We began with our novel, Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri. A few readers said they were put off at the beginning of the book due to the non-linear story development which inserted ancient Persian myths and old family history into middle schooler Daniel's explanation of his life as an immigrant kid who fled Iran with his mother and sister for religious reasons and ended up in Oklahoma. But fortunately, those doubters returned to the book and finished it and were glad they did. We all agreed that it was an amazing feat of storytelling that provided a real window into the immigrant experience as Daniel related his story with insight, wisdom, humanity, and humor. We got used to the insertions of 'Sheherezade-like' stories, and the lessons they were trying to impart. We loved learning about the ancient roots of the Persian/Iranian culture. We all loved Daniel's 'rules' -- things he figured out as he tried to reconcile his past with his present: describing the struggles of an immigrant family, the cruelty they had to endure on their journey, but holding on to his cultural identity as he faced the challenges (typical to all middle schoolers) of just trying to fit in. Some readers felt that parts of the story were shocking and gripping, with no pleasure, and very hard to read. We marveled at the strength of Daniel's mother, and were happy when his father finally showed up -- after many years -- and spoke to the class. We all agreed that perhaps this book should have been 'billed' as a YA title, or even a book for adults, since we weren't sure that younger middle-grade readers would be able to stick with it due to the very non-Western style of storytelling. But we agreed that often it's not the story, but the connection between teller and listener that's important, and we felt that this book definitely accomplished that. We agreed that it was a tribute to the human spirit and we all felt richer for reading it.
Our discussion of our nonfiction picture book, Biddy Mason Speaks Up by Arisa White and Laura Atkins and illustrated by Laura Freeman brought up several interesting issues We were all glad that it honored this African-American enslaved woman who had been brought to Los Angeles because of her talents as a healer and a midwife in the 1850s, won her freedom in an important court case, and later became a successful entrepreneur as she continued a life of standing up for herself. We loved her story, which some (not all) felt was poetically written. We also loved the colorful illustrations which included small, individual boxed photos of some of the plants Biddy used in her healing maneuvers. We did have some issues with this book however. First, we had some problems with the actual story, which, though inspiring, made it hard to tell what was real and what wasn't due to the insertion of fictional characters into a true story. We felt that a picture book biography should only include characters and incidents that were real. Secondly, we had a problem with the format. Some readers likened this book to a web page with multiple 'clickbaits'. Although some young readers might like this, we felt it was distracting. Between the Timeline, maps, photos of related historical events, plus a sidebar Glossary and a moral issue for readers to consider on almost every page, it felt like it was trying to be a reference book in addition to just presenting Biddy Mason's story. We felt that it presented just too much information to digest, and several of us read the book more than once: for the story; for the Timeline; for the photos; for the issues raised. We weren't sure kids would do this, but we also felt that it was probably OK if they just bounced around and read what interested them -- even if that interrupted the story. We thought all of that information in addition to the Back Matter was more for adults, and could be very helpful for teachers, since this book could be used in a variety of curricular areas. We appreciated the authors' excellent research and citations, and we felt that anyone who read this book would certainly learn a lot, and perhaps be moved to do further research to find out more about this amazing Los Angeles heroine.
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