Some thoughts on the interview

I want to preface this post by saying that I love Spinelli and think he can pretty much do no wrong, because he hasn't yet. I also want to preface this by saying that Kami doesn't like Spinelli and probably didn't much like Milkweed. That's okay. We picked this book because Kayli told us to and I am glad we did. It was good for you to read it, Kami.

The most important thing in that interview, I think, is when Spinelli said he wrote the story because you should write about what you care about. Thinking about Spinelli and all of his books, not just Milkweed, I would have to conclude that Spinelli cares most deeply about the humanity of children. Their innocence, the way they think, the way they can influence others despite their limited power, the way they can be cruel, and the way they can be different in an unaffected way because they don't yet understand what is "normal." I don't think many writers can capture that like Spinelli has and continues to do. I think that is why I find his writing so powerful despite its surface simplicity.

The other thing I found powerful was when Spinelli said, "Six million holocausts of one." I, unlike Spinelli, can't handle studying the holocaust. I can't look at the pictures, I can't handle watching the video footage, and I try to avoid books that deal with the subject as a general rule. I find it emotionally more than I can take. However, every once in awhile an author or director will handle it in a way that makes it about a holocaust of one--like Milkweed and Life is Beautiful, and I think that is powerful. It scares me when I hear about Oxford professors getting fired for teaching that the government made up the holocaust. We have to teach it, we have to think about it periodically, and we have to remember that it can and has happened again, and that even if we sacrifice our soldiers, we have to stop it.

I found it annoying when the interviewer talked about this book being too "horrifying" for young readers. What?? I thought Spinelli had the perfect light touch, and he was absolutely right that he mixed so many rays of light in with the awfulness that it becomes bearable and readable, and certainly acceptable for young readers. For example, just Misha's belief that the Jackboots were fantastic and cool is deeply horrible, but so understandable. And Uri's impatience with him is so sad, but understandable. And Uri's having to hurt him to save him was heartbreaking, yet Uri was such a noble character. Janina's being so ridiculously ANNOYING was also so believable and how much Misha clung to her was so sad and so true to how much every child wants/needs a family and a sense of belonging.

Again, I found lots of rays of hope and light in the book. That his daughter found him and had compassion and allowed him to live out the rest of his life in dignity was the perfect ending. I certainly don't blame his wife for leaving him--again, it rang true. It would be hard to live with a damaged person like he was. Sometimes I was annoyed that never seemed to "get it." That he told people about his story, but without getting the sense that he really understood his story. I was frustrated with him throughout so much of the book, but then I thought of Miriam left alone in such an inexplicable situation as a holocaust ghetto, struggling to figure out who was friend and foe and mostly WHY, and it really rings true. She would never "get it" on her own. I could explain it to her for years, and she wouldn't necessarily "get it" until she was older. Misha didn't have the opportunity to study, to discuss with other what had happened, he never could really organize the events in his head, and it all happened when he was too young for any real understanding--so in the end, when he still seemed slightly crazy, it still rang true to me. Now we would say he needed serious counseling.

Anyway, I've gone on much longer than I intended. I'm curious to hear what you all had to say.

Milkweed an Interview with Spinelli

I'm including this interview because despite some lame questions by the interviewer, Spinelli managed to say some pretty great things.

About Milkweed

TeacherVision: Misha's perceptions of the world around him are so naive. He seems to have a hard time recognizing the horror of what is really going on. Do you think this is normal for a child? Is his innocence a literary device that you used in order to take a different approach to describing the Holocaust?
Jerry Spinelli: I never thought of it as a "literary device." His innocence, naivity --call it what you will -- is simply the answer to the question: What would a child have been like who was orphaned at a very early age and found himself alone in wartime Europe? I expect that a child in such circumstances would be, as your question implies, anything but normal. The result, for this writer, was an unusual point of view that offered the opportunity to tell an old story (there are no new stories, really) in a new way.

TeacherVision: The Holocaust happened many years ago and has been written about endlessly. Why do you feel it is important to continue writing about it?
Jerry Spinelli: Because there is no statute of limitations on humanity. Because history sits on the shoulder while story unlocks the heart. Because to those involved, there was not a Holocaust of six million, but six million Holocausts of one.

TeacherVision: The events are so horrifying, and so vivid in your descriptions. Do you worry about the effect that this book might have on young readers?
Jerry Spinelli: I believe readers are best served not by writing "for them" but by interviewing the story itself and writing it as it wants and needs to be written.

TeacherVision: What would you say to a teacher who thought this subject matter might be too horrible for her students?
Jerry Spinelli: I would say consider the story as a whole, that in the end, in one person's life, there is triumph over tragedy. I would say consider the many positive moments throughout the story, moments whose lights shines all the brighter for the surrounding darkness. I would say that young readers, especially in school environments, take their literary cues from teachers, and if their teachers ride the positive thrust of a story, so will they.

TeacherVision: Although Milkweed is a novel, we know that it is based on events that happened in Warsaw, Poland, beginning about 1939. What led you to choose this place and time as the background for your story?
Jerry Spinelli: Looking at history book pictures of Holocaust victims is one of my earliest memories. I've had a lifelong interest in World War II in general and Holocaust events and literature in particular. The stories have touched me. In writing Milkweed, I was simply following the advice I give aspiring writers: Write what you care about.

TeacherVision: Do you personally know a survivor of the Warsaw ghetto, or a descendant of a survivor?
Jerry Spinelli: Yes, I do, though he was not a source for the story.

TeacherVision: Is the lead character, Misha, based on a real person? Are any of the other characters based on real people?
Jerry Spinelli: There are bits and moments of people I know (including myself) in most of the characters, though none was inspired primarily by a particular acquaintance. Historically speaking, of course, there are the characters of Dr. Korczak and Himmler.

TeacherVision: Janina guesses that Misha is about 8 years old. Do you agree with her assessment?
Jerry Spinelli: I've never precisely pegged Misha's age myself. Eight or nine sounds about right.

TeacherVision: Are some of the events, such as the man being forced to scrub the sidewalk with his beard, things that were described to you, or that you read about? That is, did they actually happen?
Jerry Spinelli: Many if not most of the events in the story actually happened at one time or another, in one place or another, during that period.

TeacherVision: The milkweed plant seems to represent physical and spiritual survival in your book. It travels freely and sprouts almost anywhere. Janina calls milkweed "her angel"-her inner spirit that can fly away. Did you call your book Milkweed in order to inject a ray of hope in an otherwise bleak story?
Jerry Spinelli: In a word, yes -- though as I've noted, there are many rays of hope in the story.

The Cold War

Okay, Kami called me and threatened to boycott the reading blog (gasp) if I didn't write about the Cold War book I had thrust upon her. Ahem. Unfortunately, there is some bad news in that area. My MIL came over the other morning unexpectedly to clean my house (my morning sickness has been REALLY bad and she felt sorry for me--nice lady), and so she was here while I was at the swimming pool for my kids' swimming lessons. And, long story short, she threw away my notes about the book. At least, that is what I am assuming because I went to get them today and they were gone. And the shelf was neatened and straightened. Sigh. I had lots of things written down, but all on scraps of paper that probably looked quite a bit like garbage. Can't really blame her.

So--all I can remember that I wanted to write about was that I really liked the author. Kami found him a bit dry, but considering he's a historian, I thought he was fairly entertaining. Also, I really appreciated that he gave such well-rounded coverage of each president.

For example, in the history textbooks I have seen, Eisenhower was always portrayed as a non-president. Meaning, he did a lot of golfing and that was about it. I always wondered how a man could go from being one of the best military brains in the world to being a useless dud, but Brands cleared up that misapprehension right away. In fact, after thinking about what could have happened, I was very grateful that Eisenhower was the president when he was.

Same with Nixon. I had heard all the bad things, but hadn't realized that he was the president that really made serious progress in easing up tensions between the US and China and the US and Russia. I had always heard that Reagan was the big man when it came to ending the Cold War, but lo and behold, if any credit should go to an American (which is a little dubious), than Nixon should get it. Reagan got lucky. Gorbachev actually forced Reagan into ending the Cold War, despite Reagan's trying everything possible to keep it going so that his economy (based on the Star Wars program) wouldn't falter. Again, this I did not know.

Also, Kami and Kelly both talked about how many times presidents and their administrations falsified things and misled the public, and did all sorts of other nefarious things in order to shore up the economy, or help win an election. I have no illusions about whether or not that will ever end. However, Kami and I talked at length about the moral superiority that the US gave up in order to have fun with their little covert operations. At first, I was undecided. America does need to protect its interests from unscrupulous peoples and governments, and often being unscrupulous is the first line of attack against the unscrupulous. I certainly did not want to say always take the high road even at the expense of America's security.

But now, I have stopped wavering. The more I think about the founding fathers and the vision of this country, the more I believe that America does not have to be unscrupulous and immoral in order to preserve our liberties. Torture is wrong. Planning to assassinate someone is wrong. Forcing our military personnel to do things that are morally questionable is wrong.

While I disagree strongly with most of my current students who spend many words on whining about how terrible the USA is, and how they think Bush is completely to blame, and how we are all doomed to starvation and it is because of the Iraq War and other such nonsense, I have a firm belief, still, in the incredible nature of this country and I don't want it tainted by morally questionable behavior on our part.

We might sometimes err in not becoming involved somewhere else in the world soon enough, or we might err by becoming involved too soon, or we might err in arresting someone who is actually innocent, and we might make thousands of mistakes. But, that is okay. What is not okay is when we willingly and knowingly do things that are blatantly wrong. To err is human, to do it on purpose is stupid.

I had other thoughts and some really great quotes, but I won't be posting them here. Obviously.

Also, I finished Milkweed on Monday and I keep waiting for someone to open the discussion about it. Since that isn't happening, I will open the discussion about it in another post. Just know that until my morning sickness subsides and my book is written and my classes final projects are graded--I won't be writing nice essays like Kammers and Kelly. But, I still want to and intend to eventually.

And just to make it official, on Monday, we are officially starting to talk about the Life of Bees, so if you want to discuss Milkweed, you have the rest of this week.

New Reading List

Hello Everyone,

After much amazon.com research, soul-searching, contemplating the nature of Kami's reading habits (trust me--picking fiction that she will like and find "meaty" is one of the great pleasures and challenges of my life), and thinking about the reasons Kami and I started this blog, I came up with an UPDATED READING LIST that contains much more fiction. Check it out now.

So--starting Monday, we are officially into Milkweed by Spinelli, followed by The Secret Life of Bees, and then Fermat's Enigma. I tried to incorporate at least a few choices from everyone while staying true to my bossy, autocratic nature--meaning the sheer joy I get from trying to coerce people into doing what I want them to do (Kami resists better than most, darn her, but she fell in line with my list when I asserted a little pressure).

In summary, I think we have a great line-up. Thanks for all your input. I hope you still love me.

Great List of Books

Hi (again!).
I just wanted to say (after giving all of my opinions on books to read in the future) that I am really looking forward to the list that we now have (to the left). Great selections! So, thank you Kami & Andrea for that!!
Enough said!
JULIA

The Last of My Book Suggestions

I PROMISE!! This is the last you'll hear from me on book suggestions (at least for a little while).

THESE are books on my "To Read" list (meaning: books I have not read yet) - - but you Rasmussens may have read them all and maybe even more than once! So, I apologize ahead of time. :-)



The African Queen - Forester

Founding Mothers - Cokie Roberts

North and South - Gaskill

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! - Schlitz

The Wednesday Wars - Schmidt (reading now)

Scarlett Pimpernell - (seen movie, not read book)

The Hero and the Crown - McKinley

Courage of Sarah Noble - Dalgliesh

The Railway Children - E. Nesbit

The House of Sixty Fathers - DeJong

Just So Stories - Kipling

Peace Like a River - ?



AND, the book I told you about the Chinese ladies is called "Wild Swans" by Jung Chang



And, again, my vote is for the Econmics in One Lesson book.

Happy Reading!

JULIA

My bookish ideas

Well, I thought about what light books I may want to read, and I am decidedly lacking. I usually just ask Andrea or Kayli for recommendations. Anyway, I agree with what Andrea said about Julie's list--most of those books I've already read. Although the fact that Andrea hasn't read the Whipping Boy should put it on the list. I've never read Onion John either. The House of Seven Gables I read back in sixth grade, but I wouldn't mind reading it again. Around the World in Eighty Days would be okay with me too.

From Andrea's list these looked the most appealing: The Thief Lord (Paperback), by Cornelia Funke, Anahita's Woven Riddle by Meghan Nuttall Sayres and The Sherwood Ring - Elizabeth Marie Pope

And Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham was actually on my list of books to read, so I'm all for that.

Other than that, I don't have much to add. Well, I would like to add Man's Search for Meaning by Victor E. Frankl and I think for an economics book I agree with Andrea that I think Understanding the Process of Economic Change (Princeton Economic History of the Western World)by Douglass C. North would be a good overview, plus the other one I was leaning towards wad 900+ pages and this is only 200 and something. :) However, I would still like to add Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond to our list too. That's not really an economics one anyway. See, I'm not very good at picking light reading. That's probably why I'll never get through my list of books to read.

Book Suggestions

Me, vague? Surely you jest! :-)

So here are my suggestions:

"Economics in One Lesson" (Hazlitt) is my choice for the Economics book. I might also recommend "The Richest Man in Babylon" by George S. Clason.
Other books:
"Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank
"An Old-Fashioned Girl" by Louisa May Alcott
"Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
"Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbeth Carey (not the movie - i prefer the original)
"Little Britches" by Ralph Moody
"Number the Stars" by Lois Lowry



of Julia's books I am choosing books that I have not read before and am interested in:
The House of Seven Gables - Hawthorne
The Search for Delicious - Babbitt
Onion John -
Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo
Crispin - Avi
The Wheel on the School -
Invincible Louisa (about Louisa May Alcott)

I will read just about anything!

Book Choosing

Kelly--you were too vague. Look through the list Ju posted and I posted and then post your top choices from those lists and whatever else you want to add.

Kami--you too.

Ju--look through mine and do the same.

Take your time--we already have a good list, although Kami and I want more fiction interspersed.

Point--we need more specific suggestions, and it doesn't have to be this week, so think about what you want to get out of this and then post it.

I'm done bossing you around for the evening. I'm going to bed!

Economics

After reading Kelly's post, I thought we should add a book on economics to our list (the bottom of the list). So I looked up a few and I wanted everyone's opinion on which they thought would be best to read (of course if you have another one that would be better, feel free to add it). Here's my list:

The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else by Hernando de Soto

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (okay not so much an economics book, but still looks fascinating--Pulitzer Prize winner)

Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen (a Nobel Prize winner in economics)

The White Man's Burden: Why the West's Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good by William Easterly (again, not so much about economics, still looks interesting, although the reviews I read criticized the writing as being too "saleable" and not enough intellect).

Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development (Initiative for Policy Dialogue Series C)by Joseph E. Stiglitz (mostly about free trade and the WTO)

Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy: Lessons from Medieval Trade (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions)by Avner Greif (Ok, so I admit that anything that has to do with ancient civilizations is going to be on my list)

Understanding the Process of Economic Change (Princeton Economic History of the Western World)by Douglass C. North (better reviewed than the one above and along the same lines--another Nobel Prize winner in economics author)

Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market (Scholars Edition)by Murray N. Rothbard (supposed to be a good overview of economics)

Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics (Paperback)by Henry Hazlitt (supposed to be a simple, fast book about the basics of economics)

Okay this was way longer than I intended and took far too much time out of my day when I need to be doing other things. However, in all my searching I found this list on Amazon, that probably has better books than I listed here. So maybe just check that list out instead and see what you think.

Oh, I also think we should add a few more "light" books into our mix to break things up a bit more--like some YA fiction or just more fiction in general. I don't have any ideas though. Anyone?