Books for Kids About Vietnam

Picture Books, 
Garland, Sherry, The Lotus Seed ()
Shea, Pegi Deitz, Ten Mice for Tet ( )
Thong, Roseanne, Fly Free! ()
Trottier, Maxine, The Walking Stick (1998)

Chapter Books
In Vietnam during the war
Lai, Thanhha, Inside Out and Back Again (2011)

In American during the war
Partridge, Elizabeth, Dogtag Summer (2011)

YA
.
Folktales
Garland, Sherry, Children of the Dragon: Selected Tales from Vietnam ()

Nonfiction
Alberti, Theresa, Vietnam ABC's ()

Movie - 33 Postcards

NR (1:37)

Limited release TODAY, May 17, 2013

Viewed: Friday, May 17, 2013 at Crossroads
(Happy Birthday, Josh!)

RT Critic: 21 Audience: 38

Cag:  3 liked it

Directed by Pauline Chan

Gravitas Ventures

Actors:  Australian & Chinese

Fandango synopsis:  When a Chinese orphan meets her longtime Australian sponsor while on a choir festival trip, she discovers that the life he'd portrayed in his postcards to her over the years is not as perfect as he'd indicated, leading the two on a shared search for belonging and acceptance.

My comments:  It was sweet...and different...and interesting.  It was totally unbelievable in places.  Australian accents and the Chinese language.  Breaking...smashing stereotypes.  Sticking closely to stereotypes.  Not knowing what to expect.  Knowing exactly what to expect.  Disjointed thoughts swirling, fluttering in my brain even a couple hours after seeing this movie.  Glad I saw it, despite its goodness and badness.  A perfect Friday-yay-it's-the-weekend kind of flick!  Good popcorn, too.

Books for Kids about India

Picture Books

Shank, Ned - The Sanyasan's First Day (1999)


Chapter Books

Ellis, Deborah - No Ordinary Day (2011)
House, Silas & Neela Vaswani - Same Sun Here (2012)


YA
.

Adult
.

Movies

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Eat, Pray, Love
Slumdog Millionaire

TO FIND/READ:

Picture Books
Out of the Way!  Out of the Way! (Uma Krishnaswami) 2012
The Rumor (Anushka Ravishankar) 2012

Chapter Books/ Emigrating from India to the US (or being Indian and living in the US)

Blue Jasmine (Kashmira Sheth)
The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen (Perkins)
Monsoon Summer (Perkins)
Climbing the Stairs (Padma Venkatraman)

AdultNonfiction/Memoir

A Bed of Red Flowers: In Search of My Afghanistan (Pazira)
A Good Indian Wife (Cherian)

The Walking Stick - Maxine Trottier

Illustrated byAnnouchka Gravel Galouchko

Stoddart Kids, 1998

07737-3101-6

24 pages

Goodreads rating: 2.80

My rating: 3.5

Endpapers :tiny green & lavender squiggles that appear like a field of lavender 

Illustrations Bright, collag-y without being actual collage - lots of tiny dots and squiggles - love 'em!  And her name is pretty darn cool, too....

Artist's dedication:  For those who have the courage to walk a different path, to those who find strength in walking alone, to independent spirits, but especially for Sacha, who was with me throughout this work, and born when it was finished - a beautiful masterpiece. - A.G.G.

1^st line/s:  "When Van was a boy wandering the forest of Vietnma, he found the stick.  It had fallen from a great teak tree."

A young boy's treasured walking stick, made from a teak tree outside the Buddhist temple in a village in Vietnam, watches changes in the country, travels far away, and is returned many years later to its place of origin by the young boy's granddaughter.

Books for Kids about Afghanistan

Picture Books
I See the Sun in Afghanistan (Dedie King/Judith Inglese) 2011, 40 pgs.
The Sky of Afghanistan (Eulate/Wimmer)
Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan (Winter) 2009
Listen to the Wind: The Story of Dr. Greg and Three Cups of Tea (Mortenson/Roth)
The Old Woman and the Eagle (Idries/Delmar)

Chapter Books: Middle Grades & YA
Three Cups of Tea (Mortenson)
Afghan Dreams : Young Voices from Afghanistan
The Breadwinner series (Ellis)
Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely Through a Never-Ending War (Ellis)
Shooting Kabul (Senzai)

Nonfiction

National Geographic Countries of the World: AFGHANISTAN
Susan Whitfield, 2008

Population:  almost 32 millions
Official languages: Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashtu
Capital: Kabul

"Afghanistan is largely a land of brown, treeless mountains and gray, dusty deserts.  But nestled among the peaks and plains are small areas of vivid green, where people grow their crops and raise their animals.
"Pistachio trees grow wild in the mountains in the north of Afghanistan...The nuts are regarded as the best in the world.
"Almost all Afghans are Muslims.  It is against the law for Muslim Afghans to convert to another religion.  As in most parts of the Muslim world, public life in Afghanistan is dominated by men.  In most parts of the country women are required to cover their heads and bodies in public....When the Taliban imposed harsh Islamic laws, women became second-class citizens.  Girls were banned from schools and women were beaten for showing their faces in public.  Today, Afghan women are still expected to cover themselves, but in less extreme ways.
"Afghans make flying kites an art form.  The best flyers work in paris.  One holds the wooden spool connected to the kite by strings.  The other pulls the strings to control the movement of the kite in the air.  People take a lot of pride in making and flying their kites.  But it is not always a peaceful pasttime.  In kite fights or duels, the fighters fit their kites with thin, sharp wires or attach pieces of glass.  The aim is for a kite flyer to cut the strings of his opponents until only one kite is left in the air."
"Despite the continuing uncertainty, Afghan people remain optimistic and are working toward rebuilding their lives.  The markets in Kabul and other cities are bustling again. Many educated and skilled Afghans who fled the country under the Taliban are returning to help their country.  In the past, Afghanistan has recovered from many periods of war.  It will do so again."

Adult
Lipstick in Afghanistan (Roberta Gately) 2010

National Geographic Countries of the World SERIES

After hunting and hunting, reading through many different series of books about different world countries in the libraries and bookstores, I've decided that this series is the most accessible to my fourth graders.  Many are daunted by too much text - I think that is why I still dislike/d reading nonfiction.  This series is full of photos and maps (it IS by National Geographic!) and there's not one single page that is only text.  It's extremely readable and the information is interesting and seems current and well-researched.  I plan to use them in my classroom as literature circles, each group focusing on a different country and becoming an "expert" by reading this nonfiction book along with some fiction.
And in my reading from other sources, I've discovered that Afghanistan's largest income from agriculture is ..... opium!

Afghanistan
Susan Whitfield
2008, 64 pages


Population:  almost 32 million
Official languages: Dari (Afghan Persian) and Pashtu
Capital: Kabul

Asia in Children's Literature

Picture Books
Chen, Yong
A Gift - Contemporary China - Amy's mother, homesick for her family and homeland in China, receives a special package from them just in time for their Chinese New Year celebrations.

Cheng, Andrea
Shanghai Messenger - contemporary Shanghai -   11-year-old Chinese American Xiao Mei travels, alone, to Shanghai to meet the extended family she's never met, quickly forming loving bonds and learning a huge amount about the China of her ancestors. 

Chin-Lee, Cynthia
A is For Asia - a little about bits & pieces of Asia

Ellis, Deborah
No Ordinary Day - contemporary India - A homeless orphan Indian girl adapts to life in the streets until she meets...and ultimately trusts...a female doctor.

Koralek, Jenny
The Story of Queen Esther - ancient Persia  - This is the story of how Esther becomes a Persian queen, hides her Jewishness, and with the help of the cousin, Mordecai, who helped raise her, saves the Jewish people from annihilation.   

Malaspina, Ann
Yasmin's Hammer - Contemporary Bangladesh - A father, who is a rickshaw driver, and his wife realize that an education for their two young daughters, who both work in a brickyard, is more important than anything.

Niemann, Christoph
The Pet Dragon - Chinese folk-type story

Pacilio, V. J. 
Ling Cho and His Three Friends - China - A rich farmer tries to help three of his neighboring friends, sharing wisdom and a huge lesson when they all return with just a story to tell.....

Park, Linda Sue
Tap Dancing on the Roof - Korea - Sijo Poetry

Pennypacker, Sara
Sparrow Girl - 1958 China - When the Chinese government orders that all sparrows be killed in order to save the grain crops,   a young girls saves seven of them, thus saving her village from locusts and grasshoppers and weevils and worms that would destroy all those crops. 

Rumford, James
Silent Music, A Story of Bagdhad - Contemporary Iraq - Ali, a boy who loves to write and doodle, proudly practices the calligraphy of his language, Arabic, as he continues to learn it.

Say, Allen
Erika San - Contemporary Japan - An American girl, always taken with a paiting of a house in Japan, finally goes there to teach and comes upon not only a house that looks just like it, but a boyfriend, too.....

Shank, Ned
The Sanyasin's First Day - Contemporary India - A sanyasin - a holy man who gives away all he owns - spends his first day in a busy Indian marketplace, as to a female plumber, a male policeman, and a female farmer, all on their first day, too.

Stryer, Andrea Stenn
Kami and the Yaks - Nepal - Kami helps his father find their four missing yaks as a huge storm - thunder, lightning, hail - approaches.

Thong, Roseanne
The Wishing Tree - contemporary China - Ming and his much-loved grandmother have always made wishes on the huge Banyan tree in their town, but one year, the year Min is nine, his wish does not come true...and he loses his grandmother.

Trottier, Maxine
The Walking Stick -  3 generations past in Vietnam - Through the years, Van takes a teak walking stick he made in his village in Vietnam, escaping his country during the war, but always walking with his stick, until his granddaughter returns it to where he first found it, near the Buddhist temple in his original village.

Williams, Brenda
Lin Yi's Lantern - contemporary China -  Lin Yi's mother sends him to the market to bargain for five items for their Moon Festival trek up the mountain that night....and if he has enough money left over, he can purchase the red rabbit lantern that he so dearly wants.

Winter, Jeanette
The Librarian of Basra - Contemporary Iraq - Another version of the bombing of the central library in Basra, Iraq 

Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction
Cornwell, Autumn
Carpe Diem - YA - contemporary Malaysia - Very anal Vassar Spore, planner extraordinaire, is thrown topsy-turvy on a trip to Malaysia with the grandmother who plans for NOTHING.

House, Silas & Neela Vaswani 
Same Sun Here - Mid Grades  - contemporary NYC/India - Meena, an Indian immigrant girl and River, a Kentucky coal miner's son, become penpals and best friends as they share their lives, their problems, and the love of their families with each other.

Stamaty, Mark Alan
Alia's Mission - Graphic Novel - In Iraq, in a few fast-paced days as the war in Basra is imminent, Alia and many helpers move over 30,000 books - by hand - before the library is destroyed.

Staples, Suzanne Fisher
Under the Persimmon Tree - YA- realistic near-contemporary Afghanistan -  This very sad - tragic - story goes back and forth between two protagonists;  one an American woman living in Peshiwar, and the other an Afghani girl fleexing from her destroyed home in the mountains.  

Whelan, Gloria
Small Acts of Amazing Courage - YA - 1919 India - 15 year old Rosalind James, daughter of a British official in India, is sent to live with aunts in England because her father thinks that her love of India and its people is inappropriate.  Gandhi, Hinduism, the caste system are all mentioned.


Countries

Afghanistan
see more detailed article about Afghanistan
Staples, Suzanne Fisher - Under the Persimmon Tree (YA)
Whitfield, Susan - National Geographic Countries of the World: Afghanistan (Middle Grades

Bangladesh
Malaspina, Ann - Yasmin's Hammer (picture book)

China
Chen, Yong - A Gift (picture book)
Cheng, Andrea - Shanghai Messenger (picture book)
Niemann, Christoph - The Pet Dragon (picture book)
Pacilio, V. J. - Ling Cho and His Three Friends (picture book)
Pennypacker, Sara - Sparrow Girl (picture book)
Thong, Roseanne - The Wishing Tree (picture book)
Williams, Brenda - Lin Yi's Lantern (picture book)

India
see more detailed article about India
Ellis, Deborah - No Ordinary Day (upper middle grade chapter book)
House, Silas & Neela Vaswani - Same Sun Here (middle grade chapter bk)
Shank, Ned - The Sanyasin's First Day (picture book)
Whelan, Gloria - Small Acts of Amazing Courage (middle grade chapter bk)

Iraq
Rumford, James, Silent Music, A Story of Bagdhad (picture book)
Stamaty, Mark Allen, Alia's Mission, (graphic novel)
Winter, Jeanette, The Librarian of Basra (picture bk)

Japan
Kajikawa, Kmiko - Tsunami  (folktale picture book)
Say, Allen - Erika-San (picture book)

Korea
Park, Linda Sue - Tap Dancing on the Roof (poetry)

Malaysia
Cornwell, Autumn - Carpe Diem (YA)

Nepal
Stryer, Andrea Stenn, Kami and the Yaks (picture book)


Persia
Koralek, Jenny - The Story of Queen Esther (picture bk)

Vietnam
see more detailed article about Vietnam
Trottier, Maxine - The Walking Stick (picture bk)

18. Tapestry of Fortunes - Elizabeth Berg

2013, Random House
219 pgs.
written for adults
HC $26.00 
Genre:  CRF
Goodreads rating: 3.51
My rating: 4
Acquired:  TPPL

My Goodreads comments:  I read a few reviews before reading this book so decided I wouldn't be disappointed if it wasn't up to par.  However, although there were, yes, weaknesses; this story spoke to me intensely.  It was like it came along purposely at this particular time in my life to send me some subliminal-and some not so subliminal- messages.  Simplify your life.  Being along is not the way life should be led.  Figure out ways to stop paralyzing yourself because, yes, you are definitely doing that.  And....loneliness sucks.  There are many quotes that I've written down that mean a lot. So, yes, I give this book a positive review.  It was just what I needed at this time...at this day...at this moment...of my life.  A pretty-pat plot, no surprises at all, loads of coincidences and more-or-less happy endings for everyone (tralala), but it worked....beautifully....for me.

Goodreads summary:  A wonderful new novel about four women who take a trip into their past, to find again the people they miss, and to reconnect with their fortunes.

Cecilia Ross is looking for a change. She has decided to take time off from her job as a successful motivational speaker and sell her home. She moves in to a beautiful old house in St. Paul, Minnesota, complete with a big front porch, a wild garden, a chef's kitchen-and three roommates. The four women are different ages, but all are feeling restless, and want to take a roadtrip to find again the people and things they miss. One woman wants to connect with a daughter she gave away at birth; another wants to visit her long-absent ex-husband; a third woman, a professional chef, is seeking new inspiration from the restaurants along the way. And Cecilia is looking for Dennis Halsinger, the man she never got over, who recently sent her a postcard out of the blue. This novel is classic Elizabeth Berg-a portrait of how women grow through the relationships that define them, and a testament to the power of female friendship.

17. Two Graves - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Pendergast #12
read by Rene Auberjonois
14 unabridged cds/ 16.5 hours
Hachette Audio, 2012 $39.98
TPPL
Goodreads rating: 3.93
cag rating: 3/Liked some of it....

My comments:  I was on and off about this one. I think that if I had read even one previous story about this odd FBI agent I might have liked him better. I didn't really like him at all until the last chapter, when his personality took a complete turnaround, almost unnaturally. The fighting scene, which the entire book was building up to, may have been enjoyed by lots of readers but for me it dragged on and on and on. The antagonist is still on the loose, so I'm sure an upcoming title (or titles) will include him. I do like the way that two other stories were woven into the book along with the main plot. I'd love to read more about Corey....  (Oh, one more comment.  Although I love the flawless reading the Mr. Auberjonois gave it, the way he read the protagonist helped instill in me the feeling that Pendergast was incredibly pretentious!) 

Goodreads synopsis:  For twelve years, he believed she died in an accident. Then, he was told she'd been murdered. Now, FBI Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast discovers that his beloved wife Helen is alive. But their reunion is cut short when Helen is brazenly abducted before his eyes. And Pendergast is forced to embark on a furious cross-country chase to rescue her.
But all this turns out to be mere prologue to a far larger plot: one that unleashes a chillingly-almost supernaturally-adept serial killer on New York City. And Helen has one more surprise in store for Pendergast: a piece of their shared past that makes him the one man most suited to hunting down the killer.
His pursuit of the murderer will take Pendergast deep into the trackless forests of South America, to a hidden place where the evil that has blighted both his and Helen's lives lies in wait . . . a place where he will learn all too well the truth of the ancient proverb:
Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.

16. Matched - Allie Condie

#2 in the Matched series

2011, Dutton/Penguin

367 pgs.

Written for YA (Protagonists are 17)

Finished May 8, 2013

Genre: Fantasy/Dystopian

Goodreads Rating: 3.56

My Rating: 2/It was okay

Acquired: TPPL

1^st sentence/s: "I'm standing in a river.  It's blue.  Dark blue.  Reflecting the colors of the evening sky."

My comments:  Hmmmm....at times this seemed to go on forever. And it's been so long since I read the first in the series, Matched, that none of the references helped me remember what had gone on. Frustrating. Told back and forth between Ky and Cassia, a few pages each, and introducing four new major characters - one of who dies in The Carving - which is a series of red rock canyons based on Utah. I guess I wanted more. More what? Don't know. But more.

Goodreads Review:  In search of a future that may not exist and faced with the decision of who to share it with, Cassia journeys to the Outer Provinces in pursuit of Ky - taken by the Society to his certain death - only to find that he has escaped, leaving a series of clues in his wake. Cassia's quest leads her to question much of what she holds dear, even as she finds glimmers of a different life across the border. But as Cassia nears resolve and certainty about her future with Ky, an invitation for rebellion, an unexpected betrayal, and a surprise visit from Xander - who may hold the key to the uprising and, still, to Cassia's heart - change the game once again. Nothing is as expected on the edge of Society, where crosses and double crosses make the path more twisted than ever.

Black Dog - Levi Pinfold

Illustrated by the author

2011 - Templar Books; Candlewick

HC $15.99

24 pages

Goodreads rating: 3.97

My rating: 4.5 (awesome illustrations)

Endpapers same as the cover:

This is a great story about being afraid and being brave - with a touch of cockiness from the littlest girl, and wonderfully humorous illustrations.  This is a great book to use with older kids to talk about what you actually see when your stress level is high....how do you interpret what you see..... The artwork is exactly the type of thing that we talked about at a workshop I went to last week about the messages in what you see, not what you read.  I think this is one to show on the Smart Board in big gorgeous color for everyone to examine while I read it aloud - perfect for fourth grade discussion AND for reading to my 3-year-old grandson!

Goodreads says:  An enormous black dog and a very tiny little girl star in this offbeat tale about confronting one’s fears.  When a huge black dog appears outside the Hope family home, each member of the household sees it and hides. Only Small, the youngest Hope, has the courage to face the black dog, who might not be as frightening as everyone else thinks.

The Matchbox Diary - Paul Fleischman

illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
2013, Candlewick

HC (no DC on this library copy?) $16.99 TPPL

40 lovely, thick pages

Goodreads rating: 4.20

My rating: 4

Endpapers: blue - denim-y - streaked with rainwater?

Illustrations:  acrylic gouache: current day in sepia and color; memories from the past in sepia tones only.  The memory illustrations are within an almost-full-page block, while the contemporary scenes go to the page edges - subtly different 

This is a truly beautiful book.  I love Paul Fleischman's words - though there are two places in the story that I felt like he needed to say just a bit more, I pulled at the pages to see if I'd missed any.  He is definitely one of my all-time favorite authors.  The illustrations are particularly lovely.  This book is about how we record memories when we can't read or write.  Great premise.  Good storytelling.  Super book.

Goodreads review:  "Pick whatever you like most. Then I’ll tell you its story." 

When a little girl visits her great-grandfather at his curio-filled home, she chooses an unusual object to learn about: an old cigar box. What she finds inside surprises her: a collection of matchboxes making up her great-grandfather’s diary, harboring objects she can hold in her hand, each one evoking a memory. Together they tell of his journey from Italy to a new country, before he could read and write — the olive pit his mother gave him to suck on when there wasn’t enough food; a bottle cap he saw on his way to the boat; a ticket still retaining the thrill of his first baseball game. With a narrative entirely in dialogue, Paul Fleischman makes immediate the two characters’ foray into the past. With warmth and an uncanny eye for detail, Bagram Ibatoulline gives expressive life to their journey through time — and toward each other.

Movie - The Company You Keep

R (2:01)

Opened April 5, 2013

Viewed at ElCon Friday, May 3, 2013

RT Critics: 54  Audience:  50

Cag:  4/I really liked it

Directed by Robert Redford

Sony Pictures Classics

Robert Redford, Shia LaBoeuf, Susan Sarandon, Nick Nolte, Julie Christie, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins, Stanley Tucci

I did not know the cast - other than Robert Redford - until I saw the movie unfold.  Each new cast member, most old favorites, made me take in my breath and giggle for just a moment, that's how much I enjoyed seeing all of them.  The story was interesting and totally kept my interest for all two hours, except for one scene near the end - between Redford and Christie - that was too long and drawn out.  Shia LaBoeuf was super in his role.  And I loved his glasses!

Fandango Summary: A single father's upper-middle class life as a lawyer in upstate New York is shattered when his past as a radical activist member of the Weather Underground is revealed and he is accused of having been the triggerman at a deadly bank robbery years before. Forced to go on the lam, the man evades law enforcement while searching for the one woman who can prove his innocence.

Glasswings: A Butterfly's Story - Elisa Kleven

Illustrated by the author

Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin), 2013

HC $16.99

32 pages

Goodreads rating: 5.00 (But there are only three ratings to average so far- and mine's one of them)

My rating: 5

Endpapers: lime green with various sized outlines of Glasswing butterflies in white

"Claire was a Glasswing butterfly.

Her wings, as clear as windows,

let the world shine through."

But a huge wind sweeps her away from her family in the country to a street in the city, where there aren't many flowers from which she can sip nectar,  A friendly pigeon and ladybug show her a tiny community garden, but the flowers are sparse.  She sips and flits from flower to flower, day after day, and the garden blooms and flourishes with her help.

There's a prologue that tells a little about Glasswings (they inhabit Central and South America).  I wonder why it wasn't put at the end of the story?

I'm an Elisa Kleven fan, so perhaps I'm biased, but I love her work - her collaged illustrations are wonderful. On one page, the hillside of tall city buildings is created from cut rectangles from the insides of business envelopes and water colors. Mmmmm. The windows of the dull gray buildings are alive with colorful life - curtains, people, quilt-y shades and brightly colored clothing. I could just look and look and look. And, there's a happy, satisfying ending to a relatively simple, thoughtful story that also contains a message - and lesson - or two.

America the Beautiful: Together We Stand- Katherine Lee Bates

Illustrated by Bryan Collier, Raul Colon, Diane Goode, Mary Grandpre, John Hendrix, Yuyi Morales, jon J. Muth, LeUyen Pham, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Chris Soenpiet

Orchard Books, 2013

HC $17.99 (splurged and purchased it)

24 pages

Goodreads rating: 4.10

My rating: 5 (This is an awesome book)

Endpapers: Blue with white stars - Like a closeup of that part of the American flag.

Title Page: Just the title, in huge, bold red and white font

Quotes from presidents Carter, Jefferson, Reagan, Lincoln, Obama, Kennedy, FDR, Washington, GHW Bush, Theodore Roosevelt...

The end pages include national landmarks and symbols.  Gorgeous!

My Goodreads review:  Everything about this book was special. The ten American artists and the illustrations they created. The ten chosen quotes from ten different presidents. The four pages of information at the end. As I teacher, the book SCREAMS mini-lessons. Art, history, language arts, social consciousness....I can even use some of these great quotes for handwriting assignments with meaning and verve. I splurged. I wonder whose brainstorm it was to put it together?

Goodreads summary: Each of our presidents has had a unique vision of America. In AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, these ideas are translated into gorgeous illustrations by such top artists as Bryan Collier, Jon J Muth, Diane Goode, Mary GrandPre, Raul Colon, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Yuyi Morales, John Hendrix, LeUyen Pham, and Chris Soentpiet. Each of these talented illustrators has found a unique way to interpret the values and beliefs that have built our great country.

Through moving illustrations, AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL integrates the lyrics of the familiar patriotic tune with inspiring presidential quotations. AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL will help teach children about our country's great leaders while highlighting American values such as diversity, unity, and freedom. In addition, the back cover features a quote from the acceptance speech of the winner of the 2012 presidential election.