Fantasy Lovers, Get Savvy!

Mississippi Beaumont and her crazy, zany family have a secret. Despite the fact that they seem like your typical American family on the surface, this secret makes them truly unique.The secret? They each possess a "savvy" - a special power revealed upon their thirteenth birthday which enables them to do the supernatural. Her grandpa can move mountains and her great aunt Jules could step back twenty minutes in time every time she sneezed. Olive, a second cousin, has the ability to melt ice with a glare. Momma is perfect and her older brothers Rocket and Fish can create electricity and hurricanes respectively. Mississippi, or Mibs, is awkward, gawky (as so many pre-teens are) and eagerly awaiting her thirteenth birthday to learn her savvy. But then two days before her special day, her father is in a car accident and rushed to the hospital. Mibs, on a mission to see her father, sneaks on to a bus that she believes is headed towards the hospital. It is soon apparent that the bus carrying Mibs, Rocket, Fish and two of the local pastor's children, is actually headed in the opposite direction of the hospital! Mibs and her companions find themselves on the ride of a lifetime that will teach them not just about their savvies but about the realities of growing up.

I loved this book for many reasons. The characters were so unique and endearing - its as if your best friends from when you were younger were infused with the abilities of your favorite superheroes. They were also extremely realistic and human - two qualities I don't normally associate with fantasy characters. There is a great interview with the author, Ingrid Law, on Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Savvy-Ingrid-Law/dp/0142414336/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290552911&sr=8-1)  in which she says that she sought to create a different sort of fantasy novel in Savvy. "I wanted to create a different kind of magic—one that called to mind the feel of a modern American tall-tale. I wanted to break away from the traditional tales about magic and find roots in the soil around me. What would magic look like if it sprang up in the small towns of America?" To me this perfectly encapsulates Savvy. The characters can be role models for readers because of their reality.

I originally picked up this book because nearly every student in my cooperating classroom is obsessed with this book. So much so that one of my students who is a struggling reader was practically begging my cooperating teacher to let her read the book, despite the fact that she had ruled it out as a "just right" book. To me, if any book can cause children to a) pick it up en masse or b) beg to read it, it HAS to be good. And I was not disappointed. While I would recommend this book for students ages 9-11, Stonehouse has this book featured in its Battle of the Books program and rightfully so in my opinion; It is a bit challenging and lengthy for most students. However, I feel that Savvy's message is great for all ages -  a celebration of idividuality and remaining true to yourself, is applicable and valuable to students of all ages.

Travel to the Past with The Watsons Go To Birmingham

To be perfectly honest, I was SO excited when I realized that this was the week to read historical fiction. I have always loved history, social studies and historical fiction - you name it I loved it if it had to do with the past. I was so overwhelmed with the possibilities of which book to choose - that is until I saw The Watsons Go to Birmingham in Dr. Johnson's class. I remember being so jealous of my best friend in 6th grade because her English class got to read this book while mine focused on a different text. This was finally my chance to read the book I'd wanted to read for the past ten years!

Let me tell you, Christopher Paul Curtis' book did not fail to disappoint. The Watsons Go to Birmingham was both heartwarming and heartbreaking, a story that perfectly portrayed an African American family caught unwittingly in the turbulent events of the Civil Rights Era, specifically the16th Street Baptist Church bombing of 1963. The precious voice of the book's nerdy 8-year old narrator, Kenny Watson, endearingly captures the innocence of his youth, his earnest desire to fit in with his older brother Byron and his friends, and his struggle to understand the senseless nature of the violent bombing that rocks his family's world. The story begins in Flint, Michigan where the Watsons are originally from. They are a family chock full of personalities. There's Dad, the mischevious patriarch, Momma, the heart of the family and a Southern transplant from Alabama, Byron, the older brother who fancies himself a rebel without a cause, Kenny, the quiet, studious narrator and Joey, the lovable little sister. It's never a dull moment around the Watson house - the first chapter opens with the entire family huddled together on their couch wearing every layer of clothing they own to keep warm and ends with Bryon's lips glued to the frozen side mirror of the family car after trying to kiss his own reflection.

That is, until, Bryon's troublemaking ways get to be too much for Momma and Dad to handle and the entire family ships down to Birmingham, Alabama, Momma's hometown, to spend sometime with their maternal grandmother. Their visit chillingly coincides with the horrible attack on the 16th Street Baptist Church in September of 1963. Before the bombing, Kenny nearly drowns in a swimming hole and has a vision of his sister Joetta (Joey) as an angel. Just a few weeks later, the family learns that the church where Joey is attending Sunday School has been bombed. Kenny runs down to find his missing sister and steps into the still smoking ruins of the church, but is unable to find Joey. He returns home to find Joey safe but is so disturbed by what he saw at the bombed out church, he sinks into a depression. Eventually he heals, thanks to the surprising help of his older brother.

Given the senstive nature of some of The Watsons content, I think it goes without saying that this was an extremely emotional book. However, I think it is important for children to read to understand the themes of love, loss and recovery. These are complex emotions that can be hard to work through if you are a child, so seeing a character who is very similar to themselves experience them and work through them could be an invaluable teaching experience. I would be sensitive to the age group and maturity level of your classroom but I think this could really work with upper elementary grades, specifically 5th and 6th graders. This book also won the Coretta Scott King Award and was a Newbury Honor Book, so it is widely known and recognized for its excellence. Scholastic has a great guide to the book featuring an interview with the author, comprehension questions, related activities and related reading (http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/pdfs/Watsons.pdf)

As a result of this popularity, there are plenty of lesson plans, study guides and reading comprehension questions available on the Internet.  I could also see some connections to modern day events, particularly if students have learned about the Civil Rights Era before and could connect it to civil rights issues of today. Teachers could also direct connections between the bombing of a church to modern events like September 11th or if students have experiences from the on-going war. Obviously these are not subjects to be handled lightly and require sensitivity but the book could be an interesting jumping off point to discuss connections between past and present. I would definitely recommend The Watsons Go to Birmingham as a touching and thought-provoking historical read!