Eyes of the Emperor

An Analysis of the 6^th Grade Level Reading in Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury

When I found this book, I felt that young people should be aware of the issue of racism in America during times of war. While most young people would assume that we live in a “melting pot”, the racism experienced by Japanese-Americans through interment camps is an important commentary about American life in WWII. Author Graham Salisbury writes this book for young people as teenagers, but it can easily be read by 11-12 years old at the 6^th grade level. With many of the students in my classroom on the cusp of teenage life, the experiences of Eddy Okana provide insight into multicultural teenagers behavior. Okana is boy that wants to join the army and serve his country, but he learns he cannot be trusted by the military in combat.  I was amazed to learn that when joins the 100th Infantry Battalion, the Army uses him as a decoy to train dogs to attack Japanese soldiers. However, after reading of some of the brutal training missions in which Okana and his friends are chased by dogs, I felt that this would be too much for an 11-12 year old. I felt that some of the students would be frightened at the intensity of the military episodes involving blatant racism towards Japanese-Americans. While Salisbury writes this story within the parameters of a 11-12 year old reading level, the content is just too strong for my particular classroom environment.



Night Rider.......

Raiders Night by Robert Lipsyte

After reading this book, I felt somewhat irritated with the sensationalized violence that is being depicted in sporting culture in America. Of course, many athletes go to parties and can, occasionally, have non-committal sex with girls that may be fans of football, but Lipsyte goes too far in parts of the book. When “Co-Captain” Ramp sexually assaults another Chris after football practice with a baseball bat via anal intercourse, I realized that this was an extremely rare and heinous way to get the reader’s attention. I have read stories of violent incidents before, during, and after sporting events, but this was simply outrageous. In some ways, it promotes a crude myth of extracurricular violence in sporting culture, which is certainly not a common occurrence in high school life. Therefore, I would never use this book in class because it does not teach “literature” as life, as it propagandizes an artificially fear-based and sensational form of entertainment for the young adult reader. While I would not want dismiss the homosexual overtones of this story, I do not feel it teaches students to respect people from differing sexual backgrounds. In many ways, this book promotes an overly sensationalized view of “team” loyalty and it promotes a culture of unethical and immoral behavior as an acceptable paradigm in teenage high school social interaction. If my students read this book, I think they would respond negatively to the secrecy of the team after the sexual assault. More so, I don’t think any of them would really believe the story because of the blatant dramatization of violence and sexual assault in sporting culture.  

 

My Rotten Life.............

Lubar, David. My Rotten Life: Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie

     I really liked this fun book about the young zombie, Nathan Abercrombie. While I was initially against using a book about the “walking dead” in my classroom, I felt that Lubar’s plot inspires young people to not be zombies in real life. While Nathan has almost superhuman abilities by being able to outrun other students and play video games all night long, he truly desires to return to be a living human being. More so, Lubar takes the “misfit” of the school and gives him these extraordinary powers to empower himself and excel. I really enjoyed Nathan as a role model for my students because he truly wants to live again, but he uses his new powers to learn self-esteem and that he is human being of value—even though he is different. However, I didn’t like the character Abigail for trying to get Nathan to visit her uncle Hurt-Be-Gone as a solution to make him feel better about being a social misfit. I don’t think that would be a good example at all for students in the classroom…it would encourage emotional escapism. But for the most part, Lubar gives Charlie these powers to help him realize that it is much better to be human and to feel, than it is to not feel and have these supernatural powers to impress the popular kids. Lubar really does show the importance of learning self-esteem and being happy with oneself even though young people, such as Nathan, do not fit into school clicks or are not accepted.