Peace, Locomotion

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2010. Peace, Locomotion. Read by Dion Graham. Brilliance Audio.
(about 2 hours on CD, mp3 download, or Playaway)

Peace, Locomotion continues the story of Lonnie Collins Motion (or Locomotion) first begun in Locomotion.  After their parents perished in a fire, Lonnie and his sister, Lili were sent to separate foster homes. Years have passed.  Lonnie is now twelve and although they miss each other, both have settled in to their new homes.

Locomotion was a novel written in verse, as Lonnie learned the forms of poetry from a caring teacher.  Peace, Locomotion is an epistolary novel, consisting of letters from Lonnie to Lili as he  endeavors to chronicle his feelings, his memories of their earlier life together, and the daily occurrences of his new life.  He saves the letters in the hope that when he is someday reunited with Lili, he can relive and share with her each day that they were apart.  He struggles with the fact that his younger sister begins to call her foster mother, Momma, and can barely remember their parents.  One of his friends is moving away, his teacher is mean, and he does poorly on tests and homework.  At home, he has another problem.  One of his foster mother's sons is serving in the war (the listener does not know if it is the war in Afghanistan or Iraq) and things are not going well.  Lonnie is tempted to pray for Jenkins' safe return but his foster brother Rodney suggests that he pray for peace instead - explaining,  if peace comes, all things will follow.  In spite of the many obstacles that life has placed in Lonnie's path, he remains positive and thoughtful, never quick to draw conclusions or pass judgment. He finds joy in a church choir, a snowball fight, a good friend.  He is kind and wise beyond his years.  Although this is a story about African American families, it could be about any family in similar circumstances.  It is a story about hope and family and finding peace wherever one may.

The challenge of narrating a novel consisting of letters from only one person is a great one, and Dion Graham's reading rises to the test. He is superb. Graham perfectly captures the many moods of Lonnie Collins Motion with precision, never exaggeration.  The listener can hear a smile begin to spread across Lonnie's lips,  tears well up in his eyes, a sparkle light up his face. Lonnie recounts conversations within his letters, allowing Graham to create character voices of Lili, Lonnie's friends, and his foster family; but Locomotion is the star of this novel and all ears are upon him.  Highly recommended for middle grades.

Peace, Locomotion was named a 2010 Odyssey Honor Audiobook, and was named to ALSC's 2010 Notable Children's Recordings.

Listen to an excerpt here.

Penguin Young Readers offers a free downloadable discussion guide.

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Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me

Marino, Nan. 2009. Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me. New York: Roaring Brook.

(Advance Reader's Edition)


Set in the summer of 1969, in a fictional neighborhood of Massapequa Park, NY, Neil Armstrong is My Uncle and Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me is the story of young Tamara Ann Simpson, Muscle Man McGinty, the "squirrelly runt, ... lying snake, and ... pitiful excuse for a ten-year-old," and all the other colorful inhabitants of Ramble Street.


It's not only Muscle's Man's tall tales that have Tammy in a snit. Her best friend, Kebsie Grobsers, has moved away without a trace, and Kebsie's room in Mrs. Kutchner's foster home is being occupied by none other than that wormy liar, Douglas, "Muscle Man" McGinty! Tamara can't figure out why the other neighborhood kids are cutting Muscle Man so much slack! Does anyone really believe that he's training for the 1972 Munich Olympics? That Neil Armstrong is his uncle?!

A rough-and-tumble girl who would rather play kickball than read, Tammy is no stranger to trouble and is grounded as often as not. Her mother, Shirley, is obsessed with soap operas,

...a bunch of ladies are sitting in a hospital room, telling the
one in the bed that no one will notice her injury, even though
she is wrapped up like a mummy with bandages and gauze.

"Why do you think they're telling her that?" asks Shirley.

"Because they're the stupidest group of ladies
to walk the planet?"

It's probably wrong, but it's my best guess.

Her dad, Marshall, is obsessed with how early he has to get up to catch the train to work, working "for the man," as Tammy's college-aged brother puts it.

The Apollo 11 moon landing, the Vietnam War, the Miracle Mets, and Woodstock provide the backdrop for a story that is ultimately about Tammy, who finally learns to see past herself.

Nan Marino succeeds in creating a microcosm of the turbulent summer of 1969 within the confines of Ramble Street and its inhabitants.

Neil Armstrong is My Uncle is at times funny, at times touching, and always heartfelt. Kids will relate to Muscle Man's unflappable optimism and Tammy's candor (she can be a bit of a liar herself!)

"What are you doing up there?"

"Nothing, Daddy."

...I'm suddenly grateful that my parents are stair shouters
and not face yellers like Big Danny's mom and dad. For now,
my garage roof secret is safe.

Parents may enjoy reliving their own summer of '69.

In full disclosure, I must admit that I work in the same library system as the author; however, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet.

Nan Marino's book is due out on May 12, 2009.

Locomotion

Woodson, Jacqueline. 2003. Locomotion. New York: Penguin.

I got to know this book better than I had planned. I was going to assist in a book discussion group for teens and young adults with varying and diverse abilities. They had chosen this book for their discussion and we were initially unable to secure enough copies. I showed up for the meeting without having ever read the book - as the group leader had our only copy.

Having read Jacqueline Woodson before, and being familiar with other books in verse gave me the confidence to proceed. I printed out some discussion questions from the author’s website and headed off to the meeting. It was decided that I would read the book aloud for the first week until we were able to procure enough copies. I read each poem slowly and deliberately, in what I hoped was the spirit of eleven-year-old, Lonnie Collins Motion, a young boy who has lost his parents in a fire and been separated from his younger sister – each sent to a different foster home. The book is written in verse, but is different that other free verse novels. Because of his fondness for poetry and his teacher, Miss Marcus, Lonnie tells his story in many types of verse – from haikus to sonnets. In addition to being an excellent YA novel, Locomotion is a study in verse and an introduction to the poet, Langston Hughes.

We read as far as the poem “How I Got My Name,” stopping to discuss each poem. I can’t say enough about what a perfect choice this book is for this type of group discussion! The teens were open and expressive and very receptive. Locomotion clearly speaks to young people. I had a vague idea that at a future meeting it might be fun to play the Little Eva song from which Lonnie, Locomotion, got his name. Surprisingly, the kids thought of the idea before I even mentioned it! By the end of the meeting, we were all singing the song together. It was a great evening!

I read the rest of the book at home, alone – and I missed the teens and young adults. Their insights and comments added to Woodson’s story in a way that was touching and uplifting. Later in the book, the story becomes more than just a boy struggling to overcome the loss of his parents. It becomes a story of the war, of Miss Edna’s true sons, of the new boy in Lonnie’s school struggling to fit in, of Eric’s sickle-cell anemia, of Lili’s search for God, of LaTenya’s disability, and on and on. At first, I resented the turn away from Lonnie’s story and introduction of so many tangential subplots; and then I realized that that is what makes Locomotion so real, so compelling. Life is not just about us, and it doesn’t go as planned, it just goes. And Lonnie goes along with it, spilling out his story in verse,

“and making the lines into pictures in your mind
And in the picture the people are
laughing and frowning and
eating and reading and
playing ball and skipping along and

spinning themselves into poetry.

This book was a National Book Award finalist, an ALA Notable Book, a Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book, and a Boston Globe/Horn Book Award Honor Book.