Dreamers by Yuyi MoralesThe book "Dreamers" is a book about a mother and a child who immigrated to a new country. In going to a new country, they took only hope and dreams of what is to come and be in a country that doesn't talk to them in their language. Despite that, they were able to discover themselves and a connection to their new world through books they read in the library. It's a short, but important message to all immigrants and educators as well. I love how the author define immigrants not as "immigrants", but "Dreamers". "We enter a new country carried by hopes and dreams, and carrying our own special gifts, to build a better future" (Yuyi Morales). I don't think I can say it better than that. As a daughter of Dreamers, myself, I was always told the history of my people and how we sacrificed so much to get to where we are today, and how hundreds of my people died just so that I could have a better future. I was always told about my parent's dreams and hope for us, but not for themselves. They'd always say, their decision to leave their life and homes was not for themselves, but for us so that we can carry on their hopes and dreams and build a better future. To hear the struggles and hard decisions that my parents went through just to come to America was just as hard as hearing how difficult it was to have to relearn EVERYTHING. Everything that they knew or thought that they knew were washed away with the tears of uncertainty and wiped away with the sweats of hope. My parents were Dreamers, and they pushed us harder everyday because of that. Unlike them, I have the privilege to dream here in America, and I have the privilege to work hard towards my dreams. My parents, on the other hand, didn't have the chose or privilege to have their own personal dreams. We were their dreams. So as I am writing this, I think back to my parents' experiences of immigrating to the U.S. and how Yuyi and my parents are so different, yet they're so alike. The experiences that Yuyi went through and felt were the exact same feelings my parents probably had back then too. To carry your young child into a new world with no understanding of it, is scary. Both my parents and Yuyi went through that, and shared the same dream: a better future for their children. Themes~"One of the most important things I learned at the library is that through books we can find our path and our purpose. I also learned that I love to tell stories, and that I could tell them through books."~ Yuyi The themes I noticed in this book were immigrants, hope, dreams, and imagination. Yuyi left Mexico with her son to visit his great-grandfather before he passed away, and to marry her son's father. Therefore, we can say that Yuyi left in hopes for a better future for both or for her son specifically. She was afraid and unfamiliar with America and wanted to return, but she knew that she couldn't. She portrayed that hope in the book when she illustrated and wrote, "I dreamed of you, then you appeared. Together we became resplendent life, you and I. One day we bundled gifts in our backpack, and crossed a bridge outstretched like the universe." She showed to us here that her son was her dream and hope, and when they had to cross over a bridge leading to their new world, she could only hope that it would better her son's life. The illustrations play a big role here. On this page, you see the mother holding the son dearly in her arms as birds and butterflies surround them. The page with their bundled gifts in the backpack is filled with images that showcases their culture and where their from. Behind those images is the sun shining bright indicating HOPE and DREAMS of coming true. The colors are bright and colorful throughout the book as well. I also believe that this book is filled with imagination as well. Yuyi does a great job at illustrating the imagination that comes from reading books. She shows that even though the mother and son in this book has no clue how to speak in the language of their new country, or even read in it, they build this imaginable and beautiful connection with their new world, and were able to find themselves immersed within these books. They started to build dreams and have even more hope for what is yet to come for one another, and I love that about Yuyi's book. She really shows that a book can really change someone's world, and I believe, as an educator, that that's a powerful message for kids no matter what age and who they are. Morales, Y., & Sananes, A. (2019). Dreamers. Solon, OH: Findaway World, LLC. A Crack in the sea by H.M. BouwmanThis book, "A Crack in the Sea" is a book about three sets of siblings in different worlds that unfolds together as some enter into the second world. It's about a magical doorway between worlds that opens only when its least expected. The characters in this story are as follow: Kinchen: the protective older sister of Pip with no magical gift (Second world) Pip: the younger brother of Kinchen who has the gift of the water and talking to sea creatures (Second world) Old Ren: the guardian of Kinchen and Pip who adopted them and is as old as you can imagine (Second world) Venus: the older sister of Swimmer and a strong leader who saved her people from slavery and death, and with the gift to walk under water (First world) Swimmer: the younger brother of Venus who has the gift to talk to sea creatures (First world) Uncle Caesar: the guardian of Venus and Swimmer (First world) Sang: the older sister of Thanh who is from South Vietnam, and provides for her brother by sewing (First world) Thanh: the younger brother of Sang who has the gift of remembering things and telling stories (First world) Uncle Truc: the father of the Turtle, the best friend of Sang and Thanh's father, and who help took care of them (First world) The Turtle: the nickname given to the child of Uncle Truc (First world) Uncle Hung: the brother of Uncle Truc and the guardian of Mai (First world) Mai: the adopted niece of Uncle Hung who has the gift to walk on waters and calm the sea (First world) Caesar: the girl from Raftworld with the gift to walk under the water who also helped Kinchen (Second world) Raft King: the ruler of Raftworld and who searches for the magical doorway to the first world (Second world) All these characters plays an important role in the story. However, there's one particular character that I want to focus on. The character that I'm focusing on is Caesar. I chose Caesar because I could relate to her in some ways, and I really enjoyed her character in this book. Caesar, in this story, is portrayed as friendly, talkative, courageous, positive, caring, kind, energetic, and curious. When Caesar first showed up in the story, she was drugged and tied up in a sack. She came out of the sack with excitement and was very friendly towards Kinchen who was outraged by the situation. Even with that, Caesar greeted Kinchen and introduced herself like nothing happened, but of course we know that she didn't know about Kinchen's situation (pg. 37-39). Caesar showed her friendliness throughout the story to Kinchen, Old Ren, and even to Thanh and them when they first arrived to the second world and were walking on top of the water. She greeted them, welcomed them, and helped them as they came up onto Raftworld (pg. 279). Along with her friendliness, she is also quite talkative. This may tie in with her being curious as well. I think Caesar is a very curious person. She asks a lot of question such as "what happens to Venus?", "why can't he take care of himself?", "is that why your hair?", "that's how the Old Bay got its name?", and "that's what happens when they die?" (pg. 54, 61, 233, 235). She asks a lot of questions, and she always wants to know more. Even when she's heard of the story or history before, Caesar never gets tired of it and wants to know more about it, which shows that she is a very curious person (pg. 54). She is also very courageous. When she told Old Ren and Kinchen that she left Raftworld because she refused to help the King in finding the magic doorway to the first world (pg. 39-41). That takes a lot of courage to stand up for something that you feel is wrong against someone powerful. I liked that about her, and I liked that she knew that it was wrong and that the King was wrong and that she had to stand up against it. Just think about it. She is only twelve years old and to have that courage to say no and know to listen to her gut is very inspiring. Caesar is also very kind. She was willing to help Kinchen when she found out about what the Raft King did with Pip, even though she doesn't even know them (pg. 48). She didn't know exactly what was going to happen, but she still wanted to help Kinchen and Raftworld as well. I loved how positive and energetic she is in this story (pg. 60). She would always use the word "amazing" to describe things and how she felt (pg. 44-46). It seemed almost as if that was one of the ways she could put on a happy face and get on with her life by trying to be more positive about things. I say this because of her past experiences. Caesar doesn't have any relatives or parents to take care of her, which was why she had asked Old Ren where she could get a job (pg. 45). As I read further, I learned that Caesar was adopted into a family in the Raftworld, however, they weren't very warm and were too busy to take care of her (pg. 256). As a neighboring woman, who knew and was close to Caesar, offered her to stay with them, Caesar was unable to think except just blink back at her. That was all that she could do. This scene may reflect to what she wants in her life and what she worries about in her life. She wants a family and is worried that she may never belong anywhere. If we take a look at Caesar when Kinchen first met her, she seemed excited because she was told that Kinchen would be her adopted sister. However, that was turned down when Kinchen expressed how angry she was for the trade and that the Raft King had stolen Pip from her. I'm sure Caesar's excitement was cut off because of that and carried on like it was no big deal. The author doesn't focus or talk about how Caesar feels at all about being an orphan except how mature Caesar is because of that. She wonders why Pip, who is eleven years old, can't take care of himself (pg. 61) and why Kinchen is always protecting him because in her perspective, she is twelve years old and has been taking care of herself without anyone else protecting her. That was why she wanted to get a job on the Islands because she knew she didn't have anyone to rely on. I imagined what it would feel like to have a twelve year old or younger child come up to me and ask me for a job because they had to take care of themselves. I find that heart breaking, yet Caesar pulls it off without ever showing to anyone that she feels lonely and wants to belong to a family. This is why I think her character is so positive and energetic because it's the only way she could move on with her life and not gain pity from others, which is also why I felt like she didn't know how to respond to the women offering her a home because she was being pitied on. However, eventually Caesar did show a little bit of how she felt when she asked Thanh if they could adopt each other (pg. 314-316). This was probably the first sign that I noticed that she really wanted to belong, and she really wanted a family. She wasn't sure how to approach it or talk to Thanh about it (if you've read their conversation), but yet she did it. She realized that after everything was over, Kinchen and Pip would go back to the Island, and Mai, Uncle Truc, Uncle Hung, and the Turtle would also go back to where they came from, and then she would be right back to where she started in the beginning. And I believe it was then that she had realize that she didn't want to be thrown to a family that wouldn't have time to care for her. She wanted a family where she could belong and she didn't want to be alone anymore, which was why she decided to talk to Thanh about. I thought it was very interesting that the author did not talk a lot about Caesar's feelings and thoughts of that, but I also think she wanted to leave it up to the readers to decide how we see Caesar. I saw her as a positive, friendly, kind, curious, and energetic person on the outside, but on the inside, I saw a little girl searching for a place to call home, which is why I really enjoyed this character in this story. Critical Connection..."A Crack in the Sea" was a book filled with adventure, hope, friendships, and many more other themes. However, the best part about it was making connections as I read this book. I knew from reading Venus and Swimmer's story that it was a retelling of the stories of the slaves that took place during the Atlantic Slave Trade. It was astounding to know that when Africans were forced onto that cramped ship that only 15-20% of them would ever get to see land again. It also astounded me that the Zong was a real slave ship that tossed slaves overboard for disciplining or to get rid of their body from diseases or sickness, and that they would cut off the ears of those slaves as proof of payment. The author was inspired by that and created a story that illustrated her strong desire and wish that those 133 slaves thrown overboard were saved somewhere else and were living happily in a different world where there's no war, no slaves, and no pain. Just as Jacqueline Woodson said during her TED talk, "Each time we read, write, or tell a story, we step inside their circle and it remains unbroken and the power of story lives on." I think H.M. Bouwman's story "A Crack in the Sea" really portrays what Jacqueline said about stories. She wrote an alternative story to the actual stories of these slaves and their story has lived on because of that. I never knew of a slave ship named the Zong until now and that's thanks to H.M. Bouwman for carrying on their stories. "A layering to the narrative, the stories beneath the stories, and the ones beneath those. This is how story has and will continue to survive..." (Woodson, 2019). Bouwman, H. M., & Shimizu, Y. (2019). A crack in the sea. New York: Puffin Books. Woodson, J. (2019, April). Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/jacqueline_woodson_what_reading_slowly_taught_me_about_writing Further resources about slaves...Check out H.M. Bouwman's website for more information about this book, her other books, or about herself. https://www.brownheightsproperties.com/ Watch the TED Talk about the Atlantic Slave Trade where you can also Think, Dig Deeper, and Discuss about this issue. https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-atlantic-slave-trade-what-your-textbook-never-told-you-anthony-hazard Also, check out this poem titled, "Home" written and read by Warsan Shire. It's worth the time!
https://www.facinghistory.org/standing-up-hatred-intolerance/warsan-shire-home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI9D92Xiygo&feature=youtu.be
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November 2019
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