Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

Pregnant and desperately poor, fifteen-year-old Esch lives with her two older brothers, high school basketball star Randall and pitbull-raising Skeetah, her baby brother Junior, and her widowed, underemployed, and alcoholic father in rural Louisiana.  Set during the week before Hurricane Katrina descends, Salvage the Bones heart-wrenchingly depicts Esch’s scorching love for her brother’s friend, Skeetah’s Greek tragedy-like devotion to his pitbull and her litter of puppies, Randall’s hopes of attending basketball camp where he’s sure to be noticed by college scouts, Junior’s search for a connection to the mother who died giving birth to him, and their father’s futile attempts to prepare for the unimaginable.  Themes of love, family, friendship, loyalty, and betrayal are thick throughout this many-layered story.  A modern classic for a strong reader.  --Anne Lotito-Schuh

Ward, Jesmyn. Salvage the Bones. New York: Bloomsbury, 2011. Print.

Programming Spotlight: Poetry Performance at BAM

Students residing at the Blum group home attended Poetry 2016: Past Is Present, a performance that opened on Thursday and will continue at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Fishman Space through next week.  Attendees were welcomed by DJ Reborn, warmed up with Baba Isreal, and then took in performance poetry from Climbing PoeTree, Liza Jessie Peterson, Flaco Navaja and Jennifer Cendana Armas, as well as a couple of impressive peers giving debut readings.  Poems were accompanied by beatboxing, dancing, and live music, as well as moving projections, making meaning on a variety of levels and adding to the complexity of the art.  The performance was followed by a Q & A onstage with all of the participants and everyone seemed to enjoy this foray into a new space.  Many thanks to Literacy for Incarcerated Teens for providing the critical funding to purchase tickets, and to Ms. Nadel, Ms. DeLara, Ms. Aiyana, Ms. Sandra, Blum Staff, and Mr. Watters and Mr. Moe at ACS for working as a team to make this trip a success.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Casey at the Bat by Ernest L. Thayer, illustrated by Joe Morse

Teachers looking for a narrative poem to illustrate the genre, as well as poetry lovers searching for a read-aloud poem to serve as an invitation to a story may wish consider this contemporary issue of Thayer’s classic.  I shared Casey this week at the commencement of baseball season and its confluence with the start of National Poetry Month.  This particular version initially grabbed students’ attention with its urban illustrations, though the poem itself seduces the reader using the traditional elements of poetry.  The poem’s pacing and suspense are enhanced by this publication’s layout.  This selection proved perfect for a shared reading and librarians will want to have multiple copies on hand so that students eager to study the images can do so without interrupting the rhythm and rhymes of the poem as it builds the momentum to its final anti-climax, leaving students hankering for more.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Kids Can Press provides a pdf containing lesson plan ideas on their website.  Click here for the website and then scroll down for the pdf labeled “teaching.”

Thayer, Ernest L. Casey at the Bat.  Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2010.  Print.

War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay, Illustrated by Daniel Lafrance

This is the story of a young African teen whose boarding school is attacked by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Koni. The events that follow Jacob are tragic as the LRA implements their ruthless tactics in order to force Jacob and his fellow classmates into becoming part of the LRA. In order to survive his captors, Jacob and three other classmates swear to protect each other as family. War Brothers touches on a multitude of topics from child soldiers to the difficulties of re-entering society after such traumatic events. However, the book does not explore either topic in depth.  This is both good and bad as it can be used as a tool to introduce students to such topics but further resources would be needed to explore them more deeply. The graphics contain just enough text to get the story across, making it accessible to students at a lower middle school reading level. Like any good graphic novel, the story is well paced and told through a well balanced use of text bubbles and graphic panels. Students who enjoyed Dogs Of War should enjoy reading War Brothers.--Claudio Leon

McKay, Sharon E., and Daniel Lafrance, Illustrator. War Brothers: The Graphic Novel. New York: Annick Press, 2013. Print.

Apollo by George O’Connor

In sixty-six pages of glorious color George O’Connor provides the eighth installment in his beloved Olympians series.  O’Connor uses the Mousai, more popularly known as the Muses, to tell seven tales of Greek god Apollo.  All eight Olympians volumes will be of great interest to fans of mythology, comics, and especially to teachers of young people following common core standards. Notably, this series offers layers of text complexity that are not commonly accessible to students who gravitate toward slimmer books.  O’Connor and his publisher have intelligently included generous backmatter making these books a great selection for educators: an author’s note, text notes, illustrated profiles of mythological characters, questions for discussion, and a bibliography are rounded off with a short list of suggested further reading.  My favorite part of this series, however, is the family tree on the inside of the front cover of each volume, providing a handy reference to the relational and familial connections that function as threads in the complex tapestry of Greek mythology. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Words Unlocked Guest Blog Post

With National Poetry Month just a few days away, I’m already full with anticipation as teachers across the country prepare to embark on Words Unlocked 2016! I imagine the conversations young people will have with one another, the understandings they will dis-cover, and the connections they will make in places most people will never truly know. Words Unlocked is designed with young people held in secure, locked facilities and their teachers. The Words Unlocked website is packed with free resources including downloadable lesson plans, student handouts, poetry resources, and how-to guides. My favorite resources by far are the Words Unlocked Anthologies. These collections give all who venture in a glimpse into the hearts and minds of our young people held in confinement. 
 

words unlocked evolve

glimpses into times of change

pause, transformation

Last year’s theme was transformation. Words Unlocked 2015 Focus Poet and Lead Reviewing Artist, Jimmy Santiago Baca, had this to say about the poems he read:

“You hear their lives and feel their faces and you want to sometimes hold them and protect them from the cruelty and injustice in our world, and you can.”

Experiencing poetry, whether through reading or listening, unlocks words once held by others and allows us a doorway into worlds beyond our physical reach. Just this morning I was watching Words Unlocked 2016 Focus Poet and Reviewing Artist, Donté Clark, perform his piece, "Let Me Breathe” imagining the faces of thousands of young people captivated by his words and sharing an experience.

The theme for Words Unlocked 2016 is interconnectedness. We each interact with one another, making understanding impossible if we are simply considered alone. What bold truths will our young people share about being mutually connected—to others, to communities, to systems, to the world? Words Unlocked assures that bold truths permeate facility walls and travel into the consciousness of those of us living our lives on the outside. As Jimmy Baca wrote “...you can.” Listen to the words of our young people. How might they move you into action?--Christy Sampson-Kelly

Christy Sampson-Kelly is a tireless advocate for a particularly vulnerable group of young people—those with special needs held in locked juvenile and adult facilities. She is also the author of reMembering Mulatta, a book of poetry that exposes her journey through the lived experience of being neither this nor that as a woman of mixed ancestry. She currently serves as the Director of Practitioner Support at CEEAS, leads Words Unlocked, and provides direct coaching to schools in the areas of curriculum, instruction, assessment, and student engagement.

Programming Spotlight: Fly at the New Victory Theater

Last week, students in the Lutheran group attended a performance of Fly at the New Victory Theater.  The play dramatizes the story of the Tuskegee Airmen and cleverly includes a dance griot, a role filled by the extraordinary Omar Edwards.  New Victory Teaching Artists Chad Beckim and Janet Onyenucheya, remarkable artists in their own right, visited the following day to debrief with the students, who turned out to be full of questions about stagecraft, military service, and world politics.  Many thanks to Literacy for Incarcerated Teens for crucial funding that made this trip possible, and The New Victory Theater for providing us with access to this extremely worthwhile show.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

photo credit: The New Victory Theater

A Child Called "It": One Child's Courage to Survive by David Pelzer

Parents are not supposed to have favorites, rather make each child feel special in their own way. At the age of five, David began receiving unusual treatment from his mother, and by seven, he knew he was the “chosen one” and not in a good sense of the term. As more brothers are born into the family, the gap between David as a member and outcast grows, as does the malice of his mother’s dreadfully twisted games. David’s ideal lifestyle of trips to the lake, playing freely, and holiday celebrations fade into memory as he must quickly adapt to her deranged behavior in order to survive. As David reveals the story of his youth, you may become angered with his parents’ sensibility as well as those in most direct contact with him. Dave’s story is one of the worst recorded cases of child abuse in California state history, although it is often refuted by his own family members. This controversial biography and subsequent extensions of his life story are told in The Lost Boy and A Man Called Dave. Dave Pelzer, who schedules more than 200 for profit speaking engagements released a self-help book, Help Yourself, further benefiting off those who are captivated by his story of struggle and perseverance. --Allison Trevaskis

Pelzer, David. A Child Called “It”: One Child’s Courage to Survive. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, Inc., 1995. Print.

Stuck in Neutral by Terry Trueman

Shawn McDaniel is fourteen years old and has a great sense of humor about his life in Seattle, Washington. He appreciates his older brother and sister and his special ability to remember everything he has ever heard since he was three or four years old.  Especially since he can’t talk, or walk, or move much at all.  Reluctant readers may not immediately be able to relate to the narrator, but will be hooked when they learn of his plight and that his father might actually be trying to kill him.  Literally.  A post-novel FAQ and followed by an author Q & A reveals Trueman’s personal connection to the protagonist of this suspenseful short novel which, among other things, can go a long way in helping readers develop empathy.  A great selection for a mixed-age book club.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Trueman, Terry.  Stuck in Neutral.  New York: HarperCollins, 2000.  Print.

Click here for some discussion questions for Stuck in Neutral put together by the Arrowhead Library System in Wisconsin.

Follow Your Money by Kevin Sylvester and Michael Glinka

Follow Your Money is a great way to get students thinking about how far their money goes. The book breaks down the cost of everyday items in order to demonstrate how much money goes into each of the item’s components. Without much financial jargon, Follow Your Money sheds light into what students pay for when they buy those designer jeans instead of the generic ones or those name brand sneakers instead of cheaper ones. The title is also peppered with small trivia about finance and the history of money. Students who enjoyed Start It Up or just want to know about how the world works will have much to learn from Follow Your Money. Needless to say, the book can also be a great tool for math teachers. --Claudio Leon

Sylvester, Kevin and Michael Hlinka. Follow Your Money. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2013. Print.

Fable Comics edited by Chris Duffy

For teachers who cover fables: ELA, Greek and Latin, and general elementary teachers, as well as ESL and Reading specialists who provide academic remedial support to students whose teachers are covering fables, this title will be of interest.  The inimitable Chris Duffy has collected 28 fables, two-thirds attributed to Aesop and the balance being from a variety of cultures including American, European, Asian, and African.  As with all anthologies, the mix means that some hit their mark while others miss.  For teachers providing remedial support, the longer fables may be the most useful, among them Kochalka’s “The Fox and the Grapes,” Sikoryak’s “Lion + Mouse,” and Hernandez’s “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” offer stronger entry points.  The variety Duffy has assembled means that fans of the Flight and Explorer anthologies, and graphic novel fans in general will find favorite artists like George O’Connor and Maris Wicks mixed in with previously-unfamiliar illustrators like Corrine Mucha and Keny Widjaja.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Duffy, Chris (Editor).  Fable Comics.  New York: First Second, 2015.  Print.

Click here for a lesson plan from the anthology's own Corrine Mucha via First Second's website.

A Big Dose of Lucky by Jocelyn Marthe

This review was originally published in YA Books for Donor Offspring blog, republished with permission from Patricia Sarles.

Since she was a day old, the only world Malou Gillis has ever known is the 16 years she spent living in the Benevolent Home. When a fire breaks out one night, completely burning the home to the ground, Malou is told it is time for her and all the other teenage girls living there to leave to make their way in the world. Before she goes though, Mrs. Hazelton gives Malou two clues to her past - a baby bracelet with the words "Baby Fox" inscribed on it and the town of Parry Sound,  about 5 hours from the orphanage where she grew up. Having nothing except the $138.00 that was given to her,  Malou sets off to see if she can find out who her parents are. A series of unusual coincidences lead her to a job at the hospital where she is pretty sure she was born, a piece of paper with seven names on it, which she finds in the hospital's record room, one of whom she suspects is her mother's, and an encounter with several young people who all share her brown skin color. But it isn't until Malou shows up in town that they will all learn how they are connected. It turns out they were all donor-conceived at that same hospital. Does that mean they are all siblings and that Malou was donor-conceived as well? And if so, how do two parents go through all that trouble to have a baby only for that baby to end up in an orphanage? Except for one graphic description of how exactly men make deposits in the case of sperm donation, there is no sex, violence, or foul language in this book. Recommended for ages 12 and up. --Patricia Sarles

Jocelyn, Marthe. A Big Dose of Lucky. Victoria, British Columbia: Orca Book Publishers, 2015. Print.

Patricia Sarles, MA, MLS is the librarian at the Jerome Parker Campus Library in Staten Island. She writes and edits the blog, YA Books for Donor Offspring.

Lowriders in Space by Cathy Camper, illustrated by Raul the Third

Lupe, Flapjack, and Elirio love working with cars and want to open their own autoshop, but they are broke.  They decide to enter an auto competition with the hopes of winning the prize money that can get them started on their dream.  Collaborating on this project takes them to outer space and back.  

Nothing about the title or premise led me to think that this book would be a particular hit with the adolescents I serve here in NYC where lowrider culture is not as prevalent as it is in other parts of our large country.  But what to give the sixteen-year-old artist I serve who told me that he loves cars and is dyslexic and whose first language is Spanish?  Lowriders in Space has incredible artwork done in pen and the artist writes, “I decided to draw Lowriders in Space with red, blue and black ballpoint pens to revisit the excitement I felt as a kid whenever I drew.” Backmatter includes notes from the artist and author, a glossary for Mexican-American slang, car, and astronomy terms found in the story, and a one page epilogue to whet the reader’s appetite for Volume 2, which will be released by Chronicle on July 5th.  The best part, for developing readers who are already bilingual in Spanish and English, is that the book is 112 pages long and most pages contain 15 words or less. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Camper, Cathy.  Lowriders in Space.  San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2014.  Print.

Click here for a short book trailer video on youtube.  Click here to visit the publisher’s page where you can download a free teaching guide to Lowriders in Space.

Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story by Peter Bagge

Wife, mother, nurse, birth-control activist, fiery-haired firebrand.  Peter Bagge draws and writes all of these sides of the outspoken Margaret Sanger in this non-fiction graphic novel.  While reading this book, one gets the sense of a life lived so large it can not be contained within the pages.  As the text must leap from milestone to milestone, selections of pivotal points in Sanger’s life can easily be delineated and examined by a class looking to gain historical perspective of the women’s rights movement.  Bagge elaborates further on his text by way of back matter providing historical context, additional information, and revealing editorial decisions.  The comic book style illustrations make Sanger’s story accessible to mature readers.  --Anne Lotito-Schuh

Bagge, Peter. Woman Rebel: The Margaret Sanger Story. Montreal: Drawn & Quarterly, 2013. Print.

The Terrorist’s Son: A Story of Choice by Zak Ibrahim with Jeff Giles

I dare you to read the first four pages of this short book and abandon it.  This is a memoir from the American-born son of a terrorist who is serving a life sentence for plotting the bombing of the World Trade Center.  Current students will not remember the incident which occurred in 1993, but many will relate to the challenges of growing up poor and with an incarcerated parent.  Most readers will, I imagine, marvel at the author’s articulation of the suffering he endured as a result of his father’s choices, his ultimate rejection of the indoctrination of hatred, and his loving embrace of his right to make his own choices about how to be a human being.  Highly recommended for teen and adult book clubs as well as independent reading for students interested in current events and stories relayed by narrators who have grown up with tremendous challenges and overcome adversity.  The Terrorist’s Son winningly combines brevity, heft, and inspiration.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Ebrahim, Zak with Jeff Giles.  The Terrorist’s Son.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 2014.  Print.

A curriculum guide by Pam B. Cole, Associate Dean and Professor of English Education and Literacy, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, can be found here.  The TED talk Ebrahim gave that led to the writing and publication of this text can be found here.

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans by Don Brown

“What happened at the N’awlins?”

Teen readers are too young to remember Hurricane Katrina, but Beyonce may have just inspired their curiosity with this weekend’s release of her new video “Formation.”  For adolescent readers wondering why the pop star depicts herself atop a submerged police car, and, later, drowning atop that car, or those struggling to connect the dots between the drowning imagery and the video’s juxtaposition of graffiti that reads “Stop shooting us” at 4:26, Don Brown has written and illustrated a compelling, grave, illuminating and now award-winning volume.  In full color with shades and tones of sadness, this text is less than 100 pages long and most pages contain a maximum of two sentences of text, making this highly recommended for reluctant teen readers with a taste for graphic novels and teachers looking for a hybrid non-fiction text.  This book concludes with a thorough listing of source notes, a bibliography, and a closing dedication.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Brown, Don.  Drowned City:  Hurricane Katrina & New Orleans.  Boston:  Houghton Mifflin, 2015.  Print.

Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West by Lillian Schlissel

During an informal survey I conducted this week within our school library, I learned that 100% of the students I currently serve did not know that 25% of American cowboys in the 19th century were of African descent.  Black Frontiers provides the visual evidence that students desired to substantiate this claim.  Chapters on homesteaders and mountain men were of less interest, so I strongly suggest introducing this text with the aforementioned historical photographs or with the chapter on Nat Love, also known as Deadwood Dick, on page 31.  The brief chapter ends with a photograph of Love after he changed lifestyles and career paths to become a Pullman porter in 1890, which can also spark conversations about the development of the railways, the socio-economic opportunities at that time, and career choices.  This book, along with Hoose’s Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice will have students wondering how truth is uncovered when history is investigated and written.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Click here for PBS’ middle school & high school lesson plans on African Americans in the West which is rich with additional resource suggestions.

Schlissel, Lillian.  Black Frontiers: A History of African American Heroes in the Old West.  New York:  Aladdin Paperbacks, 2000.  Print.

The Many Faces of Josephine Baker: Dancer, Singer, Activist, Spy by Peggy Caravantes

Born into extreme poverty and a survivor of a harsh childhood, Josephine Baker made it to Paris by the age of nineteen and went on to become an international sensation during a time when African Americans were treated with disdain throughout the United States.  This biography will instruct and inspire adolescent readers with revelations of the last century and the bravery, creativity, and perseverance of its subject.  Presented in twelve chapters which frequently offer boxed features to provide additional context to people, places, and events that arise in the text (e.g. “Eva Peron” and “The March on Washington,”) this book will be of interest to adults not yet familiar with the highs, lows, and complexities of Baker’s life as well. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Caravantes, Peggy.  The Many Faces of Josephine Baker:  Dancer, Singer, Activist, Spy.  Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2015.  Print.

Hold Tight, Don’t Let Go by Laura Rose Wagner

Suffering several tragic family losses in the wake of Haiti’s earthquake, Magdalie is penniless and emotionally adrift in a temporary camp without schooling. Coupled with the loss of her family comes the loss of Magdalie’s sense of security and the future she was working towards.  The tedium of her months in a temporary camp fuel boredom and depression at the prospect of living a life unfulfilled.  We follow Magdalie’s life, a life indefinitely put on hold by the efforts required merely to subsist, as her anger and frustration grow with every failed attempt to better her circumstances.  Will Magdalie learn to let go of her anger and face her days with hope once again? Offering rich portrayals of both the challenges and beauty in urban and rural Haiti, Hold Tight, Don’t Let Go is a novel that leaves a lasting impression.  Recommended for those seeking an inspirational story of finding hope in a seemingly hopeless situation. --Anne Lotito-Schuh

Wagner, Laura Rose. Hold Tight, Don’t Let Go: A Novel of Haiti. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2015. Print.

Human Body Theater by Maris Wicks

For readers who like their anatomy lessons with a whole lot of kawaii and a little bit of humor on the side, Wicks has crafted a new hit.  In eleven chapters a humorous skeleton narrates a guided theatrical tour of the skeletal, muscular, respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, excretory, endocrine, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems, and follows all of that up with an explanation of how our five senses work.  A wonderful text for health and physical education instruction, especially teachers seeking to create and build body schema among students who don’t lean toward textbooks, this text is also an interesting example of a hybrid text for ELA teachers introducing non-fiction.  Human Body Theater includes a table of contents, a glossary, a bibliography, and recommended reading.  Slick production values with gorgeous full-color pages make this title appealing to younger readers as well as its intended middle school audience. --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Wicks, Maris.  Human Body Theater: A Non-fiction Revue.  New York: First Second, 2015.