Picture Book - Emmanuel's Dream by Laurie Ann Thompson

The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah
Illustrated by  Sean Qualls

2015, Schwartz & Wade Books, Random House Children's Books

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.38 - 2051 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers: A smudgy pinky, dusty solid

1^st line/s: 
"In Ghana, West Africa, a baby boy was born:
Two bright eyes blinked in the light,
two healthy lungs let oout a powerful cry,
two tiny fists opened and closed,
but only one strong leg kicked."

My comments: ONE PERSON CAN CHANGE THE WORLD.  This true story shows this  completely.  Born with a useless leg, Emmanuel was treated as and considered a beggar with no worth, but he wanted to EARN his way in the world.  This story shows how he really did make a difference, by proving to everyone that physical disabilities do not change a person's worth.  He biked - with one leg - for 400 miles across Ghana and had it recorded.  Because of his persistence and drive, Ghana's disability laws were changed!  This book is written really well and I totally enjoy the accompanying illustrations. A surefire winner for any "Making a Difference in the World" study!

Goodreads:  This picture book biography tells the true story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, who bicycled across Ghana--nearly 400 miles--with only one leg. With that achievement he forever changed how his country treats people with disabilities, and he shows us all that one person is enough to change the world.

PICTURE BOOK - Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prevot

Illustrated by Aurelia Fronty

2015 Charlesbridge Publishing

HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.28 - 414 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers"  Deep, sleek plum

1^st line/s:  "The immense forest around Wangari's childhood home is populated by bongo antelopes, monkeys, and butterflies."

My comments:  Woah, I've read five picture books about Wangari Maathai, but this is the one that's jam-packed with information for older readers, instead of just mentioning things, fleshing them out a little more.  We learn HOW she got to the US for college, HOW she protested, and WHY she ended up in prison.  Wonderful book, perfect to use with 4th, 5th, 6th graders studying the environment, making a difference in the world, activism, trees, Tu'Bshvat,......

Read the Text

Goodreads:  Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her efforts to lead women in a nonviolent struggle to bring peace and democracy to Africa through its reforestation. Her organization planted over thirty million trees in thirty years. This beautiful picture book tells the story of an amazing woman and an inspiring idea.

PICTURE BOOK - One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul

Illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon

2015, Millbrook Press, Minneapolis

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.29 - 769 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers:  collage of flattened plastic bags

Setting:  Contemporary Njau, Gambia

1^st line/s:  "Isatou walks with her chin frozen."

My comments:  Oooo-eeeee, this is my kind of book!  Ite tells how one woman in Gambia, after realizing that stinky, fly-attracting piles of plastic bags were making her village unsightly and unhealthy, came up with a plan to reuse/recycle them.  In the long run, the women of the town have started one heck of a business enterprise!  Illustrations are collaged and are lovely, as is the story.  My last class at THA recycled plastic bags into PLARN and we made a sleeping mat for the homeless shelter.  It took a lot of hard work and almost a full year, but boy were the kids proud!  This is a great introduction to teaching about recycling plastic gabs AND introducing some really cool DIY activities.

Goodreads:  Plastic bags are cheap and easy to use. But what happens when a bag breaks or is no longer needed? In Njau, Gambia, people simply dropped the bags and went on their way. One plastic bag became two. Then ten. Then a hundred.
          The bags accumulated in ugly heaps alongside roads. Water pooled in them, bringing mosquitoes and disease. Some bags were burned, leaving behind a terrible smell. Some were buried, but they strangled gardens. They killed livestock that tried to eat them. Something had to change.
          Isatou Ceesay was that change. She found a way to recycle the bags and transform her community. This inspirational true story shows how one person's actions really can make a difference in our world.

Short Story - from The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngoi Adichie

The Thing Around Your Neck 
Chimamanda Ngoi Adichie
2009; Anchor Books, Random House
Nigerian American woman
12 short stories
I purchased a paperback copy of the book

"Cell One"
p. 3 - p. 21
read Sat. 1/14/17
Adichie put me in Nigeria immediately.  I instantly knew the four characters in the story, the teller, her brother, Nnamabia, and her two parents.  When Nnamabia is thrown into jail because he stayed out past curfew and was with cult (gang) members in a bar, the family drive to visit him every day.  His cockiness slowly ebbs and his humanity shines through as he witnesses humiliations to a 70-year old man.  The abrupt ending put me off a bit.  I wanted more.  Good story.

MOVIE - Queen of Katwe

PG (1:24)

Wide release 9/30/16

Viewed Monday, 10/10/16 at El Con with Sheila
RT Critic:  91  Audience:  88

Critic's Consensus:  Queen of Katwe is a feel-good movie of uncommon smarts and passion, and outstanding performances by Lupita Nyong'o and David Oyelowo help to elevate the film past its cliches.

Cag:  4.5 Liked it a whole lot

Directed by Mira Nair

Walt Disney Studios

Based on a true story

David Oyelowo, Lupita N'yongo

My comments:  A little long, but it seems like most films lately have been.  Based on the true story of a young girl from the "slums" of Uganda who, even though she couldn't read, learned to master the intricacies of chess, out-thinking her opponents, and with the support of her small community of Katwe, going on to win championships in all of Africa, under the guidance of a part-time minister/coach (and his wife).  Though practically homeless and incredibly poor, she is also forged by a loving mother and three supporting siblings.  (Note:  the fabrics in this film are unbelievable, gorgeous, colorful!)

IMDb Summary:  "Queen of Katwe" is the colorful true story of a young girl selling corn on the streets of rural Uganda whose world rapidly changes when she is introduced to the game of chess, and, as a result of the support she receives from her family and community, is instilled with the confidence and determination she needs to pursue her dream of becoming an international chess champion

57.The Garden of Burning Sand - Corban Addison

Audio read by Robin Miles (there are lots of different accents, and she nailed every one of the, making the book even more realistic for me.)

12 unabridged cds (12.25 hrs.)

2013 Regulus Books, 2014 Recorded Books

448 pgs.

Adult Mystery

Finished 9/12/2014

Goodreads rating: 4.06

My rating:  4/I very much enjoyed this 

Setting: Contemporary Lusaka, Zambia

1st sentence/s:  "The girl walked alone on the darkened street.  Lights moved around her as cars drove by, their headlights shining on the dusty roadway.  But no one seemed to notice her or care that she was alone.  Her gait was steady but her steps were irregular since one of her legs was shorter than the other."

A good quote:  "Life is a broken thing.  It's what we do with the pieces that defines us."

My comments:  The best part about this book?  Getting to know contemporary Africa a bit.  This book is set in Lusaka, Zambia with forays to Livingtone and Victoria Falls.  The protagonist, Zoe Fleming, is an ex-pat whose father just happens to be running for president of the United States.  The story centers around an orphaned teenager with Down's Syndrome who has been raped, and Zoe's legal team gathering evidence to prosecute her rapist.  Many issues are thoroughly examined...AIDS and HIV, rape (not only in Africa, but in the US, since part of Zoe's past includes this), the culture of Zambia including the gaping socio-economic differences, medicine man/voodoo (my words) beliefs, and the realities of rich (country) vs. poor (country).  Disadvantaged vs. Advantaged.  I enjoyed listening to this book a great deal.

Goodreads book summary: Zoe Fleming is an American attorney working with an NGO devoted to combating child sexual assault in Lusaka, Zambia. When an adolescent girl is raped in the dark of night and delivered by strangers to the hospital, Zoe’s organization is called in to help.
          Working alongside Zambian police officer Joseph Kabuta, Zoe learns that the girl’s assailant was not a street kid or a pedophile but the son of a powerful industrialist with deep ties to the Zambian government. As the prosecution against him grinds forward, hampered by systemic corruption and bureaucratic inertia, Zoe and Joseph’s search for the truth takes them from Lusaka’s roughest neighborhoods to the wild waters of Victoria Falls, to the AIDS-ridden streets of Johannesburg and the splendour of Cape Town.
           As the rape trial builds to a climax and sends shockwaves through Zambian society, Zoe must radically reshape her assumptions about love, loyalty, family—and, especially, the meaning of justice.

MOVIE - Blended

PG-13 (1:31)
Wide release 5/23/2014
Viewed last week of August, 2014 at cheap theater
RT Critic:  14   Audience:  66
cag: 3 As ridiculous as it was, I liked it
Directed by Frank Coraci
Warner Brothers Studio

Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore

My thoughts:  I knew exactly what this movie was going to be - stupid and silly and funny and mostly pointless.  It was all of that.  But it was Adam Sandler and it was funny, yup, stupidly clever all over the place.  It was a waste of time and it was just what I needed.  Both.

RT Summary:  After a disastrous blind date, single parents Lauren and Jim agree on only one thing: they never want to see each other again. But when they each sign up separately for a fabulous family vacation with their kids, they are all stuck sharing a suite at a luxurious African safari resort for a week in "Blended," the third comedy collaboration between stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

25. The White Giraffe - Lauren St. John

audio read by Adjoa Ankoh
4 unabridged cds (4:47)
2006/ 2007 Random House audio
180 pgs.
Goodreads rating: 3.97
My rating: 2/It was okay
For: kids
Genre: Magical realism
Setting: contemporary South Africa

My comments:   I was hoping to read this aloud to my class, but it starts a little too brutally for my 4th graders (within the first few pages a raging house fire kills the protagonist's parents).  Pretty harsh.  Then, when Martine's whisked off to south Africa to live with the grandmother she never knew existed (?? - give me a break), that grandmother treats her quite harshly.  And later we're expected to believe that this woman loves this young girl?  Martine is really quite sneaky and is given free reign of the jungle?  Then, to top it all off, "magical reality" raises its eerie head, making the white giraffe - and its peculiar relationship with Martine - magical.  Just didn't do it for me, and won't for a lot of kids, but probably some will just love it.  I'll have it available during my Africa unit, but won't be reading it aloud.

Goodreads summary:  When Martine’s home in England burns down, killing her parents, she must go to South Africa to live on a wildlife game preserve, called Sawubona, with the grandmother she didn’t know she had. Almost as soon as she arrives, Martine hears stories about a white giraffe living in the preserve. But her grandmother and others working at Sawubona insist that the giraffe is just a myth. Martine is not so sure, until one stormy night when she looks out her window and locks eyes with Jemmy, a young silvery-white giraffe. Why is everyone keeping Jemmy’s existence a secret? Does it have anything to do with the rash of poaching going on at Sawubona? Martine needs all of the courage and smarts she has, not to mention a little African magic, to find out. First-time children’s author Lauren St. John brings us deep into the African world, where myths become reality and a young girl with a healing gift has the power to save her home and her one true friend.

Nelson Mandela - Kadir Nelson

Illustrated by the author

2013, Katherine Tegen Books, Harper Collins

HC $17.99 Carlisle's Bosler Library

40 pages

Goodreads rating: 4.20

My rating: 4/ (the illustrations are a definite 5)

Endpapers: deep cranberry

Title Page: No illustration, bold information on dark brown/tribal design background

Illustrations: Glorious!

2-page information and photo at the end of the book

Note:  I wish there had been a glossary/pronunciation guide, there were enough words to warrant one, perhaps this would be a good thing for my students to create after reading the book...

1^st line: " Rolihahla played barefooted/on the grassy hills of Qunu."

Goodreads:  One day when Nelson Mandela was nine years old, his father died and he was sent from his village to a school far away from home, to another part of South Africa. In Johannesburg, the country's capital, Mandela saw fellow Africans who were poor and powerless. He decided then that he would work to protect them. When the government began to keep people apart based on the color of their skin, Mandela spoke out against the law and vowed to fight hard in order to make his country a place that belonged to all South Africans.

My comments on Goodreads:  Kadir Nelson's illustrations, as usual, are incredible.  The cover is amazing.  This is the story of Nelson Mandela's life, but it seems a little spotty, starting with his earliest years (which was new-to-me information and really interesting), then jumping ahead, flying through his jail years, jumping ahead again....  I read this aloud to my 6-year old granddaughter and will read it to my fourth graders, and there are places that I felt I had to fill in information, or do some extra explaining.  Otherwise, I really loved this book.

60. Little Bee - Chris Cleave

read by Anne Flosnick
11 cds
288 pages

Adult Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Finished: 11/9/12

2008, Simon  & Schuster

Goodreads’ rating:  3.53

My rating: 4/Really liked it

Acquired: TPPL audio

Setting: Contemporary London and Nigeria
from GoodReads:  British couple Andrew and Sarah O'Rourke, vacationing on a Nigerian beach in a last-ditch effort to save their faltering marriage, come across Little Bee and her sister, Nigerian refugees fleeing from machete-wielding soldiers intent on clearing the beach. The horrific confrontation that follows changes the lives of everyone involved in unimaginable ways.Two years later, Little Bee appears in London on the day of Andrew's funeral and reconnects with Sarah. Sarah is struggling to come to terms with her husband's recent suicide and the stubborn behavior of her four-year-old son, who is convinced that he really is Batman. The tenuous friendship between Sarah and Little Bee that grows, is challenged, and ultimately endures is the heart of this emotional, tense, and often hilarious novel.Considered by some to be the next Kite Runner, Little Bee is an achingly human story set against the inhuman realities of war-torn Africa. Wrenching tests of friendship and terrible moral dilemmas fuel this irresistible novel.

Reflections: Fantastic writing, incredible story, but it was almost like he had to throw in every sort of sadness and non-happy ending (to MANY of the part of the story) that he possibly could. Yes, there was a lot of humor, too...5+ for the delicious words, 5 for the storytelling, 1 for the incredible sadness. This book has made me rethink what it is that I want in a "good" story.....I listened to this on CD and the reader was amazing. She read Little Bee's part in an English accent with the deep lilting tones of a Nigerian/Jamaican and Sarah's parts in a wonderful British accent. When she spoke as Andrew she gave Scottish inflections....it was really wonderful to listen to

57. Akimbo and the Crocodile Man - Alexander McCall Smith

Illustrated by LeUyen Pham
1993, Bloomsbury Children's Books
HC $9.95
65 pages
7 chapters
Goodreads: 3.86
My rating:  2.5
I'm guessing, and for some reason never took the time to post this review....perhaps because I wanted to be more pleased with it than I was....

Akimbo's father is a park ranger somewhere in the African bush.  Since Smith placed his Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency books in Botswana (I think), and he's resided there and in Zimbabwe, it might be set in either.

John, a crocodile expert, has come to the ranger station to tag crocodile families - newborns and their mothers.  Akimbo gets permission to accompany him.  He sees the mother netted and tagged, watches the babies hatch and tagged.  The huge scary reptiles are everywhere - and Akimbo knows how dangerous they are.  But then the unthinkable happens.  John, a trained naturalist who should have known better, gets attacked by one as he's getting into their rubber boat.  Things get more and more difficult as Akimbo hits the crocodile on the head with the oar, traverses the dangerous water, and hot wires the truck to get it started.

The beginning of the book was quite interesting.  Its simple storytelling is peppered with some great words and descriptions.  But then, perhaps to spice up a story that needed a little suspense/thrill, it turned in a crazy direction.  I would have much preferred the ecological, environmental story with more caution thrown in.  I have students who would love the animal part of this.  I was even planning to read it aloud, but I think I'll try another in the series (Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo and the Lions, Akimbo and the Snakes....)

56. A Long Walk to Water - Linda Sue Park

Based on the true story of Salva Dut
2010, Clarion Books
122 pgs.
Goodreads: 4.18
My rating:  4.5

1st sentence/s:  "Going was easy.  Going, the big plastic container held only air.  Tall for her eleven years, Nya could switch the handle from one hand to the other, swing the container by her side, or cradle it in bot arms."

Setting:  southern Sudan, between 1985 and now.

OSS:  Two different voices, one of a Dinka "lost boy" of Sudan on a many-yeared journey to find a home, and a life; and one of a contemporary Nuer girl whose entire day is spent gathering water instead of going to school.

Wow.  Salva spends from 1985 to 1996 wandering, orphaned and homeless, from Sudan to Ethiopia to Kenya and finally to the United States before he can put down any kind of roots, get an education, and even find a few - new and old - family connections.  This is an amazing and wonderful true story of one of the thousands of "lost boys of Sudan," written by an award-winning author who actually knows him.

Salva has done amazing things with his life.  After you read this book (and you must) go to Salva's website:  Water for Southern Sudan.

What’s Cooking, Jamela? – Niki Daly

Illustrated by the author

2001, Farrar, Straus & Giroux

28 pages

HC $16.00

I’ve read many of Niki Daly’s books, but it wasn’t until this one that I realized he was a HE.  He lives in South Africa, where this story is set.

Endpapers:  Yellow with brush-stroked chikens running forward and backward.

Title Page:  Two-page spread of a city street, with Jamela and her mom walking happily.  Nice.

SETTING:  Contemporary South Africa in the days approaching Christmas.

1^st sentence/s:  “Gogo and Mama were maiking plans for Christmas.”

OSS:  Jamela raises a chicken that is to be the main part of Christmas dinner, but when it becomes a pet she goes to dire straits to make sure that “Christmas” does NOT become Christmas dinner.

Includes a GLOSSARY.

Illustrations:  Well….perhaps ink and colored pencil?  They’re lovely, showing South African life , I’m particularly fond of the fabrics of rich African cloths.

The Mangrove Tree - Susan L. Roth & Cindy Trumbore

Planting Trees to Feed Families
collages by Susan L. Roth
2011 Lee & Low Books, Inc.
32 pgs.
endpapers:  collage of Eritrean countryside/seaside
title page:  collage papers with one mangrove tree
illustrations:  collages of lovely textured papers with one big photo (of Dr. Gordon Sato)

"By the Red Sea,
in the African country of Eritrea,
lies a little village called Hargigo.
The children play in the dust
between houses made of cloth,
tin cans, and flattened iron.
The families used to be hungry.
Their animals were hungry too.
But then things began to change . . .
all because of a tree."

Scientist Dr. Gordon Sato planted mangrove trees on the shores of the Red Sea, because they survive in a very salty environment. He taught the women of the villages to fertilize and grow them.  Goats and sheep thrive on eating the leaves, so the animals flourished.  Dry mangrove tree branches make great fuel, there's more meat to cook and milk to drink, and the roots of the plants harbor sea creatures, so that fishermen are finding their hauls more plentiful.  What a wonderful collaboration!

"This is Gordon
Whose greatet wish

Is to help all the fishermen
Catching their fish,
To help all the children
With dusty feet,
To help all the shepherds
Who watch goats and sheep,
To help all the women
Who tend the seedlings ---
By planting trees,
Mangrove trees,
By the sea."

Plant a Mangrove Tree -- Feed a Family
The Manzanar Project
P. O. Box. 98
Gloucester, MA   01931

Love it!  Ella says, "I liked the book because it told how the mangrove tree could help families in Africa."

Chirchir is Singing – Kelly Cunnane

Illustrated by Jude Daly

Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011

HC $17.99

32 pages

Rating:  4.5

Endpapers:  Brown earth with a few floating musical notes

Title Page:  her family, walking across the page.  Full color.

Illustrations:  cover most of page, in acrylics.  Sparse yet detailed.  Give a real feel for the setting.

Setting:  Contemporary northwestern Kenya, Kalenjin tribe

OSS:  Young Chirchir wants to help her family with the chores, but is a little too young to be able to actually help.

We meet Chirchir’s family as they are working.  Mama, who is drawing water from the well; Kogo, her grandmother, tending fire to cook chai; Ji-Bet, her sister, spreading a fresh layer of cow dung and ashes on the floor of the kitchen hut; Baba, her father, digging potatoes in the hill garden.  She sings everywhere she goes.  And so she sings to her baby brother, which keeps him entertained , as her voice travels to the rest of her family and keeps them happy, too.

Great language…simile and metaphor, with info in the back about this culture and a glossary and pronounciationguide for the Swahili words used.

Beatrice's Dream - Karen Lynn Williams

A Story of Kibera Slum
photos by Wendy Stone
HC $17.95
Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2011
24 pages
Rating:  4
Endpapers:  Purple with vertical streaks

Kiberia is a huge slum in Nairobi, Kenya.  There are no roads and almost no electricity, plumbing, or drinking water.

13-year old Beatrice lives here with her brother and his wife.  Both her parents are dead.  But she's lucky to go to school every day and dreams, even in her extreme poverty, of becoming a nurse.

This simple photo journal tells of her daily life.  Well, the words are simple.  It's the photos that show her life.  A good one to share with my fourth graders when studying Africa and discussing poverty.

The 3 Little Dassies - Jan Brett

G. P. Putnam's Sons, 2010
$17.99
32 pages
Rating: 4
Endpapers: woven basketweave with bugs, butterflies, moths...

Yes, it's a cute fractured fairy tale. Instead of three pigs it's three cute creatures native to the Namib Desert in southern Africa. Excellent for comparing and contrasting, retelling. But it's Jan Brett's signature illustrations that really captivate. How does she draw like this?

Incorporating native fabrics, flora, and fauna, one barely needs the words at all. The clever illustrations tell the whole story. make sure to examine them carefully!

New Old Shoes - Charlotte Blessing

Illustrated by Gary R. Phillips
Pleasant Street Press, 2009
28 pages
HC $16.99
Endpapers: Spiral 'tiles" in a brownish with rainbow

Told from the p-o-v of a pair of red sneakers, we learn of the children who wear them and the many things that happen to them. We watch them travel from America to Africa and the life they take on there, until, completely worn out, they become the hands of a scarecrow.

The illustrations cover the entire page - the attractive, large font appearing in the background of the illustrations. Lovely pictures.

Transitions from wearer to wearer could have been better -- this might be a good book to use with kids learning to create better transitiions. They could haver a go.

http://www.soles4souls.org/ "Changing the World One Pair at a Time"

The Spider Weaver - Margaret Musgrove

A Legend of Kente Cloth
Illustrated by Julia Cairns
Blue Sky Press, 2001
32 pages
Rating: 5
Endpapers: 9 patches - kente cloth in two patterns and the black and yellow spider

This gorgeous book, painted with greens, yellows, and blues of every hue, tells the legend of how seventeenth century Ghanan weavers discovered a spider's web so beautifully woven that they sought to recreate it.

So yes, the illustrations are lovely. And so is the writing. Musgrove tells the story simply, but uses word choices and literary elements that are wonderful models for writers. For example: dashes: "And everyone -- from the kings of the Ashanti people to the lowliest apprentice -- wore it." And similes: "The light from his lantern had fallen on an amazing sight, glowing like moonbeams agains the midnight sky" (and note the great verbs!).

WORD CHOICES:
detached
held fast
crumpled in my hands
doubtful
the beginnings of a new masterpiece
stood still in admiration
in the blink of an eye

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES TO BEGIN SENTENCES:
Early the next morning
Past the tall silk cottons and papaya trees
On this night
In no time
In time

Also included are an interesting afterward and a prnunciation guide.

Goal! - Mina Javaherbin

Illustrated by A. G. Gord
Candlewick, 2010
$16.99
Rating: 3.5
Endpapers: Red

Five friends who love soccer (or "football" in South Africa) get a chance to play with a real regulation soccer ball, won by one of them. However, one has to stand guard on a shanty rooftop to watch for bullies who will cause trouble and steal the ball. And, unfortunately, in they ride on their bikes. But the wily friends hide the soccer ball, letting the bullies steal their old plastic ball, feigning tears. Then they go on to play again - because they love the game.

(And what will happen next time, and the time after that?)

A. G. Ford's illustrations are their usual: brilliant.