Monday, January 25, 2010
Inside the 1940's
I'm only on pg 41 and I'm already empathizing with Dewey. When her father drives to the entrance of Los Alamos I'm shaking right along with her. The scary sights of armed officers would be terrifying at that age. I was shocked at the next chapter when Suze's mom is smoking. It's so unusual to see any kind of smoking in adolescent literature. I was transported immediately to another time in this country. I can already sense the fever pitch of ending World War II. I'm enjoying it thus far. I think I'm really enjoying reading a novel from a female perspective. I was once again reflecting today on how often we teach male centered adolescent literature. On another note - I began Teddy Kennedy's memoir today. The prologue was beautifully written and emotionally charged. I'd recommend it. I'm really trying to push myself out of my typical comfort zone and political memoirs are definitely in a different zone for me.
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4 comments:
I am only about half way through this book, but really feel the need to comment before I burst. :-) I absolutely love Dewey, and feel a tremendous bond with her. Maybe it's because I was such a techie girl myself growing up... Despite the female perspective, my son raved about this book last year - I can see why.
Elina,
Would you mind commenting specifically on why Daniel liked this novel. His feedback is valuable to me when contemplating its worthiness as a classroom novel.
Sorry for responding so late - my master's project is going to be the death of me. From what I remember, Daniel really liked the vicarious experience of what it was like to live a day-to-day life in Los Alamos. Because of the immediate nature to the writing, it make him feel like he was actually there. He also felt a real connection with Dewey. I think the fact that she was not a girly girl made it a lot easier for him to relate to her. Since Daniel already had some background knowledge of the Manhattan Project, he caught on very quickly that Oppie was Oppenheimer, and that "the gadget" was the bomb; he mentioned that several kids were surprised.
Not that I necessarily have time to read for pleasure these days – but where did everybody go? :-( Seriously, I'm missing my excuse to play hooky from regular work. :-)
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