Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

By Grace Lin

ISBN:

9780316114271

Bibliography:

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

Plot:

This magical story takes place in the poor village of Fruitless Mountain. Minli, a young girl inspired by her father's magical stories, embarks on a journey seeking to change her family's fortune in order to help them find happiness. While on this adventurous journey, Minli discovers that the key to true happiness is being content with what one already has.

Analysis:

Lin utilizes the story within a story format to weave many Chinese tales throughout the text, adding depth to the story and its characters. The theme of this story is contentment, which is repeatedly reflected throughout the text as in the following quote: "As Minli looked at the buffalo boy, aglow with happiness against his poor surroundings, she saw it was enough for him. More than enough, as the smile that kept curling up on his face told her."

Minli's journey teaches her to be content and thankful for what she has, and by being content, she gains more wealth. Minli's mother also grows and changes throughout the story. In the beginning she was very negative and never happy with anything. After she thought that she had lost Minli, she realized that she should have been thankful for all what she'd had all along. The following quote from the mother's story is especially touching: "How lucky she had been! She was at last able to see that her daughter's laughter and love could not be improved by having the finest clothing or jewels, that joy had been in her home like a gift waiting to be opened."

Cultural markers evident in this story include character names, the illustrations, and many Chinese symbols such as the dragon, the red thread, the rabbit, and the tiger. The gorgeous illustrations in this book are reflective of traditional Chinese culture. Images of flying dragons, clothing worn in ancient China, and other Chinese symbols beautifully adorn the pages of this book. Also, many of the short stories that are woven into Where the Mountain Meets the Moon were inspired by Chinese folk tales, which adds another layer of cultural authenticity to this work.

Review Excerpts:

Booklist: “With beautiful language, Lin creates a strong, memorable heroine and a mystical land. Stories, drawn from a rich history of Chinese folktales, weave throughout her narrative, deepening the sense of both the characters and the setting and smoothly furthering the plot. Children will embrace this accessible, timeless story about the evil of greed and the joy of gratitude. Lin’s own full-color drawings open each chapter.”

Horn Book: “Minli seeks the Old Man of the Moon, hoping to change her family's fortunes. Interspersed with the main story are folktales explaining past events or anecdotes allowing characters to relate their experiences. Lovely full-page illustrations in blues, reds, greens, and luminous golds as well as delicate chapter-openers, all influenced by traditional Chinese art, contribute to the folklore-inspired fantasy's sense of timelessness.”

Connections:

*Other works by Grace Lin:

The Year of the Dog ISBN: 9780316060028

Dim Sum for Everyone ISBN: 9780440417705

The Red Thread ISBN: 9780807569221

The Year of the Rat ISBN: 9780316114264

*Check out Grace Lin's Website:

http://www.gracelin.com/

Tea with Milk

By Allen Say

ISBN: 9780395904954

Bibliography:

Say, Allen. 1999. Tea with Milk. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Plot:

Tea with Milk describes the life of a young Japanese-American girl who was raised in the United States and upon her graduation from high school, the family decides to return to live in Japan.

Analysis:

The main theme of this story is the search for an identity and the struggle to find one's place in the world. Masako only spoke English and was raised as a Japanese-American, so when she relocated to Japan with her parents, she felt lost. The following quote depicts Masako's predicament: "I'm a foreigner in my parents' country, she thought. And they came back here because they didn't want to be foreigners. But I wasn't born here. I should leave home and live on my own, like an American daughter." Another theme found in this text is tradition versus modern ways of life. In this story Masako bravely rejects tradition in the way that she dresses, by refusing to marry the matchmaker's match for her, and by relocating to Osaka and getting a job.

The beautiful, watercolor illustrations accurately portray both Japanese and Japanese-American cultures in the skin tone and clothing of the characters, in the architecture of the buildings, and in the portrayal of the tea ceremony. Other cultural markers include the lessons in flower arranging, calligraphy, and the tea ceremony that Masako's mother encouraged her to take so that she could be a "proper Japanese lady".

Review Excerpts:

Booklist: "Watercolors and text tell an elemental story that will appeal to everyone who feels a stranger at home. Like many foreigners, Masako discovers her home in the city, where she finds work, opportunity, and a husband from an even more diverse background than her own. Both an 'ugly duckling' romance and a universal story of leaving home, this is a picture book that will have intense appeal for older readers."

School Library Journal: “This is a thoughtful and poignant book that will appeal to a wide range of readers, particularly our nation's many immigrants who grapple with some of the same challenges as May and Joseph, including feeling at home in a place that is not their own.”

Connections:

*Other works by Allen Say:

Allison ISBN: 9780618495375

Emma's Rug ISBN: 9780395742945

Erika-San ISBN: 9780618889334

Grandfather's Journey ISBN: 9780395570357

Home of the Brave ISBN: 9780618212231

Kamishibai Man ISBN: 9780618479542

Music for Alice ISBN: 9780618311187

A River Dream ISBN: 9780395482940

The Sign Painter ISBN: 9780395979747

Stranger in the Mirror ISBN: 9780395615904

*Check out this interview with Allen Say from papertigers.org:

http://www.papertigers.org/interviews/archived_interviews/asay.html

Navajo: Visions and Voices Across the Mesa

by: Shonto Begay

ISBN: 9780590461535

Bibliography:

Begay, Shonto. 1995. Navajo: Visions and Voices Across the Mesa. New York: Scholastic Inc.

Plot:

Navajo: Visions and Voices Across the Mesa is a collection of poems and artwork by Shonto Begay that describe the Navajo way of life.

Analysis:

Begay’s poetic verse and artwork creates a window, which allows the reader a glimpse of the Navajo culture. His paintings of the southwest depict the people, the land, the animals, and the symbols of the Navajo culture. In the author’s note Begay describes the purpose of this beautiful work: “Here, for me and for you, too, visions and voices from across the mesa - past and present - are recaptured for all time.”

Other cultural markers embedded within this work include examples of beliefs, traditions, rituals, and chants of the people. Respect for the elderly is an important theme in the Navajo culture and is exemplified in the following quote from the poem, Grandmother: “The lines in her face were marks of honor." Another theme that is important to the Navajo people is respect for the land, which is modeled by the following quote from the poem, Early Spring: “For this generation, and many more to come/This land is beautiful and filled with mysteries./They reveal themselves and their stories/If you look very carefully, and listen…./” He also mentions in the authors note that his elders always taught him that the land was sacred and that we belong to it.

Review Excerpts:

Horn Book: “Twenty of Begay's beautiful, evocative paintings accompany his original poetry describing some of the emotions, stories, and experiences shared in his Navajo community. Some of the poems are lengthy and are more suitable for an older audience. An index of paintings is appended.”

Publisher's Weekly: “With these heartfelt paintings, poems and memoirs, the noted Navajo artist fulfills his stated goal of taking the reader ``into the corners of my world, the Navajo world.'' Similar in conception to George Littlechild's This Land Is My Land, this book places more emphasis on the traditional and spiritual, its contemporary setting notwithstanding. The sacred intertwines with the everyday.”

Connections:

*Works Illustrated by Shonto Begay:

Alice Yazzie's Year ISBN: 9781582462929

The Mud Pony ISBN: 9780590415262

The Boy Who Dreamed of an Acorn ISBN: 9780399225475

The Magic of Spiderwoman ISBN: 9780590460958

*Written and Illustrated by Shonto Begay:

Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad: A Traditional Navajo Story ISBN: 9780590453912

*Check out Shonto Begay's Website:

http://shontogallery.com/

Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War II

by: Joseph Bruchac

ISBN: 9780803729216

Bibliography:

Bruchac, Joseph. 2005. Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two. New York: Dial Books.

Plot:

This story follows the life of Ned Begay, a young Navajo boy who is sent to boarding school at the age of 6 in order to learn the ways of the white man in order to help his people. When Ned gets older, he decides to enlist in the Marines so that he can help his country fight Japan in World War II. He becomes a code talker, which is a top-secret mission in which one sends and receives messages in Navajo so that the enemy cannot intercept and interpret important military messages.

Analysis:

Code Talker, set during World War II, tells a story which accurately describes historical events that are little known to most. By telling this story, Bruchac provides a voice for the many Navajo code talkers, who were never honored for their role in helping the United States defeat Japan in World War II. This story touches on themes of honor, selflessness, and the importance of preserving one's culture.

Many cultural markers are evident throughout the story as Ned describes Navajo traditions, customs, language, and ways of life. Ned uses corn pollen throughout the story when he prays, which is a common tradition of the Navajo. Bruchac also intersperses Navajo language throughout the text to show examples of the code that the Navajo marines used when sending and receiving messages to convey vital military information.

The character, Ned, like many Navajos, was discriminated against during boarding school when his teachers forced him to give up his Navajo language and traditions. Another example of racism occurs when Ned returns home from war and enters a bar to get a coke, and the bartender refused to serve him because he was Navajo: “Although I had changed, the things that had made me feel sad and ashamed when I was in boarding school had stayed the same. It didn’t matter that I had fought for America. It didn’t matter that I had made white friends who would have sacrificed their lives to save me when we were at war. In the eyes of those prejudiced bilagaanaas (white men) in that bar, I was just another stupid Navajo.”

Review Excerpts:

Library Media Connection: "Bruchac's voice as a master storyteller weaves stories, characters, and research into a compelling story of war, sacrifice, and personal journey. Heavily researched, this is a novel of still little known part of history within a culture and the larger United States that will leave readers with a different perspective of World War II.”

School Library Journal: “Bruchac's gentle prose presents a clear historical picture of young men in wartime, island hopping across the Pacific, waging war in the hells of Guadalcanal, Bougainville, and Iwo Jima. Nonsensational and accurate, Bruchac's tale is quietly inspiring.”

Connections:

*Other works by Bruchac:

The Girl Who Helped the Thunder and Other Native American Folktales ISBN: 9781402732638

The Arrow Over the Door ISBN: 9780141305714

Bearwalker ISBN: 9780061123092

A Boy Called Slow: the True Story of Sitting Bull ISBN: 9780698116160

Buffalo Song ISBN: 9781584302803

The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story ISBN: 9780140564099

*Check out Joseph Bruchac's Website:

http://www.josephbruchac.com/

Jingle Dancer

by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Illustrated by Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu

ISBN: 9780688162429

Bibliography:

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2000. Jingle Dancer. Ill by Cornerlius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu. New York: Morrow Junior Books.

Plot:

Jenna, a young, modern-day girl of Muscogee and Ojibway descent wants to dance like her grandmother in the upcoming powwow and needs four rows of jingles for her dress. She visits family and friends in her neighborhood to find enough jingles so that her dress will sing.

Analysis:

This story takes place in a modern-day, intertribal community in Oklahoma. The theme of this story is about sharing with others. Cultural markers are woven throughout this story in the beautiful illustrations and in many motifs of the culture, such as the dress of the characters, the custom of the powwow, the closeness of family, and the food that is eaten by the characters. The watercolor illustrations beautifully illustrate the modern-day images of these Native peoples as well as the traditional dress at the powwow. Bright, colorful dresses with jingles and beaded moccasins adorn the pages depicting the powwow scenes. Smith does an excellent job of depicting this modern-day intertribal neighborhood by describing the homes in which the characters live and by describing their modern-day lives.

The importance of the number four, which is a sacred number to many Native people, is evident throughout the text. Jenna needed four rows of jingles for her dress. She went in search of the jingles in the four directions at four different residences. The author also illustrates the sounds of the story in groups of four to describe the beat of the drum, “brum, brum, brum, brum” and the sounds of the jingles, “tink, tink, tink, tink”.

At the end of the story, Jenna, with her four rows of jingles, dances for all those that have kindly shared their jingles with her: “As the light blurred silver, Jenna danced for Great-aunt Sis, whose legs ached, for Mrs. Scott who sold fry bread, for Elizabeth who worked on her big case, and for Grandma Wolfe who warmed like the sun. Tink, tink tink tink.”

Review Excerpts:

Booklist: “This contemporary Native American tale highlights the importance of family and community through a young girl's dream of joining the dancers at the next powwow. The colorful, well-executed watercolor illustrations lend warmth to the story. A note explaining Jenna's heritage and a brief glossary are appended.”

Library Talk: “Jenna, a young Native American of Muscogee and Ojibway heritage, longs to dance the jingle dance at a powwow. This dance, in which females dance with jingling cones on their dresses, is authentically depicted by Smith, who is herself a member of the Muscogee Nation. Jenna repeatedly watches her Grandma Wolfe dancing on a VCR tape and wishes for a dress full of the jingling cones. Unfortunately, there is no time to order the tin to be rolled into jingles before the powwow. Jenna needs four rows of jingles for her dress, so she borrows jingles from other female family members and friends, taking only one row from each woman because she doesn't want their dresses to "lose their voices."

Connections:

*Check out Cynthia Leitich Smith's Website:

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/

*Other works by Cynthia Leitich Smith:

Indian Shoes ISBN: 9780060295318

Tantalize ISBN: 9780763640590

Holler Loudly ISBN: 9780525422563 (This books comes out in November.)

Eternal ISBN: 9780763635732

The Afterlife

By Gary Soto

ISBN: 9780152047740

Bibliography:

Soto, Gary. 2003. The Afterlife. Orlando: Harcourt.

Plot:

Seventeen-year old Chuy is murdered in the restroom of Club Estrella as he prepares to meet his friend, Rachel, at the dance. Chuy struggles to make sense of his new existence in the afterlife as he recounts events and people from his life that he will soon leave behind.

Analysis:

Soto bravely addresses the unknown as he describes what happens to seventeen-year old Chuy after his life is senselessly cut short by a thug in the restroom of a dance hall. This story is about the acceptance of one’s mortality. The images evoked in the murder scene are brutal and thought provoking. These senseless acts of violence occur every day to sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, and other loved ones. Such events evoke questions about why a life is cut short and what happens when one dies.

This story takes place in Latino neighborhoods in Fresno, as Chuy revisits people and places from his life such as friends and family and the local panaderia (bakery). Soto intersperses rich, Spanish words throughout the text to give the reader a true sense of Chuy’s culture. The use of Spanish words also conveys how the characters relate to one another like in the following quote: “I was thinking of Angel and me, and our past. This was all we had. The past. He was mi carnal (my blood brother), the guy I hung with. I was going to miss him and our crazy ways.” Culture is also represented by foods such as menudo and by mention of the magazine, People in Espanol.

Chuy is a kind soul in life and in death. He tries to save a homeless man who is dying from a fever. He helps Crystal, another teen whose life ended too soon, navigate this new “afterlife”. They each visit their families one last time before vanishing into the afterlife: “My dream had been to grow up, work a regular job, nothing special, hang out with friends, and be with someone special like Crystal. I received a portion of that dream and felt grateful for it. I loved her like no other. She flew at my side, southward toward what, I now knew, is called the afterlife.”

Review Excerpts:

Booklist: “Soto has remade Our Town into Fresno, California, and he not only paints the scenery brilliantly but also captures the pain that follows an early death. In many ways, this is as much a story about a hardscrabble place as it is about a boy who is murdered. Both pulse with life and will stay in memory.”

Publisher’s Weekly: "Soto pens a sort of Lovely Bones for the young adult set, filled with hope and elegance," said PW. "The author counterbalances difficult ideas with moments of genuine tenderness as well as a provocative lesson about the importance of savoring every moment."

Connections:

*Other Works by Gary Soto:

Accidental Love ISBN: 9780152061135

Chato's Kitchen ISBN: 9780698116009

Marisol ISBN: 9781584859727

Partly Cloudy: Poems of Love and Longing ISBN: 9780152063016

Too Many Tamales ISBN: 9780698114128

*Check out Gary Soto's Website:

http://www.garysoto.com/

Esperanza Rising

By Pam Munoz Ryan

ISBN: 9780439576178

Bibliography:

Ryan, Pam Muñoz. 2000. Esperanza Rising. New York: Scholastic Press.

Plot:

Twelve-year old Esperanza Ortega’s life changes dramatically when she goes from riches to rags after her father is murdered and her powerful and greedy uncles snatch up her father’s ranch. In order to escape from the oppressive uncle that wishes to marry her mother and send Esperanza away to boarding school, Esperanza and her mother, along with their servants, flee to America to become migrant workers in hopes of finding a better life.

Analysis:

This thought-provoking story takes place during the Great Depression and masterfully sheds light on issues that plagued Mexican-American migrant workers in the past and highlights issues that still affect immigrants today. Some of these issues include: racism, cultural differences, and the exploitation of Mexican migrant workers. Ryan thoughtfully conveys the importance of family in the Mexican culture by showing how families in the migrant camps depended on each member of the family to help contribute to the family unit in some way whether it was by helping to care for siblings, help with chores, or work in the fields. Ryan masterfully depicts the transformation of Esperanza from a spoiled rich kid into a hard-working responsible young woman who takes care of her mother when duty calls.

Ryan intersperses Spanish words throughout the text, which helps to authentically connect the reader to the Spanish culture. Racism is another cultural marker as exemplified in the following quote when Esperanza asks Miguel why they have to drive so far to go to the Japanese market when there are others that are closer: “Some of the other market owners aren’t as kind to Mexicans as Mr. Yakota. Esperanza, people here [in the United States] think we are all uneducated, dirty, poor, and unskilled. It does not occur to them that many have been trained in professions in Mexico.”

After the uncles had burned down the house, Abuelita says, “Do you remember the story of the phoenix, the lovely bird that is reborn from its own ashes? We are like the phoenix. Rising again with a new life ahead of us.” This quote is very meaningful because it is representative of all immigrants that come to the United States hoping for a new life.

In the author’s note Ryan mentions that this story is based on her grandmother, Esperanza. In the story, she describes characters faced with the difficult decision of striking to try to get higher wages, which could mean the loss of work or continuing to work under poor conditions and being shunned by striking members of the group. Her grandmother says, “We were all so poor. We all knew the feeling of wanting to work and feed our families. That was why it was so hard for so many of us to strike.” She also explains that they focused only on survival and put all of their hopes and dreams into their children’s and grandchildren’s futures.

Review Excerpts:

Booklist: “Set during the Great Depression, the story weaves cultural, economic, and political unrest into Esperanza's poignant tale of growing up: she witnesses strikes, government sweeps, and deep injustice while finding strength and love in her family and romance with a childhood friend. The symbolism is heavy-handed, as when Esperanza ominously pricks her finger on a rose thorn just before her father is killed. But Ryan writes movingly in clear, poetic language that children will sink into, and the book offers excellent opportunities for discussion and curriculum support.”

Horn Book: “In this poignant look at the realities of immigration, thirteen-year-old Esperanza, daughter of an affluent Mexican rancher, is forced to trade fancy dolls and dresses for hard work and ill-fitting hand-me-downs after her beloved father dies. Laboring in the United States, picking grapes on someone else's land for pennies an hour, Esperanza is transformed into someone who can take care of herself and others.”

Connections:

*Other books by Pam Munoz Ryan

Becoming Naomi Leon ISBN: 9780439269971

The Dreamer ISBN: 9780439269704

Paint the Wind ISBN: 9780545101769

Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride ISBN: 9780590960755

Riding Freedom ISBN: 9780439087964

*Check out Pam Munoz Ryan's Website:

http://www.pammunozryan.com/