The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (October 2017)

[Mariah Roze]

Joy wrote: "I enjoyed this author interview. It made me like this book even more. https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/..."

I'm reading this tonight for sure! I was very excited to see that this book won so many Goodreads awards :)

[Raymond]

Update on THUG being banned in Texas school district:
https://twitter.com/waffle_shake/stat...

[Mariah Roze]

Only with Parental Consent? How old are these students again?

[Maya]

Ha. Good question Mariah

[Raymond]

Mariah wrote: "Only with Parental Consent? How old are these students again?"

Probably middle or high school. Hopefully parents will be wise enough to give them permission to read it.

[Maya]

Hopefully the parents will read along. when my children were that young it was fun to read along and have book discussions

[Mariah Roze]

Maya wrote: "Hopefully the parents will read along. when my children were that young it was fun to read along and have book discussions"

Yes! I completely agree! My mom was an English teacher when I was growing up and she would always have me read books a long with her. She really built my love for nonfiction and biographies. That is almost all what her students read (also a couple classics).

I remember one book that she suggest to me was Detour for Emmy. This book was so eye-opening to me! I loved it so much that I convince my whole Family Living class (an all female class) to read.

Here is the summary:
"In the 9th grade, Emmy is an A student, a soccer star, and a lead soprano in the school choir. She won't let her alcoholic mother or her father, long gone, stand in her way. Emmy falls for Art, a junior who is also one of the choir's lead singers. Art is a dream of a boyfriend until Emmy finds that she's pregnant. Then he wants nothing to do with her. Her mother is furious and wants her to have an abortion. Her guidance counselor claims that Emmy's life will be ruined, and only one of her friends tries to stand by her. But what does Emmy want, and what about her dreams, if she chooses a new life as a single mother?"

P.s. I was a freshman just like the main character.

One book that I discovered and is still one of my all time favorite books is Copper Sun. I told my mom about it and she had her whole book club read it.

Here is the summary:
"Amari's life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village, she could not have imagined everything could be taken away from her in an instant. But when slave traders invade her village and brutally murder her entire family, Amari finds herself dragged away to a slave ship headed to the Carolinas, where she is bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a birthday present. Survival seems all that Amari can hope for. But then an act of unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose, Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Can the elusive dream of freedom sustain Amari and Polly on their arduous journey, fraught with hardship and danger?"

P.s. I was the same age as the main character in this book too, so it really hit home.

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

Those books sound great, Mariah! Wow!

[Joy]

Maya, I read a lot of books with my kids when they were in school. I did censor a bit when they were in grade school, but once they hit middle school I just asked that they talk to me about what they read. I know they didn’t always do that but we had some great conversations when they did.

One started with: Can I believe in evolution and still be a Christian? That was after she read Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature.

I miss those days...

[Tippy]

Joy wrote: "Maya, I read a lot of books with my kids when they were in school. I did censor a bit when they were in grade school, but once they hit middle school I just asked that they talk to me about what th..."

I imagine it was a long discussion... I read that book only because it was part of the California Academy of Sciences teen bookclub and I worked there, so I thought I should know about it. It was horrible. One straw man after another. It's a great book to discuss logical fallacies and since it's fiction, you can also discuss comic distancing and how people are less likely to look at fictional stories critically. I'm glad you took the time to talk with her about it. After reading it, I couldn't believe that CalAcademy had recommended it.

[Joy]

Except that people actually use those “straw man” arguments. People we know and love. And yes, as I recall, it was a long discussion and actually a series of discussions and even further reading.

My 22yo is a deep thinker. :)

[aPriL does feral sometimes]

A troubling conclusion to the Black Lives Matter movement in Baltimore:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...

[Raymond]

aPriL does feral sometimes wrote: "A troubling conclusion to the Black Lives Matter movement in Baltimore:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n......"
The NYT podcast "The Daily" did a five part podcast on Baltimore after Freddie Gray the first week of June called "Charm City". I remembered that the increase in violence was mentioned in one episode.

[Joy]

Sad. There has to be some kind of middle ground, where police can do their jobs but not plant guns or drugs on people. Doesn’t there?