The Final Round of Smackdown

 

Time has not shifted. You read correctly. We really feel that this first round is great enough to be our last round. We had to decide between Furia and Punching the Air. Obviously we want whichever book that finishes second to be heavily considered for the zombie pick.

Furia opens a window into Argentina that none of us were familiar with before and, of course, this is one of the very best things reading can do. Andrea was so moved by this feminist story that she started researching this area and introduced the rest of the team to the definition of femicide. Furia is a young girl in a very poor area of Argentina who just wants to play football like all the boys in the neighborhood; like her dad did before an injury cost him his career. Girls are not encouraged to play, not by society at large and certainly not by her dad. This is a feminist tale that holds strong to it's convictions right through to the end.

Punching the Air is a novel in verse written in part by one of the members of the Exonerated Five. Tammy encourages everyone who reads it to read the end notes first. This is a story of a boy who ends up in juvenile detention after a fight between two groups of boys turns into a turf war based on skin color. Some of the poems written by the character Amal were actually written by Yusef Salaam when he was incarcerated. This book was so hard to read. It follows stories we know but want to believe could not happen anymore. Instead we are confronted by examples of systemic racism daily. For a few of our us the depiction of a teacher's role starting in elementary school - reminded us of how influential we can be in forming a student view of themselves.

In the end of course, we smile; knowing we have to make a choice but knowing that we have just had some of the best reading experiences of our entire year!

Oh yeah...Furia for the win!