TLNing (teacherlibrarian.org)

A community for teacher-librarians and other educators

The Stone Rainbow
by Liane Shaw
Pub Date: 17 Sep 2019  
Read courtesy of NetGalley.com

My first note to myself early in the book was, "As a straight person, I've been curious about this. Maybe I'll find out," in reaction to Jack wondering how to find out if someone he might be interested in is gay or not.   It ends up that I don't explicitly "find out," due mainly to the fact that there's nothing to "find out." One simply asks someone, no different than a straight person finds out if a straight person is interested in return -- and sometimes the person isn't straight! People are people! (I also didn't find out because Jack's crush, Benjamin, isn't shy about liking other guys.)

The author's message is clear throughout the book. "I don't live in a fantasy land where being gay is easy. It should be. I don't know why it isn't. Why would anyone care who I decide to spend time with?" and "I'll always have a different heaven from hers. In her heaven, everyone starts fresh, reborn into something better than before. Blind men can see, and the lame can walk...and I would guess the gays become "straight" if they make it that far." [Powerful in the declaration that some see "straight" people as better than "gay" people, that "straight" is something to aspire to.] And the more obvious parade rally cry, "Kindness rules": "If everyone just decides to treat everyone else with kindness, it all goes away. Intolerance,, disrespect, racism, homophobia, misogyny, bullying...all wiped out with one simple command. Be kind."

At first I thought this was just a romance novel, which felt a little light and fluffy and not holding my attention, but it took a more serious turn. I found myself immediately drawn into things that happen in real life... and I cannot believe people do this to others. But they do, and the author offered a way to counteract violence with grace.  This story didn't need to be written in great literary prose in order for a clear message and interesting story to come through.

Views: 74

Comment

You need to be a member of TLNing (teacherlibrarian.org) to add comments!

Join TLNing (teacherlibrarian.org)

A Learning Revolution Project

Twitter feeds

TL Scoop.its

Teacher Librarians of the 21st Century Curated by Mrs. N Ideas and Resources for the 21st Century Teacher Librarian

Libraries as Sites of Enchantment, Participatory Culture, and Learning Curated by Buffy J. Hamilton Ideas and resources to develop the concept of libraries as sites of participatory culture and learning

Personal Learning Networks for Librarians  Curated by Donna Watt

Staying ahead of the game, managing your own professional development, joining the dots

SchoolLibrariesTeacherLibrarians Curated by Joyce Valenza News for teacher librarians

What is a teacher librarian?  Curated by Tania Sheko Defining the role of teacher librarians for those who think we just look after books

Teacher librarians and transliteracy Curated by Sue Krust Explore the evolving role of the teacher librarian

Teacher-Librarian Curated by Librarian@HOPE Best sites and resources on the web for teacher-librarians

ResearChameleon on School Libraries Curated by Kathy Malatesta Teaching, mentoring & leading in today’s school libraries

Student Learning through School Libraries Curated by lyn_hay Building evidence of impact through research and professional practice

SCIS  Curated by SCIS News and resources about school libraries

Educational Technology and Libraries Curated by Kim Tairi In libraries we teach, we learn and many of us are early adopters of technology. This is your scoop on those things.

21st Century Libraries Curated by Dr. Steve Matthews all things 21st Century library related

Join our Diigo Group! VIsit TL Daily!

Coming soon

Events

Members

#tlchat: #tlchat your tweets!

© 2024   Created by Steve Hargadon.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service