For Teachers

Multi-ethnic Families in Middle Grade Novels

By on August 5, 2013   /   Book Lists, For Teachers  

I’m sure you’ve all seen it by now. The terrific video of kids reacting to the recent Cheerios ad featuring a multi-ethnic family.

Despite the racist backlash the commercial (which features a white mother and African American father) initially garnered, what these children so eloquently express is the sheer ordinariness of multi-ethnic families in their world. What I love about this video is the “um, yea, so what?” quality of most of the kids’ reactions. There’s a lot we adults can learn there.

And indeed, that is the strength of stories — be they in the media or in middle grade books — which make race and ethnicity a real factor in characters’ lives but not necessarily a central ‘problem’ to be ‘addressed.’ Such stories represent the real faces of real families, and reflect the beauty of our diverse world. More importantly, they allow all our children to see themselves in the stories around them.

The U.S. is becoming and increasing multicultural place – and multiethnic families are everywhere — from East to West Coast, from Topeka to Tallahassee. It is the reality of my children’s lives and so many other children from families like ours. It’s a joy to find increasing images of multi-ethnic families in the media, and of course increasing numbers of books where having multiple languages, multiple types of food, multiple skin colors, and multiple histories in one family aren’t an anomaly, but a given.

So I thought I would dedicate this post to middle grade stories which celebrate multi-ethnic families. For more great titles check out these posts at Shen’s books , Cynthia Leitich Smith’s great blog and this blog by me at Three Sisters Moving Village on multi-ethnic characters in children’s and YA novels.


Geeks, Girls and Secret Identities by Mike Jung: Features a cast of multi-cultural kids including heroine Polly Winnicott-Lee, who is not just multi-ethnic, but a super hero!

 


Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentally) by Lisa Yee: Whose hero, Robert Carver Ellis-Chan, has a Chinese American mother and white, ex-pro-football player father. Race is an incidental in this fantastic story, hardly a central ‘problem.’

 


Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins: Jasmine (Jazz) Gardner has a white Father and Indian American mother, and reluctantly heads off to India for the summer with her family.

 


Wonder by RJ Palacio: August Pullman’s mother is Brazilian and father is Jewish of Eastern European descent. Dealing with his facial deformity is far more pressing in the story than his mixed ethnic identity.

 


The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan: In Riordan’s popular Kane series, Carter and Sadie Kane are the children of an African American archaeologist father and white British mother. While Riordan explicitly discusses how the children (one of whom looks more white, the other more African American) are differentially treated by society, the adventure is the driving force of this story!

 


The Whole Story of Half A Girl by Veera Hiranandani: Like the author herself, the heroine, Sonia, is Jewish-American and Indian-American, and must negotiate the complexities of a new middle school.

 

What are some of your favorite stories featuring multi-ethnic families?

 

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An Interview with Colby Sharp

By on July 29, 2013   /   Author Interviews, For Teachers  

I’d like to welcome Colby Sharp to the Mixed-Up Files. He’s a fourth-grade teacher, children’s book blogger, the father of three, and an avid reader. Welcome Colby, we’re so glad you could visit today!

Colby Sharp: It is an honor to be here. Crazy thing happened in the few weeks since you wrote up these questions. I got a new job! Click here to read about it. Now I’m a third-grade teacher.

Michele Weber Hurwitz for the Mixed-Up Files: Let’s talk first about your years of teaching fourth-graders. Tell us about your reading philosophy and what you do in the classroom to get students excited about books. I know you’ve had book exchanges, and students have even guest-posted on your blog.

CS: I think that the most important thing I do to get kids excited about reading is give them time to read books of their own choosing. Without time and choice it wouldn’t matter what I did to get kids excited about reading. Those two things are key. With that being said, I try to do a lot of fun things to get kids excited about reading: book speed dating, author Skype visits, author visits, and sharing my own reading life.

MUF: What are some favorite, well-read books on your classroom shelf, and what do you think is the magic quality of those books that resonates with students?

CS: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate and Wonder by R.J. Palacio jump out at me as the two newer books that kids are crazy about. I think that one of the things that makes these two books so special is that they really tug at the heartstrings of young readers.

colby-sharp

MUF: Has there been a particularly memorable author visit at your school? What do you think are the ingredients for a successful author visit?

CS: All of the author visits that my students and I have hosted have gone really well. Our last visit of 2012-2013 was with Liesl Shurtliff. I think that the most important thing in making an author visit successful is preparation. My students spend a ton of time getting ready for author visits. We decorate the school. My students spend time studying about the author. We read all of their books, and we do everything we can to make them feel welcome while they are in our building.

MUF: Do you find that your fourth-graders read more e-books or print?

CS: Print. I’m not sure if this has to do with access, or if they truly prefer print books. Many of my students end up getting an e-reader for Christmas. They are crazy about the thing for the first couple of weeks after winter break, but their interest quickly cools as they realize they don’t have access to the books they want to read on their e-reader. I have 2,500 books in my classroom library. Kids usually have 3-5 books on their e-reader. They almost always abandon the e-reader by the end of January.

MUF: What prompted you to start a blog about children’s books? Give us a picture of what your blog is all about.

CS: This is a terrible reason, but it seemed like everyone else had a blog, so I figured I needed one too. I like to think of my blog as a place where I celebrate and honor the books that my students and I fall in love with. It is also a great place for me to reflect on my teaching practice.

MUF: You’re a passionate supporter of children’s authors, and you write very down-to-earth, heartfelt reviews, which are now followed by several thousand readers. Did you envision this when you started the blog?

CS: Ha! When I started my blog, I didn’t even think about who would read it or how many readers it would have. I just wanted to fit in.

MUF: What is the Nerdy Book Club, and who is the mysterious Mr. Schu?

CS: The Nerdy Book Club is a way of life. If you are a reader, you are a member (if you want to be). It is a place where teaching literacy and books are celebrated every single day. Mr. Schu is an amazing librarian, a children’s literature advocate, and one of my best friends in the entire world.

MUF: Tell us about your 2013 personal challenge involving running and reading. Where are you at in your journey and what is your goal? What made you want to take on this challenge?

CS: I’m trying to run 1006 miles and read 1007 books in 2013. I have set a reading goal the last couple of years, and that goal had really helped me push myself as a reader. I thought that adding running to the mix would be a healthy way to help me keep a little more balance in my life. I’m currently at just over 600 miles ran and 550 books read.

colby-sharp 2MUF: What were you like as a fourth-grader? What kind of books did you like to read? Didn’t your mom work at your school? Was that cool or embarrassing?

CS: I was a sports nut. Every recess of every elementary school day was spent playing basketball, baseball, or football. Girls terrified me, so I didn’t spend a lot of time talking with them. Fourth grade was the year that I fell in love with Gary Paulsen’s Hatchet, which is still one of my all-time favorite books. My mom didn’t work at my school until I was in middle school. Having a lunch lady mom was a little embarrassing at first, but I quickly realized that always getting the biggest slice of pizza was pretty darn awesome.

MUF: What do you like to do in your downtime, when you’re not teaching, blogging, running, reading, or being a dad? Where would we find you on a Sunday afternoon?

CS: I really enjoy spending one-on-one time with my wife. She is the most amazing person that I have ever met, and every moment we spend together is precious.

MUF: What’s your next challenge?

CS: Moving to third grade will be a huge challenge. I’m excited to see how they compare to my fourth-graders.

Thank you so much, Colby, for being a guest on the Mixed-Up Files today! Be sure to check out Colby’s book reviews on his blog.

Michele Weber Hurwitz is the author of Calli Be Gold (Wendy Lamb Books 2011) and The Summer I Saved the World…in 65 Days (Wendy Lamb Books, coming spring 2014). Visit her at www.micheleweberhurwitz.com.

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Picture Book Windows to the World

By on July 22, 2013   /   Book Lists, For Librarians, For Teachers  

BHIS2This summer, I’m working with reading specialists in a literacy camp for middle grade English learners in a diverse Seattle public school. Our students are immersed in the hard work of becoming stronger readers and writers.  At the same time, they’re eagerly exploring the world around them — their familiar world of family, school, and community, as well as the broader, less familiar world beyond.  Quite fitting, given the school’s motto — “A World of Learners.”

Picture books can be powerful and engaging tools for learning about ourselves and others.  Our literacy camp students, whose families came to Seattle from around the world, are especially hungry for books that reflect their own experiences and connect them with people whose lives are very different.  Teacher librarian Theresa Gekeler suggests the following selection of picture books that open windows for readers everywhere.

My Chinatown: One Year in Poems by Kam Mak (HarperCollins, 2001).  Kam Mak grew up in a place of two cultures, one existing within the other. Using extraordinarily beautiful paintings and moving poems, he shares a year of growing up in this small city within a city, which is called Chinatown (IndieBound description).

 

My Name is Bilal by Asma Mobin-Uddin; ill. by Barbara Kiwak (Boyds Mills Press, 2005). Bilal worries about being teased by his classmates for being Muslim. He thinks maybe it would be better if people don’t know he is Muslim. Maybe it would be best if he tells kids his name is Bill rather than Bilal. Then maybe they would leave him alone. Mr. Ali, one of Bilal’s teachers and also Muslim, sees how the boy is struggling. He gives Bilal a book about the first person to give the call to prayer during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. That person was another Bilal: Bilal Ibn Rabah. What Bilal learns from the book forms the compelling story of a young boy wrestling with his identity (IndieBound description).

Salsa Stories by Lulu Delacre (Scholastic Press, 2012). When Carmen Teresa receives a notebook as a holiday gift, the guests suggest she write down their own childhood stories, which they tell. But Carmen Teresa, who loves to cook, collects their family recipes instead!  With energy, sensitivity, and warmth, Lulu Delacre introduces readers to a symphony of colorful characters whose 9 stories dance through a year of Latin American holidays and customs. Countries include Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Guatamala and Peru. Seventeen delicious and authentic recipes are included (IndieBound description).

onegreenappleOne Green Apple by Eve Bunting; ill. by Ted Lewin (Clarion Books, 2006). Farah feels alone, even when surrounded by her classmates. She listens and nods but doesn’t speak. It’s hard being the new kid in school, especially when you’re from another country and don’t know the language. Then, on a field trip to an apple orchard, Farah discovers there are lots of things that sound the same as they did at home, from dogs crunching their food to the ripple of friendly laughter. As she helps the class make apple cider, Farah connects with the other students and begins to feel that she belongs (Clarion Books description).

mynameissangoelMy Name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn Williams & Khadra Mohammed; ill. by Catherine Stock (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2009). Sangoel is a refugee. Leaving behind his homeland of Sudan, where his father died in the war, he has little to call his own other than his name, a Dinka name handed down proudly from his father and grandfather before him. When Sangoel and his mother and sister arrive in the United States, everything seems very strange and unlike home. In this busy, noisy place, with its escalators and television sets and traffic and snow, Sangoel quietly endures the fact that no one is able to pronounce his name. Lonely and homesick, he finally comes up with an ingenious solution to this problem, and in the process he at last begins to feel at home (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers description).

Dear Primo: A Letter to My Cousin by Duncan Tonatiuh (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2010). From first-time Mexican author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh comes the story of two cousins, one in America and one in Mexico, and how their daily lives are different yet similar. Charlie takes the subway to school; Carlitos rides his bike. Charlie plays in fallen leaves; Carlitos plays among the local cacti. Dear Primo covers the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of two very different childhoods, while also emphasizing how alike Charlie and Carlitos are at heart. Spanish words are scattered among the English text, providing a wonderful way to introduce the language and culture of Mexico to young children (IndieBound description).

My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits; ill. by Gabi Swiatkowska (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003). Yoon’s name means Shining Wisdom, and when she writes it in Korean, it looks happy, like dancing figures. But her father tells her that she must learn to write it in English. In English, all the lines and circles stand alone, which is just how Yoon feels in the United States. Yoon isn’t sure that she wants to be YOON. At her new school, she tries out different names – maybe CAT or BIRD. Maybe CUPCAKE! (IndieBound description).

Many thanks to Theresa Gekeler, teacher librarian at Grand Ridge Elementary in Issaquah, Washington for her wonderful book ideas!

 

Katherine Schlick Noe teaches beginning and experienced teachers at Seattle University. Her debut novel, Something to Hold (Clarion, 2011) won the 2012 Washington State Scandiuzzi Children’s Book Award for the middle grade/young adult and was named a 2012 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.  Visit her at http://katherineschlicknoe.com.

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