Welcome to my blog!: December 2016

Maggot Moon

Gardner, S. (2013). Maggot moon. Boston, MA: Candlewick Press.

Media Type: Audiobook

Narrated by Robert Madge

Length: 3h 38m

Release Date: Feb. 12, 2013

Award: Printz Honor Book 2014

Summary:

This award winning book is told in first- person voice by the protagonist Standish Tredwell. Standish lives in a grim world where disappearances are the norm. He is also very unique in that he has one blue and one brown eye. He also cannot read or write which has made him the target of bullies from his school. His parents were taken away and since has been living with his Gramps on Zone 7. Then one day he meets a Hector, a young boy about his age who moved next door. Soon they discover a secret tunnel that can take them to the Mother Land. When Hector and his parents are taken away Standish goes and tries to find them and get them out of there. Standish is determined to make amends to Hector by pulling off a stunt that will humiliate the government and reveal a massive scam the government is perpetrating. He knows that he will probably be killed, but he does it anyway and ends up getting shot.

Response:

This book is set in a dystopian world. It bears resemblance to Nazi Germany in nature, with an overarching and dictatorial Motherland. Suppression of the individual and rule by fear is the order of the day. Standish Treadwell is the first person voice of this novel. There are quite a few very short chapters, and the writing style is very straight and to the point.

Other books by the author

Teaching Tools

Author's Website

http://www.sallygardner.net/

Author's Blog

http://sallygardner.blogspot.co.uk/

Lesson Plan from Candlewick Press

http://www.candlewick.com/book_files/0763665533.bdg.1.pdf

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Satrapi, M. (2003). Persepolis: the story of a childhood. NY: Pantheon.

Media Type: Hardcover book
This graphic novel contains 153 pages.

Summary:
This books retells the struggles of Marjane Satrapi. She tells her life of how it was growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Even though this story is told in the form of a graphic novel it depicts the dramatic events in the author’s life. At a young age she gets sent to Vienna and ends up in a boarding house. Her situation does not improve that much because she can't get along with the nuns. In a lapse of a few years Marjane moves from place to place trying to find herself. At one point she even becomes homeless. Eventually she moves back home to be with her family. After many challenges she once again decides to leave Iran and move back to Europe. Her tribulations growing up were difficult, but in the end they shaped her into the person she is today.

Response:

This graphic novel was written in a powerful voice. The reader can easily imagine her childhood and early life. The author's unique illustrations make the Iran of her youth come to life. Many difficult and painful issues are dealt with in this book, including torture and death. It is so moving and deeply touching to read what she went through as a child while living in war.

Other books by the author