PAPER SON by Julie Leung and PIE IN THE SKY by Remy Lai

We had a great meeting with lotsa great 'pot luck' dishes, a terrific discussion, and just fun being together. We began with our picture book, Paper Son by Julie Leung; illustrated by Chris Sasaki. We all felt that this story of Tyrus Wong, a Chinese-American who immigrated to the U.S. as a 'paper son', and went on to become a noted painter in multiple media who created all of the scenery for the 1942 world-famed Bambi film and as an older man a noted maker of Chinese-style 'flying' kites . We all agreed that this was an important story to know, and some were surprised to know of Wong's history with the Walt Disney film. But we had mixed feelings as to the book itself. A couple of readers liked the beginning pages that depicted young Tai Yow's entry at Angel Island and early days as a Chinese immigrant who had to lie about his identity in order to be admitted to the U.S., and whose name was Americanized to "Tyrus" by his teachers in his Sacramento school. We liked how it depicted his early talents in art, and how he used many Chinese art techniques in his work, even as a young boy. But many of us felt that as the story of the events of his life continued it became more 'adulty' with less emotion, and that a better-written story would have been more interesting to young readers. We all liked the illustrations, and were surprised to learn that they had been done digitally by Sasaki. But we did note the emotional feelings they evoked, as well as the very subtle portrayals of the prejudice Wong experienced from the moment he arrived and as he continued to function in the American environment of his time. We wished there had been more about Los Angeles during that time, which is where Wong had settled, as well as more about his family, who were only shown in one photo in the Back Matter of the book. We wanted to know more, and were sorry that the Author's Note basically repeated the story in the book, and provided no more details for readers. We felt that this book would have many uses at different grade levels -- as an introduction to the life of an important Chinese-American artist, and for art teachers or for class discussions related to immigration and the feelings of new immigrants in our country.

We also had mixed feelings about our novel, Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai. Although it had been billed as a 'humorous' book, many of us did not feel there was much humor...except maybe in Lai's 2-color cartoon-like depictions of many scenes in the story between 12-year-old Jingwen and his 9-year-old brother Yanghao, who had been taken by their mother from an unnamed country to Australia after their father, a bakeshop owner, had died in an auto accident. We wished we knew where they came from and why they chose to move to Australia. We liked the fact that the story dealt with the issues of relocation, not knowing English, not really having friends, sibling rivalry, lying to his mom, etc., but -- we felt that this had been done so many times before, and this book added nothing new, and could have been shorter. The crux of the story (and what made it so long) was that the brothers tried to bake the 12 different cakes that Jingwen felt  could honor his father, but we never really knew why. (...and we wished there had been recipes!) Some of those situations were implausible, and details here would make this recap too long also. We felt that by the time we got to the end of the book (which a few readers couldn't even finish) we were tired of the baking scenarios, and the 'climax' of WHY Jingwen wanted to do that was finally revealed. We did, however, agree that young readers would probably like this book, many of whose pages resembled a graphic novel, and that the humor in the illustrations might keep them reading. It wasn't a bad book; just not a thrilling one.

SMART COOKIE by Elly Swartz and THE GARDENER OF ALCATRAZ by Emma Bland Smith

We began our November discussion with our novel, Smart Cookie by Elly Swartz. We had several issues with this book. Although we thought that the major plot point, Frankie's efforts to find a mate for her dad online after her mom's death in a thunderstorm, was a good idea, but it lacked depth. We felt that there was just too much other stuff happening -- ghosts, friendship problems, hoarding, rules, secrets, and more that got in the way of the plot and were never properly developed or resolved. We liked the relationship between Frankie and her best friend Elliot and between Frankie and her dad and grandma, but since there was so much other 'mini-plot stuff' to think about none of us really felt anything as the story proceeded. We did agree that young readers of the target age group (8-12) would probably like the book, and anything that keeps a kid reading is good.

We liked both the great opening and the tone of the writing of our picture book, The Gardener of Alcatraz by Emma Bland Smith, which told an easily accessible story of Elliott Michener, a convicted counterfeiter, who had been transported from Folsom Prison to Alcatraz, decided to be a 'good guy', and ultimately redeemed himself by tending the Alcatraz garden outside of the prison walls. We thought the engaging story showing that people can change would be good for young readers as they read about Elliott's passion and pride as he learned more about gardening and gained skill. We thought Jenn Ely's illustrations were well done in terms of showing facial expressions, changes in perspective, and the way that color crept into the garden that developed in a previously barren place. We agreed that the back matter, for those who would read it, was helpful in presenting further details about Elliot's life and encarceration, the Alcatraz garden, background on (usually un- or poorly-paid) prison labor, treatment of nonwhite prisoners, and other social issues. We thought the book might be especially relatable for students who had incarcerated parents or relatives, and could present some hope of redemption and transformation through the idea that one is not 'just a prisoner.'

LOOK BOTH WAYS by Jason Reynolds and STRONG AS SANDOW by Don Tate

Greetings to all!   .....Our October Zoom meeting provided a ton of positive reactions to both of our books. We started with our novel, Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds. Although one reader said that the first chapter completely turned her off due to the graphic discussion of bodily functions (think: nose), the rest of us -- though agreeing that this chapter was the weakest of the ten chapters -- each depicting particular middle-schoolers walking home on a certain street -- kept reading and finished the book. We thought that the first chapter, although off-putting to adults would immediately pull young readers in. We ultimately felt that this book was a masterpiece of plotting, character, and brilliantly fresh writing. We thought it was very real, respectful of the youngsters it depicted, a great examination of joy and kindness and love -- along with some realistic 'kid meanness' -- and that its intended audience of young readers would 'eat it up'. We loved how each chapter/street was a short story within itself, and presented a new world to explore, ending with the last chapter/street in which the relationship of all the characters became evident as well as other things we didn't understand earlier. We also commended the book designer, who used a small line-drawing sketch to introduce each chapter/street and how -- visually -- these drawings descended downward, so that at Chapter 10 the drawing was at the bottom of the page. We hoped that our own 'reluctant reader' would give this book another try.

We had equally positive things to say about our picture book biography, Strong as Sandow by Don Tate. All of us were happy to learn about Eugen Sandow, a body builder in the middle/late 1800s that none of us had ever heard of, and we felt the first page really made one want to read further and the vivid illustrations that bounced off the page were also enticing. We liked the layout of the book where each boxed chapter heading included the location and date where the depicted events occurred. We liked how the story flowed as it told the story of Friedrich Wilhelm Muller, a weak, sickly 10-year-old boy who -- against his parents' wishes -- worked hard at physical exercise to become --at the age of 20 --Eugen Sandow: Strongman. We thought this story was a good page-turner and could be inspirational for young readers as it described the pursuing of a dream and never giving up. We also liked the Back Matter a lot, where: 1) the Afterword elaborated on Sandow's life, where he prescribed physical fitness progams in schools and healthy diets for all; 2) simple exercises anyone could try at home were presented; 3) the Author's Note where Tate described his own experience with bodybuilding; 4) an excellent and extensive bibliography; and 5) actual citations for quotes used in the text. (This is often missing in picture biographies.) ...So great to have two books with (almost) total pluses!

 

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ALICE by Mara Rockliff and THE GIRL WHO DREW BUTTERFLIES by Joyce Sidman

We were very happy to read nonfiction books about the contributions of two little-known women to science and the arts. We began with our picture book, Lights, Camera, Alice by Mara Rockliff, the story of how Alice Guy Bache, who lived in France, produced, directed, filmed, colored, and edited movies as early as 1907, preceding some of the men who are usually given this credit. We were happy to know about this revolutionary woman, but after a few great beginning sentences we felt that the remaining text of this picture book didn't really do her justice. It told little about her except that she liked to tell stories and decided to create moving pictures....and we all hated the ending, which was like being dropped off a cliff. The back matter, fortunately, presented many more details about her life and work, and we felt much of that information could have been included in the text of the story, and would have definitely made it richer and more interesting. There were also links to two of her 1907 short films, which we watched on a laptop, and all agreed that she was amazingly talented as a producer/director, PLUS she had a great sense of humor.

Our longer book was about another somewhat undersung heroine: The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman. There was a considerable amount of information about this enterprising scientist/artist who, from a very young age, was fascinated by caterpillars and worms, and kept track of their metamorphosis by drawing and painting EXACT pictures of their various stages of development, including the actual plants and flowers that provided their habitats. She was the first to present insects in exactly that way, and it became the norm years later. We loved how persistent and daring she was, 'bucking the system,' and even traveling along with her daughter from Germany to Surinam in 1699...a rare action for a woman at that time. We unanimously loved her original illustrations throughout the book, which were photographically perfect, and beautifully colored. However, we were put off by many of the editorial decisions made for this book. One- or two-paged boxed explanations of various historical events/issues/entities, were seemingly inserted to present historical context but instead created breaks in the continuity of Maria's story and most of us found them annoying. We felt they could have been included in the 'back matter' or even aluded to in the text with a few explanatory sentences. We didn't object as much to the boxed quotes from Maria in Italics on yellow background throughout the book. A few readers objected to the little 'poems' that introduced each chapter...especially since Sidman is known for her poetry, which is usually much better than the 'vapid poetry', according to one reader, that was presented in this book. We were glad that we read both books and learned about these amazing women of yesteryear.

SOME WRITER! by Melissa Sweet and I DISSENT by Debbie Levy

We read two biographies for our last meeting, and we liked them both. We discussed Some Writer! by Melissa Sweet first. We all liked it, but we had varying opinions on the format and layout, where Sweet combined original art, photos, facsimiles of E.B.White's works, artifacts, and other design elements. Some people loved this and felt that the format was almost like a scrapbook, and was a perfect complement to the text. Others felt it was confusing and distracting. One reader thought it was almost like a website, and that maybe this could entice young readers who might be intimidated by pages containing only text. One reader, a longtime E.B.White fan who had read everything he had ever written, felt that the writing in this book, although accessible and well done, wasn't eloquent enough in discussing this esteemed subject. We liked most of the 'back matter' of the book, which included statements from the author and from White's granddaughter, plus a timeline, notes, and bibliographies, but we felt that all of that was probably more interesting to adults than it would be to kids. We felt that young readers would probably not pick this book on their own, but that if they were fans of Stuart Little or Charlotte's Web, they might be interested in knowing more about the author of these classics.

As for the picture biography, I Dissent by Debbie Levy, we all liked it. Some readers were put off by the many examples of dissent, disagreement, etc., shown in huge letters in the illustrations, which they felt presented a view that portrayed Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as always being negative. Others didn't mind that aspect of the art, but didn't love the way Ginsburg was visually portrayed as a child and a young woman -- sort of cartoonish, and not very pretty -- although photos of her showed that she was in fact quite attractive. We all liked how the story of her life showed the incidents and social issues that helped to shape her thinking and made her confident that a young woman could become anything she wanted to, and could fight for justice. We thought that the writing, although not exceptional, was adequately accessible for young readers, and we hoped the book would be inspiring for young girls and could show boys that "girls CAN do anything!"