Another Children's Book that Focuses on a Social Issue

Olive's Ocean is a 2004 Newbery Honor winner that attempts to answer the question, "What was it like for authors growing up?"  The books follows 8-year-old Martha during her summer with her grandmother, Godbee, in Wisconsin on the Atlantic Ocean.  Prior to her trip, she received a journal from of the mother of a classmate that had recently died.  Martha read that they had a lot in common and regretted that she wasn't nicer to her because they could have been great friends.  With this on her mind, Martha spends the summer with Godbee sharing secrets.  Martha develops a crush on the boy next door, Jimmy, and when he finally kisses her, she learns that it was just for a bet and feels heartbroken.  At the end of the summer, Martha learns that Jimmy's younger brother Tate, who is her age, likes her.  She returns home with some water from the Atlantic Ocean for Olive who loved the ocean and she begins to move on. 
Olive's Ocean is sometimes controversial because some believe that it is inappropriate for the intended audience of middle grade students.  But I think Olive's Ocean captures the emotions of middle school aged students during an awkward phase.  In the story, this is the first time Martha deals with the loss of someone she knew and regrets that she didn't know her better.  Furthermore, she learns that her grandmother is becoming weak in her old age.  These feelings are new to her and to most middle school aged students.  It's also realistic that Martha develops a crush on an older boy that turns out to be someone she didn't like.  There are some inappropriate terms, but they are realistic to how students speak. 
Olive's Ocean is an opportunity to discuss serious social issues in the classroom.  When I read it in the classroom, many male students admitted to enjoying the book.  There might be some gender bias when encountering the book in the classroom, but I think it's an all around enjoyable book when it's given the chance.  I think many students Martha's age can relate to her.  It's a book that I think should be read it the classroom rather than ignored because it's can be a good opportunity to discuss serious social issues.

Alternative Text Draft: A Cinderella Story

Once upon a time, there was an extraordinary girl.  She was kind and compassionate, but she did not believe it.  She lived her wicked step-mother and wicked step-sisters who told her that she could never be anything special. 

But she dreamed of another life.  Her fairy godmother would make her into the person she wanted to be and she could lead the life she always wanted in another place.  So she waited patiently and thought "My day will come eventually."

She heard about a huge party from her step-mother and step-sisters, but she was not invited.  Instead of waiting for her fairy godmother, she decided that would be the day she changes her life.  Slowly, she planned her escape.

After her family left for the party, she got ready to leave.  On her way to the party, she ran into an old blind woman who asked for her assistance.  "I live across town and I'm terribly lost," lamented the old blind woman.  "Please, miss, can you help me?"

The old blind woman lived in the opposite direction of the party.  The girl gave one glance in the direction of the party, but took pity on the old blind woman and began to lead to the old blind woman home.

Once there, she prepared a meal for the old blind woman and made sure that the old blind woman was settled before she left.  It was too late to go to the party, so she decided to go back home to her step-mother and step-sisters' house.

But the old blind woman was so touched by her kindness and compassion.  The old blind woman rewarded her by giving her magic. "Use it wisely" the old blind woman warned.

She was elated when she received the magic and immediately made a list of all the things she could do with it.  But when she arrived at her step-mother and step-sisters' house, she had another idea.

Instead, she decided not to use the magic to fulfill her dream.  "My life is what I make it," she thought.  So that very night, she packed the things she had and told her step-mother and step-sisters that she was leaving.  They just laughed and told her that she would never make it on her own.


But she gave them the magic and told them to be safe, doubtful that real magic even existed.  She knew however, that she was a kind and compassionate person.  An old blind woman saw her goodness and rewarded her with magic, but the real magic is the extraordinary things she is able to do.  So she went off into the night, a new world of possibilities and lived happily ever after.

Another Children's Book that Focuses on a Social Issue

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a children's book that almost everyone has read.  The main character, Harry Potter, is an 11-year-old orphan that lives with his careless aunt and uncle and their spoiled son.  Harry has always felt alone and out of place, except for the day he realized that he was a wizard.  Suddenly he is whisked away to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  This book appeals to both adults and children.  For children, it is relatable and fantastical.  For adults, it is just as fantasical, but with underlying complex ideas that go beyond good versus evil.  The book is a good opportunity to talk about various social issues, but I think one of the most compelling social issue and the way it is handled is bullying.
What I think is so interesting about Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is how author J.K. Rowling handles the mundane.  It's easy for this to be overlooked in a fantasy novel.  In the novel, awkward student Neville Longbottom is constantly picked on by an arrogant student, Draco Malfoy.  Title character Harry and his friends, Ron and Hermione encourage Neville to stand up for himself with Malfoy bullies him.  It's not until the very end that Neville stands up for himself, ironically, to his own friends for breaking the rules for something they believe in.  Later, when Gryffindor and Slytherin and tied for the house cup, it's Neville act of courage what gives Gryffindor the winning points when he stands up to his friends.
Bullying is a hot topic today as extreme cases are portrayed in the media, but it's a serious issue that is unprecedented by law.  There are rules in school, but sometimes they aren't taken seriously.  Sometimes students do not know what acts are considered bullying and sometimes they do not know what to do when they encounter a bullying situation.  Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is a fun read, but the novel brings up serious social issues that can be explored.

A Children's Book that Focuses on a Social Issue

One of my favorite children's book is Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, which concerns environmental issues.  The Lorax is about the decline of an imaginary land home to the Lorax, the Once-ler, and beautiful Truffula Trees.  In a flashback, the Once-ler tells a traveling boy how this once beautiful land became desolate.  The Once-ler narrates that he was entranced by the colorful and wooly Truffula Trees.  One day, he chopped one day and a made a multipurpose garment, a Thneed.  Thneeds were in such high demand that the Once-ler had open more shops to accommodate the demand.  However much the Lorax protested, the Once-ler ignored him, spurred by greed and and success.  But the Lorax's warnings were true and eventually all of this land's natural inhabitants had to leave to find a new food source, clean water, and clean air.  The last Truffula Tree was chopped down for more Thneeds and the Once-ler loss his business.  Back in the book's real time, the Once-ler has lost his once beautiful home and gives the boy a Truffula Tree seed.  The Lorax has been criticized for being too gloomy unfair to certain industries.
It is clear that in The Lorax, Dr. Seuss is commenting on the greed of big businesses and its consumers.  On a smaller scale, The Lorax is about greed and instant gratification.  For both children and adults, The Lorax criticizes the extent to which we desire something and the consequences of getting it.  I think this is a good book of people of all ages.  It makes children and adults accountable for what they want.  In The Lorax, the consumers of Thneeds may or may not have known where their Thneeds came from or why they even wanted it.  The book is also very specific to environmental and consumer issues.  The Lorax claims that he "speaks for the trees, as the trees have no tongues."  The book obviously encourages more people to be environmentally friendly, which includes being a responsible consumer and knowing what corporations and their actions they and supporting as consumers.
I reread The Lorax in an biology class a few years ago.  As a child, I did not recognize the messages in the book, but The Lorax comments on our everyday actions as consumers and inhabitants of the earth.  I think it's a friendly book for children that can teach them to be more environmentally conscious, because their actions are going to have an increasing effect on big businesses and the environment.

Podcast Draft

Welcome!  My name is Nicole.  Today I’m going to talk about a popular young adult novel by Cynthia Kadohata called Kira-Kira.  Kira-Kira is about a Japanese-American family living in Georgia during the 1950s.  Katie, the youngest daughter of this family, is the narrator and main character of the novel.  The novel deals with serious social and personal issues in a way children can relate to.  For this reason, Kira-Kira is a great book for adults to read with children because it will help create a comfortable environment for children and adults to discuss these issues.

 One of the most obvious issues in Kira-Kira is diversity.  Katie is the only Japanese-American student in her class and she often struggles with the racial disparity she feels.  In the 1950s, racial diversity in the classroom was not as prominent as it is today.  Today, many students feel ostracized because they don’t look like their classmates.  In one scene, Katie is even called a “heathen” by an older student named Amber.  This would be a great time for parents and teachers to talk about bullying and racial diversity.  Bullying is a serious issue that some children don’t feel comfortable discussing, but Kira-Kira can create a space that discusses what physical and verbal acts cross the line into bullying.  On the other hand, this particular scene and issue in the novel can also be an opportunity to explore different cultures with students.

 The major conflict in Kira-Kira is watching Katie’s family overcome the recent death of Lynn, Katie’s older sister.  Lynn becomes sick with anemia and later dies from lymphoma.  Katie, only eleven-years-old at the time, does not understand what these diseases are and how serious the situation is.  However, it is obvious to Katie that is has negatively affected her parents and sister.  When Lynn dies, Katie realizes why her sister was so special: her unique perspective on life.  By Katie’s age, eleven-years-old, many children have experienced the loss of someone special.  There are many questions about death that we will never know the answer to, but children need a space to ask them and reach out to one another.  Death is a personal issue that some children might not feel comfortable discussing in class, but it relates to later social issues: why and when do people die, etc.

 In essence, Kira-Kira is about family and strength.  It is a book I highly recommend for discussion about serious social issues.  By reading this book with their children, parents and teachers have the opportunity to create an environment where their children can talk about these issues.  Children are extremely perceptive and they make inferences about the social issues that they see in their everyday life.  A discussion on Kira-Kira will give them a space to raise serious questions about certain social issues that can put them on a path to ending them someday.

9/24 Event

In an event last week, 12-year-old author Kekaulele Kawai’ae’e came to American University to discuss his children’s book Kohala Kuamo: Nae’ole’s Race to Save a King.  Nae’ole’s Race to Save a King was written when Kekaulele was only 9-years-old.  It was a collaboration between himself, his father, and his grandfather.  Kekaulele grew up with father and grandfather telling him Nae’ole’s Race to Save a King.  This story was always important to the family because it was their ancestors’ story that was passed down through oral tradition.  During a school project, Kekaulele decided to record this oral tradition with his grandfather’s words and his father’s art.  It’s particularly interesting that how this story in passed down through generations in different mediums.  It’s also an extraordinary feat for a child to publish as such a young age.  The story itself is fascinating because it’s one that more Americans aren’t aware of.  Many Hawaiian books don’t have the same popularity as Kakaulele’s Kohala Kauamo, which was also presented this weekend at the National Book Fair in Washinton, D.C.

The discussion of the book by Kekaulele’s family was thought-provoking.  In particular, Walter put an emphasis on history, but our own history.  He said something along these lines, “If we could all learn each other’s histories through our names, history would be more interesting and more memorable.”  I never thought my name had much history to it and when I think of Kekaulele’s name and meaning, I don’t understand how my name could say so much.  But it is something I feel like I should learn someday.  I was also embarrassed by Walter’s discussion on oral tradition because my father is Hawaiian and he always tried to teach me some of the language, but I was never interested.  The language is obviously fascinating, but also a part of where I come from and it saddens me that I don’t know it that well. 

Kekaulele’s discussion gave me a lot to think about.  I think it was Walter who said, “Our family history is our greatest treasure.”  We never really think of our past anymore: where we come from and why we’re here.  Instead we think more about our futures: globalization and the economy.  There’s something truly special about actually sitting down and discussing family, culture, and tradition.  It’s sad because, as Walter puts it, we’re losing our greatest treasure.

A Children's Book that Focuses on Social Issues

The first book I thought of for this topic was again To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  However, I'm not confident that To Kill a Mockingbird is considered a children's book.  Another book that I very recently read is Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.  To me, Elijah of Buxton focuses on similar social issues as To Kill a Mockingbird with the same warmth and humor.  Perhaps, To Kill a Mockingbird is widely considered a young adult book.  Elijah of Buxton is a popular historical fiction children's book that even won the 2008 Newbery Honor.  The novel is narrated by the title character, 11-year-old Elijah Freedman, a first generation free-born child living in the free-black community Buxton County, Canada.  Elijah and his family just escaped the oppression of a pre-Emancipation Proclamation and pre-Civil War United States.  Nevertheless, Elijah of Buxton is a about a boy growing up, especially as an unexpected adventure takes him into the United States and he sees racial injustice so openly.

The obvious social issue this novel focuses on is racism.  Elijah was born free and lives in a free community, but in a time when African Americans are slaves in the United States.  There are some great moments in this novel that can be used as an opportunity for parents and teachers to talk about racism.  For example, when Elijah calls himself and his classmates the N-word.  Even though his parents and his teachers have taught him that the N-word is disrespectful, it's not until his neighbor, Mr. Leroy, scolds him that he understands that it's a derogatory term.  Mr. Leroy has a powerful moment when he tells Elijah that it doesn't matter who says the N-word because it's still hateful and disrespectful.  I find this scene in the novel very relevant to today because is word is still prevalent, sometimes among African Americans.  When reading this with children, I think it would be a great opportunity to talk about the N-word.  

To connect this to Getting Beyond "I Like the Book" by Vivian Vasquez, it's clear that this issue is not above children.  Children are able to make these connections at very young ages and if we can't create an open environment in which children can express their feelings, they will just feel isolated.  In particular, I read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee at a very young age.  Some strong social issues were above me when I first read it, but the racism I read about deeply saddened me and opened my eyes to injustices that I hadn't yet experienced.  It also put me on a path that opposed such injustices that I have since carried with me.  I read Elijah of Buxton years after I read To Kill a Mockingbird, but I think Elijah of Buxton has a similar affect as To Kill a Mockingbird that is specifically targeted to younger audiences.