October
Mourning: A song for Matthew Shepard
Newman, L. (2012). October mourning: A song for Matthew
Shepard. Somerville, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN 978-0-7636-5807-6
Book Summary: This is a beautifully written book of prose
that tells the story from different perspectives of the life of Matthew
Shepard. Matthew was a young gay college student who was out at a bar one night
when two other college students saw him and their anti-gay attitudes made them
do horrible things. They tricked Matthew into going for a ride with them and
when they got out to the middle of nowhere they beat him with their fists and
the end of a gun. After a horrible beating they took his shoes and tired him to
a fence to die. The next day he was found by someone out on a walk and he was
taken to the hospital where he was in a coma and soon passed away. Leslea
Newman wrote this book from different points of views with different attitudes
and is very moving. There are poems from Matthew’s point of view as well as the
two men who killed him as well inanimate objects like the fence he was tied to.
This is a very powerful book of narrative poems that tell a story about a
horrible event of hate.
Culture Analysis: This book is about telling the story of a
horrible hate crime that happened to a young gay college student on the opening
day of Gay Awareness Week. I love how the author told the story through
different points of view and was able to get the feelings of all the different
people involved. While the poems about the people were very moving it was the
poem titled “The Fence (that night)” on page 16 that moved me to tears. “The
Fence” is the poem about what the fences saw and felt that night Matthew was
left tied there for dead. The last stanza reads “Their truck was the last thing
he saw, tears fell from his unblinking eyes, I cradled him like a mother, I
held him all night long” put the image in my mind that I could not erase, it
was so moving and horrifying at the same time. This book is a tribute to
Matthew and justice for him and in a way a warning for other young gay college
students.
Book Reviews:
From Booklist
*Starred Review* On October 6, 1998, 21-year-old Matthew
Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, was lured into a truck,
driven into the country, savagely beaten, tied to a fence, and left to
die—which he did, five days later. In the 68 poems that make up this
novel-in-verse, Newman re-creates the events and circumstances surrounding this
unspeakably vile hate crime and offers a moving tribute to a young man she
regards as a martyr. Her poems are told from multiple points of view, including
that of the fence, the rope that bound the boy, and a doe that stood watch over
him. The beautifully realized selections are also written in a variety of
forms, ranging from haiku to villanelle, from concrete poetry to rhymed
couplets. Each form (discussed in an appendix) matches the tone and mood of its
content, creating an almost musical effect that is both intellectually and
aesthetically engaging. Written with love, anger, regret, and other profound
emotions, this is a truly important book that deserves the widest readership,
not only among independent readers but among students in a classroom setting,
as well. Most importantly, the book will introduce Matthew Shepard to a
generation too young to remember the tragic circumstances of his death. Grades
8-12. --Michael Cart
"This is the one book I've reviewed so far this year
that I believe must be read by everyone ages 14 and up. It takes less than an
hour to read; but it will likely stay with the reader for a long time to come.
Highly recommended for both YA and adult poetry collections." -- Ingram
News and Reviews for the Youth Librarian
Written with love, anger, regret, and other profound
emotions, this is a truly important book that deserves the widest readership,
not only among independent readers but among students in a classroom setting,
as well. Most importantly, the book will introduce Matthew Shepard to a
generation too young to remember the tragic circumstances of his death.—Booklist
(starred review
A
Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin
Bryant, J. (2013). A splash of red: The life and art of
Horace Pippin. ILL Melissa Sweet, New
York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0-375-86712
Book Summary: This is the biography of an artist named
Horace Pippin. Horace loved to draw pictures at a really young age. He enjoyed
looking at something and making it come alive on the paper. Everyone always
asked him to draw them pictures. Horace’s pictures made people happy. Horace’s
pictures even won him the “Draw me!” contests big prize! He won a paints,
brushes, and colored pencils. His family was not wealthy and they could not buy
him things like that so these were a special treat. He loved painting pictures
and always added a splash of red to them. When Horae got older a war had
started and he felt the need to fight for his country so he joined the Army and
went overseas. While he was over there he was shot in his right arm and he was
not able to life it or move it. When he returned from war he had a hard time
finding work because he could not use his right arm anymore. He longed to still
be able to draw and paint. One day he took a fire poker and slid it next to his
arm and using his left hand, he held his right hand and made it move. He was
able to make pictures again. He slowly learned how to draw and paint pictures
again and one day he paintings were hung in store windows and restaurants and
then made their way into museums where people paid a lot of money for his
paintings.
Culture Analysis: This is a great story about how a
disability doesn’t have to stop you from doing what you love. When Horace was
injured and couldn’t move his right arm he never gave up and kept trying to
draw and paint. After a lot of practice and never giving up he was able to live
out his dream of becoming an artist. Not only was he a famous artist but also
an African American. The collage style pictures done by Melissa Sweet show how
Horace grew as an artist and what type of tools he used to create his pictures
and where he got his inspiration from. The illustrations also show his growth
and perseverance as he grew and learned his skill.
Book Reviews:
From Booklist-
*Starred Review* Born in Pennsylvania in 1888, Horace Pippin
loved to draw and paint as a child. When he was in eighth grade, his father
left the family. Horace quit school and worked to support them. Later wounded
as a soldier in WWI, he never regained full use of his right arm. Back home,
Pippin began painting again, using his left arm to guide his right. Painting
subjects drawn mainly from observation, memory, family stories, and the Bible,
this self-taught African American artist was eventually discovered by the art
community. Major museums display his works, and their locations are indicated
on the U.S. map on the back endpapers, along with small reproductions of six
paintings. In a well-structured narrative with recurring themes and a highly
accessible style, Bryant writes short sentences full of memorable details, from
Pippin’s first box of colored pencils to the scavenged house paints he used to
paint his wartime memories. Combining drawings and printed elements with
watercolor and gouache paints, Sweet’s mixed-media illustrations have a
refreshing, down-home style and a brilliance all their own. The artwork
incorporates large-print quotes, giving Pippin a voice here as well.
Outstanding. Grades 1-4. --Carolyn Phelan
Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, February 18, 2013:
“Quotations from Pippin about the psychological scars of war
and his artistic process are hand-drawn into Sweet's images, underscoring how
art was not only a joyful outlet for Pippin, but also a vital means of
interpreting the world.”
Starred Review, School Library Journal, January 1, 2013:
“Bryant’s meticulously researched, eloquent text makes this
a winning read-aloud, while Sweet’s vibrant, folksy illustrations, rendered in
watercolor, gouache, and mixed media, portray the joys and hardships of the
man’s life, using his trademark palette…with just a splash of red.”
Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2012:
“This outstanding portrait of African-American artist Horace
Pippin (1888-1946) allows Pippin’s work to shine—and his heart too.”
Starred Review, Booklist, November 1, 2012:
“…a well-structured narrative with recurring themes and a
highly accessible style…outstanding.”
Abdel-Fattah, R. (2005). Does my head look big in this? New
York: Orchard Books. ISBN 978-0-439-92233-3
Book Summary: This is the story of a sixteen year old girl,
Amal, who is growing up in Australia. She and her family are Muslim and it is
time for her to decide if she is going to wear the traditional head scarf the
hijab or not. She decides to make a list of all the pros and cons of wearing a
hijab and after a lot of thought decides she wants to embrace her family’s
religious beliefs and wear the hijab. She is very worried about what everyone
is going to think of her at school and is worried that she might get teased for
it but decides she is strong enough to handle it. The first day she wore the hijab to school
everyone was talking about it including her teachers. Not everyone was as
excepting as she hoped and she had to listen to people calling her names like “towel
head” and others, she was also denied a job because of her hijab. She is also just
like all the other teenage girls and wants to know what the boys will think
about it especially her major crush. This is the story of acceptance of
different religions, friendship, and how to overcome hard times.
Culture Analysis: Wow this is an amazing book that will
teach readers about the Muslim culture from why women wear a hijab to fasting
for Ramadan and how different religions pray. There was one time in the story
when our Muslim main character Amal went to a Catholic church for confession
and thanks to the author’s witty dialog and word choice it was a funny experience
and one where the reader could learn about the different religions. In the
story the author describes the different clothing, food, holidays and
traditions of not only the Muslim culture but others as well like Turkish and Christianity.
This is a great book that all teen girls will be able to relate to regardless
of culture. I also recommend listening to the audio book because you are able
to hear the wonderful accent and hear the sarcasm and witty tones of Amal.
Book Reviews:
From School Library Journal:
Grade 7 Up—Australian 11th-grader Amal is smart, funny,
outspoken, a good student, and a loyal friend. She is also a devout Muslim who
decides to wear the hijab, or head covering, full-time. The story tells of her
emotional and spiritual journey as she copes with a mad crush on a boy,
befriends an elderly Greek neighbor, and tries to help a friend who aspires to
be a lawyer but whose well-intentioned mother is trying to force her to leave
school and get married. Amal is also battling the misconceptions of non-Muslims
about her religion and culture. While the novel deals with a number of serious
issues, it is extremely funny and entertaining, and never preachy or forced.
The details of Amal's family and social life are spot-on, and the book is
wonderful at showing the diversity within Muslim communities and in explaining
why so many women choose to wear the hijab. Amal is an appealing and believable
character. She trades verbal jibes with another girl, she is impetuous and even
arrogant at times, and she makes some serious errors of judgment. And by the
end of the story, she and readers come to realize that "Putting on the
hijab isn't the end of the journey. It's just the beginning of
it."—Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
From Booklist:
*Starred Review* Like the author of this breakthrough debut
novel, Amal is an Australian-born, Muslim Palestinian "whacked with some
seriously confusing identity hyphens." At 16, she loves shopping, watches
Sex and the City, and IMs her friends about her crush on a classmate. She also
wants to wear the hijab, to be strong enough to show a badge of her deeply held
faith, even if she confronts insults from some at her snotty prep school, and
she is refused a part-time job in the food court (she is "not
hygienic"). Her open-minded observant physician parents support her and so
do her friends, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, secular. Her favorite teacher finds
her a private space to pray. The first-person present-tense narrative is hilarious
about the diversity, and sometimes heartbreaking. For her uncle who wants to
assimilate, "foreign" is the f-word, and his overdone Aussie slang
and flag-waving is a total embarrassment. On the other hand, her friend Leila
nearly breaks down when her ignorant Turkish mom wants only to marry her
daughter off ("Why study?") and does not know that it is Leila's
Islamic duty "to seek knowledge, to gain an education." Without heavy
preaching, the issues of faith and culture are part of the story, from fasting
at Ramadan to refusing sex before marriage. More than the usual story of the
immigrant teen's conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching
contemporary narrative will grab teens everywhere. Rochman, Hazel --This text
refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
"[A] witty, sensitive debut . . ." -PEOPLE
"More than the usual story of the immigrant teen's
conflict with her traditional parents, the funny, touching contemporary
narrative will grab teens everywhere." --BOOKLIST (starred)
"Determined to prove she's strong enough to 'wear a
badge of my faith,' Amal faces ostracism and ridicule as she dons her hijab
with both good humor and trepidation. . . . Abdel-Fattah's fine first novel
offers a world of insight to post-9/11 readers." --KIRKUS REVIEWS
(starred)
"Using a winning
mix of humor and sensitivity, Abdel-Fattah ably demonstrates that her heroine
is, at heart, a teen like any other. This debut should speak to anyone who has
felt like an outsider for any reason." --PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Other books you might enjoy:
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