The Battle of Jericho (high school clubs, hazing)

Book Title: The Battle of Jericho by Sharon Draper

Topic: high school clubs, hazing

Thoughts: I had read November Blues several years ago and always meant to read this but never got around to it.  You do not have to read this first though.  Because I read November Blues first, I knew what happened to one of the characters, but I didn't know all the details.  This was a page turner for me because I wanted to know the details of the tragedy.

When I came to the tragedy, I had a quick intact of breath, became teary eyed, and said "No."  My son who was sitting beside me and asked what was wrong.  I told him I just found out what happened to a character and it shocked me. Then he asked me what the title meant, and we had a discussion of where this came from in the Bible.

Jericho and Dana are strong characters throughout, and I pegged Arielle for what she is and see this everyday in real life.  Which character represents your own personality, or are you one of the characters on the outside but a different one on the inside?

Draper does an effective job of having Jericho narrate the story and the battle that occurs within him.  As we discuss in class throughout the year: "What is popular is not always right; what is right is not always popular."