All the Light We Cannot See

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Bibliographic data:

Doerr, Anthony (2014).  All the Light We Cannot See.  Read by Zach Appleman.  New York: Simon & Schuster Audio.

Summary: 

Marie-Laure lives in Paris with her father.  When Marie-Laure goes blind at age 6, her father and his colleagues at Museum of Natural-History work together to ensure she is able to navigate her way though the world.  When the Nazi’s occupy Paris during World War II, Marie-Laure’s father is given an important task, which takes them away from the city to her uncle’s home on the coast.  Here, Marie-Laure’s life forever changes.

Werner is a German boy living in an orphanage with his younger sister.  He is mechanically minded, brilliant and ambitious.  After finding a broken radio, he teaches himself how to repair it.  Soon, he is repairing every radio in his small town.  These skills eventually take him to a Hitler youth academy where he builds his technical and emotional knowledge before joining the war. 

Without knowing of each other, Marie-Laure and Werner’s lives are deeply intertwined.  Do a radio, a diamond and a war have the power to bring them together?

Analysis: 

Written for older young adult readers, All the Light We Cannot See is a complicated read.  To begin, there are multiple story lines that cover multiple countries and years.  These stories are not told solely from the perspectives of Marie-Laure and Werner, but also half a dozen other characters.  In addition to these complicated aspects, the story is not presented chronologically.  The opening chapter has Marie-Laure in her uncle’s house as Saint-Malo is being bombed near the end of the war.  After this, we are with a young Werner in Germany, then Marie-Laure before she looses her vision.  These elements are engaging, however they require an advanced reader with solid comprehension skills.

While historically accurate, Marie-Laure and Werner are easily relatable.  Their concerns and thoughts mirror those of youth today, in spite of the darkness of their time period.  The powerlessness they feel, unable to fully control their lives, as well as their restlessness to want to be somewhere else are fairly universal themes for young people. 

It is interesting to have a story about World War II that tells the perspective of German citizens.  While there are many stories that speak to the tribulations those under the Nazi’s experienced, it is rare to hear the perspective of common Germans or Nazi soldiers.   This perspective would make an interesting discussion point to speak about group mindset, selfishness versus selflessness or to use as a writing prompt against a book such as Night by Elie Wiesel.

Activity:

Marie-Laure and Werner’s lives are interconnected due to radios.  Years before she was born, Marie-Laure’s grandfather and great-uncle produced a scientific radio program.  Marie-Laure’s uncle continues to broadcast the program using a transmitter in his attic.  As children, Werner and his sister find the program and love listening to the calm voice explain difficult scientific concepts. 

Readers will create their own children’s radio program.  The readers will decide on a topic on which they are experts.  They should create an outline of the key concepts that are important to the subject, and then write a script breaking these concepts down so that young children would be able to learn from their expertise.  When they are finished, they will record and publish their script to a site such as youtube.com.

Related Resources:

Every year for Marie-Laure’s birthday, she receives two gifts from her father: a Braille book and a homemade puzzle box with chocolates inside.  Despite her blindness, Marie-Laure is always able to quickly discover the secrets of his puzzle boxes, even though they often have more than a dozen steps to solve.

Puzzle Boxes: Fun and Intriguing Band Saw Projects would bring these puzzle boxes to life for a skilled reader.  The book provides instructions on how to create wooden puzzle boxes, just like the ones Marie-Laure received for her birthday.

Vollmer, Jeff. (2012).  Puzzle Boxes: Fun and Intriguing Band Saw Projects. Cincinnati: F+W Media.

Marie-Laure’s father works at the Paris Museum of Natural History.  Until the occupation of Paris, Marie-Laure accompanies him when he goes to work.  Here, the museum’s scientists and director teach Marie-Laure about the artifacts in the museum and encourage her curiosity about the scientific world.

Using the automatic translation feature of Google Chrome, English speaking readers can experience the modern day Paris museum through its website.  Of particular interest based on the book would be the Jewels of the Museum page, where gems and precious stones can be viewed or the Evolution of Living which features biological sciences.

Museum National D’Histoire Naturelle.  Retrieved from https://www.mnhn.fr/fr (accessed July 8, 2016)

Published Review:

“A novel to live in, learn from, and feel bereft over when the last page is turned, Doerr’s magnificently drawn story seems at once spacious and tightly composed. It rests, historically, during the occupation of France during WWII, but brief chapters told in alternating voices give the overall—and long—­narrative a swift movement through time and events. We have two main characters, each one on opposite sides in the conflagration that is destroying Europe. Marie-Louise is a sightless girl who lived with her father in Paris before the occupation; he was a master locksmith for the Museum of Natural History. When German forces necessitate abandonment of the city, Marie-Louise’s father, taking with him the museum’s greatest treasure, removes himself and his daughter and eventually arrives at his uncle’s house in the coastal city of Saint-Malo. Young German soldier Werner is sent to Saint-Malo to track Resistance activity there, and eventually, and inevitably, Marie-Louise’s and Werner’s paths cross. It is through their individual and intertwined tales that Doerr masterfully and knowledgeably re-creates the deprived civilian conditions of war-torn France and the strictly controlled lives of the military occupiers.High-Demand Backstory: A multipronged marketing campaign will make the author’s many fans aware of his newest book, and extensive review coverage is bound to enlist many new fans.”

Hooper, Brad. (2014).  All the Light We Cannot See. n.p.: Booklist, 2014. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 8, 2016).

Rain is Not My Indian Name

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Bibliographic data:

Leitich Smith, Cynthia (2001). Rain is Not My Indian Name.  Read by Jenna Lamia.  New York: Listening Library.

Summary: 

Cassidy Rain Berghoff knows grief all to well.  Her mother died when he was a child, and now, on the eve of her fourteenth birthday, her best friend Galen is struck by a car and dies during the night.  In response, Cassidy pulls herself inward, isolating herself from friends and family for months.  When Galen’s mourning mother tries to put a stop to the Indian youth camp her aunt has organized, Cassidy is pulled back into the world and forced to think about herself, her heritage and what’s best for everyone.

Analysis:            

Leitich Smith has created a likable, relatable character in Cassidy.  Because of, or perhaps in spite of, the great losses she has had in her life, Cassidy is down to earth and realistic.  She is a well-balanced character, possessing get self-confidence at times and extreme self-doubts at others.  She is perfectly flawed, she makes mistakes that hurt others and is hurt; yet at the same time she shows great compassion and empathy.  She understands the complexities of the people around her, while not understanding their puzzling choices and behaviors.

Cassidy’s questions and concerns are easy to relate to, even for those who are not part Native American.  Throughout the book, Cassidy attempts to figure out about relationships, her place in the world and why people treat each other as they do, all things that most teens can relate with.  Her experiences in the book are very universal, allowing both male and female readers to connect with the story. 

Rain Is Not My Indian Name would be a benefit to any multicultural library collection because Cassidy and her family are not the stereotype of Native Americans.  Often stories that feature Native characters take place in the distance past, preventing the characters from relating to modern youth.  With the exception of some outdated technology, Cassidy is clearly living in the now.  This is, unfortunately, a unique characteristic that makes Rain is Not My Indian Name an important addition to a young adult collection.

Activity: 

When reconnecting with the world after Galen’s death, Cassidy turns to her camera.  She takes photos of her aunt’s Indian Camp for the local newspaper, allowing her to be a part of camp while still being an outsider.  She focuses on the technical aspects of her photographs, the light and angles, to ensure that they capture the correct feel and emotion. 

Give readers either digital (preferred) or disposable cameras.   Have a number of still life scenes setup, lit using lamps and flashlights.  Allow the readers to experiment with different positions of the lights to create different shadows.  After this, instruct students that they will be taking portraits of each other to show various emotions, however there is a challenge.  No facial expressions are permitted; students must maintain a neutral face.  They may change their head position.  Students will have to use angle and lighting to create the desired effect. 

Related Resources:

One of positives of the book is that it portrays Native Americans doing modern day activities.  Cassidy’s older brother works in the technology industry designing webpages.  For many readers, the process of designing a webpage would be completely foreign.  Learning HTML for Kids is a basic guide on how to design a webpage.  If a reader finds this career choice intriguing, they can start designing their own sites.

http://www.goodellgroup.com/tutorial/

Jeffers Goodell, Jill.  Learning HTML for Kids.  Retrieved from http://www.goodellgroup.com/tutorial/ (accessed July 3, 2016)

A major event throughout the book is the Indian Camp that Cassidy’s aunt is organizing.  The camp has a science and technology focus, with the campers experimenting to see how strong they can build a bridge made from spaghetti noodles and Elmer’s glue.  To further the importance of science and technology, readers could do their own experiments.  Scholastic Inc has put together a list of fun videos with experiments that students could recreate or use as inspiration.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/40-cool-science-experiments-web

Scholastic Inc.  40 Cool Science Experiments on the Web.  Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/40-cool-science-experiments-web (accessed July 3, 2016)

Published Review:

“Multiple plot lines and nonlinear storytelling may make it difficult to enter Smith's (Jingle Dancer) complex novel, but the warmth and texture of the writing eventually serve as ample reward for readers. The sensitive yet witty narrator, 14-year-old Cassidy Rain Berghoff, grows up in a small Kansas town as one of the few people with some Native American heritage. That experience alone might challenge Rain, but Smith creates a welter of conflicts. Rain's mother is dead (she was struck by lightning), and as the novel opens, her best friend is killed in a car accident just after he and Rain realize their friendship has grown into romance. Six months later, her older brother urges her to go to her great-aunt's Indian Camp. At first she shrugs it off, but later volunteers to photograph the camp for the town paper and begins to share her Aunt Georgia's commitment to it. When public funding for the camp becomes a contested issue in the city council, Rain decides to enroll. Some of Smith's devices such as opening each chapter with a snippet from Rain's journal add depth and clarify Rain's relationships for readers, although other elements (the detailing of song lyrics playing in the background, for instance) seem stilted. Even so, readers will feel the affection of Rain's loose-knit family and admire the way that they, like the author with the audience, allow Rain to draw her own conclusions about who she is and what her heritage means to her.”

2001. Rain is Not My Indian Name. n.p.: Publisher’s Weekly, 2001. Book Index with Reviews, EBSCOhost (accessed July 3, 2016).   

Are You there God? It's me, Margaret.

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Bibliographic data: 

Blume, Judy (1970). Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret.  New York: Atheneum Books.

Summary:  

Margaret is a stereotypical eleven-year-old American girl.  Following a move to New Jersey, Margaret quickly makes friends with her new neighbor, Nancy.  She is introduced to her classmates and her new teacher, Mr. Benedict.  As she adjusts to her new life, she questions religion, learns about puberty and finds out what kinds of friends she really has made.   

Analysis:  

Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret, is a story most preteen girls could relate to.  Throughout the book, Margaret pleads with God to simply be normal – a feeling most fifth or sixth graders often have.  For Margaret, being normal has a number of different meanings.  She wants to physically be normal.  She and her friends are eager to get their first periods and “increase [their] busts.”  At the same time, these milestones make her feel awkward and unsure.  She worries that if her secret crush, a friend of a friend’s older brother, is discovered she would be made fun of.  Young girls would be able to see themselves in these struggles of Margaret’s, and learn from her experiences.

Margaret also wants to be religiously normal.  Her parents had different religious upbringings and abandoned all religion when they were married.  While Margaret writes to God in her journal, she has never attended church or synagogue, which is completely unheard of in her new hometown.   Throughout the novel is attends services of different faiths and begs God to help her feel something towards one of them.  This is an unusual theme in books for preteens, however is very relevant as many girls are going through confirmation or preparing for their Bat Mitzvah.

While often considered controversial and on banned book lists, Blume has created a novel that accurately portrays the turmoil of being a young woman.  Margret shows the mind of a sixth grader, with sixth grade worries and troubles.  The most risqué scene involves the entire sixth grade class playing spin the bottle and two minutes in heaven, however the kisses described are primarily pecks on the cheek. Those with firm religious beliefs may be put off by her casual relationship with God, however her search for truth is one that many religious faiths encourage at her age.  Margaret’s turmoil about where she belongs will be relatable to many girls who are questioning their personal beliefs.

This is a book that girls will be able to relate to and enjoy; a downfall is that boys would not, particularly not preteen boys.  The books focuses too much on girl topics, such as menstruation, bras and crushes, for boys to feel comfortable reading it.  Blume has written a similar book, Then Again, Maybe I Won’t, with a male main character that boys would be better able to relate to. 

Activity:  

For her sixth grade project, Margaret studies and considers what religion would be best suited for her.  She attends a number of religious services and confession, however the beliefs of the faiths she explores are not discussed.  To extend this search of Margaret’s for readers, guest speakers from different religions could be asked to speak about the similarities and differences in their creeds and answer any looming questions readers have.

Related Resources:

Throughout the book, Margaret and her friends discuss their changing bodies at length.  They are curious about what is to come.  Many young girls will likely have similar questions.  For those who are too shy to ask an adult, a website such as girlshealth.gov could be useful.  This site has articles covering many topics that Margaret has concerns over in the book, from puberty and crush to bullying and friendships.

http://www.girlshealth.gov/

Office on Women’s Health.  Girlshealth.  Retrieved from http://www.girlshealth.gov/ (accessed June 24, 2016)

Margaret’s adventures are told through a combination of narrated stories and diary entries.  After reading Margaret’s journal, readers may be inspired to write their own thoughts and concerns down.  The Care & Keeping of YOU: Journal 1 for Younger Girls provides a guided journal for young girls to reflect on their life, as well as information about common questions and concerns.

Natterson, Cara (2013).  The Care & Keeping of YOU: Journal 1 for Younger Girls.  Middleton: American Girl Publications:

Published Review:

“The comical longings of little girls who want to be big girls -- exercising to the chant of "We must -- we must -- increase our bust!" -- and the wistful longing of Margaret, who talks comfortably to God, for a religion, come together as her anxiety to be normal, which is natural enough in sixth grade. And if that's what we want to tell kids, this is a fresh, unclinical case in point: Mrs. Blume (Iggie's House, 1969) has an easy way with words and some choice ones when the occasion arises. But there's danger in the preoccupation with the physical signs of puberty -- with growing into a Playboy centerfold, the goal here, though the one girl in the class who's on her way rues it; and with menstruating sooner rather than later -- calming Margaret, her mother says she was a late one, but the happy ending is the first drop of blood: the effect is to confirm common anxieties instead of allaying them. (And countertrends notwithstanding, much is made of that first bra, that first dab of lipstick.) More promising is Margaret's pursuit of religion: to decide for herself (earlier than her 'liberal' parents intended), she goes to temple with a grandmother, to church with a friend; but neither makes any sense to her -- "Twelve is very late to learn." Fortunately, after a disillusioning sectarian dispute, she resumes talking to God. . . to thank him for that telltale sign of womanhood. Which raises the last question: of a satirical stance in lieu of a perspective.

Kirkus Review (1970).  Are You There God?  It’s Me, Margaret. n.p.: Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/judy-blume/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret/. Last updated October 2011.  (accessed June 25, 2016).