This is the book added to my wish list.  The War That Saved my Life,  has received all of the following awards as listed on Goodreads.com

“Are you there God it’s me Margaret” by Judy Blume.

Originally this book was published in 1970 and was placed on the challenged book list for mentioning of matters issues like menstruation, breast development and religion.  None this could be known at first glance at the front cover of the book.  The cover has a picture of Margaret a young girl with a mischievous smile, crystal clear eyes and unmanaged hair.

The main character in this book in Margret Ann Simons who tells the story in first person. Margaret has new friends now that she has moved from New York to New Jersey and they are Nancy, Gretchen, and Janie.  Margaret throughout her 6th grade year with these new friends learns a few lessons and tells us her story of maturing.  A secret club is formed by the 4 girls where they discuss boys, periods and bras. They are required to make a list of the boys they are interested in from 1-3 each week. Margaret is secretly interested in an older boy named Moose but will not reveal that to the club members. Margaret is also forming a relationship with God. Her parents have allowed Margaret to find her own religion when she grows up but she has started searching now on her own accord and as school project.

Margaret spends her 6th grade year waiting for her body to develop and this is painful for Margaret because she begins think her body will never develop.  Equally pressing on her is the desire to have a relationship with God.  As she is waiting for God to reveal himself to her she becomes angry and distances herself from God. Though is impatient for Gods revelation of himself to her she continues to search secretly in a variety of churches as well as each night during her prayers. Each day is closed with a prayer that begins the same way, “Are you there God?  It’s me Margaret…”. In the end Margaret’s body matures and her personal relationship with God continues as it has though her anger has subsided.  She also learns that not everyone can be trusted including her best friend Nancy.

Not only are her friends maturing but Margaret is forced to stay home and miss a trip to Florida where she desperately wants to spend Spring break with her beloved Grandma.  She is not able to go because her mother’s parents are coming for a visit.  Margaret nor her parents are excited to welcome the estranged grandparents back into their lives after a dispute over religion.  During this time Margaret also is witness to her parent’s conflicts with each other and their own parents.  Action begins to fall when Margaret gets her period, and her grandmother leaves Florida to visit Margaret.  Most of Margaret’s problems are resolved naturally and with patience even the tension within her family.

The setting of this story is primarily in neighborhood where her new school and new friends live.  Her bedroom is her safe haven a place of solitude and the place where a “Playboy” magazine was viewed by the 4 club members.  The setting is important because it shows how narrow a child’s world can be even when New York City is short bus ride away. I don’t think the setting would have changed what the characters did even if it was outside of the United States or in a rural area since what we are reading about is the struggles of puberty.

The theme of this story is seeking knowledge one’s body, establishing friendships and the misery felt when we have little control of our lives.  The mood of this book is serious, Margaret in this book is edgy and easily erupts in fits of anger.  She is not aware of her hormones surging but it is clear because of  her moods shifting frequently.  Tension exists between her friend Nancy and herself from the beginning.  There is also tension between her and her mother that is typical in adolescence,  tension is also present in her relationships at school.

This book despite the frustration in Margaret’s heart made me laugh out loud several times.  I would recommend this book to young readers as well as to mother’s who may need an ice breaker when talking to their young daughter about the facts of life.

Here is my story on what I encountered during Banned and Challenged Book Week 2016, in Central Nebraska.

At my local library when I went a very noticeable highly decorated small book shelf was place near a large sitting area.  The display was completely out of place next to Victorian style lighting and the fireplace were anyone can pour themselves a  fresh coffee to sip on while reading in one of the plush sofa’s.  The bright yellow caution tape wrapped all around the book shelf was impossible not to notice.  Along with that there were signs taped to the case that read “banned and challenged” or “read at your own risk” of course the signs were in neon colors that went well with the yellow tape.  I also noticed that on the small book shelf there weren’t any children’s books.  When I asked the librarian why she was not able to give me an answer.  She did however take me to the children’s section where we located several books on this list.

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My reading challenge for the rest of this semester is going to be two fold and was inspired by Dr. Ellington’s ideas on her blog page Dr. Ellington.

I want to Investigate key authors and illustrators in children’s literature that are on the banned and challenge list banned/challenged, you can look here for the complete list shared with us by our instructor.  I want to do this for a few reasons.  One I want to discover the era the book written in and the reason a book was placed on this list.  I hope that I will develop an informed opinion of our literacy community and parents.  I also tend to be a risk taker so I think I will enjoy many of the books.  I know that finding these books may not in my financial budget since many are aged and I may need to purchase one or two. Part one of the semester challenge is to read from this list to better understand books that push the limits of tolerance in the writing and or illustration in American Children’s Literature.

Newbery link

Part two of the semester challenge, pick a book each week as needed from the list of Newbery Award books. I will do this for any reason I am not able to choose from the banned and challenged list.  A book from this list ensures that I am reading a book that has made a positive impact on Children’s Literature in America. Plan B is only a back up.  I have enjoyed reading several of the winners of this award so I am not hesitant to pick from this list.

This is how I will fill my weeks.

1-2 books from either list

A Banned or challenged book list Or Newbery Award Winner’s list

I will also include 1-4 children’s picture books each week that are available at our local library in order to keep the pace of required children’s picture books.

Hi everyone,

For this week I choose two books that will fit into my left over my reading budget.

The Little White Owl

I have read the reviews for this children’s picture book, have checked  and look forward to the White Owl’s adventure as he meets new owls.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (Chicka Chicka) by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, Lois Ehlert (Illustrator) Goodreads

This is a book for preschool students.  It is a fiction book created to help children become familiar with the alphabet.

   What can you do to support our freedom?

What can I do to support this freedom?  I can read a few banned and challenged books that are located in our public libraries.  I can express my desire to read freely online with the ALA and here in WordPress.  I can purchase a book or maybe more to help increase revenue to the authors who bring us a variety of topics including topics that are sensitive to religion and sexuality.  I can also share in conversations with co-workers and fellow classmates about the importance to keep America’s right to free press and the importance of information, knowledge and ideas reaching the general public.  The alternative may be that our society functions more like a communist society where ideas and information are kept from average citizens.

The Banned and Challenged week is new to me as well.  I do not remember learning about it in school at any grade level.  I knew that a list existed but was caught by surprise when I was online learning. I find the whole movement to be impressive including the citizens who ensure that a book is on the list not only those standing up for the freedom to read. I recently read one book that is not on the list and is Newbery winner, I am certain that the language is offensive in that book.  I am equally certain that I would not spend the energy to try to keep this book out of the hands of children and adults.  The non-fiction story is story that was impacting included some negative offensive truths, I feel this is reality and that children are capable of understanding the worlds troubles without being scared by reading about some of them.

Have a great week everyone and I am looking forward to reading about the banned book you have read!

“When You Reach Me” by Rebecca Stead

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This is a Newbery Award winning book 2010.  The Newbery Medal was named for eighteenth-century British bookseller John Newbery. It is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children ALSC.  Author Rebecca Stead has done a fine job of meeting that criteria here in this science fiction mystery novel published 2009.  The story is set in New York City Upper West Side in 1978-79.  The school year for the main character Miranda is everything but normal.  Miranda takes us on a journey of time travel in her small but dangerous poverty stricken neighborhood.

The twisting plot keeps the reader engaged as young Miranda looses her best friend, witnesses a death and has her first kiss all while trying to piece together notes that have been left for her mysteriously telling her she must write a letter “when you reach me”.

The Laughing Man who is the crazy guy who stands on the corner and sleeps under a mailbox is someone that her friends Sal, Marcus & Colon know to avoid. Yet as the shoe, letters, pocket and  stolen key (above in picture) are starting to connect in the story,  Miranda’s life is ever changed by the laughing man.

Who is leaving the letters?  Do they mean that only Miranda has the power to prevent a death?  As letters keep coming Miranda is forced to consider that only someone from the future would be able to know the things that are written in the letters, so she must consider that time travel is possible.

JACKJAW– Again another new to me ‘Thing’,  Yes I would read this story as whole class read, adding items that are similar to the image I inserted above.  The image is suppose to Miranda’s mind working to fit all the clues together, I would be more than willing to build this as a tangible item for the kids to use while following the story.

Also this week I read a non award winning beginner level book.

 This a leveled reader book authored by Hans Wihelm. He uses rebus-style picture s as clues in this book to help children become familiar with words. In this book a puppy and fox become friends while playing outdoors in the fall leaves.
This book would also be helpful in an ELL classroom. The children who are learning to read in English would recognize the pictures (likely in their primary language) and I think that would be helpful understanding the theme of the story while reading in English.  I would like to use more of Rebus-Style books in ELL classrooms that I substitute in this coming fall.  

My reflection on reading this semester is as follows

Reflection of the reading the I have done so far this semester makes me smile for several reasons. 1. I can’t believe I have found a way to complete the reading load, I’ll attribute that to time management and planning.  2. I enjoyed just about all that I have read so it was time well spent while being entertained and learning.  3. I have learned so much about literature, I appreciate the exposure and use what I have been exposed to, in schools as I work with children.  As a reader of children’s literature I have learned that the stories are complex and relate to issues that adults face. I was under the impression that children’s literature revolved around fantasy or folk tales, boy was I wrong.  I have read stories that are about the children of single parent families, disabilities, death and history. I have learned that many authors are able to speak to these sensitive subjects with pictures using both elaborate photography and simple sketches.  My personal taste in regard to children’s book are chapter books.  I enjoy the books based on historic events the most.  I like how children can read many different stories based on the same historical event.  An example would be Martin Luther King’s work; many authors choose to tell the stories people who were working with King in the fight for equality and each different story in unique.

What book would be the perfect fit for me?

If an author could write a book that would be perfect for me, it would be about how a child might chose to accept or reject a religion or faith.  I have read many books that are persuasive and who’s authors are seeking to spread a faith but never I have read from a child’s perspective the challenges faced in committing or rejecting a faith life.

Books are honored with awards, and we are asked which of those awards is our personal favorite?

I have read many award winning books in the last few weeks and I cannot isolate one award over another that I would choose to follow for my reading picks.  What I can say so far into this class, is that I enjoy reading books that raise awareness for equality and fairness.  Books like “the One and Only Ivan”. I enjoy chapter books, I enjoy them because they are more complex in plot and themes as well as being richer in vocabulary.

Added to my wishlist are a few books, first, On The Banks of Plum Creek – book #4,  by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This autobiography is a Newbery Award winner. This classis children’s novel written and published in 1937 tells about life on the prairie.  A young pioneer girl and her family’s travels from Kansas to Minnesota during the early 1900’s are documented and illustrated.  This book is appropriate for 4-6th grade readers and would work well in state history lesson. This story gives readers a glimpse into a long ago way of life that had hardship and reward. The story revolves mainly around her own family but from time to time new characters are introduced.  There are nine books that Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote to include in her series Little House Big Adventure.

Second on my wish list is a war story and Newbery award winner, The Bomb a Race to Make and Steal the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Steinkin.  This children’s book begins in December of 1938. A chemist in a German laboratory made a life changing discovery in radioactive material he was working with Uranium and accidentally found that a uranium atom when friction was applied could explode.  After that moment in time history was changed forever because shortly after man created the nuclear bomb that has potential to end all human life on earth. Great Britain, Russia, France, England and  United States have people working with and against each other in this race to build a bomb during and WWII. Experiments and advancements are taking place at a fast pace in the United States in a city Los Alamos, New Mexico.  This book is a historical account of the building of the nuclear bomb.

Bomb is a 2012 National Book Awards finalist for Young People’s Literature.
Bomb is a 2012 Washington Post Best Kids Books of the Year title. Bomb is a 2013 Newbery Honor book (Bomb)

The video assigned about Mr. Sharp a 3rd grade teacher in Michigan is about making students life long readers.  I can envision myself introducing books by way of a POP introduction at the beginning of the year and a follow up with a say, picking a medal winner later in the year!  All of course jam packed with excitement wall calendars, book nooks for group discussion before school!

Why? is the question asked to us students.

Because reading is FUN!