The Circuit by: Francisco Jiménez

The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child

                This short autobiographical novel tells the story of a 4-year-old Francisco and his family.  In 1947 they illegally cross the Mexican border into the United States to find work and to build a better life.  A series of short stories follows this family (in a span of about 10 years) as they travel between different locations finding work on different farms depending on the season.  Francisco struggles to learn English when he is actually in school and to prove to his father that he can work alongside him to provide for the family.

                I enjoyed the book and thought it was interesting.  There are several good qualities about this book.  One, it gives the perspective of what it’s like to live as a poor immigrant and migrant.  This can open up students’ eyes to the different socio-economic backgrounds of their classmates.  Two, there is Spanish scattered throughout the book but it does not hinder comprehension.  This is a great way to ask Latino/a students to help with translation and it’s always cool to learn a few words in a new language.  Three, given that it is so short it might lend itself well to a short interdisciplinary unit.  Social Studies can learn about Mexican events mentioned (ie: Mexican Revolution) or could talk about what it was like to be immigrants in the 1940s and now.  There is a lot of discussion about hourly wages and making enough money to live.  The concept of balancing a modest budget or simpler “how much do you make a day if you make this in an hour” kind of questions could be used.  Finally, perhaps students could write short stories from their own lives.

                Overall, I would recommend the book. It’s short and eye opening.  It can be used in the classroom or as individual reading.

"Boy Meets Boy" by David Levithan

Boy Meets Boy, David Levithan, Random House, 2003.

Boy Meets Boy is narrated by Paul, a sophomore in high school who falls in love with Noah, the new kid in town.  The story is centered around Paul's relationships with his friends and more-than-friends, as he tries to navigate the difficulties of high school relationships.  The book takes place in a small town in New Jersey, where the gay community is loud and proud.  Almost all of the main characters are LGBT high schoolers.  As Paul deals with a gay best friend whose parents are ultra-religious, another best friend who is slipping away from him, and an ex-boyfriend struggling with his attractions, Paul must figure out how to prove his love for Noah while discovering things about friendships, new and old.

The book overall seemed to me to be a typical romantic teen comedy.  It deals with themes of love, friendship, and relationships which every adolescent is familiar with.  In this way, it is an attractive book for middle school because these themes are relevant in adolescents' lives.  Of course, the pervading issue is the LGBT setting, which might be tricky to teach to middle schoolers.  There is no inappropriate language or content in the book, but I would recommend it only for seventh or eighth graders and up.

The interesting thing about the book is the fact that almost all of the characters are confident in their sexuality, especially the narrator, Paul, who came out in third grade.  The book's setting might be unfamiliar to many readers (including me) who might not have experienced life in a community where LGBT young people are so confident and included.  This could be an interesting point of discussion.  I would suggest this book more for small reading groups for middle schoolers who can maturely read LGBT literature.

"Ties that Bind, Ties that Break" by Lensey Namioka

Ties that Bind, Ties that Break, Lensey Namioka, Laurel-Leaf Books, 1999.

 

Lensey Namioka’s novel, Ties that Bind, Ties that Break, opens with a 19-year-old girl, Ailin, working in America and flashes back to her upbringing in China circa the 1900s. Ailin grows up during a time when marriages were arranged young and bound feet were the norm for women. However, her childhood was also a time of revolution as the end of the Chinese Dynasty results in the creation of the Republic of China. At only five years old, Ailin, backed by her father, bravely resists tradition by refusing to have her feet bound, which results in the breaking of her engagement and negative prospects for the future. Years later, faced with the options of becoming a farmer’s wife, a nun, or a concubine, Ailin makes her own path that eventually lands her in America.

This novel can definitely be taught at the middle school level. It’s a story about identity, tradition, standing up for what you believe, and fighting for a better life. Ailin’s ability to defy the dim expectations of her life provides a positive message to students everywhere: it is possible to overcome life’s obstacles. There is a lot of Chinese culture and history scattered throughout the novel, which can be a topic of research for students. The treatment and expectations of women throughout history and various countries could also be interesting to study along with this novel. Though feet binding is nonexistent today, there are still many other areas where women are subjected to limiting traditional practices.

I enjoyed reading this novel. It was a very quick read and I learned a lot about the Chinese culture. The length of the novel (154 pages) and the fairly simple language make the novel very manageable for children at the middle school level. 

Blue Jasmine

Blue Jasmine, Kashmira Sheth, Hyperion Books, 2006

 

Seema, a young girl living in India, enjoys her life, her family and her friends.  However, when she discovers that her father has received a job in America, she realizes that her life is going to change forever.  Her family is uprooted from their Indian home in order to move to Iowa City, and she learns that she will face many trials as an immigrant in an American middle school.  Not only do language barriers make it difficult for her to communicate, but her cultural differences also separate her from fitting in with other students at school.  This book follows Seema’s struggles moving from India to the United States and the development of her identity as an adolescent and as an Indian-American. 

This book covered many themes that could be teachable in a middle school context.  The cultural differences between Seema’s life in India and America cause her a great deal of hardship, and this could easily be discussed in a diverse classroom where students in the class have moved.  A large part of the story line discusses Seema’s friendship with a girl from a much lower social class than her, and this would allow a teacher to discuss cultural implications of social class differences and how understanding can bridge the gap between the classes.  Seema also faces a bully at school that makes it difficult for her to enjoy her classes, which is another topic that can be discussed with students.  The book is riddled with cultural knowledge about Indian culture, and even has a glossary of terms in the back that explains the cultural terms used in the book.  I think this story contains many teachable themes for a middle school setting.

I think that this book would be very teachable in a middle school setting.  However, the book was not a very difficult read so it would me more appropriate for younger students in the middle school; it would me more appropriate for students in the sixth grade rather than the eighth.  This book was an appropriate length for either classroom or individual reading and was a relatively quick read.  Overall, I enjoyed this book and think that it would be great for a younger audience.

Walter Dean Myers 145th Street Short Stories

Walter Dean Myers, 145^th Street Short Stories, 2000

Walter Dean Myers’ 145^th Street Short Stories is a collection of short stories dealing with the lives of the characters that inhabit a block in a poor but determined neighborhood.  The stories in this book are an engaging mix that range from eclectic, including the tale of the man who arranged and experienced his funeral while still alive and the girl who dreamed of those who were about to die, to heartwarming and uplifting tales of a police officer’s family spending Christmas Day with an old, lonely woman and a young girl who refuses to abandon her boyfriend after his horrible accident. 

The short stories in this collection deal with the themes of friendship, loyalty, and love, in a romantic, familial, and neighborly sense.  145^th street is a place that is no stranger to violence and death, but in the lives of many of the characters, hope and kindness towards one another prevail in the end.  The fear of gangs is ever present for the characters, especially the school-age ones, but they never give up on trying to live well in a tough neighborhood.  The novel was a fairly easy read that most middle school age students could manage, but there is one scene involving drug use that might be a bit mature for middle school students.  This book would work either as a book students read on their own or as a book for the whole class.  This book would work well if a teacher wanted to read aloud a bit to students every day.  It is organized into short stories, so it would make sense to introduce a new one each day, yet many of the characters appear in more than one story, giving the book as a whole a more unified feel.  This approach allows for readers to encounter a multitude of different points of view on the same place and characters.  Each story allows readers to see 145^th street in a different, deeper light, giving readers a more well-rounded picture of the neighborhood and its inhabitants. 

Stella on the Edge of Popularity by Lauren Lee

This book was really terrible. I wish I had picked something else to read and I would never, no matter how angry at my students I may get, assign this book to them to read. No teacher would be that cruel. Honestly, the writing in this book is embarrassing, obnoxious, and nauseating.

Written by Lauren Lee, the novel follows the main protagonist, Stella, as she navigates middle school. Bullied by the stereotypical "mean girl" Eileen, Stella endures racist comments and much taunting for her Korean heritage. The thing is, the book is so poorly written that I didn't even care that that was happening. The book is so cheesy and juvenile that it just doesn't seem to matter what happens to Stella or what she must tolerate. When the writing is poor, the content of the novel hardly even matters.

Predictable and trite, Stella on the Edge of Popularity is really just not worth anyone's time. It doesn't make me want to learn more about Korean customs, nor does it make me want to do anything other than find whoever gave this author the green light to publish her book and tell them they are terrible at their job. 

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, Puffin (October 1, 1991)

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor is one of those rare novels that affectively addresses tough issues in an accessible manner for young readers.  Set in rural Depression era Mississippi, this Newberry Award winning novel paints a painfully accurate picture of what society was like for African Americans in the south at that time.

The story revolves around the narrator Cassie Logan, a young idealistic African American girl, and her family’s struggle to survive in the hostile south without compromising their freedom.  When the owners of the local store begin burning African Americans, the Logan family organizes a boycott of the store in hopes that the persecution will end.  This act of civil disobedience causes all kinds of trouble for the Logan’s and their friends.  Eventually the various conflicts are temporarily resolved in a tension filled confrontation at the end of the novel.

Some of the content in the novel could be offensive to some readers.  The book does contain some racial slurs and discusses terrible acts of violence towards African Americans.  However the “offensive language” is historically accurate and used to show the abuse African Americans received at the time.  If anything the violence in the book is toned down for young readers.  However, the violence in the book is very affective in conveying the situation African Americans during that time were in.

This coming of age story is an excellent book for middle school readers because it is written from the perspective of a young person not far from their age.  Cassie’s naivety when it comes to matters of racism probably mirrors those of middle school readers to a certain extent.  Showing racial conflict from this youthful perspective clearly shows the institutional and individual racism of that time.  It also gives context for racism present today.