Batchelder Book Review: A game for swallows: To die, to leave, to return

Part One:

Book Information:

Abirached, Z. (2012). A game for swallows: To die, to leave, to return. NY: Graphic Universe.

Genre: Batchelder award; graphic novel, multicultural/global, translated International autobiography, comic book, young adult.

Grade Level: Grades 6-8, young adult, adult.

I would highly suggest this book for mature readers. The reading level is somewhat complex, and scene changes can be quite confusing. I think it would work for students in grades 6th through 8th.

Part Two:  Response to the book: Predictions, thoughts about craft.

I made an emotional connection to this book. I think hearing the author’s viewpoint from a first person narrative made it more meaningful and true. I couldn’t imagine growing up in a world through war and seeing or hearing that in my daily life. Having to run and hide just to try and feel safe must have been an ongoing stressful experience. I think that I sometimes take a lot of things for granted so these books really help put things in perspective. It was easy to put myself in the shoes of the author and the family and wonder why they just didn’t leave and get away from it all. But there always seems to be something about the place we call home because it is comforting to us. Moving to another country or state would be hard for those who care about their culture. I belive the author really helped capture the setting and emotion throughout the novel. It was a really great cultural experience to read.

Part Three: Critique

This was a great book and truly deserved the Batchelder Award. Coming from the authors first hand experience it makes the situation and experience more real which engages the audience. I felt like some of the scenes were changed often, so it was sometimes hard and complicated to understand. For that reason, I would suggest that this book be read by young adult readers or those in 6th through 8th grade. The images of this book provided a great picture of the setting and amount of detail in the artwork displayed. They may have been simply drawn images, but the amount of detail in them was awesome. The scene changes were easily seen through the use of lines and borders around images. The author clearly depicted the characters voices from the narration by using a black border with white text or white border with black text. The language of the culture was also expressed, along with the art and types of foods eaten. This is a wonderful book to introduce to readers that will engage students with a real life experience from another perspective.

Part Four:  Lesson Plan / Activity (Grade 6)

Using the Common Core State Standards:

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.6.7 Compare and contrast the experience of reading a story, drama, or poem to listening to or viewing an audio, video, or live version of the text, including contrasting what they “see” and “hear” when reading the text to what they perceive when they listen or watch.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.2 Determine a central idea of a text and how it is conveyed through particular details; provide a summary of the text distinct from personal opinions or judgments.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.7 Integrate information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words to develop a coherent understanding of a topic or issue.

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.6.9 Compare and contrast one author’s presentation of events with that of another (e.g., a memoir written by and a biography on the same person)

  • CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.6.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Objective:

  • The student will be able to read grade level appropriate text.

  • The student will be able to compare and contrast an audio documentary and a book in ways they are similar and different.

  • The student will be able to explain in a paragraph, ideas about the book and documentary.

  • The student will be able to describe the Israel versus Lebanon cultures using supporting facts from the book and documentary.

Lesson outline:

For my lesson activity, I decide to go with 6th grade because of the complexity level.

  • Students will read the book in groups of 2. Once they have read the book in their groups, they will have a book review discussion in groups of 4 or 5. (This way they can gather feedback/supporting details from other classmates to increase comprehension.)

  • Here is the website for a documentary. It is about an hour long, lots of subtitles (which could be difficult), so you may want to only show some portions of it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-IO__Ni7bA. Granted this is not the only documentary out there, feel free to choose your own that you may come across.

  • Using the documentary and book, A game for swallows: To die, to leave, to return, students will make comparisons and similarities to the stories told in each. What are some of the same things that were discussed, and what were some of the differences that were expressed? They will use supporting facts to from the text and documentary. Students must have a total of 5 similarities and/or differences.

  • After 5 writing a paragraph essay explaining the similarities and differences, write one  paragraph in their journal that explains the importance of obtaining multiple references/reliable sources. Is it better to gain one’s story, or would it be more reliable to obtain many resources?

Discussion questions:

  • Can you remember a time that you were scared or when you didn’t know what the outcome would be?

  • Do you think that we may take things for granted in our daily lives (including receiving an automatic dial tone to call out), or fresh water from our local resources?

  • Would you pack up and move your family out of the country, or would you stay because you were at home and that is what feels safe?

  • What information do you think the author was trying to share?

  • Why is it important to be sympathetic to those in different cultures? How would you feel if you had to move to another country and were different from everyone else around you?

Links to outside resources:

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