Module 5: Other Award Winners

Goin' Someplace Special by Pat McKissack

See the book trailer: 

http://animoto.com/play/aPvTFYeaoKmd9C34WRKgxQ

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

Illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Summary: Goin' Someplace Special is the story of a child growing up in the south during segregation.  It tells of a girl who wants to go to "someplace special," but to get there she encounters the many obstacles set forth by the Jim Crow Laws.  Finally she makes it to "someplace special" a place where everyone is welcome.
My Impressions:  This book was based on the true life experiences of the author growing up in Tennessee.  She shows us this segregated world through the eyes of a child, a perspective many of us have not had before and helps those of us who didn't live in that world to understand it better.

Review:
Author: Denise Wilms 

Ages 5-8. Tricia Ann excitedly gets her grandmother's permission to go out by herself to "Someplace Special"--a place far enough away to take the bus and to have to walk a bit. But this isn't just any trip. Tricia's trip takes place in the segregated South of the 1950s. That means Tricia faces sitting at the back of the bus, not being allowed to sit on a whites-only park bench, and being escorted out of a hotel lobby. She almost gives up, but a local woman who some say is "addled," but whom Tricia Ann knows to be gentle and wise, shows her how to listen to the voice inside herself that allows her to go on. She arrives at her special destination--the public library, whose sign reads "All Are Welcome." Pinkney's watercolor paintings are lush and sprawling as they evoke southern city streets and sidewalks as well as Tricia Ann's inner glow. In an author's note, McKissack lays out the autobiographical roots of the story and what she faced as a child growing up in Nashville. This book carries a strong message of pride and self-confidence as well as a pointed history lesson. It is also a beautiful tribute to the libraries that were ahead of their time.

Wilms, Denise 

Library Use:This book serves as a simple explanation of the Jim Crow Laws. 
It can be used during Black History Month or for a Civil Rights study. Read the book before launching into the study of how the Jim Crow Laws effected African Americans living in the south .

 Reference List:

McKissack, P. (2001). Goin' someplace special. New York, NY: Antheneum Books for Young Readers.

Wilms, D. (2001, August). Review of the book Goin' Someplace Special, by Pat McKissack. Booklist, 97, 2117. Retrieved from Literature Resource Center. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA78227054&v=2.1&u=txshracd2679&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan

See the book trailer:

  http://animoto.com/play/9HgPdq7zkn8z1Nf0A8GvEQ

Winner of Pura Belpre Award 2002

Summary:  Esperanza is the daughter of a wealthy land owner in Mexico who has always had the best of everything, and has had servants to do the work around her family's home and ranch.  Her father is killed and when her mother refuses the affections and offer of marriage of Esperanza's uncle he sets the ranch on fire. Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave Mexico to escape further wrath from the uncle.  They enter into California during the Depression and must learn to live as migrant workers.  Esperanza has to make a lot of changes to survive in her new world, especially when her mother gets sick and she has to work with the adults to support the family.
My Impressions:  I thought this book, like Goin' Someplace Special, gives the reader a different perspective.  This time it's of the grueling life of a Mexican migrant worker, especially those during the Dustbowl when competition for jobs was fierce.  I think it's important for children to see the world through the eyes of different people, so that they can have more compassion for others. This book helps us do that.
Review:
Author: Deborah Kaplan

The day before her 13th birthday, Esperanza's life shatters. Her father dies, and Esperanza and her mother must leave their easy life on the lovely family ranch in Mexico. With the aid of former servants, they immigrate to Depression-era California to become farm laborers. For Esperanza, who has always had servants, dolls, and lovely clothes, the dirt, illness, and labor are unbearable. She wants to fit in, but the other women and children in the camp know that she doesn't know how to wash clothes, sweep a floor, or even bathe herself. When illness strikes, Esperanza must fight despair to become her family's provider. The underlying political situation in the camp is dangerous. The poverty of the Depression and the influx of refugees from the Dust Bowl lend themselves to terrible living conditions in the company farm camp, and troublemakers are always in danger from the government. Strikers agitate for better conditions, but for Esperanza and her friends, to strike is to lose the pittance they need to survive. Both the strikers and those who refuse to strike are shown making necessary and difficult choices in Esperanza's story. Despite the hardship of the farm work, Esperanza finds peace in the cycle of harvest and the heartbeat of the earth. In the midst of hunger, struggle, and terrifying collusion between the landowners and the government, Esperanza and her friends are still tied to the rhythms of the earth, and Esperanza--Spanish for "hope"--is rising.

The rich metaphors and complex political issues in Esperanza's story never undercut the pleasure of this coming-of-age tale. Esperanza's first year in California makes for a delightful read; the added layers are a bonus. An ALA Best Book for YAs. Deborah Kaplan, Arlington, MA

Library Use:
I think this book is a good companion to Out of the Dust by Karen Hess (a Newbery Award winner).  When students study the Dust Bowl they can compare these two award winning books and discuss the different perspectives of the main characters, as well as the different styles of writing by the authors.

Reference List:

Kaplan, D. (2002, November). Review of the book Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. Kliatt, 36(6), 20 Retrieved from Literature Resource Center. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA107202688&v=2.1&u=txshracd2679&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w

 Ryan, P. M. (2000). Esperanza rising. New York, NY: Scholastic.