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WHS Book Club Meets Chooses "Sweetgrass Basket" & "Three Cups of Tea" as April Selections

Next Meeting: Wednesday, May 5

April 08, 2010

The Wahoo High School Book Club has chosen Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell and Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin for its May gathering (see book summary below). 

Our next book club gathering:

    Date: Wednesday, May 5

    Time: 6th Period (1:06 p.m.)

    Place: High School Library

The new books are now available. If you missed the April 7 meeting and you're interested in joining the club, see Mr. Privett, and he will make sure you get a copy of the new titles.

We hope to see you at our next meeting!

If you have any questions, please contact Mr. Privett at the high school (443-4332 ext. 3232).

Your book club sponsors,
Mrs. Fick, Mr. Privett & Mrs. Reece

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THIS MONTH'S SELECTION:

Sweetgrass Basket by Marlene Carvell & Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

Sweetgrass Basket: In alternating passages, two Mohawk sisters describe their lives at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, established in 1879 to educate Native Americans, as they try to assimilate into white culture and one of them is falsely accused of stealing.

Three Cups of Tea: One man's campaign to build schools in the most dangerous, remote, and anti-American reaches of Asia: in 1993 Greg Mortenson was an American mountain-climbing bum wandering emaciated and lost through Pakistan's Karakoram. After he was taken in and nursed back to health by the people of a Pakistani village, he promised to return one day and build them a school. From that rash, earnest promise grew one of the most incredible humanitarian campaigns of our time--Mortenson's one-man mission to counteract extremism by building schools, especially for girls, throughout the breeding ground of the Taliban. In a region where Americans are often feared and hated, he has survived kidnapping, fatwas issued by enraged mullahs, death threats, and wrenching separations from his wife and children. But his success speaks for itself--at last count, his Central Asia Institute had built fifty-five schools.

PAST TITLES:

January 2009

 
 
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Click on the video above to hear from the author!)

From School Library Journal: Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–Zusak has created a work that deserves the attention of sophisticated teen and adult readers. Death himself narrates the World War II-era story of Liesel Meminger from the time she is taken, at age nine, to live in Molching, Germany, with a foster family in a working-class neighborhood of tough kids, acid-tongued mothers, and loving fathers who earn their living by the work of their hands. The child arrives having just stolen her first book–although she has not yet learned how to read–and her foster father uses it, The Gravedigger's Handbook, to lull her to sleep when she's roused by regular nightmares about her younger brother's death. Across the ensuing years of the late 1930's and into the 1940's, Liesel collects more stolen books as well as a peculiar set of friends: the boy Rudy, the Jewish refugee Max, the mayor's reclusive wife (who has a whole library from which she allows Liesel to steal), and especially her foster parents. Zusak not only creates a mesmerizing and original story but also writes with poetic syntax, causing readers to deliberate over phrases and lines, even as the action impels them forward. Death is not a sentimental storyteller, but he does attend to an array of satisfying details, giving Liesel's story all the nuances of chance, folly, and fulfilled expectation that it deserves. An extraordinary narrative.–Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA

October 2009

Three Little Words: a Memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Ashley was only three years old when she was taken away from her mother -- too young to understand why she couldn't stay with the mother she adored and she could not possibly have realized that she was going to spend the next nine years bouncing from one foster family to another. As a small child she could not stand up for herself when the people that were charged with her care failed her. At twenty years old, her mother Lorraine was also too young to take responsibility for her two children or negotiate the legal system that tore apart her family. Three Little Words is Ashley's story, told in her voice, about the time she spent with Lorraine, and her search for someone to mother her. It contains all the passion and detail that can only come from someone who has experienced the foster care system from the inside.

May 2009

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island's Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl's fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

April 2009

The Weight of All Things by Sandra Benitez

Nine-year-old Nicolas Veras, attending the funeral of assassinated Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador, loses his mother in the melee that occurs when gunfire erupts, and embarks on a heroic quest to find her.

March 2009

The Wind Singer by William Nicholson

After Kestrel Hath rebels against the stifling rules of Amaranth society and is forced to flee, she, along with her twin brother and a tagalong classmate, follow an ancient map in quest of the legendary silver voice of the wind singer, in an attempt to heal Amaranth and its people.

February 2009

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Conceived to provide a bone marrow match for her leukemia-stricken sister, teenage Kate begins to question her moral obligations in light of countless medical procedures and decides to fight for the right to make decisions about her own body. New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. The product of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, Anna was conceived as a bone marrow match for Kate -- a life and a role that she has never challenged ... until now. Like most teenagers, Anna is beginning to question who she truly is. But unlike most teenagers, she has always been defined in terms of her sister -- and so Anna makes a decision that for most would be unthinkable, a decision that will tear her family apart and have perhaps fatal consequences for the sister she loves. My Sister's Keeper examines what it means to be a good parent, a good sister, a good person. Is it morally correct to do whatever it takes to save a child's life, even if that means infringing upon the rights of another? Is it worth trying to discover who you really are, if that quest makes you like yourself less? Should you follow your own heart, or let others lead you? Once again, in My Sister's Keeper, Jodi Picoult tackles a controversial real-life subject with grace, wisdom, and sensitivity.

January 2009

The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

Taken to Antarctica by the man she thinks of as her uncle for what she believes to be a vacation, Symone--a troubled fourteen year old--discovers that he is dangerously obsessed with seeking Symme's Hole, an opening that supposedly leads into the center of a hollow Earth.

November 2008

Cut by Patricia McCormick and The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Cut: While confined to a mental hospital, thirteen-year-old Callie slowly comes to understand some of the reasons behind her self-mutilation, and gradually starts to get better.

The Color of Magic: Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent novels are consistent number one bestsellers in England, where they have garnered him a revered position in the halls of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen. The Color of Magic is Terry Pratchett's maiden voyage through the now-legendary land of Discworld. This is where is all begins--with the tourist Twoflower and his wizard guide, Rincewind.

October 2008

Code Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of World War Two by Joseph Bruchac 

Throughout World War II, in the conflict fought against Japan, Navajo code talkers were a crucial part of the U.S. effort, sending messages back and forth in an unbreakable code that used their native language. They braved some of the heaviest fighting of the war, and with their code, they saved countless American lives. Yet their story remained classified for more than twenty years.
But now Joseph Bruchac brings their stories to life for young adults through the riveting fictional tale of Ned Begay, a sixteen-year-old Navajo boy who becomes a code talker. His grueling journey is eye-opening and inspiring. This deeply affecting novel honors all of those young men, like Ned, who dared to serve, and it honors the culture and language of the Navajo Indians.

April 2008

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

What's a girl to do? Scatterbrained, social climbing Mrs. Bennet makes one demand of her five daughters: Marry. Marry well. Marry RICH!

But sweet Jane is hopelessly in love with Mr. Bingley, who doesn't seem to notice. Flighty Lydia wants a man - any man - preferably one in uniform. Kitty just wants to have fun. Shy Mary has her nose in a book. And Elizabeth - brilliant, stubborn, independent Lizzy - refuses the advances of the most "marriageable" man in town - haughty, handsome, wealthy Mr. Darcy.

Mrs. Bennet's in hysterics, Mr. Bennet's in his study, Lydia's eloped with a soldier and Jane's heart may well be broken. Will any of the Bennet girls find true love and fortune?

March 2008

The Road of the Dead by Kevin Brooks

A 2006 School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

"... grabs and holds readers' attention from its very first chapter." — Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Brooks sustains a mythical aura throughout, and rapid-fire action should keep teens engrossed." — School Library Journal, starred review

"Fans of Brooks's Martyn Pig, Kissing the Rain, Candy and Lucas, won't be disappointed by this thrilling, gritty story and it's memorable, heart-breaking characters." — Kirkus Reviews

On a storm-ravaged night, a 19-year-old girl is kidnapped, raped, and killed. Three days later, her two younger brothers set out in search of her murderer. Cole, 17, is a dark-eyed devil who doesn't care if he lives or dies, while Ruben, 14, is a strange child who sometimes, inexplicably, experiences sensations above and beyond his own. This is the story of the boys' journey from their half-gypsy home on a London junk lot to the ghostly moors of Devon, where they hope and fear to find the truth about their sister's death. It's a long road, cold and hard and violent. It's THE ROAD OF THE DEAD.

February 2008

Daniel Half Human and the Good Nazi by David Chotjewitz
Historical Fiction

Daniel is a teenager in 1930's Germany. There are changes going on in his country. A man named Adolf Hitler is becoming more and more powerful in the government. Daniel and his best friend Armin, like what Hitler stands for. They both want to join the Hitler Jugend, the Hitler Youth. But what Daniel discovers from his wealthy parents one evening, changes everything. His mother reveals that she is actually Jewish. She has never been a practicing Jew, but that doesn't matter to the Nazi party. As far as they are concerned, all Jews must be identified and eventually dealt with. Armin does join the Hilter Jugend and rises through the ranks. More than once he holds Daniel's life in his hands and must decide which is more important; his blood brother, or his future?