Waiting For Normal (Schneider Family Award)
Leslie Connor
Katherine Tegen Books: An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2008
Question: Describe one of the main characters. How did the author make this character unique and believable?
Addie Schmeeter, a twelve year old girl, and her Mommers have just moved to a trailer on a busy corner in Schenectady, New York. The trailer belongs to Dwight, Addie's ex-stepfather. While Addie's mom is angry about having to live in the trailer, Addie is more positive. Addie's optimistic outlook is a great contrast to her actual circumstances. Mommers is prone to neglect and leaves Addie alone frequently. Mommers is manic one day and depressed the next, classic symptoms of bipolar disorder. Addie has assumed the role of the parent and has been taking care of herself and Mommers for sometime now.
Addie, who has more common sense than a lot of adults, struggles in school. She has difficulty reading and feels as though she just doesn't have a “love of learning.” She has developed strategies to use to help her compensate for these difficulties. For example, she uses an index card to keep her on track as she reads and she keeps a vocabulary notebook. Her perspective on her struggles becomes more positive when Dwight informs her that she has dyslexia. Addie is amazed to find that her problems have a name and that she can still be successful in school.
Addie is also very musical. She plays the flute and tries out for the stage orchestra at her new school. Because she can't read the music, she talks to the teacher and the teacher agrees to give it to her ahead of time. This allows Addie to 'assimilate” the music and to be prepared for the try outs. Addie not only earns a spot in the stage orchestra, but is granted a solo in the winter concert.
Addie feels as though her life is pretty normal. This changes, however, when she visits Dwight and her stepsisters on one of the school holidays. She realizes that her current situation is indeed far from normal. She decides that she can no longer pretend that her life is “normal” and refuses to visit anymore.
When Addie is once again left alone by Mommers for several days, the trailer catches on fire and burns down. Social Services are finally called in by Addie's neighbor at the mini-mart. Addie explains to the social worker that she is just “waiting for normal” and wants to live with Dwight and her stepsisters. In the end, Addie gets her wish when Mommers signs paperwork that will allow Dwight to adopt Addie.
Addie's character made a huge impact on me as I read the book. While I admired her strength and resiliency, I cried for the childhood she was never allowed to have. My heart broke for her because she felt so torn about leaving her Mommers even though her life with her had been so unstable and unpredictable. She still was a child who loved her mom. My tears flowed freely when Addie got her “normal” and would finally be able to be the child she was.
Esperanza Rising (Jane Addams Award)
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Scholastic Inc., USA, 2000
Question: Describe the setting. Was the setting essential to the plot of the book? Explain why or why not.
The setting of Esperanza Rising occurs in two different locations. The purpose of this is to contrast Esperanza's life before and after her father's death.
The story begins in Aguascalientes, Mexico, on El Ranch de las Rosas, Esperanza's family ranch. The year is 1924. The ranch has many vineyards and consists of thousands of acres. The Ortega family is very wealthy. The main house is a mansion and the servants are housed on the grounds in their own private cabins. Esperanza is spoiled and considers herself to be “above” the servants.
After her father is killed by bandits, Esperanza and her mother face many hardships. Their house is burned to the ground and they lose everything. They are forced to leave Mexico because they are afraid they will be separated by members of Esperanza's father's family. They hide in a wagon and escape to the border of the United States. They pass through immigration and then begin their journey to Los Angeles. Esperanza and her mother are no longer the wealthy landowners they once were. They will have to work like everyone else.
Their journey to Los Angeles ends at a farm labor camp. When Esperanza first sees the camp with its rows and rows of cabins, she is appalled. She is reminded of the horse stalls on her ranch in Mexico. None of the cabins have bathrooms and the walls are covered with newspapers. She is even more shocked to learn that she and her mother must share a cabin with their former housekeeper's family.
Esperanza is in denial. She believes that this situation is only temporary. She soon finds out just how permanent the situation is when even she has a job to do. She must learn to sweep, do laundry, cook and take care of small children. When Esperanza's mother becomes ill after a dust storm, Esperanza goes to work in the harvesting sheds in her mother's place. Esperanza becomes a true field worker and learns first-hand what it is like to be treated as a second class citizen. Through her struggles she becomes a better, stronger person.
The setting is essential to the plot of the story. The farm labor camp that Esperanza goes to live in tells the plight of so many minorities, not just Mexicans, during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It portrays the struggles and inhumanities that many of them suffered during this time period.
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters (Coretta Scott King Award)
Author and Illustrator: John Steptoe
Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Books, New York, 1987
Question: What values were conveyed through this book? How were these values or social views conveyed to the reader?
Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters is an African tale about morality. It depicts the rewards and consequences that come with the types of moral decisions we make.
Mufaro lives in a small village with his two daughters Manyara and Nyasha. His daughters were very beautiful. While one daughter is kind and loving, the other is selfish and cruel.
Manyara, the cruel one, mistreated her sister and teased her repeatedly. Nyasha ignored her sister's taunting and turned the other cheek. She never complained to their father because she wanted to spare his feelings.
Nyasha had a small garden plot that she tended faithfully. When a small garden snake appears in her garden, she is kind to him and sings to him. She finds the good in his presence and welcomes him. From that day forward, the snake was always with her in the garden.
One day a messenger came and announced that the king wanted a wife. The most worthy and beautiful daughters in the land were to appear before the King. Manyara tried to convince her father to send only her to the city and keep Nyasha at home. Her father wouldn't hear of it and proclaimed that they both would go.
Manyara was so selfish that she left in the middle of the night so that she could arrive before her sister. Along the way she met a small boy who was hungry and asked for food, an old woman who offers her advice and a man with his head under his arm. She was extremely rude to each of these people and did not help them or show them kindness.
The next day Nyasha followed the same route. She, too, met each of these people. However, she was kind to each. She gave them food and gifts. When she reached the city, she met Manyara running toward the gate. She told Nyasha not to go to the King for there was a great monster that knew all of her faults and would have swallowed her if she had not run away. Nyasha makes her way to see the King and when she reaches his throne she finds the garden snake that she once sang to. The garden snake changes shape before her eyes and becomes the King.
The King tells her that he was also the hungry boy and the old woman she had met on her way to the city. He knew her to be kind and caring and deemed her the most worthy in the land. She becomes the queen.
This story demonstrates the importance of being kind and selfless through the behavior and actions of each daughter. We should treat others with respect and kindness, regardless of the circumstances. It also stresses that good begets good and that we will be rewarded for our kind acts. Conversely, if we act in a manner that is unkind or cruel, we will know the consequences of those actions and get our “just desserts.”
Run, Boy, Run ( Batchelder Award)
Uri Orlev
Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 2003
Question: What did you learn about the time in which the book was set? Do you think the time period
was described accurately? How do you know?
Run, Boy, Run, an historical fiction book, was set in Poland at the height of the Holocaust. The main character, Srulik, lives in the Warsaw ghetto with his family. The Jewish people had been rounded up by the German soldiers and were forced to live in ghettos after the German invasion in 1939. The ghettos were city districts where the Jewish people were forced to live in miserable, inhumane conditions. They were later transported from the ghettos to the death camps.
While I knew about the atrocities that occurred during this time period from history classes, it was quite eye-opening to hear it told from the perspective of someone who lived through it. While the book is fiction, I believe that its roots are based in the horrors that were reality for Jewish people during this time.
It is hard to imagine an eight year old boy living alone in the forest for two years, getting help and work wherever he can, just to avoid persecution and death. Srulik must forget his heritage and pretend to be a Christian to avoid being turned in to the Germans. He learns to be self-reliant and outwits the Germans on more than one occasion.
I believe that this time period was described very accurately. The author, Uri Orlev, spent the years 1939 to 1941 hiding out in the Warsaw ghetto with his family. His mother was killed by the Nazis and he and his brother were sent to Bergen-Belsen. Orlev most likely witnessed or experienced many of the events depicted in Run, Boy, Run. This story tells of the persecution of the Jewish people in Poland from a young boy's viewpoint and draws the reader into his plight. It brings out deep emotional reactions for the injustices that this group of people faced and brings this horrific treatment of the Jewish people right to the forefront of the reader's mind.
The Hello, Goodbye Window (Caldecott Award, 2006)
Author: Norton Juster
Illustrator: Chris Raschka
Michael Di Capua Books, Hyperion Books for Children, USA, 2005
Question: Describe the artwork in terms of style and media. What elements of the illustrations
appealed to you?
Chris Raschka's illustrations in The Hello, Goodbye Window are extremely vibrant and childlike. He uses watercolors and very loose strokes to create images that are very pleasing to this reader's eye. The illustrations work well with the text and do not distract from the story line. In fact, the illustrations greatly enhance the text and help bring the story to life.
While some readers might find the illustrations busy and distracting, I found them to be intriguing and very complimentary. I love the bright colors and the warmth of the illustrations. They bring energy to the story and sustain the lively feel of the book. I also like that the illustrations are very loose. Raschka uses swirls, smears and dabs to create these lovely pictures. The watercolors run together to create the perfect hues and colors. Again, the family in this story comes to life through the expertise of Raschka.
Kitten's First Full Moon (Caldecott Award, 2005)
Author and Illustrator: Kevin Henkes
Greenwillow Books, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, USA, 2004
Question: Respond to the design and layout of the book. What do you think of the cover design, size
of the book, font, spacing, and visual elements?
The front cover of Kitten's First Full Moon is appealing to readers for a variety of reasons. While there is no color to speak of, it still draws one's attention. The words in the title are large, silver in color and seem almost three dimensional. They are placed inside the large white circle that is the moon and create a nice contrast. Under the title one finds an adorable little kitten washing his paw and nestled among a bed of flowers.
The size of the book is also appealing. It is medium sized and would fit nicely in a child's lap. Moving inside, one finds adorable illustrations created with gouache and colored pencil. The illustrations are white and gray toned. They are soft and reflect the night. The text is bold and eye catching. Written in 22 point Gil Sans Extra Bold font, the text is easy to follow and stands out against the white pages.
The illustrations are endearing and portray the kitten's emotions clearly and accurately as she chases that little bowl of milk! They complement the text nicely and bring the kitten and her escapades to life.
The Moon Over Star (Coretta Scott King Award)
Author: Dianna Hutts Aston
Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney
Dial Books for Young Readers, New York, 2008
Question: What factual information did you learn? Did anything surprise you? How do you know if
this information is correct?
The Moon Over Star is a story about the 1969 landing of the spaceship, Eagle, on the moon and the impact it has on a young girl's life. The landing of man on the moon teaches Mae, the main character, that her dreams can also be achieved and that nothing is impossible.
While I knew of the landing and of Neil Armstrong's famous words, I did not know exact details of the event. I learned that Neil Armstrong was thirty-eight years old when he landed on the moon. I also learned the exact date of the landing. The Eagle landed on July 20th, 1969, just two months before I was born. I learned that there were 600 million people world-wide who watched the landing. One interesting fact that surprised me is that the moon is approximately 240,000 miles from the Earth. Some scientists believe that the moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of about one inch every year.
The information presented in this book about the landing of man on the moon is factual and accurate. It can easily be authenticated and proven through research about the space program in the United States. The accomplishments of the program and its astronauts are well documented and can be easily accessed to authenticate the information presented in this well designed information book.
Chato's Kitchen (Pura Belpre Award)
Author: Gary Soto
Illustrator: Susan Guevara
G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, 1995
Question: Do you think the culture of the characters in the book was portrayed fairly? How do you know? What experiences did the author bring that would help him or her represent the culture fairly?
In Chato's Kitchen the main characters are Chato and Novio Boy. Chato is described as a “low-riding cat” and Novio Boy is said to have “sleek fur and the loveliest growl in the barrio.” The two cats have met Chato's new neighbors, a family of mice, and have invited them to dinner. They are cooking up quite a feast for the new neighbors. They are preparing traditional Latino dishes like fajitas, frijoles, arroz, and guacamole.
I feel that Soto's portrayal of the Latino culture, through the use of food especially, is authentic and portrayed fairly. Chato and Novio Boy also listen to Latino music and can be found dancing the occasional mambo. His use of Spanish words throughout the text is accurate and informative at the same time. Soto's own Latino heritage lends itself to this authenticity.
While I felt as though the text was accurate and fair, the illustrations seemed to portray a somewhat stereotypical image of Latino males. For example, Chato has his ear pierced, wears his cap backwards, and sports a gold tooth and pencil mustache. Novio Boy wears a bandanna low around his eyes, has a flashy collar with lots of “bling,” and carries a boombox on his shoulder.