"A Jar of Dreams"--a book by Yoshiko Uchida

     This story takes place in California during the time of the Great Depression.  Eleven-year-old Rinko and her Japenese family struggle with extreme prejudice from people in their surrounding community.  Rinko feels shame from the all the teasing that kids at school put upon her.  Even Mr. Starr who runs the local laundry center yells things at her and her brother such as, "Get out of here you Jap kids."  Things start to change when Rinko's Aunt Waka from Japan comes to visit for the first time ever.  When Rinko's mother decides to try to earn money by doing other people's laundry from her basement, Mr. Starr harrasses the family, trying to make them go out of business.  He even kills the family's beloved dog.  Aunt Waka convinces Rinko's father to go to the laundry and tell Mr. Starr how he feels and that he has no intention of stopping the small laundry business that Rinko's mother has worked so hard for.  Mr. Starr did not like the confrontation, but the family was not harrassed again.  Thanks to Aunt Waka, the whole family, including Rinko, learned to keep their heads up high and not be afraid to pursue their dreams.
     As I read this story, I felt bad for the discrimination pressed upon different minorites such as these Japanese Americans.  Besides the struggle for survival in such a bad economic time, this whole family also had to struggle with the prejudice actions and comments from people in their own neighborhood.  Rinko and her brother Cal had dreams of going to college.  Rinko wanted to be a teacher and Cal wanted to be an engineer.  When it looked like Mr. Starr and his discriminatory antics had cost their mother her laundry business, Cal and Rinko decided it would be futile to go to college because no one would hire them even if they did have a degree.  After Aunt Waka convinced everyone to never give up and stand up for the things you want in life, Cal and Rinko gained the confidence they needed to pursue their own goals.  Aunt Waka gave them self-respect and motivation during her short visit to America. 
     What I liked best about this story is that it teaches the reader that nothing can stand between you and your dreams.  At the end of the story, Rinko talks about walking tall and without shame now that she knows what it is to be proud of herself.  Aside from her jar of money for college, she also has a jar for her dreams, like for her dream going to Japan and visiting her Aunt Waka one day. 
     Yoshiko Uchida has also written other works depicting the struggles of Japanese American families.  They include:  Journey Home, The Bracelet, The Best Bad Thing, Journey to Topaz, and Desert Exile:  The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family.
     I look forward to reading more of Uchida's works.  I was not fully aware of the extreme discrimination that Japanese Americans endured before reading some of her novels.  Her books teach self-respect, different aspects of Japanese culture, and the effects of perserverance. 

"Noah's Ark"--a book written and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

     Pinkney has adapted the story of Noah and the Ark into a beautifully illustrated children's book which has become a Caldecott Honor Book.  Noah's story is one known by many.  He is called by God to build a great wooden ship or ark to house his family and a pair of each animal that exists in the world.  The other people of the world have turned to wickedness, but since Noah's family have been obediant to God, they are allowed to live.  Pinkney's beautiful paintings of Noah and his family building the ark and preparing for the flood provide detail and give young readers a visual image of how massive an undertaking it was to build such a ship and gather the multitude of animals to be saved.  Pinkney's illustration of the rains falling and the waters rising bring to life the reality of the destruction that took place.  The rain seems to be falling in sheets, lighting is flashing, and the water swirls up around the ark while in the distance a small town seems to be swallowed up by the rising water.  My favorite illustration is where the water level has risen well over the cities and Pinkney takes the reader underwater to see whales swimming through the streets and fish darting in and out of windows.  The bottom of the Ark floats high above all the destruction as nothing but fish view it's passage.  In the end, when the dove makes its way back with the olive branch proving that the water has receded, it is surrounded by a golden light.  Whales are in the background jumping to the surface as if to help celebrate that Noah and his family will once again be able to be back on land soon.  Pinkney has created a beautiful painting of the animals being released from the Ark.  Noah is in the center while owls and other birds fly into the sky and animals of every variety leap and bound out of the doors.  The last illustration of the book is of the whole Earth looped with rainbows as a sign of God's promise to never destroy the Earth by water again. 
     I enjoyed reading this version of Noah's Ark so well, that I brought it home for my children to read as well.  The illustrations are impecable and really do bring every detail to life.  Pinkney has adapted many other stories and has illustrated them.  The Ugly Duckling is one such story.  Again, his illustrations depict the struggle of the small duckling who doesn't quite fit in.  As in Noah's Ark, a bright, golden light envelops the bird in the end, showing all of it's glorious beauty as a swan.  Other works by Pinkney include John Henry, The Talking Eggs, and The Mouse and the Lion.  He has won many awards for his works in children's literature. 

"Day of Tears"--a book by Julius Lester

     In this book, Julius Lester creates a story based on an actual event in Southern history.  Due to an outrageous amount of gambling debt, Pierce Butler must sell off most of his slaves from the plantation that his grandfather built.  On March 2 and 3, 1859 the auction takes place, selling slaves to people from all over the South.  Slave families are broken apart never to be seen by one another again.  On both days of the auction rain falls harder than anyone can ever remember falling before.  Characters in the story believe that God, himself, disapproved of that sad day so badly that his tears drenched the Earth.  This story is told through first person dialogue.  There are several flash-forwards and flashbacks as the characters talk not only about that day, but also the effects it had for years to come. 
     The main character in the story is Emma, a twelve-year-old house slave who takes care of Butler's two young daughters.  Sarah is the oldest daughter and shares the views of her divorced mother that slavery is wrong.  Frances, the youngest, strives to be like her father and shares his view that slaves are nothing more than property.  Emma is ordered on the last day of the auction to bring the two girls and sit with them and tend to them.  She watches as almost everyone she knows is brought to the auction block and empathizes with how it must feel to be sold away and know you'd never see your family again.  However, at the end of the auction a woman approaches Butler with an offer to buy Emma as well.  She needs a nanny for her young child and pays dearly for Emma.  Butler agrees to the sell and Emma is torn from Frances and Sarah.  Sarah never forgives her father for selling Emma.  Emma leaves knowing she'll never see her own father and mother again. 
     This book gives personal insight into how the slaves felt from intolerably cruel treatment.  It also shows the reasoning the white people had when they did these horrible acts.  They believed that black people had no more feelings than a donkey or a mule.  In one part of the book Pierce Butler analyzes how he would feel and react if anyone tried to tear one of his children away from him.  He pacifies his actions by telling himself by saying that it's a good thing that slaves don't have feelings like a white man.  This book shows the ignorance of the times, the suffering of slaves, and the effects years later that slavery had on America. 
     I liked that this book was show through multiple points of view.  Not only does the reader see inside the minds of the slaves and the plantation owner, but also sees inside the minds of people like the auctioneer, workers in the underground railroad, and inside the minds of slaves that supported slavery.  Some slaves felt secure with knowing that if they did a good job, they would always have shelter and food.  Most slaves didn't share this view, most were not treated as well as the slaves had been on the Butler plantation.  Until the day of the auction, other slaves envied the ones on the Butler plantation because they were treated well and never beaten.  I liked being able to see the viewpoints of so many characters.  I also liked the flash-forwards and flashbacks.  It sounds like this would make the novel confusing, but it added depth to the story.
     Lester has written several novels depicting the suffering of African Americans.  The Guardian is a book that depicts guilt felt by a young white boy who takes part in a lynching.  To Be a Slave shares the stories of and insights of ex-slaves.  Other books he has written include John Henry, From Slave Ship to Freedom Road, and The Tales of Uncle Remus:  the adventures of Brer Rabbit. 

"The Dragon's Child"--a book by Laurence Yep

     This is a fictional book about the real life immigration of the author's father who entered the United States through Angel Island in 1922.  Gim Lew Yep is a ten-year-old boy living in China with is mother, sister, and sister-in-law.  His father is a Chinese American that lives and works in America and comes back every few years to see his family.  China at this time is in political turmoil and is a poor country where many families have starved.  Gim Lew Yep's family is considered rich in their village because his father's American money can buy them everything they need and more.  When Gim Lew is ten-years-old his father decides it's time for Gim Lew to come to America to live and work with him.  Gim Lew is frightened and sad because he knows that it will be years before he'll be able to come back to China and see his mother and the only home he has ever known.  On the perilous journey across the ocean, Gim Lew learns that his father is not the same respected man in America that he is in his Chinese village.  Gim Lew finds out that his father is the cook and servant for a wealthy American family.  The image he has of his father is shattered and replaced by the realization that his father is not a wealthy man with a business and a big house of his own.  Also on the crammed, sweltering ride on the ship to America Gim Lew must memorize details about his family's life and his village. The government created files on each person traveling back and forth to China and to be able to re-enter into America, Chinese Americans were quizzed on their Chinese life.  If they could not answer detailed questions about previous given information entered into the file, they were not allowed back into America.  Gim Lew must pass the quiz based on his father's file.  He knows that his family's survival is dependant upon his father's work and that they both will be denied access if he cannot control his stuttering and stay calm and focused to pass the test. 
     This is an enlightening book on Chinese immigration.  Before reading this book, I had not heard of Angel Island or the interrogations that had gone on there.  Many Chinese Americans were rejected access back into the country because they answered a single question wrong.  It also gave insight to the life of Chinese Americans of this time period.  Apparently, it was not uncommon for men to marry and have a family in China, but live most of their lives in America. 
     Laurence Yep has written many books with Asian characters.  Some of his other books include:  Hiroshima, The Starmaker, Ribbons, The Lost Garden, and The Magic Paintbrush.  He also has several books in a series such as The Golden Mountain Chronicles, The City Trilogy, and Tiger's Apprentice.

"One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia (Newbery Honor Book)

     Not only is this book a Newbery Honor Book, but it is also a National Book Award Finalist and a winner of the Coretta Scott King Award.  Set in 1968, the author tells the story of eleven-year-old Delphine and her two little sisters, Vonetta and Fern.  Cecile is their mother who abandoned them right after seven-year-old Fern was born.  Their father has decided that the girls need to know their mother so he sends them from their home in Brooklyn to Oakland, California to spend the summer.  Cecile makes it clear that she wants nothing to do with her daughters.  To get them out of her house so that she can work on her poetry, she sends the girls to a summer day camp ran by the Black Panthers.  Delphine is used to taking care of her sisters, but she has to step up even more since the only caregiver they have refuses to even cook for them.  Over the course of the summer the girls have to try to fit in to their new environment.  They meet other kids there and are introduced to new ideas such as revolution and civil rights.  Throughout the whole summer and all of their adventures, the girls all yearn for the one thing they can't seem to get--love from their mother. 
     What I liked about this book is that it set in such a revolutionary time for African Americans.  The story is told from the viewpoint of Delphine which lets the reader experience what it was like being introduced to the views of the Black Panthers from a child's prospective.  Being from Brooklyn, Delphine had never really had any encounters with anyone who looked or acted like the Black Panthers.  Although she didn't initially agree with their philosophies she eventually came to understand their cause.  This book explores what it was likefor children and adults living in Oakland at this termultuous time in America. 
     My reaction to this book stems from curiosity.  I am curious when it comes to stories of abandonment.  It is hard for me to understand why a mother would want nothing at all to do with her children.  Cecile left after the birth of her youngest daughter because the father would not let her name the baby Afua.  Until Cecile finally tells her side of the story near the end of the book, do I finally have an insight as to why or how she could just up and leave her babies.  Cecile's poetic spirit will not let her be controlled or contained.  I am also curious about the workings of the Black Panthers.  Summer day camp is not what I picture when I think of this group.  I had no idea that they had ran programs that fed and educated low income children.  While they were a radical group, they promoted civil rights and ideas of equality.
     Other works by this author include Like Sisters on the Homefront, Every Rainbow Dies, Jumped, and No Laughter Here.  Rita Williams-Garcia's novels usually involve African American teens and some of the hardships that they endure.  One Crazy Summer deals with the issue of abandonment.  Some of her other works deal with topics such as teen pregnancy, bullying, and the Nigeriean ritual of female circumcision. 
     I enjoyed reading this book.  I learned a lot from Delphine's journey of trying to be accepted by her mother and by her community.  I can understand why this book has won so many awards. 

"Ninth Ward" by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Coretta Scott King Award)

     Lanesha is a twelve-year-old girl who lives in the Ninth Ward of New Orleans in the time right before Hurricane Katrina hits the Gulf Coast.  Lanesha has been raised by a grandmotherly person she calls Mama Ya-Ya.  Lanesha's mother died giving birth to her.  Mama Ya-Ya was the mid-wife who delivered Lanesha.  Because Lanesha's mother's rich family would have nothing to do with her, Mama Ya-Ya gave Lanesha a loving, caring home.  Both Mama Ya-Ya and Lanesha have special "gifts."  Mama Ya-Ya can see bits and pieces of the future and Lanesha can see ghosts all around her, even her mother's ghost.  Anticipation grows as the days before Katrina hit.  Mama Ya-Ya knows a big storm is coming and something bad is going to happen because of it.  Neither Mama Ya-Ya's insight nor Lanesha's conversations with the ghosts around her can help them understand the great flood that is coming to New Orleans.  This story depicts the love a young girl feels for the lady who raised her and the love she has for the mother she never knew.  At first Lanesha is just trying to survive being a twelve-year-old girl who everybody has labeled as a misfit.  As the story progresses she has to survive a great storm and all the death that surrounds her--the death of loved ones and the death of her beloved neighborhood. 
     There are so many things I liked about this book.  I liked the supernatural events depicted in the book such as seeing into the future and Lanesha being able to see ghosts all around her.  As the storm approaches, ghosts from several points in time start filling the streets of New Orleans.  However, these supernatural events do not take over the storyline.  I also like that Lanesha is a very ambitious girl.  She's not just a plain twelve-year-old girl, but she's a girl who loves Shakespeare, is obsessed with words and what they mean, and she is a girl who loves math.  After seeing a picture of the Golden Gate bridge, she decides she wants to be an engineer.   Very few books depict girls with a love for math, and very few depict girls who want to be an engineer.  Several novels depict girls as wanting to be nurses or teachers when the grow up, not engineers.  Another thing I liked about this book is the love between Mama Ya-Ya and Lanesha.  They are not tied by blood, but they love each other like they are family. 
     My reaction from reading this book probably comes from the memories I have of watching coverage of Hurricane Katrina.  I can remember seeing video of people stranded on rooftops waiting to be rescued.  I watched as the flood levels got higher and higher and I also remember the chaos that happened inside the Superdome.  This book describes the different cultures of people who lived in the Ninth Ward and the destruction that Hurricane Katrina unleashed there. 
     Although Rhodes has written adult novels, this is the first novel that she has written for young adult readers.  I look forward to any future young adult novels she writes.
     From this book I learned that children's literature can accurately depict the anxiety and anticipation that is felt before a life changing event occurs.  The author builds the story with unexplainable dreams that Mama Ya-Ya cannot understand.  She knows the storm is coming, but it's not the storm that will bring the destruction, it's the flooding when the levees break.  Also, Lanesha sees her mother daily, but does not converse with her until Mama Ya-Ya asks her to.  The confusion and anticipation of what is about to come overshadows everything else.  The question of "How bad will it be?" lingers as the characters try to prepare for the inevitable.

"Henry's Freedom Box: a true story from the underground railroad" by Ellen Levine (Caldecott Honor Book)

     As the title suggests, this is the true story of how Henry "Box" Brown put himself in a box and mailed himself to freedom.  At a young age, Henry was taken from his mother and give to his master's son.  His new master would beat him if he made any little mistake while working in the tobacco factory.  When Henry grew older he met a slave named Nancy and they were given permission to wed.  They had three children and were happy together.  One day while Henry was working, Nancy's master sold her and their three children at an auction.  Henry arrived just in time to see them tied and hauled away.  He never saw them again, but this event made hime determined to seek freedom for himself.  He consulted with a white doctor who was known to be against slavery.  Henry's plan was to mail himself to safety.  The doctor helped Henry crate himself into a box and mailed him to friends in Philadelphia.  After an excrutiating twenty-seven hour trip, Henry arrived in Philadelphia and was greeted by the good doctor's friends. 
     One of the things I liked about this book is that it brings to light the cruelty of slavery and how it tore families apart.  It shows young readers that the master's of slaves thought of them as nothing more than property.  The illustrations show the raw emotion that is felt by the characters in the story.  They also help demonstrate how rough the transport was for Henry. 
     I learned that a subject as cruel and grotesque as slavery can be explained in such a way that children can understand how horrible it was to be a slave.  Very slight descriptions are enough to let young readers know that slaves were treated cruelly.  The author makes the readers feel sympathy for Henry and his family. 
     My reaction to this story is one that most people share.  I feel sympathy for the way slaves were treated, but then I rejoice when I hear stories like Henry's.  My reaction was to rejoice when Henry made it to freedom.  I just hated that he had to lose his family before he found freedom.  As a mother of three, I can't imagine not being able to ever seeing my children again.
     This book is much like other works written by this author.  Levine has written several books including Freedom's Children:  young civil rights activists tell their own stories.  She also has a series of books called "If You".  Some of these titles include:  If your name was changed at Ellis Island, If you traveled on the underground railroad, and If you lived at the time of the Great San Francisco Earthquake.  Levine brings to light the tribulations different people have gone through throughout history.