We all need to read this book. Oliver Jeffers brings together a lot of issues in this book that in my own country today we are facing head-on. Jeffers speaks of a “world” yet in my own country, this book even applies to us. We are full of strangers right now, a country divided but we are still the same, people who “like to feel warm both on the skin and in the heart.”
Our country is a divided one, a nation that has been built on a firm foundation is now cracking and it’s heartbreaking. Jeffers talks in his author notes why he wrote the book, and I suggest you read this also.
Where are we headed? What will happen? Great question as like Jeffers talks about, we’re all running, racing to the end. Pulling and competing with one another, choosing based on the concept that it’s “more important to be right over wrong than to be better over worse.” “WE ARE BLIND”
I totally agree with Jeffers, we have to keep an eye on the past and the present to be successful. We can’t forget what we have seen or experienced. WE must work together as a part of the crew for we are “no longer passengers on this ship, “ we are all part of the story. Great story but not for younger readers more for adults or mature readers. Read it slowly and think about it as your read. 4.5 stars
This was so much better than the book. I enjoy graphic novels but I think the presence of the illustrations helped make this book more meaningful to me.
Three young sisters, yet only two of them get to be children while the oldest, eleven-year-old Delphine, must take the place of their mother Cecile. Vonetta, Fern, and Delphine were left behind with their Pa, when Cecile decided she needed a new life. Pa and Big Ma cared for the girls, but it was Cecile who took over being the mother to her younger sisters. It’s now been seven years, and the girls are about to be reunited with their mother. Mom has been living in California, being a voice with the Black Panther movement since her departure.
Delphine has high hopes for California. Sure, she will meet her mother again, but Delphine has never forgiven her, even after all these years. Having read about California, Delphine’s excited about all the different sights and sounds that await her in this new environment, experiences that she can’t wait to try.
So much emotion is wrapped up inside this book. Arriving, the girls have high expectations and see an endless list of possibilities before them. They start to see their true mother immediately and their expressions, thoughts and comments tell us their true feelings. Whether Cecile is trying to teach the girl’s independence or she’s a strict, unconcerned parent is a decision that needs to be made as you read the pages and capture the spirit in the illustrations.
There are a lot of eye-opening moments for the girls as they experience their mother’s world and the girls start to see the life of young children like themselves, in California, when they go to a Black Panther’s Community Center.
It was a womp, womp, womp moment as the girl’s get a dose of reality. Their mother has no plans to take them to any of the wonderful, fun-seeking places that Delphine has read about. No, the children must entertain themselves while mom works and later, when they’re sent to the community center, they’re introduced to the Black Panthers.
Character development and growth occur almost overnight as the girls are thrown into the mix. They soon find their strength and voice which caused me to laugh and smile as they finally got over their culture shock. They didn’t slink away or cower in a corner, their bond remained strong.
I thought this was a great book about the Black Panthers and it gave a great story which young readers could connect with. The illustrations were bright and colorful and added a great deal to the storyline. I highly recommend this graphic novel.
It’s coming to an end. A white, privileged male faces the hard truth of life. Now that he’s in college, running for office, he’s having to face the reality of a life that has led him to where he is today. Everything that he has learned and been instilled comes into play. What kind of a life had he really been living?
Up against the other candidates, the struggle gets real, and his awareness grows. This powerful story is a three-book series, which I have enjoyed since the beginning. I do think you should start at book one to fully appreciate this story.
5 stars Fiction Book in Verse Children’s/ Middle School
And then, WOW! This book really packs a punch, and I loved it so much. Written in verse, this book is powerful as it deals with issues that many young adults unfortunately must face today. It’s just not the poverty that Joe needs to adjust to but it’s also the abandonment, the insecurity, and the loneliness that just keeps on popping up in his life. When will it ever end?
Mom gets “the itch” and before you know it, she’s out the door. Sometimes its weeks, months, or just a few days, that she’ll be gone. They lived with Joe’s grandmum in her house until she lost it on legal matters for Joe’s mom. Now, Joe and grandmum are living in a car and using food stamps to eat. My heart was breaking as Joe fought to use public bathroom facilities to maintain his appearance. They’re hungry but they’re doing the best that they can. As he tries to go to school, he struggles to hide his life from others that are around him. One of his best friends finds them a place to stay and finally, things change direction.
The mobile homeowner, Uncle Frankie is an amazing person, and he becomes a fantastic friend to Joe. One obstacle is taken down but the others remain. One moment in this book which has stuck with me is when Joe wins at Jeopardy in his classroom. Able to take any prize out the storage closet, which is filled with games and puzzles, Joe picks……. Yes, this is a storage closet so it’s also storing cleaning items and extra supplies. Joe picks out “an enormous box of toilet paper.” This is a 6th grade boy, and he picks toilet paper as a prize. Yep, that got me……..
I can’t tell you much more about what happens inside the pages of this emotional read but I loved so much about it. I love how Joe gathered strength from within to keep moving forward. From everything that happened in his life, Joe could have lost hope or retaliated but he didn’t. His friends stood by him, and he learned many lessons along the way.
This is such a great read, one in which I could read it again and again. Read it because this is real folks, this is what is happening all around us whether you want to see it or not.
They came here to find a place to call home. That’s all they wanted. They were comfortable, they found what they needed, and they thrived. They had a library, a post office, and their own little Black Wall Street. A one-mile stretch on Greenwood Avenue hosted so many black businesses that a business leader Booker T. Washington called it “Negro Wall Street of America” and that name stuck. They had lawyers, schools, doctors, heck they had it all! Hotels, movie theatres and even their own airplanes. They were comfortable and enjoying their wealth.
Not everyone was pleased with how well the African Americans were doing in Tulsa. This was 1921 afterall and some of them were making more money than the white population. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.
When a 19-year-old shoeshine man enters an elevator, times were about to change. The 17-year-old elevator operator charges the shoeshine man with assault and causes chaos in the city. The shoeshine man is an African American and the elevator operator, a white female. Town people fearing for the safety of the shoeshine man rush to the jail to save him but are met by thousands of armed white individuals. This will not be the last day these two groups are left with dead supporters. It was heart-breaking reading what was once a peaceful, thriving community being torn apart by hatred.
With fantastic illustrations, this nonfiction book brings to life this terrible event that occurred in history. The author includes in the last few pages of the book some author’s notes about the event and the illustrator has written some notes also. I enjoyed reading these also. What a great book. Thanks to the author and illustrator for sharing this event to our young readers.
I choose a Wonderbook for this book. This was my first Wonderbook and it fantastic! These types of books are new to our library so I wanted to check them out. Basically, what it does is read the book to you while you follow along with the printed text. You don’t need to supply anything – no batteries, no plug-in, nothing. The directions are inside the cover of the book. I pushed the button to start the book, it chimed to tell me to turn the page, and I could follow along reading the text or in-the-case with this picture book, I could just follow along with the illustrations. I could stop the book whenever I wanted also. I see that there are other children’s books including chapter books for these Wonderbook titles and I’m going to look into these for further reads. What another wonderful way to read books. 5 stars
Inside the front book cover – the Wonderbook directions and buttons
Really? Logan’s taken her seat in history class, as Mr. Bartley addresses the class to explain their next assignment. This graded project is top-secret so nothing is to be discussed outside of class. Top-secret? Why is that, I’m wondering. Each student will be assigned either a 1 or a 2 and that, will direct them on which position they will defend in their paper. So, the students aren’t defending their own position on this topic? No, it’s random. What’s the topic, you ask? The students will need to pretend it’s 1942, and that they’re part of Hitler’s Elite Nazi’s Leadership Group. The concern is over the growing Jewish community: what should they do with the over 11 million Jews that are in Europe? Are they on the pro (1) or con (2) side of this problem? Pro: they exterminate them or Con: they put them in work camps/ghettos and sterilize them. I think I understand why it is top-secret. Did their teacher really only give them these 2 options for this required assignment?
I couldn’t believe a teacher would actually give their students this assignment and feel good about it. When Logan and her best friend Cede, who is also in the class, question Mr. Bartley about it, he justifies the paper. While some students are taking this assignment seriously, there are those who are pushing the subject, by adding in physical displays of Nazism in the classroom. Frustrated, the two friends keep reaching out to people to stop the assignment while they also try to create an alternate assignment that they hope the teacher will approve. I liked their persistence in this matter and how the author showed this process. The friends kept looking for solutions even though things weren’t working out for them.
Romance does fly in the book, as Logan and Cede’s friendship changes. They were great friends but this turns into something serious as they try to get the assignment terminated. They each had felt attracted to each other but neither of them had acted on their feelings until this project gave them a deeper connection to one another. They were great friends who just took it to the next level.
I liked how the teens discovered more about themselves and their families during this process. I enjoyed how they tried to stop the assignment and what finally happened in the end. The book made me think about what I would have done if I was standing in their shoes.
Do you need to read Dear Martin first to read this sequel? No, but I highly recommend you read both of these two books because they will get your blood pumping. It had been a while since I read Dear Martin but that didn’t matter, as the events quickly fell into place and my real world fell away.
My emotions were all over the place when I read this book. When the boys sat inside the rocketship at their local playground, I was glad that they had each other, even though the reason they found comfort there was not a happy one. With his dad back from the war, Justyce is now facing different challenges, ones that might be harder to face and predict.
As for Quan, he was trying to make life work, when he should have been just trying to live life. He needed a shoulder to lean on, a helping hand, just someone to encourage him along but he didn’t get that, so his reaction was based on what he knew.
I spoke to Quan many times while reading this book. I questioned his activities, praised his actions and I also raised my voice a few times. I enjoy these books that provoke me and draw me inside their pages.
One Chapter 