Dark Sons

Bibliography

Grimes, Nikki. Dark Sons. 2005. New York, NY: Hyperion Books ISBN #:0-7868-1888-3

Critical Analysis

Nikki Grimes poetically tells the story of Abraham and Ishmael making it relevant to today's young adults by juxtaposing it with the modern story of Sam, a teenager dealing with the divorce of his parents, the stress of a new stepmother and the jealousy of a new baby brother. Ishmael's story is told so convincingly from a teen's point of view that many readers won't even know they're reading a Bible story until they are half way through. 

Ishmael's faith in God pushes him through his familial trials, though sometimes he questions Him and even gets angry with Him. Sam does the same as he deals with his new family life. This faith and their similar situation bridges the time gap between the two young men and by the end of the book the reader strongly feels their connection as "brothers, two dark sons." 

Emotions run deep throughout the book and both characters show young readers that frustration, anger, doubt, confusion and jealousy are all natural feelings, while also showing that you can overcome them to better yourself and your situation. Even readers who are not religious can find the plot of Dark Sons intriguing, the poetry well written and the emotions genuine. Dark Sons is a great read for grades 6 and up. 

Book Group Discussion Questions

1. Sam and Ishmael have a lot in common despite living in two different times. What are some of the similarities between their situations?

2. What about between their personalities?

3. What are some similarities between Sam's mother and Ishmael's mother? What about their fathers?

4. How do you think the stories would be told if narrated through Sam and Ishmael's little brothers?

5. What do you think Sam's relationship with his brother will be like when they are older?

External Assessments

Coretta Scott King Honor Book

*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. "Why does he have to run off? / To start some new family? / With her?" Teen-age Sam can barely contain his fury and hurt when his father gets married again, this time to a young white woman, who gives Sam a new baby brother. In a parallel, first-person narrative that draws on Genesis, young Ishmael and his mother, Hagar, rejected by Abraham, wander in the desert, after Sarah bears Abraham's child. Grimes' clear, free verse speaks with immediacy and lyricism about both boys' feelings of betrayal and loss. The real focus, though, is on Sam, who complains to his high-school friends ("It's my stepmom, man. / My dad wants me / to give her a chance / But I can't") and talks to and screams at God--until he's able to ask God to help him let his anger go. The simple words eloquently reveal what it's like to miss someone ("I've stopped expecting / his shadow in the hallway / his frame in the doorway"), but even more moving is the struggle to forgive and the affection each boy feels for the baby that displaces him. The elemental connections and the hope ("You made it / in the end / and so will I") will speak to a wide audience."-Hazel Rochman, Booklist

What My Mother Doesn't Know

Bibliography

Sones, Sonya. What My Mother Doesn't Know. 2001. New York, NY: ISBN # 0-689-84114-0

Critical Analysis

The idea of an entire novel written in poetry form might sound a bit daunting for some readers but Sonya Sones' What My Mother Doesn't Know is the book to change young adults' minds about poetry. Written in free verse, Sones has the reader hanging on to every word through the humorous main character Sophie. Sophie's thoughts, views, and daily occurrences  are detailed through short one to two page poems making the poetry easy to digest. 

In every poem Sophie's voice comes through crystal clear. Girls of all ages will be able to relate to her insecurities, daydreams and relationship woes. Sone explores all types of relationships that are important to adolescent girls in the book. Sophie breaks up with one boyfriend to date Dylan, whose smile is almost like "a religious experience" to her. As so often young love does, Sophie and Dylan's relationship goes from hot and heavy to nearly nonexistent and the time comes for them both to move on, and Sophie does, to someone that surprises herself and the reader alike. Beyond the boyfriend relationships, Sones also emphasizes the bond between Sophie and her two best friends, Rachel and Grace, showing just how important a girl's friends can be. 

Interestingly Sophie's relationship with her mother is probably the most indirectly developed relationship in the book. Sophie's mother seems to spend most of her time watching TV and making Sophie feel the type of guilt that only mothers know how to make you feel, yet there is something charming about their relationship. As distant as they are, when Sophie really needs someone to talk to, her mother is there. 

The simplistic beauty of the poetry in What My Mother Doesn't Know makes it a great read for grades 6 and up. Girls will especially enjoy the book because of the subject matter. Another perk to suggesting the book to young readers is that Sone describes Sophie's feelings and actions in the book from an adolescent girl's point of view so convincingly that parent's don't have to worry about young readers stumbling on more adult perspectives on relationships that they may not be ready to handle yet.

Book Group Ideas

Have readers go through the book and find a poem with a humorous tone, a poem where Sophie feels guilty, a poem where Sophie is worried and a poem where Sophie is happy. Discuss the differences between the poems. What elements in the poem make it come across funny? Guilty? Worried? Happy? What word choices set the tone of the poem? Encourage them to try and change a few words in the poem to see if it changes the tone.

External Assessments

"*Starred Review* Drawing on the recognizable cadences of teenage speech, Sones (Stop Pretending) poignantly captures the tingle and heartache of being young and boy-crazy. The author keenly portrays ninth-grader Sophie's trajectory of lusty crushes and disillusionment whether she is gazing at Dylan's "smoldery dark eyes" or dancing with a mystery man to music that "is slow/ and/ saxophony." Best friends Rachel and Grace provide anchoring friendships for Sophie as she navigates her home life as an only child with a distant father and a soap opera-devotee mother whose "shrieking whips around inside me/ like a tornado." Some images of adolescent changes carry a more contemporary cachet, "I got my period I prefer/ to think of it as/ rebooting my ovarian operating system," others are consciously clich‚d, "my molehills/ have turned into mountains/ overnight" this just makes Sophie seem that much more familiar. With its separate free verse poems woven into a fluid and coherent narrative with a satisfying ending, Sophie's honest and earthy story feels destined to captivate a young female audience, avid and reluctant readers alike. Ages 12-up."- Publishers Weekly

"*Starred Review* Gr. 6-10. In a fast, funny, touching book, Sones uses the same simple, first-person poetic narrative she used in Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy(1999), but this story isn't about family anguish; it's about the joy and surprise of falling in love. Sophie, 14, thinks she has a crush on handsome Dylan, but she discovers that her most passionate feelings are for someone totally unexpected, a boy who makes her laugh and shows her how to look at the world. And when they kiss, every cell in her body is on fire. Meanwhile, she fights with her mom--who fights with Sophie's dad--and she refuses to wear a pink flowered dress to the school dance, secretly changing into a slinky black outfit with the help of her girlfriends. Their girl talk is hilarious and irreverent in the style of Naylor's Alice books. The poetry is never pretentious or difficult; on the contrary, the very short, sometimes rhythmic lines make each page fly. Sophie's voice is colloquial and intimate, and the discoveries she makes are beyond formula, even while they are as sweetly romantic as popular song. A natural for reluctant readers, this will also attract young people who love to read."- Hazel Rochman, School Library Journal

Persepolis

Bibliography

Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. 2003. New York, NY: Pantheon Books. ISBN # 0-375-42230-7


Critical Analysis
Persepolis is an intriguing approach to a memoir. Marjane Satrapi tells her experiences growing up as an adolescent in Tehran through an entertaining and eye-opening graphic novel. Because of the graphic novel format, the limited space for text forces Satrapi to use her words wisely and concisely. The direct and to the point style of the narrative echos her quirky and determined childhood personality. Stories are relayed through short topical chapters which make the often serious subject matters easier for young readers to digest. 


Even if young readers don't fully understand the political aspects and themes of the book- the war against Iraq, communism, religious extremism, etc.- they will still enjoy the spunky personality of Marji as she has one-on-one conversations with God, dreams of being a dictator and stirs up imaginative trouble at school. Satrapi's telling of her own life as preteen in a seemingly oppressive culture gives new insight and a few surprises, such as her love of Michael Jackson and desire for western clothing, like Nikes and a denim jacket. 


Satrapi's progressive parents also play a major role in the memoir. They encourage Marji's outspoken personality, keep her abreast of the political happenings and even take her out protesting with them once. Their approach to parenting shows a different perspective of the Iranian family and culture. This new perspective shown through Satrapi's life experiences in a humorous, yet enlightening way, makes Persepolis a great read for grades eight and up. 


Book Group Ideas
Have students bring in newspaper and magazine articles about current events in Iran. Provide information about the current required dress for women and political standing. Discuss the differences between Iran when Marji lived there and now, how she would have grown up if she was ten and in Iran now, what role her parents played in her life and in the political movements in Iran, her conversations with God, and whatever other questions that spur from the conversation.


External Assessments
"Satrapi's autobiography is a timely and timeless story of a young girl's life under the Islamic Revolution. Descended from the last Emperor of Iran, Satrapi is nine when fundamentalist rebels overthrow the Shah. While Satrapi's radical parents and their community initially welcome the ouster, they soon learn a new brand of totalitarianism is taking over. Satrapi's art is minimal and stark yet often charming and humorous as it depicts the madness around her. She idolizes those who were imprisoned by the Shah, fascinated by their tales of torture, and bonds with her Uncle Anoosh, only to see the new regime imprison and eventually kill him. Thanks to the Iran-Iraq war, neighbors' homes are bombed, playmates are killed and parties are forbidden. Satrapi's parents, who once lived in luxury despite their politics, struggle to educate their daughter. Her father briefly considers fleeing to America, only to realize the price would be too great. "I can become a taxi driver and you a cleaning lady?" he asks his wife. Iron Maiden, Nikes and Michael Jackson become precious symbols of freedom, and eventually Satrapi's rebellious streak puts her in danger, as even educated women are threatened with beatings for improper attire. Despite the grimness, Satrapi never lapses into sensationalism or sentimentality. Skillfully presenting a child's view of war and her own shifting ideals, she also shows quotidian life in Tehran and her family's pride and love for their country despite the tumultuous times. Powerfully understated, this work joins other memoirs-Spiegelman's Maus and Sacco's Safe Area Goradze-that use comics to make the unthinkable familiar."- Publishers Weekly

"Marji tells of her life in Iran from the age of 10, when the Islamic revolution of 1979 reintroduced a religious state, through the age of 14 when the Iran-Iraq war forced her parents to send her to Europe for safety. This story, told in graphic format with simple, but expressive, black-and-white illustrations, combines the normal rebelliousness of an intelligent adolescent with the horrors of war and totalitarianism. Marji's parents, especially her freethinking mother, modeled a strong belief in freedom and equality, while her French education gave her a strong faith in God. Her Marxist-inclined family initially favored the overthrow of the Shah, but soon realized that the new regime was more restrictive and unfair than the last. The girl's independence, which made her parents both proud and fearful, caused them to send her to Austria. With bold lines and deceptively uncomplicated scenes, Satrapi conveys her story. From it, teens will learn much of the history of this important area and will identify with young Marji and her friends. This is a graphic novel of immense power and importance for Westerners of all ages. It will speak to the same audience as Art Spiegelman's Maus (Pantheon, 1993)."- Susan H. Woodcock, School Library Journal

It's Not About the Bike

Bibliography

Armstrong, Lance. It's Not About the Bike. 2000. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam's Sons ISBN # 0-399-14611-3

Critical Analysis

Lance Armstrong's memoir It's Not About the Bike is an honest and direct synopsis of his rise to the top of the cycling world and his battle with testicular cancer. This inside look allows Armstrong fans to go beyond what they read from press and magazines and get the inside scoop on the Tour de France champion. Armstrong's portrayal of himself as a rowdy child and teen living with his hardworking, single mother provides many humorous anecdotes while also giving the background to his determined personality in adulthood. Perhaps the most entertaining story is that of the game Armstrong coined called "fireball," which consisted of soaking a tennis ball in kerosene, lighting it on fire and throwing it back and forth while wearing garden gloves. It's ideas like this that make It's Not About the Bike a great read for reluctant, young adult, male readers but might make parents wish it came with a "Do Not Try This at Home" warning label on it. 

Armstrong's approach to describing his cancer battle is direct and matter-of-fact. Though his emotions play a role in his retelling, he details his chemotherapy treatments, doctor's visits, MRI's and X-rays with medical precision and honesty. Determined would be the best word to describe his outlook on cancer, cycling and life.  

Book Discussion Questions

1. Lance Armstrong's mother plays a large role in his life, as detailed in the book. How does their relationship effect Lance in cycling, his cancer battle and life in general?

2. Lance is often forced to make some difficult decisions, whether it be in cycling or deciding between oncologists. Discuss his decision making process and any decisions you might have made differently.

3. What are some of the parallels between Lance's race approach and life approach? What are some of the differences?

4. How would some of Lance's experiences have been different if he were not a successful, famous cyclist? 

5. Lance receives an email from a man in the military stationed in Asia that was a fellow cancer patient that says "you don't know it yet, but we're the lucky ones." What did the man mean? At that time Lance doesn't understand what he means. Do you think that by the end of his battle he understood?

External Assessments

"In 1996, young cycling phenom Armstrong discovered he had testicular cancer. In 1999, he won the Tour de France. Now he's a grateful husband, a new fatherAand a memoirist: with pluck, humility and verve, this volume covers his early life, his rise through the endurance sport world and his medical difficulties. Cancer "was like being run off the road by a truck, and I've got the scars to prove it," Armstrong declares. Earlier scars, he explains, came from a stepfather he casts as unworthy; early rewards, from his hardworking mother and from the triathlons and national bike races Armstrong won as a Texas teen. "The real racing action was over in Europe": after covering that, Armstrong and Jenkins (Men Will Be Boys, with Pat Summit, etc.) ascend to the scarier challenges of diagnoses and surgeries. As he gets worse, then better, Armstrong describes the affections of his racing friends and of the professionals who cared for him. Armstrong is honest and delightful on his relationship to wife Kristin (Kik), and goes into surprising detail about the technology that let them have a child. The memoir concludes with Armstrong's French victory and the birth of their son. The book features a disarming and spotless prose style, one far above par for sports memoirs. Bicycle-racing fans will enjoy the troves of inside information and the accounts of competitions, but Armstrong has set his sights on a wider meaning and readership: "When I was sick I saw more beauty and triumph and truth in a single day than I ever did in a bike race."- Esther Newberg, Publisher's Weekly

A Northern Light

Biography

Donnelly, Jennifer. A Northern Light. 2003. New York, NY: Harcourt Inc. ISBN 0-15-216705-6

Critical Analysis

Jennifer Donnelly's novel A Northern Light has something for everyone- romance, mystery, history, murder and more. Mattie Grokey's story grips readers from the first page and keeps them hanging on until the very last. Donnelly goes back in forth through two stories so eloquently that they intertwine seamlessly in the end. Mattie, a sixteen year old aspiring to be a famous writer and a college graduate, lives on a farm with her father and three sisters that she has taken care of since her mother died of breast cancer. Mattie is constantly stuck between a rock and a hard place with an influential teacher encouraging her bright future at a college that she has already been accepted to and a father who needs her help at home and doesn't appreciate her desire to learn. It doesn't help when Royal Loomis, a wealthy and handsome young man, sets his sites on Mattie creating yet another dilemma in her already complicated situation. These types of issues are what make A Northern Light easy to relate to despite it being set in 1906. The situations Mattie deals with in the twentieth century are nearly identical to what teens face in the twenty-first century. She wants to go to college but cannot afford it. She loves to read and her friends and family don't understand why. Her mother passes away after battling breast cancer. Examples such as these that jump the time gap are prevalent throughout the book.


Although the story is mostly Mattie's, readers will find themselves wanting to know more about Grace Brown, a young pregnant woman found dead in the lake by the hotel that Mattie is working at for the summer. As Mattie uncovers more about her by reading the letters that Grace had asked her to burn hours before her untimely death the audience slowly puts the puzzle pieces together. Donnelly's skillful alternation between Mattie's story before working at the hotel and her summer working there creates an anticipatory buildup leaving the reader hanging on every word, anxiously awaiting to figure out the truth.


Book Group Ideas
Mattie and her best friend Weaver have "word duels" often throughout the book where they start out with a word and go back and forth with synonyms of that word. Have a word duels with the list of characters below. Write down the words as you say them and go back and discuss why you chose that word to describe the character afterwards.


Mattie, Weaver, Royal Loomis, Lawton, Aunt Josie, Miss Wilcox, Emma Hubbard, Mr. Gokey, Cook, Minnie, Daisy, Pleasant


External Assessment
Michael L. Printz Honor Book


"Mattie Gokey, 16, a talented writer, promised her dying mother that she would always take care of her father and younger siblings. She is stuck on a farm, living in near poverty, with no way of escaping, even though she has been accepted at Barnard College. She promises to marry handsome Royal Loomis even though he doesn't appear to love her. Now, Mattie has promised Grace Brown, a guest at the Adirondack summer resort where she works, to burn two bundles of letters. Then, before she can comply, Grace's body is found in the lake, and the young man who was with her disappears, also presumably drowned. This is a breathtaking tale, complex and often earthy, wrapped around a true story. In 1906, Grace Brown was killed by Chester Gillette because she was poor and pregnant, and he hoped to make his fortune by marrying a rich, society girl. Grace's story weaves its way through Mattie's, staying in the background but providing impetus. The protagonist tells her tale through flashback and time shifts from past to present. Readers feel her fears for her friend Weaver-the first freeborn child in his family-when he is beaten for being black and his college savings are stolen, and enjoy their love of words as they engage in language duels. Finally, they'll experience her awakening when she realizes that she cannot live her life for others. Donnelly's characters ring true to life, and the meticulously described setting forms a vivid backdrop to this finely crafted story. An outstanding choice for historical-fiction fans, particularly those who have read Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy."-Lisa Prolman, School Library Journal

Hole in My Life

Bibliography

Gantos, Jack. Hole in My Life. 2002. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux ISBN 978-0-374-43089-4

Critical Analysis

Jack Gantos holds nothing back as he depicts his haphazard, young adult mistakes that land him in prison in his early twenties in his memoir Hole in My Life. Gantos' passion for writing and literature is woven in with every adventure he relates. As he grasps for something to write about he realizes that his "biggest problem with writing was that [he] didn't have anything worthwhile to write about" because nothing exciting ever happened to him. His wish for something adventurous to write about certainly came true when he gets himself into a drug smuggling partnership and sails from St. Croix to New York with hundreds of pounds of hash and a strange British sailing partner named Hamilton who prefers to walk around the boat naked. Inevitably they get caught and Gantos lands himself in prison for fifteen months. With these facts in hand, the reader's first instinct is to assume that Gantos is just another underprivileged, uneducated teen who fell in with a bad crowd, but Gantos' counteracts these assumptions with a heavy dose of literary name dropping. He goes on a trip to see the homes of Hemingway and Stephen Crane. He reads poetry, classic literature and takes photos of the doors of writer's rooms at the hotel Chelsea. He defies the stereotype of a pot-smoking drug-seller purely with his knowledge and love of literature.

Despite Gantos' frustrating decisions that get him into more trouble than he can handle, readers will find themselves on his side, hoping he doesn't get caught and put in prison for selling hash. This controversial approach is finally counterbalanced when the wife of a former buyer asks him "did you ever consider what it could do to the people who bought it?" This is the first and arguably the only time the reader sees Gantos think beyond himself and his desire to write. He says he "was beginning to feel how I had screwed up more lives than just my own." Even though the reader is rooting for Gantos, it is a relief to see him finally look past himself, even for just a fleeting moment. 

Young adults will love to read Hole in My Life if only for the seemingly off-limits topics approached in the memoir. The theme of the entire memoir is based around the selling and using of drugs and the prison references can be rather graphic and sexual making this book appropriate for mature young adults grades 10 and up.

Book Group Ideas

In his memoir Hole in My Life Jack Gantos mentions several writing exercises to spur his creative writing. Write any and everything that comes to your mind about the memoir for five minutes. Discuss some of the thoughts with the book group and any other ideas that may pop into your mind as you discuss.

External Assessment

"The compelling story of the author's final year in high school, his brushes with crime, and his subsequent incarceration. Gantos has written much about his early years with his eccentric family, and this more serious book picks up the tale as they moved to Puerto Rico during his junior year. He returned to Florida alone, living in a seedy motel while he finished high school and realized that his options for college weren't great. A failed drug deal cost him most of his savings and he joined his family, now in St. Croix, where he accepted an offer of $10,000 to help sail a boat full of hash to New York. He and his colleagues were caught, and as it turns out, he was in more trouble than he anticipated. Sent to federal prison for up to six years, Gantos landed a job in the hospital section, a post that protected him from his fellow inmates, yet allowed him to witness prison culture firsthand. Much of the action in this memoir-some of it quite raw and harsh-will be riveting to teen readers. However, the book's real strength lies in the window it gives into the mind of an adolescent without strong family support and living in the easy drug culture of the 1970s. Gantos looks for role models and guidance in the pages of the books he is reading, and his drive to be a writer and desire to go to college ultimately save him."-
Barbara Scotto, School Library Journal

Awards: American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults; American Library Association Notable Children's Books; American Library Association Popular Paperbacks for Young Readers; Michael L. Printz Award - Honor; Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year; Books for the Teen Age, New York Public Library; Parents' Choice Award Winner; Booklist Editors' Choice; Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books Blue Ribbon Award; Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List; School Library Journal Best Books of the Year; Robert F. Sibert Award - Honor; Massachusetts Children's Book Award

  

Specials

Bibliography

Westerfeld, Scott. Specials. 2006. New York, NY: Simon Pulse ISBN 13-978-0-689-86540-4

Critical Analysis

Pretties leaves readers on such a cliffhanger that they feel compelled to jump right into the last book of the trilogy Specials- bungee jacket on or not. In Specials, Tally's world changes again in a big way, going from a regular "bubblehead" pretty to a cruel, "icy," superhuman Special Circumstance pretty. Readers will find that despite her extraordinary lifestyle and "special circumstances," Tally still closely resembles the seemingly selfish and self-serving character she has in the first two books of the series. Much like real teenage world, her once best friend turned enemy, Shay, is suddenly her best friend again, she flutters between love interests Zane and David, not making a choice until the choice is made for her and all the while she has an inner struggle to decide who she is inside, "whether ugly or pretty or special." 

Although Tally has been "tricky" and defiant her entire life, she still clings to the fact that "someone was always forcing her to join their side" and things kept happening to her "because of threats, accidents, lesions in her brain, and surgery changing her mind for her" which is "not exactly her fault." Contradictory to this Tally struggles to get control of her mind and makes disobedient decisions often throughout the book. This juxtaposition can be frustrating as the reader waits for Tally to take responsibility for at least some of her actions and their results. Even in the end with Tally's acceptance of her part in the war the reader is still left with the taste of a egotistical main character in their mouth. 

Discussion Questions

1. What changes did Tally make from Pretties to Specials?
2. What changes did Tally make from the beginning of the book to the end?
3. What do you think happened to Dr. Cable after Tally left? 
4. If Zane did not die, would Tally still have ended up with David? Why or Why not?
5. At what stage did you like Tally's character the best, ugly, pretty or special, and why?

External Assessments

"Grade 8 Up–This final installment in the series is a warning of the dangers of overconsumption and conformity. Set some time in the future, after a human-made bacteria destroyed the modern world, the trilogy tells of new cities established and tightly controlled through brainwashing and a series of operations leading to a compliant society. Tally Youngblood, the 16-year-old protagonist, learns in the first two books that free will and truth are more important than a false sense of security. In Specials, she has become an elite fighting machine, fully enhanced with nanotechnology and super-fast reflexes, and made to work as a Special Circumstances agent for the nameless city that she fled. As in the first two books, much of the story takes place with characters whizzing through the air on hoverboards, but Tally and her friends are in for some harsh realities here. Readers who enjoyed Uglies and Pretties (both S & S, 2005) will not want to miss Specials, but those who have not read those books will not understand much of what is happening. Westerfeld's themes include vanity, environmental conservation, Utopian idealism, fascism, violence, and love. In this trilogy, the author calls for a revolution in our hearts and minds–think The Matrix". –Corinda J. Humphrey, School Library Journal