100 Years, This Year! Spring 2015

Funded Feb 20, 2015

Thank you so much for your generosity in supporting our project through Donors Choose last spring and for helping us purchase copies of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 100 Years of Solitude! This work was the perfect culminating piece for our AP Literature class, as it opened up new cultures and histories and helped us explore complex ideas about family, imperialism, and relationships.

My senior class read and discussed the novel, learning about magical realism and reviewing archetypes, studying the context of Marquez's life and times, and thinking about the ways in which his legacy as a writer and thinker endures today. In addition to the typical essays and class discussions, students explored magical realism creatively, tapping into their own personal talents to convey Marquez's themes and their own understandings. Crystal used her art skills to sketch the appearance of the gypsies and their magical "inventions," Mason and Hannah danced the flamenco and explained to us the concept of "duende"--that duality of light and dark, give and take...Talon wrote a short story inspired by the elements of magical realism but applying it to 21st century life and its challenges. More than any other work last year, 100 Years of Solitude inspired and challenged us as a class.

What meant the most to me was hearing from students who had been reluctant to speak about earlier works discuss this book with confidence, saying things like, "I didn't know that books like this existed! The writing is so different!" and "I'm excited to finally read a book that explores and glorifies what I love about my Latino culture." I think this notion of a truly expanded canon makes a difference and I am so grateful to all of you for your support and for how you gave your effort and resources to help us. We had a beautiful experience. And as Mary Engelbreit asserts, "A book is a present you can open again and again." Thank you for giving us this gift, for now, and for many years to come!

Warmest Thanks,

Jennifer Pust

Santa Monica High School”

With gratitude,

Ms. Pust