying this summer, I can't ever resist the lure of the reread of The Order of the Phoenix, my favorite in the series.  I read this book each summer, and admittedly, sprinkle the rereading of other series books throughout the school year.  Each reread brings something new.  After all, the book might be the same, but I am not the same. 

Like most avid re-readers, I have my favorites.  Do you have books you enjoy to revisit?  Share in the comments.  And, of course, Happy Birthday, Harry!

That Two Percent

Novel: Everyday 
Author: David Levithan
Blogger: Emma Walton

There are many vehicles of communication from which one can choose to express an idea. In David Levithan's fictional masterpiece, Everyday, this vehicle of communication comes in the form of a delicately innocent love story - with a catch. Awaking everyday in a different body, main character, A, crosses paths with the life of a female character named Rhiannon, leaving A to fall irrevocably and complicatedly in love with her. However, through this seemingly simple and sweetly straightforward  love story, Levithan is able to communicate much heavier and more complex themes.

Using the plot line of A's constant body transformations, the author explores such topics as religion, race/ethnicity, gender, mental illness, homo vs. heterosexuality, body image, and addiction in a way that translates these otherwise dense thematic elements into a simple and easy-to-grasp vernacular. Through this, Levithan creates a sort of ode to humanity which serves to celebrate both the differences and the commonalities that simultaneously distinguish us from and connect us to one another. Exemplifying the focal idea of the novel, the author writes, "For whatever reason, we like to focus on the 2 percent that's different, and most of the conflict in the world comes from that. The only way I can navigate through my life is because of the 98 percent that every life has in common" (77). Confronting the controversial, Levithan challenges the reader to look past the individually important, yet nonetheless minuscule, differences in others that too often lead to misunderstanding, seclusion, conflict, and even war. Instead of fearing what contrasts with our own characteristics and what we have not yet personally experienced, the author offers this novel as a subtle challenge to cross those boundaries that inhibit understanding and to focus on the aspects of our humanity that we as people and human beings all share.

Leaving me with a lot to ponder, this proved to be a fantastic novel that was most definitely worth reading. The beauty about this particular book is that, due to the fact that the main character takes on such a multitude of personas, no matter who the reader is, he or she will be able to find that relatability factor that everyone searches for in a literary work. I would definitely recommend this book to other people, especially to those who are between the ages of 14 and 19. The beautiful message that this novel has to offer is a message that every young person should be exposed to.

And I promise you - after you read Everyday by David Levithan, you, too, will have to stop and truly ask yourself, perhaps for the first time, if that meager two percent difference that we are so quick to judge in other people is worth the hate and conflict that proves to continue to separate and hinder us from the opportunity to connect and make peace with one another.

The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, shares the story of 16-year-old Starr Carter after she becomes the only witness to the fatal shooting of her unarmed childhood friend, Khalil, by a police officer. Khalil’s death upends both Starr and her community as they struggle to grapple with the events and move forward. Although the story in The Hate U Give is fictional, the events that take place feel all too real. Police shootings of unarmed black individuals have become increasingly common to see in the news and has become a national discussion as activist groups, such as Black Lives Matter, work to draw attention to the issue. As Starr tries to navigate the series of events that follow Khalil’s death, Thomas allows readers to see a very real, human aspect that is often left out of the news.

Starr’s story is also one about growing up and being a teenager. Boy trouble, friendship drama, and familial tensions all add to the central themes of the novel. However, while these are all issues that the vast majority of teenagers can easily relate to, Thomas works to highlight how race, racial tensions, and racial discrimination can further complicate the matter for people of color.

Perhaps most importantly, The Hate U Give, an incredibly nuanced narrative, truly captures the voices of so many teenagers of color living in America today. Starr’s voice is not one that is always given a chance to be heard. Thomas’s writing in The Hate U Give amplifies this voice and provides readers with an intimate look at the life of a young African American girl as she navigates culture, family, community, adolescence, racism, and prejudice.

Not only does The Hate U Give offer a riveting read, but it also presents itself as a valuable tool to develop and broaden understanding as well as begin important and topical conversations. Conversations can be hard. Conversations about difficult subjects with people who may have opposing views can be even harder. But those are the conversations that matter most. You may feel as though your voice is not always heard in those conversations. However, if there is one thing that you can take away from Starr and her story, it is how important it is to find your voice and to never stop using it.

"What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?" – Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give

Where is Justice?

 
Dear Martin by Nic Stone presents a compelling young character in Justyce, a young man deeply impacted by the outright unfairness of racial tensions in his world.  As Justyce progresses through his senior year, life brings on challenges, some of which are typical of growing up.  Other challenges, however, should hardly be considered typical, even though they are sadly now common.  These challenges occur because Justyce is racially profiled, not just by law enforcement but also by people that are in his life, people that could be called "friends."

Growing up is confusing enough, and Justyce finds a mentor on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so he begins to learn more about the life of the civil rights leader and writes him letters to help clarify some of the toughest moments in his journey through senior year.

Dear Martin is beautifully written, and if you have ever wondered why life can just be brutally unfair, then you might find that Justyce is a character you can connect with.  I know I did. 

Ghost

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

By Jonathan Baig

"I felt like the shot - loudest sound I ever heard - made my legs move even faster. I don't know if that's even possible" 

   Ghost is a fictional book written by Jayson Reynolds and has won the award-winning young adult novel.


The book Ghost is about a boy named Castle Cranshaw in the middle school whose life is miserable ever since his dad went to Jail for trying to shoot him and his mom. His mom is working all night and day trying to keep them happy and earn money.


Ghost (or Castle ) always gets bullied in school because of the way he dresses and how his mom cuts his hair. Castle has some anger issues and always gets in trouble because people teasing him and him throwing hands on them.


One day Castle sees a group of kids practice for track and asks the coach if he could try racing the fasted person and coach judges him by the way he is dressed and thinks he's a slow person but surprisingly he beats the fasted kid on the team and gets in the track team and things started getting better for him until he did something really bad.


I personally think the book is an amazing book it teaches that "fear must be faced" and that you can't run away from your problems and that shouldn't cause problems in your life to slow or weigh you down from what you have to do in life or complete your dream.


I also like this book because it has to do with running and not running just for track team it all's teachers how to run and achieve your dream, better future, and career. I also did track and that was great and I like to run which made me attached to the book easier. I also like to run to achieve my goal in life and if you like running and have a dream you want to achieve it then you should like this book too.


 I would defiantly recommend this book to young students. The book is GREAT!        

How It All Begins

Yesterday, we had a fun discussion about great opening lines.  It made me wonder about certain books.  Sometimes, it takes a while to get started, and others just naturally have that hook that pulls you.  I could probably spend a full day blogging about opening lines that I admire.  A look outside to an incredibly beautiful day demands that I keep the list short for now.  After all, it is summer.

Here are five opening lines I like, not in any order of importance. 

• "The gunman is useless."  -- I Am the Messenger, Markus Zusak
• "All he could see, in every direction, was water."  -- Unbroken, Laura Hillenbrand
• "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board." -- Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
• "Look, I didn't want to be a half blood."   -- The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan from Chapter One, aptly titled  "I Accidentally Vaporize My Maths Teacher"
• "There was no possibility of taking a walk that day."  -- Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte

Do you have an opening line that you admire?  Post it here and explain why.

Do You Ever Wish You Could Stop Time?

Recommendation by Mr. Giovinazzo-  Frank Conroy's Stop Time

Published in 1967 and nominated for a National Book Award, Stop-Time is an extremely well-written memoir containing all of the characteristics of a coming-of-age novel. Readers are privy to Conroy’s psychological and moral growth, as well as his various educational experiences. In the narrative, Conroy loses his father at a young age and grows up with a highly questionable mother and stand-in step dad. From a whacky counterculture boarding school to Haverford College, Conroy’s life in between is marked by neglect, mischief, and unique situations that prove true life is stranger than fiction. This masterpiece shows why Frank Conroy was the director of the prestigious Iowa Writer’s Workshop for 18 years.

Books from The Hart, (Ms. Hart, That Is)

 
Recommendation from Ms. Hart, Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild

This is an exciting, moving nonfiction biography that reads like an adventure novel.  It is one of my favorites.  You find yourself connecting with the main character, Christopher McCandless- at times you want to applaud him, and at times you want to shout at him to stop, but always, you want to continue on by his side.  The addition of getting snippets from the books Christopher was inspired by adds to the whole experience.  This book has stuck with me over the years and I still feel connected to Christopher McCandless.