Pleasure Reading Middle School/High School: Gandhi: A Manga Biography by Kazuki Ebine

Title:
Gandhi

Bibliographic Information:
Ebine, K. (2010). Gandhi: A manga biography. New York: Penguin Books.

Weekly Requirement:
Pleasure Reading Middle School/High School

Plot Description:
Gandhi: A Manga Biography tells the real-life story of Indian Mahatma Gandhi. The story begins with him as an old man shortly before his assassination in 1948 and then flashes back to his early childhood to tell his life story. Gandhi grew up in Indian and as a young man of eighteen went to England to study law. In 1891 he passed the bar and returned to India. Two years later he traveled to South Africa where he practiced law and then fought for the rights of Indians when the South African government tried to revoke their right to vote. He fought by using non-violent civil disobedience, refusing to fight with violence. He then returned to India and began fighting the oppressive British government for Indian independence, again using non-violent civil disobedience. The story ends with Gandhi's assassination in 1948.


Quantitative Reading Level:
Gunning-Fog Score 8

Qualitative Reading Analysis:
The story is told mainly through character dialog in cartoon bubbles and through the cartoons themselves. The dialog is in American English. The cartoons are in black and white. The cartoons add complexity to the text because the characters' facial expressions add more depth and emotion to the story. The book is organized in a way that is complex and a bit confusing at times. The story begins with Gandhi as an old man and then shifts back to the past and goes forward. There are abrupt transitions from one point in time to the next, which makes it a little hard to follow.

Content Area:
English Language Arts Standards Reading Literature Grade 8


Maine Common Core Content Area Standard:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.2
Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.8.3
Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision.

 

Curriculum Suggestion:
This book is a great independent read for students who are reluctant readers or fans of manga books. Since Gandhi's civil disobedience was inspired by Henry David Thoreau's essay of the same name students could read Thoreau's essay and see how Thoreau's idea of civil disobedience influenced how Gandhi fought against the British.

Series information:
This book is part of a manga biography series. The other biographies are of Che Guevara and the Dalai Lama.