A Summer of Kings

A Summer of Kings by Han Nolan

Published in 2006 by Harcourt Books

"Last summer a murderer came to live with us."

Summary: During the summer of 1963 King-Roy Johnson, an 18 year old black man accused of killing a white man, comes to live with the family of 14 year old Esther Young. She is the outcast of her family with no special talent like her siblings. Esther wants this summer to be exciting and is interested in King-Roy's story. She wants to get to know him, although she likes him as more than a friend - "I decided this would be the summer of a new me, a more mature me, a more mysterious and exotic me, and I was determined that our new houseguest, the murderer, was to play a starring role in my new life." (page 4)  King-Roy has turned to following Malcolm X after a horrible incident back in Alabama. Esther is drawn to MLK's views and wants all the violence to stop. Their oposing views bring conflict to the friendship and together they must figure out how to make things work while still doing what they can to stop racial discrimination. The ending is very sad - it made me angry at first but it makes the story all the more powerful.

The Professor's House by Willa Cather - A Letter That Would Have Changed The Professor

Dearest Professor,

There were so many plans I had. There were so many things I wanted to do; for myself, for your daughter, and for you. I'm sorry that it had to be cut short. I'm sorry that I couldn't give your daughter everything she could ever want. I only hope that the vacuum's success is indicative of the amount time that went into creating it. If it is, then at least I was able to leave your daughter with something. I loved her. I hope that she is happy and I hope that you can find happiness in her and in your wife. Do not  be sad or depressed that I am gone, but instead live in a way that reflects our relationship. Live in a way that utilizes the genius that is Godfrey St. Peter. I am sure that your book, although never finished, is changing the world and the minds of many people. Nobody is as much a scholar as you when it comes Spanish Adventures in North America, and I am honored that I was able to be involved in your eternal impact on the genre of history.

There are so many things I would love to ask you. Did you move into your new house yet? How is it? How is your family? How is your relationship with your wife? How is Rosamund? Is she happy? How was the book received? Did it win any awards?

I only hope that one day I will see you again. This is my hope so that you can tell me all about your life and also that I would one day, again, get to meet with a man that has had a great and everlasting impact on my life. I thank God that I had the opportunity to meet you let alone come up under your teaching. Be happy and live long.

Your student,

Tom Outland

Mount Everest Mount Everest Mount Everest Mount Everest Mount Everest Mount Everest

"Although I'd ascended hundreds of mountains, Everest was so different from anything I'd previously climbed that my powers of imagination were insufficient for the task....my emotions oscillated between nervous anticipation and a nearly overwhelming sense of dread." (Krakauer, 47)

What started out as a fully funded expidition for a magazine article on Everest quickly became a daunting and sorrowful journey for Jon Krakauer. Embarking with a diverse team of eight and one of the most popular guides, all clients assume the best. They have only to discover their team is one of the unlucky ones.

They spend many days getting acclimated and through that building relationships with one another. Krakauer, being an avid climber, understands the importance of trust among fellow climbers.

Although the hearts of the team members are swelling with determination, they are nearly unaware of the toll the extreme conditions have on their bodies.      



Thirsting for the success of reaching the summit the team continues the treacherous journey.

Suddenly....

A storm engulfs the majesty of Everest and chaos strikes.

 Krakauer makes it out alive but not without damage physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Into Thin Air is Jon Krakauer's response to the disasters that occurred in this expidition. This book is only a glimpse into the power of this mighty mountain and the elements it orchestrates. Krakauer captures the reality of losing members of a close-knit team of dreamers, seeking to conquer a nearly impossible feat. He maintains the authenticity and character of each member on his team. In so doing, he reveals a deep connection to those with whom he climbed. Many people today establish a romantic perspective of Everest and those who climb it. Krakauer, however, sheds a whole new light on the harshness of this kingly peak while applying respect to its power and beauty.

As a reader, your curiousity is piqued and your courage challenged by the influence this experience has on such an innocent and visionary climber.



Journey through time and space in this 1962 Newbery Medal Winner by Madeleine L'Engle

"And we're not alone, you know, children...All through the universe it's being fought, all through the cosmos, and my, but it's a grand and exciting battle. I know it's hard for you to understand about the size, how there's very little difference in the size of the tiniest microbe and the greatest galaxy. You think about that, and maybe it won't seem strange to you that some of our very best fighters have come right from your own planet, and it's a little planet, dears, out on the edge of a little galaxy..."

"Who have our fighters been?"

"Oh, you must know them, dear...'And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.'"

"Jesus!" Charles Wallace said. "Why of course, Jesus!"

"Of course!...Go on Charles, love. There were others. All your great artists. They've been lights for us to see by."

This science-fantasy novel takes us through the quest of a teenage girl, Meg, trying to find her father who has been missing for several years. After a late-night encounter with an interesting old woman, Meg soon finds herself flying through the universe on a centaur-like creature who morphs into an old woman. Accompanied by her younger brother, Charles Wallace, and a new friend and romantic interest, Calvin, Meg journeys through time and space in search of her father who is being held captive by a massive evil force. 

L'Engle describes a method of time travel called tesseract, which acts as a sort of wormhole through which one travels the time-space continuum; hence, the wrinkle...in time. Meg, Charles, and Calvin begin to travel into other dimensions and to other planets in distant galaxies with some eccentric old (and by old I mean thousands of years old) women, Mrs. Whatsit, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Which.

Besides the science fiction aspect, the novel contains many themes that permeate time and space in the spiritual sense. The connection between Meg and her father despite the immense physical separation presents a familial theme that love, especially between parent and child, exists beyond the physical and temporal. This can also be said of Christ and his role in the story of humanity and the effect of his actions on earth. His sacrifice--his love--transcends time and space in a way that we see Meg striving after her father while on earth and in other dimensions. With that, the themes of light and dark and good versus evil result from the struggle of the quest. 

Just Listen

Published by Penguin Group

2006

Shhh, Annabel. It's just me.

Profile: 

Name: Annabel Greene

Age: 16

Nickname: It girl

Job: Modeling

"Don't think or judge," I said. "Just Listen." 

She is the girl that appears on commercials on local TV channels. She is the girl who appears billboards and magazines for department stores. She is the top student, popular cheerleader, gorgeous prom queen, surrounded by friends, and never alone. 

She is the girl who has everything. 

Or at least it appears that way...

In reality, her Annabel's life is far from perfect. Her mother went through depression after the death of her own mother and is now obsessed with her daughters' modeling careers. Her two supposedly perfect modeling sisters are no longer on speaking terms. Whitney, the second sister, had an eating disorder as a result of her obsession with modeling. 

Whats worse,

Her was-bestfriend Sophie is openly dissing her, calling her "slut," "whore," "bitch," and all sorts of shrewd names infront of everyone at school. Ever since the incident during the summer, Sophie has openly accused Annabel of betraying her and is now spreading rumors about Annabel. 

Annabel is suddenly alone and has no one that she can trust. 

She has no one to tell what's really on her mind. 

Then,

Owen Armstrong appeared. 

"I don't lie, Owen had said, with the same flat certainty someone else might tell you they didn't eat meat or know how to drive. I wasn't sure I could even fathom it, but i still envied Owen his easy bluntness, the ability to open himself out into the world instead of folding deeper within. Especially now, as I headed inside, where my mother was waiting for me..." 

Name: Owen Armstrong

Age: 16

Hobby: Listening to his Ipod 

OBSESSED with music.  

always telling the TRUTH. 

He <LISTENS>

Owen Armstrong reaches out to Annabel when she had no one else to turn to. 

He listens. He shares his crazy "out-of-this-world" music and pulls Annabel out of herself. He teaches her honesty, courage, and strength. As their friendship grows and they begin to open up to each other, Annabel embarks on a journey to face the past, find courage, and face the future....

Dear Annabel,

Thank you for pulling through till the end and choosing to be courageous. 

Thank you for standing up for what's right and for willing to face your fears so that you could give validity to the TRUTH. 

One day, I hope to be able to speak up and tell my story. 

I hope one day I will also have the courage to listen to others' story.

Sincerely, 

Gospel

The best way out is always through.

-Robert Frost

Beware Of Hitchhiking Ghosts

Neil Gaiman's novel The Graveyard Book follows the life of Nobody Owens, a boy raised by ghosts. Nobody, nicknamed "Bod," was orphaned at a very young age after the brutal murder of his parents by a man named Jack. He escapes Jack by climbing out of his crib and wandering into a graveyard, where he becomes adopted by a ghost couple and is granted the Freedom of the Graveyard. Bod grows up under the protection of the graveyard and a plethora of interesting ghosts as well as the graveyard's caretaker, a mysteriously nocturnal man named Silas. Bod faces numerous obstacles and adventures while growing up in this strange environment, but none so treacherous as when he has to face the man Jack, out to finish what he started.

Published in 2008, The Graveyard Book won the 2009 Hugo Award for Best Novel, 2009 Newbery Medal, 2009 Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book, and the 2010 Carnegie Medal.

 

               Neil in a graveyard                                                          

Now, come take a tour...

Here is the tomb of the Owenses, and Bod's home. Here, you can sleep underground, study books, and learn about how to act like a ghost! The Owenses are charming hosts and would love to have you.

Pester Silas about the different aspects of the graveyard-he'll tell you almost anything, just not during the day, for some reason...

Join Bod as he reads Robinson Crusoe by the Egyptian Walk, but don't get caught by Thackeray Porringer- he doesn't like it when you take his books!

Sneak out to Alonso Tomas Garcia Jones' grave with Bod for a bit of rest and peace, and to listen to Alonso's stories, from the time he lost an Alaskan gold mine to the time he had to escape from Moscow.

Fade, by Robert Cormier

           FADE               

by Robert Cormier    

The novel opens in the late 1930s, with 13-year-old Paul Moreaux, a sensitive writer-type living with his family in the Catholic Canadian-French section of the small town of Monument, Massachusetts. 

Falling into several categories, including mystery, suspense, supernatural, and coming-of-age, Cormier creates a tight plot and a believable main character, who, despite his mystical gift, the reader can empathize with.

Though he is a ‘good Catholic boy,’ who attends confession and tries to be a good person, he has a severe crush on his attractive and flirtatious aunt Rosanne and carries a guilty conscience about his lust. Paul’s father works at a local comb factory, and Paul, along with his siblings, go to a Catholic school in the day and work at local shops doing odd jobs or delivering newspapers in the evening. Paul’s father goes on strike with the rest of his co-workers, keeping with the historical aspects of the novel.

In the beginning of the novel, a strange family photograph introduces the main members of the family as well as an important mystery: Though Paul’s father and his family are all present for the photo, somehow Paul’s uncle Adelard is missing. Of course, the photo is a great curiosity for Paul, who is constantly questioning his father and other family members how Adelard simply vanished from the photograph – though there is a space in the portrait where he was standing.

When Adelard comes to visits, Paul begins to learn secrets about himself and those around him. Paul’s uncle Adelard can vanish, and Paul quickly learns that he can too – the Moreaux family curse has been passed from uncle to nephew for generations. Paul learns to “fade,” and at first uses his invisibility to spy on friends, neighbors, and his aunt Roseanne. But with this mysterious gift of invisibility he also learns terrible and dark secrets about his friends and family by following them, unseen.

Throughout the rest of the novel, Paul grows and passes on the gift to his nephew, Ozzie. The narration is kept highly intriguing as it passes between three different narrators, keeping readers guessing and scrambling to place together clues left by Cormier. Ultimately, the novel is an effective suspense and supernatural story that I would recommend to a YA audience, ages 12-14 and older, with some caution. The book explores sexual themes, as well as heavy issues such as incest, murder, and mental illness.

Adolescent Literature, Emily Faison, February 17, 2012