homelessness – Peaceful Reader

Two books for you to read…

There is something magical that happens to me when a student says “You’ve GOT to read this book Mrs. Holt” as they clutch said book tightly in front of them and add “It is soooo good!” (eyes sparkling)

This recently happened with a new-to-Hansen 5th grader, Gabby, and she said all this about Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper, which was on our Iowa Children’s Choice list this year. I always intend to start that book straight away yet that actually rarely happens. That sweet book sat at my desk for a few weeks and finally I finished a stream of other books and picked that one up and brought it home. I am so excited to return to school tomorrow and march right up to Gabby and tell her thank you for recommending this book to me! I loved it as much as she did so now I’m holding it out to you and telling you, my fine reader, to go find this book at a library or a bookstore and take it home, settle yourself on the sofa or outside in a hammock and be prepared to be transported to Stella’s world.

Stella is living in Bumblebee, NC and she tries to write in her journal outside at night because she catches her best thoughts in the quiet. One night she spots men in white robes and a cross on fire right across the pond from her. The Klan is active and creates terrible tension for her small community and her family. Her father joins two other men from the community to register to vote in town and Stella goes along “to be his rock”. When the Klan burns down a house belonging to one of the brave men who registered to vote the town comes together, both black and white to help. Stella is a brave, smart, kind, and enjoyable character that eventually learns to trust her own talents as a writer.

Did not know that Miles Davis plays Stella by Starlight, check it out! I’m sure Sharon M. Draper did.

The second book I’m excited about this week is The dog, Ray by Linda Coggin. I found this gem at the public library while browsing the shelf for a teacher request. It just struck me and I brought it home and it traveled to dance with me for a long rehearsal and I finished it in one day. Yes.

This is the story of 12-year-old Daisy, killed in a car accident, in the first few pages. She is whisked up to some kind of job central and lands back on earth as a…yes, a dog. So sweet. The entertaining part is that she went through the wrong shoot and she can remember her “Daisy” life. She is adopted first into a neglectful, crabby kind of family which makes her take off after a kind homeless man she meets while tied to a bench at the park. Eventually, she meets a young orphaned and homeless boy, Pip. His mother recently died and he’s trying to find his father who does not know he exists. What a journey. Pip is a delightful Oliver Twist-like young man determined to find a forever home and he and Ray find their way together. This story is filled with an interesting cast of characters and will have you turning pages rapidly.

I wish I had a song to go with this one but go back and listen to that fantastic Miles Davis tune!

Review: I'll Be There

(Beautiful new cover-My copy is brown paper)

Holly Goldberg Sloan

(May, 2011)

Goodreads Summary:

Raised by an unstable father who keeps the family constantly on the move, Sam Border hasn’t been in a classroom since the second grade. He’s always been the rock for his younger brother Riddle, who stopped speaking long ago and instead makes sense of the world through his strange and intricate drawings. It’s said that the two boys speak with one voice–and that voice is Sam’s.

Then, Sam meets Emily Bell, and everything changes. The two share an immediate and intense attraction, and soon Sam and Riddle find themselves welcomed into the Bell’s home. Faced with normalcy for the first time, they know it’s too good to last.

Told from multiple perspectives, Holly Goldberg Sloan’s debut novel offers readers fresh voices and a gripping story, with vivid glimpses into the lives of many unique characters. Beautifully written and emotionally profound, I’ll Be There is a story about connections both big and small, and deftly explores the many ways that our lives are woven together.

My Thoughts:

I loved this book. It was emotional and thrilling roller coaster. Sam’s family situation made me angry and I’m always amazing when remarkable children are born out of such chaos. I’ve met my share of neglected children and I simply want to bring them home. I did once as a teacher in Arkansas.

It’s too long of a tale to tell fully but Anton’s mother wasn’t home often and kids made fun of him for his body odor. I had a rapport with him and his 5th grade teacher was a close friend of mine so I asked him one day if he would consider spending the weekend with my family. He readily said yes and wanted to know if it could be the very next weekend. I made arrangements and Friday after school took him across the street to the public housing apartment he lived in with several brothers and his mother.

Nobody was home which gave me the opportunity to look around. No shower curtain, no soap, no food in the cupboards, but the tv and a gas burner were both on. In his room three cardboard boxes were on the floor for each brother’s storage and three mattresses with no sheets just a few blankets were scattered on the floor. It was shocking for my middle-class eyes. I thought I’d seen poverty but not like that.

My experience with Anton helped me understand other students’ living situations, which has made me a more empathetic teacher. I could relate to Debbie Bell’s need to take care of the intricate Riddle (mostly) and Sam. I would have done the same. It amazed me the first time I took Anton into the grocery store (an experience we take for granted, even if we can’t buy all we would like) and seeing his joy and confusion all mixed together. He’d never been to an actual grocery store, had only ever shopped at convenience stores.

Debbie Bell experienced this same awe as she gets to know Sam and Riddle and how parts of life are a surprise to them; simple things like cooking in the kitchen. Even though both boys really need help they are getting by with Sam’s ability to understand and care for Riddle. Mrs Bell, Emily’s

Quote:

Making a connection to a person can be the scariest thing that ever happens to you.
Sam knew that now.
He’d walked around coiled rattlesnakes. He’d jumped off a train trestle to avoid an oncoming train. He’d lain in bed shivering at night with infection and no penicillin. He’d been pulled out to sea by the current when he couldn’t swim. He dodged the flying fist of his father. Many, many times.
But this scared him more.
This scared him so much that he couldn’t face her again.
He’d come home that night, and things had not gone well. Clarence was hearing voices and when he discovered Riddle by himself, the voices got louder. Where the hell had Sam gone? (70-ARC version)

The quote sounds confusing as the characters think back and forth, making the reader focus on the each particular character. Once you get the hang of reading this stream-of-consciencness it makes the story go fast, just like real life.

Sloan’s amazing job of juxtaposing the “normal” Bell family against the craziness of Clarence Border is well done and she takes it a step further by adding Bobby, another interesting character with his own bumbling moral code. He has a major crush on Emily and wants to “save” her from Sam. Bobby’s interwoven and often humorous tale is just another battle for Emily and Sam to face, even though Sam’s family life would be enough for any young couple to handle.

Maybe I connected to Sloan’s story because of my previous experiences but I truly enjoyed reading this book. It has many surprising twists of which I plan to reveal none of here-suffice it to say it is a very unconventional tale of love, hope and family.

ARC received from publisher, Little, Brown and Company, but in no way influenced how I felt about the book. A HUGE thank you!

I love searching out other posts about the book once I am finished writing my review. After reading through this post at Flippin’ Fabulous I had to smile as she and I share a few similar thoughts (hers is better, of course) and I’m choosing to leave mine as is. This book does deserve to be read again!
Others:

Britta at I Like These Books.
Forever Young Adult. (love that she wants to adopt sweet Riddle)
and Ten Cent Notes.

Saraswati's Way

by Monika Schroder

2010

233 pages, including glossary

I love to get books directly from the author. Monika Schroder contacted me and asked if I would read and review her book and I casually replied “Yes, I’d love to…” and at that point you never know how it’s going to turn out but the book was wonderful. I especially loved learning more about Indian culture and I fell in love with Akash and his passion for learning.

Summary: Leaving his village in rurual India to find a better education, mathematically gifted, twelve-year-old Akash arrives at the New Delhi train station, where he relies on Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of knowledge, to guide him as he negotiates life on the street, resists the temptations of easy money, and learns whom he can trust.

Akash’s story demonstrates how difficult in many cultures it is to become educated and even though the United States has a public school system we experience the same; if your family does not value education that fact alone will make it hard to be a good student. Akash has been in school but his math knowledge exceeds his teacher’s and he needs to locate and pay for a math tutor so he can pass the a test and get a scholarship to get into a good high school. His father believes in Akash’s education but when his father dies his grandmother is quick to send him off to work in the rock quarry.

After only a few days at the rock quarry Akash has the chance to “see” the ledger keeping all the accounts for the quarry. When he realizes it will take him years and years to pay off his grandmother’s debt he chooses to run away. He knows he has what it takes to change and his desire is to be educated. Jumping a train to Delhi Akash is hidden by a portly train employee.

In Delhi he doesn’t know anyone and ends up sleeping in a box through the night. While he’s taken himself out of one bad situation (rock quarry) he quickly finds living on his own has its drawbacks. He has to deal with other boys fighting to stay alive, police, and drug dealers. While Akash makes some good decisions and some bad ones he learns to keep his focus on finding an education. On the train platform he eventually meets Ramesh-ji who runs the magazine stand. He lets Akash sleep on top so he isn’t bothered by the police officers in the night. Ramesh and Akash build a good relationship, realizing there is more to each of them than one would think.

Three Quotes:

Other street boys befriend Akash and teach him the ways of the station. They all have ways to deal with their homelessness and hunger.

“I will fly away,” Deepak said, fluttering his arms. His face distorted to a horrid grin.

“Are they okay?” Akash asked.
“I told you,” Rohit said. “The glue makes you see things that are not there.”
“At first,” Sunil said. “Then it makes you drowsy and when you can’t stop it turns your brain into glue.” (31)

and

“How come you didn’t go to the movies?” Ramesh asked. “Isn’t it Friday today?”
“I didn’t want to go. I need to save my money for a tutor. I found a man at Pahar Ganj who will teach me math.”
“That is very wise of you,” Ramesh-ji said, suddenly speaking in English.
“Ramesh-ji, I didn’t know you spoke English.”
“Maybe you would like to practice your English with me. For the kind of school you want to go to, you need to speak, read, and write English well. Didn’t you even bring an English textbook?”
“How do you know English?” Akash asked.
“I used to work as a cook for British people,” Ramesh said. “That was a long time ago.” (35)

Schroder does a great job of intergrating Indian culture so anyone reading will have learned from their experience…

Akash would have like to accompany him to the temple, but since Ramesh didn’t offer to take him, he didn’t dare ask. Navratri, the nine nights before Dussehra, had always been one of his favorite festivals. In the evenings he had joined the other youths from the village to watch the dandia dance. The men would form a circle on the outside and the women one in the inside. When the music began each cirle started to rotate slowly in opposite directions. (34)

I loved reading this book and couldn’t wait to see how Akash dealt with the street boys and the drug dealers, especially when he decided to become a courier to make some money. It is an intense story and I was cheering for Akash to get back on the right path. Luckily his deep desire for an education does win out and Akash and Ramesh find a way to work together.

This is a perfect middle school mulitcultural read. Thank you to Monika Schroder for sensing my need to read her gem. To find it at an Independent bookseller near you, click on the title…Saraswati’s Way