Book Discussions
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
I enjoyed a Sunday evening book discussion about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I read the book for a summer reading assignment when I was in high school and it was nice to have the opportunity to read the book through a different pair of lenses. I also enjoyed the perspective of my classmates and our professor.
As a high school students, I read the book simply to get the assignment done. I do not think I had the maturity level to grasp the many theme this book presents, to think about the era in which the book is set in or to think about the life of the author. Having read this book for a second time so many themes jumped out and some I could relate to and many of the themes made me feel a sense of sadness. One strong theme we see through the entire novel is poverty and lack of education and we see how that effects each family through the generations. Katie's family had migrated to America as well as Johnny's. Katie and Johnny did not have much of an education and we see that they work low wage jobs and struggle to feed the family. Johnny works as a singing waitress and his income is inconsistent. We see the curse of poverty when Francie is born and Kate worries about her life, because all she knows is poverty and she wonders how she can make it different for her daughter.
During the book discussion, I love how my classmates highlighted these strong and able female characters. They are independent of the men and we find in most of the male and female relationships in the story the men are dependent on the women. We see amazing strength in Sissy, who has suffered loss and heartbreak but still manages to be a shining star for her family. In Francie's family Katie is the provider and takes cares of the children and her husband while working a job. When we consider the era, in which the story is written (1900s) we can see how unique this novel is for it's time.
Lastly our Professor gave us some insight into the life of the author, Betty Smith. It gave me a deeper sense of sadness learning that the novel chronicles or parallels her life. I also have a strong sense of respect for her and the novel, reading it as an adult woman. I can relate to the strength of these women, probably not to the extremes, but I grew up in a family where the women played a dominant role in my home life. This was due to the absence of men and/or drug and alcohol addiction. This novel also made me feel grateful for the era I am growing up in because a life of poverty and lack of education can be overcomed in today's society.
The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
I had another amazing book discussion. I must have said at least three times, I would have never picked up this book if it were not for this book discussion, however I am glad I added it to my reading repertoire. I am of fan of Sherman Alexie as a picture book writer, he has now won me over as YA writer.
Part Tim Indian shares the diary of Arnold Spirit, who lives on a reservation with his parents, sister
and grandmother. Arnold is a true teenage boy in all it's essence. He is starting high school, is dealing with sexual hormones and navigating his place on the social totem pole, which is very low on the "rez" Things change for Arnold when he makes the decision to attend the predominantly all white high school Rearden, which is 20 miles away from his home. This decision upsets his best friend Rowdy and all the other members of the tribe living on the reservation.
Arnold realized rather quickly that life and the rules were different at the high school he attended then then on the reservation. Arnold brings us into his freshman year high school that was filled with loss, death, love, conflict, tragedies and learning.
I loved this book because it was the perfect coming of age story, and I felt the realness of the story through the words on the page. Some hot topics that came up during our book discussions was alcoholism, death, hope and we discussed a lot of great characters. I think Lynn, Melissa and I were all glad we read this book and we all shared similar sentiments. Lastly we all appreciated being brought into the culture of the Spokane tribe. I personally did not have much background knowledge prior to reading the book.
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
It was great to be a part of another amazing book discussion. I always enjoy hearing different opinions, insights and interpretations. This particular book discussion had all those elements, which gave way to awesome forty minute discussion.
This One Summer is a graphic Novel about a young girl name Rose, whose family travels every summer to this vacation beach home. There Rose always meets up with her good friend Windy. Over the course of the summer Rose is having a coming of age moment, while dealing with family issues and at times seems to be outgrowing her best friend, who happens to be one year younger.
A lot of us were able to relate to the main character as this book lead us to reflect on our teen years. There were many themes to discuss in this story; infertility, marital problems, sex, teen pregnancy, and friendship. Many of us found that the multiple themes, and multiple story lines created confusion at times and we found many plots that were introduced had no resolve. We noticed the ongoing symbolism of time, water and rocks had some significance but we could not quite figure it out. We found the graphic novel to be image heavy and not providing much text. We would later learn that the novel seemed to be more of the Japanese Manga style as oppose to the American style many of us were use to.
I was shocked to realize that this book had won a couple of awards including a Caldecott Honor. It was a fast read and overall I did enjoy it, however I would have to label Part Time Indian as my most enjoyed book and book discussion.
I enjoyed a Sunday evening book discussion about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I read the book for a summer reading assignment when I was in high school and it was nice to have the opportunity to read the book through a different pair of lenses. I also enjoyed the perspective of my classmates and our professor.
As a high school students, I read the book simply to get the assignment done. I do not think I had the maturity level to grasp the many theme this book presents, to think about the era in which the book is set in or to think about the life of the author. Having read this book for a second time so many themes jumped out and some I could relate to and many of the themes made me feel a sense of sadness. One strong theme we see through the entire novel is poverty and lack of education and we see how that effects each family through the generations. Katie's family had migrated to America as well as Johnny's. Katie and Johnny did not have much of an education and we see that they work low wage jobs and struggle to feed the family. Johnny works as a singing waitress and his income is inconsistent. We see the curse of poverty when Francie is born and Kate worries about her life, because all she knows is poverty and she wonders how she can make it different for her daughter.
During the book discussion, I love how my classmates highlighted these strong and able female characters. They are independent of the men and we find in most of the male and female relationships in the story the men are dependent on the women. We see amazing strength in Sissy, who has suffered loss and heartbreak but still manages to be a shining star for her family. In Francie's family Katie is the provider and takes cares of the children and her husband while working a job. When we consider the era, in which the story is written (1900s) we can see how unique this novel is for it's time.
Lastly our Professor gave us some insight into the life of the author, Betty Smith. It gave me a deeper sense of sadness learning that the novel chronicles or parallels her life. I also have a strong sense of respect for her and the novel, reading it as an adult woman. I can relate to the strength of these women, probably not to the extremes, but I grew up in a family where the women played a dominant role in my home life. This was due to the absence of men and/or drug and alcohol addiction. This novel also made me feel grateful for the era I am growing up in because a life of poverty and lack of education can be overcomed in today's society.
The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
I had another amazing book discussion. I must have said at least three times, I would have never picked up this book if it were not for this book discussion, however I am glad I added it to my reading repertoire. I am of fan of Sherman Alexie as a picture book writer, he has now won me over as YA writer.
Part Tim Indian shares the diary of Arnold Spirit, who lives on a reservation with his parents, sister
and grandmother. Arnold is a true teenage boy in all it's essence. He is starting high school, is dealing with sexual hormones and navigating his place on the social totem pole, which is very low on the "rez" Things change for Arnold when he makes the decision to attend the predominantly all white high school Rearden, which is 20 miles away from his home. This decision upsets his best friend Rowdy and all the other members of the tribe living on the reservation.
Arnold realized rather quickly that life and the rules were different at the high school he attended then then on the reservation. Arnold brings us into his freshman year high school that was filled with loss, death, love, conflict, tragedies and learning.
I loved this book because it was the perfect coming of age story, and I felt the realness of the story through the words on the page. Some hot topics that came up during our book discussions was alcoholism, death, hope and we discussed a lot of great characters. I think Lynn, Melissa and I were all glad we read this book and we all shared similar sentiments. Lastly we all appreciated being brought into the culture of the Spokane tribe. I personally did not have much background knowledge prior to reading the book.
This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki
It was great to be a part of another amazing book discussion. I always enjoy hearing different opinions, insights and interpretations. This particular book discussion had all those elements, which gave way to awesome forty minute discussion.
This One Summer is a graphic Novel about a young girl name Rose, whose family travels every summer to this vacation beach home. There Rose always meets up with her good friend Windy. Over the course of the summer Rose is having a coming of age moment, while dealing with family issues and at times seems to be outgrowing her best friend, who happens to be one year younger.
A lot of us were able to relate to the main character as this book lead us to reflect on our teen years. There were many themes to discuss in this story; infertility, marital problems, sex, teen pregnancy, and friendship. Many of us found that the multiple themes, and multiple story lines created confusion at times and we found many plots that were introduced had no resolve. We noticed the ongoing symbolism of time, water and rocks had some significance but we could not quite figure it out. We found the graphic novel to be image heavy and not providing much text. We would later learn that the novel seemed to be more of the Japanese Manga style as oppose to the American style many of us were use to.
I was shocked to realize that this book had won a couple of awards including a Caldecott Honor. It was a fast read and overall I did enjoy it, however I would have to label Part Time Indian as my most enjoyed book and book discussion.
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