Hmmm

For a long time I have been embarrassed to say that I had not seen Judgement at Nuremberg.  Judy of course was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but as we know, Oscar is political and usually wrong.  1954. Now may I say that even Judy would agree that Oscar was right in awarding Rita Moreno the win that year.  1962 was no 1954.  Moreno's WSS role was the standout and Moreno is just one brilliant woman and actress, but I digress.
Shocking.

Anyway...I finally watched JAN and wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
What a movie.
Yes, Judy is incredible.  And the whole film is incredible.  I also read the book form of the script written by Abby Mann because, man.  This is one powerful story.  By the way, Mann grew up in East Pittsburgh!
One review I read of it asks the question, if the Axis powers had one the war, would the United States have been on trial for the bombings of Dresden and Tokyo and for the dropping of the atomic bombs. 
Other questions asked by the defense attorney:

Where is the responsibility of the Soviet Union...
who signed in  the pact with Hitler...
enabled him to make war?
Are we now to find Russia guilty?

Where is the responsibility of the Vatican...
who signed in the concordat with Hitler...
giving him his first tremendous prestige?
Are we now to find the Vatican guilty?

Where is the responsibility of the world leader Winston Churchill...
who said in an open letter to the London Times in            
'Were England to suffer a national disaster,
I should pray to God...
to send a man of the strength of mind
and will of an Adolf Hitler.'
Are we now to find Winston Churchill guilty?

Where is the responsibility of those American industrialists...
who helped Hitler to rebuild his armaments,
and profited by that rebuilding?
Are we now to find the American industrialists guilty?

No, Your Honor.

Germany alone is not guilty.

The whole world is as responsible for Hitler as Germany."


This blew me away because SILENCE IS VIOLENCE as we see today in the murders of so many African Americans.  Police remain silent.  Politicians remain silent (at best, MANY speak hateful, vile lies).  And most embarrassingly to me, pulpits remain silent. 

We all have the blood of 8 million Jews on our hands.  We all have the neck of George Floyd under our boot. 

WE MUST ACT FOR JUSTICE AND LIFE! 
WE MUST STAND FOR LOVE AND BE PEACE MAKERS NOT PEACE KEEPERS!  Because the "peace" we are protecting when we say "all lives matter" and "stop the looting" and "cant't we just be peaceful and kind" is not a peace.  It is signing a pact with evil like the Vatican did in 1933.

We must wake up and remember we were ALL created in the image of God and the only way to grow into God's likeness is to act like Jesus did.  Jesus was political. 
Jesus was killed by the state because He spoke out for the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed.  Following Jesus does not mean "peace keeping" it means PEACE MAKING and that is dangerous, dangerous work. 

Kent State

Kent State is the name of the book by Deborah Wiles and it is also the name of this university and when one hears it, it one's age or knowledge of history that impacts what it brings to mind.  I was born in 1971 so the Kent State killings had happened before I was born, and I first learned about it when I heard this song.  I remember asking my dad about it and he told me what happened. I can't remember how old I was at the time, probably 7 or 8.  My dad was NOT a fan of Nixon and so he definitely told me about the shootings from his own POV. 
As I grew older I learned more about it and began to have more sympathy for those National Guardsmen who were sent to Kent State and did the shooting.  I have not been able to find much about how they feel, fifty years later.  But I do believe what my parents told me years ago and what has been said many times over "rich men start the wars and poor men fight them."
This book is very well done and I think a very important book for all.
Living in the world is hard when we forget that the answer to everything is to respond with love.  And when we are finished responding with love, we should respond with love.  And when we are finished responding with love again, then we should respond with love...and so on and so on and so on...

Here's What Happened...

one summer at work we had this Summer of Wonder.  And it featured the book Wonder.  Now I have loved this book ever since I read the ARC.  Fell in love with it right away.  LOVED it.  But then the Summer of Wonder just killed it for me.  It was just...I don't know...the way we did it...ah...it is complicated.  But this doesn't take a way from what a great book it really is.  So when I saw White Bird, well I was still thinking of the Summer of Wonder and I really didn't want to read it.  No interest at all.  But man, man, man I am so glad I did.  I listened to it and I know it is a graphic novel and so I will read it, but man the audio was just powerful.  Especially Palacio's author's comments at the end.  IMPORTANT.  Please, please, please let us never forget.  It is happening again.  It is.  Please.  Speak up.  Please.  Love and love and love again.  And do not be afraid.  Do not let others prey on fear and turn us into people who devalue and dehumanize others.  We are all diversely created children of God.  Please, please do not be frightened into hardening your hearts.  Please do not be frightened into thinking that rights for all mean less rights for some.  That is how it begins.

Hard to Believe SPOILER

That Nine, Ten:  A September 11 Story is historical fiction.  Just like I am sure that my mom would feel that way about a JFK assassination story.  Just like some people might have felt about a sinking of the Titanic story. Nine, Ten was really good.  Very good.  I guess the reason I didn't give it five stars was because I just kept comparing it to Towers Falling which was just masterful.  But this was excellent, too.  The ending might have been too nice (the main characters don't die, nor do their loved ones.) but I didn't have a problem with that at all.  No, this is for sure a recommended read. 

The Nations Will Be Judged

Nowhere Boy is something else.  What a book.  What a really accessible book.  It's set in 2015-2016 and tells the story of a young refugee from Syria.  Set in Belgium, the other main character is an American boy whose parents have moved him to Belgium because of his father's job.  Very real and well drawn characters.  One of the best books I have read.

Last Days

The Last Days of Night was a really good.  It was quick and easy to read, not at all like I thought it would be.  I don't know what made me think this, but I thought it would be a "literary" read.  But man I just got right into it!
And the thing is, it is historical fiction, so I did learn a lot, too, because while I was reading it, I researched the "real stories" behind the events and people.  Plus, the author gives a good recap of what was real and what was fiction at the end of the book and also online.
I just found out that this is going to become a movie!
The only thing I guess that has me wondering is that in this book Westinghouse is not a good dude.  And from what I have read about him, in real life, he was a good dude.
Edison is a jerk in the book and from everything I have read about him, he was a jerk in real life. 
Telsa seems like a good dude in real life and in the book, too.
Graham Moore is a very easy to read author and this is one great book! 

Yes

At work we made lists of our favorite books and my dear friend, Kara recommended Homegoing and then when I asked her about it, the way in which she described it made it impossible for me NOT to read it.  And wow, what a story.  Heartbreaking and excellent.  I can't believe this is Yaa Gyasi's first book and I look forward to her next. 

Slump is BROKEN!

Maybe it was my attitude, or maybe it was the books, but I have to tell you, if it was my attitude, The Parker Inheritance is a book I would have loved anyway!  What a wonderfully written, fantastic book.  Just the perfect example of a book that is more than one thing and also another great example of excellent middle-grade fiction.  Varian Johnson has written an excellent mystery book, an excellent "guy" book, an excellent "girl" book, an excellent LBGTQ book, an excellent book about race, an excellent book about friendship, an excellent book about history, an excellent book about divorce.  He has written a wonderful stand-alone book.  He has written a wonderful first book to a series.  He has written my pick for the Newbery, if the Newbery picks a good book this year.

Paranormal Historical Fiction of a Horror

The Rattled Bones was excellent.  I wonder if everyone who reads it knows that it is based on a true, horrorific tragedy, an example of human's inhumanity to other humans.  I first read about it another excellent book.  Excellent.  Who says you can't learn from fiction! Now if only we will REALLY learn from it. 

Unspeakable

are the horrors that we inflict upon one another.  What the Night Sings by Vesper Stamper has written an important and incredible book that gives insight into something that I, ashamedly, never thought about- what did Holocaust survivors go through after the concentration camps were liberated.  Here is a really good article from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

Man oh Man...that was GOOOOD!

Dread Nation was just so good.  SO GOOD!  And I loved hearing the author, Justina Ireland on this podcast. And I LOVED it when I saw on goodreads that this is #1 in a series!
You don't like zombies, you say?
Trust me, you will LOVE this.
You do like zombies, you say?
Trust me, you will LOVE this.
You don't like historical fiction, you say?
Trust me, you will LOVE this.
You do like historical fiction, you say?
Trust me, you will LOVE this.


JUST TRUST ME.
YOU
WILL
LOVE
THIS!

Blizzards

I read Blizzard awhile ago so I did know about what became known a The Children's Blizzard before reading I Survived the Children's Blizzard, 1888.  But I wanted to listen anyway.  It has been a lot time since I heard an I Survived. I do enjoy this series and hope that it becomes a way for kids to want to learn more about the subjects and I really hope those who read this one will read Blizzard because, like all Jim Murphy's, it is excellent. 

Wish there were more, but maybe not...

The War I Finally Won is a sequel to The War that Saved My Life and I loved it.  I love Ada and Susan and the whole story and I wish I could read more about them, but I wonder if this is just one of those things, like it is better to have this one be the end?  Would a continuation of their stories just be cheesy?  Unnecessary?  I am the wars are over and wow, what an ending.  What a great, great book.  The ending was absolutely perfect.  Just wonderful.  I loved this book. 

More about Malcolm

After reading Betty Before X, I was excited to read X by Ilyasah Shabazz, this one written with Kekla Magoon.  This one is written for more tween and teen than children's, I think, just because of some of the things that Malcolm X experienced in his teen life.  Excellent.  Excellent.  Such a great account of the coming-of-age of Malcolm X and it left me wanting to know even more and to read more from Shabazz.  Highly recommended.

The Things I Never Knew are Embarrassing

I don't know much about Malcolm X except for what I read in this book in seminary.  I really liked the book a lot, I remember, but I need to re-read it or read more.  Betty Before X written by Ilyasah Shabazz, and Renée Watson about her mother, Dr. Betty Shabazz. 
Dr. Shabazz and Malcolm X are buried at Fercliff Cemetery, where Judy's remains rest.  Had I known that I would have visited their graves when I went to visit Judy's. 
I highly recommend this book.  It is very well done and accessible for middle schoolers and really piqued my interest, not just about Dr. X about her husband as well. 

Tough, tough, tough read...

I couldn't wait for The Journey of Little Charlie to come out.  I bought it right away and listened to it yesterday.  Christopher Paul Curtis is an incredible author.  Although my expectations were very high, the book exceeded them and as time passes since I finished it last night, my respect and high praise for this book just grows and grows. 
It haunts me and I think it will for a long time.
Let's face it, any book that deals with the evils of slavery is going to be a hard one.  But a necessary one. 
I hated Little Charlie, I hated his mother, I hated Cap' n Buck.  I have hope for Little Charlie, yes, but I still hated him.  And I know he just knew what he knew.  But how could one NOT know that what he believed about slavery was wrong?  How?
Are there things that I think are okay but I am as blind as Little Charlie?  This haunts me. 
Exceptional book. 

WhY!

I know why I didn't read The War that Saved My Life before and it is because I thought it would be super boring and just the "same old same old" but it was NOT!  This was really, really good!  And I am looking forward to reading the next one!  What a great story.  I loved the main character and her brother.  It was hard to hear the way that Ada and Jamie were treated by their mother- the way that she talked to them.  But we know that happens. 
Just an excellent book. 

Katherine How Great Thou Art

I like the way that that Quakers talk in Lyddie.  I really liked Lyddie.  But that is not surprising, knowing the author is Katherine Paterson.  There are some very funny lines in Lyddie.  And the power of reading is subtly shown here.  This takes place in Lowell, MA and there still in an area in Lowell known as The Acre.  Bette Davis was born there, in Lowell. There is a lot to learn here.  And just an excellent story to enjoy. 

This is it.

Plain and simple.  Auma's Long Run deserves the Newbery this year.  It also deserves the Printz.  If it does not win it will be 1954 all over again.  

Incredible.  Simply incredible.

Eucabeth A. Odhiambo, a professor at Shippensburg University has written and inspirational, heart-breaking, heart-melting, hard and important book telling the story of a 13-year old girl living in Kenya in the 1980s when the AIDS crisis was just beginning to take hold.  

Dr. Odhiambo also an includes this link from the UN which can show you the progress that has been made and the important work that still needs to be done.  

The winner.  No matter what the committee says.  

Sod Houses

No one lives in a sod house in Midnight at the Electric.  But the thing is, this just seemed really done before, even though I know it wasn't done before, because it was unusual.  And I think if it were written for younger kids it would win the Newbery because part of it takes place during the Dust Bowl and it seems like books that take place during the Dust Bowl and feature white girls ALWAYS got Newbery recognition, until as recently when the Newbery really has been going to deserving books like The Crossover and Dead End in Norvelt.  Of course,  there was Moon Over Manifest. Shudder.  But the Printz always seems to be a better choice than the Newbery and so I don't think this will win.  At least it didn't do it for me, not at all.  I just didn't really love or like many, or any of the characters.  But not to say it wouldn't be great for someone else.  I just really didn't like this one at all and found it hard to finish.