suicide – Peaceful Reader

February Peace

It’s here and it’s brought warmer weather so I’m happy. I’m not foolish enough to think that the cold snap or #PolarVortex won’t return yet for now I’m happy to see snow melting all around us. Drip Drip

(Sally’s Baking Addiction)

I made cinnamon rolls for an event yesterday. Insomnia had me up at 5am and I thought “I should get up and make rolls” for the state speech event we volunteered our time at yesterday morning. We didn’t get to try the rolls as they were whisked off for the judges’ break room and making them was super easy so I plan to whip them up again real soon. Just maybe not at 5am.

Last week was a crazy school week; we had school on Friday only. I was pretty lazy and did a lot of reading. Some cleaning (Maria Kondo on Netflix is great motivation) but mostly reading. I have several books to recommend to you.

Heads of the colored people by Nafissa Thompson-Spires (2018): Excellent short stories that lifted me and educated me. Nafissa has an amazing array of characters in these 12 well-crafted tales including two mothers who sling insults at each other through notes sent back and forth in the backpacks of their daughters, Marjorie, a woman who tries therapy because of her anger issues, Riley, a young man headed to Comic -Con, a young woman obsessed with men who’ve become amputees, and a young woman struggling with social media likes and suicidal thoughts. Here’s a great article form Electric Lit highlighting these stories and an interview with Thompson-Spires. I enjoyed this book so much I’m going to order my own copy and probably give it as gifts this year. Thank you to Verda for bringing this book (and the next one) to my attention.

Black Girls must die exhausted; a novel for grown ups by Jayne Allen (2018): “The day I turned 30, I officially departed my childhood. Not the pigtail braids, devil may care, ‘don’t get your Sunday church clothes dirty’ kind of childhood. At 30, I just knew it was the end of the dress rehearsal. I was officially grown.” So begins our journey with Tabitha as she navigates relationships with her friends and men, and the growing demands of her television reporter position and what it means to be the only one in the office with “black perspective” as she moves up into a lead position. I felt connected to Tabitha and held her pain throughout the book which most affected me when she argued with her girlfriends and when she was pulled over by the police car. The raw fear of what might happen juxtaposed against what actually happened was mind-boggling for me and for Tabitha. It made it very real and highlighted, even though her experience was pleasant, very easily can go the other way. good cops/bad cops situation. I loved this casual story and look forward to reading the second.

So make some cinnamon rolls and cuddle up with a good book as February brings us one month closer to Spring.

Fall Reading List 2018

September:

Going Wild by Lisa McMann (2016): Charlie’s whole life changes when she has to move from Chicago to the suburbs of Arizona. As she struggles to make friends Charlie discovers a bracelet among their moving boxes. Her life begins to change in very dramatic ways when she wears the bracelet. This is an exciting new series that will appeal to readers of Spirit Animals.

11/22/63 by Stephen King (2011): This book is 849 pages and it took me almost a month to finish it. I loved it. I also watched the mini-series and loved that as well. Jake Epping finds a ripple in time and tries to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy. I fell in love with the characters especially Sadie.

October:

The Maze Runner by James Dashner (2009): Thomas wakes up in the middle of the glade, surrounded by young men all just trying to survive in a world they know nothing about. Every day they run the maze trying to figure out what and where they are trying to keep one step ahead of the predator.

Hideout by Watt Key (2017): Sam is struggling with his life after surviving a bullying attack at school. His father gives him a boat that he’s supposed to use for fishing except he ends up exploring the small rivers around the Gulf Shores and finds a young boy living in an old shack. Sam helps Davey but once he does he their lives become too entangled.

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (2018): Oh this is a powerful story like Jason Reynolds’ Long Way Down. Jerome, a 12-yr-old boy, is shot and killed by a Chicago police officer who sees his play gun as a threat. He spends the rest of the book learning to heal and help the 12 yr old daughter of the police officer. Beautifully told through Jerome’s voice and Emmett Till as well.

Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson (2018): Woodson is one of my writing heroes and this book tackles current topics of deportation and racial profiling. Told through the eyes of 5 young teens, all struggling with something in their lives they are given the gift of time to talk as a group at school to learn from each other. Another amazing story by Woodson.

Friends for life by Andrew Norriss (2015): I ordered this for school because it sounded like a charming little English story of a young man befriending a ghost. It is a charming story with a lot of depth about friendship and being unique. The young ghost, though, is Jessica, who commits suicide after her mother and grandmother die. I removed it from our shelves and know this book will find great readers at the high school level. Even though suicide is on the rise I don’t want to be the one who introduces it to my elementary students. I did love the story and the brave cast of characters.

What are you reading? This week has been chilly giving me lots of time to read.

Debut author Amanda Maciel writes scary high school portrayal…

School can be a frightening place as students of any age try to fit in with an ever changing norm. Amanda Maciel does an amazing job of making this high school story very real. I don’t teach in a high school and my hope is that it isn’t this bad but I have a feeling I could be wrong…

Emma Putnam, a new student, who somehow gets on the wrong side of Brielle and subsequently her followers, Sara, Noelle and a few male characters. Emma is pegged as a slut as she tries to make her way through every day with mean people surrounding her.

They push her around physically and emotionally using FB and Twitter. They taunt her every single time they see her. They put fake Valentine’s Day cutouts on her lawn. They create a vicious FB page for her. And while Emma feels like she has a few friends they often turn on her if Brielle is near. Noone wants to go against Brielle. The line is so thin…it’s much easier to be a bystander or even worse join right in so Brielle might like you more. Why do girls allow a mean queen bee take control like this?

I would love to see this book told again through Emma’s side. She’s human and makes a few mistakes along the way which is just what gives Sara justification to keep taunting her. It is Sara that we follow through alternating monthly chapters of before and after Emma’s suicide. Eventaully she understands how her (and Brielle’s) behavior adversely effected Emma; enough for Emma to lose any hope.

This was hard to read, it hurt my heart, and I so wanted to step in and alternately “shake” each character. Words are what hurt and until we really help kids get this bullying will remain an issue.

How can we teach children at the elementary level to respect each other and spread peace and joy instead of nasty barbs.

Quote:

Sara’s thoughts:

I try to look away, but it’s like my head is stuck. She and Beth are talking in low voices, and Emma looks like she’s been crying or something. She always looks that way-when she’s not flirting with some guy or whatever. Or even when she is, sometimes. She’s this permanent bruise, always getting her feelings hurt, always injured. Everyone at school knows she sees a therapist, and I wonder why they haven’t just put her on antidepressants already. Or ones that actually work. (113)

That’s just how Brielle was. That’s what no one gets, I think-she would tease you even if she did like you. Especially if she liked you. And then if someone was mean to her, or to one of her friends, she’d turn that teasing on to them. It would be a lot less nice, of course. It was pretty tough sometimes. But-and suddenly I know this, standing here with Carmichael, in the middle of passing period, in the middle of nowhere-that’s her survival instinct. That’s just how she deals. (237)

Excellent, well-crafted characters mixed with a very current and real crisis made for a strong story and from a debut author! I’m interested in whatever she writes next. While we are waiting this interview with Amanda is worth it!