Module 9-Poetry and Short Stories

All the Broken Pieces

By Ann E. Burg

2009, Scholastic Press

Summary:

The story is about Matt, a Vietnamese boy who was ten when he was airlifted out of Vietnam and adopted by an American family. His new parents try music, baseball and visits to the Vietnam veteran meetings to try and help him find an answer. Finally, the past surfaces and Matt is able to speak the words he has so long held inside. By speaking about his past, he shares his pain and guilt over his brother’s injury and is finally able to move on and begin to live his life.

   

Impressions:

The author uses this format to give a very powerful story. She writes it from the perspective of the main character Matt. She is able to develop the character, and plot successfully using this verse format. She does this by carefully choosing her words, phrases and deciding what to include in the story. What she doesn’t say is almost as important as what she does say. Her choice of the language used brings rich meaning to the text and allows the reader to interpret the story for themselves. By not having every word written down, the reader must think with their heart instead of just the head. The reader comes away with a better understanding of the plight of children from war torn lands. This story is for middle to high school students.

  

Reviews:

From School Library Journal

Grade 6–8—In 1977, 12-year-old Matt Pin lives a fractured life. He is the son of a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier and was airlifted to safety from the war zone. Adopted by a caring American couple, he has vivid and horrific memories of the war and worries about the fates of his mother and badly injured little brother. The fractured theme runs the course of this short novel in verse: Matt's family, the bodies and hearts of the Vietnam vets, the country that is "only a pocketful of broken pieces" that Matt carries inside him. Ultimately, everything broken is revealed as nonetheless valuable. While most of the selections read less like poems and more like simple prose, the story is a lovely, moving one. Use this in a history class or paired with Katherine Applegate's Home of the Brave (Feiwel & Friends, 2007).—Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

 Airlifted from Vietnam at the end of the war and adopted by a loving American family, Matt Pin, 12, is haunted by what he left behind, even as he bonds with his new little brother and becomes a star pitcher on the school baseball team. In rapid, simple free verse, the first-person narrative gradually reveals his secrets: his memories of mines, flames, screams, helicopters, bombs, and guns, as well as what the war did to his little brother (“He followed me / everywhere, / he follows me still”). But this stirring debut novel is about much more than therapy and survivor guilt. When his parents take Matt to a veterans’ meeting, he hears the soldiers’ stories of injury and rejection and begins to understand why the school bully calls him “frogface” (“My brother died / Because of you”). There is occasional contrivance as Matt eavesdrops on adults. But the haunting metaphors are never forced, and the intensity of the simple words, on the baseball field and in the war zone, will make readers want to rush to the end and then return to the beginning again to make connections between past and present, friends and enemies. Add this to the Booklist read-alike column “Children at War.” Grades 6-10. --Hazel Rochman

http://www.amazon.com/All-The-Broken-Pieces-Burg/dp/0545080924

Suggestions:

I would align the use of this book with a unit done by an upper grade teacher. Just prior to the unit being taught, I would have a torn up baseball sitting on the desk or counter for a few days with the saying what is a baseball made of? When the upper grade class came to the library I would have the students take the baseballs apart and discover what was in the middle. We would discuss what symbolic meaning could be attached to this activity. –You never know what is inside. Don’t judge a book by its cover. Etc. I would read pages 120-123 when it talks about Matt unraveling his baseball and keeping all the broken pieces in his pocket. This could be used just to introduce the book or it could lead into a unit of study by the teacher on writing styles, war, etc.

 

Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars

By Douglas Florian

2007,  Harcourt, Inc.

Summary:

These are short, scientifically based poems about various objects found in space. It starts with the familiar planets, sun and moon but also includes constellations, black holes and other objects found in the night sky.

  

Impressions:

The author uses short verse to get some facts across to the reader in a fun manner. Some of the poems seem contrived in order to get the words in that he wants. But, school age children would enjoy the rhyme and subject. He uses a creative approach with some of his words by curling them into the center when talking about a spiral and in discussing the universe and its empty space he spreads the letters out to indicate empty room. Overall, an enjoyable read to help teach astronomy.

   

Reviews:

    From Booklist

This large-format book looks at astronomy through the magnifying, clarifying lens of poetry. Each broad double-page spread features a short, accessible poem about a subject such as the sun, each of its planets, a comet, a constellation, or the universe, set within an impressive painting. A concrete poem entitled "a galaxy" is a curling spiral of words set against the midnight-blue sky and surrounded by other galaxies. Stamped type, cutout pages, collage elements with printed papers, and sweeping brushstrokes all figure prominently in the expressive collage artwork, which ably illustrates the verse. The last pages carry "A Galactic Glossary" with a paragraph on the topic of each poem, followed by a list of books and Web sites. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

    Review

“Nothing gladdens the heart of believers of good poetry for children more than a new collection by Florian. . . . This one literally sings the music of the spheres. . . . In both language and artwork, Florian strikes the perfect balance between grandeur and whimsy.” --School Library Journal 7/1/07 (starred)

 “The poet-painter’s latest book brings warm wit to the outermost reaches of cold, dark space. . . . Florian’s illustrations depict the marvels of space with luminous texture and detail.”

--The New York Times Book Review

Suggestions:

I would have an upper grade class practice reading these poems and then record them on a CD that could be playing with a display of space books. Or use the CD to read selected poems from this book to the kindergarten classes during their study of space.