Octopus for Harry Ainlay

This was a difficult choice for our team at Harry Ainlay. Both novels were engaging, however, The Benefits of Being An Octopus won.

Moonrise
This novel will impact readers on various levels. It was an emotional read on many levels: family relationships; poverty; advocating for a brother; the criminal justice system; and the complex idea of hope. The issues we faced in our discussions was the accessibility of the text and the plausibility of the death penalty in a murder with reasonable doubt. We know the author is shedding light on the faults of the criminal justice system. Could that exploration and narrative be stronger? More plausible? Yes and it should be.

Octopus
This novel is accessible to middle year readers. Various topics are approached with nuance, empathy, and integrity. Complex issues arise from this text which make the reader think of their stance and the complexity of the issue. The metaphor of a young girl who takes on a parent role was so fitting as many of the children in our classrooms can relate.

Moonrise vs. The Benefits of Being an Octopus

Audiobook vs hard copy of a  book can , at time, make a difference!
Checking out EPL as soon as I got my titles, I quickly took out the audio version of Octopus, and hated it. Perhaps it is due to me trying to distract myself on the treadmill while listening, but I just could not buy in to the characters, or the plot. The reading level was low, perhaps appealing to grade 4/5 and I can't see my Junior High students sticking through the muck of this book! However, as time goes, my audio copy returned and eventually, I resorted to the hard copy. Through reading the final few chapters on my own, I liked the story and characters a bit more but sadly, I quickly realized that although sad and desperate, Zoey's life will never improve with such negative mentors around her. Even those that should be in her corner, disappoint. Her mother, in an abusive relationship, finally makes one good decision but I was already too far gone in my dislike of all the characters to change my mind. I want to feel bad for Zoey, I really do, but her story is just simply too negative to vote this one through (and yes I know this is a reality for many students/ kids but perhaps my real life students have all my sympathy right now in their struggles)!

Now onto the good stuff!
Moonrise was such a pleasant read. Dealing with the date of your brother's execution while he sits on  death row is unimaginable; dealing with an innocent brother on death row is unforgivable. In this heartbreaking story, the reader is taken on a journey with the protagonist to spend time with the brother he barely knows before his impending death. Knowing you' re going to lose someone that you are finally getting to know and that all hope, no matter what you or any one does, is fruitless, grips the reader's attention from the beginning and keeps you hanging on in hopes of redemption. A lovely story, although truly sorrowful, the plot is relevant, appealing, and new.

~Jan Reimer readers

Moonrise Vs. The Benefits of Being an Octopus

  My vote for this round is definitely Moonrise by Sarah Crossan. I found it much more engaging than The Benefits of Being an Octopus. I think this book is suitable for Junior High School students. The short, free verse poems as a way of storytelling would keep them interested. The format reminds me of Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. We focus mainly on fairness and moral dilemmas for the Language Arts 8 book clubs at my school. This is an area that many grade 8 students are interested in and have an opinion about. I think they would enjoy this as an independent read far more than The Benefits of Being an Octopus. Onto the next round!


                                                

A Spotlight on Hopelessness

Holly said sometimes you need a spotlight on hopelessness and that's why she voted for We'll Fly Away. It's also why I hated that book so much. I wanted there to be some hope, I wanted to believe in the bedrock of Luke and Toby's friendship and the mere weeks they had to hold out for their dream. Holly also said it could be a book in a reading ladder with Free Lunch and The Benefits of Being an Octopus. Of course when you get to the top of this ladder it will be pitch dark. Bliss made me care, then he made me really, really mad (just not bar fight mad).

Tammy agrees with me but voted the opposite - which is why I love the Smackdown:

I am voting for I'll Fly Away.  Both books provided new characters as well as story lines that were fresh, thoughtful, and, to say the least, deeply disturbing.  I didn't like the way either book made me feel but I applaud the willingness of both authors to explore these uncomfortable and ugly topics. 

Patron Saints of Nothing had plausibility issues.  Specifically, the timeline of 1-2 weeks to solve such an incredibly complex disappearance\murder seemed wrong. I questioned why strangers (the professor) would put themselves in danger for someone they really didn't know; particularly when the penalty may be death.  The story line was good but it felt like it needed at least a year to develop the relationships and trust needed to make the events happen.

I'll Fly Away was expertly crafted. I was compelled to keep reading because of the letters. I needed to find out what the seemingly 'more promising' of the two boys had done. I felt that the boy with the stolen car and loser\career criminal father was destined for jail. But the second boy, who had a scholarship (and hence a chance at success) was the one in prison, and then I learned Death row. Wow! What could have happened? I was hooked and that's why it gets my vote.   

I don't want to read either book again and I'm not sure I would recommend either book to a student.  I still want a story that will inspire and enlighten me. I, too, would like some unicorns and rainbows and for that I will not apologize.

Our remote ABM'er Annabel had this to say:

I kept thinking how delighted Lisa would be at the depth of sadness I felt through reading both these books.  Both tackled timely and sensitive topics with grace and thought.  The characters all came alive for me and at no time did I feel the situations or actions of the characters were particularly unrealistic.  Although I love my books to end up with unicorns and rainbows I knew from the get go with these two novels that an outcome like that would not be in the cards and nor would it be realistic to the plot.  Both novels made me think and hopefully would be windows to many students reading them.  Hopefully these novels grow compassion and advocacy in equal parts.  Ultimately I am voting for Patron Saints of Nothing.  Why?  Probably because of just how timely this book is; this is a 'right now' book.  

Andrew, Ben, Lil, Arlene and I had a great discussion. Ben described how much Patron Saints of Nothing was a mirror into his life and worried if that made his judgement skewed but our preferences always come into our reading experiences and mirrors are for looking into. Andrew found this book to be a window but he enjoyed learning about the political history (social teacher - duh). Lil has been to the Philippines but has also worked with kids whose home lives made We'll Fly Away completely plausible to her. However she found both books to have parts that seemed contrived to her. 

In the end we vote: 7 Patron Saints, 2 Fly and Andrea and Angie who can put their thoughts down on a later post.

For anyone doing a deep dive on Smackdown history - yes Andrew and I agreed! Maybe that spotlight is an eclipse!!

We'll Fly Away vs. Patron Saints of Nothing

We’ll Fly Away

We found this book to be very dark, depressing and unrelatable, but also formulaic. 
In the last round we read the book Moonrise which was a more beautiful written and thought provoking
story about story of inmates on death row.  

The plot was predictable, but the characters seemed very unrealistic. 
Luke was too good to be true in being the perfect athlete, the full-time caregiver,
a good student, and an excellent friend.  Joyce could not stand the twins Jack-Jack and Petey
and found their story to be off-putting and annoying. We have a hard time believing that
no one knew about the abuse that Toby was suffering at the hands of his dad, or that Luke
wouldn’t have gone to his coach for support with anything from his home life, or to help Toby.  

Patron Saints of Nothing

We all really enjoyed The Patron Saints of Nothing.  The novel is appealing and engaging
as the mystery unfolds about what happened to his cousin, and all the systems of oppression
that the Phillipine people are facing under the Drug War.  This was something current
that none of us were aware was happening in the Phillipines that made us learn more about.   

The characters were realistic and believable. It was wonderful to experience the growth
and change in Jay as he explored and became connected to his culture and family in the
Phillipines.  The relationship between Jay and his Uncle was interesting as the Uncle was
a well developed character and you could see the tension being created around him as he
was an upstanding and affluent member of the police force, and the struggle to be an empathetic
father when your son resists the life you lead.

The novel is able to realistically capture the immigrant experience.  

 Our vote is for The Patron Saints of Nothing.  

Smackdown the 10th

Round 3

Vanessa, Deb, Norma, Joelle

  vs

         Ghost Boys                The Prince and the Dressmaker

Vanessa: The story behind the Prince and the Dressmaker is lovely and although I appreciate that storyline, it was a reaaaaallllly short story. For me, it could not hold up to the meat of Ghost Boys. Ghost Boys was not a five star book for me it’s likely because it is a softer, more elementary version of the Hate U Give (and I loved the Hate U Give). So although my story is short, it is not the short story that is moving on. Ghost Boys FTW 

Deb: To be completely honest, I didn’t love either of these books. “The Prince and the Dressmaker” is a book I would have in my classroom and I think it would resonate with some students, but I didn’t find it to be overly engaging. “Ghost Boys” is my winner this round, although I wouldn’t say it's my favorite book this year. I do think it is a good read and gives students an accessible entry into modern day civil rights issues and the historical racism which paved the way for some of the issues which persist in the present. 

Norma: I concur with what Vanessa and Deb wrote. The Prince and the Dressmaker was an easy read but was just o.k. Ghost Boys was a bit better but I didn’t love it. It was an easy read but not as compelling as it could have been. It didn’t hold my attention for long periods of time. Given the choice between these two, my pick to move forward is Ghost Boy.

Joelle:  This was totally apples and oranges I thought.  The plots were so different, the characters were so different.  I loved the Prince and the Dressmaker, read it twice and will probably steal this copy, but I totally agree, it just didn’t have the heft (?) to move the story on.  Honestly, it didn’t really have the heft to say anything new or challenging about the ideas behind it either; at least Ghost Boys did that I thought, even if it was quite boring at times.  Which was strange because I expected to love Ghost Boys from the premise alone. And I did like it a lot, but it almost didn’t have the ooomphf it needed to compete either. I’ll say Ghost Boys for the win.

Ghost Boys vs. The Prince and the Dressmaker

Ghost Boys wins in the opinion of our team.   It speaks to diverse themes that are important for our students to read and discuss. The book was impactful, relevant and engaging.   Social themes were discussed from multiple points of view.  And besides that, it had text rather than pictures.  :-)