Module 15: Forever... By Judy Blume

Picture taken from: http://www.amazon.com/Forever-Judy-Blume/dp/1416934006/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323392147&sr=8-2

Summary:

17 year old Katherine is in love with Michael. They met at a mutual friend’s party and hit it off right away. Katherine is sure that Michael will be her forever. Her parents are concerned that she is getting too serious so close to college and warn her to consider her options. Katherine is determined that Michael are meant to be together for the long haul. They have shared so much together, how could anything change her feelings.

During the Summer before they leave for college, Katherine gets a job at a camp away from Michael. The couple writes daily, until Katherine meets someone new, now she is full of confusion and doubts about her relationship with Michael. Perhaps her parents were right and she does need to consider her options.

Citation:

Blume, J. (1975). Forever....New York, New York: Simon and Schuster.

Impression:

Forever... was written in 1975, and still strikes a chord with its readers. It is very unfortunate that this novel is so often the focus of censorship due to sexual content, homosexuality, suicide, birth control, and teenage pregnancy.  This novel answers many questions that reside in the average teenager’s mind and is tastefully and realistically delivered though Katherine and Michael. Judy Blume is able to address difficult and relevant topics in a straight forward and teenage-appropriate level. 

Reviews:

"Going all the way" is still a taboo subject in young adult literature. Judy Blume was the first author to write candidly about a sexually active teen, and she's been defending teenagers' rights to read about such subjects ever since. Here, Blume tells a convincing tale of first love--a love that seems strong and true enough to last forever. Katherine loves Michael so much, in fact, that she's willing to lose her virginity to him, and, as the months go by, it gets harder and harder for her to imagine living without him. However, something happens when they are separated for the summer: Katherine begins to have feelings for another guy. What does this mean about her love for Michael? What does this mean about love in general? What does "forever" mean, anyway? As always, Blume writes as if she's never forgotten a moment of what it's like to be a teenager.

Citation:

 (2011). [Forever...] [book review] Amazon. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com

From the Author

The story

The saga of Katherine's and Michael's love is a joyous one, filled with all the wonder of "the first time." They meet on New Year's Eve and become completely involved with each other. It's an idyllic affair—until they're separated that summer...

A 1996 Winner of the A.L.A. Margaret A. Edwards Award for Outstanding Literature for Young Adults

Judy says

This book was first published in 1975. My daughter Randy asked for a story about two nice kids who have sex without either of them having to die. She had read several novels about teenagers in love. If they had sex the girl was always punished—an unplanned pregnancy, a hasty trip to a relative in another state, a grisly abortion (illegal in the U.S. until the 1970's), sometimes even death. Lies. Secrets. At least one life ruined. Girls in these books had no sexual feelings and boys had no feelings other than sexual. Neither took responsibility for their actions. I wanted to present another kind of story—one in which two seniors in high school fall in love, decide together to have sex, and act responsibly.

The seventies were a time when sexual responsibility meant preventing unwanted pregnancy. Today, sexual responsibility also means preventing sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. In this book Katherine visits a clinic and is given a prescription for The Pill. Today,she would be told it is essential to use a condom along with any other method of birth control. If you're going to become sexually active, then you have to take responsibility for your own actions. So get the facts first.

For information go to Planned Parenthood's website: www.teenwire.com. Another informative website is: www.sexetc.org. This one is written by teens, for teens. You'll also find a listing of other helpful websites and books.

There are sexually explicit scenes in this book and it shouldn't be shelved in the children's section of the library or bookstore. At the time it was written there was no formal category of "Young Adult," but surely that's how it would be published today. Kids are always asking, How old do I have to be before I can read this book? An impossible question to answer. Some kids are ready at twelve, some not until later. They usually know themselves. If it makes them feel uncomfortable, they can put the book down. If they have questions it helps if they can ask an adult (who's also read the book) to answer them. In recent editions I've added a letter to the reader similar to this note.

Title

The title was always there.

Dedication

My daughter was fourteen when I dedicated this book to her. Today she's a grown woman with a teenager of her own. I'm glad that some things, like falling in love, never change.

"A convincing account of first love."

–The New York Times Book Review

Citation:

Blume, J. (n.d.). From the author. Judy Blume on the Web.  Retrieved from http://www.judyblume.com/books/ya/forever.php

Uses:

• Use Forever... in a Banned Book Display.
• Use Forever... for a young adult reading discussion group. Invite a mature, responsible and trustworthy female college student to lead the group.

Module 14: Crossing Stones by Helen Frost

http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Stones-Helen-Frost/dp/0374316538/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323031301&sr=8-1-spell

Summary:

Written from three distinctly different personalities and perspectives in a verse form, Crossing Stones tells the story of two Michigan families during the onset and breakout of WWI. The three youth experience the effects of war, the loss of a friend, beaux, and brother, and experience first hand the Spanish Influence outbreak, and the women’s Suffragist movement. The story is told from the perspective of three teenagers who must face war, first loves, death, illness and self discovery. 

Citation:

Frost, H. (2009). Crossing stones. Harrisonburg, VA: RR Donnelly & Sons Company

Impression:

Author Frost has created a book of poetry that doesn’t read like poetry. The verses flow in a way that makes the book seem like a work of masterfully written prose. The author makes the words and phrases take the shape of creek stones and river bends. Each character has his or her own unique poetry style and rhythm that reflects their personality and the overall tone of the story. Frost has truly created a work of art with this novel that will allow readers to both embrace history and poetry. 

Reviews:

In the course of less than a year in 1917, two neighboring farming families in Michigan face a sea of troubles. Two sons enlist as the United States enters the First World War; one is killed, and the other is wounded, losing an arm. A beloved aunt, on a women’s suffrage protest in Washington, is imprisoned and goes on a hunger strike. A seven-year- old daughter nearly dies from the flu. Historically plausible, this cluster of catastrophes could potentially be too much for a single narrative, but Frost contains and reveals her story in a set of tightly constructed poems. Eighteen-year-old Muriel, who is our primary source of information, speaks in an engaging and convincing free-verse stream-of- consciousness style. The other two young adult narrators speak in “cupped-hand sonnets,” a form with a highly stylized rhyme scheme. The discipline of these forms (elaborated upon in an author’s note) mitigates against sentimentality, and the distinct voices of the characters lend immediacy and crispness to a story of young people forced to grow up too fast. s.e.

Citation:

S., E. E. (2009). [Crossing stones] [book review] Horn Book Magazine. 85(6), 671. Retrieved from http://www.hbook.com/

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Two pairs of siblings, Muriel and Ollie Jorgensen and Emma and Frank Norman, have grown up together on adjacent Michigan farms. Hints of romance stir among the group just as World War I breaks out, but independent Muriel refuses Frank’s kiss before he leaves for the front. Ollie follows Frank to war, and in letters blackened with censors’ ink, he details the battlefield horrors and his sorrow at the news that Frank has been killed. At home, Muriel finds inspiration in her suffragist aunt’s protests in Washington, D.C., while the more traditional Emma observes, “Making sure everyone is fed / and clothed and cared for—that also takes a kind of pluck.” Frost, whose titles include the Printz Honor Book Keesha’s House (2003), once again offers a layered, moving verse novel. Each selection, alternately narrated by Muriel, Ollie, and Emma, is shaped to reflect the characters’ personalities and relationships: Muriel’s free-flowing entries indicate her restless curiosity; Emma and Ollie’s sonnets follow complementary rhyming patterns, adding a structural link between the characters as they fall in love. The historical details (further discussed in an author’s note) and feminist messages are purposeful, but Frost skillfully pulls her characters back from stereotype with their poignant, private, individual voices and nuanced questions, which will hit home with contemporary teens, about how to recover from loss and build a joyful, rewarding future in an unsettled world. —Gillian Engberg

Citation:

Engberg, G. (2009). [Crossing stones] [book review] Booklist. 106 (3), 42. Retrieved from http://www.booklistonline.com/

Uses:

• Use the book at a Veteran’s Day program hosted at the library. Ask a local history or English teacher to read from the book and discuss what the home front was like during WWI.
• Have a reading of the story. Ask a local poetry teacher to take readings from the story and read them aloud.

Module 14: A Curious Collection of Cats Concrete Poems by Betsy Franco

Picture taken from: http://www.amazon.com/Curious-Collection-Cats-Betsy-Franco/dp/1582462488

Summary:

Author Franco has expressively and humorously created a book of poetry dedicated to cats. Each poem is written as a characterization and dedication of a cat that has touched her life.

Citation:

             Franco, B. (2009). A curious collection of cats. Berkley, California: Tricycle Press.

Impression:

To anyone who has ever loved a cat; this is the book to read. Franco is not only able to capture the personality of every cat in the book, but is able to show it through a unique display of text and verbal imagery. Franco uses whimsical lettering and nontraditional format to depict each cat’s unique personality. This book made me smile and made my heart ache all at the same time.

Reviews:

Gr 3-6-- Franco understands the nuanced world of the fluffy, fractious, and faithful feline friend. Thirty-two unusual, concrete poems, one per page with a single exception, are matched by Wertz's monoprints. The words move in several directions and sometimes inhabit multiple objects. The poems are so embedded within the illustrations that it is hard to imagine them without the artwork; they are virtually inseparable. In a print of a cat licking its neck, its exceptionally long tongue is created out of words. Readers following the poem will find they are forced to turn the book to the side, and may crane their own necks, experiencing an odd identification with the activity of the cat. The poem "Princess" uses arrows as part of the illustrated content to keep readers on the language path as "Princess paces down and up" awaiting her supper. At times, the path isn't obvious, but youngsters delight in solving puzzles, and these are merely little challenges that prove fun to master. In "Hot Daze," a red devilish arrow points to the poem's beginning. Among the various subjects are fat cats, shy cats, a kitty who "sips from toilet bowl," and a polydactyl cat with "poofy fur" and "prissy looks." Cat lovers will recognize their felines stretching, purring, and napping. This collection would pair nicely with Sharon Creech's Hate That Cat (HarperCollins, 2008).

Citation:

Pfeifer, T. (2009). [A curious collection of cats] [book review]. School Library Journal, 55(4). Retrieved   from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/

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Words and pictures blend in these concrete poems about cats, written in forms that include haiku, limerick, and free verse. Once kids get the feel of how to follow the lines--up and down or in curving jumps or around the page borders--they will have fun with the playful images. One poem is in the shape of a feline tail. Another describes Kabob the cat's fall upside down, and not only do the pictures show his movement, but the words do, too. When felines fight, the position of the words mirrors their furious screeches, howls, pouncing, and biting. Cat lovers will recognize the standoffs with arching backs, the cozy touch of the "purrfect" scarf on their shoulders, and the tech-savvy cat who walks across the keyboard to add her own note to an e-mail to a friend.--Hazel Rochman

Citation:

Hazel, R. (2009). [A curious collection of cats] [book review]. Booklist. Retrieved from www.booklist.com


Uses

• Have a poetry evening at the library and invite a local professor or poet to read from the book. Have a donation jar in which all proceeds go to the local Humane Society.
• Use the book in a book display of children’s poetry books.