Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Soto (2004)

Turner Buckminster moves to Phippsburg, Maine with his family in 1912 and immediately detests it! His father is the preacher and Turner is expected to be perfect! Wearing a white shirt with "enough starch in it to mummify two, maybe three, pharaohs..." was not Turner's idea of comfort! But when he meets Lizzie Bright, his life changes drastically. Lizzie's family lives on Malaga Island. The town of Phippsburg is losing ground economically, and would like to generate a tourism business, but they believe the poor black community on nearby Malaga Island would keep tourists away. The townspeople expect the minister and his family to support their plans to force all the residents to move away. Turner is forced to decide what loyalty really means.

The imagery in this book is especially powerful. Throughout the book, the sea breeze is almost another character as the breeze prods Turner to action and sometimes leaves him when he can't react.

It would be interesting to compare the racial tension in this book set in Maine 1912 to the racial tension in a typical Southern town of the same time frame.

Turner is home-schooled for much of the book and compares himself to Aeneas as he reads that book. There are several allusions to the character of Aeneas throughout the book.

I believe this book would make an excellent read-aloud because of the historical background as well as the beautiful language.

Back to School

Our students came back today, and it was so nice to see everyone and hear their enthusiasm! As I listened to the students talk about their Christmas vacation, I overheard lots of references to technology - iPods, jump drives, downloads, etc. As soon as the bell rang, these same students left to attend classes that will look remarkably like the classes their parents attended. Yes, we have lots of technology - computers, interactive whiteboards, digital projectors, etc., and our teachers are using the technology to assist in student learning, but our school structure is not designed to let these students use their technology they got for Christmas. Cell phones and iPods are not allowed; downloads have potential viruses and waste server space; and gaming is done when the teacher isn't looking. All of these restrictions are indeed justifiable with today's culture, but I can't help wondering if our schools can truly train students for the 21st century until we begin to use to tools the students use at home. And how do we ensure that those students whose parents couldn't afford the latest gadgets learn how to use them?

My thoughts this morning started with reading David Warlick's blog from today - http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2007/01/04/a-story-about-information/ - A Story About Information. Students will start coming to the library soon for research projects, and I am wondering if I am helping the students use the information as raw material or as product. These thoughts continued to run through my mind as I typed up my report for SCASL's board meeting on Saturday. As advisor to SCASL, I was nominated to go to the AASL Vision Summit in Chicago last month. I think that's why the Warlick article really hit home today. We had discussed the participatory learning culture with its implications, and as I thought about the Warlick article with some of the things we discussed in Chicago and listened to the students talk, I really wonder how I can help my students with the transition.