Habibi by Naomi Shihab

1. Bibliography
Nye, Naomi Shihab, 1997. Habibi. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-689-80149-1
2. Plot Summary
14-year-old Liyana Abboud was born and raised in a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Her father, Kamal; called Poppy by Liyana and her brother Rafik, is a Palestinian from Jerusalem who came to American 20 years earlier to study medicine and escape the ongoing war between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He remained in the U.S. after falling in love with Liyana’s mother, Susan, and starting a family. However, Poppy feels the tensions in the West Bank have lessened and it is time for the family to move to Jerusalem and meet the Arab side of the family they have never known. And so, knowing no Arabic and with overwhelming reluctance, Liyana boards a plane in American, and lands several hours later on the other side of the world. The Abboud family soon discovers relations between the Israelis and the Palestinians remain very tense. Everything is so strange Liyana feels as if she living “on the moon,” as Rafik put it.
3. Critical Analysis
Winner of the Jane Adams Children's Book Award Habibi is the story of a typical teenager, 14-year-old Liyana Abboud, living in America. But, when she arrives in her father’s homeland, Palestine to him but now called Israel, Liyana enters a strange topsy-turvy world. She doesn’t know the language and armed soldiers, hostile to them simply because they are Arabs, single the Abboud family out at the airport; questioning them and searching their luggage. When Poppy’s family comes into Jerusalem to visit the newly arrived family at their hotel they too are treated with suspicion and hostility. Liyana is relieved she won’t have to wear a head scarf, “the older (women) had long white scarves draped and knotted firmly over their hair. The younger ones had bare heads.” The Arab relatives kiss and hug and when they first meet Poppy’s mother, Liyana’s grandmother, Sitti, “threw back her head, rolled her tongue high up in her mouth, and began trilling wildly.” Liyana is startled but the aunts simply “began clapping a rhythmic beat.” Liyana dressed in a plain, black, pleated skirt, because the culture she has entered doesn’t allow women to wear slacks, begins to feel drab beside the women whose “long dresses were made of thick fabrics, purple, gold, and navy blue, and stitched brightly with fabulous, complicated embroidery.” The women all wear gold bangles on their wrists and “touch (Liyana’s) earlobes (because) she wore no gold earrings, as they did.” On their first visit to Sitti’s house Liyana and Rafik are spellbound by their surroundings; “olive trees planted in terraced rows up hillsides, walls of carefully stacked stones, old wells with real wooden buckets…and when the cars climbed the steep hill into the village, children popped out of front doors to look at them, as if cars didn’t drive up there very often.” The food is strange but delicious, “hunks of baked lamb surrounded by rice and pine nuts,” eaten communally from one huge platter (so that) “Poppy asked if his family could have individual plates since they weren’t used to eating communally” a request that isn’t easily granted due to the fact that individual plates aren’t used or needed. But despite all the strangeness of their new country, Liyana finds herself beginning to feel at home even after witnessing the death of a live chicken she has gone to the shop with her mother to buy. The one thing Liyana can’t seem to get used to is the hatred felt by some of the Palestinians and Israelis for each other; and when she falls in love with Omer, a Jewish boy, she realizes she can no longer remain outside the conflict, but must come to terms with what she can do to help the peace process. Eleven to sixteen year olds will enjoy the exotic setting and the interpersonal conflicts of Habibi.
4. Review excerpts
School Library Journal: “Grade 5-9. An important first novel from a distinguished anthologist and poet. When Liyana's doctor father, a native Palestinian, decides to move his contemporary Arab-American family back to Jerusalem from St. Louis, 14-year-old Liyana is unenthusiastic. Arriving in Jerusalem, the girl and her family are gathered in by their colorful, warmhearted Palestinian relatives and immersed in a culture where only tourists wear shorts and there is a prohibition against boy/girl relationships. When Liyana falls in love with Omer, a Jewish boy, she challenges family, culture, and tradition, but her homesickness fades. Constantly lurking in the background of the novel is violence between Palestinian and Jew. It builds from minor bureaucratic annoyances and humiliations, to the surprisingly shocking destruction of grandmother's bathroom by Israeli soldiers, to a bomb set off in a Jewish marketplace by Palestinians. It exacts a reprisal in which Liyana's friend is shot and her father jailed. Nye introduces readers to unforgettable characters. The setting is both sensory and tangible: from the grandmother's village to a Bedouin camp. Above all, there is Jerusalem itself, where ancient tensions seep out of cracks and Liyana explores the streets practicing her Arabic vocabulary. Though the story begins at a leisurely pace, readers will be engaged by the characters, the romance, and the foreshadowed danger. Poetically imaged and leavened with humor, the story renders layered and complex history understandable through character and incident. Habibi succeeds in making the hope for peace compellingly personal and concrete...as long as individual citizens like Liyana's grandmother Sitti can say, "I never lost my peace inside."

The New York Times Book Review: “Adolescence magnifies the joys and anxieties of growing up even as it radically simplifies the complexities of the adult world. The poet and anthologist Naomi Shibab Nye is meticulously sensitive to this rainbow of emotion in her autobiographical novel, Habibi…. Habibi gives a reader all the sweet richness of a Mediterranean dessert, while leaving some of the historic complexities open to interpretation.”
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed Habibi:
An Ancient Heritage: The Arab-American Minority by Brent K. Ashabranner
The Arab Americans by Alixa Naff

Split Screen: Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies by Brent Hartinger

1. Bibliography
Hartinger, Brent. 2007. Split Screen: Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-082409-9
2. Plot summary
Best friends Russel and Min are suffering the many slings and arrows of being teenagers. But in addition to high school cliques, acne, and boyfriend/girlfriend trouble Russel and Min are gay and bisexual respectively. Min’s parents know and are relatively accepting of Min’s bisexuality, however, when Russel’s parents hear through the parental grapevine that Russell has “come out” at school, they hit the roof and order him to “stop being gay.” While volunteering as extras on a movie, Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies; shooting at an abandoned high school in their city, Min must try to decipher the mixed signals she is getting from another extra on the set and Russell must choose between two guys he is really attracted to; or not, if his parents have anything to say about it.
3. Critical analysis
Author Brent Hartinger writes about teens like he’s been there, done that. As the characters go about the business of trying to survive high school and discover who they are; the two main characters, Russel and Min, must deal with the added burden of being bisexual and gay in an unaccepting world. The authenticity of their voices, especially Russel’s, as he comes to the realization that his parent’s love and acceptance is conditional, is sometimes heart breaking. When Russel explains that being gay is more isolating that being a minority because “at least when minority kids go home their family’s are like them” his pain at being different and alone is palpable. And yet, even though he is alone, he trusts his own insight and feeling. Min is not so lucky in this respect. Min’s parents are more accepting of her feelings than Russel’s parents, but she is not quite as certain of her feelings, or her judgments of others, especially a girl she likes who happens to be a cheerleader at another high school. Min discovers, upon realizing being a cheerleader could change her feelings for the other girl, she may have a few prejudices of her own. Funny and insightful; Split Screen is two books in one. Told from Russel’s perspective throughout one-half of the book; flip the book over and read the same story told from Min’s perspective. Both stories, the same yet different because the frame of reference has changed, demonstrate how much we are alike and how little we actually know or notice about each other as we go about the business of living. For 9th grade and up.
4. Review excerpts
School Library Journal: “Grade 9 Up—In this sequel to Geography Club (2003) and Order of the Poison Oak (2005, both HarperCollins), told in flip-book format, Russel and Min answer a casting call for extras for an upcoming horror film. Russel's parents have just discovered that he is gay, and he is devastated by their reaction. Also, an old boyfriend who dumped him turns up at rehearsals and wants to get back together; while the attraction is still there, Russel loves his current boyfriend. On the flip side, Min is lonely and wants a new relationship, but she can't decide if she's willing to have one with Leah, who has chosen not to come out for fear of losing her friends. All of this is played out against the backdrop of movie rehearsals. What is intriguing about the book is how very differently these two characters interpret the same events, and how oblivious each one can be to what is happening to the other. Hartinger handles a number of fairly serious issues here with a lighter touch than in The Order of the Poison Oak, and there is a lot of humor in this book. The characters' narrative voices sound authentically teen, and the section in which Russel tells about his coming out to his parents, their reaction, and his subsequent talk with the family priest particularly rings true. Min Wei's story is equally well told. Libraries owning the first two books will definitely want this one.”
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies:
Geography Club by Brent Hartinger
Tale of Two Summers by Brian Sloan
The God Box by Alex Sanchez

Looking Out for Sarah by Glenna Lang

1. Bibliography
Lang, Glenna. 2001. Looking Out for Sarah. Watertown, MA: Charlesbridge Publishing. ISBN 0-88106-647-8
2. Plot summary
Perry, a black Labrador retriever, is a Seeing Eye dog. He looks out for Sarah who lost her eyesight to diabetes. Each day he wakes and carefully leads Sarah through her daily routine; shopping at the grocery store, to the train station and onto the train to one of the many schools they visit, to restaurants, the park, and then home again; through the crowds and safely across the streets. Perry loves Sarah and he loves his job. He has done it all his life; from the time he was a little puppy. Sarah loves Perry too; and she couldn’t get along without him.
3. Critical analysis
Winner of the 2004 Schneider Award Looking Out for Sarah is based on the true story of Sarah Gregory Smith and her black Labrador retriever Perry. Full of interesting facts about guide dogs such as how they are chosen from just puppies for their “pleasing dispositions”, “placed with families who…(teach) basic obedience, and later paired with a companion in need of the services of a guide dog who is then “taught the commands” that Perry already knows. Each day, patient and calm, Perry waits for Sarah’s commands such as “forward, Perry.” Before proceeding, however, he checks to make sure there are no hazards. When Sarah visits a school the children are allowed to pet Perry but only after being taught about guide dogs. They are told when a guide dog is working “they shouldn’t pat or distract him,” and that yes, she and Perry really walked “from Boston to New York to show the world what a guide dog can do for a blind person.” The book is arranged so the gouache on Arches watercolor paper illustrations tell the story. A few lines of test are relegated to the bottom of each page while full-color, double spread illustrations draw the eye to Perry and Sarah as they go about their day. Perry waking up, waiting patiently while Sarah buckles on his harness, riding on the train, and lying stretched out at her feet while she plays the guitar and sings for a group of children. The cut-paper like illustrations are solid and definite, much like Perry himself, full of bright yellows, greens, and blues; in sharp contrast to black Perry. Children preschool to 3rd grad will enjoy reading about guided dogs and the relationship between Perry and Sarah. Included is an afterward about the selection and training process for guide dogs.
4. Review excerpts
School Library Journal: “K-Gr 3-Readers follow a guide dog and a blind woman through a typical day. There are bits of information about guide dogs throughout, such as the fact that they are allowed in restaurants and stores and that people should not pet and handle them while they are working. An interesting incident that only gets two sentences is the fact that Sarah and Perry once walked the 300 miles from Boston to New York to show "what a guide dog can do for a blind person." A concluding note explains that the book is based on a real dog and a real person. While this is a charming and informative look at the life of the guide dog, it is not without some minor flaws. At times, Perry has too many human characteristics. Also, the text states that when Sarah puts on her purple sweater, Perry knows they are going to a school, but dogs are color-blind. The full-page illustrations are in soft-toned gouache that looks almost like cut paper.”Booklist: “Ages 3-8. Based on a true story, this handsome picture book tells of a day in the life of a guide dog, Perry, a black Labrador retriever who looks out for his blind owner, Sarah. Every page shows the close bond between the strong, active woman and the beloved companion who helps her be independent. Walking in the street, shopping, working, and relaxing at home, they are together. The narrative is true to Perry's viewpoint, whether he's enjoying the soft carpet and the crumbs under the table or leading Sarah up the steps of the post office or feeling the wind flattening his ears as he runs in the park. The gouache art, in bold, saturated colors and flat, well-defined shapes, is both childlike and sophisticated, with Perry at the center of the big pictures. Once Sarah and Perry walked 300 miles, from Boston to New York, and children will be caught up by the excitement of the journey as well as by the depiction of what a guide dog can do.”
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed Looking Out for Sarah:
Guide Dogs: From Puppies to Partners by Diana Lawrenson
Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog by Eva Moore
My Buddy by Audrey Osofsky

The Firekeeper's Son by Linda Sue Park

1. Bibliography
Park, Linda Sue. 2004. The Firekeeper’s Son. New York: Clarion Books. ISBN 0-618-13337-2.
2. Plot summary
Sang-hee’s father is the firekeeper in their small village. He lights the fire on the mountain top to signal the next village that all is well. And that fire signals the firekeeper in the next village to light a fire on their mountain top to signal the village next to them that all is we; and so on to the next village until the signal fire reaches the king. If Sang-hee’s father sees enemy ships he will not light the fire and when “the king sees only darkness...He will know that trouble has come to our land, and he will send soldiers to fight the enemy.” Sang-hee’s grandfather was a firekeeper too. “We live in an important village,” declares Sang-hee’s father. “Our fire is the first fire.” But the village does not seem important to Sang-hee; until one evening when his father starts up the mountain to light the fire. Sang-hee waits, but the fire doesn’t appear. When Sang-hee’s starts up the mountain to find out what is wrong he discovers his father has fallen and broken his ankle. Now it is up to Sang-hee to light the fire so the king will know all is well. Will Sang-hee light the fire in time? And will he come to understand why his father believes their village is so important.
3. Critical analysis
Set in a small village in Korea in the early 19th century The Firekeeper’s Son tells the story of the villages’ dependence on each other, and the king’s dependence on the villages to ensure the entire country’s safety. The bonfires were used throughout Korea to signal not only invasions but how large the force and how well-armed. The signal bonfires were used in Korea to communicate information for almost 100 years. “Our part of Korea is like a dragon with many humps. The humps are the mountains-the first hump facing the sea, the last hump facing the king’s palace,” explains Sang-hee’s father. While the text tells the story of Sang-hee’s developing understanding of the importance of his village and the firekeeper’s place in the village; the full-page watercolor and pastel illustrations by Julie Downing tell the story of life in a Korean village during the early 19th century. Thatch-roofed houses, and enclosures made of long sticks are nestled between sandy cliffs, the blue sea, and evenly-rowed green fields sloping up to the blue-green mountains; their tops poking out of the clouds. Cows are tethered next to houses and chickens roam the village. Women squat on the ground separating the grain from the wheat stalks and Sang-hee, dressed in a blue, roughly woven smock and rattan slippers, plays with hand-carved, wooden soldiers and horses. When Sang-hee must start the fire after his father is injured he carries coals in a cast iron kettle and starts the pile of sticks, left ready the night before, at the top of the mountain by placing the coals in the sticks with tongs. Sang-hee “ wished he could see soldiers” their swords and pointed helmets gleaming in the orange glow from the fire, but after racing up the mountain to light the fire for the first time on his own he realizes the importance of not only the village, but his family as well. “The village will be pleased to hear another trustworthy firekeeper has been born to our family,” declares Sang-hee’s father. K-3rd graders will identify with Sang-hee’s wish for excitement and feel his pride when he joins his father in the very important work of the firekeeper. Included is an afterward detailing the history of the bonfire signal system used in 19th century Korea.
4. Review excerpts
School Library Journal: “School-Grade 3-Park's command of place, characterization, and language is as capable and compelling in this picture book as it is in her novels. Set in 19th-century Korea, this story centers around an actual bonfire signal system. Every night, when Sang-hee's father sees that the ocean is clear of enemies, he climbs the mountain to light his fire, setting in motion a chain reaction of blazes that eventually reaches the peak closest to the palace and assures the king that all is well in the land. When Father breaks his ankle, his son must ascend alone into the darkness with a bucket of burning coals. During a dramatic pause, he contemplates the consequences of inaction and his secret desire to see the king's soldiers. Lyrical prose and deftly realized watercolors and pastels conjure up the troops in a vision linked to the glowing coal clasped in the boy's tongs. In the next scene, a close-up of the last coal illuminates Sang-hee's eyes, his face a study of concentration. Upon the child's descent, his father shares the memory of his own youthful desires and his pride in his son's accomplishment. A sense of inherited mission pervades the conclusion as Sang-hee learns that he, too, is "part of the king's guard." Children will be intrigued by this early form of wireless communication, caught up in the riveting dilemma, and satisfied by the resolution.

Booklist: Park, who won a Newbery Medal for her novel A Single Shard (2001), tells a picture-book story set in Korea in the early 1800s about a young boy in a remote village who suddenly finds himself serving his country. At sunset Sang-hee's father always climbs the mountain and lights a fire that signals to another firekeeper on the next mountain to light his fire, and so on, all the way to the mountain at the palace of the king, who knows from the fire signals that all is well in the land. Then one evening Sang-hee's father breaks his ankle, and the boy must keep the light burning. Downing's handsome, watercolor-and-pastel double-page pictures personalize the history, showing realistic close-ups of the child, who plays soldiers and dreams of the excitement of battle. In contrast are the panoramic views far across the country as the boy tends the flame that preserves peace from mountain to mountain. Add this to those lighthouse stories about the brave child who must take over for adults.
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who liked The Firekeeper’s Son:
The Green Frogs: A Korean Folk Tale by Yumi Heo
Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park
Tap Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (poems) by Linda Sue Park

Kamishibai Man by Allen Say

1. Bibliography
Say, Allen. 2005. Kamishibai Man. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0-618-47954-2

2. Plot summary
On the outskirts of a large Japanese city live an old man and his wife. Although childless they call each other “Jiichan” and “Baachan”, Grandpa and Grandma. Retired, Jiichan has grown restless and “miss(es) going on my rounds.” He comments that his bicycle is still in good working order and Baachan replies that “one day won’t hurt, I suppose. Should I make some candies?” And so, his homemade candies packed in a drawer of the large wooden box strapped to his bicycle, he peddles “down the hillside in the first light of morning” and over the “rickety old bridge.” When he gets to the city he finds it greatly changed; trucks blasting their horns, tall buildings, and many, many cars. Still, he finds a vacant lot, props up his wooden stage, checks the picture cards inside, and opens the drawer containing Baachan’s “good candies, just like the old days.” He begins to reminisce, out loud, about the children who used to listen to the stories of the “kamishibai man” and buy the candies “red ones and green ones and the soft ones on sticks.” Sadly, he remembers how they drifted away as television became popular until one day not one child came to listen to the stories of the kamishibai man, and so, he packed up his wooden picture box and his candies and never returned. When he looks up from his recollections he is surprised to see a crowd of adults listening raptly; the children-now grown-who always gathered to hear the stories of the kamishibai man. “Will you be going out tomorrow?” Baachan asks that evening; and the kamishibai man smiles.
3. Critical analysis
Kamishibai (paper theater) and the kamishibai man himself are cultural markers. A well-known sight in the cities of Japan before World War II, kiamishibai means paper theater in Japanese. The kamishibai man traveled the city on his bicycle telling his stories in installments using picture cards that slid out from a wooden box one-by-one and always ended “with the hero or heroine hanging from a cliff or getting pushed off it.” Introducing the kamishibai man to readers who weren’t lucky enough to grow up in Japan author Allen Say enhances his story with full-page watercolor illustrations in the same style as the kamishibai paintings; so perfect, precise, and detailed they resemble photographs. He opens his story with the kimishibai man, wearing wooden sandals, sitting, sadness in his posture, on the porch of his wooden, stilted house; his wife kneeling behind him holding a paper fan while his bicycle sits idle beneath a bamboo screen. The kamishibai man misses telling his stories and seeing the children’s faces light up. Deciding he has been retired long enough, he straps the kamishibai stage to his bicycle, packs the homemade candies Baachan has made and sets out across the bridge into the city where everything has changed. Huge trucks drive menacingly close behind him while on every post and building signs advertise in Japanese. He hunches over the handlebars of his bicycle, going as fast as he can while “a car horn blasted at him, then another. Why are there so many cars all of a sudden? Look at these tall buildings! You’d think I was in another country1” Finding a vacant lot he opens his wooden case to organized his pictures and inspect the candies his wife has made, “Thank you Baachan-you make good candies, just like in the old days.” He smiles, his eyes brightening behind his thick, round, glasses then “from the top drawer he takes out two wooden blocks, and holding one in each hand hits them together. A sharp, loud clack rang out.” And so, just like in the old days the kamishibai man begins his story. However, this time his story is about his memories of telling stories to the children. The illustrations take the reader back to another time, the children gathered round him, some on tip-toe to see, girls in skirts and ankle socks, the boys in short pants; their dark eyes and black hair shining in the sun, all turned toward the kamishibai man, listening raptly. He tells sadly about the coming of television, “It wasn’t long after that when television antennas started to sprout from the rooftops like weeds in the springtime.” And the children “started to act as though they didn’t know me anymore.” When he comes to himself, a crowd has gathered; not children, but adults; some in business attire, some of the women in kimonos, and they shout for the old stories; “tell us Little One Inch again! and The Bamboo Princess! The Peach Boy.” And then they begin to applaud and buy his candies; hungry for the old days and the old stories. A man with a movie camera approaches and bows; and as the story closes Jiichan and Baachan sit on the floor at a low table drinking tea from cups with no handles, chopsticks lay horizontally below the individual bowls containing the evening meal of fish and vegetables. They both smile gently and talk quietly about the story of the kamishibai man on the evening news. “Will you be going out tomorrow?” Baachan asks. “You need more sweets.” And Jiichan replies, “could you make it twice the usual amount?” The Kamishibai Man has found a new audience; the same children, now grown and nostalgic for the old days; just like the kamishibai man. Children of all ages will love Kamishibai Man and the story of his comeback. An afterword is included by Japanese folklore scholar Tara McGowan on the history of kamishibai.
4. Review excerpts
School Library Journal: “Grade 1-5–An elderly kamishibai (paper theater) man decides to return to the city and spend the day on his former rounds. His wife makes candies for him, just as in the past, and he sets off on his bicycle. Things have changed–there's traffic with honking horns and he wonders, Who needs to buy so many things and eat so many different foods? when he sees the shops and restaurants replacing beautiful trees that have been cut. He sets up his theater and begins to tell his personal story of being a kamishibai man in a flashback sequence. Soon he is surrounded by adults who remember him and his stories from their youth. Ironically, that night he is featured on the news on television–the very technology that replaced him. Say's distinctive style and facial expressions are especially touching. A foreword gives readers a glimpse of the importance of the kamishibai man in the author's early life, and an afterword provides a historical look at the forgotten art form. The power of the story and the importance of the storyteller are felt in this nostalgic piece that makes readers think about progress. Those interested in storytelling and theater will be especially impressed with this offering, but it will have broad appeal.”
Booklist: “Gr. 1-3. In a foreword, Say explains that Kamishibai means "paper theater" and that years ago Kamishibai men were itinerant storytellers who traveled around Japan on bicycles with a big, wooden box mounted on the back seat. The box contained a miniature theater, and beneath it were drawers of candy that the performer sold to eke out a living. As a storyteller spun his tale, he used picture cards to illustrate dramatic points, finishing each time with a cliffhanger designed to entice the children in his audience to come back another time to hear the continuation of the story. Say's lovely new book is about an elderly Kamishibai man, long retired, who, missing his rounds, decides to pedal back to the old neighborhood for one last performance. The story-within-a-story that emerges reveals why this unique type of performance art has all but disappeared. The quietly dramatic, beautifully evocative tale contains a cliffhanger of its own, and its exquisite art, in the style of Kamishibai picture cards, will attract even the most jaded kid away from the TV to enjoy a good, good book.”
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who liked Kamishibai Man:
The Bicycle Man by Allen Say
Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say

The Dragon's Child: A Story of Angel Island by Laurence Yep

1. Bibliography
Yep, Laurence. 2008. The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-027693-5.
2. Plot summary
Although a work of fiction The Dragon’s Child is based on the coming-to-America experience of author Laurence Yep’s father and grandfather in 1922. 10-year-old Gim Lew leaves his small province in China and, with a father he barely knows, endures a long and difficult voyage to San Francisco; made more grueling by the knowledge that upon arriving in San Francisco he will be subjected to a difficult test administered by U.S. customs officials who do their best to make anyone from China fail. Handicapped by a stutter and the left-handedness he attempts to hide, Gim Lew is torn between his desire to please his father and his wish to remain in his small village in China.
3. Critical analysis
While doing genealogy research on the Yep family, the author’s niece came across the transcripts of the immigration interviews of Gim Lew Yep, the author’s father. The Dragon’s Child grew out of what he learned from those interviews. Cultural markers in The Dragon’s Child are of both Chinese culture and Chinese-American culture. Laurence Yep’s grandfather straddled both cultures and although he came to identify more with Chinese-American culture; he was a man without a country feeling not truly at home in either the United States or China. When Gim Lew’s father returned to China and announced he would be taking ten-year-old Gim Lew back to San Francisco with him, Gim Lew has no choice but to obey. He didn’t want to go to America but his father “said I had to go. So I went. I didn’t have a choice.” Cultural markers are viewed through the eyes of Gim Lew as he says goodbye to the life he has known and prepares to travel to America. In order to pass the grueling examinations he will be subjected to by U.S. immigration officials he must memorize every detail of his village, its people, his house, and his family. America, called the “Golden Mountain” by the Chinese who have traveled there and whose first view is the Golden Gate into San Francisco Bay, is very prejudiced against those coming from China and the tests are made as difficult as possible. Gim Lew, already unsure of himself due to his left-handedness and stutter, frowned upon in both Chinese and American culture, is drilled for months by his father on the proper answers to give. And although his father dislikes the culture of his old village in China and has become accustomed to the spicy and “fancy” food and leather shoes and suits of Chinese-Americans in the west, Gim Lew can only think of all he will miss as he is drilled over and over. He loves his cloth shoes and soft cotton pants. He knows he will miss his sister’s breakfasts; gruel made from left-over rice flavored with onions, eggs, and sometimes pork and the occasional treat of fried donuts. He will miss watching his uncle planting and harvesting the rice crop and hearing the "crisp sound the scythe made" when cutting down the rice plants. He will even miss his school master and classmates even though his school master often smacked his palm with a bamboo stick for using his left hand and stuttering. He will miss his village where everyone is related and all the surrounding villages he can see from the hilltop that are exactly like his own. Spending time with his father, Gim Lew learns he is perhaps not so different from his father as he thought. He discovers his father has struggled with the stigma of being left-handed also, and is not an important business man in America, as everyone in the village believes, but the houseboy for a wealthy American family. As he leaves his village for perhaps the last time Gim Lew reads the sign over the school, “The Family is Everything,” and hopes this at least won’t change for him when he reaches the Golden Mountain. Anyone who has ever had to leave somewhere familiar for someplace unknown will identify with Gim Lew and cheer when he triumphs over the immigration exams. Included are photographs of the author’s grandfather and father at the time of their immigration to the U.S., the Angel Island detention center where all Chinese immigrants waited to be tested, and web resources for readers who are interested in learning more about Angel Island and the Chinese immigrant experience.
4. Review excerpts
Kirkus Review: “Historian Kathleen S. Yep teams with her uncle Laurence to craft a compelling tale based on transcripts of his father's 1922 immigration interview. The Yeps relate the harrowing experiences of ten-year-old Gim Lew, who, after crossing the Pacific with his father, is interned on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, where he must submit to lengthy detailed interviews about his home, village and neighbors, in order to prove he is who he claims to be. The boy's frustration and anxiety rise from the page, as does this particularly xenophobic and unjust moment in U.S. history. Fiction based on facts and the authors' smooth narration vividly evoke the past and its inhabitants.”
Children's Literature: “Newbery Honor winner Laurence Yep is legendary for his Chinese American narratives; he breathes life and depth into stories many readers only experience in history books. In The Dragons Child, Yep teams up with his niece, Dr. Kathleen Yep, to tell the story of ten-year-old Gim Lew, who must leave China and move to America with his father. Will he pass the difficult tests administered by the officials of Angel Island? Will he find a new home and friends in America? The Dragons Child is partly autobiographical. Yep based the novel on conversations with his father and research relating to his family's immigration history conducted by his niece. Readers who have enjoyed Yep's previous novels will find this new work fascinating.”
5. Connections
Reader’s advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island:
American Dragons by Laurence Yep
The Earth Dragon Awakes: the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Laurence Yep
The Traitor: Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1885 by Laurence Yep

Dog People: Native Dog Stories by Joseph Bruchac

1. Bibliography
Bruchac, Joseph. 1995. Dog People: Native Dog Stories. Golden, Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing. ISBN 1-55591-228-1.
2. Plot summary
10,000 years ago in a place we know today as New England between Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River the Abenaki Indians lived; they called it Ndakinna (Our Land). Life is good, food is plentiful and the Abenaki are helped by “their most faithful friends, their dogs.” These are the stories, separate yet intertwined, of six children and their dog companions; Azeban (Raccoon), Awasosis (Little Bear), Kwaniwibid (Long Tooth), Mikwe (Squirrel), Moosis (Little Moose), and Soksemo (Good Nose). Whether hunting, visiting with friends and family, or escaping certain death these dogs remain by the sides of their human friends, sharing in the adventure whatever that may be.
3. Critical analysis
Author, storyteller and Abenaki Indian Joseph Bruchac takes us back 10,000 years to a time when the Abenaki people called themselves the “Only People.” Bruchac’s flowing narrative makes the characters, both human and dog, come to life. His emphasis on the very different personalites, hopes, and dreams of each character lets the reader see them as individuals not as generic “Indians”; brave and smiling Hummingbird companion to Awasosi, tall, lanky, and curious Muskrat companion to Kwaniwibid, persevering hunter Keeps-Following-the Trail and his companion Soksemo, Sweetgrass Girl who loves stories and her companion Moosis, Rabbit Stick the pest who secretly admires Sweetgrass Girl and his companion Mikwe, and Cedar Girl who often visits from the village of the Salmon People and her companion Azeban. Although the stories are from thousands of years ago many cultural markers can be found in the six stories; respect for elders, the importance of friends and family, and the use of storytelling to keep the tribe’s history alive. Tradition and respect for all creatures is also emphasized; “Remember, only hunt when you need food for your people. Always say thanks to the animals that you hunt and you will always have success. That is the way we hunt.” Food is highlighted in the form of hunting and fishing; salmon, caribou, deer, and the hare are all important in sustaining the Abenakis. Leisure takes the form of time spent with family and friends around the fire in the large wigwam, built to hold everyone in the village, listening to the stories of Stands-in-a-Hole. At the beginning of each story is a full page black and white sketch by Cherokee painter and pipemaker Murv Jacob. The illustrations; the children running with their dogs, Keeps-Following-the-Trail hunting white hares with Soksemo, Muskrat and Kwaniwibid fighting a giant white bear, resemble ancient wood cuts and add to the long-ago flavor of the stories. Bruchac incorporates Abenaki words and phrases throughout the stories and provides a glossary in the back of the book for translation. Children 8-12 will enjoy reading these stories of long ago and will surely find someone to identify with in the many different characters presented.
4. Review excerpts
School Library Journal: “Grade 3-6 Five highly readable, engaging tales of Abenaki Indian children and their dogs. Long ago, canines were thought of not just as animals, but as important members of the family, and were given names that epitomized their value and loyalty to their owners. As in Flying with Eagle, Racing the Great Bear (BridgeWater, 1993) and Native American Animal Stories (Fulcrum, 1992), Bruchac fills these short stories with details of daily life and symbolic explanations, but the bonds between dogs and humans will be familiar to today's young people. The homes he describes are welcoming and warm and readers will identify with the people. A full-page pen-and-ink drawing accompanies each selection”

Midwest Book Review: “In Dog People: Native Dog Stories, the voice of an Abenaki storyteller takes children back 10,000 years to the days when children and dogs had especially close relationships. In these Native American adventure stories, children and dogs together must use their wits to survive the dangers of the natural world. Young readers will meet muskrat, and his dog, Kwaniwibid, who cannot resist folowing bear tracks deep into the woods. They will find out what happens to Cedar Girl and her dog, Azeban, when they try to outwit a stranger. And then follow Sweetgrass Girl and her dog, Moosis, on their journey to find her lost parents. The line drawings and illustrations of Murv Jacob provide a perfect visual counterpoint to Joseph Bruchac's engaging stories.”

5. Connections
Reader’s Advisory suggestions for those who enjoyed Dog People: Native Dog Stories:
Keepers of the Animals: Native American Stories and Wildlife Activities for Children by Michael J. Caduto and Joseph Bruchac
Native American Animal Stories by Joseph Bruchac
Between Earth & Sky: Legends of Native American Sacred Places by Joseph Bruchac
The Journey of Tunuri and the Blue Deer: A Huichol Indian Story by James Endredy