[CASL-L] summer reading request

[Dawn Zillich]

The New Kids : Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens (9781439163283) by Brooke Hauser. New Kids is about real life experiences of immigrants. Some walked across deserts and mountains to get here. Others flew in on planes. One arrived after escaping in a suitcase. And some won’t say how they got here. These are “the new kids”: new to America and all the routines and rituals of an American high school, from lonely first days to prom. They attend International High School at Prospect Heights in Brooklyn, which is like most high schools in some way, its halls are filled with students gossiping, joking, flirting, and pushing the limits of the school?s dress code, but all of the students are recent immigrants learning English. Together, they come from more than forty-five countries and speak more than twenty-eight languages.A singular work of narrative journalism, The New Kids chronicles a year in the life of a remarkable group of these teenage newcomer, a multicultural mosaic that embodies what is truly amazing about America. Hauser?s unforgettable portraits include Jessica, kicked out of her father?s home just days after arriving from China; Ngawang, who spent twenty-four hours folded up in a small suitcase to escape from Tibet; Mohamed, a diamond miner?s son from Sierra Leone whose arrival in New York City is shrouded in mystery; Yasmeen, a recently orphaned Yemeni girl who is torn between pursuing college and marrying so that she can take care of her younger siblings; and Chit Su, a Burmese refugee who is the only person to speak her language.

"Hauser’s writing resonates with the message she forwards, which is epitomized by International and its cohorts: “Keep hope breathing.” Hauser provides a clear view into the mindset of immigrant teenagers. In doing so, she succeeds in telling a story about people rather than a school. Highly recommended." ‐‐Library Journal "This wonderful book connects us to the complexity, intensity and liveliness of refugee and immigrant teenagers. Hauser is masterful at storytelling. The New Kids is a must read for anyone interested in teaching, teens, or our new America. It does what the best writing does: it increases our moral imaginations." ‐‐ Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls.

(Themes: accepting people who are different, cultural understanding, high school experience)

 

Title:                      Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations

Author:                Alex Harris and Brett Harris

ISBN:                     9781601421128

Summary:                           

Two Christian teenage writers challenge their peers to create a brighter future, combating the idea of adolescence as a vacation from responsibility and providing humorous personal anecdotes, practical examples, and stories of real-life "rebelutionaries"in action.

Themes:              Expectation/Self-actualization (Psychology) -- Religious aspects -- Christianity. 

More info:          http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601421128

 

Title:                      Start here : doing hard things right where you are

Author:                Alex Harris; Brett Harris; Elisa Stanford

ISBN:                     9781601422705

Summary:           "Do Hard Things inspired thousands of young people around the world to make the most of the teen years. Now Alex and Brett Harris are back and ready to tackle the questions that Do Hard Things inspired: How do I get started? What do I do when I get discouraged? What?s the best way to inspire others? Filled with stories and insights from Alex, Brett, and other real-life rebelutionaries, Start Here is a powerful and practical guide to doing hard things, right where you are." - From cover

Themes:              Self-actualization/Expectation (Psychology) -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.

More info:          http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601422705

 

Mountains Beyond Mountains (ISBN 9780812973013) by Tracy Kidder, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the author of the bestsellers The Soul of a New Machine, House, Among Schoolchildren, and Home Town. He has been described by the Baltimore Sun as the "master of the non‐fiction narrative." This powerful and inspiring new book shows how one person can make a difference, as Kidder tells the true story of a gifted man who is in love with the world and has set out to do all he can to cure it.

Mountains Beyond Mountains takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that "the only real nation is humanity" ‐ a philosophy that is embodied in the small public charity he founded, Partners In Health. He enlists the help of the Gates Foundation, George Soros, the U.N.'s World Health Organization, and others in his quest to cure the world. At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope, and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb "Beyond mountains there are mountains": as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.

“The central character of this marvelous book is one of the most provocative, brilliant, funny, unsettling, endlessly energetic, irksome, and charming characters ever to spring to life on the page. He has embarked on an epic struggle that will take you from the halls of Harvard Medical School to a sun‐scorched plateau in Haiti, from the slums of Peru to the cold gray prisons of Moscow. He wants to change the world. Certainly this luminous and powerful book will change the way you see it.”-Jonathan Harr, author of A Civil Action.

Themes:              activism, power of one, humanitarian, sacrifice, balance)

Review:                Kirkus Reviews starred (July 15, 2003): Full-immersion journalist Kidder (Home Town, 1999, etc.) tries valiantly to keep up with a front-line, muddy-and-bloody general in the war against infectious disease in Haiti and elsewhere. The author occasionally confesses to weariness in this gripping account-and why not? Paul Farmer, who has an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Harvard, appears to be almost preternaturally intelligent, productive, energetic, and devoted to his causes. So trotting alongside him up Haitian hills, through international airports and Siberian prisons and Cuban clinics, may be beyond the capacity of a mere mortal. Kidder begins with a swift account of his first meeting with Farmer in Haiti while working on a story about American soldiers, then describes his initial visit to the doctor's clinic, where the journalist felt he'd "encountered a miracle." Employing guile, grit, grins, and gifts from generous donors (especially Boston contractor Tom White), Farmer has created an oasis in Haiti where TB and AIDS meet their Waterloos. The doctor has an astonishing rapport with his patients and often travels by foot for hours over difficult terrain to treat them in their dwellings ("houses" would be far too grand a word). Kidder pauses to fill in Farmer's amazing biography: his childhood in an eccentric family sounds like something from The Mosquito Coast; a love affair with Roald Dahl's daughter ended amicably; his marriage to a Haitian anthropologist produced a daughter whom he sees infrequently thanks to his frenetic schedule. While studying at Duke and Harvard, Kidder writes, Farmer became obsessed with public health issues; even before he'd finished his degrees he was spending much of his time in Haiti establishing the clinic that would give him both immense personal satisfaction and unsurpassed credibility in the medical worlds he hopes to influence. Skilled and graceful exploration of the soul of an astonishing human being.

 

Title:                      Outcasts United: The Story of a Refugee Soccer Team That Changed a Town

Author:                Warren St. John

ISBN:                     978-0385741941

Summary:           This young people's version of the adult bestseller, Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference, is a complex and inspirational story about the Fugees, a youth soccer team made up of diverse refugees from around the world, and their formidable female coach, Luma Mufleh. Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical southern town until it became a refugee resettlement center. The author explores how the community changed with the influx of refugees and how the dedication of Lumah Mufleh and the entire Fugees soccer team inspired an entire community.

Themes:              Social Justice

Review:                http://www.slj.com/2013/03/books-media/collection-development/kick-starting-a-new-life-recent-ya-titles/#_

 

Title:                      The End of Your Life Book Club

Author:                Will Schwalbe

ISBN:                     9780307594037

Summary:           “What are you reading?” That’s the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less. This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a “book club” that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn’t the opposite of doing; it’s the opposite of dying. Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other-and rediscover their lives-through their favorite books. When they read, they aren’t a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will’s love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page.

Themes:              Death, books, self-improvement, parent-child relationship

Review:                “This touching and insightful memoir [will] appeal to readers of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Last Lecture, but also to people who love delving into books and book discussions . . . While it is a story about death, it is mostly a celebration of life and of the way books can enrich it.”

-Booklist (starred)

 

Dawn M. Zillich, librarian

St. Paul Catholic High School

Penguin Debut Author Program First Flights Participant www.earlyword.com/firstflights <http://www.earlyword.com/firstflights/> 

Currently reading “The Movement of Stars” by Amy Brill

Currently reading on iPhone “Emblaze” by Jessica Shirvington

 

From: casl-l-bounces at mylist.net [mailto:casl-l-bounces at mylist.net] On Behalf Of Sandra Hayes
Sent: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 11:17 AM
To: 'casl-l at mylist.net'
Subject: [CASL-L] summer reading request

 

Hello,

 

I am looking for a non-fiction book for summer reading that would be good for an entire high school.

It has to be 200 pages or less. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

 

Sandy Hayes '85

Library Media Center

Northwest Catholic High School

29 Wampanoag Drive

West Hartford, CT 06117

860-236-4221 ext 125

shayes at nwcath.org <mailto:ksanders at nwcath.org> 

www.northwestcatholic.org <http://www.northwestcatholic.org/> 

 

"Where you know that you belong"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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