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Today - some new books, a group by one author, and preparing for Earth Day with books from Candlewick Press. Sorry for the long post but it was a great week of reading!
Last week for Poetry Friday, I shared Spi-Ku, a clutter of short verse on eight legs by Leslie Bulion on the blog tour. Don't miss this new non-fiction poetry book. It is terrific!
These next two chapter books tell what's it's like NOT to be seen as people with feelings and people who want you to respect WHO they are instead of WHO you believe they should be.
I've read that others read this book in a day and so did I! Ellie, too often known as Splash because of a big jump into the pool at her fifth birthday party, the name given by her older sister. She navigates the bullying by following her "Fat Girl Rules", which mean not standing out as much as possible. I'm sad to write that not only is she continually bullied at school but also by her mother and her siblings. In her author's note, Lisa Fipps writes she believes some will say that this definitely is fiction because no one could be so cruel as described in the story. However, Fipps also says that a variation of every single mean thing in the book happened to her when she was a child. I also enjoyed that Lisa Fipps included a bit about bullies themselves and others besides fat people who endured name-calling and frightening experiences. Perhaps we all need to learn where hate begins?
With support from two friends and her dad, finally, also a therapist who helps Ellie recover her true name and her wonderful self, there is hope for Ellie and a whole lot of others (kids and adults) to be WHO they are. If I was still teaching, this would be my first read-aloud of the year! Or perhaps the one that could carry all my students into summer!
FYI, poet friend Jone MacCullough shares a terrific interview with Lisa Fipps HERE!
This is both a wonderful and enlightening read along with a heartbreaking one. Susan Haas, mother to Lexi Haas and with Lexi has written Lexi's story of a medical mistake, then covered up, that left Lexi with brain damage. It took her ability to control movements and to speak. Thankfully, she could still think and remained a smart young girl who tells her own story with humor, anger, and a willingness to live her life "who" she is, not who others might want her to be. She was born with jaundice, something other babies do as well. But it was not taken care of by her doctor and because of that, she suffered from "kernicterus" which you can find out more about at www.kernicterus.org. The story follows her journey from five years old, alternating with chapters at thirteen, awaiting a new kind of brain surgery which she hopes will help her regain some abilities. The love and support of family and friends are key and realistically shown. Lexi's not always helpful when others want her to be. Although that's true, her ability for demanding what she knows is important for her needs also demands respect and admiration. She does not quit. Learning that each one of us is a person with wants and needs, quirks and defects is a wonderful thing for all of us. This book would be a marvelous book to share with a class of middle-schoolers and up, as a read-aloud or in a book group. Thanks to Penny Candy Books for the advanced copy!