Fighting Words

 You know that part in the book when Naveah recommends a book to Della about a family that has to live in their car and she reads it and thinks it's meh and tells that to Naveah and Naveah gets a little upset because it meant so much to her? I *think* that's how 11-year-old me would have reacted had Della recommended her story to me. Like, I don't think she (me) would have been able to relate to the story enough that it would have resonated. And I know 11-year-old me would have been absolutely horrified, scandalized, mortified by Della's and Suki's experience with Clifton. These, of course, are only conjectures based on what I remember of myself 25 years ago. I can tell you that 36-year-old me thought this book was important and could be very useful to kids & adults everywhere. I am still disgusted by any story of sexual abuse, but I have (sadly, sadly) grown accustomed to them. 

I was very impressed by the way Della stands up to Trevor near the end and tells him with eloquence and assertiveness not to touch her when she doesn't give permission. Honestly, I was left wondering, "But could an 11-year-old even DO that?" I literally couldn't do that as a 20-something. I still remember the first time I actually used my words to say no. I was 27. Want to hear the story? It's short. I was at a friend's house during a snowstorm playing games with several people. A guy there made fun of me for something and I got fake mad (I was a little annoyed, but not mad) and approached him to respond. He was sitting on the couch and I was wearing a knee-length pencil skirt. I tripped and, due to limited mobility caused by my skirt, I landed face-first on the couch with my stomach on this guy's lap. Almost as an instinct, he spanked me. I got up, grabbed him by the lapels (literally) and screamed, "Don't you EVER touch my butt again. Don't you DARE touch my butt." He covered his face with his hands and said, "I'm sorry" over and over again until I stopped screaming. So, yeah, I found my voice. Eventually. As an 11-year-old, though? Not a chance.  But maybe, just maybe, if I had read this book at that age, I could have. 

P.S. Della using versions of "snow" for swear words was absolutely hilarious.

P.P.S. I have had foster-parent thoughts running through my head the last 48 hours since I finished this. Could I do it? A part of me wants to.

We Dream of Space

I am slightly ashamed to admit that I did not connect the space shuttle launch they talked about the ENTIRE book to the Challenger disaster until the very end (even though they called it the Challenger the whole time and the date January 1986 is literally written at the top of every page). I think I actually enjoyed the book more in my ignorance, though, because the climax of the book was a total shock to me (my actual thoughts: "The space shuttle exploded?! No way! Poor Bird. Wait, is this an actual occurrence in history? Oh my goodness, the Challenger!" *face palm*).

We Dream of Space was a good read. I did feel anxious for a large part of the novel because Cash and Fitch's situations seemed so bleak and their parents' discord was so potent. But their baby steps toward progress in the final chapters was just enough to feel totally hopeful for their ultimate redemption.

Back to the Challenger. I read about Judith Resnik after finishing the novel and she really was so cool. What a tragedy this shuttle explosion was . . . and I never mourned it until now. I thought it was fascinating to learn in the author's notes how few people actually watched this tragedy unfold live. No social media, cable news was rare and most people were at work. The one major exception was American children! NASA had arranged for schools to have satellite broadcast set up so students could watch the first teacher launch into space. That was honestly probably very jarring, very traumatic for many kids (I guess if they understood what was happening). Erin Entrada Kelly showed that well through Bird's reaction. 

Biggest Takeaway: I want to be a better parent.

New Kid

Gah! New Kid was the winner this year and it's now taken me three months to blog about it. In my defense, I had a baby and COVID-19 shut down the world in the interim, but neither of those things have really interfered with my ability to write a review.

I liked New Kid. It's the first ever graphic novel to win the medal (though there have been a few honors in the past decade) and deserved it. Jordan - the protagonist - is funny and made me laugh out loud on a few occasions (his comics in particular were hilarious). It was one of three 2020 Newberys about a kid going to a new school where he/she is a different race than most of the students (Genesis Begins Again & Other Words for Home were the others), but I appreciate that Jordan handles his situation with a little more humor. And I think the other students are kinder in general, which made it easier to read (I have a hard time reading about mean kids).

K, baby's crying. Gotta go.

Other Words for Home

One of my most passionate beliefs is that we (humanity) should always err on the side of inclusion. Let people in. Invite the girl who looks lonely to sit with you at lunch. Include the guy who smells a little funny to join your group. Invite the awkward kid to your birthday party. Ask the wallflower to dance (a policy that earned me some interesting admirers in high school, but I knew it came with the territory)! This belief has often lead me to be a single-issue voter in elections. That particular issue is immigration. Let everyone in! Allow others to find refuge here! Our lives will only be enhanced by their cultures, their languages, their talents, their religions and their backgrounds! That is probably one reason I love books about refugees coming to the United States and finding a 'new home' here.

I loved reading about Jude's experience moving from Syria to Ohio. She was honest and introspective and brave. I also loved those who did include her in genuine ways and it inspired me to look for opportunities to be more inclusive with those who may be feeling like Jude and her mom. One of Jude's safe havens in her American high school is her ESL class where there are three other students all from different countries: Grace from Korea, Ben from China and Omar from Somalia. I love how they connect so well despite how different they all are.

Some days
I still feel lost in the halls of school.
I know where I am going
but I can't shake the feeling that I won't,
that I don't,
belong in whatever classroom I end up in.

But whenever I walk
into Mrs. Ravenwood's
I feel safe.
I feel at
home. 

Ben is teaching us all
new American slang
words that he has learned. 

Boogie, he says.
Means fancy. Rich. 

Boogie? Omar says,
he pretends to dance
and then laughs.
Omar has a laugh
Like Issa's.
It makes you want to
join in. 

No, Ben says,
even though now
he is laughing too.
Boo-Gee. 

We all repeat after Ben,
the new word tasting like America
on our lips.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes

The first two "scary stories" in this compilation of scary fox stories are ABSOLUTELY terrifying. I had to stop after the first encounter with Mr. Scratch because I was legitimately spooked. I even told my husband I didn't think I could finish! But the stories got progressively milder after that and then I realized that all the stories were actually one big story and knowing that there would be a nice story arc and at least one fox would survive til the end (don't get attached to any foxes) because otherwise it wouldn't be one big story made the rest of the book completely manageable. The interesting thing is that the dangers and villains of this book are all completely legitimate dangers to foxes! Rabies and humans and alligators (I guess) and winter and murderous father figures. I certainly developed some empathy for foxes (one of the author's intents, I believe) and I was riveted til the end (after my pause following chapter two).

Recommendation: Absolutely, unless you're a huge fan of Beatrix Potter. Christian Heidicker is an excellent story teller, Mia and Uly are lovable fox heroes and the story itself is fresh and unique.

Genesis Begins Again

I had some rough times in junior high. I moved to a new school in 7th grade and I had the unfortunate tendency to wear high-waters, so people made fun of me. A kid in band kicked me once. Some guys used to call me "smurf." I didn't really make any friends until 8th grade, so I ate lunch alone most of the time. I remember crying to my mom about it on several occasions.

Maybe everyone goes through some rough patches like this, especially in middle school, but poor Genesis suffers to an extreme degree. She is really unhappy about the way she looks and goes to great, dangerous lengths to change her appearance (specifically, to lighten her skin). I got to a point where I was like, "There is no way anyone could be THIS unhappy about who they are and what they look like!" But even as I thought it, I knew they could be - I've known people like this! Everything is exacerbated by the fact that she has a super lame dad who is addicted to alcohol and gambling and fails to pay the rent and is mean to her. I just spent the whole book wanting to scream at Genesis that she was beautiful and wanting to scream at her mother to leave her husband. But that probably wouldn't have worked anyway because people have to reach their own conclusions about those sorts of things. And I think Genesis does a pretty good job at getting there by the end, but her mom does not. ::sigh::

Genesis is a cool protagonist in theory, but I was so overwhelmed by her negativity that I couldn't really enjoy her. The book did inspire me to go listen to some Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James, which was a great decision.

The Undefeated

About a year ago, I found a list of what some mommy-blogger had decided were the best children's books about kindness. I checked them all out and my son and I picked out our favorites. Probably among my top 5 was one called If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson. It was beautiful in its message, its simplicity and the artwork was aMAZing. And so I was excited to recognize his name as the artist of one of this year's Newbery Honor books - The Undefeated! And it actually won the Caldecott Medal this year - double win!

The book is a poem by Kwame Alexander (probably only around 200 words) about important black people who shaped American history and overcame all odds to succeed. The paintings are beautiful and the text is fine. I knew most of the people/stories featured, but it was cool to meet a few more - Wilma Rudolph, Thelonious Monk.

Since it doesn't actually tell a story, my 3-year-old felt meh about it. My enjoyment was higher than meh but lower than wow. I actually enjoyed reading the epilogue with all the mini-bios of the American heroes painted in the book more than the book itself. Poetry has its merits and its fans, but I always prefer a good story.