Posted on by TracyC

The Time of the Forest

The Time of the Forest by Tom McGowen, 1988.

The story takes place in the prehistory of Denmark, among its earliest inhabitants.  It shows the conflict between the hunter-gatherers, who are native to the forests of that land, and the farmers, who have traveled to the area to build a new home on the edge of the forests.

When the two groups learn of each other’s existence, they become frightened of each other. The hunters are afraid that the new people will take over their hunting grounds, and they are offended that the newcomers cut down the trees to build their homes and clear land for farming. The farmers are afraid of the forest, the wild animals inside it, and the hunters, who they fear might start hunting them.

A young hunter, Wolf, watches the farmers to learn more about them, and he is fascinated by what he sees. In some ways, the two groups are alike, and Wolf finds himself wanting to know more about the ways of the farmers and maybe even make friends with the pretty girl, Bright Dawn, who he sees tending the farmers’ goats.

However, the son of Wolf’s chief has decided that the newcomers must be destroyed. When Wolf saves Bright Dawn from the chief’s son, the two of them must learn to work together and combine the skills of their different peoples in order to survive.

In the end, after a bloody clash between their respective peoples, both Wolf and Bright Dawn are each exiled from their tribes.  However, their exile actually gives them the freedom to start their own tribe that combines aspects of both of their societies.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

My Reaction

This story was somewhat speculative about the early days of Europe, when societies were starting to shift from hunter/gatherer groups to more settled agricultural groups.  The author says that he was theorizing about the cultural clashes that may have taken place during this time.

Something I noticed about the story is that the groups, particularly the hunter/gatherer group, somewhat resembled some Native American groups around the time that they first encountered European settlers.  The author didn’t say anything about using their lifestyles as inspiration or drawing any parallels between them and early Europeans, but it did make me think about the similarities between groups that are living similar lifestyles but in different places.  In other words, it does seem reasonable that hunter/gatherers living in Europe would be living in circumstances that would be very similar to hunter/gatherer groups in the Americas.

Posted on by TracyC

The Light in the Forest

LightInTheForestThe Light in the Forest by Conrad Richter, 1953.

Although this book was adapted into a live-action Disney movie in 1958, this is not a story that I would recommend for young children because of the level of violence.  I think I was in elementary school, about 10 or 11 years old, when I read it as a kid, but I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone that young anymore.  This book is bound to be controversial, but read to the end, where I discuss my reaction to it.

This story takes place in 18th century Colonial America, specifically in Pennsylvania.  Eleven years before the story begins, four-year-old John Butler was abducted by Lenape Indians and adopted by a member of the tribe as a replacement for a Lenape boy who had died.  His new “father” names him True Son and treats him as his son.  John/True Son comes to feel that his Lenape father is his true father, although he is aware that he had another father before.  Years later, in 1764, fifteen-year-old John/True Son remembers very little about his life among white people and now considers himself Lenape.  The Lenape recognize him as a full member of the tribe as well, but a recent treaty requires them to return all white people they have taken captive, including True Son.

The tribe reluctantly hands True Son over to white soldiers to be returned to his birth family, although True Son resists, even attempting to kill himself at one point to prevent it.  However, the suicide attempt is thwarted, and True Son is brought to Fort Pitt, where he is reunited with his birth father, Harry Butler.

Harry Butler takes John/True Son home to the rest of the family, but True Son refuses to acknowledge them as his family.  He pretends like he can’t understand English anymore and continues dressing like a Lenape.  The one member of the family he bonds with is his younger brother, Gordie, whom he had never met before.  Gordie is young and has no particular prejudice against Native Americans.  He finds the things that True Son does fascinating.  (The Disney film cut out the character of Gordie in favor of giving John/True Son a love interest, but I think that is a mistake because I think that the relationship between John and Gordie and how John/True Son views young children is central to the true theme of the story.  Read on.)

The family member that True Son really hates is his Uncle Wilse, who is known to have participated in a massacre against Native Americans.  Wilse thinks that John/True Son has been brain-washed by the Lenape and doesn’t really trust him.  When Wilse tells True Son that the Lenape have taken the scalps of children as well as adults, True Son denies it. The two of them argue, and Wilse slaps him.

True Son pines for his Lenape family, and when he learns that a couple of Lenape have been asking about him in the area, he manages to meet with them in secret.  One of them turns out to be Half Arrow, True Son’s cousin among the Lenape.  When Half Arrow tells him that friends of Wilse have killed a friend of theirs named Little Crane, the boys attack Wilse and scalp him in revenge.  (Not killing him, just scalping him.  It’s disgusting, but possible.  In the Disney movie, this scene is changed to a fist fight.)

True Son returns to the Lenape tribe with Half Arrow, and the tribe furthers their revenge for Little Crane’s death with a raid on a white village.  However, John/True Son is horrified when he sees the scalps of children as well as adults after the raid, proving that members of his tribe have killed innocent children and that Wilse was correct about that much.

When his tribe attempts to get True Son, posing as an ordinary white boy, to lure an unsuspecting group of white settlers into another attack, John/True Son must decide who he really is and what he really stands for.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).

My Reaction and Spoilers

In the end, John/True Son decides to alert the settlers to the imminent attack and warn them away because he sees children among them (in particular, a little boy who reminds him of Gordie, which is why that character is so important to the story) and can’t stand to see them killed.  His decision results in his banishment from the Lenape tribe.  At first, they were going to kill him for his disloyalty, but his adoptive father convinces them to spare his life, although he warns True Son that if members of the tribe see him again, they will consider him an enemy, so he can never become a part of their society again.  From this point on, John/True Son is on his own, and his fate lies in his hands alone.

Modern readers may be repulsed at the discussion of scalping (I know I was), and I’ve also heard arguments about whether the practice was more a Native American thing or one more often practiced by white people against Native Americans. Both sides do this in the story, but there are debates about where exactly the practice started.  My thought is that some things are just so disgusting that I can resent anyone who does them, regardless of who started it, but that’s neither here nor there.  Before anyone goes too far in that direction, I’d like to point out that we shouldn’t make the same mistake that most of the characters in the book do: overlooking the more immediate issue, which is True Son himself.

Throughout the story, John/True Son is a victim in more ways than one.  Because of his abduction at a young age, he is not only stuck in a personal identity crisis and a clash of cultures but has become a pawn in a power struggle between two societies that have each committed atrocities against the other.  In the beginning, he understands the most that the Lenape have been victimized by white people.  He comes to despise the white culture into which he was born and empathizes with the Lenapes’ attempts to strike back at the white people. Some of this might be a kind of Stockholm Syndrome (a term I didn’t know when I first read this book), but he is correct that men like his Uncle Wilse have committed great atrocities, and he wants no part of them.  However, against his wishes, he is thrust back into the culture he came from and into the middle of the conflict as a bargaining chip in a treaty.

After his time among his white family, he begins to see the conflict from both sides and to realize that not all white people are guilty of atrocities and deserve to be punished.  At the same time, True Son is forced to acknowledge that people close to him on both sides of the conflict have each done terrible things.  In the end, his sympathy is particularly for the innocent children who, like he was as a young child, have been brought into this cycle of hate, revenge, and killing without even their knowledge, having done nothing to deserve it.

We’re not quite sure what John/True Son’s life is going to be after the end of the story.  He has been rejected by the society he knows best, where he once thought he belonged, but whether his birth family and society will accept him back after what he’s done (the scalping of his uncle) is uncertain.  There is one thing that we do know: True Son has become his own man.  In a moment where he could simply have done what others asked, what they expected him to do, he made a difficult decision to stand up for what he really believed in, the protection of the innocent, regardless of their race, knowing even as he did so that there would be dire consequences for him personally.

We hope that John Butler/True Son manages to find some acceptance somewhere (probably among white society, which is hinted at the end of the book, but also probably on the fringe of it) and settle down to a more peaceful life, but we know that because of his troubled past, it isn’t going to be easy.  I would say that the overall message of the story is for people to consider the children and the generations to come and the impact that their decisions and their quarrels will have on their future and the kind of world the young people will grow up in.  John/True Son understands more about the horrors of fighting than either of the two sides involved, and he wants better for the younger children he finds at his mercy.

When you read other reviews of this book, you’ll see that there is some lingering resentment from people who were forced to read it in school.  It is a popular book for teachers to assign students to read around the middle school level (around age 12 to 14, roughly), and I have to admit that I often resented being forced to read depressing books in school myself.  This isn’t a happy story, but it is memorable and thought-provoking, and now that I’m an adult, what I remember best about the story is how John/True son feels about younger children and how he accepts the role of protecting them.

This story is based somewhat on real-life stories of abducted children from the same time period who also found themselves pawns in the struggles around them and felt conflicted when they once again came into contact with their birth families.  There are other books written on this topic, and the author of this one also wrote a book about a girl captive called A Country of Strangers.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

The Mystery in Arizona

Trixie Belden

TBMysteryArizona

#6 The Mystery in Arizona by Julie Campbell, 1958.

TBMysteryArizonaRanchDi’s Uncle Monty (the real one, not the fake from previously in the series) has invited her and the other Bob-Whites to spend Christmas at his dude ranch near Tucson, Arizona. At first, Trixie is worried that she won’t be allowed to go with the others because her grades in school are bad and she needs to study. However, her parents finally agree to allow her to go when the boys offer to tutor her over the holidays, and Trixie can get information that she needs on Navajo Indians for her theme. It won’t be easy, though.

From the very start of their visit, problems plague the ranch, and it seems as though everyone has a secret. Most of the members of the Orlando family, who usually take care of cooking, cleaning, and other tasks on the ranch, have mysteriously disappeared, except for Maria and her young son. Maria refuses to say where the others are, but the little boy is unhappy that he couldn’t go with the rest of his family and makes strange comments about skeletons and other frightening things. Also, Rosita, a Navajo girl working as a maid at the ranch, is deeply unhappy and in need of money for reasons that she doesn’t want to explain.

Meanwhile, there is a trio of lonely and unhappy guests in need of cheering up. In an effort to help, the Bob-Whites volunteer to take over the Orlandos’ chores to keep the ranch running during the holidays. As Trixie gets drawn further into the mysteries plaguing the ranch, she finds it difficult to balance her work and her studies. Trixie worries that this might turn out to be a terrible way to spend Christmas, but with some help from the Bob-Whites, things might work out even better than anyone hoped.

One of the things that they discover is that the Orlando family is celebrating a family tradition similar to Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead, similar to All Souls Day and Halloween) but their family celebrates it at a different time of year than is customary because they want their celebration to coincide with the birthday of one of their ancestors.  They left without explaining because they were worried that no one would understand their traditions or approve of them.  Maria Orlando did not go right away because she was worried about leaving her job, but when her son tries to run away and join the rest of the family, she decides that it isn’t fair to keep him away from the family celebration.  After making sure that the Bob-Whites can handle the chores on the ranch, she takes her son to join the others in Mexico.

The three unhappy guests, Jane Brown, Mr. Wellington, and Mrs. Sherman, also have their problems solved.  Jane learns to get over her shyness and enjoy herself.  Mr. Wellington’s children, who had decided at the last minute to spend the holidays with friends, change their minds and come to spend Christmas with their father instead, cheering him up.  After Maria leaves, Mrs. Sherman cooks Christmas dinner for everyone, allowing her to once again do the work she loved when she and her late husband ran a restaurant.  Rosita’s secret is that she feels responsible for an accident that her father suffered when he was working with some  more modern tools that she gave him for his silversmithing work.  She took a job at the ranch to get some money for his medical treatment, but she is worried that she cannot earn all the money she needs during the holidays so that she can return to school.  She sold some of her silver jewelry to Mrs. Sherman, but she refused to take more than $100 dollars for it, although Mrs. Sherman would gladly have given her all the money that she needed.  Rosita is too proud to ask for or accept help from others.  The Bob-Whites solve her problem by giving her the money that they earned working at the ranch as a Christmas present.  In spite of all these distractions, Trixie manages to improve her math and get enough information for her theme on Navajos from Rosita.

This is the last Trixie Belden book written by Julie Campbell, the original author of the series.  From this point on, the series continues with other authors.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

The Courage of Sarah Noble

SarahNoble

The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh, 1954.

SarahNobleCookingIn 1707, a man living in Massachusetts named John Noble bought some land in Connecticut which had recently been purchased from a tribe of Indians (Native Americans) living nearby.  He planned to move his family there and start a new homestead, but with his children so young and the baby somewhat sickly, it was decided that he would travel to the new land ahead of his family and start building a new house there.  The only family member to accompany him was his eight-year-old daughter, Sarah, who came along to cook for him.  Before they leave home, Sarah’s mother tells her to “Keep up your courage,” something which Sarah repeats to herself from time to time.

SarahNobleFamilyOn the way to their new property, Sarah and her father have to camp out in the wilderness, although they do manage to stay one night with a family called Robinson.  The Robinson boys tease Sarah, saying that where she’s going, the Indians will probably chop off her head and eat her or do other horrible things.  Their sister tells Sarah not to worry because her brothers just like to tease.  Sarah’s father and Mistress Robinson also reassure her that the Indians in the area are friendly and that they sold their land knowing that new people would come there.

The Robinsons make Sarah uncomfortable.  Sarah later says to her father that there doesn’t seem to be love in the Robinson house. Her father agrees with the observation and says that the Robinsons should learn to watch their words and teach their children to do the same, adding “there are people in this world who do not help others along the way, Sarah, while there are those who do. In our home all will be treated with kindness-always, Sarah. The Indians, too, and they will not harm us.”  Although the Robinsons allowed the Nobles to stay the night in their house, they didn’t exactly make them feel welcome, and both of them realize that the things the boys were saying and their rough manner were clues to the Robinsons’ real attitudes and the kinds of things the parents talk about when no one else is around.

SarahNobleReadingWhen Sarah and her father reach the land that is to be their new home, they take refuge in a hollow place in a hillside, and John begins building their new house.  However, Sarah is still very nervous and lonely.  Then, while Sarah sits, reading the Bible, some curious Indian children from the nearby tribe come to see her.  She reads a Bible story aloud to them, and they listen, but she when she finishes the story, she can tell that they didn’t understand what she was saying.  Sarah can’t understand them, either, when they try to talk to her.  She gets impatient and snaps at them for not knowing English, and they run away from her.  Sarah is sorry about that because she realizes that she shouldn’t have been so irritable, and even if they couldn’t talk to each other, it was still nice to have people around.

Fortunately, the Indian children come back to see her again, and they become friends.  She tries to teach them English, but they don’t make much progress at first.  Even without being able to talk to each other, though, they can still do things like picking berries together.

SarahNobleNativeAmericanChildren

Sarah’s father also becomes friends with an Indian he nicknames “Tall John” because he can’t figure out how to pronounce his real name.  John and Tall John trade with each other, and John allows Sarah to visit Tall John’s home to play with his children.

When John finishes building the house and it is time for him to go and fetch the rest of their family, he decides that it would be better for Sarah not to make the long journey again, so he leaves her in the care of Tall John and his family.

SarahNobleStaysBehind

At first, Sarah is a little worried about living with the Indians.  Being friends and visiting during the day is one thing, but what would it be like to actually live with them?  Although Sarah likes her Indian friends, it’s obvious that the stories that she’s heard all her life about “savage” Indians bother her, and she still has some prejudices and misconceptions to overcome.  There are also the worries that often accompany children who are staying with someone other than their parents: what if something bad happens, her father never comes back, and she never sees her family again?  Sarah worries that, even though the tribe that lives nearby is nice, there are other Indians who aren’t, and some of them might attack while her father is away.

Fortunately, things go well during Sarah’s time with the Indians.  She finds some of their habits strange, and she notices that Tall John’s children (nicknamed “Small John” and “Mary”) find some of her habits strange, like the clothes she wears and the way she prays at night.  Tall John’s family gives Sarah some deerskin clothing, like they wear, and some moccasins, which she finds surprisingly comfortable.  There is a scare about a possible attack, but that passes without incident, and Sarah ends up enjoying her time with her Indian friends, playing games and participating in chores with them.  Tall John and his wife treat Sarah like one of their own children.

When it’s time for her to rejoin her family, Sarah changes back to her old clothes, but they no longer seem as comfortable to her, and she decides to keep wearing the moccasins.  A little of her Indian friends has rubbed off on her, and she is a different person because of her experiences.  Sarah’s mother expresses some concern about her daughter having lived with “savages” (her word), but Sarah is quick to defend them, saying that they aren’t savages and that they’re friends.  Her father agrees that Tall John and his family are good people who took good care of Sarah.

This book is a Newbery Honor Book.  It is currently available online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).

My Reaction

Throughout the story, various characters have obvious prejudices about American Indians, and the language used isn’t what we would use today (ex. “Indians” instead of “Native Americans” and nobody says “squaw” anymore (or shouldn’t – white people used to think it simply meant “woman” but it has other connotations as well, better to just say “woman” when that’s what you mean)), but these are fitting with the time period when the story takes place.  The overall attitude of the story, especially Sarah’s evolving attitudes toward her new Native American friends, is good.  Sarah begins by being frightened because of all of the scary things people have told her about Indians, but once she begins spending time with them and living among them, she sees that the things she heard before weren’t true, and she values their friendship.  The parts where characters behave in prejudiced or condescending ways are uncomfortable, but you can’t have a story about improvement without someone behaving or thinking wrongly in the first place.  At least, that was my interpretation.  I understand that there are others who are more concerned.  At the end of the story, Sarah’s mother doesn’t seem convinced about the Indians, but I like to think that experience may change her as it did Sarah.  I think Sarah’s mother represents where Sarah came from but not where she ends up.  I think it’s important to explain to children the historical context of the story and put the emphasis on Sarah’s changing opinions.  Sarah’s experiences help her to see the truth about her new neighbors.

The author’s note in the beginning of the book explains that the story of Sarah Noble is based on the life of the real Sarah Noble, who did accompany her father to the family’s new homestead when the community of New Milford was forming in order to cook for him while he built the family’s new house.  The real Sarah did live with the nearby tribe of Native Americans for a time, although the author of the story had to invent some of the details of her stay.  It also says that the real Sarah maintained a friendship with the Indian the book refers to as “Tall John.”  The real Sarah become a school teacher as an adult, as the Sarah in the story said that she wanted.  She also married and had children.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

Molly’s Pilgrim

MollysPilgrim

Molly’s Pilgrim by Barbara Cohen, 1983.

Molly has been unhappy since her family moved to the smaller town of Winter Hill, New Jersey so that her father could get a better job. In New York City, there were other Jewish girls like her, and she didn’t feel so strange and out-of-place. The Winter Hollow girls don’t understand her at all and don’t like her. Molly’s family fled Russia to escape persecution, and they’ve only been living in America for about a year.  Molly still has a Yiddish accent and doesn’t quite speak proper English yet.  Molly is constantly teased about the way she talks and her unfamiliarity with American habits.

MollysPilgrimSchool

One girl in particular, Elizabeth, makes up rhymes to make fun of Molly, even following her home from school like a creepy stalker, to continue singing them at her. The other girls follow Elizabeth’s lead because they kind of admire her and because she is always giving them candy.

MollysPilgrimBullies

Then, one day, the girls’ teacher begins teaching them about Thanksgiving. Of course, Elizabeth makes a big deal about the fact that Molly has never heard about Thanksgiving before. But, Molly finds the story about the pilgrims interesting. The teacher says that for their Thanksgiving activity, instead of making paper turkeys like they usually do, the children are going to make clothespin dolls to look like American Indians and pilgrims, so they can create a scene like the first Thanksgiving.

MollysPilgrimClass

When Molly gets home and explains the assignment to her mother, she has to tell her mother what a “pilgrim” is. She explains it by saying that they were people who came from across the ocean in search of religious freedom. Her mother understands that and offers to help Molly with the doll.

However, when Molly sees what her mother has done with the doll, she is worried. The doll is beautiful, but her mother has dressed the doll in the clothes of a Russian refugee, like Molly’s family, not in the traditional Puritan garb of the pilgrims. At first, Molly is sure that she’ll be teased more than ever at school when she shows up with a doll wearing the wrong clothes and that people will think that she’s stupid for not understanding how pilgrims dressed.

MollysPilgrimDoll

But, Molly’s mother is correct in pointing out that their family are modern pilgrims, coming to America for the same reasons that the original pilgrims did. Molly does get some teasing from Elizabeth (that’s not a surprise, since it’s Elizabeth, after all), but when the teacher asks Molly about the meaning of her doll, it leads everyone to a better understanding, both of the holiday and where Molly and her family fit in with their new country and its history.

Molly’s teacher points out that the holiday of Thanksgiving wasn’t entirely an original idea that the pilgrims invented all by themselves but that they took their inspiration from a much older Jewish tradition from the Old Testament.  Human beings do not exist in a vacuum, and we all regularly take ideas that we’re exposed to and build on them in our own lives.  Although Puritans were generally known for their belief in religious “purity” (hence, their name) and noted for their intolerance to different religions and beliefs, they also strongly believed in education, which frequently involves taking past ideas and knowledge and applying them toward new situations.  Their Thanksgiving celebration was just an example of that, an older idea that they used for their own purpose, adapted to the lives of the people who adopted the tradition.  It was their celebration, but not their sole intellectual property.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive (multiple copies).

There is also a sequel to this book called Make a Wish, Molly, in which Molly learns about birthday parties in the United States.

My Reaction and Additional Information

The book doesn’t mention it, but the word “pilgrim” itself is also much older than the early Puritan colonists in America.  Before the development of the America colonies, it referred to any religious traveler on their way to a holy place, and many people still use it in that sense.  A person on a pilgrimage could be just about anyone from anywhere going to anywhere else as long as the journey has spiritual significance.  The Puritan colonists used that term for themselves to emphasize the reasons why they were seeking new homes in a new land.  For them, it was a kind of pilgrimage to a place where they could start again.  Molly’s family came to America in search of religious freedom, just as the Puritans did.  Their journeys weren’t quite the same, but they shared a common purpose and ended up in the same place (more or less).

By showing the links between Molly and her family and the pilgrims, Molly’s mother and her teacher help the other students to understand that Molly really does fit in, that her being there makes sense, and that she has a place in their class and in their celebration of Thanksgiving.

This story was also made into a short film. I remember seeing it in school when I was a kid in the early 1990s.  I checked on YouTube, and there are trailers posted for this film.  One thing that I hadn’t remembered from when I was a kid was that the time period of the book was earlier than the film.  In the film, the characters are shown to be contemporary with the time the film was made, but the style of dress of the girls in the book’s pictures and the things that Molly’s mother says about why the family left Russia indicate that the book probably takes place during the late 19th century or early 20th century, possibly around the same time as the events in the famous play/movie Fiddler on the Roof.

As a side note, if you’re wondering why the girl is named Molly, which doesn’t sound particularly Russian, Molly is typically a nickname for Mary and other, similar-sounding, related names.  Molly’s mother also calls her Malkeleh, which may be her original name or perhaps another variant, if her original name was Malka, as another reviewer suggests.

In spite of the warning on that last site I linked to about reading a book with your child that may be covered in class, I say to go ahead and read it anyway.  It’s hard to say what books may or may not be used in classes by individual teachers, and if your child’s teacher doesn’t happen to use this one, it’s still a good story.  Perhaps just warn your child not to say something that would spoil the ending for their classmates who haven’t read it yet.

Posted on by TracyC

I Hate English

HateEnglish

I Hate English! by Ellen Levine, 1989.

When Mei Mei’s family moves from Hong Kong to New York, she finds herself forced to go to a school where no one else speaks Chinese.  She is expected to learn English and to read, write, and speak in English, and she hates it!  To her, English is a very strange language, and the writing system is nothing like Chinese.  For a time, Mei Mei refuses to speak in English, even when she understands what is being said around her, because she hates it so much.

HateEnglishArrival

The only part of New York that Mei Mei really likes is Chinatown and the Chinatown Learning Center.  Mei Mei likes it because she is surrounded by people speaking Chinese. There, she can relax and be herself because people there understand her.

HateEnglishLearningCenter

However, Mei Mei’s refusal to speak English isn’t helping her at school or anywhere else.  It’s keeping her from speaking to anyone outside of Chinatown, and it can’t continue.  When an English teacher, Nancy, comes to the Learning Center to help Mei Mei with her English, she resists learning at first.  She feels like she’ll lose her Chinese and part of her identity if she uses English.

HateEnglishNancy

At first, Mei Mei’s worries about speaking English intensify with Nancy’s lessons.  It disturbs her how English has words that would be difficult or impossible to translate into Chinese and English words seem to be coming more easily to her, even when she doesn’t really want to speak the language.  Nancy explains to Mei Mei that English is necessary for her because she will need it to talk to many people in America, and there are many people who also want to talk to Mei Mei and be her friend, including Nancy.  It’s only when Nancy overwhelms her by constantly talking in English and Mei Mei becomes desperate to talk about herself and be understood in English that Mei Mei realizes that speaking a new language doesn’t mean losing her identity.  It’s just another way of expressing herself, and she can go back and forth between the two any time she wants.

HateEnglishNancyTalking
HateEnglishMeiMei

Mei Mei’s feelings of strangeness in her new home and the difficulties of learning a new language are relatable.  The hardest part of the experience for Mei Mei is feeling like she might be giving up a part of her past, her culture, and herself by switching from Chinese to English.  But, refusing to speak English puts Mei Mei in the position of being someone who can only listen, never talk, limiting her ability to be understood and to make friends.  In the end, she comes to realize that speaking a new language is not a matter of giving up anything, just adding to what she knows and making herself understood in a new way.  It’s the beginning of expanding her horizons and building relationships with new people.

HateEnglishFriends

My favorite part as a kid was the part where Mei Mei and her friends went to the beach and cooked shellfish that they found.  It was interesting to me because I never lived near a beach when I was young.  The lifeguard at the beach tells Mei Mei and her friends that they can’t eat the shellfish, and they realize that he thinks that because he doesn’t know how to cook them.  I never did either and still don’t, but I liked hearing about it.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Crisis on Vulcan

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

STAVulcan

#1 Crisis on Vulcan by Brad and Barbara Strickland, 1996.

This is the first book in a series about characters from the original Star Trek series when they were young.

Young Spock accompanies his father, Sarek, on a diplomatic mission while he negotiates a peace treaty among different factions of the Marathan system. The different factions have been fighting for years, but now they must resolve their differences because they wish to join the Federation. Spock and his father journey home on the Enterprise, which is captained by Robert April. April’s first officer, Christopher Pike, takes a liking to Spock and shows him around the ship. Spock is surprised at the mix of different races aboard the Enterprise, how well they work together, and how easily they accept him.

Then, a group of Marathans attacks the Enterprise with the intention of capturing Sarek. They claim that Sarek betrayed them, although they do not explain why they think so. Spock helps the crew of the Enterprise to escape from the Marathans, and out of appreciation, Captain April offers to sponsor him for Starfleet Academy. Spock has already been accepted to the Vulcan Science Academy, so he does not accept the offer. The Vulcan Science Academy is the one of the best places for a young scientist to study, but they have extremely strict standards.

STAVulcanPicAll Vulcans believe in logic and reason and the suppression of emotions. Spock is half human, and Sarek is concerned that his control over his emotions will not be sufficient to allow him to cope with life at the Vulcan Science Academy. Sarek could tell that Spock was pleased with the praise that the crew of the Enterprise gave him when he was able to help them, and he urges him to keep a tighter rein on his feelings. To help Spock adjust to life at the Vulcan Science Academy, Sarek arranges for him to stay there over the summer, before the next semester’s classes begin.

As Sarek suspected, Spock is heavily scrutinized by his teachers and the other students. They are suspicious of him because they know that his mother is human, and they suspect that his ideas are not as logical as theirs. Although Spock excels in his studies, none of the others will give him the respect that he deserves. Then, Spock’s father calls him home because there has been an attack on his mother. Someone is out to harm Sarek’s family, and it looks like it is the same Marathans that attacked the Enterprise, possibly including a young Marathan Spock befriended earlier. What to do they want, and why are they so angry over a treaty that they had already agreed to sign?

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

Silver Days

silverdaysSilver Days by Sonia Levitin, 1989.

This is the second book in the Journey to America Saga.

Escaping from World War II Europe was only the first step for the Platt family. Now that they are reunited in the United States, survival is still a struggle. They have very little money, and Lisa’s father struggles to find work and a permanent place for his family to live. Along the way, they encounter people who are prejudiced against them, some because they are Jewish and some because they are German, and are forced to confront certain prejudices that they hadn’t realized that they held as they settle into their new country and learn to live alongside people from different backgrounds who live very different lives.

Lisa describes her family’s day to day struggles and adventures with understanding. In Germany, her father had his own business, selling coats, but he has to struggle to get into the clothing business in America. Her mother, who had once had her own servants in Germany, is forced to take a job as a maid to help make ends meet. Besides the basic problems of learning a new language, dealing with a lack of money, and trying to find work, she also describes the parts of American culture that take her family by surprise. There are religious issues because most of the people around them are Christian, and Lisa’s mother is upset when her youngest daughter, Annie, ends up getting a role in her school’s Easter play. Her mother also isn’t sure what to make of the Japanese family who lives next door when Annie makes friends with their daughter.

Meanwhile, the war that they had feared is becoming a reality. People in the U.S. are starting to support the war effort, collecting materials that the army can use, starting Victory Gardens to help support themselves during food rationing, joining the army, and volunteering as nurses. The Platts also experience survivor’s guilt as they hear reports of friends and family who weren’t lucky enough to escape the Holocaust.

The Platt family is realistic, and they have their arguments as the stresses of all these changes take their toll on them. But, they are a loving family and continue to support each other through everything. The title of the book comes from a song, “Golden Days”, about looking back on happy times. When Lisa’s little sister Annie asks her if these are their “golden days”, Lisa tells her that she doesn’t think so, but she thinks that they might be silver ones, days leading up to happier times ahead.

In some ways, the children of the family have an easier time dealing with all the changes than their parents. In the beginning, they are aware that they don’t quite fit in, although they desperately want to. However, they do manage to make new friends, and Lisa and her older sister, Ruth, even find their first loves. While the world around them is changing, the three sisters also change, growing up, finding new interests, and learning more about themselves and the kind of lives they want to live in their new home.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.