Book Review + Book Giveaway: Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins

Bamboo People is the story of two young boys who are on opposite sides of the Burmese conflict. On one side is the Burmese Army, famous for abducting and abusing children to use as soldiers, and on the other side is the Karenni ethnic minority that the Burmese Army is hoping to wipe out.

This story could be very graphic, but it is not. Perkins is more suggestive of the actual horrors and tortures that happen every day in countries like Burma that use children as soldiers and slaves. I love that she addresses both sides of this conflict, and shows the two boys as afraid and fearless at the same time. They are, of course, afraid for their lives, but fearless when it comes to protecting others and maintaining some sense of humanity amongst all of the inhumanity that surrounds them.

Because I have read lots and lots about child soldiers but not a lot about the issues that Burma is facing, I was hoping for more political meat to come out in this story. My students and I have been studying Burma (or Myanmar, as most Burmese call it), and I wanted to supply them with a book that would bring further issues to the forefront of our study. I think that it will bring up more issues for us, but less of the political and more of the basic human rights variety. Which, of course, is important and interesting.

I purchased and read this book because I teach a World Lit course to sophomores in high school. I was hoping that it would fit in with the curriculum that I've already developed, but think that it is a bit too young for all of the learners that I have in my room. I have a bunch of extra copies of this book for use as free reading or as a lit circle text, so I am going to give my personal copy to one of you in hopes that it will land in the hands of a middle school teacher or a librarian. It would be perfect for a younger age group than the ones that I have in my classroom.

To enter, please leave a comment that tells me where this the book would end up if you were to win it. Is there a middle school, public library or classroom that you know of that would accept this book? Or, do you know a middle school-aged child that you could pass it to? It's fine if you'd like to read it for yourself, too!

This giveaway is for US folks only. Please leave your comment telling me what library or classroom this book would be donated to by December 10th (International Human Rights Day). Make sure to leave an email address with your entry.

Book Review: Annexed by Sharon Dogar

Every school year, I teach Elie Wiesel's memoir Night. Every year, it's difficult to read about his horrific experiences as a Jew living in Hilter's Europe. It's not a pleasant experience, but I keep teaching this book because of the affect it has on my students. They are almost always moved and inspired. It is with this in mind that I have decided to create a stockpile of Holocaust and WWI-era YA lit in my classroom. One of the books I purchased with my budget this year is Sharon Dogar's Annexed.

Annexed is the fictional account of Peter van Pels's experience of hiding from the Nazis with Anne Franks and their families. For two years, he and his mother and father, Anne with her mother, father, and sister, and a Jewish doctor lived in a cramped attic above Otto Frank's warehouse. Even though they took all precautions available to them, they were found out and sent to concentration camps. Of the eight hideaways, only Otto Frank, Anne's father, survived.

Anne Frank's diary survived the war, so her voice is the one that colors our understandings of what it was like to spend two years locked in an attic while fearing for your life, your family, and the hundreds of people you used to know. Annexed adds Peter's unique perspective to this mix, and goes beyond the time that Anne's voice stops. He takes us on the train after the group is caught, into the concentration camp, and on the death march that killed him.

This colorful imagining of historical events has some upset, but I find it fascinating. I know that it is painful for me to revisit Wiesel's story every year with my sophomores. I cannot imagine the strength and courage that it took to write this novel. While Dogar's imaginings may be completely off-base from the actual thoughts, feelings, and experiences of Peter van Pels, it is important to allow authors to create voices for those who are voiceless. I cannot imagine that Peter would have been angry that an author in the 21st century cared enough about his life to write a book that would go on to raise awareness about the Holocaust.

This book, and other historical fictions that have yet to be written, are inspirational and cautionary all at the same time. Our new and future generations of readers and activists need voices like Peter's to urge them to action so that the horrors that were every day in the 1930's and 40's never happen again.

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To all veterans, past and present: Thank you for your service and your commitment to protecting our country and the people of the world. You are the true unsung heroes of our nation.

Book Review: They Called Themselves the KKK by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

It is not often that I read nonfiction, especially nonfiction YA books. When I do, it is usually for my classroom. This book, They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group is one that I had selected to purchase for use in my classroom this year. I chose this text because I am deeply interested in human and civil rights and want to promote an accepting and inviting atmosphere for all students in my classroom.

This is not always easy to do in rural Maine. Our state has been called the "whitest" in the country; our school has less than 1% of students of African American, Asian American, or Latino American descent. Combined. (We do have a stronger showing of Native American students at about 3%.) And, for a state so far from the Mason-Dixon Line, we have an awful lot of Confederate flags on belt buckles and bumper stickers.

I am not implying that there is more racism in our school than in any other across the country. I do think that there is an extreme lack of information about other cultures. So, I purchase books like this one in hopes that students will learn. Here's what this book has to offer:

-A time line of events starting before the Civil War and leading up to the election of President Obama
-A collection of ads, articles, cartoons, drawings, and photographs depicting civil rights issues
-An easy-to-understand representation of historical events, including political movements and policies related to civil rights, voting procedures, and the formation of the KKK
-Reproductions of historical documents, like the Emancipation Proclamation
-Pictures and interview excerpts from former slaves

This book is extremely user and reader-friendly. I am not exactly sure what the reading level is, but it is probably somewhere between 8th and 10th grade. Some sections are easier to understand than others. Overall, I learned a lot about the politics and the agendas of both the American North and South during the years before and after the Civil War.

I think that this is an essential text for classrooms across our country. The information and the visuals contained in this book make it an enticing read for any up-and-coming civil rights activist. Hopefully, some of my students will be inspired to read it and then spread awareness about civil rights. Because the fight is not yet finished.