Ponder: Spare Parts

I became totally immersed in Spare Parts subtitled  four undocumented teenagers, one ugly robot, and the battle for the american dream. The underwater robotics aspect initially caught my interest since I am a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from MIT. But also the timeliness of the topic of undocumented immigrants, especially the young ones who know no other culture than the United States, was germane. In today's political climate, where the controversy continues to swirl around DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and border security, the story of these four Dreamers is to be seriously pondered. After reading the book, I went to a talk by the author Joshua Davis at my local library, and then watched the movie on Netflix. All three – book, talk, movie – are addressed in this post. 

THE BOOK
I chose to read Spare Parts by Joshua Davis ©2014  because it is featured in my local library's February program Livermore Reads Together 2019.

The library site outlines the book and lists art, music, science, poetry, etc. events in my home town relating to the theme of the book. Excerpting from the Livermore Reads Together 2019 site, the book is about:

In 2004, four Latino teenagers arrived at the Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Born in Mexico but raised in Phoenix, Arizona, the teens attended an underfunded public high school. No one had ever suggested to Oscar Vazquez, Cristian Arcega, Luis Aranda, or Lorenzo Santillan that they might amount to much, but two inspiring science teachers (Fredi Lajvardi and Allan Cameron) convinced these impoverished, undocumented kids from the desert who had never even seen the ocean that they should try to build an underwater robot.

And build a robot they did. Their robot wasn't pretty, especially compared to the rest of the competition. They were going up against some of the best collegiate engineers in the country, including a team from MIT backed by a $10,000 grant from ExxonMobil. The Phoenix teenagers had scraped together less than $1,000 and built their robot out of scavenged parts. This was never a level competition—and yet, against all odds, they won. But this is just the beginning for these four, whose story—which became a key inspiration to the DREAMers movement—will go on to include first-generation college graduations, deportation, bean-picking in Mexico, and military service in Afghanistan.

Most books I review are fiction so I need to change my approach for evaluating this non-fiction one. I completed it in two sittings, so fascinated and engaged I became with the journey to the competition and the afterward lives of these four young men.

Characters: There is little sense in discussing character development in a non-fiction work. The real life people are whoever they are, already developed, and it is up to the author to describe those aspects of them that are most interesting and revealing and relevant to the tale he is telling. These Mexican teenage boys, Luis, Lorenzo, Cristian, and Oscar, the four undocumented teens, may have similar backgrounds but they present very unique and disparate personalities and strengths. Joshua Davis does well to bring these out. I did not need to keep referring back to look up a character's name. I knew, by how each responded to problems and issues and by how each behaved, who he was. The two science teachers mentoring these boys were also truly themselves, each marching to the beat of his own drummer. And let us not forget Stinky, the one ugly robot, whose physical appearance and inner workings made a lasting impression as well.

Plot: In non-fiction, the storyline is what it is. But that is not to say that there cannot be tense moments and suspense even knowing at the start of the book what the outcome is – a rag tag team of four underprivileged kids beating a financially and educationally privileged MIT team and other similarly stiff competitors in an underwater robot national competition. Curiosity and worry as to how they get there provides enough drama to entice the reader to keep turning those pages. A review by Peter Carlson in The Washington Post describes Spare Parts as

A feel-good tale of scrappy underdogs beating long odds... A great American story.

Setting/Theme/Tone: How does one reconcile the seeming paradox of four boys from the desert competing in an underwater challenge? Simply! There may not be an ocean in Phoenix but there are pools! But another truly real captivating theme is the battle for the American dream. Due to their poverty, they were at an educational and financial disadvantage especially pitted against technologically savvy and well sponsored giants such as MIT. But there was a third undercurrent of unease. Because three of the four boys were not born in the United States, they could be deported back to Mexico at any moment. Crossing a state line to compete in subsequent qualifying contests was stressful each time because doing so made them vulnerable to scrutiny by immigration officials. The competition was in 2004; the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals did not come into being until June of 2015. Three team members had been born in Mexican towns: from south to north, Luis in Curenavaca, Lorenzo in Zitacuera, Oscar in Temosachic. Cristian had been born in Mexicali, Baja CA. The distance separating the furthest of them from UCSB was over 2200 miles – beyond the distance from Los Angeles to Mexico City.

Author Joshua Davis:

A movie was made based on the book Spare Parts. Even though I found the book much, much better than the movie, ironically The Internet Movie Database biography of Joshua Davis was the best one I located to tell of the author's eclectic background. 

A 2005 article Joshua Davis wrote for Wired Magazine, titled La Vida Robot, is an excellent overview and precursor of the Spare Parts book and includes several humorous snippets that also appear in the 2014 published book. What I found most relevant to this fifteen year old story from the book Spare Parts, is a Facebook link for a 2017 article Joshua wrote for Wired magazine about Trump and the Dreamers. For those interested in a follow-on of the four students, this Welcome Dreamers editorial is a good source.

THE TALK

Wednesday night February 20th, Frank and I thoroughly enjoyed a presentation by author Joshua Davis. The book had been published in 2014, ten years after the quartet (quintet if you count Stinky) had won first place in the 2004 Marine Advanced Technology Education Robotics Competition at UC Santa Barbara. The tone of the presentation was laid back and personal as Joshua began describing his path to a career of journalism. He then told of how he happened upon and agreed to tell the story of the Carl Haydn High School Robotics team of West Phoenix. The best part about the ambience of the presentation was that the team lead, Oscar, Skyped us, joining the audience via his presence on the front projection screen for a large portion of the talk. He was quite humble, almost self-deprecating as he responded to questions from the audience.

Oscar was asked to describe some of the anecdotal stories from the experience, add some personal insight, and give updates on where his other team members and teachers were now. They had kept in touch. I loved seeing him smile as he retold the moments when they were announced as first place winners. Even just moments before they were awarded first place, the four boys assumed a special additional creativity award they had been given was a "pity" prize. On reflection, he postulated that since they so little money for parts, they pretty much had to jury rig items on first principles. This necessity (being the mother of invention) made each and every one of the team members thoroughly understand the technical inner workings.

Joshua pointed out that when he was about to write the book he asked the boys if they were willing to admit their undocumented status. He would only do so with their mutual consent. By agreeing to let the author tell their whole story and reveal their immigration status in the book, three of them were putting themselves at risk of discovery and deportation. When the four boys agreed, Joshua Davis called it a Rosa Parks moment. The boys felt the issue was important enough that they were willing to expose themselves and have the whole story be told.

When a member of the audience asked Oscar how they had all been so brave, he answered quietly, gaze lowered, claiming at the time it did not seem as grand as a Rosa Parks moment – that analogy came from Joshua. Oscar stated he and other other team members ran risks every day due to their "illegal" presence in the United States. Even an activity so common place as driving a car, could be due cause for detection and deportation. They were used to living under that cloud of fear and so he made light of their consent to be fully open.

A fact not stated in the book, Joshua related that this win was not a fluke. The Robotics Team from Carly Hayden Community High School located in an impoverished, disreputable, even dangerous part of West Phoenix, went on to beat MIT again in 2005 and now has an internationally renowned Robotics Club. The audience spontaneously and enthusiastically clapped at that fact, Frank and me included. I leaned over and whispered to Frank. "Why am I clapping? I am an MIT Mechanical Engineer."

At the conclusion of the talk Joshua Davis would sign books. When I told him how much I had enjoyed the talk, I laughingly admitted that I clapped when Carly Hayden beat MIT again on 2005, even though both Frank and I were both alumni of MIT.

To my bemusement, I later saw that he had added this note above his signature.

This cover of the book and the version shown in the start of this post have the same content. I am not sure which is the first edition, but it does not really matter.

I give the book Spare Parts five stars out of five. It had well-defined likable characters, an intriguing topic, current social relevance, simple language, many points of suspense – and it was a quick read. Check it out. Do not overlook this book. The movie? Well, it is always better to read the book! But here is my take on the movie anyway.

THE MOVIE

The movie Spare Parts was released in 2015. The screen version took great license with the book. It kept the premise of the robotic contest and the boys names intact, but there were several subplot offshoots and several character deletions, character additions, and character portrayal that deviated from the novel. I got hung up on these inaccuracies/differences, even though I probably shouldn't have. There were love interests that were fabricated. The two teachers were combined into one and a fictional backstory was created for this melded teacher, played by George Lopez.

I thought the movie was mediocre. It satisfied my curiosity but I would rate the movie two stars out of five in my book rating which translates to "Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it." I would give the movie a 4 in the IMDb movie rating scale.

At the talk Frank and I attended, Oscar shared that someone had asked him which actor played him in the movie. He shrugged and said he'd answered, "The one they called Oscar."

Alex to Prom

Begun five years ago by the Tim Tebow Foundation, there is an annual event dedicated to bringing the prom night experience to special needs adults. It now has spread to occur in 50 states and 24 countries.  A promotional highlights video for 2019 shows the process and extent of the Night To Shine event.  Attendees are met by an escort, get a ride in a limousine, walk into an event hall via a red carpet lined with cheering bystanders.  Each is crowned prom king or prom queen. There is music, dancing, food, karaoke. In our local event there were also calmer options offered for crafts and service animal pettings in other rooms. Alex attended our local Night To Shine event on Friday 2/8/19.

A week before we took him to Men's Wearhouse and rented him a tuxedo. The staff there were very patient and respectful with Alex, and aware that for him, comfort was of the utmost importance. Of course Alex gets a silly grin on him, bows his head, and is proud when people tell him how handsome he looks, but nevertheless, pride not withstanding, any article of clothing that is bugging him – off it will come. Our experience at Men's Wear house was great and sales clerks were well aware of the area event and gave a huge discount for Night to Shine customers. Alex allowed himself to be measured and did not balk at trying on several different sizes and styles to best suit his body proportions and natural stance. Our first glimpse of him in a tuxedo was in the fitting room. His shirt had a large enough neck that it did not pinch and the body comfortably fit around his generous middle. 

On Thursday, the day before Night To Shine, we picked up his ensemble and had one final try on at the store to make sure everything was as ordered. Alex is a big guy and his jacket size was larger than Frank's. After the mall pickup, we dropped off his tuxedo and other trappings at St. Denis home. Alex loves his white socks with gold toes but we were able to convince him the night of the prom that black socks with gold toes were equally okay. Even more amazing, he allowed his Green Bay Packers baseball hat to be held in reserve for him until after the Night to Shine festivities had concluded.

The event was held 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at our county fairgrounds, less than 15 minutes away from the St Denis home where Alex lives with five other housemates and staff. On that Friday night  Frank and I arrived before 4:00 pm to help ready the prom goers. Alex's male room mate and three girls were going. Here is the desktop of makeup and other such essentials needed for readying the girls. 

The boys are not nearly as complicated. For Alex we just had to figure out how to insert the black studs in the shirt front and sleeves and to decide if the pleats on the cummerbund go up or down. After googling I confirmed what I thought I knew – that they face upward – to catch any crumbs that fall. (Not really the reason, but an easy way to remember it.)

Cummerbunds are meant to be worn with the pleats facing upward. Downward facing pleats are actually incorrect. ... This means that the trousers should be worn around the level of the navel, and half the cummerbund should cover the shirt, and the other half the trousers.

Frank's self-appointed task through all this preparation was to look debonair and make the rounds telling each girl how lovely and pretty she looked.

Alex stands by the front door ready to leave for an evening out. Note there is no green baseball cap and he allowed his socks to be black!

The five prom attendees were corralled for a group photo. The lovely lady directly in front of Alex is the home manager and to be credited for the hair, makeup, gowns, and jewelry of the three girls.

Frank and I, although not allowed in the prom ballroom, came decked out to enjoy a buffet meal and music in a separate room at the prom.

It was pouring rain that night so Frank and I helped hold umbrellas and shuttle the gussied-up guests out to the van that was to drive them to the fairgrounds. We drove to the fairgrounds and once there, Alex was met by two female escorts who whisked him out of the car and off to a waiting limousine. We parked and found out where the limousine would drop him off so we could cheer him on down the red carpet. The red carpet walk was shortened this year to accommodate for the rainy weather but it was still fun. I manage to get one blurry photo between the sea of moving heads of the onlookers. Looks like Alex has already been crowned.

This is Alex's second year attending Night To Shine and our first. Previous years parents and caregivers could watch a large screen with a live feed of the event but this year that was not the case. Frank and I were to be left totally in the dark about what Alex was up to. It was a bit unnerving, but then what kid wants his folks spying on him during his prom experience? Unable to contain ourselves, we did eventually sneak over for a peek in the prom area but never did find Alex. There were over 500 special needs guests, plus their escorts, plus all the volunteers running the event, so it is not surprising we could not located him in a sea of well over 1000 faces. The prom activities took place in three buildings at the fairground: one with loud music and dancing, one with food and karaoke, and a quieter option with crafts and visits by service animals. I know Alex would have loved the animals but I never learned if he ever got to see them or not. Someone we know sent us a cell phone photo of Alex sitting and hydrating right off the ball room dance floor area.

After the event Alex and his fellow prom-goers came into the parent area. Alex had a smile on his face so we suspect he had a good time. But then, he loves cacophony, so even just being in the midst of it as an observer, pleases Alex.

He promptly plopped himself down in a folding chair. He was very content just to sit so we concluded he was bit tired out. The room was somewhat cool so the sweaty glisten on his face made us guess, or at least hope, he had been actively having fun.

As we waited in line at the coat check to get an item of Alex's, I snapped a couple photos of the ballroom decorations with Alex silhouetted in the foreground.

After the event Frank & I and Alex went our separate ways. Alex to his St Denis home and Frank &  back to Livermore. Saturday morning, the next day, Frank and I collected his tuxedo from St. Denis and returned it to Men's Wearhouse. I pinned Alex's mementos – boutonniere, name tag, and pocket kerchief, to the curtain of the closet in his room to remind him of the event.  Many thanks to the volunteers who made it all happen.

Ponder: The Nightingale

I positively loved Nightingale by Kristin Hannah ©2015. Although I am generally put off by novels situated in times of war, this book drew me in by painting the hardships of war from a female perspective  – not the view of men on the battlefront – but the view of women on the home front. Rather than a litany of battles and offensives or a confusing, foggy portrayal of political intrigues and philosophies, this novel had me living the day to day trials of women keeping it together and hanging on by their fingernails during wartime, sustaining the dream of a life of joyful comfort for their families, hopefully reunited at the end of the war.

I claim I read for enjoyment and avoid books that are "downers". Nightingale was not a happy book – far from it – but despite its dire mood, I found it extremely engaging. Seeing someone triumph over injustices can be uplifting and make me feel good. The trite phrase, "It is not whether you win or lose but how you play the game that matters" is reflected in this novel. The Germans subjected the French, and particular the French Jews, to horrendous atrocities. Kristin Hannah portrayed a support system where the persecuted nobly supported each other and eschewed the cowardly "every man for himself philosophy". As we are glued to the television watching broadcasts of tragedies such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 attacks, or the hurricane and typhoon devastation, we can't help but be inspired by the volunteer help of outsiders or the cooperation and sharing of those in the disaster together. That was the emotion I got from this book. 

Two sisters, very different in personalities, negotiate the tricky aspects of survival in France during WWII. They rely on their inner reserves, customized to utilize their particular personal strengths to the best advantage in outwitting or at least being unnoticed by the enemy. Vianne is left home with her young daughter when her husband is sent off to fight. Her challenge is how to feed, clothe, and provide for herself and her daughter when so much is rationed or denied them and what little they have often taken from them by fiat. A German officer is assigned to take up residence in Vianne's home. Vianne's unmarried younger sister Isabella, a rebel by nature, is outraged by the unfairness of the Germans and chomps at the bit to be a part of the French resistance and to be a member of the underground movement against the enemy. Her would-be love relationship with Gaetan, a fellow member of the resistance, is repeatedly thwarted by the volatile twists and turns of war. 

The characters in this book are well developed and multi-dimensional. An intertwined combination of subplots and vignettes of the lives of these characters kept me engaged. A generous amount of intimate details had me wiping tears from my eyes in annoyance, mostly because I wanted desperately to know what was coming next and could not read through the blur. There is a tree outside Vianne's house. She tied a piece of yarn plucked from a sweater of her husband Antoine to a lower branch of the tree as a constant reminder and a symbol of hope for him to return home. As the novel progresses pieces of thread or twine are added –  for her Jewish neighbor Rachel, for her father – to symbolize people in danger, in pain, in peril of being lost. The uncertainty of each addition is a tearful, poignant moment. I unequivocally give this book 5 stars and would highly recommend it as a worthy read.

Alex's Trip to Disneyland

Last month Alex had the opportunity of attending Disneyland without his parents in tow. A four day travel camp trip to the Disneyland Resort in southern California was sponsored by Via West. Alex has been attending Via West, previously named Camp Costonoan, for a week in the summer and a few respite weekends per year for approximately twenty years now, since the age of 12 or maybe even younger. Many of the staff know him well. Nervously, Frank and I  – ok, I admit, only I was the nervous one – signed him up for the road trip. Since Frank and I were at not at Alex's his side, we have a scarcity of action photos, but I can still blog about his fun trip. He did great and my worries were for naught.

Friday 1/18/19 and Monday 1/21/19 were traveling days in several large vans, transporting 50 special needs adults with accompanying aides, meds, luggage, and medical personal. The group would be at California Adventure on Saturday and Disneyland on Sunday. This was their scheduled timeline and activities. The bowling on Saturday evening and swimming on Sunday evening were superseded by a majority vote to stay in the parks longer both days.

On a Flicker website photos from the trip were posted. This is the only one we found with Alex in it, on the far right. Note Alex is the one clapping away. His helper is Vince in the blue shirt with short sleeves

We did not really know what was happening during the trip until the final reports and awards came out. Alex loves Disneyland and knows his way around quite well. We were not surprised to see he was dubbed Via's Speediest Dasher. I can just imagine him zooming off to the next attraction.

His highlight report cited some of the attractions he enjoyed, usually the fastest ones or ones with the most motion, the Matterhorn and Space Mountain being named specifically. 

We were also told he rode the roller coaster and ferris wheel in California Adventure. Yes, that rollercoaster shoots out the train cars by induction motors and goes upside down at points. The buckets on the ferris wheel swing and slide down the spokes as the giant wheel rotates. Were Frank and I with Alex, we probably would have avoided both those rides. It was a great experience for Alex to go with someone braver and more adventurous than his mom and dad.

We we waiting to meet Alex at the camp site when the van returned home. The van actually arrived within the one hour window the planners had estimated for Monday evening. Alex looked happy, had a ton of dirty laundry, but was patting his head saying, "Hat... hat". He wears a Green Bay Packer hat constantly and it was missing from his head. Vince explained that although Alex had removed it for the Matterhorn ride, it had flown out of his hands during the fast paced, twisting turning "bobsled" swoosh down the mountain. 

Although Vince told the cast members what had happened when they disembarked, there was no way to retrieve the hat while the attraction was in motion, so reluctantly the hat had to get left behind. I dashed off an email to Disney Monday night.

When I called lost and found Tuesday morning, they looked around in their holding area where lost items are turned in and found it! They mailed it back at no charge. Here is Alex opening the package containing his returned hat. Note he is wearing a very tattered spare we keep on hand just in case. To his right is his navy and red Team Mickey baseball jacket and his Mickey  Mouse grocery bag. He is also wearing a Via West shirt. What a perfect combination! Note also the smile he is wearing  at getting back his hat.

We sent Alex with money to buy any souvenirs he wanted. He picked a stylized mug of the Genie from Aladdin. I have shown front and back views. I cannot figure out what the appeal of a mug was and neither could his aide Vince. We typically steer him toward a puzzle or bank or book or something with princess. But Alex was allowed the freedom to pick and surprised us with his choice.

What great trip! An unspoken wish for Alex was granted! Thanks to all who made it possible.

Ponder: Paris in the Present Tense

The front flap of this novel describes the seventy-four-year-old main character Jules Lacour as "a maître at Paris-Sorbonne, cellist, widower, veteran of the war in Algeria, and child of the Holocaust". The final paragraph of the first chapter of Paris in the Present Tense foreshadows the storyline,

Of the seven hours and twenty minutes of flight, almost six hours remained – six hours in which to think of how to plan a revenge, save a life, and give his own. 

The character and story both sound intriguing. The intricacies of the plot of this book are clever and somewhat plausible, though admittedly unlikely.

I derived pleasure from reading the dialogues. Conversations were clever and witty and I wish there had been more of them (and fewer descriptions). A dialogue between Jules and Jack in the chapter "This Jack Person" presents a scenario where a slick Los Angeles business man, Jack Cheatham (an ominous name, if there ever was one) is relating the story of a young actor in a commercial and refers to the actor as "that kid".  Jules' native language is French; his English was entirely formal and he thought Jack was referring to a baby goat. The ensuing conversation reads like the confused repartee between comedians Abbot and Costello in their Who's on First routine. Exchanges between two police investigative detectives, partners who are a Jew and an Arab, are also amusing. Discourse between Jules and a twenty-five year old female cellist literally drip with sexual overtones.

Paris in the Present Tense was worth the read in terms of the plot and character interactions but I never did come to terms with the author’s extremely descriptive writing style. Per a New York Times Book Review "Mark Helprin writes with ease and sureness... with a compassionate understanding and a clean lucid prose... that is all too rare in our fiction." The chapter titled "As Light and Warmth Put France at Ease" begins with the sentence

As light and warmth put France at ease, winter elided gracefully into spring. 

Elided? What is elided? I had to look it up and it still does not make sense and is certainly not a striking example of "clean lucid prose". By the following definition, wouldn't spring have elided winter? 

Besides, a transitive verb is supposed to have an object per any grammar site I checked, and winter did not elide anything.

A transitive verb has two characteristics. First, it is an action verb, expressing a doable activity like kick, want, paint, write, eat, clean, etc. Second, it must have a direct object, something or someone who receives the action of the verb.

In my opinion, if an author is to be praised for his eloquent prose, than that prose needs to be correct and not just wordy.

In a plodding sort of way, the book still seemed to have a tension to it, despite the verbose writing style. Perhaps there is a double entendre in the title Paris in the Present TENSE. The language in use certainly fit the bill of being of a higher caliber, but I am not sure it was worth the effort to plow through it. Do I regret reading this book? No, I was interested and curious enough to complete it despite the language struggle, but still I will give it no more than three stars. In the terminology of my rating scale this equates to

★★★☆☆      Better than average; not a waste of time

*************

This post is my first book review of 2019. A change I am instituting from my previous format for book reviews is that the post title will be prefaced with Ponder and no longer Ponder Post. By omitting the redundant term post, I leave more room for long book titles that otherwise might get truncated or require a line wrap. In 2019 I also resolve to read more works that are thought provoking literature, books a bit deeper than romance novels.

I was both surprised and bemused when reviewing the topic distribution from my 2018 reads. Nearly half of the twenty-six books were romance novels, each of which could be read in one sitting. Ten were from Brenda Novak's Whiskey Creek Series. (As I began to become acquainted with a group of weekly coffee group friends, I wanted to know how the love life of each turned out - one book for each. All ten are compared in my post for 5/5/18.) My daughter used to work at Barnes and Nobel Booksellers and she informed me that a huge percentage of the publishing industry is romance novels. I did some quick confirmatory research on the popularity of romance novels. Per statistics on thebalancecareers.com

Romance novels are big business. According to the Romance Writers of America®, the romance fiction industry is worth $1.08 billion dollars a year, which makes it about a third larger than the inspirational book industry, and about the size of the mystery novel genre and science fiction/fantasy genre markets combined. Romance novels regularly top the major bestseller lists (New York Times, Publishers Weekly and USA Today), and have a large, dedicated audience of readers.

Even Jules in Paris in the Present Tense had his love interests – three of them. I do not plan to give up the guilty pleasure of romance novels, merely supplement it. I need some healthy literary food in addition to the cookies and ice cream laden pages I enjoy. I will not give up desserts entirely! Maybe my mind was not sufficiently literature-fit to read Paris in the Present Tense after my recent bout of reading fluff. I may need more intellectual exercise by seeking out more mentally stimulating – yet still enjoyable – books to read. For me, Paris in the Present Tense fell a little short in the enjoyment arena.