At our last meeting we discussed our picture book,
The Cambodian Dancer by Daryn Reicherter, first. Two readers really liked it a lot. They felt that a very simply-told text was used to explain to young readers (or listeners) how a young girl, Sophany, was driven to keep dancing even though chaos was breaking out all around her as Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge terrorized Cambodia during 1975-79. They felt it spoke to her courage and dedication to dance throughout her life, even after migrating to America as an adult and continuing to teach Cambodian dance to other young girls. We all mostly liked the illustrations, especially the ones that showed the dancers' hands and outfits, as well as the shadow puppets, but we felt there were some inconsistencies with the visual portrayal of Sophany, who looked like a different person in different illustrations. One reader who had been to Cambodia, and had actually seen many of the ruins illustrated in the book felt that there were several inaccuracies. Many of us felt that the text was too simple, and didn't really say much other than the fact that Sophany loved dance. We thought that the part where she saw herself as a shadow after the atrocities occurred would be confusing for children. We felt that the Author's Note at the end of the book, which might have been very helpful, did little to provide additional information.
We all liked our novel,
The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez a lot. One reader stated that she wished there had been books like that when she was a young teenager. We liked the fact that Ma Lu's parents, though divorced, had an amicable relationship, and that both were involved in their daughter's life in a positive way -- each focusing on different strengths and talents she had. We thought the portrayals of the various young characters, their dialogue, and their middle-school interactions were very realistic, and we also felt it was a good depiction of a mixed Latina/Caucasian teenager who was just trying to figure out her place in the world -- encompassing parts of both of her inherited cultures. We liked the portrayals of the various adult characters also. We liked the illustrations of Ma Lu's 'zines,' where she expressed things she liked (or not) and things that were important to her. We thought that for all of these reasons young readers of today would like this very accessible story.
