Shana BurgReseñas

I described this book to a co-worker as "Bummer, bummer, bummer, sappy, sappy, sappy," but that's probably too harsh. Author Shana Burg is a decent writer and the story has some interesting parts. I liked the pidgin English spoken by the Malawian characters (when I was in Namibia we called their version of English "Namblish"), the details of life in the Malawi bush, and the friendship that forms between Clare, a 13-year-old American girl and Memory, a her new classmate in Malawi.

But the bummers are piled high in this book. Clare's mom is recently deceased and Clare aches from the loss. Both of Memory's parents have died. And that's just the deaths you get up front. There are more in the story. We are often in Clare's head and she struggles to overcome the pain of her mother's absence. Harsh. Angsty. Emo.

And then the conclusion. It wasn't overly contrived or convenient, but it was heavy with lessons learned and feel-good-ness.

So, if you're in the mood for a quiet read about a sad white girl discovering Africa, this will fit the bill. Not especially recommended otherwise.

Clare is grieving over her mother’s death when her father takes her along on a medical trip to Malawi. New friends teach her how to deal with loss and find joy in small things. Author’s Note, Glossary.

Heard as audiobook. Average story: self-centered teen learns to cope with the death of her mother after she & her father go on a medical mission trip to Africa. Seeing how the local teens go about life under difficult conditions helps, as does sharing her knowledge to help the community.½

This book was fun once I got into it, but sad towards the end. I loved how the main character changed throughout the novel even if it was a drastic change, it was still a good one.

The portrait of thirteen-year-old Clare shows a typical north-American teen concerned with friends, clothes, school. To go through the agonizing despair of losing her mother was as much as she could bear, but then she finds she must live with her dad during his stint as a doctor in Malawi and attend school there. The story not only shows how Clare adapts and accepts the changes but provides a good description of life in contemporary Malawi. A book adults as well as young readers will appreciate.

so a negro girl named delilah (or dibrilajar or kgjhkdhgaljh, i could never understand what her name was.) becomes unemployed because her employer has died. she recieves a tv set in the will but, it gets broken by "some white folks"
she has enough truble with that her brother goes missing! And her house burns down! And her uncle gets sent to jail for something he didnt do! so toget him out of jail her brother 9who is still "missing" really just hiding) goes al the way to the nearest town (like 50,000,000 miles away) to hire a lawyer then he dont have enough money so he gets a job to ay the lawyer and after like 2 years of being jailed for a crime they didnt commit (yes thats an A-team joke) he finally gets released!!! ugh toooooooooooo long his jail sentence was almost over might as well have waited it out and saved a lot of money!

real events from the civil rights movement are intertwined with the story of Addie and her family great voice great story

A rich, flavorful, emotionally engaging coming-of-age story set in contemporary Malawi.

I can't imagine being thirteen and losing my mother. I have had many students who have had to go through this heart-rending situation. What made this story even more emotional was knowing that Clare's father pulled her from everything and everyone she knew and loved and moved her to Malawi for six months. Her father was excited to go back to a country he had worked in before. Clare had decided to give her dad the silent treatment for the entire six months. It's funny how meeting someone who has lost more than you have, and learning that there is always a silver lining if you look for it hard enough can help you heal and grow.

Clare is stubborn, intelligent, artistic and very loving. She has let the pain of losing her mother guide her for too long. In Malawai she learns she has much to offer others as well as watching as others who have lost so much more give everything. This was not an easy book to read. It is a book I will put at the front of my class on the first day of school and recommend to all of my students. I am trying to create global minded students. My students may not be able to travel to Malawi or any other country less fortunate than we are here in the USA. Through books like this one they will learn so much about what it takes to truly give of yourself. They can learn that the simplest gesture can make a difference. The fact that the book is full of information and facts because the author has been to Malawi holds great weight with me. I loved the vocabulary throughout the book. It is something else my students will love.

The book was so wonderfully written I could envision Clare's first encounter with a hippo and her shock at the school compared to her school back home. The author did a wonderful job of bringing the reader along with her to Malawi. I felt like I was a character walking beside Clare, Memory and Agnes. I will definitely read more by this author. I look for great books to recommend to my students and my parents for their children. This book is not just for middle schoolers or young adults. This is a book that even adults will enjoy. If you read no other book this year, this is the one you must read.

Perfect for armchair travelers, this solid middle-grade novel tells the story of 13-year-old Clare who is forced to spend two months in Malawi while her father works for the Global Health Project after the death of Clare's mother. A spot-on 13-year-old character and rich details of the Malawian bush village and culture are highlights of this book for me.

After the death of her mother, Clare's dad drags her across the world to a remote African village for three months. While her dad works at the local hospital, Clares attends the village school, where she meets and befriends a girl named Memory. At first Clare is angry about the trip but as she becomes involved with the villagers she gradually accepts and begins to love their way of life.

Overall, I was highly impressed with this book. The plot moved very swiftly and I could feel the changes in Clare as the book progressed. Clare's attitude and demeanor seemed dead-on for a teenage girl. I think many teenagers would enjoy reading this book. It shows a world and way of life that American's rarely get to experience.

"The Supreme Court passed a law that violates our state's right to educate the children of Mississippi as we see fit... Fortunately, I'm in charge of the schools in Kuckachoo, so I'm just not gonna follow that law. Integration here? That ain't nothin' but a thousand never evers!"This is a story of the Civil Rights Movement in the South, told through the eyes of Addie Ann Pickett. Addie Ann learns of the murder of Medgar Evers from her beloved older brother Elias, and shortly after that, he knocks out a white boy who is abusing Addie Ann's cat and must disappear to avoid the lynch mob. Addie Ann and her Uncle Bump work for Mr. Adams, who dies and leaves his home and six acre garden to the entire town for the use of ALL of its citizens, black or white, but that information is kept secret by the town fathers who want to prevent blacks from using the place. The gift to the town sets off a chain of events leading up to Bump's arrest and trial for destruction of property, and Addie Ann must decide whether to break her mother's cardinal rule: "Never tell white folks what they don't want to hear." This is fantastic historical fiction with an amazing ending -- a story of strength, courage, and the price of dignity. Everyone should read this. 6th grade and up.

a very good book about segregation and how the blacks dealt with it and all that they had to put up with to get where they are now.

A Thousand Never Evers is the story of Addie, growing up in rural Kuckachoo, Mississippi in 1963. Admidst the backdrop of some of the most memorable events in the early Civil Rights movement, Maddie and her family deal with racism on a small town level. This novel opens with a "Note to the Readers" written by the author, Shana Burg. She writes about the prejudice she experienced as a young girl - a boy drawing a swastika on her notebook in 7th grade, and then goes on to relate her feelings about that to her interest in the Civil Rights movement. This seems like a message to the reader: you can't understand this book unless you've been through some form of prejudice yourself. For a children's book aimed at 9-12 year olds, this might not be the right message. Most striking, however, is the contrast between Burg's experience as a 7th grader and the troubles that Addie encounters -- one some level Burg is attempting to equate when she ought not -- these experiences are not in the same ballpark.Furthermore, Addie's voice just isn't right. The narration (all supposed to be Addie) swings from sounding like a 30 year old Ivy League educated adult to a young naive girl. Most frustrating though is the dialect - if you are going to use dialect you need to be consistent about it.I would recommend "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" instead -- same time period - much less contrived.

historical fiction; civil rights; 1960's; audiobook

Very much in the tone of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird or John Grisham’s A Time To Kill, this exposé of the climate of the South in 1963 reveals the social and racial tension 100 years after slavery had been banned. The mentality of the African American community is still too often that of passive-aggressive servitude, and taking that final step to bridging the gap proves to be more of a mountain than it should be. The White community is often both cruel and two-faced when it comes to their African American townspeople, and it’s sad to see that people were treating each other this way even this long after slavery had been abolished.Burg also relates the happenings of the townsfolk with that of the important historical moments during the summer of that year, which ushered in the Civil Rights movement in full force. This text is not for the faint of heart, but it’s a great tool in order to help us all remember how far things have come in America, and how far they still need to go for full racial equality and dissolving enmity between cultures. I recommend this to all readers 12 .-Lindsey Miller, www.lindseyslibrary.com

In 1963 Mississippi, Addie Ann, 12, looks forward to going to the all black middle school and hanging out with her friends. But national events change her world, as desegregation starts to be whispered among her people, threatening the white status quo. When Addie’s older brother accidentally breaks a white boy’s leg, he disappears and is presumed dead. When the garden that was willed to the whole town equally is taken over by the white folk but worked in by the black folk, Addie’s uncle gets blamed for the failure of the crops. An inside look at the struggles of a girl who doesn’t necessarily want things to stay as they are but is scared to disturb her universe.

Addie is 12 when being black in Mississippi hits her with full force. Until then, she has lived in the protection of her family in a small Mississippi town. But that year, Medgar Evers is murdered, four girls die in a church fire and Addie's uncle Bump is charged with a crime he did not commit. Addie also learns that this is not the first time racism has affected her family.