Carolyn Wilhelm reviews Carnival Lights

Title: Carnival Lights
By: Chris Stark
 Publisher: Modern History Press
Author Website: https://www.christinestark.com/
ISBN-10: 1615995781
ISBN-13: 978-1615995783
 Price: Hardcover $37.95, Paperback $24.95, Kindle $6.95
 Page Count: 268
 Formats (HC, PB, Kindle)
 
With good reason, two teens run away from a reservation and get jobs at the Minnesota State Fair. Although the book has a linear story within the pages, it also has a spiraling story going back generations explaining how families pass down their problems. Society also hands down its ills, of course.

“The grief of her people lived within her and was a way of knowing, with or without her conscious understanding.”
Stark, Chris. Carnival Lights (p. 221). Modern History Press. Kindle Edition.

What a read! Oh, my. This book hit me especially hard being a resident of northern Minnesota as well as Minneapolis. I walked exactly where the girls walked, went to the fair, and understand 1969 – the setting of the book. I was about their age in 1969. Of course, I was aware of the poverty in the Native American reservations. However, we attended Pow Wows and visited some people, so that I was unaware of the danger to women and children. I have been to Duluth dozens of times and cannot again pass through there looking at the ships with ignorance. We lived in Grand Marais on Lake Superior and I knew there was trafficking, but thought it was all at the border for some reason. 

10 Discussion Questions for Carnival Lights

 
1. How does Stark set up the first chapters so we are convinced Sher and Kris had no choice but to run away? What are several of the convincing reasons provided? 
 
2. Did you expect the girls would get to the fair rather quickly and experience problems there? What surprised you about the book with generational stories interwoven with the experience of the girls’ bus trip and arrival in Minneapolis?
 
3. Why did the girls spend several days in downtown Minneapolis? Who did Sher call, thinking they might find help? How did they get food? The Vietnam war protest added drama as well as helped explain the times. How was Kris always going ahead and doing things while Sher wanted to hold back?
 
4. How do they meet Tricia? Why does she say the following:

“Get this,” the woman said, “a couple of farm girls showing me the city.”
Stark, Chris. Carnival Lights (p. 118). Modern History Press. Kindle Edition.

5. Why do they decide or were told to leave several of the places they briefly stayed? What was the one place they wanted to stay? Why?

6. When in Minneapolis, Stark again sets up the reasons why the girls do not try to find help. Why would they not reach out to a social worker? Why do you think the church where they sat on the steps asked them to leave, probably knowing they were in trouble? 

7. How does the author explain most of Sher’s family acceptance and knowledge of her as contrasted with what her mother thought:

“Sher’s mother had admonished Sher for her broad shoulders, her narrow hips, and wearing her brother’s hand-me-downs, as if these oddities sprang from Sher alone, and did not come from the loins of her parents, from her family, from the Creator.”
Stark, Chris. Carnival Lights (p. 195). Modern History Press. Kindle Edition.

8. Were you expecting Sher and Kris would meet different people and find different problems than they did? How were the things that happened to them in Minneapolis worse or better than what you thought? 

9. Why do you think they didn’t go home but remembered the good people and things that happened? Their memories helped them cope. Could they have gone home? 

10. The foreshadowing of the ending strongly suggested something terrible would happen. Did you expect what happened or not? How did close calls to people who seemed to think about helping them add to the plot’s tension? How was the ending both happy and sad? 

Why do you think Stark wrote this book? What was the overall message? 

Carolyn Wilhelm, Reviewer
BS Elementary Education, MS Gifted Education, MA K-12 Curriculum and Instruction
Wise Owl Factory LLC

Coats of Arms [PB]
+3

Coats of Arms [PB]

978-1-61599-695-7
$21.95
An Introduction to The Science and Art of Heraldry
In stock
1
Product Details
UPC: 978-1-61599-695-7
Brand: Modern History Press
Binding: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Author: Marc Fountain
Illustrator: Marc Fountain
Pages: 40
Publication Date: 10/01/2022

With full-color pages accessible to readers of any age, this how and why quick-start guide explains knighthood and nobility and royalty, what coats of arms mean, how to create your own, and how to assemble those of your ancestors. Heraldry is the art and profession of creating designs within shield-shaped outlines meant to identify important individuals and their descendants, as well as organizations (towns, schools, corporations) and nations. These designs often come surrounded by additional symbols such as helms, crowns or crests. Although few of us bear actual shields in the modern world, many today print their ancestors' armorial symbols onto paper, engrave them into jewelry or tableware, and carve them into wood and stone. Readers will learn about:

  • Symbols of Identity - where Heraldry came from, and how it can still empower people today
  • Within the Shield - the symbols which identify a person or family or organization
  • Beyond the Shield - the symbols which identify social rank (gentry, knight, noble, royal)
  • Ancestry - where last names came from, and where you come into the story

"Coats of Arms is a thorough and comprehensive guide for anyone fascinated by heraldry. You'll learn how to differentiate a duke from a marquis, a firstborn son from a second, and the meaning behind every symbol on a shield. A treasure to refer to time and time again. I know I'll be referring back to it when I get back to genealogy and looking at my own medieval ancestors' coats of arms." --Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of King Arthur's Children: A Study in Fiction and Tradition

"History can be boring beyond belief if it is a mere list of names and dates. Or it can be immensely fascinating. Coats Of Arms: An Introduction to the Science and Art of Heraldry will bring past times and even present customs to life through the study of symbols of many kinds, many though not all relating to badges of nobility. Any student of history, and of cultural differences, will benefit from looking at the many beautiful illustrations, all of which are keys for entry into ways of thinking and living. It is a good day when I learn something new, so I really enjoyed editing this book for the publisher." --Bob Rich, PhD and author of Sleeper, Awake!

"One of the most difficult requirements for teachers of history and English is to find ways to assess students with special needs.Coats of Arms offers a uniquely creative means to enhance the study of Medieval Times; most students, with or without disability, will enjoy learning patterns, colors and shapes that relate to their personal history. Creating one's own coat of arms using methods centuries old will help students relate to the past while tying together strands of history still used in the present. A secondary bonus is the intriguing vocabulary presented in this book, with new meanings for 'hatching' and 'field' as examples." --Carolyn Bouldin, reading comprehension specialist and teacher of secondary English

Learn more at https://coatsofarms.actionablehope.com

From Modern History Press

Save this product for later
Display prices in: USD

 

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.