RE 5140- Reading Response- Schneider Family Award

Marsha Warren

RE 5140- Reading Response- Schneider Family Award

Becoming Naomi Leon

Author: Pam Munoz Ryan

Scholastic Press, New York, 2004

Becoming Naomi Leon is a book about a biracial little girl, Naomi, who has grown up with her great-grandmother. Naomi’s father is Hispanic and her mother is white. She also lives with her little brother, Owen. Owen is extremely intelligent, but has physical disabilities. He is comforted by putting scotch tape on his shirts so that he can rub his fingers over the tape. Naomi and Owen’s mother abandoned them 7 years ago from the time this story takes place. Naomi is a very quiet and shy little girl. She rarely talks to anyone and when she does, it’s in a whisper voice.

Their mother has been in and out of rehab and halfway houses while she’s been away from them. She comes back on the pretense of wanting to be involved in their lives and wanting only Naomi to come and live with her and her new boyfriend. Naomi does not want to do this, especially when she discovers that her mom is drinking again and is unreliable. Their “Gram” doesn’t want Naomi to move away either. Because of this, Gram and her neighbors take the kids on a “vacation” to Mexico and plan on returning one day before they are expected to meet with a court mediator. Gram wants to get full custody of Naomi and Owen. While in Mexico, Naomi and Owen find their father, whom they thought did not want them but discover that he was told he could not be around them by their mother before she abandoned them. Through a visit with their father and seeing how much he loves them, Naomi discovers “her voice.” She learns to speak up for herself. This is shown by her speaking to the judge at the end of the book. She tells the judge why she wants to stay with her Gram and why she doesn’t want to live with her mother. Custody is given to Gram with visitation rights given to their father.

This was a really good book. I liked how it described the transformation Naomi went through from the beginning of the book to the end. I loved also how Naomi finally discovered how much she was loved by her father- which helped her “find her voice.” I thought it was really neat how the author incorporated so much of the Hispanic culture in this story. I honestly felt like I was seeing Mexico firsthand by her descriptions of Naomi’s visit there. I also liked how she portrayed Owen and Naomi’s protectiveness towards and acceptance of him and his physical limitations. She showed how some people act negatively towards people who are different than others.

The Schneider Family Award is given to an author or an illustrator who expresses the experience of either living with a disability or the experience of having a friend/family member who has a disability. These disabilities can be physical, mental, or emotional. Becoming Naomi Leon was the winner of this award in 2005. I think the main reason this book deserves this award is because of the way the author portrays Naomi’s experiences living with her brother, Owen. Even though he is extremely intelligent, he does have physical limitations. The author describes some of Owen’s experiences at school, his doctor visits, negative reactions from people concerning his disabilities, as well as Naomi’s thoughts about her brother. I also think this book shows Naomi having an emotional disability with her inability to speak up for herself. Through the love of her father, friends, and Gram, she finally finds her “voice” and is able to speak her thoughts and feelings to others.

RE 5140- Reading Response- Pura Belpre Award

Martina the Beautiful Cockroach

Retold by: Carmen Agra Deedy

Peachtree Publishers, Georgia, 2007

Martina, the Beautiful Cockroach is a Cuban folktale. It’s about a cockroach, Martina, who is 21 days old which means she is ready to get married. Because she is now 21 days old, each one of her family members gives her something- a seashell comb, a lace shawl, and her Cuban grandmother gives her some advice. She tells Martina how to choose a husband. She tells her to spill coffee on each of her suitor’s shoes. Her grandmother tells her that she will know which suitor to choose by judging the reactions of the men to the coffee being spilled on shoes. At first, Martina thought this idea was kind of crazy. The rooster was the first suitor. He called her clumsy when she spilled the coffee and so she did not accept his offer of marriage. The pig was the next suitor and he wanted Martina to clean his shoes. She did not accept his offer, either. The next suitor was the lizard and he let it be known that he was planning on eating her. Of course, she did not accept his offer.

After that she notices a tiny brown mouse. Because of what has already happened, Martina does not want to spill coffee on the mouse’s shoes because she likes him. Her grandmother urges her to, though. As she is about to spill the coffee on Perez’s (the brown mouse) shoes, he spills coffee on her shoes. She is delighted instead of angry at him. He then tells her that he has a Cuban grandmother as well. The last picture is of the 2 Cuban grandmothers toasting Martina and Perez with coffee cups.

I had never read this book, but I loved it! The story was very sweet. Spanish words were intermingled within the text. I really loved the illustrations, as well. The colors were beautiful! Most of the illustrations were all of one page with the opposite page filled with text. Some of them were two-page spreads, which were really neat. The details put into the illustrations were amazing!

The Pura Belpre Award is given to authors and illustrators of children/youth books that show and celebrate the Latino culture. It is named after the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. This book was an honor book for this award in 2008. I think this book definitely deserves this honor. I really like the way Carmen Agra Deedy retold this Cuban folktale. She used many Spanish words, which added to the story. The story was set in Havana, which is in Cuba. The advice from the Cuban cockroach grandmother in the story was actually advice given to Carmen from her Cuban grandmother. I think the fact that this is a folktale from Cubans is wonderful- it’s a way to keep their stories alive. This story incorporates many facets of a Cuban’s life, as well as many things associated with Cuba- the green cockroach, the coffee, Havana, Frijoles Negros, etc. Overall, I thought this was a wonderful story with just as wonderful illustrations!

Marsha Warren

RE 5140- Reading Response- Newbery Award

Number the Stars

Author: Lois Lowry

Houghton Mifflin Company, New York, 1989

Number the Stars is a book that is set in 1943 around the time of the Danish Resistance to the Germans. It is from the point of view of a little girl, Annemarie Johansen Annemarie’s best fried, Ellen, is Jewish. They both live in Copenhagen. At the beginning of the book, Annemarie, Ellen, and Annemarie’s little sister, Kirsti, meet German soldiers in the street. When they go back and tell each of their moms about the encounter, their moms become alarmed and remind them to not call attention to themselves when out in public. Close to the time of the Jewish New Year, word gets to the Johansens and the Rosens that the Germans are trying to “relocate” the Jews. They are told they need to go into hiding. When this happens, Ellen stays the night with the Johansens while her parents are taken by their friend Peter to a safe hiding place. The night Ellen stays with the Johansens, German soldiers come into the house looking for the Rosens. They ask about Ellen- who she is. Mr. Johansen tells them that she is his third daughter, Lise. The Johansens did have a 3rd daughter, Lise, but she died. Their friend, Peter, who helped the Rosens hide, was actually engaged to their daughter before she died.

The next day, Mrs. Johansen takes the three girls, Annemarie, Ellen, and Kirsti, to visit her brother, Henrik, in the country. As the visit to Uncle Henrik is described, we realize that he is actually helping Jews escape to Swedan. He is a part of the Danish Resistance, as is Peter. While at Uncle Henrik’s house, Ellen is reunited with her parents, and with Uncle Henrik’s help, they all sail across the sea to Swedan. At the end of the story, we find out that Lise was actually a part of the Danish Resistance as well, and died from an accident that resulted from her involvement. Annemarie is told throughout the story that sometimes, the less she knows about things, the safer she is. She is a very smart little girl and so she knows more than Kirsti does about the Germans and their role in her country. At the end of the story, Annemarie is very brave and plays a big part in Uncle Henrik being able to help the Rosens, as well as other Jews, sail away. It was told in the book that over 7000 Jews were able to escape to Swedan with the help of the Danish Resistance.

This was the first time I had read the book, Number the Stars. I loved it! I am almost embarrassed to let it be known that I have never heard about the “smuggling” of almost the entire Jewish population from Denmark to Swedan. It is such an uplifting thought to think about something good happening during this horrific time in history- the escape of almost 7,000 Jews from the Germans. I found it interesting to read Lois Lowry’s Afterword. She told about which incidents/circumstances/etc. from the book were fiction and the ones which were true.

I really liked the way Lowry didn’t tell us everything that was going on with each of the characters in the book, such as Peter, until towards the end of the book. We found these things out as Annemarie found them out. I kept thinking about all of the things Annemarie was having to deal with as I was reading the book and how very brave she was. My oldest daughter is 10 years old and it made quite an impact on me to think Annemarie was the same age when this story took place.

The Newbery Award is given to the “most distinguished contribution to American literature.” I think Number the Stars is deserving of this award because of the wonderful story it tells. I think it is a super book for children to read because it is written from the perspective of a 10 year old little girl. I think it is a book that children can very easily understand and would also enjoy reading. I also think, after reading Lowry’s Afterword, that the book is a very accurate account of some of the things that were happening in Denmark during this time in history. I feel Lowry did an amazing job of describing the thoughts and feelings of Annemarie as well as the setting. I think this was another reason the book is deserving of this award.

Marsha Warren

RE 5140- Reading Response- Carter G. Woodson Award

Sacagawea

Author: LiseErdrich

Carolrhoda Books, Minnesota, 2003

Sacagawea is a book about the life of the Shoshone Indian, Sacagawea. The book starts out when Sacagawea is eleven or twelve years old. Her camp was attached by Hidatsa warriors. They kidnapped her and took her to live with them. She joined a family there and they gave her the name, Sacagawea. She lived with this family for almost four years until she married Toussaint Charbonneau, who was a fur trader from Canada.

The Corps of Discovery was the name given to the expedition that explored the land between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. This expedition was led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark. They set out in 1804. Sacagawea and her husband joined this expedition as translators. She actually gave birth to her first child while traveling. While they were traveling and exploring, they actually stopped at the place near where she was captured. Sacagawea needed to translate for Lewis and Clark at a chief’s council- which was a huge responsibility. She was overcome with feeling when she discovered that her brother was actually the chief. They left and traveled until they finally reached the ocean. Near there they found a place to set up winter camp. After winter, they started traveling home. Sacagawea arrived home in 1806.

This is a wonderful informational book that my students would LOVE! It was very interesting and included lots of facts. Even though it included so many facts about her life, it still kept my attention because of the way the author wrote the book- like a story. After reading the book, I was ashamed of how little I knew about Sacagawea. I knew she had helped Lewis and Clark, but I knew nothing of her life before or after the expedition.

The Carter G. Woodson Award is awarded to distinguished social science books. These books are appropriate for younger readers and describe ethnic minorities and their stories accurately. Sacagawea won this award at the elementary book level in 2004. I definitely feel this book is deserving of this award. I believe it would be easily understood by elementary students. It definitely is interesting- it kept my attention. I had never heard Sacagawea’s story told this way. I also loved the illustrations. They were either two-page spreads or took up all of one page. The illustrations were from the top of the page to the bottom and looked almost like oil paintings. At the end of the book, the author included an afterword that told several theories of what happened to Sacagawea after the Corps of Discovery returned to St. Louis. I liked seeing what different people thought happened to Sacagawea. The author also included a timeline of Sacagawea’s life at the end of the book.

RE 5140- Reading Response- Coretta Scott King Award

The Road to Paris

Author: Nikki Grimes

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 2006

The Road to Paris is a book about a biracial girl, Paris Richmond. At the beginning of the book, Paris and her brother, Malcolm, run away from their current foster home. Paris and Malcolm were put into foster care because their mother couldn’t take care of them, she was a drunk, and neither of their fathers are involved in their lives. They are abused at this foster home and when they have the chance, they run away to their grandmother’s house. Their grandmother calls Child’s Welfare and Malcolm is sent to a group home while Paris is sent to live with the Lincoln family.

Because of her past experiences with foster homes, Paris is reluctant to trust and open up to her new foster family. The Lincolns have 2 biological sons and also have another foster daughter. Paris is given her own bedroom at the Lincolns’ home. One of her foster brothers learns that she is afraid of the dark because of past experiences at one of the foster homes she lived in. He tells her to “Keep God in her pocket.” This is something Paris takes to heart and repeats to herself several times throughout the book to help ease her anxiety in stressful situations.

She learns to trust this family and starts to actually feel a part of them, even though she still misses Malcolm. She also makes a new friend at school, Ashley, who is white. She and Ashley live very close to each other and, therefore, spend a lot of time together. One day, Paris goes to visit Ashley at her house. Ashley’s dad answers the door and makes a comment to Paris which includes a racial slur. Paris is dumbfounded by this comment and promises to herself not to be friends with Ashley anymore. This situation really hurts Paris. This makes her not as trusting with other white people she encounters, but she does make another friend, Sienna, who is also white.

At the end of the book, Paris’ biological mother calls her at the Lincolns’ house and tells her that she wants to try and be a mother to her and Malcolm again. Paris has to choose what to do- go home with her mom or stay with the Lincolns, who she considers family now. Paris chooses to go home to her mom and Malcolm. Mrs. Lincoln assures her that she will always have a place in their home if things don’t work out with her mom.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved the way Grimes showed the reader exactly what Paris was feeling by her words. I felt sympathetic towards Paris throughout the book because of all of the things she had to face- abuse, foster family, alienation, racism, etc. I found myself cheering for her as she overcame all of it, most of the time by repeating what her foster brother taught her- Keep God in your pocket. As with the main character in Number the Stars, my daughter is about the same age as Paris is in the book. This really impacts me because I think of my daughter as I read about all that Paris faces.