Here's a hopeless romantic quote that all librarians and teachers
seem to love: “The man who reads lives a thousand lives before he dies;
the man who never reads lives but one.” Ahhh, beautiful.
To be totally and completely cliché in such an English
teacher kind of way, the last two books I have read have done just that by allowing me to step into two very different pairs of shoes than my own.
But they gave me two other important lessons:
- These books made me realize how incredibly
ignorant I am about the “thousand lives” of people in my world, and
- In some way, made me incredibly grateful for the
one life I actually do have.
A Long Way Gone by
Ishmael Beah is a memoir from a former child soldier during the Sierra Leone
Civil War. Do you know where Sierra Leone is? Africa is as close as I could
pinpoint it before reading this book.
Like many civil conflicts, the Sierra Leone War was incredibly violent with innocent civilians unfortunately receiving much of the brutality. Ishmael Beah is one of those civilians, and this book chronicles his journey from his hometown in Sierra Leone to his wandering of the countryside after losing touch with his family, to his being picked up as a child soldier for the national army, and finally to his rehabilitation through UNICEF. A traumatic and sometimes grisly story, I’m thankful to this story for giving me a glimpse into a world and culture I knew nothing about.
When I Was Puerto Rican by Esmerelda Santiago made me realize how incredibly ignorant I am of
an area of the world that is relatively close to the United States and is, in
fact, a territory of the U.S.A. This memoir follows the life of Esmerelda and
her family, particularly her mother, as they move from country to city to back
again in Puerto Rico; eventually, they make their way to New York City. I would
not have picked up this book on my own, but am grateful to my colleague Betsy for putting this read into my hands!
Why you might like
these books: Although both books at times are incredibly depressing and
nerve wracking, they give you such a perspective of the world around you. So
when I get mad that a student left his homework on his desk, or that I forgot
to rinse out my oatmeal bowl in the morning, these stories offer me a reality
check of what real problems and situations are like. Voila! – instant perspective.
But stories like these were NOT written to make me feel
better about my first world problems. Rather, they are told to raise awareness
about parts of the globe that are sometimes ignored. More people need to read
books like these in order to become more culturally aware and more sensitive to
the world’s problems. After all, our community no longer extends to our city,
state, or even country; the whole world is our community and we need to be
aware of its trials, transformations, and triumphs.
Why you might not
like these books: As recounted in a previous post, I started A Long Way Gone as an audiobook. I would
not recommend this, as it is a pretty depressing and violent story and made me
sad as I drove from place to place.
Truthfully, I liked A
Long Way Gone more than When I Was
Puerto Rican because there is more of a plot. At times during Puerto Rican, I wanted to throw down the
book and scream at Esmerelda’s parents for putting her in such dangerous and
unfair situations. Both of these books were hard to read at times, but I’m thankful
to have read them.
Similar Titles I’ve
Read: Never Fall Down by Patricia
McCormick, Night by Elie Wiesel, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, Sold by Patricia McCormick, The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
I would recommend
these books to: People who care about our global community; history buffs; and my
dear friend Kirsten.
