From Charlie's P.O.V.

I really enjoyed the book "From Charlie's Point of View". Richard Scrimger did a great job of informing the reader about blindness and how people deal with it and creating an interesting story that was not based around Charlie's special need. Although some people may argue that Charlie was a trope character because he was docile, brave and somewhat A-Sexual I would argue that his personality and characteristics were appropriate for the story and a character with his age and background. I believe that him having a romantic interest in someone would not add to or take away from the story as there was not much romance involved in the whole book. I believe his docility was appropriate to contrast Bernadette's aggressiveness towards those who mistreat Charlie. Overall, this was one of the better books we have read this semester.

The Coretta Scott King Award

ManyThe purpose of the Coretta Scott King Award is to encourage artistic expression of African American experiences via literature, graphic arts, and biographical, historical, and social history treatments by African American authors and illustrators. The award was established in May of 1970 to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. Since no African American author or illustrator won the Newberry or Caldecott award before 1970, this award was founded to point parents, teachers, and librarians toward the best Afro-Centric children's literature. The ALA recognizes this award as an association award and it is sponsored by Johnson Publications, World Book Incorporation, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Book Wholesalers Incorporation. Although the award is named after her, Coretta Scott King did not have any involvement in its inception. The two founding libraries chose her as inspiration because of her advocacy and fight for peace and civil rights. Criteria for the award must portray some aspect of the African American experience as well as being written or illustrated by an African American. The work must be written for Preschool-12th graders. For more information on the criteria and the award please visit http://www.ala.org/ala/emiert/corettascottkingbookaward/abouttheawarda/cskabout.htm
Many books who win the award do not have a seal, ribbon, or any recognition on their cover.

Bronx Masquerade

I really enjoyed the book "Bronx Masquerade". I enjoyed the uniqueness of the book especially the way it was broken into stories and poems. Although the multi-vocal text was hard to keep up with at times, I enjoyed the different point of views. I think the majority of the class enjoyed the book also. the discussions in class seemed to be praising the book and thinking of how the format of the book contributed to the readers opinion of the book. I would definitely recommend this book to teachers in middle school or high school.