Comments for ICCAL

Comment on Wanting Mor by falak

falak — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:24:26 +0000

wow this book is great but personally its kind of sad too in the beggining :’(

Comment on Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa by Patricia Castrodad

Patricia Castrodad — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:18:23 +0000

This novel takes the reader back and forth to two countries: Puerto Rico and USA. Descendent of a Puerto Rican mother and Jewish father groin up in the USA. The character experiences going back and forth -as I experienced as an adolescent- from Puerto Rico to the USA eloquently describes a Puerto Rico that I lived.
Interestingly, a friend of mine from Taiwan read the book when she came to visit Puerto Rico. As part of the Christmass festivities in Puerto Rico we visit family members that live on the coutry side. I took her to one of my family members who live in San Lorenzo-small town northeast of PR. Her comment was “this is just like in the book!”
I should recogniza that my first reaction when I read the title was to ask “why salsa?” Is this a catchy tittle to sell the book, because salsa is not defines us as Puertorricans or Caribenos.

Comment on In the Shade of the Nispero Tree by Patricia Castrodad

Patricia Castrodad — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:16:46 +0000

We might think of the Carribbean as one or many small Islands very close to each other. Well, there are many islands in the Carribbean that I have not visited, although we are very close to each other. Is very dificult to think of the Caribbean as one, many languages and cultures (social and political) interact. Even the islands that share the same language, that is, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba have their idiosyncracy.
A lovely written adolescent novel from an insider-outsider perspective. Set in Puerto Rico, interesting the author takes the reader to a different time, maybe 1960′s. My experience reading the book evoked in me a recollection of my mother’s stories when she was groing up in a small town-Central part of Puerto Rico. Going back to thinking of the Caribbean the author takes us to the description of a town, a celebration (sweet 15) that was among certain social class-wealthy people; which is shared across Spanish speaking islands such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic.

Comment on Samir And Yonatan by International Awards: The Batchelder

International Awards: The Batchelder — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:06:03 +0000

[...] Lady with the Hat he writes of the founding of the Israeli state and the aftermath of World War II. Samir and Yonatan is an insightful book about the relationship between a young Palestinian boy who has surgery in an [...]

Comment on Kiwi Moon by T. Gail Pritchard

T. Gail Pritchard — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:25:21 +0000

In Kiwi Moon, we once again see the powerful fascination people have with the moon. We saw the moon personified as a woman in Poemas a la luna (De Conno, 2009) and as a man in Joyce’s (2011) The Man in the Moon; “the light of the moon” is referenced in song and also in Kiwi Moon, yet the moon reflects the sun’s light “busy following the sun” in Mertens (1996) Ginkgo and Moon; in nursery tales, we see the cow jumping over the moon; in Bruchac’s and London’s Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back (1992), we see each new moon identified, such as Moon of Popping Trees, Baby Bear Moon, Maple Sugar Moon; we know tales of the moon made of cheese or butter (Griffith, 2012, Moonlight); and we have read stories about the rabbit in the moon in Johnston’s (1998) The Tale of Rabbit and Coyote and with Kiwi Moon, we see the national symbol of New Zealand in an allegorical tale.
In looking at picture books where the moon is featured, the connection is often made through a folktale. These tales might be porquois tales, creation myths, tall tales, trickster tales, or in the case of Kiwi Moon— allegorical tales. Bishop creates a tale utilizing a newly hatched kiwi, full of wonder and innocence to teach readers about the uniqueness of each individual, yet how that very uniqueness might be exploited by others. As young kiwi realizes he looks more like the bright, white, round moon than his mother and siblings, he wonders if this moon might really be his mother.
Typically, folktales reveal aspects of morality, social customs, and history of a people and this is exactly what Bishop does with Kiwi Moon. Within the illustrations of Kiwi’s quest to discover who he is and why he is different, we also see another story emerging, the history of New Zealand’s colonization by the British.
As you read folktales, I encourage you to note the role of the moon. Is the moon male or female? Does the moon give off a brilliant, white light or does it reflect the sun? Are the characters influenced by the moon? In what other ways is the moon symbolized?

Comment on Butterflies by Susanne Gervay

Susanne Gervay — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:19:36 +0000

I was flown to New York to speak at the World Burn Congress about the power of ‘Butterflies’ to inspire survivors, young people, families, medical teams and community. It was an inspiring experience where I had the privilege of being on the Faculty with Kim Phuc (the girl running naked from napalm in the 1972 Nick Ut photo in Vietnam).

Butterflies has been recognised as outstanding youth literature on disability (IBBY) in a story of inclusion as we meet challenges.

Hope you love ‘Butterflies’

Comment on What The Moon Saw by Gail Pritchard

Gail Pritchard — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:59:49 +0000

As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I “talk” to my books as I read. By the time I finish novel, lots of Post-It © notes are stuck to the pages. On the first page of the Prologue, I made this comment, “The moon looks down on us no matter where we are;” and in fact, this is a theme that runs throughout and concludes the novel. In the first eighteen pages, there were more than fifteen references to the moon: moonlight, full moon, lunatic, Clara Luna/Clear Moon, fuzzy moon, hazy moon, and personification of the moon as a witness. While in less competent hands, the moon idioms might seem trite; however, In Resau’s hands, the moon and its mysteries are intimately woven into Clara Luna’s and her grandmother Helen’s life stories.

Clara Luna’s father had left his home village of Yucuyoo as a young man, not returning even once during the intervening twenty years. Now, a letter from Mexico arrives and changes Clara’s life forever. It is from his mother, asking him to send fourteen year old Clara to Yucuyoo for the summer. Her parents agree and a reluctant Clara finds herself traveling to this remote village. In her mind, she sees picturesque adobe houses with flower boxes in the window and fenced-in gardens. What she finds after the long plane ride and four buses from Maryland to Yucuyoo is quite different: “…Abuelo set down the bags and pointed to the cluster of wooden and bamboo shacks that had just come into view. ‘This is our home!’ he said. ‘And your home!’” (p. 35).

Clara and Helena’s stories unfold in alternating chapters, and as we learn about Helena’s life, Clara finds answers to the mysteries in her own life—she discovers that like Helena, she is a healer. As Clara comes to terms with this revelation, she finds an inner peace she had never known. By the end of the novel, Clara has replaced her misconceptions with new understandings of what it means to be from the village of Yucuyoo, the hill of the moon.

“The moon rises over a girl and her father as they walk on a path down a mountain. The girl points to the moon, and her father’s eyes follow…. In Yucuyoo, an old woman with two long braids watches the sky….The moonlight bathes them all tonight, its invisible threads moving over them, moving between them, moving inside them” (p. 253).

T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D.
University of Alabama Huntsville

Comment on What The Moon Saw by T. Gail Pritchard

T. Gail Pritchard — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:58:57 +0000

I selected Resau’s book because of the title. Since I was interested in the representation of the moon in children’s literature, the title caught my eye. I read the back cover and was even more intrigued. The main character’s name was Clara Luna and as I flipped through the book, I saw many references to the moon through figurative language—metaphors, personification, similes. As I read the book, I was not disappointed, in fact, before long, the story took over and I knew I was in for an all-night read!
As I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I “talk” to my books as I read. By the time I finish novel, lots of Post-It © notes are stuck to the pages. On the first page of the Prologue, I made this comment, “The moon looks down on us no matter where we are;” and in fact, this is a theme that runs throughout and concludes the novel. In the first eighteen pages, there were more than fifteen references to the moon: moonlight, full moon, lunatic, Clara Luna/Clear Moon, fuzzy moon, hazy moon, and personification of the moon as a witness. While in less competent hands, the moon idioms might seem trite; however, In Resau’s hands, the moon and its mysteries are intimately woven into Clara Luna’s and her grandmother Helen’s life stories.
Clara Luna’s father had left his home village of Yucuyoo as a young man, not returning even once during the intervening twenty years. Now, a letter from Mexico arrives and changes Clara’s life forever. It is from his mother, asking him to send fourteen year old Clara to Yucuyoo for the summer. Her parents agree and a reluctant Clara finds herself traveling to this remote village. In her mind, she sees picturesque adobe houses with flower boxes in the window and fenced-in gardens. What she finds after the long plane ride and four buses from Maryland to Yucuyoo is quite different: “…Abuelo set down the bags and pointed to the cluster of wooden and bamboo shacks that had just come into view. ‘This is our home!’ he said. ‘And your home!’” (p. 35).
Clara and Helena’s stories unfold in alternating chapters, and as we learn about Helena’s life, Clara finds answers to the mysteries in her own life—she discovers that like Helena, she is a healer. As Clara comes to terms with this revelation, she finds an inner peace she had never known. By the end of the novel, Clara has replaced her misconceptions with new understandings of what it means to be from the village of Yucuyoo, the hill of the moon.
“The moon rises over a girl and her father as they walk on a path down a mountain. The girl points to the moon, and her father’s eyes follow…. In Yucuyoo, an old woman with two long braids watches the sky….The moonlight bathes them all tonight, its invisible threads moving over them, moving between them, moving inside them” (p. 253).

Comment on Poemas A La Luna by Gail

Gail — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 05:53:01 +0000

I first saw Poemas a la luna at the public library displayed in the children’s section. I was immediately drawn to this tall book with intriguing cover art. Soothing shades of a blue sky with white clouds is the backdrop to a mysterious man dressed in red robes subtly shadowed. He stands on a green block or perhaps it is a chimney, opening a blue box covered with stars and crescent moons. Out of this box, the night black sky with glittery stars and a crescent moon swirl into the blue sky.

Opening the book, I find a piece of crescent moon sweeping across the end pages, inviting me to turn the page. On that next double-paged spread, the title page, I see a glowing, full moon; and in the center of that moon, another full moon, but this one with a face. I find this face to be startling, the eyes not as I expect. I turned the page again. This time, in the shadowy night is a crescent moon, a woman astride a winged horse, and trees with stars for leaves. In between the stars, a poem by Christina Georgina Rosetti:

“Está la luna cansada? Se la ve tan blanquecina
tras su toca mortecina:
asciende al firmamento de oriente a occidente
sin parar a descansar en ningún frente.

Antes de que la noche se torne oscura
la luna muestra su blancura;
y, luego, antes del amanecer,
decide desaparecer.”

Then in smaller print right below:

Is the moon tired? She looks so pale
Within her misty veil:
She scales the sky from east to west
And takes no rest

Before the coming of the night
The moon shows papery white;
Before the dawning of the day
She fades away

The misty illustration invoked a quiet peace as I read the poem in Spanish and then in English–the visual and written texts in harmony. I turn the page. This time, against the night sky, I see the woman walking past four archways. As she passes by the first arch, she begins to fade until she cannot be seen in the final arch. Through the top of each arch, a different moon appears–full, half, crescent, and then a thin over-articulated crescent. This time, an Emily Dickinson poem is featured, first in Spanish and then in English. Again, I turn the page. A shadowy horse and rider cross the pages with a luminescent profile in the clouds above, a poem by Goethe. This exquisitely illustrated book flows from page to page with sweeping shapes, cool, dark colors, and odes to the moon. I literally catch my breath with the “visualness” of each poem and know I must get this book….

T. Gail Pritchard, Ph.D.
University of Alabama Huntsville
January 3, 2012

Comment on Marcelo In The Real World by Holly Johnson

Holly Johnson — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:22:59 +0000

For the final week of December, I read Marcelo in the Real World (Stork, 2011). What a marvelous treat this reading was, and such a great way to end the theme of returning home. Marcelo brings to the fore the reality that “home” can be a place, a person, or a sense of self and one’s convictions. Learning to know who he is and what he desires from his life, the character Marcelo found a home within himself and those he trusted in the real world. I especially liked the portrayal of a variety of people in “the real world,” and how reality is much more complex than anticipated by anyone. Life is such a surprise!
At 17, Marcelo is finishing his junior year at Paterson, a school for students who are challenged developmentally or physically. Marcelo, however, does not quite fit either one of those descriptions, but is most often referred to as having a condition similar to Asperger’s Syndrome. The summer promises working with the ponies, one of Marcelo’s special interests, but his father decides it is time for Marcelo to enter the “real world,” and adapt to the challenges that arise as part of that reality. Marcelo goes to work in his father’s law firm, and yes, begins to enter the real world.
Marcelo is an amazing read, and while quite different from the other books for this month: The Scorpio Races (Stiefvater, 2011), The White Darkness (McCaughrean, 2005), and The Book of Everything (Kuijer, 2006), it allows readers to ponder the process of finding, returning, or arriving home.