Teens and Faith: Three Final Reviews

These three short reviews by regular contributor Virginia Thomas mark the end of our 6 week series on books that reflect experiences of teens and faith.  We’d love to hear your suggestions about other books we didn’t review!

Title:  Ordinary Miracles

Author: Stephanie S. Tolan

Publisher: Harper Trophy Book

ISBN: 9780380733224

Audience: Ages 10 and up

Summary: Mark and Matt Filkins are identical twins, 8^th graders, whose lives are so closely intertwined  that they often have the same dreams. An equally strong bond is their conservative, evangelical faith. Their father is a minister in an independent church and they  are destined to be fourth generation ministers in a family of ministers.  Matthew is excited about this; Mark is having reservations. When he meets Dr. Colin Hendrick, a Nobel prize winner in science, his life takes a new direction.  Dr. Hendrick has been invited to help with the 8^th grade science class and Mark is completely enthralled by his exposure to new knowledge, including genetic engineering.  Mark’s father disapproves, saying that God is the creator, not man. As Mark  tries to reconcile his family’s faith with Colin’s lack of belief, he learns that Colin is dying of pancreatic cancer.  Now his belief about prayer is tested and when Colin dies he must re-think his faith and find a more independent relationship with Matthew.

Colin is a dedicated scientist who loves the world; he can only believe in what can be tested and proven.  Mark’s family, though generous and charitable in their dealings with others, has deep convictions.  Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and Colin will not choose this way.  How do we know what to believe?  There is no scientific proof for the Christian faith.  Colin sees ordinary miracles all around him in the natural world.  Mark is looking for a different kind of miracle, that God will spare Mark’s life.  This is a sensitive, thoughtful book that faces the conflict that is often seen between science and religion.  The ordinary miracle that helps Mark after Colin’s death may not satisfy everyone but the total experience of living with sincere believers and a sincere agnostic is powerful.

Title:  The Boy Who Dared

Author:  Susann Campbell Bartoletti

Publisher: Scholastic Press

ISBN: 9780439680134

Audience: Ages 9 and up

Summary: Seventeen year old Helmuth Hubener was the youngest person executed for treason by the Third Reich. The story begins with the chilling words, “The Executioner works on Tuesday.” The ending is a foregone conclusion; this is, after all, fictionalized history but Helmuth’s memories of the events and the growing convictions that brought him to this place hold our interest..   He is convicted for listening to a shortwave BBC station that gives accurate news about the war and distributing this news through pamphlets that he and three friends distribute secretly. His testimony in court guarantees that his three friends will not be executed but seals his fate .  Helmuth was an active member of the Mormon Church, organized by American missionaries, and his trust in God sustains him through his trial and death.

The Boy Who Dared raises a number of issues that Christians as citizens should ponder.  Throughout the rise of the Third Reich many German Christians claim Hitler is a leader supplied by God; opposing this idea is at first difficult, then truly dangerous.  How do we decide what good citizenship is?  Helmuth’s brothers argue that his actions will harm the family, that to oppose the German government is a pointless act of folly. How and when does one choose between prudence and daring action? How does a government like the Third Reich rise to power?  What motivates Helmuth to risk his life?  At one point in the story Helmuth wonders about the purpose of his life in this situation.  His decisions make inspiring reading.

Title:  Caleb’s Wars

Author: Davis L. Dudley

Publisher: Clarion Books

ISBN:  9780547239972

Audience: Ages 14 and up

Summary:  The time: summer, 1944, prior to the Civil Rights movement. The place: rural Georgia. Caleb, a 15 year old African-American, is engaged in several wars: the war in Europe where his brother Randall is a prisoner of war; a war with his domineering, abusive father who wants Caleb to work in his carpenter shop; a war with the white culture which limits and demeans him; and a war that centers on his faith and God’s call.  The book begins with Caleb’s baptism in which he hears God name him as his servant.  The call has little meaning for him as blacks in the south have always been servants.  He knows he has heard a voice, externally and internally, but he tends to ignore it as he goes to work in the Dixie Belle restaurant, defying his father.  Andreas, a German prisoner of war is brought in from the prisoner of war camp to work in the restaurant and Caleb establishes a tentative friendship with his brother’s enemy.  Scattered through the book are incidents of physical conflict with bullying white boys, of verbal conflicts with a racist waitress and a patronizing white man.  Caleb is led to pray for two persons who need healing and, to his amazement, his prayers are answered. Is this what it means to be a servant? The answer seems to come when Caleb has the courage to demand to be served in the Dixie Belle in the name of his brother Randall.

Here is a picture of the South during World War II with all of its prejudices and injustice.  The author does a commendable job of showing what this culture does to a person who suppresses the anger the treatment creates.  Caleb’s father has no faith in a God who lets such conditions exist.  Caleb’s Ma makes a strong case for the failure of male violence to lead the world to peace. Caleb’s struggle with God’s call is a thread throughout the book.  He prays but hears nothing.  In the courage to oppose an injustice in the restaurant, Caleb seems to understand God’s call and to anticipate a continuing struggle to be a servant. In keeping with the times, African-Americans are referred to as “niggers” and “colored.”   This book has good possibilities for young people in confirmation classes. It could prompt a discussion on which is the greater gift-the ability to heal physically or the courage to oppose injustices?

Molly’s Pilgrim

Title:  Molly’s Pilgrim

Author:  Barbara Cohen

Illustrator: Daniel Mark Duffy

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN:9780688162801

Audience: Ages 5 – 9 years

Summary: Molly’s life in Winter Hill school is not happy.  Her English is uncertain, her clothes are different and some of the girls sing, “Jolly Molly, your eyes are aw’fly small.  Jolly Molly, your nose is aw’fly tall”.  Molly’s parents are Russian Jewish immigrants who have found a place in New Jersey to live and work after being driven from Russia. Molly’s difference becomes more pronounced as the class begins to plan for Thanksgiving, a holiday she knows nothing about.  Each child is to make a  pilgrim doll.  When Molly explains this to her mother, her mother knows exactly what to do. “I’m a pilgrim who came to this country to be free to worship,” she says.  Molly sees with a sinking heart that her mother has made a doll dressed as a Russian peasant but she has to take it for she has no chance to make anything else.  The class makes fun of Molly for not understanding what a Pilgrim looks like but she explains to the teacher what her mother said. The teacher proclaims Molly’s mother to be a modern pilgrim and goes on to explain that the idea for Thanksgiving really came from a Hebrew festival, the Feast of Booths. The doll stays on the teacher’s desk throughout the year as a reminder that it takes all kinds of pilgrims to make Thanksgiving.

Literary elements at work in the story: This is a first person narrative and the voice rings true as a young child’s experience in a difficult situation. The book was first printed in 1983 and was reprinted with a different illustrator in 1990.  It also won an academy award as the Best Short Film of 1985.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story?  Prejudice and school cruelty are present in the story although whether or not anti-semitism is a fully developed attitude in grade school is debatable.  Culture and financial status are also factors in the treatment of Molly by the children. Elizabeth, the main persecutor in the story, is overdrawn. Molly’s mother is a strong, positive woman in difficult circumstances.

Theological Conversation Partners: The Feast of Booths or Succoth was one of the three major celebrations of the Jews. It commemorated the wilderness wandering and occurred with the fall harvest. (Ex. 23:16; 34:22;Deut. 16 Lev. 23:33-36, 39-43; Deut. 16:13-16) Families built booths and lived outdoors for a week, feasting and recalling their deliverance from Egypt.   The two  histories are different, of course, but religious freedom is one of the main reasons for the American Thanksgiving.

Persecution of outsiders drove the Pilgrims to America and it is still present in the American classroom that Molly attends.  Molly’s Pilgrim is a continued reminder of the importance of appreciating and understanding those who are different, of the contributions that they have and will continue to make.  Thanksgiving to God is at the heart of the religious celebrations of both Christians and Hebrews.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What about Molly sets her apart at school?
2. Are there children who are different in your school?  How are they treated?
3. Why is Molly’s mother sure that she qualifies as a pilgrim?
4. Why did the original Pilgrims come to America?
5. What do you think is the meaning of Thanksgiving?
6. What are some ways to celebrate that reflect this true meaning?
7. Write a Thanksgiving prayer or find one in the Hebrew Scripture using the refrain from Ps. 136.

Review prepared by regular contributor Virginia Thomas

Voices in the Park

Title:  Voices in the Park

Author:  Anthony Browne

Illustrator:  Anthony Browne

Publisher:  DK Publishing, Inc., 2001

ISBN:  9780789481917

Audience:  Ages 7 – 11

Summary:  A well dressed woman, her sad, docile son, Charles, and their pedigreed dog, Victoria enter a city park. .  An unemployed father, his cheerful daughter, Smudge, and their mongrel, Albert, come to the park also. Each person (think anthropomorphic chimp) sees the others from his or her own viewpoint: a frightening man, a silly twit, a wimpy boy, a rough-looking child.  The dogs, expressing one voice, accept each other at once and play with obvious joy and abandon.. Smudge invites Charles to slide and their viewpoints began to change, a tentative relationship is established. Then everyone goes home with a small bit of hope in the air. The park expresses another viewpoint in this simple story. It’s a marvel of commentary as trees and sky change to match voices and events.  The mother’s red hat is also a domineering presence.   It takes several readings to appreciate the complexity of this story, the richness of the illustrations, and the author’s subtle humor.

Literary elements at work in the story: Narrator viewpoint is a significant literary device.  One voice in this story speaks of control, fear, suspicion; one voice speaks of boredom, sadness; another of discouragement; another of optimism and happiness. Each interior monologue has its own style of print.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story? The four persons in this story all pre-judge others.  Charles has masculine prejudices; Charles’ mother has class prejudices; Smudge thinks Charles is a wimp; Smudge’s father is too discouraged to notice anyone. These perspectives affect how Smudge and Charles first react to each other and color the mother’s voice throughout.

Theological Conversation Partners: “Love your neighbor as yourself” calls for understanding, for community. “Judge not” requires the ability to see another’s needs and problems. Jesus could see a hated tax collector and recognize an apostle, a young man bound by his riches and love him.  Romans 12 is filled with guidance about seeing ourselves and others through the transforming power of God.

The ability to understand and appreciate our neighbors is a gift of grace, essential foInr living as disciples of Christ.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. In what sense are the mother and son and father and daughter neighbors?
2. How does the mother’s viewpoint keep her from seeing Smudge’s father and Smudge?
3. How does Charles’ viewpoint keep him from seeing Smudge?
4. What makes the change in Charles’ viewpoint?
5. Who doesn’t change in the story? Why?
6. How many times does the red hat appear in the story?  What do you think it represents?
7. What signs of hope do you see at the end of the story?
8. Are there persons you know or just see about whom you form opinions?\
9. How can we become more generous and loving in the way that we see others?

Review prepared by guest blogger Virginia Thomas

Tunes for Bears to Dance To

Title: Tunes for Bears to Dance To

Author: Robert Cormier

Publisher: Perfection Learning

ISBN: 978-0780739239

Audience: Grades 5-8

Summary: Henry befriends Mr. Levine, a Holocaust survivor, who is making a replica of the village where he lived and which was destroyed in the war. Henry’s friendship with Mr. Levine is tested when his prejudiced boss, Mr. Hairston, asks Henry to destroy Mr. Levine’s village.

Literary elements at work in the story: With subtlety and grace, Cormier masterfully portrays hatred, prejudice and manipulation. He challenges readers to examine how they would behave in the face of intimidation and extortion. There is more power and wisdom in these 90 pages than in novels three times its size.

How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economics/ability make a difference to the story: Mr. Cormier brings to life the effects of the Holocaust in a very personal way and he does it in a slow way, like peeling an onion.  Thus we see the pain of the individual as opposed to the horror of the masses.  It becomes even more personal through Henry’s, ordeal. For, in a small way, Cormier shows the reader just what it is like to be caught in the grips of evil, be that the evil of Hitler or the evil of Mr. Hairston.

Scripture: Galatians 5:13-25; Ephesians 4:25-32; Romans 7:14-19; James 1:19-25

Theology: By the end of this powerful story, Henry knows the meaning of this passage. He has seen firsthand the truth of Romans  that, “..I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.” He has been overcome by Mr. Hairston’s evil manipulations to the point of giving in to evil himself. However, he does not let evil overwhelm him completely. He knows what he must do. He must not only ask for mercy for himself, but for Mr. Hairston as well. Forgiveness is our only hope. It is not easy, but without it we are doomed. Aid all those with whom you associate to find the peace Henry found. Otherwise you and they risk becoming the misery that is Mr. Hairston.

Faith Talk Questions:

1.    What do Henry and Mr Levine have in common?

2.    Why did they become friends?

3.    Have you ever faced something you knew was wrong, but felt you had no choice but to participate in the wrong?

4.    What happened to Mr. Levine’s village? Did Henry do it on purpose?

5.    Would you forgive Mr. Hairston?

Review prepared by Janet Lloyd

Goin’ Someplace Special

Name of Book: Goin’ Someplace Special

Author: Patricia C. McKissack

Illustrator: Jerry Pinkney

Publisher: Antheneum Books

ISBN: 0689818858

Audience: Ages: 6 – 12

Summary: Patricia C. McKissack recounts her own story of growing up in racially segregated Nashville, Tennessee during the 1950’s. Goin’ Someplace Special follows a girl named Tricia Ann as she leaves the protective comfort of her grandmother, Mama Frances, to take a big step. She is going downtown alone, to Someplace Special.

In Goin’ Someplace Special we see the world of Jim Crow through Tricia Ann’s eyes. There are signs on the bus that say “Colored Section,” the bench by the Peace Fountain reads, “For Whites Only” and the Southland Hotel’s grand lobby where Tricia Ann wanders in by mistake, only to be yelled at and put out by the manager. The journey is frightening for Tricia Ann but throughout she is supported by friends and neighbors. On the bus, Mrs. Gannell tells her, “Carry yo’self proud.” Jimmy Lee, a street vendor, helps keep her spirits up. “Don’t let those signs steal yo’ happiness,” he tells her. In the end, Tricia Ann reaches her destination and it is only then that the reader learns that Someplace Special is the Nashville Public Library; a place where all people are welcomed.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The text and illustrations work beautifully together to tell a straightforward story with emotional depth and a strong message. The author speaks clearly through the story to kids about the pride of growing up, the fear and sadness of facing prejudice, and the comfort of finding safe, special places in this world. Because kids will be able to relate to how Trisha Ann is feeling, they will begin to understand just how hurtful discrimination can be and how wonderful it is that we have safe places, like libraries, where everyone is welcome.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability:  This would be a great book for generating discussion on racism from either a historical, sociological, or theological perspective for a variety of age groups.

Theological conversation partners: Genesis 1:26-27, Galatians 3:26-29,

Faith Talk Questions:

1.      How do you think Tricia Ann felt as she started off on her adventure alone?

2.      What made her and her grandmother think that she is ready for this trip alone?

3.      Why did she have to sit on the back of the bus?

4.      Why couldn’t she sit on the park bench?

5.      How do you think those experiences made her feel?

6.      Why did she call the library Someplace Special?

7.      Do you have a special place that you go to?

Review prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Susan Wills

Amazing Grace

Name of Book:  Amazing Grace

Author:  Mary Hoffman

Illustrator:  Caroline Binch

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers

Audience:  Ages 4-8

Summary:  Grace has a vibrant creative imagination and she likes to enter into her story world and pretend to be the main character of the stories she encounters.  Grace’s teacher decided that they would do the play Peter Pan.  Grace decided she wanted to be the main character—Peter Pan. She is told by her classmates that she could not play Peter Pan because she is black and a girl.  With the support of her grandmother and her mother Grace realizes that she can be anything she wanted to be.  Grace auditions and is awarded the role of Peter Pan.

Literary elements at work in the story:

• Genre: narrative
• Setting: African American girl in an integrated elementary school setting
• Characterization: Grace, an African American girl is portrayed as loving stories and who has the gift of bringing these stories to life through a creative imagination.
• Plot:  Graces uses her God given gift to overcome a gender and ethnic stereotype that her classmates placed on the role of Peter Pan.
• Theme:  You can be anything that you want to be if you set your mind to it and not allow barriers such as gender and race to get in the way.
• Point of View:  The story is written through the lens of Grace. When Grace’s  grandmother introduced her to the black Juliet, she came to her own realization that she can be anything that she wanted to be.
• Style:  Told in a third person voice with vibrant and colorful illustrations showing Grace’s vivid imagination at work in her many roles adapted from different stories.

Perspective on:

• Gender and race: gender and race friendly with no gender or racial stereotyping
• Culture:  culturally non-specific. The author could have easily used any ethnicity to portray Grace.
• Ability:  Grace’s ability to enter into her story world is probably more developed than the average population.  Her ability is not limited by her gender or the color of her skin.

Scripture:  1 Cor12:4

Theology:  Each of us is wonderfully made in the sight of God and each of us are given our individual gifts.  In God’s sight we are all created equally.  It is possible for Grace, an African American girl to believe that she can be anything that she wants to be, with hard work.

Faith Talk Questions:

1)      We are all one body but God gives us different gifts to make up the whole.  How can we be equal if God made us all different?

2)      The play was only possible when each character played his/her part and used his/her gift to the best of their ability.  How do we see this at work in our congregation?  Can you name some different roles that you see in the church?

Review  by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Dee Osbourne-Smart

Don’t Laugh at Me

Name of Book: Don’t Laugh at Me

Author: Steve Seskin & Allen Shamblin

Illustrator: Glin Dibley

Publisher: Tricycle Press

Audience: All ages

Summary: Don’t Laugh at Me is the poignant tale of children and adults who wear braces, are chosen last for teams, beg on street corners and yet plead for acceptance and understanding.  The story gives voice to our human condition: the desire to know that we belong, no matter how small, slow, sick, different, or poor we are.

Literary Elements at Work: There are two important literary elements at work in this story: artistry and the driving undergirding plea: don’t laugh at me. The illustrations depict the differences that these younger and older persons feel set them apart—glasses, braces, size, mental and physical coordination, wheel chair, race, etc.  A child could easily retell the tale by following the artistry.  The illustrator tells us that he himself wanted to be a basketball player but was too short.  The storytellers introduce each character and spotlight a stigma or stereotype—nerd, geek, slow, glasses.  This is followed by the refrain, “Don’t laugh at me.  Don’t call me names.  Don’t get your pleasure from my pain.  In God’s eyes we’re all the same.  Someday we’ll all have perfect wings.  Don’t laugh at me.”  Additionally, this is a song and the book comes with a CD.

Scripture: Isaiah 43 selected verses: “Thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine…Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you.”  (NRSV)

Theology: God creates us, forms us, redeems us, calls us by name, honors us, and loves us.  Why?  Because we are precious in God’s sight.  This good news seems too good to be true.  Thus, we need constant reassurance.  That may be one of the reasons why the Bible says so many times, “Do not be afraid.”

Faith Talk Questions:

Sit down beside your child, let him hold the book and turn the pages.  Ask him to point to the characters as you read.  Repeat this process on each page, considering the following:  In the story, the boys and girls and men and women notice their differences.  Other people notice their differences as well.  These differences make the boys and girls and men and women sad and feel left out.  Sometimes people laugh at others who are different.  BUT, are not we all different?  And the same?  Talk about differences.  Some people are big; some people are little.  Some people walk on two legs; some people ride in wheelchairs.  Some people wear glasses; some people wear freckles.  Some people like to read, some people like to jump.  Talk about sameness.  Short people and tall people are still people.  Everyone has a mom and a dad.  Everyone was created by God and in God’s image.  Ask your child, “Who loves girls with glasses?  Who loves girls with freckles?  Who loves boys who walk on two feet?  Who loves boys who ride in wheelchairs” Wait for responses.  Ask follow up questions, “Does God love people who are fast?  Does God love people who are last?  Does God love people who are poor?  Does God love people who are rich?”  Say, “God loves you when you’re slow AND God loves you when you’re fast.  God loves you when you walk on two legs AND God loves you when ride in wheelchairs.  Why?  Say, “God loves all people all the time.”    Because you and we and they are precious in God’s sight!”  End with a prayer thanking God for all short, tall, black, white, rich and poor boys and girls that God forms and loves.

Review prepared by Union Presbyterian Seminary student Kim Lee

Smoky Night

Name of Book:  Smoky Night

Author:  Eve Bunting

Illustrator:  David Diaz

Publisher:  Voyager Books Harcourt Inc.

Audience:   Ages 8-10

Summary:  The book was written to portray the experience of a young boy and his mother during the riots in Los Angeles in 1994.  The main characters watch as angry people destroy property, steal, and hurt each other.  As the boys’ home is burned during the night, he and his neighbors escape to the safety of a church.  It is here that the boy’s mother and Mrs. Kim who are of different races realize that they can indeed live together as they watch their two cats befriend each other and share food.

Literary elements at work in the story:  The setting of this story is vividly portrayed through the illustrations which make the author’s words about what happens when a mob of people become angry even more powerful.  The underlying theme of coming together in times of trouble is another critical element in this story.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability:  he author shows how people of different races/cultures can change their attitudes toward one another in times of fear and suffering.  The boy’s mother comments near the beginning of the story that she only doesn’t go to Mrs. Kim’s store because she only buys things from “her own people.”  By the end of the story the mother has changed her attitude and offers the hand of friendship to the same person that she previously would not associate with.

Scripture:   Psalm 37:8, Psalm 145:8-9, Romans 14:19, Galatians 3:28

Theology:   God’s people are called to restrain themselves from anger and wrath because they produce evil.  God is full of unconditional love for all of God’s children and is slow to become angry.  We are called to pursue peace.  We are all one in Christ Jesus.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. What can happen when a lot of people become very angry?
2. What does mama mean when she says “it is better if we buy from our own people?”
3. Where in the story do you observe people loving their neighbors as themselves? (Allow the children to actually point out where they see this on specific pages in the book.)
4. How does mama change from the beginning of the story to the end of the story?
5. How do you understand or interpret the final two illustrations in the story?

Review prepared by Marcia Rauch, MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2006

Voices in the Park

Name of Book: Voices in the Park

Author: Anthony Browne

Illustrator: Anthony Browne

Publisher: DK Publishing Inc.

Audience: Upper Elementary Children/Middle School Youth Group

Summary: Charley, his mother, Smudge and her father are four characters in a story about a visit to the park.  The illustrations in the book show that the four main characters are monkeys. Charley and his mother live in a very nice home in the suburbs and have a pedigreed dog.  Smudge and her unemployed father live in the city and have a common, ordinary dog. The story is divided into 4 “voices” as each character tells about the visit to the park from his/her point of view.

Literary elements at work in the story: Point of view and characterization are the most important elements in this story.  One visit to the park is recounted in four different ways as each character tells about what happened from his/her point of view.  Charley’s mother is portrayed as a very wealthy woman who looks down on Smudge’s unemployed father and refers to him as a “rough character.” The illustrations portray Smudge’s father as a person who does not have a lot of money. The two children do not seem to notice the stark differences in their lifestyles at all as they play together.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability: Economic ability is highlighted in this book.  The illustrations of Charley’s mother and their home are a clear indication that the child lives a privileged life.  Smudge’s father illustrates the opposite end of the economic spectrum.  He is unemployed and looks in the newspaper for a job.

Scripture: Romans 15:7, Galatians 3:26, John 15:12

Theology:

1. Christians are called to accept one another just as Christ accepted us and live in unity.
2. We are all God’s children no matter how we look, where we live, or how much money we have.
3. Loving one another as God loves is the foundation for all that we do.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. Based on the story and the author’s illustrations, what do you think life is like for Charlie? Smudge?
2. The two dogs and the two children seem to enjoy their time together in the park. Why do you think this is so?
3. Why does Charlie’s mother refer to Smudge as a “rough-looking child” and her father as a “frightful type” when she does not know either of them?
4. Why does the illustration of the park at the beginning of Voice Four look different from all the other illustrations of the park in the book?
5. If you could write a message about the final illustration in this story, what would it be?

Review prepared by Marcia Rauch, MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2006

Kira-Kira

Name of Book:    Kira-Kira

Author:    Cynthia Kadohata

Publisher:    Aladdin Paperbacks

Audience:   Ages 10-12

Summary:   Katie and her sister Lynn live in Iowa in the 1950’s where her parents own a Japanese store.  The family moves to Chesterfield, GA so the girls’ father can work in a hatchery there.  They move into a cheap apartment building where other Japanese families live.  Katie and Lynn’s mother also goes to work in a poultry factory nearby in a non-union position with poor working conditions. Katie and Lynn witness and experience racism in the small town.  While the family is in Georgia, Lynn becomes ill with cancer and eventually dies.  Although she is grieving, Katie holds her family together during a difficult time and is able to experience “kira-kira” once again.

Literary elements at work in the story:   The genre of the story is historical realistic fiction. Characterization is the main literary element at work in this book.  Lynn, the oldest child, always seems to view the world from an optimistic point of view.  She taught her younger sister Katie the phrase “kira-kira” which in Japanese means glittering.  Lynn seems to be able to notice “glittering” in her world in the midst of prejudice, unfair work practices, and living in poverty.  Katie who was always the follower of her sister takes on Lynn’s role when Lynn becomes sick and dies.  It is Katie in the end of the story who is able to see the “kira-kira” in life that Lynn taught her about when she was a baby.

Perspective on gender/race/culture/economic ability:   The perspective of race and culture are highlighted in this book. Katie’s Japanese family and the others that they share a life with in Georgia in the 1950’s are clearly set apart from society, labeled as lower class, and are victims of prejudice.  The parents must work in poor conditions for a very rich white man named Mr. Lyndon who only cares about making money and highly discourages the formation of a union in any of his factories. This story clearly illustrates a type of prejudice that is still very much present in our world today that is easily “glossed” over by many.  Despite the poor living conditions, the Japanese who live in Chesterfield, Georgia illustrate the fact that their culture is one in which families band together and care for one another no matter what.

Scripture:   Romans 8:28, Psalm 8, Psalm 30:11-12

Theology:  There is no horror or tragedy so great that God cannot redeem it and bend it to God’s purposes. This does not mean that because we are Christians, horrors and tragedies in our lives are somehow minimized or made any less painful  BUT yet God in spite of it all can still work in and through them.  There is nothing in all creation that is outside the sovereignty of God.   Because God is with us in the midst of suffering, joy will come again.

Faith Talk Questions:

1. How does Katie change in this story?
2. Who in our society today does the character of Mr. Lyndon represent?
3. Why is Katie surprised by Hank Garvin?
4. Lynn once told her sister Katie that their father “accepted rudeness and unfairness to himself, just as he accepted work.” (210) Why did he change this way of thinking?
5. Katie says that when her father moved Lynn’s bed and apologized to Mr. Lyndon that he realized his family had a choice. “Either we could be an unhappy family forever or not.”(236)  What does this mean?  How is it played out in the story?
6. Where do you see, hear, or feel “kira-kira” in your life today?  How would you explain “kira-kira” to someone else?

Review prepared by Marcia Rauch,  MACE, Entering cohort Fall 2006