Historical Fiction

Listening for Lions
By: Gloria Whelan

To be quite honest, there have been very few books that have been able to engage me into them right from the beginning. Listening for Lions is definitely one of those few books that began with an interesting narrative which caught my attention and desire to keep reading.
The story basically begins by introducing the setting and the characters but in a very descriptive and lively way. From the beginning we learn that the story takes place around 1919 when the Great War was finally over. We immediately become introduced to Rachel Sheridan and the type of life she had. Rachel was basically the daughter of two individuals who were sent from England as missionaries to the Masai and Kikuyu. She tells us that she has lived there all of her life and has never visited England. I found it interesting when she mentioned that she had never seen snow falling from the sky but her parents told her about it. She states that it never crossed her mind that she would ever see this. As the daughter of these two missionaries, there are so many things that she sees and goes through.
She describes how living in these areas has helped her make valuable observations. For instance, she has seen the cruelty of her British neighbors on a Kikuyu and this she deeply disapproved of. Rachel also makes good observational descriptions on her surroundings which I very much liked. She describes how the nature around her which I feel brings the reader closer to the story. I really appreciated this because not being from Africa makes it harder to understand the story and so I feel that she greatly helps us by providing these types of descriptions. Another thing I really much liked and enjoyed reading about was the descriptions of those individuals who she really cared and loved. It was unfortunately to find out that this did not last forever or at least for not that long.
Due to the influenza epidemic of 1919 many of the villagers became ill and died including her very own parents. Now alone in this world, Rachel is not very sure what to do and she contemplates the idea of going to the mission board of Mombasa. But she is offered to go to England and take Valerie’s place. Valarie happens to be a member of a British family that lived near Rachel’s family. They tell her that she shall take Valerie’s place back in England by taking care of Valerie’s grandfather. Valerie’s grandfather is very sick and so his desire is to see her. Unfortunately Rachel agrees because she is afraid to end up in an orphanage. Luckily things work out fine when she goes to England. She establishes an good relationship with Valerie’s grandfather and she grows in England. Regardless of the fact that she takes in the English culture, she never forgets her life in Africa and her feelings at the time.
Overall, I would really recommend this book to other people to read. I loved how historical event and facts were weaved into it while at the same time keeping an interesting story line. I loved reading about someone who was clearly different from me because I learned more from other cultures, situations, etc. In addition, I can not emphasize how useful I found the detail description of characters, settings, etc. As you may have already noticed, I really enjoyed reading this book. :)

Anything But Normal

Going back on my childhood years, I can’t really recall reading much about children with disabilities and well never had a classmates with any type of disability. I guess that might’ve been the reason why our teachers never really encouraged literature on disabilities. To begin with, I really liked that the author wrote the book in first person because we as the audience can go into this journey through the eyes of a person with a disability. In this story, Anything but Typical, the story is about Jason and what he has to go through. Jason is a boy who has autism but who’s creativity is not affected by it. It is in fact true that his interaction with other individuals is affected due to his autism. I found it very interesting when he makes friends with that girl online using the Storyboard. I mean he basically used technology to community effectively with someone and this was probably something many people didn’t think was possible. As the story progressed I felt like I was part of Jason. That is to say, I was as excited as he was to have made a real friend which is hardly anyone thought he would be able to do at any point of his life. I really felt like crying out of the excitement I felt about this because I felt it was a big accomplishment in his life. As their friendship grew, so did my attachment to him and such relationship. As a result, I became as anxious and felt bad for him when he learned that he might have to meet her. Although I am not autistic, his whole relationship with the girl, emailing her, and having to meet with her was something I could relate to. I think that being able to relate to him made me more attached to him and reinforced the bond that was created as I read the story.
I really liked how he started the book because I feel like he clarified many things. First of all, he address how most people think of him and the misconceptions. In addition, I liked how he said that when he wrote he felt that he could really be heard. I mean a lot of students feel that way even though they might not have a disability. I honestly would have to say that it was the art of writing which helped him overcome obstacles because he really believed he had a voice and made great use of it. Another favorite statement that I really liked was when he said he would write this book in first person and in our language. I think this just proved how capable he was regardless of the low expectations that people had about him. I could honestly say that Jason really inspired me because he proved how one can overcome “barriers” if they believe they can regardless of whatever others think. I personally think this is a very good book to have in our classroom shelves because not only does it expose students to a disability but it also proves to be quite inspirational for them. Here we have a story of Jason a child with autism who regardless of the low expectations he is able go above and beyond what people thought he could. I really liked this book and would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.