Daniel Half Human

Genre: Coming of age, Fiction, Multicultural

    This is the story of a young man with a bit of an identity crisis that leads to him finding himself and appreciating who he is.  Eventually seeing the true evil of the people he once admired (Nazis).  The story captures the climate of Germany prior to and during the Hitler reign.  Daniel the main character growing up wants nothing more than to jonin the HJ which is like Hitler's little Nazi youth program so that he can one day be a part of the SS.  Sooner rather than later he finds out the reason his parents wont let him join the HJ is because his mother is actually a "full blooded" Jew who left her heritage in the past because she wanted to be completely German (hmmm).  His Father is a World War I veteran and decorated Aryan war hero for Germany.  This does not serve his father as well as he had thought because he ends up losing his law practice, home, wealth and standing in the community all because he refused to divorce his "Jewess" wife.  This also makes Daniel a half Jew and the social outcast at his now completely Aryan anti-semitic school and fatherland.  Daniel initially resents his mother and hates his half jew status but once he is confronted by a member of his soccer team about his heritage he directs his hate not towards himself or the jews but at the people that are creating all of this hatered: the Nazis.  The book is told from Daniels perspective as an adult traveling back to Germany after the war.  The peice goes into their escape form occupied Nazi Germany, the hardships, as well as the devastation faced by Jews living in Germany at the time.

    The story can give young readers and students an oppertunity to see what life might have been like living in this country during such a dark period in their national history.  Also it offers alot of perspective in terms of what a person might be thinking or feeling on both the Aryan side of the fence and the Jewish side.  Daniels best friend is Armin a full blood Aryan German who eventually becomes a member of the SS. After the war Daniel finds Armin under interogation in a concentration camp and has to due his military duty by declaring his once good friend a true Nazi that now must face what he has done in the courts so that some justice is served.  It is a strange twist of fate and exemplifies the human experience when extreme evil reigns supreme.  The work is a fine recreation of the time and not only tells a story but shows that perception is a very fickle thing and we cant really know what impact we have on others until weve walked in their shoes/boots. I recomend this highly to any class working on world history, WWII or students looking for excellent historical fiction.  


      

Eyewitness Auschwitz

Genre: Adult Books for YA readers
 Eyewitness Auschwitz is the true account of a man named Filip Muller's experience at the Nazi Death Camp Auschwitz.  He is allowed to live through the full run of the camp due to his appontment as body burner.  He and a few other Jews are given the job of running the crematorium and disposing of the hundreds of thousands of corpses that were the result of the gas chamers.  These gas chamers were disguised as showers and upon arival every week people were instructed to strip down and prepare for a shower after their long cramped duisgusting train ride to the camp.  They were then herded into the showers and cyclon b a deadly ghas was relaesed from a vent in the ceiling.  Filip muller had thoughts of suicide and joining them in these "showers" becuase of his sick twited rsponsibility.  On one such attempt he was told by one of the soon to be victim that he must in fact continue his service so that he may recount and live to tell the story of what really happened here.  The book is incredibly raw, graphic and sad.  He writes of his march away from the camp as the Russians draw nearer to the camp and his incredible luck of surviving the entire ordeal unitl the war is ended. 

    I have read and seen many things on and about the holocaust but this account is by far the most telling, terrifying and real story I've ever read.  It is most definately an adult work but in highschool we read Elie Weisels "Night" which was another memoir of a survivors experience in, through, and out of the death camps.  Students studyiung World War II and Nazi Germany will gain incredible insight from this piece and get an understanding of the true systematic anylation of the European Jewish people and every other people aka Gypsys, Gays and persons with disability or illness that were murdered.  This is not an easy read and goes deep into the evil hearts of men, it is moving and brought me to tears more than twice.  Their is much to be learned and reinforces the haunting phrase "Never Again".   

Fantasy!

The Giver was probably the first book of any length that i actually read from beginning to end and it rocked my world.  You know a book is good when you can remember where you were  when you finished it.  I was in middle school in my basement at home up against the hamper reading with out any ability to stop myself completely lost in the magic of the story and suspense.  Reading it now almost 13 years later it was till magic and incredibly nostalgic so many details I had forgotton even why i had loved it so much i had forgotten it was like getting completely reaquainted wiht an old friend not to mention i was reminded of how i had responded to different parts of the book when i was younger.  I was hearing my 12 year old thoughts replaying in my head agian it was soo cool.  The twisted society that the main charecter Jonas is apart of is basically an ideal utopia deviod of all meaningful experince and feeling. 

    This idea that they are all sheep and no one actually makes any real decisions but Jonas is the one in the society designated as the Reciever who gets to have all the painfull memories that society wants to do with out, Teens would love this story because you really connect with Jonas because he feels like an outcast with the burden of being able to see everything different from everyone else and the bearer of a difficult burden that he alone must cary which is very fitting for most teens who find their own lives uniquely excruciating.  I loved this book when i was young and had even more appreciation for it now as an adult with a literary young adult lens onit and would highly recomend it to any young person who hastn been able to find a book they actually want to read. 

General Non-Fiction

This book gets 2 thumbs way up from me! Biographical in nature with beautiful images this book is about the original ladies of Jazz and their contribution to this genre of music and its influence on music thereafter.  Not only is it full of things i never knew about some of my favorite artists but it also introduced me to some new ones and also serves as a great resource for empowering young women and students of color.  These women lived colorful and sometimes arduous lives that are awe inspiring mush like the unique sound they created.  The book starts with the beginnings of Female jazz vocalists from the early 20th century and moves through to present day lady jazz crooners.  I found it quite candid and revealing the book doesn't shy away from the truth about these women or sugar coat things for a younger audience.  While I really enjoyed this work it is an acquired taste for students as jazz and its standards aren't as popular among young people as it once was.  Non the less students in jazz band, choir, or theater are likely to really "dig" this book.  Historical biographical non-fiction can be a tough sell to young adult readers, but when it is specialized in an area of interest or an area that might not be so familiar it can be quite a rewarding read.  I found it inspiring, indepth and impressive.    

What are our teens reading?

    Teens are apparently reading really sad grim literature these days and its cause for conscern to some.  I personally couldn't care less maybe I have been tainted by too many EDU courses, but with the literacy rate where it is in this country im happy if teens are reaidng cereal boxes, penthouse or bilboards.  Depressing literature is popular because its dramatic and realistic it also makes for a juicy read that holds teen attention much like really eloquent gossip that could actually carry a message.  In a sick way this kind of literature is inspiring because then maybe your life doesnt seem so bad and you can get through your own rough patch like this young character struggled through theirs. Or it can be motivating to know there are others out there going through some similar horrible experiences.  The book Push by Saphire and the movie Precious were really depressing but I feel like a more informed and evolved person for experiencing the both of them. 
    Sometimes saddness can be an incredible motivator for change.  The next generation has their work cut out for them considering the smount of change that is necessary in our current global state of affairs.  In the article "The Outlooks Bleak" they quoted someone named Aronson as saying "The imagination should be the realm of freedom".  Which i took to mean if its in a fictional published YA piece let it be, not that the content should be sexually explicit or anything but apart of the human experience is depression and saddness and no one thinks they know more about it than teenagers.  Teens desperately want to be adults and to be understood or at least be validated in the many ways that they feel and percieve the world.  Thats why books about adults not getting it or screwing up are so appealing because there is so much pressure on teens to become successful, productive and high functioning adults when in fact they dont always have the best romodels or examples circulating through their lives.  Teens also hate hipocricy. 
   The slide show that was assigned had a statement in it that stood out to me: "Should fiction for youth have a moral center and send a message?  And what should that message be?"  Yes, this is a stab at adults who think what teens are reading is too racey or mature.  I ask you grown ups who will play the moral police for our kids?  And then once our morality gestapo is in place will anyone expecially teens give a hoot about reading it?  Teens also hate conformity.  Reading whats appropriate or within the socail moral guidelines doesnt sound very fun.  Adults love to read romace novels filled with sex, murder mysteries (non- fiction and fiction), stories of rape and abuse, and good old fashioned War.  Not to mention whats on televison due to popular demand by adults aka the perponderance of Law & Order shows, Sex and the City, and When Animal's Attack. 
    Everyone loves a cheap thrill and its no wonder its mirrored in our childrens taste in literature.  Teens are a product of their own society and will conversely influence our culture as consumers, creators and indiviuals.  Adults who complain about what teens are reading need to wag that finger in the face of one another and not authors, publishers and schools as they too are only a reflection of what we've created.