Taylor was not in Vietnam to fight. He was there to have fun while he visited his dad, a high level official working on the Vietnam War. While Taylor tries to get away from his parents, the Tet Offensive happens, and he is kidnapped by NVA fighters and taken along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, also known as Blood Road. This was a hard book to read. I started it some time in late 2020, but it took me a long time to finish it. The devastation the Vietnam War caused on all those who fought and those who just lived in the surrounding areas of Vietnam is immeasurable. The author seems to present both sides of the war while at the same time saying, it was a horrible war no matter what side you were on. This is a difficult book to read with all the tragedy but one I needed to read.
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She's not quite sure why her dad brought her and her brother, Simon, to North Korea. Mia was adopted from South Korea. However, her father wants her and Simon to come with him on a trip to North Korea where he will talk about food distribution for the people of North Korea. When her father sneaks out of their hotel room late at night, she knows something is up. But she never expected him to arrested the next day. What happens now that she and Simon are alone in a communist country? The beginning held my attention with dad sneaking off on a secret meeting. Then the story slowed for me because Simon and Mia had very little interaction. There is a reason for that, and they get to it finally. Then the story picks up as they near the Chinese border. The little side chapters are also sometimes interesting and sometimes confusing. They are from the Korean people that Simon and Mia come into contact with and what is happening from their perspective, but sometimes you have to go back to see where they fit in. I appreciated this story over all, and the ending is well worth the read. There is some cussing in the story, but it is more PG. Hanna rarely goes out when her father does. She is not accepted in the culture around her. It is the time of the pioneer and the western frontier, a time when Americans were trying to settle the prairie. But Hanna does not look like those around her. Though her father is an American of European descent, her mother was from Asia (half-Chinese and half-Korean). Hanna wants so badly to go to school and get an education like her mother wanted her to before she died. However, no one in the town seems to want Hanna at the school. This is a hard but sweet book to read about the prejudices that come from people that look different than us. It makes me cringe to hear the words people said to her, but I have no doubt they are words many people heard over the years. It also reminds me of the importance of education and how it was denied to so many over the years. Linda Sue Park wrote this as a tribute to one of her favorite author, Laura Ingalls Wilder, because she wanted to place herself in a time and place like Little House on the Prairie. I grew up on those stories and started reading them at the age of six. It's hard to know that there are some imperfections in those books which the author points out at the end. However, we can still hope that even with all the prejudice, people are able to rise above their circumstances like some of Hanna's friends. Viji and Rukku...always together. Viji loves her sister and her Amma (mother). She doesn't understand what Amma continues to stay with Appa even after he continues to abuse her. When Appa breaks Amma's arm and then hits her and Rukku, Viji knows it is time to leave, to find a place where she and her sister will be safe. I decided to join the Global Read Aloud this year, and there are two options for middle grades, Front Desk and The Bridge Home. I chose to read the shorter one first, and this is the one that stole my heart. The love the two sisters share is so sweet, and the way they include the two homeless boys in their new family makes you smile and cry at different times. This is a look at a different culture that many of my students are unfamiliar with. It's a culture I find myself unfamiliar with as well. To appreciate those whose life is so different than can open your heart and make you that much kinder. At least, that is my hope for my students as we finish this book together. Malala believed that girls had the right to an education. For that belief, she was shot on the bus going home from school. No one knew if she would live, but she did and became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner at the age of 17. In the United States, where everyone has the right to education, we find it hard to believe there are places where children have to pay or may never have the chance to learn. We struggle to understand why women would be treated so much differently than men. Malala's story is important to read, but it also capitivating to hear how she had courage despite the danger she faced. I love to read about someone who is able to overcome difficult circumstances, realizing that my own struggles can seem small in comparison. For more about Malala, you can check out her website. https://www.malala.org/ |
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June 2021
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