Locomotion

Lonnie Collins Motion, nicknamed Locomotion by his mother is in the fifth grade class of Ms. Marcus—a young enthusiastic teacher who encourages her inner city students to write various kinds of poetry. Lonnie begins his poetry book by talking about his foster mother, Miss Edna, the proper lady who encouraged him to be quiet when she first took him in after the fire that killed both of his parents. Throughout the book, Lonnie introduces us to other people who affect his life, including friends from school, his younger sister and his big brother, Miss Edna’s son Rodney. “His reflections touch on poverty and on being African American when whites seem to have the material advantages, and return repeatedly to the pain of living apart from his younger sister” (School Library Journal, 2004).

“Today’s a bad day
Is that haiku? Do I look
like I even care?”

With these words, Lonnie continues to give readers insight into his world. With flowing free verse, haiku, sonnet, epistle poems and others, Jacqueline Woodson through the voice of Lonnie provides deep, insightful, and sometimes heartrending lyrics about the life of a young African American boy. Although the book is written in verse, it is easy to lose yourself in the life of Lonnie and to laugh and cry with him as he avoids confrontation with the unpredictable Eric in his class and tries to find God so that he and his younger sister can finally be together. Through it all, we are reminded of the difficulties of life and the resiliency of youth. The verses leave a feeling of hope in the reader as Lonnie rediscovers himself in his new life.

I would recommend this book for students in grades 4 and up.

Keywords associated with this book: school, foster care, family, fire, separation, death, verse

The Princess Academy

Romance, intrigue, danger, princesses and the chance to meeting Prince Charming at a ball—The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale has all the elements guaranteed to make a young girl’s heart go pitter patter. Miri is a small-for-her-age 14-year old girl who has lived on Mount Eskel for her entire life. One day, Lowlanders visit her quarry home to announce that the Prince’s bride will be chosen from the girls of Mount Eskel. All the girls are taken to the Princess Academy, where they learn the true values of education, home, family and friendship.

Shannon Hale, author of The Goose Girl and Enna Burning has written a novel with characters that mirror real life teens. Miri, the main character struggles with self-doubt and life without a mother but still somehow remains true to herself. The touching scenes between Miri and her father illustrate the difficulty that many girls face in trying to establish a cross-gender relationship. Miri and the other princess trainees discover how to stand up to unfair adults and even how to communicate telepathically through their mountain home. The happily-ever-after ending directly appeals to my optimistic self. The book reminded me that if I am true to myself and do the right thing, things will ideally work out well in the end.

I would recommend this book for grades 4-7.

Keywords associated with this book: prince, princess, schools, mountain