Civil Disobedience!

The Joyous book fairy presents...



(a.k.a.: what Thoreau really meant to say)

"Seen from a lower point of view, the Constitution, with all its faults, is very good; the law and the courts are very respectable...such as a great many have described them; but seen from a point of view a little higher, they are what I have described them."

(a.k.a. - if you are one of those amoeba based lifeforms, you won't see the flaws in our government. Lucky for you, I'm here to critique it.)

"If a man is thought-free, fancy-free, imagination-free...unwise rulers or reformers cannot fatally interrupt him."

(a.k.a.: you'd have to be really dumb to not notice the tragic effects of an idiot wielding power)

"If we were left solely to the wordy wit of legislators in Congress for our guidance, uncorrected by the seasonable experience and the effectual complaints of the people, America would not long retain her rank among the nations."

(a.k.a. Idiots, like our congressman, who like to hear themselves talk. They wouldn't get anything done if we didn't butt in.)

"This American government — what is it but a tradition, though a recent one...each instant losing some of its integrity?"

(a.k.a.: our government is corrupt!)

"I HEARTILY ACCEPT the motto, — 'That government is best which governs least' "

(a.k.a. Give us back our rights!)

Want to read more?

Well you can't.

This book is banned! Verboten!

Fahrenheit 451'd!

presents

BANNED BOOKS ONLINE

Visit them here at: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/banned-books.html

This digital library presents full text versions of books that have been banned throughout history. The reasons for each ban are presented as well as essays and other weblinks with information about the author and their work. Here you'll find Candide, the Canturbury Tales, Arabian Nights, and Macbeth (among others).

Care for something more recent? How about files from a legal suit when a research group took The Recording Industry of America up on a challenge to "break into their digital database"? Or a list of the most challenged books of the 90s? Books like Harry Potter, Bridge to Terebithia, Kaffir Boy, The Witches, Go Ask Alice, and Mommy Laid An Egg.

Thoreau, H. D. (1849). Civil Disobedience. Retrieved from http://onlinebooks.libraryupenn.edu/banned-books.html.

Keesha's House

Seven teens.

Seven problems.

All running away.

Stephie

Jason

(whose pregnant)

(her boyfriend)

Dontay

(a foster kid)

Carmen









(in juvie for a DUI)

Harris

(questioning)

And Katie

(abused and tired of it)

Somehow they all know Keesha


(she doesn't ask questions)

Who lives with Joe.

(everyone deserves a home).

Need to address some issues with troubled teens? Read this poetic novel. No, literally, the whole thing in told in poems. Which makes it great for language arts classes where students need that extra motivation to keep their interest and attention. “Novel” in both style and character. Introduce your students to Keesha and be henceforth known as the cool teacher.

Frost, H. (2003). Keesha's House. New York (Francis Foster Books)

The Plain Janes

Meet Jane. The new girl. Ever since her mom flipped out and made the family move to the suburbs, her life hasn’t been the same. Not that it’s all bad. Even though she had to leave behind someone very important to her – in a coma -- she’s still got a piece of him to take with her. His sketchbook.

She’s also managed to find some new friends…the coolest girls in school. So what if they’re the least popular? Even when she was popular, her friends just didn’t get her style. These girls do. And together, they’re gonna use art as their weapon to wow the student body, go after what they want, and keep the town on its toes.


For any creative student out there who loves making a statement…the thesbians, the artists, the ones who think fitting in is just plain boring…this book is a revelation. It teaches that art can get you through anything…even high school. The bottom line is Art Saves. So you gotta look out for it. And support those who keep it alive. This book crosses all student groups, all stereotypes, all gender issues, and even manages to throw in some quotations from Goethe. Okay, if you actually know who Goethe is (and can pronounce it correctly), you really need to read this!

Tree Girl

I’m a dreamer. The only one in my family to go to school. My blood is Mayan. Proud. I am Gariela Flores.

I first started climbing trees in Guatemala when I was four. Ever since then, they have been my sanctuary. My home away from home. Now I am fourteen and the day of my quinceanera, the celebration of my passage into womanhood, is approaching quickly. So are the soldiers. War is on its way, and I must find a way to escape its path.

A fictional account of a Guatemalan refugee caught in the war between the government and guerillas. Like so many others, she will fight her way to the Mexican border, searching for herself…and her sister. If you find yourself teaching a unit on Latin America, please find a way to share this book with your students. Ben Mikaelsen’ s account of the savage effects of the wars in Central America on the mind of a young person is not be missed!

Mikaelson, B. (2004). Tree Girl. New York: HarperTempest.

Willa: An American Snow White

Here's a riddle you might enjoy!



What
do
you
get
when
you…




Replace Snow White

with a girl named Willa...

Make the evil stepmother

a fading Shakespearean actress...

Turn the seven dwarfs into

a traveling comedy troupe...

And change the prince

into a budding film maker?

Throw in some dramatic monologues
from Willy Shakes, and you’ve got:
Willa: An American Snow White.

A Carnegie Medal Award Winning Film!

This movie is dedicated to all you thesbians out there. Go ahead, pick your poison. There’s a little bit of everything…Cinematic photography, dramatic irony, chiaroscuro. And did I forget to mention that all of the actors were cast from the American Shakespeare theater in Washington D.C.? Teachers, fool your students with this classic fairy tale and show them how Shakespeare was meant to sound.

Warning: Graphic scenes may not be suitable for use with younger children

Davenport M. (Producer), & Davenport, T (Director). (1998). Willa: An American Snow White. Delaplane, VA: Davenport Films.

A Wreath for Emmett Till

A Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book!

In 1955, Emmett Till was found washed up in a river with the fan of a cotton gin tied around his neck. It was later found that he was hung and severely beaten by five white men from Mississippi. His crime? Some witnesses say he whistled at a white woman. Now one woman is struggling to come to grips with a tragedy that rocked the nation and the hearts of African Americans everywhere. How does one deal with the effects of racism and injustice? The answer is in this book.

The story is told through a “heroic crown” of fifteen interlinking sonnets with Italian rhyme scheme. Through poetic verse, Marilyn describes the psychological effects of social injustice on our cultural psyche. Nelson concurs that it is our responsibility to speak out against injustice (despite social repercussions), lest we become slaves to fear and suffer the murderous consequences of future tragedy. Please share this book with your students, if for no other reason than to enlighten them about how our nation's past directly affects their future.

Image borrowed from Intuitive Roots, an online blog found at:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mwright2/iroots/cat_a_wreath_for_emmett_till.html

Nelson, M. (2005). A wreath for Emmett Till. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Children of the Dust Bowl and Grapes Of Wrath

Dust.
You wake up to find yourself covered in it.

It gets in your teeth...in your eyes and nose.
Every morning you have to sweep piles of it out of your house.



It destroys the farmlands.
You're forced to leave the one place you called home.

An "Okie" from Oklahoma...trying to make it to California. A place where "Okie" becomes a curse word. Where families are forced to live in labor camps.

This is life during the Great Depression in 1930.

FYI....
this expose takes place right around the time Grapes of Wrath was banned. Oh come on! Grapes of Wrath? Please tell me you've at least heard of it. It's that novel by John Steinbeck written about an Okie family and their struggle to survive in California? The one where the oldest brother, Tom Joad finds himself in a murderous brawl? Oh, but you probably think that sort of stuff is boring.

Still....why would a "boring old book" that accuses the Californian Farming Association of being racist...and depicts the deplorable conditions of the New Deal labor camps....get banned? Is Steinbeck waging a war on American ideals...just because he told the truth?

Read these two books together to present a comprehensive look at the pros and cons of New Deal America, told from the perspective of the poor Okie and migrant workers who were hit the hardest.


Stanley, J. (1992). Children of the Dust Bowl: The true story of life at Weedpatch Camp. New York: Crown Publishers.

Steinbeck, J. (1939). Grapes of Wrath. New York: Viking Press.

Unicorn Girl: The Illustrated Adventures

I am Acorna, the last of my kind. I don't know where I came from. All I know is that I was rescued by three gracious benefactors who took me under their wing. I've grown a lot since then. We now travel around the galaxy, waging a war against injustice and helping beings who are oppressed by circumstance. Beings like the children of Kezdet, who are ruled by a child labor economy which enslaves them in mines and brothels. Join my friends and I on our journeys as we battle to right the wrongs of those who seek our destruction.

If you're a fan of science fiction and fantasy, then you've heard of Anne McCaffrey. This book is a must read for those seeking an introduction to her work. What makes this version so captivating is the fact that it's an illustrated novel. This is a revolutionary new form of media that gives us a movie-like glimpse into Acorna's world and McCaffrey's imagination.

Zucker, M., Nye, J.L., & Ranieri, R. (1997). Anne McCaffrey's The Unicorn Girl: The illustrated adventures. New York: Harper Collins.

Manga Shakespeare Series: Hamlet

To be or not to be?

Can Shakespeare survive the modern era?

"The year is 2107. Global climate change has devastated the earth. This is now a cyberworld in constant dread of war. Prince Hamlet of Denmark has come home to face an uncertain future...."


Believe it or not, it's the classic story of Hamlet that remains true to Shakespearean literature. However, this is one adaption that you'll have to see to believe. Indeed, seeing is the key factor here. The manga Shakespeare series puts the plots of Shakespeare's most famous plays in plain sight using classic japanese animation to hook the reader in like never before. Just flipping through these books is more than enough to pique your curiousity.

While these books hardly do justice to the original plays of this famous bard, this series is still incredibly useful for students who struggle with his work.
I would recommend keeping them on hand in the classroom for students as a reference tool. Perhaps older students would be interested in a comparison critique between the original play and adapted manga version!

However you chose to use it, it is still one of the best ways to give our apathetic students an exciting look into the underbelly of the beast that is Shakespeare.

Emma Vieceli (Illus.). (2007). Manga Shakespeare: Hamlet. New York, NY: Amulet Books.