After finishing up the final project, I took some time to reflect on the semester as a whole. I feel that this semester-long discussion of different cultural groups and literature that is meant to represent those cultures was one that was ideal after dealing with the final projects. This course chose books that were meant to foster discussion and offer exposure to the types of literature that is necessary for anyone who is serious about being a multicultural educator; however the reality is that these types of books are rather difficult to gain access to if someone does not have a mentoring course (TE 448) or have access to publications that are designed to give titles and feedback on books that positively reflect a culture.

When attempting the final project the difficulty in locating books opened my eyes to the issue of access and the whole reason that a class such as TE 448. If a teacher or parent were just to walk into a public library and ask for a children's book that was "about" Muslims or Muslim Americans the selection would be sparse and in most cases would be about the Islamic religion and not about the people. Without access, people remain in the dark.

I think that a course such as this one is a powerful course to offer for perspective teachers because it presents a learner with the many issues that are balled up into literature and the various cultures whose voices are often times absent from the stories that we read to students. I feel that once a teacher is versed in discussion and experiences the resources and problems with locating varying voices that teacher has moved into the light. In the end, I feel that by taking this course I have been given access to publications and started a sparse library of my own and that I now have the tools to build up and out, not allowing for closed minds left in the safety of darkness.

What do the Professionals Have to Offer?

Book Links

When considering a professional resource I turned to the readings for this course to get an idea of sites that might be useful to those who want to add quality to their multicultural collections. I took another look at the websites listed in Tami C. Al-Hazza's article that reviewed some of the children's literature available. My search led me to the Book Links page published by the American Library Association (https://www.ala.org/ala/productsandpublications/periodicals/booklinks/booklinks.htm) .

I essentially found the same article from the January 2006 issue of Book Links that is a publication of the American Library Association. I think that the resource, Book Links does a good job dealing with issues of diverse literature and offers as many examples as possible for the literature in publication. There are various articles in the January 2006 publication that deal with different cultures and offers links to websites that discuss more in depth the materials covered throughout the text. (https://www.ala.org/ala/ProductsandPublications/periodicals/booklinks/webconnections/Webconnectionsjan2006.htm)

I feel that this publication, whether it is subscribed to or is visited at its website, offers information that can be very useful when trying to develop a classroom library in general and does a excellent job in making titles of multicultural texts available for the ever preceptive mind.

The Reality of Multicultural Children's Literature

When I chose the topic of Muslim/Muslim American literature, I knew that it would be somewhat difficult to locate children's books, but I didn't think it would turn out exactly how it did. For my sources I went to the East Lansing Public Library in thinking that the East Lansing has a diverse population of people and some of the children that reside here are Muslim/Muslim American and would appreciate and use books that represent their culture positively. (http://www.elpl.org/)

Once I arrived at the library, I was saddened by the fact that most of the books written for children about the Islamic faith or children who identified as a Muslim were non-fictional and about the mechanics of the Islamic faith. I was able to check out four books, two of which were about the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and one that had fairy tale qualities. The book that I was most appreciative of was Salaam; A Muslim American Boy's Story because it depicted a contemporary boy who is American and Muslim and illustrates how he deals with the misconceptions that some people have about his faith and, therefore, his family. The story shows him as a boy who is like any other American boy with a best friend whom he does everything with and how he likes to make his teacher laugh.

As a whole, I was disappointed with both of the books that dealt with Ramadan because the illustrations made the holy month seem more whimsical than important and realistic. The information that was presented was dry much as if it had been taken out of the same non-fiction books that were written for children that I had opted to not check out. I chose Ramadan by Suhaib Hamid Ghazi because the illustrations were a bit more lively than Magid Fasts for Ramadan (this is a beginners chapter book). I think that it is suspicious that Ramadan was written by a man of Arabic decent, but the book reads more like a non-fiction book that happens to have a by named Hakeem narrating; I think that this adds again another interesting layer to the insider/outsider debate.

In the end, from the research possibilities and the check out realities, I have come to understand that just because the books are being published about Muslim/Muslim Americans doesn't mean that they find their way to public library shelves and the ones that do are ofter non-fiction or simply poor text that do not serve to education others.

Ramadan

Ghazi, Suhaib Hamid. Ramadan New York: Holiday House, 1996.
(http://www.holidayhouse.com/HH/details.cfm?id=164)

This story is about a boy named Hakeem who is Muslim. Much attention is paid throughout the story to the history of the Islamic faith, what it means and the significance of Ramadan to Muslims.

This illustrations of this book again portray the Muslim faith in a whimsical fashion with the pictures appearing dreamlike. Another thing that I did not like about this book is that it takes non-fictional information about Ramadan and tries to weave it into a fictional story by having a young, male narrator, named Hakeem, take the reader through the information about Ramadan.

I question the function of this book because it seems like the information is less heartfelt and less enjoyable as a fictional text; also I feel that by portraying Ramadan fictionally detracts from the importance of the holiday to a faith that readers who are not Muslim. I also think it is interesting that other than the biographical information offered at the end of the text, there is no information about the author either on a website of his own or on the publisher's website. Although Suhaib Hamid Ghazi wrote this book as one third a series known as The Prophets of Allah and has spent time in Saudi Arabia (the home of Mecca), he is essentially a financial advisor for American Express which leads me to questions why he would have been asked to author a book about the Muslim holiday Ramadan.

"Salaam; A Muslim American Boy's Story"

Brown, Tricia. Salaam; A Muslim American Boy's Story New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC, 2006.

Salaam; A Muslim American Boy's Story is a non-fictional pictorial story of a young boy names Imran. Imran is the typical American boy who just happens to be Muslim as well. Throughout the story, readers are given a tour of Imran's daily life with his best friend Trevor as well as confronts some of the misconceptions that his fellow Americans hold about his faith. The story is accompanied by black and white photographs that take you through the daily life of Imran in such a way that the reader is able to see Imran as an American boy who is Muslim.

I enjoyed this particular story because it was a modern portrayal of a Muslim American family going through life much that other American families. I feel that the photographs serve as a connector for readers to see themselves whereas other types of illustrations would have added a more fictional feeling to the book. This book address misconceptions in a plain-language way and when coupled with the photographs, this could be the day to day living of any American family and its universal appeal, I feel, is the most effective and appropriate way of introducing Muslim Americans to other Americans.

The publisher's website was the only site that I could find a photo and a brief description of the book; this is where the photograph used on this page was taken from. Critical reviews or other types of reviews were not available, but this could be due to the recent publication of the story.
(http://www.henryholtchildrensbooks.com)

"The Hundreth Name"

Oppenheim, Shulamith Levey. The Hundredth Name Pennsylvania: Boyds Mills Press, 1995.

The Hundredth Name is a story about a young boy living in Egypt that is extremely close to his camel. The boy, named Salah, is deeply worried about his camel because he always looks sad and Salah wants nothing more than for his camel, named Qadiim (meaning Ancient One), to be proud and happy. Through the course of the story Salah turns to his faith for help in making Qadiim happy and proud. Help is granted to Salah from Allah in that he tells Qadiim what the hundredth holy name is when no one else is permitted to know. Once Qadiim knows the secret of the hundredth name, he is happy and walks tall and proud

In reading the information about the authors of this book I was concerned that is was too much of a fairy tale. The author, Shulamith Levey Oppenheim, heard a tale of the ninety-nine names for Allah on her first visit to Egypt and was so captured by it, she penned it and had it first published in Cricket Magazine. In 1995 the story was published and illustrated by Michael Hays who says that he did "extensive research" for this work and had "an Egyptian father and son" sit as models for some of the scene that take place between Salah and his father. I feel that this particular image of the Arab world is too stagnant and depicts the Muslim religion as having fairy tale properties.

I found Shulamith Levey Oppenheim's website which features some reviews of The Hundredth Name, all of which are positive and credit Oppenheim for her use of prose in such a sort story and says that The Hundredth Name "conveys the lessons of a foreign culture and its enduring religiosity". (http://www.shulamithoppenheim.com/hundredthname.htm). It worries me that I could not find mention of The Hundredth Name in a more critical review of the text and I feel that it is problematic that a story with fairy tale qualities could come to represent a modern society and religion.

Where is reality?

For this week, our class has read Boy Meets Boy a story that depicts the rocky dating road of a teenage boy who is gay. The issues within this book are not ones that are unrecognizable to a heterosexual female when remember the high school dating scene, however what kept catching me was the atmosphere of the high school in which the main character, Paul, functions in. The high school has a quarterback who is also a "drag queen" and many other students are open about their sexual orientation.

For me personally, it was difficult to read Boy Meets Boy because I could not wrap my head around the idea that there is a community within our current society that is so open and comfortable with people who identify as either gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans-gender or queer. As an optimist, I hope that some day all people while find the recognition and acceptance within our society as a whole that they as individuals deserve; however, as a realist, I didn't like reading Boy Meets Boy because I didn't know how to approach the novel because I didn't know what genre to place the book in--did Levithan intend for the book to be fantasy or did he intend the novel to be read as realistic fiction?

I was personally bothered that I had a difficult time wrapping my head around a community built on tolerance and acceptance and to get a better understanding, I visited David Levithan's website as was suggested in the "About the Author" portion of the book. Levithan says that when writing Boy Meets Boy he wanted to challenge the normal treatment of gay teenagers within literature as the tormented person in the student body at a high school and to my great dismay, when asked if his work is a work of realistic fiction or fantasy Levithan's reaction is that it is both--a story written on a line going straight down the middle of where we are and where we are going ( http://davidlevithan.com/about_davidlevithan.html ).

How unsatisfying to my constant need for having a clear cut answer, but now I believe that I understand the reasoning of Levithan for writing this story in such a way, when you look at our current society, we has such a long way to go in order for the high school that Paul attends to become a reality and yet, when you look at our past, we have come a long way in making it possible to dream that acceptance is a possibility. This is the reality and reality is rarely clear just as in Boy Meets Boy.

"True Confessions of a Closet Catholic"

I think that it was a nice change of pace to get together with my group members outside of our class to discuss a book that we all have read, I think that it made it easier to talk about the issues that we all had noticed in the book. I feel that being able to meet in this type of atmosphere made the feeling between all of the different group members more relaxed and trusting than when we have a limited amount of time while meeting during the class time.
When we were discussing the book we looked at the theme of chocolate being repeated throughout the story in instances when Justine, the main character, was dealing with the most stress or her lowest level of self-esteem. None of us could really come up with a definitive reason for the chocolate; we hypothesized that chocolate, which is such a comfort food for many different people, was used as a way to make the story about a Jewish girl more universal because what female hasn't turned to some type of food for comfort in a time of need? I thought, personally, that it was interesting that while Justine viewed her addiction to chocolate as a way of coping it was also the first thing that she blamed while mentally critiquing herself and her flaws.
The question that I had the hardest time wrapping my head around was the issue of Justine and her growing Jewish identity. For me when I was reading True Confessions of a Closet Catholic I found myself looking more at her misconceptions about a Catholic identity because I am, although non-practicing, a Catholic. When Justine's character was talking about giving up being Jewish for Lent, I found it hilarious because I suppose that I never viewed being Catholic as such a blessing. I did enjoy that although many characters throughout the story tried to tell Justine that if you are not happy with yourself, changing religions is not going to solve the problem, but in the end, figuring out who you are as a person is an journey that can't be decided by someone else, just like a religious choice can't. I found that although I didn't really understand completely the issue of being Jewish and Justine's self image, I could relate to the Catholic references because I have a background in going through a crisis of religion. Ultimately, I feel that these two religions, the one crisis of religion and chocolate all helped to make this a universally connectible story and I enjoyed the chance to talk about it with my group members outside of class.

Becoming...

In reading Becoming Naomi Leon, I tried to keep in mind how Spanish worked within the text as was discussed the Barrera and Quiroa article. For the beginning, the main character's identity was not tied to being a Latina, but instead as a quiet being. I enjoyed how Ryan tracked the development of Naomi with her increased usage and knowledge of Spanish as it was the intent of the story to show identity with self awareness. Naomi discovered her father and his Mexican roots and therefor, the usage of her Spanish mirrors her acclimation into the familial basis of Spanish and Mexican family values.
Throughout Becoming Naomi Leon, Ryan does not, in my reading of the text, make disengaged Spanish language additives, but instead the words work within the text to deepen the story line of Naomi finding her father and herself as she, Owen and her great grandmother travel through Mexico and its family-based culture. As it was discussed in the Barrera and Quiroa article, Ryan was able to integrate Spanish into the English text in a meaningful way that illustrated the cultural ties of the words and as a way of expressing an event that only occurs within a Spanish-based culture.
Ultimately, I feel that Becoming Naomi Leon functioned as a good story of a teenage girl trying to find her place in a word that she feels that looks without seeing and as the tale of a Latina girl connecting with her roots as she finds her father in Mexico and gains an understanding of the cultural importance of family.

A Blind Eye

First I would like to start by saying how disappointed I was for missing the class discussion on Monday about From Charlie's Point of View. I had prepared a question that looked at the family structures within the book and then questioned if this was an attempt to make Charlie's blindness "normal".
The way in which I read the book From Charlie's Point of View was as not an attempt to make readers more aware of blindness but more as an attempt to show "normal" in childhood and the issues that children face. The fact that Bernadette's family is that of a single parent home and Lewis's family is suffering from severe unhappiness, I feel, allows for Charlie's challenges to be read as less of a difference and more as an added level to deal with as a child--I don't feel that this story was an attempt to show the challenges of blindness.
Also, when reading the book and when I did allow myself to look more at the concept of Charlie's blindness as a function in the story I was troubled at how it was framed. In most cases that stood out to me was how depended Charlie was on other people and how he was framed as being helpless to change the dependent relationships. I am not familiar with the struggles of blindness and the levels of assistance that blind people choose to have or require in order to negotiate daily life, but I don't feel that Charlie portrayed a role model from blind children by being depend on others.
Because of my doubts in how Charlie was portrayed as a blind child negotiation daily life, I choose to look at how he was made a more "normal" child by having all the families be as different and, yet, as common at they are. I feel that by have each child character within the story deal with varying issues of family drama--Bernadette's drunk and single mother, Lewis' feuding parent's, and Charlie's arrested father--places the characters on an even foothold and in the end, allows them to come together and help one another when in need. All three are different and "disabled" because of their family structures and in the end, I feel that by viewing the book this way is the only way that it is a successful book. If the book were taken solely as a book about a blind boy it would not be a positive representation, but when the focus is on all three characters working to solve the case and save Mr. Fairmile, the book works as an example of how kids from different circumstance can work together and be friend in the end.
What does everyone else think? What was really discussed in class? How did you all look at the book? I am very interested to see what everyone else thought about From Charlie's Point of View as a book about persons with disabilities since so many want to focus on this topic for the final paper!

Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association

The purpose of this Award is to recognize authors and illustrators who create a representation of Asian/Pacific Americans and heritage in a positive way. The selection criteria is simply that the author or illustrate represents Asian/Pacific heritage in an accurate and positive way. The authors and illustrates do not have to identify themselves as being of Asian/Pacific heritage. The organization itself has been established for nearly thirty years, but the American Librarians Association sponsored award is relatively new in creation. There are three separate awards that are given under this title for illustrations in children's picture books, youth literature and adult books. The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association has a section dedicated on their site for the members of the selection committee although it is not made completely clear 'who' the members are. The accolades of the members are given as a quick biography and perhaps in defending their position on the committee, but further information isn't really clear. No picture is given as a representation as to who the members are and that is something that our particular group thought it was interesting that the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association would choose not to give you a face for their organization.
Over all, we had a very difficult time finding books in the library that have won this particular award. "Kira-Kira" by Cynthia Kadohata, "A Step from Heaven" by An Na and "Project Mulberry" by Linda Sue Park were either winners or nominees for this award and were the only ones that were locatable.
Our group thought that the criteria for this award sent a positive message in that when considering winners, the committee paid close attention to content verses identity of the authors or illustrators. We all felt that it added an interesting twist to the insider/outsider debate considering that the criteria doesn't specify that the creators have to be of Asian/Pacific heritage or association, but that of the three books that we were able to locate two of the authors were of Asian/Pacific heritage.
We welcome questions or comments on this award and wonder what you think about the criteria saying that the authors and illustrators don't have to be Asian/Pacific American, but those are the people who seem to represent the winners of the award as a majority. Let us know!

Michigan Indian Day

Unfortunately, I was unable to personally attend the Michigan Indian Day hosted at the Kellogg Center on Friday, September 28th. According to today's issue of the State News (Monday, October 1, 2007) the celebration of Native American culture within the state of Michigan was established twenty-three years ago by Governor William Milliken and this years festivities marked the seventh year that Michigan Indian Day was hosted at Michigan State. The article that appears have a link to a video of the event. (http://www.statenews.com/index.php/multimedia/26001)
I think it was interesting that in the video dance was equated to a "sense of self" and in thinking back on The Heart of the Chief and how our discussion fringed on the idea that Chris' sense of self was linked to his Native American culture and think that the video interview with Eva Menefee illustrates that Native Americans feel a connection to their self through their dance and is an interesting layer to add to the consideration of text that represent Native Americans. Also I think that the quest for self expression is one that is universal to humanity and can be a link to discussion all "differences".
Please check out the video and let me know what you think!

Following the Insider, Outsider Debate: Where do I Stand Now.

Last night in class, the discussion was focused on the issue of insider voices versus outsider voices when creating works of "multicultural" literature for children. I thought that it was very interesting when the fish bowl activity was through into the mix because I feel that it got more opinions brought to the conversation that I haven't heard before or thought of when I approached this topic. I thought that it was interesting when the critical reviews of "multicultural" literature from those representing "insiders" looked at works representing those groups. It added another element to the discussion and to my personal stance on the issue. When the conversation turned towards how those representing "insiders" were offended once they found that authors representing a group turned out to be a fraud, I wondered "How much do readers assume that an 'insider' is to be trusted as a representative for a group when they author a book that is presented as authentic experience?"
With this question I feel that my opinion on the insider, outsider debate has changed a bit more. At first I felt that as long as an "outsider" proves their research and involvement with the group they are trying to represent through literature, then I had no problem with an outsider being a source of insider information. After the discussion and taking a closer look at the book by Rinoldi and its critical reviews, I feel that it is of the utmost importance that as a teacher trying to choose literature that not just the popular reviews are considered, but the critical ones as well coming from inside voices are looked at. The information that children are presented with can be formative and the quality of that information should be critically viewed whether or not they come from outside or in.
In conclusion, thank you for a thoughtful discussion because the information presented helped me to both broaden will creating more standards in critiquing the quality of "multicultural" literature.

Insider or Outsider? The Debate

When it comes to choosing books in a classroom library that represent a diverse global society, much attention is paid by some critics on the specifics of the authors location within or outside of the group he or she is writing about. Personally, it doesn't matter to me whether or not the author identifies with the group he or she is writing about just as long as he or she can show the time and research they conducted in order to create a work of fiction that some child in my classroom can identify with. Authenticity is important to me in regards to the time and effort that the author put into the culture or group they are trying to represent; when I am addressing a book that I could possibly include in my library I want to know where the author is coming from, if he or she is not an "insider" then I want to see the information that the author collect in order to create the senses in which he or she did.
During our discussion of The Heart of a Chief the question was raised about the "authenticity" of the author (Joseph Bruchac is Native American). For me the importance lay with an explanation from the author about how he or she came to the conclusions and generalizations that he or she did when sculpting the characters in their works. Joseph Bruchac is not a Penacook Native American, but he is a Native American. In the terms of a generalization (as discussed in Cortes) Bruchac has his main character deal with issues that some Native American children do deal with in a contemporary setting, but at the same time, children who are not Native American are able to identify with some of the issues that the character is working through. On this point, Bruchac is an insider, but not authentic in the sense that he is a Penacook Native American--instead Bruchac researched the tribe or at least made himself familiar and then address human issues.
I feel that it is not important for an other to be an insider or outsider as long as he or she is willing to do everything possible to learn about the overall themes and generalizations (as discussed in Cortes) of a group and is then able to create an identifiable character this is both a positive representation of a group and as close to authentic as is possible without being a member of the topic group.

Introduction to TE 448

Hello! My name is Trisha Keenoy and I am an Elementary Education major at Michigan State University. I am currently enrolled in a Children's and Adolescent Literature course that focuses on introducing a more diverse selection to students. The reason that I chose to enroll in this class is because I have always been an avid reader and as I have gotten older I have realized more and more that there are differences within our society that were not always celebrated within the literature that I had access to. The books that I read and the characters that I related to were those who looked like me, talked like me and normally lived in a community that was close in composition. I am hoping that will this class I will become able to seek out works that offer a different look at the world in which we live so that more readers have the chance to find the characters that have the qualities they can admire or see themselves as--I know that for a shy child there is comfort to be found in books and characters that survive when they are just like you because I was that child. The only questions that I bring with me as I embark on this course is how to determine what is a good piece of diverse literature--is it a book with characters that are not like those who make up my classroom, is it a book that is focused on a different country or religion that is not popularly represented within the community in which I teach in and finally, I would like to know how to properly defend my choice if or when they come under attack from other faculty and parents? I look forward to this investigation and look forward to further understanding the nature of blogs!
~Trish