Monday, February 28, 2011

March 2011 Book Selections


One of this month's selections is Color Struck by Pamela and Joel Tuck. If you remember my January post, I had a picture of several books I wanted to preview. Color Struck was among my choices for completion. But before I could begin reading, daily life interrupted, and
it wasn't until a college road trip with my son that I began to read.

I became so engaged with the flow of Color Struck that I was quite disappointed when my son informed me that it was my turn to drive. Therefore, I had to pull out the midnight oil to complete my reading.

What a magnificent story! The Tucks explore the sensitive issue of skin tone within the Black community which has caused much heartache even among families. Grandma Bell, the central character and storyteller, reveals her family secret to her grand-daughters to preserve the family and expose the pain and suffering caused by being color struck. The story begins on Friday, fish night at Grandma Bell's, after a week of painful confrontations among the cousins. I found myself waiting and clearing the table with the cousins so Grandma could tell what happens next as she unveils the story of her life. I believe you will too.

You may order Color Struck at www.pamelamtuck.com. To learn more about this home schooling family, we are including a portion of an interview with the Tucks. The remainder of the interview will be posted in April. We are allowing time for all to order the book and enjoy the discussion together.

March Selections:

Color Struck by Pamela and Joel Tuck

Odetta, The Queen of Folk by Stephen Alcorn

A Nation's Hope: The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis by Matt De La
Pena and illustrated by Kadir Nelson

All of these selections are worthy of individual postings. Look for more details throughout the month of March.

Enjoy and be inspired by the first portion of the interview with Pamela and Joel Tuck.

NBHE: Tell us about your family. (Who are you/ how long have you been homeschooling/etc)

PT/JT: We are a Christian homeschooling family of 12, and live in Boyertown, PA. Our family consists of dad, mom, 6 boys and 4 girls, including a set of twins. Our oldest child is thirteen and our youngest is nine months. We’ve been homeschooling ever since our first child was born: reading, instructing, loving and nurturing. Our children have never attended public school; however we did Cyber Schooling for about three years. It was wonderful, but because of the growing family and needing more flexibility, we reverted back to traditional homeschooling.

NBHE: How long have you been writing?

PT: I would say my writing career started in elementary school, after winning my first poetry contest. I grew up as an only child in Greenville, NC, surrounded by a healthy array of cousins. I loved books even before I learned to read them. As a family member read to me, I would hold the words in my mind, and afterward “read” the book back to them. As I became older, I continued writing poetry, but ventured into short stories and plays. I used my writing as personal gifts or comfort for others or myself.

JT: I am a native of Philadelphia, PA, and unlike Pam, I grew up the youngest of seven. I did writing assignments in school, but didn’t consider becoming a writer. After seeing my wife’s love for writing, I encouraged her to do more with it. Once she became more serious about her writing, and learned more about the world of writing for children, I developed an interest as well.

NBHE: As homeschooling parents, how did you manage your time to write?

PT/JT: When we decided to write the novel Color Struck, we used the project as our “quiet time”. After dinner, we allowed the children to have free time. They entertained themselves for a few hours by reading, playing, listening to music, etc. while we wrote. Since the story is told as a frame story (a story within a story), switching from the contemporary to the past, one of us would work on the contemporary part, while the other worked on the past. We’d bring our ideas together and edit each other’s work. While we didn’t have a lot of time during the day to write, we covered at least two chapters at a time with this process. We continued off and on with this pattern until the novel was complete.


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