Well that was painful. It only took me 15 minutes to figure out how to post a comment. My name is Karen and I am technologically impaired.
Being the keener type I decided to read all the books in our Smackdown so I am going to share my opinion about the winner as well as my thoughts about some of the eliminated contestants. To begin with, Bone Gap versus Diamond Boy. These were the only books that I was unable to get hooked into and therefore I didn't finish either of them. Bone Gap seemed to be full of gaps to me -- and not in a good way while Diamond Boy was too intense (and disturbing). Both Winger and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian would appeal to the male students with Diary being an easier read at 230 pages rather than Winger's 439 pages. I felt Winger had a strong start but it petered out towards the end and didn't hold together as well as Diary did. So my final choice for the winner would be The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian!!!!!! My favorite book of all of them is Far, Far Away because Jacob Grimm was stuck in the space between worlds (zwischenraum)and I am a sucker for the fairy tale connection. I also really enjoyed Calvin because of the connection to Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. The mental illness of schizophrenia is dealt with in a realistic and believable manner and as an advocate for mental health I think this is a subject that needs more conversation. Anyway, overall I've really enjoyed the Mighty Smackdown so please sign me up for the Mighty Smackdown II!
Sal's readers had lots of positive comments about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Winger and Diamond Boy. While all the books had qualities that made them stand out, the majority felt that Diamond Boy stood out as the winner. Here are a few comments from team Sal:
“I loved Diamond Boy. It was interesting (takes place in Africa), opened my eyes about the “diamond” situation; I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. Thought Winger was good too, quite funny in places. Lots of Teen Angst coming through in that one, definitely more accessible in terms of identifying with North American themes.”
“My vote is Diamond Boy.” - Cindy
“I was only able to read one of the books from the four finalists. Absolutely True Diary was very entertaining. It was funny, sad and thought provoking. I enjoyed the interesting illustrations and easy to read style. I had trouble putting it down. I think Diary is a winner!” -Deb
I vote for Diamond Boy. It really caused me to pause and think about what life is like for people, and especially children, in other parts of the world. It also made me question how much are we in Canada part of these issues? How much do my political and economic choices directly affect kids in Africa who are then sent into the diamond mines. Scary to think about but relevant. Didn’t want to put the book down because I needed to know the ending.
Michelle Wyman Science Teacher Salisbury Composite High School
Clover Bar loves Part-Time Indian, BUT we felt as it's already won piles of awards the novel is on the radar of many English teachers and librarians. In fact, we teach it in ELA9. The kids love it.
Therefore, we place our vote for Diamond Boy. This is an area our students know little about and considering we're consumers of diamonds, we should. Knowing the background and origins of our consumer products is part of the Science 9 curriculum so Diamond Boy would add a perfect tie-in for inquiry.
Kerri, Suzanne, Kandice and Carolyn Clover Bar's Team Dickens
Here at Ardrossan we did not all get the books read but even so we had a hard time choosing a winner. 3 of the last 4 books all had good points. Winger would be good for reluctant readers and boys. Part time Indian was funny but had mature subject matter and lots of swearing. Diamond Boy was a stand out for those who read it and would appeal to our students who already read but maybe not so much for those who who struggle. Hmmm now to pick a winner...I think it would be Diamond Boy but they are all so close it isn't by much.
The Walking Read had a VERY difficult time choosing between Diamond Boy and Part-Time Indian. In the end, we voted for Part-Time Indian because we thought it was highly engaging and we really liked the episodic nature of the of the book. We felt like kids or teachers could jump in or out of the story, if needed. We wondered if a chapter could be used as a mentor text, for any number of writing traits...hmmm. So our vote is for Part Time Indian...but by a hair!
Well that was painful. It only took me 15 minutes to figure out how to post a comment. My name is Karen and I am technologically impaired.
ReplyDeleteBeing the keener type I decided to read all the books in our Smackdown so I am going to share my opinion about the winner as well as my thoughts about some of the eliminated contestants.
To begin with, Bone Gap versus Diamond Boy. These were the only books that I was unable to get hooked into and therefore I didn't finish either of them. Bone Gap seemed to be full of gaps to me -- and not in a good way while Diamond Boy was too intense (and disturbing).
Both Winger and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian would appeal to the male students with Diary being an easier read at 230 pages rather than Winger's 439 pages. I felt Winger had a strong start but it petered out towards the end and didn't hold together as well as Diary did. So my final choice for the winner would be The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian!!!!!!
My favorite book of all of them is Far, Far Away because Jacob Grimm was stuck in the space between worlds (zwischenraum)and I am a sucker for the fairy tale connection.
I also really enjoyed Calvin because of the connection to Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes. The mental illness of schizophrenia is dealt with in a realistic and believable manner and as an advocate for mental health I think this is a subject that needs more conversation.
Anyway, overall I've really enjoyed the Mighty Smackdown so please sign me up for the Mighty Smackdown II!
Sal's readers had lots of positive comments about The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Winger and Diamond Boy. While all the books had qualities that made them stand out, the majority felt that Diamond Boy stood out as the winner. Here are a few comments from team Sal:
ReplyDelete“I loved Diamond Boy. It was interesting (takes place in Africa), opened my eyes about the “diamond” situation; I wanted to keep reading to find out what happened. Thought Winger was good too, quite funny in places. Lots of Teen Angst coming through in that one, definitely more accessible in terms of identifying with North American themes.”
“My vote is Diamond Boy.” - Cindy
“I was only able to read one of the books from the four finalists. Absolutely True Diary was very entertaining. It was funny, sad and thought provoking. I enjoyed the interesting illustrations and easy to read style. I had trouble putting it down. I think Diary is a winner!”
-Deb
And.... one more endorsement for Diamond Boy:
ReplyDeleteI vote for Diamond Boy. It really caused me to pause and think about what life is like for people, and especially children, in other parts of the world. It also made me question how much are we in Canada part of these issues? How much do my political and economic choices directly affect kids in Africa who are then sent into the diamond mines. Scary to think about but relevant. Didn’t want to put the book down because I needed to know the ending.
Michelle Wyman
Science Teacher
Salisbury Composite High School
Clover Bar loves Part-Time Indian, BUT we felt as it's already won piles of awards the novel is on the radar of many English teachers and librarians. In fact, we teach it in ELA9. The kids love it.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, we place our vote for Diamond Boy. This is an area our students know little about and considering we're consumers of diamonds, we should. Knowing the background and origins of our consumer products is part of the Science 9 curriculum so Diamond Boy would add a perfect tie-in for inquiry.
Kerri, Suzanne, Kandice and Carolyn
Clover Bar's Team Dickens
Here at Ardrossan we did not all get the books read but even so we had a hard time choosing a winner. 3 of the last 4 books all had good points. Winger would be good for reluctant readers and boys. Part time Indian was funny but had mature subject matter and lots of swearing. Diamond Boy was a stand out for those who read it and would appeal to our students who already read but maybe not so much for those who who struggle. Hmmm now to pick a winner...I think it would be Diamond Boy but they are all so close it isn't by much.
ReplyDeleteDenyse, Deanna and Jan the Ardrosson Bibliophiles
The Walking Read had a VERY difficult time choosing between Diamond Boy and Part-Time Indian. In the end, we voted for Part-Time Indian because we thought it was highly engaging and we really liked the episodic nature of the of the book. We felt like kids or teachers could jump in or out of the story, if needed. We wondered if a chapter could be used as a mentor text, for any number of writing traits...hmmm. So our vote is for Part Time Indian...but by a hair!
ReplyDeleteLooks like this year's all-in winner it DIAMOND BOY!!!!!!
ReplyDelete