Whale Talk
 

Whale Talk

by Chris Crutcher

T. J. Jones is black, Japanese, and white; his given name is The Tao (honest!), and he's the son of a woman who abandoned him when she got heavily into crack and crank. As a child he was full of rage, but now as a senior in high school he's pretty much overcome all that. With the help of a good therapist and his decent, loving, ex-hippie adoptive parents, he's not only fairly... (read more)

Top tags: young adultsportsfictioncoming of agehigh school (all tags)

Overview: Groups

Naperville Central 122 books / 77 members / 12 posts Bringing the book back to NCHS

Join this group if you go to Naperville Central, if you teach at Naperville Central, or if you just envy Naperville Central!

AND... I think we can make this the biggest group on Shelfari. 68? Thats nothing!

WE ARE TIED FOR 5th LARGEST GROUP!!!
Biracial-Multiracial-Transracial-Interracial: Culture & Diversity 160 books / 126 members / 311 posts Discuss and broaden your knowledge of yourself and of the people around you, wherever you are in the world. In this group we read and exchange our thoughts about what is important to us when it comes to matters of race and the societies we live in, and how these issues related to racial mixtures are represented in books, both fiction and non-fiction.

We are interested in our own racial identities, whether "coffee", "vanilla" or "chai tea", and what it means when our families are racially mixed--whether that means by birth we are multiracial or by family of choice. We read and discuss books that deal with questions such as-- which racial group do we identify with when we are from more than one? -- what do we call ourselves? -- does how we identify change when the social or geographical context changes? -- how does a child relate to his/her mother/father who doesn't look them? -- what happens to kids who are adopted by parents who don't look like them? -- how does it work to love/date/marry someone from a different ethnic and racial group?

This group has "given birth" to two other fantastic groups here on Shelfari:

SHADES OF LOVE For an amazing collection of multicultural and multiracial children's books, and some lively discussion about them, please visit the Shades of Love: Multicultural Children's Books & Literature Group, which is the "child" of this group, for books & reading resources for transracial kids and families, as well as for those who want some diversity and representation on their children's reading menu.

DIVERSITY WORKS For broader issues of diversity (race as well as gender, class, sexuality, etc.) please visit the page of our sibling group, Diversity Works.

CELEBRATING ADOPTION is our sibling group and has two wonderful shelves of books for children and for adults. We are doing a group read over there too so please check us out!
Banned Books 71 books / 950 members / 462 posts Discussion about the most challenged books for those who want to read them.
Children's and Young Adult Literature 274 books / 317 members / 219 posts I think the title says it all! I teach English Literature at university level, but my actual passion personally has been for children's and Young Adult's literature. Anything relating to these age groups- from nursery rhymes tocritical analysis is welcome here. Anyone who would like to go back to ttheir child hood, do join up! Sindhu
YA Books that Adults Should Read 692 books / 1763 members / 3944 posts Some of the best literature is written for young adults and children. This group is for sharing titles that are often overlooked because they are marketed to younger people.
Shades of Love: Multicultural Children's Books & Literature 1127 books / 294 members / 728 posts Shades of Love is an offshoot of the Black, Biracial & Multiracial: Culture & Diversity Group. Our aim is to provide listings and encourage dialogue for families, educators, and all others who are interested in more representative and diverse literature and reference resources for children, from babies and toddlers to pre-teens and young adults.

Finding good books that are diverse and multicultural is a challenge. And YA? Good luck. That is why Shades of Love is here.

Please don't assume members are already aware of great titles including reference resources. If you have found a book you enjoy, or have found a text useful and relevant, share it with the group in discussion and on our shelves. If you've seen something and are unsure, let us know. Hopefully someone among us will purchase the text and report back or another may have access through a library and will report to the group.


“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”
~ Maya Angelou
Celebrate Adoption : Stories from the Heart 347 books / 83 members / 392 posts The purpose of the group is to celebrate families formed through the gift of adoption. Our shelves reflect the ways adoption has touched our lives, our families and our hearts. The children's books on our shelves are meant to be shared by families of all kinds, but with adoption themes. You do not have to be an adoptive family to participate!

As we've started filling our shelf, it's become apparent that we need a shelf for children's books and another for adult lit. If you're looking for a novel, memoir or informational book dealing with adoption, please check on the "Books to be Read" shelf. For now, that's the only way we can separate the books.

Diversity Works 507 books / 776 members / 7763 posts "Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."

~ Martin Luther King Jr



Diversity Works is a where we acknowledge our differences, celebrate our commonalities, and make an honest effort to navigate between the two. We hope the setting here feels safe enough for you to examine, consider, and challenge ideas and thoughts expressed here. It's not about being right, but being heard.

Tell us what you think.

High school literature teachers 107 books / 251 members / 402 posts Don't you want to talk about books with people who teach them? I am just finishing a busy first year of teaching high school English and journalism...I'd love to see what English teachers are reading this summer and share ideas on how to bring books to life for high school students.
50 Book Challenge! 2902 books / 2865 members / 16255 posts When asked about the new Amazon Kindle product, Steve Jobs CEO of Apple computer had this to say:

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Welcome to the the 50 Book Challenge, where we fly in the face of Steve Jobs.

Basically .... the challenge is to read 50 books in one year. OR ... establish a goal for yourself more or less, it's up to you, just because we say 50 books doesn't mean that has to be your goal too.

Start a thread, WITH YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT OF YOUR ORIGINAL POST, and log your books. It is a very good idea to bookmark (when in your post, add it to your internet browser's favorites) your post for easy location for future updates. Things move quickly around here.

If you haven't been keeping track of the books you've read, start when you join.


Thanks for being here and have fun. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me.

The books we loved in 2007:

1. Harry Potter the final - 15 votes
2. The Kite Runner - 12 votes
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns - 11 votes
4. Twilight - 5 votes
4. The Thirteenth Tale - 5 votes

With 4 votes each:
Water For Elephants, The Road, The Red Tent, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Middlesex, Eat, Pray, Love

With 3 votes each:
Eclipse, My Sister's Keeper, Suite Francaise, Shadow of the Wind, The Lovely Bones, Jane Eyre, His Dark Materials (plus 3 honorable mentions), The Glass Castle, Girl With the Pearl Earring, Darkly Dreaming Dexter

With 2 votes each:
19 Minutes, Black Swan Green, Dogs of Babel, Heart-Shaped Box, In the Woods, Into the Wild, Kafka on the Shore, On Chesil Beach, The Book Thief, The Memory Keepers Daughter, The Stolen Child, No Country for Old Men, Marley and Me, New Moon
Moms Who Read To Escape Their Weary Lives 731 books / 1168 members / 7280 posts
In order to find out what books the Moms Who Read are discussing, please click on the blue "more" link at the end of the next paragraph.

You may lose a few brain cells when you become a mother, but you still love to read! Whether you're able to fit in one book per year or 100 between changing diapers and/or taxiing kids to sports and activities, this is the place to come to chat about your current books or to get ideas for future reading. So grab a book, settle in, and let off some steam if you need to...we mommies are here to listen!


October Title:
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (Nominated by ~*Kim*~)

The discussion began on October 1, but feel free to add to it at any time by searching for the thread using the "Search Discussions" link on the upper right side of the page.

Upcoming titles:
November - The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent (Nominated by Shan)
December - The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (Nominated by Julie)

Discussions will begin on the first of each month.

Past titles:
The Bright Side of Disaster by Katherine Center (with author chat)
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
All the Numbers by Judy Merrill Larsen (with author chat)
In the Woods by Tana French
The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross (with author chat)
People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks
These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner
An Inconvenient Wife by Megan Chance (with author chat)
Love Walked In by Maria de Los Santos
The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain

If you have anything you'd like to add to these discussions at any time, don't hesitate to pull the book titles up from the "Search Discussions" link on the upper right side of the page and add to the threads!

While we appreciate that many of our members are authors, please do not post book promotions to our group. I will remove them as I do not want anyone to feel pressured to buy anything or be bothered by numerous spams in the discussion list. Thank you for understanding.
Color Online 94 books / 29 members / 75 posts "To tell the truth is to become beautiful, to begin to love yourself, value yourself. And that's political, in its most profound way."

~June Jordan


For our summer session, we are reading Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah.
Members are required to post twice a week to group discussion and to attend in-house sessions every week on Mondays at 1pm-3pm

We'll host weekly prizes for Comet Monday(marathon comment day) & Comment of the Week. Check forum for more details.

At Color Online Shelfari, we offer a book loan program, host writing contests, invite published authors to chat with members, run online writing workshops and other activities that promote the love of reading and encourage members to express their own creativity.

If you are interested in joining our community, please read and comply with our admission policy. We accept new members principally by referral. Please write us at cora_litgroup@yahoo.com. Please briefly share your interest in Color Online and who referred you. If an existing member did not refer you please share with us what Shelfari communities you are an active member of.

Our intention is not to make the process difficult but to maintain an environment where our members feel comfortable and safe. Failure to comply may result in delay or denial.

Membership is not limited by race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or spiritual beliefs. We are limited by age and gender. Membership is for young girls and young women between the ages of 14-21.

Membership benefits:

· Exclusive privileges to private Color Online book collection
· Participate in writing contests and win prizes
· Have work published on our blog
· Monthly workshops and activities
· Earn community service hours for graduation
· *Attend cultural events

* Applies to local members only

Who We Are

Color Online is community committed to the promotion, empowerment, and political awakening of young women. It is our mission to cultivate self-development through literary study, educational programs, cultural events and community service.


To Our Members

In all discussions, be respectful of individual opinions, beliefs and expressions. You are free to challenge, question, counter, evaluate and refute messages. However, there is zero tolerance for personal attacks. Address the message; do not attack the messenger. Members who post offensive, derogatory or mean-spirited comments will be warned, and the post will be deleted or a moderator will ask the poster to edit her comments. Upon a third infraction, a member risks having her membership revoked and permanently banned from the community.
Chapter and Verse 45 books / 6 members / 671 posts Chapter and Verse is a private group. Originally created for team members for LTS challenge at Play Book Tag. Hate to let go of friends though including new ones so we're remaining open. Come by. Share with us whatcha reading and how life is treating you. Talk about your pets, kids and spouses. Be well.
WTHS Book Club 25 books / 18 members / 15 posts
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