American Born Chinese - Gene Lune Yang

I read American Born Chinese by Gene Leun Yang in one sitting and when I finished, I handed the book to my mother and she read it in one sitting. We could not stop discussing this book. Graphic novels is a fairly new idea to me and I am constantly searching for ways to try to incorporate them into my classes. I started with a graphic novel of Beowulf (which my students loved!) and would like to try to teach Maus one of these days. I think graphic novels are a great way to get students to read.

American Born Chinese was a great story. I was really impressed how the 3 story lines all tied together at the end. All along I kept wondering what the thread was that tied them and was happy to have such closure in the end. I was really impressed by the story of the monkey king and think that this is a great storyline for students to follow because it isn't as obvious as the others. I really like how the story talks about Danny became so "Americanized" he completely lost his own identity - he didn't even recognize himself in the mirror and it took a visit from his cousin Chin-kee for him to realize all of this.

The whole plot with Chin-kee was interesting because I think many young students might want to laugh at a foreigner who acted and spoke differently. (He reminded me of Long Duck Dong from Sixteen Candles.) I think it is important for students to read about tolerance and this book was really successful in doing that. I think that this book would be a great book to use at a middle school level.

Under the Melanin Sun and The Dear One

In today's society, a teacher has to be aware of so many factors when addressing his/her students - divorce, IEP's, race, religion and also family members. I think Jacqueline Woodson's books are great books to open up a classroom discussion on same sex familiies. Students who are not used to a home where both parents are the same sex may have questions or even prejudices against different types of relationships and Woodson's novels open up a discussion forum to help educate people about what they might not know.

I thought that From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun was beautifully written. Woodson really allows her readers to get into the mind of an adolescent young man who has to deal with the fact that his mother is gay. This is a different situation that that of a child who is raised by two same sex parents from birth. Melanin was forced to deal with changes in his lfe and in his mother's life. I thought the ending of the novel was really strong when Melanin takes the time to talk to Kristin on the beach. He finally sees them as two people who are getting to know one another rather than one straight black boy and one white lesbian. I think this book is a great way for students to understand that acceptance of change (of any kind) sometimes takes time. Melanin was not immediately happy for his mother, but with time, he started adjusting to the idea. I grew up with a boy who had a gay father. His mother knew that his father was gay, but chose to have a child with him anyway but my friend didn't know that his father was gay until we were 12 years old. His father thought that he was old enough to know the truth at that point. Well, for years my friend struggled to accept his father's decision and also with his own sexuality. We were just coming to an age where boys and girls start liking one another and he was confused if he was gay because his father was gay. In addition, my friend had to deal with the cruelty of other students because once they learned about his father - the mental abuse was all over the place. He had to defend his father when he wasn't even sure how he felt about his father.

I also think that The Dear One was a great book on acceptance. There was the acceptance of the young, unwed mother into Feni's home and the acceptance of the gay couple on the pary of Rebecca. I loved this book. I think that the beginning of the story is a great way to take the glory out of teen sex. I think that this too can be used to open up discussions about teen sexuality and teen pregnancy. Many children think that certain topics are taboo and they end up making foolish mistakes becuase they are uneducated about the truth. I also like how young Feni is and how she is jealous of the attention that Rebecca gets when she comes to live with Feni and her mom. However, it made me sad to realize how young Rebecca was when she held Feni's dolls.

Woodson had a beautiful writing style and I really think that her books would be an asset to any classroom.

When Pigs Fly

I thought When Pigs Fly was a really great story. It had so many elements mixed in to it - poverty, special needs children, divorce, alcohol and more. I was particularly moved by Buddy's best friend - Jiniwin. She was the neglected child of divorced parents who turned to alcohol for her escape. Her character seemed very real to me. I think that as a teacher it is hard to always get to know your students - especially on a high school level where you might have 5 or 6 classes of 25 students in each class. It is easy to get annoyed at a student who falls asleep in class or doesn't do his/her homework, but we never know what the real backstory might be about what is going on at home.

I think this would be a great novel to use in a classroom to bring up the idea of acceptance of special needs students. All to often, special needs students might be forced into an unwanted spotlight of attention and I think that students - starting at a young age - should be able to have a forum to discuss how students might be different and how to handle and accept these differences. When Pigs Fly is the perfect starting point to open up topics that might be harder for students to bring to the table on their own. I tutor in a learning center and we have a young woman who comes in who only has one leg - due to a birth defect. The other students all love her and her beautiful smile and her positive attitude. Every once in awhile we get a new student who might stare at Jasmine. She smiles at them and encourages them to ask her about herself. She says that she would rather educate people about her life rather than have them talk about her or wonder about her.

I do not know anyone with Down Syndrome, but this book really captured a beautiful and innocent essence of Reenie. She has a big heart and just seems to try to find the nice things in life and Buddy's life is only made better becuase of her.

The Watsons Go to Birmingham was one of my favorite books that we have read this semester. I really think that students will be pulled into the story like I was and really come to love every member of the Watson family. They really fought and loved each other like a real family and not just a fictional creation. My favorite part of the novel was when Byron comes home with his hair dyed and his father shaves his head becuase he is not happy with his decision. I think that this is a good sign of parents who care and are concerned about their children which is good for a young audience to read.

By the time the reader gets to the bombing in the church, I think any reader is really invested in the family and can really understand the power of a hate crime. This was a moment where a teacher could really use this book to discuss the power of the Civil Rights Movement in a classroom. I think that the power of this book lies in the strength of the description of the family and the life of an adolescent and when the hate crime comes rocketing in at the end - the readers can really appreciate the power of the crime and the feeling of fear that the family experiences.

I also liked the humor that is in this book because it really shows readers that they are able to laugh even through some hard situations. I loved the beginning of the book where Byron's lips get stuck to the mirror and his father can't stop laughing at him. I thought it was a great way to show that parents sometimes have a hard time taking their own children seriously.

Children of the River - Linda Crew

Children of the River by Linda Crew was a really enjoyable book. I loved reading about the struggle Sundara and her family had between trying to fit into America and giving up their ideals of Cambodian life. I thought it was interesting that at first Sundara thought the "American way of privacy" was strange because she said in Cambodia the whole family lived together under one roof - but at the same time, Sundara's bedroom was in the garage. Why didn't the family allow her to stay in the living room full time? Why was she sent to sleep in the garage? However, I did like it when Sundara later longed for the privacy of the garage when she had to move into the living room because of the cold winter. Slowly, the family started to learn and accept new ideas, yet they still held onto some of their traditions. At one point in the novel Sundara states "Sometimes it seemed Soka couldn't decide whether being American was the best thing in the world or the worst." (188) I think that Sundara and her family tried to make the best out of their horrible situation.

Another event that really stuck out to me was Moni's story. She tried so hard to please the Khmer way of life, but she would up being hurt in the end. She didn't marry the man she was attracted to because he was not a Khmer. Instead, she chose to make the others happy and married a Khmer because she thought it would be easier, but in the end, she had to divorce him because he needed to bring his number one wife and children over. I think this is one of the moments in the book where Sundara realizes that she has to be able to allow herself to like Jonathan and enjoy Jonathan and not solely worry about pleasing her family.

Finally, I like that the ending of the book was left open and Sundara didn't find out about her family. I was glad to hear that her sister was safe in a refugee camp, but I liked that she didn't know the fate of her parents and brother because that made the horrors of life in Camobodia even more realistic. I also really enjoyed the beginning when they just had to drop what they were doing and flee for their lives. It made the eminent danger that they were in even more realistic.

"Under the Persimmon Tree" by Suzanne Fisher Staples was an eye opening experience for me. This was the first novel that I have ever read about the Afghanistan culture and was interested from the first page when I noticed that this novel started in October of 2001 - merely one month after the bombing of the World Trade Center. I can still remember where I was when I watched the towers fall and I remember all the horrible, sad details in the days and months that followed that. However, I never once stopped to think about what was happening to the lives of the innocent in Afghanastan. I was too caught up in what was happening in my own country to stop and think about others. Well, this book made me think about it, and I am glad that it did.

I fell in love with both Nusrat and Najmah. Nusrat was so strong to follow her beliefs and her love to Afghanistan and live there while her husband went to take care of others. She completely embraced a new culture and lifestyle and found answers where she had none before. I could relate personally to Nusrat's struggle with her own religion because although I was baptised a Catholic, I was not raised in the Catholic church. When I was 27, after the death of both of my grandmothers, I started my own spiritual journey searching for answers. Like Nusrat, I researched different types of religions until I found one which I felt most comfortable with.

Najmah was also a strong character and it was heartbreaking to witness how quickly she lost her innocence. When the Taliban took Baba-jan and Nur, I was so sad for Najmah, but for some reason, it hit me even harder when he grabbed the burki - perhaps because the burki was just like Najmah - small and innocent. Then, when she witnesses her mother and Habib's deaths, my heart went out to this small girl. When the bombing at her home happens, she thinks the Americans are shooting the stars out of the sky (p. 64). This shows just how young and innocent she really is. And (p. 83) she thinks that she too might be dead because she is not aware of any of her senses. Najmah is only a young girl and within a matter of a few days, she becomes numb to death. She passes the dead, the beaten and the wounded without any thought because it death and pain are everywhere in her life after the bombing. I thought the scene in the book where Najmah is at the bazaar and sees the tent selling only one shoe for people who have lost legs in the land mines was horrifying.

I was also surprised to see the details of how some of the people in Afghanistan were living in 2001. The birthing process that Mada-jan goes through seemed almost medieval to me. She gave birth alone in her home with a dirt floor withoout drugs, cut the umbilical cord herself and then had her daughter clean up the blood and afterbirth. I can't imagine any woman in the United States going through that, but it was normal for this family. And, under different circumstances, I am sure that Mada-jan would have had a midwife to help her through the birthing process. However, I like how through Najmah's first hand narration, I got to see how backwards someone in her culture thinks Americans might be. I loved the scene where Najmah doesn't like sitting at the table because she feels like it is too far off of the ground and she realizes that her whole family lived (and slept) in a room the size of one room at Nusrat's home.

As in "Esperanza Rising" the idea of the 'evil' uncle also came up in this book. I guess this is because the laws towards women and land ownership are so different in other countries. In the United States at one point in history, women had no rights of land ownership if their husbands/fathers died. In both of these stories when the dominant male is taken out of his home, the women have to worry about the men's brothers coming to take over the property, and in both books the brothers were aggressive and domineering. If my father passed, today in 2010 in the US, my mother would just continue to live in her home and make mortgage payments. Her brother-in-law would have no claim over her and her possessions and it is scary that it is not that way for women in other countries. Even Nusrat will have no choices left to her in Afghanistan after they realize that Faiz is dead.

I thought the ending of the book was perfectly fitting. It was nice to see some happiness (Najmah's reunion with Nur) and it was relastic to see the unhappy endings (the fate of Baba-jan and Faiz). I would definitely recommend this book to adolescents and adults alike and I think that it is an important novel to include in any school curriculum. I think that a lot of prejudice exists in America against people of Middle Eastern descent - especially after 9/11 - and I think it is important to open the eyes of Americans to the stories of the innocent who were wounded just as badly as we were by the Taliban.

Drown by Junot Diaz

I was floored by this collection of short stories by Junot Diaz. The writing was so raw and left me with sometimes harsh images in my mind. I read the stories out of order - originally choosing ones with titles that seemed to draw my interest. Once I read 4 of the stories, I went back and did some research on the internet and read that some of the stories had the same characters running through them. For instance, I was originally confused about "No Face" until I read that he was the same boy from "Ysrael" who had his face chewed off by a pig. I originally had intention to go back and read all of the stories, but I admit, I still haven't read them all yet.

My favorite story was "Aurora". The narrator pitied her and loved her so much - but I kept questioning what love and even caring meant to the young man. At times he seemed to have so much compassion for Aurora, but the next moment he is hitting her until her ear bleeds. He doesn't seem to know what love is, yet he doesn't turn to Aurora only for sexual relief. I don't know why this story moved me so much. I think it was the hopelessness of the situation. The narrator wanted to help Aurora who had been in juvy, but he needed some help of his own.

The story that shocked me the most was "Drown". I originally thought that the narrator was avoiding Beto because Beto escaped and was able to start a life at college, when it seemed that the narrator was smarter. Mind you, I was shocked when Beto masterbated the narrator - not once, but twice! I started to wonder why this was the story that Diaz chose to name his whole collection after. I think the title of the collection is a great one because all of the characters seem to be drowning in their own lives. However, I couldn't figure out why Diaz named the story "Drown". Was it because the narrator was left to drown in his own world while Beto moved on? Was it because of the brief flashback to the pool?

The other story that I liked was "Boyfriend" because I think it was a great way to discuss loneliness. The idea of this man walking around his apartment trying to trace the steps of his unknown neighbor just so he didn't feel alone, was a really powerful image. He was so desperate for real human contact and yet, once he made actual human contact, it wasn't as fufilling as the shadowing.

Overall, I felt that the characters in these stories were hopeless. They were drug addicts, having sex without protection, lonely and more. I don't know if this is a collection of stories that I would introduce to a classroom of adolescents. I think the stories have value because they open up a world that a lot of people don't experience first hand, but I think it is a book that is more appropriate for an older audience, perhaps college students.