by Andrea García, Diana Collins and Melissa Tuller, Hofstra University.
We close our writing for the month of November sharing our exploration of Salt: A Story of Friendship in a Time of War by Helen Frost. This is the final book I chose for a text set focusing on Global Explorations in Verse, which I used in my graduate children’s literature course this semester. As we consider our Thanksgiving celebrations this week, we feel this story provides an appropriate backdrop to consider the relationships between Native Americans and Americans from a historical perspective. Helen Frost’s novel in verse explores the complexities of friendship, when sociopolitical issues threaten to destroy the loyalties and the trust built amongst friends. Continue reading
The first book that had an impact on the discussion of diaspora was Diamond Boy by Michael Williams. This story is about Patson Moyo a 15-year-old living with his father, stepmother and sister in Zimbabwe. His father is a schoolteacher who believes in his profession with all his heart but the stepmother wants more financially. The search for ‘more’ takes them to the Marange diamond fields; a portion of which belongs to the stepmother’s brother.Here the family divides as the stepmother opts to stay with her brother’s large family of two wives and children while Patson and his father and sister are driven to live in tobacco sheds while they search for their fortune in a ‘girazi’ (a priceless stone) that would change their lives forever. 
The stories of Juan Bobo have a long history in the oral tradition of Puerto Rico. Similar to the English folklore character Lazy or Foolish Jack, Juan Bobo, or “Simple John,” bumbles through life from misunderstanding to misunderstanding. Sometimes he’s a trickster, sometimes a town fool, but all the time, Juan Bobo is good for a laugh. This character has starred in many books, is featured in school curricula, newspaper serials, puppet plays, and even an animated cartoon. 
In 2008, the United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY) selected Pretty Salma: An African Little Red Riding Hood Story for inclusion on the