Week 14 - Mystery & Adventure!

Hello Professor Huggins and classmates! As we reach the end of the reading blog, this week, I review books based in the adventure and mystery. Sounds fun! I've enjoyed reading and reflecting on the various books over this semester and I hope you enjoy reading the blog journey!     

    Preus, Margi. 

    Heart of a Samurai: Based on the True Story of Manjiro Nakahama. Amulet Books, 2010.

    ISBN 978-0-329-85966-4

 

    The middle grade novel Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus, is a fictionalized retelling of real-life historical figure, Nakahama Manjiro, a man who lived during the latter half of the 1800s, remembered as the first Japanese person on record to immigrate and live in the United States of America. Manjiro lived an incredible life, journeying from being a teenage fisherman to holding the title of samurai; in addition to Manjiro becoming a Japanese-to-English translator and diplomat who played a key early role in bridging peaceful relations between Japanese and North American people during Japan’s transition away from over two hundred and fifty years of isolationism, told through Preus’ thrilling and fun writing. Whereas a few characters and plot points were invented to streamline novel into a traditional story structure, Preus nonetheless creates an exciting adventure for readers based in true events that shaped North America and Japan’s histories together to our countries’ relations in the modern day.   

  Manjiro is a compelling protagonist, whose curiosity, wonder and accomplishments during his travels are very engaging for readers, especially for older child readers who may see themselves, their own dreams and fears in Manjiro’s journey. Along with the excitement of Manjiro’s travels between nations, there is an element of suspense throughout the novel as well; as Manjiro faces prejudice from white Americans and suspicions of being a spy by the Japanese people, as Manjiro’s love for both his home of birth and chosen home in North America occurs during an era in which immigration between the east and west were still an extreme rarity. Although civilians in both North America and Japan consider people from the other country “barbarians,” with Manjiro facing cruelty and internal struggle because of his sincere love for both nations, there is still hope, joy and heart to be found as Manjiro still finds human connection and acceptance, such as in the case of his friendship with the American Captain Whitfield, helped Manjiro with becoming settled in the US. Manjiro’s journey in not only reconciling his love for both Japan and North America, but his development from being a young, humble fisherman to one of the earliest Japanese diplomats to the US is not only an engaging adventure for young readers, but the fact that the novel is one man’s extraordinary life based on real history makes Manjiro’s adventure to becoming a samurai in America all the more fascinating to read.

    Johnson, Varian. The Parker Inheritance. Scholastic Inc., 2018.     ISBN 978-0-545-94617-9

 

    The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson, is mystery novel for upper elementary and middle grade readers, follows protagonist Candice Miller, a twelve-year-old African American girl, a confident bookworm and her neighbor/best friend, eleven-year-old Brandon Jones, as they spend their Summer in Lambert, South Carolina, discovering a mysterious letter in Candice’s late grandmother house, sending the two friends on a quest, not only to find treasure, but to also discover the truth of the letter’s author and uncovering the true history of their town. Although at first glance, The Parker inheritance may appear to be your standard mystery novel, yet it tackles many more angles than a puzzle or treasure hunt through the story. Candice and Brandon’s quest for truth leads them to confronting difficult social issues within lambert, such as racism, homophobia, segregation, white privilege, biases and prejudice, in addition to exploring Candice’s conflicted feelings about her parents’ recent divorce, and her relationship to her grandmother inspiring her to solve the puzzle left behind in her family’s house. This is a very engaging and ambitious novel about history and identity, one that can interest readers in its adventure and mystery element, but can engross readers through its themes of discovering identity of self, how extensive human cruelty can reach, but also the importance of holding onto hope, kindness and friendship even in times of extreme difficulty and hardships. Johnson’s novel is very moving with Candice and Brandon’s friendship at the center, reading as sweet and genuine as they try to search for justice and fairness in their treasure hunt that ends up uncovering dark town secrets. The novel doesn’t shy away from difficult or uncomfortable topics, such as discussing how oppressive being a black person living in the deep south during the early 20th century could be for many people in that time period. While the timeline of events in the story and the mature topics may be too much for younger children, this story can be a very engaging read for older elementary and middle grade children, which may spark a discussion for them about their senses of identity or a discussion with the reader’s classmates, parents and guardians about the grim side of North American history in the last century.

  

Week 13 - Fantasy & Science Fiction!

 Hello again, Professor and classmates! This week I review novels from the fantasy and science-fiction genres, this will be really fun, let's begin! 

    Chokshi, Roshani, and Rick Riordan. 

    Aru Shah and the End of Time. Disney-Hyperion, 2018. 

    ISBN 978-136801235-5

Plot: Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi follows the titular Aru, a twelve-year-old, Indian-American girl who has grown up in Atlanta, Georgia in an apartment connected to The Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture, where her mother owns. Aru accidently releases a demon known as the Sleeper from a cursed lamp in an attempt to impress her classmates, causing time to freeze around Aru as a result. Aru must then set off on a quest to undo the curse, learning not only about the existence of Hindu gods along the way, but discovering she is a reincarnation of one of the Pandava, a noble hero in Indian mythology, and must reunite with her long-lost sisters from her past life who have also been reborn in modern day.

 

Author Chokshi does an incredible job of balancing the mythology, religion and culture of Hinduism with depicting the everyday realties of Aru’s life in Georgia, such as her sadness and struggles with having grown up without her father in her life or Aru’s desire of wanting to fit in with her classmates. Within the author’s biography kept within the book dustjacket, it is stated that Chokshi lives in Georgia and the author’s love and pride in her state shines throughout the book as the realities of Atlantia interconnects with the fantastical nature of Aru’s journey with the Hindu gods. Aru is a great protagonist, who is creative with weary sense of humor about her world and situations, whose powerful imagination is both her greatest strength and biggest downfall at times, which make for and really interesting character flaw. Chokshi balances the mythological mundane aspects of Aru’s life seamlessly. If child readers are new to the religion of Hinduism, the author introduces mythological concepts in way which are easy to follow along with for those who are unfamiliar with the context of Aru’s story.   

 

Theme: Chokshi’s novel has themes based in universal truths of Hinduism, specifically of the religious belief in reincarnation and rebirth of life, with the subject of reincarnation treated with seriousness and respect throughout the story, being a significant plot point in Aru’s hero’s journey. Another key theme the importance of family, through Aru’s complicated feelings about her absent father and the value of adopted families, depicted though Aru’s close bond with her spiritual sister, Mini, her sibling from a previous life.

 

Setting: The real-life setting of Georgia, along with the fantastical setting of Aru’s quest amongst Hindu gods blended well together. The setting feels appropriate to the narrative as it placed importance both in Aru’s life in Georgia and life as a reincarnated Pandava from Hindu legend.    

 

Style: Chokski has an amazing sense of imagination, incorporating words, phrases, and symbols to give life to Aru’s world. The author masterfully balances the ethereal elements of Aru’s hero quest, alongside her sarcastic sense of humor as a pre-teen girl and the emotional depth of her relationships to her parents and adopted sister, Mini.  

 

    Barnhill, Kelly. The Girl Who Drank the Moon. 

    Workman Publishing, 2016. ISBN 978-1-61620-567-6

Plot: The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill, follows mischievous thirteen-year-old Luna, was abandoned as a baby by the elders of her village, Protectorate, to the forest witch, whom the villagers believed demanded a human sacrifice each year. Instead, Luna becomes the adopted daughter of Xan, the forest witch, after Xan accidentally gave moonlight to Luna to drink as baby, gifting Luna with extremely powerful magic. The story follows Luna’s quest to keep her bottled up magic from becoming destructive, and reclaim her past from Protectorate. Barnhill has created an original, fantastical world, removed from realism. The story has a dream-like quality, as Luna’s adopted family are all supernatural creatures, with Luna’s backstory and quest all to control her magic read as a modern fairytale. The otherworldliness of Luna’s life interconnect with genuine heart and engaging relationships between Luna’s adopted family in a natural, believable manner.        

 

Theme: Central themes of Barnhill’s novel are about the strength of holding on to hope and love over despair and sorrow, lest one be consumed by grief. Another key theme is about the danger of judging people without knowing them, and the negative consequences of refusing to try and understand another person’s perspective, just as the villagers who misjudge Xan and the forest out of pure fearmongering.

 

Setting: The setting of Protectorate village has naturally sad, fearful atmosphere, whereas the nearby bogs and forests have an ethereal quality that gives the impression of there being equal wonder and supernatural horrors hiding around the corner. The setting reflects greatly of Barnhill’s creativity as an author, as she creates an original world that feels it could just as gorgeous as it could be dangerous in the story’s environment.

 

Style: Author Barnhill skillfully creates imagery of Luna’s world through the emotions and spoken words of the characters, rather it is the somber, fearful world of Protectorate, the warmth and unearthliness of Luna’s chosen family and friends amongst the forest and swamp bog, in order to create fairytale-like atmosphere throughout the story. 

Week 12 - Contemporary Realism!

 Hello again, Professor and classmates! This week, I evaluate books based in contemporary realism, let's begin! 

    Kelly, Erin Entrada, and Celia Krampien. 

    Those Kids from Fawn Creek.

     Greenwillow Books, an Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2022. ISBN 978-0-06-297035-0

Characters: Throughout Those Kids from Fawn Creek, various points of view are given across the titular Fawn Creek’s seventh-grade class of thirteen children, with the perspectives of Dorothy, Greyson, Janie, and Orchid, being the focus of the novel. Despite a fairly large cast of characters, author Erin Entrada Kelly gives distinctive personalities to each of her characters which make them stand out rather than blend together into a crowd. Children are sure to find relatable characters amongst the protagonists.

 

Plot: The plot follows a small-town, seventh grade class who have known each other since kindergarten experiences significant change in their school for the first time when Renni moves to a neighboring community and new girl, Orchid moves to town, bringing an exciting perspective and changes to classroom dynamics with her. Although the story is fairly straight-forward in its execution, Entrada Kelly approaches the social politics of middle school and pre-teen drama with kindness and understanding, treating the commonplace issues of adolescence with empathy.

 

Setting: Set within the seventh-grade class of the titular Fawn Creek, Louisiana, it captures the feelings and atmosphere of growing up in a small community, and how the protagonists experience a drastic change that sees a drastic change for the first time in years. The small-town setting is essential to the novel’s plot structure and influencing the character development of the protagonists, as growing up in a small town has shaped the social hierarchy of the seventh-grade class, how they respond to change and the ways in which they initially view their new classmate, Orchid Mason. 

 

 Theme: The theme of choosing kindness, both to others and how one sees themselves occurs naturally within the plot, as the story portrays realistic, slice of life middle school politics. The themes of finding happiness in one’s own identity, and choosing to do what feels right over following herd mentality of peers are all messages that middle-grade readers can find relatable, as Entrada Kelly explores issues that young readers can see themselves and their lives reflected on the pages.  

 

Style: Entrada Kelly’s style and prose is rather straightforward, but engaging and impactful in its messages; every line in the story’s narrative is written to express the isolating, stagnant atmosphere of small-town Fawn Creek, while the highs and lows of childhood experienced by the protagonists are written in a style which combines figurative descriptions of the characters’ emotions and colloquial dialogue in how they interact.

 

Gender and Culture: The story explores the influence of growing up in a small, predominantly white community, with exploration of gender identity and gender roles in its narrative. In addition to exploring middle school dynamics, as well as deconstructing girlhood friendships through Dorothy and Janie’s relationships to Orchid. The novel also embraces the idea of being authentic to one’s true self in order to find genuine happiness, whatever shape or form that takes, such as how Greyson preferring more traditionally feminine hobbies such as sewing is treated with positivity and kindness by the narrative.  

    Yang, Kelly. New from Here. 

    Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2022. 

    ISBN 978-1-5344-8830-4 

Characters: New from Here by Kelly Yang follows the Wei-Evans family, ten-year-old protagonist Knox, his old brother, Bowen, little sister Lea, and their mother Julie as they move from Hong Kong to California during the early days of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, and exploring how they adjust to so many changes in their lives when moving to a new country during an uncertain period of time. Readers can easily identify with the cast of characters and their experiences, as Knox, his siblings and mother experience a variety of joy, humor, sadness and everyday struggles in their new home in North America. Any child reader who has had to move or had to adjust to a big change in their life can relate to the Wei-Evans siblings’ experiences throughout novel.

 

Plot: The plot of New from Here is very engaging as a character-driven story, being both fun and emotionally moving at the same time as it reflects recent historical events of the coronavirus outbreak. Yang writes within her author notes that her novel was based upon her own family’s real-life experiences moving to America and that is reflected within the emotions, characters’ personalities and experiences in the writing. The novel concludes on a hopeful note, as the family is reunited with their father joining them in America, and is reflective of the times by acknowledging that the future could be scary or uncertain, but they could still face it together as a family.

 

Setting: The setting of California during the height of the global pandemic is integral to the story’s narrative, themes and character development. The setting and time period is depicted realistically and believably, reflecting issues many real families experienced during the pandemic, such as the mother struggling with finding steady employment while raising her children after the move and the children adjusting to online, remote learning.

 

Theme: The theme of a family overcoming challenges in turbulent times, of love and friendship being stronger than hate, and the discussion of modern North American race relations all occur naturally over the course of the novel. Child readers can relate to the often confusing and upsetting feelings which arise from the pandemic that the child protagonist and his siblings experience on the page.  

 

 Style: The author’s writing is very natural and straightforward in execution, being conversational and colloquial, reflective of realistic dialogue between family members and friends.  

 

 Gender and Culture: The novel has a positive depiction of Asian American people through its main characters and Yang’s incorporation of her real-life experiences into the story. It also positively portrays modern, non-stereotypical gender roles in general through the Wei-Evans mother and father sharing work and household responsibilities on equal ground. The novel addresses present day racism towards people of Asian heritage with candidness and sensitivity to Asian people. The novel discusses the cruelty and unfairness of racism to elementary-aged children in a way that doesn’t talk down, downplay the issue nor dismisses the feelings of children who have experienced racism.