Module 15 - Lush

Lush

by Natasha Friend

ALA's Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2010 

ISBN  0-439-85346-X

Summary:
Samantha (Sam) is a thirteen year old 8th grader who is struggling.  Her father is an alcoholic, her mother and grandmother deny it, she is no longer friends with her best friend, and the boys tease her about her big boobs.  In an act of desperation, she leaves an autobiographical note in a carrel in the library, hoping a high school girl she admires will pick it up, read it, and give Sam advice.  Someone does find the note, and does correspond with Sam, and does befriend her.  Sam deals with the typical life of a teen:  boys, crushes, popular girls, high school party invites, wanting her family to be normal, protecting her little brother, and dealing with school classes.   

My Impressions:
This was a difficult book for me to read because there is an alcoholic in my life.  It was difficult because Friend has done her homework and accurately portrays the life of family members who live with an alcoholic.  The details are all real.  The cover-up by family members, the denial, the emptying of the alcohol bottles.  It's hard to deal with an adult, so I can only imagine how horrifying it would be to a young girl who really needs her daddy at such an awkward time in her life.  
Alcohol is not glorified in this book.  Sam even goes overboard with it at the party and regrets it the next morning and realizes that she had acted like her father.  It is treated as a real, serious issue with consequences.
I have a feeling the book has been banned not because of the father's drinking, but because of the boob references (Samantha developed early, and very quickly), one of the characters is gay and the almost-rapes that occur at the high school party she goes to.
I do not think the book should be banned.  The author handles all the touchy subjects with honesty.  Sam's father finally goes to rehab, Sam and her former best friend make up (and he is ready to defend her honor), and she meets her mysterious letter writer.  It gives hope to students that they can survive in an alcoholic family, although it certainly won't be easy.  It also can teach students that friends can be found in unlikely places.

Professional Reviews:
Gr 7 Up --To the outside world, 13-year-old Samantha's family seems perfectly happy. However, they are struggling to keep her architect father's alcoholism a secret, and the balancing act of enabling his addiction and protecting their image is becoming more and more difficult. Sam longs to be able to share her burden with a friend and reaches out by leaving an anonymous autobiographical letter in a library book. Her anger and frustration are palpable as she struggles with her love for her dad despite the fact that his promises to clean up never materialize. When Sam is chastised by her mother and grandmother for not believing in his ability to change, readers will sympathize with the injustice of her difficult situation. Yet, the author avoids a maudlin tone by infusing the plot with details of typical teen life, such as Sam's crush on an older boy and embarrassment at her developing body. Witty dialogue and smooth writing move the novel along at a clipped pace, and tension is successfully built and maintained as the teen's father's illness takes a dangerous turn, her budding relationship comes to a head, and her anonymous library pen pal is revealed. Despite the minor appearance of a stereotypical librarian, this is a perceptive novel featuring a likable protagonist to whom readers will easily relate. As in Perfect (Milkweed, 2004), Friend adroitly portrays a weighty topic with touches of humor and grace.  By Rebecca M. Jones, Fort Myers-Lee County Library, FL
Jones, R.M.  (2006).  Lush.  School Library Journal, 52(12), 138-140.

Having Fun in the Library:
I'm not sure we could have "fun" with this book.  It deals with serious topics.  I think it would be a good launching point for a discussion about drinking and alcoholism and where students can find help.
Discussion Questions and Ideas:

1. Have you ever felt hopeless about a situation or circumstance?
2. If so how have you helped yourself feel better?
3. Do you think asking for random advice from the girl in the library helps Sam?
4. Discuss how Sam's family members deal with the father's alcoholism?
5. Do you think is was a good plan that Sam visited her Dad at rehab without her mother's permission?
6. Do you feel that the characters in the book come to a realistic and hopeful resolution?

Questions like this are probably best discussed in small groups.  I would also provide resources, such as the school counselor, al-anon and al-ateen.

Friend, N.  (2006).  Lush.  New York: Scholastic Press.  

Module 14 - all the broken pieces

All the Broken Pieces

by Ann E. Burg

ISBN 978-0-545-08092-7

Summary:

Matt Pin was adopted out of Vietnam during the war.  He lives with an American family and must confront his past.  The book is written in verse, which simply and powerfully tells Matt's story.  He tries out for the school baseball team and must deal with antiwar sentiments from other students while dealing with his own haunted past in Vietnam.   

My Impressions:

This was a very moving novel.  When I was in school, we did not learn about the Vietnam War.  It wasn't until I was in college and took a mass communication class that I first studied the war.  I like that younger students will be able to learn more about this war.  Ann Burg has done an incredible job telling Matt's story in verse.  Each chapter starts with a picture of the bass clef and ends with five lines, which I assume are supposed to be the staff lines of the music.  Matt plays the piano and it, and the piano teacher, are key in helping him through his trauma.  Baseball is also an important element in this book and Matt's healing begins on the baseball field.  I think this is a good book for students because they can take the deep information and pain in small, verse-sized chunks.

Professional Reviews:

In 1977, 12-year-old Matt Pin lives a fractured life. He is the son of a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier and was airlifted to safety from the war zone. Adopted by a caring American couple, he has vivid and horrific memories of the war and worries about the fates of his mother and badly injured little brother. Matt's adoptive family adores him, and he is the star pitcher for his middle school baseball team, but there are those who see his face and blame him for the deaths of the young men they lost in the war. The fractured theme runs the course of this short novel in verse: Matt's family, the bodies and hearts of the Vietnam vets, the country that is "only a pocketful of broken pieces" that Matt carries inside him. Ultimately, everythingbroken is revealed as nonetheless valuable. While most of the selections read less like poems and more like simple prose, the story is a lovely, moving one. Use this in a history class or paired with Katherine Applegate's Home of the Brave (Feiwel & Friends, 2007).  Campbell, H.M.  (2009).  All the broken pieces.  School Library Journal, 55(5), 101.

Having Fun in the Library:

This would be a good book to introduce a poetry unit with the English teacher or collaborate with the history teacher for a unit about Vietnam.

Burg, A.E. (2009).  All the broken pieces.  New York: Scholastic Press.

Module 13 - Knights of the Lunch Table

Knights of the Lunch Table; The Dodgeball Chronicles

by Frank Cammuso

ISBN  9780439903226

Summary:

Artie King is a new student at Camelot Middle School.  His first day starts off on the wrong foot when his sister makes him a nasty lunch, he misses the school bus and must walk to school, and he irritates the principal and her gang of student bullies.  He is given the worst (?!) locker in school and somehow he leads all the kids into believing he was a dodgeball champ at his old school.  Thankfully, along the way, he makes some good friends and has the help of the science teacher, Mr. Merlin.

My Impressions:

I thought this was a great book.  The illustrations were easy to follow and really helped me understand the story better.  I can definitely see this book being a favorite among the Lunch Lady and Wimpy Kid followers.  I don't think elementary kids will get all the Arthurian references, but it certainly made fun reading for me.  I loved the thread running through the book about Hannibal, the tarantula.  Students will have fun looking for him in various frames throughout the book.  Most kids will be able to relate to Artie in some way: being the new kid, trying to make new friends, being scared of the principal, and trying to figure out your locker (although he has a particularly awesome locker).

Professional Reviews:

Camelot Middle School isn’t your ordinary middle school. There’s the locker Artie King is assigned that has never been opened. The student that can open it will be a king to all students. There are the ladies of the lunch that tell the future by reading the lunch menu. Mr. Merlyn the science teacher seems nice but is weird. Then there’s dodgeball. The Knights of the Lunch Table must play the Horde to defend their honor and help Mr. Merlyn keep his job. Children might not understand all of the references to King Arthur of Camelot, but they will be able to relate to the characters. Adult readers will get a chuckle from the antics of Artie King as he tries to fit in to his new school. The story line is easy to understand by looking at the brightly colored illustrations. This graphic novel is easy to read panel to panel and pleasing to the eye with its thick lines and cartoony art.  Jergensen, J.  (2009, April 7).  Knights of the lunch table: The dodgeball chronicles.  Retrieved from: http://librarianschoices.blogspot.com/2009/04/knights-of-lunch-table-dodgeball.html

Having Fun in the Library:

http://www.scholastic.com/knightsofthelunchtable/

I would have the students start their own graphic novel.  They can choose to start with text or graphics.

Cammuso, F. (2008).  The knights of the lunch table; The dodgeball chronicles.  New York: Graphix/Scholastic.