Lee, Harper. (2006). To Kill a Mockingbird [sound recording]. New York: HarperCollins Publishers.
Summary:
“Scout Finch, daughter of the town lawyer Atticus, has just started school; but her carefree days come to an end when a black man in town is accused of raping a white woman, and her father is the only man willing to defend him” (SAPL, 2011).
Review:
From Publishers Weekly“Starred Review.
Lee's beloved American classics makes its belated debut on audio (after briefly being available in the 1990s for the blind and libraries through Books on Tape) with the kind of classy packaging that may spoil listeners for all other audio books. The two CD slipcases housing the 11 discs not only feature art mirroring Mary Schuck's cover design but also offers helpful track listings for each disk. Many viewers of the 1962 movie adaptation believe that Lee was the film's narrator, but it was actually an unbilled Kim Stanley who read a mere six passages and left an indelible impression. Competing with Stanley's memory, Spacek forges her own path to a victorious reading. Spacek reads with a slight Southern lilt and quiet authority. Told entirely from the perspective of young Scout Finch, there's no need for Spacek to create individual voices for various characters but she still invests them all with emotion. Lee's Pulitzer Prize–winning 1960 novel, which quietly stands as one of the most powerful statements of the Civil Rights movement, has been superbly brought to audio” (Amazon, 2011).
Impression:
I chose this book after reading the biography of its author, Harper Lee. Of course, I had heard of it and knew it was made into a motion picture with Gregory Peck and Robert Duvall. I knew it was critically acclaimed and figured it was time to read what all the fuss was about. I did not realize that it was a banned book but could see why due to the use of the “N” word. I actually listened to the audio book and have to admit that I winced every time the “N” word was said. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and felt that the language used was appropriate for the time period it took place.
Library setting:
I would engage students in a discussion in why they think the book was banned and if they would agree with that label. I would also challenge them to read other “banned” books and give their own insight into why the books were banned.
Amazon. (2011). [Review of the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee] Amazon. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0060888695
San Antonio Public Library (2011). [Summary of the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee]. Retrieved from
http://sapl.sat.lib.tx.us/record=b1576933~S1
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Module 14 Tropical Secrets Holocaust Refugees in Cuba
Engle, M. (2009). Tropical Secrets Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Summary:
Daniel is a young Jewish boy from Nazi Germany who finds himself a refugee in Cuba where the ship America bound ship is turned away. He is waiting to reunite with his parents who have been sent to a concentration campy by the Nazis. We learn of his experiences and the people he encounters while in Cuba.
Booklist (January 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 9))
“Grades 7-11. As in The Poet Slave of Cuba (2006) and The Surrender Tree (2008), both selected as Booklist Editors’ Choice titles, Engle’s latest book tells another story set in Cuba of those left out of the history books. In fluid, clear, free verse, two young people speak in alternating personal narratives. Daniel, 13, is a German Jewish refugee whose ship is finally allowed entry in Cuba after being turned away from both the U.S. and Canada. He longs to be reunited with his parents, who sent him away after Kristallnacht. Paloma, 12, discovers that her father is getting rich selling visas to refugees and then selling refugees to the Cuban authorities. She and Daniel help hide a Jewish woman and her Christian husband, who is suspected of being a Nazi spy. When adult narrators fill in background, the voices become diffused. But the international secrets make for a gripping story about refugees that becomes sharply focused through the viewpoint of the boy wrenched from home, haunted by the images of shattered glass and broken family” (Titlewave, 2011).
Impression
According to the author, Cuba accepted 65,000 refugees from 1938 to 1939, the same number that was taken in by the much large United States during the same period (Engle, 2009). The author using narrative prose makes her readers realize that in spite of differences of religion, race, ethnicity; we are all people with feelings, hopes, and dreams. We can’t always control the situation that we are in but we can control our actions and make the most of what we have got. Daniel realizes that he may never see his parents again but that he has a new family in Cuba and tries to help other refugees because he know how they feel living alone in a foreign land.
Library setting
Give a brief history of WWII, Hitler and the Nazis and the Holocaust using prezi presentation. Then have students write a journal or diary entry on how they would feel if they were separated from their family and weren’t sure if they were ever going to see them again. Some other options might be writing a poem or a song rather than a journal/diary entry.
Engle, M. (2009). Tropical Secrets Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Titlewave. (2011). [A Review of the book Tropical Secrets Holocaust Refugees in Cuba]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=ca7f358a76c565c4b488ea60b832f1aa
Summary:
Daniel is a young Jewish boy from Nazi Germany who finds himself a refugee in Cuba where the ship America bound ship is turned away. He is waiting to reunite with his parents who have been sent to a concentration campy by the Nazis. We learn of his experiences and the people he encounters while in Cuba.
Booklist (January 1, 2009 (Vol. 105, No. 9))
“Grades 7-11. As in The Poet Slave of Cuba (2006) and The Surrender Tree (2008), both selected as Booklist Editors’ Choice titles, Engle’s latest book tells another story set in Cuba of those left out of the history books. In fluid, clear, free verse, two young people speak in alternating personal narratives. Daniel, 13, is a German Jewish refugee whose ship is finally allowed entry in Cuba after being turned away from both the U.S. and Canada. He longs to be reunited with his parents, who sent him away after Kristallnacht. Paloma, 12, discovers that her father is getting rich selling visas to refugees and then selling refugees to the Cuban authorities. She and Daniel help hide a Jewish woman and her Christian husband, who is suspected of being a Nazi spy. When adult narrators fill in background, the voices become diffused. But the international secrets make for a gripping story about refugees that becomes sharply focused through the viewpoint of the boy wrenched from home, haunted by the images of shattered glass and broken family” (Titlewave, 2011).
Impression
According to the author, Cuba accepted 65,000 refugees from 1938 to 1939, the same number that was taken in by the much large United States during the same period (Engle, 2009). The author using narrative prose makes her readers realize that in spite of differences of religion, race, ethnicity; we are all people with feelings, hopes, and dreams. We can’t always control the situation that we are in but we can control our actions and make the most of what we have got. Daniel realizes that he may never see his parents again but that he has a new family in Cuba and tries to help other refugees because he know how they feel living alone in a foreign land.
Library setting
Give a brief history of WWII, Hitler and the Nazis and the Holocaust using prezi presentation. Then have students write a journal or diary entry on how they would feel if they were separated from their family and weren’t sure if they were ever going to see them again. Some other options might be writing a poem or a song rather than a journal/diary entry.
Engle, M. (2009). Tropical Secrets Holocaust Refugees in Cuba. New York: Henry Holt and Company.
Titlewave. (2011). [A Review of the book Tropical Secrets Holocaust Refugees in Cuba]. Retrieved from
http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=ca7f358a76c565c4b488ea60b832f1aa
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)