Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Habibi
Bibliography
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1997. HABIBI. New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN 0689825234
Summary
When Liyana’s father decides it is time for him to take his Arab-American family home to live in Palestine, Liyana’s heart is broken. Liyana, a fourteen year old Arab-American who has just had her first kiss. She has a comfortable life with her friends and her grandmother in St. Louis. Now she will be moving to a place were she can’t wear short shorts or kiss a boy in public. Throughout the story, Liyana begins to learn about the country and her father’s family. Liyana is reminded many times by her father of the war and the battle between the Arabs and Jews. When she meets Omer, a young Jewish male, the two become immediate friends. Although they are from different backgrounds, the two share a common bond. They both believe in peace. Liyana begins to settle into her new life.
Critical Analysis
An award winning author and poet, Naomi Shihab Nye has written a powerful novel of an Arab-American girl’s experience growing up as an immigrant in the Middle East.
Liyana, a fourteen year old girl is the main character in the story. She is very strong and says whatever she feels. When her father was arrested and put in jail, Liyana took a taxi to jail and demanded that the prison guards let her in to see her father. At her Armenian school, Liyana told her friend to say “no” to the directress who ordered her friend to remove a small clip from her hair. Liyana thought about everything. She wrote poems and enjoyed writing in her small blue notebooks. She wrote first lines for stories and included them as brief messages at the beginning of each chapter.
Liyana, an immigrant in a foreign country was very unsure about her family and their customs. When she first arrived in Palestine to meet her relatives, she was rather surprised to see how welcoming they were. Sitti, her grandmother, and all of her aunts and uncles greeted the family with hugs and kisses on the checks. Sitti “trilled and trilled and trilled. She shimmied her arms in the air like a Pentecostal preacher. The backs of her hands were tattooed with the dark blue shapes of flying birds.” Liyana did not understand Arab words, so her Poppy had to translate everything to Liyana, her brother Rafik, and their mother. Sitti wanted very much to get to know Liyana and to teach her Arab traditions, but Liyana was very withdrawn at first. She could not understand what her grandmother was saying and she couldn’t get use to the Arab ways. She longed for home and for someone to remember who she was.
Liyana opened up to Sitti and life in Palestine. She enjoyed walking the neighboring streets during her long lunch time and watching the tourist and store owners. Liyana made friends with Khaled and Nadine who lived in a refugee camp down the road. She even meet a Jewish boy named Omer that she feel in love with.
There were many cultural markers that made this book authentic. Religion and war both played an important part in this story. When Liyana’s family visited with Poppy’s family for the first time, “a muezzin gave the last call to prayer” and the family “unrolled small blue prayer rugs from a shelf, then knelt, stood, and knelt again, touching foreheads to the ground, saying their prayers in low voices.” While Poppy’s family was Muslim, Liyana’s family had never belonged to a church. Her mother said “they were a spiritual family, they just weren’t a traditionally religious one.” Omer, Liyana’s Jewish friend, introduced her to a few Jewish customs like shiva which is a time when the family mourns the dead by removing their shoes, not leaving the house, and covering the mirrors.
Other cultural markers include the Middle Eastern names like Rafik, Omer, Sitti, Khaled, Saba, and Amal. The family always ate big meals together around mattresses arrange in a circle on the floor. They ate olives, katayef, oranges, almonds, white cheese, falafel sandwiches, spinach pie, hummus, and flat bread. Nye used simple Arabic phrases throughout the story as Liyana learned to use Arabic. Some examples include: nos-nos/half-half, yimkin-maybe, Alham’ dul-Allah-Praise be to God, Wahad, nin-fadlack-one please, ana tayyib-I’m fine, shookran-thank you, and Habibi which means darling. The author does a great job describing what life is like in Palestine. She describes a tour the family took through Jerusalem. The family saw the Chapel of Calvary, the Garden of Gethsemane, Via Dolorosa, and the Wailing Wall were “Jew were tucking tiny notes and prayers into cracks between the stones.”
The conflict between the Arabs and the Jews is very important in the story. Liyana is told that when her Poppy was a young boy that he had a Jewish friend, but then the Arabs and Jews became at war with one another. Several events take place during the story that Liyana experiences. The first is when her grandmother’s house is destroyed by soldiers because the soldiers were searching for her distant son. Then there was a bombing in the Jewish market. The soldiers believed it was someone from the refugee camp and the soldiers shot Khalad by mistake. When Liyana’s father saw the attack, he tried to pull the soldiers away. Her father was taken to jail. Liyana had a hard time dealing with these issues, but when she became friends with Omer the two brought a shared sense of peace. This friendship was not accepted at first by her father, but when Omer traveled with Liyana’s family to West Bank to visit her grandmother Sitti, she welcomed him into her family.
Reviews
School Library Journal review: “An important first novel from a distinguished anthologist and poet. Nye introduces readers to unforgettable characters. The setting is both sensory and tangible: from the grandmother's village to a Bedouin camp. Above all, there is Jerusalem itself, where ancient tensions seep out of cracks and Liyana explores the streets practicing her Arabic vocabulary. Though the story begins at a leisurely pace, readers will be engaged by the characters, the romance, and the foreshadowed danger. Poetically imaged and leavened with humor, the story renders layered and complex history understandable through character and incident. Habibi succeeds in making the hope for peace compellingly personal and concrete...as long as individual citizens like Liyana's grandmother Sitti can say, "I never lost my peace inside."
Kirkus Reviews: “Liyana Abboud, 14, and her family make a tremendous adjustment when they move to Jerusalem from St. Louis. All she and her younger brother, Rafik, know of their Palestinian father's culture come from his reminiscences of growing up and the fighting they see on television. In Jerusalem, she is the only ``outsider'' at an Armenian school; her easygoing father, Poppy, finds himself having to remind her--often against his own common sense--of rules for ``appropriate'' behavior; and snug shops replace supermarket shopping--the malls of her upbringing are unheard of. Worst of all, Poppy is jailed for getting in the middle of a dispute between Israeli soldiers and a teenage refugee. In her first novel, Nye (with Paul Janeczko, I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You, 1996, etc.) shows all of the charms and flaws of the old city through unique, short-story-like chapters and poetic language. The sights, sounds, and smells of Jerusalem drift through the pages and readers glean a sense of current Palestinian-Israeli relations and the region's troubled history. In the process, some of the passages become quite ponderous while the human story- -Liyana's emotional adjustments in the later chapters and her American mother's reactions overall--fall away from the plot. However, Liyana's romance with an Israeli boy develops warmly, and readers are left with hope for change and peace as Liyana makes the city her very own.”
Connections
Other books written by Naomi Shihab Nye include:
Nye, Naomi Shihab. SITTI’S SECRET. ISBN 0689817061
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 VARIETIES OF GAZELLE: POEMS OF THE MIDDLE EAST. ISBN 0060097655
Nye, Naomi Shihab. GOING GOING. ISBN 0060293667
Nye, Naomi Shihab. HONEYBEE: POEMS & SHORT PROSE. ISBN 0060853905
Moses Goes to a Concert
Bibliography
Millman, Isaac. 1998. MOSES GOES TO A CONCERT. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 0374453667
Summary
Moses, a young deaf boy who loves to play his drums, takes a field trip with his classmates and his teacher Mr. Samuels to the young people’s concert. At the concert, the class watches the orchestra play their music. Mr. Samuels gives the students balloons to place on their laps so they can feel the vibration. Moses and his classmates get to meet the percussionist who is also deaf. She tells them how she became deaf after being sick when she was a little girl. She also tells the class that she worked hard at becoming a percussionist, and then invites the students to play the instruments. When Moses goes home that evening, he tells his parents about his field trip and that one day he would be a percussionist too.
Critical Analysis
Isaac Millman has created a wonderful story of a deaf boy’s first experience at a concert. Moses was not able to hear the music, but he was able to feel the vibrations. At home, Moses plays his own drum. Once he got to the concert, he was quite surprised to see that the percussionist was deaf too. After the concert, Mr. Samuel introduces the class to Ms Elwyn. When the students learned that she became deaf after an illness, they asked her what she did. Ms. Elwyn, the percussionist, tells the students, “I worked hard. My heart was set on becoming a percussionist and I did.” This encourages Moses to believe that he too could be a percussionist one day. The theme of determination will inspire many students to work hard for their dreams.
Many cultural markers were found throughout the story. The author begins the story with an author’s note and a diagram explaining what American Sign Language is and how to read the arrows and symbols displayed in the story. Throughout the book, Millman uses small boxes to show how to sign some of the words. The word is located at the bottom of the box with Moses showing the reader how to sign with his/her hands. Several full-page spreads of the percussionist and Moses signing are used to emphasis important parts of the story. The first is when Ms. Elwyn says, “I worked hard. My heart was set on becoming a percussionist and I did.” The other full page spread is at the end of the story when Moses tells his parents that he wants to be a percussionist. “When you set your mind to it, you can become anything you want when you grow up…A doctor, artist, teacher, lawyer, farmer, electrician, or actor. I want to become a percussionist.” The final page displays the alphabet with hand signs for each of the letters.
From the story, the reader is able to gather that people who are deaf can feel vibrations through their feet and hands. Balloons are also used on the lap to feel the music. Another important part of the story is when Ms. Elwyn tells the class that she became deaf after she was very sick as a child. This detail tells the reader that not all deaf people are born that way.
Millman’s full page illustrations are bright and colorful. The boxes used throughout the story emphasizing important phrases give the reader an opportunity to try making a few signs. Moses is a young little boy with glasses and a red baseball cap, and his classmates are from various cultures. All of the students are portrayed accurately.
Readers of all ages will enjoy reading this story, learn a few signs, and be inspired to set their minds to accomplish their goals.
Reviews
Booklist starred review: “Moses is deaf. When he plays on his drum, he can't hear the sounds, but he can feel the vibrations through his hands and through his bare feet. When he goes with his deaf classmates to a concert, they hold balloons in their laps to feel the vibrations. The percussionist in the orchestra is also deaf (she wears no shoes so that she can feel the vibrations through her stockinged feet), and after her wild, wonderful performance, she meets the deaf children, tells them her story (in ASL), and then allows them to try out all her instruments. With clear line-and-watercolor pictures, the precise hand shapes, movements, and facial expressions of ASL are a natural part of the story. Pictures at the bottom of the page show Moses signing the words, but when the percussionist tells her story, and when Moses tells his parents about his great time at the concert, the sign language is the action, and the written words are the captions. Deaf children will welcome this joyful story that talks, without condescension, about the fun they have.”
School Library Journal review: A group of deaf children is taken to a concert where the youngsters meet the percussionist, a friend of their teacher, and learn to their surprise that she is also deaf. She explains to Moses and his class how she became a percussionist even though she had lost her hearing and helps them understand that anything is possible with hard work and determination. She lets the children play on her instruments and feel the vibrations on balloons that their teacher has given them. Cheerful watercolor illustrations show the multiethnic children enjoying themselves at the concert, while smaller cartoon strips feature Moses's additional comments in sign language. A page displaying the manual alphabet and a conversation in sign language in which Moses tells his parents about his day enhance the upbeat story.
Connections
Other titles by this author include:
Millman, Isaac. 2000. MOSES GOES TO SCHOOL. ISBN 0374350698
Millman, Isaac. 2003. MOSES GOES TO THE CIRCUS. ISBN 0374350647
Millman, Isaac. 2004. MOSES SEES A PLAY. ISBN 0374350663
King and King
Bibliography
Haan, Linda de and Stern Nijland. 2000. KING AND KING. Berkley: Tricycle Press. ISBN 1582460612
Summary
After many years of ruling, the queen decides that her son the prince must get married and become King. The queen calls all of the available princesses from near and far, but none of them seem to be just right for the prince. When the two thought there wasn’t any hope, in walks Princess Madeleine and her brother, Prince Lee. The prince instantly falls in love with Prince Lee and the two get married. Finally, the queen has time for herself and the King and King take over the thrown.
Critical Analysis
Together, Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland have created a contemporary twist on a fairy tale story. Unlike most traditional fairy tale stories where the prince finds his princess, this prince finds his prince.
In this contemporary story, the prince must find a princess to marry so that his mother the queen can have some time for herself. After a full day the queen’s nagging, the prince finally agrees to find someone to marry. “Very well, Mother. I’ll marry. I must say, though, I’ve never cared much for princesses.” The queen doesn’t pay any attention to his comment and she calls all of the single princesses. After a long day of meeting with many princesses, the prince finally meets a Prince Lee and the two fall in love.
The bright watercolors and paper art are very entertaining. The illustrators have creatively displayed the crown kitty on every page. When the princesses come to the castle to see the prince, the crown kitty mocks the princess. For example, Princess Rahjmashputtin had long arms and legs. Crown kitty is placed in the background on stilts. The font was uniquely displayed on each page. The words moved across the pages with the art. It looks like the words “I’ve had enough!” are coming right out of the queen’s mouth. When the prince and Prince Lee meet for the first time, an arch of hearts dance from one prince to the other.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly reviewed: “Unfortunately, the multimedia collages are cluttered with clashing colors, amorphous paper shapes, scribbles of ink and bleary brushstrokes; the characters' features are indistinct and sometimes ugly. Despite its gleeful disruption of the boy-meets-girl formula, this alterna-tale is not the fairest of them all. For a visually appealing and more nuanced treatment of diversity in general, Kitty Crowther's recent Jack and Jim is a better choice.”
School Library Journal review: “Originally published in the Netherlands, this is a commendable fledgling effort with good intentions toward its subject matter. Unfortunately, though, the book is hobbled by thin characterization and ugly artwork; the homosexual prince comes across as fragile and languid, while the dour, matronly queen is a dead ringer for England's Victoria at her aesthetic worst. Some of the details in the artwork are interesting, including the "crown kitty" performing antics in the periphery. However, that isn't enough to compensate for page after page of cluttered, disjointed, ill-conceived art. The book does present same-sex marriage as a viable, acceptable way of life within an immediately recognizable narrative form, the fairy tale. However, those looking for picture books about alternative lifestyles may want to keep looking for a barrier-breaking classic on the subject.”
Connections
Other books about gay and lesbian families include:
Parnell, Peter. 2005. AND TANGO MAKES THREE. ISBN 0689878451
Willhoite, Michael. 1994. DADDY’S ROOMATE. ISBN 1555831184
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
Bibliography
Yep, Laurence. 2006. THE EARTH DRAGON AWAKES: THE SAN FRANCISO EARTHQUAKE OF 1906. New York: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN0060275251
Summary
Set in San Francisco on the eve of April 17, 1906, Laurence Yep describes the events that will take place during the San Francisco earthquake. Henry, the son of a wealthy banker, and Chin, son of a Chinese immigrant who works for Henry’s father, describe the events that occur in alternating chapters.
Chin, a young Chinese immigrant has come to America with his father to earn money to send back to their family in China. His father, Ah Sing works for the Travis family. While his father is working in the home, Chin spends time with Henry. Henry has been teaching Chin to read with a hidden stash of “penny dreadfuls” that their parents disapprove of. Both boys dream of being a lawman like Marshal Earp instead of their boring fathers. But when the earthquake shakes and destroys San Francisco, the boys both see their fathers in a whole new light.
Critical Analysis
Yep does a beautiful job describing the events that occurred during the San Francisco earthquake in this historical fiction. While telling the story of two boys and their struggle to escape the earthquake and Great Fires, Yep provides numerous facts about the destruction that occurred.
Many cultural markers can be found throughout the story. Yep creatively describes the earthquake and the destruction of the fires using imagery. Yep begins the story, “It is early evening in San Francisco. No one knows about the danger below. Underneath their feet, the earth begins to stir.” When Chin and his father meet up with Ah Quon the butcher, he tells them that he has prayed that the Earth Dragon would remain quiet. Later in the story, Yep describes the Ham and Egg fire. “It rears up like a giant monster. A tongue of flame licks its fiery mouth…The Ham and Egg fire stretches one arm east and the other south. It will join its brothers.” When they arrived at the bay, a ferry set out with many passengers. Yep describes the fire, “It slithers across San Francisco like a dragon with red spines.”
Yep describes the differences between Chinatown and his village in China. “They are all so much taller, look so plain compared to the ones at home, and there are no tiled roofs or carved windows. But the Chinese have added signs and decorations to them. The American buildings look like they are wearing Chinese disguises.” Yep also includes that even though there are about ten thousand Chinese living in Chinatown, he is not able to understand many of them because they all have different dialects. Another marker explains the racism that was going on during this time. Yep describes how the Chinese were not allowed to camp on the same grounds as the Americans.
The reader is also provided other historical markers throughout the text. The reader is able to gather that during this period horses were used to pull wagons. The fire wagon was mentions several times. A fireman tried to get the attention of people by shouting through a megaphone.
Interwoven through the story were facts about earthquakes. Yep explains how the surface of the earth is like a pie crust floating on a hot core. He also provides footnotes about mechanics (blue-collar workers) and how “never had so many people left an American city in peacetime-until Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans.” Yep also provided an authors note at the end of the story about the actual events that occurred, a list of references, and photographs of the destruction.
Reviews
School Library Journal review: “Yep looks at the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 from two points of view. Chin is a young Chinese immigrant whose father is a houseboy for a prominent banker and his family. He has become friendly with young Henry Travis, the banker's son, through their interest in low-brow but exciting penny dreadfuls. The stories depict heroic people doing heroic things and, while both boys appreciate their fathers, they certainly do not regard them as heroes. Not, that is, until the Earth Dragon roars into consciousness one spring morning, tearing the city asunder and making heroes out of otherwise ordinary men. Yep's research is exhaustive. He covers all the most significant repercussions of the event, its aftershocks, and days of devastating fires, and peppers the story with interesting true-to-life anecdotes.”
Booklist review: “On the evening of April 17, 1906, neither eight-year-old Henry nor his friend Ching is aware that the earth beneath their San Francisco homes is shifting. Devotees of "penny dreadfuls," both boys long for excitement, not their fathers' ordinary routine lives. When the earthquake shakes the city and a firestorm breaks out, Henry and his parents scramble in the chaos and battle the fire, but must ultimately evacuate their home. Ching and his father survive the collapse of their Chinatown tenement, and flee to the ferry through the debris and turmoil. In the midst of catastrophe, the boys realize that their fathers are real-life heroes. Henry and Ching's stories are told in alternating chapters with a few interruptions for the insertion of earthquake information.”
Connections
Other books written by Laurence Yep include:
Yep, Laurence. 1975. DRAGONWINGS. ISBN 0060267380
Yep, Laurence. 1993. DRAGON’S GATE. ISBN 0-06-022971-3
Yep, Laurence. 1997. THE DRAGON PRINCE. ISBN 0064435180
Tree of Cranes
Bibliography
Say, Allen. 1991. TREE OF CRANES. Ill by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 039552024X
Summary
When a young Japanese boy comes in from playing in the neighbor’s pond, he is sent to take a bath and then to bed because he has a cold. The boy observers his mother folding many origami paper cranes and later digging up a little pine tree from the yard. His mother explains that when she was a young girl, she lived in California and celebrated Christmas. Together, they placed the paper cranes and candles on the tree and wished for peace and quiet. The little boy promised he would never go to the pond again, and the next morning, the young boy woke up to a present under the tree.
Critical Analysis
In Say’s picture book, Tree of Cranes, Say shares a story of how a mother introduces her Japanese son to Christmas for the first time. The family lives in Japan, but when the mother was a small child, she lived in California. To introduce her son to this celebration, she uses origami paper to make many paper cranes.
Cultural markers found in this story include a description of the neighbor’s pond filled with bright colored carp. Say also used origami paper to make cranes. When the son asked why his mother was making cranes, she said she was going “to make a big wish.” The boy replied, “You’re going to fold a thousand cranes to make your wish come true?” Japanese legend promises that if you fold a thousand cranes then you would be granted a wish by a crane. When the boy was sent to bed, his mother made him rice gruel and served it with a sour plum, yellow radishes, and hot tea. Also, when his mother explains that presents are found under the tree, the young boy asks for a samurai kite. The next morning, the boy finds the kite under his tree.
Say’s illustrations are simple yet strong. The young boy has short black hair and fair skin. His mother is also has fair skin and wears her hair pulled back in a more traditional ponytail. While the mother wears traditional attire, the son wears shorts, a jacket, and scarf. The house has sliding doors and a tiled roof. There are few decorations in the house. One illustration shows the young boy sitting on his bed eating his rice gruel. The kite is a fierce warrior painted in bright red, black, and white.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly review: “Heedless of Mama's warnings, a Japanese boy cannot resist playing at an ice-cold pond "filled with carp of bright colors." When he comes home, he is immediately treated for a cold, with a hot bath and rice gruel. His mother's attitude chills him more than the weather, though; he cannot understand why she seems to be ignoring him. Hearing a noise in the garden, the boy spies Mama digging up the pine tree that was planted when he was born. She brings it inside and decorates it with paper cranes and candles. It is a Christmas tree, the first for the boy, and the first in many years for his mother, who tells her son she comes from "a warm place called Ca-li-for-ni-a." The story is a poignant one, illuminated with finely drawn illustrations reflecting the serenity of a Japanese home and the quiet love between mother and son.”
Kirkus review: “When the young Japanese narrator comes home with a cold after playing in a forbidden pond, his mother ``barely looks at him'' and puts him into a hot bath and then to bed without so much as a story. She's busy folding silver paper cranes; later, she brings in the little pine planted when the boy was born and decorates it with candles and the cranes, explaining for the first time how she celebrated Christmas in California, where she grew up. The boy is allowed to light the candles, and next day he receives a gift--a kite he especially wanted--for his first Christmas. Say's exquisitely designed illustrations are as elegant as those for The Boy of the Three-Year Nap (1988, Caldecott Honor). Geometric forms in the austere Japanese architecture provide a serene background for softer lines defining the appealing little boy and his pensive mother. As in Say's other books, there is an uncompromising chill here from parent to child: it's true that the boy has disobeyed, that his mother warms and feeds him, and that in the end they share the tree's beauty; still, her longing for ``peace and quiet'' seems exclusionary, and her cold uncommunicativeness while preparing the lovely tree is at odds with its message. Beautiful, honest, but disturbing. “
Connections
Other books written by Allen Say include:
Say, Allen. 1993. GRANDFATHER’S JOURNEY. ISBN 0395570352
Say, Allen. 1999. TEA WITH MILK. ISBN 0395904951
Say, Allen. 1990. EL CHINO. ISBN 0395520231
Apple Pie 4th of July
Bibliography
Wong, Janet S. 2002. APPLE PIE 4TH OF JULY. Ill. By Margaret Chodos-Irvine. San Diego: Harcourt, Inc. ISBN 015202543X
Summary
When a Chinese American girl learns that her parents are making Chinese food to sell at their store on the Fourth of July, she begins to worry that nobody will come. “No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July, I say.” Customers come in at one, two, three, and four o’clock to buy ice cream, ice, and matches. When the little girl becomes discouraged that her parents do not understand that Americans do not eat Chinese food on the Fourth of July, customers finally begin arriving to eat their Chinese food.
Critical Analysis
Wong has created a story of a modern day Chinese American girl who struggles with mixing Chinese tradition and American traditions. The little girl does not think that people will come into her family’s store to by Chinese food on the Fourth of July. She hears booms from the parade and smells apple pie cooking upstairs. When she tells her father that no one will eat the food, her father replies, “Fireworks are Chinese.”
There are only a few cultural markers found in this short picture book. The Chinese American family made chow mein, sweet-and-sour pork, egg rolls, and noodles to serve at their store. Since they lived in America, the little girl did not think that Americans would want to eat this type of food on an American holiday. The little girl explains that her “parents do not understand all American things. They were not born here.” “Even though my father has lived here since he was twelve, even though my mother loves apple pie, I cannot expect them to know Americans do not eat Chinese food on the Fourth of July.”
After the family closes the doors at the end of the day, they end the evening sitting on the rooftop watching the fireworks and eating apple pie.
The illustrator, Margaret Chodos-Irvine, used a “variety of printmaking techniques” to capture the meaning of the story. The colors are bold and bright. The little girl is dressed in a red and white stripped shirt with blue overalls. She has black hair set in a short bob, and the reader is able to understand the little’s emotions from her facial expressions throughout the story.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly review: “The author and artist teamed for Buzz return for this carefully honed story about a girl's experience as a first-generation Chinese-American. Readers first encounter the unnamed narrator as she looks unhappily out the glass door of her parents' market, open for business even on the Fourth of July. Hearing the "boom, boom, boom" of the approaching parade, sniffing the apple pie baking in a neighbor's oven, she is distracted by the cooking smells from the store's kitchen, where her parents are preparing chow mein and sweet-and-sour pork. "No one wants Chinese food on the Fourth of July," she tries to explain, and her prediction seems right as the afternoon lengthily unfolds with almost no customers. "My parents do not understand all American things," she reminds herself, "They were not born here." But the evening brings a steady stream of patrons, and the holiday concludes with the family watching fireworks (invented by the Chinese) and eating what else? apple pie. The well-paced text heavily freighted at the beginning and swift by the end reflects the girl's changing emotions and moods. The art resembles cut-paper collage.”
School Library Journal review: “This simply told story explores a child's fears about cultural differences and fitting in with understanding and affection. A Chinese-American girl helps her parents open their small neighborhood grocery store every day of the year. However, today is the Fourth of July and her parents just don't understand that customers won't be ordering chow mein and sweet-and-sour pork on this very American holiday. As she spends the day working in the store and watching the local parade, she can't shake her anxiety about her parents' na‹vet‚. When evening arrives along with hungry customers looking "for some Chinese food to go," she is surprised but obviously proud that her parents were right after all: Americans do eat Chinese food on the Fourth of July. Nighttime finds the family atop their roof enjoying fireworks and sharing a neighbor's apple pie. Done in a "variety of printmaking techniques," Chodos-Irvine's illustrations are cheerfully bright and crisp, capturing the spirit of the day as well as the changing emotions of the main character.”
Connections
Other books written by Janet S. Wong include:
Wong, Janet S. 2000. THE NEXT NEW YEAR. ISBN 0374355037
Wong, Janet S. 2004. ALEX AND THE CHESS CLUB. ISBN 0689858906
Wong, Janet S. 2000. THE TRIP BACK HOME. ISBN 0152007849
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Crossing Bok Chitto
Bibliography
Tingle, Tim. 2006. CROSSING BOK CHITTO: A CHOCTAW TALE OF FRIENDSHIP & FREEDOM. Ill. By Jeanne Rorex Bridges. El Paso: Cinco Puntos Press. ISBN 9780938317777
Summary
This Choctaw story is about how two children from different cultures form a friendship and help each other out. Set in Mississippi, a river called Bok Chitto separated the Choctaw from the plantation owners and their slaves. Both had an agreement not to cross the river. While picking blackberries one day, Martha Tom, a young Choctaw girl, crossed the river and stumbled upon a group of slaves. Martha Tom was led back home by a boy named Little Mo. This began a beautiful friendship.
One day Little Mo’s mother was told that she was going to be shipped off to another plantation and would not be with her family any longer. Brave Little Mo led his family at night to the Bok Chitto River and with the help of the Choctaw women, the family crossed over the river to freedom.
Critical Analysis
Crossing Bok Chitto was set in Mississippi before the Civil war and the Trail of Tears. The Choctaw people lived on one side of the river and plantation owners and their slaves lived on the other side. There was a law that if a slave escaped and made it across the river, they were free. It is also said that the Choctaw built a secret path across the Mississippi river.
This story is filled with cultural markers that represent both Native American and African American culture. When Martha Tom crosses the river and stumbles upon the clearing, she discovers a secret forbidden slave church. She also discovered a hundred slaves appearing from the trees calling out “We are bound for the Promised Land!” The man began to preach and the slaves began to sing. Martha Tom was moved by the music because she had never heard anything like it before. When Little Mo’s father found Martha Tom and told his son that he would need to lead Martha Tom back to the river, he told his son how to move so the owners would not hear him. “You move not too fast, not too slow, eyes to the ground, away you go!” This phrase was also used again when Little Mo’s family escaped from the plantation to cross the river.
When Little Mo and Martha Tom crossed over to the Choctaw side the first time, Little Mo heard chanting, something he had never heard before. “He thought it must be the heartbeat of the earth itself.” This was the sound of men calling all of the Choctaw to the wedding. Tingles’ describes the wedding ceremony. The women were in white cotton dresses, “their shiny black hair fell well below their waists, as they formed a line and began a stomp dance to the beat of the chanting.” Tingle also describes the wedding song that the men would sing. This song is still sung in Mississippi and Oklahoma today.
“Way, hey ya hey ya Way, hey ya hey ya
You a hey you ay You a hey you ay
A hey ya a hey ya! A hey ya a hey ya!”
When Little Mo led his family to the river, he was afraid to cross it at night. Little Mo’s father told him to be brave because his name was Moses. So Little Mo crossed Bok Chitto and went to Martha Tom’s home. After explaining his story to Martha Tom’s mother, she quickly went to every home in the village and gathered all of the women to perform a ceremony. She told each woman to wear a white dress and bring a candle. As the women lined the edge of the river with the glow of their candles, Martha Tom walked across the water and led the family to freedom. As she led them, she sang the song she had heard the slaves sing at church, but this time she sang it in Choctaw.
Bridges does a beautiful job matching her illustrations to the story. On the cover of the book, four women are in white flowing gowns holding candles. The three women in the back have strong faces with black hair accented with silver. The front girl must be Martha Tom, a younger version of the ladies. At the beginning of the story, Martha Tom is wearing a red dress with a cover apron and leather shoes. Her hair is pulled back in a long braid. The men in the Choctaw tribe are wearing pants, shirts, and boots. One man also has braids while another is wearing a hat. This hat is also worn by the African Americans and the plantation owners. The skin tones used on the people of all backgrounds is represented well. The most moving illustration is the last one. It is the scene of the Choctaw women leading the seven slaves across the river. The women are glowing, giving the appearance that they are angels.
Following the story is a three page spread on the history of the Choctaws today and of the past. Tingles describes how this story, which began as a song, was created.
Reviews
School Library Journal review: “Dramatic, quiet, and warming, this is a story of friendship across cultures in 1800s Mississippi. While searching for blackberries, Martha Tom, a young Choctaw, breaks her village's rules against crossing the Bok Chitto. She meets and becomes friends with the slaves on the plantation on the other side of the river, and later helps a family escape across it to freedom when they hear that the mother is to be sold. Tingle is a performing storyteller, and his text has the rhythm and grace of that oral tradition. It will be easily and effectively read aloud. The paintings are dark and solemn, and the artist has done a wonderful job of depicting all of the characters as individuals, with many of them looking out of the page right at readers.”
Booklist starred review: “In a picture book that highlights rarely discussed intersections between Native Americans in the South and African Americans in bondage, a noted Choctaw storyteller and Cherokee artist join forces with stirring results.”
2008-2009 Bluebonnet Nominee
2006 Teddy Award for Best Children's Book from the Texas Writer's League
Texas Institute of Letters Best Children's Book of 2006
The Great Ball Game: A Muskogee Story
Bibliography
Bruchac, Joseph. 1994. THE GREAT BALL GAME: A MUSKOGEE STORY. Ill. By Susan L. Roth. New York: Dial Books. ISBN 0803715390
Summary
When the animals and birds began to feud about who was better, the crane and bear decided to play a game of ball to determine the winner. “The first side to score a goal will win the argument, and the side that loses will have to accept the penalty given by the other side.” All of the animals divided up into two teams. One side was those who had wings and the other side was those who had teeth. Bat, who had both wings and teeth, asked both teams if he could play. The Birds laughed at Bat and told him that he was too little to help and they sent him away. Bear took pity on Bat and told him that even though he was small he could help.
The two teams began to play the game until it grew dark. Both the Birds and Animals had a hard time seeing the ball. When the Animals thought that Crane was about to reach the poles, Bat took the ball and flew to the other end scoring a goal. After that game, Bat was accepted as an Animal and told the Birds they “must leave this land for half of each year” as their penalty for losing the game.
Critical Analysis
This traditional Muskogee tale has been retold by Joseph Bruchac. In a foreword written by the author, Bruchac explains how ball games have been used to settle the score between feuds. The author shares that many versions of the ball game story have been shared. In this version, Bruchac chose to use the game of Lacrosse to play the game.
The theme of this tale shows that no matter your size, everyone can do their part. When Bat asked the Birds if he could be on their team, the birds laughed at Bat. Feeling sorry for Bat, Bear let him on the Animal’s team, but was told that he would have to let the big animals play first. In the end, it was Bat that made the goal for the Animals. As a result, Bat was considered an animal. Because the animals had won the game, Bat gave the Birds their penalty. He banished them to fly south for half of each year. This comical tale explains why a bat is considered an animal and why birds fly south for the winter.
Susan L. Roth used paper collected all over the world to create the illustrations. Roth used lots of bold colors like reds, blacks, browns, and yellows as backdrops for the paper collages. The animals and birds were comical with big teeth and rackets in their hands.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly review: “This adaptation of a popular Native American story pits Animals against Birds in a contest to settle an all-too-human question: Who's better? Here, it's the teeth versus the wings in stickball, a lacrosse-style game in which the players hold a stick in each hand. When the contestants take their sides, the anomalous Bat, who sports both teeth and wings, is rejected by both teams. Finally, Bear shows sympathy, saying, "You are not very big, but sometimes even the small ones can help." Bat is benched, however, until the Animals catch on to the Birds' obvious advantage: with ball in beak, the Birds fly high above the playing field. But as evening darkness descends, Bat flies into gear to win the game with his elusive, darting aerobatics. As the victor, Bat decrees that the Birds must leave for half the year. And, according to Muskogee legend, this resolution explains why bats are categorized as animals and why birds fly south for the winter.”
School Library Journal review: “In this traditional Muskogee story, the birds and the animals quarrel over which group is better, those with wings or those with teeth. The argument threatens to turn into all-out war, so the creatures decide to settle it by playing a ball game instead. When the game (which resembles lacrosse) starts, no one wants little, weak Bat to play on their side. But in the end it is Bat-with both teeth and wings-who wins the match for the animals. As a result the birds are banished to the south each winter. This porquoi tale is told in clean, spare sentences with the emphasis on action and character.”
Connections
Other stories written by Joseph Bruschac include:
Bruschac, Joseph. 1996. BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY: LEGENDS OF NATIVE AMERICAN SACRED PLACES. ISBN 0152000429
Bruschac, Joseph. 1994. A BOY CALLED SLOW: THE TRUE STORY OF SITTING BULL. ISBN 0399226923
Bruschac, Joseph. 2008. BUFFALO SONG. ISBN 1584302801
Jingle Dancer
Bibliography
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2000. JINGLE DANCER. Ill by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. New York: Morrow Junior Books. ISBN 0688162428
Summary
Jingle Dancer is a modern day story of a Muscogee girl who wants to be a jingle dancer. She watches her Grandma Wolfe jingle dance on the TV and begins to practice the steps. When Jenna learns that her dress would not be ready because it needed four rows of jingles, she travels in four directions to find enough jingles so her dress would sing.
Critical Analysis
This modern day story is a wonderful story that intertwines everyday life with Muscogee tradition. Jenna is a young girl who wants to become a jingle dancer like her grandmother.
There were many cultural markers identified in this story. The use of the four directions, east, south, west, and north were used as Jenna went from place to place to gather her jingle bells. The north direction led her back to her Grandma Wolfe’s home. The author also describes the time of the day as Jenna went from each home: “As Sun fetched morning, Jenna danced east-As sun arrived at midcircle, Jenna skipped south-As Sun caught a glimpse of Moon, Jenna strolled west-As Moon glowed pale, Jenna shuffled north.” The use of the number four is used with the directions, number of family members that provided her with jingle bells, and the number of rows of bells sewn onto her dress. In the authors note, Smith tells that many Native Americans believe that numbers are symbolic.
Other cultural markers found in the book include foods, a Muscogee Creek story, the powwow, and regalia worn at the powwow. Jenna is eating fry bread with honey at the beginning of the story and later Mrs. Scott told Jenna that she would be making fry bread and Indian tacos to sell at the powwow. As Jenna asked for jingles from each of the ladies, a line was repeated each time. “May I borrow enough jingles to make a row? Jenna asked, not wanting to take so many that their dress would lose its voice.” Each of the ladies gave her a row of jingles and asked her to dance form them at the powwow. A brief Muscogee Creek story about a bat who one the game was mentioned in the story, too.
The full-color water illustrations captured both modern and traditional images of these Native Americans. Jenna lives in a “contemporary intertribal community.” Their homes line up in a neighborhood and are furnished with typical American furniture and Native American decorations. Jenna wears jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes, and all of the women in the story have dark brown hair with light colored skin. At the powwow, all of the girls are wearing brightly colored dresses, scarves around their necks, moccasin boots, and holding a feather.
An author’s note and glossary of terms is provided at the back of the book. Smith, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, describes the Muscogee tribe and the importance of jingle dresses.
Reviews
Booklist review: “This contemporary Native American tale highlights the importance of family and community through a young girl's dream of joining the dancers at the next powwow. Jenna is a girl of Muscogee (Creek) and Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe) descent. She has practiced the steps for the jingle dance by following her grandmother's moves on a video. Now she must get enough jingles (traditionally made of tin, aluminum, or gold canning lids rolled into cones) to sew on her dress to make a satisfying "tink, tink" as she dances. The colorful, well-executed watercolor illustrations lend warmth to the story. A note explaining Jenna's heritage and a brief glossary are appended.”
Publishers Weekly review: “Smith, a mixed-blood member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, convincingly juxtaposes cherished Native American tradition and contemporary lifestyle in this smooth debut. Van Wright and Hu's (Jewels) lifelike renderings capture the genuine affection between Jenna and these caring older women. Their easy integration of Native and standard furnishings and clothing gracefully complement Smith's heartening portrait of a harmonious meshing of old and new.”
Connections
Other books written by Cynthia Leitich Smith include:
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2001. RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME. ISBN 0688173977
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tomas and the Library Lady
Bibliography
Mora, Pat. 1997. TOMÁS AND THE LIBRARY LADY. Ill. Raul Colón. New York: Knopf. ISBN 0679804013
Summary
Tomás, the son of migrant workers, lives in Texas during the year with his family while they pick crops and travels to Iowa during the summer where there is work. While Tomás’ parents are in the fields picking corn, Tomás plays ball with his younger brother Enrique. When the two get hot, they sit under the tree to hear stories from Papá Grande. Papá Grande encourages Tomás to go to the public library so that he can teach his family new stories.
Tomás goes to the library and meets the librarian who brings him books on dinosaurs and tigers. Tomás begins to read the books and finds that he enjoys reading. Tomás takes home two books and reads the stories to his Mamá, Papá, Enrique, and Papá Grande. Throughout the summer, Tomás continues to visit the library where he reads new books and teaches the librarian Spanish words. When it is time for Tomás and his family to return to Texas, he brings the librarian pan dulce, sweet bread. In return, the librarian gives Tomás a brand new book.
Critical Analysis
Based on true events, Tomás and the Library Lady is about Tomás Rivera’s childhood experiences as a son of migrant workers. In order to maintain work, Tomás and his family must travel back and forth from Texas and Iowa to work in the fields. The reader is able to gather that the Rivera family is has little money. The Rivera family travel each year in a “rusty old car”, “sleep on cots in the small house that his family shared with the other workers”, “the boys played with a ball Mamá had sewn from an old teddy bear”, and his family would go to the town dump to “look for pieces of iron to sell.”
Mora integrates Spanish words beautifully throughout the story. Both Tomás and Enrique are authentic names, and Tomás talks to his family he calls them Mamá, Papá, and Papá Grande. Phrases such as: “Buenas noches” which means “Good night”, “En un tiempo pasado” which means “Once upon a time,” and “¡Qué tigre tan grande!” which means “What a big tiger!” are used to capture both English and Spanish speaking audiences.
A few other cultural markers evident in the story are the importance of family and education. The reader can tell that Tomás and is family is close. His Papá Grande lives and travels with Tomás and his family. To entertain one another, they sit together and share stories. Also, Tomás and his brother Enrique help their parents by carrying water to them in the fields. Papá Grande encourages Tomás to go to the library so that he can learn new stories to share. Because of his Papá Grande and the librarian, Tomás Rivera became a writer and professor.
Illustrator Raul Colón uses warm browns and golds to capture the lives of migrant workers. Tomás and his family have carmel colored skin and dark brown hair. His Papá Grande has a long mustache and silver hair. The reader can tell that the family is happy when they are together. Several illustrations capture the love that Tomás has for reading. On the very last page, Tomás has his eyes closed, hugging his book, and dreaming of the dinosaurs in his story. “Tomás closed his eyes. He saw the dinosaurs drinking cool water long ago. He heard the cry of the wild snakebird. He felt the warm neck of the dinosaur as he held on tight for a bumpy ride.”
A note about the story is written at the back of the book. This story was based on true events about Tomás Rivera.
Reviews
School Library Journal review: “Here, Mora tells the fictionalized story of one summer in his childhood during which his love of books and reading is fostered by a librarian in Iowa, who takes him under her wing while his family works the harvest. She introduces him to stories about dinosaurs, horses, and American Indians and allows him to take books home where he shares them with his parents, grandfather, and brother. When it is time for the family to return to Texas, she gives Tomas the greatest gift of all?a book of his own to keep. Colon's earthy, sun-warmed colors, textured with swirling lines, add life to this biographical fragment and help portray Tomas's reading adventures in appealing ways.”
Booklist review: “From the immigrant slums of New York City to the fields of California, it's an elemental American experience: the uprooted child who finds a home in the library. Mora's story is based on a true incident in the life of the famous writer Tomas Rivera, the son of migrant workers who became an education leader and university president. Far from his home in Texas, the small boy is working with his family picking corn in Iowa. Inspired by the Spanish stories his grandfather (Papa Grande) tells, Tomas goes to the library to find more stories.”
Connections
Other stories written by Pat Mora include:
Mora, Pat. 1997. A BIRTHDAY BASKET FOR TIA. ISBN 0689813287
Mora, Pat. 1996. CONFETTI: POEMS FOR CHILDREN. ISBN 1880000253
Mora, Pat. 1994. PABLO’S TREE. ISBN 0027674010
Esperanza Rising
Bibliography
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2000. ESPERANZA RISING. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 043912042X
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2007. ESPERANZA RISING. Read by Trini Alvarado. New York: Listening Library. ISBN 073933896X
Summary
On the eve of Esperanza’s thirteenth birthday, her life would change forever. Esperanza lived with her parents Romano and Sixto Ortega and her grandmother Abuelito on El Rancho de las Rosas in Aguscalientes, Mexico. She had fancy dresses, beautiful dolls, and a house servant. Esperanza’s life was wonderful until her father was murdered by bandits. After their house was mysteriously caught on fire, Esperanza and her mother secretly fled to California to escape her uncle’s wedding proposal to her mother.
Esperanza and her mother must learn how to do chores and work in the fields to earn enough money to live on. While Esperanza’s mama tries to be happy, Esperanza struggles with her new way of life. But when her mama falls ill from Valley Fever and is placed in a hospital, Esperanza must find the strength from within to make enough money to pay for her mother’s doctor bills. Eventually, Esperanza begins to make friends and has compassion for other migrant workers.
Critical Analysis
Esperanza Rising is set in the 1930’s during the Great Depression. The themes of migrant workers, immigrants, discrimination, and family transcend throughout the story. Many immigrants came to America to find work and be more than just servants. These immigrants worked long hours with little pay. Many of them did not agree with the pay and began to strike. Others had to compete for the small wages they were making. During the Depression, many immigrants were deported back to their homelands and many traveled from camp to camp to find jobs. Segregation was still common during the 1930’s. Miguel explains this to Esperanza. “Americans see us as one big, brown group who are good for only manual labor. At this market, no one stares at us or treats us like outsiders or calls us ‘dirty greasers.’”
Esperanza’s life completely changed throughout the story. Once a wealthy daughter who could have anything she wanted, she is now wearing clothes from the poor box. She encounters several people on her way to California. On the train, she meets a dirty little girl who wants to touch her porcelain doll and a poor widower who was left to raise eight children. She cannot believe that she must ride in the same part of the train with these poor people. Upon arrival at the camp, Esperanza must do her part to help make money. When Esperanza is laughed at for trying to sweep the platform, Esperanza decides that she must learn how to work. After her mother becomes ill, Esperanza begins to work so that she can pay for the doctor bills and medicine. Instead of believing that she is better than all of the others in the campesinos or camp, Esperanza begins to see them for who they are. She sees that they are just trying to make enough money to feed their families and she sees the racial discrimination that surrounds them. In the end, Esperanza understands that to be wealthy does not mean having money, but instead a family to love.
Esperanza Rising is filled with cultural markers. Each chapter is titled in both Spanish and English with the name of a fruit that is being harvested. Fruit was used quite often in the story. Esperanza describes the papaya that her father ordered for her birthday to make Papaya, coconut, and lime salad. She describes the pungent smell after the box had been left still sitting on the patio for many days. “Their overripe sweetness now pervaded the air with each breath of wind.” Other authentic foods were described throughout the story: café and chorizo, tortillas, burritos, Flan de almendra- Almond Flan, and Agua de Jamaica-Hibiscus flower water. Many Spanish words and phrases were intertwined seamlessly throughout the story as well. Miguel would call Esperanza mi reina-my queen when he wanted to tease her, and Esperanza’s mother sometimes referred to Esperanza as mija which means daughter.
Esperanza describes her parents in the beginning. “Mama, tall and elegant, her hair in the usual braided wreath that crowned her head, and Papa, barely taller than Mama, his graying mustache twisted up at the sides.” Once at the campesino, Esperanza describes Mama’s hair, “Mama’s hair ran down her back in a single long braid, almost touching her waist. Mama looked shorter and, somehow, not herself.” Esperanza also describes Silvia, Isabel’s best friend. “A little girl, wearing a man’s undershirt as a dress,” and “Esperanza looked down at Silvia’s dirty hands.”
An author’s note was written in the back of the book. Pam Munoz Ryan based the story of Esperanza on her family’s personal experiences. This story would be a wonderful read aloud. The themes of immigration, Great Depression, discrimination, and family can be discussed. Listening to the story on audio CDs was very helpful. It was enjoyable to hear proper pronunciation of the Spanish words read by Trini Alvarado.
Reviews
Publishers Weekly review: “Told in a lyrical, fairy tale - like style, Ryan's (riding Freedom) robust novel set in 1930 captures a Mexican girl's fall from riches, her immigration to California and her growing awareness of class and ethnic tensions.”
School Library Journal review: “Set against the multiethnic, labor-organizing era of the Depression, the story of Esperanza remaking herself is satisfyingly complete, including dire illness and a difficult romance. Except for the evil uncles, all of the characters are rounded, their motives genuine, with class issues honestly portrayed. Easy to booktalk, useful in classroom discussions, and accessible as pleasure reading, this well-written novel belongs in all collections.”
Booklist review: “Set during the Great Depression, the story weaves cultural, economic, and political unrest into Esperanza's poignant tale of growing up: she witnesses strikes, government sweeps, and deep injustice while finding strength and love in her family and romance with a childhood friend. The symbolism is heavy-handed, as when Esperanza ominously pricks her finger on a rose thorne just before her father is killed. But Ryan writes movingly in clear, poetic language that children will sink into, and the books offers excellent opportunities for discussion and curriculum support.”
Awards
2002-Pura Belpre Award Winner
2001-ALA Best Books for Young Adults
2000-Smithsonian Notable Books for Children
2000-Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
Connections
Other books written by Pam Munoz Ryan include:
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2005. BECOMING NAOMI LEON. ISBN 0439269970
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2005. MICE AND BEANS. ISBN 0439701368
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 1999. RIDING FREEDOM. ISBN 0439087961