HABIBI by Naomi Shihab Nye

Nye, N. S. Habibi. New York: Simon & Schuster. 1997. ISBN 0689801491.

Naomi Shihab Nye is an Arab-American and has written a beautiful story with the authenticity of her own autobiographical experiences. Protagonist Liyana and her family move from St Louis, MO, USA, to her father’s homeland, Jerusalem, at a pivotal time in her adolescence.  Feeling very much a stranger in a strange land, Liyana must adjust to a new home, new friends, new food and new family that she cannot even communicate with because of a new language.  The political climate and new customs create huge and sometimes dangerous challenges.   For example, her father informs her that she will have no need for short shorts in her new homeland.  She also learns that dating and kissing have a whole new set of rules.  She frets, “With her luck she had been born into the only nonkissing culture, just when it started feeling like a valuable activity.” (Page 57)  If male/female relationships are not different enough in the two cultures, complications ensue when she begins a young romance with a Jewish boy at a time when Jewish and Palestinian relations are precarious to say the least. 

Nye infuses the story thoroughly with the sights, sounds, and smells of one who has lived in The West Bank at just the same age as Liyana.  Additionally she shares the feelings Liyana experiences with such a masterful use of imagery and economy of words that I immediately recognized Nye’s poetic expertise.  At times I felt like I was reading a verse novel.  Most chapters are very short and uniquely titled, and many begin with a quote or line of poetry.  

I appreciated very much seeing modern Jerusalem through Nye’s story, especially as I am hoping to see Jerusalem for myself this coming July.  Coincidentally, I also drove through St Louis for the first time three days ago.  I appreciated the fair-handedness Nye gives to each culture-- American, Arab, Israeli-- not vilifying any, yet not holding back on the violence, cruelty, prejudice, and injustice that must be faced within every individual.  Members of each culture are presented as human beings who would like to live in peace.  The overriding hope that I came away with after reading, is that peace is possible though one bridging relationship at a time.

Habibi has been deservedly recognized and awarded numerous times.  You will find Habibi on prestigious lists for these awards: ALA Best Book for Young Adults, ALA Notable Children’s Book, Jane Addams Book Award, and Texas Institute of Letters Best Book for Young Readers, to name a few.

Nye is also very well known for her work in the poetry world and has won numerous awards for her own poetry as well as the promotion of multicultural poetry.  She is a living example of bridge-building between cultures by using her unique heritage to be a peacemaker, spokesperson, and enthusiast for multicultural understanding.  I would recommend this book for young teens and for anyone who seeks peace and understanding with all people.  School Library Journal claims, “Habibi succeeds in making the hope for peace compellingly personal and concrete.”  I would add my Amen to that.

WONDERSTRUCK by Brian Selznick

Selznick, B. Wonderstruck: a novel in words and pictures. New York: Scholastic Press. 2011.  ISBN 9780545027892.

What does lightening, deafness, wolves, and museums have in common?  Brian Selznick uses those elements to tell two stories in few words and copious pictures and keeps us turning 629 pages before we get to THE END.  

Selznik won the Caldecott medal for The Invention of Hugo Cabret in 2008.  Wonder Struck, published in 2011 has the same impressive look of a 3 inch thick tome packed with full page drawings that mimic film in number of frames.  The text tells Ben’s story set in Gunflint Lake, Minnesota in June 1977.  The pictures tell Rose’s story set in Hoboken, New Jersey in October 1927.  The two stories finally merge at the end.  

Ben and Rose are both deaf.  However, they share not only the culture of deafness, but also the culture of abandonment.  Ben loses his mother in a car accident, and Rose experiences physical and emotional abandonment by her movie star mother and is forced to live with her equally distant father.  Ben’s father is a mystery to him, but he discovers hope of finding him. In spite of the lightning strike that robs him of his hearing, Ben sets out to find his father in New York City.  Rose also leaves Hoboken in hopes of living with her mother, only to be rejected. 

 

Selznick successfully captures Ben’s despair when struck with deafness when he says in text, “the pain began to slip away and the silence swallowed him whole.” (Page 177)  Similarly, on the next page, Selznick captures in a drawing Rose’s utter despair in her silent prison.  The despair of the two protagonists motivates brave journeys which ultimately lead to resolution for both. 

In his acknowledgements, Selznick details his extensive research and includes his selected bibliography concerning deafness and Deaf culture, museums and cabinets of wonders, clothing and objects in 1927, stage and screen, world’s fairs, scrapbooks, lightning, Gunflint Lake, Hoboken, inspirations, documentary film, and websites.  

The Booklist starred review explains, “Selznick plays with a plethora of interwoven themes, including deafness and silence, the ability to see and value the world, family, and the interconnectedness of life.”  Although the story is rich in emotion, warmth and intrigue, the authenticity of the deafness the children face did not ring as true as I would have expected.  Perhaps it was intentional that the disability was just a side element to the story, but somehow it left parts of the story feeling contrived.  Nevertheless, I believe Wonderstruck will heighten interest in learning sign language among students and can encourage awareness of any disability and the challenges they present. 

THE YEAR OF THE DOG by Grace Lin

Lin, Grace. The Year of the Dog. New York: Little Brown. 2006.  ISBN 0316060003.

Grace Lin is an established contributor of multicultural literature.  Preceding her Caldecott Honor book Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, she wrote The Year of the Dog, a charming autobiographical look at a young Taiwanese American girl navigating her place within two cultures. 

The title of the book references the Chinese New Year, and the cover of the book mimics the Hong Bao;  red envelopes filled with money that are exchanged during the Chinese New Year.  During the Year of the Dog, Pacy, also called Grace, is expecting to “find herself” and her talent and decide what she will be when she grows up.  The story takes us through the entire year and entertains us with humor and charm.   

The cultural markers of authenticity are prolific in Lin’s text and illustrations.  The Hong Bao, chop sticks, traditional Chinese clothing, and Chinese characters occur in the sweet and simple black and white sketches throughout the book.  The text also reminds us of the Chinese influence in Grace’s life by the short vignettes of the stories her mom tells her such as, “Mom’s First Day of School,” and “Mom’s First Friend.”  

A poignant moment in the story occurs when Grace’s world “goes silent” when one of her friends tells her she can’t be Dorothy in the school play, The Wizard of Oz, because Dorothy was not Chinese.  “Like a melting icicle, my dream of being Dorothy fell and shattered on the ground….I was SO dumb.  How could I have even thought about being Dorothy?” (page 70)  This event, as well as others, is a perfect stepping stone into the waters of awareness of students who claim more than one culture.  It helps us see their world as well as ours with more sensitive filters.  

The author’s motivation in writing this story was the fact that when she was growing up, she did not see herself on the pages of the literature available to her.  She has successfully remedied that for the future generation as Kirkus reviews it as “a treat for Asian-American girls looking to see themselves in their reading.”  Well done Ms. Lin.

TEA WITH MILK by Allen Say

Say, Allen. Tea With Milk. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 1999.  ISBN 0395904951.

Tea with Milk is a charming and beautifully illustrated story about author Allen Say’s mother, May. It notes her early upbringing in America and details her move back to Japan, her unhappiness there, and her independent move to the city of Osaka.  There she worked as an elevator girl in a large department store and later became a store guide for businessmen because of her superb English.  Her English attracted a businessman that joined the tour three days in a row.  When she questioned him in Japanese, he answered her in English.  His English was superb because of attending an English school in Shanghai.  He asked her to tea and they began a friendship based on how much they missed having English conversations.  They both drank their tea with milk and sugar.  This young businessman, as you would expect, became Allen Say’s father.

This book followed Say’s Caldecott winning Grandfather’s Journey and is no less exquisitely illustrated or endearing.  “The people come to life as authentic and sympathetic characters” (School Library Journal review).  His “detailed drawings featuring Japanese architecture and clothing” (School Library Journal review) establish the markers that assure its cultural authenticity.  Say’s artistic skill allows the reader to see and feel May’s misery at having to wear a kimono, sit on the floor, and endure a date orchestrated by her parents and a hired matchmaker.   The text also fine tunes her misery when she thinks, “I’m a foreigner in my parent’s country”  as villagers stare at her in her scandalous western clothing and call her “gaijin,” (Japanese for foreigner).  When working as an English translator, she muses at the irony that she has to look like a Japanese lady (wear a kimono) to speak English, and bow “as a proper Japanese lady should.”

This story is a great one to share with students to raise awareness that we cannot assume that all Asian Americans feel connected to the land of their heritage. Say establishes in the last line of the book that this all happened “a long time ago,” but I think it would have been helpful to reveal the specific time in history when this took place.  Regardless of the setting, however, Say tells this story with the universal theme that home is where the heart is, and the heart is at home where there is love.