BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Na, An. 2001. A Step From Heaven. New York, NY : Penguin Group. ISBN: 0142500275

PLOT SUMMARY:

When Young Ju Park is four years old, she is living a happy life in Korea with her mother and father. When her mother tells her they will be moving to Mi Gook (America), Young believes that Mi Gook must be heaven, since they will be flying in a plane way up high in the clouds. Her parents believe that moving to America will make their lives easier.

They are disillusioned once they arrive, living in cramped quarters with a relative. They finally find a tiny apartment in a rundown neighborhood to rent and Young soon has a baby brother. She attends school, learns English rapidly, and makes friends. Both parents work jobs and they still struggle to have enough food. Her father has the most difficult time adjusting to the move, never learning more than a few English words. He falls into a pattern of drinking; taking his anger out on his family, often times being physically abusive. Young deals with family stress by trying hard and excelling in school, earning honors. Her younger brother chooses the opposite; he escapes by skipping school.

This is a heart-wrenching story of a family trying to navigate the culture of a new country and the many hardships they must overcome.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

This story is told through Young Ju Park as she is growing up in America. Early in the book, we hear a young girl that thinks Mi Gook is heaven and it must be magical. When people smile widely, she calls it showing your “happy teeth”.

As the family struggles with poverty, we see Young Ju mature in her thoughts. While some of the problems that face this Korean family are the same that many Americans also have, poverty, hunger, job loss; we see how adapting to a new country and language increases the complications they face.

Though there is much despair in Young’s voice and thoughts, glimmers of hope are there as well. On the day her mother finally allows her to buy a Lotto card and indeed they do not win, Young thinks, “A dollar for afternoon dreams is expensive and cheap….But, someone has to win. Somebody gets the jackpot. Why not us?”

The author includes many Korean words, which add an interesting feel to the story being told. Young Ju and her brother play “guy-bye-boh”, rock-paper-scissors, a hand game many of the readers will be familiar with.

This story flows so well, it seems too early for the end when it comes. There is an epilogue titled “Hands” which beautifully compares Young Ju’s soft, tender hands with her mother’s hands, calloused and scarred from physical labor. The reality of how different Yung Ju’s life will be from her mother’s life.

This tender, coming of age story has the reader rooting for the family to overcome the huge obstacles that confront them.

AWARDS:

Michael J. Printz Award – 2002
Children’s Book Award in YA Fiction – International Reading Association – 2002

REVIEW EXCERPTS:

Starred Review – Booklist: “the coming-of-age drama will grab teens and make them think of their own conflicts between home and outside. As in the best writing, the particulars make the story universal.”

School Library Journal: “The loosely structured plot is a series of vignettes that touch upon the difficulties immigrants face… A beautifully written, affecting work.”

CONNECTIONS:

• Have a class discussion about Korea. Topics to include: Why Koreans may have wanted to immigrate to America, discuss the many hardships in adapting to a foreign country. Visit this website for further information:

http://www.asiaeducation.edu.au/gokorea/index1.html

• For more reading on cultural differences and coming of age in America try:

Thomas, Joyce Carol. A Gathering of Flowers: Stories About Being Young in America. ISBN: 9780064470827

Mazer, Anne. America Street: A Multicultural Anthology of Stories. ISBN: 9780892551910

Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. ISBN: 9780072435177

BIBLIOGRPAHY:

Lowry, Lois. 2002. The Giver. New York, NY : Random House Children’s Books. ISBN: 9780440237686

PLOT SUMMARY:

Jonas is a young boy about to turn twelve. He lives with his mother, father and sister in a community that is concerned with everything being the same, to make life easier. When a child turns twelve there is a special ceremony to award them what their future vocation will be. This is an eagerly awaited event but for Jonas his happy anticipation quickly turns to apprehension when he is told he will be the next “receiver”, a vocation he has never heard of.

Jonas learns that he will be receiving all the memories, both good and bad of past events for generations. The previous Receiver, now known as the Giver, will transmit all of these memories to Jonas. While going through his training he learns that the community he lives in is really far from the utopia they thought they had created. Once he experiences such emotions as love and happiness, he realizes with his newfound knowledge he can no longer remain a part of the world he grew up in.

Together Jonas and the Giver make a plan to change what they can and hopefully share some of their knowledge.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

The Giver is science fiction and told in the third person. Many ideas are presented in this story that makes one take a fresh look at the freedom of having choice and variety. The overriding theme in this novel is censorship and not allowing diversity. Everyone is the same. Children all receive a bicycle in their ninth year, and all learn what their vocation will be in their twelfth. Choice of food, work and family is all decided for you.

So many things that we take for granted or that seem small because they are automatic loom large once the idea is presented of not having them. Things like weather: snow and rain. What would it be like to live in a climate-controlled environment where each day the weather was the same? Would life be better? As the Giver states to Jonas, “Our people made that choice, the choice of sameness…we gained control of many things, but had to let go of others.”

The story ends with no real conclusion. The reader is left to decide the fate of young Jonas. I found the lack of a concrete ending somewhat disturbing. The desire to know whether or not Jonas survives his journey is great. The Giver is sure to generate much discussion whether read in the classroom or book group.

AWARDS:

* The 1994 Newbery Medal
* The 1996 William Allen White Award
* ALA list for “Best Book for Young Adults”
* ALA “Notable Children’s Book,”
* ALA “100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000.”
* A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
* Winner of the Regina Medal
* IRA/CBC Children’s Choice
* Booklist Editors’ Choice
* A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

REVIEW EXCERPTS:

Publishers Weekly: “Lowry is once again in top form… unwinding a tale fit for the most adventurous readers.”

Children’s Literature: ” This is a stunning, provocative science fiction story that will inspire discussion.”

ALAN Review: “Winner of the 1994 Newbery Medal, Lowry’s thought-provoking fantasy challenges adolescents to explore important social and political issues.”

CONNECTIONS:

• Have a class discussion on utopia versus dystopia. Have students write about a day from life in a community such as Jonas’.

• To read more by Lois Lowry dealing with alternate societies:

Lowry, Lois. 2004. The Messenger. ISBN: 9780618404414

Lowry, Lois. 2000. Gathering Blue. ISBN: 9780618055814

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

DiCamillo, Kate. 2003. The Tale of Despereaux. Ill. by Timothy Basil Ering. Cambridge, MA : Candlewick Press. ISBN: 9780763617226

PLOT SUMMARY:

This is a story of an unusually small mouse named Despereaux Tilling. He was born into a family that resides in a castle. Little Despereaux is far more interested in the music he hears, and the words that he finds printed across the pages of books than he is in scurrying about in search of food or to be nibbling the pages of the books he ponders. He is a large disappointment to his family; they wonder why he can’t be a normal mouse. His brother and sister try to teach him their tricks for navigating the castle undetected while on their quest for food. Despereaux tries to be interested, but instead discovers the Princess Pea and falls in love.

When it is discovered that Despereaux was seen talking with the King and his daughter, Princess Pea, the mouse council considers him too great a risk and sentences Despereaux to the rat infested dungeon, a death sentence for sure. His parents do nothing to save him and Despereaux is led to the dungeon by two hooded mice. When one of them orders him down the steps of the dungeon, Despereaux recognizes his brother’s voice. Fearful of the unknown, and realizing his family has abandoned him, Despereaux struggles to survive in the dungeon.

From here, Despereaux’s path crosses with the scheming rat Roscuro, and the doltishly naïve servant, Miggery Sow. Upon hearing their plans to kidnap Princess Pea, Despereaux begins a journey that tests his bravery, trust and his will to forgive.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS:

The Tale of Despereaux is delivered in narration style, and one truly has the feeling of having a story told to them. The narrator telling this tale has clever way of including the reader by posing a question and prompting the reader on.

“Can you imagine it? Can you imagine your father selling you for
a tablecloth, a hen, and a handful of cigarettes? Close your eyes
please, and consider it for just a moment. Done? I hope that the
hair on the back of your neck stood up as you thought of Meg’s
fate and how it would be if it were your own.”

The Narrator occasionally includes the reader, foreshadowing the next scene to unfold.

“But reader, there is no comfort in the word “farewell” even if you
say it in French. “Farewell” is a word that, in any language, is full
of sorrow. It is a word that promises absolutely nothing.”

This style works and leaves one wanting to turn the page and to find out what happens next.

Kate DiCamillo’s vivid descriptions bring the story to life. One can easily visualize the dungeon with its mucky floors and the sound of rats with long tails slithering around, teeth gnashing, waiting for their next victim. The author includes several challenging words within the story that can possibly be defined just by the events of the scene. An example being the use of the word perfidy to describe the broken trust Despereaux feels as his family turns against him. Readers may be inspired to take a moment and look up the definitions for words new to them.

The illustrations by Timothy Basil Ering are done in pencil and delicately capture the mood of the scenes depicted, adding more delight to the story.

This tale moves quickly and one is left with wanting more once the story ends.

AWARDS:

Newberry Medal Award 2004

EXCERPT REVIEWS:

Starred review, Booklist: “A fairy tale full of quirky, unforgettable characters, with twenty-four stunning black-and-white illustrations by Timothy Basil Ering.”

Children’s Literature: “Each character’s desires, hopes and fears combine in this marvelous questing fantasy. This is a tale made for reading aloud and family enjoyment.”

Kirkus Reviews: “And so unwinds a tale with twists and turns, full of forbidden soup and ladles, rats lusting for mouse blood, a servant who wishes to be a princess, a knight in shining-or, at least, furry-armor, and all the ingredients of an old-fashioned drama.”

CONNECTIONS:

• For more books by Kate DiCamillo try:

DiCamillo, Kate. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. ISBN: 9780763639877

DiCamillo, Kate. The Tiger Rising. ISBN: 9780763618988

DiCamillo, Kate. Because of Winn-Dixie. ISBN: 9780763616052