After the Fall

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Asked about Biden in a recent interview promoting this book, Rhodes stated that he believes Biden needs to exhibit a fierce stand on protecting our democracy. His book tells us why. Since Biden took office, the [R]s have apparently hardly slept. They're determined to make Biden a one-term (if not a "2-year") President.

That’s how After the Fall begins. The rest of this compelling novel charts the complex family dynamics that led up to Finn’s fall. It becomes clear that Martha has a secretive past, and one that’s about to destroy her family. Then there are lines like - "The carnage of World War II had morphed into the competition between capitalist democracy and Communist autocracy", and mentions of the "Evil of Communism". About Soviet Union, he writes - "an ideal that triumphed in war but proved incapable of meeting the basic needs of human beings". Oh well! But he does lavish praise on Russian leaders who privatised industry and have had cordial relations with the kinds of Margaret Thatcher. If that Thatcher-love did not make you puke, you will certainly do at this line - "when I came into the White House as a speechwriter, I resolved to echo Reagan's tone in my first war speech. It came in Obama's second month in office."Only Martha’s sixteen-year-old daughter Sacha has trouble settling in. In fact, for her, emigrating is the start of a nightmare. Harry (12): (2.5 stars). I like how he transformed himself into a bird, but the story wasn't the best we read. Dan Santat’s creative, cute, and inspiring story answers everything from: What was Humpty doing up on that wall to begin with? to Where is Humpty Dumpty now? The answers just might make perfect sense!!! And add a layer of character and complete-ness to Humpty Dumpty’s story.

Activity: Have students fill out worksheets with inference questions while reading. This activity promotes critical thinking by encouraging students to read between the lines. There is a wave of authoritarian right wing governments taking power globally and there's a vulnerability to strong men with nationalist messages. Ask yourself why. There's also the effects of late stage capitalism and corruption on the highest levels of the economic stage. Ask yourself how this continues to happen. Ben Rhodes does the good work of bringing these issues to light for the readers of his book. People who want to know what's happening in the US and how it connects to the world. Activity: Ask students to identify symbols in the book and discuss what they represent. This encourages students to think deeper about the story and themes.At the core of this complex, ambitious book is a simple truth: we are living at a historical inflection point. The currents of history are sweeping us all in the wrong direction – toward autocracy, toward technological dystopia, toward collapse – as a direct consequence of the past three decades of American hegemony, but it's not yet too late to reverse course. To do so, Americans invested in the victory of democracy over autocracy must forge solidarity with (and learn from) others struggling against authoritarianism, corruption, and injustice around the world. Martha McNamara’s family life in London is in ruins. Thanks to the recession her husband Kit has lost his job. The advertising agency he’s been doing so well in has crashed, and all Kit’s attempts to find another job have failed. Blaming himself, Kit starts drinking heavily. Open-Ended Conclusion: The story ends on an open note, allowing readers to infer Humpty Dumpty's future. Ben Rhodes calls After the Fall a book of stories, the story of his journey from idealist patriot to questioning the myths we share, from working with President Obama to seeing their legacy dismantled. The little boy is Finn, one of Martha’s twin sons. He’s prone to sleepwalking, so at first it’s easy to suppose his fall is a tragic accident.

After the Fall is a book about a family in crisis. If you enjoy reading family sagas involving current, edgy dilemmas (such as the novels of Jodi Picoult) I really recommend it.Now, this is a book I approached in a manner similar to which I would approach a movie written by Murali Gopy. You know Gopy is bound to push a pro-right wing message, but would be careful to wrap it in a wrapper that would appeal to the liberals. Here is Obama's speechwriter Ben Rhodes, who is so enamoured of America, but is concerned at the path it is taking currently in the post-Obama era, under Trump.