Review of Cleo Porter and the Body Electric -- where Fiction and Reality Meet

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Great Depression, the Great War, the Great Recession and now the Great Separation. Today I get to share with you a new book that is amazing it was published this year and written before this year. As we are living through the Covid-19 Pandemic and thinking about wearing masks and social distancing, imagine if the pandemic was even worse and thus the Great Separation. Before we knew about Covid-19, Jake Burt wrote Cleo Porter and the Body Electric. And that is amazing!!

Twelve-year-old Cleo Porter lives in an apartment with her mother and father. The apartment has no doors or windows. It has a chute where drones drop off deliveries. The only human contact is with one another and everything else is done through simulation. In 2027 there had been an awful pandemic caused by Influenza D. The virus mutated with every person it moved to so there was no cure and it wiped out half the population. The solution was to lock everyone into apartments without doors or windows and have no outside physical contact. It has been decades since the last known case of Influenza D but the people live this way because it is safe. Cleo wants to be a drone surgeon like her mother. She has been studying to become a doctor from an early age and has a big test looming over her. But then something really strange happens. A medicine package gets delivered to their apartment with someone else's name. Everyone says it is impossible. The medicine is for brain swelling and it could be life or death. Cleo is worried for the unknown person. She feels the need to get the medicine to her, but how? The only way in and out of the apartment is the delivery chute. Cleo manages to get out with only machines to keep her company. She is off on an adventure that will change her whole life.

Can we start with how eye-opening this book is while living through a lesser pandemic? It puts our struggles into a different light. Social distancing and masks for a matter of months (or even a year) are nothing compared to never seeing the real sky and meeting people in person. There are messages throughout the book as well including from one of the people who chose not to be locked away. There are so many interesting depths to this book as well as questions that could be used for a class discussion. I put together some discussion questions for you. 

The story itself is intriguing and pulls the reader in. It flows and is suspenseful. You want to turn the page and continue reading to find out what happens next and to make sense of this new world. I hope you will check out this book. I know I told Hazel a bit about it and she wants to read it next!

Two Beautiful Picture Books about Growing Up and Mindfulness

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am going to share with you two absolutely beautiful picture books. The books are recommended for pre-K through grade 3. One is about becoming a big girl and putting away toys and the other is about learning to meditate. The first book is Nasla's Dream by Cecile Roumiguiere and illustrated by Simone Rea. 

Black Musicians and Entertainers #blacklivesmatter Series

 

How has the world changed in the last six months? The fight is still going on for Black rights. There is so much hate and violence as well as peaceful protests. We are in a Movement and we can decide how we are going to respond. We can sit back quietly and watch or we can take part. There are two sides and depending one where you fall you can take action. Know that sitting back quietly and watching is an action. It is accepting what you are seeing. I know at times this summer I have wondered if my actions, my posts, my discussions are making any difference. I even considered giving them up. But I knew in my heart I had to try to make a difference and help there be change. Today we have come to the end of my list. My short list. A list of names to research and share with you because Black lives are part of everyone's history. Black people matter! Although this will be my last post in this series for now, I know I will continue it again. I know there will be future books that share about Black lives, as well as more people to feature. If you have Black people I should feature please leave their names in the comments or contact me.  But I also know I want to focus on Native Americans for Native American History Month. I know we need to also focus on them as they are suffering with Covid and not making it much into the news. 

History Smashers Women's Right to Vote

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The other day my husband and I were discussing current events and the differing views in society. We are on opposite sides politically. We were discussing a bit of the discrimination going on in our country. My husband being a white, conservative man is pretty sick of being blamed. I am trying to educate him that part of the problem is he doesn't realize his part in the discrimination and how it is built into our society. We talked about history books. My conservative friends have been posting many things about how awful it is that people don't teach the traditional history any more. I asked him who wrote the history books when we were kids. I asked him which women he learned about in history. He told me the important ones, then he started listing people like Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony. I asked him if he knew who Elizabeth Cady Stanton was. He said no. I used this information and the knowledge from today's book to make my point. In fact today's book let's us know that Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the official history of the women's suffrage movement before it was over and that is what is taught still today. 

Books to Celebrate Filipino American History Month

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Did you know October is Filipino American History Month? Filipino Americans are the second largest Asian American group in the nation. They are third largest ethnic group in California (after Latinos and Blacks). October was chosen because it commemorates the first Filipino to step foot on the continental United States. On October 18, 1587, Luzones Indios came ashore at what is now Morro Bay, California, from Nuestro Senora de Esperanza, a Spanish galleon. In 2009 the United States Congress recognized October as Filipino American History Month. (Source) To celebrate I thought we would look at some books about the Philippines and their culture.