TWU - LS 5623 Classics & Awards LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY

YA

Schmidt, Gary D. 2004. LIZZIE BRIGHT AND THE BUCKMINSTER BOY. New York: Clarion. ISBN 9780618439294

PLOT SUMMARY - ANALYSIS

Turner Buckminster moves with his minister father to Phippsburg, Maine from Boston.  Turner’s life if disappointing to his father who falls under the influence of the local deacons and business leaders in the community.  Turner discovers an island nearby and befriends a girl, Lizzie.  She can throw a baseball, row a boat and make Turner feel as if he is a different person.

The locals want to remove a population of people from a nearby island to make it into a tourist destination. This is thought to be a prosperous plan for the community and even involves claiming that citizens must be removed from their houses and sent to the mental hospital to gain access to the property.

While Turner is doing his civic duty of playing the organ for Mrs. Cobb she is obsessed with making sure that someone captures her last words and has made Turner promise to write them down. As Turner continues to meet Lizzie in secret, he invites her to Mrs. Cobb’s house to listen to his music.  At first there is quiet tolerance and then a relationship develops between the girl and Mrs. Cobb against all societal taboos in the small town. 

An accident causes even more tension between the community, the islanders, and Turner’s father.

With the removal of the Island inhabitants lingering they put their belongings on rafts and float up the coast. The movement is parallel in the loss of souls in this story. 

When the town folk realize a great monetary loss and the loss of their dream of prosperity for the town, they are forced to look at Turner for guidance. He becomes the leader of the community and stands tall as a champion for all people.

This historical fiction plays with authority and the rules of the small town.  Turner is not supposed to go to Malaga Island because the people there are seen as unfit. Turner’s father is a minister and is supposed to be only concerned and supportive of the Bible, yet he lets and encourages Turner to read Darwin.

Turner’s father discovers what an influence the town people assumed they would have on the new minister when a deacon, Mr. Stonecrop explains that “The congregation, Minister, will tell you what it thinks, and what it wants you to think” (page 88).

The setting of a northeast community in 1911 is reflected in the social biases about segregation, language, and the heavy hand of the church folk to know what God wants for their community by getting rid of the community on Malaga Island. 

This story has a slight Romeo and Juliet feel with the community members of Phippsburg and the islanders on Malaga Island.  Different cultures clash when community members see the islanders as an obstacle for their own prosperity.

Ironically, the members turn on one another and there is no such prosperity to be had.  In the end, Turner stays true to his heart even when he failed to save his friend and family from the community’s wrath.

The secondary characters like Lizzie’s grandfather, Reverend Griffin, the Tripp family, and Mrs.Hurd give balance to the strong religious, righteous, white cast of characters trying to expel the islanders because of their economic and social lot in life.

With the loss of Turner’s strongest family member and the loss of his friend, Turner stays true to his feelings that people should be treated fairly and with compassion.  The influence of Turner’s dad is felt even after his death in that Turner strives to learn and be a great human being, no matter what the political circumstance.  He is willing to risk becoming an outcast to support something he believes in and rallies a few people to help him. 

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Book Links (ALA) 01/01/05

Library Media Connection starred 04/01/05

Booklist starred 05/15/04

Notable Best Books (ALA) 01/01/05

Horn Book starred 04/01/05

School Library Journal starred 05/01/04

Kirkus Review starred 05/01/04

Wilson’s Junior High School 01/09/10

Horn Book (November/December, 2004):

“Schmidt anchors this tragedy firmly within its historical setting, metaphorically connecting the natural surroundings with religion and society, revealing a place where appearances sometimes trump, and often mask, realities, but a place where one boy can see the eye of God in both the body of a whale and the soul of a man.”

EXEMPLARY or FAVORITE LINE

“The world turns and the world spins, the tide runs in and the tide runs out, and there is nothing in the world more beautiful and more wonderful in all its evolved forms than two souls who look at each other straight on. And there is nothing more woeful and soul-saddening than when they are parted.” (page 216)

CONNECTIONS

Hesse, Karen. 2001. WITNESS. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 0439271991

·         Partner this poetry book in discussing the early 1900s and tolerance in the Northeastern United States.

Ritter, John H. 1998. CHOOSING UP SIDES. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN 0399231854

·         Partner this book in comparing the relationship with this boy and his preacher father.

Les Becquets, Diane. 2001. THE STONES OF MOURNING CREEK. Delray Beach, FL: Winslow Press. ISBN 1588370046

·         Partner this book in another inter-racial friendship story, this time set in the 1960s in Alabama.

TWU - LS 5623 Classics & Awards COPPER SUN

YA

Draper, Sharon. 2006. COPPER SUN. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780689821813

PLOT SUMMARY - ANALYSIS

This young adult novel about a slave, Amari, and the story of her life in her village, then on a slave boat, with a new family and the brave escape to a land of freedom that Amari only knows through stories.  The land of freedom draws Amari and her new friend Polly on adventures both fearful and exciting. Surviving being sold to a slave owner Mr. Derby and given as a gift to his son, Clay, Amari learns about the dark disconnect between physical and emotional tasks of being a slave and fulfilling emotional emptiness with her new slave friends. 

Amari struggles as a child who watches her family die in her African village.  She befriends another woman, Afi, who guides and protects Amari on the slave boat.

Losing her love Besa along the way, Amari is re-connected with Besa, but he is no longer the same and has chosen a life that is settled with no dreams of freedom.

The relationship with Polly, an indentured servant, grows as Polly starts out despising the black slave and then learns that she is a true friend.

In this historical fiction tale, Sharon Draper engulfs the reader from the beginning of the story.  The reader is taken along the journey from the loss of Amari’s family to the heart wrenching conditions on the ship, Amari’s loss of purity, and blooming of her inner strength. With the help of some unexpected secondary characters, Amari is taught English and nursed back to health after a violent “disciplining” by her owner, Mr. Darby. Draper writes so beautifully of such horrifying conditions and human treatment. The reader learns to love Amari and her relationship with Teenie along with her son Tidbit.  Polly becomes more endearing through Draper’s development of the friendship between the two girls.

The book pulls the reader in and takes them on a journey through Africa, the south and eventually into an accepting Spanish community.

Draper does not shy away from the physical and sexual abuse that Amari encountered. The strength of Amari’s spirit is reflected in this story and is inspirational. This is a story of pure perseverance and determination along with a belief in destiny.

Draper sets the book opening in the village in Africa, Ziavi, with a carefree dialogue between Amari and her brother, Kwasi. The reader gets a sense of the village and its people including background information on her parents that resurfaces later in the story.  Even though Amari is only happy with her family for the first few pages, Draper does a wonderful job of setting up the relationship with Besa, who Amari is to marry, the role of music with the drums in the village, and the panic that ensues when the strangers fire their first explosion. “Confusion and dust swirled throughout the village” (page 12).

Draper’s choice of words is so expressive and poignant that she can use few words to make the image clear as in this example when Amari has been taken from her village and is waiting at Cape Coast Castle to board the ship. A fellow slave woman, Afi gives Amari this advice, “crying won’t help, child . . . this place is slimy with tears” (page 25).

From the loss of innocence and intense sadness felt by Amari on the ship to the North Carolina lifestyle of a rice farmer and his slaves, Draper is talented in describing the emotional journey for Amari of growing up, realizing her fate, and taking a chance to change that fate. Amari on her first night with a sailor - “They have already taken everyone I loved. . .and tonight they take the only thing I have left that is truly mine” (page 48).

There is great dialogue throughout the book between Amari and the supporting characters alternating with thoughts and reflections from Amari. 

From the chance to learn a little English, to the opportunity to gain a relationship with another “brother” (Tidbit), and a maternal relationship with Teenie, there are glimmers of hope throughout this story, but they are interrupted with such harsh displays of brutality that this shocks the reader into an emotional tug-of-war.

The roles of the slave owner, Mr. Derby and his proper – yet young second wife, Isabelle, are reflected in the descriptions of their lifestyle and the language they use with the slaves. After tripping and spilling a pie, Amari was on the floor and Mr. Derby roared “Lena, go get my whip!”(page 145).

Two surprising twists in the story leave the reader stunned. Amari’s never ending quest for freedom is fulfilled only by her willpower and spirit.  Amari is shown as a scared child, strong slave, steady caregiver, and ultimate survivor.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Booklist starred 02/01/06

Library Media Connection starred 08/01/06

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books 04/01/06

School Library Journal starred 01/01/06

Coretta Scott King Award/Honor 01/22/07

Wilson’s Junior High School 08/21/06

Horn Book 10/01/06

Wilson’s Senior High School 11/01/06

Booklist starred (February 1, 2006 (Vol. 102, No. 11)):

 “Draper builds the explosive tension to the last chapter, and the sheer power of the story, balanced between the overwhelmingly brutal facts of slavery and Amari's ferocious survivor's spirit, will leave readers breathless, even as they consider the story's larger questions about the infinite costs of slavery and how to reconcile history.”

EXEMPLARY or FAVORITE LINE

A fellow slave on the North Carolina rice farm, Teenie, talks about her own mother to Amari and gives her some advice for dealing with the hole left from leaving her home country, Africa, and the loss of her mother. “She teached me what she knew ‘bout Africa food. Long as you remember, chile, it ain’t never gone.” (page 109).

CONNECTIONS

Lester, Julius. 2005. DAY OF TEARS: A NOVEL IN DIALOGUE. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.  ISBN 0786804900

·         Partner this book in discussing the different points of view at a slave auction from the owner to the slave and family members of both.

Feelings, Tom. 1995. THE MIDDLE PASSAGE: WHITE SHIPS/BLACK CARGO. New York: Dial Books. ISBN 0803718047

·         Partner this book to gain a different perspective from examining the sixty-four narrative paintings about the middle passage. 

Lyons, Mary E. 1992. LETTERS FROM A SLAVE GIRL: THE STORY OF HARRIET JACOBS. New York: Scribner. ISBN 0684194465

·         Partner this book to gain another view of a young slave girls struggle.

TWU - LS 5623 Classics & Awards THE CHOCOLATE WAR

YA

Cormier, Robert. 1974. THE CHOCOLATE WAR.  New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

ISBN 9780394828053

PLOT SUMMARY - ANALYSIS
A group of boys at a Catholic high school are divided by membership in an exclusive club that runs underground.  The Vigils control both the students and the faculty, but are faced with a challenge when one student, Jerry Renault, defies the authority of the Vigils and the faculty by refusing to sell the required amount of chocolates as a fundraiser for the school.  The students find themselves in a mass conflict against the student with fatal consequences.

In this early classic 1970s novel, the tone is set for this exciting, aggressive, and socially scaffolded book with the opening line “they murdered him” (page one). From the onset of the story of boys struggling to find themselves at an all boys’ Catholic school, the controllers and controlled are in conflict. The football field is a place for the boys to prove themselves in sports and the Vigils club activities reveal a social proving ground.

The boy characters and the Catholic fathers, that are the teachers and administrators, are believable through character development throughout the book.  The reader understands the desperation of Brother Leon to show his absolute control of the school and its finances during the conversations with the Vigils leader, Archie. Along with this, Brother Leon defies his fatherly demeanor by saying “enough of this crap” (page 39). Archie’s character returns with the reflection that his words were shocking and “maybe because the words were so startling as they issued from this pale and inoffensive looking little man. Later on, you found out that he wasn’t inoffensive” (page 39).   This un-natural relationship of a student and teacher is exaggerated through all the interactions between these two characters, especially when Archie’s character reveals what he has discovered about most grownups; “they were vulnerable, running scared, open to invasion” (page 23).

This book is zesty and fiery with language and imagery concurrent with the boys and their growing sexual interests and fears. The setting of the all boys’ school opens this book up to rough dialogue, physical conflicts, and an overall competitive theme. The language of the book adds to the harshness of the book and the eventual devastating outcome by using swearing, sexual descriptions, and some emotional blackmail on the part of the Assigner, Archie, in the Vigils.

This book gives a dark view of group dynamics when the boys are faced with the fact that this one student, Renault, has defied the Fathers, Vigils, and the Catholic school, Trinity. Even the fact that Renault’s mother had passed away, did not lighten the target that was on Renault. The evil nature of the heavenly fathers that are supposed to be overseeing the education of the young boys is frightening.  The corruption and social climbing integrated with the cruelty of an audience-controlled destruction of Jerry Renault, leaves the reader shocked at the fact the not a single soul stepped in to “save” Jerry. 

Even a glimmer of conscience in the Goober character does not overcome and “save” Jerry as he contemplates “whether he’d really been sick or whether his conscience had revolted, infecting his body, leaving him weak and nauseous” (Page 236). A sad last thought about the journey for individual freedom is shared with the reader as Jerry is “leaving.” “They tell you to do your thing but they don’t mean it. They don’t want you to do your thing, unless it happens to be their thing, too” (page 248).

The general theme is of the independence of the soul to resist conformity begins as a heroic journey by Renault yet as a reader, there is a feeling of pride for the character, followed by fear, and eventual sadness at the “down” ending.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

Booklinks (ALA) 07/01/06

School Library Journal

Wilson’s Junior High School 11/01/05

Booklist 08/01/97

Wilson’s Senior High School 11/01/02

Margaret Edwards Award 01/01/91

Notable Best Books (ALA)

EXEMPLARY or FAVORITE LINE

“The teacher might have been able to carry off his act successfully, except for his eyes. His eyes gave him away. His face was always under control but his eyes showed his vulnerability, gave Jerry a glimpse into the hell that was burning inside the teacher” (page 116).

CONNECTIONS

Bryfonski, Dedria. 2010. PEER PRESSURE IN ROBERT CORMIER’S THE CHOCOLATE WAR. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. ISBN 0737746203

·         Partner this book in discussing the peer pressures associated with the book and use to compare to contemporary peer pressures.  

Cormier, Robert. 1987. BEYOND THE CHOCOLATE WAR. London: Fontana Lions. ISBN 0006726814

·         Partner this book as a sequel to the original and use to analyze the complicated relationships of the characters in both books.  

Sweeney, Joyce. 2000. PLAYERS. Delray Beach, Fla: Winslow Press. ISBN 1890817546

·         Partner this book as a similar story of teenage boys struggling to understand their place in social ladder of life.  The theme that all people do not try to do what is right is similar to the Chocolate War’s theme.