Like second nature: "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall

It's always funny to me how sometimes I'll hear about something like a book or a song and then suddenly I stumble upon in almost immediately afterwards. This happened to me recently with Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. My former student teacher and I had been talking about running and she mentioned the book to me in passing and not a week later my mom mentioned that a friend of hers had sent a book for me to read, but she was already so engrossed in the book that I'd have to wait until she finished it and sent it along my way. Serendipity? Quite possibly. So, sure enough, once dear old mom had finished up the book and sang its many praises, she left it with me, and she seemed curious to hear what my reaction would be to it since I run on a near-daily basis.

My reaction? Is it possible to run and read at the same time? I found myself drawn to reading and simultaneously wanting to work out too to test out some of the notions presented in the book. I loved the combination of the genres with this book. It starts off as a running/medical narrative and then morphs into an anthropological study of the Tarahumara tribe of Mexico. It then ties in some of the craziest distance running competitions and the wackos who compete and excel at these competitions. Then, before I knew it, all of these topics were being tied together in an Outside Magazine-like story about excessive personalities and how these ultra-runners, though so different, are drawn together through this compulsion.

Did I mention that I'll never look at running shoes and Nike the same way again? Nor the human body and our "SAD" diets. This book amazed me in that I learned so much and found myself increasingly persuaded to want to go shoeless and throw off the shackles of a diet laden with meat and animal by-products. At the same time, it wasn't preachy; it just presented the facts. Why was I so convinced? I was convinced because I could legitimately feel the author's struggle and natural progression from amateur runner and a force to be reckoned with... particularly because he achieved the goal he'd hoped: increased mileage and increased speed without the hampering injuries. I think I found what I'll be spending my Barnes and Nobles giftcards on... volumes of "Born to Run" for friends and family.

Something Rotten

Something Rotten (by Alan Gratz) is a story loosely based on Hamlet (by William Shakespeare). Like Malcolm X (graphic novel), I really enjoy teaching this book with my high school students. It's a fairly easy reading level, but there are still plenty of vocabulary words to push students and the class discussions surrounding the story's mystery are absolutely juicy. It's always fun to teach this book because both girls and guys love the who-dunnit drama of a mystery and it's all surrounding teenage main characters. I also particularly enjoy the sassy humor Gratz has managed to work in with his narrator, Horatio.

Horatio helps investigate his best friend's father's death. Hamilton, Horatio's best friend, has recently returned home to mourn the death of his father and then witness the marriage of Trudy (Hamilton's mom) and Claude (Hamilton's uncle). Hamilton's rage manifests itself in drunken stupors and outrage.

In the meantime, Horatio tries to contain Hamilton's rage by agreeing to help him find the killer. Shortly after this agreement, Horatio realizes he's in over his head. There's a pollution problem, a curious ex-boyfriend of Hamilton's mom, and Hamilton's ex-girlfriend. Horatio finds himself not only looking for facts to find a killer, but he's also trying to figure out how and why Rex Prince (Hamilton's deceased dad) was murdered... but things are never as simply as they seem in a small town named Denmark, Tennesee.

I particularly enjoy reading and re-reading this book because of the snarky humor and the great twists that lend for amusing student discussions and fun pictures to represent each day's reading. At the end of the unit, I enjoy comparing this story to the original (Hamlet) and then we connect the stories by creating graphic novels to represent the stories and the inconsistencies. I find that the creativity is really able to flow with this assignment and students love the opportunity to read something fun, funky and drama-filled. This is definitely a winner and I've also had student tell me that Something Wicked (based on MacBeth) is just as good.

X-treme history: Malcolm X (graphic novel)

There are very few books I actually make my students read, but Malcolm X by Andrew Helfer is one of those novels. The book is actually a graphic novel based on The Autobiography of Malcolm X and the graphic novel actually pulls in other history during Malcolm's lifetime.

I love teaching this book because it makes for great discussions with the students. I teach at a predominantly white, rural career center (once called a vocational school) and it's great to teach about racism and history being "white washed" head on. It's also great to have a safe place for students to really inspect the U.S.'s history, particularly regarding racial relations and it's good for my students to really think about what it means to be Black in America.

Malcolm X is a short (about 100 pages) of American racial history from the early 1920s to the mid 1960s (Malcolm lived from 1925-1965). As well, it's interesting to see how little students actually know about Malcolm and it's even more amazing to see what preconceived notions they had about Malcolm and then watch them learn the truth and revel in how far off they really were.

The story starts with Malcolm's life with his mother, who later goes crazy, his father, who dies a suspicious death, and later it progresses into his life in a foster family after he'd been separated from his siblings. The following sections recount his "hustling days" and his descent into illicit activities which eventually land him in jail. While in jail he's introduced to the Nation of Islam (a Black Nationalist religious group loosely based in Islam) and he becomes inspired to take up a preacher's life and with this he essentially becomes a self-taught religious speaker and civil rights activist.

The book is wonderful for getting students to notice inconsistencies in stories and notice how people are easily manipulated through lacking education and naivette. I love using this book as a springboard for discussion because it allows the readers to really dig deep and think about such things as the civil rights movement, McCarthyism, Islam v. the Nation of Islam and how powerful leaders such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Kennedy Brothers threatened the status quo. Lastly, it's a great teaching tool for readers to investigate their own prejudices and really reflect on stereotypes and the harm that they've done to those who believe in them and those who've fallen victim of them.

Overall, I'd highly recommend this read for anyone 14+ years of age. Anyone younger than this age will probably be missing the firm historical based to really appreciate this visual and textual masterpiece. As well, Malcolm X, a film by Spike Lee based on Malcolm X's life is a great complement to the book because it poses his life using clips of his actual speeches in addition to fabulous acting by Denzel Washington. Lastly, Malcolm X ties the racial struggle in the U.S. and abroad back into ongoings in the mid 1990s when the movie was made-- which shows how far we've come, but also how far we have yet to go.