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How Ella Grew an Electric Guitar

  • January 29, 2012 5:44 pm

 

This is a fun book to introduce kids to business. Eleven-year-old Ella, who has formed a band with three of her friends, desperately wants an electric guitar. In the process of trying to come up with the money to buy it, she learns about interest, the stock market, running a small business, marketing, and business loans. These concepts are introduced in a low-key way as part of the story.

My husband read this to our 9-year-old son, and they both enjoyed the story. My husband is an entrepreneur, and he felt the financial concepts in this book were sound.

One of the authors, Orly Sade, is a professor of finance, and the other, Ellen Neuborne, is a writer. They’ve done a great job of teaching financial concepts within the context of a compelling story.

I’ve included this book on my girls list.

Sita’s Ramayana

  • November 12, 2011 9:31 am

 

This graphic novel is an interesting retelling of the Hindu epic The Ramayana from the point of view of Sita, the queen of Ayodhya. The words are written by Samhita Arni, who as a child wrote an absorbing retelling of another Hindu epic: The Mahabharata: A Child’s View. The colorful, dramatic, appealing pictures are by Moyna Chitrakar, a folk artist who lives in West Bengal, India.

Sita is not known for being particularly active or assertive. In fact, her obedience and devotion to her husband Rama are legendary. Yet by focusing on Sita’s point of view, this retelling has something to say about a woman’s perspective on war and justice.

The story begins at the end, with the queen Sita entering the forest and begging the forest to shelter her. The forest wants to know why she was banished from Ayodhya, and she tells her story.

This retelling emphasizes Sita’s compassion for other women, including those who are considered enemies by the men. She believes that Lakshmana’s rash decision to cut off the demoness Surpanaka’s nose is the cause of her (Sita’s) abduction and the war in Lanka. “Violence breeds violence, and an unjust act only begets greater injustice,” Sita says.

When she is Ravana’s prisoner in Lanka, Sita becomes close to one of her demoness guards: Trijatha, who, unlike the other guards, feels compassion for Sita. It is Trijatha who tells Sita the story of the war between Rama and Ravana.

As much as Sita is overjoyed that Rama won the war, she still feels compassion for Mandodari, Ravana’s widow, as well as for all the other “enemy” women. “They would be queens no more, and their people had met death on the battlefield–for what? For one man’s unlawful desire. . . . It was such a high price to pay.”

The story also features a few other powerful females, including an apsara (divine female) who warns Hanuman about a sorcerer, and the goddess Chandi Devi.

In the end, of course, even Sita’s devotion to Rama cannot help her against the rumors that surround her because of her sojourn with Ravana. Sita finally makes a decision to leave Rama and return to her mother, the Earth.

I have included this book on my girls’ list.

The Wikkeling, by Steven Arntson

  • July 10, 2011 5:59 am


 This engaging, slightly spooky fantasy novel can be read on a couple of levels. Upper elementary kids (the target age is 9-12 years old) will likely read it as an adventure story. Henrietta and her friends, Gary and Rose, manage to vanquish the mysterious, menacing “Wikkeling” with the help of a gender-obscure cat named Mister Lady.

Kids will also enjoy the well-developed setting. Henrietta and her friends live in a dystopia in which technology, pavement, new construction, and advertising are taking over their world. Schools are driven by computerized, standardized tests, and everyone has instant access to the latest news about each other through their cell phones and other gadgets. (Sound familiar?) Henrietta and her friends also get a glimpse into what their neighborhood looked like a few generations ago. I was immediately drawn into the characters and setting, and I think kids will be, too.

Adults and older readers might get into the allegorical aspect of the story. The Wikkeling, we learn, was created by a couple of scientists for humanitarian purposes, to “harness the power of nature toward human industry.” The Wikkeling was brought to life by one word: “grow”. Unfortunately, this growth had no limits. The Wikkeling and its power destroyed its creators, and began taking over the world.

While the story ends with a satisfying resolution, there are enough loose ends that I assume this book is the beginning of a series.

Women Scientists in Novels

  • April 29, 2011 5:15 pm

This post is a bit of a departure from the premise of my web site. The novels featured below are not published by small publishers, nor are they specifically for young people. Nevertheless, I thought they would be of interest to teachers, parents, and teens looking to read and recommend novels featuring women scientists.

The following novels are ones that I’ve enjoyed and consider to be “good literature.” The novels below are realistic works of fiction—not science fiction. The science in these books is prominent and a main part of the story.

Interestingly, most of these books feature two women scientists who are friends and/or colleagues.

If you have other books to add to this list, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Remarkable Creatures by Tracy Chevalier — A historical novel based on the lives of two real women fossil hunters in the early 1800s: Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot. Anning, from a working-class family, started hunting fossils to sell as a way to increase her family’s income, and ended up finding several large skeletons of extinct marine reptiles. Philpot, a middle-class lady, hunted fossils to pass the time, and amassed a respected collection of fossil fish. The novel chronicles their friendship, as well as their efforts to be noticed and included in the male-only scientific community of the time. This book would be a good companion read with Persuasion by Jane Austen. Remarkable Creatures takes place in the English seaside town of Lyme Regis at the same time that Jane Austen lived and wrote. A portion of Persuasion also takes place in Lyme Regis.

The Hungry Tide by Amitav Ghosh — A beautiful, absorbing, unusual book about an Indian-American cetologist (dolphin researcher) working in the Sunderbans, a group of tropical, tiger-infested islands off the coast of India. Piya, the cetologist, befriends an illiterate fisherman, Fokir, who has an amazing self-taught knowledge of river dolphins. Although they don’t share a language, they manage to communicate enough to collaborate on tracking the movements of these dolphins. The final storm scene is gripping and poignant.

Intuition by Allegra Goodman — Two of the main characters are women scientists: Robin, a single 38-year-old post doctoral student researching cures for cancer, and Marion, a married mother who is co-director of the lab where Robin works. The story revolves around Robin’s attempt to prove that the remarkable results produced by her former boyfriend are the result of false data. Is Robin motivated by jealousy, or by a dedication to scientific rigor? Why does Marion fail to support Robin in her quest for accuracy and truth? The characters in this novel are complex and the lab scenes are full of detail. This would be a great book to spark discussions of issues like jealousy, competition, ambition, and collaboration.

Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver – There are two women scientists in this book: Deanna, a 47-year-old wildlife biologist who studies coyotes, and Lusa, a twenty-something entomologist interested in moths. During the summer of this story, these two women, who happen to live in an isolated Appalachian town, attempt to engage with and educate the farmers and hunters in their area about the importance of wildlife and nature. The story also deals with the fertility, mating, and reproduction that goes on among humans and animals during this one “prodigal summer.”

State of Wonder, by Ann Patchett — again, two women scientists are featured in this novel. Forty-two-year-old Marina Singh is a pharmaceutical researcher who is sent to the Amazon rainforest to track down 73-year-old Annick Swenson, an aloof researcher who has been living with an Amazon tribe for years, researching a fertility drug. Annick is a former medical school professor of Marina’s, but while Marina revered her teacher, Annick doesn’t remember her student.  While in the rainforest, Marina also wants to investigate the mysterious death of her colleague Anders Eckman. This novel has a strong plot and a fascinating setting.

Lacey and the African Grandmothers

  • March 13, 2011 7:38 pm

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This is another unusual novel from the Kids’ Power Series from Second Story Press in Canada. It is based on the true story of Lisa Jo Sun Walk, who as a teenager helped raise money for African grandmothers.

Lacey, a 12-year-old Blackfoot girl living in Alberta, Canada, learns about the plight of African grandmothers raising their grandchildren orphaned by AIDS. Although Lacey’s life is very difficult–she is one of 8 siblings in a poor family–she is determined to participate in the Grandmothers to Grandmothers program.

With her grandmother’s help, Lacey learns to sew and decorate purses and bags. Community members donate fabric, decorations, and time, and together they make about 30 purses, which they sell to raise money for the African grandmothers.

Then, Lacey learns something amazing: two African grandmothers are touring Canada to publicize the Grandmothers to Grandmothers program, and they want to come see her and her community! The entire community works together to prepare food, gifts, and performances for Florence and Zubeda from Kenya. Lacey realizes that these African grandmothers remind her of the elders in her own community.

The book is illustrated with actual photographs of tote bags made by Lisa Jo Sun Walk and her family and friends, and photos of the African grandmothers’ visit.

Based on reading level alone, this book would be appropriate for kids 8 and up. However, because of some mature content, I would recommend it for kids 11 and up. For example, Lacey’s 17-year-old sister is in a relationship with a young man who is verbally abusive to her. Teen pregnancy is front and center, since much of the book takes place at an alternative high school for girls who have given birth.

This inspiring book is highly recommended. I have included it on my girls list.