African American Literature - "Goin' Someplace Special" by Patricia C. McKissack

Bibliographic data
McKissack, Patricia C. Goin’ Someplace Special. New York: Athenum Books for Young Readers, 2001. ISBN 0689818858

Brief plot summary
‘Tricia Ann is ready to head to Someplace Special all on her own, but Mama Frances is nervous about letting her go out all by herself. Readers follow along as ‘Tricia heads towards the special place. We see her get on a bus, sitting past the “colored section” line. This book, set in the 1950s, explains the Jim Crow laws to children of today. Near a water fountain she goes to sit on a bench but finds that it is inscribed with “FOR WHITES ONLY.” Everyone she comes across tell her to keep her head up, walk proud, and don’t let the laws or the signs steal her happiness. She finally arrives at Someplace Special, and it is indeed special.

Critical analysis
The language in this book demonstrates the vernacular of African Americans, but it is not difficult to read as some books with heavy vernacular. ‘Tricia asks if she can go to this place and Mama Frances answers, “hold yo’ head up and act like you b’long to somebody” (3). The narrative has a little vernacular language in it, but not too much.

This is a great book to introduce children to the Jim Crow segregation laws. McKissack covers important places where the population is segregated, buses, benches at parks, hotels, and movie theaters. Finally, ‘Tricia is allowed into one special building, the public library. Chiseled in the stone of the building the words “PUBLIC LIBRARY: ALL ARE WELCOME” is a welcoming site to ‘Tricia and to many people of all color. This book with its soft watercolors is an important book to add to any collection and to use for school introductions in history/social studies/language arts classes.

There is a lovely relationship story in this book. ‘Tricia and her grandmother have a special bond, which is an important aspect in many African American novels and picture books.

Jerry Pinkney beautifully illustrates this book. His fresh watercolors and drawing brings a softness look over the large pages. Pinkney has been the only illustrator to have won the Coretta Scott King Award four times. The way he has drawn and painted the hair with so much detail with life-like features for the characters really makes the illustrations more special.

The author's note at the end of the book states that this story is based on actual events, the author's as a matter of fact. This also brings in so much realism to the story and situation.

Review excerpt
Publishers Weekly
Pinkney's luminescent watercolors evoke the '50s, from fashions to finned cars, and he captures every ounce of 'Tricia Ann's eagerness, humiliation and quiet triumph at the end.

Booklist
Pinkney's watercolor paintings are lush and sprawling as they evoke southern city streets and sidewalks as well as Tricia Ann's inner glow.

Connections
Have a discussion about the Jim Crow segregation laws
Ready more books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney
- Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
- Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
- The Patchwork Quilt
- Minty: A Story of a Young Harriet Tubman
- God Bless the Child

African American Literature - "Harlem" by Walter Dean Myers/Illustrated by Christopher Myers

Bibliographic data
Myers, Walter Dean. Harlem. New York: Scholastic Press, 1997. ISBN 0590543407

Brief plot summary
Walter Dean Myers provides readers with a glimpse of what it’s like to be in Harlem

Critical analysis
Walter Dean Myers is well known for his chapter books and young adult novels, but not so much for his poetry. Myers traces the history of Harlem and describes the people of Harlem. He writes in free-verse format while his son, Christopher uses ink and gouache over torn paper, creating a beautiful collage for the artwork throughout the book.

An excerpt from page 4:

Harlem was a promise
Of a better life, of a place where a man didn’t

Have to know his place

Simply because he was

Black

The pictures by Christopher Myers are rich in color. The pictures are either in two page spreads or one picture on each page. He depicts the many colors of African Americans, from the light browns to the deep dark blacks. There are pictures of women braiding each other’s hair, playing instruments, playing in the streets, sitting in church,

I happened upon a website that had a snippet of an audio file of one of the poems. This was such a great thing to hear! It’s one thing to read the poems to yourself silently, but to hear it read aloud brought a deeper feeling to the poem. Myers relays both the triumph and despair of African Americans and the hardships that they still face in Harlem.

Find the audio version - it will be worth it to find this book on cd format.

Review excerpt
School Library Journal
A visually striking, oversized picture book. Walter Dean Myers's songlike poem relates the story of a group of people who settled in New York City, hoping to improve their lots in life, only to discover that racism could still keep them from achieving success.

Booklist
The two Myerses--author and artist, father and son--celebrate Harlem, which they perceive both as a city and a "promise of a better life," in quite different but wonderfully complementary ways. The author views Harlem--where he grew up--as a symbol of African American aspiration; the artist shares a more concrete city composed of "colors loud enough to be heard."

Connections
Coretta Scott King Award
Caldecott Honor
Read other books by Myers

African American Literature - "Hush" by Jacqueline Woodson

Bibliographic data
Woodson, Jacqueline. Hush. New York: Putnam Juvenile, 2002. ISBN 0399231145

Brief plot summary
Evie Thomas used to be Toswiah Green. Her whole family has a past life that they will always long for. Her father was a police officer that witnessed a horrible crime. He testified against a fellow officer in a murder case and put his family in danger in doing so. The Green family had to go into the Witness Protection Program. With new names, new town, new home, and no friends how is the family supposed to continue living their new life, happily?

Critical analysis
This coming-of-age novel is very suspenseful. Woodson has created such well-rounded characters with a believable plot. The African American heritage plays an immediate strong role in this novel. Toswiah’s father is the only African American officer in the precinct. The family has never had racial issues while living in Denver, until the night of the crime. Officer Green was witness to a crime where one of his fellow officers shot a 15 year-old African American boy because “he thought” he was going for a gun, when in fact he was just putting his hands up in the air. This becomes a “black and white” issue and the Green family receives many threats over the phone. The Thomas family that previously did not have to worry about racial tension in Denver now worries about living another life and fitting in where no one knows them.

Toswiah narrates many passages where she describes the color of certain people’s skin. She states that her mother is “brown – all-over brown – hair, eyes, skin” (2). She continues describing her mother, “mother’s brown reminds her of everything she loves: Chocolate. Dark wool. The smell of the earth. Trees” (2). Her father’s nicknames for his girls are “copper pennies.” Toswiah describes their hair. They can keep braids in their hair without elastic bands because their hair is so kinky. What is a nice change from this book as compared with other African American literature is that there is no African American vernacular language within this book.

Review excerpt
School Library Journal
This multifaceted novel from the talented Woodson may be too introspective for some readers, but those sophisticated enough to manage the intricacies of the story will come away with images and characters who are impossible to forget.

Publishers Weekly
"Evie/Toswiah Thomas/Green," as the narrator once refers to herself, taps hidden stores of inner strength, ultimately realizing that "I am no longer who I was in Denver, but at least and at most I am." Readers facing their own identity crises will find familiar conflicts magnified and exponentially compounded here, yet instantly recognizable and optimistically addressed.

Connections
“Hush” in a Newbery Honor winner
other awards and recognitions include:National Book Award (nominated), ALA Best Book for Young Adults, School Library Journal Best Book, Booklist Editor’s Choice, New York Public Libraries Books for the Teen Age, Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year, Riverbank Review Children's Books of Distinction Short list, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award Master List, Maine Student Book Award Master List, Pennsylvania School Librarians Association Young Adult Top 40 Nominees, Maud Hart Lovelace Book Award (nominated,) Garden State Teen Book Award Nominee

Check out more books by Woodson:
“I Hadn’t Meant to Tell You This”
“Miracle’s Boys” – a Coretta Scott King Award
“After Tupac and D Foster”
and the Newbery Honor book: “Feathers”

International Lit - "The Magic Hat" by Mem Fox

Bibliographic data
Fox, Mem. The Magic Hat. New York: Harcourt Children's Books, 2002. ISBN 0152010254

Brief plot summary
A magical hat blows into a town and brings magic upon the heads of some unexpected people.

Critical analysis
The illustrations of this book are what first attract the reader’s attention. Tricia Tusa’s vibrant watercolor scenes only add to this humorous story. The people to animals’ depiction are quite humorous. For example, a mother carrying her baby in her arms is seen as a kangaroo with a baby kangaroo (joey) in her pouch, after the magic hat lands on her head.

The Australian culture within this cute story is very few and far between, but peeks up with the kangaroo featured in the book as one of the characters. However, the story is very cute and children will definitely read along with you as you read the singsong words.

Even though this picture book is not drenched with the Australian culture as a few other Mem Fox books are, this story is still a great book. This book will make a great read aloud for story time programs.


Review excerpt
Booklist
The bouncy rhyme is fun if undistinguished, but the artwork, in its oversize format, overflows with good humor. Executed in watercolors, the paintings feature rambunctious children, delightful animals, and a fresh-faced wizard who finagles the hat here and there. Fox moves this feast across the two-page spreads with an ease that buoys the spirit. Good for story hours; even children in the back row will be able to see what's going on.

Publishers Weekly
Kids will eagerly join in the guessing game, which Tusa's (Camilla's New Hairdo) fittingly silly, bustling ink-and-watercolor illustrations whip up into high-octane action. Her clever details add to the clues; for instance, a fruit-stand seller juggles bananas as the hat transforms him into a baboon.


Connections
“Koala Lou” by Mem Fox
“Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild!” by Mem Fox
“Tough Boris” by Mem Fox
“Possum Magic” (Voyager Books) by Mem Fox

International Lit - "The Robber and Me" by Josef Holub

Bibliographic data
Holub, Josef. The Robber and Me. New York: Henry Holt And Co. (Byr), 1997. ISBN 0805055991

Brief plot summary
A young orphan, Boniface Schroll is abandoned in the forest close to a German village, Graab. A man in a big black hat rescues him and takes Boniface to his uncle’s house. Boniface faces many challenges as he tries to adjust to a new family, new schoolmaster, and a new life. Boniface finds out that the mysterious man that saved him in the forest is the supposed dangerous robber in the village. Boniface befriends a boy in his school, only to find out that it’s the robber’s son. Boniface’s uncle urges him not to be friends with the robber’s son. This torments Boniface and he struggles to live a happy life in this new village without befriending the robber’s son.

Critical analysis
This German to English translation is a well-written book for children. Children reading this book will definitely pick up on the Christian theme throughout this book, which is always an issue in Germany.

Since a few of the terms are in German, Holub provides the reader with a glossary with 18 terms in the back of the novel. Like in Ellis’ The Breadwinner, this helps readers figure out what is meant by certain terms. This is a great positive attribute to this novel. The word “Exakt” is used quite often throughout the books. This word is defined as meaning “precisel,” and “absolutely.” Of course readers can derive that from the term, but with its odd spelling and being used so often in the novel, it is a good idea to add this word to the glossary.

Besides the language and the far away village theme, I found it was difficult to notice the Germanic culture in this novel. It seems like this novel could be set anywhere. It is a well-written novel, but for this to introduce a young reader to the German culture, I feel that it needs more of that written in the novel.

The translator’s note towards the end of the novel helps to highlight some of the issues within this book. Holub relates to the readers that there are many rulers, which was true for Germany in the 19th century. This is an interesting book, a quick read, and held on to my attention throughout the novel. The only drawback is that there needs to be more Germanic culture sprinkled throughout the novel.

Review excerpt
Kirkus Reviews
It's hard to ask for more than this: an old-fashioned story that starts with an orphan, includes a mystery, and ends happily. This is a sophisticated read, for those who like to escape to times past and lands far away, with a translator's note to provide context.

School Library Journal
Boniface, an orphan, is sent to live with his uncle, the mayor of a small German village. On the way, he is left to fend for himself in the middle of the forest and is rescued by a mysterious stranger.... Full of humor and good spirit... Crawford’s translation ... invites reading aloud, especially with a twinkle in one’s eye.

Connections
The 1998 Mildred L. Batchelder Award Book.
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year1998 ALA Notable Children's Book

International Lit - "The Breadwinner" by Deborah Ellis

Bibliographic data
Ellis, Deborah. The Breadwinner. New York: Groundwood Books, 2001. ISBN 0888994192

Brief plot summary
The Breadwinner is a story about a family living amongst the Taliban in Afghanistan and the struggles that ensue them.

Critical analysis
Parvana and her family live a difficult life in Afghanistan. Parvana and her sister fight, the mother is understandably depressed because her husband has been taken to prison by the Taliban, and the family runs out of food with no way to get more.

The women are not allowed to go outside the house without a male escort. When the females do get to leave the house, they must be covered from head to toe. The lengths that the family goes through in order to take care of their necessities really show how strong and determined this culture is. This culture is resilient and has gone through so much.

Although many critics have mentioned that Ellis did not depict the culture to its truest nature, I thought that she did a great portrayal of what kind of world this young girl has to grow up in. The family lost one son to a landmine. Ellis opens up the lives of these trouble people so we can understand their culture better.

The great thing about this novel is that this will open the door for readers to grow along with this genre. This novel is a step into the direction of more multicultural readings, such as Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, two popular novels set in the same areas with some of the same issues.

A Glossary helps educate readers on the culture’s differences. There are many names for different pieces of clothing, food, different languages, and even pieces of furniture. Having the glossary helps readers understand what is going on throughout the story. It is a nice addition to the novel.

The back of the book details the research that Ellis put into making this novel. There have been instances where women and girls cut off their hair, put on boy’s clothes and sold things off a tray in order to make ends meet. It also states that all royalties from The Breadwinner will be donated to Women for Women in Afghanistan, dedicated to the education of Afghan girls in refugee camps in Pakistan.

Review excerpt
Booklist
The Breadwinner is a potent portrait of life in contemporary Afghanistan, showing that powerful heroines can survive even in the most oppressive and sexist social conditions.

Publishers Weekly
There are some sympathetic moments, as when Parvana sees the effect on her mother when she wears her dead brother's clothes and realizes, while reading a letter for a recently widowed Taliban soldier, that even the enemy can have feelings.


Connections
Read the sequel to The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey and the third book in the trilogy, Mud City.

Welcome!

This blog has been created as a requirement of the class Multicultural Children's Literature.