17. Everybody Sees the Ants, by A.S. King

 

King, A.S.  (2011).  Everybody sees the ants. NY: Little, Brown and Company.

 The main character is fifteen-year-old Lucky Linderman.  He struggles to cope with a bully named Nader McMillan and the strange and unhealthy behaviors he sees in his own family.

  He has been ruthlessly bullied, both physically and emotionally, by Nader McMillan for years, and it has taken a toll on his perception of himself and his hopes for the future. His school is concerned because he chose to do his social studies research project on teen suicide, and they are keeping tabs on him to make sure he's not at-risk. Lucky is also angry at his parents, whom he sees as cold and distant; he is particularly annoyed at his mother, Lori, for her denial about the problems in their family.

Lucky copes with his situation by escaping into dreams of Vietnam, where his obsession with his POW/MIA grandfather comes to life. In the dreams, he meets and befriends his grandfather, lost decades ago in the Vietnam War, and tries to bring him to safety to fulfill a promise to his grandmother. The dreams are vivid and have a supernatural element because when he wakes up, he has some token he brings back with him.

Another escape comes when Lori brings Lucky to her brother Dave's house in Arizona. He finds some solace there – Dave teaches Lucky how to lift weights, giving him advice about how to cope with a bully, and he begins to grow closer to his mother during the three weeks they spend with his aunt and uncle. Also, recognizing the ways that pain can shape behavior, Lucky begins to forgive his Aunt Jodi, who abuses prescription medication, because he sees that she is struggling with her knowledge that her husband is having multiple affairs.

In Arizona, Lucky also meets Ginny, his first love and first kiss, whose parents are using her by forcing her to model haircare products. Ginny feels similarly trapped in her own family life; Lucky becomes her only solace when she shaves her head in rebellion, and her mother beats her for her disobedience. The two teenagers’ bond over their shared traumas, finding hope in each other.

Back in his hometown in Pennsylvania, Nader constant bullying begins to draw attention.  Several people file  complaints at the community swimming pool where Nader works, getting him fired. Lucky uses the strength he learned from his mother and his uncle Dave, and stands up to Nader as well, threatening to call the police if Nader ever comes near him again.

Having overcome much of his self-doubt, Lucky discovers that he has the strength to face the challenges in his life, finding similar resolutions in his dreams about Vietnam. At the end of the novel, Lucky's adventure with his grandfather comes to an end. Lucky buries his grandfather, who has been mortally wounded, and in the last moments of his grandfather's life, he is given a wedding ring, which his grandfather asks him to give to his father, Vic. Lucky wakes up with the wedding ring clutched in his hand and begins to tell his family the story of his dreams and of his lost grandfather.

 One of the main themes of this novel is bullying and suicide.  I know these are usually separate, but with today’s youth, it goes hand in hand.  Kids are tormented by bullies, and they just take it.  It builds and builds, and the emotional and physical trauma becomes too much, and they want it to stop.  At the end of the novel after the whole banana story is revealed, Lucky said he came home and wanted to kill himself, the gun being unloaded is what stopped him.  A few years ago, this happened in my community.  My girls knew the boy.  He was being bullied and ended up committing suicide.  It is a real problem.

There is a lot of symbolism in the book.  The ants symbolize the doubts and negatives that go through the minds of every single person in life.  They are almost like the euphemism of  the angel and devil on your shoulders. Lucky’s scab represents the mental scab that can be inflicted with bullying. 

I couldn’t find any good teaching resources.  This link is to the author’s web site.

https://www.as-king.com/

16. Looking for Alaska, by John Green

Green, J. (2005). Looking for Alaska. NY: Dutton Books. 

Miles Halter, a teenage boy obsessed with last words, leaves his normal high school in Florida to attend Culver Creek Preparatory High School in Alabama for his junior year.  Miles' new roommate, Chip "The Colonel" Martin, nicknames Miles "Pudge" and introduces Pudge to his friends: hip-hop emcee Takumi Hikohito and Alaska Young, a beautiful but emotionally unstable girl.

Alaska loves literature and Learning of Pudge's obsession with biographies and famous last words, Alaska informs him of her favorite poet, Simon Bolivar’s last words, : "Damn it. How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”  At first, Pudge thinks it odd, but later learns of the quote’s importance. 

Culver Creek is famous for the “pranks” students pull on each other and the staff.  Miles is initiated into the pranking world on his first night at Culver Creek, when he is kidnapped and thrown into a lake by the "Weekday Warriors," a group of rich rival schoolmates. 

 Alaska introduces  Pudge to Romanian classmate, Lara, hoping sparks will fly. She is the last to join the group of friends.  Unfortunately, Pudge and Lara have a disastrous date, ending with a concussed Pudge throwing up on Lara. Alaska and Pudge grow closer, and he begins to fall in love with her, although she insists on keeping their relationship platonic because she has a boyfriend at Vanderbilt University named Jake, whom she insists that she loves. 

The gang celebrates a successful series of pranks by drinking and partying, and an inebriated Alaska confides about her mother's death from an aneurysm when she was eight years old. Although she failed to understand it at the time, she feels guilty for not calling 911. Pudge figures that her mother's death made Alaska impulsive and rash. A week later, after another "celebration," an intoxicated Alaska and Pudge spends part of  the night fooling around.  Later that same night, Alaska receives a phone call that causes her to become hysterical. Insisting that she has to leave, Alaska drives away while still drunk, and the Colonel and Pudge distract Mr. Starnes, the Headmaster. The next morning, they find out that Alaska was in a terrible car accident and died.

The Colonel and Pudge are devastated, blame themselves, wonder about her reasons for undertaking the urgent drive, and even contemplate that she might have deliberately killed herself. The Colonel insists on questioning Jake, her boyfriend, but Pudge refuses for fear of a confirmation that she used him. They argue, and the Colonel accuses Pudge of loving only an idealized Alaska that he made up in his head. Pudge realizes the truth and reconciles with the Colonel.

As a way of celebrating Alaska's life, Pudge, the Colonel, Takumi, and Lara team up with the Weekday Warriors to hire a male stripper to speak at Culver's Speaker Day, a prank that had been developed by Alaska before her death. The whole school finds it hilarious; Mr. Starnes even acknowledges how clever it was.

While cleaning out her dorm room, Pudge finds Alaska's copy of  The General in His Labyrinth.  He located the labyrinth quote underlined and notices the words "straight and fast" written in the margins. He remembers Alaska died on the morning after the anniversary of her mother's death and concludes that Alaska felt guilty for not visiting her mother's grave and, in her rush, might have been trying to reach the cemetery. 

 On the last day of school, Takumi confesses in a note that he was the last person to see Alaska, and he let her go as well. Pudge realizes that letting her go no longer matters as much. He forgives Alaska for dying, as he knows Alaska forgives him for letting her go.

He concludes that the labyrinth was a person's suffering and that humans must try to find their way out.

I found that the labyrinth is an important symbol in the book.  It represents personal suffering, and it is different for everyone.  Alaska’s labyrinth is dealing with the loss of her mother and the guilt her role in it brings.  Miles’ labyrinth is his love for Alaska but knowing she doesn’t feel the same for him.  Colonel’s’ labyrinth is his self-worth.  He feels he is a worthless human being, and he is constantly trying to prove it by his actions. 

The tone of the book is dark.  You can feel the character’s pain and can for shadow that something bad will happen.

I liked the book, but it was a bit slow in the beginning.  It took me a while to get into it.  It is not a book that could be taught in a classroom because it has a lot of sex, drinking and smoking.

I found a study guide for the book.  It is from a site called coursehero.  It has context, characters, plot summary, quotes, symbols, themes, and an about the author section.

 https://www.coursehero.com/lit/Looking-for-Alaska/

 

15. Clap When You Land, By Elizabeth Acevendo

 

Acevedo, E. (2020). Clap when you land. NY: HarperCollins.

Camino Rios lives in Sosúa, Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic with her aunt, Tia Solana, a powerful healer. Her half-sister, Yahaira Rios, is a talented chess player who lives with her mother, Mami, in Queens, New York. Their father, Papi, is traveling between them when his plane, flight 1112, drops suddenly into the Atlantic Ocean, killing him and everyone else on board.

While Yahaira deals with the news, hoping against odds for survivors, Camino is stalked by a street hustler named El Cero, who is known to deal in underage prostitutes.  While El Cero represents a looming threat, mounting financial trouble in the wake of her father’s death threatens Camino’s dreams of one day leaving Puerto Plata and studying medicine in New York. As weeks pass, Tía Solana receives a call from Camino’s uncle, Tío Jorge, about her father’s other wife.

After news that her father’s remains have been identified, an insurance representative for the airline come to discuss a reconciliatory advance: a sum of money to be rewarded to Yahaira and Mami to avoid a lawsuit. Although Tío Jorge strongly suggests pursuing a legal battle with the airline, Mami takes the money. Papi’s will dictates his last wishes to be buried in the Dominican Republic. Mami relents to this arrangement but forbids Yahaira from attending her father’s burial overseas.

In the Dominican Republic, Tía Solana relays the information from Tío Jorge to Camino, explaining the airline money, which Camino can lay legal claim to as Papi’s daughter. Tía Solana warns that Papi had another daughter by a wife with connections at the counselor’s office that she could use to block her claim. In the flurry of emotions these revelations bring, Camino seizes on the idea that she has a sister. Soon, she reaches out to Yahaira on social media.

In the summer before Papi’s death, Yahaira found his marriage certificate to Camino’s mother. Disappointed in her father’s infidelity, Yahaira distanced herself from Papi without considering that he might also have a second daughter. When Yahaira receives Camino’s friend request, she is shocked by Camino’s profile picture: an image of Papi posing with a young girl bearing her father’s features. As Yahaira is overcome by the shocking news that she has a sister, Mami is forced to reveal the truth she had been trying to protect Yahaira from. She tells Yahaira that her father’s other wife was a close friend of hers growing up and that after her death, Papi refused to abandon Camino. Yahaira reaches out to Camino, suggesting that they video chat.

As Camino and Yahaira come face to face over the internet, they promptly begin to conspire together to reach their goals. For Yahaira, Camino presents a path toward attending Papi’s funeral in the Dominican Republic. As El Cero’s advances become more severe, however, Camino tells Yahaira that she will not include her in the ceremony unless she transfers $10,000 of the airline advance to her. Yahaira wires Camino the money and uses Mami’s credit card to buy a ticket to the Dominican Republic.

When Yahaira arrives in Sosúa, Camino and Yahaira are slow to let their guard down. As they get to know each other, they explore a sisterly bond, realizing that they share the same grief, hopes, and fears. Mami soon learns of Yahaira’s absence and arrives in time to join the sisters for Papi’s funeral, it is a  loud and boisterous event that the entire neighborhood attends.

Despite her growing affection for Yahaira, Camino steals her sister’s passport, planning to illegally enter the United States by passing herself off as Yahaira. Returning to the beachfront one more time, she is cornered and attacked by El Cero, when he finds that in her bag, Camino is carrying thousands of dollars in cash. Yahaira, Mami, and Tía Solana arrive in time to fend off El Cero.

In the days after, Mami uses her connections to expedite Camino’s emergency visa into the United States. She explains that El Cero will come back for her, and though she had been afraid of opening her heart to Camino, she would like to step in as her guardian and stepmother. Camino uses her final days in Sosúa to say goodbye to the country and friends who nurtured her throughout her entire life. In the novel’s final scene, Camino sits beside her sister on the plane to New York, anticipating takeoff. Yahaira holds her hand and warns her that when they land, some of the passengers will clap in celebration.

The author writes the entire story in verse. She writes the first part of the book switching between the sisters’ points of view in each chapter.  This technique allows readers a better look into both character’s inner lives.  In the last section of the book, however, their perspectives are combined, and we often have to figure out who is speaking by context clues.

One big theme in this story is dealing with social classes.  Yahaira is an American living in Queens, NY.  Not the most affluent area of New York, but Yahaira and her family live comfortably with both her parents working.  Camino, lives in the Dominican Republic in a poverty ridden community.  In the point of view of her neighbors, Camino lives comfortably, with Wi-Fi, a generator, a metal fence around her home.  When she learns of her sister and compares their living situations, she feels beneath her sister and stepmother.  She mentions in the story about a pair of second-hand Jordan shoes her father brought to her.  She realized that they and other things were probably hand-me-downs from her sister.

This is the author’s second book.  The first being The Poet X.  I found a study guide that uses both books.  The link is below.

https://b0f646cfbd7462424f7a-f9758a43fb7c33cc8adda0fd36101899.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/teaching-guides/TG-9780062882769.pdf

14. Deadline, by Chris Crutcher

Crutcher, C. (2007). Deadline. NY: Greenwillow.

 Deadline tells the story of Ben Wolf, an eighteen-year-old high school senior who is dying from a rare blood disease. He decides to forgo treatment and live his last year to the fullest.

Ben lives in an extremely small town in Idaho where everyone has known him from birth. He is short of stature and has an uncommonly close relationship with his younger brother, Cody, who is taller than he is. Ben goes for his sports physical; his doctor finds his disease and tells him that he has less than a year to live. Ben decides not to tell anybody, and he decides to deny treatment. The doctor is upset by this decision, but Ben threatens to take legal action against him if he tells anybody. He has the right to make his own choices since he is eighteen years old.

He agrees to meet with a counselor to placate the doctor, but the counselor can't handle his case because it affects her too emotionally. Ben doesn't appreciate her replacement and denies therapy.

Knowing that his time is limited, Ben decides to take full advantage of every moment he has left on the earth. Despite his small stature, he joins the football team.  He is athletic but excels in cross-country.  He also decides to try to get the attention of Dallas Suzuki, one of the smartest and most beautiful girls in the school in his opinion. 

Ben is interested in literature, and he reads nonfiction. It frustrates him that teachers, especially his history teacher Mr. Lambeer, educate the students using biased material. Ben uses his own knowledge of the literature he has read to stand up to the teacher repetitively, challenging common precepts Mr. Lambeer uses the classroom. He decides that for his class project, he will try to get a street in his mostly Caucasian town named after Malcolm X. Mr. Lambeer threatens to fail him if he does this, but Ben doesn't care because he knows he won't be going to college since he is going to die anyway.

Ben begins to develop close relationships with Dallas, and he also Rudy, the town drunk.  They both have big secrets like Ben.  They both share their secrets with Ben.  Ben is scared to share his own secret after they confide in him. The more he keeps his illness a secret, the more difficult it becomes because he feels as if he is betraying those that are closest to him. The only being he can talk with about the situation is Hey-Soos, who comes to talk with him when he is in a dream state.

The football season goes extremely well, and Ben and Cody have an incredible season together.

At first Ben doesn't feel any of the negative effects of his illness. As he cultivates his relationships and continues his quest for the pure truth in other areas, Ben realizes that life is more convoluted than he originally thought. He realizes it is wrong to keep his impending death away from those that love him, so he tells them about it. They help him through his final days.

The literary element that stood out to me in this story is conflict.  There are two main conflicts in the story.  The first is external.  Ben goes to get a physical from the doctor and finds out he has a blood disease that is killing him and has only a year to live (man vs. nature).  The second conflict is internal.  Ben is constantly debating on weather or not he should tell his family and friends that he is dying.   The read is constantly reminded of these two conflicts.  Almost every page references them in one way or another.

The book begins a bit slow.  It took me reading half the book to really get into it, but the ending was sad, but good. 

I could not find any free teacher resources, but I found this neat flip book activity on Teachers Pay Teachers.  I have included the link.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Deadline-Novel-Flipbook-2856001?st=02ea3b92d0b9127e3fa4c8b739fad344

 

13. Crossover, by Kwame Alexander

Alexander, K. (2014). The crossover. NY: Houghton Mifflin Hardcourt

 12-year-old African American Josh Bell narrates The Crossover in verse. He and  his twin brother Jordan, both play basketball.  At six feet tall and with the guidance of their legendary basketball player father, Charles (Chuck) “Da Man” Bell, Josh and Jordan are the stars of their basketball team. One of the only ways people can tell them apart is that Josh has dreadlocks and Jordan has no hair at all.  The brothers are closely monitored by their mother, Crystal, both at home and at school as she is their school’s assistant principal. Crystal keeps a close eye on her husband, Chuck, as well, watching what he eats and calming his nerves when they attend their sons’ basketball games.

Josh earns the nickname “Filthy McNasty” in honor of his dad’s favorite jazz song. It’s a nickname Josh doesn’t like at first because of the taunts he receives from his classmates, but once his dad shouts it from the bleachers, he is ok with it.  His brother, Jordan, prefers to go by “JB,” as an homage to his all-time favorite basketball player, Michael Jordan, widely known as “MJ.”  The only thing Jordan likes better than basketball is betting. When Josh loses a bet to his brother, Jordan gets to cut off one of Josh’s locks, but the scissors slip, and he cuts off such a large chunk that Josh has to cut them all. Josh and Jordan enjoy a tight-knit bond—laughing and playing with their friends and teammates, practicing free throws with their dad, being grossed out by their wildly-in-love parents—until Miss Sweet Tea comes along.

Jordan is immediately smitten with the new girl in school, Alexis. She plays ball, too, drinks sweet tea, and has a crush on Jordan. He’s showering more, sitting with her at lunch, talking with her on the phone, and catching a ride with her and her dad to the basketball games, all of which makes Josh feel left out. With his locks gone and now his brother, Josh struggles to find his footing and regain his confidence. His resentment towards Jordan grows until Josh snaps and throws a basketball in Jordan’s face, almost breaking his brother’s nose. Josh’s mom suspends him from the team.

To make amends, Josh writes a letter to his brother at the suggestion of his dad. Slowly, over time, Jordan begins to forgive him. Josh proves himself to his mother, and she agrees to lift his suspension from the team for the championship game. To get Josh back in shape, Chuck takes his sons to play one-on-one. As he warms up with Josh, Chuck has a heart attack and collapses. His inherited fear of hospitals kept Chuck from seeking medical attention earlier, but now he has no choice. He’ll be in the hospital during the championship game, and he tells his sons that he wants them to play. On the night of the championship game, Crystal receives a phone call at home that Chuck has had another heart attack. She tells the boys to go to the game as she races to the hospital. Jordan decides to follow her on his bike, but Josh is determined to play. It’s what his father wanted. Josh scores the game-winning goal, but his dad dies from complications of a massive heart attack.

Friends and family fill the Bell’s house after Chuck’s funeral. Josh slips outside to shoot free throws, something he and his dad had frequently done.   His dad could make 50 free throws in a row.  The more he shoots, the closer Josh feels to his dad. Just before Josh’s fiftieth free throw, Jordan joins his brother outside. He hands over their father’s championship ring and tells Josh that he’s “Da Man” now. Josh counters that they both are and invites his brother to shoot for number fifty, completing their father’s legacy together.

This book is a hodge-podge of poems that tell a story, but it works.  Josh’s story is told in the format of a basketball game. It starts with the warm-up, transitions to the first quarter and ends in overtime. This signals the reader that the book is a narrative poem, a poem that tells a story. However, some parts of the book are written as a lyric poem, which is melodic and sound like. We see this form emerge in Josh’s thoughts about his game. These poems are also concrete poems, taking on the shape of the words to further represent how Josh feels when he plays basketball. 

I am not a big fan of basketball, so I was not looking forward to reading this book.  After I got started, I saw the word play the author used, and I gained an appreciation for the author’s writing skills.  His use of imagery in his language and in the actual position of the words on the page gave the story more meaning.  I see the value.  For a young man who loves basketball, but not reading, this book would be a good match.

I found a teaching guide called Walker Books Classroom Ideas.  These notes were created by Bethany Nevile.  It has classroom ideas, discussion questions and activity ideas.

https://classroom.walkerbooks.com.au/home/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Crossover-Teacher-Notes.pdf

 

12. Grasshopper Jungle, by Andrew Smith

Smith, A. (2014). Grasshopper jungle. NY: Penguin Group.

 The book is set in the town of Ealing, Iowa during a modern economic recession. It is narrated by the main character Austin Szerba. Austin often struggles with his own sexual thoughts and feelings for both his best friend Robbie Brees and his girlfriend Shann Collins. Although Austin focuses on the present, he also tells stories of his Polish ancestors. The reader later discovers that the novel is in fact Austin's self-recorded history.

While skateboarding through an alley and smoking cigarettes together near the Ealing Mall, Austin and Robbie are attacked by a neighboring gang of bullies, led by Grant Wallace.  They steal boy’s  skateboards and shoes and throw them onto the nearby roof of "From Attic to Seller Consignment Store" and proceed to beat up Austin and Robbie. Robbie bleeds all over the asphalt, which is significant to the story. After picking up Shann, Austin and Robbie head to the roof to retrieve their lost items. The boys discover some weird objects on the roof including a flamingo and film strips. They find their belongings and decide to sneak inside the store through the roof access. Inside, they discover several mysterious objects in the office of the owner, Johnny McKeon. One of these items is a large globe that was labeled “Contained MI Plague Strain 412E”. While snooping, they discover Grant Wallace and his friends (the guys that beat them up) broke into the store. They wanted alcohol from the liquor store next door but ended up finding the office and its strange continents.  They steal the glowing globe of “Contained MI Plague Strain 412E” instead.   The globe is shattered outside onto Robbie's blood stain as Robbie, Austin and Shann drive away. Unknown to anyone, the strain begins to take control of its first victims.

During a visit to a gay bar, Robbie, and Austin watch as one of the first infected, Hungry Jack, sheds his human exterior turning into a giant praying mantis after he is hit by a car.

Austin, Robbie and Shann found a secrete message in Shann's house, which was originally owned by Dr. Grady McKeon, creator of “Contained MI Plague Strain 412E”.  Shann, Robbie, Austin discovers an underground shelter under an abandoned silo. This bunker, known as Eden, was constructed in 1970's and was built by McKeon Industries. McKeon had been in charge of the production of the mysterious objects that the boys had found, including the vial of Contained MI Plague Strain 412E. The trio explore the facility and learn through watching a five-part film that McKeon Industries had been developing “unstoppable soldiers”, which in reality were large, invincible praying mantises. The project was so successful that Eden was constructed in the event of an outbreak to preserve mankind.  Outside of Eden, the praying mantises hatch out of their victims and begin to do their two favorite things: eating and mating.

On their way to retrieve the last two of the films, Austin is attacked by Hungry Jack, who, for unknown reasons, scampers away at the sight Robbie. The boys return to Eden and learn from the film that only Robbie's blood can defeat the creatures. Robbie's blood is extracted and placed into paintballs in order to fight back against the unstoppable soldiers. They return to the surface only to discover it is too late; the bugs have already repopulated and now completely outnumber them.

At the end of the novel, Austin confirms that they were not successful in reversing the effects of the plague and that the world has been taken over by large praying mantises. Shann gives birth to Austin's son Arek, and Austin and Robbie live their lives in the underground silo only leaving during the winter months to scavenge.

This book was quite different.  The genre is  young adult, sci-fi, coming of age novel.  It has a lot of sexual content, violence, and a dark mood, so I would not recommend it for younger readers.

The imagery in this novel stood out to me.  The image of the mantises is both crazy and important, as they show the thought process and pure randomness the author, Andrew Smith, had while writing the book.  Sometimes the randomness of the author’s thought process through Austin was hard to follow.

I didn’t find any study guides for this book, which is no surprise.  This is not the kind of book that should be taught in a classroom.  There is a sequel called Exile from Eden.

 

 

11. Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi

 Sartrapi, M. (2004). Persepolis.  NY: Pantheon

Persepolis 1 begins by introducing Marji, the ten-year-old protagonist. Set in 1980, the novel focuses on her experiences of growing up during the Islamic Revolution in Iran. Her story details the impact of war and religious extremism on Iranians, especially women. Belonging to an upper-middle class family, Marji has access to various educational materials, such as books and a radio, which expose her to Western political thought at a young age. By discovering the ideas of numerous philosophers, Marji reflects on her class privilege and is eager to learn about her family's political background. This inquiry inspires her to participate in popular demonstrations against the Shah's regime in which people are asking for his exile as a way to safeguard their rights. Unfortunately, after the Shah's departure, Marji notices the rise of religious extremism in her society and is unhappy about it. Her uncle Anoosh's visit deepens her interest in politics when he tells her stories of being imprisoned as a communist revolutionary. His stories cause her to value ideas of equality and resistance. The new government then begins to reform Iranian society, especially having women cover themselves while out in public and putting restrictions on social freedoms. Marji's family begins to fear for their lives since many of their friends and thousands of Iranians had fled the new regime to Europe or the USA, but they resolve to stay. Anoosh is arrested again and accused of being a spy. He is executed for his political beliefs. Marji is upset that God didn't do anything to help her uncle and rejects her faith.

After an abrupt family vacation to Europe, Marji returns to Iran where she learns from her grandmother that the government has declared war on Iraq.   As her hometown of Tehran comes under attack, she finds safety in her basement, which doubles as a bomb shelter. One night, the family hears the Iranian National Anthem play on the TV, moving them to tears. It is later revealed that the government released the soldiers and air pilots from prison who were in jail for protesting. The soldiers agreed to fight on the condition that the country's National Anthem be played on the public broadcasting. Amidst the chaos of an ongoing war, her family secretly revolts against the new regime by having parties and consuming alcohol, which is prohibited in the country. Two years of war force Marji to explore her rebellious side by skipping classes, obsessing over boys, and visiting the black market that has grown as a result of the shortages caused by war and repression.

As the war intensifies, Marji rushes home one day to find that a long-range ballistic missile has hit her street. Her family escapes the missile as it hit the neighboring building, which housed their (rare) Jewish neighbors the Baba Levy's. Traumatized by the sight of her friend's dead body, she expresses her anger against the Iranian political system. Her family begins to worry about her safety and decides to send her off to Austria for further study and to escape the war. The novel ends with her departure to Europe.

Persepolis is an autobiography written as a graphic novel. I was thoughtful as to where the title of the story came from.  I found that the name Persepolis comes from the capital of an ancient Persian empire.

The author uses flashbacks throughout the story. There are three specific instances where it is used in the story. The first is when Marji is bed listening to her Uncle Anoosh tell her the story of his life and past experiences. He told her of how he was the secretary to his uncle who was the Minister of Justice and of how the shah took over. He recounted to her how his uncle was killed and how he escaped to the USSR. He then told Marji that he has a family but is divorced.  He missed his family and country and tried to return. Upon returning, he was arrested and put in prison. There are different things that this flashback provides. It gives some historical context about that time and what was going on in the Middle East. The flashback also personalizes the story through the family member connection of her to her uncle. The flashback shows that Marji is closer to the war through her uncle’s experience as well.

The second is when Marji is saying how one of her classmate’s father was a fighter pilot and how he went to prison and that the classmate was gone for a month. She does not just say that her classmate was missing. She has two panels that are side by side and pretty much identical with what is drawn in the picture. The first panel has everyone, including the classmate, in class and smiling. The second panel, however, has the classmate missing and the other girls frowning. This flashback adds to the story because it is a personal flashback of the narrator/author. The panels also help to validate what the narrator is saying through actually showing the missing classmate.

The third is when Marji and her mother are talking with her cousin Shahab. The flashback is of when Shahab was in the army. It takes us to the front lines of the war where there are buses bringing in new, young recruits. The recruits are just poor children that have been brainwashed. The panels of the flashback have black backgrounds to express the fact that this is a dark and depressing memory. It also provides historical context into the military side of the war.

I found a teaching guide created by Chris Griffith from Prestwick House.  It includes learning objective, literary elements, themes, and related books.

 https://www.prestwickhouse.com/blog/post/2020/08/how-to-teach-persepolis