Native American Literature: Book One

Hucko, Bruce. A Rainbow At Night: the World in Words and Pictures by Navajo Children. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1996.


A Rainbow at Night: the World in Words and Pictures by Navajo Children is a non-fiction children’s book written by Bruce Hucko. Hucko taught art on the Navajo Reservation in Utah for over ten years. The book is written in a reader friendly manner. Each page shows a piece of artwork, a photo of the child who made the art, some background information by Hucko on the art, the child’s description of his or her art, and lastly some questions to use in a classroom that relate to the piece of art.
One of highlights of this book is that contains a contemporary viewpoint on Native Americans and their culture. Furthermore, this viewpoint is told through the eyes of Native American children. An element of this book that I found to be extremely appealing is the questions listed at the bottom of the page. These questions allow non Native American students a way to relate Native American students. Furthermore, it supports the idea of cultural universals: emphasizing similarities between cultures and communities before discussing differences. For example, one set of questions asks, “What is your family’s story? Where did you come from? Ask your parents and grandparents, and listen. Draw the most important parts of the story large on your paper…” (Hucko, p. 6)
Overall, I find this book appealing and would use it in a classroom library. It is essential to represent Native American people in a modern light, rather than the traditional folklore students are used to. Also, the art and stories of the children in the book create a peer teaching environment that can be carried over into the classroom.

Confessions of a Closet Catholic

I really enjoyed the book, Confessions of a Closet Catholic, by Sarah Darer Littman. I thought that she created a characters that many readers could relate to. Furthermore, she exposed the constructs that it is okay for one to question their religion.

Towards the beginning of the novel, I found the contrast between Jussy's mom and Mac's mom to be somewhat stereotypical. Mac's mom is the "perfect mom" in the "perfect Catholic family" whereas Jussy's mom is the overly clean Jewish mom. It bothered me that Littman portrayed the two characters in this way and I wondered how young readers - especially Jewish readers - would react to this. However, as the book went on, more of the family dynamics were exposed and the conflicts between Jussy and her Mom were eventually resovled.

Another idea that I thought this book dealt with was the idea of religion being arbitrary. Jussy uses grape juice, matza balls, and a teddy bear to represent Catholic icons. I think that one of the themes of this book is that religion is personal and it is whatever a person makes of it. One can follow traditions and norms of certain religions or one can make up their own rituals or follow traditions selectively - any way you do it is fine. This is an imporant idea to get across to young readers who may still be in the mentailty that Catholics can only do this and Protestants can only do that, etc.

Overall, I thought this book posed a lot of insightful questions. It was an enjoyable read and something that I was able to relate to easily.

Thoughts on "Becoming Naomi Leon" (Group B)

Reading "Becoming Naomi Leon", by Pam Munoz Ryan, was truly enjoyable. It was interesting to read the Barrera and Quiroa article before hand ("The use of Spanish in Latino Children's Literature in English: What Makes for Cultural Authenticity?") and then see the parallels between the article and the book. In the article, the authors discuss the role of kinship and families in Latino Literature. During the novel, Naomi's mom shows up unexpectantly (after years of her being gone) and Naomi grapples with her identity in relation to her family.

What was refreshing about this novel was how gender roles were "reversed" in some ways. Rather than reading about an uninvovled and destitute father, we see a father who loves his children and wants to be with him. After reading so many books that shed father's in a negative light, this book gives one a fresh outlook. Also, the book high lighted extended kinship systems; Naomi not only had Gram and Owen as her support system, but neighbors and extended family members. The book also showed how cummunal the Latina community is, as when Naomi traveled to Mexico, her family accepted her immediately and worked together to find Naomi's father.

Another element of this book that made it unique from other reads was Naomi's voice. For a child who is struggling with problems between two parents, this novel offers a "friend" or voice that one can relate to. Often, problems within families are kept under wraps, or "hushed". Children dealing with these problems may not have an outlet or source to relate to. This book gives children a character to that they can turn to when coping with the same sort of issues.

I think this book is an outstanding resource, not only does it confront issues with families, it also exposes children to the Latina community in a positive and non-stereotypical way.

Thoughts about "From Charlie's Point of View"

This week we read "From Charlie's Point of View" by Richard Scrimger. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I liked the progression of the characters and how the three main character's - Charlie, Bernadette, and Lewis - were equally and similairly developed.

I think that this book would be a good one to use in future years; however, I feel that it would be equally beneficial to read a book about a person who has a different disability. A few of the books about Autism that Valerie brought to class seemed very interesting and it would be a unique read. Personally, I've never been exposed to a young adult book that deals with a topic such as Autism.

My favorite thing about reading "From Charlie's Point of View" was all the questions that it raised. Everyone in my discussion group brought a different question and it was exciting to see how people read and view texts in comparison to my own view point.

Thanks for reading :)

Women In Juarez, Mexico

Hello All!

I am taking a Women and Literature class this semester and the past few weeks we have been talking about the Juarez Murders in Mexico. I thought that this was a relevant topic to this blog because it has to deal with women's issues and it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT to spread the word about this situation.

I'm not sure if everyone knows about the Juarez Murders, and I am not the most scholarly person on the subject but here is a little bit of background. Basically, about 10-15 years ago, around the time that NAFTA was initiated, women in Juarez started going missing. Currently, over 450 women have been found dead or are still missing - no one knows the real number. Many of these women are from small towns in central Mexico and have no family in Juarez - meaning, it takes some time for someone to become aware that these women have gone missing. If this isn't bad enough, many of these women are raped and mutilated beyond imagine. So far, NO ONE HAS BEEN CONVICTED of these murders and the government is not working to solve the problem.

This is just a rough description, but I encourage everyone to read more about this and find out information. This situation is devastating and not many people know about it (I had no idea until I took this class).

Here are some website links and a FICTIONAL book (based on true events) of the situation:

http://www.mujeresdejuarez.org/
http://www.amigosdemujeres.org/AboutUs.htm

Desert Blood: The Juarez Murders by Alicia Gaspar de Alba

Group Post about Awards

Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
The purpose of this Award is to recognize authors and illustrators who create a representation of Asian/Pacific Americans and heritage in a positive way. The selection criteria is simply that the author or illustrate represents Asian/Pacific heritage in an accurate and positive way. The authors and illustrates do not have to identify themselves as being of Asian/Pacific heritage. The organization itself has been established for nearly thirty years, but the American Librarians Association sponsored award is relatively new in creation. There are three separate awards that are given under this title for illustrations in children's picture books, youth literature and adult books. The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association has a section dedicated on their site for the members of the selection committee although it is not made completely clear 'who' the members are. The accolades of the members are given as a quick biography and perhaps in defending their position on the committee, but further information isn't really clear. No picture is given as a representation as to who the members are and that is something that our particular group thought it was interesting that the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association would choose not to give you a face for their organization.Over all, we had a very difficult time finding books in the library that have won this particular award. "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata, "A Step from Heaven" by An Na and "Project Mulberry" by Linda Sue Park were either winners or nominees for this award and were the only ones that were locatable.Our group thought that the criteria for this award sent a positive message in that when considering winners, the committee paid close attention to content verses identity of the authors or illustrators. We all felt that it added an interesting twist to the insider/outsider debate considering that the criteria doesn't specify that the creators have to be of Asian/Pacific heritage or association, but that of the three books that we were able to locate two of the authors were of Asian/Pacific heritage.We welcome questions or comments on this award and wonder what you think about the criteria saying that the authors and illustrators don't have to be Asian/Pacific American, but those are the people who seem to represent the winners of the award as a majority. Let us know!

Stereotypes in "Bronx Masquerade" by Nikki Grimes

In class yesterday I didn't have time to formulate my thoughts or get them together before we moved on from this topic. I feel as though I may have had a different read of the book as opposed to some of my classmates. I didn't think that the characters in the book were stereotypes, I took them to be real students that many children could relate to. As some one in our class mentioned, the book gives voices to those who may not have this kind of exposure otherwise. Furthermore, it was brought up that the teacher in this novel represents a stereotype of the white teacher who goes into the inner city schools and tries to fix everything - which is why he started the whole Open Mike thing. However, the character Tyrone in the beginning writes a poem instead of an essay, which the teacher asks him to read. After Tyrone reads the poem aloud, the other students want to do the same thing. The Open Mike sessions develop from this. Thus, I don't believe that the teacher fits into the stereotypical "savior teacher" role.

I understand why others could read into these characters as stereotypes, and they could be right. I just saw the characters in a more realistic light and thought that their stories were ones that other students could relate to.

Thanks for reading :)