Module Thirteen...Point Blank: The Graphic Novel

Point Blank:  The Graphic Novel.  by Anthony Horowitz.  Illustrated by Antony Johnson, Yuzuru and Kanako.

Horowitz, A & Johnston, A.  (2007).  Point Blank:  The graphic novel.  London:  Philomel

Synopsis:

Alex Ryder is a teenager and a spy, working for MI6 in London.  This is a graphic novel adaptation of the second novel in the Ryder series.  Alex is sent to investigate the deaths of two billionaires, one living in New York and the other near the Black Sea.  Both men had sons attending a school in the French Alps called Point Blanc.  A mysterious South African scientist, named Dr. Hugo Grief, runs the school.  Alex goes under cover at the school to find out what is happening to the parents of the students. 

My reaction:

I found the graphic novel entertaining and with, even though it has a bit of violence, it isn’t anything I wouldn’t let my kids or students read.

Review:

Point Blank: The Graphic Novel.

By Anthony Horowitz and Antony Johnston. Illus. by Kanako Damerum and Yuzuru Takasaki.  
June 2008. 144p. Philomel, paper, $14.99 (9780399250262). 741.5. Gr. 6–9.
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed April 21, 2013).
 

As in Stormbreaker: The Graphic Novel (2006), rapid-fire action, appealing manga-style art- work, and a heavy reliance on the James Bond formula drive this second graphic adaptation of Horowitz’s best-selling Alex Rider books. The plot maintains the basic premise of the eponymous novel, published in 2002: Rider, a 14-year-old British spy, is sent to a mysterious Swiss boarding school to investigate the nefarious plot of its headmaster. With clear lines and carefully toned coloring, the art makes the most of the creepy castle setting, twisting pas- sages, gadgets, and death-defying snowboard escapes, while the mix of perspectives and pan- el sizes helps to reveal clues in quick succession. Suspense builds right up until the terrifying conclusion, which, because it involves body doubles, has high impact in this visual format, which showcases the mirror effects. A sure hit with both fans and newcomers, particularly reluctant readers. —Gillian Engberg
 

Library Use:

This would be great in a display on spy novels, graphic novels, and their companion books.

Module Twelve...We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin by Larry Danne Brimner.

Brimmer, L. D. (2007).  We Are One:  The Story of Bayard Rustin.  Honesdale, PA:  Calkins Creek, Pub.

Summary:  This book is a short biography about the life of Bayard Rustin, an organizer of the August 1963 March on Washington where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I have a dream speech.”  The story tells of Rustin’s family background, his youth in West Chester, Pennsylvania and his college years.  The book also weaves the struggle for civil rights of African Americans, throughout the story of Rustin’s life.  He was a pacifist.  He protested America’s involvement in World War II and the arrest of those that for not fighting.  He was a member of the Young Communist League (YCL) before the war but he was also a Quaker.  He fought for every person that was denied his or her rights as Americans.  The interesting footnote to the book, written by the author, was the fact that Rustin was  homosexual and he was very vocal about this.  The author states that his sexual orientation and his past as a member of the YCL meant those at the forefront of the movement often relegated him to being a background player during crucial moments in Civil Rights history.  There were many leaders who did not want to be publically associated with a homosexual man.

My Reaction:

I thought Rustin’s story was very interesting and very well written.  I believe it is an excellent biography for students.  The author does an excellent job of not only describing Rustin’s life but the plight of African Americans during this time in history.  The book did not shy away from showing pictures of those murdered by lynch mobs and other hellish images of the treatment of African Americans.  I am not sure if they were pictures that should be in a children’s book, but I do not work in a children’s library so I do not know what else is on the shelf.  I was also a little surprised that the author would not write about Rustin’s sexual orientation in the body of the book but would bring it up at the end of the book.  If it was important to mention here, why not mention is during the body of the book?

Reviews:

Kochel, M. (2007). We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin. School Library Journal, 53(11), 142-143.  Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed April 14, 2013).

 

Gr 6-10 --This is a captivating biography of the man who has been called the "intellectual engineer" of the Civil Rights Movement. The book begins and ends with the March on Washington, August 28, 1963, which Rustin organized. His mentor was A. Philip Randolph and he was a lifelong adviser to Martin Luther King, Jr. Rustin was a complex, multitalented man-he was a musician, an intellectual, an organizer, and a war objector who chose to go to prison rather than serve in World War II. He was a controversial figure partly because he was at one time a Communist and he was homosexual (the latter mentioned only in an author's note). Brimner keeps the focus on Rustin's work for social justice, including his being beaten and taken to the police station in 1942 for sitting at the front of a bus; his early restaurant sit-ins; and his Journey of Reconciliation, which was a precursor to the Freedom Rides. The author's writing is lively and clear, and he adeptly places Rustin in the larger context of the Jim Crow era and the Civil Rights Movement. The attractive design, with large, clear, black-and-white photographs and plenty of white space, enhances the readability of the text. Red and blue bars emphasize important quotations, lyrics to spirituals, and some photo captions. A gem for students studying the Civil Rights Movement and an excellent addition to any American history collection.

We Are One: The Story of Bayard Rustin. (2008). School Library Journal, 5456.

BRIMNER, Larry Dane.  Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed April 14, 2013).

 

Gr 6-10 An advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr. and organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, Rustin played a major role in the Civil Rights Movement. This large-format biography honors his singular contributions with numerous black-and-white photographs and a compelling, readable text. BOOK

Library Use:

This book can be used for any number of displays:  American History, Civil Rights History, African American History, and even LGBT history. 

Module Eleven...Basketball Belles

Basketball Belles:  Basketball belles: How two teams and one scrappy player put women's hoops on the map by Sue Macy.  Illustrated by Matt Collins.

Macy, S.  (2011).  Basketball belles:  How two teams and one scrappy player put women's hoops on the map.  New York, NY:  Holiday House.


Synopsis:

This is a very good book that discusses the very first women's college basketball game between Stanford and UC Berkley centered around the main character of Agnes Morley a young woman raised in New Mexico on her family's range.  It is set 1896.  It is a true story written from Agnes' point of view.  The book describes the rules for women's basketball and how women started playing the games.  The girls had to play indoors and with only women in attendance because UC Berkley had a rule against men watching women play basketball.  The back of the book gives a brief history of Agnes' life and a timeline of women's basketball through history.  


Reaction:  I loved this book.  I thought it was very well written and the illustrations are wonderful.  The book doesn't talk down to the reader either.  It also doesn't talk about the get upset about the division in women's sports.  It just tells it like it is.  There is no agenda here.  


Reviews:  

Nightingale, S. (2011). Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women's Hoops on the Map. Library Media Connection, 30(1), 95.

Basketball Belles: How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women's Hoops on the Map Macy, Sue Illustrated by Matt Collins. 2011. 32pp. $16.95 he. Holiday House. 978-0-8234-2163-3. Grades 3-6.  Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed April 7, 2013).  

Women's basketball is gaining popularity thanks to the dedication of countless players and coaches. Macy chronicles the very first intercollegiate women's basketbal game between the University of California-Berkeley and Stanford University in 1896. The narrator is Agnes Morley who was sent to Stanford to acquire an education and social graces, but instead acquired a love of the game ofbasketball. James Naismith's game was adapted for women by dividing the court into three sections; female players could not travel up and down the court. Macy captures the competitive spirit of the teams and their desire to win. The narrative is accompanied by colorful, bold illustrations, the vivid uniforms pop off the page. The players' body language and facial expressions are portrayed realistically; large illustrations cover double-page spreads. An extensive author's note gives additional background information, and a timeline of women's basketball provides a historical framework. A list of books and places to visit offers additional opportunities for learning more about this fascinating subject. Basketball Belles is a treasure and would be a welcome addition to a school library collection.

******

BASKETBALL BELLES How Two Teams and One Scrappy Player Put Women's Hoops on the Map. (2011).Kirkus Reviews, 79(4), 317.  Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed April 7, 2013).

In 1896, a historic basketball game was played between the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University. It was the first women's intercollegiate game, played five years after basketball was invented. Agnes Morley, a rancher's daughter, narrates the story and excels as a Stanford player during the groundbreaking event. The focus is on the play-by-play of the game, which had different rules for women and was attended by 500 cheering female spectators. Collins' digitally created artwork captures the dynamic game and develops the characters, from Morley's determination as she brands a calf on her ranch to her team's exuberance at their victory in the game. While seemingly meant to introduce readers to the history, of women's basketball, the story is so brief as to seem slight. Readers will crave more information: What types of shoes do the players wear? Why are the nets closed? How did this particular game come about? What happens next? An author's note fleshes out some biographical details about Morley and the other placers and discusses women's basketball in America. A timeline is included, but unfortunately it ends in 1997 with the introduction of the WNBA. A resource section lists books and places to visit, and a photograph of the 1896 Stanford women's basketball team concludes the book. The excellent backmatter, however, doesn't compensate enough for the too-slim story. (Nonfiction 7-11).

Library Use:  This books will be a great book to use for displays for sports history, women in sports, and women's history.

Module Ten...The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing:  Traitor to the Nation by M. T. Anderson.

Anderson, M.T.  (2006).  The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing:  Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party.  Cambridge, Mass.:  Candlewick Press.

Synopsis:  

This book is about Octavian the son of Cassiopeia, an African Princess.  His is brought up as a prince and lived in colonial Boston with a house full of scientists who are doing tests to explain the differences between the African race and the white race.  He and his mother are nothing more than test guinea pigs.    Octavian is very smart and well education.  Pretty soon he realizes that his education comes at a high price:  slavery.  What can Octavian and his mother do when they are seen as nothing more than property.

Reaction:

This book is a piece of historical fiction that is very accurate in regards to portraying slavery exactly as it is.  It is a harsh look at the life of a slave.  It is excellent written but very sad.  Even though it is a young-adult fiction book it was hard to get through at places.  

Reviews:

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing Traitor to the Nation: Volume 1: The Pox Party. (2007). Publishers Weekly, 254(15), 57.  Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed March 31, 2013).

 

James's crisp annunciation and measured intonation is well-suited to tile 18th-century language and phrasing Anderson employs in his fascinating, provocative Revolutionary War--era novel, winner of the 2006 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and also a 2007 Printz Honor Book. As young Octavian's story slowly (sometimes too slowly) unfolds, the boy learns that he is a slave and that the scientists and philosophers with whom he and his mother (an African princess who was kidnapped by slave traders) live are studying them as part of an experiment to determine whether Africans are "a separate and distinct species." The ill-advised Pox Party of the title, during which the philosophers inoculate their guests against the scourge of smallpox, marks a dramatic turning point that sends Octavian's lifejourney in a new direction. There's no question the premise is intriguing and the examination of issues noble. However, the meaty subject matter and Anderson's numerous stylistic devices (e.g. the use of different points of view and letters in dialect from another character) render this a challenging listen even for a sophisticated audience. Ages 14-up. (Jan.)

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation (Volume I: The Pox Party)

M.T. ANDERSON. Candlewick.   Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed March 31, 2013).

Anderson (Whales on Stilts) once again shows the breadth of his talents with this stunningly well-researched novel (the first of two planned) centering on 16-year-old Octavian. The author does not reveal the boy's identity right away, so by the time readers learn that he is the son of an African princess, living a life of relative privilege and intense scrutiny among a group of rational philosophers in pre--Revolutionary War Boston, they can accept his achievements--extraordinary for any teen, but especially for an African-American living at that time. These men teach him the violin, Latin and Greek. Anderson also reveals their strange quirks: the men go by numbers rather than names, and they weigh the food Octavian ingests, as well as his excrement. "It is ever the lot of children to accept their circumstances as universal, and their particularities as general," Octavian states by way of explanation. One day, at age eight, when he ventures into an off-limits room,Octavian learns he is the subject of his teachers' "zoological" study of Africans. Shortly thereafter, the philosophers' key benefactor drops out and new sponsors, led by Mr. Sharpe, follow a different agenda: they want to use Octavian to prove the inferiority of the African race. Mr. Sharpe also instigates the "Pox Party" of the title, during which the guests are inoculated with the smallpox virus, with disastrous results. Here the story, which had been told largely through Octavian's first-person narrative, advances through the letters of a Patriot volunteer, sending news to his sister of battle preparations against the British and about the talented African musician who's joined their company. As in Feed, Anderson pays careful attention to language, but teens may not find this work, written in 18th-century prose, quite as accessible. The construction of Octavian's story is also complex, but the message is straight forward, as Anderson clearly delineates the hypocrisy of the Patriots, who chafe at their own subjugation by British overlords but overlook the enslavement of people like Octavian. Ages 14-up. (Oct.)

Library Use:

This book is strictly a historical fiction book and should be used in an exhibit under this title.  It could be used as a Black History Month.