RUBY LEE & ME

My Facebook feed is rife with back-to-school photos. Which makes this the perfect time to reflect on an era when enormous changes rolled across our educational system. During the late 1960's, racial integration of the public schools was finally being enforced.

In 1967 when Fall Creek Elementary in East Bend, NC became integrated, Shannon Hitchcock started first grade. 

Her school’s first African-American teacher taught her to read. Later, as an adult, Shannon learned Mrs. Porter was in poor health so she asked to visit. She wanted her teacher to know what an impact she'd made on her life. Mrs. Porter reminded her that white children had been uneasy about having a black teacher. To ease her students' concerns, she'd invited each of them to touch her face and hair. 

Shannon knew immediately that she wanted to write that story. The result is RUBY LEE & ME, inspired by her teacher, Mrs. Pauline Porter. 

RUBY LEE & ME is an authentic story of a 12 year-old white girl's struggles with guilt, loyalty, and circumstances that are beyond her control. Besides feeling responsible for her younger sister's accident, Sarah faces immense societal changes as her local school is forced to become racially integrated. She has a marvelous friendship with a black neighbor, Ruby Lee but school integration, which looms on the horizon, raises honest questions about how they will interact when their other friends are around. 

The uncertainty leads to misunderstandings, feelings of betrayal, and hurtful words.RUBY LEE & ME is tender, informative, impeccably written, and unflinchingly honest.

RUBY LEE & ME is a terrific addition to classroom reading lists and the learning experience will be enhanced with these Discussion Questions.  

Teachers and school librarians, you can enter the #MGGetsReal Giveaway that includes RUBY LEE & ME along with four other middle grade books covering tough topics. You'll find the contest widget at the bottom of the #MGGetsReal page. And do spread the word!

 

JUST A DROP OF WATER

One month from today marks the fifteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

Very soon after the attacks, Kerry O'Malley Cerra  discovered that Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 hijackers, lived just around the corner from her.

In her words. "Within a day or two of the attacks, my alternating moods of anger, sadness, and pride suddenly had a new emotion to deal with. Fear."

As Kerry struggled with unexpected emotions and the changing landscape of American relationships, a story began to emerge.  JUST A DROP OF WATER echoes her own emotional experience as two boys, one Muslim and one Christian struggle to keep their friendship in the face of the 9/11 attacks.

Jake, a highly competitive cross-country runner has the usual  rivalries with  team mates and competitors. And those rivalries have him making plans for winning in a less than sportsmanlike manner. But his plans are hijacked when terrorists take over multiple airplanes and crash them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon building. 

Yet another plane is brought down by heroic passengers on a plane flying over western Pennsylvania. All airline flights are suspended. It is as if the entire world comes to a standstill.

Jake's meet is cancelled and Jake's world changes as his best friend, Sam, who is Muslim, comes under suspicion.  Fiercely loyal, Jake attempts to maintain their friendship but it feels as if he is the only one fighting to maintain trust and normalcy.

JUST A DROP OF WATER echoes the feelings of many Americans in the wake of 9/11 and it does so via the authentic voice of a boy with a big heart and sometimes misguided intentions. The sports theme lends itself to bigger questions of playing fair, fighting dirty, and making peace.   

Teachers and librarians, if you're looking for an engaging novel to help your students grasp the enormity of 9/11 and how it is shaping our worldview, reach for this book. Here's a quick preview.
 

Kerry's background in Social Studies makes her an ideal person to speak to your students about her book and her passion for peacemaking. She loves engaging with students and will turn them on to reading, not only her book, but many other examples that she'll bring with her.

JUST A DROP OF WATER will be included in the #MGGetsReal giveaway (open to educators) that will be kicked off on August 16 at the NCTE blog.  Please do enter for a set of five books on tough topics.

THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM

I can't imagine how painful it would be to write the story of the bombing of Hiroshima. That would require some powerful motivation.

But Kathleen Burkinshaw, author of The Last Cherry Blossom was deeply motivated. On August 6, 1945 her own mother was in Hiroshima - two miles from the epicenter. Somehow she survived. I cannot imagine that either.  How does one emotionally survive such a trauma?

Kathleen Hilliker Burkinshaw with her mom.

“She lost so much that day," says Kathleen. "Yet she never lost her ability to love. Each person under that famous mushroom cloud was someone's mother, father, brother, sister, or child.”

While inspired by a true story, The Last Cherry Blossom is a fictional account. 

Twelve year-old Yuriko lives a life of physical comforts but on the emotional front, life isn't so easy. Being the daughter of a wealthy newspaperman sets her apart from her classmates.  She does, however, have one good friend. And she has a proud family heritage. At least that is what she's always believed.

Then, in the last year of WWII, secrets emerge that challenge her assumptions about family and personal identity. 

But challenges often hold hidden blessings and just when life couldn't possibly get any worse, when Hiroshima is bombed, and all hope seems lost, Yuriko's family secret becomes a blessing. 

Kathleen paints this painful historical landscape with just the right amount of detail. And thank goodness for the hope that colors the ending! 

I'm grateful to Kathleen, for daring to look this dark day in the face and for bringing it in story form to middle graders who otherwise may never know.

• Back in May, when President Obama visited Hiroshima, Kathleen called into the Diane Rehm Show to give a personal reflection on the bombing.  You can hear her at this May 27 podcast.  It's a long show of course and worthy of listening to but if you want to skip to Kathleen's contribution she comes in right about 33:52
• For a thorough review (no spoilers) of THE LAST CHERRY BLOSSOM visit Carol Baldwin's Blog. Carol always gives fabulous insights as well as quotes from whatever book she is reviewing.
• Kathy's book is part of #MGGetsReal - an effort to get books about tough topics into the hands of Middle Graders.  There are giveaways involved so do check it out!