Category: Uncategorized

June 25, 2019

Last Stop on Market Street

Written by Matt de la Peña

Illustrated by Christian Robinson

Picture Book
Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Awards

**Winner of the 2016 Newbery Medal
**2016 Caldecott Honor Book
** 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book
**#1 New York Times BestsellerA New York Times Book Review Notable Children’s Book of 2015
NPR Best Book of 2015
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of 2015
Wall Street Journal Best Book of 2015
2015 Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Horn Book Best Book of 2015
BookPage’s “2015’s First Must-Read Picture Book”
The Huffington Post Best Overall Picture Book of 2015
Boston Globe Best Book of 2015
Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2015
Chosen for the New York Public Library’s 100 Books for Reading & Sharing List
Miami Herald Best Children’s Book of 2015
Raleigh News & Observer Best Children’s Book of 2015
Atlanta Parent Best Book of 2015
San Francisco Chronicle Holiday Gift Guide Pick
Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature “Best Multicultural Books of 2015”
Scholastic Instructor 50 Best Summer Book
Chosen for the ALSC 2015 Summer Reading List
Horn Book Summer 2015 Reading List Pick
Chosen for School Library Journal’s 2015 Top 10 Latin Books List
Kansas City Star Thanksgiving 2015 Roundup Pick
Winter 2014-2015 Kids’ Indie Next Pick
2015 E.B. White Read Aloud Award Finalist
Nominated for the 2016 Washington Children’s Choice Picture Book Award
Nominated for the 2016 Kentucky Bluegrass Award

About the Author

Matt de la Peña is an award winning, American author of young adult novels and children’s picture books. He has written seven young adult novels and five picture books and believes the books provide the reader with a “secret place to feel”. Matt writes books for the reluctant reader as he struggled with reading growing up. His first novel, Ball Don’t Lie, was made into a major motion picture. He currently lives in New York where he teaches creative writing. He was the first Latino author to win a Newbery Medal Award for his book Last Stop on Market Street.

Reading is the ultimate form of empathy. And the more you read, the more you understand, not just yourself, but other worlds and other people, and you become a more compassionate person.”

Matt de la pena

About the Illustrator

Christian Robinson an American animator and illustrator of children’s picture books. As a child, Christian was enthralled with all things creative and spent his time creating art whether it was drawing, painting, or making a sculpture. He loves trying new things and experimenting with different techniques, mediums, and textures with his art. He created Last Stop on Market Street with a mix of collage and paint.

Book Summary

Last Stop on Market Street is a heartfelt story about a boy, CJ, and his grandmother as they take the bus home from church on Sunday morning. The whole ride home, CJ is comparing himself and his life to that of others; Why do they have to take the bus?; Why doesn’t he have an iPod?; Why do they have to get off at a dirty part of town? His grandmother responds, not by dismissing his wonderings, but by offering him reassuring words that encourage CJ to open his eyes to the beauty of the world around him and to focus on what he has, not what he does not have.

The illustrations in this book are stunning and they were created by a mix of paint and collage. The tone of all the images is very light and bright, which is likely to draw the attention of readers young and old. The images are also pretty flat, simple, child-like, and playful, which contrast the more complex messages found in the story, such as gratitude, observation, and community service. The illustrations are also used to reinforce what is told in the story. They show the reader the city, a city that may be similar to their own, and all the people they encounter on their bus ride to the soup kitchen. The reader can see CJ looking out the window at his friends as he wonders why they never have to go anywhere like him or his face as he observes the two people listening to something with their headphones. They can see CJ close his eyes to allow the music from the guitar player on the bus to take him to a magical place inside his imagination. They can see the rainbow that CJ might have missed had he only been looking at the dirtiness of the city.

CJ saw the perfect rainbow arcing over their soup kitchen. He wondered how his nana always found beautiful where he never even thought to look.

Last Stop on Market street, pg. 25

Readers can enhance their visual literacy with this book as they look around the pages to see what they notice about the city. They can easily connect to the how CJ is feeling and relate the events in the story to things they might do in their life. If they take nana’s advice to slow down and observe while reading this book, they are sure to notice more things than I can note in this blog. Another great aspect of the illustrations is the art on the front and end papers. They are bright yellow with a pattern of shapes and objects that can be found within the book as well. It would be fun to have students make note of those objects on the end papers and see if they can find them while reading.

Last Stop on Market Street is contemporary realistic fiction as it is a small snapshot of a day in a young boys life with his grandmother, something that could be a part of any young child’s life. As Tunnell, Jacobs, Young, and Bryan (2016) point out in Children’s Literature, Briefly, “everything in contemporary realistic fiction is possible on planet Earth” (pg.137), and everything that happens in Last Stop on Market Street could have happened. When children read this book, or get read this book, they could see themselves in CJ, feeling his feelings and wondering his wonderings. They might have a grandmother or other adult figure that is just like CJ’s grandmother. Maybe after reading this book, they would feel more inclined to focus on the beauty that is around them and how they can create beauty through helping others as CJ did.

This would be a great book for interrogating multiple viewpoints. What is it like to walk in CJ’s shoes? de la Pena makes the feel like we are walking in CJ’s shoes right along with him and his grandmother. The reader can also contemplate with it is like to walk in his grandmother’s shoes. Why does she say what she says to CJ? Do the students know what it is like to not have a car, to not iPods, to serve people at a soup kitchen?

de la Pena grew up not seeing himself represented in books, which led to his apprehension and struggles with reading (2013). Now he writes books with the hope of catching the eye of reluctant readers like himself so that they may find themselves in the literature and learn more about themselves in the process. He believes that this makes for more empathetic people. The little mystery in Last Stop on Market Street is where CJ and his grandmother are even going on the bus that Sunday. The book ends with them volunteering at a soup kitchen. Reading this book could spark conversation about social justice issues and community service. Helping others can contribute to creating more beauty in the world. CJ was apprehensive about going to the soup kitchen until he saw some familiar faces, then he was glad they went, showing his character’s empathy and his willingness to set aside his doubts for the good of others.

References

De La Pena, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://mattdelapena.com/

De La Pena, M. (2013). Random House Kids. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/M6uUsUnlEmk

Robinson, C. (n.d.). Meet the Illustrator: Christian Robinson. Brightly Editors. Retrieved from https://www.readbrightly.com/meet-illustrator-christian-robinson/

Tunnell, M. O., Jacobs, J. S., Young, T. A., & Bryan, G. (2016). Children’s Literature, Briefly (6th ed.). Upple Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

June 20, 2019

Chains

Written by Laurie Halse Anderson
Young Adult Novel
Historical Fiction

Awards

• ALA Best Books For Young Adults
• ALA Notable Children’s Books
• ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults – Top Ten
• Beehive Award Master List (UT)
• Booklist Editors’ Choice
• CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book
• Capitol Choices List (DC)
• Charlotte Award Suggested Reading List (NY)
• Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee (NJ)
• Georgia Children’s Book Award Nominee
• Golden Sower Masterlist (NE)
• Grand Canyon Reader Award Nominee (AZ)
• IRA Teachers’ Choices
• Maine Student Book Award Master List
• NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
• National Book Award Finalist
• Nutmeg Children’s Book Award Nominee (CT)
• Pacific Northwest Young Reader’s Choice Award
• Pacific Northwest Young Reader’s Choice Award Master List
• Parents’ Choice Gold Award Winner
• Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award Nominee
• Publishers Weekly Best Books
• Rebecca Caudill Award Master List (IL)
• Rhode Island Teen Book Award Nominee
• Rodda Book Award Nominee
• Scott O’Dell Award
• Texas Tayshas Reading List
• Thumbs Up! Award Master List (MI)
• Truman Reader Award Nominee (MO)
• Volunteer State Book Award Master List (TN)
• Washington Post Best Books
• West Virginia Children’s Book Award Master List

About the Author

Laurie Halse Anderson is an award winning and New York Times bestselling American author. She has written picture books, non-fiction, YA fiction, adult fiction, as well as her memoir, SHOUT. She was honored by the National Coalition Against Censorship and the National Council of Teachers of English for fighting against censorship. Her books have won many awards, including Chains and Speak (which is also one of my favorite YA novels that I read in high school).

Book Summary

Chains is a historical fiction book set during the Revolutionary War. The story is told from the perspective of Isabel, an enslaved young girl. Isabel and her sister Ruth were promised their freedom by their enslaver, Mary Finch, upon her death. Suddenly, Isabel and her sister are sold by their previous owner’s nephew to the Locktons. The Locktons are a malicious, rich, and fence-straddling, loyalist couple, notorious for their maltreatment of the people they enslave. When Isabel meets Curzon, a young boy enslaved by Mr. Bellingham, a Patriot, she is encouraged to spy on her Loyalist enslavers. She is hesitant at first, but finds her self needing to wager for her freedom after something terrible happens to Ruth.

Historical Fiction

Laurie Halse Anderson wrote a very powerful piece of historical fiction that takes place in a time before her own, during the Revolutionary War from 1776-1777. Most of the characters are fictional, but she does include some that are based on real, notable people of that time, such as General George Washington, New York mayor David Matthews, Thomas Hickey, and Dr. Abraham van Biskirk. In addition, many of the events that take place are actual historical events, such as various battles, that happened during the Revolutionary War.

The reader gets to see a unique perspective that isn’t normally presented in history books or historical fiction, that of an enslaved girl named Isabel. While Isabel isn’t a real girl that was enslaved during that time period, her story, her emotions, and her struggles were very real. It is through Isabel’s eyes that the reader experiences the pain of losing Ruth, the fear of sneaking around behind her enslavers’ backs, and her strength as she endures and perseveres through many hardships.

Laurie Halse Anderson has clearly done her research to make this historical fiction novel a reality. She demonstrates this in a few ways. One way is through the use of short excerpts of historical letters or other texts from that time period at the beginning of each chapter. Anderson would also add the date (i.e. Monday, May 27, 1776) to connect the reader to a specific time in the past. In chapter 1, it read, “‘Youth is the seed time of good habits, as well in nation as in individuals.’ – Thomas Paine, Common Sense.” I felt these excerpts always connected to the situation Isabel was going through in that chapter. They helped connect the fantasy to the reality. In addition, she provides an Appendix at the end of the book, that responds in detail to some common questions and concerns regarding the historical accuracy of the novel.

Anderson utilizes figurative language and musical writing to “show” rather than “tell” the events in Chains. But she also uses a few visual elements. The biggest and most obvious is the cover art, created by Christopher Silas Neal. The imagery on the cover is very powerful and depicts a small black child with their arms in the air and the title, Chains, on a ribbon are across their arms. There is also two birds placed on either side of the child, one with the British Flag and one with the American flag. Another small visual technique used within the book creates a sense of the past was the fancy font used for the date at the beginning of each chapter and the first letter of the first word of each chapter.

There is some really powerful figurative language and rich, vivid descriptive language in Chains that really paints a picture in the mind of the reader. For example, the use of “bees” to describe how Isabel felt in her mind. Describing her racing thoughts as bees is very clever and relatable. This language is used throughout the novel. The bees visit her mind often after scary or terrible things happen to her or her sister. Madam Lockton threatens to sell Ruth after she has her first seizure, what are described as her “peculiar ways”, in front of the Madam.

Strangest of all was the hive of bees that had taken up residence inside of me. They swarmed under my skin and gave off peculiar vibrations. The buzzing echoed in my brainpan and crowed out my thoughts.
The fire in me burned on and on.”

chains, pg. 148

Another powerful scene that demonstrates Isabel’s character growth takes place in sick Lady Seymour’s room. Lady Seymour is dying and is feeling remorse for her failed attempt or lack of attempt to purchase Isabel and Ruth. Lady Seymour does not approve of the malicious way that Madam Lockton treats her slaves. Isabel relates how Lady Seymour is acting to the way her previous enslaver, Mary Finch, acted when she was close to death. But now, much has happened to Isabel and she is stronger now, she does not see the use in easing the mind of the dying lady. She understands that Lady Seymour had good intentions, but she realizes that good intentions do little to help her out of enslavement. Isabel wants to know why she thought of buying her, but didn’t think of freeing her.

It would have eased her mind if I thanked her for wanting to buy me away from Madam. I tried to be grateful but could not. A body does not like being bought and sold like a basket of eggs, even if the person who cracks the shells is kind.”

Chains, page 245

It was Christmas Day, the one “free” day that Isabel got a year with no work, but Madam had a different idea. Madam made sure that Isabel had work to do and when she was done she threatened her for having gone to the prison to feed the prisoners, or rather Curzon. She threatened to sell her like she did to Ruth. Isabel thought, “She can do anything. I can do nothing.” (pg. 232). The reader can feel and share in her helplessness and sadness, “The ashes of sadness and the buzzing bees of my melancholy all spin a storm inside of me” (pg. 232). Isabel’s character grows quickly on this page, during her “free” time, as she looks across to New Jersey, foreshadowing the events ahead. “A thought surfaced through my ashes.” (pg. 232).

She cannot chain my soul.”

Chains, pg. 232

This is a turning point for Isabel, a fire is burning inside her and she is more determined than ever to do whatever it takes to survive, find her sister, and live free. The revelation that no one can chain her soul. No matter how evil or cruel, she can persevere. Isabel is consistently portrayed as “unique and believable” (Tunnell et al., 2016, p. 17). The reader can emotionally connect to her character as she fights through her fears and holds on to hope.

References

Anderson, L.A. (2008). Chains. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Laurie Halse Anderson. (2019). Retrieved from http://madwomanintheforest.com/about-the-author/

Tunnell, M. O., Jacobs, J. S., Young, T. A., & Bryan, G. (2016). Children’s Literature, Briefly (6th ed.). Upple Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

June 20, 2019

Trombone Shorty

Written by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews
Illustrated by Bryan Collier
Non Fiction Picture Book
Autobiography

Awards

• 2016 Caldecott Honor Book
• 2016 Coretta Scott King Illustration Award Winner

About the Author

Troy Andrews grew up in a famous musical family in New Orleans where he started playing the trombone at age 4 and he was his first band by age 8. Today, Trombone Shorty plays his music all over the world! Troy Andrews started the Trombone Shorty Academy, which is an after-school music program for high schoolers in New Orleans.

About the Illustrator

Brian Collier is an award winning American writer and illustrator from Pocomoke, Maryland. He won the Coretta Scott King award for his illustrations in Trombone Shorty. He also won the Ezra Zack Keats award for new illustrator for his work in Uptown. It is interesting to note Ezra Zack Keats’ A Snowy Day was the first book he remembers reading by himself. His illustration style is very powerful and unique. His combination of watercolor and collage really brings stories to life.

“Collage is more than just an art style. Collage is all about bringing different elements together. Once you form a sensibility about connection, how different elements relate to each other, you deepen your understanding of yourself and others.”

-www.Bryancollier.com/bio.hph

Book Summary

Trombone Shorty is an autobiography written by Trombone Shorty himself, aka Troy Andrews. It is all about where he grew up, how he received his nickname and his love for music. The book guides us through his life in the Tremé Neighborhood in New Orleans. He was heavily influenced by the music all around him and his family members also played many instruments. Troy Andrews got his nickname when he started playing the trombone at 4 years old. His trombone was twice as big as he was and he carried it everywhere he went, he even took it to bed. And thus, Trombone Shorty was born.

Visual Literacy

Trombone Shorty would be a wonderful picture book to use to support and advance the reader’s visual literacy. The illustration in this book are so striking and powerful and are even more-so when tied with the story of Trombone Shorty. Bryan Collier used watercolor and collage to bring the story and the music behind the story to life. The pictures in picture books should “beg for active participation in their viewing” (Tunnell et al, 2016, p. 36) and I think that the pictures in Trombone Shorty do just that. It is hard not to be drawn to the images on each page. My eyes danced around, trying to take in every little detail. The images help the reader get to know the Treme Neighborhood, the people that live there, and the music they played. It is not hard to see how Troy developed a love for music as it was so very appreciated and special to him, his family, and everyone in his neighborhood.

Collier uses bright and vibrant colors to portray the bright and vibrant culture of Treme, New Orleans. The colors used are warm and inviting, no doubt a representation of what it’s like to walk down the musical streets in this neighborhood. Andrews writes of his love for his neighborhood and calls it his “greatest inspiration”. On this page (pictured below) the reader sees balloons floating in the air and the use of lines and color to give the sense of movement. The balloons are a metaphor for the music one could hear. Andrews writes, “Any time of day or night, you could hear music floating in the air.”

Almost every illustration is set outside in his neighborhood. Trombone Shorty is also rarely by himself on the page. This is purposefully done to demonstrate the important influence his neighborhood and the community have on his life. Everyone is his friend, everyone is his family. They raised him and they raised him to love music. At one point he mentions that his brother and uncle are also magicians and Trombone Shorty wanted to be just like them. Despite not having “real instruments”, Troy and his friends would pretend to be in a band with instruments they made (pictured below). The imagery on this page is magical. You can see how happy the children are to be making music in a band even though they don’t have
real instruments”. They didn’t let anything stop them. I love the crowns on their heads as I feel like it shows how proud of themselves they are. From this image on, Trombone Shorty always has a trombone in his hands.

In addition to the illustrations, the author utilizes different fonts and ways of placing words on the page, mostly with the phrase “WHERE Y’AT?”. “WHERE Y’AT is a unique part of the community’s language, it is used as a greeting. These words are always in all capital letters, bold, larger than the other text, and are wiggly. I think this shows the importance of the phrase and is yet another way that movement is created. “TROMBONE SHORTY”, as shown above, is in all capital letters and larger than the other text since this is when he gets his nickname from his brother. The larger letters signify the importance of this moment in his life.

The image where Trombone Shorty is seen sleeping with his trombone is the only one where he is alone. This is also the only image with cooler tones used. I think this all plays to the intimacy of his personal connection to his music. The cooler tones aren’t sad, but rather calm and peaceful. Troy has a smile on his face and is hugging his trombone tightly. This page is right after his brother officially came up with his nickname, a nickname that Troy is very proud of.

Transactional Theory

Transaction theory is all about the importance of the relationship between the reader and the text. The text without a reader is merely words on a page. This book would be an amazing opportunity for students to view it from an efferent stance. The teacher could ask them to read the story once through, but only having them read the pictures and not the words. The students could then respond with the ways they felt while looking at the pictures. What made them feel that way? What things stood out to the students and why? Students could also read this story without any specific goal in mind so that they could then react to how the story made them feel and discuss the things they found a connection to while reading.

References

Andrews, T. (2015). Trombone shorty. New York: Abrams Books.

Bryan Collier http://www.bryancollier.com/bio.php

Tunnell, M. O., Jacobs, J. S., Young, T. A., & Bryan, G. (2016). Children’s Literature, Briefly (6th ed.). Upple Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.