A small look at how a WhatLIVEsoundslike book and its song connect to a guided reflection. The song “2-5-2” is track 1 of the Origins of Unc / 2-5-2 NOVELtrack, written for the same book as the excerpt below.
Origins of Unc is written for readers 15+. This excerpt is from the public Read page and is suitable for a family or classroom conversation led by an adult.
STEP 1 · READ
Origins of Unc: 2-5-2
by Kwame Thomas · public excerpt
The smallest glasses in the house belonged to the adults.
They were too short for water and too narrow for milk. Angela had seen her mother pour amber-colored liquid into them whenever company came over. The adults lifted the glasses, touched their rims together and swallowed everything at once.
Sometimes they laughed afterward.
Sometimes they closed their eyes.
Sometimes they made the same face Angela made when cough medicine reached the back of her throat.
One Saturday morning, while her parents were still asleep, Angela pulled a chair against the kitchen counter and climbed onto it. She removed one of the little glasses from the cabinet and filled it with apple juice.
She held it toward the window.
The sunlight made the juice look almost like what the adults drank.
Angela raised the glass.
“To company,” she whispered.
She swallowed the juice in one gulp.
It tasted the same as it did from an ordinary cup, but the little glass made her feel older.
She returned it to the cabinet before anyone woke.
From the outside, Angela’s family looked like the kind people trusted.
Hear the excerpt reading:
STEP 2 · LISTEN
“2-5-2” — song preview
Angela grows up in the 252 building you just read about. The song gives that place a sound.
Practice scenario (fictional): A friend of Angela’s notices that the grown-ups in her building act one way in front of company and another way behind closed doors. Angela seems to be copying them. What could the friend do?
Pick a choice to see a reflection question.
NO PERSONAL DISCLOSURE REQUIRED · YOUR CHOICE IS NOT SAVED OR SENT