Ethan, Suspended

Book #18: Ethan, Suspended by Pamela Ehrenberg is one of the many books I got at NCTE in New York last fall. This one's special because the author signed it for my students. Too cool. I have to admit I might not have gotten this book without that added incentive of an author's signing - and if I had left it on the shelf I would really have missed out. I really liked this book - it surprised me, because it had pigeon-holed it as a "boy book." Big mistake - and, it turns out, that's among the themes of the book (both the big mistakes and the pigeon-holing, that is).

Ethan does something that is so horrible that not only is he suspended, but his mom sends him to live with his grandparents. I can't tell you what he does - because him figuring out how to deal with it himself and then tell people what he did is a big part of the book. Ehrenberg also brings in ideas about teens dealing with their parents' divorce, finding new friends, figuring out how to recover from big mistakes, civil rights, and the Washington riots of 1968. It's a lot - but it flows and I needed to know what happened next.

The other nice thing Ehrenberg does is offer resources at the end of the book about civil rights and the riots. We're writing multigenre research papers in my English 9 class right now, so it's possible I'm a little focused - but even if my students didn't look stuff up, they'll know that the author did. Which is nice.

The first two paragraphs: "It feels like I'm running, faster than I've ever run before. Past the library and the Whole Foods, past Josh and Caleb and Tyler, who are running too, past everything in Maple Heights. I feel like I'm crossing Meadowfalls Road, coming up on I-76, almost out of sight. / But I'm not running. I'm standing still. My feet feel like they're glued to the sidewalk by giant wads of bubble gum."

This book, especially, makes me think I need another blog - a public one that I invite my students to read (and maybe to write for) that focuses just on young adult books/books for my students. Just what I need: another project! :)