A Notes from the Windowsill annotated bibliography by Wendy E. Betts. Copyright 2006
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Last Updated 10/26/05
On Mother's Lap by Ann Herbert Scott. Illustrated by Glo
Coalson. McGraw-Hill, 1972; Clarion, 1992 (0-395-62976-4) $6.95 pb
As Michael happily rocks with his mother, he brings his doll, his toy boat and even their puppy to join them. But when his little sister wakes up and starts to cry, Michael doesn't want to share anymore. "There isn't room," he says. But somehow his mother squeezes them all in, because "It's a funny thing... but there is always room on Mother's lap."
A tender message of family love is depicted here through an Inuit
family,
and the poverty clearly evident in their surroundings only deepens the
impression of warmth and caring. There are two versions of this book,
both with the same text and illustrator; they are very similar, but
the more current version has more attractive and expressive drawings.
(2-5)
Somebody Somewhere Knows My Name by Linda Lowery. llustrated by John Eric Karpinski. Carolrhoda, 1995 (0-87614-946-8)
"I paint myself with a blue head and long red fingers. I'm having a problem with the mouth. I want to make it wide open, with fangs. But then some busybody will want to talk to me about it. Instead, I skip it. No mouth."
Deserted by their addict mom at a gas station, a girl and her little brother are taken to an emergency shelter run by a woman named JoEllen. There they wait for word of their mother, too distrustful to respond to the kindness shown them, refusing even to tell their names. But when the girl realizes that their mother is gone for good, she can no longer stand the pain of having no one who knows or cares who she is. Finally accepting her need to be cared for, she is able to tell JoEllen her name: Grace.
With a picture-book design that positively screams "educational
message within" it's surprising to find that this is actually quite a
good story. It's definitely issue-driven, but still engrossing and
moving, conveying a feeling of genuine concern and affection for the
characters. Readers who are beginning to be curious and perturbed
about the problems of homeless children will find this an
understandable introduction to the issue, with a message that offers
hope without false reassurance. But perhaps the most powerful part of
the book is not contained in the story, but in an afterword by the
author, a poignant reminder to hurt and neglected children that "you
were not put on this earth to be mistreated, abused, or deserted. You
have precious gifts to share with the rest of the world. . . you can
find the strength and goodness within yourself to make it through."
a friend.
Something Beautiful by Sharon Dennis Wyeth. Illustrated by
Chris K. Soentpiet. Doubleday, 1998 (0-385-32239-9) $16.95;
Dragonfly, 2002 (0-440-41210-2) $6.99 pb
Looking through her window, a little girl sees a brick wall, trash and broken bottles. On her front door, she sees the word "die." Walking to school she passes a woman sleeping on the sidewalk. "Mommy said that everyone should have something beautiful in their life. Where is my something beautiful?" she wonders.
And so the girl searches through her neighborhood for something beautiful, something that, "when you have it, your heart is happy." And she finds many things that are someone's something beautiful: the delicious fish sandwiches from Miss Delphine's Diner, Mr. Lee's gorgeous array of fruits, Georgina's happy dance on the sidewalk, old Mr. Sims' smooth stone, carried for years in his pocket, and the infectious laugh of Aunt Carolyn's baby. When the little girl gets home, she picks up the trash around her stoop and scrubs the word "die" off her door, planning for the day when she can make her world even more beautiful. And when her mother comes home from work, she learns that she too is someone's "something beautiful."
Something Beautiful is an excellent example of the best kind of
"realistic" picture books, one in which realism doesn't equal despair.
Just as the little girl's ugly and scary neighborhood is shown to also
have a warm and positive side, Something Beautiful
sympathetically affirms the truth about the soul-crushing effects of
living amid ugliness while also celebrating the efforts each person
can make to make a difference. It's a combination of empathy and
encouragement that inspires and heartens. The illustrations are
somewhat less successful than the text: ironically, their bright
glossiness makes everything, even piles of trash, look tidy and
attractive. Their strong point is the expressiveness of faces, from
the little girl's depression as she gazes out onto ugliness, to the
luminous joy she discovers in the people living around her.
(no titles currently)
Sisters/Hermanas by Gary Paulsen. Translated into Spanish by
Gloria
de Aragn Andjar. Harcourt, Brace, 1993
(0-15-275323-0) $10.95 hc; (0-15-275324-9) $3.95 pb
Sisters is a simple yet powerfully written look into the different worlds of two girls, Rosa and Traci, on a day when their parallel lives explosively intersect. Both girls are 14, but there their similarities seem to end: Traci is being expensively groomed for popularity and a wealthy marriage, while Rosa is an illegal immigrant, working as a prostitute and dreaming of the day when she'll be a glamorous model. It takes a chance meeting to briefly reveal to Traci that she and Rosa, despite the differences of their lives, are just the same: trapped in a world that only wants their bodies, and able to aspire to nothing more.
With a double-sided format- told in Spanish on one side, English on
the other - and alternating chapters for Rosa and Traci,
Sisters
emphasizes its theme of duality, in which the two girls lead lives
that are in one sense diametrically opposed yet in another sense
almost identical. Sisters makes its point well; I only wish
the story
had not completely abandoned Rosa at the end.
Secret Star by Nancy Springer. Philomel, 1997 (0-399-23028-9) $15.95
Living in a shack with her disabled stepfather, fourteen-year-old Tess feels completely cut off from the life of normal girls: "no money, no boobs, no boyfriend, no smiley face on her report cards, no Walkman no stereo no MTV." Also no mother, no self-esteem--and for some unknown reason, no memory of anything that happened to her before the age of ten. What gets her through the dreary days is a head full of music, "riffs and rhythms that belonged to no one else."
Then the pattern of Tess's life abruptly changes. Walking home from school she is confronted by a boy named Kamo, a tough-looking boy with scars and an eyepatch, who wants to ask Tess about her birth father--who might also be his missing father. Tess is less frightened of Kamo than of his questions, which bring her too close to the memories she has carefully blocked away, but as he gradually insinuates himself into Tess's life--doing chores for her stepfather, buying her a set of drums--she discovers that he is one of the kindest, gentlest people she has ever known. Tess decides to help the boy who might be her brother in the only way she can: "It was time to remember. She wanted to remember. For Kam." But can even Kamo's love help her live with the painful secrets she'll uncover?
Told in an evocative, almost startlingly vibrant prose, this story is
simultaneously dreamy and exciting, a mood which parallels the mix of
toughness and tenderness found in both Tess and Kam. In a sense it's
a survival story, a bittersweet look at finding love and hope in the
midst of despair--the "secret star" that shines through the darkest
clouds. It may not strike a chord in every reader, but those who
appreciate the romantic flavor of books like The Outsiders will
find this equally satisfying.
(no titles currently)
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