Review: IN OUR MOTHERS' HOUSE by Patricia Polacco

Polacco, Patricia. 2009. In our mothers’ house. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN 9780399250767.

PLOT SUMMARY:
A woman describes the lively childhood she spent growing up with two loving mothers, adopted siblings, a festive extended family, and friendly neighbors.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Although the author seems to aim at creating a joyful atmosphere, she overshoots her goal; the story comes off a little too sappy sweet. In every memory, the family is completely cheerful and loving. The only intrusion into their idyllic happiness is a homophobic neighbor who verbally attacks them at a neighborhood party. Although it would be wonderful if families could achieve a perfect state of harmony, I have yet to meet a single family who accomplishes that goal. Including some memories of sibling rivalry or teen rebellion would have given this book a feeling of authenticity that it lacks. The illustrations reflect the text’s exuberant spirit. The constant laughing expressions and waving hands feels a little overdone, particularly when contrasted with the horrified expressions on the page describing the neighbors attack.

The topic of same-sex parents is handled in a straight-forward, but appropriately innocent manner. The narrator describes her two mothers and their relationship just as casually as one would describe a typical mother-father relationship: “Our mothers were so different from each other that all of us often wondered how they found each other at all.” Although the book’s message (that a family with same-sex parents can be happy and accepted) is delivered a little heavily, it is still a cheerful book that will entertain readers.

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal: 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:
Children and their parents who are interested finding more picture books that include same-sex couples may enjoy:
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson
A Tale of Two Daddies by Vanita Oelschlager
Daddy, Papa, and Me by Leslea Newman

Review: KAMI AND THE YAKS by Andrea Stenn Stryer

Stryer, Andrea Stenn. 2007. Kami and the yaks. Ill. by Bert Dodson. Palo Alto, CA: Bay Otter Press. ISBN 9780977896103.

PLOT SUMMARY:
When the yaks that Kami’s Sherpa family relies on to earn a living go missing, Kami determinedly searches for them. When he finally finds them and discovers that one is trapped, he makes his way through a hail storm alert his father.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
The watercolor illustrations by Bert Dodson are expressive and detailed. The colors used closely follow the story’s mood. The first half of the book, when Kami searches for the yaks and struggles through the hail storm, is illustrated with cool, blue tones. In those pages, Kami’s red garment is the only source of warm colors. When Kami reaches his family and guides them to the yaks, the sky lightens and warm colors are introduced into the paintings.

Kami’s inability to hear is not introduced right away in the book. A few pages in, the author lets the reader know that he is deaf. This detail about Kami is handled authentically through the book. Stryer makes sure to describe the observations that Kami makes through sight, smell, and feeling, rather than sound. For example, when the storm hits, Stryer describes the sizzling smell of the flashing lightning as well as the vibrations that Kami feels from the thunder. When Kami tries to tell his father about the trapped yak, Stryer briefly explains to the reader that “because he never heard words, Kami was not able to speak.” Although Kami and his family do not seem to use a formal version of sign language, Kami is able to communicate through gestures.

Although Stryer does provide brief background information about Sherpas in an author’s note at the end of the book, it would have been interesting to learn more about the boy who inspired the book.

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal: Although Kami's disability plays an important role in the story, the author focuses on his strength. Readers will find inspiration in his abilities, his resourcefulness, and his courage. Dark, yet vivid watercolors extend the text, as both awaken the senses to the sights, sounds, and feel of the icy cold mountains' austere beauty. This story opens the doors to new worlds and gives readers a character to admire.

CONNECTIONS:
According to Stryer’s website, hers is the only Western children’s book about the Sherpa in Nepal. A quick internet search proves this claim to be nearly true. However, in 2009, Olga Cossi published the book Pemba Sherpa about a young Sherpa girl who wants to be a guide.

Review: ASK ME NO QUESTIONS by Marina Budhos

Budhos, Marina. 2006. Ask me no questions. New York: Ginee Seo Books. ISBN: 9781416903512

PLOT SUMMARY:
Nadira and her family are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. Although they have spent years in the United States, working to build successful lives, in the aftermath following September 11, they fear deportation. When they make a desperate attempt to find asylum in Canada, they are turned away at the border and Nadira’s father is arrested. Nadira and her sister, Aisha, are forced stay with their uncle’s family and return to school while they work to find a way to free their father and avoid losing the lives they have built in the U.S.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
Although the book’s plot is interesting and suspenseful, I felt that Nadira largely remains a stranger to the reader. Usually, stories told in the first person feel extremely personal. The reader is invited to experience every thought and feeling of the narrator. You come away feeling like you know that character like a friend. Nadira is more like a casual acquaintance. She never reveals who she is. By the end of the novel, all that I know about her is that she loves her family, is scared of being deported, and feels inferior to her sister. Budhos doesn’t provide any details about what Nadira is passionate about, how she spends her time, or what her personality is like on a day to day basis. There are some small instances in the book when you get a hint at her individuality, such as when she meets a college student and realizes that college is not just for overachievers like her sister. However, moments like this are cut short. Just when the reader is getting more insight into her character, Nadira realizes it’s time to pick up her sister.

Although Budhos does not reveal much about her protagonist, she does depict a variety of personalities, reactions, and attitudes in her other characters. Although most of the book’s main characters share similar experiences as Muslims living illegally in the U.S., they do not share the same reactions to their current situations. This diversity is described both before and after the effects of 9/11. Nadira’s mother shies away from leaving her home and generally spends her days learning English from cooking shows. Nadira’s aunt, on the other hand, eagerly defies her husband to pursue a job outside the home. The unifying behavior that Nadira shares with her family is their endeavors to blend in and avoid questions.

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal: “The author explains their situation well, but the effect is more informational than fiction. Nadira and Aisha are clearly drawn characters, but they don't quite come alive, and their Bangladeshi-American background is more a backdrop than a way of life. Still, this is an important facet of the American immigrant experience, worthy of wider attention.”

Booklist: “The teen voice is wonderfully immediate, revealing Nadira's mixed-up feelings as well as the diversity in her family and in the Muslim community. There's also a real drama that builds to a tense climax.”

CONNECTIONS:
This book provides an alternate perspective of the effects of the September 11th attacks than most Americans are used to hearing. Recommend this book to teens learning about 9/11 and the impact on the treatment of Muslims in the United States.

Review: WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON by Grace Lin

Lin, Grace. 2009. Where the mountain meets the moon. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 9780316114271.

PLOT SUMMARY:
Minli is a young Chinese girl who lives in a poor farming community with a discontented mother and a father who loves stories. Despite the economical hardship that her family faces, Minli remains happy and lively because of her love for her father’s stories. Eventually, however, her mother’s dissatisfaction with their lot prompts Minli to pursue fortune for her family by seeking the advice of the “Old Man of the Moon.” Her quest leads her to talking fish, a faithful dragon, and a slew of kind and helpful strangers. Through her journey, Minli learns the secret to changing her family’s fortune.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
This is a wonderful book. It may or may not be one that I read repeatedly throughout my life (too early to tell), but it will be one that sticks in my mind. The story, characters, illustrations, and design of the book are beautiful and memorable. The vibrant full-color illustrations are enchantingly peculiar. The bold colors and skewed perspective of the illustration depicting the Magistrate finishing the dragon painting (p. 56) reminded me of Van Gogh’s The Night Café. The scarcity of the full-page illustrations (only 8 in the 279 page book) makes each one a treat.

The smaller, single color illustrations used at the start of each chapter as part of the book’s overall design helps set the tone. Although the entire book has the feeling of a folk tale, the stories told within the book are set apart by a simple change in typeface and by individual titles for each story (“The Story of the Goldfish Man”). Kudos to the book designer, Alison Impey. In my opinion, she made this book into a work of art.

Getting back to the story, Lin’s characters are distinctive and charming. Accomplishing that task seems especially impressive after considering that nearly everyone who helps Minli on her journey is good, cheerful, and contented. One would think that the characters would eventually start to blend together and become bland. However, each is unique. Some are wise and reflective, some are relaxed and starry-eyed, and others are naïve and mischievous. One character, the magistrate, is condemned as the villain of the story. His defeat comes suddenly and completely. The mother spends the first half of the book as a crabby, complaining nag. However, she is given the chance to realize her mistakes and gain forgiveness from her husband and daughter. Although I generally find it annoying when a book concludes with an idyllic ending, the fairy tale mood of this book makes it completely acceptable that the good characters are all rewarded and the bad one is punished.

In an author’s note at the end of the book, Lin tells the reader, “By the age of eleven, I had fully disregarded my Asian heritage.” Fortunately for her future readers, she found a renewed interest that heritage through Chinese folktales and fairy tales. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a culmination of Lin’s reimagining and expanding of those folktales. Adding authenticity to Lin’s work is the list of books that inspired this novel.

There are some aspects of the book that reflect her “Asian-American sensibilities,” such as in Minli’s name. On the Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast blog (7/22/09), Lin relates the difficulty she choosing a name, mentioning that most Chinese names for girls emphasize beauty and passivity. However, even in this search for a name that suited her spirited heroine, she rejected the impulse to go against tradition. She originally considered the name “Cai,” meaning colorful, but decided against it because it is not a traditional Chinese girl name.

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal: “The author's writing is elegant, and her full-color illustrations are stunning. Minli's determination to help her family, as well as the grief her parents feel at her absence, is compelling and thoroughly human.”

CONNECTIONS:
Incorporate this book into a school-age storytime by reading one of the tales told within the book. Each one stands up well on its own, but is short enough to hold kids’ attention. This can be used in a general folktale-themed storytime or in a program dedicated to Asian literature.

Review: ERIKA-SAN by Allen Say

Say, Allen. 2009. Erika-San. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 9780618889334.

PLOT SUMMARY:
Inspired by an old print of a small house that she saw as a child in her grandmother’s house, Erika spends her life learning Japanese. After graduating from college, she travels to Japan to take a position as a teacher. She travels from Tokyo, to a small city, to a quiet, isolated settlement. Here, she finally finds the home she has been searching for.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
In a review by School Library Journal, Erika-San is described as a “charming fairy tale with a contemporary, feminist twist,” complete with a quest, three challenges and a prince. Although I would not have picked up on this comparison on my own, I agree with it. A sweet and unexpected love story concludes this book about a woman searching for her heart’s desire. Although the story has a leisurely pace, the reader is pulled along by Erika’s determination to pursue her goals. You can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm: “Sayonara, everybody -- I’ve got a teaching job in Tokyo!”

Aside from her enthusiasm, Erika’s sincere interest in Japan is another endearing trait. She does not stop at superficial curiosity. She dedicates her studies to learning the language so that she can someday live in Japan. One thing that I found odd, however, is that despite her clear infatuation with Japan, she doesn’t seem to have taken much time learning about the country itself. She is completely shocked and overwhelmed by the crowds of people in Tokyo. She sees a bullet train and thinks, “Now I’m in a space station.” It appears that her research about the country stopped with the picture books her grandmother read her as little girl. However, once she is confronted by the fact that the cottage she has envisioned living in her entire life is not actually a home, but a teahouse, she embraces the new knowledge. Her decision to learn the tea ceremony, rather than mourn the loss of her castle in the sky, makes amends for her previous ignorance.

The realism of Say’s watercolor illustrations combined with the white space surrounding each image gives the impression that the reader is flipping through a scrapbook documenting true events, rather than reading a picture book. Each character depicted, American or Japanese, is given distinctive features that set them apart. Although the students that Erika teaches dress in identical uniforms, they are each given unique hairstyles, features, and expressions.

REVIEWS:
School Library Journal: “Say's soft-colored paintings, detailed but not busy, contain just the right amount of nuance to build the story. He nicely contrasts the busyness of the cities with the verdant landscapes of the country, casting a happy-ever-after glow to the tale.”

CONNECTIONS:
Suggest this book to kids who are interested in other countries and cultures, particularly Asian cultures. For additional reading, suggest nonfiction books and DVDs about other countries. For kids particularly interested in Japan, point them to the Kids Web Japan website, http://web-japan.org. It provides information about life in Japan, language lessons, and games.

Review: NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH (AND A FEW WHITE LIES) by Justina Chen Headley

Headley, Justina Chen. 2006. Nothing but the truth (and a few white lies). New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0316011282.

PLOT SUMMARY:
As a half white, half Asian teen, Patty Ho feels completely out of place in her life. She doesn’t live up to her Taiwanese mother’s strict standards and is the victim of harassment by racist classmates. Although she is prepared to have a miserable time at the math camp her mother sends her to for the summer, it’s at camp that Patty begins to find confidence and embrace her multi-faceted self.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
In Nothing But the Truth (and a Few White Lies), Headley contrasts an animated and casual writing style with intense emotions and experiences. The story is told in first person from Patty’s perspective. Although her observations of the world around her mark her as witty and intelligent, Patty views herself as perpetually awkward and out of place because of her mixed race. Her experiences back up her feelings of isolation. A classmate hurls derogatory remarks and spits on her, while her long-time crush sits idly by. Even her best friend shows a complete disregard for Patty’s Taiwanese culture: “Omigod, what weird Chinesey thing is your mom doing to you now?” As the reader, I never felt like Patty’s low self-esteem was completely illogical. With encounters like that, what average teenage girl wouldn’t start to feel ashamed of who they are? By entering a new environment with a diverse group of people, she realizes that nobody ever fits wholly into one perfect mold. She finds confidence in who she is and embraces her many “Asian, white, closet math geek, runner, friend, daughter, girl-in-lust-with-Stu” selves.

The only flaw that I found with the plot is that Patty’s transformation feels too sudden. As someone who experienced through similar high school experiences of isolation and embarrassment (down to humiliating motherly public lectures), it seems unlikely to me that Patty would undergo such a quick a shift in personality and behavior.

Cultural markers are used abundantly throughout the book, more than in any other book I have read this semester. The frequent mentions of cultural details seem appropriate to the story because Patty herself is so hyper-aware of her ethnicity. Although she is half-white, since Patty is raised by a single mother, her home life is rooted in Taiwanese culture. She is constantly at odds with her simultaneous desires to meet her mother’s high expectations and to avoid the Asian stereotypes of the “model minority.” She intentionally tries to bomb her math camp application. She resents the only other Asian girl in her class, Annie, for fulfilling the stereotype of a good Asian student by excelling in school. It’s a relief when she begins to realizing that being good in math doesn’t mean she’s a geek or that she’s perpetuating the model minority stereotype. She stops putting so much importance on how she thinks others see her, and focuses instead on how she views herself.

REVIEWS:
Booklist: “Headley lays on the empowering revelations with a trowel, and the stream of comic riffs, some of which miss the mark, slow this debut novel's pace. But Patty's contemporary, immediate thoughts about finding direction and relating to family have universal resonance, while her specific struggles will speak directly to biracial teens.”

CONNECTIONS:
This book is a good recommendation for teen girls. After they finish this book, recommend these other books about contemporary life as an Asian American teen or tween:
Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by David Yoo
Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park
Seeing Emily by Joyce Lee Wong

Review: A BOY CALLED SLOW by Joseph Bruchac

Bruchac, Joseph. 1994. A boy called Slow. Ill. by Rocco Baviera. New York: Philomel Books. ISBN 0399226923.

PLOT SUMMARY:
Bruchac tells the story of how a Lakota boy named Slow became the man known as Sitting Bull through his bravery and determination.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:
The meaning and earning of a name is the driving force behind this tale. Bruchac emphasizes that theme throughout the book. Although the idea that Slow must somehow earn a new name may seem unusual to many readers, the author effectively impresses the importance of this tradition. Other cultural markers found within the text include the occasional inclusion of Lakota words. Most of these words are followed by literal translations. Although this might seem redundant if I was familiar with the language, as it is, I found the translations to be helpful. They did not distract me from the story at all. Another sign of cultural authenticity is that the author is careful to identify the individual groups of American Indians found in the story. Slow is identified not only as part of the Lakota Sioux, but also as part of the Hunkpapa band.

The dark, textured illustrations by Baviera created a somber mood throughout the story. While the paintings are beautiful and rich, they did not always seem to support the mood of the text. For example, while the text is describing the joy of Slow’s parents at his birth, the accompanying illustration is dominated by a muddy yellow sky. In addition, on that particular spread, the black text overlaid on the yellow sky is difficult to read. However, for the most part, the solemn and expressive illustrations support the impression of Slow’s steady, determined character.

REVIEWS:
Student Library Journal: “The illustrations, oils that are rich and somber, convey details of traditional Lakota life, from the warm, close interiors of the family home to a pre-dawn assembly of warriors about to raid their Crow neighbors. The text creates an equally subtle portrayal of Plains Indian life. Many stereotypes of Native American culture are gently corrected, as when the author acknowledges that "women are the heart of the nation."

CONNECTIONS:

This book can be read aloud to students when learning about Sitting Bull. Learning about the childhood of this historical figure will excite students’ interest and perhaps encourage them to do their own research.