What World is Left

Polak, Monique. What World is Left. 2008. 215p. ISBN 978-1-55143-847-4. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

In the First World War the Dutch were neutral, and they fully to retain the same status if Germany went to war against France and England again. Only that wasn’t the case, and Hitler’s armies invaded Holland, Belgium and France. The Dutch bravely resisted for five days but then surrendered in the face of overwhelming force. Suddenly, the Jewish population of the Netherlands was under Nazi subjugation.

For Anneke Van Raalte and her family, life doesn’t change much at first. Sure, there are food shortages, and they now have to wear the yellow star, but her father still works as an artist for the newspaper. Soon, however, strict rules are implemented. Her father loses his job, and the entire family receives orders to report to the train station to be deported to a Nazi model city for Jews, Theresienstadt.

Packed in cattle wagons, Anneke can’t believe that things will get worse. But concentration camp life is hard on her and her little brother. Working hard every day, Anneke soon loses hope of ever seeing freedom again. As more and more people are brought into the camp, trains collect even more people to take them to the East, and an uncertain fate spoken in whispers. As the tide of war turns and Germany is put on the defensive first on the Eastern Front, then in the West with the Allied landing, German leaders attempt to put a better public face on their camps. The Danish Red Cross requests a visit to Theresienstadt, and Anneke’s father is coerced into participating in the sprucing up of the camp with new paints and “public works” that will make life appear better than it is.

While this bold faced lie the Nazis purport to present to the world bothers Anneke, her father’s participation in this propaganda effort bothers her more. What is more important? Keeping one’s family alive at all costs, even if it means helping the enemy conceal the true conditions of the camp, or stand up for what is right, even if it may cost you your life? Anneke has a life or death choice to make if she hopes to survive the war.

Partially based on the life of the author’s mother in Theresienstadt during the Second World War, Anneke’s story is one of survival and its costs. For another story of Dutch citizens caught in the webs of the Second World War, take a look at The Girl with the Blue Coat. Monique Polak also wrote a great contemporary story about a girl who loves boxing, Straight Punch.

Inquiry and the Common Core: Librarians and Teachers Designing Teaching for Learning

Harada, Violet H and Sharon Coatney, eds. Inquiry and the Common Core: Librarians and Teachers Designing Teaching for Learning. 2014. 241p. ISBN 978-1-61069-543-5. Available at PROF 371.39 INQ on the library shelves.

The Common Core State Standards and the revised standards from the American Association of School Librarians offer several opportunities for school librarians to collaborate with teachers to adapt inquiry methods for research and develop a more rigorous and exacting scholarship culture in the school. Common Core standards shift the emphasis away from literature and towards more digital content and informational text, and scaffold instruction throughout all grades to achieve higher levels of complexity. Inquiry is essential for students to achieve self-direction, but schools have in the past not done a great job of developing the skills necessary to successfully inquire about a topic. The Common Core seeks to remediate this problem and provides a means for teachers and librarians to work together.

With contributions from over 30 authors, this book is divided into four parts. The first part discusses how the Common Core impacts school librarians and the various roles we can now step into to help teachers meet these standards. The second part explores how to develop inquiry-based learning and what steps can be taken to implement such a model in schools. The third part examines the planning that must take place to develop meaningful learning for students and rewarding collaboration for teachers and school librarians. Finally, part four includes several samples of lessons across grades and across the curriculum. These lessons incorporate the suggestions made in the second and third part and provide examples of lessons co-developed by teachers and school librarians. Librarians and teacher still wondering how they can successfully work together to meet Common Core and AASL standards will appreciate the concrete suggestions provided in this concise volume.

Across Five Aprils

Hunt, Irene. Across Five Aprils. 2011. 224p. 347 mins. ISBN 9780792787068. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

War tends to split families, and the Civil War is no exception. Though Illinois is firmly in the Union camp, the southern tier of the state harbors Confederate sympathies. Large families often find themselves divided by the issues of state rights and slavery. The Creighton family is one such group. Farmers on what was once the frontier, the Creighton family survives with everyone contributing. But while Matt Creighton and his sons John and Tom support the Union, Bill, Jethro’s favorite, supports the South, causing tensions at home.

When war finally breaks in April 1861, Jethro is at first thrilled. But the division within the Creightons soon affects them, as John and Tom join the federal army, while Bill departs to fight for the Confederacy. Jethro, his sister Jenny, and his parents follow the war through newspaper articles, and at first the news is dire. Union forces are defeated in several engagements. Jethro’s teacher at school, Shadrach Yale, helps Jethro understands the battles and what is at stake. In love with young Jenny, Shadrach requests her hand in marriage before he leaves to join the Union, but Matt Creighton refuses, deeming his daughter too young at fourteen.

Soon John, who is married with children, begins to send letters from the front. Matt Creighton suffers a heart attack and becomes partially paralysed. Now it is up to Jethro to run the family farm. Meanwhile, Bill’s sympathies for the South have angered some of the locals, who take it out on the Creighton by burning their barn and poisoning their well. As the conflict deepens, and as brothers fight brothers, the Creighton family is torn asunder, and Jethro realizes that things will never go back to how they were before the war. When Tom is killed in combat, Jethro fears that his brother Bill could have fired the shot that killed him.

As more family members get shot, desert, or become just plain tired of the war, Jethro looks forward to a time when the war will end, for surely all wars eventually conclude. Sadly, the end of the Civil War does not bring the relief that Jethro was looking for. However, over the past five Aprils Jethro discovers that pain and sorrow, just like war, eventually end.

Breathing Underwater

Flinn, Alex. Breathing Underwater. 2001. 203p. 309 mins.  ISBN 0-06-029198-2. Available both at FIC FLI on the library shelves and as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Nick seems to have it all. His family’s rich, he’s got the best looking girlfriend, and he has tons of friends. So why he is in court mandated therapy with a bunch of violent offenders? Why is his girlfriend Caitlin scared enough of him to seek a restraining order of him?

As Nick tells his story, the reader discovers that his life is not easy at all. His mother abandoned his father and him when he was young. His father is motivated and driven, but he expects the best from his only son. And he also takes out his anger out on Nick. But nobody knows this, not even Nick’s best friend. When Nick meets Caitlin, he knows she’s the one for him. They begin dating, but Nick is quick to control her life. He makes cutting remarks when she wears something he doesn’t approve. He wants to know where she is at all times, who she talks to, and what she’s doing. He doesn’t want her to look at other guys, and he gets mad at her when other guys look at her.

Nick’s control of Caitlin takes on a dark turn when he becomes violent with her. One scare and one hit too many for her, she presses charges against Nick and now he must spend time with these violent losers every week. He’s not like them, he’s nothing like them. He just loves her so much it hurts. But when one of the participants breaks into his old girlfriend’s house and kills her before shooting himself, Nick realizes that he in fact belongs in this group, and that to get Caitlin back he must understand that like father, like son is not a compliment in his case and he needs to break the mold of violence that surrounds his life.

If you like Nick’s story of redemption, check out Speak, where Melinda too much recover from a horrific event to gain back her life.

The Great Gatsby

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. 1996. 172p. ISBN  0-684-83042-6. Available both at FIC FIT on the library shelves and as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Having fought in the Great War, Nick Carraway moves away from the Midwest to New York City to work as a bonds salesman. He rents a small house on Long Island, in the village of West Egg. Next to his humble abode is Jay Gatsby’s enormous house located on acres of prime real-estate facing the bay. Gatsby is known to throw lavish parties on Saturday that are attended by the who’s who of New York society.

In his first month on the East Coast, Nick has dinner with his cousin, directly across the bay from Gatsby. The beautiful Daisy Buchanan is married to Tom, who is having an affair with another married woman, Myrtle. Tom is also rich, but unlike Gatsby he appears unsophisticated. At the Buchanans, Nick meets Jordan Baker, an amateur golfer, and the two begin a relationship.

Finally invited over to Gatsby’s for one of his Saturday parties, Nick finally make the acquaintance of the elusive Gatsby, who reveals he fought in the same division as Nick during the War. Soon, Gatsby reveals that he has a more pressing interest in Nick. Gatsby and Daisy used to date five years ago, at a time when Gatsby knew he would come into money but didn’t have any, and Daisy whose family was already wealthy. When he wasn’t able to return immediately at the end of the War, Daisy got married to Tom. Now Gatsby hopes that Nick can help him rekindle his relationship with Daisy.

In this tale of lies and deceit, the recklessness of people in their late twenties and early thirties is explored until tragedy strikes, causing pain and suffering and destroying lives. A quintessential American novel, The Great Gatsby endures for its look on the decadence of the rich and for the struggle to construct a new identity.

Girl in the Blue Coat

Hesse, Monica. Girl in the Blue Coat. 2016. 309p. 583 mins. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

In the Second World War, no act is too small to help resist the Germans. The year is 1943, and the Nazis have conquered most of Europe. Amsterdam and the rest of the Netherlands have been occupied since 1940. Like many teenagers, Hanneke’s life has been in turmoil, and she had to grow up fast. Her boyfriend was in the Dutch navy and he was among the many who died in the five days the Dutch resisted. Working with an undertaker, Hanneke’s real job is to run contraband operations and hook up rich folks with the products they simply cannot go without even under occupation. This illegal work could lead to her arrest, but as the prototypical Aryan, she may do a stint in jail. Hanneke refuses to get involved in the war, believing that her small act of undermining the rationing system is her way of fighting back against the invaders.

When she delivers goods to Mrs. Janssen, one of her elderly client who recently lost her husband after he was shot in killed hiding Jews in his factory, she discovers that another Jew was being hidden in their house, behind a false cupboard. Asked to find the missing girl with the blue coat, Hanneke at first refuses, but finds the mysterious disappearance strange, and agrees to investigate. Soon, what was a simple way to make money becomes an obsession. How did the girl escape the house without being noticed? Where has she gone? Hanneke is about to be dragged into the war despite her best efforts, and the web of lies and duplicity she discovers will change her life forever.

For another take on Dutch Jews taken to concentration camps during the Second World War, take a look at Monique Polak's What World is Left.

Dateline: Troy

Fleischman, Paul. Dateline: Troy. 1996. 80p. ISBN 1-56402-469-5. Available at 398.2 FLE on the library shelves.

The Trojan War is one of the better known ancient conflicts that pitted Greek city states against Troy. When Zeus was asked to judge who was the fairest between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite, he decided that Paris of Troy should judge. Reputed a fair judge, Paris was promised Helen’s hand if he selected Aphrodites as the fairest. After doing so, Helen was struck and when she met Paris she immediately decided to be with him. Paris maneuvered Helen’s husband out of the way, then departed with the Greeks’ treasure and their most beautiful woman and returned to Troy.

Bound to help the King of Sparta, other Greek cities sent soldiers and commanded that Troy send Helen back. Upon Troy’s refusal, the Greeks set sail and lay siege to the city. At turn plagued and helped by the Gods, who were fighting each other, the Greeks eventually managed to enter Troy’s formidable defenses using a wooden horse as an stratagem. Many Greek heroes died during the ten years that the war lasted, and in the end all most the combatants found ruin and death.

Out of this foundational myth arise stories such as Odysseus and the founding of Rome.

Told in alternate pages with a summary and newspaper headlines, this book demonstrates that the story lines that influenced live over 2,500 years ago are still with us today. The tragedy that is Troy and humankind’s cupidity continues to influence the world today.