April 2016 Host:  Colleen

I Am Malala:  The Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was

Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb

Summary

     This is a tragic yet remarkable biography of Malala set in Pakistan in the Swat Valley which has turned from a peaceful valley to a Taliban occupied war zone.  Bombs drop on schools and valleys and there are bodies in the town square. The Taliban believes women should not be educated, yet Malala bravely attends a school built by her father.  The book gives us insight into her childhood and her father’s determination to build schools and educate boys and girls.  Malala describes her deep love for her childhood friends, family, and her home in the Swat Valley…”high snow topped mountains; green waving fields and fresh blue rivers.” On October 9^th, 2012, Malala is shot point blank in the head by the Taliban for attending school.  What follows is a miracle.  Malala survives and now has a platform and a voice in front of the world for promoting girls’ rights to an education.  She becomes the youngest person ever to receive a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.  Malala is a true role model for young women and we highly recommend this book.

Malala’s father kept a famous poem written by Martin Niemoller who lived in Nazi Germany in his pocket:

First they came for the communists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.
Then they came for the socialists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn’t speak out because I was not a Catholic.
Then they came for me,
and there was no one left to speak for me. 

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Appetizers

Baked Potato Bar

Chocolate Cake

March 2016 Host:  Nancy

Dead Wake:  The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson

Summary

This is a gripping historical account written to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania, a Cunard passenger liner sunk by a German U-boat.  The sinking of the Lusitania ended the lives of over 1,000 people and helped change America’s neutral position in World War I, although it did take two more years for America to declare war on Germany.  At the helm of the enormous ship was the experienced Captain Turner.  There were 192 furnaces with 100 stokers working each shift, shoveling 1,000 tons of coal per day, which contributed to the Lusitania’s reputation of being the fastest ship at the time.  We become privy to what it was like strolling the decks and socializing in the staterooms and saloons on the Lusitania.   Larson’s buildup to the eventual sinking of the Lusitania is intense and the ship goes down in 18 minutes.  There is no dead space as Larson describes the passengers and crew on that fateful day in 1915. The story is also set in a German Submarine U-20 (Larson describes in detail the stifling odors and the ever present danger of dying at the bottom of the sea), in the British intelligence room 40, and in President Wilson’s lovelorn white house.   This book is well researched and Erik Larson does an excellent job of portraying the events around World War I.  This is a highly recommended read.   

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Salad

Green Beans

Scalloped Potatoes

Ham

Butter Braid