Anime Club: Hiragana and Calligraphy

Last month for my anime club meeting, I thought it might be interesting to have the teens learn how to write in Japanese. I contacted a local university and luckily, one of the professors of Japanese was kind enough to come out and teach them some hiragana. Hiragana is "is the basic Japanese phonetic script. It represents every sound in the Japanese language." (Source)

She went over some of the basics and then wrote out the teens' names in hiragana.

From: Deviant Art

Then she passed out a sheet with some kanji characters along with brushes, ink, and rice paper and let the teens practice calligraphy. They had a lot of fun with this part!

Pizza and Pages: Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Type of Book: Historical/Thriller

Plot Summary: Set in the Arctic Circle during the Gold Rush of 1910, fourteen year-old Sig is isolated in a cabin after his father dies by falling through the ice. Then a menacing stranger named Wolf appears and claims that Sig's father is hiding gold that rightfully belongs to Wolf. Sig's only defense might be his father's prized revolver.

Average Teen Rating: 5.3
I chose this book because I knew that it would generate a lot of good discussion. My teens we mixed on this title too. Some really got into the story, but some felt that it was too bleak for them.


Discussion Questions: I didn't really have to make up my own questions this month. I found some great ones here and here.

Book Review: Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, HarperCollins, April 2015.

Genre: Realistic/Magical Realism

Good for: Grades 8 and Up

Summary: Fifteen year-old Caden Bosch's life takes place in two different worlds. The first is where he is a crew member aboard a ship bound for the Marianas Trench. The second is where he is a teenager struggling through paranoia and, eventually, schizophrenia.

Thoughts: For me, this was a difficult read. Not because it was boring or a slog to get through, but because of how dark and heartbreaking Caden's story is. It begins with Caden describing his travels aboard the ship along with the crew and their mission: to find treasure by diving into the deepest part of the Marianas Trench called the Challenger Deep. Then the story begins to alternate with Caden in the real world as a teenager who becomes increasingly paranoid at home and school. For instance, he believes that a classmate he barely knows is trying to kill him. His symptoms worsen until his parents have no other choice but to commit him. Most readers will figure out partway through that the "ship" chapters are a metaphor for Caden's time in the psychiatric hospital though until then, the story can make them feel a bit disoriented and confused (much like Caden's state of mind). Illustrations from the author's son, who has dealt with mental illness himself, are interspersed throughout and help to enhance the mood. While the teen appeal isn't obvious (it is quite a heavy, dark read), it's a great one to generate discussion in a book group or classroom.

My Goodreads Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Flannel Friday Guest Post Palooza: Boots by Laurie Berkner

In celebration of Flannel Friday's 4th birthday, bloggers are hosting a Guest Post Palooza! What this means is that current bloggers are pairing up with those who would like to contribute to Flannel Friday and share their great flannel ideas.

Today my blog is hosting a post about this cute flannel from Leah King, a librarian at the Bowman Regional Public Library in North Dakota. Greetings from Ohio, Leah! 

Thank you to Kim for posting my first Flannel Friday contribution on her blog!!!

I love action songs and getting the children up off the benches during story time!  Laurie Berkner gets me bopping in no time flat.  When I did a Rain Story Time, I decided to flannelize her song Boots.  We get to spell and stomp and dance.  Does it get any better than that?! 

B-O-O-T-S boots!

B-O-O-T-S red boots!

In my red boots, in my red boots

I stomp around in my red boots.

In my boots (stomp, stomp)

In my boots (stomp, stomp)

I stomp around in my boots.

B-O-O-T-S boots!

B-O-O-T-S frog boots!

In my frog boots, in my frog boots

I jump up and down in my frog boots.

In my boots (ribbit, ribbit )

In my boots (ribbit, ribbit)

I jump up and down in my boots.

B-O-O-T-S boots!

B-O-O-T-S dancing boots!

In my dancing boots, in my dancing boots

I dance around in my dancing boots.

In my boots (bah, bah, bah)

In my boots (doo, doo, doo)

I dance around in my boots.

B-O-O-T-S boots!

B-O-O-T-S rain boots!

In my rain boots, in my rain boots

I splash around in my rain boots.

In my boots (splish, splash)

In my boots (splish, splash)

I splash around in my boots.

You could also change up this song according to your story time.  My kids would like “oinking” in “pig boots” as well as acting out in many other types of boots.

You can see Laurie Berkner singing her fabulous song Boots in the following YouTube link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-fibDTDQmk

Mollie at What Happens in Storytime is hosting this week's Flannel Friday. You can find the round-up over on her blog! For more information on Flannel Friday, check out their website, Facebook group, or Pinterest page.

Book Review: Fish in a Tree

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Nancy Paulsen Books, February 2015.

Genre: Realistic

Good for: Grades 3 to 7

Summary: Sixth-grader Ally Nickerson can't read. She can see the words on the page, but they dance around and don't make any sense to her. Ashamed, she acts disruptive in class in order to hide the real issue of her dyslexia. Even though she's actually good at things like math and art, the other kids call her stupid and slow. So when a new teacher arrives and wants to help Ally with her problem, she is reluctant to come around and finally realize that maybe she isn't as hopeless as she thinks.

Thoughts: Overall, this is a sweet, uplifting story about a girl who thinks that just because her mind works differently, she isn't as smart or as normal as the other kids in class. Along the way, she befriends Albert, a quiet and pragmatic boy with a less-than-ideal home life and Keisha, a confident girl with a talent for baking. Ally herself is coping with a military father who is away from home. Ally and her two friends are the most realistically portrayed characters by far. There are some nice moments with the other classmates, namely a hyper boy named Oliver and the "assistant bully" Jessica. However (and unfortunately) bully-in-charge Shay and the unconventional teacher, Mr. Daniels, fall flat. While the story starts strong, it begins to fall into cliched and sappy territory with one too many uplifting moments to make it ring completely true.  Nevertheless, this is a heartwarming story overall and would be a great choice for a tween book club or classroom.

My Goodreads Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Anime Club: Japanese Food Tasting

My anime club teens had specifically requested that I host a Japanese food tasting at one of our meetings, so I was happy to oblige! The first thing I did was figure out what dishes are popular in Japan. I went here and here to get ideas.

Next I made a list of possible dishes and then visited my local Asian market to see what they had available.

Here are the dishes I ended up making:

1. Soba Noodles

Soba is a very popular noodle dish in Japan that can be served in a variety of ways. I decided to serve the mori/zaru version, which means they are served cold with a chilled dipping sauce. I purchased a package of soba noodles and the ingredients for the tsuyu sauce from the Asian market. I found a good recipe for tsuyu from Alton Brown.

Soba noodles

Note: Mirin, which is one of the ingredients in tsuyu, is a sweet cooking rice wine. I didn't feel completely comfortable serving something with wine (as little as there may be) to my teens so I went searching for an alternative. If you Google "mirin substitutions" you'll find some out there. I went with an alcohol-free mirin called Honteri, which I purchased from this website.

Tsuyu sauce w/ soy sauce alternative for the less-adventurous

This was the most popular dish! The teens loved the noodles and the sauce. I had 16 teens attend and 1 1/2 packages of soba noodles was plenty for the teens to come up and get seconds.

Also Note: I wasn't sure if I could make the soba ahead of time. I cooked it at home about 2 hours before the club meeting and by the time I was ready to serve the noodles, they were already pretty gummy. So I just ran them under cold water again to loosen them up and that seemed to do the trick.

2. Gomaae with Spinach

This is another popular dish. Gomaae is a side dish that's basically a sesame dressing. One way to serve it is with spinach. I found a recipe for the dressing here.

Note: I substituted the sake and sugar for the Honteri. I added the equivalent of 3 TBSP Honteri instead of the 2 TBSP sake and 1 TBSP sugar and it tasted fine. 

Dressing and spinach

3. Umeboshi

Pickles are a large part of the Japanese diet and I wanted to challenge my teens' taste buds. So I found a jar of umeboshi at the market, or pickled plums. These did not go over as well as the soba or gomaae.

4. Mochi

Mochi is a Japanese rice cake. The market I visited had several kinds, but I chose the red bean paste mochi. I had mixed reviews on this treat.

Red bean paste mochi (left) and Umeboshi (right)

All in all, this was a fun experiment in Japanese cuisine!

Have you ever done a Japanese food tasting? What did you serve?

Also see my blog posts on sushi rolling and my Anime "Thanksgiving" for other food ideas.

Pizza and Pages: Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve

Type of Book: Steampunk/Sci-Fi

Plot Summary: From Goodreads: Fever Crumb is a girl who has been adopted and raised by Dr. Crumb, a member of the order of Engineers, where she serves as apprentice. In a time and place where women are not seen as reasonable creatures, Fever is an anomaly, the only female to serve in the order.

Soon though, she must say goodbye to Dr. Crumb - nearly the only person she's ever known - to assist archeologist Kit Solent on a top-secret project. As her work begins, Fever is plagued by memories that are not her own and Kit seems to have a particular interest in finding out what they are. Fever has also been singled out by city-dwellers who declare her part Scriven.

The Scriveners, not human, ruled the city some years ago but were hunted down and killed in a victorious uprising by the people. If there are any remaining Scriven, they are to be eliminated.

All Fever knows is what she's been told: that she is an orphan. Is Fever a Scriven? Whose memories does she hold? Is the mystery of Fever, adopted daughter of Dr. Crumb, the key to the secret that lies at the heart of London?

Average Teen Rating: 5.4
This was another book that I thought would be a sure-fire hit with my teens. They were pretty divided! I did have a smaller group than usual on Saturday due to a snowstorm, so I might have had other teens that loved it that didn't come to the meeting. Their main complaints were than the author didn't describe things well enough and that it was confusing at times. I think this might be a book with more limited appeal than others.

Discussion Questions:

1. Fever is adopted into the Order of Engineers, who have a very logical, no-nonsense way of life. They look down upon frivolous things like falling in love. Do you agree? If you lived in Fever's world would you be an Engineer?

2. When do you think the story takes place (near future, far future, etc...)? How can you tell? If you have to assign a year number to the story, what would you guess?

3. Do you think the "Downsizing" changed the world for the better or worse?

4. Did you guess what was inside Auric Godshawk's vault? What did you think it was? What did you think when you found out it was an engine to move London?

5. What do you think about Wavey Godshawk? Is/was she a good mother? A good person?

6. The Scriven called themselves "homo superior". Are they? If so, what made them better than humans? Why do you think the humans wanted to eliminate them?

7. What are Stalkers? Human? Cyborg? Zombie? Are they still human? Why do you think Grike is special?

8. What do you think happens in the sequel(s)? Will you read them?

9. Why do you think the book ends with the sentence: "My name is Fever Crumb."?

10. Did Fever Crumb remind you of any other books that you've read? Is it better? Worse?