Posted on 05/25/2008 8:19:39 AM PDT by Tai_Chung
My daughter must choose one of three books for summer reading. I believe the first two are about racism and the last one about dropping the atomic bomb.
Has anyone read any of these books? Any comments or recommendations?
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
I know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Hiroshima by John Hersey
Into the Wild is about a privileged hippy kid who decides to move to Alaska and live off the land. My parents read it and liked it. I don’t know about the Maya Angelou book, but Hiroshima is about the people of Hiroshima immediately after the bomb...it’s grizzly. I read that one in seventh grade and don’t remember it being politically charged, just grimly realistic.
Forgot to mention that the hippy kid dies. So much for benevolent Mother Nature!
Is this Blue Valley as in JOKS? I suggest she read all three and then have her read Newt’s new book and a couple of other more balanced selections.
“Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer is a true story about a young college graduate who abandons civilization and winds up starving to death in the wilds of Alaska. It might be a useful cautionary tale for a young person to read.
How old is your daughter? Maya Angelou’s book contains some graphic writing about sexual abuse.
Yes, Blue Valley in Johnson County, Kansas.
She will be 15 years old when she starts her 10th grade year.
Great tagline!
She is also required to read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It is a book about racism.
The there books listed is the required second book choice.
I wish they would read something more uplifting in her English class.
Wow, 15...well that’s not a great choice of books for a 15 year old, IMHO.
Maya Angelou’s book is on the “banned” list at many public schools because of the rape. Hiroshima, well it starts the day after the bomb fell and recounts the story of survivors, pretty gory for a girl, IMHO. And then you’ve got the choice of the kid who died trying to be a free spirit.
I’d definitely stay away from the Angelou book and then decide which of the others was better for your daughter.
I looked at reading from a boy’s perspective (we homeschooled) so it’s different for a girl. One of my son’s favorite books was Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, and to me that is the MOST depressing book, LOL. So a boy’s reading likes and a girl’s can be vastly different.
i read excerpts of “hiroshima” for an international communications class (and yes, the class was as lame as it sounds). someone else here called it “grizzly” and that’s a fair description. it’s brutal, heartbreaking, and very moving. i’d recommend it over maya angelou any day. i never read “into the wild.”
now that you’ve reminded me about it, i think i will read the whole thing.
I read Hiroshima quite a few times. If anything, she should read this one, since it is quite historical, and not so obvious in the racism. She might appreciate the hard decisions facing men during war - and you can discuss it with her afterwards.
Beautiful little girl as is her mother....tag line is right in line with clear thinking. As for sensitivity training, ‘tis the squeaky wheel that gets the grease so we have to out squeal the annoying idiots.
Bah! I was twelve when I read it. It did leave an impression (how could it not?) but it didn't give me nightmares or anything. It did make me more aware and concerned about who has nukes than I might be otherwise. Then again I was the class weirdo so who knows...
Hurston was blacklisted back in the 60's because she wouldn't toe the line for black liberation theology being preached by the black militants. Ultimately, she died a pauper, and was only revitalized in the late 80's.
I read her story while in college, and it was quite an excellent book.
I don't know about the other two.
Aw shucks...thanks!
The Secret Life of Bees is a beautiful book. Being a hobbiest beekeeper I had many reasons to really enjoy it. It’s a story that takes place in a time and place (South Carolina) where racism was prevalent, so naturally there are lessons to be learned all through the story on the subject. The main character, a 14 yr old girl, abused by her father, made to think she was the cause of her mother’s death by shooting, raised by her black housekeeper/nanny who is the only person who cares about her and loves her, runs away. She heads to a place where she thought her mother had once gone for a while, and finds a home with 3 Black sisters who are beekeepers. Thats when she learns, to overcome her own naive racists beliefs, and more importantly to come to terms with her own worth as a person and especially as a woman. I think that more than a story of racism, it is a story of coming of age.
The bees are her symbolic “guide” throughout the story. She thinks of the “secret life of bees” to be similar to her own life and they become very symbolic in the book.
Certainly it’s a book that you would want to discuss with your daughter after she reads it to be sure she understands it’s implications as they deal with some mature subject matter. You will also find it an excellent opportunity to discuss the importance of a mother in a young girl’s life, a good opening to talk about how much you love your daughter and cherish her..... all lessons that she will remember when the time comes for her to be a mother to her own children one day. Al in all I think you will enjoy the book yourself.
I read it as a teen in the 70s. Was impressed by the stories of those who survived — became determined to survive any nuclear attack which didn't kill me outright.
Thank you all for your comments. She’s decided to read Hiroshima. I think part of the reason she picked this book is because she is 1/2 Asian.
Her 9th grade Honors Communcation Arts teacher doesn’t like her because my daughter expressed very strong anti-communist beliefs during class. Her teacher went to China and is very pro-China.
My wife’s family is from China and her father fought against the Japanese and Communist Chinese. Her father escaped to Taiwan, but most of the others in her family were killed. The ones that were not killed were sent deep into China to live in poverty. Such was the penalty for opposing communism or living a life of luxury before the communist takeover.
My wife should write a book about her family. It’s really an amazing experience!
Wow! It sounds like it.
If she enjoys reading (and has time, sounds like her summer reading list is pretty full up!), there is a great book called, “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust” by Immaculee Ilibagiza. She spent 90+ days in a bathroom with 7 other women hiding out from the genocide. They were nearly found several times. Her whole family except for, I think, one brother were killed. I’m not religious, but her faith and strength are amazingly inspirational and moving.
If I think things are going poorly in my life, I just get out that book and count my blessings.
I’ll tell her about the book because her summer reading list is far from full. She is a much faster reader than me because she rarely watches TV. She can finish a book in just 1 day. It seems that the more she reads, that faster she gets.
One of her hobbies is to debate her Democrat friends about the hot topics of the day (i.e. global warming, war, religion)
Wow! Sounds like you’re raising one smart young lady! ;-)
That would be Their Eyes Were Watching God.
-ccm
Might I ask, what the heck IS ‘Communication Arts’?
The Maya Angelou book could poison a young mind. Ugh.
It’s what we used to call “English class”.
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