Bootleg: Murder, moonshine, and the lawless years of prohibition

Thanks, Donita Thomas, for one I want to remember to read. My great-uncles were involved in this kind of stuff.

Blumenthal, K. (2011).  Bootleg: Murder, moonshine, and the lawless years of prohibition.  New York:  Roaring Brook Press.

Genre:  Informational Text

Age Level:  Grades 8-12

Bootleg:  Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition, is an informational text that chronicles the history of Prohibition in the United States—a period from 1920 to 1933 during which it was illegal to sell or drink alcohol.  The book, a lesson in social science, discusses how an era in our country’s history began, as a movement to heal social ills, became a burden on ordinary citizens and a boon to criminals. It began with the best of intentions. Mothers and civic leaders, worried about the effects of alcohol on American families, started a movement to outlaw drinking in public places. Over time, their protests, petitions, and activism paid off—when a Constitional Amendment banning the sale and consumption of alcohol was ratified, it was praised as the end of public drunkenness, alcoholism, and a host of other social ills blamed on booze. Instead, it began a decade of lawlessness, when children smuggled (and drank) illegal alcohol, the most upright citizens casually broke the law, and a host of notorious gangsters entered the public eye. Filled with text features such as period art and photographs, anecdotes, and portraits of unique characters from the era, this fascinating book looks at the rise and fall of the disastrous social experiment known as Prohibition.

Blumenthal gives us a highly readable chapter book, well-shaped look at the Eighteenth Amendment, which she calls “the most radical and ambitious social experiment ever tried.” She provides concise, clearly written insights into the beginnings of the temperance movements in the late eighteenth century, which gained steam over the next century and finally reached a tipping point in the early twentieth century as an organized, powerful political movement. Of course, the “grand social revolution that was supposed to forever end drunkenness, reduce crime, and make life better for America’s families” did almost precisely the opposite, and the of the book section that discusses Al Capone will satisfy readers who are hungry for the gangster-warfare side of Prohibition. A closing chapter makes an argument that despite the mostly disastrous results, there were bright points to Prohibition—like the sharp plunge in alcohol-related diseases—and looks at the leftover effects such as MADD and school drug- and alcohol-awareness programs that we have today. Plenty of archival images with captions lend to the book’s engaging design, and a large bibliography as well as source notes closes out this wonderful resource, which will also help to initiate discussions on the current War on Drugs.

• o   CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.1 Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to supporting ideas; provide an objective summary of the text.
• o   CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.3 Analyze how a text makes connections among and distinctions between individuals, ideas, or events (e.g., through comparisons, analogies, or categories).
• o   CCSS.ELA-Lliteracy.RI.8.4Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including analogies or allusions to other texts.
• o   CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.8.6 Determine an author’s point of view or purpose in a text and analyze how the author acknowledges and responds to conflicting evidence or viewpoints. 

High Order Questions

Was Prohibition a success or a failure?

What was the author’s opinion of Prohibition?

If we thought of Prohibition as a cause, what were some immediate effects that it had on the social scene?  What are some lasting effects that still exist today?

The hidden girl: A true story of the Holocaust

Thank you Julissa Sargent, for a biography reflection.

Kaufman, L., & Metzger, L. (2008). The hidden girl: A true story of the Holocaust. New York: Scholastic.

On September 17,1939 when Russian soldiers entered a small hometown of a young girl named Lola when she was only five years old.  Before she reached her 10th birthday, she lost her father, then her mother one right after the other as well as watched extended family and friends disappear. Yet Lola was one of the few “lucky” children because so many did not survive the devastation of Hitler’s regime that wiped out six million Jews living in Europe in 1939.  The book talks about how Lola’s grandmother entrusted Lola to a Ukrainian woman who hid her in a back room until the Nazi threat came too close. It then goes on to explain how Lola fled again to the home of another brave family, where she spent nine months buried in a dark hole beneath the family barn.  Throughout this time in hiding, Lola wore a hand embroidered dress that her mother made for her.   After her escape she and some extended family immigrated to America to start a new life.  It wasn’t until years later that she was able to share her haunting testimony with others.  This book is a heart wrenching journey that will allow older children and adults to understand one of the most tragic events in history.  According to the book, you will now find the hand embroidered dress that Lola wore in the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.

Literary Terms:
            This book is a biography, which means it was written by someone about another person’s life.  The really neat thing about this book however, is that the author used actual first hand stories and quotes from the person whom she was writing about.  The theme of this book has a huge significance in the history of our world.  It tells the story first hand of what it was like to survive the Holocaust, which was something very few were able to do.  This book is definitely worthy of attention from readers of all ages.  The imagery in the book will keep you coming back to read more, the author uses words that portray how things looked, smelled, and sounded for Lola during this miraculous journey.

Curriculum Connections:
RI.5.1. Quote accurately from a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
RI.5.9. Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.
After reading this book and having conversations about the events of the Holocaust in a class for upper elementary students, I think it would be great for the students to do more research on the events of the Holocaust.  They can use the internet, journals, other books, and possibly even interviews of any known survivors.  I then think the students could make a podcast to deliver a summary of their findings.  Students learn best when applying given content knowledge and teaching others, this would be a great activity to do so as well as incorporate technology too!

Big Questions:
How would you create a new life after so much suffering?
  Could you imagine living in fear for your life?

The City of Ember

Thanks, Megan Crabb, for reminding us that this book is part of a series.
DuPrau. J. (2003). The city of Ember. New York, N.Y.: Random House Publishers.
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0kQOkZmhBMQ

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the lights went out on your city, and never came back on? For 12 year old, Lina Mayfleet, this fear is real. In the city of Ember, the only light is provided by old flood lamps that come on when it is time to work and go off when it is time to sleep. Lately, though, the lights have been flickering a lot and total darkness during the middle of the day is no longer uncommon.

On Assignment Day, Lina is stuck with one of the worst jobs in Ember: pipeworker. To her surprise, an old friend comes to her rescue. Doon Harrow and Lina used to be best friends. When Doon offers to trade jobs with Lina, that friendship begins to rekindle itself. As Lina begins her dream job as messenger, she realizes that something is amiss in Ember. She stumbles upon a secret that has been kept for over 200 years; something the builders didn’t want to share. With the food stockpile running low and the city’s generator on its last leg, Lina and Doon decide they need to do something to save their city. 

The City of Ember is the first in a series of books about the world after a meltdown and the secret meant to save humanity. If you liked The Giver, Under the Empyrean Sky, or The Maze Runner, you’ll love The City of Ember.