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September Read - The War that Saved My Life
By Kristen · 52 posts · 232 views
By Kristen · 52 posts · 232 views
last updated Nov 08, 2016 01:53AM
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"Bad writers don't practice, Stella. It's the good ones who care enough to try, who worry about getting the words just right. You are probably better than you think." p.127-8
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Stella lives in North Carolina during the Depression. She witnesses the Klu Klux Klan in action and her father attempting to register to vote. This book is on a Mock Newbery list. I don't think it will get the medal. Draper tries to do too much in this book: spousal abuse, child abuse, racial violence, discrimination, unequal education, African American folklore, and gospel music. There were also some inconsistencies. Stella and her brother had to go to school barefooted because her parents coul
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There were a lot of great things about this book - the depiction of family and culture, a part of black history that isn't covered in chapter books as often as others, with a presentation appropriate to the age group, a great depiction of learning to write and struggling with something you want to do that doesn't come easily. But overall, the writing didn't feel particularly distinguished - the characters weren't particularly vivid and the plot had some issues (the pond scene felt tacked on and
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Grades 4-7. In Bumblebee, NC, the KKK wreaks terror on the African-American community. When Stella's dad and two other community members vow to vote in the next election, their families are terrorized. A family emergency leaves Stella's family depending on the Grand Master-- the man she knows by his fancy saddle and sparkling green eyes. Can anything convince someone so full of hatred to change their views when the life of a loved one is at stake?
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Nov 19, 2014
Margo Jantzi
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