I Didn't Stand Up

Written by Lucy Falcone

Illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon

Clockwise Press

978-1-98834-706-6

32 pp.

Ages 5+ (really all ages)

December 2018

In the aftermath of World War II, a Protestant pastor in Germany, Martin Niemöller, popularized a poem called "First They Came" about the abuses enacted by the Nazis upon different groups of people like socialists, trade unionists and Jewish people and how many would not stand up to protect the innocent. Using that text as a model, Lucy Falcone wrote I Didn't Stand Up about not standing up to school bullies who target those they see as different. It's a lesson in compassion and courage to defy oppression and persecution.

From I Didn't Stand Up by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Jacqueline Hudon

The book begins with

First they went after Jamal.
But I'm not black –
so I didn't stand up for him.

It continues with similar verses about Duncan who is targeted as a geek, Shyanne who is poor, Mariana who is an immigrant, Jason who is gay, Aisha who is Muslim and wears a headscarf, Liam who uses arm crutches, transgendered Alexis and overweight Marvin, And then they come after the narrator. Finally the child wants to be part of that larger group that might support them. Fortunately they do.

The text is minimal but says so much about how little it takes for a bully to select a victim and for bystanders to do nothing. Lucy Falcone wallops the reader with the intensity of each situation, seemingly innocuous but always devastating to the victim. The weighting is in Jacqueline Hudon's illustrations, depicting large-eyed victims of bullies who harm with words and actions.

From I Didn't Stand Up by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Jacqueline Hudon

The prevalence of yellow throughout the book can't help but be noted. Yellow, like most colours, has dual symbolism. It can represent enlightenment, as from the sun's light, as well as warmth. But, as with traffic lights, it is the colour of caution, and negatively it has also been used to signify cowardice and betrayal. I like to think that like the children in I Didn't Stand Up, the colour yellow evolves, becoming activated to do something positive.

From I Didn't Stand Up by Lucy Falcone, illus. by Jacqueline Hudon

Lucy Falcone is already known to middle-graders as L. M. Falcone with her award-winning fun and spooky reads like Walking with the Dead (Kids Can Press, 2005) and The Midnight Curse (Kids Can Press, 2010). So it's highly appropriate that Lucy Falcone has chosen a different moniker for her first picture book and one so impactful with its message of social justice and community. With I Didn't Stand Up, illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon who created the artwork for Bye, Bye, Butterflies (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012) and Charlie's Dirt Day (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015), Lucy Falcone has opened up a new window of writing for herself while shedding light on the damage of being a bystander to bullying and the need to step up and forward for all.

Fragile Bones: Harrison & Anna

by Lorna Schultz Nicholson

Clockwise Press

978-0-993935107

217 pp.

Ages 13+

March 15, 2015

When the Best Buddies Program, a world-wide organization that aims to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities integrate successfully into their communities, comes to his high school, fifteen-year-old Harrison Henry is instructed by his mother and encouraged by his older brother Joel to attend.  A high-functioning autistic, Harrison has OCD tendencies and a relentless focus on bones and diseases, making him the target of ignorant classmates.  But his partnering with Anna Leonard, a high-achieving senior who hopes to beef up her resumé for university (and med school) as well as become better acquainted with the Best Buddies chapter president and new student Justin, presents Harrison with a plethora of new opportunities, some welcome.

Fragile Bones is a lot about learning to deal, with others, with one's family, with one's own needs and wants.  Anna is a considerate young woman who is astute about interacting with Harrison, though even she has much to learn.  Harrison, who needs many reminders about appropriate responses and actions, is doing his fair share of learning, though he doesn't always interpret new information correctly, occasionally too literally. (Harrison's thoughts about kissing and a Halloween dance are especially ardent and very funny.) Anna and Harrison may be very different, as are Justin and Alan and other minor characters in Fragile Bones, but Lorna Schultz Nicholson ensures that they are all normal, just unique, and acceptance of these differences is the norm.

Lorna Schultz Nicholson's Fragile Bones: Harrison & Anna is an auspicious premiere for Clockwise Press and its One-2-One series, and I wouldn't expect anything less from Christie Harkin and Solange Messier.  I think they're well on their way to meeting their mandate "to publish high-quality young adult and children’s books featuring themes of diversity and global awareness" (Clockwise Press, March 16, 2015) Congratulations to Clockwise Press and Lorna Schultz Nicholson on Fragile Bones' positive contribution to youngCanLit and its furthering the building of supportive communities. Well done.

Building Supportive Communities: Social Justice Book List #4

The books listed here can be used to demonstrate how people support others and Build Supportive Communities, another key issue in the teaching of Social Justice.


Picture Books

Bagels from Benny
by Aubrey Davis
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Age 5-8
2003

Boo Hoo Bird
by Jeremy Tankard
Scholastic Canada
28 pp.
Ages 3-5
2009

Dear Baobab
by Cheryl Foggo
Illustrated by Qin Leng
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 6-8
2011

Don’t Laugh at Giraffe
by Rebecca Bender
Pajama Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-6
2012

Giraffe and Bird
by Rebecca Bender
Dancing Cat Books
32 pp.
Ages 3-6
2010

Grumpy Bird
by Jeremy Tankard
Scholastic Canada
32 pp.
Ages 3-5
2007

Lily and the Paper Man
by Rebecca Upjohn
Illustrated by Renné Benoit
Second Story Press
24 pp.
Ages 4-7
2007

A Man Called Raven
by Richard Van Camp
Illustrated by George Littlechild
Children's Book Press
32 pp.
Ages 7+
1997

Mattland
by Helen Hutchins and Gail Herbert
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Annick
32 pp.
Ages 4-7
2008

The Rumor: A Jataka Tale from India
by Jan Thornhill
Maple Tree Press
32 pp.
Ages 5-7
2002

The Secret of the Village Fool
by Rebecca Upjohn
Illustrated by Renné Benoit
Second Story Press
32 pp.
Ages 8-10
2012

The Sidewalk Rescue
by Helen Hutchins
Illustrated by Ruth Ohi
Annick Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-6
2004

Small Saul
by Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2011

Virginia Wolf
by Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 5-10
2012

Weber Street Wonder Work Crew
by Maxwell Newhouse
Tundra Books
24 pp.
Ages 4-7
2010

You’re Mean, Lily Jean
by Frieda Wishinsky
Illustrated by Kady MacDonald Denton
Scholastic Canada
30 pp.
Ages 5-8
2009

Fiction

The Ballad of Knuckles McGraw

by Lois Peterson

Orca Book Publishers

105 pp.

Ages 8-13

2010

Chance to Dance for You

by Gail Sidonie Sobat
Great Plains Teen Fiction
172 pp.
Ages 14+
2011

The Crazy Man

by Pamela Porter

Groundwood Books

214 pp.

Ages 8-12

2005

Crossing to Freedom
by Virginia Frances Schwartz
Scholastic Canada
231 pp.
Ages 10+
2010

crush. candy. corpse.
by Sylvia McNicoll
Lorimer
219 pp.
Ages 12+
2012

 Cuts Like a Knife
by Darlene Ryan
Orca Book Publishers
109 pp.
Ages 14+
2012

Fostergirls
by Liane Shaw
Second Story Press
256 pp.
Ages13-16
2011

I'll Be Home Soon
by Luanne Armstrong
Ronsdale Press
200 pp.
Ages 10+
2012

Love is a Four-Letter Word

by Vikki VanSickle
Scholastic Canada
237 pp.
Ages 9-13
2011

Making Bombs for Hitler
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
Scholastic Canada
186 pp.
Ages 8-12
2012

Not with a Bang

by Gail Sidonie Sobat
Magpie Books
118 pp.
Ages 14+
2012

The Paper House
by Lois Peterson
Orca Book Publishers
108 pp.
Ages 8-11
2012 

The Town That Drowned
by Riel Nason
Goose Lane Editions
273 pp.
Ages 12+
2011

Non-Fiction

Courage and Compassion: Ten Canadians Who Made a Difference
by Rona Arato
Maple Leaf Press
96 pp.
Ages 11-13
2008

Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War
by Marsha Skrypuch
Pajama Press
99 pp.
Ages 10-15
2011 

One Hen: How One Small Loan Made a Big Difference
by Katie Smith Milway
Illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 7+
2008
 

Watch This Space: Designing, Defending and Sharing Public Spaces
by Hadley Dyer
Illustrated by Marc Ngui
Kids Can Press
80 pp.
Ages 13-17
2010