Noticing Sentences

Lincoln Award Book, 2021 Way too relatable for my students ... I try not to stare at the scarf wound around her head. It's not that I've never seen this before. I've just never seen it live, in person. Especially here in Brookdale, the place crowned three years ago as the "Whitest Town in Maryland." p32 Privilege A human being would apologize. Would at least put the rifle away. but Mr. Danforth lacks the basic human firmware required for apologies. He rooted out those files and deleted them years ago. Being rich means never having to say you're sorry. p68-69 Emphasis mine. Discussion "Well, here's what I've noticed over the years: People-- men, especially-- are quiet for one of four reasons." She hands me the newly full glass and proceeds to tick them on her fingers: "They're hiding something. They're afraid of something. They have nothing to say. They have too much to say. Which is it for you?" p97 "Suck ...

Lincoln 2021 Books U.S. versus other countries South Korea- p65 It's awkwardly formal compared to back home, where we usually all eat at different times, typically while in front of the TV or a book or our phones. Loneliness and noise. The American way. p92 Marcos is widely regarded by the world as a brutal dictator, continuing to stay in power after the end of his presidential term by declaring martial law. p147 It strikes me that I cannot claim this country's serene coves and sun-soaked beaches without also claiming its poverty, its problems, its history. To say that any aspect of it is part of me is to say that all of it is part of me. p227 Discussion I met one old woman who had been doing this every week for the last forty-eight years. even if God does not exist, this woman has been doing good in His name so maybe it does not really matter. p88 She hesitates, then adds, "Maybe you haven't developed a passion yet because you've spent your entire ...

Amazingly Said 2nd paragraph p 38 (Mike Jung) "Write what you know to be true." Write your lived experience into existence. Write your truth. p5 (Shaun David Hutchinson) The happiness someone wears and puts out into the universe should never be trusted to be the same amount of joy one has within. p181 (Adam Silvera) I really hope anyone reading this understands that if your "stupid" reason is eating you alive, then it's far from stupid. p183 (Adam Silvera) I write sad stories for teenagers because young adults need to see that there is no such thing as a happy ending when you're that age. Because life is more than your teenage years. p185 (Adam Silvera) Discussion 1st full paragraph on p 167 (Meredith Russo) Have you found your people yet? You absolutely must: they are going to make your life so much more enjoyable. p205 (s.e. smith) When so many people dislike you because of something you can't control, it turns out that you become an...

Lincoln Award 2021 Book Description My body may have returned home, but my brain is still wired for war. p6-7 "You're a real military man now." p17 Discussion "You're a real military man now." p17 -- What does this mean? How does his grandpa mean it? Who does this exclude? How does it make Jake feel? We're not making a stand for democracy or freedom. We're just a bunch of scared nineteen- and twenty-ear-olds doing whatever we can to stay alive. p29 People who have good intentions, but can't comprehend that in so many cases "service" means that it you're not dead, you're physically and psychologically crippled for life. It means you will never, ever be the same. p41 all of the Brandi chapter starting on p 82-- the purpose of JROTC/ recruiting practices and targets war memorials discussion-- p124 drugs from the military- - p126 diversity/ inclusion in the military- 135 America has managed to be involved in ...

Racism/ Discussions Jared: Ah, here we go. Not every white person who kills a black person is guilty of a crime. Pretty sure the courts proved that yesterday. p27 The cop shoves him to the ground beside the police cruiser as he asks if Justyce understands his rights. Justyce doesn't remember hearing any rights, but his ears had been ringing from the two blows to the head, so maybe he missed them. He swallows more blood. p7 I thought if I made sure to be an upstanding member of society, I'd be exempt from the stuff THOSE black guys dealt with, you know? Really hard to swallow that I was wrong. p12 There are people who don't see a man with rights when they look at me, and I'm not real sure how to deal with that. p37 Me: It's a conundrum: white people hold most positions of authority in this country. How do I deal with the fact that I DO need them to get ahead without feeling like I'm turning my back on my own people? p49 Excellent discussion on privi...

Great examples of journalistic bias throughout. Check out in between chapters and discuss how different the articles are from the story we're getting from the victim. Discussions It doesn't matter that the person I murdered was the most miserable excuse for a human being to ever walk this earth, shy of Hitler. It's knowing he didn't have a chance to find some humanity, that I took it from him. p18 Every day since-- all 588 of them-- his deep voice fills my head with hate-filled words. I don't share his hate. I really don't. But that doesn't stop the thoughts from creeping into my mind. p19 (A powerful thing to discuss. Just because a prejudices or racist thought comes into our minds, that doesn't mean we have to believe it or hold it. We can and must reject it.) Not that I'm much different-- seeing as how my first inclination was to kill her, too. But I didn't want to do it. My reaction was instinct, hers is ... judgement. p26 It sm...

Shade And besides, it wasn't like the world was waiting with bated breath to read yet another essay about the importance of characterization in Spoon River Anthology . p22 Description ...that Joaquin's family tree seemed to have way too many scraggly branches and not enough roots, not the kind of roots you would need when the storm was strong. p53 He wished they would go away, because nothing was worse than someone wanting you to talk when the words you needed to say hadn't even been invented yet. p84 It felt a bit like she was heading toward a firing squad, except worse, because she knew she that instead of dying, she was going to have to stay alive through the whole day. And then the next one after that. p97 She said "You're the worst" in the way girls say things when they want boys to think that they're teasing, like, "You're the worse, but I still like you enough to hook up with you, even though you're the emotional equivalent ...

Great discussion of faithfulness/ consent- p 4-5 Achilles's sorrow monologue p182 Hector speaks to Achilles p221

*****I am avoiding spoilers for this particular book, but if you want to avoid spoilers for the SERIES, I suggest you do not read this post. LOL Her mother had said she needed to find her bliss. Who'd have thought it would be on an island in the middle of nowhere? p90  (irony) Perhaps it was his choice of famous residence that had brought him to Goddard's attention. Grouseland was, after all, the first brick home in the Indiana Territory. Damn. p200 Nietzsche, aside from having a name that was painfully difficult to spell... p200 (I feel like this is Shusterman putting his own little aside in here-- about having to type that name over and over.) "Maybe because I want you to use your hands for something more than pleasuring yourself." p362 Shade "With all due respect, it sounds like the world has been duped by a very charismatic and self-serving monster." p100 Because, after all, a thousand people gleaned in a mass even was such a small drop i...

I think it would be interesting to discuss how students feel seeing this-- have they ever thought about all of the people who learn the "breaking news" about someone they know, someone they care about, this way. I think these panels would be good to discuss the effects (from the pages before) of people and events on our lives. And also the medical issues on this page in light of articles like the one about Serena Williams and her birth story. This one is good for the "All Lives Matter" thing. The way the media draws conclusions and the information they choose to share is always a good discussion.

Description If there had been a clock in the room, it would have stopped. Occasionally, there are minutes that get extra seconds. Moments so precious the universe stretches to make additional room for them, and this was one of them. People don't get pauses like these very often. Some people never receive them at all. p3 He looked the way she would have imagined a vigilante who had a secret identity as a gentleman botanist. p56 "But I don't want to feel differently. I want to feel love in its every form. I used to be so scared of it, but now I think love is another type of magic. It makes everything brighter, it makes people who have it stronger, it breaks rules that aren't supposed to exist, it's infinitely valuable. I can't imagine my life without it. And if you felt any love in your heart, you would understand." p187 Love it "Just because I don't like you doesn't mean you're not pretty." p17 And by proper, Tella imagined...

"The same Negroes and their descendants are upon it who tilled it as slaved," Van de Graaff wrote to a friend. The Gee's Benders continued to "work like slaves for the white people," said Loretta Pettway. p7 [regarding share-cropping] In 1932, one of the white merchants died without leaving records of who owed what. In the fall, his widow sent henchmen to Gee's Ben to collect from the entire community. The men swept in and took everything of value... p15 She said, "I going to take his work clothes, shape them into a quilt to remember him, and cover up under it for love." p25, 27 "It was... like you walk into a room and ain't no light on, and you turn on a light in the darkness-- that's what Dr. King meant to us. He turned on a light for us." p29

Illinois connection! Love it! Humor If those guys couldn't tell the difference between a friend and a girlfriend-- well, that made them too dense to be worth worrying about. p33 Description Kenny only had two volume levels: whine and yell. p37 (also, use of a colon) She was the kind of teacher who made you wish you could have her every year for the rest of your life. p77 Race Discussions p77-79 mom and Mrs. Roberts p84-86 meeting Mr. Dixon Most of the time, my mom was a very nice person. I hated thinking of her as someone who might be prejudiced against black people. p80 Mr. Dixon and food-- 163-166 I wondered if thinking about this race stuff too much made you see it in places where it didn't exist. But then I wondered the opposite: Maybe it existed all the time, and you only saw it if you were really thinking about it? p181 Maybe everything in life had its messy bits. Things other people didn't see. Or didn't know they didn't know. Or didn...