an American struggle

I picked up the book A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Ron Suskind because it was on the 10th grade summer reading list of a high school I admire. It was first published in 1997 and updated in 2005. It's the memoir of Cedric Jennings, a bright, determined honor student at Ballou High School - a high school in one of Washington D.C.'s most dangerous neighborhoods.

It is beautifully written by Mr. Suskind. In the Epilogue he writes:

"Nonetheless, the fact remains; he had hope in a better world he could not yet see that overwhelmed the cries of "you can't" or "you won't" or "why bother." More than anything else, mustering that faith, on cue, is what separated him from his peers, and distinguishes him from so many people in these literal, sophisticated times. It has made all the difference."

And in the Author's Note Mr. Suskind writes:

"It is that privilege - to be the trustee of someone's very self - that I've sought to measure up to with each page of this book."

While the book is written beautifully by Ron Suskind, the real hero is Cedric Jennings.

From GoodReads:

It is 1993, and Cedric Jennings is a bright and ferociously determined honor student at Ballou, a high school in one of Washington D.C.’s most dangerous neighborhoods, where the dropout rate is well into double digits and just 80 students out of more than 1,350 boast an average of B or better. At Ballou, Cedric has almost no friends. He eats lunch in a classroom most days, plowing through the extra work he has asked for, knowing that he’s really competing with kids from other, harder schools. Cedric Jennings’s driving ambition–which is fully supported by his forceful mother–is to attend a top-flight college.

In September 1995, after years of near superhuman dedication, he realizes that ambition when he begins as a freshman at Brown University. In this updated edition, A Hope in the Unseen chronicles Cedric’s odyssey during his last two years of high school, follows him through his difficult first year at Brown, and now tells the story of his subsequent successes in college and the world of work.

As I was reading this book, I was thinking what a perfect pick it is for a high school reading list. Every high schooler today should read it.

It is a true success story among too many unsuccessful ones. Rarely can someone face so many challenges and still persevere. It is a story of race and difference and opportunities and difficulties ... and accepting others while still keeping your own sense of self.

Interestingly...
after finishing A Hope in the Unseen, I saw this clip on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell.

It lead me to read the following articles:

Justin Porter's New York Times article Reflections on the Road to Harvard and Travis Reginal's NYT article Reflections on the Road to Yale.

If you know a high school student, have them read this book.

Whether you are a student who has been given every opportunity and encouragement or one who has not, you are sure to be moved by the story of Cedric Jennings... and all 'Cedric Jennings' past and present.

If you need more enticing, check out... 
This NPR piece by Susan Gilman on A Hope in the Unseen

reshaping the world

If you are looking for another good non-fiction read, try Sugar Changed the World : A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos. It was on the summer reading list of a middle school I admire and I can imagine the wonderful reflection and questioning that this book is prompting as students get ready to head back to school.

The book explores the impact sugar has had upon colonialism, global trade, migration, slavery, revolutions, culinary arts, production and refinement, religious practice, and more.

"It is the story of the movement of millions of people, of fortunes made and lost, of brutality and delight - all because of tiny crystals stirred into our coffee, twirled on top of cake. Sugar, we began to see, changed the world."

Ironically, while sugar was the direct cause of the expansion of slavery, the global connections that sugar brought about also fostered the most powerful ideas of human freedom.

Sugar plantations were farms, but they were run like factories - with human beings as the tireless machines. Cruelty and misery abounded as endless labor or was demanded from the slaves of the plantations.

In reference to the masters and overseers of the plantations, the English historian Lord Acton famously said, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

In 1785 at Cambridge University, an essay contest asked the question "Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?" Thomas Clarkson won the essay prize, but in doing so convinced himself and many of the English public to abolish the terrible practice of slavery. When the English looked at the sugar they used everyday in their tea, they could see the blood of the slaves who had created it. (Imagine the power of a single essay the next time you sit down to write.)

Have you ever stopped using a product once you were forced to look at how it was made?

Have you ever considered the debate between human rights and property rights? Is cheaper worth the cost to workers and the environment?

Have you ever given any thought to indentured labor? Gandhi thought it was a form of slavery. Does indentured labor relate in any way to modern day undocumented laborers in the United States?

What do you think of Satyagraha as a revolutionary tool? How have you seen it play out in our modern day news?

Be sure to read the authors note on page 126 at the end of the book. I particularly like the part:

"... young people are smart, and therefore the more opportunity we give them to think about big questions in creative ways, the better."

Two cool aside videos you might want to check out after reading this book are on Crash Course U.S. History with John Green: Taxes and Smuggling AND Slavery.

Also, the author Marc Aronson has an awesome blog over on SLJ. Be sure to check out his answer to "Why should we care about history anyway?"

nor be troubled

I loved the historical fiction novel The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. The year is 1958, one year after the Little Rock Nine, and both local and state governments have closed many Arkansas high schools in opposition to integration. Both children and adults struggle to form their opinions on the issue of what's right.

Marlee is in junior high, but her shyness prevents her from talking to most people... until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. The book is written in Marlee's insightful, first-person narrative. She navigates social issues large and small with great courage.  Her voice is brave and compelling, making this book a real page turner.

The Lions of Little Rock definitely sparks an interest in learning more about civil rights and segregation.

If you read The Lions of Little Rock as part of our Summer Reading series... read on...

Early in the book, Marlee shares:

"You see to me, people are like things you drink. Some are like a pot of black coffee, no cream, no sugar. They make me so nervous I start to tremble. Others calm me down enough that I can sort through the words in my head and find something to say."

She likens her brother to a glass of sweet iced tea on a hot summer day, her father to a glass of milk, cold and delicious, that on occasion goes sour. Her mother is like strong hot black tea, while her sister is like an iced cold Coca-Cola. Do you agree with Marlee's assessment of her family? If you saw your family as things you drink, what would they be?


When Marlee's parents argue about integration, their two sides of the issue sum up what people were thinking at the time:

"I can't believe the governor would rather close the schools than have you go with a couple of Negroes," Daddy said to Judy.

"That's not what he said," Mother snapped. "It's about states' rights, preserving our way of life and respecting Southern traditions. Not to mention maintaining the peace."

What is the difference between Marlee's parents' views on integration of the schools in Little Rock? 

As is often the case, people look for evidence that supports their beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them. There is a saying that we don't see the world as it is, we see the world as we are. Have you ever experienced this?


Marlee says that when she is nervous or scared, she begins to count prime numbers from 1 - 100:
2  3  5  7  11  13  17  19  23  29  31  37  41  43  47  59  61  67  71  73  79  83  89  97

"It's important to face your fears," said Liz. "It makes you a better person."

What do you do when you are nervous or scared? Do you agree with Liz that it is important to face your fears?

The Women's Emergency Committee to Open our Schools

"That week in Sunday school, Miss Winthrop was talking about the apostle Peter and how he thought you should be good, kind and loving to everyone, even if it was hard. I was thinking, okay, it's just the Golden Rule. Then she read a quote from 1 Peter 3:14 that caught my attention: But even if you do suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled."

The empty halls of Central High School 1958

"Maybe Mother wasn't selfish or uncaring. Maybe she was scared. Maybe she masked it like David did, not with a grin, but with a frown."

"Doing the right thing was harder than I'd expected it to be. And more confusing too."

"He'd said that things could be different in Little Rock, if only the right people could find their voice."

"I've thought about it a lot," I said. "I think a friend is someone who helps you change for the better. And whether you see them once a day or once a year, if it's a true friend, it doesn't matter."

In the author's notes, my favorite bit was:

"Sometimes I think people today forget that public schools are not just about reading and writing, math and test scores, but also about bringing different types of people together." 

Listen to an Audio Excerpt of The Lions of Little Rock HERE. 

I hope you loved this book as much as I did!

Be sure to read the second part of this fiction/non-fiction pairing, Little Rock Girl 1957 by August 9th; we'll be discussing it then.

BOMB recap

As a resource, here are all the links to BOMB: The Race to Build and Steal the World's Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin.

BOMB : Prologue and Part I

BOMB Part 2: Chain Reactions

BOMB Part 3: How to Build an Atomic Bomb

BOMB Part 4: Final Assembly

BOMB : Epilogue

BOMB Epilogue

The Hydrogen Bomb

The Super would be a bomb that got its energy from fusion, the joining of atoms, rather than fission. The power of such a bomb would have almost no limit. 

Robert Oppenheimer tried to argue that the Super should never be produced. Another Los Alamos leader, Hans Bethe, added, "I believe the most important question is the moral one. Can we, who have always insisted on the morality of human decency between nations as well as inside our own country, introduce this weapon of total annihilation into the world?"

And yet, on November 1, 1952, the U.S. tested the world's first hydrogen bomb. It exploded with incredible force: 500 times the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. And, less than a year later, the Soviet Union tested their first hydrogen bomb.

The arms race was off and running.

Then, in 1954, the United States tested a massive 15-megaton hydrogen bomb on the tiny Pacific island of Bikini Atoll. To this day, the radioactive soil of Bikini Atoll makes the island uninhabitable. Still, this was followed by a 50-megaton bomb explosion by the Soviets.

Internationally, of course, other countries wanted a bomb. Great Britain got theirs in 1952. France followed in 1960, then China in 1964 and India in 1974. Finally, Pakistan in 1998 and North Korea in 2006.

If you only ever watch one video regarding nuclear explosions, make sure it's this one: Nuclear Detonation Timeline 1945 - 1998. The 2053 nuclear tests and explosions that took place between 1945 and 1998 - visually and audibly plotted on a world map.

The big question is: Will any of these bombs ever be used? By who and against whom? What do you think? 

Now that we know this story, this bit of history, what's our responsibility?

I loved how the book ends:

In the end, this is a difficult story to sum up. The making of the atomic bomb is one of history's most amazing examples of teamwork and genius and poise under pressure. But it's also the story of how humans created a weapon capable of wiping our species off the planet, It's a story with no end in sight.

And, like it or not, you're in it.

Remember how we started this story... as "story detectives"? By looking at this event from multiple, international perspectives what did you learn? What do you still want to know?

And, like it or not, where do we go from here?

Young and Yang

The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher is an awesome mystery! Part Nancy Drew and part Alfred Hitchcock, The Wig in the Window is a clever, middle grade, debut novel.

Best friends Sophie Young and Grace Yang are smart, brave, adventurous, spy-loving heroines. They stumble upon a mystery involving their school counselor, Dr. Charlotte Agford (aka Dr. Awkward)... or at least, they think they do.

If you are looking for a twisting, turning, suspenseful mystery... this is the book for you.

I'm looking forward to Sophie and Grace's next adventure.

BOMB Part 4: Final Assembly

Where you able to finish Part 4 ?

That was difficult to read. I felt so anxious and sad for everyone involved. 

Did you?

Colonel Paul Tibbets hand picks the 509th Composite Group. And, at age 29, is entrusted with the successful delivery of the most frightful weapon ever devised. Have I mentioned that he was only twenty-nine?!

Then, Carl Eifler is replaced by former baseball player Moe Berg to render Heisenberg hors de combat - "out of battle". Werner Heisenberg was in Zurich, Switzerland to give a lecture, Moe Berg walks into the lecture hall ... in one pocket he has a pistol and in the other was a cyanide tablet, just in case he needed to kill himself before being captured.

I'm thinking history is crazier than fiction.

Secret messages are being sent through Walt Whitman's book Leaves of Grass; milk is used as invisible ink on news papers; and the plans for the atomic bomb are stuffed into the bottom of a tissue box. Amazing!

President Franklin Roosevelt dies, leaving vice president Harry Truman in charge, and as Germany begins to fall... American troops are grabbing all the German scientists before the Soviet troops are able to do the same. And, on April 30th 1945, Adolf Hitler commits suicide... the war in Europe is over. 

The United States and the Soviet Union will soon be the only world powers left standing.

On the morning of July16, the U.S. was ready to test the first atomic bomb. Would it work?

Zero minus fifteen minutes. Zero minus ten minutes. Zero minus two minutes. Zero minus one minute. Zero minus ten seconds, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one... zero.

"Lord, these affairs are hard on the heart."

And then, without a sound the sun was shining. Or so it looked. Then, about thirty seconds after the blast of light, came the sound. 

"It worked."

The bomb had exploded with the almost unbelievable force of eighteen thousand tons of TNT.

"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds."

President Truman decided that the atomic bomb could shock Japan into surrendering and end the war in the Pacific. He later explained that, "I couldn't worry about what history would say about my personal morality. I made the only decision I ever knew how to make. I did what I thought was right."

On August 6, 1945 a uranium bomb nickname Little Boy was loaded onto Colonel Tibbet's plane, the Enola Gay. The bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. The blast heated the ground to over 5,000 degrees. After witnessing the explosion, a feeling of shock and horror swept over the crew piloting the Enola Gay.

"My God, what have we done?"

On the morning of August 9, 1945 a second atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki.

And... the book isn't over yet. I am exhausted and don't think I can go on... but what of Robert Oppenheimer and his staff and their bomb making secrets...

The U.S. Army wanted more bombs. The President wanted Oppenheimer back in the lab. "Mr. President," said Mr. Oppenheimer, "I feel I have blood on my hands." He refused to build any more bombs. He knew his creation was completely - and forever - beyond his control.

How did all of this make you feel?

Proud? Sad? Angry? Frustrated? Relieved?

As for the writing of the book, I absolutely loved how it came full circle: "He had a few more minutes to destroy seventeen years of evidence." (pg. 1 and pg. 225)

Next, read the Epilogue (if you haven't already). We will discuss it tomorrow.

For now, I need to think about what the dropping of the atomic bomb means, some 68 years later.

video: Hiroshima Atomic Bomb 1945

video: The Manhattan Project and related videos on the History Channel (Einstein and the Atomic Bomb, Atomic Bomb Ends WWII, and Coroners Report: Atomic Bomb which is quite graphic. 

Also, check out this post on ENDPAPER, where Einstein confesses his "one great mistake".

Finally, you can listen to President Truman's radio address to the American people on August 9, 1945 about the bombing of Hiroshima.

Check out this interactive website on The Manhattan Project.

If you're interested in a great historical fiction book to read next, try Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. This book is a work of historical fiction about the scientists who worked on the atomic bomb and their families. It is told from the point of view of the children, who were not given many details of the highly classified project. The bomb is a looming presence in the story, though, because now you have knowledge that the characters do not.