Dear World: A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace by Bana Alabed

Dear World: A Syrian Girl's Story of War and Plea for Peace by Bana Alabed
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 17, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"There are no children in Syria. You all were forced to become adults - to understand killing, to experience fear and starvation and pain in a way that all children should be shielded from. But that was a luxury we did not have. Something changed for me too when Yasmin died and when the siege overtook us in those brutal months after. Along with being terrified and heartbroken, I became angry - angry that we had to endure this while the world did nothing. Angry that I was helpless to protect my children. Angry that there is a world where bombing and killing children is tolerated. Angry that I taught you to be generous and fair and kind and then offered you a world that was anything but. As things became more desperate so too did your questions: Do people know this is happening to us? Does anyone care? Why do they keep bombing us? Why won't they stop? Why can't we have peace? I was angry most of all that I didn't have answers to those questions. And that you, a seven-year-old girl, had to ask them."

Review:
This is an incredibly important read about the true life experience of a girl who survived the war in Syria. I had not heard about Bana while she was tweeting about the siege and I didn't learn of her until she was safe. At the Oscars in 2018, Andra Day and Common sang Stand Up for Something. In the background spotlights came on to show 10 people. I could recognize 5 of them as my heroes, but there was a little girl that I did not know. I looked her up and it was Bana al-Abed, who tweeted through the Syrian war and had just published a book about her experiences. I bought the book that night. It's taken me several months to pick it up. It's so easy to ignore injustice, like the book I ignored on my shelf for 5 months. That's why you need to read this book. It will shake you awake to the experience that you should know about and care about. I don't pretend to understand the Syrian war. I do understand that children should be safe; that turning refugees away is evil; that I do not fight hard enough for what I know to be right. So, in order to help make Bana's wishes come true, I will act. I will write to my legislators, I will inform my peers of what is going on, I will donate to causes that do the work that I cannot, and I will not ignore the injustices that I know are happening. Thank you Bana.

Hacking Mathematics: 10 Problems That Need Solving by Denis Sheeran

Hacking Mathematics: 10 Problems That Need Solving by Denis Sheeran
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 11, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"Often we put off blogging because the idea we have isn't perfect, or isn't fully worked out, or the lesson isn't finished, or our post is just not as well-written as we'd hoped. Those are the exact reasons TO blog. You need to put out imperfect ideas, because we're all imperfect and learning together. You need to blog about lessons as they happen, unfinished and in progress. Those reflections and perspectives matter."

Review:
This book was 10 easy "hacks" to implement in class to help students enjoy and understand math better. These are not math tricks. There are no shortcuts found here. All of the hacks are classroom procedures or resources to help you and your students get through the year successfully. I particularly liked hacks 1, 3, 5, and 10. Hack 3: Join the MTBoS led to me to finally create a math blog. I've been creeping on #MTBoS for years but have not often participated. This chapter made me realize that I have ideas worth sharing and that the Math Twitter Blog-o-Sphere is not full of untouchable experts, but full of regular teachers, like me, who are trying new things out in their classrooms too. I really appreciated this.

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor

Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
My Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: August 9, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"However, just because something isn’t surprising doesn’t mean it’s easy to deal with."

"But deep down inside me, I wanted . . . I needed it. I couldn’t help but act on it. The urge was so strong that it was mathematical."

Review:
While I loved that the main character was Himba and that math was the tool her people used to create technology, I struggled with the writing at the beginning. I felt like things happened in the story and then they were explained, which is difficult to read because I had imagined what I thought was happening just to have the pictures changed by the explanation. Later in the story I had a pretty good grasp of what to imagine and didn't feel like this was such an issue anymore. I really liked the role of the otjize in the story, but had difficulty understanding the technology and it's use. Though it was a quick story, I had difficulty with the quick progression of (view spoiler)[genocide to friendship (hide spoiler)] that occurred in such a short time. Overall, I liked the story, but haven't decided if I will read the sequels. It should be noted that I'm not much a sci-fi fan, and that could be part of my difficulty with the story.

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: June 25, 2018
Format: Audiobook
Favorite Quote(s):

"My life was narrated for me by others. Their voices were forceful, emphatic, absolute. It had never occurred to me that my voice might be as strong as theirs."

"'You can love someone and still choose to say goodbye to them,' she says now. 'You can miss a person every day, and still be glad that they are no longer in your life.'" 

Review:
I think I might need to sit with this for a bit longer to write a worthy review. For now, I'm questioning so many things... like public education and my role in it. Are we providing students with the tools they need to for higher education or are we draining the curiosity out of them? 3/7ths of the Westovers have PhDs. I think there is something there to at least discuss. I'm also thinking about my interactions with my sister. We are very different people and have never experienced or interpreted a mutual event in our lives the same way. It's an incredibly lonely experience to be denied your own perspective, but it feels a bit like Tara has validated me on her journey to validate herself.

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
My Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished Reading: April 20, 2018
Format: Book
Favorite Quote(s):

"I only know that learning to believe in the power of my own words has been the most freeing experience of my life. It has brought me the most light. And isn't that what a poem is? A lantern glowing in the dark."

"Burn it! Burn it. This is where the poems are,” I say, thumping a fist against my chest. “Will you burn me? Will you burn me, too?"

"And I think about all the things we could be if we were never told our bodies were not built for them."

Review:
Easy 5 stars. I've read ancient and modern books written in verse before, but I think all of them have been epic (like the whole book is one long poem). But not here. Acevedo writes a series of individual poems that all come together into one beautiful story. This was epic in a different way. Some of her poems are for tying the story together, but most are the beautiful kind with triple meanings and gorgeous metaphors and deep "wait-I-need-to-read-that-again" meaning. I was able to connect with it even though I'm not a teen or the child of immigrants or a poet. This is going in the "will reread over and over again" pile. Highly recommended.