Someone Named Eva

When is a Czechoslovakian girl not a Czechoslovakian girl? When she is dragged from her family and placed in a German repatriation program where she is only allowed to speak German and is eventually adopted by a German family. Only in Someone Named Eva, Eva, real name Milada, makes the effort to always remember who she really is. And that someone is from Lidice, Czechoslovakia, where she was the fastest runner in school, loved to star gaze and ride bikes with her best friend, had a big brother, a baby sister, and a beloved grandmother, mother and father. She also had Aryan features, which is why the Germans snagged her.

But I didn't understand why the people of Lidice, Czechoslovakia were singled out by the Nazis until I read the Author’s Note. Resistance fighters made an attempt on Hitler’s favorite officer, Heydrich, also known as the “Butcher of Prague.” Nazi intelligence thought there was a connection between the village of Lidice and the resistance fighters (wrong) so they took revenge on it’s 500 inhabitants. The men and teenage boys were shot, the “acceptable” children where sent to the repatriation program and the rest of the children and women where sent to work camps. Then the Nazis razed the town, turning it into nothing but a field.

Shannon and I read this one together and enjoyed discussing it along the way. The constant theme throughout was to never forget who you are.

Ages 9-12
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Activity: I followed a link mentioned by the author to the Lidice Memorial. I noticed this museum on the site where the town of Lidice once stood is sponsoring an annual, international art contest for children ages 4-16. Get out your art supplies and send your entry by March 15, 2011.

Newbery News

The 2011 Newbery Medal winner and the four honor winners have been announced. Of special interest to me is the fact that the winner and three of the four honor books are historical fiction:

2011 Newbery Medal Winner

Moon Over Manifest

by Clare Vanderpool
Twelve-year-old Abilene Tucker is the daughter of a drifter who, in the summer of 1936, sends her to stay with an old friend in Manifest, Kansas, where he grew up, and where she hopes to find out some things about his past.

Ages 9-12



2011 Newbery Honors

Heart of a Samurai 
by Margi Preus
In 1841, rescued by an American whaler after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions castaways on a remote island, fourteen-year-old Manjiro, who dreams of becoming a samurai, learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

Ages 12 and up

Manjiro’s life story is f a s c i n a t i n g. I reviewed another book about him here.

One Crazy Summer
By Rita Williams-Garcia

In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.

Ages 9-12

I noticed over at The Fourth Musketeer that this author is so committed to literature for young people that she offers her own short story contest to encourage and reward young people's writing. Open to kids from 12-19, the winner receives a check for $100, a certificate, and a personal critique by Rita Williams-Garcia!

Turtle in Paradise
By Jennifer L. Holm

In 1935, when her mother gets a job housekeeping for a woman who does not like children, eleven-year-old Turtle is sent to stay with relatives she has never met in far away Key West, Florida.

Ages 9-12

The other Newbery Honor book this year is Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman. It is a collection of twelve poems that celebrate the wonder, mystery, and danger of the night and describes the many things that hide in the dark.

The Newberry Medal is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children as decided by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association. Given since 1922, it is named after John Newbery, an eighteenth-century English publisher of children’s books. It was the first children’s literary award in the world.

National History Day Contest

It’s all a little foggy, but I do remember a high school history teacher giving an assignment that entailed writing a paper about immigration. I don't recall him ever using the term “History Day Contest,”  but there was an awards ceremony at the local college, and lo and behold, I still have my entry to prove it. What do you say to that? I actually received a superior rating! Well, just barely. Notice how they crossed out “Excellent” and then wrote “Superior”? Looks like I just squeaked by thanks to that 1/2 a point!

   
I DO remember looking for sources in the library, and typing this on my Mom's old typewriter (frustrating!). But mostly I remember what I learned about Savannah, and James Oglethorpe and the debtors who immigrated to England's Georgia colony.

The annual National History Day Contest continues to give children a chance to strive for a superior rating, and mostly a chance to really research and learn about one aspect of history based on a theme. Here’s more information...

What is the 2011 theme? Debate and Diplomacy in History: Successes, Failure, Consequences

What are examples of that theme?
The Iran Hostage Crisis: When Diplomacy Fails
Segregation Debated or Changed: The Little Rock Nine or the Ruby Bridges Story
Debated Diplomacy: The Cuban Missile Crises
Lincoln Douglas Debates: Precursor to War
Irish, Italians, Chinese: Debated Citizenship
Dropping the Bomb: Moral Debate
The Indian Reorganization Debate of 1934: Debated New Deal for Native Americans
Ben Franklin’s Diplomatic Mission to England: Failed diplomacy/successful revolution

What kind of projects can be entered? Entrees can be accepted as either a paper, an exhibit, a performance, a documentary, or a web site.

Who can enter? Middle school aged students compete in the junior division, those in high school in the senior division.

When are entries due? In the spring. If your entry is one of the best in your region, then it will compete at the sate level. Winners from each state go on to compete at the University of Maryland at College Park from June 12-16. Contact your district or state coordinator to find out more.

To give you an idea of what the competition is capable of, take a look at this 2007 group documentary winner (junior division) that I found on YouTube:

The History of Energy

Cavemen gathering around a fire, Benjamin Franklin flying a kite in a lightening storm and a mushroom cloud exploding over Hiroshima; everything you think about when you think of energy is here, and more. The History of Energy contains over fifty pages filled with data about fire, wind, water, coal, steam, oil and nuclear energy. There is lots of cause and effect to boot. Did you know that in order to power his lightbulbs, Thomas Edison built the first commercial power station? Did you ever think about how nuclear energy was a precursor to procedures in the medical field...radiation therapy and CT scans for instance? Did you ever consider what a dangerous mess it was to fill your car with gasoline before there were gas stations?

This book follows the chronological order of man's attempts to harness energy while making the distinction between renewable and nonrenewable. And speaking of nonrenewable, it is amazing to realize that the first big oil boom was just 109 years ago. Think of all the oil we have used up since then! A detailed timeline is included.

Ages 9-12
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Activity: Imagine what future skies will look like filled with solar powered flight! The Aviation and Space Education Commission is sponsoring a poster contest titled Flying With the Sun. The deadline is April 12. Here is more information.

Jacques Cousteau - The Oceans’ Ambassador

“The best way to observe a fish is to become a fish.” Each spread of the recently published The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau has a bubble (how apropos) containing a Cousteau quote. And each bubble floats on colorful wall to wall artwork with a 1950's retro look. The copy, though sparse, is so informative. I learned that as a young weakling, Cousteau was encouraged to swim to strengthen himself. And that after a car accident later in life it was recommended that he wear arm braces; but swimming in the Mediterranean saved him again. It was at this point that a friend gave him goggles — the turning point in his life.

He couldn't get enough of seeing underwater. And he wound up going to great lengths to do just that. He was involved with the invention of the aqua-lung, the underwater camera and devices designed to get divers deeper than they had gone before. He explored oceans no one else ever had. And he, for the first time, brought the ocean right into people’s living rooms with his popular TV series, The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau.

This would be a great book to share with the child who loves the beach, sea animals or exploration.

Ages 6-9
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Activity: Now here’s something Jacques Cousteau would appreciate. You entering a design an ocean flag contest sponsored by National Geographic. This contest ends February 20, 2010. Good luck!