My Take on “Alabama Moon”

         There is always a risk factor involved with selecting videos I have not previously seen or may have never even heard of before.  For the most part I have read the description, visualize the setting of the story and may check it out.  But most often I have made poor selections as there have been many that I cannot be drawn in due to bad acting or poor dialogue or lame writers or what have you.  I actually haven’t been successful in my gambles.  But on Saturday we checked out a video I rather enjoy and will have to look into reading the award winning novel by Watt Key (as books are generally much much better than the movie)

         “Alabama Moon” was great.  I enjoyed watching Moon grow and allow himself to make choices and find strengths in those he associated with.  The story starts off with Moon burying his father, and as he is digging we see the flashbacks in his mind about how and where Moon and his father lived.  When his father realizes that he will soon die, he encourages Moon to remain living out his days in the same manner.

         But the “law” interferes with Moon’s plans – or tries to.  Clinton Howard plays a sleezeball constable who’s out for vengeance.  The more Moon tries to honor the wishes of his father, the more ruthless the constable becomes - so much to the point of satisfying his own egotistical pride rather than upholding the law.

         I LOVE John Goodman’s character.  From the first moment he asks Moon if he’s okay and offers him a sweet roll – which Moon devours.  He does this with genuine concern and is quite careful NOT to help Clinton Howard’s character. 

         Moon learns what it is like to have friends and to be a part of a world his father had kept him from.  There is good and evil – not just evil as his father had led him to believe.  Torn between wanting to honor his father’s wishes and not wanting to continue alone, Moon is faced with a fate that only he can decide.

         That leads us to the climax of the movie.  I could go on, but choose not to so as not to spoil the ending for anyone who wishes to see (or read) it. The end of the movie was more than satisfactory.  I loved the movie as a whole and highly recommend it.

Another Book Review: Charlotte’s Rose

 

“Charlotte’s Rose” is written by A.E. Cannon – who’s evidently written a few children’s books. Charlotte’s Rose is a historical fiction and can be found in the juvenile fiction.

It is told in first person through the eyes of a girl named Charlotte Edwards who has left Wales to travel across the plains of the US territory with her father in order to end up in Ogden, Utah.  They take a boat from Europe to Boston and a train from Boston to Iowa city where they are given handcarts and a weight limit on all possessions.

Charlotte goes from being a girl to becoming a woman – not necessarily just physical change but in Spiritual and emotional growth as she travels across the plains with a newborn she didn’t realize would be so much work.  She learns about compassion, community and sacrifice. 

At the end of the book there is the author’s note and references. What impressed me the most is that so many of the facts are true. 

I also like the 15 questions that follow the author’s note.  They are pitched to the reader and remind me quite a bit of the questions that Jenna and I ask one another as we pull out questions from the Ungame or journal jars which I mention here and here.

I wish Jenna had been more interested in this book – and one day she will. 

Thank You Rob Buyea

I mention my discovery of Mr. Terupt in this post.  Rob Buyea makes reference to several books throughout the two books that I’ve read and I have made my journey into some of those books. So here are my reviews on “Belle Teal” by Ann M. Martin and “Belle Prater’s son” by Ruth White

“Belle Teal” is told in first person by a girl who’s been named after her grandma – Belle Teal.  The story takes place roughly 1961 – 1962 I’m guessing in Virginia. Two things stand out for me.  One is that Belle’s grandmother has Alzheimer’s or another form dementia.  It isn’t explained.  Even back then – there wasn’t the same understanding that we have now – and are still trying to explain.

The other is/was the relationship between her classmates.  One is a black student who has just transferred into an all white school.  Another is a high and mighty princess, also a first timer for that particular school. The other is the son of an abusive drunkard parent. They had formed a friendship in a previous grade. 

I absolutely love the way Belle Teal handles herself and tries hard to make friends and tries hard to add harmony to classmates and to situations that occur.  I also like her enthusiasm with her writing and her creativity.  She reminds me a little bit of my own Jenna.

“Belle Prater’s Son” also takes place in Virginia – but about ten years earlier.  It is told in first person – which I enjoy.  I always have an easier time getting into books that are told in first person.

Gypsy is Belle Prater’s niece, who tells the story mostly about her relationship with her cousin Woodrow, who moves in next door shortly after his mom disappears. There is a bit of mystery involved, tall tales, and finding self esteem.  The message I took from this story was that looks are not important and we needn’t treat one another in a way that focus on outward appearance.  I love how the characters are willing to accept themselves and grow.  I also like how Woodrow appreciates the simple things and what Gypsy has taken advantage of for some time become new again.

What an Awesomely Thought Provoking Book!

Congratulations Rob Buyea with your first novel: because of mr. terupt.  What a great book! On so many levels.

This book can be found in the juvenile fiction section of your local library – at least I hope it can.  It’s not just a great book for kids but I think adults as well.

I’ll admit I do read a lot of juvenile fiction.  Jenna mostly likes fantasies, silly humor and non -fiction.  I like historical fiction and realistic fiction.  We both like time travel.  So often I will read books with Jenna or for Jenna – finishing some that she can’t seem to get into or turning the unfinished novel back to the library.

I enjoyed this book a lot. Seven main characters tell the story of their fifth grade experience.

Luke is smart and enjoys an academical challenge.  He is always pushing himself without pushing or being boastful to others.

Peter is the prankster who doesn’t mean anything malicious by his pranks.  For the most part they are tame, but embarrassing to the victim.

Jessica is a bookworm from another state.  She tries to identify or learn from the characters that she reads about. She is a bit uneasy about being brand new to the school until she learns that it’s Mr. Terupt’s first year also.

Allie is a bully who somehow believes that putting others down and manipulating mind control makes her more important.  She’ll pretend to be your friend one minute and turn on you the next and spread ugly rumors. She’s not really happy but she pretends to be.

Jeffery keeps to himself.  He doesn’t enjoy school.  He doesn’t like his home life.  He doesn’t allow anyone to even try to get close to him.  He seems to exist without living.

Danielle is either over-weight or perhaps just big boned.  She lives on a farm.  She is very religious.

Anna keeps to herself, but unlike Jeffery, she’s observant – almost a human sponge.  She wants to have friends, but just seems to shy about making contact.

Instead of Chapters 1-10, this book starts in September with each of the children giving their report.  In that first month Mr. Terupt introduces the class to Dollar Words. And I can see Jenna light up with the same fascination as Luke.

Dollar Words are words that have characters which add up to 100 exactly.  Each letter is worth its place in the alphabet: a=1, z=26.  Therefore unbroken would be a dollar word. 21+17+2+18+15+11+5+14=100.  Though she is good at math and does have a big vocabulary, spelling is not her thing right now.

In November the class is not only introduced to the Newbury award “Summer of the Swan” but to the Collaboration Classroom in which they were given the opportunity to work with children who had different types of mentally challenged or disabled.  That is when we gain some more insight to each of the characters, especially Jeffery who shares his secret with Jessica.

And without giving away the climatic emotional roller coaster, let me instead quote John Irving, who made this statement: “Even the accident toward which this novel is inevitably headed is no accident; it is a masterfully set up and skillfully concealed as the rest of this riveting story.”

I highly recommend this book about change, about growing, about discovery, about fun.  Thank you Mr. Terupt.  And thank you, Rob Buyea for your creativity. 

I don’t know if the authors picture is a recent photo or not.  The caption reads that Rob Buyea had taught for six years at one school before teaching in another.  He must have started when he was only 18 as his photo tells me he can’t be much older than 26.  At least that’s my opinion.  But there are people who do look younger than they are.

I wonder how closely related Rob Buyea is to Mr. Terupt.  What an awesome teacher.  What an amazing story.  Loved it!

We Love Andrew Clements

Fortunately for me (at least in this point in time), Jenna likes to experiment with things that she’s watched or read. The latest comes from a book “No Talking" by Andrew Clements.  A boy, interested in Ghandi, decides to experiment with no talking.  His experiment eventually turns into a contest between the fifth grade girls and boys – which group can go the longest without talking for two whole days?

This sounded quite probable to Jenna – who not only talks quite a bit but does it rather LOUDLY despite everyone’s efforts to get her to tone it down.  I have told her countless times that it really is possible to be excited without being loud.  I don’t necessarily want her to stop talking, but it would be nice to have volume control.

So (as we are reading this book) I look at her and say, “I bet you wouldn’t even make it for twelve hours without talking.”  She has taken me up on my offer.  Her first attempt was on Labor Day.  She did 3 and a half hours without saying more than 20 words. Her attempt the following Saturday was even more pathetic.

          I introduced Jenna to Andrew Clements just this year.  I like his stories for the most part.  I read one called “Extra Credit” about letter correspondence between a sixth grade girl from the United States and a fifth grade boy (via his younger sister) from Afghanistan.  Of course with that, Jenna wants the opportunity to have a foreign pen pal.  Now there’s a dying art – correspondence through the post office and not just email or facebook.

          We checked out some books on CD for her to listen to while she’s supposed to be sleeping.  So far she likes Andrew Clements books the best.

          Last night we went over the sign language alphabet. This morning she has decided to experiment with “No Talking” once again.  Just in case she should actually make it into the school without having said a word (though I did say that Spanish is permitted) I sent a warning to each of her teachers should they call on her.  I think it will be quite awesome if she actually does make it for more than four hours.  (Though our initial bet was twelve)

Congratulations to all of those who made it passed junior high

Being a youth (Jr. High age) is such an awkward part of our lives.   Everything is taken literally and there is so much tragedy and devastation.  Too young to be adults but yet too old to be considered children – or treated as such.  Often being told to “act your age” when it’s so obvious that people that age have never been that age before and have no knowledge of how to act.

          As adults we can literally look back upon all those "painful" memories and realize that what we thought was so important really isn't.  I think if a person can make it through junior high, he or she has put behind the most awful part of their social lives behind them, and can move on to become actual human beings.

Recently I read the juvenile fiction The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger - written from the students' point of view. I laughed so hard – not just at the words, but at the illustrations.  But you really do have to be in the right frame of mind to enjoy it. 

I tried to read it to Jenna, but there’s too much of it that she has yet to go through and just doesn’t understand my laughter at this time – and may not get it when she is that awkward stage of her life.  I hope that I can help her overcome her struggles so that hopefully she can deal with the “pain” a lot better than I did.  But then she has always been a lot more mature academically.  Perhaps with my encouragement she will be socially, too.

Now this is a book I would really like for my collection

One of Jenna’s favorite places to go is the library.  When we lived in our first house, we would often walk to the library.  But as there is so much congestion between our house and the library where we currently live, we don’t have the option of walking to the library anymore. 

          There have been times when I have gone to the library without Jenna.  Often it will be in search of reference books to answer a question that she has asked either that morning or some time during the week.

          Last year I found myself in the poetry section and had checked out a beautiful book called R is for Rhyme by Judy Young.  Unfortunately Jenna does not share my love for poetry right now.  She gets bored with it.  Even the rhymes which she so often does verbally.  She just doesn’t seem to care for reading or writing in rhyme.

          Between January and April the library puts award nominee books on display and encourages children to read the books and vote for them.  Jenna likes what she reads for the most part.  There have been only a few that are just okay or that she doesn’t like at all.  Last year we read three books that included poetry.  All three were given an “okay” or “I don’t like” vote.

Just recently we found one called Mirror Mirror by Marilyn Singer, beautifully illustrated by Josee Masse.  The poetry used in this book is called Reverso – which I have never heard of before.  But it is awesome.  Jenna likes it because of the fairy tale themes but doesn’t understand the beauty of just how these verses are written.

This is an example the author uses to explain it:

                             A cat                              Incomplete:

                             without                           A chair

                             a chair:                           without

                             Incomplete.                     a cat.

Except that the verses on every other page are written from a tale’s character’s point of view.  There aren’t an exact number of lines involved.  It is just the order in which it is written – top line becomes bottom and bottom line becomes top and is read with new meaning.  Only the punctuation is changed. 

My favorites are spoken by Jack first and then the giant – or the witch to Hansel and then Gretel to Hansel.  I haven’t tried Reverso myself yet.  It looks quite challenging.  And I thank Marilyn Singer for sharing.