Books – Page 25 – Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School Library

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Born on this day in 1925, Malcolm Little grew up in poverty and lived a life of crime. While in prison he worked to self-educate and converted to Islam, Publicly he became known as Malcolm X, dropping what he referred to as his “slave name.” Intelligent, articulate and charismatic, Malcolm X would become one of the leading figures of the fight for equality for African-Americans. In contrast to Martin Luther King who called for non-violent protest, Malcolm X believed that violence would be necessary for black people to gain their rights. Early on he was considered to be a black-supremacist who believed that blacks and whites could never live together. However, he would eventually disavow that position, and would preach the equality of all people and express a hope for peaceful coexistence. In the years prior to his death, he began to reach out with a willingness to work with other Civil Rights groups and leaders. In particular it was after the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca required of all Muslims, where he experienced the coming together of people of all races and backgrounds, that he embraced the possibility of peaceful change rather than inevitable violence. Tragically, he wouldn’t live long in pursuit of those dreams. He was assassinated in 1965 by members of the group he formerly led, the Nation of Islam.

For more on the life of Malcolm X:

MalcolmX.com (official website of the estate of Malcolm X)

The Malcolm X Project at Columbia University

American Experience: Timeline of Malcolm X

Malcolm

Overdue Books?

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Asian Heritage: Fiction

Check out our display of fiction about or by people of Asian Heritage. Here are some of the titles on display:

Award Winners

Come down to the School Library to see our display of recent “Award Winners.”

The Printz Award and the Alex Awards are significant honours to consider when adding title to a secondary school library collection. The Printz Award is given for excellence in young adult literature, while the Alex Awards are given to books written for adults but that have special appeal to young adults and teens.

The Printz Award is “for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature.” (ALA) The 2021 Printz Award was given to Everything Sad Is Untrue (a true story) by Daniel Nayeri. In this autobiographical novel, middle-schooler Daniel, formerly Khosrou, tells his unimpressed and at times cruel classmates about his experience as an Iranian refugee.

Printz Honors were awarded to Apple (Skin to the Core) by Eric Gansworth; Dragon Hoops created by Gene Luen Yang; Every Body Looking by Candice Iloh; and We Are Not Free by Traci Chee.

The Alex Awards “are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.” (ALA) This year the Alex Awards were presented to the following titles:

· Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

· The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune

· The Impossible First by Colin O’Brady

· Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf

· The Kids Are Gonna Ask by Gretchen Anthony

· The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

· Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforth

· Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi

· Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh

· We Ride Upon Sticks: A Novel by Quan Barry

Find out more about all the other books and authors that were honoured with these very prestigious awards in the world of youth and children’s literature: ALA Youth Media Awards.

Asian Canadians

Asia is a big place. Really big. Today nearly 2 in 3 human beings live in Asia. That’s over 4 billion people. Asia is the biggest continent by area, divided into many regions and nearly 50 different countries.

Nearly 20% of Canadians trace their family heritage to Asia. Some are recent immigrants while some families have been here for generations. Canadians of Asian descent have brought a multitude of languages, beliefs, histories and cultural practices to contribute to Canada as we know it today.

During the month of May we will be celebrating the great contributions of Canadians of Asian Heritage to the development of our country. We will also look at the many contributions of Asian culture, art, food, history and more. We will see that Asia is an incredibly diverse place and has made incredibly diverse contributions to Canada.

Come down to the School Library to see some of our titles on display for Asian Heritage Month. Here are just a few:

Vote: Surrey Teens Read

Go to Surrey Teens Read to cast your vote.

Ali the Conscientious Objector

On this date in 1967, Muhammed Ali was arrested for refusing his conscription into the US military for the Vietnam War. Ali was the undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World, and arguably the most famous athlete in the world, perhaps of all time. Yet later that day he was stripped of his titles and effectively banned from boxing for more than 3 years, at the height of his athletic prowess.

Ali was already a powerful symbol for African-American Civil Rights. His decision to be a conscientious objector, refusing to be drafted for the Vietnam War, elevated his status in the US and around the world as a counter-cultural icon. He stated, “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?” (source) Ali would eventually box again, regaining his championship belts, but it is his status as a champion of peace and of human rights that make him a true hero.

Find out more: