Watermark Teacher Feature – March 28, 2007

In this issue:

BOOK NEWS
L.A. Times YA Book Prize nominees

UPCOMING EVENTS
Lois Ruby visiting Wichita April 14
KMUW Literary Feast April 6
Anna Quindlen coming May 3
Khaled Hosseini coming June 27

BOOK REVIEWS
* “Shanghai Shadows” by Lois Ruby, review by Carolyn Kretzer
* Youth Book Review Round-up

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Los Angeles Times Young Adult Book Prize

I hope you can see tulips from your window.

Spring brings all sorts of good things, and one of those is a further crop of
book awards. The latest is the marches-to-its-own-drummer Los Angeles Times Book
Prize, which includes an award for outstanding young adult novel.

The L.A. Times recently announced its five nominees:

“The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1:
The Pox Party” by M.T. Anderson (Candlewick, 0763624020, $17.99) This stellar
historical novel won a 2006 National Book Award and was a Printz Award finalist.
It’s set in Boston just before the Revolutionary War and follows the life of a
young boy raised in secret to be a prince. It’s a stand-out YA novel from an
author with an incredible ear for dialogue and a keen sense of social
commentary. (I just finished his previous book “Feed,” which has a futuristic
dystopian setting where everyone has an Internet chip in his head, and it’s
amazing how accomplished two such different books
are.)

“Tyrell” by Coe Booth (Push/Scholastic, 0439838797, $16.99) This is the only
title on the list that I hadn’t heard of before. It’s set in the South Bronx and
focuses on the choices of fifteen-year-old Tyrell, whose family has been pushed
into homelessness and long stays in bug-eaten shelters. He’s trying to walk the
straight-and-narrow path and watch out for his little brother as his mom becomes
increasingly undependable and his attentions drift from his girlfriend Novisha
to his fellow shelter resident Jasmine. The book looks to be a well-told,
plainspoken story of life in the inner city, where, in Tyrell’s words: "You
don't hardly get to have no kinda childhood in the hood."

“An Abundance of Katherines” by John Green (Dutton Books/Penguin Young Readers Group, 0525476881, $16.99) Another Printz finalist, this very engaging, very
funny teen novel follows the adventures of a young prodigy who’s in despair over
numerous dumpings and the realization that he’ll never be a genius. He sets out
on a road trip that lands him in a small Southern town among a cast of oddball
characters, who teach him that life is about more than just being clever and
precocious: Read a review

“Just in Case” by Meg Rosoff (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House Children’s Books, 0385746784, $16.95) When English lad David Case discovers that destiny is out to get him, he decides to change his name, his look, and every step and pattern of his life until he becomes nearly unrecognizable to his friends and family. As Justin Case, he falls in with an artistic girl named Agnes Day, and the two go about dodging the
ugliness of fortune in a story that’s long on sly metaphors and big ideas. Read
a review: Read a review

"Rules of Survival" by Nancy Werlin (Dial/Penguin Young Readers Group,
0803730012, $16.99) A National Book Award nominee, this gripping contemporary
teen novel is narrated by a big brother who spends his whole childhood looking
after his younger sisters and trying to protect them from their dangerous and
unpredictable mother. A grimly engrossing story lightened by sibling affection,
it’s an absolutely compulsive read and a great choice for teens who thrive on
stories of young people in extremis.

The winner of the award will be announced April 27 at the paper's annual Festival of Books.

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UPCOMING WATERMARK EVENTS

April KMUW Literary Feast, Friday, April 6. 7:00 p.m.

The April book will be “The Echo Maker” by Richard Powers.

Literary Feast participants will enjoy dinner together, with a menu specially
created by our Watermark chef, then take part in a book discussion over dessert.
Tickets are available at the Watermark book counter or by calling (316)
682-1181. Places are limited, and we recommend purchasing your ticket well in
advance. Read more about the book, author, and menu on the KMUW Web site:
http://www.kmuw.org/LiteraryFeasts.html


Lois Ruby coming Saturday, April 14

Youth author and former Wichita resident Lois Ruby will host writing workshops
for teens and adults at the main branch of the Wichita Public Library. Ruby is
the author of “Steal Away Home” and the new “Shanghai Shadows.” Interested folks
should contact the library by telephone at (316) 261-8500. (To order her books,
call Watermark at (316) 682-1181 or send an e-mail to
lisa.johnson@watermarkbooks.com).

Look below for a review of Ruby’s young adult novel “Shanghai Shadows.”


Looking ahead: Anna Quindlen coming Thursday, May 3

Novelist and Newsweek columnist Anna Quindlen will visit Wichita on Thursday,
May 3 for a 7:00 p.m. Watermark reading and signing at the WSU Metroplex.
Tickets are available now at Watermark: A ticket is free with purchase (or paid
preorder) of the book; a ticket on its own costs $5. Pencil the date into your
calendars, ring the friends in your phone tree, and plan an outing for your
student group or book club. Quindlen is touring to support her latest novel, the
bestselling two-sister story “Rise and Shine,” which follows a popular
television host who falls from grace after September 11 and turns to her
estranged sibling to help her pick up the pieces of her life. Call us at (316)
682-1181 to pre-order.


Looking ahead: Khaled Hosseini coming Wednesday, June 27

Watermark will host novelist Khaled Hosseini, author of “The Kite Runner,” at
the WSU Metroplex at 7:00 p.m. He'll read from and sign copies of his new novel
“A Thousand Splendid Suns,” due out May 22. Call us at (316) 682-1181 to
pre-order copies of the book. The event will be co-sponsored by the Wichita
Public Library and the Friends of the Library. More details to come.


For a full listing of Watermark events, including book clubs and art openings,
visit the Events page of our Web site at:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/events.html

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REVIEWS

As mentioned above, author Lois Ruby will be visiting Wichita in April, when
she’ll hold writing workshops at the Wichita Public Library.


"Shanghai Shadows" by Lois Ruby (Holiday House, 9780823419609, $16.95).

For many readers, a superficial knowledge of the events of World War II probably
does not include the story of the flight of European Jews to Japanese-occupied
China and their struggles there to survive in that harsh and alien environment.
Lois Ruby has brought that little-known story to life in her new historical
novel "Shanghai Shadows."

Told from the perspective of a young girl, this is the story of the Shpann
family, who flee Austria in 1939 and sail to Shanghai, the only port that will
admit Jewish refugees. Although the Shpanns do not want to leave their
homeland, they don’t believe it will be for long. The children, eleven-year-old
Ilse and thirteen-year-old Erich, look upon their detour to Shanghai as an
adventurous lark; Frieda Shpann wants to get her new
household set up and maintain order in the proper Austrian way; Jakob Shpann, a
virtuoso, just wants to play the violin. Little do they know that they will
spend the next six years in Shanghai, with every year becoming
more dire and oppressive.

Upon their arrival in Shanghai, the Shpanns move to the International
Settlement, where they occupy three rooms in a house shared by six other
families. Shared kitchen, shared bath. But because the settlement enjoys freedom
from the Japanese occupation, the family makes the best of the circumstances and
settles into a semblance of normalcy. Mother gets a job for a few hours a day at
a bakery; Father finds other musicians with whom to
play.

For the Shpann children, life is full of new discoveries. Ilse enjoys a new
friendship with her neighbor, Tanya Mogelevsky, a young Russian Jewish refugee.
Ilse, Erich, and Tanya spend their days roaming the city, including
the Japanese-occupied Hongkew section which is teeming with poor Japanese,
Chinese, Germans and Austrians. The children become acquainted with German
shop-keepers, the Chinese letter-writer, and the guards at the Hongkew gates.
Erich finds a group of young men who share his passion for resisting oppression,
and they do a lot of talking and plotting. School starts, which doesn’t seem so
bad. It won't last long. Then Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.

When the Japanese and the Americans enter the war, all Jewish refugees in
Shanghai are forced to move to a ghetto where they struggle daily to survive.
The Shpanns now live in one room. Mother loses her job because the bakery has no
flour, but she continues to try to make a home for her family; Father sits and
stares at the wall; Erich and his friends in the resistance stop talking and
start taking dangerous action against the Japanese; and Ilse? Ilse is just
trying to make sense of all the misery and suffering. She fears for her
brother's safety but finds herself drawn into aiding the resistance. She becomes
increasingly irritated by her father's emotional absence and dependence on her
mother. She's tired: her once-vibrant red hair
is thin and lifeless; she's too thin. She's a young girl who should be enjoying
her teenage years, not struggling to survive them.

When life just couldn't get any harder, a secret from Mother's past separates
her from the family, and Erich is arrested. Father sinks further into despair.
The family's bonds are tested, and it’s left to Ilse to keep the Shpanns
together as the end of the war draws near.

Lois Ruby’s creation of Ilse turns what might have been a story of despair into
a story of courage and hope. Ilse's grit and determination, along with her
barbed wit, keep the reader engaged and rooting for the survival of the
Shpanns and their friends. She shows readers that even amidst the hardships of
war, a teen still has to worry about friendships, family dynamics, school, first
loves... and hair.

Lois Ruby has a special talent for bringing history alive for young readers.
Whether it be pre-Civil War Kentucky ("Steal Away Home"), 1901 Galveston, Texas
("Swindletop") or a Jewish ghetto in WWII China, Ruby shows that the
themes of love, friendship, justice, and courage span the centuries.

(Recommended for readers 12 and older)

Review by Carolyn Kretzer

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YOUTH BOOK REVIEW ROUND-UP

In case you missed some (or need a refresher), here’s a handy cheat sheet of
links to all of Watermark’s youth book reviews from the first quarter of 2007.


PICTURE BOOKS

“Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship” by Isabella & Craig Hatkoff:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0107-001.html

“Alia's Mission: Saving the Books of Iraq” by Mark Alan Stamaty:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0107-009.html

“Library Lion” by Michelle Knudsen, illus. by Kevin Hawkes:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0107-008.html

“Gordon Parks: No Excuses” by Ann Parr:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0107-013.html

“Jazz” by Walter Dean Myers, illus. by Christopher Myers:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-006.html

“Moses” by Carole Boston Weatherford, illus. by Kadir Nelson:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-005.html

“Who's Got Game?” by Toni Morrison & Slade Morrison:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-012.html

“Wolf! Wolf! by John Rocco:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0307-006.html

“Charlotte in Giverny” & “Charlotte in Paris” by Jean McPhail Knight &
Melissa Sweet: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0307-007.html

“This Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown” by Cressida Cowell & Neal Layton:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0307-010.html


ILLUSTRATED BEGINNING CHAPTER BOOKS

“The Racketty-Packetty House” by Frances Hodgson Burnett, illus. Wendy Anderson
Halperin: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0107-005.html

“The Journey that Saved Curious George” by Louise Borden:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-002.html


MIDDLE READERS (9 to 12 years old)

“Bone 5: Rock Jaw” graphic novel by Jeff Smith:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-007.html

“The Higher Power of Lucky” by Susan Patron, illus. by Michael Phelan:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-011.html

“Goosebumps Graphix: Creepy Creatures” and “Terror Trips” graphic novels by R.
L. Stine: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-013.html

“Rules” by Cynthia Lord:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0307-004.html

“The Neddiad” by Daniel Pinkwater:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0307-009.html


YOUNG ADULT and TEEN (13 years and older)

“Runaways, Vol. 2” graphic novel by Brian K. Vaughan:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-009.html

“Breaking Up: A Fashion High Graphic Novel” by Aimee Friedman & Christine Norrie: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0107-010.html

“The Learning Tree” by Gordon Parks:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0107-014.html

“Split Screen” by Brent Hartinger:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0207-004.html

“The Hedge Knight” graphic novel by George R. R. Martin:
http://www.watermarkbooks.com/review0307-001.html

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Past reviews and archived issues of Teacher Feature can be read on-line on the
Watermark Web site at: http://www.watermarkbooks.com/teach.html

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Enjoy those April showers.

Mark David Bradshaw


 


 

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