Nonfiction Resources
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: a Memoir by Margarita Engle
In free verse poems, Margarita Engle tells of her childhood from her parents falling in love, her birth and on through age fourteen. The book covers 1947-1965, and since Margarita's mother was Cuban and father American, she had a unique perspective of the Cold War events that happened during her childhood. She tells of the family's yearly visits to family in Cuba until the civil war and politics prevented those. Margarita shares her love for the life in Cuba, how the part of her that loved plants and animals felt most at home there, and how confused she felt by the events that prevented her from visiting an island she loved. There's an afterward giving an overview of Cold War events and what happened in Margarita's life since age 14.
It is a beautifully written autobiography important both for children in similar positions and for the unique perspective on historical events.
Activity Tie-ins:
Bulpré Award: The Pura Bulpré Award is a relatively new award. Have students research what the award is for here.
Third & Fourth Culture Kids: Margarita beautifully captures the identity crisis of children caught between cultures. Third and fourth culture kids will readily identify with how she tried to figure out where she was most at home. If you're looking for an autobiography that third and fourth culture kids can identify with, this is a good one.
Cuban Missile Crisis & the Cold War: If you have classes studying this time period in American history, this memoir provides a very unique perspective on the event. It is extremely interesting to see the Cuban Missile Crisis and other Cold War events through the eyes of a child who loved both Cuba and America. How does Margarita portray the events as opposed to perhaps the class textbook?
Psychology, Culture & Refugees: Engle's paternal grandparents were refugees from the Ukraine, and refused to talk about life before they came to America. Her mother's family loves to talk about Cuba before the Cold War. It provides an opportunity to look at the various ways people respond to crisis. Was it just their cultures that dictated how they responded so differently or do you think it was based on their personalities?
Free Verse Poetry: This memoir is written entirely in free verse. Ask students why they think Engle chose this form of writing for her memoir. Were you able to get a full feel for events she describes despite the sparse text? How did the author make it work?
Authors' Other Jobs Research Project: I was surprised to learn that before she took up a pen full time, Engle was the first woman agronomy professor at a California polytechnic university. What other authors have had surprising jobs before writing?
Quick Nonfiction Read: If you're looking for an autobiography that's a quick read, this is a good pick. Thanks to the free verse poetry format, the pages fly by.
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Shostakovitch and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson
A biography of the pioneering 20th century Russian composer, Shostakovitch. The book follows his life from childhood in czarist Russia, through Stalin's takeover, and on through World War II. At this point I'm 25% of the way through and so far I've come away from reading this very grateful I was not born in Russia in the past century or so. The things Shostakovitch, his family and colleagues are going through are so rough, and I'm not even to WWII yet! I will say this at this point, I would only recommend this to teens on up due to the harsh regime of the Soviets and the lifestyles of some of the artists we're introduced to (nothing graphic yet, but Russian artists of the 1920s definitely weren't great role models). The book is definitely well-written and suffused with photographs of people and places mentioned, which I really appreciate.
Activity Tie-ins:
Russian History: If you're studying Russian history and want students to get a good picture of the roller coaster of regimes and policies thrown around in the first half of the 20th century, this book definitely does that.
Gratitude: If your students need a good dose of gratitude for how good they have it, this would be a great wake up call.
WWII & Music: I haven't gotten there yet, but eventually this promises to cover Shostakovitch's role in WWII. Evidently, they snuck one of his symphonies out on microfilm because of the message it held. The music was also instrumental in giving hope to many people. It gives a new perspective on the importance of a composer.
Russian Arts: Of all of Shostakovitch's artist associates, the only one I had previously heard about was Prokofiev. And it isn't like I've been hiding under a rock from music and art history. I took music history in high school, and was a music major for a while in college. I tested out of art history in college, so I've been exposed to quite a bit of music and art history, but most of these people weren't included. Anderson is also including quite a bit on those involved in early Russian movie productions, since Shostakovitch was involved in writing musical scores for several of them. It's fascinating, and like I mentioned, not often covered in the average arts history class.
YALSA Nonfiction Finalist: Find out what it means for a book to be a YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist here.
Graphic Novel/Fiction Resource
Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson
Astrid's mom takes her and her best friend Nicole to the local roller derby as one of their cultural nights. Astrid falls in love with roller derby and begs her mom to sign her up for the summer camp which starts in a few weeks. Astrid thinks Nicole is eager to sign up too, but it turns out Nicole has signed up instead for ballet camp. Over the summer, Astrid discovers that roller derby is a whole lot harder than she ever imagined. She wants to be good at it. She dreams of being a roller derby star. But she really isn't sure if she's got what it takes. And then she finds out that Nicole has been hanging out with arch-nemesis Rachel at ballet camp and on top of the blood, sweat, and tears of derby she may have lost her best friend to the dark side.
This one is going to rank right up there with CeCe Bell's El Deafo as most popular books to get Newbery Honors. Graphic novel + realistic story is a ginormous win right now. Though I'm not a huge roller derby fan, I do like that the book will be voraciously devoured and has good messages kids will get along the way.
Activity Tie-ins:
Newbery Honor: Find out what it means for a book to be awarded a Newbery Honor here.
Perseverance: Astrid has a really hard time getting the hang of roller derby. She wants to quit at one point, but she perseveres and eventually sees little moments of progress. A good read to encourage kids who want to quit when the going gets hard.
Honesty: Astrid lies to her mother for a while about Nicole being at the same camp. Eventually the truth comes out and she and her mom work things out. It's a good opportunity to discuss with students how Astrid could have made her life easier (both emotionally and physically, she had to walk back from camp each day because of her lie instead of getting a ride). There's also the opportunity to discuss what would be the best course if you want to die your hair a wild color, ask before or after you do it. (Guess which one Astrid picks? Yes, she likes to learn the hard way.)
Friendship: There's a big lesson on friendship in this book, and it paves the way to talk about how people change when they hit middle and high school, how to work through disagreements best, and what to do when someone is mean to you.
Unique Sports Writing Prompt: This book obviously highlights a lesser known sport. What are some other lesser known sports out there? Could you write a story featuring it?
Reluctant Readers: This is a great pick for reluctant readers because it is a full-color graphic novel. I have yet to meet a student who does not like graphic novels, even those who say they don't like to read can't turn down a vibrant graphic novel.
