Waiting

Theme – Waiting, Level 3
**The blinding absence of light/Tahar Ben Jelloun:** A chilling fictional account of the horrific desert concentration camps in which King Hassan II of Morocco held his political enemies and the inhumane conditions in which survivors lived. One facet is about waiting for his prison term to end.

**The age of miracles/Karen Walker**: What if our 24-hour day grew longer, first in minutes, then in hours, until day becomes night and night becomes day? What effect would this slowing have on the world? On the birds in the sky, the whales in the sea, the astronauts in space, and on an eleven-year-old girl, grappling with emotional changes in her own life...One morning, Julia and her parents wake up in their modest suburban home in California to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth is noticeably slowing. The enormity of this development is almost beyond comprehension. And yet, even if the world is, in fact, coming to an end, as some assert, day-to-day life must go on. Julia, facing the loneliness and despair of an awkward adolescence, witnesses the impact of this phenomenon on the world, on the community, on her family and on herself. As she says, 'It is never what you worry over that comes to pass in the end. The real catastrophies are always different - unimagined, unprepared for, unknown...'

Possibly **The time traveler’s wife/Audrey Niffenegger** could work for this topic as well.

**Raise the Red Lantern/Su Tong.** The title novella, "Raise the Red Lantern," which became a critically acclaimed film, tells the story of Lotus, a young woman whose father's suicide forces her to become the concubine of a wealthy merchant. Crushed by loneliness, despair, and cruel treatment, Lotus finds her descent into insanity both a weapon and a refuge. Waiting her turn (from memory) amongst the other concubines for her masters’ attention.


 * Candlemoth by RJ Ellroy **

**Waiting to Exhale by Terry McMillan** also a movie for friends who lean on each other, holding their breath waiting for love....

**I am number four by Pittacus Lore** (incl. series) also the movie. Waiting on earth for their powers to come forth, waiting for assassins & attempting to find others of their kind.