Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata1. Bibliography
Kadohata, Cynthia. 2006. Weedflower. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.
ISBN: 978-0-689-86574-9
Dewey Classification: Fic
Reading Level: 5.0
2. Summary
This beautifully written story is about a young Japanese girl living with the prejudice and outcast society after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The story leads you through her family being shipped from their home to camps in ohter states until matters calm down around the world. This journal of her trials through this time are tender and heartbreaking, but make for a great read.
3. Critical Analysis
The main character is so real to life in this story, you feel you are there with Sumiko, going through her disappointement when she is not allowed to go to the birthday party, her fear when they had to burn all their belongings and get on a bus with darkened windows to travel to a "camp" with other people they did not know, and her joy of finding a true friend in the field around the camp. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Sumiko was scared of what would happen to her uncle, grandfather and the many elders that lived in their community, when they were arrested and taken far north. But Sumiko learns to embrace her cultural differences and accept that she is a gardener of flowers and loves the earth. Her dream of becoming a flower shop owner became her goal once she realized her self-worth. The author writes a well written story of a time of hardship through a dark period of time for Japanese - Americans.
4. Reviews
Bluebonnet Book Award 2007 - 2008
Horn Book
Kadohata follows her Newbery-winning Kira-Kira (rev. 3/04) with a novel about a Japanese-American girl, Sumiko, who is twelve in 1941. Though her parents died years before, Sumiko doesn't feel like an orphan; she loves her family's California flower farm, where she lives contentedly with her younger brother, aunt, uncle, cousins, and beloved grandfather. Life changes dramatically when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor; first Sumiko's grandfather and uncle are arrested, and then the rest of the family ends up in an internment camp in Poston, Arizona. The writing is mostly, though not consistently, compelling, with numerous details of camp life seamlessly woven into the story. Kadohata also adds some depth with a friendship between Sumiko and a Mohave boy (the camp is on tribal lands). The low-key tone and subdued dramatic arc fit the story, in which camp life is mainly an uneventful struggle against boredom; the novel also reveals why people such as Sumiko's family quietly accepted arrest and internment. Kadohata again creates a sympathetic, believable young protagonist and a vividly realized setting.
Kirkus Review
Post-Pearl Harbor Japanese-American internment is seen from the eyes of a young girl who eventually manages to bloom after she is uprooted and planted in the Arizona desert. Twelve-year-old Sumiko and her little brother Tak-Tak live with their aunt and uncle on a flower farm in California. The only Japanese student in her class, Sumiko longs for friends and acceptance. She loves the fields of "weedflowers" and dreams of owning her own flower shop. After Pearl Harbor, Sumiko and her family are removed from their land and transported to an internment camp on an Indian reservation in Poston, Ariz. Surrounded by fields of dust, Sumiko's "dream was gone and she didn't know what would take its place," until she teams up with her neighbor Mr. Moto to make the desert bloom and escape the "ultimate boredom" of the camp. And when Sumiko meets Frank, a Mohave boy who resents the Japanese on his land, she finds an unlikely, but true friend. Like weedflowers, hope survives in this quietly powerful story.
5. Connections
Ideas: Journal Sumiko's feelings about how she is treated and how she feels about moving from camp to camp.
Websites:
http://suzyred.com/2007weedflower.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UWwvJjsMSs
Books about the same topic or by the same author:
Raven, Margot Theis. Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot. ISBN: 978-1-58536-069-7
Lemke, Donald B. Captured Off Guard:The Attack on Pearl Harbor. ISBN-13: 978-1-43420-443-1 Kadohata, Cynthia. Kira-Kira. ISBN: 978-0-689-85639-6
Kadohata, Cynthia. A Million Shades of Gray. ISBN: 978-1-41691-883-7
A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida1. Bibliography
Uchida, Yoshiko. 1993. A Jar of Dreams. Oklahoma: Aladdin Paperbacks.
ISBN: 978-0-689-71672-0
Dewey Classification: Fic
Reading Level: 5.6
2. Summary
When Rinko's aunt from Japan visits for the first time, Rinko is a little apprehensive. After she gets to know her aunt, she learns that her aunt coming was a blessing in disguise and showed her what a wonderful family she has.
3. Critical Analysis
Rinko is a typical 11 year old becoming a teenager and learning about the world and people around her. The story takes place 6 years before Pearl Harbor, yet our characters see the prejudice shown toward them for being "different" even before Japanes became outcasts after the war began. Rinko learns, from her Aunt Waka, that being different is ok. Her aunt shows her how strong each family member is and how each one has something special they contribute. Aunt Waka was the changing force that made this family turn from the rut they were in and start living their dreams. Her dad opened his mechanic/repair show, her brother, Cal, was returning to college to become an engineer, her mom started her laundry business and Rinko still wanted to be a teacher. I could only imagine how Rinko and her family felt living in this time around people who were not always nice to people from other countries. "Bullies" trying to knock them out of business by making threats and even killing their dog. The author demonstrates the trials of living in this tumultuos time.
4. Reviews
Horn Book
An ingenious simplicity and grace mark the first-person telling of the story of 11-year-old Rinko and her Japanese family in Berkeley, California. Times are hard for everyone in 1935, but being Japanese is, for Rinko, an added burden.
Wilson's Children
A young girl grows up in a closely-knit Japanese American family in California during the 1930's, a time of great prejudice.
5. Connections
Ideas:
Just like Rinko's aunt sent a letter about her visit, write a letter to someone special that you would like to visit. Tell about the things you would go see and do.
Websites:
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/100import/uchida.html
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-famous/YOSHIL1.html
http://www.janm.org/exhibitions/fft/m/EI_timeline.htm
Books by the same author:
Uchida, Yoshiko. The Best Bad Thing. ISBN: 978-0-689-71745-1
Uchida, Yoshiko. Journey Home. ISBN: 978-0-689-71641-6
Uchida, Yoshiko. Two Foolish Cats. ISBN: 0-689-50397-0
Uchida, Yoshiko. Sumi's Prize. ISBN: 0-684-13157-9
Uchida, Yoshiko. Sea of Gold. ISBN: 0-88739-056-0
Elijah of Buxton by Christpher Paul Curtis1. Bibliography
Curtis, Christopher Paul. 2007. Elijah of Buxton. New York: Scholastic.
ISBN: 978-0-439-02344-3
Dewey Classification: Fic
Reading Level: 5.6
2. Summary
This wonderful story of Elijah growing up as the first freeborn in the Settlement of Canada shows the trials of freed slaves escaping through the Underground Railroad to Canada, becoming a part of the community, starting their own farm and learning to trust other people. Elijah is the young boy learning to become a man and not a "frag-gile ninny". This story leads him through many discoveries about the world and about himself.
3. Critical Analysis
The time of slavery and slaves escaping is the background setting for this wonderfully written story. Elijah Freeman was the first free born baby in the Settlement (the town, Buxton, founded for the escaped slaves and noted in the author's note at the end of the book) and, at the age of 12, began trying to show how he has grown-up. Like any typical boy, he went to school to learn to read, went to church every Sunday, worked everyday cleaning stalls, went fishing when he could and played with firends. The "Preacher" that visited their community is the one person that they found out could not be trusted. Elijah knew him best from time spent with him while fishing and going to the carnival. Elijah saw the darker side of this man that was not really a preacher. When the preacher steals money from Mr. Leroy, one of the members, Elijah helps him try to find the Preacher. They travel to America to look for him. When Mr. Leroy dies, he promises to find the Preacher and belly shoot him. Elijah sees a different way of life (slavery) that he had never seen, only heard of, when he finds the preacher, dead, and discovers 6 runaway slaves that had been caught and were being sent back. He ends up saving the baby of the group and returns to Buxton. The many historical facts written around this story make it a very enjoyable read. Christopher Paul Curtis has a way of writing that is entertaining and informative.
4. Reviews
Newbery Award
Coretta Scott King Award
Kirkus Review
Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman is known for two things: being the first child born free in Buxton, Canada, and throwing up on the great Frederick Douglass. It's 1859, in Buxton, a settlement for slaves making it to freedom in Canada, a setting so thoroughly evoked, with characters so real, that readers will live the story, not just read it. This is not a zip-ahead-and-see-what-happens-next novel. It's for settling into and savoring the rich, masterful storytelling, for getting to know Elijah, Cooter and the Preacher, for laughing at stories of hoop snakes, toady-frogs and fish-head chunking and crying when Leroy finally gets money to buy back his wife and children, but has the money stolen. Then Elijah journeys to America and risks his life to do what's right. This is Curtis's best novel yet, and no doubt many readers, young and old, will finish and say, "This is one of the best books I have ever read." (author's note) (Fiction. 9+)
Booklist
Grades 6-8. After his mother rebukes him for screaming that hoop snakes have invaded Buxton, gullible 11-year-old Elijah confesses to readers that “there ain’t nothing in the world she wants more than for me to quit being so doggone fra-gile.” Inexperienced and prone to mistakes, yet kind, courageous, and understanding, Elijah has the distinction of being the first child born in the Buxton Settlement, which was founded in Ontario in 1849 as a haven for former slaves. Narrator Elijah tells an episodic story that builds a broad picture of Buxton’s residents before plunging into the dramatic events that take him out of Buxton and, quite possibly, out of his depth. In the author’s note, Curtis relates the difficulty of tackling the subject of slavery realistically through a child’s first-person perspective. Here, readers learn about conditions in slavery at a distance, though the horrors become increasingly apparent. Among the more memorable scenes are those in which Elijah meets escaped slaves—first, those who have made it to Canada and, later, those who have been retaken by slave catchers. Central to the story, these scenes show an emotional range and a subtlety unusual in children’s fiction. Many readers drawn to the book by humor will find themselves at times on the edges of their seats in suspense and, at other moments, moved to tears. A fine, original novel from a gifted storyteller.
5. Connections
Ideas: Students write about what they would do if faced with the same problems as Elijah - slavery, stealing.
Websites:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHKT7-igYNU
http://suzyred.com/2008elijah.html
http://content.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=49
Books by the same author:
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. ISBN: 978-0-385-32306-2
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963: A Novel. ISBN-13: 978-0-440-41412-4
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Mr. Chickee's Funny Money. ISBN-13: 978-0-440-22919-3
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bucking the Sarge. ISBN-13: 978-0-385-90159-8
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