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Luna by Julie Anne Peters

Regan is a typical high school student whose brother Liam is transgender and likes to visit her at night dressed in her clothes.  Luna is the name Regan's brother has given himself when he dresses as a woman.  Regan's brother is increasingly tormented by having to conform to the norms of the community and the family and feels a strong desire to reveal his true female self to everyone.
At school, Regan finds that she likes a boy in her chemistry class called Chris.  They end up flirting during class and Chris eventually asks Regan to go to a party with him.  At the same time Luna has decided to transition and with Regan's support, they go to the mall as Luna and Regan. However, things don't go as planned Regan has to say no to Chris' party invitation to take Luna at the mall.
While at the mall and Luna his made fun off by other kids and they end up leaving.  Some time passes and Regan takes Luna out for fast food.  While at Taco Bell Regan runs into Chris but unintentionally makes it appear as she is on a date in order to hide that she is there with Luna.  Chris appears to be upset about this and he drops chemistry class to Regan's disillusionment.
Luna continues to transition and finds support from Teri Lynn a transgender girl from Luna meets on the Internet.  Chris asks Regan to another party but that conflicts with Regan job babysitting for the Materas.  Still, Regan says yes and hatches a plan to have her brother take over her babysitting responsibilities once Mr. and Mrs. Materas leave their house.  Things go wrong during Regan's and Chris' date and she ends up returning to the Matera's house late and they have arrived before her and found Liam wearing Mrs. Matera's clothes and jewelry.
Regan loses her babysitting job and her relationship with the Materas ( a family she really likes).   As a result, when Liam spends the night crying because of what just happened, Regan does not console him but they eventually make up.
Liam decides to go to school as Luna and is bullied by his classmate in the gym.  Regan sees this but because Liam had not told her he would go to school for the first time as Luna she becomes upset and runs away instead of defending her brother.
Liam forgives his sister for not defending him and the incident has strengthend his confidence as Luna.  The next day, Luna enters the kitchen with Mom and Dad present and the dad doe not take it well and the mom seems oddly indifferent.
It turns out that Liam's and Regan's mom has known for a while that Liam is transgender and has been supporting Liam's transition.  Luna then asks Regan to go for a drive and they end up driving to the airport.  Luna tells Regan that she is going to Seattle to live with Teri Lynn.  Regan realizes that for Luna to be happy she needs to start over somewhere else.

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Book Choice:  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Junior is a fourteen-year-old boy living on the Spokane reservation when we first meet him.  He was born with a condition called hydrocephalus or “water on the brain” which caused several physical conditions.  He is often picked on because of his large head, stuttering, and seizures.  As a result, he is by himself mostly and spend his time on drawing cartoons.  Because of the poverty and negative atmosphere on his reservation, Junior has already decided he will leave the reservation and he hopes that his artwork could help him.  His belief that he has no future if he stays on the reservation.  His awareness of lack opportunity solidifies during his first day of school.  While in class Junior’s teacher passes out textbooks.  Upon close inspection, Junior notices that the textbooks are from 30 years ago.  Junior become so mad that he throws the book to the other side of the classroom and accidentally hits his teacher breaking his nose which results in Junior suspension from school.  While at home, his teacher Mr. P visits junior and acknowledges that staying on the reservation will only result in Junior not reaching any of his dreams.

Junior then decides to transfer to a High School outside the reservation in Reardan.  Reardan High also happens to be mostly white and the students have a much higher standard of living.  His decision is not received well by his community.  His parents warn him that he will be seen as a traitor and his friend Rowdy physically attacks him when Junior shares the news.  Life at Reardan High is not much better.  He is the only Native American at the school and he is not accepted by the white students at first.  Eventually, Junior makes friends with Gordy, Penelope, and Roger.  Gordy is a very intelligent student that helps Junior with his reading.  Penelope is a very popular and beautiful girl who has an eating disorder and becomes Junior's girlfriend.  Roger is Reardan’s top athletes and he convinces Junior to join the basketball team.  Junior proves himself to the team and the coach by being an excellent shooter.  Junior's former friend and now enemy Rowdy is on the reservation basketball team and they both compete against each other. During a first game, Rowdy gives Junior a concussion and this set off a bitter rivalry.  Junior eventually perseveres with a divisive win but cannot fully enjoy his victory because of the advantages the student of Reardan has over the reservation.

At home on the reservation, things continue to go bad and Junior deals with several deaths.  The most crushing is the death of his grandmother by a drunk driver.  The death of his father’s best friend Eugene follows this do to drinking and gun violence.  Junior’s older sister Mary dies due to a fire in her trailer home.  It is during this time that Junior can reflect and come to the realization that he belongs to many separate groups simultaneously.  Junior’s story comes full circle at the end of the book by becomes friends again with Rowdy to admits that he knew that Junior would leave the reservation. He wishes Junior well and they play basketball for fun, not competition.

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Wow...I'm way behind!  I'm catching up ASAP!

Carlos Blanco
4/4/2018
Session 10 Response

1st Article:  Moving Beyond the Inclusion of LGBT-Themed Literature in English Language Arts Classrooms:  Interrogating Heteronormativity and Exploring Intersectionality, Mollie V. Blackburn, and Jill M. Smith.
The article by Mollie & Smith discusses Teacher Inquiry Groups focused on the topic of “heterosexism” which specifically exposes the attitudes and beliefs found in teacher of literacy.  Mollie & Smith describe “that every group member had a clear understanding of what explicit homophobic language and actions looked like” by “Combating homophobia by using LGBTQ-themed texts” (Mollie & Smith, 2010, pg. 625).  However, there are a couple of issues with this simplistic approach, which lacks heteronormativity and intersectionality.  Mollie & Smith define heteronormativity as “a way of being in the world that relies on the belief that heterosexuality is normal, which implicitly positions homosexuality and bisexuality as abnormal and thus inferior” (Mollie & Smith, 2010, pg. 626).  Intersectionality is defined as the “social and cultural categories of identity and oppression” that “must shape policy, training, resources, curricula, and extracurricular efforts” (Mollie & Smith, 2010, pg. 630).  Intersectionality plays heavily on literacy because as the authors argue “Sexual identities cannot be effectively separated from the race, class, gender and other identities embodied by people since no one is solely sexual.
This article will influence my teaching is several ways.  First, as a special educator and facilitator of inclusive classrooms, I must be vigilant and thoughtful when it comes to heterosexism and heteronormativity.  This can be as simple as ensuring never to line up students by gender, but it can also be more explicit by exploring these social practices with students directly and through literature.  Second, I must keep in mind that simply including LGBTQ texts is a sort of heterosexist cop-out to addressing the needs of LGBTQ if heteronormativity is allowed and the understanding of identity is not approached in a holistic manner.  Meaning that LGBTQ is not solely portrayed as the sexual identities in classroom texts.   Finally, I must extend the vigilance and thoughtfulness beyond my classroom and into the school domain by broaching these subjects and practices with individuals in the school community and my interaction with students that are not in my class.
2nd Article: Inclusive Classrooms for LGBTQ Students: Using Linked Text Sets to Challenge the Hegemonic “Single Story”, Autumn M. Dodge & Paul A. Crutcher.
The article by Dodge and Crutcher is a great compliment to Mollie & Smith’s article as it focuses on how to approach LGBTQ texts in a way that addresses heteronormativity and intersectionality by using linked text sets.  Dodge and Crutcher ask an important question: “How can teachers enact social justice pedagogy using LTSs to disrupt the single story related to the representation of LGBTQ students in the classroom and literature” (Dodge & Crutcher, 2015, pg. 96).  This speaks specifically to Mollie and Smith’s argument about intersectionality and the representation of LGBTQ identities as not solely for the purpose depicting non-heterosexual sexuality as inferior but instead depicting the many identities that people have regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  This article can is helpful in my instruction because it shows how LTSs can be used not only to normalize LGBTQ but as a form of social justice.  The social justice part is important because regardless of LGBTQ issues, the issues of oppression and social injustice is also a benefit to all students but specifically to urban youth.

Works Cited
Blackburn, Mollie V., and Jill M. Smith. "Moving Beyond the Inclusion of LGBT‐Themed Literature in English Language Arts Classrooms: Interrogating Heteronormativity and Exploring Intersectionality." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 53.8 (2010): 625-634.
Dodge, Autumn M., and Paul A. Crutcher. "Inclusive Classrooms for LGBTQ Students: Using Linked Text Sets to Challenge the Hegemonic "Single Story"." Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 59.1 (2015): 95-105.

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Book Choice:  Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Auggie Pullman, the protagonist, is ten years old and has been homeschooled by his mother because he was born with a birth defect that caused his face to be severely deformed. He lives with his parents, Via his older sister and their dog Daisy in New York City. Auggie has become accustomed to how people look at him and is self-aware that he is not a typical kid.  We meet Auggie as he begins his transition to 5th grade in a real school called Beecher Prep. Shortly before the school year is set to begin, Auggie is invited to the school by the principal, Mr. Tushman and the principal arranges a tour led by some of Auggie's future classmates. During the tour, Charlotte and Jack try to be welcoming and nice to Auggie but another classmate, Julian, asks Auggie rude questions and is demeaning to the point where he is called out on it by Jack and Charlotte.

Auggie's first day in school begins with his homeroom. He sees Jack, Charlotte and Jack and the teacher, Ms. Petosa asks that all the students introduce themselves by mentioning two things that they would like their classmates to know about them. When it is Auggie's turn he mentions his family hoping to keep the introduction short. However, Julian notices Auggie's "Padawan" braid and asks him who his favorite Star Wars character is and Auggie replies that is Jango Fett. Julian begins to question Auggie about Darth Sidious, a Star Wars character whose face has been hideously deformed and although no one else seems to get the reference Auggie understands that Julian is comment is intentional and meant to make him feel bad. Another, notable class from Auggie's first day is Mr. Browne's English class.  Auggie learns about precepts and the first one "When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind" seems to connect to Auggie and he feels better about attending a real school.
During lunch, Auggie has a hard time finding a seat and ends up at a table by himself. Soon after he sits, a girl by the name of Summer sits across from Auggie and strikes up a conversation. She seems to have come from a table of girls that Auggie has noticed talking about him, but she seems kind and genuinely interested in being friends.

As the school year continues, a rumor spreads among Auggie's school that he is contagious with the plague and that touching him will transmit it. The kids in the start avoid Auggie and he increasingly feels alienated and alone. During Halloween, Auggie has a last minute change of mind about his costume and attends school in a Bleeding Scream costume which no one expects him to be in. This allows him to interact with his classmates freely and he even receives a high-five from another student in the same costume as they walk past each other in the hallway. When he arrives to class, he does not sit in his usual seat and instead decided to sit near a group of boys that includes Jack and Jillian. Unaware that the Bleeding Scream is Auggie, the boys talk about how they would kill themselves if they looked like Auggie. Julian questions Jack about his friendship with Auggie. In an attempt to fit in, Jack dismisses the friendship and tell the groups of boys that he has no choice because Auggie is always following him around. Auggie considers Jack to be one of his few friends and when he overhears this, he becomes upset to the point where fakes feeling sick so he can be taken out of school early. He also does not want to go Trick or Treating even though Halloween is his favorite holiday.

At this point, the story switches to the perspective of Auggie's sister Via. Via begins by explaining that her family revolves around Auggie's needs. She does not view Auggie as being different but finds it very hard to expect much from her parent's because she has witnessed first hand the pain and suffering Auggie has gone through because of his birth defect. She relishes a summer spent alone with her grandmother because she receives all the attention and her grandmother made her feel special. After her summer with her grandmother, Via realizes that how she views Auggie is not how most people view her brother and she becomes more protective of Auggie. At the same time that Auggie is entering a real school, Via enters high school and experiences her own challenges. Over the summer, Via has grown separated from the school friends and this continues into the new school year and Via feels her own type of alienation. She also feels that her parents care more about Auggie's school life than her own. She figures out something happened to Auggie at school on Halloween, leading Auggie to admit that she was not really sick but upset about what he heard the groups of boys say about him. She tells Auggie that kids will always say bad things and be mean and that this should not stop him from going to school.

The story now switches to Summer's perspective and we see how genuinely likes to spend time with Auggie but struggles with no longer being one of the popular kids because of her friendship with Auggie.  Summer helps Jack figure out why Auggie stop talking to him by letting him know that Auggie had worn the Bleeding Scream costume during Halloween.

Now we enter Jack's perspective at a point where he understands that Auggie overheard him respond to Julian questioning their friendship. Julian once again questions Jack friendship to Auggie and this time instead of trying to fit it and dismiss the friendship, Jack attacks Julian physically. As a result of the incident, Jack and Auggie reconcile and become friends again but Julian begin a war pitting the boys in their class against Jack and Auggie.

We now view the story from Justin who is Via's boyfriend. Justin likes Via's family and Auggie because his own parent divorced and he finds comfort in Via's family being together.  He auditions and gets the lead role in their High School play where Via is the understudy for her former friend Miranda who also has a lead role.

We again view the story from Auggie's perspective and see that at school the "war" has dragged to the point where kids are starting to sympathize with Jack and Auggie.  However, at home, Auggie finds out that his sister has been keeping her understudy role in the school play a secret in an attempt to keep them from attending the play.  The fight is interrupted by the death of Daisy the family dog. This brings the Pullmans together and Via goes on to play the lead role with her whole family present at the play.

Auggies school goes on a three day sleep away trip at a nature preserve. Auggie is nervous about his first sleep away trip. He asks for a new sleeping bag because his old one has Star Wars on it and he does not want to be known just as a Star Wars fan. On the second night of the trip, Auggie and Jack decide to head into the woods so that Jack can use the bathroom. Once in the woods, a group of 7th-grade boys begins to pick on Auggie and try to fight him. They take away Auggie hearing aid but the incident is cut short when Henry, Miles, and Amos from
Beecher Prep helps Auggie out.  This becomes a turning point and Auggie becomes well-liked in his school and more classmates become his friend. Auggie speaks to principal Tushman in his office towards the end of the year and Mr. Tushman talks to Auggie about his first school year. Auggie notices that his art project where he depicts himself as a duck is prominently displayed in Mr. Tushman's office. Mr. Tushman let Auggie know that he knows more about the challenges he faced that Auggie might know and finally reveals that Julian will not be attending the school next year because his parent feels that the school is not the right fit for him.

The story ends with a 5th-grade graduation ceremony where Auggie sees his friends again and realizes that Jack likes Summer. Jack tries to sit with Auggie but is reminded that seating arrangements for students are in alphabetical order. Mr. Tushman delivers an unusually short but emotional commencement address about kindness. Awards are then given to some of the top students in the grade. The final "Bleecher" medal in recognition of courage and kindness is given to Auggie. Auggie his surprised to win the award and realizes that everyone around him is cheering for him and calling his name. The students around him pull him up and he is guided by their hand through the crowd. Once onstage and emotional Mr. Tushman places a medal around his neck and Auggie receives a standing ovation from everyone present. Auggie is perplexed that while he sees himself as totally normal, others view him as being extraordinary and special in a good way. To this, his mom replies that he nothing short of a "wonder."

Wonder is a really powerful story about viewing individuals with disabilities as empowered and from a positive perspective. Not only do we get the perspective of the individual but we see different perspectives of family members, friends, and classmates.  Auggie's facial deformity causes people to treat him differently. Kids his age tend to call names and he is alienated from being different. It is his struggles and experience of being different that allows him to be more accepting and attain a level of kindness that we should all aspire to.

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I really liked this article. It reminded me of my undergraduate classes in anthropology. It connects to areas of anthropology that have to do with how we make meaning and the role our individual experiences plays in creating that meaning. In anthropology, studying other cultures allows for the existence of multiple meanings that may not only challenge our own understanding of the world but can lead to a much deeper and meaningful understanding. The article shows us how to take these concepts and form valuable instructional strategies that allow for the inclusion of different experiences and opinions in the classroom. This can be accomplished by developing metacognition of biases a result of each individual's unique experiences. Takacs states that "We might label this epistemological stance constrained relativism, or perhaps constructivist realism. When we encourage examination of our own knowledge formation processes, we develop habits of informed skepticism- of questioning the authority of all knowledge sources, including ourselves" (Takacs, pg. 31). Furthermore, our experience can take the form of privilege or power and it is important to take this into consideration.