Randi Pink, author of the young adult fiction novel “The Angel of Greenwood,” talked to ContrabandCamp about how residents of a Pittsburgh suburb rallied around her book.
I am a retired HS English teacher. There is no better way to get high school kids to read a book than to tell them they can’t. I hope this book is flying off the shelves of the local library and bookstores. Also, kids should know the Brooklyn NY public library allows anyone in the country under 18 to join their e-library for free.
Wow, just wow. I’m a book lover so when she said “books are bridges” I felt that. Books expose you to things outside of your norm and that is allows us to grow as people.
“Books are Bridges!” Thank you for a paradigm shifting article. You might as well call me “Firestarter” when it comes to burning bridges. As book lover, however, I may have to reform my thinking and behavior.
"Why does one book have to disappear for another to be studied?" Because the school year is limited. A teacher can only teach so many books during a year. Teachers have to pick and choose which books it will study. If it is added to the curriculum after Tale of Two Cities, it will still end up displacing something else.
Great piece!
thank you for reading!
So good to know that occasionally decency prevails. 🙏🏼
The students coming together to help was amazing to see.
It was gorgeous.
Now I have to find this book.
I am a retired HS English teacher. There is no better way to get high school kids to read a book than to tell them they can’t. I hope this book is flying off the shelves of the local library and bookstores. Also, kids should know the Brooklyn NY public library allows anyone in the country under 18 to join their e-library for free.
Wow, just wow. I’m a book lover so when she said “books are bridges” I felt that. Books expose you to things outside of your norm and that is allows us to grow as people.
The Angel of Greenwood is US History showing true racism which always involves stopping monetary advancement.
It's also a story of a community that knows this story is important to tell. Good on them with their fearless support.
I hope you will subscribe to making history come alive
This is a beautiful story
Thank you for posting this.
Yay Phil and Contraband Camp together. My favorite news sources.
Great article Phil!
“Books are Bridges!” Thank you for a paradigm shifting article. You might as well call me “Firestarter” when it comes to burning bridges. As book lover, however, I may have to reform my thinking and behavior.
And if you burn the book, you burn that bridge,” she explained.
They didn’t burn the book. They just said it wasn’t advanced enough for 9th graders.
There is or was a solution for this. Add it to the itinerary after the Tale of Two Cities.
If the book has merit, it will stand on its own; if it doesn’t, it’ll go down in smoke.
That's not how it works.
Why not? Why does one book have to disappear for another to be studied? Why can't something stand on merit?
Trying to force something down someone's throat just makes someone choke. It doesn't help with what you want to talk about.
But then, I've never been one to stick to the syllabus, and I've often gone beyond it because I wanted to.
"Why does one book have to disappear for another to be studied?" Because the school year is limited. A teacher can only teach so many books during a year. Teachers have to pick and choose which books it will study. If it is added to the curriculum after Tale of Two Cities, it will still end up displacing something else.
bravo. has that book since been added to other school boards' mandated reads?