Wednesday, July 12, 2006

A Decidedly Mixed Bag

A few more books to comment on, in rather different genres:

Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta read by Marcella Russo

I had enjoyed listening to Saving Francesca by the same author so much, I decided I just had to get this audio version, even though I had already read the book. And it was worth it. First of all, as an American, it is fun to hear the Australian accents, but that probably isn't a really great reason to spend lots of money on the audiobook. But the key thing is that Marcella Russo does a fantastic job of reading a really good book. Josie is totally believable, human and flawed, but good enough that you are rooting for her.

I must admit, also, that one of the appeals to me of these two books is that sex is discussed directly with mothers, grandmothers, and even boyfriends. It isn't hidden, neglected, or misused. Josie decides not to have sex with the boy she has fallen in love with, because she isn't ready for that kind of commitment just yet. In far too many teen books, sex is almost an obligatory plot device - a sort of rite of passage. Here it is part of the plot, but the girl is finally strong enough to insist that if she isn't ready, it isn't done. And even though some of her friends are sexually active, Josie has the strength to decide that she won't be just yet. The rite of passage is the realization that sex is a personal decision.

The New Mutants Classic by Chris Claremont, Bill McLeod, and various artists

In keeping with my theme this summer of exploring all sorts of books about schools and teaching/learning, here is a book in a rather different genre from my normal reading - a graphic novel. I must admit that I really do NOT like this type of book. There is far too much fighting and suspicion and various kinds of violence. I suppose that is the point, but I do not like the endless pictures of fierceness, grimacing, anger, pain, threat, etc. That said, there is a story here, albeit a rather violent one. Charles Xavier, the man who evidently taught and sponsored the X-Men, has taken on a new group of 5 students, each with differing special powers. But, of course, before he can do any actual teaching, they are threatened in various ways, they fight, and eventually they win and start again, only to be foiled in some other way. We never really see him teaching them how to direct their powers. But, we do see some interesting dilemmas: in a world of duplicity, how can you tell who your friends are? how can you be true to your background and yet develop yourself to tackle new things? who deserves trust?

From the point of view of education, there are several things that interest me. First of all, it is explicitly stated that these are gifted students. Giftedness in this context means special powers, such as super-human strength or the ability to take over another human's body, or to read thoughts. Nevertheless, giftedness is not talked of as a negative. Secondly, the class size is extraordinarily small and, had they ever managed to actually do some teaching/learning, the classwork would have been almost completely individualized. The furthest they go in this direction is when Charles Xavier shows them the instruction room - which is a simulator. Each student's job is simply to cross the room and get to the exit. But the room changes for each one to challenge his/her specific powers. While each student attempts to cross the room, the others watch, but it doesn't seem to help them much, since their own scenarios turn out to be completely different. With kids as different from each other as these students are, the curriculum has to be adapted for each one.

A final concern: with the level of fighting and violence in these books, I am not sure about the ethics of recommending them to students. It makes me uncomfortable to think of doing so. The world needs less violence, not more. Yes, we need to learn to deal realistically with the fact that violence is present, but this seems to glorify it, rather than seeking to control it.

The Kidnapped Prince by Olaudah Equiano, adapted by Ann Cameron

This is a retelling of the autobiography written by Equiano, who, as a boy was captured and taken from his village in Benin and eventually traveled to the West Indies, the United States, and England. He worked hard as a slave and managed after many years to purchase his own freedom. The book is interesting and tells his tale well. It brings up a number of questions. Africans were used to slavery. They enslaved their neighbors, they were taken as slaves routinely it seems in their own regions. But the contrast between how Africans treated African slaves and how white people treated their slaves is stark. Since I am white, I had to continually ask myself, how does my race justify such cruelty? Why are we so grateful when a few decent people are written about?

And when talking about the West Indies, historically, we have to consider that, not only was this cruelty perpetrated upon the Africans, but it was also done on the Native Americans. Hundreds of thousands of Native Americans were killed by the white people in the Americas. And their stories rarely make it as autobiographies because few survived to tell the tales.

And, I must admit to one minor annoyance with the book. From what I can tell, calling himself a prince is a slight exaggeration, unless the youngest son of every village chief was considered to be a prince.

Protector of the Small - Page by Tamora Pierce

This is the second book in the series. I reviewed the first book several weeks ago. I enjoyed this one again. Tamora Pierce writes stories that pull you in and keep you going. In this book, we see Kel growing into a young woman and proving her abilities, both in class and out in the real world. It is a good read, especially for young girls, I would think. Boys would probably find it less appealing, as the main character is a girl.

Observations from an educational standpoint: curriculum during these years seems to be more adapted to the student. For example, the pages who are good at tilting get harder and harder objectives. Punishments are designed to work on individual weaknesses. The head instructor seems a little more human in this book. He seems to have been won over by Kel's determination and obvious abilities.

One thing that bothers me, though, is the instructors' seeming tolerance for, or obliviousness of, the bullying that is going on. The pages' code of honor dictates that they do not tell on each other, but this escalates to some fairly severe physical violence. I suppose this is included to show that girls (and boys) can be tough and that strong people fight their own battles, they don't get teachers to bail them out. But it would be nice to see some subtle teacher intervention that doesn't negate the positives of learning to stick up for yourself and your friends.

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