Moses Goes to School

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Millman, Isaac. 2000. Moses goes to school. Frances Foster Books: New York. ISBN 0374350698

PLOT SUMMARY:
Moses is a young boy who attends a special needs school for deaf elementary students in New York City. His school day from beginning to end is told in written English and in ASL (American Sign Language) using text and pictures. His day includes playing with friends, reading, writing and using the computer in class.


CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
One assignment in class is to write to their pen pals. The author notes how ASL is different from English in the translation from sign language to written English. The text includes Moses letter written in ASL “Dear Mark, I’m Moses and spot is my dog. I’m Happy. Because play with dog. I’m love dog…. and the translated copy of written English typed into a computer. “Dear Mark, I’m Moses and Spot is my dog. I’m happy because I can play with my dog….”

The bright, vibrant and colorful illustrations show a variety of children typical of any mixed culture classroom. One of Moses friends and his teacher have hearing aids. Moses and his classmates are illustrated posed in various ASL signs including the entire song of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" at the end of the story. This text includes an author’s note at the beginning of the story to explain and introduce the story and gives insight into his research for the story. He also indicates that the letter and drawing of a dog used for Moses’ assignment was an actual letter and drawing from an actual student at New York’s J.H.S.’s School for the Deaf. Authenticity is evident by the author’s note and attention to details.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from BOOKLIST: “As in Moses Goes to a Concert (1998), this joyful picture book tells a story in written English and also in American Sign Language (ASL). This time the focus is directly on how deaf children learn at their special public school--in the classroom, on the playground, and on the school bus. The warm line-and-watercolor illustrations show the diversity of Moses' city classroom, the fun the children have together, and the special way they learn. There are small diagrams of Moses signing simple sentences on almost every page. Millman explains in an introductory note that ASL has its own handshapes, movements, and facial expressions, as well as its own grammar and syntax. Moses types a letter on the computer and learns to translate it into spoken English. The teacher plays "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" on his boom box; the children can feel the vibrations and they sign the words to the song. A must for deaf children, this will also interest hearing kids and adults who want to learn about ASL.”

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Moses, who debuted in Moses Goes to a Concert (Farrar, 1998), is back. Here, he and his classmates, all of whom are deaf or hard of hearing, head back to their special school after summer break. The text explains that in addition to standard curriculum, these children first learn American Sign Language and then learn to read and write spoken English. Computer technology plays an important role in this class, as does music. Just as in the first book, this story reminds readers that even though these children may not be able to hear in the traditional sense, their appreciation of music and song is very enthusiastic. Child-friendly cartoon illustrations do a marvelous job of emphasizing the normalcy and charm of these youngsters. The variety of ethnicities and nationalities represented again emphasizes that, special-needs children come from all cultures. The double-page layouts nicely accommodate the primary pictorial action along with written text and ASL inserts featuring Moses signing a particular sequence from the story. An author's note and directions on how to interpret the child's signing are also included. This is another great contribution to children's education about disabilities that also succeeds as effective storytelling in its own right.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
*Use as an introduction to cultures, languages and the first day of school.
*Practice and perform the ASL version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

The House You Pass On The Way

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Woodson, Jacqueline. 1997. The house you pass on the way. Delacorte Press: New York. ISBN 0385321899

PLOT SUMMARY:
Fourteen year old Stagerlee, is the daughter of the only biracial family in town. Her mother is white and Stagerlee’s family is shunned for it, by the town and her father’s family. Her family lives in a house outside of town that used to belong to her famous grandparents. Stagerlee loves their self imposed isolation and their homes location. After kissing a girl, she has relationship and sexual identity issues. When a girl cousin, nicknamed Trout, visits from out of town, Stagerlee thinks she has found a soul mate with whom to discuss her innermost thoughts.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
The biracial family and focus on the mother is mentioned early in the text with “Her father had married a white woman. … The only mixed race family in Sweet Gum, maybe in all of Calmuth County.” When people asked Stagerlee “how it felt to be black and white; she shrugged and answered “fine”. The only mention of Stagerlee being gay is the kiss she shared with a classmate in the sixth grade and her affection for her girl cousin who comes to visit for the summer. There is no explicit sexual language or offensive wording in the text. In a conversation with her cousin, Stagerlee mentions she hopes there is “…someone else like me somewhere in the world.”

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “A newfound confidante and a breath of common sense clears away a teenager's guilt and dismay over her dawning sexual preference in this thoughtful, deceptively low-key story from Woodson (From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun, 1995, etc.). The middle child in the county's only mixed-race family, Evangeline defiantly changed her name years ago to Staggerlee, … Along comes Trout, another self-named teenager, from a branch of the family that had cut off her parents after their marriage. The attraction is quick, strong, and mutual; Trout's visit may be a short one, but it's long enough for each to open up, find the courage to say the word gay--and to remember that they're only 14, too young to close off options. Woodson takes readers another step down the road when Trout later writes to admit that she's gone head over heels for a guy, and Staggerlee, though feeling betrayed, realizes that she and Trout are both growing and going their own ways. A provocative topic, treated with wisdom and sensitivity, with a strong secondary thread exploring some of the inner and outer effects of biracialism.”

Review from BOOKLIST: “Woodson takes the gay identity story far beyond the simplistic problem novel and connects it with every outsider's coming-of-age. Staggerlee is happy in her interracial family, but she is a loner at school and in her African American community, and she longs for a friend. Somehow she knows not to talk about the kiss she shared with a girl in her class. … What many teens will relate to is the uncertainty, the sense that Staggerlee doesn't know who she is becoming and where her journey will take her.”

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “In this understated story set in a small, mostly African-American community in the South, Staggerlee Canan is shunned by her peers because her mother is white. This is not the sole cause of her isolation, however. She has a secret. In sixth grade, she had kissed another girl. Rejected by that friend, Staggerlee has no one to talk to about her sexual feelings until her adopted cousin, Trout, visits for the summer when both girls are 14. Both wonder if they are gay, but sexual identity is really only one of the things that troubles them. Their platonic intimacy is the intense kind shared by friends who see themselves as different from the crowd. Asked by Trout to say whether she's black or white, Staggerlee replies, "I'm me. That's all." That they seem to be taking different paths in the end adds to the story's poignancy. This richly layered novel will be appreciated for its affecting look at the anxious wonderings of presexual teens, its portrait of a complex interracial family, and its snapshot of the emotionally wrenching but inarticulate adolescent search for self. It's notable both for its quality and for the out-of-the-way places it goes.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
*Have high school students choose and perform a piece for Readers Theatre.
*Create a diorama of Stagerlee’s life in “The House You Pass on the Way”.
*Conduct an author study of Jacqueline Woodson.

Habibi

BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 1997. Habibi: A novel. Simon and Schuster for Young Readers: New York. ISBN 0689801491

PLOT SUMMARY:
Fourteen year old Liyana Aboud and her brother Rafik, are transplanted from their American home in St. Louis, Missouri to Jerusalem, her father’s hometown. Liyana and her brother is American on their mother’s side and Arabian on their father’s side. Liyana feels more American and has a hard time adjusting to life in Jerusalem. They meet their grandmother, or sitti, and relatives for the first time. Sitti speaks only Arabic, but communicates without words as grandmothers often do. The family soon learns that Jerusalem is still a troubled country as they try to adjust to their new life.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Identification of specific culture is evident in the text. Several cultural markers are interspersed in the text, such as, Liyana’s mother cooking with a “skillet of olive oil with crumbles of garlic and pine nuts” and her father “lifting his nose to the air saying, “There it is there’s my country.” Liyana’s father remarking that Liyana would not be needing to pack her shorts as “Arab women don’t wear shorts.”. Even a friend of Liyana remarks that it must be a treat to be moving to “Jesus’s hometown” and Liyana thinking that she “didn’t think of it that way. She thought of it as her father’s hometown.”

In Jerusalem, Liyana meets her grandmother, Sitti, who is described as having a rugged face and dark blue shapes of flying birds tattoed on the backs of her hands. When Sitti “rolled her tongue high up in her mouth, and began trilling wildly, Liyana’s father explained that this was the traditional cry used to announce weddings and funerals. All the womenfolk are wearing long dresses with bright embroidery. The older women had long white scarves draped and knotted over their heads and the men were all wearing dull grey and black suits with black and white checkered kaffiyehs on their heads.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “The sights, sounds, and smells of Jerusalem drift through the pages and readers glean a sense of current Palestinian-Israeli relations and the region's troubled history. In the process, some of the passages become quite ponderous while the human story- -Liyana's emotional adjustments in the later chapters and her American mother's reactions overall--fall away from the plot. However, Liyana's romance with an Israeli boy develops warmly, and readers are left with hope for change and peace as Liyana makes the city her very own.”

Review from BOOKLIST: “What is it like to be young in Palestine today? That is the focus of this stirring docunovel, which breaks new ground in YA fiction. Liyana Abboud, 14, moves with her family from St. Louis to Jerusalem. For her physician father, it is going home to where he was born and educated. To Liyana, her younger brother, and her American mother, it is a huge upheaval. At first Liyana misses the U.S., can't speak the languages, and feels uncertain at school, "tipped between" the cultures”

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “An important first novel from a distinguished anthologist and poet. When Liyana's doctor father, a native Palestinian, decides to move his contemporary Arab-American family back to Jerusalem from St. Louis, 14-year-old Liyana is unenthusiastic. Arriving in Jerusalem, the girl and her family are gathered in by their colorful, warmhearted Palestinian relatives and immersed in a culture where only tourists wear shorts and there is a prohibition against boy/girl relationships.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for lessons on identifying plot, theme, setting, characters.
* Create a timeline of Liyana’s journey to Jerusalem.

1.) The Name Jar 2.) When the Circus Came to Town 3.) Music for Alice

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Choi, Yangsook. 2001. The name jar. Ill. Yangsook Choi. Alfred A. Knopf: New York. ISBN 037580613

PLOT SUMMARY: Unhei, a new elementary student from Korea, is unsure of her given name when teased on the bus to school. She decides to “Americanize” her name and let the class help her. The class fill up a jar with slips of papers on which, new American names are written. When the time comes for Unhei to choose her new name, she is decides to keep her own unique given name.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Illustrations done by the author Yangsook Choi include many cultural markers. Skin tone, facial features, hair style and texture are all consistent with the culture. The text contained identification of Unhei’s specific culture, Korean. The red stamp of Unhei’s name in Korean was a powerful textual cultural marker that enhanced the text and as a unique cultural illustration. Names of characters were also cultural markers, both for Unhei and for her classmates. The text was sparse and light. This is a good selection for discussing compassion, empathy and cultural awareness.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “On the way to her first day of school, Unhei is teased by the children on the bus for her Korean name. When she reaches her classroom and is asked her name, she tells her classmates that she has not yet decided on one. To be helpful the children put their suggestions into a "name jar." Eventually the girl decides to keep her own name as one of her classmates takes pride in the new Korean nickname he has chosen, Chinku, meaning "friend." The round, red imprint of the Korean character for Unhei's name provides the graphic manifestation of the story's theme. Attractive golden endpapers feature random repetitions of the stamp imprint interspersed with her classmates' handwritten suggestions on scraps of torn paper. The bold, bright paintings that illustrate the story are realistic, warm, and appealing.”

Review from BOOKLIST: “Unhei has just come with her family from Korea and is starting school. Her name is pronounced Yoon-hye, which means grace, but she feels awkward about it after some teasing on the school bus. She decides to choose an American name, and her classmates oblige her by filling a glass jar with their suggestions. Her mother reminds her that she and her grandmother went to a name master for Unhei's name, and Unhei practices stamping her name with the beautiful name stamp her grandmother gave her. Finally, Unhei decides to keep her own name, and one of her classmates even has a stamp made for himself with the Korean characters for friend. The paintings are mostly in gold and earth tones, and the figures have both stature and simplicity--as does the story.”

Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Unhei has just left her Korean homeland and come to America with her parents. As she rides the school bus toward her first day of school, she remembers the farewell at the airport in Korea and examines the treasured gift her grandmother gave her: a small red pouch containing a wooden block on which Unhei's name is carved. Unhei is ashamed when the children on the bus find her name difficult to pronounce and ridicule it. Lesson learned, she declines to tell her name to anyone else and instead offers, "Um, I haven't picked one yet. But I'll let you know next week." Her classmates write suggested names on slips of paper and place them in a jar. One student, Joey, takes a particular liking to Unhei and sees the beauty in her special stamp. When the day arrives for Unhei to announce her chosen name, she discovers how much Joey has helped. Choi (Earthquake, see below, etc.) draws from her own experience, interweaving several issues into this touching account and delicately addressing the challenges of assimilation. The paintings are done in creamy, earth-tone oils and augment the story nicely.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for discussing cultural awareness and compassion.

*Create Reader’s Theatre script for interactive reading aloud.

* Use to discuss meaning of names of students in a class. Utilize databases to seek name meanings.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Yep, Laurence. 2002. When the circus came to town. Ill. by Suling Wang. HarperCollins: New York. ISBN 006029325X

PLOT SUMMARY: Ah Sam, a Chinese cook, uses the New Year Celebration to coax a young, ten year old girl out of self-pity due to smallpox scars on her face. Ursula, at first has some bouts of racial distrust of a Chinese cook working in her mother’s stage-coach kitchen, but soon learns to appreciate his open, warm personality.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS: Based on true historical events, this story is rich in Chinese culture. Illustrations and text contain stereotypical cultural markers of the early 20th century, skin tone, facial features, hair style and body type. Ursula describes her family’s new cook as “a small man with long, slender fingers. His skin was light tan, and his eyes were strange. But his hair was funniest. It was shaved on the crown so his forehead looked real big. In back, though, he wore his hair in a long pigtail. Ma called it his queue.” Ah Sam the Chinese cook explains his hair style as a necessity. When Ursula asks why he wears his hair in a long braid and Ah Sam explains “I don’t want to. But the Manchus would kill me if I cut it.” The Manchus were the current rulers of China. Traditional Chinese clothing and traditions are described in detail of the Chinese New Year celebration that substitutes as Ursula’s dream circus.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):
Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Ten-year-old "Pirate Ursula" is the fearless leader of her playmates, but after she contracts smallpox and is left with significant facial scarring, she sees herself as "Monster Ursula." She becomes a recluse, never leaving her family's stagecoach station in early 20th-century Whistle, MT. Ursula is a very human child surrounded by mostly sympathetic adults. Through the efforts of the new Chinese cook, Ah Sam, she eventually finds the courage to rediscover Pirate Ursula. He and his family of acrobats help to heal not just the girl, but also the racial divides in Whistle, and Ursula finally understands that it is what is inside a person that matters most. Touches of humor and whimsy counter the darkness she feels about herself. That these events are based on fact enables readers to accept the fairly quick turnaround in the villagers' racist attitudes. Wang's evocative illustrations add to the flavor of this quick, absorbing read.”

Review from BOOKLIST: “Yep has based his novel on a true story, and his writing is, by turns, direct, humorous, and poignant. He doesn't gloss over the hardships faced by Chinese immigrants, but he clearly relished finding an upbeat incident to recount. Ursula and her friends will seem believable to young readers, and the descriptions of circus acts and Chinese New Year traditions are a plus.”

Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Yep (Newbery Honor, Dragon's Gate, 1994), has applied his considerable skills to embellish a true story into a moving parable of how people help each other overcome suffering. The simple plot uses perfectly believable characterizations to discuss deceptively complex emotions and issues for those who would mine its lessons, but Ursula's own story of healing is rewarding enough for those who read from the younger child's point of view.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for discussing cultural awareness and compassion.
*Create Reader’s Theatre script for interactive reading aloud.
* Use to discuss History, racism, community and tolerance.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Say, Allen. 2004. Music for Alice. Ill. by Allen Say. Houghton Mifflin: Boston. ISBN 0618311181

PLOT SUMMARY: Historical account of the true-life story of Alice Sumida and her husband Mark. Both were Japanese American farmers at the end of the 20^th century. Their hardships and life story from, almost, being shipped to a Japanese internment camp at the beginning of World War II, to becoming the owners of the largest gladiola farm with the help of government loan for two hundred acres of desert land. Theirs is the story
of a sad beginning to a rich ending. Alice had dreams of dancing before World War II began and was sidetracked by hard farm work and duty. Towards the end of her life, she looks back on her full life and decides the time of dancing has arrived.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Allen Say shares Alice’s life story in a series of short eloquent paragraphs with accompanying illustration. Each illustration contains cultural markers with skin tone, facial features, body features, hair style and clothing of the era. Besides identification of specific culture, the text is devoid of cultural markers. The culture is that of Japanese Americans and the text clearly depicts the cultural accurately. The theme of Music for Alice is set more towards dancing. Alice as a child adored dancing, married a man “… who wasn’t much of a dancer …” and both did not have time to dance during their years together. Alice did not have time to dance until late in her life and then decided after her hardworking life, it was finally time to dance.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Life changes drastically for Alice when World War II breaks out. Like many other Japanese Americans living on the West Coast, she and her husband are forced from their home. They choose to work as farm hands rather than be sent to an internment camp. Together, they overcome every indignity and challenge that come their way, and eventually build the largest gladiola bulb farm in the country. Say relates the true story of Alice Sumida in an understated and eloquent style. Alice's childhood love of dancing is deftly woven into the imagery of the text. As in much of his work, the masterful illustrations provide an emotional depth not always evident in the narration. The overall design, resembling a family photo album, accentuates the book as personal history. The detailed portraits and soft colors of the farm give way to drab hues and figures with nondescript features and wide-brimmed hats that hide their eyes and their identities-symbolic of the plight of Japanese Americans during the war. The final pictures of a now elderly Alice depict the spirit and dignity that her life story suggests.”

Review from BOOKLIST: “From the close-up jacket portrait of an elderlyapanese American woman to the final view of her ballroom dancing before a black-tie audience, this picture book, based on a true-life story, will appeal more to adults than kids, though some young readers will respond to the history and the understated, first-person account of trouble and courage. The first painting, repeated on the back cover, is a sepia-tone view of Alice as aapanese American child, dreaming of music and dance on a California farm. She marries, and the World War II roundups follow, with a haunting view of her and her husband in the crowd, labeled like luggage. Instead of being sent to internment camp, they are allowed to grow food for the war effort. Their first harvest is a harvest of stones, but they go on to make the desert bloom and eventually become the largest gladiola bulb growers in the country. One glorious picture shows them in a huge field of flowers. The drama is quiet. As always with Say, the exquisite watercolors tell an American story.”

Review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Once again, Say (Home of the Brave) practically takes one's breath away with the understated beauty of his watercolors. With a photo-like realism, he depicts Alice, an elderly Japanese-American woman, capturing every age spot and laugh line and making her radiant skin almost tactile. Her portrait telegraphs an inner peace and elegant beauty. Alice's story begins in California where, as a girl, she "loved dancing more than anything else." But after marrying, she embarks on a life of farming that allows little time for dancing. Say traces her uprooting during WWII, her ups and downs in the fields and the death of her husband. The narrative ends abruptly as the widowed, grieving Alice finds closure when she visits the farm she and her husband left 30 years before, finding it neglected and dilapidated. She declares, "Now I can dance!" The last image shows her dancing with a younger man, a scene that could profit from a bit more fleshing out ("And dance I do-all that I can"). Adults may respond best to this documentary-style life story.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities

*Use as read-aloud during Woman’s History Month.

*Create a time line of events in Alice’s life.

*Use during discussion of Pearl Harbor’s effects on Japanese-American citizens.

The First Strawberries

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1993. The first strawberries: A Cherokee story. Retold by Joseph Bruchac. Ill by Anna Vojtech. Dial Books for Young Readers: New York. ISBN 0803713320.

PLOT SUMMARY:
One day a man comes home tired from work and finds his wife does not have dinner ready for him. This folktale tells of the story of an argument between husband and wife. The sun tries to remedy the situation by creating raspberries, blueberries and blackberries to capture her attention and stop her from walking away from her husband and marriage. None of the berries interest the wife, until the sun places a patch of sweet strawberries in her path. Her husband is then able to catch up to her to apologize.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
This picture book is full of double and single page spread artwork. Simple clean lines depict the simple beauty of the Native American life. The illustrator uses watercolors and colored pencils to create full page scenes to enhance the storyline. Skin tone, facial features, clothing, home and hair style are cultural markers found in the illustrations. Both the man and woman have long dark hair. The woman’s hair is divided into two long plaits. Their home is thatched or woven grass with wooden branched poles on the outside of the round shaped dwelling. The general environment is one of a natural paradise.

The text is interesting and begins with “Long ago when the world was new, the Creator made a man and a woman. The two of them were made at the same time so that neither would be lonesome. They married, and for a long time they lived together and were happy.” The mention of a Creator indicates religion and marriage a religious practice. There is no identification of a specific culture in the text, no language patterns or dialects. The story itself is rich in meaning and tells the story of forgiveness and to remember to see each other as nature’s gifts, like the flowers picked by the woman and the berries sent by the sun.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “A gentle story of the Sun's healing of marital discord by a gift of ripe strawberries that magically grow at the feet of an angry woman as she flees her husband's harsh words, thus halting her departure long enough for him to catch up and make amends. Thereafter, the story concludes, whenever the Cherokee eat strawberries, they are reminded to be kind to one another. Quietly luminous watercolors capture details of dress, dwelling, implements, flora, and fauna against an open landscape of rolling hills. Small touches dramatize the story's moods: a bouquet of brown-eyed Susans flung to the ground in anger; an empty nest in a pine tree as the woman disappears behind the western hills; the glimmer of a single firefly as man and wife are reconciled. Complete harmony of text and pictures: altogether lovely.”

Review from BOOKLIST: “At the beginning of the world, a man and a woman marry and live happily together until, one day, the wife picks flowers instead of preparing dinner. Stung by her husband's anger and his coldness, the woman vows to leave him and swiftly walks away. He cannot catch up with her, so the remorseful man enlists the help of the sun, which magically makes first raspberries, then blueberries, then blackberries spring up beside her path. But only when a carpet of strawberries appears before her does she stop, pick, and eat. Their sweetness leads her to forgive her husband, and they are reunited.

This Cherokee tale explains the origin of strawberries and reminds us "that friendship and respect are as sweet as the taste of ripe, red berries." Told simply and directly, the tale reads well. The artwork, combining watercolors with color pencils, celebrates the natural world simplified, softened, and sunlit. A delectable choice for reading aloud, with or without a basketful of wild strawberries to pass around.”

Review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “Bruchac ( Keepers of the Earth ; Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back ) once again brings simplicity and lyricism to his interpretation of Native American legend. The Cherokee tale told here explains the origin of various berries and, in the process, presents an unspoken but powerful case for respecting one another and the earth. The first man and woman live in harmony, until one day the man speaks in anger and the woman leaves him, walking so fast he cannot catch her.

Regretting his outburst, he appeals to the sun, who agrees to help by slowing the woman's pace--creating in her path raspberries, then blueberries, blackberries and, finally, strawberries, which ``glow like fire in the grass.'' Stopping to taste one, the woman finds that its sweetness ``reminds her of how happy she and her husband had been together,'' and she decides to share the fruit with her husband. Spare text, an uncomplicated story line and gentle illustrations keep this quiet but resonant tale accessible to even the youngest child. Vojtech's soft, luminous watercolors conjure up an unspoiled landscape bathed in sunlight--visual reinforcement of the idea that the earth and its wonders are indeed gifts.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for lessons on identifying plot, theme, setting, characters.
* Discuss folktales and traditional stories and why they are located in the nonfiction section.

*Use as storyline for puppet show or Readers Theatre, complete with narrator/sun.

Rain Is Not My Indian Name

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2001. Rain is not my Indian name. Harper Collins: New York. ISBN 006029504X

PLOT SUMMARY:
Cassidy Rain Berghoff is a typical teen who deals with the recent loss of her best friend and being in one of only two Native American Indians in town. She takes a position as a photographer for the local paper only to learn that her life is changing all around her, which brings her closer to her family and to her native heritage. Her assignment is to cover her Aunt Georgia’s Native American Youth Summer Camp. Her unwillingness to participate lends itself to her helping to cover the story and learn about her heritage while recovering from her loss.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Without illustrations, the cultural markers are present in the text. Physical attributes and identification of a specific culture are imbedded in the text. When describing herself, the main character recalls that “Only my mom had admired my so-called Kansas coloring. She used to say that my hair looked like waving wheat and my eyes changed color with the weather.” And “… Because my coloring is lighter, I usually get the standard questions: “How much Indian are you? (About forty-five pounds worth.) And “Are you legally [or a card carrying] Indian?” (Yes, but only on my mother’s side.)” When discussing a potential field trip to a wild-rice harvest… the main character provides insight into the cultural insensitivity of the community… “I could guess the harvest was part of the Ojibway traditional life – past, present and future. That being the case, it most likely had some spiritual importance. Aunt Georgia was hinting to Flash that it might be best for an outsider to leave details alone. I wasn’t sure if he understood or not.”

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Gr 6-10-Cassidy Rain Berghoff has sustained some powerful losses in her young life. The tragic accidents that claimed the lives of her mother and, more recently, her best friend, Galen, have made this middle schooler introspective, but she's still got her sense of humor. While her Kansas community discusses the funding for her aunt's Indian Camp, and her older brother faces marriage and parenthood, Rain is trying to sort out who she is in this novel by Cynthia Leitich Smith (HarperCollins, 2001). The author brings many of her own life experiences to this multifaceted, coming-of-age novel. Jenna Lamia's nuanced narration balances the story's comic and serious elements. The sound quality is good, and there is helpful information on the cassettes and case. Though this story may be a bit top heavy on problems, there are enough light-hearted moments to keep readers from getting bogged down. It will fit well in libraries serving multicultural, middle school audiences.”

Review from VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES: “When her brother, Fynn, and his pregnant girlfriend, Natalie, encourage Rain to join the Indian craft camp run by their Aunt Georgia, Rain is unenthusiastic. A lifelong shutterbug, she agrees to photograph the meetings for the local paper. There Rain meets three other part-Indian teens and starts to recover a lost friendship with Black Queenie, once Galen's girlfriend. Various family and community conflicts impact Rain, but they do not deter her from her journey toward recovery. On Galen's birthday, she visits her mother's grave at the cemetery, not quite ready to visit Galen's, but she is definitely ready for life. A quick and easy read that will appeal to preteen and young teen girls, this novel is especially suited to ethnically mixed, Native American, or reluctant readers. Except for Rain, who deals with racial and emotional issues, character development and plot are superficial. The story's focus on death and grief recovery is a popular subject with young teens, and the open-ended conclusion is well suited for a sequel. Readers might see more of Rain.”

Review from KIRKUS REVIEWS: “Tender, funny, and full of sharp wordplay, Smith's first novel deals with a whole host of interconnecting issues, but the center is Rain herself. At just 14, Rain and her best friend Galen promise always to celebrate their birthdays; hers on New Year's Day, his on the Fourth of July. They had just begun to see themselves not just as best friends but as girl and boy that New Year's Eve night, when Galen is killed in a freak accident. Rain has already lost her mother and her Dad's stationed in Guam. She's close to her Grandpa, her older brother, and his girlfriend, who realize her loss and sorrow but have complicated lives of their own. Her response to Galen's death is tied to her tentative explorations of her own mixed Native American and German/Irish heritage, her need and desire to learn photography and to wield it well, and the general stirrings of self and sex common to her age. Rain has to maneuver all of this through local politics involving Galen's mother and the local American Indian Youth Camp (with its handful of local Indian teens, and Rain's erstwhile "second-best friend" who is black). What's amazing here is Rain's insight into her own pain, and how cleanly she uses language to contain it.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for discussing death and family relationships.

*Create Reader’s Theatre script for interactive reading aloud.

* Plan a read aloud lesson and incorporate Native American research using online databases.

* Have students plan and write a sequel to this story incorporating accurate Ojibway traditional information for the continuation of the American Indian Youth Summer Camp.

Mud Pony

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

1988. The Mud Pony: A traditional Skidi Pawnee tale. Retold by Caron Lee Cohen. Ill.by Shonto Begay. Scholastic: New York. ISBN 0590415255.

PLOT SUMMARY:
A poor young boy longs for a pony of his own. Unable to have one of his own, he makes one out of earth and clay. Unable to find him out playing with his clay pony, his family leaves, in a rush, without him on a buffalo hunt. His mud pony comes to life as a part of Mother Earth to care for him as he cared for his mud pony. With all his faith in Mother Earth and his mud pony, the young boy faithfully follows her advice and becomes a great chief of his tribe. After the mud pony returns to clay the chief retains his courage and faith in Mother Earth.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Illustrations of the Native American Indians contain cultural markers such as skin tone, facial features, body type, clothing, hair style, and clothing of the traditional representations. Clothing is sparse and the hair is long, some are wearing Mohawks and some males have eagle feathers in their hair. The pictures are reminiscent of watercolor pictures, though I cannot be certain as this is not stated in the acknowledgement or book jacket. The horse is represented as the mode of transportation and the general environement is one of life outdoors. A tepee camp is mentioned as the home of Skidi Pawnee. “Finally at the third nightfall, he [the boy] saw a camp in the distance…. And all the people came out of their tepees, astonished to see him.” The illustrations add a dimension to the story aside from the text.

The text contains sparse language patterns. “Nawa tiki!...” is the greetings the boy receives from his tribes war chief upon entering and finding his way back to camp. Dried [buffalo] meat and soup are the two foods mentioned in the text. There are no names of characters, forms of address or identification of a specific culture in this text aside from the subtitle. The religious practice of being faithful and listening to Mother Earth is at the heart of this story.

REVIEW EXCERPT(S):

Review from SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “A quietly told tale, solidly built upon Pawnee traditions; for example, the symbolic use of Mother Earth is characteristic of this tribe who lived in dome-shaped earth lodges. The watercolor illustrations are executed in earth tones with spatter backgrounds. The primitive style, with minimal details and flat perspective, almost resembles Indian artwork found on the walls of their housing. An authentic Indian folktale.”

Review from PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “From the Skidi branch of the Pawnee Indians of the Plains comes this tale of a boy who achieves greatness in his tribe with the guidance of a pony he made out of mud. Too poor to own a pony like the other boys, he fashions a small mud pony and goes to see it every day. It is during one of these visits that the rest of the tribe moves west in search of buffalo, and the boy is left behind. Not only does the mud pony become a living, breathing horse, but she takes him to his tribe; later, she helps him become the chief of his tribe by giving him great power in battles. ``I am here, your Mother Earth. You are not alone!'' are the words he hears when the mud pony has once again gone back to the earth. Cohen retells this story with grace; Begay, a Native American artist, provides evocative paintings that derive strength and impact from the suggestion of action rather than fully detailed scenes.”

Review from BOOKLIST: “Told among the Skidi band of the Pawnee Indians of the western plains, this moving story tells of a boy too poor to have a pony of his own but gentle enough in spirit for Mother Earth to guard him and eventually help him to become a chief of his people. The vehicle for the boy's transformation is a clay- faced mud pony that comes alive and is Mother Earth's messenger. The pony guides the boy, who in turn carefully cares for the animal until the day, years later, when the pony announces it must return to Mother Earth. The boy, now a chief, bids his pony farewell, hearing once again its reassurance that Mother Earth is always with him. Begay's paintings are both dreamy and dramatic. Mottled backdrops highlight the principal figures and underscore the tale's supernatural aspects. A useful change of pace from more traditional folklore choices, this strong story will also complement studies on native Americans.”

CONNECTIONS
Activities
* Use for lessons on identifying plot, theme, setting, characters.
* Use to discuss religious practices of different cultures.
* Discuss illustrator Shonto Begay and compare the Mud Pony to his other works.