Bibliography
Peck, Richard. 2003. The River Between Us. New York, NY: Dial Books. ISBN 9780803727359
Plot Summary
The River Between Us is a hauntingly beautiful story about 15-year-old Tilly Pruitt coming of age on the banks of the Mississippi River. She is living in a nation boiling with strife whose rage is bubbling over the lives of the inhabitants of the sleepy Illinois town called Grand Tower. Tilly is consumed with helping her mother around the house and caring for her clairvoyant sister who is “like a soul in torment.” Even with whispers of impending war floating along the breeze, life feels rather common to Tilly until the fateful night when “the steamboat whistle splits the air”. Descending the steps of the Rob Roy are two mysterious figures, a young woman donning petticoats and hoop skirts and a darker woman with her hair wrapped in a bandana. The strangers decide to take room and board with Tilly’s family. It is through the lives of these southern visitors that the Pruitts learn to withstand the fires of life. Instead of shriveling in the wake of the Civil War, Tilly and her family are transformed and rise from the heat stronger than they ever imagined.
Critical Analysis
Richard Peck takes an interesting approach to the setting of his historical fiction novel, The River Between Us. He sets the first and last chapters in the “present tense” of 1916. Here we meet the grandson of Tilly Pruitt Hutchings, a woman whose youth was formed during the Civil War. Young Howard Hutchings narrates these two chapters as he describes the road trip to visit his father’s side of the family. The bulk of the novel begins in the second chapter where Tilly Pruitt rewinds the narration to the dawn of the Civil War. Peck introduces his characters through Tilly, and it is her voice that transports the reader to a hilltop beside the Mississippi River: “Even though Tower Rock was over in Missouri, with the river between us, it gave our town its name: Grand Tower. Nobody wanted to live in a town named after the devil.” Living atop the hill with Tilly are her mother, her brother Noah, and her sister Cass. Noah is bound to join the ranks under General Ulysses S. Grant; Mama is determined to stop him; and Cass is haunted by ghost and violent visions.
The main theme of the novel is transformation, specifically the transformation that comes from the people in our lives. When two enigmatic strangers arrive in Grand Tower from New Orleans, the transformation of Tilly and her family begins to take form. Peck cloaks the character of Delphine Duval in a mystery of hoop skirts, corsets, and oversized bonnets. Her even more perplexing companion, Calinda, hides herself in silence; people find complexity in her stark simplicity: “I saw this other one only in silhouette at first. She was narrower, darker, shrouded in a long plain cloak.” The events that wait ahead for the Pruitts, Delphine, and Calinda bring out an inner strength that none knew they possessed. Time also reveals a secret that eventually sets everyone free: “’I am the gens de couleur, madame,’ she said, calmly proud. ‘The free people of color, if you speak no French.’”
Peck gives special attention to details, lending the story an authentic feel. His poetic decriptives of clothing, scenery, and people help the reader to visualize the text: “The railings were jammed tight with dark figures. I saw the firefly glow of the gentlemen’s seegars. I imagine I saw diamonds within the ladies’ flowing cloaks, and emeralds in their hair.” He also mixes an effective cocktail of fiction and fact that blur the line between the imagination and reality:
“’We drove ‘em back through the woods, past their cap. I’d lost my musket by then. It never would fire. When we fell to looting the camp, Grant made us torch the place to learn us not to steal. The smoke drew Polk’s fire from across on the Kentucky side. That’s when I lost this.’ He touched his sleeve.”
Through authenticity and honesty, Peck drives home the fact that each life connects with the other, and that the actions of one can have a lifelong affect on many. In the final chapter, Peck hands the narration back to Howard Hutchings. Howard has absorbed the stories told by an aging Tilly. He is left reeling with pride when it is revealed that his true grandmother is not Tilly afterall, but is the beautiful Southern Belle who fatefully exited the Rob Roy so many years ago. Howard realizes that Delphine and Calinda's arrival has also transformed his own life: "I was older now too, a lot older than when this trip began, older and looking ahead."
Review Excerpts
2004 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction
USA Today: “The book is rich in detail about life along the Mississippi and the limited, late war news that further splits communities.”
The Washington Post: “This unusual Civil War novel really boosts Peck’s credentials as
America’s best living author for young adults.”
Connections
*This would be a superb choice for required reading (ages 12 and up).
*Could be used to help construct meaning of the Civil War in a history class.
*Audio version available, ISBN 9780307282507
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Review of KIRA-KIRA by Cynthia Kadohata
Bibliography
Kadohata, Cynthia. 2004. Kira-Kira. New York, NY: Atheneum Books. ISBN 9780689856396
Plot Summary
Lying on their backs and gazing into an endless star-studded sky, Katie and Lynn dream of their brightly lit futures. Lynn envisions herself and Katie attending college, living by the sea, and buying their parents big houses. Katie just wants everything to stay kira-kira, which is Japanese for “glittering.” Soon, sisters Katie and Lynn find themselves moving from rural Iowa to a sleepy southern town in 1950’s Georgia. As their parents put in copious amounts of time at a poultry plant, Lynn becomes the glue that holds this young Japanese-American family together. Katie idolizes her older sister and settles on the fact that Lynn is smarter, wiser, and bound for greatness. But, when Lynn becomes fatally ill, the family is torn at the seams. It is only after Lynn’s death that Katie finally understands the biggest lesson in life; no matter what fate may befall you, savor each day and sprinkle it with plenty of kira-kira.
Critical Analysis
Cynthia Kadohata sets her historical fiction novel in Chesterfield, Georgia during the 1950’s. Told from the perspective of Katie, the younger sister in a Japanese-American family, Kira-Kira explores racism, civil-rights, and the unshakable strength of family bonds. Katie adores her older sister, Lynn. In fact, it is Lynn who teaches Katie her very first word, kira-kira, which means "glittering" in Japanese. Katie becomes utterly mesmerized by the word and calls everything she sees, from midnight stars to colored Kleenex, kira-kira. Her fragile mother becomes exasperated by Katie’s fanciful disposition and depends on Lynn to lead Katie through life’s many trials and disappointments; Katie is a willing follower: “Lynn was the bravest girl in the world. She was also a genius. I knew this because one day I asked her, ‘Are you a genius?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ I believed her because the day my father taught her how to play chess, she won her first game. She said she would teach me how to play if I wanted. She always said she would teach me everything in the world I needed to know.”
Kadohata manages to show the warmth of Katie and Lynn’s bond while letting the reader feel the effects of a story laced with the poison of racism. Before Katie’s first day of school, Lynn sits down with her to prepare Katie for the bigotry that will inevitably find her:
“Have you noticed that sometimes people won’t say hello to Mom when we’re out shopping?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, some of the kids at school may not say hello to you, either.”
"You mean because they don’t know me?”
“No, I mean because they don’t want to know you.”
The book accurately rewrites disturbing accounts from a pre-unionized workforce, scenes that shake us from the lull of historical amnesia. One such account takes place after Katie and her baby brother spend the entire day in the hot car outside of her mother’s place of work. Riding home from the poultry processing plant, Katie remembers, “My mother smelled funny. The factory workers weren’t allowed to take unscheduled breaks, so they all wore pads in case they needed to use the bathroom. It smelled like my mother had used her pad.”
Kadohata moves the plot along with the help of Lynn’s diary. In fact, her diary is such an integral part of the story that it nearly becomes a character itself. Kadohata introduces the diary in the first chapter as Katie tells us, “I know a lot about when I was a little girl, because my sister used to keep a diary. Today I keep her diary in a drawer next to my bed.” Throughout the book, excerpts of the diary are revealed, but we see its ultimate significance in Lynn’s final entry: “To Katie I leave my diary, my dictionary, and my encyclopedia, which she had better use.” Katie proceeds to read every page of the diary and discovers that she is “the only person mentioned every single day.” Kadohata allows the words of the diary to strengthen Katie and to remind her how to paint the world with kira-kira.
Review Excerpts
Newbery Medal Winner
A New York Times Bestseller
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
Starred Review in Publisher’s Weekly: “The family’s devotion to one another, and one sister’s ability to teach the younger sister to appreciate the ‘kira-kira’, or glittering, in everyday life makes this novel shine.”
Connections
*After explaining the term kira-kira, teachers could ask students to write about something that is kira-kira to them.
*Could be used to discuss racism, discrimination, and poor working conditions in the context of the 1950’s and how it relates to today's society.
*Would make an excellent required reading for ages 10 to 14.
*Would be an ideal addition to a multicultural library within a classroom.
Kadohata, Cynthia. 2004. Kira-Kira. New York, NY: Atheneum Books. ISBN 9780689856396
Plot Summary
Lying on their backs and gazing into an endless star-studded sky, Katie and Lynn dream of their brightly lit futures. Lynn envisions herself and Katie attending college, living by the sea, and buying their parents big houses. Katie just wants everything to stay kira-kira, which is Japanese for “glittering.” Soon, sisters Katie and Lynn find themselves moving from rural Iowa to a sleepy southern town in 1950’s Georgia. As their parents put in copious amounts of time at a poultry plant, Lynn becomes the glue that holds this young Japanese-American family together. Katie idolizes her older sister and settles on the fact that Lynn is smarter, wiser, and bound for greatness. But, when Lynn becomes fatally ill, the family is torn at the seams. It is only after Lynn’s death that Katie finally understands the biggest lesson in life; no matter what fate may befall you, savor each day and sprinkle it with plenty of kira-kira.
Critical Analysis
Cynthia Kadohata sets her historical fiction novel in Chesterfield, Georgia during the 1950’s. Told from the perspective of Katie, the younger sister in a Japanese-American family, Kira-Kira explores racism, civil-rights, and the unshakable strength of family bonds. Katie adores her older sister, Lynn. In fact, it is Lynn who teaches Katie her very first word, kira-kira, which means "glittering" in Japanese. Katie becomes utterly mesmerized by the word and calls everything she sees, from midnight stars to colored Kleenex, kira-kira. Her fragile mother becomes exasperated by Katie’s fanciful disposition and depends on Lynn to lead Katie through life’s many trials and disappointments; Katie is a willing follower: “Lynn was the bravest girl in the world. She was also a genius. I knew this because one day I asked her, ‘Are you a genius?’ And she said, ‘Yes.’ I believed her because the day my father taught her how to play chess, she won her first game. She said she would teach me how to play if I wanted. She always said she would teach me everything in the world I needed to know.”
Kadohata manages to show the warmth of Katie and Lynn’s bond while letting the reader feel the effects of a story laced with the poison of racism. Before Katie’s first day of school, Lynn sits down with her to prepare Katie for the bigotry that will inevitably find her:
“Have you noticed that sometimes people won’t say hello to Mom when we’re out shopping?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Well, some of the kids at school may not say hello to you, either.”
"You mean because they don’t know me?”
“No, I mean because they don’t want to know you.”
The book accurately rewrites disturbing accounts from a pre-unionized workforce, scenes that shake us from the lull of historical amnesia. One such account takes place after Katie and her baby brother spend the entire day in the hot car outside of her mother’s place of work. Riding home from the poultry processing plant, Katie remembers, “My mother smelled funny. The factory workers weren’t allowed to take unscheduled breaks, so they all wore pads in case they needed to use the bathroom. It smelled like my mother had used her pad.”
Kadohata moves the plot along with the help of Lynn’s diary. In fact, her diary is such an integral part of the story that it nearly becomes a character itself. Kadohata introduces the diary in the first chapter as Katie tells us, “I know a lot about when I was a little girl, because my sister used to keep a diary. Today I keep her diary in a drawer next to my bed.” Throughout the book, excerpts of the diary are revealed, but we see its ultimate significance in Lynn’s final entry: “To Katie I leave my diary, my dictionary, and my encyclopedia, which she had better use.” Katie proceeds to read every page of the diary and discovers that she is “the only person mentioned every single day.” Kadohata allows the words of the diary to strengthen Katie and to remind her how to paint the world with kira-kira.
Review Excerpts
Newbery Medal Winner
A New York Times Bestseller
An ALA Notable Children’s Book
Starred Review in Publisher’s Weekly: “The family’s devotion to one another, and one sister’s ability to teach the younger sister to appreciate the ‘kira-kira’, or glittering, in everyday life makes this novel shine.”
Connections
*After explaining the term kira-kira, teachers could ask students to write about something that is kira-kira to them.
*Could be used to discuss racism, discrimination, and poor working conditions in the context of the 1950’s and how it relates to today's society.
*Would make an excellent required reading for ages 10 to 14.
*Would be an ideal addition to a multicultural library within a classroom.
Review of ISLAND OF THE BLUE DOLPHINS by Scott O'Dell
Bibliography
O’Dell, Scott. 1990. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395536803
Plot Summary
San Nicolas Island is a tiny rock of an island off of the coast of California. It is the early 1800’s, and there lives an American Indian tribe called the Ghalas-at. Karana is the daughter of the Chief of Ghalas-at, and she enjoys a happy life with her younger brother and fellow tribes people. Her home seems to dance with the dolphins as it is calmly tickled by the waving arms of kelp rising from the sea. All is well until the day a red ship is seen on the horizon. The ship carries Russian hunters and a fate that will change Karana’s life forever. After a devastating string of unimaginable events, Karana finds herself in complete isolation. Alone she must grieve the loss of her family; alone she must fight and learn survival; and alone she remains for the next eighteen years.
Critical Analysis
Scott O’Dell brings to life the true story of Karana, a young Indian girl who is left behind on an isolated island for eighteen years. He sets the story on the island of San Nicolas, a mere oversized rock off of the California coast. He opens the story with Karana, and her younger brother noticing a distant object gliding through the smooth sea: “At first it seemed like a small shell afloat on the sea. Then it grew larger and was a gull with folded wings.” They soon discover that it is a Russian ship teeming with unscrupulous hunters. The hunters are in pursuit of sea-otters, and San Nicolas Island harbors a bountiful supply.
Karana’s father, the Chief of Ghalas-at, makes a deal with the Russians for a percentage of their catch; however, the deceitful Russians attempt to steal away the sea-otters. A fatal exchange of fighting ensues. It is at this point that O’Dell jerks the reader from curiosity of the foreign hunters and throws them into the unstoppable whirl of devastation that forever alters the life of Karana.
Narrated by Karana, O’Dell moves the plot along nicely, and manages to present events in a suspenseful order. The reader wonders what the red ship holds, wonders how Karana will be deserted, wonders how she will live through her family’s death, and so it goes throughout the book. However, I would have liked to have felt Karana’s emotions on a deeper level. For example, after her young brother is mauled and killed by a pack of wild dogs, Karana narrates the series of events as if it is a play-by-play of a distant memory: “I carried Romo back to the village, reaching it when the sun was far down. The dogs followed me all the way, but when I had laid him down in the hut, and came out with a club in my hand, they trotted off to a low hill.” There seems to be a disconnect between the horrific events of Karana’s life and the raw emotions that she must have felt.
A prevailing theme in the book is the uncanny ability that people have to adapt in the worst of conditions. Karana is not only isolated for eighteen years, she is relentlessly faced with horrors, dangers, and adversities that would logically destroy even the strongest of people. Yet, Karana manages to find solace in her solitude: “By the time winter was over and grass began to show green on the hill my house was comfortable. I was sheltered from the wind and rain and prowling animals. I could cook anything I wished to eat. Everything I wanted was there at hand.”
In the 1990 reprint of Island of the Blue Dolphins, Ted Lewin lends his illustrations to illuminate the writing of Scott O’Dell. Chosen directly by O’Dell, Lewin depicts the book’s most poignant events with muted tones of soft watercolor paints. Each chapter contains one painting, and each painting appears to be a snapshot of frozen animation. Because the illustrations authentically capture the spirit of the novel, they enhance the reading experience, which of particular value in children’s literature.
Review Excerpts
Newbery Medal Winner of 1961
School Library Journal: “It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.”
Children’s Literature: “Her survival story-fighting the wild dogs and loneliness, hunting for food, and hoping to be rescued-is spell binding.”
Connections
*Excellent required reading for ages 9 to 12.
*Could be used in a themed unit that encompasses history, science, and art.
*Students could imagine themselves deserted on an island, and they might write a page describing their adventure and how they feel.
O’Dell, Scott. 1990. Island of the Blue Dolphins. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780395536803
Plot Summary
San Nicolas Island is a tiny rock of an island off of the coast of California. It is the early 1800’s, and there lives an American Indian tribe called the Ghalas-at. Karana is the daughter of the Chief of Ghalas-at, and she enjoys a happy life with her younger brother and fellow tribes people. Her home seems to dance with the dolphins as it is calmly tickled by the waving arms of kelp rising from the sea. All is well until the day a red ship is seen on the horizon. The ship carries Russian hunters and a fate that will change Karana’s life forever. After a devastating string of unimaginable events, Karana finds herself in complete isolation. Alone she must grieve the loss of her family; alone she must fight and learn survival; and alone she remains for the next eighteen years.
Critical Analysis
Scott O’Dell brings to life the true story of Karana, a young Indian girl who is left behind on an isolated island for eighteen years. He sets the story on the island of San Nicolas, a mere oversized rock off of the California coast. He opens the story with Karana, and her younger brother noticing a distant object gliding through the smooth sea: “At first it seemed like a small shell afloat on the sea. Then it grew larger and was a gull with folded wings.” They soon discover that it is a Russian ship teeming with unscrupulous hunters. The hunters are in pursuit of sea-otters, and San Nicolas Island harbors a bountiful supply.
Karana’s father, the Chief of Ghalas-at, makes a deal with the Russians for a percentage of their catch; however, the deceitful Russians attempt to steal away the sea-otters. A fatal exchange of fighting ensues. It is at this point that O’Dell jerks the reader from curiosity of the foreign hunters and throws them into the unstoppable whirl of devastation that forever alters the life of Karana.
Narrated by Karana, O’Dell moves the plot along nicely, and manages to present events in a suspenseful order. The reader wonders what the red ship holds, wonders how Karana will be deserted, wonders how she will live through her family’s death, and so it goes throughout the book. However, I would have liked to have felt Karana’s emotions on a deeper level. For example, after her young brother is mauled and killed by a pack of wild dogs, Karana narrates the series of events as if it is a play-by-play of a distant memory: “I carried Romo back to the village, reaching it when the sun was far down. The dogs followed me all the way, but when I had laid him down in the hut, and came out with a club in my hand, they trotted off to a low hill.” There seems to be a disconnect between the horrific events of Karana’s life and the raw emotions that she must have felt.
A prevailing theme in the book is the uncanny ability that people have to adapt in the worst of conditions. Karana is not only isolated for eighteen years, she is relentlessly faced with horrors, dangers, and adversities that would logically destroy even the strongest of people. Yet, Karana manages to find solace in her solitude: “By the time winter was over and grass began to show green on the hill my house was comfortable. I was sheltered from the wind and rain and prowling animals. I could cook anything I wished to eat. Everything I wanted was there at hand.”
In the 1990 reprint of Island of the Blue Dolphins, Ted Lewin lends his illustrations to illuminate the writing of Scott O’Dell. Chosen directly by O’Dell, Lewin depicts the book’s most poignant events with muted tones of soft watercolor paints. Each chapter contains one painting, and each painting appears to be a snapshot of frozen animation. Because the illustrations authentically capture the spirit of the novel, they enhance the reading experience, which of particular value in children’s literature.
Review Excerpts
Newbery Medal Winner of 1961
School Library Journal: “It is not only an unusual adventure of survival, but also a tale of natural beauty and personal discovery.”
Children’s Literature: “Her survival story-fighting the wild dogs and loneliness, hunting for food, and hoping to be rescued-is spell binding.”
Connections
*Excellent required reading for ages 9 to 12.
*Could be used in a themed unit that encompasses history, science, and art.
*Students could imagine themselves deserted on an island, and they might write a page describing their adventure and how they feel.
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