Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Chalifant, Henry and James Prigoff. Spraycan Art. (1987). New York: Thames & Hudson. 0-500-27469-X

This non-fiction book, complete with hundreds of photographs, depicts the evolution of graffiti. Starting in New York City, the book chronicles the evolutionary roots and influences that affect the styles of cities across the States and the world. Giving brief histories about the b-bop era giving birth to illegal tagging of subways, the book discusses how some local governments have tried to harness the potential community growth that planned graffiti and murals can give. It is a split within the art community, and the artists interviewed discuss the dilemmas.

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. (1997). New York: Scholastic. 0-590-37125-8.

As a novel told through poetry, this book about the Dust Bowl is a realistic but sad look at such a difficult time period of American history. The book focuses on a family, with the young daughter as the central character. Crop failures and poverty effect the family, but when the girl accidentally burns her mother and baby brother, things grow worse. Eventually, she makes her way to California and hope.

Hoch, Danny. (1998). Jails, Hospitals, & Hip-Hop and  Some People. New York: Random House. 978-0-307-78919-8.

This book is a scripted version of some of his monologues. The stories he tells deal with many societal aspects such as the prison complex, poverty, and living in an ever diverse community in New York City. Using humor, he critically pokes at some very real problems and asks questions. Never losing that humor, he plays around, acting through code-switching, often changing languages and dialects.

Osa, Nancy. (2003). Cuba 15. New York: Delacorte Press. 0-385-73021-7.

Violet, who just turned 15, is a girl growing up in the Chicago area to a Cuban-American father and a Polish-American mother. It is a story about cultural identity, that is centralized around her quintecera. In many Latin American cultures, this is a celebration of an entering into womanhood for fifteen year old girls. Through the planning and organizing of her party, Violet learns more about her Cuban heritage, an aspect that angers her father, who has tried to distance himself from the island, due to the negative associations with communism.

Persepolis

Persepolis was a fantastic book! I learned so much about so many relevant historical events. I was unfamiliar with what occurred within the Iran-Iraq War as well as the Islamic Revolution. The texts allowed me to understand, through the naïve yet knowledgeable experiences that Marjane relates in text and images. I loved how the ignorance of the happenings were realistic, and you had the comprehension of what a child would have regarding the circumstances around her.

I was able to deepen my knowledge of historical events, but was also able to see the growth occur within the tale. Marjane explores who she is and what the world around her is. She is honest, and openly shows contradictions within her own beliefs and those around her. Often, she does so by providing humor in the corresponding images.

And those images, add immensely to the story in many ways. The black and white drawings (as opposed to the colored illustrations of American Born Chinese) give the story a darker feel. As it discusses a darker topic, it is very fitting. Yet, the humor allows for the story to remain somewhat positive. Only somewhat, as the story does remain very realistic and complex. You don’t know how the story plays out (unless you read the second book, and still you don’t know what the future holds) and that can be frustrating. However, it is a great text that combines historic elements, with memoir aspirations, within a graphic novel. 

American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese was my first graphic novel that I have read. And I must say, I fully enjoyed it! I found that the affordances of the genre were awesome, as the pictures added a great deal to the plot. The themes the book explores were also quite interesting to me. The multiple plot lines that occur simultaneously in the book, while being actually a singular tale, deepen the understanding of the notion of multiple identities or rather complex identities that occur within many of us.

Although I am starting to feel that maybe taking a universalistic stance is not correct, I still prefer to add some personal relevance to everything I read and feel that is quite natural (and therefore necessary) to do so. The tale is one of teenage dilemmas. Girls, friends, and parental (cultural) embarrassment are commonplace in the lives of many. This theme allows for some empathy and relating to the main character, yet the encompassing of the Monkey King’s plot and other cultural aspects allows for an engaging exploration of where do our cultural identity, our national identity and our personal identities meet and combine.

Critically, as I mentioned before, this is a graphic novel. Its format allows for plot and narrative additions that text alone cannot relate to the reader. The images are great, vivid descriptions of what is occurring and allow for a multimodal interpretation. There was one image that plays on those conceptions of multiliteracies, as one must be able to have background knowledge to be able to interpret the last panel on page 215, as a combination of West with Christianity.

It is those types of cultural exploration that the book does so well. The story lines are multiple but merge into one, just as the many narratives we live combine into one life narrative. The form of a graphic novel gives that affordance.

The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm

For me, The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm was an interesting read with a very intriguing setting. Placing the narrative in the future, but basing it in Zimbabwe, completely turns my Euro-American perspective on its edge. I never really thought I was so biased in thinking so, but after reading through this book I feel that there must be something to that.

       While the story was set far off in the future, and deals with issues that I would never understand or can relate to, the power struggles, particularly the socio-economic disparities, was something that stood out to me. It was an interesting situation, where the good guys/heroes of The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm are from a lower class. They live in the bad part of town. Even She Elephant's actions are rationalized towards the end, as her motives her outlined as having to do with her upbringing. The caring community that raises Trashman is touching, and even the children's father suggests redistributing the wealth found in Trashman's home. All of which really touched me, and inspired me.

       As a science fiction novel, the main elements that stood out were the robots and artificial intelligence that worked in homes, the flying automobiles, and even some genetic modifications such a s the Blue Monkey. There were also elements of what could happen from environment destruction, such as the toxic landfill and even the nuclear mutilations that occur for The Ear, The Eye, and The Arm. In the novel, they discuss how their special abilities are the exception to the typical reactions to drinking the contaminated water (or rather their mothers doing so).

       The numerous cultures that are portrayed and their interactions are an interesting topic that the book goes through. Like I mentioned earlier, the reversal of the typical Euro-American gaze to a Zimbabwean world is a great idea to work through. While it seems that the world is "post-race" with the only elements of racial terms being to describe the Ear, the Eye, and the Arm as being white, brown and black, respectively, the allegiances to tribal and ethnic groups is interesting. This book could generate some interesting discussions on those notions. And I think that is what the book wants, it wants to explore these notions of cultures and groups, and that could possibly be why Nancy Farmer added the glossary of terms and cultural practices to the end.

The Giver

The Giver

       I had heard many times over, about The Giver and how great of a book it is or about how much someone enjoyed it. After reading it, I strongly agree with those sentiments. The narrative pulled me in, and Jonas' growth was a part of my growth as a reader, as I learned of the major imperfections of life that were absent for many in the "perfect" community.

       The whole idea of memories, both being good and difficult, really touched me. All too often, many people think that they would rather live a life numb to emotions and unaffected by the rise and fall of life. Jonas learns that, but also learned another important lesson. Understanding that parents, adults, even the community as a whole projects not necessarily a "lie" in the crueler sense but rather a single narrative that goes unquestioned because it makes life easier. For me, and this is based on my personal economic beliefs, but I see the way of picking winners and losers in the community very similar to the ills of capitalism. You are born into a situation in which you profit or will be "banished" from the community and never will really be able to gain anything.

       The secondary world that is created in The Giver is one that mirrors the possibilities of our own world, but there are some scientific possibilities that allows this to be a science fiction story. The passing down of memories from The Giver to the Receiver through touch is an interesting element that I do not know if that would be fantasy then or not, but the scientific implications (genetic modifications were hinted at) are definitely a possibility.

       The world that is created is an interesting scenario, one where the society has decided to optimize human societal contribution and render choice obsolete. It is a scary situation where decisions are made for everyone and those that do not contribute or differ from the norm and expectations need to be "released". It is an interesting topic for the reader to think about, whether it is better to have a pain-free existence where one never has to ask what if, or to have a pain-riddled life where choices must be made and consequences doled out. The abrupt end of the story, and the lack of clarity of the third person narration, only hints at the outcome of what Jonas' decision led him to, a fade to whiteness rather than blackness.

A Wrinkle in Time

“We look not at the things which are what you would call seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal. But the things which hare not seen are eternal.” (205)

A Wrinkle in Time was a fun read, and would be enjoyable to many middle school students. The sci-fi/fantasy world that Meg, Charles Wallace, and Calvin, travel through was intriguing and inviting to think about. The combination of the three as social outcasts, ones that do not truly belong to main-stream was a powerful combination that could really be related to by many who identify with a subculture group or clique. Many people are like Meg and Charles Wallace, they are not seen as “smart” by the standardized notions of that term. And then there are many like Calvin, who are seen as popular, smart and athletic, but really do not identify as being such. It is a great idea and relatable idea.

            I also really enjoyed the harsh fascist regime of Camazotz, where group-think reigns supreme. The ability of fantasy to build this fictitious worlds that can be relatable or at least serve as a learning tool to think of our own world is great. I think that L’Engle does a great job of toying with the ideas of strict “
equally” where everyone is alike, and shows the readers that it is best and a gift to think differently.

            Critically, the book is an easy read for the middle grades and is fully understandable. I think the themes that come up, that being social outcasts and going against the “norm” are important topics to be explored by adolescents. L’Engle does a great job of showing that children can do things on their own and that adults do not always know what is best.

            The images that are used to explain tessering are extremely helpful, and I am glad that they were used. It gives a great image to understanding complex mathematics. The quotes that Mrs. Who uses also give it a little bit of an additional literature/philosophy aspect, aiding little snippets of major works. There is only one fault that came up, and is something that Nikki brought to my attention, and granted it takes place in the film adaptation, but still it appalled me. Apparently they cast an African-American female to play Mrs. Whatsit, in the beginning when she is seen by some to be a witch. Then she transforms into an uberly white porcelain centaur who is all good. It is an disturbing message that the film portrays and that the book I am not sure desires.