The Bibliography
Bruchac, Joseph. 1998. The Arrow Over the Door. Ill. by James Watling. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803720785
The Characters
The main characters in The Arrow Over the Door are Samuel Russell, a Quaker teenager, and Stands Straight, an Abenaki Indian. Other characters include Samuel's family, members of the group of Friends (Quakers) and members of the Abenaki tribe.
The Plot
Based on an actual meeting between the Quakers and Indians during the Revolutionary War, The Arrow Over the Door alternates being told by Samuel and Stands Straight. Samuel is a Quaker, but feels like a coward in the troublng times of war. The Friends choose to live a life of peace and do not see anyone as enemies. Stands Straight, on the other hand, sees all Americans as enemies because they killed his mother and brother. When his scouting party comes across a group of Friends during a Quaker Meeting, they find something that they never expected from a group of Americans... friends.
The Setting
Saratoga, New York in the year 1777
The Theme
"the way of peace ... can be walked by all human beings"
The Style
The Arrow Over the Door alternates between the viewpoints of two boys. Samuel, a Quaker, doesn't quite feel like a Quaker (and, in my opinion, he probably won't be a Quaker when he grows up... he just doesn't seem to like the whole peace thing...), and Stands Straight, an Abenaki Indian whose mother and brother were murdered by Americans. The language is appropriate for each characters' narration and the time period; Samuel's language is plain, and Stands Straight's language varies between Abanaki and French, the languages that he and his fellow tribe members speak.
The Analysis
I didn't feel moved by this story. Yes, it's lovely that there was no slaughter and that everyone found peace because of each other, but I just found it boring. Samuel often thinks things that oppose the viewpoints of the Friends, but never acts on them. Stands Straight and his fellow tribe members just walk around through the forest throughout their part of the story. There was no action. When the Abenaki arrive at the meeting of the Quakers, they just walk in and sit down. No excitement. Then they mark the door with a broken arrow, signifying that no harm should come to the Friends and then the story is over. The illustrations on the cover are the only in color, the rest are in black and white. They don't really add any excitement to the story, either, unfortunately.
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The black and white drawings show the Abenaki as tall and slender people with arrows and leather and feathers living in nature. They show the Friends as living within their means in plain and simple clothing. There is not much else to say about the illustrations.
Text: There is some interlingual text in the book. The Abenaki speak both French and their own language, which are both italicized. In Stands Straight's chapters, there are several descriptive, color words used to describe the Americans, like "white people" and "brown-haired man" (72). The Friends/Quakers, use words like "hath" and "thou" and, since their way of life is very plain, they speak plainly as well, even describing the Abenaki simply as "tall" and "big" (69).
The Review
Karen Hutt (Booklist, February 15, 1998 (Vol. 94, No. 12))
Fourteen-year-old Samuel Russell hates being called a coward because he is a Quaker, and he vows to defend his family if Loyalists or Indians try to harm them. Stands Straight, an Abenaki boy whose mother and brother were murdered by white men, has joined his uncle's scouting party, though he questions why Indians should fight in the white man's war. In alternating narratives, the two boys tell this quietly compelling story, which is based on an actual incident that took place in 1777, just before the Battle of Saratoga. As Samuel's family sits in the meeting with the rest of the Quaker congregation, the Indian scouting party to which Stands Straight belongs surrounds the cabin. Stands Straight follows his uncle Sees-the-Wind inside, and after being assured that there are no weapons in the cabin, the Abenakis leave their bows and arrows outside and sit with the Quakers in silence. At the end of the meeting, the Quakers and the Indians share the handshake of peace, and Sees-the-Wind places an arrow over the cabin's door to show the Abenakis that the Quakers are people of peace. Simple black-and-white drawings reflect the dignified tone of the story, which explores the complexities of the Indian-white relationship, focusing on two lesser-known groups who were involved in the conflict. An author's note provides thorough historical background about the incident, as well as a brief history of the Quakers and the Abenakis. A truly excellent example of historical fiction for the middle-grade/junior-high audience.
The Connection
It could be interesting to do a reenactment of this story, having half of a group act as Quakers and half act as Abenaki. Much research should be done beforehand and could include reading books such as Abenaki by Marla Felkins Ryan and Linda Schmittroth and Captive Histories by Evan Haefeli and Kevin Sweeney for the study of Abenaki and The Quakers in America by Thomas Hamm and An Introduction to Quakerism by Pink Dandelion for the study of Quakers.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
The Bibliography
Alexie, Sherman. 2007. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Ill. by Ellen Forney. New York: Little Brown, and Company. ISBN 0316013684
The Characters
Spokane Indian, Arnold "Junior" Spirit, is the main character of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Other characters include his parents and sister, his best/ex-best friend Rowdy, the love interest, Penelope, and various other minor characters here and there.
The Plot
After breaking his geometry teacher's nose with an old, old textbook, cartoonist Arnold "Junior" Spirit leaves his small, poor reservation high school to attend the big, rich white high school in Reardan. Other than the school's mascot, Junior is the only Indian there, so he becomes an outcast and traitor on his reservation and a loner at the new school. Through basketball games, more challenging classes, dating and dances, Junior begins to come into his own, accepting his life and background and growing because of it.
The Setting
the Spokane Indian Reservation and Reardan, a city 22 miles away from it
The Theme
...............................................isolation
The Style
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is written sort of like a diary with doodles drawn in the margins. Junior tells his story in short chapters, much like if he were writing things down as they happened, then illustrating a part of it because he got bored or wanted to show something rather than tell it. It's about a fourteen year old boy, so it reads like a fourteen year old boy thinks, with sarcasm, wit, humor, anger and masturbation (not necessarily in that order).
The Analysis
This book is hilarious and moving at the same time, which is rare. I think teens could really relate to Junior because he's not afraid to tell it like it is, whether it's about basketball, boobs or books or more important things like friendship, love, life or death. The illustrations are great and funny, but sometimes serious. It's a great tale of growing up, regardless of who you are or where you live.
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The illustrations drawn by Junior in the book are what he sees in and around himself on the reservation and in his new all-white school. Some are of his family and friends on the rez, which are Indian with dark hair and strong facial structures, others are of his new friends and teachers at his new school, which are white with light eyes and light hair. Some of the illustrations are of random things, like butts and volcanoes and birds and basketball, all of which pertain to the importance of the story.
Text: There are lots of cultural markers in the text of this novel. The majority of the time, the reservation is called the rez, there are many times that Junior is called by negative Indian names, like Chief, Sitting Bull, Tonto, Red-Skin and Squaw Boy (63). There are many references to the white people that live in and around the rez being sad just like the Indians on the rez, but white people who don't live on the reservation are wonderful and full of hope. There are a few times that Indians are described as being red. There are also other stereotypical Indian notions mentioned in the book, such as alcoholism and gambling addiction.
The Review
Ian Chipman (Booklist, Aug. 1, 2007 (Vol. 103, No. 22))
Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the “poor-ass” Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation. Alexie’s humor and prose are easygoing and well suited to his young audience, and he doesn’t pull many punches as he levels his eye at stereotypes both warranted and inapt. A few of the plotlines fade to gray by the end, but this ultimately affirms the incredible power of best friends to hurt and heal in equal measure. Younger teens looking for the strength to lift themselves out of rough situations would do well to start here.
The Connection
Since The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an illustrated diary, I think it would be a fun experiment to share this story with teens, then have them write and illustrate their own diaries.
Alexie, Sherman. 2007. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Ill. by Ellen Forney. New York: Little Brown, and Company. ISBN 0316013684
The Characters
Spokane Indian, Arnold "Junior" Spirit, is the main character of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Other characters include his parents and sister, his best/ex-best friend Rowdy, the love interest, Penelope, and various other minor characters here and there.
The Plot
After breaking his geometry teacher's nose with an old, old textbook, cartoonist Arnold "Junior" Spirit leaves his small, poor reservation high school to attend the big, rich white high school in Reardan. Other than the school's mascot, Junior is the only Indian there, so he becomes an outcast and traitor on his reservation and a loner at the new school. Through basketball games, more challenging classes, dating and dances, Junior begins to come into his own, accepting his life and background and growing because of it.
The Setting
the Spokane Indian Reservation and Reardan, a city 22 miles away from it
The Theme
...............................................isolation
The Style
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is written sort of like a diary with doodles drawn in the margins. Junior tells his story in short chapters, much like if he were writing things down as they happened, then illustrating a part of it because he got bored or wanted to show something rather than tell it. It's about a fourteen year old boy, so it reads like a fourteen year old boy thinks, with sarcasm, wit, humor, anger and masturbation (not necessarily in that order).
The Analysis
This book is hilarious and moving at the same time, which is rare. I think teens could really relate to Junior because he's not afraid to tell it like it is, whether it's about basketball, boobs or books or more important things like friendship, love, life or death. The illustrations are great and funny, but sometimes serious. It's a great tale of growing up, regardless of who you are or where you live.
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The illustrations drawn by Junior in the book are what he sees in and around himself on the reservation and in his new all-white school. Some are of his family and friends on the rez, which are Indian with dark hair and strong facial structures, others are of his new friends and teachers at his new school, which are white with light eyes and light hair. Some of the illustrations are of random things, like butts and volcanoes and birds and basketball, all of which pertain to the importance of the story.
Text: There are lots of cultural markers in the text of this novel. The majority of the time, the reservation is called the rez, there are many times that Junior is called by negative Indian names, like Chief, Sitting Bull, Tonto, Red-Skin and Squaw Boy (63). There are many references to the white people that live in and around the rez being sad just like the Indians on the rez, but white people who don't live on the reservation are wonderful and full of hope. There are a few times that Indians are described as being red. There are also other stereotypical Indian notions mentioned in the book, such as alcoholism and gambling addiction.
The Review
Ian Chipman (Booklist, Aug. 1, 2007 (Vol. 103, No. 22))
Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the “poor-ass” Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. When a teacher pleads with Arnold to want more, to escape the hopelessness of the rez, Arnold switches to a rich white school and immediately becomes as much an outcast in his own community as he is a curiosity in his new one. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation. Alexie’s humor and prose are easygoing and well suited to his young audience, and he doesn’t pull many punches as he levels his eye at stereotypes both warranted and inapt. A few of the plotlines fade to gray by the end, but this ultimately affirms the incredible power of best friends to hurt and heal in equal measure. Younger teens looking for the strength to lift themselves out of rough situations would do well to start here.
The Connection
Since The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is an illustrated diary, I think it would be a fun experiment to share this story with teens, then have them write and illustrate their own diaries.
The Legend of the Windigo
The Bibliography
Ross, Gayle. 1996. The Legend of the Windigo. Ill. by Murv Jacob. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803718977
The Characters
Various American Indian legends and tribes were considered when writing The Legend of the Windigo. This retelling of the story includes several village elders, a smart young boy and of course, the dreaded Windigo.
The Plot
The man-eating Windigo is lurking around in the North Woodlands and begins to eat villagers one by one. The villagers love their land and do not want to abandon it, so the elders pray to the spirit protectors for advice. With the help of a smart boy and a broken rock, they devise a plan to rid themselves of the Windigo. Just when they think their problems with the Windigo have burned along with him, his ashes turn into a swarm of mosquitoes. The Windigo still lives on in those mosquitoes, eating people one tiny, tiny bite at a time.
The Setting
a village in the North Woodlands
The Theme
never let fear (or man-eating monsters) stop you
The Style
The Legend of the Windigo is retelling of the folkloric tale of the Windigo, passed down through many American Indian tribes and generations, that is perfect for a night full of spine-tingling tales around the campfire.
The Analysis
I love all sorts of folktales and fairy tales. 398.2s are the best books in the world! They're great for memorizing and retelling, creating reader's theatre, and (as in The Legend of the Windigo) learning the traditions of another culture. The story is eerie, but not so scary that it couldn't be told to story-lovers of all ages. The illustrations are rich acrylic on watercolor paper and are bold without too much detail. It's kind of reminiscent of the tale, actually. Mysterious with lots of background, like the story passed down from generation to generation and tribe to tribe, but there aren't enough details to pin anything down exactly.
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The acrylic illustrations in The Legend of the Windigo are bright and colorful. The illustrations are focused more on the nature of the area rather than the people in the story, since the story is from multiple backgrounds. The people in the story are painted in what is assumed to be typical for American Indians... leather-esq clothing, dark reddish hued skin, long dark hair, with bows and arrows, feathers and spears.
Text: There are not many cultural markers in the text other than language patterns and some forms of address. The elders are sometimes referred to as wise ones ("Finally it was decided that the elders, the wise ones, would seek the help and guidance of the spirit protectors of their land."), but then they are called Grandparents by the young boy. There is a ceremony described in the text ("Through prayer, fasting, and ceremony the elders would surely be shown the right thing to do."), but the author's note in the back discusses these sweat lodge ceremonies, saying "As with everything else, sweat ceremonies vary from tribe to tribe.... For that reason, and because many traditional peoples are very protective of their own rituals, the ceremony depicted here does not represent the specific spiritual tradition of any one tribe.")
The Review
Gisela Jernigan, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
The Native Peoples of a Northwoods village are content living in the sheltering, deer-filled forest, next to the bright blue, fish-filled lake, but that changes when the dreaded Windigo, a giant, hypnotizing, shape-changing, man-eating creature made of stone, starts preying on the helpless villagers. How the elders, with the help of a clever boy, manage to destroy the monster, makes for an exciting tale that manages to combine both horror and humor. The Windigo gets his revenge, by becoming the infamous northern mosquitoes. Brooding, mostly dark colored acrylic paintings match the scariness of the tale, while also portraying some of the beauty of the forest. An author's note explains how this retelling is influenced by several Native American cultures of the Northern United States.
The Connection
I'd share this tale along with The Windigo's Return by Douglas Wood and compare the two stories. Then, maybe as a sort of silly craft to accompany these tales, paint rocks to look like monsters, since the Windigo is a monster made of rock!
Ross, Gayle. 1996. The Legend of the Windigo. Ill. by Murv Jacob. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0803718977
The Characters
Various American Indian legends and tribes were considered when writing The Legend of the Windigo. This retelling of the story includes several village elders, a smart young boy and of course, the dreaded Windigo.
The Plot
The man-eating Windigo is lurking around in the North Woodlands and begins to eat villagers one by one. The villagers love their land and do not want to abandon it, so the elders pray to the spirit protectors for advice. With the help of a smart boy and a broken rock, they devise a plan to rid themselves of the Windigo. Just when they think their problems with the Windigo have burned along with him, his ashes turn into a swarm of mosquitoes. The Windigo still lives on in those mosquitoes, eating people one tiny, tiny bite at a time.
The Setting
a village in the North Woodlands
The Theme
never let fear (or man-eating monsters) stop you
The Style
The Legend of the Windigo is retelling of the folkloric tale of the Windigo, passed down through many American Indian tribes and generations, that is perfect for a night full of spine-tingling tales around the campfire.
The Analysis
I love all sorts of folktales and fairy tales. 398.2s are the best books in the world! They're great for memorizing and retelling, creating reader's theatre, and (as in The Legend of the Windigo) learning the traditions of another culture. The story is eerie, but not so scary that it couldn't be told to story-lovers of all ages. The illustrations are rich acrylic on watercolor paper and are bold without too much detail. It's kind of reminiscent of the tale, actually. Mysterious with lots of background, like the story passed down from generation to generation and tribe to tribe, but there aren't enough details to pin anything down exactly.
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The acrylic illustrations in The Legend of the Windigo are bright and colorful. The illustrations are focused more on the nature of the area rather than the people in the story, since the story is from multiple backgrounds. The people in the story are painted in what is assumed to be typical for American Indians... leather-esq clothing, dark reddish hued skin, long dark hair, with bows and arrows, feathers and spears.
Text: There are not many cultural markers in the text other than language patterns and some forms of address. The elders are sometimes referred to as wise ones ("Finally it was decided that the elders, the wise ones, would seek the help and guidance of the spirit protectors of their land."), but then they are called Grandparents by the young boy. There is a ceremony described in the text ("Through prayer, fasting, and ceremony the elders would surely be shown the right thing to do."), but the author's note in the back discusses these sweat lodge ceremonies, saying "As with everything else, sweat ceremonies vary from tribe to tribe.... For that reason, and because many traditional peoples are very protective of their own rituals, the ceremony depicted here does not represent the specific spiritual tradition of any one tribe.")
The Review
Gisela Jernigan, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
The Native Peoples of a Northwoods village are content living in the sheltering, deer-filled forest, next to the bright blue, fish-filled lake, but that changes when the dreaded Windigo, a giant, hypnotizing, shape-changing, man-eating creature made of stone, starts preying on the helpless villagers. How the elders, with the help of a clever boy, manage to destroy the monster, makes for an exciting tale that manages to combine both horror and humor. The Windigo gets his revenge, by becoming the infamous northern mosquitoes. Brooding, mostly dark colored acrylic paintings match the scariness of the tale, while also portraying some of the beauty of the forest. An author's note explains how this retelling is influenced by several Native American cultures of the Northern United States.
The Connection
I'd share this tale along with The Windigo's Return by Douglas Wood and compare the two stories. Then, maybe as a sort of silly craft to accompany these tales, paint rocks to look like monsters, since the Windigo is a monster made of rock!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
The Skirt
The Bibliography
Soto, Gary. 1992. The Skirt. Ill. by Eric Velasquez. New York: Delacourt Press. ISBN 9780385306652
The Characters
Fourth grader Miata Ramirez and her best friend, Ana Madrigal, are the main characters of The Skirt. Other characters include Miata's parents and younger brother and a friend named Rodolfo.
The Plot
Miata accidentally leaves her skirt on the school bus one Friday afternoon. She's lost lots of other things before - books, sweaters, lunch money, even her shoes! - but this time, she lost something very important. She lost her folklórico skirt. Well, not her skirt, it actually belonged to her mother when she was little, living in Mexico. Miata is supposed to wear her skirt to perform a traditional dance after church on Sunday, but will she be able to? She and Ana must find her skirt before Sunday, without anybody else finding out about it!
The Setting
San Joaquin Valley, Sanger, California
The Theme
keeping family traditions alive
The Style
The Skirt is written in a very simple style, almost too simple for fourth graders, I think. The action of the story is fun, but the text seems to easy to read to me. Since the characters are fourth graders, I would think that fourth-grade kids would read it. Sometimes the sentences are complex, but more often than not, they are just simple. "It was a beautiful May.... This made him happy" (23).
The Analysis
This book seems dated to me. It was written in 1992 and it reads like it was written then. It's by no means a classic, but it doesn't have a timeless feel to it like a contemporary fiction book should. It also bothers me that the Spanish words are in italics. It breaks up the flow of the story and makes the family feel like outsiders to me instead of Mexican-Americans. I also don't like the term Mexican-American because Mexico is a part of America, too. The United States isn't the only place that is American... Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Chile... all those places are American, too, just North, Central and South.
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The rich colors on the cover are mostly shades of green, red and white, the colors of the Mexican flag. Since that is the only illustration in color, it shows Miata as having warm, honey colored skin and dark brown hair, which is to be expected of a young Mexican girl. The rest of the illustrations are pencil and show Miata and Ana looking for the skirt, but the drawing on page 24 shows the dining area of Miata's house, complete with the entire family sitting around the table and artwork on the wall. The artwork is what I would image I would see in a traditional Mexican household. It looks to be Aztec or maybe Pueblo, or maybe it's just a drawing that's supposed to look traditional. The dining room illustration also shows plates on a china cabinet-type thing, which seems more Americanized. The illustrations show just what the book is about, a contemporary Mexican-American family.
Text: Miata describes Ana's appearance on page 14, "Little Ana had curly hair and a galaxy of freckles on her face. Miata had known one other Mexican girl who had freckles." This describes an atypical Mexican trait and identifies Miata, Ana and the other characters as Mexican. The characters also speak in Spanish on several occasions, throwing in a word here or there (¡Ay! ¡Qué bueno!) or speaking in complete sentences ("Todavía no está aquí" (17).)
Another cultural marker that shows the traditional Mexican-American family is the food that they eat. They eat carne del viernes, a meal made up of steak, frijoles, papas fritas, tortillas and salad. A mix of Mexican food and food from the United States. They also enjoy hamburgers and fries and, for breakfast, chorizo con huevos.
The folklórico dance and skirt are also cultural markers, but the style of dance and even the reason for the dance are not mentioned in the text.
The Review
Carolyn Phelan (Booklist, Oct. 15, 1992 (Vol. 89, No. 4))
Frequently scolded for losing things, fourth-grader Miata Ramires can't bear to tell her parents that she's left her treasured folklorico skirt on the Friday afternoon school bus. Mom wore the skirt as a child in Mexico and now looks forward to watching Miata wear it when her dance troupe performs in the church courtyard on Sunday. With help from an old friend and an old enemy, Miata breaks into the bus yard, retrieves the skirt, and wears it in her performance. A good beginning chapter book, this uses simple words without sounding too simplistic. Velasquez's eight drawings break up the text, heighten the drama, and provide sympathetic portrayals of the characters.
The Connection
I'd like to share this book and others by Gary Soto (Taking Sides, Jesse) then maybe prepare la comida that was mentioned in this story. Papas fritas, frijoles, tortillas, chorizo con huevos... Delicioso!
Soto, Gary. 1992. The Skirt. Ill. by Eric Velasquez. New York: Delacourt Press. ISBN 9780385306652
The Characters
Fourth grader Miata Ramirez and her best friend, Ana Madrigal, are the main characters of The Skirt. Other characters include Miata's parents and younger brother and a friend named Rodolfo.
The Plot
Miata accidentally leaves her skirt on the school bus one Friday afternoon. She's lost lots of other things before - books, sweaters, lunch money, even her shoes! - but this time, she lost something very important. She lost her folklórico skirt. Well, not her skirt, it actually belonged to her mother when she was little, living in Mexico. Miata is supposed to wear her skirt to perform a traditional dance after church on Sunday, but will she be able to? She and Ana must find her skirt before Sunday, without anybody else finding out about it!
The Setting
San Joaquin Valley, Sanger, California
The Theme
keeping family traditions alive
The Style
The Skirt is written in a very simple style, almost too simple for fourth graders, I think. The action of the story is fun, but the text seems to easy to read to me. Since the characters are fourth graders, I would think that fourth-grade kids would read it. Sometimes the sentences are complex, but more often than not, they are just simple. "It was a beautiful May.... This made him happy" (23).
The Analysis
This book seems dated to me. It was written in 1992 and it reads like it was written then. It's by no means a classic, but it doesn't have a timeless feel to it like a contemporary fiction book should. It also bothers me that the Spanish words are in italics. It breaks up the flow of the story and makes the family feel like outsiders to me instead of Mexican-Americans. I also don't like the term Mexican-American because Mexico is a part of America, too. The United States isn't the only place that is American... Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Chile... all those places are American, too, just North, Central and South.
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The rich colors on the cover are mostly shades of green, red and white, the colors of the Mexican flag. Since that is the only illustration in color, it shows Miata as having warm, honey colored skin and dark brown hair, which is to be expected of a young Mexican girl. The rest of the illustrations are pencil and show Miata and Ana looking for the skirt, but the drawing on page 24 shows the dining area of Miata's house, complete with the entire family sitting around the table and artwork on the wall. The artwork is what I would image I would see in a traditional Mexican household. It looks to be Aztec or maybe Pueblo, or maybe it's just a drawing that's supposed to look traditional. The dining room illustration also shows plates on a china cabinet-type thing, which seems more Americanized. The illustrations show just what the book is about, a contemporary Mexican-American family.
Text: Miata describes Ana's appearance on page 14, "Little Ana had curly hair and a galaxy of freckles on her face. Miata had known one other Mexican girl who had freckles." This describes an atypical Mexican trait and identifies Miata, Ana and the other characters as Mexican. The characters also speak in Spanish on several occasions, throwing in a word here or there (¡Ay! ¡Qué bueno!) or speaking in complete sentences ("Todavía no está aquí" (17).)
Another cultural marker that shows the traditional Mexican-American family is the food that they eat. They eat carne del viernes, a meal made up of steak, frijoles, papas fritas, tortillas and salad. A mix of Mexican food and food from the United States. They also enjoy hamburgers and fries and, for breakfast, chorizo con huevos.
The folklórico dance and skirt are also cultural markers, but the style of dance and even the reason for the dance are not mentioned in the text.
The Review
Carolyn Phelan (Booklist, Oct. 15, 1992 (Vol. 89, No. 4))
Frequently scolded for losing things, fourth-grader Miata Ramires can't bear to tell her parents that she's left her treasured folklorico skirt on the Friday afternoon school bus. Mom wore the skirt as a child in Mexico and now looks forward to watching Miata wear it when her dance troupe performs in the church courtyard on Sunday. With help from an old friend and an old enemy, Miata breaks into the bus yard, retrieves the skirt, and wears it in her performance. A good beginning chapter book, this uses simple words without sounding too simplistic. Velasquez's eight drawings break up the text, heighten the drama, and provide sympathetic portrayals of the characters.
The Connection
I'd like to share this book and others by Gary Soto (Taking Sides, Jesse) then maybe prepare la comida that was mentioned in this story. Papas fritas, frijoles, tortillas, chorizo con huevos... Delicioso!
Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico!
The Bibliography
Mora, Pat. 2007. Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! Ill. by Rafael López. New York: Lee and Low Books. 9781584302711
The Poetry
haiku
The Plot
This is a book of short and deliciously sweet haiku poems about food grown in North, Central and South America.
The Theme
foods from the Americas
The Style
Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! is a book of food haiku. In addition to a short poem about each food item, there is also a brief bit of information about where each food comes from.
The Analysis
This book is beautifully illustrated in acrylic on wood panels. The bright colors are reminiscent of Mexico and South America, bright oranges, yellows, greens and reds. The poems are cute and the information provided about each type of food is very interesting! Just as an example, I didn't know that papayas could grow to weigh 20 pounds!
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The illustrations in the book show the poems in vivid detail. The poem about the chile has a Mexican man breathing fire in the desert because chiles are hot! The poem about the potato shows what appears to be a South American girl and a girl from the United States sprinkling salt and pepper on a mound of mashed potatoes. Since potatoes come from South America but are now a staple in the United States as well, it seems only necessary that there are these types of girls illustrated for this poem. Each poem is illustrated like that, showing vividly about the origin of each food.
Text: Each food item discussed in Yum ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! is from a different country, mostly from Central and South America. Each description tells where the food is from and a little bit of unique information about the countries or cultures of origin. In most cases, there is an interesting tidbit about the food, too, such as the following: "Today the starch from corn kernels is used as a binder to help crayons and chalk hold together." Did you know that?
The Review
Julie Cummins (Booklist, Dec. 1, 2007 (Vol. 104, No. 7))
Starred Review* This inventive stew of food haiku celebrates the indigenous foods of the Americas. Each of the 13 poems appears on a gloriously colorful double-page spread, accompanied by a sidebar that presents information about the origin of the food. From blueberries to prickly pears to corn, the acrylic-on-wood-panel illustrations burst with vivid colors and stylized Mexican flair. The poems capture the flavor of the item in a way children can easily understand—Chocolate: Fudge, cake, pie, cookies. / Brown magic melts on your tongue. / Happy, your eyes dance; Pineapple: A stiff, spiky hat / on thick prickly skin, inside / hide syrupy rings. The print of the text in the sidebars is too small, but otherwise this will provide lots and lots of lip-smacking fun that teachers can use to supplement social studies and language arts units; they can also share one poem at a time, between other subjects. An author’s note, which addresses lingering scientific debate about the geographical origins of some of the featured foods, also includes a warm celebration of diversity: We do know that all these plants were grown and enjoyed . . . long before Christopher Columbus or any other Europeans had ever tasted such wonderful foods. The world’s variety is amazing—and delicious.
The Connection
This book is full of yummy foods - blueberries, chiles, chocolate, corn, cranberries, papayas, peanuts, pecans, pineapples, potatoes, prickly pears, pumpkins, tomatoes and vanilla. It would be fun to share these foods with kids as we read the poems. Also, there is a website called The Dairy Lama (dairylama.com) where people can share and have shared haiku poems about cheese! This would be fitting since all the poems in this book are about food.
Mora, Pat. 2007. Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! Ill. by Rafael López. New York: Lee and Low Books. 9781584302711
The Poetry
haiku
The Plot
This is a book of short and deliciously sweet haiku poems about food grown in North, Central and South America.
The Theme
foods from the Americas
The Style
Yum! ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! is a book of food haiku. In addition to a short poem about each food item, there is also a brief bit of information about where each food comes from.
The Analysis
This book is beautifully illustrated in acrylic on wood panels. The bright colors are reminiscent of Mexico and South America, bright oranges, yellows, greens and reds. The poems are cute and the information provided about each type of food is very interesting! Just as an example, I didn't know that papayas could grow to weigh 20 pounds!
The Cultural Markers
Illustrations: The illustrations in the book show the poems in vivid detail. The poem about the chile has a Mexican man breathing fire in the desert because chiles are hot! The poem about the potato shows what appears to be a South American girl and a girl from the United States sprinkling salt and pepper on a mound of mashed potatoes. Since potatoes come from South America but are now a staple in the United States as well, it seems only necessary that there are these types of girls illustrated for this poem. Each poem is illustrated like that, showing vividly about the origin of each food.
Text: Each food item discussed in Yum ¡Mmmm! ¡Qué Rico! is from a different country, mostly from Central and South America. Each description tells where the food is from and a little bit of unique information about the countries or cultures of origin. In most cases, there is an interesting tidbit about the food, too, such as the following: "Today the starch from corn kernels is used as a binder to help crayons and chalk hold together." Did you know that?
The Review
Julie Cummins (Booklist, Dec. 1, 2007 (Vol. 104, No. 7))
Starred Review* This inventive stew of food haiku celebrates the indigenous foods of the Americas. Each of the 13 poems appears on a gloriously colorful double-page spread, accompanied by a sidebar that presents information about the origin of the food. From blueberries to prickly pears to corn, the acrylic-on-wood-panel illustrations burst with vivid colors and stylized Mexican flair. The poems capture the flavor of the item in a way children can easily understand—Chocolate: Fudge, cake, pie, cookies. / Brown magic melts on your tongue. / Happy, your eyes dance; Pineapple: A stiff, spiky hat / on thick prickly skin, inside / hide syrupy rings. The print of the text in the sidebars is too small, but otherwise this will provide lots and lots of lip-smacking fun that teachers can use to supplement social studies and language arts units; they can also share one poem at a time, between other subjects. An author’s note, which addresses lingering scientific debate about the geographical origins of some of the featured foods, also includes a warm celebration of diversity: We do know that all these plants were grown and enjoyed . . . long before Christopher Columbus or any other Europeans had ever tasted such wonderful foods. The world’s variety is amazing—and delicious.
The Connection
This book is full of yummy foods - blueberries, chiles, chocolate, corn, cranberries, papayas, peanuts, pecans, pineapples, potatoes, prickly pears, pumpkins, tomatoes and vanilla. It would be fun to share these foods with kids as we read the poems. Also, there is a website called The Dairy Lama (dairylama.com) where people can share and have shared haiku poems about cheese! This would be fitting since all the poems in this book are about food.
The Firefly Letters
The Bibliography
Engle, Margarita. 2010. The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9780805090826
The Characters
The three main characters of The Firefly Letters are Fredrika, Elena and Cecilia. While Fredrika Bremer is a real person, a women's rights pioneer from the 1800s, and Cecilia, the her translator who happens to be a slave is also real and documented in Fredrika's letters, Elena is fictional.
The Plot
Swedish writer Fredrika Bremer asks the Swedish Consulate to send her to Cuba so she can write about the lives of women there. She finds herself living in a mansion with Elena and her family's slaves. Cecilia, one of the slaves, is pregnant and works as a translator for Elena's family, but dreams of returning to her mother in Africa. Although she's wealthy, Elena's life is also like a slave's, she can not leave her house and also longs for freedom. Elena, with the help of Fredricka, figures out a plan to help Cecilia buy her baby's freedom.
The Setting
Matanzas, Cuba in the 1850s
The Theme
searching for freedom
The Style
The Firefly Letters is a novel written in verse from the perspectives of the main characters, Fredrika, Elena and Cecilia, and also Cecilia's husband, Beni. The rich poetry in English with some Spanish here and there makes the theme of the search for freedom seem, as quoted from one of the poems, "...such a rare / and fragile gift" (109).
The Analysis
I enjoyed reading The Firefly Letters. The poetry didn't seem forced and told a delicate story of the importance of freedom. Subtly comparing freedom with catching fireflies, this story was beautiful. Each girl seeks her freedom in a different way. Fredrika wants to write and travel, not be trapped inside her family's castle dancing ballet and playing piano. Elena wants to leave her house and do as she pleases, instead of being kept in her room, only to watch as the world moves without her. Cecilia longs for freedom from slavery and to move back to Africa with her husband and unborn child.
The Cultural Markers
Although this book takes place in Cuba, the story is not only about Cubans, but blacks and Swedish people as well. One particular passage on page 109 from a poem by Cecilia really describes the view she has of people and the color of their skin:
They tell me they do not believe
that people are either
black or white -
if that were so, then mixed-race children
would all be gray
instead of a myriad
lovely warm shades
of natural brown.
There are multiple references to the languages spoken by the characters in the book. Elena speaks Spanish and some English, Cecilia speaks both well, and Fredrika speaks and writes in Swedish and English.
The tropical landscape of Cuba is also described in several poems ("The quality of light in tropical air / is more intense and on hot days / a sea breeze feels like the breath of heaven" (71)).
The Review
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Dec. 15, 2009 (Vol. 106, No. 8))
As in The Poet Slave of Cuba (2006) and The Surrender Tree (2008), Engle draws on little-known Cuban history to tell a stirring, immediate story in poetry. Based on the diaries and letters of Swedish suffragist Fredrika Bremer, who spent three months in Cuba in 1851, this title focuses on oppressed women, the privileged as well as the enslaved, in three alternating free-verse narratives. Fredrika remembers that back home in Sweden, she was kept hungry so that she would grow up to be thin and graceful. Her savvy translator is Cecilia, a teenage slave who remembers being captured in the Congo when she was eight years old and sold to a trader by her own father. Elena is a fictional character, a privileged girl in a slave-owning family who is forced into a life filled with “frilly dresses and ornate dance steps” that allows her little freedom. Through this moving combination of historical viewpoints, Engle creates dramatic tension among the characters, especially in the story of Elena, who makes a surprising sacrifice.
The Connection
I think it would be nice to share this book in verse about Cuba and slavery with other similar books written by Margarita Engle, such as The Poet Slave of Cuba, The Surrender Tree, Tropical Secrets and Hurricane Dancers. Her poetry is so moving that it would be nice to read it aloud.
Engle, Margarita. 2010. The Firefly Letters: A Suffragette's Journey to Cuba. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 9780805090826
The Characters
The three main characters of The Firefly Letters are Fredrika, Elena and Cecilia. While Fredrika Bremer is a real person, a women's rights pioneer from the 1800s, and Cecilia, the her translator who happens to be a slave is also real and documented in Fredrika's letters, Elena is fictional.
The Plot
Swedish writer Fredrika Bremer asks the Swedish Consulate to send her to Cuba so she can write about the lives of women there. She finds herself living in a mansion with Elena and her family's slaves. Cecilia, one of the slaves, is pregnant and works as a translator for Elena's family, but dreams of returning to her mother in Africa. Although she's wealthy, Elena's life is also like a slave's, she can not leave her house and also longs for freedom. Elena, with the help of Fredricka, figures out a plan to help Cecilia buy her baby's freedom.
The Setting
Matanzas, Cuba in the 1850s
The Theme
searching for freedom
The Style
The Firefly Letters is a novel written in verse from the perspectives of the main characters, Fredrika, Elena and Cecilia, and also Cecilia's husband, Beni. The rich poetry in English with some Spanish here and there makes the theme of the search for freedom seem, as quoted from one of the poems, "...such a rare / and fragile gift" (109).
The Analysis
I enjoyed reading The Firefly Letters. The poetry didn't seem forced and told a delicate story of the importance of freedom. Subtly comparing freedom with catching fireflies, this story was beautiful. Each girl seeks her freedom in a different way. Fredrika wants to write and travel, not be trapped inside her family's castle dancing ballet and playing piano. Elena wants to leave her house and do as she pleases, instead of being kept in her room, only to watch as the world moves without her. Cecilia longs for freedom from slavery and to move back to Africa with her husband and unborn child.
The Cultural Markers
Although this book takes place in Cuba, the story is not only about Cubans, but blacks and Swedish people as well. One particular passage on page 109 from a poem by Cecilia really describes the view she has of people and the color of their skin:
They tell me they do not believe
that people are either
black or white -
if that were so, then mixed-race children
would all be gray
instead of a myriad
lovely warm shades
of natural brown.
There are multiple references to the languages spoken by the characters in the book. Elena speaks Spanish and some English, Cecilia speaks both well, and Fredrika speaks and writes in Swedish and English.
The tropical landscape of Cuba is also described in several poems ("The quality of light in tropical air / is more intense and on hot days / a sea breeze feels like the breath of heaven" (71)).
The Review
Hazel Rochman (Booklist, Dec. 15, 2009 (Vol. 106, No. 8))
As in The Poet Slave of Cuba (2006) and The Surrender Tree (2008), Engle draws on little-known Cuban history to tell a stirring, immediate story in poetry. Based on the diaries and letters of Swedish suffragist Fredrika Bremer, who spent three months in Cuba in 1851, this title focuses on oppressed women, the privileged as well as the enslaved, in three alternating free-verse narratives. Fredrika remembers that back home in Sweden, she was kept hungry so that she would grow up to be thin and graceful. Her savvy translator is Cecilia, a teenage slave who remembers being captured in the Congo when she was eight years old and sold to a trader by her own father. Elena is a fictional character, a privileged girl in a slave-owning family who is forced into a life filled with “frilly dresses and ornate dance steps” that allows her little freedom. Through this moving combination of historical viewpoints, Engle creates dramatic tension among the characters, especially in the story of Elena, who makes a surprising sacrifice.
The Connection
I think it would be nice to share this book in verse about Cuba and slavery with other similar books written by Margarita Engle, such as The Poet Slave of Cuba, The Surrender Tree, Tropical Secrets and Hurricane Dancers. Her poetry is so moving that it would be nice to read it aloud.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Heaven
The Bibliography
Johnson, Angela. 1998. Heaven. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780689822292
The Plot
Marley and her family live in Heaven... Heaven, Ohio. Their lives are basically perfect. Marley has good friends, she loves her parents and her brother, that is, until she finds out that they are not her parents and brother, but her aunt, uncle and cousin instead. Her true father is her Uncle Jack, who travels around with his dog, Boy. Uncle Jack gave Marley to his brother to raise because his wife, Marley's real mother, passed away and Jack didn't think he could take care of her on his own. Marley struggles to return to her feeling of Heaven after her life is flipped upside down.
Since this story is about Marley and her life after being given up for adoption from her widower father, it could be interesting to read another story by Angela Johnson that also features a single father, this time, one that takes care of his baby, The First Part Last.
Johnson, Angela. 1998. Heaven. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780689822292
The Plot
Marley and her family live in Heaven... Heaven, Ohio. Their lives are basically perfect. Marley has good friends, she loves her parents and her brother, that is, until she finds out that they are not her parents and brother, but her aunt, uncle and cousin instead. Her true father is her Uncle Jack, who travels around with his dog, Boy. Uncle Jack gave Marley to his brother to raise because his wife, Marley's real mother, passed away and Jack didn't think he could take care of her on his own. Marley struggles to return to her feeling of Heaven after her life is flipped upside down.
The Analysis
Heaven is a short, quick read. I enjoyed the story and actually read it in one sitting. Reading about Marley and her perfectly beautiful friend Shoogy and her sweet, single-father friend Bobby and his little girl Feather, show what Marley's life could have been like. It could have been perfect, but Shoogy doesn't like her perfect life, so much so that she cuts herself to not be perfect. Bobby is a single-father and cares for his little one and works hard to succeed in that life. That's what could have been. But it's not what happened because life isn't always perfect.
The cultural markers in Heaven are there, but are subtle. I think there were only one or two mentions of skin color and hair. The fact that Marley was named after Bob Marley is also a sign, but I actually have two cousins that named their baby girls Marley after Bob Marley and they're white. There was a mention of taking Kool-Aid to the lake, but almost all kids drinks Kool-Aid. Shoogy and Feather are pretty peculiar names, but that doesn't mean anything either. These markers are slight, but if they were not included, the story wouldn't be quite what it is.
The Review
Claire Rosser (KLIATT Review, November 1998 (Vol. 32, No. 6))
Each one of Johnson's books seems to me to be a polished gem, and Heaven is among the most brilliant. She has a unique style that is difficult to describe, but not difficult to read and react to. Heaven is a small town in Ohio, a town that seems to attract people from all over the country: "We live in Heaven 'cause about twelve years ago Momma found a postcard on a park bench postmarked HEAVEN, OH. On the front of the postcard were clouds and a group of people floating around and waving. It said, HI FROM HEAVEN. Momma said she'd been looking for Heaven her whole life -- so we moved: Momma, Pops, Butchy, and me." In some ways, they are in heaven, working and living with friendly people. In the summer of this story of revelation, Marley (named after Bob) babysits for a toddler named Feather, who is lovingly tended by her single dad, Bobby, an image of what could have been Marley's life, as we discover. She hangs out with her best friend Shoogy whose seemingly perfect family serves as a image of Marley's seemingly perfect family. Then Marley finds out that her parents have lived with a lie: that she is their adopted daughter, and her father is actually her beloved Uncle Jack who sends letters to her from all over the country where he is aimlessly traveling along with his dog. She is stunned by this news, filled with conflicting emotions that she finds difficult to express. Mostly, she is furious that she has been told a basic lie about her identity, and that her world, her heaven, has been turned upside down. Over the weeks, as she comes to terms with this new reality, she is helped by her friends and family, all of whom love her dearly. Again, Johnson writes of African American families and communities, mentioning here and there the shade of brown skin, perhaps the dreadlocks, that identify her characters' racial identity. This is a part of them, but certainly not the whole of these incredibly whole folks Johnson has created.
The Connection
Since this story is about Marley and her life after being given up for adoption from her widower father, it could be interesting to read another story by Angela Johnson that also features a single father, this time, one that takes care of his baby, The First Part Last.
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