The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

Module 5 - History, Biography & Non-Fiction

"Read three of the following selections:"

Plot Summary

Holling Hoodhood has a teacher who hates him (or so he thinks) and they're stuck alone together every Wednesday afternoon as the rest of the class goes off to their respective temples for religious education. He is put to work doing various classroom chores, but botches every one of them somehow. Eventually, he is set to reading Shakespeare in this time instead. Over the course of his school year he participates in his first Shakespeare performance, goes on a first date, gives away the secret to his father's latest architectural project to his rival, and he lives every boy's dream of meeting and playing with some spectacular baseball heroes. By the end of the school year, he's formed friendships in unexpected places and been featured twice on the front page of the local newspaper.

Critical Analysis

The student and teacher characters of this novel are the most dynamic of the cast. We see definite changes in the behavior of not just our protagonist Holling, but also Doug, Meryl Lee, Mai Thi, and Danny in various ways. Holling himself grows throughout the novel, realizing more and more about the world and the people in it with every triumph or setback. Most tellingly he gradually becomes friends with his teacher who he thought hated him at the beginning of the year. Doug, Danny, Meryl Lee, and Mai Thi all bully Holling in October. But by the end many of these characters have changed. Danny Hupfer shows significant maturation at several points in the narrative. In December he rejects Mickey Mantle's signed baseball after Mickey refuses to sign Holling's baseball and in March he stands up to eighth grade lunch room bullies on behalf of Mai Thi. Doug Swieteck, who the previous year was suspended for driving Mrs. Sidman crazy with pranks, disposes of his box of rotting food in December, thus giving up on his next teacher prank. Meryl Lee, after bullying Holling earlier in the year over cream puffs, begins to appreciate him more as the year goes on; they date first in February which leads to ruining her family's livelihood and angering Mr. Hoodhood, and by June, Holling and Meryl Lee are making excuses to spend time together at the class camping trip.

Several of the teachers progress over the course of the novel as well. Ms. Sidman and Ms. Bigio noticeably treat students differently between the beginning and the end of the narrative. Ms. Sidman makes it through her nervous breakdown and eventually emerges triumphant over rats and becomes principal. Ms. Bigio loses her husband in Vietnam but ends up coming to terms with her hatred of the Vietnamese and treating Mai Thi with affection and showing cultural appreciation; she even offers to adopt Mai Thi. Ms. Baker doesn't so much change, as simply become more fully revealed. We learn of her background as an Olympic runner and her appreciation for architecture and she simply becomes a more rounded character than Holling's first observations would indicate.

Holling's parents, however, are static and stereotypical. His father is completely wrapped up in work so much that he misses all of Holling's big events, even while pushing his son to do them and do them well because of his business contacts. His mother is consistently in the background of his father's wishes, trying to maintain appearances of the stereotypical nuclear family living in the perfect house. We see his mom hiding her cigarettes from the family and trying to keep up appearances at Kiwanis club meetings, but she still doesn't show up for her son's biggest moments. The family's only appearance together in public epitomizes the image which Mr. Hoodhood tries to maintain:

"My father sat up there, and the rest of us sat below him at a center table with the wives of the Kiwanis Club officers. My mother refused an offered cigarette--I could tell this wasn't easy--and then she chattered to the Kiwanis wives while my sister and I sat silently through the dinner--roast beef and mashed potatoes and buttered lima beans--and through dessert--lemon meringue pie with a whole lot more meringue than lemon--and through the opening greetings and speeches, and then through my father's speech of grateful acceptance."

Holling can see that their ideal family life is a sham as he goes through events such as these, but his idealism still leads him to believe his father will later take him to baseball games and his mother will drive him to New York to pick up his returning sister.

As events unfold around him, Holling consistently brings his current Shakespeare work into use to help explain and understand the world. Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, The Tempest, and The Merchant of Venice are all featured to some degree over the course of the school year. The ways in which Holling applies these classics to his own life might help to draw new young readers into the world of Shakespeare. Of particular note is his early adaptation of Shakespeare's curses to his own uses. "Toads, beetles, bats" becomes Holling's catch phrase as he navigates all the disappointments of the school year.

The setting of this novel in the Vietnam war era gives it a certain flavor that it would lack if it were set during another historical period. Even though the historical mentions are mostly passing mentions and don't impact the story in significant ways, the cultural expectations of the time play a larger role. Ms. Bigio's mistreatment of Mai Thi at the beginning of the novel is typical of the general attitude of Americans towards Vietnamese in this time period. The aspirations of Mr. Hoodhood to maintain appearances as the perfect family and upstanding citizens for career purposes is common to the "Leave it to Beaver" era. The conquests over school bullies and the development of relationships, however, could have occurred during any historical period and come out with merely a different flavor of background events.

Schmidt packs a lot of events into this one school year, but Holling manages them all without seeming too overwhelmed. He stars in a Shakespeare play, runs for the varsity cross country team, plays baseball with the Yankees, reads six or more Shakespeare dramas, releases and runs from the rats, camps with his classmates, and improves a multitude of relationships with those around him. The narrative skillfully blends all of these together without leaving any loose ends. Each episode is fully resolved by the end of the school year. The School Library Journal reviewer observes that "the plot occasionally goes over-the-top, but readers who stick with the story will be rewarded." There is so much going on, it is a bit overwhelming to a reader and it takes a good writer to pull off as ambitious of a narrative so convincingly. The Booklist reviewer even notes "Schmidt ... makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous." And Publishers Weekly states "Schmidt ... delivers another winner here." If the events were pared down to the most centrally important, the novel might have a more obvious overarching theme, but because of Schmidt's skill it is a compelling read even at its frenetic pace.

Bibliography

Schmidt, Gary D. The Wednesday wars. New York: Clarion Books, 2007. ISBN 9780618724833.

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Reviews

From Kirkus:

Schmidt plaits world events into the drama being played out at Camillo Junior High School, as well as plenty of comedy, as Holling and Mrs. Baker work their way from open hostility to a sweetly realized friendship. Holling navigates the multitudinous snares set for seventh-graders—parental expectations, sisters, bullies, girls—with wry wit and the knowledge that the world will always be a step or two ahead of him. Schmidt has a way of getting to the emotional heart of every scene without overstatement, allowing the reader and Holling to understand the great truths swirling around them on their own terms. It's another virtuoso turn by the author of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2005).

From Publishers Weekly:

Schmidt, whose Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy won both Printz and Newbery Honors, delivers another winner here, convincingly evoking 1960s Long Island, with Walter Cronkite's nightly updates about Vietnam as the soundtrack. The serious issues are leavened with ample humor, and the supporting cast-especially the wise and wonderful Mrs. Baker-is fully dimensional. Best of all is the hero, who shows himself to be more of a man than his authoritarian father. Unlike most Vietnam stories, this one ends happily, as Schmidt rewards the good guys with victories that, if not entirely true to the period, deeply satisfy.

From VOYA:

There is a lot going on in this novel not all related to the politics of the turbulent 1960s. The assassinations of Martin Luther King, Bobby Kennedy, and the unpopular Vietnam War play a part in Holling's seventh grade year but so do two rats, Sycorax and Calliban, with their clacking yellow teeth; a part as Ariel in yellow tights; a track team; bullying and racism; a camping trip; and disappointment in a first love. Ms. Baker gently guides him through everything even as she brokenheartedly deals with the news that her husband is MIA. This novel is funny, warm, sad, and touching all at the same time. Holling Hoodhood will live with the reader for a very long time after he finishes seventh grade and learns to thine self be true.-Kathie Fitch.

From School Library Journal:

This entertaining and nuanced novel limns Holling Hoodhood's seventh-grade year in his Long Island community, beginning in the fall of 1967. His classmates, half of whom are Jewish, the other half Catholic, leave early on Wednesdays to attend religious training. As the sole Presbyterian, he finds himself stranded with his teacher, Mrs. Baker, whom he's sure has it in for him. She starts off creating mindless chores for him but then induces him to read Shakespeare-lots of Shakespeare. Chapters titled by month initially seem overlong, relating such diverse elements as two terrifying escaped rats, cream puffs from a local bakery, his dad being a cheapskate/cutthroat architect, and Holling's tentative and sweet relationship with classmate Meryl Lee. The scary Doug Swieteck, and his even more frightening brother, and the Vietnam War are recurring menaces. A subplot involves a classmate who, as a recent Vietnamese refugee, is learning English and suffers taunts and prejudice. Cross-country tryouts, rescuing his older runaway sister, and opening day at Yankee Stadium are highlights. There are laugh-out-loud moments that leaven the many poignant ones as Schmidt explores many important themes, not the least of which is what makes a person a hero. The tone may seem cloying at first and the plot occasionally goes over-the-top, but readers who stick with the story will be rewarded. They will appreciate Holling's gentle, caring ways and will be sad to have the book end.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA

From Booklist:

Each month in Holling's tumultuous seventh-grade year is a chapter in this quietly powerful coming-of-age novel set in suburban Long Island during the late '60s. The slow start may deter some readers, and Mrs. Baker is too good to be true: she arranges a meeting between Holling and the New York Yankees, brokers a deal to save a student's father's architectural firm, and, after revealing her past as an Olympic runner, coaches Holling to the varsity cross-country team. However, Schmidt, whose Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (2005) was named both a Printz and a Newbery Honor Book, makes the implausible believable and the everyday momentous. Seamlessly, he knits together the story's themes: the cultural uproar of the '60s, the internal uproar of early adolescence, and the timeless wisdom of Shakespeare's words. Holling's unwavering, distinctive voice offers a gentle, hopeful, moving story of a boy who, with the right help, learns to stretch beyond the limitations of his family, his violent times, and his fear, as he leaps into his future with his eyes and his heart wide open.--Engberg, Gillian

King of the Mild Frontier by Chris Crutcher

Module 5 - History, Biography & Non-Fiction

"Read three of the following selections:"

Plot Summary

Chris Crutcher humorously chronicles the events of his life that have made him who he is today. Growing up in small town Cascade, Idaho, sports and family were very important within the community. The first few chapters serve to set up Crutcher's defining characteristics: he has a bad temper and cries very easily. The remainder of the chapters each end with Chris making a great revelation, generally as a result of his own humiliation. Anecdotes are alternately funny or sad (sometimes both), but they all lead to the revelation of profound life lessons for both the author and the reader.

Critical Analysis

Each chapter at times feels as though it's a stream-of-consciousness account of a random smattering of events, but they always end up having a common thread that ties them together and drives home the point. These anecdotes are arranged around a common theme, such as Crutcher's development of his storytelling, or the lesson of relativity. Chapters are roughly arranged as Crutcher matured, with some slippage in the timeline for the sake of drawing together similarly themed events within his personal history.

Photographs are provided at the end of the narrative and provide a brief glimpse into Crutcher's childhood. It would be more engaging if these were included along with the narrative, perhaps even at the beginning of each chapter. The clumping of the images at the end makes them an afterthought. The photo of Crutcher and his brother "Getting ready to 'do something neat'" would have been a perfect introduction to chapter 3 "Something Neat This Way Comes" that established the brotherly relationship for readers. With the pictures at the end readers have to make their own connections to where they might fit within the narrative structure of the book.

Crutcher's narrative style is engaging and humorous, with a variety of anecdotes throughout, so that any one section does not seem overly long. Many of the stories involve Crutcher being either humiliated or triumphantly mischievous, which lends a great deal of humor to the tales. One might even wonder how this child made it through to adulthood with any self esteem in tact. To tie everything together, several groupings of stories are wrapped up with such revelations as:

"In the end, the lesson taught me in the physical world by my father and Limburger cheese and mink scent extended into virtually every corner of my universe and made it possible for me to work in, and tell stories about, a world where searing pain and mind-numbing heroism flow side by side. They intermix and overlap, guiding me away from black-and-white judgments that might come back to haunt and humble me. No one is pretty; no one is ugly. There is no Jesus without Judas, no Martin Luther King, Jr., without the Klan; no Ali without Joe Frazier; no freedom without tyranny. No wisdom exists that does not include perspective. Relativity is the greatest gift."

In these concluding statements to these chapters Crutcher ties together his childhood experiences, his adult experiences, his writing career, and basic truths about life into nice little take-away packets. Crutcher does not include such concise summaries for every chapter, but several include it and these chapters would make for great examples of writing structure and summary in a classroom setting.

Reviewers from Kirkus, VOYA, School Library Journal, and Booklist all consistently paint this autobiography as funny, honest, sad, and touching. This comes across as a bit of a disparate group of terms to describe any one work, but it is his tone which sets the funny, his style which sets it as honest, and the events within that make it both sad and touching. His approach of being "candid" (Kirkus), "brutally honest" (VOYA), and "tough and tender" (Booklist) is what will draw teens in who are skeptical of most adult viewpoints. Crutcher describes his approach to truth in the conclusion to chapter 13 after a very touching anecdote:

"Genius, if you think about it from the four-year-old perspective. Allie was key in shaping me as a writer. If I took those words away from her, she would have no way to test the waters, and though it's a pretty astonishing thing to hear roll off the tongue of a four-year-old, it would be nothing short of disrespectful to take away the language she needed to express her world. If I am to make characters real, I have to treat them with that same respect, and I have to be willing to tell stories about the ruggedness of their lives. Anything less is far more disrespectful than the use of those really meaningless words in print; disrespectful to the character, to the reader, and to the author. So anytime I get a character just right, find that spot where language and circumstance and character merge to tell some tough truth, I thank Allie. And because of her, I never back off the truth as I see it, or the language required to tell it."

As a non-fiction title, this book lacks a useful table of contents, index, or bibliography, but it doesn't need it. This is primarily the story of one man's life and he is the premier expert on the matter.

Bibliography

Crutcher, Chris. King of the mild frontier: an ill-advised autobiography. New York: Greenwillow Books, 2003. ISBN 0060502495.

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Reviews

From Kirkus:

What might have been just a volume of funny or unsettling anecdotes becomes a candid take on lessons learned, with a clear adult perspective. This is a good read and a deeply moral and philosophical work with important messages about life, death, relativity, heroism, and why bad things sometimes happen to good people. Like Gantos's Hole in My Life (2002), it tells a strong story to get at strong truths. Essential for the many fans of Crutcher's work, and new readers will go from here to his fiction.

From Publishers Weekly:

In this funny, bittersweet and brutally honest autobiography, Crutcher recounts his journey from a boyhood misspent in remote Cascade, Idaho ("The information highway was a single-lane logging road winding through steep mountains, dead ending at some nameless `crick' ") to his present life as a writer. The author displays the same impeccable comedic timing that characterizes his young adult novels. ... It is precisely this sense of humility that allows readers to laugh with young Chris, rather than at him. Crutcher can also turn from hilarity to heartache, as when he discusses his mother's alcoholism or his own legendary temper (which plagued hm in his childhood but which he attributes to the compassion he brings to his work as a family therapist). Readers will clasp this hard-to-put-down book to their hearts even as they laugh sympathetically.

From VOYA:

Already a favorite with young adults, Crutcher pens an autobiography of his youth that will find an easy audience in a genre that teachers and librarians sometimes find hard to sell. His stories about the anguish that was his childhood are both sad and funny. He suffers from being nearly three years younger than his brother, from living in a small town where invisibility is impossible, and from being totally unathletic in a school where everyone is expected to play. Through a series of vignettes, Crutcher lays bare many painful memories of his childhood, and readers see the source of some of his best stories and characters. His fiery temper, which flares hottest when he is embarrassed, is later exhibited by his characters in Chinese Handcuffs (Greenwillow, 1989/VOYA June 1989), Ironman (1995/VOYA June 1995), and Whale Talk (2001/VOYA June 2001). His experience on his college swim team with a coach who "invites" the team to a week of stamina training over Christmas break forms the framework for his immensely popular Stotan! (1986/VOYA April 1986). His own struggles with organized religion are reflected by many of his characters, as they try to make sense out of chaos. His work as a family therapist helping damaged children and the adults who torment them colors his characters in many ways and gives edge to his themes. In telling his own story, Crutcher entertains readers, challenges them, and touches their hearts. This is a biography that will be read-not skimmed-and loved.-Leslie Carter.

From School Library Journal:

Tough and tender reminiscences focus primarily on family, social, and school conflicts, but lessons derived from his career as a teacher, therapist, and writer are also described. Hyperbole lightens the mood as the author portrays himself as a young crybaby, academic misfit, and athletic klutz, utterly without self-aggrandizement. Abrupt transitions, some convoluted sentences, and nonlinear progression may challenge some readers, but the narrative holds undeniable appeal for the author's fans and demonstrates the power of writing to help both reader and writer heal emotional/psychic wounds.-Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA

From Booklist:

Like his novels, Crutcher's autobiography is full of heartbreak, poignancy, and hilarity. Candid and casual, Crutcher shares stories from his childhood and adolescence in Cascade, Idaho. Reminiscences of some of his youthful rites of passage are laugh-out-loud funny, such as his humiliating initiation into his high-school athletic club. On a more serious note, he discusses his occasionally rocky relationships with his parents and siblings. He talks openly about his struggles with a bad temper that constantly got him into trouble, how he came to terms with questions about God, how he confronted intolerance, and how he found his own place in the world. He also shares several painful glimpses into his work as a child and family therapist trying to help people heal some very broken lives. This honest, insightful, revealing autobiography is a joy to read. Crutcher's fans will relish this intimate glimpse of the author, and the book may win some new readers for his fiction. --Ed Sullivan

Bootleg by Karen Blumenthal

Module 5 - History, Biography & Non-Fiction

"Read three of the following selections:"

Plot Summary

Bootleg begins with a graphic description of the St. Valentines Day Massacre that occurred towards the end of the prohibition era and poses the question "How had such good intentions gone so terribly, terribly wrong?" The rest of the book then goes on to chronicle the rise of prohibition sentiment, the passage of national prohibition, and the results of this law. We get a good glimpse into the personal lives of people caught up in alcohol trafficking as well as an overview of the organized crime that arose as a result of it. The book also treats us to a view of how prohibition was overturned, thus we get to see both sides of the law and just what happens when the majority remains silent in the face of something they find absurd.

Critical Analysis

Bootleg was a fascinating read full of great descriptions of unique people of the era. Not only do we get a good look at the big names in the movements like Carrie Nation and Al Capone, but we also get a personal glimpse into the lives of average citizens like Raymond Parks, James Maxwell, and Leroy Ostransky. These anecdotes give readers a human connection to history and engage the reader in the lives of every day citizens who lived through the era. Without such elements, the book would read as dryly as a textbook listing dates and names and events.

Narrative text is broken up with a smattering of period photographs that bring life to the events described. Photos are so prevalent that rarely is there a two page spread without some visual element to engage readers. The consistent dispersion of the photos makes the blocks of text more approachable. School Library Journal reviewers agree that "Black-and-white period photographs and reproductions of propaganda material add immediacy to the text," and Booklist reviewers also state, "Plenty of archival images lend to the book's pleasant design." The images are a critical part of the information contained within this volume. They engage readers and provide some visual primary source material for those conducting research on the era.

The glossary provides a selection of vocabulary that arose as a result of the prohibition era, but does not attempt to define every possible term in the text. This keeps the glossary down to a manageable size, and makes its terms useful and engaging for readers as they approach the end of the book or might be looking for an unusual term. Basic terms can be found in the index or a separate dictionary for simple definitions. The book would not suffer without this glossary, but it does add a nice exploration of some of the slang terms we've picked up from the period.

The bibliography is broken down by subject and then by chapter, which makes it an invaluable resource to anyone looking for further information on the topics included. Readers looking to jump into their own research can use this section to find more primary or original sources of information. Author Karen Blumenthal also provides a few tips at the beginning of the resources section for budding researchers, "For a real taste of what the debates about prohibition were like, there's nothing like newspapers and magazine articles of the time." She then explains which resources were best and how she was able to access them for free or low cost.

The table of contents lists engaging chapter titles, but they do not give significant information on what might be within the chapter, so it is of limited use for research purposes. The index, however, makes up for the failing of the table of contents; it lists lots of people and events and other terms that would aid research. Photographs related to the topics are also indicated within the index with bolded page number listings. And a page of Picture Credits explains the sources of each image for readers who might wish to seek their original sources for their own purposes.

The author's introduction of the St. Valentines Day Massacre is a great attention grabbing anecdote to draw readers in. And the epilogue leaves readers with a sense of how prohibition politics and sensibilities affect life today through alcohol and drug regulation. The positioning of these two engaging discussions place a nice frame around the description of the historical era and give it relevancy for today's youth that they can relate to.

Bibliography

Blumenthal, Karen. Bootleg: murder, moonshine, and the lawless years of prohibition. New York: Roaring Brook Press, 2011. ISBN 9781596434493.

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Reviews

From VOYA:

Beginning with the grisly St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, Bootleg completely captures readers. Nine chapters highlight the major players and events leading up to the passing and eventual repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment made the manufacture, sale, and transport of alcohol illegal; the book's epilogue evaluates its success. ... Extensive historical research gives a comprehensive picture of the era, including the role of Henry Ford and automobiles. Driving a Model T to transport moonshine, Raymond Parks outran authorities, earned a fortune, and later founded NASCAR. Taken for a ride took on nefarious meaning! Students or anyone interested in the turbulent prohibition era will find this a very worthy resource.-Barbara Johnston.

From School Library Journal:

Gangsters, guns, and political battles-this book has them all-and presents them in compelling prose. Blumenthal opens with the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre, then traces the history of the temperance movement from the Puritans through the signing of the 21st Amendment. Important individuals are given the spotlight, some well-known like Al Capone and Carrie Nation, others more obscure but equally essential, such as Senator Morris Sheppard, the Father of National Prohibition. The author also adds a fascinating epilogue that examines the effects of the era, both positive and negative, including advances in technology and progress in legislative theory. Black-and-white period photographs and reproductions of propaganda material add immediacy to the text. The breadth of the well-researched material makes Bootleg a substantial resource for reports; a deep bibliography and copious source notes provide ample opportunities for further study. However, this book is also a lively read and an excellent choice for displays and booktalks. The subtitle alone will pique readers' curiosity. -Rebecca Dash Donsky, New York Public Library

From Booklist:

Blumenthal, author of the Sibert Honor Book Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929 (2003), here offers a highly readable, well-shaped look at the Eighteenth Amendment, which she call. the most radical and ambitious social experiment ever tried. She provides concise, clearly written insights into the seeds of temperance movements in the late eighteenth century, which gained steam over the next century and finally reached a tipping point in the early twentieth century as an organized, powerful political movement. Of course, the grand social revolution that was supposed to forever end drunkenness, reduce crime, and make life better for America's families did almost precisely the opposite, and the section on Al Capone will satisfy readers hungry for the gangster-warfare side of Prohibition. A closing chapter makes an argument that despite the mostly disastrous results, there were bright points to Prohibition (like the sharp plunge in alcohol-related diseases) and looks at modern-day reverberations like MADD and school drug- and alcohol-awareness programs. Plenty of archival images lend to the book's pleasant design, and an ample bibliography and source notes close out this top-notch resource, which will also help spark discussion on the current War on Drugs.--Chipman, Ia.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin

Module 4 - Fantasy & Science Fiction

"Read three of the following selections:"

Plot Summary

Liz suddenly wakes up on a boat with a roommate who has been shot in the head. Slowly Liz comes to realize that she is dead, just like everyone else on the boat, and is invited to view her own funeral. When the boat docks in Elsewhere, Liz longs to return to the original dock, but learns she can never go back to her old life. Moving on with her death means that Liz meets her maternal grandmother for the first time. This family reunion is a bit awkward for Liz, since she still clings to her old life. Liz spends months simply watching life back on earth before she finally realizes that she must move on with her death. In death, she eventually finds her true avocation, romance, and friendship. Her romantic relationship is complicated when his wife dies and comes to Elsewhere. Things are bumpy for Liz for a while; death is much like life in that respect. But with the help of her grandmother and friends, Liz lives (or dies?) a happy existence through the rest of her childhood, eventually realizing that life is life, whether you're dead or not.

Critical Analysis

The 3rd person present-tense omniscient narration in this novel was very matter of fact. The characters come through entirely through their dialogue and actions rather than through knowing their thoughts. However, many of them feel very flat because we do not see their inner motivations. Liz and Owen develop as the narrative progresses, and we see this through the change in their actions and behaviors, but the descriptions are still very simplistic and to the point. This narrative style may appeal to reluctant readers due to its very simple sentence structure. It's not hard to get through any one portion of the story because of this narrative style.

The setting of Elsewhere is essential to the book. Not only is it the title, therefore the focal point of the book, but the essential elements would not exist in any other world. Elsewhere, the afterlife, is unique in that time flows backwards. Liz will become younger as time goes on, which is quite distressing when you've never reached adulthood in the first place. Liz feels she has nothing to look forwards to because she already knows what to expect from being younger than she is now, but she laments never attaining the milestones of adulthood like her first romance. If the setting did not contain this element of time, the primary issue that Liz has to confront would be fundamentally different.

The ending of the book feels a bit rushed. Liz's self-discovery phase dominates the majority of the narrative, and then time is skipped past after that to give closure to her situation. We see the remainder of her 15 years pass in the last tenth of the book. Perhaps the author chose to do this so that Liz's story would be complete. We do get to see her live out her death, even if it happens so briefly. However, if this section were omitted, it would leave room for a sequel where further events of Liz's life are explored in greater depth. Although, with the near-utopian nature of Elsewhere, there may not exist enough conflict beyond the acceptance of death which Liz has already endured.

For a book that begins with a dog's narration of her owner's death and ends with the re-birth of our protagonist as a new baby, this book is significantly lacking in concrete spiritual references. There is one mention of God early on in the book during Liz's orientation to Elsewhere:

"God's there in the same way He, She, or It was before to you. Nothing has changed."

Leaving God out of events may negate many of the complaints various faiths might have about the narrative. For the most part, the story is about living life and accepting and enjoying it rather than fretting over who is in charge of things. God is not mentioned again throughout the rest of the novel.

Reviewers differ on their perspective of the spirituality within this title. The Publishers Weekly reviewer comments:

"Prudently skirting the issue of God's role in Elsewhere...Zevin...bends the laws of physics and biology to create an intricately imagined world" (emphasis mine)

Whereas the Booklist reviewer states:

"Zevin's conception of the afterlife will inevitably ruffle many theological feathers, the comfort it offers readers grieving for lost loved ones, as well as the simple, thrilling satisfaction derived from its bold engagement with basic, provocative questions of human existence, will far outweigh any offense its metaphysical perspective might give."(emphasis mine)

Clearly there is some debate as to whether or not the lack of spirituality is innocuous or not, but it certainly does not play a very large role in the enjoyability of the narrative itself. This book would appeal to anyone who worries or wonders about the afterlife, or just wants to explore another concept of what it might be like. Readers of all faiths can find it acceptable as long as they can suspend disbelief long enough to get into the world of Elsewhere.

Bibliography

Zevin, Gabrielle. Elsewhere. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. ISBN 0374320918.

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Awards/Reviews

ALA Notable Book for Children

From Publishers Weekly:

Even readers who have strong views on what happens after death may find themselves intrigued by the fascinating world of "Elsewhere," the place 15-year-old Liz ends up after she is killed in a bicycle accident. A surreal atmosphere permeates chapter one as Liz awakens on a ship (mostly occupied by elderly people), unaware of its destination. ... readers will likely be intrigued by the "strictly forbidden" Well. Prudently skirting the issue of God's role in Elsewhere (when she asks about God, Liz is told simply "God's there in the same way He, She, or It was before to you. Nothing has changed"), Margarettown author Zevin, in her first novel for young people, bends the laws of physics and biology to create an intricately imagined world.

From School Library Journal:

Zevin's third-person narrative calmly, but surely guides readers through the bumpy landscape of strongly delineated characters dealing with the most difficult issue that faces all of us. A quiet book that provides much to think about and discuss.-Sharon Grover, Arlington County Department of Libraries, VA

From Booklist:

Although the book may prove too philosophical for some, Zevin offers readers more than a gimmick-driven novel of ideas: the world of Elsewhere is too tangible for that. "A human's life is a beautiful mess," reflects Liz, and the observation is reinforced with strikingly conceived examples: a newly dead thirtysomething falls in love with Liz's grandmother, who is biologically similar in age but experientially generations older; fresh arrivals reunite with spouses long since departed, creating incongruous May-December marriages and awkward love triangles (as Liz experiences when her boyfriend's wife suddenly appears). At one poignant moment, four-year-old Liz loses the ability to read. The passage she attempts to decipher, which comes from Natalie Babbitt's Tuck Everlasting, 0 is another meditation on the march of time and change. Although Zevin's conception of the afterlife will inevitably ruffle many theological feathers, the comfort it offers readers grieving for lost loved ones, as well as the simple, thrilling satisfaction derived from its bold engagement with basic, provocative questions of human existence, will far outweigh any offense its metaphysical perspective might give. Far more than just a vehicle for a cosmology, this inventive novel slices right to the bone of human yearning, offering up an indelible vision of life and death as equally rich sides of the same coin. --Jennifer Mattson

From Voice of Youth Advocates:

Readers who get past the dialogue, featuring a dog's account of its young mistress's death, will find this fantasy about the afterlife a fun and thought-provoking page-turner. ... Readers unwilling to suspend disbelief might find this story irritating. Zevin never explains how a fully grown baby enters its new mother's womb. Others will resent the instances of stereotyping-a rock star who overdoses, teens who drink, drive, and die. Still others will relish Zevin's lively imagination and her fast-moving plot. Buy this book for them.-Mary E. Heslin.

Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Module 4 - Fantasy & Science Fiction

"Read three of the following selections:"

Plot Summary

Luke has lived his entire life in hiding. As the third child born in a world where families are limited to two, his mere existence is a crime punishable by death. When the woods behind his house are sold and cut down to make way for fancy new houses, his limited ability to play outside with his brothers is abruptly cut off. Luke can not even look out the windows for fear of being discovered. But he finds a way. When he observes closely, he finds one of the new wealthy neighbors also has a hidden third child. Luke braves the fear of discovery to sneak over to the house and find out for sure. The two hidden "shadow" children form a friendship, but their very different personalities lead them in different directions.

Critical Analysis

Among the Hidden was a fairly short novel at just over 150 pages. It's a little lacking in exciting adventure, so it doesn't read too quickly due to the narrative events, but rather because it is so short. And the book even ends on a cliffhanger moment, prompting readers to seek out the next book to find out what will happen to Luke as he ventures into the rest of the world with his false identity. This is a great gimmick to hook readers to a series!

The setting of this dystopian story is primarily focused on the localized setting of Luke's family's farm and the encroaching housing development. There is mention of the social environment outside of the farm itself, like shopping centers and city locations and such, but because our narrator's entire world has been limited to the farm, we too are limited. The farm itself offers protection to Luke in his early years, due to its remote location and tree cover. If Luke's family had lived elsewhere, his experience would have been significantly different, as evidenced by the character of Jen and her very different experience of being a shadow child in a baron family. Jen is able to contact others, but Luke's entire social contact is only with his immediate family. Not even his aunts know about him.

The greater setting of the novel, however, is the depth of the U.S. government's social control over the lives of its citizens. How deep does that control run? Is there a possibility of individuals making a difference? We learn only so much about the government in this book; they are not afraid to gun down a group of shadow children and squelch news of the event. The efforts of Jen and the potential Luke has to influence future events and possibly reform or escape the governmental control is a highly compelling factor in the narrative. Maybe more about the government will be revealed in the rest of the series. The evolution of our modern day society into this totalitarian society is a believable jump; some nations have already implemented limits on child-bearing. Readers can draw similarities between modern day problems and their extension into the future to create this society.

The greatest excitement of the plot centers around Luke's discovery of the outside world and what he is able to learn from Jen and her books. The character of Jen is not as well developed as some might like, but she is definitely the secondary character of the novel even if she only exists occasionally for about fifty pages. Without her as a catalyst, Luke might foreseeably remain hidden in the attic for his entire life. Instead, Luke expands his vocabulary, learns more about government and society, contributes to the family livelihood, and begins to explore technology because of her influences. His final determination to strike out on his own is inspired by the loss of his friend. He says "I'm doing this for you, too, Jen. Someday when we're all free, all the third children, I'll tell everyone about you. They'll erect statues to you, and name holidays after you..." She is his motivating force.

Reviewers from Publishers Weekly criticized the novel in 1998 because "the plot development is sometimes implausible and the characterizations are a bit brittle", but this novel has held up well to the test of time. With the current rapid expansion in the YA dystopian genre, this shorter volume can be useful to bring lower-level high school and upper-level elementary readers into the fold. Among the Hidden is a title that has been fairly well tested in the classroom; I attended a seminar at 2011 TLA on using social media to teach the novel and series. It brings up a lot of serious world issues for discussion without including such things as violence and romance that might be offensive in a classroom situation. The most violence the book includes is the brief description of the gunning down of the rally-goers:

"They shot all of them. All forty kids at the rally, gunned down right in front of the president's house. The blood flowed into his rosebushes. But they had the sidewalks scrubbed before the tourists came, so nobody would know."

Bibliography

Haddix, Margaret Peterson. Among the hidden. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1998. ISBN 9780689817007.

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Awards/Reviews

From Publishers Weekly:

Haddix (Running Out of Time) chillingly imagines a dystopia in this futuristic novel. ... The plot development is sometimes implausible and the characterizations are a bit brittle, but the unsettling, thought-provoking premise should suffice to keep readers hooked.

From School Library Journal:

This is a near future of shortages and deprivation where widespread famines have led to a totalitarian government that controls all aspects of its citizens' lives. When the boy secretly ventures outside the attic and meets the girl in the neighboring house, he learns that expressing divergent opinions openly can lead to tragedy. To what extent is he willing to defy the government in order to have a life worth living? As in Haddix's Running Out of Time (S & S, 1995), the loss of free will is the fundamental theme of an exciting and compelling story of one young person defying authority and the odds to make a difference. Readers will be captivated by Luke's predicament and his reactions to it.-Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PA

From Kirkus:

Haddix offers much for discussion here, by presenting a world not too different from America right now. The seizing of farmlands, untenable food regulations, and other scenarios that have come to fruition in these pages will give readers a new appreciation for their own world after a visit to Luke's.

From Voice of Youth Advocates

...this bleak allegorical tale ends with Luke leaving to attend school, then rejoin the outside world. This is an easily understood, younger reader's 1984 or Brave New World, presenting a chilling vision of a possibly not-too-distant future. Haddix's other books include Don't You Dare Read This, Mrs. Dunphrey (Simon & Schuster, 1996/VOYA December 1996).‘Debbie Earl.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Module 4 - Fantasy & Science Fiction

"Read three of the following selections:"

Plot Summary

On Gemma Doyle's sixteenth birthday in 1895, she and her mother are strolling through a marketplace in India. They argue and Gemma takes off running, just as the visions hit her and she watches her mother's death. Months later she is sent to school in London, just as she had wanted, but with dire circumstances surrounding her. At the school she must make new friends and find her place among a new crowd. With the guidance of her visions and an old diary, Gemma leads her entourage of girls, The Order, into the lands of the realms. Once there, however, the addiction of the magic overtakes them and their adolescent invincibility leads them to discover the evil side of this beautiful land and the true identity of Gemma's mother.

Critical Analysis

A Great and Terrible Beauty was a rather lengthy Victorian era fantasy. The title, cover, and description of this book had never caught my attention, but because I've enjoyed other books and stories by Libba Bray I wanted to go back to this one and give it a read. The narrative grabs you from the first few pages. Insolent Gemma and her inconsiderate, controlling mother create a situation that many teens can relate to, even if it is set in the distant past of 1895 and in a foreign land. This introductory scene is gripping in its mystery and its character interactions.

The historical setting of this novel is critical to its plot, as the role of young girls and women have changed significantly since then. During that time period, however, boarding schools for girls were common for those who could afford them. Preparation for a life of marriage and subservience was the primary goal of education for young girls. The oppression inherent in that system is also necessary for the girls, so that they can explore the realms where they have power and are free on their own terms. Without the contrasting background of oppression, the freedom of the realms would not be as remarkable.

I liked that the book never really gives much of a name to the forces at work in the book. The character of Kartik appears and disappears almost like a mythical vampire would, but no name is given to his mysteriousness. The magic which the girls are able to control also isn't named. The land they escape to is merely called "the realms" and the group merely called "The Order." The vagueness of names gives it further mystery. I kept hoping that the nature of things would be revealed in the next chapter, and yet it never was, but that suspense added inspiration to continue further into the story.

Several of the characters feel undeveloped and flat even as we learn more about them. The School Library Journal reviewer states:

"Bray's characters are types-Felicity, clever and powerful; Ann, plain and timid; Pippa, beautiful and occasionally thoughtless; Gemma, spirited and chafing under society's rules-but not offensively so, and they do change as the story progresses."

So there is some perceived change on the parts of each of the girls, but if one looks at their larger actions at the beginning and the end of the narrative, their fundamental natures and motivations remain the same except for Gemma's. When we first meet Ann she is quiet and demure and rather overlooked by the other girls. In the middle, Ann begins to find her confidence as she practices her singing and influence within the realms. But when we leave Ann at the end of the book, Ann has faded back into the background and hides modestly behind the assertive Felicity's decisions rather than making her own. Felicity enters the novel as a snooty back-stabbing girl. In the middle she seems to join forces with Gemma and the others, but by the end she is leading the mutiny to try to gain her own powers rather than relying on Gemma's. She is also the mastermind behind blaming the diary and other events on the art teacher Miss Moore. She has not changed fundamentally, but remains a vicious self-preserving harpy to the very end. Pippa, the stunning beauty of the group, makes her first appearances as Felicity's lackey. When she begins to show herself through their late night explorations and within the realm she is deeply romantic, wanting nothing more from life than true love. At the end she chooses not to leave the realms, and in a final act of defiance she eats the grapes and remains forever with her knight in shining armor rather than go back to her life as the wife of Mr. Bumble. Gemma, however, shows a great amount of personal growth between being the insolent brat in India, to becoming the leader of the girls' adventures, and finally as she owns up to her failures and makes great personal sacrifices. Gemma even forgives her mother the evils she has committed and therefore is able to defeat the evil welling up from the realms.

There are many themes to explore in this novel. Most obviously is the battle between good and evil within the same person. As the true identity of Gemma's mother is revealed, Gemma must come to terms with this aspect of her history. She concludes:

But forgiveness... I'll hold on to that fragile slice of hope and keep it close, remembering that in each of us lie good and bad, light and dark, art and pain, choice and regret, cruelty and sacrifice. We're each of us our own chiaroscuro, our own bit of illusion fighting to emerge into something solid, something real. We've got to forgive ourselves that. I must remember to forgive myself. Because there's an awful lot of gray to work with. No one can live in the light all the time.

However, the issue of a woman's place is also considered throughout the book as these girls struggle with their adolescence and society's expectations of them as young ladies. The final line of the novel gives voice to what Gemma and the others must be feeling:

"Because I want to see how far I can go before I have to stop."

Bibliography

Bray, Libba. A great and terrible beauty. New York: Delacorte Press, 2003. ISBN 0385730284.

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Reviews

From Publishers Weekly:

Bray brilliantly depicts a caste system, in which girls are taught to abandon individuality in favor of their man's wishes, as a deeper and darker horror than most things that go bump in the night. While aimed at female readers, it will be just as delectable to boys brave enough to be seen carrying a book sporting a corset-clad girl on the cover. The pace is swift, the finale gripping. A delicious, elegant gothic.

From School Library Journal:

An interesting combination of fantasy, light horror, and historical fiction, with a dash of romance thrown in for good measure. ... The author also makes a point about the position of women in Victorian society. Bray's characters are types-Felicity, clever and powerful; Ann, plain and timid; Pippa, beautiful and occasionally thoughtless; Gemma, spirited and chafing under society's rules-but not offensively so, and they do change as the story progresses. The ending leaves open the likelihood of a sequel. Recommend this to fantasy fans who also like Sherlock Holmes or Mary Russell.-Lisa Prolman, Greenfield Public Library, MA

From Booklist:

The jacket, a photo of a young woman in a tightly laced corset and lacy camisole, bespeaks a steamy love story (Gemma does have some sexy dreams about a young gypsy), but the costume is really a metaphor for the strictures against women of the period, which Bray limns extremely well in her debut novel. The Realms and the mystery surrounding the diary are less well handled, yet there's no doubt the mystical elements, along with a touch of forbidden romance, will draw a large, enthusiastic audience, who will come away wanting more about stubborn, willful Gemma and the strange world whose doors she can open at will. --Stephanie Zvirin

From Kirkus:

A Gothic touched by modern conceptions of adolescence, shivery with both passion and terror.

From Voice of Youth Advocates:

This classic boarding school drama with gothic tones deals with real issues-a woman's place, the question of self-determinism, the impact on young lives of a lack of parental love and attention-within an excitingly supernatural framework. Plot, setting, and characterization are all strong. Questions of life, love, maturity, responsibility, and the harrowing nature of choices are seamlessly worked into a compulsively readable story, open ended enough to hint at the possibility of a sequel. Soundly researched and credible, this exhilarating and thought-provoking read is for the junior high level up, especially for girls who have enjoyed Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series and are ready for something a bit more challenging and mature.-Ann Welton.