Outsider Kids

This graphic novel is book 2 in Betty Tang's Parachute Kids series.  It is an "own voices" title and themes are based on what Betty experienced in the U.S. in the early 80's as an undocumented Chinese immigrant.  The main character is Feng-Li (American name-Ann) and you follow her life from October 1981-February 1982.  She experiences her first Halloween and Thanksgiving, but also tries to figure out why people don't celebrate Chinese New Year.  Her parents are in Taiwan as they are having a difficult time getting a Visa and Feng-Li lives with her older sister (still in high school) and brother.  You also see the difficulty in learning the English language and trying to figure out some of the American idioms.  Parachute kids is a real phrase that refers to kids in the U.S. without their Chinese parents, who were sent here to have a better life or education.

While a good read, it doesn't make it into my top 5 for this award.  I do suspect that it will end up on at least one ALA award or book list in January.

 

 

 

 

 

Scattergood - did you already discuss this one?

 I'm reading Scattergood and enjoying it. I'm only early in the book. Did you guys discuss this one already on a call I might have missed?  At first I thought it was set in Europe, but it's actually in Wisconsin!

The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story

 Just received from the publisher. It looks like a great read, but it's not qualified because it doesn't take place in the Americas.

The Sacred Stone Campe-Lisa

 I received The Sacred Stone Camp today and it may require a discussion about how we define historical fiction in terms of years.  This takes place during the Standing Rock Protests aka Dakota Access Pipeline Protests in 2016.  I appreciate that this is an Own Voices title as the author is Indigenous and was born and raised in the Coast Salish Territory in Washington.  The illustrator is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes.  The book is very well done for a picture book, but it does run into the issue that we’ve previously discussed in if it can measure up to a chapter book.  The end includes notes about the actual event and a glossary of Indigenous words that were used in the text.

 

-Lisa