hello! hello!

Title: hello! hello!

Author: Matthew Cordell

Illustrator: Matthew Cordell

Publisher: Hyperion Books

ISBN: 9781423159063

Audience: Ages 2-6

Summary: Young Lydia is completely surrounded by electronic devices as this story opens.  One by one, though, her hand-held game, computer, telephone, and television fail.  Her family members are too busy with their own electronics to even look up as they perfunctorily answer her “Hello’s.”  Drawn outside by a colorful leaf, Lydia discovers the beautiful full-color world, and she says “hello” to them all – leaf, flower, bug, horse, buffalo, gorilla, blue whale, tyrannosaurus rex, and on and on.  Eventually, Lydia convinces her family to put down their plugged-in devices and join her in the marvelous world.

Literary elements at work in the story: This story consists of seventy-four words, forty-five of which are “Hello.”  Cordell’s watercolor and ink illustrations speak volumes, however, and rarely are such exuberance and joy to be found in a children’s book.  The setting of the natural world actually serves as a protagonist, transforming Lydia and, in time, her family.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story? Lydia has a mother, father, and a younger brother, but the cartoon drawings of these relatives and their electronics appear on stark two-page spreads, showing only the distance between them and Lydia.  The abundance of electronics probably points to a middle-class family.

Theological Conversation Partners: Joy in God’s created world and our place in it is the most obvious conversation partner in hello! hello!  Genesis 1:20-25 is practically reenacted in front of the reader’s eyes.  As Lydia greets leaf, bug, and flower, she grows visibly happier, culminating in the overwhelming joy of “Hello, world!”  The even deeper joy of two-way conversation comes when Horse responds by calling Lydia’s name.  Here one is reminded of God’s intimate knowledge of each of us.  The Lord tells Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” (Jeremiah 1:4)  We also claim that gift of being a chosen child of God during the sacrament of baptism.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Why do you think that Lydia’s family didn’t talk much to her in the beginning of the book?
2. Look at the page where Lydia says “Hello” to her mom.  Now look at the page where Lydia says “Hello” to the world. What are some of the differences you see?
3. Why do you think that Lydia is so happy when she is with all the flowers and animals?
4. How do you feel when you see all the things God has made in the world?
5. Horse knew Lydia’s name and said, “Hello, Lydia.”  God knows your name, too!  Imagine what it might be like to hear God say, “Hello!” to you.

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary graduate Beth Lyon-Suhring.

My Sister, Alicia May

Title of Book: My Sister, Alicia May

Author: Nancy Tupper Ling

Illustrator: Shennen Bersani

Publisher: Pleasant St. Press

ISBN: 978-0-9792035-9-6

Audience: Ages 5 – 7

Summary: My Sister Alicia May is a story journeying through the life of a little girl with Down syndrome.  This is an exceptional story told by Alicia’s sister’s explaining what it is like to have a sibling with a disability. This is a story of sibling love, challenges, laughter and triumph.

Literary elements at work in the story: The story is told from the perspective of Alicia’s sister- Rachel, who Alicia calls, “Rae Rae.”  Rachel tells the story of Alicia’s birth, surgeries, morning greetings, her favorite pastimes, visits with neighbors, trips to the zoo and disturbing school bus rides home.  The story expresses the love, joys and frustrations of having a sibling with a disability.  The illustrations are very soft, colorful, inviting to the reader and captivating visually as the story is to read.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/abilities/disabilities/economic:  The story embraces the challenges children with disabilities may face, how the sibling is affected and how their love moves them through the challenges.   The story focuses on a little girl with Down syndrome, but this story would be applicable to any child with a disability, their siblings, teachers, family and friends.

Theological Conversation Partners:  John 3:16; Matthew 22:37-40; 1 Corinthians 13:1-7

This story points to the love shared between siblings regardless of differences and challenges.  God established God’s covenant in love with us when he gave his only Son.  God loved us so much that God gave Christ to die for our sins and by faith in Him we have eternal life.  This is the example of love.  Jesus then instructs us to love God, then one another as ourselves.  We must fill our hearts with love so that we can approach life with a loving heart which will produce patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control and forgiveness in all situations.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What did Alicia do for Rachel that showed she loved her?
2. What did Rachel do for Alicia that showed she loved her?
3. What are some challenges Rachel faces being Alicia’s sister?
4. What are some challenges Alicia faces being Rachel’s sister?
5. How do they overcome these challenges?
6. How does their love for one another assist them in overcoming challenges?
7. What challenges do you face in your relationships?
8. How can you express love through these challenges?
9. What does scripture teach us in how we are to love one another?
10. How can you love others by being patient, kind, and gentle in your approach?
11. Name one change you will make in your life to share the love of Christ?

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Phanta Landsden.

The Invisible String

Title:  The Invisible String

Author:  Patrice Karst

Illustrator:  Geoff Stevenson

Publisher:  DeVorss Publications

Audience:  Ages 3 and up

Summary:  Liza and Jeremy (twins) are awakened by a storm one night.  In fear, they run to their mother.  In response their mother tells them the story, told to her by her mother, of the invisible string.  This string forever keeps them connected to her and all they love despite where they find themselves.  As a result, they are never alone.

Literary elements at work in the story:  Two primary themes used in The Invisible String to get the message of this story across are illustration and dialogue.  The children are in dialogue the entire book with their mother, questioning the reality of the invisible string’s ability to keep them connected.  In this dialogue the kids ask a series of questions centered on location.  The author uses very vivid and colorful pictures to bring to the life these various locations.  With each challenge the mother responds “even there”.

How does the book present gender, race, culture, economic status, abilities/disabilities, age, etc?:  The story presents the children as paternal twins, one male and one female.  The mother is represented, but no father. All three of the main characters are blondes but in one image where the twins are dreaming of their friends, the images show a greater variety of gender and ethnicity. Images in the story indicate the family has a laptop and a car and a comfortable house of apartment, so the basic image is one of a family that has a somewhat comfortable economic status.

Theological conversation partners:  The discomfort and fear of being alone is one we grapple with in this life often.  It is even a question addressed in scripture.    We find in scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, that God is active and always present in our lives. Though we may feel alone we are never alone.  Jesus promises us in Matthews 28:20 that he will be with us until the end of time.  Jesus also promises us in John 16:7 that in his absence he has sent the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to guide and be with us.  It is the Holy Spirit, much like the invisible string, that assures us we are never alone and that we are always connected to the One who loves us.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Tell about a time you felt alone?  Why?
2. In that moment to whom did you reach out  for connectedness?
3. How do you believe you would have felt if you had no one to reach out to?
4. Does our faith assure us of connectedness?  In what ways?
5. Given we are assured of God’s constant presence how should we respond to anxiety caused by the prospect of being separated from those we love?

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Lorenzo Small

At Your Baptism

Title: At Your Baptism

Author: Carrie Steenwyk and John D. Witvliet

Illustrator: Linda Saport

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young

ISBN: 978-0-8028-5381-3

Audience: All ages

Summary: At Your Baptism is a book which uses the words from the French Reformed liturgy for baptism to remind us how much God loves us all.  It does this by telling the story of God’s greatest gift –  the birth, life, death and resurrection of his son and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Literary Elements at Work: This book looks and feels like children’s picture book with thick board pages and few words on the pages but it has a profound message to all readers.  The illustrator assist the authors with colorful pictures that help tell the story of God’s love for us.  The story begins with God’s promises.  He sent his son Jesus into the world as fully human but without sin.  It then shows Jesus as a healer, teacher, and friend and then he dies on the cross for us all.  But that was not the end.  Jesus rose from the dead was seen by many and then he rises to reign in heaven at God’s right hand.  Jesus showed us how to love each other and God.

(How) does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  The authors and the illustrator set the tone for this book concerning gender, race, culture and economics on the first page as they show a gathering of people of all colors for the baby’s baptism.  The book then shows Jesus teaching a woman and children.  It later shows two children of different races embracing each other and it closes with a picture of all the children playing in a field.

Theology: This book reveals God’s promises for us all.  God loves us so much that he sent his only Son Jesus Christ to earth.  Jesus came to earth not to be served but to be a servant.  And we are called to do the same. We were taught true love and obedience by Jesus, to love God and our neighbors.  “We love because God loved us first.”

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What lesson can be learned from this child’s book as an adult?  Or is there one?
2. What lesson can be learned as a child?
3. Do you think God loves us all the same or does he have a favorite?  If so who is it?
4. Do the illustrations help tell the story? Why or Why not?
5. Would you change anything in the story? Why or Why not?
6. Can you earn God’s love? Why or Why not?
7. Does this story help you understand the importance of your baptism?  If so how?

This book review was written by Union Presbyterian Student Bob Martin

Son

Title:   Son

Author:  Lois Lowry

Illustrator:

Publisher:  Houghton Mifflin Books for Children

Publication Date:  October 2012

ISBN:  978-0547887203

Audience:  Ages 10 and up

Summary: Son begins in the same controlled community and at the same time as The Giver. Twelve-year old Claire has been assigned to the role of birthmother. This means that at about age fourteen she will be artificially inseminated and officially designated a Vessel.  Her baby will be called a Product and she will never see it, know its sex or its name.  Claire has discussed this with the other birthmothers in her dormitory so she has some idea of what to expect.  But the delivery does not go as planned; a C-section is required; Claire cannot have another child.  She is soon sent to work in the fish hatchery but not before she learns that she had a male child and his number is 36.  Working at the fish hatchery gives her the opportunity to visit her son, to play with him, to love him without ever being identified as his mother.  She learns that he is scheduled for release and then, that he has been kidnapped by Jonas and taken from the community. Claire makes her escape simultaneously by a river barge.  With a gap of time and memory, Claire is washed up on the shore of a village, bounded by the treacherous sea and an insurmountable cliff..  Here she remains for seven years, regaining her strength and her memory, and determining still to find her son. Lame Einar, one person who reached the top of the cliff, helps her prepare for the grueling climb out and warns her that at the top awaits Trademaster, who cut off Einar’s feet because he refused to make a trade.  An arduous, dangerous climb brings Claire to the top of the cliff where Trademaster awaits her.  To find her son, she must trade him her youth, and she does so with no hesitation. Then as an old woman she watches her son, Gabriel, grow. No one knows who she is until she is near death and tells her story to Jonas, the community leader who brought Gabriel there over 14 years ago.  Jonas knows the nature of Trademaster and sends Gabriel to confront him for Claire is near death.  Gabriel goes without weapons, with  only his gift, the ability to enter another person’s mind and emotion and understand how the other feels.

Literary elements at work in the story: While the novel begins in a dystopian community, it enters a wider world and becomes a struggle between good and evil, a timeless battle that transcends the genre.  Claire’s physical preparation for the trip and the climb up the cliff match the ordeals of any dystopian heroine.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  In the original community, giving birth is a low status role.  There is a consciousness of which jobs are prestigious. The village where Claire is washed ashore makes some distinction in gender roles.  It is a poor village, somewhat primitive, with no social classes..  Though the quartet is futuristic, beyond the first section of the novel, this could well be Europe in the dark ages. . In the village where Claire finds her son, outsiders are welcomed, handicaps are accepted.

Theological Conversation Partners: At least four themes run through this novel: the first is the power of  love and empathy; the second is the power and nature of evil; the third is individual gifts and their use in the community; and the fourth, the power of story and memory. There is a tendency to idealize Mother Love; Jesus has words to say about familial love that conflicts with the demands of his Kingdom. This story, however, is about parental love that will not let go. Evil is considered a force rather than a person.  Gabe’s realization that Evil will starve without the misery of its victims is reminiscent of Screwtape waiting to devour Wormwood. The weapons used to fight evil are a firm resolve not to kill, the ability to identify with and experience Evil.   Gifts are given for the benefit of the community and they disappear when no longer needed.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Would this story work as well if a father were searching for his son?  Why or why not?
2. How does Claire’s community guarantee that mother’s will not bond with their infants?  Why is this desirable?
3. Claire is consumed by the desire to find her son; no sacrifice is too great.  Can the love of a parent for a child be selfish or unhealthy?
4. How many aspects of unselfish love are exhibited in the story?
5. Gabe has the gift of “veering.”  How does this enable him to know that he had a mother?
6. Why did Claire wait so long to tell her story to Jonas? What happens when she does?
7. What is Gabe’s first weapon in going to meet Trademaster?
8. How does Gabe’s gift of veering enable him to defeat Trademaster? What is the cost of this identification with Evil?
9. Trademaster is considered to be a force rather than a person.  Does this square with the biblical view of evil?
10.  In the Apostle’s Creed we say, “He descended into Hell.”  Think about Gabe’s experience of identifying with Trademaster.  What light does it shed on this phrase?

This review was written by regular contributor Virginia Thomas.

Night Tree

Name of Book:  Night Tree

Author:  Eve Bunting

Illustrator: Ted Rand

Publisher: Voyager Books Harcourt Brace & Company

ISBN: 978-0152001216

Audience:  Ages4-8

Summary:  On Christmas Eve, a family treks into the woods to trim an evergreen with edible decorations for the forest animals.

Literary elements at work in the story:  A fictional telling of a family Christmas Eve ritual told from the point of view of the about 10 year old son. The text has a quiet, reverential tone and the illustrations are in Ted Rand’s characteristic glowing style. Father, Mother, son and young daughter smile, sing and take care of the natural world and each other in this sweet picture book.

Theological conversation partners:  The endearing text and beautiful illustrations are reason enough to have this book in a family library but its link to the observance of Advent makes it a faithful choice as well. Anticipating the yearly event, preparing (“For weeks we’ve been making balls of sunflower seeds and pressed millet and honey.”) and showing light in the dark night are qualities of the Advent season. There is a contemplative feel of the next to last page’s wording and painting of the boy tucked in bed looking out the window. The boy’s face turned to and illuminated by the full moon conveys peace and wondering.

Faith Talk Questions: 

1. What rituals do you remember from your childhood Advent seasons?  
2. What rituals are a part of your family’s Advent observance?
3. How is light portrayed in Night Tree?
4. What was the boy thinking about in bed after the family’s pilgrimage to the woods? When you are feeling reflective, to where do you “let your mind go back”?
5. The family extends generosity to each other in their interactions and to the woodland animals in their tree decorating. What are examples of generous acts given during holiday celebrations?

This faith review was prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Robin Crawford.

If You’re Missing Baby Jesus

Name of Book:  If You’re Missing Baby Jesus

Author:  Jean Gietzen

Illustrator:  Lila Rose Kennedy

Publisher:  Blue Cottage Gifts, a division of Multnomah Books

ISBN:  1-58860-024-6

Audience:  Ages 7—9

Summary:  In 1943, a young family of four in North Dakota buys a nativity set to decorate their house for Christmas. When they unpack the nativity set, they find that there are two figurines of the baby Jesus. Mom, (whose name is Ethel), asks her young son and daughter to go down to the five-and-dime store where the set was purchased, and tell the store owner about their two figurines of the baby Jesus. Mom is worried that some one will buy a nativity set that has no baby Jesus in it. The children go down to the store, and the store owner puts this sign in his window:  “If You’re Missing Baby Jesus, Call 7162.” Mom finally gets a call from a young mother who has no heat, no sufficient supply of food or clothing, and few Christmas presents for her young children. Mom hurries over to 205 Chestnut Street, and involves her husband and children in the process of giving the family in need a truly meaningful Christmas.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The author uses a first person narrative; the daughter of the family tells a true story which took place when she was a child during World War II. The title, If You’re Missing Baby Jesus, has a dual meaning. The first meaning relates to the possibility of someone buying a nativity set from the store with a missing figurine of the baby Jesus. The second meaning is explained by the author’s family acting as Jesus lived and taught–by ministering to the needs of the young family without heat. The young woman with cold and hungry children says it best when she says, “That nice lady (Ethel) is singin’ ‘bout the Lord Jesus. He ain’t ever gonna walk out on us. Why, He sent these people to us just to fix our furnace. And blankets—now we got blankets, too! Oh, we’ll be warm tonight. Jesus saves, that’s what He does.”       

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  The story takes place in war time during the year of 1943.  Winters were extremely cold in North Dakota. War times were times of deprivation.  Not everyone had the basic necessities of life. The war separated families, and left many families without bread winners. The book does not tell us why—but the young family without heat has been deserted by the husband and father of the family.

Theological conversation partners:  In Matthew 25, Jesus says that when we give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, when we welcome the stranger, give clothing to the naked, when we visit the sick, and the imprisoned, we are doing these things for him.  This scripture illustrates the concept of giving to others, caring for others, and loving others, because that was what Christ did, and it is what Christ wants us to do. This story changes the focus of Christmas from being a time of receiving, to a time of giving. The story shows how parents can model—for their children—a giving spirit.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. When does Dad begin to understand the meaning of the concept – missing baby Jesus?
2. What kind of things besides material things did Mom, Dad, and the children give this family in need?
3. How is the faith of the young mother living at 205 Chestnut Street affected by the gifts given her and her children?
4. How is the baby Jesus figurine important to each of the characters in this story?
5. Why is the location of the baby Jesus figurine so important?
6. What do the narrator and her family do with the “extra” baby Jesus figurine?
7. How does this story show the real meaning of Christmas?

This review was prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Chris Feno.

The Miracle Stealer

Name of Book:  The Miracle Stealer

Author:  Neil Connelly

Illustrator:

Publisher:  Arthur A. Levine Books, An Imprint of Scholastic, Inc.

ISBN:  9780545131957

Audience:  Grade 7 and up

Summary:  Six-year-old Daniel is the “miracle boy” of Paradise, Pennsylvania. People come from near and far because of his reputed healing powers.  When a new wave of Daniel hysteria threatens to overtake the town, Daniel’s nineteen-year-old sister Anderson decides to take action to prove once and for all that her little brother is just a regular kid with no miraculous powers.

Literary elements at work in the story: Anderson’s candid first-person narration makes this novel read like a good memoir.  As she struggles to make sense of her family and of her town and of the events which have led to her own crisis of faith, the people who populate her life emerge as rich and complicated characters.  One crucial summer in Andi’s recent past provides the catalyst for this attempt at understanding her life.  The plot of the story becomes somewhat knotty as she examines the interwoven events which lead to the story’s climax.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story? In her bitterness over the role she thinks the church has played in her family’s troubles, Andi ridicules the Universal Church of Paradise in particular and religion in general.  Belief in God is something that is behind her, and followers are made to look like gullible yokels.   However, as Andi continues her story, she admits that there are mysteries which she cannot explain, including those surrounding her brother.

Theological conversation partners: This is a story of a lost paradise.  The fish in Paradise, PA have died in the lake, the amusement park is abandoned, and the tourists no longer come for the summer.  This tangible disintegration echoes Anderson’s loss of spiritual innocence. Her father has abandoned the family, and she sees members of the religious community as dupes at best and frauds at worst.  There was a time “back when things were right and I thought God was there with us, hovering above and listening attentively,” Anderson remembers, but that time is long gone.  This book would be a good one to use with teens or even adults in conjunction with the Genesis 3 story of the Fall in a discussion of what it means to have a mature faith.

Faith talk questions:

1. You might divide the Grant family’s life into “before” and “after.”  What do you think their life was like before Daniel’s accident?  How was it different afterwards?
2. Why do people think that Daniel has miraculous powers?
3. Why does Anderson, “Andi,” want people to leave Daniel alone?
4. Why do you think the Pilgrims decided to follow Daniel?
5. Leo tells Andi, “Faith is accepting possibilities, not absolutes.”  How can faith be about possibilities?
6. Andi ends this story with the answer “maybe.”  Do you think that “maybe” is a hopeful answer?  Why or why not?

This review was written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Beth Lyon-Suhring.

Garmann’s Summer

Name of Book:  Garmann’s Summer

Author:  Stian Hole

Illustrator:  Stian Hole

Publisher:  Eerdmans Books for Younger Readers

ISBN:  9780802853394

Audience:  Ages 6 and up.

Summary:  Garmann, who is 6 years old, lives in Scandinavia.  He will soon go off to his first year at school, and he has spent the summer worrying about all the things that he does not yet know how to do:  ride a bicycle, walk along the top of the fence, hold his head under water, read a book.  He has not even lost one tooth yet, either.  When his three elderly aunts come to visit, as they do every summer, Garmann talks to them about how much he fears going to school, and they share their fears, too.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The reader looking for a cheery back-to-school story in which the worries of an anxious kindergartner are swept away in thirty-two pages will not find it here.  Author Stian Hole instead shines an unwavering light through both text and pictures on Garmann’s creative fretting.  Hole’s illustrations combine photographs of people against painted and collaged backdrops in a mildly discomforting expressionistic style; Garmann’s brow is furrowed, he stares at his aunties’ dentures magnified in a glass of water, his relatives are terribly wrinkled and old.  The tone of Garmann’s Summer, while not typical for a children’s picture book, does children the honor of taking their fears seriously.  Garmann is lucky enough to live in a family with whom he can talk about his fears.  Even more unusual, his relatives all acknowledge their own fears, too.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  Garmann lives in a nuclear family with two parents and loving elderly relatives.  Although the story is obviously set in Scandinavia, Garmann’s fears about starting school transcend his particular setting.

Theological conversation partners: Garmann’s Summer would be a good book to use one-on-one with a child who is fearful, since it speaks calmly of the universal nature of fear.  The book could lead into a conversation of Jesus’ response to people’s fears in his Sermon on the Mount: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life… Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin …” (Matthew 6:25, 28)  Psalm 23 could also be a helpful conversation partner with Garmann’s fears and those of his family.  Finally, one might turn to Galatians 6:2, where Paul reminds us to “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”  Garmann’s family did help him bear his burdens by listening to his fears and sharing their own with him.

Faith talk questions:

1. What is Garmann afraid of?
2. What is Auntie Ruth afraid of?  Why would those things be scary?
3. What is Garmann’s daddy afraid of?  What about his mama?
4. Are you ever afraid of anything?  What?
5. Garmann talked with everyone in his family about being afraid.  Why do you think he did this?  Did it help him?
6. Who would you go to when you wanted to talk about being afraid?
7. When David wrote the Psalms, he often wrote about things that were frightening.  Who helps David with his fears in Psalm 23?

This review is written by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Beth Lyon-Suhring.

Inside Out and Back Again

Title:  Inside Out and Back Again

Author: Thanhha Lai

Illustrator: 

Publisher:  HarperCollins, 2011

ISBN:  9780061962783

Audience:  Ages 8 and up

Summary: Ten-year-old Ha, her mother and three older brothers flee Saigon as it is falling to the Communists in 1975.  Ha leaves behind her papaya tree, her friends, her school, the markets and celebrations that have been her life.  The family leaves not knowing whether their father, captured nine years earlier by the Viet Cong, is still alive.  The vessel that carries them away is crowded; food and water are limited and escape is uncertain.  They are picked up by an American ship and taken to Guam, then to Florida. They languish there while other families are sponsored until Ha’s mother puts “Christian” on her papers.  A man from Alabama whom Ha calls “the Cowboy” agrees to sponsor the entire family. Ha’s mother goes to work in a sewing factory, her older brother as a garage mechanic.  Ha and the other two brothers must face the misery of an Alabama school, having to learn a strange language and being compelled to repeat a grade.  Children are especially cruel to Ha until she is befriended by two classmates. “The Cowboy” suggests that life will be easier if they will be baptized and the entire family goes through the ritual in a Baptist church. A neighbor and former school teacher whose son was killed in Viet Nam tutors Ha as her life continues to improve.  Ha’s family must finally accept the reality that her father will not come back. The novel begins and ends on the New Year, Tet.

Literary elements at work in the story: This poignant, powerful account of war, dislocation, and hope is told in blank verse and in present tense.   Each word counts in the short phrases evoking vivid pictures and intense emotions while avoiding the lengthy descriptions that could have swamped the story. Ha’s clear-eyed, honest account is full of humor as well as pain. Her comments about the English language are sharp and funny.   Inside Out and Back Again is based on the author’s own experience.  The book was a 2012 National Book Award winner and a Newbery Honor Book.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story? Ha chafes under the limitation placed on girls.(A brother’s foot must touch the ground first on Tet because only male feet bring luck.) This idea is belied by the strength and courage of the mother. The prejudice the Vietnamese family faces in Alabama makes for a painful year and some dishonest compromises.

Theological Conversation Partners:  This novel celebrates family and the resilience of the human spirit. Ha’s family is Buddhist and it is evident that the faith is important to them as they face a new life and their father’s death. The book tells little about Buddhism but does show the faith in practice. If discussion of Buddhism takes place the purpose will not be to compare it with the Christian faith, a task requiring a breadth of knowledge that 8-year–olds do not have. There is a danger of feeling superior because “our faith is best.”  In the USA and in Alabama being a Christian is a decided advantage.  Older children may ponder how Christians use power when people of another faith choose baptism because it will help them be accepted. Is this what Christ means by “making disciples.?”  The year 2011 numbered 4 ½ million refugees displaced from their homes. Thanhha Lai dedicates her book to the millions of refugees in the world with the words “May you find a home.” This book gives children a window on this tragedy and helps them experience what being a refugee means. It could lead to a discussion of where the Christian’s true home is. Scripture gives clear instructions about how we are to treat strangers: Matt. 25:34-40; Romans 12:13

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Find Viet Nam on the map.  What facts do you know about it?  Have you heard or learned about our military engagement in Viet Nam?
2. What things did Ha love about her country?
3. What did you learn about Tet and the importance of its celebration?
4. Do you know or does your family know a Buddhist? Do you know anything about what they believe and practice?  How could you find out?
5. Have you had a student from another country in your class at school.  How did you welcome him/her?
6. Ha’s mother takes action and makes important decisions for the family.  What are some of these? Is she a good mother?
7. Ha’s family has a ceremony when they accept that the father is dead. How do they honor and remember him?
8. Mother puts “Christian” on the papers she fills out in the refugee camp.  Why did she do this?  She says, “all beliefs are pretty much the same.”  Do you agree?
9. The family is baptized to help them be accepted in the community?  What does baptism mean?  Did the family understand it?  Did the church understand it? Was it a happy experience for Ha’s family?
10. Fellow classmates call Ha “Pancake face.”  She is angry and upset.  How does her mother help her calm down?
11. Ha is disappointed with the dried papaya that Mrs. Washington gives her for Christmas and throws it in the trash.  Her mother tells her to learn to compromise? Is that good advice? How does the sound of a gong help Ha?
12. Think about having to take only one small suit case and leaving your home tomorrow.  What would you take?  What is most important?
13. Many churches sponsored families from Viet Nam.  Did your church or do you know of such a church? Why did churches do this?

This review was written by regular contributor Virginia Thomas.