Heather Has Two Mommies (Challenged book)

  Newman, Leslea. (1989). Heather Has Two Mommies (Diana Souza, Illus.). Los Angeles: Alyson Publications.

 During the 1990s, copies of Heather Has Two Mommies began disappearing off of book shelves from both school and public libraries around the country as people borrowed the book with no intention of returning it. By checking the book out of the library and then claiming it as lost, community members were battling to remove this book’s viewpoint from a child’s hands. Other challenges to Heather Has Two Mommies occurred in Brooklyn, New York (February, 1992), Springfield, Oregon (June, 1992), and Fayetteville, North Carolina (October, 1992). Both of the cases in Oregon and North Carolina elected to allow Heather Has Two Mommies to remain on the book shelves in the children’s section. In Brooklyn, New York the Bary Ridge School Board President said that the board objected to words in the book that were age inappropriate; the book was removed from the district’s curriculum.  (retrieved from http://sites.google.com/site/thesisactivities/heather-has-two-mommies July 27, 2011).

  I found Heather Has Two Mommies to be an easy read and a good book to read to small children. It is very short and to the point. Our country is full of “unconventional” families. While Heather has two lesbian mothers, another child has two gay fathers. Still another has a mom and a stepfather, and yet another has a mother and a babysitter. The point of the book is to reassure small children that no matter what their situation at home may be, it’s normal. I liked this book and I like the fact that it discusses several different home situations beyond homosexual parents. Children spend enough time worrying about little things. It’s nice to find a book that lets them know family is family, no matter what.

 

We Are The Ship (Coretta Scott King award)

  Nelson, Kadir. (2008). We Are The Ship: The Story of NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.

  We Are The Ship is the 2009 Coretta Scot King Author Award Winner.

  We Are The Ship is the story of Negro League baseball. Although there was never any “law” against blacks playing on mostly white teams, due to segregation in this country, they simply didn’t. So, in 1920,  they created their own league. This book is about the history of the league, the players of the league, and their experiences. I am a big history buff and love reading about the past. This particular story holds extra interest for me. When I was still working as a news reporter, I was sent to New York City to cover Jackie Robinson Day at Shea Stadium.  President Bill Clinton was on hand to honor the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Of course, Robinson is discussed in We Are The Ship, and his crossing over to the regular leagues marked the end of the Negro Leagues. I found this book interesting and easy to read. The illustrations, paintings really, are magnificent. Colorful, realistic, and really contribute to the beauty of the book in a big way.

 

The Stupids Have a Ball (Challenged books)

   Bullard, H. & Marshall, J. (1978). The Stupids Have a Ball. Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company.

 1985: Because “it describe[s] families in a derogatory manner and might encourage children to disobey their parents,” the Stupids series has been removed from shelves. This book appears as the twenty-seventh most censored book on the American Library Association’s “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-1999.” (retrieved from http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/exhibits/censored/child.html July 26, 2011).

     I found this book to be inoffensive and don’t really understand why this series would be challenged by anyone. In this particular title, the Stupids throw a party to celebrate the fact that their children have flunked all of their classes. And even though it’s a costume party, and everyone comes in costume, the Stupids are too stupid to notice. This is a quick, easy read for smaller children. The illustrations convey a sense of goofiness. My one criticism would be that it really has very little depth to it. It’s short and sweet. However, it could be used to start a discussion between parent and child about the importance of grades and NOT being stupid. Also, it could be used as a lesson on individuality.

 

Chalk (Notable Books for Children)

  Thomson, Bill. (2010). Chalk. Tarrytown, NY; Marshall Cavendish Children.

  Chalk is on the 2011 Notable Books for Children list.

  Chalk is an intereresting and unusual book in that it is ALL about illustration, understatement, imagination, and inferencing.

  This picture book has no text at all. However, the story is easily figured out from the pictures. Three children are heading to the playground in the rain. Once there, they open a box of chalk.

    Despite the weather, they start to draw on the asphalt with their chalk. As they draw, their pictures start to come to life. For example, one girl draws the sun and the sun comes out.

   Unfortunately, when a boy draws a dinosaur, it comes to life and chases the children, who hide in the playground equipment.

    Using his head, the boy draws a raincloud in the tube he is hiding inside.

   It starts to rain again, dissolving the dinosaur and the children are saved.

   The illustrations is Chalk are realistic. The children LOOK like children. The colors are very realistic; a yellow raincoat against a grey sky.  This is a very enjoyable book that a parent could use to help teach a child some critical thinking skills like inferencing, generalizations, and conclusions.

 

Hatchet (Newbery Honor book)

  Paulsen, Gary. (1987). Hatchet. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers.

  Hatchet is a Newbery Honor book 1988.

  The story takes place in New York and in the forests of Canada. 13 year old Brian Robeson is on his way to visit his father.

  The single engine plane Brian is in crashes when the pilot has a heart attack while at the controls.

  Brian is now alone in the wilderness with just the hatchet his mother gave him as a gift. His thoughts have been preoccupied with his parents divorce and the “secret” that he knows about his mom, which is that she is seeing another man.

  Brian must put that secret aside and focus on survival. He is sickened by wild berries, is struck by a porcupine needle, and sees a bear. When a plane fails to spot him, Brian tries to kill himself but survives.

   He uses that experience as a sign to embrace his life and becomes better at surviving in the wild. Unfortunately, a storm destroys his shelter and he drops his hatchet into the lake. It seems as if the wilderness will get the best of him.

   Brian finds a way to be resourceful. He dives for his hatchet and he also recovers the survival pack from the wreckage of the plane.  He finds an emergency transmitter and plays around with it but doesn’t put much thought into it.

   While Brian is sitting at his camp eating dinner, a plane lands. The pilot had heard the emergency transmission and comes to rescue the boy who has been in the woods for nearly two months.

   When he is back with his father, Brian never does tell him the “secret.”

    There is some music in language used in Hatchet. For example, as he falls asleep one night by his campfire he thinks: “I wonder what they’re doing now. I wonder what my father is doing now. I wonder what my mother is doing now. I wonder if she is with him.”

   There is not a lot of diaglogue in this book.  However, that works because the majority of the story is one person alone in the wilderness. So there are some thoughts, but it is mostly action.

  Foreshadowing is used quite a bit in Hatchet. The pilot teaches him how to control the plane when landing. The pilot has pain in his shoulder. The hatchet Brian’s mother gave him.

 

Holes (Newbery Medal winner)

  Sachar, Louis. (1998). Holes. New York; Yearling.

  Holes is the 2009 winner of the Newbery Medal Award.

  Stanley Yelnats is under a family curse that started with his great-great-grandfather. 

  Stanley is sent to a boys detention center, Camp Green Lake, for a crime he didn’t commit.  Once there, Stanley and the others are forced to dig large holes.

  Stanley realizes the warden is having them dig holes because he is looking for something. What he doesn’t know is that more than one hundred years earlier, iat Camp Green Lake, a white woman and a black man fell in love. This is not accepted but when the couple tries to escape across the lake, their boat is destroyed and the man dies. The woman, Kate, becomes an outlaw and ends up robbing Stanley’s great-grandfather. She buries the money and dies before revealing its location.

     The warden knows this and is having the boys dig, looking for the money. Meanwhile, Stanley follows one of the boys up into the mountains. They return to camp and find a suitcase with Stanley’s name on it (which is also the name of his great-grandfather).

    Before the warden can take the suitcase away, Stanley is cleared of the crime he is accused of and is able to leave the detention camp. It seems the family curse is lifted, as the suitcase is full of valuable items AND Stanley’s father is finally successful at something. He finds a cure for foot odor!

     Holes uses understatement in many instances, including having the reader determine why the warden is having the boys dig.  It also uses realistic dialogue. In telling the story of the interracial couple, the sheriff says, “It ain’t against the law for you to kiss him… just for him to kiss you.”

 

The Higher Power of Lucky (Newbery Medal winner & Challenged book)

  Patron, Susan. (2006). The Higher Power of Lucky. (M. Phelan. Illus.). New York; Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

  The Higher Power of Lucky is the winner of the Newbery Medal for 2007.

   Lucky is a 10 year old girl who lives with her dog in a trailer in California. Lucky’s mother is dead and her father is gone. She lives with her guardian, Brigitte. Lucky is very smart and tends to overthink things.

   Lucky sees Brigitte’s suitcase and passport and fears that her guardian is about to return to France. She fears she will be abandoned in an orphanage, so Lucky runs away during a sandstorm.

   She carries her huge, heavy backpack with her. Outside of town, she finds her friend, Miles, who was injured in the storm.  They find shelter in dugout areas by an abandoned mine.

    Miles has a burr in his foot.  They have very little to eat. And a bug flies into Lucky’s ear and she cannot get it out. It seems like everything is going wrong in their shelter. Then, their other friend, Lincoln, finds them and lets them know the whole town is out looking (there are only 43 residents in the town). They have been rescued.

    Before she goes back to town, Lucky throws her mother’s ashes (she carries them with her) into the wind. Once back home, she learns that Brigitte was not returning to France and, instead, wants to adopt Lucky and be her mother.

     *Controversy arose over the use of the word “scrotum” on the first page of The Higher Power of Lucky.  A number of school librarians decided to ban or censor the book. However, the book did win the Newbery medal and has the support of the American Library Association.

 

The Underneath (Newbery Honor book)

   Appelt, Kathi. (2008). The Underneath. (D. Small. Illus.).  New York; Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

  The Underneath is a Newbery Honor book for 2009.

   There are several things going on in this book, but it starts with an abandoned calico cat, who has kittens in her belly. She goes into the bayou, lured by a barking dog, Ranger, who stays chained up under the porch by his abusive owner, Gar Face. The dog and cat become friends. There is also a subplot with a snake, Grandmother Moccasin, who has lived in a jar for 1000 years and is a shapeshifter.

  Gar Face is mean and abusive. His goal is to kill a huge alligator. Ranger and the cat stay in “the underneath” of the porch to stay out of his way. The cat has two kittens, Puck and Sabine. When Puck strays from the safety of the “underneath”, Gar Face catches him. The mother cat tries to rescue her baby but Gar Face ties she and Puck into a bag and throws them in the river. Mother cat drowns but Puck escapes with his mother’s words in her ears, to unchain Ranger and help his sister.

     Puck must find his way back so he can keep his promise to his mother. Sabine must become the hunter to find food. Gar Face is continually abusive to Ranger. He tries to capture Sabine to use her as bait for the gator but Ranger attacks him so he takes the dog to the water and chains him there as bait.

    Puck finally finds his sister and their dog-friend, as they wait by the water. He jumps of Gar Face as the man is about to shoot the kitten. Gar Face ends up in the mouth of the giant gator he was hunting and dies.

     Before the alligator can return and eat the animals, with Ranger stilled chained to a tree, Grandmother Moccasin, breaks the chain because she knows she has seen pure love among the two kittens and the dog.

    Unknown to all but herself, Grandmother has been shot by Gar Face. After setting Ranger free, she dies.

   The Underneath contains many unexpected insights, for instance, how a bitter, poisonous snake can do something in the name of love.   It is also full of figurative language, as would be expected in a book where the main characters are animals.

(note: I would never discourage anyone from reading anything, as we all have our individual tastes. I DESPISED this book. I am a pet owner and even though the overall message is love, I had such a hard time reading about all of the abuses the dog went through.  Also, it is targeted toward 4th through 7th graders and I think too many 4th and 5th graders would be too sensitive to enjoy it.)

 

Toys Go Out (Bluebonnet nominee)

  Jenkins, Emily. (2006). Toys Go Out. (P. Zelinsky, Illus.). New York; Schwartz & Wade Books.

  Toys Go Out is a Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee for 2008-2009.

   Toys Go Out is a chapter book in which each chapter is actually a short story about the adventures of a group of toys. Each story has its own plot and lesson. The toys include a stuffed buffalo (Lumphy), a toy stingray (StingRay), and a rubber ball (Plastic). Their owner is the Little Girl, who takes some or all of them to the places she goes. The toys learn lessons about uncertainty, self-esteem, jealousy, and love.

  This book is illustrated by Paul Zelinsky. I didn’t really feel that the illustrations added to the story. There are only one or two pictures per chapter. It is, for the most part, a chapter book.

                                   There is a lot of imagery used in the narrative of Toys Go Out. For instance, when the toys are discussing where they are being taken, they speculate that it is the dump. “We’ll be tossed in a pile of old green beans, and sour milk cartons, …  and it will be icy cold all the time, and full of garbage-eating sharks…”

     Also, the dialogue is realistic. The toys speak as toys might speak if their owner is a little girl.

 

One Potato, Two Potato (Bluebonnet nominee)

   DeFelice, Cynthia. (2006). One Potato, Two Potato (A. U’Ren, Illus.). New York; Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

   One Potato, Two Potato is a Texas Bluebonnet Award Nominee for 2008-2009.

   Mr. and Mrs. O’Grady live in a cottage in the country. Their children are grown and gone. They love each other, but each longs for a friend to also share in their life.

   The O’Grady’s are so poor they dig one potato from their garden every day and share it. That is all they eat all day long. They have just one chair, one hairpin, one blanket, and one candle that they only pretend to burn, and one gold coin for a rainy day.

                                          One day, Mr. O’Grady digs up the LAST potato. As he digs deeper, hoping to find another, he finds a large pot. He and his wife discover that anything they put into the pot multiplies and comes out in twos.

    The O’Grady’s set about putting their old, worn household items into the magic pot and creating more things (although they come out exactly as they go in). They also make enough potatoes for a feast! When they realize they can put their one gold coin in and it will create many more, Mr. O’Grady goes to town to buy new furniture.  When he comes back, Mrs. O’Grady accidentally trips and falls into the pot. There are, of course, now two of her.  What on earth is Mr. O’Grady going to do with TWO wives?

   They decide he should also jump into the pot, which he does. When another Mr. O’Grady comes out, each man has a wife and each person has a friend. The two couples decide to bury the magic pot once again because they now, of course, have everything they could ever want.

   The illustrations in One Potato, Two Potato are quite large. Even on pages with text, the pictures take up quite a bit of space. This helps show the facial expressions on the protagonists. That works, as this is a story about longing for something and then getting what you want.