August Book Reviews Part 1

Welcome to this post featuring both fiction and nonfiction.

• Concept: Published in 2008 by journalist Howard Fineman, The Thirteen American Arguments explores 13 key arguments that have waged throughout our history. His thesis is that we are a nation of arguments. Fineman begins with a modern political reference to begin each chapter and then moves to the arguments’ origin during our founding and early years through to each argument’s modern iterations. Fineman followed many political campaigns throughout his career and provides examples from each as fits an argument. 

• My Take: I chose this work as my first nonfiction review because of Fineman’s recent passing. The book was first recommended to me years ago at a College Board AP English Language and Composition summer institute. I read it and used excerpts until I was able to obtain a class set. The historical and journalistic point of view is intriguing and offers what I have found to be a balanced presentation of key issues in our history and modern society. I’ve made frequent use of excerpts from his introduction: 

We are the Arguing Country, born in, and born to, debate. The habit of doing  so–the urgent almost neurotic need to do so–makes us unique and gives us our  freedom, creativity, and strength. (3)

. . . argument is strength, not weakness, and that freedom and security can  live together. How do we do so? By making sure that people know they have a chance to be heard. The American way breeds unsettling conflict, . . . . As long as we argue, there is hope, and as long as there is hope, we will argue. (19)

• Recommendation: I’ve used excerpts from the book in AP English Language. I would also recommend it for use in US history, including AP US History. Some chapters discuss controversial issues such as race, abortion, and the role of faith. These issues should not be seen as triggers or reasons to avoid the text because they are issues of contemporary society, which makes them not only worthy of discussion by older adolescents but necessary topics for them to consider in an environment that seeks to create dialogue not discord. I consider it a nonfiction staple of my high school classroom library. When published, the reviews were mixed. The Publisher’s Weekly reviewer found it “quirky” but “frustrating and unsatisfying” while the Booklist reviewer found it to be “an argument, urging perspective and optimism amid today’s overheated debates.” 

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• Concept: Picoult explores the lead up to and aftermath of a high school mass shooting. She references time before and time after the event that lasted nineteen minutes as her narrative strategy. Key voices in the novel are the shooter Peter and his former best friend Josie who witnessed the final minutes before Peter was apprehended. Other voices fill the pages: Peter’s parents, Josie’s mother, the lead detective, the defense attorney. The small town setting where most people are interconnected allows the story to explore the complex reverberations of this tragedy. The reader continuously wonders how this could have been prevented. How does the response to Peter’s bullying by peers, the school, and even his parents contribute to those catastrophic nineteen minutes? How does Josie’s inability to fully remember the final minutes complicate the tragedy and the trial? 
• My Take: This is the second novel by Picoult that I’ve read. I admit to choosing it because it has become a frequent target for challenges in school libraries. Admittedly, since school shootings are far too frequent, I would definitely read this work before adding it to my classroom library to be aware of its content in full. However, it is a work that explores complex aspects of adolescence, including friendship, cliques, bullying, and unhealthy relationships. Removing novels with these topics does not remove the issues from adolescents’ daily lives through direct or observed experience, but it will tell adolescents that the adults surrounding them are unwilling to acknowledge and address these issues. 
• Recommendations: Yes, I would include this title on my high school classroom library shelves. The book’s description and any book talk I did in class would provide sufficient warning for any students that might find the book to be triggering. Every book is not for every student. Students deserve choices ranging from light and fun to heavy and challenging depending on the student’s reading interests and readiness. 
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