A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

★★★★

Ah, a Christmas classic! I very much enjoyed the animated Mickey Mouse version when I was a kid, but I had never read the book until now. I did read Charles Dickens in high school, and I'd definitely forgotten how dated his writing is. The familiar story was entertaining and heartwarming, even if I did have trouble parsing some phrases, and had to settle for getting the gist of some passages. If it weren't for the accompanying illustrations, I'm not sure if I would have figured out that Bob Cratchit's "comforter" was a scarf!

One particular quote struck me as timelessly relevant. At one point (on pages 116-117 of my edition), the Ghost of Christmas Present says to Scrooge, "There are some upon this earth of yours who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name; who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us."

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

★★★★

I'm a fan of The Daily Show, and I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard about it, but it wasn't until I watched Trevor Noah's latest Netflix special, Son of Patricia, that I finally bumped this book to the top of my to-read list. After watching him do stand-up, it's easy to imagine Trevor Noah's voice narrating each of the stories in this book, especially when there's dialogue. He uses some profanity, about the same as he uses in his stand-up.

True to its subtitle, the book focuses mostly on Trevor Noah's childhood, plus a few anecdotes from young adulthood. The book is organized by theme, not chronologically, so it sometimes feel disjointed as stories jump from childhood to adolescence back to childhood and then to young adulthood. Still, there's a storytelling arc that spans Trevor Noah's development as an individual, as he matures and comes to understand the world around him. The book just barely touches upon the fact that he eventually became a world-famous comedian; it doesn't at all address how he got into comedy or how his career came to be.

Trevor Noah discusses a number of heavy topics with just enough humor to bring perspective and entertainment while still allowing for the gravitas each subject deserves. He talks of race, identity, poverty, domestic violence, gun violence, police, prison, and healthcare. Mostly I was blown away by his account of living during apartheid in South Africa. Of course I knew apartheid existed, but I really did not understand the extent of how insanely unjust the system was, and how recently that system existed. This wasn't the mid-1800s, or even the 1950s, it was just a couple decades ago, in the years of my own youth. A worthy read if only for the educational value.

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

★★

My daughter read this book for school in 7th grade, but I'm not too keen on it. It's about a very diverse neighborhood coming together in the making of a community garden. Overall, the intent and the message of the book are positive. What troubles me is the delivery. Some might call this book "racist"; at the very least, the writing incorporates various levels of "racial insensitivity", or a lack of "racial awareness".

Listed below (at the end of this review) are race-related excerpts from the book that I believe are worth discussing, or at least clarifying. Each chapter is narrated in the first person by a different character, and most references are in the narrator's thoughts. No offense is intended in any of these references, but there's a lot to unpack just in reading the words in print. My concern is that the text itself does not provide enough context, and without sufficient analysis, young readers might come away from this book with misunderstandings about race-related concepts. Some of my examples might be nit-picky, but I think when a book is expressly written to showcase diversity, when it specifically shines a spotlight on race, it should go out of its way to get it right.

Having only 69 pages, the book is more of a novella. I was disappointed when I realized that each character gets only one chapter, so we don't see the individual stories developed. The garden itself is like the main character, and it's the growth of the garden that is told through the eyes of different people.

Aside from my concerns about race, the book includes references to a number of other topics that might be worth discussing with young readers as well. For example, death (some of the characters have family members who have died), marijuana, guns in schools, an armed robbery that results in physical abuse and PTSD, and a pregnant teenager who wishes to miscarry.

Anyway, here are the race-related references that caught my attention:

Page 4: "Gibb Street was mainly Rumanians back then."

Rumania is an alternate spelling of Romania.

According to Wikipedia: "In English, the name of the country was formerly spelt Rumania or Roumania. Romania became the predominant spelling around 1975."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romania

As an elderly person, Ana (the narrator of this chapter) would be accustomed to using the spelling she grew up with.

Page 5: "Then Negro families in the Depression."

According to Merriam-Webster online, the term "Negro" is "dated, now sometimes offensive".

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Negro

Ana is still the narrator, and again, as an elderly person, she might be accustomed to using the terms she grew up with. In her old age, she might not understand that "Negro" is no longer an acceptable term to use to refer to African-Americans. She probably does not mean to refer to African-Americans in a belittling way, but if she said it out loud, an African-American might be offended.

These days, "African-American" and "black" are appropriate words to use. Some African-American / black people may have a preference for which term they prefer.

Sources:

https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/say-african-american-or-black-first-acknowledge-persistence-structural-racism

https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/04/an-african-american-or-a-black-160773

Page 10: "She gave me some binoculars and told me all about the Chinese girl."

Wendell (the narrator of this chapter) is referring to Kim, who is Vietnamese. He probably does not know Kim's ethnicity, so he guesses Chinese. He probably does not mean any harm, but if he said this out loud, Kim might be offended. Vietnamese language and culture is different from Chinese language and culture. Interchanging the two perpetuates the stereotype that all Asian cultures are the same, and not worth distinguishing one from the other. Instead, if you don't know a person's exact Asian country of origin, "Asian" is the appropriate word to use.

Page 14: "He doesn't speak Spanish, just an Indian language."

Gonzalo (the narrator of this chapter) is referring to his great-uncle. Since Gonzalo is from Guatemala, he is probably not using "Indian" to refer to the Asian subcontinent of India. Instead, he means someone whose ancestry is native to a particular place. There is much debate about how we should refer to these peoples: Indians? American Indians? Native Americans? Indigenous? Members of these groups typically have their own preferences regarding what to call themselves. Since Gonzalo is talking about his own family, he is using the word he is most comfortable with.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_name_controversy

Page 26: "People bent over like coolies, walking sometimes three or four blocks, a gallon jug in each hand, complaining all the time about the water."

Sam (the narrator of this chapter) studies words as a hobby, so his use of "coolie" seems particularly unexpected.

According to Merriam-Webster online, the term "coolie" is "usually offensive".

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/coolie

Sam is probably using the word "coolie" to mean "unskilled laborer". However, in America, the word has derogatory connotations stemming from the xenophobic treatment of Chinese immigrants during the mid-to-late 1800s. It's probably best not to use this word casually, except in historical context, especially when speaking about a group that includes Asians.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolie

Page 26: "With a few exceptions, the blacks on one side, the whites on another, the Central Americans and Asians toward the back."

See the Politico source above related to "Negro". Using "black" as a noun is a subject of debate. The same could probably be said for using "white" as a noun. Saying "black people" and "white people" would be less controversial.

Page 36: Sae Young (the narrator of this chapter) is an adult from Korea. Her entire chapter is written in broken English with poor grammar.

Though other narrators are also immigrants, this is the only chapter written in poor English. It feels like the literary equivalent of the on-screen Asian character having an accent. This kind of representation perpetuates the "other-ing" of Asians in America.

Page 43: "They liked to call me 'field slave' and 'sharecropper.' Ask how Massa's crops is doing."

This is an example of explicit racism. Young readers should understand this type of behavior is not acceptable. Some may need an explanation of "Massa".

Page 67: "It had been such a wonderful change to see people making something for themselves instead of waiting for a welfare check."

Not race-related, but the implication that people who receive welfare checks are lazy is troubling. This type of classism might also be worth discussing with young readers.

Page 69: "It was a little Oriental girl, with a trowel and a plastic bag of lima beans."

According to Merriam-Webster online, the term "Oriental" is "dated, now usually offensive".

Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oriental

As with the use of "Negro", Florence (the narrator of this chapter) is an elderly person who might be accustomed to using the terms she grew up with. She probably does not mean to refer to Asians in a belittling way, but if she said it out loud, an Asian person might be offended.

Refugee by Alan Gratz

★★★★½

An important book and something of an introduction to readers of all ages who want to learn more about refugees.

Mahmoud is a 12-year-old boy in Aleppo, Syria in 2015. His family is fleeing civil war and heads for Germany.

Josef is a 13-year-old boy in Berlin, Germany in 1938. His family is fleeing Nazi persecution and heads for Cuba.

Isabel is an 11-year-old girl in Havana, Cuba in 1994. Her family is fleeing starvation and civil rights abuses and heads for America.

Some people think trigger warnings are getting overused, but I can see how it might be helpful in a case like this. The book very quickly delves into matter-of-fact descriptions of the Nazi's inhumane treatment of Jews, the horror of having your home destroyed by a missile, and the hopelessness of living in fear of your own government and not having enough food. As you might expect in refugee stories, a number of difficult topics arise, for example, death, suicide, mental illness (PTSD), children taking on adult roles, and loss in many forms. I think the book's content might be better suited for middle schoolers, but if your upper elementary student wants to read it, at least be sure to discuss the book with them before, during, and/or after their reading.

I gave the book just shy of 5 stars because I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. In the beginning, there seemed to be a lot more "telling" rather than "showing", and everything felt melodramatic, like the book was written with the express purpose of manipulating your emotions. Of course, the subject matter is emotional, and the book eventually gave way to more natural storytelling, even if plenty of chapters ended in cliffhangers. Some reviewers seem to dislike the way the three stories are broken up and interspersed with each other, but I wonder if that strategy actually helps young readers to break up the intensity, so they can process each event individually and not get too overwhelmed by each main character's plight.

I was impressed by the wide range of ideas this book managed to incorporate. It provides an overall picture of how political conflicts can turn ordinary people into refugees, and how these tragedies happen all over the world and throughout human history. It's thought-provoking to consider how Germany was the place from which refugees fled in 1938, but then became the place that welcomed and assisted refugees in 2015; similarly, how Cuba was in a position to receive refugees in 1938, but then became a country of origin for refugees in 1994. We see incidences in which refugees take on an "each man for himself" mindset in order to ensure their own survival, and other scenarios when refugees support and assist each other as people sharing a common struggle. We see people in positions of power who separate themselves from the humanity of the situation by reminding themselves and others that they are "just doing their job." We encounter onlookers who turn their noses up at the "dirty refugees", locals who take advantage of the refugees' desperation to make their own money, and also people who go out of their way to provide water and food and assistance.

I found especially interesting the section at the end of the book that describes the historical facts related to each of the stories and explains how some characters were based on real people.