Genre 5 Historical fiction

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Kadohata, Cynthia. 2006.WEEDFLOWER. Book design by Amy Zeak. New York, NY: Atheneum Books for Young Readers. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
ISBN-13: 978-0-689-86574-9.

PLOT
The 1940's find Sumiko, a twelve-year-old Japanese-American girl relocating to a camp on Indian soil where her people are unwanted habitants. From a flourishing flower farm in California to an internment camp in Arizona, Sumiko plants seeds of friendship amongst the harshest of conditions.

CRITIQUE
"Shikata ga nai","this cannot be helped", a phrase Sumiko heard often used by the Japanese throughout the book. The irony is that Sumiko could and did help. Her character was one always looking for ways to plant seeds of good deeds for example, taking care of her sick brother, giving money to her uncle, defending her Indian friend Frank, and helping Mr. Moto create his award winning garden in the encampment. Hated by many solely because of ethnicity, Sumiko prevails representing honor balanced by compassion.

I was drawn to this story because my husband's mother is Japanese. One game mentioned in the book, Hanafuda, a card game played with colorful flower patterns. My husband taught me how to play this game years ago, so I was quite impressed with the author's authenticity and style creating real use of language "hakujin"(white people), events(daily traditional family bathing), daily games and activites. Just the mentioning of Hanafuda compares an underlying theme carried throughout the story. I noticed, "matching the flower patterns to win the game". Sumiko met each challenge, "matched it" overcame the imprisonment (a seeming losing battle) to "win" her dreams.

The characters are believable. The language used by both the Japanese and American Indian. The plot is presented in a way that all children identify with "the outsider". Sumiko details accounts,"This is what it felt like to be lonely". The setting is critical to the comparing of a lush growing flower farm with an arid Sonoran desert attempting to grow a garden planting vivid images of scorpions and dust storms that seem to dim all hope leaving the reader engrossed, engaged and cheering on Sumiko's efforts.

I love to garden. Among gardeners, a "weed" is a "flower" in the wrong place. However, Weedflower, the nickname given to Sumiko by her Native American friend, Frank, is in the right place. A perfect title for this novel! The idea of creating a story around beauty such as a flower farm, the caring for it, the author's description and Sumiko's whole life revolved around flowers. "We can't leave the flowers! Sumiko said. "Who'll take care of them?" "What does it matter?" Ichiro said. "But it does matter! It matters because the flowers are-they're-everything we do depends on the flowers!" (Kadohata,pg.71) Relating again the non-stereotypical Sumiko who believes "it can be helped-do something" contrasting her ancestoral upbringing.

This is the passion felt throughout the book and a type and shadow of Sumiko's life. Sumiko's dream to own a flower shop kept her inspired. "Every flower she disbudded, every dish she washed, every day the girls snubbed her brought her closer to her dream. She just wanted to be surrounded by flowers every day for the rest of her life and name her daughter Hanako, 'flower child'"(Kadohata,pg.116)Taking her uncle's seeds to the encampment, is a literary element that carries Sumiko's soul and hope through the story.

The author lists two pages of specific research, interviews with former flower farmers from that time, victims of the encampment and and studied the collection of interviews at the Center for Oral and Public History, California State University, Fullerton. Also, the National Archives-Pacific Region includes documents pertaining to the Colorado River Relocation Center. This prior history details for the reader the real life story of Japanese Americans living with Native Americans in Poston, AZ during World War II. It clarifies and establishes the authenticity of characters, the setting, weaving through dialogue a story worth harvesting.

REVIEW/AWARDS

2007 Scott O'Dell Award

Jane Addams Children's Book Award

Agatha Award Finalist

ALA Best Books for Young Adults Nominee

ALA Notable Children's Book Nominee

Booklist Editors' Choice

CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book

CCBC Choices (Cooperative Children's Book Council)

Charlie May Simon Book Award ML (AR)

Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best

Dorothy Canfield Fisher Book Award Master List (VT)

Indian Paintbrush Book Award Master List (WY)

IRA/CBC Children's Choices

Kentucky Bluegrass Award

Massachusetts Children's Book Award Master List

Nene Award Master List (HI)

Texas Bluebonnet Master List

Young Hoosier Book Award Master List (IN)http://books.simonandschuster.com/9780689865749 (accessed July 26, 2009)

Kirkus Spring & Summer Preview: Kadohata combines impressive research and a lucent touch, bringing to life the confusion of dislocation.

Publishers Weekly: Kadohata clearly and eloquently conveys her heroine's mixture of shame, anger and courage. Readers will be inspired.

Publishers Weekly: Set in America immediately before the attack on Pearl Harbor, this insightful novel by the Newbery-winning author of Kira-Kira traces the experiences of a Japanese-American girl and her family. Sixth-grader Sumiko, the only Asian student in her class, has always felt like an outcast. Early on, a heartbreaking scene foreshadows events to come, when Sumiko arrives at a classmate's birthday party and is told by the hostess to wait outside on the porch, and is then sent away. The girl's feelings of isolation turn to fear after the United States declares war on Japan. First, government officials take away Sumiko's uncle and grandfather. Then her aunt must sell their California flower farm; they are transported to a makeshift camp and later to a Native-American reservation in Poston, Ariz. Living like a prisoner in the desert, Sumiko nearly succumbs to what her grandfather termed 'ultimate boredom' ('that mean close to lose mind,' he explains). But Sumiko finds hope and a form of salvation as a beautiful garden she creates and a friendship with a Native American boy, Frank, both begin to blossom. The contrast between the Native Americans' plight and that of the interned may enlighten many readers ('They take our land and put you on it. They give you electricity,' snaps Frank). Kadohata clearly and eloquently conveys her heroine's mixture of shame, anger and courage. Readers will be inspired by Sumiko's determination to survive and flourish in a harsh, unjust environment. Ages 11-up. (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

CONNECTIONS

School Library and Public Library host guest speakers, professors, local heroes, experts to recount their personal histories. Students can bind pictures from the presentations and present them with an "illustrated tale".

If possible, find locations to visit, museums for fieldtrips or have students research internet "virtual fieldtrips" to become more personally involved in the history.

Ask students to create a monument or a tribute to those Native American or Japanese Americans who suffered through that time period.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Erdrich, Louise. 2005. THE GAME OF SILENCE. Ill. by Jim Lamarche. New York, N.Y: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-029789-1.

PLOT
The white westward settlements of 1849 displace Indians of North America. One tribe, the Ojibwa find that to live they too must move westward. Omakayas and her family learn the danger to their way of living and realize the game of silence will preserve their future.

CRITIQUE
In the beginning, children play with their parents a lighthearted game of silence with tokens and goodies to be won. Omakayas notes these are "worth her silence
"(Erdrich pg. 18). Contrast the end of the novel, again the game is played, no prizes to be won, a somber game because the rules have changed, now ones survival was at stake. "This time there would be no laughter if some cildren mistakenly spoke. The game was very different now and everyone knew it"(Erdrich pg. 248).

The author's characters begin innocently, curiously exploring their young lives and surroundings and with each presentation of a "new season", the reader watches the characters become wiser to the true dangers of life. Neebin(Summer) begins the first six chapters, followed by Dagwaging(Fall), Biboon(winter) and finalizing in Zeegwun(Spring). "The sun lost its strength, leaves fell from the trees[I read this to mean the Ojibwe are loosing their hope and warriors are falling].There was still no word from Fishtail or the others who had left, and although life went on in its usual routine, there was an increasing tension under everything that people did"(Erdrich pg. 97). These chapters organize a sequence of events for the reader establishing the setting, giving life to the overall theme of Omakayas dream, "All things change, even us, even you"(Erdrich pg. 235) with which the author unfolds pieces in each season such as daily tasks, making soup, gutting a fish, beading, weaving, dancing, canoe making and tanning hide for "makazins"(Erdrich pg. 63) authentic experiences for the reader.

Two Strike and Omakayas, young girls, develop a feudal jealousy, mistrust and competition. This literary theme is shadowed among the Indian adults and the white men. An Indian exploration party sent out to resolve the mistrust is met by further hurt while white men feed the warriors contaminated food with the intent to kill them, waiting and watching them die. "Fishtail said it would take the Ojibwe a very long time to recover from the loss. Still, the government had not retreated from it's position. The Ojibwe were being forced west, into the country of Bwaanag, away from their gardens, their ancestors' graves, their fishing grounds, their lodges and cabins and all that made the island home"(Erdrich pg. 235). Through Omakayas, the author moves the story along relating through her eyes the beauty of their home, the land, their freedom, their traditions, and the desperation of having to relocate and give up what they know to be theirs. Omakayas grasps this concept at the end, "I wonder if its last time to move from summer camp to winter camp?"(Erdrich pg. 97).

Great research, authenticity and accent features are graphically illustrated inside the covers citing the events in the novel, the shore when the newcomers arrive in their jeemaanan (canoes), where Deydey visits the catholic priest known for "soul taking", the home of Break Apart girl, the distance of travel to the winter cabin and the title that reads,"The beloved home of Omakayas and a map of her adventures during the year of the game of silence, c.1849". The author is of Chippewa descent and notes further spellings and dialects the reader can study listing books of reference and a glossary of Obibwe pronunciation and terms at the back of the novel. Such exactness in language is used throughout the story. If the reader has further interest to study this language and culture, Erdrich directs them to a curriculum developed by professor Jones from the University of Minnesota from her author's notes.

REVIEW/AWARDS
Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Kirkus Editor’s Choice
Horn Book Fanfare
ALA Notable Children’s Book
ALA Booklist
Editors’ Choice New York Times Notable

Publishers Weekly: This meticulously researched novel offers an even balence of joyful and sorrowful moments while conveying a perspective of America’s past that is rarely found in history books.

School Library Journal: Erdrich’s captivating tale of four seasons portrays a deep appreciation of our environment, our history, and our Native American sisters and brothers.

The Horn Book: Nine-year-old Omakayas; her pet crow, Andeg; and the rest of her family have returned to their summer home, but things are changing. In this sequel to The Birchbark House (rev. 5/99), Erdrich deftly revisits the events of the previous book, including the devastating death of Omakayas's baby brother, Neewo, in the smallpox outbreak that took so many villagers' lives. And now a new threat has come: another group of Ojibwe.

CONNECTIONS

School Library: Learn traditional Native American games and incorporate the "Game of Silence", how it was played and why. Compare languages among the main Indian tribes of that region at that time. Have students research the geographical areas or boundaries the Indians lived free and then compare with the broken treaties and where Reservations were established and early life on a Reservation.

Learn traditional "storytelling" stories and compare to those shared in the book. Learn basketmaking, listen to music, the drums and other cultural markers listed from the book. Compare to Omakayas daily chores and duties "of a girl and of a boy" then and today. How are they similar or different? Have students make a schedule of how they would spend their day if this was their life.

Study the effects of Small Pox and other diseases that destoyed many tribes. How do diseases effect our society today?

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Paterson, Katherine. 1996. JIP: HIS STORY. Book design by Dick Granald. New York, N.Y.:Lodestar Books. ISBN 0-525-67543-4.

PLOT
Befriending animals, newcomers and a lunatic, Jip lives on a poor farm in Vermont. Set in the 1850's, his desire to know why he was abandoned and what his destiny will be unfolds through genuine characters comments and intrigue. The story results in suspenseful unraveling of those closest to Jip.

CRITIQUE
Jip searches for his true identity, thinking he knows who he is, a fallen gyspsy child and is treated as such (the poor boy) until other's realize his true identity. As a result, he is treated differently even more of an outcast, and the mood of the other characters change towards him. True to the accuracy of that time period aiming disrespect towards different types of "citizens".

Jip's character is loyal and honorable and because of that arouses conflict within in himself. He wonders why his mother never came back for him displaying the lack of loyality which readers identify with. Later he realizes that the one who has come back for him is not to be trusted and that really, the townspeople had been protecting Jip all along demonstrating their sense of loyality. Paterson's creation of character's are believable for example, the interest, care and support from his teacher, one that Jip can trust as teacher's are trusted today.

"You have never known it, Jip, but you are my son."

"Marm?" Teacher was lying! A woman so noble lying like some scroundel. "It ain's true. You know it ain't true. Why do you say such a monstrous thing about yourself?"(Paterson pg. 176).

The style, the dialogue this question revokes and reveals so many layers of the story. Jip would give anything to know his mother, yet thinks poorly of whomever she was, so it couldn't be the teacher whom he loves. So, why give up this chance to go along with it to be loved by a noble woman? He cares so much that what he thinks of himself, he doesn't want to tarnish her integrity. Yet her love and loyalty for Jip, she is willing to.

Jip's loyal and compassionate nature in reference to Lucy's new arrival to the farm, "He knew a hurting animal when he saw one"(pg. 25). Many parallels and conversations between Put and Jip allow the author to reveal the plot, setting and theme. Put makes reference "a cage is home sweet home to me" whereas Jip doesn't want to be caged only later the plot thickens. Jip finds himself in a "caged" position having to make choices of who to free.

Both Jip and Put deal with identity issues, Jip, "Where did I come from?" and Put,"Where do these spells come from?" Loyalty and kindness are established between these two characters carrying a theme of outsiders verses insiders, those who are loyal and will defend the less fortunate and those out to profit, hunt or hurt.

The author's style brings in the stories of Oliver and Uncle Tom's Cabin which Jip identifies with.

"That boy in the workhouse-that Oliver-"

"It was just like a poor farm, it was, only worse."

"Him being born there-"

"His beautiful young mother dying-"

"He didn't rightly know who he was neither"(Paterson pg.78).

Foreshadowing further feelings of abandonment, slavery and hope with the lunatic Put making a comment towards the poor, the slaves, the lunatics and outcasts,"There's unluckier people in this world than you nor me, Jip" utilizing the character's verbal slang appropriate to their unschooled skills(Paterson pg. 26).

The author uses metaphors for example,"niggling tug at the shirt sleeve of his mind"(Patterson pg. 47). Another "argument buzzed like hornets on attack. He flung to ward off the sting of words"(Paterson pg. 57). "The anger rose up inside like soap lye bubbling up in a kettle"(Paterson pg. 102). The setting vividly described the food that poor people on the farm were accustomed to and made mention many times to the penny candy at the store that so many times Jip wanted to purchase for others but saved.

The recurrent theme from Jip's perspective,"I'm just an ignorant boy", however, the reader see's his actions, hears his thoughts and comments that come from more than an "ignorant" boy and does not accept the stereotypical "must not be a smart boy if he's not in school tending a lunatic living on a poor fram". Lucy's comparison,"I won't be a drunkard's orphan or poor farm girl. I'll be a regular somebody". The reader realizes Jip's potential grasps at each page eager to shout, "You're such a good person" impatiently waiting to see when Jip will discover this about himself. The author creates a realistic environment that keeps his opportunities at bay, because that's what people see and that's how people really are, except Jip. The strength of this novel lies within its characters and a momentuous ending when all surprises are opened up but I'm not giving away the change of events, a must read!

REVIEW/AWARDS

Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award

ALA Notable Children's Books
School Library Journal Best Book
Booklist Editions Choice Award
YALSA Best Books for Young Adults

South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominee

National Book Award Finalist

Booklist Top of the List

Best of Editor's Choice

Iowa Teen Award Nominee

Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee

ALA Best Books for Young Adults
Parents' Choice 1999 Paperback Book Honor
Parents' Choice 1996 Story Book Award

Publisher's Weekly: Jip tells a historically accurate story (that's) full of revelations and surprises.

Educational Paperback Association: Two-time Newbery Medal winner Katherine Paterson writes of children in crisis, at the crossroads of major decisions in their lives. Her youthful protagonists turn "tragedy to triumph by bravely choosing a way that is not selfishly determined." M. Sarah Smedman in Dictionary of Literary Biography.

Amazon.com Review: When an aged lunatic named Putnam arrives at a poorhouse farm in rural Vermont in 1855, he is treated as little more than a beast by everyone except the orphan Jip, who himself arrived at the charity orphanage/asylum after being found abandoned by the roadside. Jip and Putnam become friends, then allies of a sort, as Jip struggles to improve his own lot and that of his friend Lucy, the unfortunate daughter of the late town drunk. This historical tale by Katherine Paterson involves its young protagonist in the great 19th century struggle between slave owners and abolitionists while sending him into a test of his own loyalty and courage. Paterson handles weighty issues with grace and verve, and does not shrink from terrible truths in this challenging novel for young readers. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

CONNECTIONS
Adoption/Foster Care-Public Library may use this book to showcase the theme of Adoption for the month using outreach services or bringing greater awareness to the community.
Slavery -School Library create a collection that discusses The Underground Railroad and have students set up "safe houses" throughout grade levels for students to pass through to "hide" from the Principal. Students research clues to find out who and what are their passage to freedom.