Banner in the Sky: A Newbery Honor Award Winner

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The three example of dehumanization that occurs in the autobiography They Poured Fire On Us from the Sky, that I am going to discuss throughout this essay. I will give you three reasons that they dehumanize the people in the autobiography. One reason is enslaving them, which means trapping them or hold them captive. One of the first books I read as a 9 year old in California. Always remembered this little book about a big adventure and recommend it for any young reader.

In 1865, an Englishman by the name of Edward Whymper became the first man to climb the mountain in the Swiss Alps known as the Matterhorn. Until then, the Matterhorn was thought to be unconquerable and indeed it took the lives of four of Whymper’s companions during the difficult and treacherous descent. Ullman took inspiration from this real-life account when he penned his fictional work, Banner in the Sky. The book tells the story of the first climbing of an intimidating mountain in the Swiss Alps named the Citadel; a mountain that has also claimed the lives of those who have tried to reach its tantalizing summits. Among those who perished in the attempt was a man named Josef Matt (with an obvious nod of the head to the real mountain). Banner in the Sky tells the story of his son, Rudi and his dream of one day climbing the mountain on which his father perished.The extraordinary difficulty of making this film on the Matterhorn was chronicled in the "Perilous Assignments" episode of Walt Disney Presents. He joined the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition as an official historian. On May 1, 1963 Jim Whittaker was the first American to reach the summit with Nawang Gombu, a nephew of Tenzing Norgay. Because of health problems Ullman had to stay in Kathmandu. His book Americans on Everest: The Official Account of the Ascent was published in 1964. A little later, Rudi entered through the door and informed them about discovering the passage leading to the top of the Citadel. This sparked a significant disagreement as they concluded they must all make the climb together. However, Rudi and Franz held unfavorable opinions about Saxo. The following day, they embarked on the mountain ascent. Throughout the journey, there was constant tension, but with mutual assistance, they managed to reach near the summit. Unfortunately, during the night, Saxo departed when they were only 3 hours away from reaching the top.

I read this book to my children for our homeschool. Wow, I don't know if I have words equivalent to express my feelings and opinion of this book. The writer kept us hooked from the beginning, the conflict was ongoing, and the story was magical. The main character, a sixteen-year old boy, Rudi, grew and changed in this story and his determination and passion was boundless. I felt like I was climbing The Citadel myself. The impression of climbing a mountain was so real - the pure grit and determination needed, the highs and lows, the teamwork and character building, the scenery and everything that goes with it. Supplemental understanding of the topic including revealing main issues described in the particular theme;A mother says that it isn't wrong that her son lied to her, but that she was wrong for "making" the son lie.