Inclusive Literature

Bibliography
Polacco, Patricia. 2009. In Our Mother’s House. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN 978-0-399-25076-7







Summary
The story of a multicultural family that consist of a black girl, Asian boy, a white girl and two mothers.

Critical Analysis
This is the story of one family that is a two parent household but not a traditional nuclear family. All three children are adopted, one black girl, one Asian boy and one redheaded girl. There are two parents in this family, Marmee and Meema and they are in a committed lesbian relationship. Other than that they function like a normal two parent family.

The narrator shares memories of their life together: sliding down the banister, hanging out by the fireplace popping corn, Halloween, building a tree house, dinners with grandparents and family, a neighborhood block party, and a tea party.

The only negative memory the narrator recounts is the looks and comments from a neighbor, Mrs. Lockner, who does not approve of Marme and Meema’s relationship. She glares at them and does not let her children play with them or participate in neighborhood activities. At the first block party, Mrs. Lockner goes up to Marme and Meema and tells them “I don’t appreciate what your two are!” The mothers tell their children “She is full of fear, sweetie. She’s afraid of what she cannot understand: she doesn’t understand us.” It is a bit hard to believe that is the only prejudice they experienced from only one family. But that is not the focus of this book. It is simply a story about the good memories the narrator has of her family.

The block party was filled with neighbors and foods from many different cultures. The illustrations show people from different ethnicities and races as well. There are Jewish, African American, Asian, Greek and Middle Eastern families in this neighborhood.

The children grow up and marry heterosexual partners and have children of their own. Marme and Meema are doting grandparents and grow old together. They pass away within a year of each other and the children place them together on a hillside near a place where they had pledged their love to each other. The house they grew up now belongs to one of the children, Will. The house fills them with peace and good memories of their mothers.

This is a sweet book and most young children will focus on the loving family. I read the story to my four year old daughter and she did not question why there were two mommies. She loved the pictures of all the children in the book. Children who are being raised by same-sex parents will appreciate seeing a positive family like their own in a picture book.

Review Excerpts
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 62 no. 11 (July/August 2009) p. 456
"Polacco's distinctive pencil and marker illustrations abound with strong, warm-toned colors, softened by the pencil linework, and smiling faces. . . . Unfortunately, the lack of coherent storyline and overdose of sweetness make the narrative an uneven and text-heavy stroll down a very selective memory lane. . . . Nonetheless, this might offer a nice balance to the multitudes of heteronormative picture books, and children in similar situations will certainly appreciate seeing their own experiences reflected in their literature."- Quealy-Gainer, Kate

School Library Journal v. 55 no. 5 (May 2009) p. 85-6
This gem of a book illustrates how love makes a family, even if it's not a traditional one. The narrator, a black girl, describes how her two Caucasian mothers, Marmee and Meema, adopted, her, her Asian brother, and her red-headed sister. She tells about the wonderful times they have growing up in Berkeley, CA. With their large extended family and friends, they celebrate Halloween with homemade costumes, build a tree house, organize a neighborhood block party, and host a mother-daughter tea party. The narrator continually reinforces the affectionate feelings among her mothers and siblings, and the illustrations depict numerous scenes of smiling people having a grand time. Most of the neighbors are supportive, except for one woman who tells Marmee and Meema, "I don't appreciate what you two are" Eventually, the children grow up, marry heterosexual spouses, and return home to visit their aged parents with their own children. Is this an idealized vision of a how a gay couple can be accepted by their family and community? Absolutely. But the story serves as a model of inclusiveness for children who have same-sex parents, as well as for children who may have questions about a "different" family in their neighborhood. A lovely book that can help youngsters better understand their world.

Connections
other books about same-sex parents and couples

Richardson, Justin. 2005. And Tango Makes Three. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9780689878459.

Newman, Leslea. 2009. Mommy, Mama and Me. Tricycle Press. ISBN 978-1582462639

Newman, Leslea. 2009. Daddy, Papa and Me. Tricycle Press. ISBN 978-1582462622

Oelschlager, Vanita. 2010. A Tale of Two Daddies.Vanitas Books. ISBN 978-0981971452







Bibliography
Lord, Cynthia. 2006. Rules. New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN 978-0-439-44383-8








Summary
Catherine is a twelve year girl who is frustrated with her autistic younger brother, David. She wants a normal brother, one who she doesn’t have to take care of or be embarrassed about by his actions. Catherine meets a new girl who just moved in next door who she hopes will be like a best friend. She also develops a friendship with a boy she meets at the clinic where her brother goes for occupational therapy. Catherine learns a lot about herself and the meaning of friendship.

Critical Analysis
This story focuses on the relationships, perceptions and feelings of a preteen girl about her autistic brother and friendship with a boy in a wheelchair.

Catherine feels like her brother’s keeper and is conflicted about her feeling about him. Most normal girls get frustrated with their brothers, but Catherine feels guilty about it and at the same time yearns for a normal brother. Her brother David is autistic. She is writing a list of rules for him, because he loves rules. She writes them on the back of her sketchbook. She likes to draw and takes her sketchbook everywhere with her. “That’s where I keep all the rules I’m teaching David so if my someday-he’ll-wake-up-a-regular-brother wish doesn’t ever come true, at least he’ll know how the world works, and I won’t have to keep explaining things.” Most of the rules are social skills based on manners and politeness and how to act in most social situations. Catherine even has some rules for herself that she follows as well. Each chapter is titled with a rule that she has written for David.
Some of the rules she writes for her brother are:

“Say “thank you” when someone gives you a present (even if you don’t like it).”

“Sometimes people laugh when they like you. But sometimes they laugh to hurt you.”

“No toys in the fish tank.”

David has some conversation rules of his own. “If you don’t have the words you need, borrow someone else’s. If you need to borrow words, Arnold Lobel wrote some good ones.” Catherine and David had their own way of communicating. David loves to listen to Frog and Toad stories by Arnold Lobel and has them all memorized. He and Catherine repeat lines from the stories that fit their situation much to the chagrin of their mother. David’s mother wants him to learn how to communicate normally. Their way of communicating and understanding each other shows a bond between the siblings.

Catherine makes two new friends and struggles with her feelings and perceptions about them and their blossoming friendship. A girl her age moves in next door and Catherine has hopes that they will be like best friends. She also meets Jason at the clinic where David goes for therapy. Jason is in a wheelchair and cannot speak. Catherine does not know what is wrong with Jason but thinks must be something big. His disability is never revealed in the story. Jason communicates by pointing to words in a communication book. Catherine starts drawing pictures along with the words and adds words to his book that she thinks will help him express himself better. They develop a close friendship but then Catherine’s feelings and perceptions about what other people are thinking puts their friendship to the test.

Catherine’s neighbor, Kristi, wants her to invite Jason to a community dance and Jason invites her to the dance. Catherine comes up with excuses why she can’t go and Jason sees right through it and calls her on it. She feels guilty and wants to apologize for hurting Jason. She invites him to the dance and apologizes and introduces him to her friends. Catherine finally comes to the realization that she has to accept her brother and friends and not care what anybody else thinks.

Awards/Honors
Newbery Honor Medal
Schneider Family Book Award
Mitten Award (Michigan Library Association)
Great Lakes Great Books Award (Michigan)
Maine Student Book Award
Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award (Vermont)
Kentucky Bluegrass Award
Great Stone Face Award (New Hampshire)
Buckeye Children's Book Award (Ohio)

Review Excerpts
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 59 no. 9 (May 2006) p. 411
"The book deftly manages to interweave its elements without heavy-handed contrivance. . . . Jason seems like something that would opportunity for her education. Readers will sympathize with Catherine's struggle to explain the world to David through his beloved rules and her frustration at his demanding, embarrassing behaviors and his garnering the majority of parental attention. Jason's expressive limitations will provide considerable food for thought. . . . This is an absorbing tale about valuing people even when it's difficult, and it may encourage readers to consider the benefits and challenges of their own families and friends."- Stevenson, Deborah

School Library Journal v. 52 no. 4 (April 2006) p. 142
Twelve-year-old Catherine has conflicting feelings about her younger brother, David, who is autistic. While she loves him, she is also embarrassed by his behavior and feels neglected by their parents. In an effort to keep life on an even keel, Catherine creates rules for him ("It's okay to hug Mom but not the clerk at the video store"). Each chapter title is also a rule, and lots more are interspersed throughout the book. When Kristi moves in next door, Catherine hopes that the girl will become a friend, but is anxious about her reaction to David. Then Catherine meets and befriends Jason, a nonverbal paraplegic who uses a book of pictures to communicate, she begins to understand that normal is difficult, and perhaps unnecessary, to define. Rules of behavior are less important than acceptance of others. Catherine is an endearing narrator who tells her story with both humor and heartbreak. Her love for her brother is as real as are her frustrations with him. Lord has candidly captured the delicate dynamics in a family that revolves around a child's disability. Set in coastal Maine, this sensitive story is about being different, feeling different, and finding acceptance. A lovely, warm read, and a great discussion starter.”- Connie Tyrrell Bums

Connections
Choldenko, Gennifer. 2004. Al Capone Does my Shirts. Putnam Juvenile. ISBN 978-0756970208.

Martin, Ann M. 2004. A corner of the Universe Scholastic. ISBN 978-0439388818

O'Connor, Barbara. 2003. Me and Rupert Goody Farrar, Staus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0374448042

Abeel, Samantha. 2005. My Thirteenth Winter:A Memoir Scholastic. ISBN 978-0439339056

Lobel, Arnold. 1970. Frog and Toad Are Friends. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0064440202

Lobel, Arnold 1972. Frog and Toad Together. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-0694012985







Bibliography
Abdel-Fattah. 2005. Does my Head Look Big in This?. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 978-0-439-92233-3








Summary
Amal is a teenage Muslim girl living in Australia. She has decided to wear a hijab as a sign of her faith full time.

Critical Analysis
Amal is Austrailian-Muslim-Palestinian and in the 11th grade. She has made the decision to wear a hijab full time as a sign of her faith and the novel is about how she deals with the reaction she gets from her classmates, family and friends who are also of Arab descent. Her Muslim faith is a big part of her life. She prays five times a day and observes Ramadan. One classmate in particular, Tia, bullies her about her culture and faith. Adam, who Amal has a crush on, is genuinely interested in knowing more about her faith and culture and getting to know her.

The setting of the book is Australia and a few locations are mentioned. Amal lives in a Casmberwell, a suburb of Melbourne Australia and goes rollerblading at St. Kilda beach. She has an uncle who wants to assimilate completely and tries to talk with the Aussie accent and used stereotypical sayings. Other than that, the setting could have easily been anywhere in the United States. There was mention of a few American actors, movies and TV shows.

There are many cultural markers about Amal’s Aussie-Palestinian heritage. Her mother wears a hijab, they have family friends who are also Muslim but from other countries. The family cooks and eats ethnic food such as makloba, mansaf, fatoosh and warak aneb. Amal washes before praying every day, five times a day. Amal is an only child but she has a friend, Leila who is also Muslim and of Turkish descent. Leila’s mother wants her to marry young and doesn’t understand why she wants to study and lets her brother do whatever he wants without question. Amal explains it as a cultural difference not a religious difference. Amal befriends a Greek Orthodox elderly neighbor, Mrs. Vaselli and develops a close relationship with the woman discussing life and religion.

This was a novel about a teenage girl finding her identity as a young Australian-Palestinian Muslim girl. At the end of the book Amal says “….it’s mainly been the immigrants in my life who have inspired me to understand what it means to be an Aussie. To be a hyphenated Australian.”

Awards/Honors
Winner - Australian Book Industry Awards 2006 - Australian Book of the Year for Older Children
Notable Book - Selected as a Notable Book by the Children's Book Council 2006
Long listed for the UK Galaxy Book Awards 2006
Short listed for the Grampian Children’s Book Awards UK 2006

Review Excerpts
The New York Times Book Review v. 112 no. 37 (September 16 2007) p. 18
"There aren't a lot of modern Muslim women's voices in contemporary fiction, so it's refreshing to hear this one. . . . Amal, sassy and spirited, knows a mere piece of fabric isn't a barrier to ambition. . . . Inasmuch as Abdel-Fattah uses Amal to defeat stereotyping of Islam, this is a valuable book, occasionally an entertaining one. But it would have been more valuable and entertaining if it weren't so very clear that Abdel-Fattah is using Amal. The book too often veers into an eat-your-peas preachiness that makes it less of a novel and more of a tract. The author also lacks a genuine ear for high school nuance."- Brooks, Geraldine

The Horn Book v. 83 no. 4 (July/August 2007) p. 389
"Though the lengthy analyses on everything from female body image to Palestinian food give the book more message than momentum, the girls' thoughts and dreams are authentically adolescent, providing a bridge between cultures—as the author clearly intends."- Adams, Lauren

Connections
Abdel-Fattah,Randa. 2010. Ten Things I Hate About Me. Orchard Books. ISBN 978-0545050562

Janmohamed, Shelina. 2010. Love in a Head Scarf. Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0807000809

Kahf, Mohja. 2006. The Girl in the Orange Scarf: A Novel. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-0786715190

Asian Pacific American Literature

Bibliography
Wong, Janet S. 2000. This Next New Year. Illus Choi, Yangsook. New York: Frances Foster Books. ISBN 978-0-374-35503-6




Summary
A Korean American family prepares to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The family looks forward to all the good luck they hope the New Lunar Year will bring to them.

Critical Analysis
The Chinese New Year is about to begin and the narrator, a young Korean American boy is ready to celebrate it. The narrator begins by comparing the January 1st New Year day with the Lunar New Year. The book is filled with cultural markers that describe Asian customs during the Chinese New Year day and how his American friends celebrate the Chinese New Year too. His family eats duk gook while his French/German friend eats Thai food to go. His Mexican/Hopi friend says the Chinese New Year her favorite holiday because her neighbor from Singapore gives her red envelopes filled with money.

The narrator and his mother clean the house and sweep out last year’s dust. He evens cleans himself extra clean so he can soak up all the luck he and wears his cleanest clothes. He will be brave when they light the firecrackers at midnight and during the parade to scare away the bad luck. And he won’t say one awful thing “because this is it, a fresh start, my second chance.” This must be a reference to making a resolution during the January 1st New Year and now making it again during the Chinese New Year. After all the narrator is American and he probably celebrates both New Year's Day.

The illustrations are colorful and bright and depict many Asian cultural markers. There is a red and gold banner with Chinese writing that is displayed at the family table as they eat with chopsticks sitting on pillows on the floor. There are a couple of pictures of the long dragon that is used during Chinese New Year parades. There are Chinese lanterns lighted outside and his friend Evelyn receives her red envelope from her neighbor. The characters and children are drawn with a diversity of skin coloring and hair color.

The author, Janet Wong includes an author’s note at the end of the book which describes the Lunar New Year, a few customs about how her family celebrates it and what it means to her. This is cute multicultural book that explains a few of the customs of the Chinese New Year and how a Korean American boy celebrates the holiday in America with his family and friends.


Awards/Honors
Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award
Nick Jr. "Best Holiday Book[s] of 2000"

Review Excerpts
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 54 no. 1 (September 2000) p. 42
"Unfortunately, Choi's paintings aren't quite up to the standard set by the ebullient text; figures are stiff and doll-like, and her overuse of shortened foreground makes the scenes repetitively flat. Nonetheless, the narrator's joyous obsessions offer a delightful contrast to more staid primary-grade explanations of Chinese New Year."- Bush, Elizabeth, reviewer

MultiCultural Review v. 10 no. 1 (March 2001) p. 102
"This is a perfect book to share with primary students on the lunar new year to help them appreciate Chinese-American culture. By pairing this book with one about the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah, it would be easy to note common New Year's similarities of putting aside the past and looking forward to the future."- Lickteig, Mary J., reviewer

Connections

Website Janet S. Wong

Wong, Janet S. 2007. Twist: Yoga Poems. Ill. Julie Paschkis. New York, NY: Margaret K. McElderry Books. ISBN 10-0689873948

Wong, Janet S. 2002. Apple Pie Fourth of July. Ill. Margaret Chodos-Irvine. Orlando, FL: Harcourt Inc. ISBN 10-015202543X

Wong, Janet S. 2000. Night Garden Poems from the World of Dreams. Ill. by Julie Paschkis. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books. 0689826176

Wong, Janet S. 1999. The Rainbow Hand:Poems About Mothers and Children. Ill. By Jennifer Hewitson. New York: Margaret K. McElderberry Books. ISBN: 0689821484






Bibliography
Say, Allen. 1993. Grandfather’s Journey. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0395570352.








Summary
A Japanese American man tells the story of his grandfather’s journey to America and return to his homeland. The grandfather is torn between a love for both countries and the narrator travels to America and experiences the same feelings as his grandfather.

Critical Analysis
The illustrations in this book are incredible and beautiful. It was awarded the Caldecott Medal is 1994, a medal awarded to the artist of the most distinguished American children’s picture book published that year. The story is a about a Japanese man’s journey, the author’s grandfather, and his love between two countries, the United States of America and Japan.

Allen Say draws his grandfather and family in traditional Japanese clothing of their time when they are in Japan and in American clothing when they are in America. The first picture is of his grandfather as a young man dressed in traditional Japanese robes. The next picture he is wearing “European clothes.” When his grandfather returns to Japan, his wife and daughter are illustrated in Kimonos and there is picture of Allen Say as a boy with his grandfather in a green Japanese robe. Another illustration shows his grandfather seated on the floor on a mat, with legs crossed, dressed in grey robes.

The text and illustrations describe the sights and people his grandfather saw in America and the landscapes of both countries. He writes about the conflict his grandfather experienced loving the country he is in while longing for the other one and how he feels connected to him because he now experiences the same thing. This story is a slightly different take of the theme of cross cultural conflict. His grandfather simply loves the country he is in while longing for the other. There is a mention about World War 2 and how his grandparents home was destroyed and but he still longed to see California before he died.

“The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country I am homesick for the other.” Allen Say writes about how he now knows his grandfather. It is a touching tribute to his grandfather and a beautifully illustrated story.


Awards/Honors
Bulletin Blue Ribbon
Caldecott Medal Book
ALA Notable Book
Booklist Editors' Choice
Boston Globe/Horn Book Award
Horn Book Fanfare Selection
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Books of the Year

Review Excerpts
Booklist v. 89 (July 1993) p. 1974
"As in the best children's books, the plain, understated words have the intensity of poetry. The watercolor paintings frame so much story and emotion that they break your heart. Looking at the people in this book is like turning the pages of a family photo album, the formal arrangements and stiff poses show love and distance, longing and mystery, beneath such elemental rites as marriage, leaving, and return. . . . Allen Say has traveled and found riches everywhere. He captures what the Jewish American writer Irving Howe calls an 'eager restlessness.'" -Rochman, Hazel, reviewer

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 47 (September 1993) p. 23
"Both the joy in new vistas and the ache of remembrance are captured in Say's large watercolor paintings, fresh perspectives on purple mountains' majesty and amber waves of grain. (Japan looks pretty good, too.) As in Tree of Cranes, which is about the narrator's California-born mother, the paintings are precise, cool portraits and views that fix recollections into images, and the book as a whole is an album where both a picture of a family standing amidst war's devastation and a romantic pastorale of courting lovers find their place in memory."- Sutton, Roger, reviewer

Connections
Other books by Allen Say
Say, Allen. 1991. Tree of Cranes. Ill. by Allen Say. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
ISBN 039552024X

Say, Allen. 1999. Tea with Milk. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 10- 0395904951

Say, Allen. 2010. The boy in the garden. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. ISBN 9780547214108.

Say, Allen. Kamishibai Man. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Company. 2005. ISBN 9780618479542.









Bibliography
Lin, Grace. 2006. The Year of the Dog. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316060003.





Summary
A young Taiwanese American girl tries to find herself, her talent and new best friends during the Chinese Year of the Dog.

Critical Analysis
The book starts and ends on the day of the Chinese New Year. It is the Year of the Dog. Dogs are faithful, friendly, honest and sincere. Based on those characteristics it is a year for friends and family and finding yourself. Pacy is a young Taiwanese-American girl who lives in upstate New York. During the course of the Year of the Dog, Pacy finds her best friend and her cultural identity and her calling in life. This is a sweet, funny book. The drawings throughout the text are cute and representative of the drawings Pacy draws. Young girls of all cultures will identify with Pacy and her friends and family.

The book is full of cultural markers of Taiwanese/Chinese culture. Pacy struggles with accepting her dual cultural identity. Her family tries to blend both the Chinese and American cultures and she experiences some cross cultural conflicts. Pacy is her Chinese name, it is the name her family uses. Her American name is Grace, the name her friends use at school. Pacy is not sure if she is to call herself Chinese or Taiwanese. Her parents are from Taiwan and some people think Taiwan is part of China, plus her parents speak both Chinsese and Taiwanese. When Pacy asks her mother what she was supposed to say when people ask her what she is, her mother tells her to tell them she is American.

On the day of the Chinese New Year Pacy cannot fill a dish with only Chinese candy because her sister kept eating the candy. The candy dish needed to be filled with sweet things so they could have a year full of sweet things so Pacy fills the tray with M&Ms. Her father likes the idea and said they should both include both Chinese and American candies since they are Chinese-American. The family celebrates the Chinese New Year with all the Asian customs, cleaning the house, cooking a big meal of shrimp, meat dumplings,and vegetables, giving the children Hong Bao (special red envelopes with money).

The next day at school Pacy gets very excited and quickly bonds with a new student, Melody, who is also of Taiwanese descent. The families also bond together because they are the only Asian Americans in their town.

A family baptism is filled with more cultural markers. The family colors eggs red as a symbol of good luck and fill the baby’s crib with red envelopes of money, there are red banners with Chinese writing and English writing. The family celebrates with a large feast of stir-fried noodles, cooked duck, lychees eggplant, shrimp and vegetables, white rice, pork buns and red meat.

Pacy references the Chinese calendar and the animals that represent each year a few times throughout the book. A friend at school asks her about it and she explains it as “You know how horoscopes use animals for some months? Well for Chinese people it’s for every year.” She tells her new best friend Melody that they are lucky because they were both born the Year of the Tiger and tigers and dogs are friends so the Year of the Dog is a lucky year for them both.

During the year Pacy tries to find herself and what she wants to be when she grows up. She thinks maybe a scientist when she participates in a school science fair but she did not win a prize. Then she thinks maybe she can become an actress and wants to try out for the part of Dorothy in a school play of the Wizard of Oz, but becomes discouraged when a classmate tells her Dorothy is not Chinese. Pacy questions her cultures importance in society and she and Melody have a conversation about it. Pacy tells Melody that Chinese people are not important and Melody disagrees. The girls go to the library and ask for a Chinese book and look at the culturally inauthentic book The Seven Chinese Brothers. Pacy comments that those aren’t real Chinese people. She wants a “real Chinese person book.” Melody tells her to write her own book. So she does. Her class is assigned to write a book that will be entered into a contest and Pacy writes about the vegetables her mother grows in a garden and uses to cook a tasty soup.

Interspersed throughout the book are little vignettes about Pacy’s family history. There is a story about her grandfather, her mother as a child in school, her grandmother walking to school and staying there with the other grandmothers due to the pain of the foot binding and not having to walk back and forth. The stories are used by Pacy's family to explain how they understand what she is going through and that they too have experienced conflict about their own culture.

Pacy becomes painfully aware about how she doesn’t quite fit in again this time with her own culture when her family attends a Taiwanese American Convention with Melody’s family. Some girls call her a Twinkie, yellow on the outside and white on the inside, because she doesn’t know how to speak Chinese or Taiwanese. When Pacy questions why her family had to go to the convention her mother tells her a story about how a Chinese friend helped her when she was experiencing the culture shock of moving to America when she was in college. She tells the importance of staying connected with people of your culture because they understand where you come from and that she only needs to be who she is Chinese-American.

The cross cultural conflict comes up again during the American holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. The parents don’t quite understand some of the American traditions but attempt them anyways because the kids want a turkey and gifts. Pacy asks for a china doll, like the dolls pioneer girls had. Her parents give her a Chinese doll, that looks and is dressed like a Chinese woman.

The book closes with Pacy realizing that the Year of the Dog was indeed a good year for her. She found a best friend and discovered what she was good at and wanted to be when she grew up. She even won a special prize which made her rich. She is ready for the next year that is coming up, the Year of the Pig.

On a personal note, my 9 year old daughter was very excited when she saw that I was reading this book. She told me it was her favorite book and showed me her journal and what she wrote about it. We are Mexican American but she related to many things in the book and the cultural struggles Pacy went through. I can see why she liked it so much, it is a cute, funny book and it is about struggles all young girls have regardless of their culture.

Awards/Honors
• 2006 Fall Publisher's Pick
• Starred Booklist Review
• 2006 ALA Children's Notable
• 2006 Asian Pacific American Librarian Association Honor
• 2006 National Parenting Publications Awards (NAPPA) GOLD Winner
• 2007-2008 Texas Bluebonnet Award Masterlist
• 2007 Nene Awards Recommended List (Hawaii's Book Award Chosen by Children Grades 4-6)
• 2007 Cochecho Readers' Award List (sponsored by the Children's Librarians of Dover, New Hampshire)
• NYPL 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2006
• Kirkus Best Early Chapter Books 2006
•2006 Booklist Editors' Choice for Middle Readers
•Cooperative Children's Book Center Choice 2007
•Boston Authors Club Recommended Book
•2007-2008 Great Lakes Great Books Award nominee
•2007-2008 North Carolina Children's Book Award nominee
•2007-2008 West Virginia Children's Book Award nominee
•2009 Beverly Cleary Children's Choice Award (OR) nominee
•2009 Pacific Northwest Young Readers Choice Award (WA, OR, ID)nominee

Review Excerpts
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 59 no. 6 (February 2006) p. 272
"The book is strong in the classic virtues of accessibility and warmth, . . . and it's unusual to see that tradition combined with an insider story of a second-culture family (lively interpolated stories often give glimpses into Grace's mother's very different youth and immigrant experience); it's nice to see a book where second-culture identity is part of an everyday-life narrative rather than a problem novel. Short, easy chapters make this additionally suitable for reading aloud to younger audiences, and readers will find this a comradely, if somewhat bland, look into one girl's year. Tidy, solidly lined drawings, seemingly created by the narrator, pop up in margins and chapter headings throughout and enhance the book's approachability."- Stevenson, Deborah

The Horn Book v. 82 no. 2 (March/April 2006) p. 190-1
"With a light touch, Lin offers both authentic Taiwanese-American and universal childhood experiences, told from a genuine child perspective. The story, interwoven with several family anecdotes, is entertaining and often illuminating. Appealing, childlike decorative line drawings add a delightful flavor to a gentle tale full of humor." - Feldman, Roxanne H

Connections
Website Grace Lin

Other book by Grace Lin:

Lin, Grace. 2009. The Year of the Rat. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316033619.

Lin, Grace.2009. The Ugly Vegetable. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing. ISBN 9780881063363.

Lin, Grace. 2009. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. New York: Little, Brown and Co. ISBN 9780316114271.

Native American Literature

poetry



Bibliography
Bruchac, Joseph. 1995. The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet: Native American Poems of the Land. Illus. Locker, Thomas. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 0-59013153-2









Plot summary
A young Iroquois girl is afraid of the approaching night and wants to go into the lodge. Her grandmother tells her if they go in they will not get to see Sky Bear. The girl is intrigued and her grandmother tells her stories about what Sky Bear sees and hears during the night. There are twelve poems from various tribes about Sky Bear and what she sees on Earth throughout the night.

Critical analysis
Bruchac has written beautiful collection of poems about Sky Bear and the things she sees on Earth during the night. The poems were inspired by Native American songs and stories about the earth, the night and the stars. Sky Bear is a constellation of stars commonly known as the Big Dipper. The oil paintings by Locke complement the poetry well depicting landscapes, animals, stars, and the people within the poems. Sky Bear sees many interesting things during the night: fireflies, a flute player, the Northern Lights, other stars in the sky, mice, piñon gatherers, caribou, a wolf, spirit dancers and the dawn.

The poems were inspired by twelve different tribal groups of North America. The twelve tribes represented are: Mohawk, Anishinabe, Pima, Missisquoi, Winnebago, Cochiti Pueblo, Lenape, Chumash, Inuit, Lakota, Navajo, and Pawnee. In the Author’s Note, Bruchac writes “I wanted to remind readers that, as Native children have always been taught, there can be as much to see in the living night as in the more familiar light of day.” Several of the poems have some Native American language sprinkled within but there is no glossary presented to translate the words. A reference is provided on the last page that lists the stories, poems and songs that Bruchac’s poetry is based upon. Bruchac is of Abenaki heritage.

That bear was Sky Bear,
running on through the stars.
Look up now
and you will see her,
Circling the sky.

When I look up at the night sky I will no longer see the Big Dipper, instead I will see Sky Bear and imagine all the things she sees on Earth as she crosses the night sky.


Review excerpts
School Library Journal v. 41 (November 1995) p. 87
A companion to Bruchac's Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back (1992). . . . Bruchac has once again compiled a thoughtful collection that eloquently bears out the theme of unity among all creatures. The selections display a wide range of emotions. Some are pensive meditation; others resound with hopeful energy. 'Mouse's Bragging Song,' a whimsical delight, is the arrogant boast of a little creature who thinks he alone can touch the sky. Locker's luminous oil paintings add detail and depth." Taniguchi, Marilyn, reviewer

The Horn Book v. 72 (January/February 1996) p. 85
"From the Mohawk and Missisquoi peoples of the Northeastern United States to the Pima, Cochiti Pueblo, and Navajo peoples of the Southwest to the Subarctic Inuit, these pieces reflect an awe and appreciation for the natural world. Locker's deeply hued paintings burst with the beauty of night across North America as his varied palette easily captures the Lenape's dark eastern woodland sky as well as the vast horizon of the Great Plains. The poems contain many images that will capture children's imaginations. . . . {They} provide an imaginative introduction to American Indian folklore and offer teachers a fruitful point of departure for classroom discussion. - Fader, Ellen, reviewer

Connections
This is the companion book to Thirteen Moons on Turtles Back: A Native American Year of Moons, which is about a grandfather telling his grandson about the thirteen moons of the year.

Bruchac, Joseph. 1992. Thirteen Moons on Turtles Back: A Native American Year of Moons. Illus. Locker, Thomas. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN 0-590-99508-1




picture book



Bibliography
Tingle, Tim. 2006. Crossing Bok Chitto: A Choctaw Tale of Friendship and Freedom. Ill. By Jeanne Rorex Bridges. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press. ISBN 9870938317777.






Plot Summary
The Bok Chitto River was the boundary between the Choctaws and plantation owners. If a slave was able to cross the river, the slave was free. Martha Tom, a young Choctaw girl, crossed the river in search of blackberries and stumbled onto a forbidden slave church. The preacher sent his son, Little Mo to help guide her back to the river. A friendship developed between the two and over several years Martha Tom crossed the river to visit the church and her friends. Then one day Little Mo’s mother was sold and their family was devastated. Little Mo suggested they attempt to cross the Bok Chitto to freedom. With the help of Martha Tom, her mother and several women, the family crossed the river safely to freedom.

Critical Analysis
“Crossing Bok Chitto” is truly a multicultural story. It is a tale about a friendship between a black boy and Choctaw girl and also about how some Choctaw women helped a family of black slaves cross a river to freedom. Tim Tingle is an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and was inspired to write this tale after speaking with a tribal elder from Mississippi and learning the history of his own tribe and other tribes that helped “the runaway people of bondage.”

A page about the Choctaws today and a note on Choctaw storytelling is included at the end of the book. Tingle writes “The story is documented the Indian way, told and retold and then passed on by uncles and grandmothers. Crossing Bok Chitto, in this new format - of language and painting, this book way of telling - is for both the Indian and the non-Indian.” The illustrator, Bridges is of Cherokee ancestry. The illustrations authentically depict the setting and clothing of the slaves, Choctaws and plantation owners. The emotions of Little Mo and his family are heartbreaking portraits when his mother is sold. The Choctaw women are visions of angles when dressed in their white wedding attire and long flowing black hair.

The is a bit of the Choctaw language weaved within in the story. The first time Little Mo crosses the river with Martha Tom he observes a wedding taking place. The men sing an old wedding song in Choctaw. Martha Tom also sings a song she had learned at the slave church but in Choctaw as they helped Little Mo and his family cross the river to their freedom.

This is a wonderful tale about the power of friendship. It is also a bit of history that has been passed down in stories told by Indians about the how their people helped runaway slaves to their freedom.

Awards/Honors
Texas Bluebonnet Master Award List 2008-2009
American Indian Youth Literature Award, Best Picture Book, 2008
American Library Association, Notable Children’s Book, 2007
Jane Addams Peace Award Honor Book
Once Upon a World Children’s ook Award, 2007 Honor Book
Anne Izard Storytellers’ Choice Award
Oklahoma Book Award, Bet Children’s Book, 2007
Oklahoma Book Award, Best Illustrations, 2007
Paterson Prize for Books for Young People
Skipping Stones Honor Book
Texas Institute of Letters Best Children’s Book, 2006
Teddy Award, Texas Writers League, 2005

Review Excerpts
MultiCultural Review v. 15 no. 3 (Fall 2006) p. 94-5
"[This book], originally one of the stories in Tingle's excellent collection Walking the Choctaw Road, is now a picture book. . . . [It] is an awesome story of survival, generosity, courage, kindness, and love, enhanced by Bridges's luminous acrylic on watercolor board paintings on a subdued palette of mostly browns and greens. In an endnote, [the author] describes how this particular story came to be. Today, Choctaw families—as well as Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole—continue to tell the stories of how they aided the ‘runaway people of bondage.’- Slapin, Beverly

School Library Journal v. 52 no. 7 (July 2006) p. 88
Dramatic, quiet, and warming, this is a story of friendship across cultures in 1800s Mississippi. While searching for blackberries, Martha Tom, a young Choctaw, breaks her village's rules against crossing the Bok Chitto. She meets and becomes friends with the slaves on the plantation on the other side of the river, and later helps a family escape across it to freedom when they hear that the mother is to be sold. Tingle is a performing storyteller, and his text has the rhythm and grace of that oral tradition. It will be easily and effectively read aloud. The paintings are dark and solemn, and the artist has done a wonderful job of depicting all of the characters as individuals, with many of them looking out of the page right at readers. The layout is well designed for groups as the images are large and easily seen from a distance. There is a note on modern Choctaw culture, and one on the development of this particular work. This is a lovely story, beautifully illustrated, though the ending requires a somewhat large leap of the imagination. – Riedel, Cris

Connections
Other books by Tim Tingle
Tingle, Tim. 2010. Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey From Darkness into Light. El Paso, TX: Cinco Puntos Press. ISBN 9781933693675.

Tingle, Tim. 2006. When Turtle Grew Feathers: A Tale from the Choctaw Nation. Atlanta, GA: August House. ISBN 9780874837773.

Tingle, Tim. Walking the Choctaw Road: Stories from Red Peoples Memory. ISBN 0938317733

Students can research the Choctaw Nations of Oklahoma and Mississippi and learn about the history of the tribe and the present day culture of the people.

Websites
http://www.timtingle.com/

Jeanne Rorex Bridges
http://www.rorex-art.com/



novel




Bibliography
Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2001. Rain is Not My Indian Name. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN 0-688-17397-7







Plot summary
Cassidy Rain Berghoff is a fourteen year old, Native American girl of mixed blood who lives in a small town in Kansas. Her best friend, Galen is killed in an accident on New Year’s Eve. Six months later Rain slowly emerges from her depression and begins to reconnect with her family and community. Rain’s Aunt Georgia is running a camp for Native American teenagers in her town but Rain refuses to participate despite the urgings from her family. Rain has a passion for photography and takes up her hobby once again when her brother’s girlfriend asks her to take pictures for the town newspaper about the Indian Camp. As Galen's birthday approaches on the fourth of July, Rain starts to come to terms with the tragedies in her life and her hertiage.

Critical Analysis
This is a story about grief and healing. It is also about a young girl embracing her heritage and what it means to her. The beginning of each chapter starts with a Rain’s journal, where we get a glimpse into her past and innermost thoughts about the people in her life and her heritage.

Six months after the death of her best friend Rain slowly begins to emerge from her depression. She unwittingly becomes part of a political battle about funding for a Native American Youth Camp her Aunt Georgia is coordinating. Rain is not ready for it, she is still grieving, plus she thinks it sounds like “the kind of thing where a bunch of probably suburban, probably rich, probably white kid, tromped around a woodsy park, calling themselves, “princesses”, “braves’ or “guides.” Her brother's girlfriend, Natalie is the editor of the town newspaper and hires Rain to take photos of the Indian Camp for the newspaper.

Rain starts to think about her heritage as she observes the Indian Camp behind the lens of her camera. “Rain is not my Indian name, not the way people think of Indian names. But I am Indian and it is the name my parents gave me” she wrote in her journal one day. Rain is of mixed blood ancestry. She is Muscogee Creek-Cherokee and Scots-Irish on her mother's side and Irish-German-Ojibway on her dad’s side. She thinks about the sterotypes of Indians she has seen at school and the questions she gets about her own lineage. She thinks about the people in her community and their cultures. The story has a mix of characters from other tribes and cultures: Queenie, a black girl whose great grandfather was Seminole, the Flash, who is Jewish and Galen, his mother and Natalie who are white.

While Indian camp is going on Rain is also thinking about her best friend Galen who died on New Year' Eve and her mom who died when she was 8 years old. Rain finally makes peace with their passing and honors her mother by visiting her grave and creates a website in Galen's memory.


Cynthia Leithch Smith is of mixed blood like her protagonist. Her tribal affiliation is Muscogee (Creek) Nation and she is biracial of Euro-American heritage. This was her first novel.


Awards/honors
2001 Writers of the Year in Children's Prose by Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers. Finalist for the Oklahoma Book Award

Review excerpts
MultiCultural Review v. 10 no. 3 (September 2001) p. 115-16
"Smith writes about a mixed-blood 14-year-old coming to terms with the sudden death of her mother and, more recently, of her best friend, her might-have-been boyfriend. Told in the first person, each chapter begins with a refreshingly nonlinear journal entry. In both journal and narrative, we see a smart teenager with an acerbic wit." - Slapin, Beverly, reviewer

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 55 no. 1 (September 2001) p. 35-6
"Unfortunately, Rain's story does not come into focus quickly or clearly enough. Two short chapters introduce and then kill off Rain's best friend/boyfriend; after that, the complexities of the local backstory make it difficult for the reader to put together the big picture, in which issues of friendship and family are explored through fragmented views of interrelated plots. Still, Rain's observations are appealingly wry, and readers who stay with her until these themes are fully developed will find food for thought in this exploration of cultural identity."

Connections
Cynthia Leitich Smith’s blog - Cynsations
and website www.cynthialeitichsmith.com

Hispanic/Latino(a) Literature

poetry



Bibliography
Mora, Pat. 1996. Confetti: Poems for children. Illus. Sanchez, Enrique O. New York: Lee and Low Books. ISBN 978-1-880000-85-4




Plot summary
A collection of thirteen free verse poems for children. The poems celebrate the beauty of nature and the Mexican American culture in the southwestern United States.

Critical analysis
Like confetti, the poems are light and colorful, full of life and joy. The words seem to float in the air and gently come down as the poems are read aloud. The poems are free verse but some of them have a rhythm all their own and other poems have repetitive lines which make them great to read aloud and children will love listening to them. The narrator of the poems is a little Mexican American girl who is enjoying nature, her culture and the people in her life.

Each poem in this collection is accompanied by a brightly colored illustration done in acrylic on paper. The illustrations provide a beautiful, vibrant visual of each poem. Most of the illustrations have the narrator of the poems, a little girl, who is drawn with common Latino features, dark hair and brown skin. The illustrations also depict the people, animals, objects, colors and places that the poems are about. One poem “River Voice” is about a river that flows in the desert. A few other illustrations are also set in the Southwest desert with saguaro cactus and cliffs. The people in the poems are illustrated with diverse skin tone and hair color and clothing.

There is a sprinkling of Spanish throughout the poems although not every poem has a Spanish word in it. A glossary of Spanish terms used in the poems is provided at the end of the books but is not really necessary because the illustrations and context helps readers know their meaning. Elements of the Mexican American culture are throughout the poems and illustrations. One poem “Purple Snake” is about the colorful wooden animals carved out of wood, alebrijes, that are made by Don Luis. Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of animals that are usually carved out of copal wood. Another poem is aptly titled “Mexican Magician” which is about a baker who makes sweet breads, marranitos, which are pig shaped cookies made with gingerbread and empanadas, which are turnovers filled with pineapple and pumpkin. The poem “I Hear, I Hear” mentions the Tarahumaras, a group of Native Americans indigenous to northern Mexico and the illustration on the corresponding page had a couple of people drawn with authentic clothing and items of corn, drums and tortillas. The poem “Dancing Paper” is about colored paper, papel picado (perforated paper), cascarones (confetti eggs), serpentinas (paper coils) and piñatas which are some other cultural markers that are most commonly associated with Mexico.

The poem “Words Free as Confetti” describes words using all the senses and colors. This poem is the twelfth poem but it should have been placed as either the first or last poem. All the poems in this collection use words which awaken the senses and are colorful like confetti.

Awards
2004 Arizona Governor’s Book Award
1996 Notable Books for a Global Society from the International Reading Association
1996 CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children’s Book Center)
Américas Commended List, 1996

Review excerpts
MultiCultural Review v. 6 (June 1997) p. 92
"{The} poems in this collection are reminiscent of confetti because of their light, fun appeal, which will engage children immediately. The book will do well in primary classrooms where teachers can use it for reading aloud. The author has chosen the sun, clouds, leaves, and wind as topics for many of the poems. Four of the other poems use people as the anchors for telling stories about a magical baker, a wood sculptor, a grandmother's lap, and the sounds of life in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. . . . The only drawback to this poetry book is that it is written in English with a few Spanish words sprinkled here and there. It is a shame that a bilingual format was not attempted since over half of the poems have a Hispanic theme and the children are clearly Hispanic." González-Jensen, Margarita, reviewer

Booklist v. 93 (November 15 1996) p. 592
"Using Spanish and English, this collection of poems is as much fun to look at as it is to read. In 'Colors Crackle, Colors Roar,' Mora writes, 'Gris whis-whis-whispers its kitten whispers' and 'azul coo-coo-coo like pajaritos do.' In 'Purple Snake,' a wood-carver with rough and wrinkled hands tells a young onlooker that animals are 'asleep in a piece of wood'—until he releases them by carving them out. Featuring an assortment of subjects, these short poems incorporate varying amounts of Spanish into the English text. Sanchez's illustrations . . . are full of color and provide youngsters with strong links to the subjects and activities in the poems. A good choice for choral reading or for reading aloud." Morgan, Karen, reviewer

Connections
Get some colorful confetti and throw it in the air as you read the poem “Word Free as Confetti”

Find some albrijas to show children and let look at them, touch and feel them.

Get some marranitos and empandas for children to taste.

Other poetry books by Pat Mora
Mora, Pat. Yum! mmmm! qué rico!: Americas' sproutings.Illus. López, Rafael. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc., 2007.

Mora, Pat. 1995. The Desert is my Mother: El desierto es mi madre. Illus. Lechon, Daniel. Piñata Books. ISBN 1-55885-121-6

http://www.patmora.com/


Picture Book





Bibliography
Morales, Yuyi. 2008. Just in Case: ATrickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book. New York: Roaring Book Press. ISBN 1-59643-329-9






Plot summary
This book is a companion book to “Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book” by Yuyi Morales. Señor Calavera is a Grim Reaper like character, who had paid a visit to Grandma Beetle on her birthday but she kept asking him to wait for her for “Just a minute” as she finished her preparations for her party. He had so much fun at her party that he granted her another year of life so that he could attend her next birthday party.

In the book “Just in Case” the time has come for Grandma Beetle to celebrate another birthday and Señor Calavera is excited to attend the party because he had a blast at her last celebration. As he is riding his bike on the way to her party, Zelmiro the Ghost appears and asks if Señor Calavera is taking the best present “Grandma Beetle would love the most” and asks him to look again “Just in case…”. Señor Calavera goes through the entire alphabet choosing presents that Grandma Beetle would love, while Zelmiro keeps asking him to look again and again, “Just in Case…”. After an unfortunate crash, Señor Calavera finally makes it to Grandma Beetle’s party with the most important present she would love the best, Grandpa Zelmiro.

Critical analysis
This is an interlingual alphabet concept book. The text is written in English with one word in Spanish for every letter of the alphabet, including the Spanish letters, ch, ll, and ñ. Some of the gifts Señor Calavera gathers for Grandma Beetle are unusual and unique such as “Bigotes. A mustache because she had none.” and “Niebla. Fog, to play hide-and-seek in.” A few of the items he gathers are authentic to the Mexican culture such as “una Lotería” a lottery bingo like game, “quince años” (fifteen years which is a reference to a debutante ball given to girls at the age of fifteen ) and a xilografía (a piece of wood engraved art which is illustrated with a Lucha Libre wrestler.)

A skeleton that represents death and a ghost might seem like scary characters for a children’s book, but there is nothing scary in this delightful story. Señor Calavera is a colorful, lively character illustrated as a skeleton ready for Día de los Muertos. Señor Calavera’s skull is decorated with pink and blue outlines around his teeth, flowers as the irises of his eyes, purple eyebrows, yellow dotted eyelashes and dots sprinkled around his nose. He wears a fedora hat and tie. He also rides a bike for transportation. His facial expressions display his emotions of happiness, sadness, frustration and worry as he gathers gifts for Grandma Beetle. Zelmiro the ghost is illustrated as chubby grandfather, who floats in the air and is slightly transparent in the shades of the background color of each layout.

Día de los Muertos/Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated on November 1 and 2 celebrating the lives of departed loved ones by decorating graves, skulls and skeletons with colorful designs, clothing, flowers and food. It is believed that the souls of the departed come back to Earth to join loved ones and celebrate on those days. The brightly colored, costumed skeletons symbolize an acceptance that death is part of the life cycle and in some ways pokes fun of it. Part of the title of the book is “A Trickster Tale” and Señor Calavera is the one getting tricked. Zelmiro has tricked him into allowing him to return to Earth to celebrate with his wife on her birthday.

The illustrations portray the Latino culture in many ways. Grandma Beetle and Zelmiro are drawn with brown skin as well as the nine grandchildren. The nine grandchildren all have different shades of brown hair and skin tone. The first and last pages of the book are pictures of Lotería cards with Spanish words. Some objects are simple objects like a doll, guitar and star, others are in reference to the Mexican culture, such as “La Artista” which is a drawing of Frida Kahlo, a famous Mexican artist, “El guarache” a Mexcian sandal, “El Metate” a grinding stone to grind seed and grains, and brightly colored wooden toys painted in colors typically associated with Mexico, green, white and red (in reference to the Mexican flag) and bright colors of red, orange, green and yellow.

While the book “Just in Case” can stand on its own, the story line will be enhanced if “Just a Minute” is read before it. The stories are not about Día de los Muertos but a little background knowledge on the Mexican holiday will also help in a thorough understanding of both stories.

Awards
2009 Pura Belpé Illustrator Award

Review Excerpts
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 62 no. 4 (December 2008) p. 164
"Morales' alphabetic litany is intriguing, . . . and her precise and conversational text is perfect for reading aloud. The patterns and repetitions in this original trickster tale also give it a strong folkloric grounding. Her magical realistic paintings call to mind Mexican folk art with their layered rich colors, ethereal supernatural beings, and small decorative details. Señor Calavera is a charming hero, with his cheerfully decorated skull, stripy tie, and jaunty fedora. . . . Especially useful for Spanish teachers or those wishing to incorporate Mexican culture into the classroom, this is also a gleefully macabre joy in its own right." Hulick, Jeannette

The Horn Book v. 85 no. 1 (January/February 2009) p. 81-2
"Morales's full-bleed art, in brilliant sunset hues, portrays an amiable, dreamlike world where weightless, comfortably rounded figures swirl joyously among the creative assemblage of gifts. Whether Grandma gets another ‘Quince años’ or, as the sparkles in her hair suggest, joins her Zelmiro sooner, it will be a happy outcome. What a beguiling (and bilingual) offering!" Long, Joanna Rudge

Connections
Companion book
Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book by Yuyi Morales

Morales, Yuyi. 2003. Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book. California: Chronicle Books LLC. ISBN: 0811837580

http://www.yuyimorales.com/

Books about Día de los Muertos

Ancona,George. 1993. Pablo remembers:the fiesta of the day of the dead. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 9780688112493

Johnston, Tony. 2000. Day of the Dead.illus. Winter, Jeanette. Sandpiper. ISBN 0152024468

Winter, Jeanette. 2006. Calavera Abecedario: A Day of the Dead Alphabet Book. Sandpiper. ISBN 0152059067


Novel




Bibliography
Soto, Gary.1997. Buried onions. San Diego,Calif.:Harcourt Brace.ISBN 0-15-206265-3







Plot summary
Eddie grew up and lives in the barrios of Fresno, California. Life is hard for Eddie. He is nineteen years old and trying to stay out of trouble and make a living for himself but bad luck seems to follow him around. He has dropped out of college and is trying to find work but jobs are elusive so he has resorted to painting addresses on curbs and doing yard work in middle class neighborhoods in Fresno. His family and some of his friends are trying to pull Eddie into a life he does not desire. His aunt and friend Angel want him to avenge the death of his cousin, who was killed at a club. He always has to watch his back and is paranoid about getting jumped. There were very few people in Eddie's life that he can trust. He doesn’t have many good role models in this life. A friend who has joined the Marines, José, comes to visit and Eddie begins to see the military as his only way out of the barrio. He searches within himself and seeks the advice from Coach, an ex-gang banger and Vietnam vet who runs the community recreation center. Coach asked Eddie if he has considered joining the military. After a bad incident with some guys he had once considered friends he decides to join the navy.

Critical analysis
This is a sad story about a young man trying to live a good life but the hardships of the barrio keep pulling him down. Eddie imagines that there must be a giant onion buried underneath the city and the vapors it releases during the relentless summer heat causes the residents of Fresno to cry about the sadness in their lives. The onion metaphor is prevalent throughout the story. Onions and onion like bulbs appear in Eddie’s life just before bad things happen to him.

Soto writing style is filled with metaphors and similes to describe a Mexican American barrio with authenticity and accuracy. He describes the house and neighborhood where Eddie lives “where fences sagged and the paint blistered on houses.” and “Laundry wept from the lines, the faded flags of poor, ignorant, unemployable people.” The characters of the young men and boys are cholos(male gang members) who dress in Dickies cut off at the knees and white t-shirts with a gold chain and crucifix around their necks. Eddie and his friends call each other "homes and homies". Eddie’s only mentor has “a swirl of tattoos running up both arms.” Eddie's aunt leaves him tortillas wrapped in a dish towel as a bribe to get him to avenge his cousins murder.

Spanish terms are used throughout the story, in the dialogue of the characters and thoughts of the narrator. The characters code-switch, mixing Spanish and English while speaking. For example "He turned out puro malo." Family members are referred in Spanish such as mi'jo, tía, nina and primo. Also, some of the words used are terms commonly associated with someone who has lived in the barrio such as carnal, vatos locos, cholos and ruca. A Spanish glossary is provided at the end of the book with the words and phrases used in the story.

Eddie's story is not happpy one nor one filled with much hope. He is not happy about joining the military, he sees it as his only way out of a hopeless situation. Some people may think this story stereotypes Mexican Americans as gangsters, but it is an authentic experience and way of life in some communties for Mexican Americans. Soto gives a voice to a segment of the Mexican American community that really didn't have one before. It is a harsh reality and a story worth telling.

Honors
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age

Review excerpts
School Library Journal v. 44 no. 1 (January 1998) p. 114
"Soto's writing is apt; he provides readers with strong images through the eyes and voice of Eddie. The young man frequently describes his surroundings, 'I returned to my apartment, which was in a part of Fresno where fences sagged and the paint blistered on houses. . . . Laundry wept from the lines, the faded flags of poor, ignorant, unemployable people.' Additionally, the author stirs more senses with his descriptions of smells and sounds. The only drawback to the story is that it is somewhat repetitious. Characters are introduced, then reenter the story with repeated delineation. Still, Soto's descriptions are poetic, and he creates deep feelings of heat and despair. A powerful and thought-provoking read." Hopf, Mary M., reviewer

Booklist v. 94 (November 15 1997) p. 554
"Soto's clear, finely honed poet's voice shines in this tale of barrio life in Fresno, California. . . . The broad and easy humor of Crazy Weekend (1994) is lacking here, but Eddie's wry observations in the face of his many predicaments provide welcome relief. Although the coach at the neighborhood playground offers Eddie material assistance and moral support, there is no upbeat ending. The 'buried onions,' which Eddie imagines as the underground source for the world's tears, pervade the tone and plot, but the unvarnished depiction of depressed and depressing barrio life is as important as the positive images of Latinos Soto has created in his other works." Carton, Debbie, reviewer

Connections
Other books by Gary Soto
Baseball in April and Other Stories
Nerdlandia
The Afterlife
Taking Sides

African-American Literature

Picture book



Bibliography
McKissak, Patricia C. 2001. Goin' Someplace Special. Ill. by Jerry Pinkney. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. ISBN 0689808858





Plot summary
This story takes place during the 1950s in an unspecified city in the South. Tricia Ann asks for permission to “Go Someplace Special" and her grandmother, Mama Frances, reluctantly agrees to let her go. Tricia Anne sets out on her solo trip and notices all the racism she has to endure on her way to “Someplace Special.” She has to sit in the back of the bus, she can’t sit on certain benches or eat at certain restaurants or even enter the lobby of a hotel. She gets discouraged and wants to go home but with the help of Blooming Mary she remembers what her grandmother has told her. She finally makes it to her special place where all are welcome, a place that Mama Frances calls "a doorway to freedom", the public library.

The author’s note at the end of the book tells the reader the story is based on events that happened in her own life when she was growing up in 1950s in Nashville Tennessee. Jim Crow laws were local and state laws which segregated whites from blacks in restaurants, drinking fountains, restrooms, benches and seats on the bus. McKissack experienced this racial segregation while growing up.She also got to experience integration when Nashville’s public library board voted to integrate the library.

Critical Analysis
The story and illustrations vividly portray the lives of African Americans during the 1950’s and the racial segregation they had to endure. McKissack wrote about the effects of legal discrimination as well as the hope and pride African Americans had despite the racism. Mama Frances tell Tricia Ann to “hold yo’ head up and act like you b’long to somebody.” Mrs. Grannell also tells her “Carry yo’self proud” after Tricia Ann questions the unfairness of Jim Crow laws. And the street vendor Jimmy Lee tells her “Don’t let those signs steal yo’ happiness.”

The illustrations by Jerry Pinkney are done in pencil and watercolor. Pinkney earned the Coretta Scott King award for illustrators in 2002 for this book. His illustrations authentically depict the setting and African American characters of the story. Tricia Ann, who is full of hope, wears a brightly colored dress and her character stands out amongst all the others in all the different places she goes. The time period is accurately reflected in the fashion, vehicles and buildings as well as the display of Jim Crow signs. The characters are drawn and painted showing a diversity of African American hairstyles, skin color and clothing of the time and setting.

Awards
Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award 2002

Review Excerpts
MultiCultural Review v. 11 no. 1 (March 2002) p. 101
"Jerry Pinkney's rich, detailed watercolors complement well McKissack's poignant story, based on her own experiences. Used as a read aloud for primary students or as a device to spark a discussion for young adults, this moving story will lead readers to the doorway of freedom." Crump-Stenberg, Linda

The Horn Book v. 77 no. 6 (November/December 2001) p. 736-7
"McKissack and Pinkney strike just the right balance in a picture book for young readers and listeners: informative without being preachy; hopeful without being sentimental."-Robin Smith

Connections
Read other picture books by Patricia Mckissak and Jerry Pinkney

McKissak, Patricia. 1997. Mirandy and Brother Wind. Ill. Jerry Pinkney. Dragonfly Books. ISBN 0679883339

Read books about Ruby Bridges, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Research Jim Crow laws and write or discuss the injustices that African Americans had to endure during that time period.


Poetry




Bibliography
Myers, Walter Dean. 2009. Amiri & Odette: A Love Story.Ill by Javaka Steptoe. New York:Scholastic Press.ISBN 0590680412








Plot summary
This is a modern retelling of the Swan Lake ballet told in verse using African Americans as the main characters and housing projects as the setting. The story has four acts like the ballet.

The first act: Amiri lives in the Swan Lake projects. He is a good young man and his mama wants him to "get settled in a life that's straight,/ with a wife and family, before it's too late!" She decides to throw him a party so he can meet some respectable girls. Act 2: The day before the party, Amiri meets Odette on the basketball courts and immediately falls in love with her. But she is promised to another, Big Red, a local crack dealer. Act 3:It is the night of the party and Amiri anxiously awaits the arrival of Odette. Big Red sends a girl in a black swan mask to fool Amiri into thinking she is Odette. Amiri is fooled and pledges his love to her. Meanwhile Odette arrives late to the party and see Amiri with another girl and runs off crying. Act 4: Amiri chases after Odette and pledges his love to her. Odette forgives him and pledges her love to him. Big Red comes along to claim Odette and he and Amiri fight. A wounded Big Red leaves. Amiri and Odette embrace and are together at last.

Critical Analysis
This book fits several classifications. It is a picture book, it is poetry and the story is written for young adults. The topic is a love story between two teenagers, told through verse with phenomenal illustrations to help move the story.

"They Danced....
Amiri and Odette,
A dance for two, two dance as one,
Two bodies rising toward the sun
O sing, O sing, O sing
of brave Amiri and beautiful Odette,
of a time when love and evil met,
Then through the haze of simmer/summer days"

This urban retelling of the Swan Lake ballet through verse is short but powerful. The lyrical text moves through four acts telling the love story of Amiri and Odette. This version reflects the themes of family, true love and the consequences of drug abuse. The setting was changed to a tenament housing development, The Swan Lake Projects. The characters are African American, the prince is Amiri, the swan Odette and the evil socerer Rothbart is Big Red, a crack dealer. The curse Odette suffers from is drug addiction. Images of swans and references to dance are woven in the text and illustrations. The black swan that tricks the prince in the ballet is a girl sent by Big Red wearing a black swan mask to Amiri's party. Odette tells Big Red "That this day/a dying swan chose/ LOVE/as her only way!" It is a classic story of love conquering evil told to the urban beat of hip hop and rap.

The paintings by Javaka Steptoe are incredible. They are done in acrylic paint on slabs of asphalt along with pieces of candy wrappers, jewelry, newspaper and plastic bags and feathers. The asphalt gives it that gritty inner city feel of graffiti art and murals on sides of buildings and concrete.

Review Excerpts
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books v. 62 no. 5 (January 2009) p. 211-12
"Myers' knotty and alliterative language has some of [ballet's] lush and studied elegance. The poetry is variable, however. . . . Steptoe's illustrations are tense, moody, and nocturnal, with an intensity and pebbly underlying texture that suggests mural art. Between the darkness and some artistic choices, the art misses opportunities to illuminate the text (the Odette/ Odette's-double issue is particularly murky in both illustration and verse), but it's got a nice sense of nighttime life and atmospheric drama. Dramatic reading aloud may be the best way into this narrative, and it could certainly make for an intriguing introduction to the classical Swan Lake."- Stevenson, Deborah

School Library Journal v. 55 no. 1 (January 2009) p. 114
“Myers's verse is almost overwrought-as it should be to suit the story, and the intensity of teenage love. The melodrama combines with an energy and beat that-heightened by dynamic text design-makes this ideal for performance. Steptoe's collage-on-cinderblock illustrations have a roughness, darkness, and density that suit the tone. This selection will broaden any teen collection.”-Nina Lindsay

Connections
Read the story aloud to feel and hear the rhythm of the hip hop language used to tell the story.

Watch a video of the ballet “Swan Lake”

Read other books by Walter Dean Myers
Myers, Walter Dean . 2001. Monster. New York. Amistad. ISBN 0064407314

Myers, Walter Dean. 2007. Street Love. New York. Amistad. ISBN 9780064407328

Myers, Walter Dean. 2010. Lockdown. New York: HarperTeen/Amistad.
ISBN: 9780061214806


Novel





Bibliography
Johnson, Angela. 1998. Heaven. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780689822292








Plot summary
Marley lives with her Momma, Pops and brother Butchy in Heaven, Ohio. It is 1996 and she is fourteen years old. She regularly wires money by Western Union to her wandering Uncle and receives letters from him about his travels. Marley has a nice life with a good family until she finds out about her past and who the people in her family really are. Slowly she comes to terms with who they really are and what family really means to her.

Critical Analysis
The theme of families, extended family, loyalty and obligations are presented in this touching story about a young girl who finds out what family really means to her. In 1996 there were several churches burned in African American communities in the South that were reminiscent of church burnings from the 1960s. A church burning in Alabama serves as the catalyst for bringing the truth about Marley’s family to light. Marley discovers that her biological mother was killed in a car accident and that the uncle who has been writing letters to her since she was a baby is really her father. Marley struggles with feelings of deception and the loss of trust. Her family calmly waits for her to accept her past and present. Her friends Shoogy and Bobby are there for her as she works through her feelings about her family.

This is a tender story of a young African American girl but had it not been for the cover picture, it could easily be the story of a girl from any American culture. Other than the reference to church burnings and the historical racist reasons behind those burnings, there are not many references to the race or ethnicity of the characters. The cultural markers in the story are subtle, Bobby's brown legs covered in paint, a couple of reference to hip hop and rap music, the scars on Shoogys brown skin, a boy who called Shoogy "Black girl with violet eyes". This is a story about family and friendship, it is a story that could fit in any culture.

Awards
Coretta Scott King author award 1999

Review Excerpts
Booklist v. 95 no. 2 (September 15 1998) p. 219
"The paradise setup is too idyllic, and in the anguish of Marley's discovery and upheaval, everyone is absolutely perfectly supportive and understanding. And Marley's real dad comes home at last. What saves this from being generic Hallmark is Johnson's plain, lyrical writing about the people in Marley's life. Everyone has secrets. There are all kinds of loving families. . . . In fact, the most troubled family is the 'perfect' nuclear one of Marley's best friend, who needs as much support as Marley does. On the news, they hear about people burning churches, but Johnson makes us see the power of loving-kindness."- Rochman, Hazel

School Library Journal v. 44 no. 10 (October 1998) p. 136
"In spare, often poetic prose reminiscent of Patricia MacLachlan's work, Johnson relates Marley's insightful quest into what makes a family. . . . The various examples of 'family' Marley encounters make her question what's real, what's true, what makes sense, and if any of that really matters as much as the love she continues to feel for her parents in spite of their seeming betrayal. Johnson exhibits admirable stylistic control over Marley's struggle to understand a concept that is often impossible to understand or even to define."- Bindner, Linda

Connections
Heaven trilogy by Angela Johnson

Johnson, Angela. 2003. The First Part Last. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780689849237

Johnson, Angela. 1998. Heaven. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780689822292

Johnson, Angela. 2010. Sweet, Hereafter. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0689873867

Students can write and or discuss what family means and describe people who make up their own families.

International Literature

poetry-2011 USBBY Outstanding International Books list





Bibliographic data
Argueta, Jorge. 2010. Arroz con leche: Un poema para cocinar/Rice Pudding: A Cooking Poem. Ill. Fernando Vilela. Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books; Bilingual edition. ISBN-10: 088899981X








Plot summary
A poem about cooking rice pudding told through the voice of a young boy who loves all kind of rice but loves rice pudding best of all. The poem is written in both English and Spanish.

Critical analysis
Arroz con leche is a traditional Latino rice pudding made with milk, sugar and cinnamon. Jorge Argueta who is from El Salvador, has written a delightful “Cooking Poem” about this yummy dish. The poem is written in both Spanish and English. The poem does not lose any of its sweetness in either language because Argueta uses imagery that awakens all five senses. “There is magic in the kitchen” as the process of cooking rice pudding is described as compared to nature and music. “In the kitchen the rice is singing” as it is sprinkled into the pot. “The flames heating the pot /are rainbow hands” and sugar and salt become “Salt stars and sugar snow”.

While a traditional step by step recipe with a list of ingredients, measurements and time would be beneficial for some readers I think that its absence gives readers a chance to make the dish their own by allowing them to make the rice pudding by envisioning it as the narrator does. It reminds me how my abuelita would tell me how to cook a dish when I would ask her for a recipe. There was never an actual written recipe just the knowledge and experience of cooking for so many years that had been passed down from one generation to the next. She too would describe the recipe using analogies and the senses that helped guide her cooking.

The illustrations by Fernando Vilela, who is from Brazil, are done in black ink outlines, earth tone colors and white. The white brings out the ingredients as described in the poem, white raindrops of rice, a waterfall of milk, and salt stars and sugar snow. The boy and his family are drawn with Latino features, brown skin and black hair. The illustrations show the joy the boy has in making his favorite food as his mother lovingly watches and supervises him. Argueta made sure to place an asterisk in the text by parts where adult supervision is needed for children who want to make the rice pudding themselves. The “ribbons” of steam and aroma engulf the home and family in all its sweetness and love.

This “Cooking Poem “about arroz con leche is a delicious treat for the eyes, ears and mouth.

Awards
2011 USBBY Outstanding International Books
2011-2012 Tejas Star Book Award

Review excerpts
Booklist v. 107 no. 5 (November 1 2010) p. 53
“A lyrical, lovely bilingual ode to rice pudding? Well, lovers of that creamy confection won't be surprised at the emotion it engenders. After first telling readers how he likes all kinds of rice--white, brown, fried, stewed--award-winning poet Argueta proceeds, making every step in preparing the dish sound like a great adventure.”—Ilene Cooper

School Library Journal v. 56 no. 9 (September 2010) p. 142
PreS-Gr 3-“A boy goes to the market to buy ingredients for rice pudding. What ensues is a poetic journey of making the sweet treat, step by step. The bilingual text is not a straightforward recipe, but could be followed to make the traditional dish. “ - Shannon Dye, Peoria Public Library, Peoria, AZ

Connections
Jorge Argueta is writing a series of Cooking Poems.
Argueta, Jorge. 2009. Sopa de Frijoles/BeanSoup. Ill. Yockteng, Rafael. Toronto, Ontario: Groundwood Books; Bilingual edition. ISBN-10: 0888998813

Take the ingredients mentioned in the book and with adult supervision make rice pudding.

Write a cooking poem from a recipe for a favorite food.


Picture Book




Bibliographic data
Fox, Mem. 1985. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. Ill. by Julie Vivas Brooklyn, N.Y.: Kane/Miller Book Publishers. ISBN: 0916291049






Plot summary
Wilfred lives next door to an old people’s home. He likes to visit with the residents, especially with one lady who has four names like him, Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper. Then one day Wilfred finds out that Miss Nancy has lost her memory and he wants to know what a memory is. He goes about asking all the residents “What’s a memory?” and they all respond with varying answers what a memory means to them. Wilfred decides to look for memories for Miss Nancy since she has lost hers. He fills a basket with items that fit the descriptions his friends told him what a memory was. The items help Miss Nancy find her memories.

Critical analysis
This sweet story is about friendship and memories. The innocence of young Wilfrid is charming when he asks the residents about the definition of memory and is touching when he tries to find things that will help his friend find hers. Each of his friends has a different meaning of what a memory is, “something warm” “something from long ago” “something that makes you cry” or “something that makes you laugh” “a memory is precious as gold”. Wilfrid takes all their memories and makes some of his own and in return he helps Miss Nancy remember hers.

The watercolor illustrations by Julie Vives are pleasant, sweet and soft. The elderly residents are realistic in their posture and body shape although the bellies do look a bit exaggerated. Wilfrid however looks like a child with boundless energy as he visits his friends.

Mem Fox is from Australia and “Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge” was her first book published in the United States in 1985. With the exception of a word or two like cricket and porridge, the story transcends the globe. Young and old, friendship and memories and memory loss are universal no matter what country you live in or what culture you belong to. Everyone can relate to this heart warming story.

Review excerpts
School Library Journal
The illustrations splashy, slightly hazy watercolors in rosy pastels contrast the boy's fidgety energy with his friends' slow, careful movements and capture the story's warmth and sentiment." – John Peters, New York Public Library

Connections
Storylinonline.com is a website from the Screen Actors Guild where celebrities read children’s books. View and listen to the video of “Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge” read by Bradley Whitford.

Students can interview grandparents or other older adults and ask them what a memory means to them.

Students can create a memory basket using items that fit that description of what a memory means to the characters of the story. They can fill it with objects that are warm, something from long ago, something as precious as gold, something that makes you cry and something that makes you laugh.


Novel- Batchelder Award 2003



Bibliographic data
Funke, Cornelia. 2001. The Thief Lord. Translated from German by Oliver Latsch. New York. Chicken House, Scholastic. ISBN 9780545227704










Plot summary
Prosper and Bo runaway from Hamburg Germany after their mother passes away and their aunt wants to separate the brothers. The siblings go to Venice, Italy because their mother had told them stories about the city. The boys join a group of street children who live in an abandoned theater. The leader of the group is a boy named Scipio who calls himself the Thief Lord. The children survive through petty theft and selling items the Thief Lord steals. The Thief Lord is commissioned to steal a mysterious broken wooden wing and the children set about planning the heist. A detective hired by the brothers’ aunt finds the small band of children and he reveals Scipio’s true identity. The children continue with their planned heist and awaken the owner of the home, Ida. She agrees to let them have the broken wooden wing after she explains its part of a magical merry go round and if she could go with them to the exchange. The adventures that ensue take the children on a journey full of magic and life changing events.

Critical analysis
The story was originally written in German by Cornelia Funke and translated into English by Oliver Latsch. The setting of the story, the city of Venice is very much a character in the story. Prosper and Bo’s mother told the boys many stories about the city’s culture, art, and architecture. The alley and canals served as a great way for the children to lose the adults chasing after them. A map of the city is provided at the beginning of the book to provide readers with a sense of location. The story is a fantasy but the city of Venice is real and is described with so much detail and accuracy that when the fantasy elements come to light halfway through the book the reader may be surprised if the genre is unknown before reading it.

The characters are a diverse group. The group of children includes a girl, a boy of African descent, an Italian, and the brothers who are German. The detective is not a native of Italy but has lived in the city for several years. Although the story was originally written in German, and later translated to English, the Italian language is also part of the story. Characters have Italian names and Italian words and phrases are written throughout the novel. A glossary of Italian words is included at the back of the book.

The story is full of suspense and mystery. It is a story of friends who take care of each like family and people who are searching for a place to belong. When the story moves into the realm of fantasy it takes on the magical quality of a good adventure story for children who want to be adults and adults who want to be children.

Awards
2003 Mildred L. Batchelder Award for Outstanding Translated Book
Child Magazine Best Book of the Year
Parenting Magazine Book of the Year
Zurich Children's Book Award
Book Award from the Vienna House of Literature
Swiss Youth Literature Award
New York Times Bestseller and Notable Book
USA Today Bestseller
Book Sense Book of the Year Award
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
Child Magazine Best Book of the Year
ALA Notable Children's Book
NCTE Notable Children's Book in the Language Art
Winner of the 2005 Young Readers Choice Award (Senior Division)

Review excerpts
The Horn Book v. 78 no. 6 (November/December 2002) p. 754-5
"The story moves at a slow pace, lingering in explanatory dialogue and descriptions of Venice, but the idiosyncrasy and resonance of the central carousel image create a potent, continental atmosphere that laces the tale with a bit of excitement. In the course of pursuing the carousel's mystery, Victor and Ida and the brothers fob off Prospero and Bo's aunt with the kind of child she really wants and band together as a new kind of family—a sweet and comforting conclusion that will satisfy readers whose hearts have been touched by the loyalty and courage of the two brothers and the rewarded generosity of their new foster parents."-Anita L. Burkam

The New York Times Book Review v. 107 no. 46 (November 17 2002) p. 31
"In Germany and England, critics have compared 'The Thief Lord' to a Dickens tale, probably because of its obvious resemblances to 'Oliver Twist.' But it also has the feel of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream,' with its transformations, disguises, role reversals and revelations, and its final harmonious resolution of destinies. One of the virtues of this splendid novel—Funke's first to be translated into English—is its final vision of youth and age, in which children who have been betrayed by life regain their trust in their elders. In turn, the best of grown-ups find adventure in that most daunting task: protecting the young while giving them the freedom to grow."-Rebecca Pepper Sinkler

Connections
Inkheart Trilogy by Cornelia Funke
Cornelia Funke. 2003. Inkheart. Translated from German by Anthea Bell.
New York. Chicken House, Scholastic. ISBN 0439852706

Cornelia Funke. 2007. Inkspell. Translated from German by Anthea Bell.
New York. Chicken House,Scholastic. ISBN 0439554012

Cornelia Funke. 2008. Inkdeath. Translated from German by Anthea Bell.
ew York. Chicken House,Scholastic. ISBN 0439866286

Writing prompt: If you were to go for a ride on the magical merry go round would you want to become older or younger? Why? What would you do?