The Dragon's Child: A Story of Angel Island

Jacket art & design by Christopher Stengel,
image from goodreads.com

The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island, by Laurence Yep, 2011

Yep, Laurence and Dr. Kathleen S. Yep. The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island. New York: HarperCollins Children’s Books, 2011. ISBN13: 978-0-06-027692-8

Ages 8 and up

When his father comes to China for one of his rare visits from the Golden Mountain (America), 10-year-old Gim Lew Yep has no idea his life is about to be turned upside down. A left-handed (seen as bad luck in China) stutterer, Gim Lew tries very hard to not disappoint the father he hardly knows. But when his father tells him he is going back to America and taking Gim Lew with him, the boy is terrified when he learns that getting into the country could totally depend on whether or not he passes the rigorous immigration test. This story becomes even more poignant when the reader understands from the Author’s Note that Gim Lew Yep is the author’s father, and the story is based on Gim Lew’s actual experiences of immigrating to America.

This touching story of a father and son’s journey, told from Gim Lew’s first-person viewpoint, connects the reader to the main character by relating the harsh realities of what life was like for Chinese immigrants to the San Francisco area in the early 20^th century. To gain background knowledge and perspective, Laurence Yep and his niece, Dr. Kathleen S. Yep, interviewed Laurence’s father (Kathleen’s great-uncle), and excerpts from those interviews are included at the beginning of each chapter. Photos of Gim Lew as a boy, teen, and older adult, are also included in the book, with photos of scenes from the Chinese-American immigration experience at Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, often called the Ellis Island of the west coast. At the end of the story, the authors also include an informative chapter of background information about Chinese-American immigration during that period in time, along with a comprehensive bibliography.

Reading/writing/history connections:

•        For social studies and history classes, research on immigration throughout America’s history could compliment the reading of this book, based on the fact that those of us who are not Native Americans come from immigrant backgrounds. Students could choose a particular ethnic group and/or period of time on which to focus.
•        For social studies, history, or English classes, students could perform the same type of living history, first-person interview research that the authors did to get background information for this book. If someone in their family is not a recent immigrant, they could interview someone else they know, or could talk to a family member who knows something about how their family came to live in America. These stories could then be compiled into a book and published for distribution to class members and their families.
•        Students could put themselves in Gim Lew’s place and write about what life must have been like for him after he arrived in America. If the student were to come to America today, what kind of adjustments would they have to make? What would be the hardest and easiest adjustments to make?

Awards:

• New York Public Library's "One Hundred Titles for Reading and Sharing" (2011)
• Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice (2011)

Reviews:

“With family photos, a historical note, and a long bibliography, this stirring narrative will spark readers’ own search for roots.” –Booklist

“Yep raises many issues about both Chinese immigration and the immigrant experience in general: Who am I? Where do I belong? How can I balance the duality of my life? Why do people treat others this way? The photograph of Gim Lew in his Western clothes shows a very real sadness and anxiety that are common to anyone leaving family and country behind as they journey to a new life, and Yep captures this beautifully in this brief fictionalized account.” –School Library Journal

If you want to learn more about author Laurence Yep, here is a link to his publisher’s biography about him:

http://tinyurl.com/auskvqs

For teachers and students who want to learn more about Angel Island and its role in the American immigration experience, here is the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation website:

http://aiisf.org/?p=26#more-26

Breaking Stalin's Nose

Breaking Stalin’s Nose, by Eugene Yelchin, 2011

Yelchin, Eugene. Breaking Stalin’s Nose. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2011. ISBN13: 978-0805092165

Cover art by Eugene Yelchin,
image from goodreads.com

Ages 9 and up

On the first page of Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin, 10-year-old Sasha Zaichik is writing a letter to his hero, Joseph Stalin. More than anything else, Sasha wants to be a Young Pioneer to help Comrade Stalin bring true communism to Russia. But before he is to be inducted into the elite group of young communists, Sasha’s world is turned upside down. In the dead of night, Sasha’s father, who works for State Security, is taken away by guards from the agency, for reasons unknown. With his father gone and his mother long dead, he leaves his communal apartment (komunalka) in Moscow and seeks out his aunt, only to be rejected by her out of fear for the lives of her family. Sasha finds himself alone. The next day at school, as he anticipates the induction ceremony to become a Young Pioneer, he daydreams and causes an accident that has dire consequences for himself and others. Will Sasha become a Young Pioneer? Will he be reunited with his father? The harsh realities of Stalin’s Great Purge (1936-1939) are revealed in this riveting story about a boy whose faith in his leader and commitment to his country are challenged in the face of adversity.

This brief novel, which covers two dramatic days in the life of a Soviet boy, is gripping and intense. It is a Newbery Honor book for 2012, and is sure to keep the attention of upper elementary, middle school, and even high school students interested in history, good storytelling, and the drama of children trying to cope with crisis. Yelchin also illustrates the book with black and white drawings that portray the severity of Soviet life during that time. In his Author's Note at the end of the book, Yelchin reveals his own harrowing experiences with the communist government in Russia while he was still living there as a young man in the 1960's, and what he has in common with the main character of his book, Sasha Zaichik.

Reading/writing/history connections:

·      For World History class, research on Stalin’s Great Purge could compliment the reading of this book of historical fiction.

·      History and Government classes could read this book as an example of what life was like under the harsh communist regime ruled by Joseph Stalin.

·      The psychology of fear that prevailed among the Soviet people during this time in their history is a topic that students could reflect on and write about – what do they think life in America would be like if we were all under the constant threat of being turned in by neighbors, friends, and relatives for “un-American” behavior?

·      Based on what they learned from reading the book, upper elementary students could reflect on and write about what life was like in Sasha’s Soviet Union.

Awards:

Newbery Honor Book, American Library Association (2012)

Junior Library Guild Selection (2012)

Distinguished Work of Historical Fiction Award, Children's Literature Council of Southern California (2012)

Women’s National Book Association’s Judy Lopez Memorial Award (2012)

Capitol Choices Book, Noteworthy Books for Children (2012)

Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth by Booklist (2012)

The Best Children’s Books of 2011 by the Horn Book Magazine

The Best Children’s Books of 2011 by Washington Post

Reviews:

“Mr. Yelchin has compressed into two days of events an entire epoch, giving young readers a glimpse of the precariousness of life in a capricious yet ever-watchful totalitarian state.” –Wall Street Journal

“A miracle of brevity, this affecting novel zeroes in on two days and one boy to personalize Stalin's killing machine of the '30s. …black-and-white drawings march across the pages to juxtapose hope and fear, truth and tyranny, small moments and historical forces, innocence and evil. This Newbery Honor book offers timeless lessons about dictatorship, disillusionment and personal choice.” – San Francisco Chronicle

"Picture book author/illustrator Yelchin (Won Ton) makes an impressive middle-grade debut with this compact novel about a devoted young Communist in Stalin-era Russia, illustrated with dramatically lit spot art." – Publishers Weekly

“…this brief novel gets at the heart of a society that asks its citizens, even its children, to report on relatives and friends. Appropriately menacing illustrations by first-time novelist Yelchin add a sinister tone.” – Horn Book, starred review

“Yelchin’s graphite illustrations are an effective complement to his prose, which unfurls in Sasha’s steady, first-person voice, and together they tell an important tale.” – Kirkus Reviews

"Yelchin skillfully combines narrative with dramatic black-and-white illustrations to tell the story of life in the Soviet Union under Stalin.” – School Library Journal

If you want to learn more about author Eugene Yelchin, here is a link to his website:

http://www.eugeneyelchinbooks.com/index.html

For teachers and students who want to learn more about Stalinist Russia during the period the book is set in, Eugene Yelchin created a separate website for Breaking Stalin’s Nose that provides a lot of good background on that period:

http://www.eugeneyelchinbooks.com/breakingstalinsnose/index.php

Here’s the publisher’s book trailer for Breaking Stalin’s Nose:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV6gghKDuWY

What to Do About Alice?

Cover art by Edwin Fotheringham,
image from goodreads.com

What to Do About Alice?,

by Barbara Kerley, 2008

Kerley, Barbara, and Edwin Fotheringham, ill. What to Do About Alice? New York: Scholastic Press, 2008. ISBN13: 978-0439922319

Ages 7 and up

Precocious doesn’t even begin to describe Alice Roosevelt growing up. The eldest daughter of President Theodore Roosevelt, she is the subject of Barbara Kerley’s picture book biography, What to Do About Alice? Alice gave her father fits and starts from a young age, and the reader begins to understand this from the very first sentence in the book: “Theodore Roosevelt had a small problem.”

Alice, named after her mother, who died when baby Alice was two-days-old, was a lively child. She was self-educated (by choice), and never wanted any pity for the loss of her mother or having a mild form of polio, later corrected with leg braces. After her father became president when she was 17-years-old, she watched over her younger brothers and sisters and several pets, including her snake, Emily Spinach. She became a goodwill ambassador for her father’s administration, traveled the world on her father’s behalf, and made headlines with her non-conformist behavior (to her father’s chagrin). She would stay up late dancing, bet on horse races, played poker with the boys, and had the audacity to drive her own car. She married Congressman Nicholas Longworth and enjoyed her role as the wife of a congressman, while becoming one of her father’s most trusted advisors.

Kerley, who has also written biographies on notable figures such as Mark Twain and Walt Whitman, keeps her text amusing and accessible to children. On the end pages, she acknowledges her fact checker, Carol Felsenthal, so the reader can have confidence in the text's accuracy. Although the main text describes Alice’s life into young adulthood, Kerley’s “Author’s Notes” on the back end pages give readers more insight into Alice’s family life, her celebrity status as a young woman, and her later years. She includes quotes from Alice and her father, which shows the reader the close relationship the two developed over the years. Illustrator Edwin Fotheringham’s colorful and whimsical digital art is a perfect accompaniment to Kerley’s dynamic text, about a woman who later in her life quipped, “I just perform. I give a good show -- just one of the Roosevelt showoffs.”

Reading/writing connections:

•        Alice Roosevelt was an avid animal lover, and had several pets during her years living in the White House. Have students report more in-depth about that part of her life, along with other pets that have lived in the White House during its history.
•        This book is a partial biography of Alice Roosevelt’s life. Challenge students to find out more about her through researching her later life. Of particular interest may be a television interview she did for 60 Minutes.
•        There have been children living in the White House since John Adams’ granddaughter moved in to the newly built structure. Students could create their own biographies of “First Children” who have lived in the White House.
•        On her website (see URL below), Barbara Kerley gives students instructions on how to write a biography, and suggests they start with someone they know. Ask students to choose a friend or family member and have them write that person’s biography.

Reviews:

"Irrepressible Alice Roosevelt gets a treatment every bit as attractive and exuberant as she was. The large format gives Fotheringham, in his debut, plenty of room for spectacular art." – Booklist, starred review

"Theodore Roosevelt’s irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book. Kerley’s precise text presents readers with a devilishly smart, strong-willed girl who was determined to live life on her own terms and largely succeeded." – Kirkus, starred review

"Kerley's text gallops along with a vitality to match her subject's antics, as the girl greets White House visitors accompanied by her pet snake, refuses to let leg braces cramp her style, dives fully clothed into a ship's swimming pool, and also earns her place in history as one of her father's trusted advisers. Fotheringham's digitally rendered, retro-style illustrations are a superb match for the text." – School Library Journal, starred review

To learn more about author Barbara Kerley and illustrator Edwin Fotheringham, go to:

http://www.barbarakerley.com/Site/Welcome.html

http://www.edfotheringham.com

To learn more about Alice Roosevelt Longworth, visit:

http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/life/familytree/AliceLongworth.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/books/review/Mallon-t.html?_r=0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Roosevelt_Longworth

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Mountains

Mountains, by Seymour Simon, 1994

Simon, Seymour. Mountains. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1994. ISBN13: 978-0688154776

Ages 6 and up

Cover photo by Galen Rowell,
image from amazon.com

If you are familiar with the movie The Sound of Music, you probably can’t help humming or singing Mother Abess’ version of “Climb Ev’ry Mountain” as you read the book Mountains by Seymour Simon.

A multi-award winning author of non-fiction, science-based books for children, Simon takes readers around the globe on a remarkable journey to the tallest landforms on earth. In his text, which is well-organized and accessible for children and doesn’t talk down to them, he explains what mountains are, where they are found on our planet, how they are created, how they change over time, and what plant, animal, and human life is like on their slopes. Did you know that there are four different ways mountains are formed? And how tall does a mountain have to be to be called a mountain? The answer: it depends on how high its surroundings are.

Simon is also well-known for painstakingly choosing the photos and other visuals for his books, and this book is no exception. The photos are breath-taking, and the diagrams and drawings are easily understood. The author italicizes key vocabulary words and defines them in the text, and the photos and text are laid out in a simple, kid-friendly fashion. The endpapers give readers an added bonus – the world’s tallest mountains, juxtaposed, to show how they measure up to each other. The last page discusses the importance of mountains in our lives, and has a photo of a mountain climber on a summit looking over a range of mountains. It makes you want to be there.

Reading/writing/science connections:

•        This book and others by Simon and various authors could be used to hook students into interesting inquiry-based projects about landforms and their affects on human life.
•        Students could create inquiry-based projects about plant, animal, and human life on mountains around the world.
•        There are four different ways that mountains can be formed. Have student groups research one way, and create a 3-D model (or some other type of project) to show to classmates (NOW would be an acceptable time for a volcano demonstration!).
•        Somewhere on your school grounds, extend your students’ knowledge of mountains to erosion. Build up a pile of rocks, sand, and dirt. Pour water on it. Have students fan it with pieces of cardboard to simulate wind erosion. Over a period of days or weeks, see how long it takes to “bring down the mountain.”

Reviews:

“A fine companion to Simon's books on oceans, volcanoes, and deserts, this features spectacular photographs, including a few extraordinary double-page spreads that make faraway mountain ranges look like they're right in your own backyard.” – Booklist

“This book's spectacular full-color photographs will capture readers' attention and the text and well-designed diagrams will hold it.” – School Library Journal

“Through majestic photography and easy to understand text, the author offers a breathtaking view from peaks all over the world. Come read about and see some of the most spectacular scenery in the world.” – Children’s Literature

To learn more about Seymour Simon, his more than 250 books, and resources for educators, go to:

http://www.seymoursimon.com

To find out more about mountains, check out the website of The Mountain Institute:

http://www.mountain.org