Amal Unbound written by Aisha Saeed. Aisha is a Pakistani American who now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her husband and sons. Aisha speaks fluently in three languages (Urdu, Punjabi, and English), and has started writing as soon as she learned how to use a paper and pencil. She also loved reading, and learned to read when she was three years old. To learn more about her and her other books, check out her website at http://aishasaeed.com. Jeanette Winter is a celebrated picture book creator who has written and illustrated other books such as Our House is on Fire, Oil, and The world is not Rectangle. I wasn't able to find a lot of detailed information about Jeanette Winter, but check out the official publisher page to learn more about her other books at https://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Jeanette-Winter/64041479. Amal UnboundFor this week’s reading, I was fortunate to read the book Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. I don’t even know where to begin with this because it was such an enjoyable book. There were many things that I loved about this book. I loved the character in this book. Amal is the oldest daughter in her family. She has two younger sisters Safa and Rabia. Her mother later gave birth to another sister, Lubna, which she was not able to be part of her life growing up. Amal had stood up for what she believed was right against Jawad Sahib, the local landowner who was known for his cruel punishments. Ever since that moment, Amal’s life had changed. In order to repay her family’s debt, Jawad decided to have her work in his house away from her family. She left home to live and work in a new and unfamiliar environment where her dreams of going to college and becoming a teacher began to slowly vanish away from her. This story is about how Amal finds the courage to get through this adjustment, and found her courage to stand up for what she believed in. I really loved this book because of her courage and love for books. Amal depended on books to get her through the hardships of adjusting in a new place and away from home. It was the only thing that made it bearable for her. This is one of the reason why I think this is such a powerful book is because it shows the importance of having books, and how powerful it can be. To Amal, it wasn’t just a book. Books were her hope. It helped her cope with her situation, which is not a common thing in America. Children now a days aren’t very into books, yet Aisha was able to show us a perspective that proved us wrong, or at least me. Who knew that a book can be that powerful to a child? It’s absolutely amazing! There were also some connections I made while reading it, specifically the beginning of the book. Amal described and expressed the regret and disappointment her parents looked when her baby sister, Lubna, was born. She tried to ignore it, but the image kept flashing back to her. The conversation that she had with her mother on page 58 was heart breaking to me personally because I can relate to her. Amal: “Why is having a boy all anyone can talk about? Mom: “Who else will care for us in our old age? Who will run the farm and keep your grandfather’s dream alive?” Amal: “I could. Seema and I both would.” Mom: “You will get married one day. Then you’ll belong to a new family.” Amal: “But I’m part of this family!” This is how I feel as well. Just like Amal, I couldn’t understand why a son was better than a daughter. In the Hmong culture, having a son meant you had an heir to carry on your last name and carry on the family heritage/tradition. Having daughters were good, but it will NEVER be the same as having a son. Even if I were to graduate with my Masters degree in Reading Education, it wouldn’t change anything for them. I wouldn’t make my parents any prouder, well more like I couldn’t make them any prouder because I am a girl. Because I was born as a girl, all my accomplishments will be seen as wasted and unimportant because it will only benefit another family. I wouldn’t be able to come back to my family and use my knowledge to benefit them. That is how it is in the Hmong culture. The frustration is real and painful, so when I read this part, I really feel for Amal and her pain. To see the disappointment in your parents’ eyes is one of the worst feelings EVER that any child can experience. It’s not our fault that we were born as girls, and we never chose it. All we wanted was to be loved regardless of our gender, and to love our family. That simple yet so complicated ideology is so hard to obtain in cultures like Amal and mine. It’s something that we’ll have to keep fighting and prove to them that we are just as capable as sons are to them. Going along with this, on page 161 where Amal comes back home for the wedding, she was told to relax because she was their “guest” now. Her reaction was this: “They meant it kindly. But to call me a guest in the only place I ever belonged—the word cut like a jagged stone against my heart.” First of all, that last sentence was beautifully written. And secondly, I really resonated with that. As a Hmong women, being married off is like getting cut off from the family. Whenever we come back to visit our family again after getting married, we are viewed not as a daughter, but a guest. We no longer live with our parents, which makes us a guest in their eyes. That is why they say when you get married, it will no longer be the same as it used to. At least for the daughters. We are their daughter, but they have to treat us like an outsider. I see this everyday as my sister-in-law struggle with this and my older sister as well. Coming back to visit my parents, my older sister is not treated like the older sister that I grew up knowing, but a guest that my parents speak carefully to now. It’s as if they never knew her or watched her grew up. It breaks my heart to even think about how they would treat me when I get married, but I am determined to break that cultural aspect of it because no matter what, they are my parents and I will ALWAYS love them to my best ability. Sorry, going off on a tangent here, but I promise you it’s related. As I read that part, it broke my heart even more for Amal because it wasn’t like she was married off. She was forced to leave everything that she knew and yet to be called a “guest”…was heart breaking even for me. I really felt her pain and sadness there. Again, it’s something that women like Amal and I have to face and stand up for what we believe is right even if it goes against our cultural norms. Apart from that, I really liked how her character developed throughout the story as well. She was a child in my eyes who went to school and dreamed of what she could become. However, when she was taken away from her family, she was forced to stand on her own. This is a very difficult thing to do as a child. I can’t even imagine how scary that was for her. I loved how she transformed and became more mature than before. After working and living in Jawad’s house, she started to see the freedom that she truly had, and then started comparing her freedom with Nasreen’s freedom. Nasreen is Jawad’s mother and the one in charge of Amal. In other words, Amal is her servant. Nasreen treated Amal better than Jawad did. In fact, she was very fond of Amal through their talks, and it was through their talks that Amal had seen that even though Nasreen was rich, she was trapped within her own cage as well. As rich as Nasreen was, she was not able to see the people who she wanted to see nor do what she wanted to do. Amal described her cage as “nicer than mine, but it was still a cage”. Nasreen could have all the freedom she wanted if she knew how to break the chains that bounded her, but she didn’t unlike Amal. One thing Amal had from the very beginning was her voice. Yes she was scared and felt guilty for speaking up to Jawad, but that never stopped her from standing up continuously in what she believed in. Having her dreams and hope ripped away from her so unfairly broke her heart, yet it was part of the reason why she never gave up either. She kept fighting for her dreams, for her freedom to come true, and at last she did. Through all of this, Amal learned that life is not always fair. It’s something that we all can relate to no matter what age you are. She hated that phrase from her father, but her experiences changed that hate into reality for her. Therefore, it was a life changing experience for Amal amidst all the hardships she went through. I want to go on and on about this book because there is still more to say, but I also want to discuss Malala and Iqbal who were like Amal, brave and courageously standing up for what they believed in. Malala and Iqbal: Brave children from PakistanThis book was extraordinary in terms of power and voice. Malala and Iqbal were both born in Pakistan yet both had different experiences in injustice rights. Malala stood up for her right to education. Despite being threatened, she continued on this fight for women to take a stand and fight for education and the things they believed in. She was shot on a school van going back home. Fortunately for her, she survived from the gunshot. As for Iqbal, he was sold off by his father for twelve dollars. His family was in debt, like Amal, and in order to pay it off, he had to work for the carpet factory. He later freed himself from this debt and child labor, and spoke up against for all children. "Children should have pens in their hands, not tools" stated Iqbal. He, too, was shot one day, however, he was not fortunate enough to survive the gunshot and passed away. Both of these were brave individuals, yet they were just children. This made me realize that anyone can take a stand, and that children see the world just as how we see the world. Just like how Laminack and Kelly stated in Reading to Make a Difference (2019), “Apathy is an easy leader to follow, especially when our own life, your own way of being, is not threatened. Our experiences has shown that children see injustice more easily and more clearly than many adults do. Children are more likely to become incensed by conditions that they deem “not fair.” Children believe they can make a difference in this big wide world. And we believe in children.” I think that says a lot about how children see this world and how they see injustice. Children all around the world are fighting for something they believe in. I wonder, what are you fighting for? It doesn't have to be something big like what Amal, Malala, and Iqbal were fighting for. It can be anything you feel like is the right thing to do in your life. I think that's also the beauty of this message for "standing up for what you believe in" because it's SO much more than just injustice in the world. It can be injustice within your culture or family like me. I, too, am fighting a battle of what I believe is right. No one has to agree with you. If you feel like it's injustice, then do something about it. I think that's why I really enjoyed these two books. A scene that I want to talk a little bit about was the middle spread where Malala and Iqbal's world meets (shown below). When I first saw it, I saw it as Malala passing the torch on to Iqbal or vice versa. It shows that their story connects and that they were the same. In a way, they were supporting one another for what they were fighting for. The colors here are balanced and well contrasted. Then as I stared at this longer, I wondered why Iqbal was in a grayish color whereas Malala was in pink. It may be that the illustrator/author was just using the colors to contrast and balance the spread in general, but could it also portray something further? Could this be showing Iqbal's ghostly body because he didn't survive to see his fight become something bigger like Malala did? Whatever the reason may be, I think it's a great place to switch stories and have the readers interpret what this might possibly mean. Both of their story is worth discussing about and worth digging in deeper that I think anyone who stumbles upon this blog should take a moment to read this book and learn more about Malala and Iqbal. As much as I love this book and would love to talk about them, I think about ALL the other children that are not honored here like Malala and Iqbal and it breaks my heart. I respect and honor the fight they fought for so that all women and children can have the rights such as education and free from child labor, but I wonder what other child is also fighting for another injustice that I don't know about? What other struggle is a child currently going through RIGHT NOW that I am not aware about? I want to take a moment and honor all of those children ALONG with Malala and Iqbal, which is why I...don't feel the need to dig in deeper with this book. I think it's important to know who Malala and Iqbal is, which is also why instead of further discussing the book, I have provided information about Malala and Iqbal for YOU to explore. What other child do YOU know of that is fighting for injustice? If you know any others, leave a comment and let me know so we can take a moment to honor ALL the things they are fighting for OUR FUTURE. Thank you and hope you overcome your fight like how Amal, Malala, and Iqbal did in their fight. Laminack, Lester L., & Kelly, Katie. Reading to Make a Difference: Using Literature to Help Students Speak Freely, Think Deeply, and Take Action. Chapter 5. Heinemann, 2019. Saeed, A. (2018). Amal Unbound. Nancy Paulsen Books. Winter, J. (2014). Malala, a brave girl from Pakistan ; Iqbal, a brave boy from Pakistan. London: Simon & Schuster Childrens. Check out these resources about Malala and Iqbal! Read to find out why Pakistan Hates Malala Another RESOURCE about Malala and her story for what she fought for. To learn more about Iqbal, watch a short documentary about him titled, "Iqbal Masih Documentary" shown below. Loading Videos...
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I debated whether or not to create an in depth post (like usual) about the books I read this week (pictured above), but I decided not to. I wanted you, my readers, to check these books out and decide for yourself how YOU would critically approach these children literature, and how you would do that with your students, children, niece, nephew, or whoever you want to engage it with. I've talked a lot about how to critically engage with texts and view it more from a critical stance in my previous blogs that I think it would be nice and different to have my readers engage in the text and practice how to approach children's literature in a critical aspect. I have provided videos to the books that I was able to find online. Check them out, and think/reflect how you would critically engage with the texts. Click on: The Paper Bag Princess, Emmanuel's Dream, and One Plastic BagLoading Videos... Link to a summary of Book Unlce and Me (https://randomlyreading.blogspot.com/2016/12/book-uncle-and-me-by-uma-krishnaswami.htm) Remember, if you're unsure on how to critically engage with these texts, it might be good to start out with themes you noticed within each book and see if they have a connection TOGETHER. Then dig in deeper into the text by deciphering the characters in the story. Build on to that and add in ANY experiences you may have with the book(s). What makes the book so special and unique? What can we, as a society, or as educators, parents, students, children, etc. learn from these books? There is no right or wrong way to do this. All you have to do is dig into the text and fully engage in it more than just what the book is about and the message the book is carrying. Another place to start is learning about the authors and illustrators of these books. Their story will help you see how these books were inspired and created to have multiple meanings for children. Please feel free to share your critical views of ANY one of these books by commenting on this post. I would LOVE to read and hear what YOU got from these books. Enjoy and hope to read from some of you!About the Authors and Illustrators
The author and illustrator of Separate is Never Equal is Duncan Tonatiuh (right image). Duncan is Mexican-American, and he grew up in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City, and was inspired by PreColumbian art for his work. One thing interesting I found about him was that he aims to create images and write stories that honor the past, but are still relevant to the people, especially children. For more information about Duncan Tonatiuh's work, check out his website. I also included a picture of Sylvia Mendez (left image) getting awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama in 2010. Sylvia Mendez was the inspiration of the story Separate is never equal. The book was written based on the Mendez's experiences of the case and time period. It was about the injustice that they fought so hard against. Sylvia has an amazing experience and story to share as an immigrant about her experiences of social injustice, so to read more about her and her story, check out her website. It's a piece of history that was forgotten in history, but is now being retold by people such as Sylvia and Duncan, so it's worth checking it out. A Critical View of the two literature...Check out my vlog below on critically viewing the two books with a friend of mine, and check out Sylvia Mendez's short clip on talking about her story. Loading Videos... These images below were some of the images that were discussed in the video from both of the books. For closure of this post, I wanted to include a quote from Emily Smith-Buster's article Social Justice Literature and Writing: The Case for Widening our Mentor Texts stating that "If all children had the opportunity to challenge conversations, write as citizens of society, and compare historical and contemporary forms of text and media, then image what they would grow up to accomplish". I think this ties in well with both of the children's book I discussed in this post. If children are given the opportunity to make their own judgement and beliefs, then image the wonders that they would create from it. If children were taught to challenge every thought, opinion, and statement people told them, imagine how powerful they would become in shaping their world and this idea of "racism". As mentioned in my blog, I believe a lot of children's beliefs comes from their parents and the people they are surrounded with, and they don't always take the time to even question if that's their belief or not. They automatically act upon it without thinking about their consequences or reasons until really thinking about their actions. Therefore, "imagine what they would grow up to become, if becoming anything was taught to be a default, not the exception" (Smith-Buster, Emily, 2015). Latham, I. & Waters, C. (2018). Can I touch your hair?: Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda Books. Smith-Buster, E. (2016). Social Justice Literature and Writing: The Case for Widening our Mentor Texts . Language Arts Journal, 94(2), 108–111. Tonatiuh, D. (2014). Separate is never equal: Sylvia Mendez & her familys fight for desegregation. New York: Abrams Books for Young Readers. Images from Google Critical View of "The Parker Inheritance"We hear what we want to hear. We see what we want to see... The Parker Inheritance is a story about a twelve year old girl named Candice, who found a letter in the attic of her grandmother's house in a box addressed to her. The secret letter addressed a hidden treasure within the small town of Lambert, South Carolina, which her grandmother had been working on before she got fired from her position as the first women, and the first African American, to serve as city manager for Lambert. With curiosity of what her grandmother was searching for, Candice decided to start the search with a neighbor friend, Brandon, who has a love for books just like Candice. This book was inspired by real events, community, and people in order for it to be created, according to the author, Varian Johnson. Varian Johnson has written nine novels since his debut, including The Parker Inheritance , which was rewarded with the 2019 Coretta Scott King Honor book and the 2018 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book. He was born in 1977, and grew up in Florence, South Carolina where he was a member of the Wilson High School Academic Challenge Team. He graduated in 1995 and attended the University of Oklahoma, where he continued his education. Knowing this now, I can see how he was able to find facts and information about Wilson High School back before or during the civil rights movement. He tells us in the Author's Note that he based the Perkins High School, in the book, on the actual history of his own school, Wilson High School. The school was founded in 1866 by the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and the Freedmen's Bureau, which was a government agency established near the end of the Civil War to aid newly freed slaves in beginning their lives as citizens of America (Johnson, 2018). After reading this and doing more research, I was able to stumble upon a picture of a sign in Florence, South Carolina about Wilson High School shown below. Picture from yelp.com Therefore, with that being said, we can critically look at this book and know the authenticity and accuracy of the author and the historical aspect of this book. It may be a fiction book, but it was based off of a historical event that took place in his hometown. I think that makes the historical aspect of it even more rich and meaningful because in some sort of way, Johnson was writing down his story as well. Knowing that is an important part of the author's life makes it more alive and real to the readers because we can relate more to it. Therefore, I think it's worth appreciating the work that the author does, and the love that he has for his hometown and the history of his people as well. With this research, I was also able to stumble upon James Raleigh "Biz" Mackey, a player in the Prairie League team called the Luling Oilers, which he then played in the National Negro League. He was also later recruited by Hilldale Giants in the season of 1923. After all his professional playing, he was placed in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006. I looked up "Luling Oilers" because I wasn't quite sure who they were, and figured it would be important to have some sort of connection and background knowledge on these facts, especially since Johnson took reference from them. I actually thought it was a made up team as the name sounded weird, but they were a real team league with African American players who were even placed in the Hall of Fame. That's something to be proud of and include in a great historical fiction book such as this. I think this is great to share with students because it teaches them that there are all different kinds of people who can be great and important figures to EVERYONE no matter their skin color. I think it's just like how Boyd, Causey, and Galda stated in their article Culturally Diverse Literature that " if children never see themselves in books, they receive the subtle messages that they are not important enough to appear in books and that books are not for this. " This is why it's important to take time and discuss about the historical aspect and provide background knowledge of characters and events with students in stories because we want to represent every child, and we want ALL children to see the importance of one another's identity. This is a good start to where we can gradually teach students to appreciate diversity and accept it for what it is with no discrimination or stereotypes, which is why I enjoyed learning about these historical aspect of this book. If you want to read more in depth about either of these topics that I discussed about, visit Johnson's page and/or visit the website about Wilson High School and Biz Mackey provided below. Varian Johnson's website Biz Mackey The Updated History of Wilson High School Evaluating... There are different ways to evaluate the quality of a book, but I am going to focus on 3 broad categories for culturally diverse literature which are: visual and verbal sensitivity, authenticity and accuracy, and ideology. The author didn't have visuals in this book except for the cover, so there's not much to evaluate about that. However, as for the verbal part, I think it was appropriate for young students because there weren't a lot of harsh words, stereotypes, discrimination, etc., but enough so that students can relate, build, and be able to discuss about it in a critical aspect. For example, there were several examples of discrimination and stereotyping in this story. When Mr. Rittenhauer, the assistant principal, accused them of breaking in to the school and stealing things. He automatically assumed they were up to no good because they were African Americans. He didn't believe them even when they were trying to explain and prove that they were really doing a research. That wasn't until Ms. McMillan came out and rescued them (Johnson, 2018, p. 132). Another example was when Enoch Washington, African American, had gotten into a fight with Sammy Rackleys, White, because he had lost the bet and accused Enoch of cheating. The teacher reported that Enoch started the fight, but he denied and said to his father that "she's just saying that because of who Sammy's daddy is. She always treats him better than everybody else" (Johnson, 2018, p. 82). Johnson doesn't have any straight up "verbal" words he used to describe something or someone, but he does have a lot of examples of situations where discrimination and stereotyping occurs to African Americans in his story. Therefore, he makes it more connected to situations that students may encounter at one point in their lifetime as a colored person, which is good to engage students in talking about topics such as this. The authenticity and accuracy aspect of this book was discussed above with the author. I can say this book is authentic and accurate to a certain extent because the author is/was an insider of the setting of this book. He knew the history, and researched about it before pulling these facts together to create this book. The reason why I said "to a certain extent" is because even though he is/was an insider to the factual setting, I can't say for sure that he is an insider for the events that took place in history for Wilson High School and his town. His parents and/or grandparents may have been part of the historical part of the school and town, but there's no way for sure to prove that that happened. Thus, I think it's important to note that and know that Johnson may know a lot about his school and town, but it's also not the same if he wasn't alive during the time period that it happened, though, I could also argue that he may have experienced some form of it being born in 1977. The ideology of this book is based on values and ideas that are important to today's society, and an impact of our history. The ideas of justice, freedom, equality, and race has always been a struggle in our history that still carries on into today's society. Even after the Civil Rights Movement, we hoped and expected that the discrimination, racism, justice, equality, and freedom would be all over and everyone would finally be able to cross that idea of "Blacks" or "People of color" and grow together as a society; however, some aspect of the ideology still lives on till today. Which is why I think the ideology presented in this book is very real to our students. These ideologies presented in the book showcases characters and events that occurred to people of color in a very real society. These are events and characters that our students may be able to relate to because of the still-existing-ideas of this. Even though this was a mystery novel, Johnson used a historical aspect to tell a story or maybe even stories through the characters about the mistreatment of the African American community. I think this is a good addition to portraying a story within a bigger story of this ideology of discrimination, race, justice, equality, and freedom. As stated by Boyd, Causey, and Galda, "No group or individual has a single story, and knowing only one story leads to the creation of assumptions and stereotypes ", it is important to read a variety of stories on a topic or ideology to show students that we can't create assumptions and stereotypes based on a single event, book, article, or resource. It's important to observe and study different perspectives and stories before making an idea of your own. Just like how our actions lead us to having consequences, our ideas, too, can lead to consequences; therefore, it's important to teach students and show them how to build a strong, unbiased ideology that they can own and be reliable for their consequences. Therefore, I think the quality of this book is great for young students, maybe emerging middle schoolers or middle schoolers, would benefit from this mystery puzzle book about an important history moment. It will keep them guessing nonstop and on edge, while engaging in critical conversations about the ideas presented in this book. Now I would like to just talk about the book itself.
This book is incredible! The mystery, the context, the history, the characters, and everything else in it was just beautifully well put together. I love mystery books, and so I really enjoyed this book. What I enjoyed most about this mystery puzzle was the fact that it was created to tell a story: Reggie and Siobhan's story. I loved their story line, even though it was heart breaking in what happened to them. I enjoyed Siobhan's character because I could relate to her boldness and ideology of not using violence or hate to solve the issue between segregation or racism. When she discovered that Reggie hadn't tasted a Coke since 1957 because of Chip Douglas, she exploded in disbelief because, like her father, he still couldn't let go of the hate and vengeance after all these years, and after what they went through. I related to her because of her voice and will to want to change things, and hoped for a better world. Her strong character was portrayed throughout this book, and it didn't matter if she was African American. I admired that spirit and powerful will, which is why I think she would poise a good inspiration for women of color, or maybe women in general, to take a stand and find your voice, your beliefs, and your ideologies and follow it till the end. Other than Siobhan, I also was interested in Reggie. It was interesting how Reggie decided to live his life. I wasn't aware that there were probably African Americans who passed as being "white" because of their skin color. It amazed me by how important skin color was back then, and maybe even today. Reggie, being black and poor, was a nobody, no matter how smart he was. He wouldn't and couldn't have succeeded because of his identity. It wasn't until he changed from being Reggie to being James Parker that he was actually given opportunities to thrive in the world. He was such an important figure that colleagues asked him to join important organizations, donors asked him to support varies charities, the mayor began to call on him for financial advice, and even the governor, and then United States senators and representatives as well (Johnson, 2018, p. 269). I was amazed at how successful he was now because he identified as a white male. This should say a lot about our ideology and about our society. We're so judgmental that it consumes and dictates our entire vision of the past, present, and future. Yet we pass these down to our children and they, too, unwillingly and unaware take these in and lashes it out without ever thinking about why it is so. Which is why I believe this is where teachers come in and disrupt those thoughts and question them if it's really their beliefs or if they, too, had inherited them. Reggie is an interesting character because even though some may view him as selfish in abandoning his identity and his love ones, some may also see it as the outcome of a pressured society. This is what happens when society pushes and pressures people to a corner where they have no hope and no exit, but to be like the world. Reggie died the day he decided to become James Parker. He hid inside himself so deeply that he had forgotten about the hope that Coach Dub had shown him before he became a player. Reggie was poor. He was abandoned by both his parents and had to live with his sick grandma. They could barely afford food for the table and rent, which is why Reggie couldn't even imagine about going to college. He focused so much on all sorts of jobs to help his grandma that he was not able to excel in academics. Nothing was going right for him, until Coach Dub gave his a purpose and structure to find personal success. He, for the first time, believed that he could be more than just a poor boy from the South, and he was. He proved to everyone that he was better than before, and that he was no longer the poor Reggie boy working odd jobs just to survive. However, that was what brought him down. He grew greedy and wanted more and more, and to become someone "better", which was why he never went to Siohban. It wasn't until his secretary, Beatrix Halliday, told him to "try" and go to her because he owe it to her (Johnson, 2018, p. 270). It was then, after meeting and talking to Siohban, that made him realize that he had hid himself all these years. Instead of empowering the African Americans, he chose to ignore them and flow along with society. Johnson portrayed to us that Reggie is a very "human" character. We, too, can get lost in success and forget who we really are. It wasn't until then that he realized he needed to let this story out. Everyone needed to hear a story from a bigger story. This is why I enjoyed the book so much. I appreciated the artwork/mastermind work that Johnson had put into this book. The puzzling and mystery and history and stories was definitely worth my time in reading this book. The clues about the treasure were just FABULOUS! Who would have thought that "Siohban loves all" would refer to the score of the tennis game. They would call a game score of zero-zero to "love-all", which was a context that I was unaware of till now. Therefore, I really appreciated this work and effort put into making this book possible. Johnson took so many inspirations from events, people, history, to books such as The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin, so I really enjoyed this book. Another additional thing I want to add with the stories behind this book, which can also be found on his website, are the real life stories of other African Americans that suffered from ideologies that were presented in this book. I've mentioned a lot of the aspects of this already, but because I wasn't aware of all of these stories, I thought it would be good to include it in here as well. Johnson takes inspiration of injustice, discrimination, and racism from real social justice issues in this world. An excerpt from his website post about this stated: "That scene has stayed with me, but it wasn’t until recently that I began reliving it, over and over and over again. Trayvon Martin. Michael Brown. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile. Sandra Bland. Eric Garner. Why can’t people in power see us in a different way? Why are we always assumed to be the other? A threat? A danger that must be neutralized? " (Johnson, 2019). As I was reading, I wasn't quite aware nor understood what those names meant. So I searched them up and found that they were real people with real social justice issues. All six of those listed on his site were shot and killed by police officer(s). It was heart breaking to hear and read their stories. Below I have provided a link to an article about their story, and a brief description of what happened. Trayvon Martin- 17 years old. Visiting Dad in Sanford, Florida. Shot and died because officer accused him of suspicious action. Officer not charged. Michael Brown- 18 years old, recent graduate. Walking to mother and grandmother's house. Fatally shot by police officer for not getting off the side walk. Officer no guilty. Alton Sterling- 37 years old. Shot and died because officer claimed he had a gun. Officer not charged, but fired. Philando Castile- 32 years old. Shot and killed while being pulled over for brake lights. Officer fired. Sandra Bland- 28 years old. Arrested while traffic stop. Found hanging in jail cell. Officer fired. Eric Garner- 44 years old. Officer tried to arrest for selling illegal cigarettes. Officer used choke hold on him. Couldn't breathe and triggered a heart attack that lead to his death. Officer stripped off of position. With all that being said, I do want to mention that those articles are, again, just a single story of a bigger story. I would encourage you, and students to read from different perspectives about each story to truly understand and see the stories being told. I am not denying the fact that they all died horrible deaths, but in order to avoid forming stereotypes and assumptions, I encourage readers to hear out all points of view before making your final verdict, and that is what this book and Varian Johnson, has taught me, as an educator. That a story is always part of a bigger story. Boyd, F.B., Causey, L.L., & Galda, L. (2015) Culturally Diverse Literature [PDF file] The Reading Teacher, 68(5). DOI: 10.1002/trtr.1326 Johnson, V. (2019). Parker Inheritance. Place of publication not identified: ARTHUR A LEVINE. Johnson, V. (2019). Varian Johnson, Author. Retrieved October 7, 2019, from http://varianjohnson.com/. “Freedom over me” is a book written about the stories of the eleven slaves in the Fairchild’s estate. The Fairchild’s estate was an estate established to training slaves in learning certain tasks in order for other people to hire them. They trained their slaves to be skilled at certain tasks, and then have them available for other people to hire their slaves. The money profits back to the estate, and that was how their business was able to continue. That was until Mr. Fairchild passed away. Therefore, Ashley introduces these eleven slaves and writes about their dreams of freedom and more. However, what surprises me even more is the fact that the stories of these eleven slaves were real and actually existed. Ashley Bryan acquired a collection of slave-related documents, which dated from the 1820s to the 1860s. He found those documents so fascinating and touching that he decided to make their stories come to life through this book. He even picked the Fairchilds Appraisement of the estate document from July 5, 1828 to tell this story. His book also included a primary document listing the names and prices of these eleven slaves that were being sold with the cows, hogs, and cotton of the Fairchild’s estate. I find that to be fascinating because he found these written stories that back then would’ve been treasoned with death for reading and writing, and he wrote it as if they were alive and were writing this with her. I think it was beautifully written, and I really enjoyed the literacy work that he’s done here as well. One of my favorite excerpt written from the book was about Peggy, the cook, which he wrote, “My knowledge makes me hunger for more. Relieving the aches, the pains, the suffering of the slaves is my chief joy” (Bryan, 2016). That’s a pretty powerful excerpt about Peggy, or should I say Mariama, her real name. I really enjoyed the beautifully written stories of these eleven slaves by Ashley. I don’t think he could have portrayed them any better than what he did. I could really feel their emotions and yearning for freedom and hope for a better future. I really enjoyed how he introduces them with a persona poem of who they are as a slave, and then having us, the readers, turning the page only to find that they are more than what they appear to be on the outside, and that they are human like any of us and that they, too, have dreams of their own. I think this is where he truly helps the slaves come to life and starts to move us from a window perspective to a sliding glass door perspective, which is a great addition to books that teaches students different perspectives about slavery. This is a must have in every teacher’s collection. ThemesSome of the themes that I’ve noticed from this book are freedom, hope, dreams, slavery, and identity. This book takes place in a time where slavery still had a place in the heart of the world. These eleven slaves talked about what they were taught and told to do during their lifetime in the Fairchild’s estate. They talked about how they didn’t really have a choice, and that all of their hard work and talents only benefited the estate. This was very common for slaves during that time period. Slaves were objects and were treated like them and not human. They were used for their abilities and talents, and were praised for it, but didn’t really gain from it as shown in these stories. Throughout their stories the author also included dreams of each one of them. They all had different dreams relating to their talents, but it all tied down to being free. It was one thing that they all had in common. They dreamed more than anything to be free from slavery and to be whoever it is that they wanted to be. They all lived with hope that one day their dreams would come true. Their singing, music, art, crafts, hard works, stories, threads, and children were the only hope they had in enduring the hardships of slavery year after year. And with those endurance, they continued to hone these preordained skill sets and slowly allowed it to help shape who they are. They showed to us, readers, that they are more than slaves, and that they enjoy doing these tasks because it is a part of them. It’s one of the good memories that they still have left of home. That’s one of the things that I really loved about this book as well. These slaves were told to do certain tasks, but as we continue reading we find that these tasks are a big part of who they are and that’s important to them. They allowed that to define their identity instead of it taking away or erasing their identity. They did all of these tasks in memory of their ancestors and memories of Africa, so they don’t hate it completely, and I really haven’t read a book about this kind of perspective before. Therefore, I think the author did a great job at portraying this point of view and showing that their hopes and dreams are filled with freedom and their identities of more than slavery. Building Critical Connections...I think it’s fair to take a few moments to discuss the approach Ashley took to make the story so real to readers. I mentioned his use of persona poem, but I’m going to talk a bit about what that is and what it looks like. Persona poems are a type of poem intentionally written in the perspective of another person. This is meant to help readers engage into the character and story and transport them to experiencing and sharing emotions through the characters. This type of writing really helps “enhances the readers’ capacity for empathy. As students walk into the wardrobe of persona poetry, they are transported into the lives of “others,” and through imaginative reconstruction, they attempt to understand the complexities of the character’s inner world, the poet’s craft and structural moves, and are better prepared to move through the sliding glass door” (Frye, Hardin, Bouwman, & Stumb, 2018). Ashley’s stories of these eleven slaves are a great example of how powerful persona poems can be. It was able to pull in my perspective even further in to gain an even more understanding of these slaves. He wanted the readers to know more about them other than she/he is a cook, a carpenter, a seamstress, or a blacksmith because in reality, they were more than a slave. To be more accurate, they can’t really be defined as slaves because that’s not what they choose to be. They didn’t have a choice to be a slave, so I think through writing these persona poems, Ashley wanted us to enter into their world and not only see but feel their pain, yearnings, dreams, and memories of being free. He was, after all, telling the stories of these eleven real slaves that had dreamed more than anything to be part of the world. Which he succeeded through this writing approach. I think it would have been different if he had just wrote it as “a story about eleven slaves” because then it wouldn’t bring out that realism aspect of the stories that he had discovered from the slave documents. Therefore, I think writing the persona poems from the character’s point of view really helps bring the characters out to life and makes us relate and connect to the characters more than if it were a typical children’s book about slaves. I also think that the visuals in this book were also powerful. Though it may not have won an award for its visuals, I think the visuals in this book were just as powerful. For example, I loved how the background of the slaves were all words of documents of some sort whether it be a slave document, newsletters, or maybe even the Emancipation Proclamation document. He included documents of property and the appraisement held at the house of Mrs. Fairchilds on the 5th of July 1828, which draws our attention as readers to experience these events. As Roberta Price Gardner stated, “Visuals are powerful, forcing viewers to experience and/or witness events, even if only from within” (Gardner, 2017). Therefore, I think his persona poems of each slaves in addition to these visuals made this book so powerful that it was recognized and won the Coretta Scott King Award. This award was designed to commemorate the life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and to honor Mrs. Coretta Scott King for her courage and determination to continue the work for peace. Books were annually recognized for their great works and representation of the African American experience. Overall, this book is a great representation of viewing slaves from a different perspective using a different writing approach. My very own Persona Poem...I am Caesar, an orphan of Raft World I live with a big family that probably doesn’t even know I’m missing I work day in, day out Trying to care for myself Cause I know I can’t afford to rely on anyone. Like a lost child, I am always searching for a home. The Raft King praises my gifts to sink low within the ocean floor. Yet I don’t feel belonged when helping him. Instead, I think it’s unfair for him To decide for the whole Raft World. I left in hopes to find a family that can understand me and my gifts. As an orphan of Raft World, I am free to wander and do almost anything, And I also learned along with that Comes taking some responsibility myself. Which is probably why I don’t understand why Kenchen is so set to protecting Pip. I may not know him, but I know What it feels like to lose someone special to you, Which is why I want to help Kenchen. I may not belong with Kenchen, But it's nice to know that someone cares about me. Although I worry constantly About what will happen to me Once this is all over, I don’t want to ruin this moment. This moment of friendship, companionship, and adventure. After all, that’s always better than having Eyes and whispers of pity from others Staring down into my very soul. It makes me want to sink and never rise, But the only thing that keeps me from sinking Is the hope that one day I, too, will belong somewhere with someone. Yet, as I emerged from the brown sack and locked eyes with the girl who was “suppose” to be my new family, the look of disappointment tells me I haven’t quite found it yet. I am Caesar, an orphan of Raft World Who is now accompanied, yet still alone. I’ve never said it out to anyone, But I dreamed of a family. I dreamed of belonging to someone. However, my dreams evolved into worries. I try not to show my true feelings When everyone seems to belong somewhere, But I can’t help but question, “When will I belong with someone?” “When will I get to rely on someone else?” And “when will I be set free from this loneliness?” That is, until I met Thanh, Sang, and Mai. I am Caesar, an orphan of Raft World Whose dreams just came true. Processing of writing...“Writing lets us think of things we didn’t know we knew until we began writing” (Frye, Hardin, Bouwman, & Stumb, 2018) By writing my own persona poem about Caesar, a character from A Crack in the Sea, I was able to dig in deeper and understand more about her feeling of wanting to belong. In my previous blog post, I analyzed her character portrayed in throughout the story. Caesar is a very brave, determined, and independent girl who hides behind her happy face and personality a lot. Therefore, I tried to picture how she felt for the most part throughout the story, and to me, it was her longing for a sense of belonging with someone that stood out to me the most. So the first thing I did was writing down everything that I knew, thought, or felt about Caesar as I read the book. Using a template, I added words and phrases that would best describe and express Caesar's feelings of yearning for belonging, and then I read through it. I went back into the book to reread certain parts to dig deeper inside her and how she might have felt during those times, and then I wrote it out. I also used the "Freedom Over Me" template to help guide me into writing my poem because I wanted it to sound more natural as if Caesar were writing it. Once I did all of that, I just sat down in a nice, quiet place and wrote while thinking about Caesar. I'm not entirely sure that I was able to fully portray Caesar through my poem, but in some sense, I believe that I did. Throughout the whole book, I felt like Caesar secretly was worried about what would happen to her once everyone had return back to where they came from. Even though she didn't show it, I could feel her anxiety and fear of being alone once again. So with those traits and images of her in mind, I was able to write this persona poem about Caesar.
Bryan, A. (2016). Freedom over me. New York: Simon & Schuster. Frye, E. M., Hardin, B. L., Bouwman, H. M., & Stumb, A. E. (2018, December). PDF. Frye, E. M., & Hash, L. A. (2013, March/April). PDF Gardner, R.P. (2017, May). PDF |
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