Primary Readings - A No and a Yes!


Ms. Marvel Vo1: 1
Well, no good news here from me. This is just not my cup of tea from all directions. I have learned that I am not fond of graphic novels for my reading pleasure. I also don't (and never have) like superhero books or movies. So, you can see why I didn't love, or even like this book. I have tried to like graphic novels. I do like them for the grades that I work with, I just don't prefer them for myself. I LOVE to read, and I LOVE movies, just not this genre. The plot is all over the place featuring villains, talking animals, aliens (don't like those either), and reality tv (really) all at once. This is a little shaky when trying to like graphic novels. Enough said.

Last Stop on Market Street
Complete opposite of Marvel, I loved Market Street. I like everything about it: the pictures, the writing, the story, the characters. The story teaches the reader, as well as C.J., the value of getting out into the world and connecting with it. We can appreciate rather than fear diverse types of people, and try to look at this through all eyes and ears. Maybe an even bigger lesson is that we don't need "things" to make us happy. I think that the biggest message in the story (and my favorite part) is when Nana says, "Sometimes when you're surrounded by dirt C.J., you're a better witness for what is beautiful." C.J. agrees as the story ends, and you feel that he has learned a lot from his Nana on this day. 

I had the opportunity to hear Matt de la Peña speak at a Scholastic Reading Summitt in 2018. He was wonderful. I learned so much from him and how important it is to provide diverse literature for our learners. He was the first person in his family to go to college, and he felt guilty about leaving his family. In his culture, calloused hands are a sign of a hard worker. Soft hands, those of college students, are not. 

de la Peña told a story about his father, a very quiet man, having worked at the San Diego Zoo in the lion area. When new ownership took over, his father lost his job because he didn't have a college degree. He had worked at the zoo for 18 years. He began to take classes at night, in secret, to earn a degree and became an elementary teacher. As a teacher, he once had a conference with a parent that had come straight from the fields to meet with Mr. de la Peña. Mr. de la Peña felt guilty, because now he had soft hands. 



Comments

  1. Dr. MoeSeptember 11, 2019 at 12:24 PM

    I get that you don't like the superhero genre - that's not everyone's cup of tea. But when you say, "This is a little shaky when trying to like graphic novels. Enough said.," I have to admit that I'm confused.

    ReplyDelete

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