CULTURE 6: INCLUSIVE LITERATURE

A NOVEL BY NAOMI SHIHAB NYE
Habibi

 1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Nye, Naomi Shihab. HABIBI. New York: Simon & Schuster Books. ISBN:978068925231
2. PLOT SUMMARY
 When fourteen-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Like Nye's beautiful collection of poems, 19 Varieties of Gazelle, her novel, Habibi, evokes sensual images of a land that she is intimately familiar with. The setting is Jerusalem in the 1990's. The story's focus 14 year old Liyana Abboud and her Palestinian American family. Her father, Poppy, moves the family back to his childhood home in outside of Jerusalem. With her middle school aged brother and her American mother, the family leaves the comforts of their middle class home in St. Louis.
Nye successfully relates the experience of entering a foreign culture and have a deep longing for home,
"Maybe the hardest thing about being overseas was being in a place where no one but your own family had no memory of you. It was like putting yourself back together with little pieces."
But in time the landscape, the "large white stone house" and her grandmother's superstitions, and her Palestinian families' habit of just sitting around and talking became less strange and more like home. Her father, craved his homeland, is shocked by the escalation of violence, and the and the unjust treatment from the Israeli soldiers. In one scene, her grandmother's house is ransacked because the soldiers suspected her son was involved in illegal activity. In another scene, Liyana's young friend from a refugee camp is shot in the leg by a soldier when he is falsely accused of being involved in a bombing at a Jewish market. Nye's story gets more complex when Omer is intoduced to the story just when tensions between the Arabs and Jews are rising. Omer is a Jewish boy whom Liyana meets in a shop. They hit it off immediately because they seem to share a similar life philosophy, which is people are people, no matter what their ethnicity may be. Liyana approaches her dad with the request for Omer to visit her grandmother because, "he has never seen an Arab village."Her father, who has just been released from an Israeli jail,  says no, but Liyana's plea, "What good is it to believe in peace and talk about peace if you only want to live the same old ways?," convinces him otherwise. Omer embraces Liyana's family, he is enchanted by the landscape, and makes a strong connection with Liyana's grandmother. As fairy-tale as this may seem, it is a satisfying vision. The fact that the Abboud's were Palestinian American, even Poppy, gave this event a bit more credence.
"How did a friend change your heart? Could things still be simple? She didn't need everyone to know her--just a few people. That was enough. She needed her family, two countries, her senses, her notebooks and pencils, and her new devotion to --trade. When you like somebody, you wanted to trade the best things you knew about. You liked them not only for themselves, but for the parts of you that they brought out. It wasn't the beginning or end of any story, but the middle of--what felt rich."

4. REVIEWS
Publishers Weekly: " Nye's climactic ending will leave readers pondering, long after the last page is turned, why Arabs, Jews, Greeks and Armenians can no longer live in harmony the way they once did."
School Library Journal: "Poetically imaged and leavened with humor, the story renders layered and complex history understandable through character and incident."
5. CONNECTIONS
Pair with Ibtisam Barakat's Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood, a memoir written by a Palestinian woman about her childhood during the six day war in 1967.
Nye's book of poems, 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East would pair nicely with this books to offer readers a perspective of the people and land.

FOCUS ON GAY/LESBIAN CHARACTERS
In Our Mothers' House

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Polacco, Patricia. 2009. IN OUR MOTHERS' HOUSE. New York:Philomel Books. ISBN:9780399250767

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The adopted African American daughter of a lesbian couple recounts her joyful childhood in her mothers' house.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This celebratory picture book is narrated by one of three adopted children in a lesbian couple's family. The setting, as the title tells, is the narrator's mothers' house. Marmee and Meema are a couple who live in a lively, cozy house in Berkeley, California. As the pictures illustrate, and the text informs, they are energetic, intelligent, loving parents who are dedicated to their children and each other.
The first page shows the narrator,  as a baby in her crib with Meema and Marmee looking on lovingly. She is African American. By the third page the other two children are in the picture: Will, who is Asian, and Millie who appears to be white.
The narrator has many fond memories of her parents, "Our mothers loved to laugh. Meema's whole body shok when she laughed. Marmee laughed almost silently, but she'd laugh so hard that she'd practically fall down and do limp." The story reads like any other happy family reminiscence and the details about their happy home life are captivating. It seems idyllic until the part where Marmee organizes a block party and one of the neighbors, Mrs. Lockner, is introduced. In the scene where the kids are handing out invitations the illustrations show a white woman, Mrs. Lockner, on her porch with her two children. The kid receive the invitation with enthusiasm, but Mrs. Lockner, arms crossed, has a sneer on her face. The narrator asks her mom, "Why doesn't that lady like us, Meema? She just smiled at me and hugged me up. "I like you, baby," she said, and we went on our way." Another encounter, one that is more confrontative receives the same response, but this time, the neighbors, "the Mardicians, the Polos, the Yamagakis, the Keirnans, the Goldsteins, the Abdullahs.."offer their support and hugs.
But life goes happily on, and on the next spread we find Meema and Marmee and the kids happily making dresses for the mother-daughter tea party they were picked to host. In this passage the narrator expresses her appreciation: "There wasn't a day in my life that I didn't feel deeply loved and wanted by Meema and Marmee. Our mothers were willing to do anything for us. We knew that."
This book really is a celebration of family, of life, and of two amazing women.
The story continues through the kids' adulthood and the illustrations show Meema and Marmee as old women: "We watched our mothers grow old together in that house. They passed away within a year of each other. Will, Millie, and I placed them together in a green hillside overlooking the bay very near the place where they pledged their love to each other so many years ago."
This is a unique book indeed, and the story is presented in such a natural way that I imagine for those readers who have never been exposed gay or lesbian families, except for those on t.v. or in movies, this loving portrait may broaden one's awareness of the possibility that lesbian and gay couples can, and do, create loving homes, raise healthy children, contribute to their communities in a positive way, and lead full and varied lives.

4. REVIEWS
School Library Journal: "A lovely book that can help youngsters better understand their world."
Booklist: "Filled with recollections of family holidays, rituals, and special moments, each memory reveals loving insight. "

5. CONNECTIONS
A great book to use in a family story time.
Pair this story with Leslea Newman's book, Mommy, Mama and Me.

FOCUS ON CHARACTERS WITH DISABILITIES

My Brother Charlie

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY

Peete, Holly & Peete, Ryan. 2010. MY BROTHER CHARLIE. Ill. by Shane W. Evans. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 9780545094665

2.PLOT SUMMARY

In this endearing picture book, the reader learns about Charlie, a boy with autism, from his twin sister Callie.

3.CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In the acknowledgements in the back of the book, we learn that this story is written by the mother and daughter of R.J., a boy with autism. And it is clear after reading the story that it is told from an insider's perspective. This is a loving account of a sister's love and appreciation for her twin brother as a unique being with great attributes being a great swimmer, a piano player, a fast runner, and a person who is really good with animals. It is only after we learn this about him, that we learn that he has autism: "As we grew older, Mommy watched Charlie very carefully. She and I could see he was struggling. Then Mommy discovered that Charlie's brain works in a special way, because Charlie has autism. "
This is a sensitively handled account of a families' journey from suspecting a difference in their child, to hearing the disheartening diagnosis;-"One doctor even told Mommy that Charlie would never say, "I love you.", to finding ways of coping, to establishing a strong and loving bond with each other and Charlie.
The language used to describe this complicated condition is simple and straightforward: "When Charlie wants something, nothing stops him. Even when it's dangerous. And there are days when it's hard to be Charlie's sister. Sometimes he can ruin the best playdates. Other times he seems so far away, like when he won't look at me. Or speak. Or play."
The illustrations by Shane Evans are bright and bold. The characters have huge expressive eyes. They are simple and appealing, and match the tone of the narrative.
This book is a gift to any child with a sibling or other family member with Autism.  While acknowledging the difficulties that come with having a sibling with autism, it affirms the individual and the unique and complex qualities that make a person lovable. In the author's notes, Ryan Peete offers ideas to help her friends and their parents "become more accepting of me and my family": "If someone has autism doesn't respond right away when you speak to him, it doesn't mean he's being rude. Socializing can be challenging." And the last idea, if taken to heart by readers, can have a powerful impact on the life of a student with autism: "People with autism are exceptionally smart, but their brains are wired differently. It can take them longer to process information. Please be patient."

4.REVIEWS

Booklist: "A great choice for introducing the subject of autism to young children or for starting discussion in any family dealing with disability. "

School Library Journal: "This title should have a place in most library collections."

5 CONNECTIONS
A great book to use in a Family or Sibling themed story time.
Include this book in any classroom library to use as a read aloud. The authors' notes offer an invaluable insight to students who may have classmates with autism. 

CULTURE 5: ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN LITERATURE

PICTURE BOOK BY ALLEN SAY
Tea With Milk

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Say, Allen. 1999. TEA WITH MILK. Boston:Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN: 9780395904954. 

2. PLOT SUMMARY
May or Masako, raised in San Francisco, moves back to Japan with her parents and finds herself missing her "American" life and feeling confined by the expectations of her parents. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Say's portrayal of a young Japanese American who feels like a foreigner in Japan, is a great example of the complexity of a multicultural experience. The main character, May, does not embrace her parents' homeland. She was raised in America until her parents decided to move when she graduated from high school. Say begins the story with a a black and white watercolor painting of May as a young child standing in front of her house with an American flag mounted near the door. She has a content look on her face and is dressed in  American style clothing.    The second illustration shows Masako standing awkwardly dressed in a kimono with a very sad expression on her face. She misses her American home, her lifestyle and "pancakes and omelets, fried chicken and spaghetti." The customs and past times of Japan do not interest her, "Her new home was drafty, with windows made of paper. She had to wear kimonos and sit on floors until her legs went numb. No one called her May and Masako sounded like someone else's name." 
May's struggles are not only those associated with a cross cultural experience. She is also a young woman who has aspirations and opportunities that are not shared by her mother's generation.  It is more acceptable for a young woman of May's generation to seek employment outside of the home and to fill roles in the workplace and at home that are not traditional. She feels boxed in by her parents expectations that she take lessons in flower arranging, calligraphy and the tea ceremony. She rebels, "Why do I have to do this?" she exclaimed one day. "I'm not going to be a florist or a sign painter! And I like my tea with milk and sugar." She clearly is a modern women and she asserts this to her mother, "All I want is to go to college and then have an apartment of my won."  
Say expertly weaves the experiences and influences of May's cross cultural character. When May applies for a job a a department store, she feels thankful to her mother for the calligraphy lessons! Say emphasizes the changing roles of Japanese women in his illustration of the department store where May finds a job; he depicts Japanese women dressed in western clothing working behind the counter, with customers dressed in kimonos. May is in the foreground dressed in her stylish American clothes with short haircut. Although the ending seems fairy tale, it is not unrealistic for May to have found a mate in a similar situation. Joseph was raised by English foster parents and attended an English school. His perception of "home" is even more untraditional than May's: "May, home isn't a place or a building that's ready-made and waiting for you, in America or anywhere else."
Anyone who has ever felt ostracized, the generation gap, a need for autonomy, and a sense of belonging will find this story very satisfying and reassuring.
Say's training in architecture are obvious in is paintings of buildings and houses. With clean lines and special attention to architectural details as seen in both his paintings of traditional wooden Japanese houses and his paintings of the interior and exteriors of modern Japanese buildings.

4. REVIEWS
Publishers Weekly: "Say's masterfully executed watercolors tell as much of this story about a young woman's challenging transition from America to Japan as his eloquent, economical prose. "
School Library Journal: "This is a thoughtful and poignant book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly our nation's many immigrants who grapple with some of the same challenges as May and Joseph, including feeling at home in a place that is not their own."

5. CONNECTIONS
Use this book with older ESL students, from middle to high school, to encourage them to write about their own experiences living in a new culture. 
Pair this with Say's other autobiographical works like: Tree of Cranes, Grandfather's Journey and The Sign Painter.

NOVEL BY GRACE LIN
Year of the Dog

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Lin, Grace. YEAR OF THE DOG. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN: 9780316060004.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
A story of cultural integration where young Pacy, a Taiwanese American girl, celebrates the Chinese New Year.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Grace Lin includes an abundance of cultural markers that connect this story with the experience of a Taiwanese American family living in the United States. The story begins with Pacy's father wishing relatives from Taiwan a Happy New Year, "Gong xi-gong xi! Xin-nian kuai le!" The customs and foods around the Chinese New Year are described in rich details, as Pacy's family prepares for the celebration.The Year of the Dog, Pacy is told, is the year that "you find your best friends." It's also the year, she's told by her mother, "to find yourself." Through anecdotes told by her mom, we get her mother's parallel childhood experiences in Taiwan, which help Pacy to navigate her own challenges as a young person. When Pacy is teased by other Asian girls for not knowing how to speak the language and for being Americanized her mother tells her: 

"But that is why I wanted you to have friends from our culture, ..."Because it's easier when you know people who understand. "

           "But just because they're Chinese doesn't mean they're the same as me," I said. "I don't think they understand at all."

"That's true," Mom said. "But because they Chinese they are more likely to understand. Look at you and Melody. Don't you think she understands?" 

Pacy is not convinced:

"It's not fair. To Americans, I'm too Chinese, and to Chinese people, I'm too American. So which one am I supposed to be?"

"Neither and both," Mom told me. "you don't have to  be more one than the other, you're Chinese American."

"Or Taiwanese-American," I complained. It's so confusing." 

In this innocent and loving dialogue, Lin makes huge progress in representing an Asian culture honestly with all it's complexities and none of the standard stereotypes. She makes the important distinction between being Chinese and Taiwanese allowing for readers to understand the diversity within the Asian cultures. Pacy's story also includes themes that are typical of those of any young girl: friendship, sibling relationships, and  schoolwork. She avoids even some of the more "positive" stereotypes often attached to characters of Asian descent, like being shy, obedient and excellent at math.
Lin includes simple drawings through-out the book that are amusing and I think, could make and excellent graphic novel.
4. REVIEWS

School Library Journal: "This is an enjoyable chapter book with easily identifiable characters."
Booklist: "Lin does a remarkable job capturing the soul and the spirit of books like those of Hayward or Maud Hart Lovelace, reimagining them through the lens of her own story, and transforming their special qualities into something new for today's young readers."
5. CONNECTIONS
Pair this book with the sequel, "The Year of the Rat."

This is a great choice for ESL students who may be living what Pacy is experiencing in the story.
Ask students to write about their own experiences trying to assimilate into a new culture.
Pair with Mary Hoffman's book, Amazing Grace.

PICTURE BOOK BY ASIAN AMERICAN AUTHOR
Tan to Tamarind: Poems about the Color Brown, By Malathi Michelle Iyengar
2010 APALA Honorable Mention for Picture Book

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Iyengar, Malathi. 2009. TAN TO TAMARIND: POEMS ABOUT THE COLOR BROWN. Ill. by Jamel Akib.  San Francisco: Children's Book Press. ISBN:9780892392279.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
A collection of fifteen poems which celebrate the many shades of brown in skin tone and in nature.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The smiling brown children on the cover illustration of this collection warmly invites the reader to join in a celebration!  The children are embracing each other in solidarity. In the author's notes Iyengar reveals that she was shamed by classmates for being brown; "Every day at the bus stop a group of older kids would call me names and make fun of my brown skin, saying brown was a dirty, ugly color. I longed to trade in my brown complexion for peachy-pink." This book, then, is testament to her overcoming those taunts. Tan to Tamarind is a poetic affirmation that reinforces the fact that brown is beautiful, in all of it varied shades:
"Brown./My face./Milk-tea brown./I am brown./ I am beautiful./Brown./Your face./Sienna brown/or coca brown,/cafe con leche brown or/radiant ocher brown."
These poems carry cultural markers that connect to a variety of East Indian cultures. Children will be intrigued with new words like masala, mehendi, sandalwood and tamarind.Each illustration is a two page spread done in pastels, and feature children whose skin tones vary from topaz, to bay, to sepia, to ocher to beige. These colors are not as distinct as they could be, but the poems descriptive language fills in the blanks that the illustrations may create. For example, for the poem entitled, "Ocher" we learn in the first stanza that ocher is a "vivid orange-brown." If a child has never heard of beige, the poem helps: "Brown./Beige brown./ Warm and scratchy, sandy brown."
In her essay, "The Candle and the Mirror: One Author's Journey as an Outsider," Judi Moreillon says, "All children deserve literature that reflects the cultural diversity of our society and world." I think Malathi Michelle Iyengar and Jamel Akib offer children this diversity in this wonderful book.

4. REVIEWS
School Library Journal: "This exploration of the diversity within the spectrum of brown is a lovely tribute to the color."
Booklist: "Illustrated with pastel pictures in warm autumn colors, both dark and light, the simple poems celebrate the diversity and the connections in nature, culture, place, and language among blacks, Latinos, Indians, Native Americans, and many mixed-race kids."
5. CONNECTIONS
Pair with Langston Hughes's book, My People.

CULTURE 4: NATIVE AMERICAN LITERATURE

A PICTURE BOOK BY JOSEPH BRUCHAC

Crazy Horse's Vision.  Parent's Choice Gold Award

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bruchac, Joseph. CRAZY HORSE'S VISION. Ill. by S.D. Nelson. New York: Lee and Low Books. ISBN: 9781584302827.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
The book tells the story of the boyhood of a Lakota Indian who grew up to be the great leader and warrior, Crazy horse.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The story begins with the birth of Crazy Horse, named Curly, born to Lakota parents in the mid 19th century. Even in his youth Curly demonstrates the kindness and selflessness that defines him in his legacy. As a young man, he embarks on a vision quest after he witnesses the murder of a respected tribal leader by white soldiers. From his vision quest, he learns that he must lead his people and "keep nothing for yourself." S.D. Nelson paints this vision of a blue warrior riding on the back of Curly's horse across a bright blue sky with horses head instead of clouds. In the next two page spread, the colors are darker, and Nelson's brush strokes are stronger. After the vision, he returns to his village but does not share his vision until his fathers approaches him three years later. His father interprets the vision and tells Curly that he is the man on the horse, and that he will defend his people. His father gives him his name, Tashunka Witco, or in English, Crazy Horse. 
Nelson explains in the Illustrator's Note that the paintings are in ledger-book style. During the forced removal of the Plains Indians at the end of the 19th century, many Lakotas were imprisoned. They were given ledger books with lined pages meant to be used for bookkeeping. Nelson explains that for Plains Indians, spiritual power came to those who made paintings of  themselves and the world around them. Some of the imprisoned Lakotas used the ledger books to document their vanishing culture.  S.D. Nelson says, "My intention was to draw young readers into the story. I hope that through my pictures, readers will not only gain a better understanding of Crazy Horse, but an insight into the art of the Plains Indians." For the paintings in the book, he used acrylic paints on wood.
Bruchac tells a compelling story and while his focus, as the title implies, is the Vision, he skillfully describes the tragedy of the Lakotas' encounter with the encroaching White race. Bruchac's story doesn't end with death of Crazy Horse, but the reader is informed in the Author's Note that Crazy Horse dies after being stabbed with a bayonet  by a white soldier. 
Books such as these, written and illustrated by insiders; Bruchac is of Abenaki descent and Nelson is of Lakota Sioux, inform a generation of children about varied and complex history of American Indians. In Crazy Horse, White children experience a Native American hero, much like the saints they may have learned about in their own culture. For American Indian children, Crazy Horse is a role model and opportunity to see in a book a positive reflection of their culture. 

4. REVIEWS
Booklist: "Bruchac has created a memorable tale about Crazy Horse's childhood, capturing the spirit of one of the most dedicated and daring leaders among the Lakota."
School Library Journal:"A fine introduction to a hero long overlooked."
5. CONNECTIONS
This book could be used in an upper elementary classroom as an introduction to the culture of the Lakota Indians. Children can be asked to research the symbolic meaning of the colors use in the paintings. This book would pair nicely with other Bruchac book, A Boy Called Slow:The True Story of Sitting Bull.

A PICTURE BOOK BY CYNTHIA LEITICH SMITH

Jingle Dancer

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2000. JINGLE DANCER. Ill. by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying Hwa Hu. New York: Morrow Junior Books. ISBN:0688162428.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Jingle Dancer is a picture book featuring Jenna, a Native American girl who seeks assistance from her family and community to help her make her dress"sing" when she dances in the upcoming powwow.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Inspired by her Grandmother, a Jingle Dancer, Jenna wants to perform the Jingle Dance in the next powwow. But she doesn't have the jingles for her dress. In a story that reads like a nursery rhyme, Jenna goes from house to house, asking relatives and neighbors for jingles to sew into her dress.  She lives in what appears to be a middle class suburban community. We learn in the Author's Note that Jenna is a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and is of Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe) descent. There are no cultural markers that I could detect in the story that would connect her to these American Indian Nations specifically, except for one mention of a Muscogee Creek story about a bat. Lietich explains that many tribes perform the Jingle Dance. However, the illustrations contain several cultural markers that connect the story to the Native American culture, for example, woven baskets, a dreamcatcher, and fry bread.
The story has a sing song quality and with each visit, she receives another row of jingles and in the end she dances in the powwow in place of her ailing Great Aunt, her busy lawyer cousin Elizabeth, and her beloved Grandma Wolfe:

"Brum, brum,brum sounded the drum at the powwow the next weekend. As light blurred silver, Jenna jingle danced...for Great-aunt Sis, whose legs ached...for Mrs. Scott, who sold fry bread...for Elizabeth, who worked on her big case, and for Grandma Wolfe, who warmed like the sun."

The story's focus is on Jenna and her family, more than the tradition of the Jingle Dance. An emphasis is made on her aunt's occupation, her neighbor's brand new duplex, and her  middle class neighborhood. These details seemed very intentional and are perhaps irrelevant to the story line. However, they provide a very positive, loving example of a Native American family and community.

4. REVIEWS
Publisher's Weekly:"Smith, a mixed-blood member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, convincingly juxtaposes cherished Native American tradition and contemporary lifestyle in this smooth debut."
School Library Journal:"This picture book will not only satisfy a need for materials on Native American customs, but will also be a welcome addition to stories about traditions passed down by the women of a culture."
5. CONNECTIONS
Pair this book with POWWOW by George Ancona and a book by Joseph Bruchac entitled, THE GREAT BALL GAME: A MUSKOGEE STORY.
Show children on a map the area of Oklahoma where Jenna lives. Introduce children to the culture of the Muscogee Indians through non-fiction books.

A NOVEL BY MICHAEL DORRIS

Morning Girl.   Scott O'Dell   Award Winner

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dorris, Michael. 1992. MORNING GIRL. New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN:1562822845.

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Narrated alternately by two siblings, Morning Girl and Star Boy, and set in 1492 in a Bahamian Island, this novel is based on an entry in Christopher Columbus' journal. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
In first person narrative the story of a family and a community is revealed from the point of view of two children, Morning Girl and Star Boy. Michael Dorris creates a portrait of family and community life on a Caribbean Island in the 15th century, around the time of the arrival of Columbus. Island life seems idyllic and simple. Morning Girl's parents are loving and affectionate.  They instill in them a respect for their ancestors that comes to Star Boy's aid during a hurricane: "It's all right, Star Boy," came a gnarled voice, coiled as the twist of knotted wood. "Stay with us, and you will be safe." It was m grandfather, high above me."  The sibling relationship is typical of most sibling relationships, with the quarreling and competitiveness. Their lives are integrated into the natural world. After the hurricane, they are grateful that gathering of food will take little effort: "How easy it was, that first long day, to gather what we needed. The palms were already spread on the ground, perfect for thatch.Coconuts lay where they had fallen, and even, in some unexpected places-large puddles or places where the ponds had spilled over their banks-silver fish carried from the sea could amazingly be found."
Star Girl says, "If something isn't too much or too little, I don't pay attention. When Father repairs the holes in his fishnet after the evening meal, I watch without really seeing him. He's doing what he's supposed to do-his eyes alert for a ripped square, his fingers finding and tying, his voice to Mother too low except for her ears. Or, in midday when it's just Mother and me inside, her humming or telling me about when she was a girl my age while she pounds roots for dinner, the world fits together so tightly, the pieces like pebbles and shells sunk into the sand after the tide has gone out, before anyone has walked on the beach and left footprints."
Dorris ends the book with a journal entry by Columbus describing his impressions of the people on the island:""They are very well formed, with handsome bodies and good faces...They don not carry arms nor are they acquainted with them, because I showed them swords and they took them by the edge and through ignorance cut themselves...They should be good and intelligent servants..."
Dorris creates a thorough portrait of the people through revealing their thoughts and conversations. Columbus' perspective read independently of the novel would be startling , but after "knowing" these people that Dorris creates, the journal entry left this reader horrified. 

4. REVIEWS
School Library Journal: " Dorris has written a reverberating story of coming-of-age, both for the two characters and for the world."
5. CONNECTIONS
Pair with the non-fiction book, THE TAINOS: THE PEOPLE WHO WELCOMED COLUMBUS, by
Francine Jacobs.

CULTURE 3: HISPANIC/LATINO(A) AMERICAN LITERATURE

                                              
 PICTURE BOOK BY PAT MORA
Yum! MmMm! !Que Rico! Americas' Sproutings

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Mora, Pat. 2007. YUM! MmMm! QUE RICO! Ill. by Rafael Lopez. New York: Lee & Low Books, Inc. ISBN: 9781584302711.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
A collection of Haiku about fourteen different types of food from the Americas, with short, informational passages about each food.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
This picture book contains brilliantly colored illustrations by the Mexican artist, Rafael Lopez. The spirited paintings will captivate a young audience. How could a child not be intrigued by the picture of a young boy on the back of a bluebird with a big bowl of blueberries in his arms; or a giant dancing  peanut butter sandwich playing the trumpet. This book is celebratory and playful. And the colors are as delicious as the foods the Haiku describes. In the poem "Peanut," the aforementioned dancing sandwich is pictured with a smiling boy playing a conga drum: "Smear nutty butter,/then jelly. Gooey party,/my sandwich and me." The illustrations reflect the Mexican artistic tradition of the mural. The colors are bold, and there is a folkloric quality to them. In a note in the back of the book, Mora informs the reader, "I like diversity in people and poetry too." In deference to the original people of the America's she informs us that, "..these plants were grown and enjoyed by the peoples of the Americas long before Christopher Columbus or any other Europeans had ever tasted such wonderful foods." And in the informational paragraph on each page, she acknowledges many cultures and countries like Peru, Ecuador, Mexico and Native Americans.
The language is playful uses a few Spanish words. Mora stays true to the 5-7-5 syllabic structure of the Haiku.  In the poem entitled, "Pumpkin,"she inserts a word in Spanish in a context that explains its meaning: "Under round luna,/scattered tumblings down the rows,/autumn's orange face."
This book is truly a celebration of variety, diversity and poetry.
4. BOOK REVIEWS
School Library Journal:"The art conveys an infectious sense of fun, as smiling suns and moons beam down upon happy children and animals, along with a trumpet-wielding peanut-butter sandwich and a dancing pineapple."
5. CONNECTIONS
This book would provide a fun way to introduce Haiku to a class. This book would work well as an art/poetry project, as well as a lesson in geography. In a food themed preschool story time, several of the poems could be read as a "poetry break."

NOVEL BY PAM MUNOZ RYAN

Esperanza Rising, Pura Belpre Award Winner

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Ryan, Pam Munoz. 2000. ESPERANZA RISING. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 978043912041.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Esperanza and her parents live an idyllic life on a large ranch in Mexico. When her beloved father is killed by bandits, Esperanza and her mother need to escape from his corrupt and powerful stepbrothers. They must depend on their servants to get them across the border into California and help them begin a new life as farm workers.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Pam Munoz Ryan tackles many issues in this novel for middle grade readers, without compromising the flow of the story. It would be easy for a story that deals with class issues, racism, and labor struggles, to sound like a diatribe. But Ryan's plot is well-paced and engaging. It is easy to become sympathetic to the plight of young Esperanza whose story begins with a tender interaction between her and her Papi. Her father tells her that the "land is alive."  He asks her, "Did you know that when you lie down on the land, you can feel it breathe?" In this first chapter her father shares his love for the land with Esperanza and this foreshadows a lifelong intimate relationship to the earth. Each chapter is titled a different crop, reflecting the rhythms of the growing season for various crops. The story begins with grapes, "Los Uvas," and ends years later at the start of the grape harvest. Ryan's interlingual use of Spanish in the text is natural, even though she follows the the spanish word or phrase with the English translation.
Esperanza does not transition smoothly from being a princess in her parent's world, to a Mexican laborer on the work farms of the San Joaquin Valley.She has a lot to learn about the struggle to survive in a country that is hostile toward Mexicans and other non-white people.  Ryan creates poignant  scenarios where Esperanza's awareness of the realities of racism hit home. In her relationship with the child, Isabel, who hopes to win the title of class queen, she realizes that Isabel, no matter how deserving of the title, will never win because she is Mexican. Her childhood friend Miguel drives the harsh reality home: " Americans see us as one big, brown group who are good for only manual labor."
Ryan explains in the back of the book that this story is based on her Grandmother's life who like Esperanza, was forced from her affluent, loving home in Mexico, to the harsh realities of life as a migrant farm worker.
Some may argue that the author is attempting to tackle too many issues in this short novel, but I think she raises awareness of the many historical and current issues that Mexican Americans have faced and continue to face in this country, and still manages to keep the story compelling and engaging.  She also creates in Esperanza a multi-dimensional character whose inner and out experiences of her world seem authentic and true. Young readers who have ever experienced the tragedy of loss or the joy of familial love and acceptance will recognize a part of themselves in Esperanza's story.
4. BOOK REVIEWS
VOYA:"Details of existence at the migrant work camp, agricultural strikes and violence, discrimination, and the Mexican repatriation are realistic, based on historical facts in this readable, believable, and inspirational story."
Booklist: "But Ryan writes movingly in clear, poetic language that children will sink into, and the books offers excellent opportunities for discussion and curriculum support."
5. CONNECTIONS
This book would be a great choice for a 4th and 5th grade book discussion group. It would pair well with Julia Alvarez's book, Return to Sender.

Poetry by Gary Soto


Partly Cloudy, Poems of Love and Longing
1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Soto, Gary. 2009. PARTLY CLOUDY: POEMS OF LOVE AND LONGING. Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt. ISBN: 9780152063016.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
The poems in this collection are narrated by a girl and a boy. The first section are from a girl's perspective  entitled, "A Girl's Tears, Her Songs,"  which are followed by poems from a boy's perspective, entitled, "A Boy's Body, His Words." And just as the book's title reads, these are poems about young love, young yearning for love.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
The poems in this collection are written in free verse. Most are short, with only a few stanzas and do not rhyme. The cultural markers that might connect this book to the Latino culture do not exist, except for in one poem called "Barriers," where the narrator says: "Who will understand us?/Not your parents or mine,/As I'm Japanese/And you're Mexican." In most of the other poems, the author's background and culture is invisible, he or she could be any teen in some urban or in some rural environment. There is a richness missing from the lack of details about a particular culture, which my current immersion in multicultural literature has made me come to expect and long for.
Soto however does accomplish the sense of longing and expectation that I remember vividly feeling during my early teen years.  The poem "First Kiss," is one that will take the adult reader back in time: "I haven't been kissed,/But I'm waiting./I'm a little scared/. Do I hold my breath,/Close my eyes, and peek when he/Leans in to me?/Do I lick my lips,/And offer my neck for the first one?..."
He writes as an insider if he has ever been a teenager new to love and romance.
4. REVIEWS
School Library Journal: "Soto skillfully captures the voice and emotions of young teens in love."
Booklist: "Young teens will enjoy the love sick puns and the metaphors, lyrical and sad, that show there is poetry in the way they speak."
5. CONNECTIONS
This book could be used as a prompt for love poems in a class room, along with other books of love poems like, The Rose that Grew from Concrete, by Tupac Shakur.

CULTURE 2: AFRICAN AMERICAN LITERATURE

  

BRIAN PINKNEY ILLUSTRATED BOOK

Ella Fitzgerald, the tale of a vocal virtuosa

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Pinkney, Andrea Davis. 2002. ELLA FITZGERALD: THE TALE OF A VOCAL VIRTUOSA. Ill. by Brian Pinkney. New York: Hyperion Books. ISBN: 0786805684.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Andrea Davis and Brian Pinkney collaborated to create an illustrated biography of Ella Fitzgerald for young children. The story is told in the voice of Scat Cat Monroe, a jazz cat who talks like the cool cats of the time, mimicking Ella’s scat singing style.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

In this amazing collaboration between Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney, children are exposed to the amazing Ella Fitzgerald as well as other jazz luminaries like Chick Webb, Duke Ellington, and Dizzy Gillespie. In the author description on the back jacket flap, we learn that Andrea Davis Pinkney is the founding editor of Jump at the Sun books, which is an imprint of books “celebrating the African American life and culture.” She and Brian Pinkney have accomplished exactly that in this beautifully illustrated and well-told story. One doesn’t need to be a huge jazz fan or have a great knowledge of the art form to appreciate this book, which chronicles the career of one of the most amazing American vocalists.

Ella’s story is told by a cool cat in a zoot suit who speaks, “scat”. Children and adults are immediately drawn into the story by Scat Cat Monroe’s introduction: 

"You may think I look like any other cat. But, baby, I’m in a class all by myself. Scat Cat’s my name. Scat Cat Monroe. A name I’ve earned. Got my name from knowin’ Ella. Ella Fitzgerald. The Queen of Scat. What’s Scat? You ask. Scats the sound that don’t hold back. Ella’s sound-that was scat. Singing so supreme. Music’s velvet-ribbon dream.”

The vibrant illustrations combined with the musical language of the text create a book that feels alive! Brian Pinkney explains in a brief note at the end of the book that he was inspired by the works of several Harlem Renaissance artists who were contemporaries of Ella Fitzgerald. He credits the specific artists and explains that he appreciated how William H. Johnson “so beautifully depicted black people.” This book is a shining example of one that celebrates the culture by highlighting the amazing accomplishments of African American artists as well as their enduring contributions to the world.

Young children will be dazzled by Pinkney’s paintings, which were created on scratchboard, black ink, transparent luma dyes, and acrylic paints. The effect is brilliant colors, which Pinkney describes as “the color palette of the Art Deco movement, which was in vogue during Ella’s youth.”

In the part of the story where Chick Webb’s orchestra is introduced, the illustrations cover a two page spread where Chick Webb and his musicians swing on swings suspended from the turquoise sky playing their instruments. Of course the music they’re playing is swing.

When Bebop music is introduced, and Ella meets Dizzy Gillespie, Pinkney’s playful painting shows Ella and Dizzy riding a giant trumpet through a starry night sky with Scat Cat Monroe tailing behind. The playful text is also packed with information:

“Ella went along for Dizzy’s ride. One night, when the two of them started to jam, Ella made bebop her own. For Ella, scat singing drove bebop home. Ella used her voice in the same way Dizzy used the notes he made with his horn-like a runaway leaf flying high on a breeze.” This simple, but at the same time, sophisticated description of jazz singing, is one example of the brilliance of this biography. Pinkney uses the image of a “runaway leaf flying high on a breeze,” to describe a bebop melody. This is just one example of the many brilliant ways in which the text and the illustrations help to create a vibrant and informative picture book. The scat dialect that the cat speaks in and the rhythm and cadence in the language lend an authentic tone to the book and mirror the playful rhythm of both swing and bebop.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

School Library Journal: "This beautifully rendered tribute to the "Vocal Virtuosa" will be a welcome addition in all libraries."
Publisher's Weekly: " The lengthy text, filled with jazzy colloquialisms, keeps its focus solidly on the music, describing the thrill of Fitzgerald's performances in language that rhymes and slides with the swinging beat of its subject and places readers at the center of the action."
5. CONNECTIONS
This book can be used in a Jazz themed preschool story time with  Ella's song "A Tisket a-Tasket." A great way to introduce kids not only to an amazing artist, but the history of Jazz music, and the period in Harlem when the arts were flourishing.

A Jacqueline Woodson Novel
Locomotion  
A 2003 National Book Award Finalist
A Coretta Scott King Award Honor Book
An ALA notable book

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Woodson, Jacqueline.  2003. LOCOMOTION.  New York: Penguin.
ISBN: 0142401498.
2. PLOT SUMMARY
Lonnie Collins Motion, a.k.a, Locomotion, lost both of his parents in an apartment fire. With no relatives willing to take him and his sister in, they are sent to separate foster families. Through poems written in his classroom under the tutelage of his beloved teacher, Lonnie works through his grief.
3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Jacqueline Woodson’s novel about an eleven-year-old boy’s expression of his sadness over the loss of his parents is a difficult story to get through without shedding tears. In fact it was impossible for me. The novel is set in Brooklyn in Ms. Marcus’ 5^th grade classroom. Lonnie’s story is revealed through a series of poems assigned to him.  Some are light and funny observations of his school friends, or his feelings about math, but most are poignant memories of his parents before the fire took their lives, and his little sister Lili who lives with a different foster family. The  cultural markers that connect the story to African American culture, are the language, the humor, the support from the church community, the expression of affection from his parents, the strength and comfort Ms. Edna, Lonnie’s foster mother, gets from her faith, and the physical descriptions that Lonnie gives of himself, his sister and his friends. In one of the more lighthearted poems in the the book, Lonnie writes about his friends:

“Hey Dog”

“Hey Dog!

That’s how you call your boys.

Hey Dog. You want to hoop?

Then you and your dogs are throwing

The ball around and talking about

Girls and ballplayers and stuff

Your’re gonna have one day

A red car

Some slamming kicks

A shearling coat

A pocket full of money

A pretty girl

A satellite dish and cable

On and on you and your dogs”

One of the most poignant poems is the one where Lonnie goes to the drug store just so he can smell the talc powder that his mother use to use:

Some days, like today

And yesterday and probably

Tomorrow-all my missing gets jumbled up inside of me.

You know honey suckle talc powder:

Mama used to smell like that. She told me

Honeysuckle’s really a flower but all I know

Is the powder that smells like Mama.

Sometimes when the missing gets real bad

I got to the drugstore and before the guard starts

Following me around like I’m gonna steal something

I go to the cosmetics lady and ask her if she has it.

When she says yeah, I say

Can I smell it to see if it’s the  right one?

Even though the cosmetics ladies roll their eyes at me

They let me smell it.

And for those few seconds, Mama’s alive again

And I’m remembering

All kinds of good things about her like

The way she laughed at my jokes

Even when they were dumb

And the way she sometimes just grabbed me

And hugged me before

I had a chance to get away….”


Any child who has ever experienced loss and the longing for a parent or family member will respond to this novel. For "outsiders" this novel offers an exposure to the lifestyle of a young urban black child, the rapport he shares with his friends, the hip hop and rap music they listen to, the food he eats, the ways his parents expressed their love and affection, the ways in which he moves about the city. Some things may go unnoticed by readers outside of the culture, like when Lonnie mentions about using lotion so that "..I don't look ashy," or "Ten cornrows with zigzag parts like Sprewell's.."
In the end, Lonnie's grief doesn't magically disappear, but the reader gets the sense that his burden has lifted slightly; that with the love and support of his friends, his teacher, his foster family and his sister, he can manage his grief and move back into enjoying and living his life.

4.REVIEW EXCERPTS
Kirkus Review: "Count on award-winning Woodson to present readers with a moving, lyrical and completely convincing novel in verse."
Publishers Weekly: "Woodson, through Lonnie, creates (much as Sharon Creech did with the boy narrator in Love That Dog) a contagious appreciation for poetry while using the genre as a cathartic means for expressing the young poet's own grief. Ages 10-up."
5. CONNECTIONS
This would be an excellent novel to pair with Pearl S. Buck's novel, The Big Wave. The very obvious difference between the novels is the fact that Buck writes about the a rural Japanese family as an outsider. However, like Woodson, she addresses the grief of a child who has lost his family in a tsunami, and the influence of the healing power that love and the passage of time has on the character's ability to move on with his life.

A NOVEL BY WALTER DEAN MYERS

Street Love

1.BIBLIOGRAPHY

Myers, Walter Dean. 2006. STREET LOVE. New York: HarperTeen. ISBN: 9780060280802

2. PLOT SUMMARY
A novel in verse about two Harlem teenagers who fall in love. His mother is busy planning a successful future for him; while her mother begins a twenty-year prison sentence. 

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Walter Dean Myers explains in the “extras” section in the back of the book, that most of his stories are informed and inspired by his own life experiences.  For example, like the main characters,  Damien and Junice, Myers grew up in Harlem, he played basketball in the neighborhoods, he had a relative who was incarcerated, and he fell in love.  The authenticity of his novel cannot be disputed.  Violet Harris, a scholar in African American children’s literature has identified common themes in contemporary African American literature. Family loyalty and obligations, consequences of drug and alcohol abuse, under-education, single parenthood, and poverty are a few of these themes that Myers addresses in his novel.

They, their parents, a caseworker, and friends tell Junice and Damien’s story in alternating voices.  Language is the main cultural marker in this story, which reads like a blend of hip-hop and a Shakespearean sonnet. Myers wrote in verse that was inspired by his reading of Shakespeare, and by eavesdropping on teenagers on the street. He originally wrote the entire novel in iambic pentameter, but after listening to the way teenagers spoke, he changed the rhythm and meter to match the vernacular he heard on the street.

 Damien and Kevin converse about a local thug:

“Yo Damien, how you read Sledge?

Is he just about being a fool

Or do you think that his brain

Is twisted enough to find something

Cool in that lip and drip world he’s sliming

In?”

The language changes, though, when the characters are self-reflecting. The following passage is a sad expression of the tragedy of Junice’s life:

“There were no tracks climbing

Like a silver arrow toward a place called

Future. No friendly tower or friendly faces

Eager for my appearance

No. it is all cycle and recycle

What the great-grandmother had done

Is to rut the earth for her children

What the grandmother has done

Is to widen the furrow for her children

What the mother has done

Is to square the pit

Deepening it for the ritual to come.

And here I sit, grave deep among the

Waiting worms, staking my claim

Junice’s history is bleak indeed. And now that her mother is incarcerated and her grandmother’s mind is ravaged by a lifetime of alcohol and drug abuse, she carries the burden of fear that the state will separate her from her sister.  The heaviness she carries within her is intriguing to Damien. His infatuation seems inexplicable to his friends and maybe even to himself.  Junice questions it as well: “What can Damien want of me?/Once he smells the sulfur pouring/From my life he will run.”

Damien’s friends and family do not understand his attraction toward this sad young woman. He seems to be magnetically drawn to her, and in the end, gives up his future to be with her. 

Street Love, as the titles implies is a novel about the inner city with all of the problems and destructive elements that we hear about on the news.  But Myers, in this novel has given readers an opportunity to see beyond the headlines into the hearts and minds of the young lives that endure.

4.REVIEW EXCERPTS

School Library Journal: "This is a quick and satisfying read, simple and timeless."

Booklist: "The realistic drama on the street and at home tells a gripping story. Readers will want to reread the lines they loved."
KLIATT: ""The tale's brevity and evocation of strong emotions will give it appeal to reluctant readers."

5. CONNECTIONS
This would be a great book to use in a youth at risk book discussion group to discuss rap, poetry, and relationships.