Reflection Digital Tech- April Cervantes

I used makebeliefscomix.com to create my digital storytelling reflection for my course, Digital Technology for the School Librarian. At first I had to play around with the program and lost two drafts because I did not save my work correctly. Ultimately, I enjoyed this program and through this course and my young adult literature course, I realized I really enjoy comic books. My reflection of this course is told through a comic book strip page summarizing my learning from this course and my experience with digital technology applied in our assignments. When trying to upload my comic book, the text was not clear even when enlarging, so I decided to use screenpal to record and narrate it for you all. I hope you all enjoy my effort in creating my reflection through a digital comic book webpage. 

-April Cervantes

Informational Book Review: Partridge, Elizabeth. BOOTS ON THE GROUND: AMERICA’S WAR IN VIETNAM.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Partridge, Elizabeth. BOOTS ON THE GROUND: AMERICA’S WAR IN VIETNAM. ISBN 978-0-670-78506-3. 

PLOT SUMMARY 

The war fought in Vietnam by American soldiers is told by multiple perspectives that of American Soldiers, a war nurse and a Vietnam refugee.  Their stories lead readers through their experiences on the field, violent protests back home, a presidential assassination and the remnants of the war on soldiers and the community long after its end.    

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

Partridge’s prologue explains her emotions for soldiers who died at war and the generations they left behind influenced her to speak to veterans and write about their stories from war. The personal stories in this nonfiction narrative, of gunfire and struggles to survive accompanied by action shots of the field effectively complement the feeling evoked by their personal accounts. Photographs of antiwar protests show a different point of view of the war. Maps during the war help the reader see the foreign land upon where the war was fought. Photographs with descriptions give the images factual context. The contents give a clear and organized sequence to the book, labeling everything according to Vietnam or America, giving the reader context to the stories. Acknowledgements, source notes, and a bibliography are listed at the end of the book.  

EXCERPTS/ AWARDS 

ALA Notable Children’s Books, 2019 

Booklist starred, 01/01/18 

Horn Book Guide Starred, 11/01/18 

Kirkus Reviews starred, 02/15/18 

School Library Connection starred, 05/01/18 

School Library Journal, 04/01/18 

Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA), 06/01/18 

YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults-Nominees, 2019 

Booklist starred (January 1, 2018 (Vol. 114, No. 9)): “Their stories are woven into a sweeping, chronological narrative of the war, which delivers the facts, nicely pitched for the age range, while taking significant looks at notable protestors, politicians, and presidents, whose beliefs, and at times, misguided patriotism dramatically affected America’s involvement in the conflict.” 

Kirkus Reviews starred, (February 15, 2018): “Emphasizing the lasting emotional legacy of the war for those who served, even as the rest of the country seemed content to put it behind the, Patridge’s narrative storytelling is incisive and masterfully woven together.” 

School Library Journal, (April 01, 2018): “Patridge brings the conflict to a personal level, with accounts of eight men, two women, for U.S. presidents, Martin Luther King Jr., and Maya Lin.” 

CONNECTIONS 

The narrative nonfiction book on U.S. History is a great read for the Young Adult audience because the images help the reader move along and see first-hand images of the war fought overseas.  

This book would benefit from being displayed in November for Veterans Day alongside other books about veterans, World War II, U.S. History and more.  

Providing maps of the war and current day maps will do for a great comparison activity while incorporating geography and history lessons.  

Diggs, Barbara. THE VIETNAM WAR. ISBN 978-1-61930-658-5 

Edmonds, Anthony O. THE WAR IN VIETNAM. ISBN 978-0-313-29847-9 

Santoli, Al. EVERYTHING WE HAD: AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE VIETNAME WAR BY THIRTY-THREE AMERICAN SOLDIERS WHO FOUGHT IT. ISBN: 978-0-345-32279-1 

Informational Book Review: Spiegelman, Art. 1986. MAUS: A SURVIVORS TALE. New York. Pantheon Books.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Spiegelman, Art. 1986. MAUS: A SURVIVORS TALE. New York. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-394-74723-2. 

PLOT SUMMARY 

Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish Holocaust survivor’s story is told through a comic book format as he recounts his life in surviving Hitler’s war. His son, Art the cartoonist, tells his father’s history while coming to terms with their relationship and history.  

CRITICAL ANALYSIS 

The survival story told through graphic novel comic book format tells the real events of a Holocaust survivors' trials and tribulations to escape and how that life followed them to their life in America. In telling the story of the Holocaust, Art Spiegelman portrays the Jews as the mice and Nazis as cats. The story sets place in Vladek’s New York apartment, Art writes his father's life story and guides his father along, asking year by year to write it chronologically, which the story follows. The drawings are detailed and complement the story with realism of emotion. The story's readability is appropriate for Young Adults as it has a clear transition from chapter to chapter. The history of World War II is present throughout, described through Vladek’s personal memories and details of the illustrations of the war, signs of empty promises and traps and newspapers of the times. The information is not too much, but it is interesting to read because of the comic book format which keeps the reader turning each page to look for details that encourage further reading.  

EXCERPTS/ AWARDS 

ALA Notable Children’s Books, 1995 

Booklist, 08/01/97 

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age, 1998 

School Library Journal 

CONNECTIONS 

The comic book biography is a great read however it is more geared towards the older audience. The illustrations can be a bit much when portraying hangings.  

Displaying this book with other biographies of survival in the holocaust would be a great way to showcase this unique style of history.  

Displaying this book side by side with Maus II will invite readers to know there is more to this graphic novel and entice them to continue reading.  

Spiegelman, Art. MAUS II: A SURVIVOR’S TALE: AND HERE MY TROUBLES BEGAN. ISBN 978-1-40462-911-0 

Zelman, Leon. AFTER SURVIVAL: ONE MAN’S MISSION IN THE CAUSE OF MEMORY. ISBN 978-0-8419-1382-0 

Bergman, Eugene. SURVIVAL ARTIST: A MEMOIR OF THE HOLOCAUST. ISBN 978-0-7864-4134-1